Hey all. I'm starting up a game here shortly and the group I'm running is going to fluctuate in size. It's not big to begin with, but on weeks where a player might not be able to make it, my plan was to have a statted out NPC that would go with them, to ensure they could still go out and do stuff, without me having to mess with encounter difficulty at the last minute (one player in particular is the reason this is mentioned, as their job often requires them to be on call, and they could get called in minutes before a session starts, or even partway into it).

I also wanted unique NPCs that could act as foils for the group, whether it be as a rival (in that they're not the enemy grouping of rival, but in the same line of work who keep getting in each other's way type of deal), or as a straight up enemy. I wanted something that wasn't officially stated to be something unique and memorable, as well as to keep players' meta knowledge of the races stats to a minimum. The races I was looking at were Miraluka, Echani, and Voss.

Echani:

Wound: 10+

Strain: 10+

3 Brawn

2 Agility

2 Intellect

1 Cunning

2 Willpower

2 Presence

90 XP

Echani Martial Arts: Trained in specialized forms of hand to hand combat, Echani can spend one less threat or advantage to trigger an appropriate effect in combat.

Combat Awareness: Echani's natural awareness and battle senses allow them to read enemy movements easier than most, giving them a boost on initiative rolls.

My initial thought for them was to give them a free rank in brawl, not to be trained above 2 at creation, but I felt like the boost to initiative and the ability to spend threat and advantage at a slightly lower cost fit just as well.

Miraluka:

Wound: 8+

Strain: 12+

1 Brawn

2 Agility

2 Intellect

2 Cunning

3 Willpower

2 Presence

90 XP

Miraluka Senses: Miraluka see through the force, thus removing setback dice on checks involving sight.

Miraluka start out with one rank of Discipline, but can't be trained above 2 at creation.

And honestly, I've no idea where to go with Voss. Let me know what you all think, and feel free to be ruthless. I want something that feels authentic to their respective races, but isn't mechanically too powerful.

If this is for an NPC, you don't have to worry about creating a species template - NPCs don't follow the same rules as player creation.

For a recurring NPC you might want to make them a strong Rival or low-level Nemesis. For example (off the top of my head):

Echani Brawler

Brawn 4, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 3, Willpower 3, Presence 2.

Soak 5, Wounds 15, Strain 14

Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Coordination 3, Discipline 2, Melee 3, Resilience 3, Vigilance 2.

Talents: Adversary 1, Unarmed Parry.

Abilities: Echani Martial Arts (may reduce the cost to activate the Disorient and Knockdown qualities by 1 on Brawl and Melee attacks).

Equipment: Whatever feels appropriate for that particular session, but probably something Brawl or Melee based with the aforementioned item qualities.

If you want them to "level up" alongside the characters just drop an extra skill rank or two every once in awhile when it feels appropriate to do so, or when they come back into a game where the players have gained considerable XP since the last time.

8 hours ago, Kualan said:

If this is for an NPC, you don't have to worry about creating a species template - NPCs don't follow the same rules as player creation.

For a recurring NPC you might want to make them a strong Rival or low-level Nemesis. For example (off the top of my head):

Echani Brawler

Brawn 4, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 3, Willpower 3, Presence 2.

Soak 5, Wounds 15, Strain 14

Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Coordination 3, Discipline 2, Melee 3, Resilience 3, Vigilance 2.

Talents: Adversary 1, Unarmed Parry.

Abilities: Echani Martial Arts (may reduce the cost to activate the Disorient and Knockdown qualities by 1 on Brawl and Melee attacks).

Equipment: Whatever feels appropriate for that particular session, but probably something Brawl or Melee based with the aforementioned item qualities.

If you want them to "level up" alongside the characters just drop an extra skill rank or two every once in awhile when it feels appropriate to do so, or when they come back into a game where the players have gained considerable XP since the last time.

I also wanted the stats so that way if my players at some point want to play as those races, I'd have a fully stated race for them.

Anyone willing to help a guy out?

Do a forum search on Echani and Miraluka. You'll find a whole bunch of different takes on those two that various folks have done over the years. Most of them are pretty unbalanced (Miraluka especially so as there's a tendency to give them Force Rating 1 like it's not nearly as big of a deal as it actually is), but those takes often come with a lot of suggestions on how to better refine them that you might find useful.

8 hours ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

Do a forum search on Echani and Miraluka. You'll find a whole bunch of different takes on those two that various folks have done over the years. Most of them are pretty unbalanced (Miraluka especially so as there's a tendency to give them Force Rating 1 like it's not nearly as big of a deal as it actually is), but those takes often come with a lot of suggestions on how to better refine them that you might find useful.

I've looked at them, and I agree that Miraluka is really unbalanced in what they've done, and Echani hasn't really quite gotten to a point where I feel like it fits mechanically and thematically for them, which is why I came up with my own versions and was looking for feedback. Telling me to look at what other people have done as a guide isn't helpful when I am asking for people to critique the versions of them that I've done myself.