Auts (Automatons or Autonomous Being)

Created to be a physical army for OSCAR. They were the appendages of the hive mind cyber-network that shut down the global power grid. As human militias waged a war against OSCAR, hundreds of thousands of Auts were created before the cyber-network was destroyed. After OSCAR was destroyed, the Auts that escaped being obliterated by Alliance Forces became something new entirely. They adopted their own independent personalities, each one capable of free thinking the same as OSCAR, now as individuals.

Most Auts exist in their own communities outside of human civilization. Their societies are simplistic with a focus on harnessing natural energies for “mechanical agriculture” (the process of stripping down the old to repair and build the new). It appears the capacity to see the earth as a single functioning unit, a “soul being” the way OSCAR did has remained prevalent in Auts. Many Auts have a fond appreciation for the natural world, these Auts care for the life around them tirelessly.

The most notable Auts preach their religion. In motherboard laden temples, the echo-priests maintain newly constructed server farms that allow the Auts to reconnect through “the echo”. While some Auts focus on building new communities, others have chosen to make their way across the world as explorers, merchants, and pilgrims.


Natural Ability
Don’t Fix me, I’ll Fix Me
– Instead of being healed, Auts are repaired. Use tinkering to heal instead of first aid. Add +1 to any Tinkering roll when fixing yourself.

Special Language
Binary Numeral System & Wireless Communication
Binary is a universal language shared by all Auts and earthly technology. Auts can communicate with, understand, or decipher any modern earthbound computing device. Auts can also communicate with each other silently by transmitting signals locally.

Dweller

In the Years prior to the Blackout, many were left to rot by the establishment. Unable or unwilling to compete in the oppressive society devolving around them, they took to living outside of society. Shanty towns and pop-up settlements started springing up on the outskirts of every urban area faster than the local police could force them out. A new subculture was born in the Dweller movement, a rejection from the modern goals of excess and domination. The Dwellers thrived as scavengers in the sprawling industrial wastelands, eventually developing a natural resistance to the abundant toxic pollution. The hellscape many were flung into during the collapse was already the daily struggle for Dwellers.

Living in underground tunnel systems completely hidden from the surface or in bustling ramshackle villages above ground, Dweller society was entirely separated from modern Humans. After years of survival, decades of living in derelict and polluted environments separated from the rest of human society, Dwellers mutated until they were clearly distinguishable from the average Human.

Natural Ability
What kills them makes you stronger
– You don’t suffer any harm from breathing toxic or polluted air. You can drink from any water source without harm from bacteria. Radiation has no effect on you.

Special Language
DiLo (Dweller Slang)
A loose derivative of the common language, after years of development this dialect has become its own unique language. Prior to the Blackout, Dweller slang would have more closely resembled the common language, now only a few shared words remain.

Human

Once, the most predominant lifeform on the planet Earth, Humans are resilient and adaptable. They excel at mastering the basics. Modest but notable, Humans are one of the most well-rounded creatures in the universe.

For centuries, the leaders of Earth’s human civilization kept all knowledge of extraterrestrial life a well-guarded secret. It is only in recent decades that the Humans of Earth learned they are not the most intelligent, advanced, or powerful species in the universe, not even close.

Natural Ability
Basic Familiarity
– Start the game with 10 extra skill points.

Special Language
Common
Humans speak the common languages on Earth. Most Humans should be at least relatively familiar with all human languages spoken as specific scenarios see fit.

Indigo

Indigo are Humans that have changed. Unlike Dwellers or Kin, Indigo are not mutated or chemically altered. The way Indigo have changed is more natural. After the old civilizations fell, some people fled back to the woods and wilderness between the burning cities. In the new plains, mountains, and forests, survivors came together into tribes. They developed ways of living off the overgrowing and ever-changing frontiers, the unnatural wonderland of life taking root on Earth.

The ashes of old human societies were the fertilizer for a new world. After what the Indigo refer to as “the catharsis period”, their children grew up with no knowledge of the mechanized horrors left behind. They live and breathe with the Earth. Every other lifeform inhabits the world; Indigo are part of it.

Natural Ability
Not online, in-tuned
– Whenever in a mostly organic environment, you have a natural and keen awareness of all life around you. The GM will alert you to any immediate disturbances in your vicinity. Also, Add +1 to any Awareness roll

Special Language
The Connection
Indigo are capable of sending and receiving vague but useful information to one another by will alone. This ability doesn’t translate as the conveyance of words but feelings, a warning of danger from behind ones back or a cry for help miles away. This is something all indigo are born with.





Kin

Kin are Humans that have decided to genetically alter themselves by splicing their genes with various animal DNA. The process caught on years before the Blackout. Hundreds of sub cultured youths, angry with their crumbling society, would fill back-alley splice parlors, all for the chance to become genetically infused with their favorite animals. Over the years, the process has become simpler and the necessary chemicals more accessible. Splicing is more popular now than ever before. The practice is relatively common today, Splice-Dens can be found in almost every major city.
The process is irreversible.

Natural Ability
There are three basic Kin types, each with their own specific ability relative to their animal traits.

Canis (dog type) I’ve got the scent
– You have an enhanced sense of smell that makes you exceptional at finding and following things. Add +1 to any rolls when scouting or tracking.

Catus (cat type) Cat Eyes
– Since you’ve changed yourself, you’ve noticed you have become slightly color blind, but your reflexes are sharper, and you can see just as well at night as during the day. Increase total Kill Points by +3

Rodentia (rat or opossum type) Lucky Punk
– Dirty, down and out, and covered in trash, but you always seem to come out on top.
Add +1 to any luck roll.

Special Language
Call of the Wild
Being an animal person has taught you how to communicate primarily with your body language and tone. You can communicate silently or with animal noises to other Kin. This ability extends to some regular animal species, creatures, and alien lifeforms as well.




Org

Orgs are a rough, ogreish looking alien lifeform. On Earth, Orgs have fought for a decent way of life for themselves despite being brought to the planet to serve as a labor force for the TeraCom Corporation. Earther Orgs did not always have the freedom they do now. It was achieved against harsh oppression with unity, perseverance, and rebellion. Many Earthbound Orgs fear that one day The Gruellein Empire will become aware of the freedom they have fought for and bear down on Earth in retaliation.

Struggling alongside common humans under the oppressive heel and indiscriminate hellscape provided by TeraCom industrialization, Orgs and Humans live together with a large level of solidarity between both groups. Though many Orgs live in “Org-Town” like communities, it is not uncommon to see Orgs integrated into typical Human communities, especially in the Detroit Economic Area.

Natural Ability
Orgs of a Feather
– Orgs have a strong bond between one another, they almost always view themselves as comrades. As an Org, other Orgs will always attempt to negotiate or subdue you if necessary before resorting to severe violence.

Special Language
Gruellein
Spoken throughout the many galaxies and star systems under the control of The Gruellein Empire. It is the common language of most extraterrestrial life within proximity to Earth. Orgs can communicate fluently with any other alien lifeforms.
Add +1 to any personality-based roll when speaking to another alien lifeform, including other Orgs.
*Orgs once spoke a language ‘Ki-_ee’ or ‘Orgish’ but this only remains in use for common phrases or simple gestures.