New Alien Races

Famed podracer Sebulba, considered vicious even by other members of the Dug species...

While I have already covered the two major new additions to the famous races of the Star Wars saga, the Neimoidians and the Gungans, Episode I still has some interesting new species' to offer. Although the races I have chosen to represent here had fairly minor roles in the film, judging from the email I have received they certainly had an impact with fans. Readers of the Prelude to Rebellion and Outlander comics from Dark Horse should be particularly pleased to find the Cereans here (Ki-Adi-Mundi is a major character in those comics), and race fans across the galaxy will be happy to see the ever-nasty Dugs represented as well. And, as they are probably one of the strangest-looking new races in Episode I, and therefore, to me anyway, really cool, I have included the long-necked Quermians (who my girlfriend also thinks are really cool...she's been more than patient with me while I built this darn Sourcebook, so I figure I owe her). And a late addition, by popular demand (STOP WRITING ALREADY!!!), the Toydarians. Use them as you see fit.

Dugs
Dugs are arboreal beings native to Malastare, a system represented in the Galactic Senate by the three-eyed Grans. The Dug homeworld is a heavy-gravity planet, and has as such created an interesting evolutionary product. Slight of frame to minimize body mass, Dugs are nevertheless very strong and extremely agile due to their tree-dwelling heritage. All four of a Dug's limbs have hands, and when they must walk, Dugs walk on what would normally be considered their arms because much of their body strength is rooted in these muscle groups. Few Dugs ever leave Malastare, although no one really laments this fact, since Dugs are notorious across the galaxy as obnoxious bullies lacking any sort of scruples. Exceptions to the rule do exist, but they are quite rare, since traits such as kindness, morality, and self-restraint are considered signs of weakness in Dug society. The loose skin of a Dug's neck inflates during mating season, and acts as a bellows for the Dug's feral mating call.
Attribute Dice: 12
Attribute Minimum/Maximums:
DEXTERITY: 2D+2/4D+2
KNOWLEDGE: 1D/3D+2
MECHANICAL: 1D/4D
PERCEPTION: 1D+1/3D+2
STRENGTH: 2D+1/4D+2
TECHNICAL: 1D/3D+1
Height: 1.2 m
Move:11/15
Story Factors:
Reputation. Dugs are known as bullies and thugs by most other sentient species', and are almost universally disliked by non-Dugs. Many crimelords, however, employ them as assassins and henchmen.

Cereans
Hailing from the largely-unspoiled paradise of the planet Cerea, the dome-headed Cereans are a fairly rare sight in the rest of the galaxy. Housing a complex binary brain in their distinctive craniums, which they have a second heart to support, Cereans are known for their ability to perceive a problem from several standpoints at once, and the few that do wander the spaceways are held in high regard as diplomats, mediators, traders, and scholars. Cereans place an intense amount of worth on familial relationships, and those who threaten said relationships often find that they have discovered one of the few things that can drive an otherwise-civil Cerean to genuine anger. Master Ki-Adi-Mundi of the Jedi Council, a student of the venerable Jedi Master Yoda, is a Cerean.
Attribute Dice: 12
Attribute Minimum/Maximums:
DEXTERITY: 2D/4D
KNOWLEDGE: 2D+1/5d+2
MECHANICAL: 2D/4D
PERCEPTION: 2D+1/5D
STRENGTH: 2D/4D
TECHNICAL: 1D+2/3D+1
Height: up to 2.2 m
Move:11/12
Special Abiities:
Binary Brain. If a Cerean fails a Knowledge or Perception roll (or a skill roll based on those attributes), the Cerean may immediately re-roll half the dice (rounded down) originally rolled and add the result to the original total that failed.
Story Factors:
Dual Hearts. Cereans can function with only one of these hearts, but the demands placed on their circulatory system by their binary brains are no laughing matter. A Cerean reduced to functioning on only one heart must sleep 2/3 of a given day to maintain his mental performance.

Quermians
The notably bizarre-looking Quermians evolved on world of dense vegetation and dangerous land predators; their long necks evolved so that their grazing ancestors could peer over low-lying vegetation mats to scan for predators while the herds fed. Quermians have no nostrils, instead breathing exclusively through their mouths and using their sense of smell via olfactory organs in their four hands. Quermians are aware of their discocertin appearance, and when travellling among the myriad species of the galaxy, they generally adopt robes under which they can conceal their second set of arms...but other than that, Quermians generally remain nude except for a large cannom collar. The Quermian species apparently had a very large genetic ancestor, because the Quermains still retain an unusual trait handed down from this evolutionary forebear: like large creatures on many worlds, the Quermians still have one brain in their heads, and a second one located in the torso. These two brains work in unison, and provide a slight edge over many species intellectually, although this edge is not as pronounced as it is in true binary-brain species like the Cereans.
Attribute Dice: 12
Attribute Minimum/Maximums:
DEXTERITY: 2D/5D
KNOWLEDGE: 2D/5D
MECHANICAL: 1D/4D
PERCEPTION: 2D/4D+2
STRENGTH: 1D/3D+2
TECHNICAL: 1D/4D
Height: up to 3.1 m
Move:11/14
Special Abiities:
Four arms. Quermians have four fully-functional arms with working hands on all of them.
Multi-limbed Movement. In moments of physical danger, Quermians can add 2 to their Move rating by running on all six limbs.
Skill bonus. Quermians gain 2D for each 1D spent in the following skills during character creation: Hide, Survival, and Climbing.
Story Factors:
Strange Appearance. Many humanoid races find Quermians eerily disconcerting due to their height and unusual physical construction.
Olfactory Organs. The Quermian sense of smell originates in the fingers, and Quermians often wriggle their fingers in the air when processing smells.

Toydarians
Toydarians are natives of a marshy world of bogs and lakes covered in tangled masses of floating vegetation...beneath which lurk grabworms and other vicious predators. Evolution therefore blessed them with the ability to hover in the air and fly short distances to safety, thanks to small-but-powerful wings and a pudgy body full of spongelike tissues storing buoyant gasses. Toydarians can also walk normally on their tiny webbed feet (which make landing and moving around on that floating vegetation easier), but in hot climates prefer to fly almost exclusively, as this aids in cooling their diminutive bodies. Their flight abilities consume large amounts of energy, however, and Toydarians living away from the marshes of home must eat concentrated foods and imported seed pods to maintain the energy levels necessary for prolonged flight. Watto, the Tattooine junk dealer, is a Toydarian.
Attribute Dice: 12
Attribute Minimum/Maximums:
DEXTERITY: 1D/3D
KNOWLEDGE: 1D/3D+2
MECHANICAL: 1D/4D
PERCEPTION: 2D/4D+2
STRENGTH: 1D/2D+2
TECHNICAL: 1D/4D
Height: 1.2 m
Move: walking 7/9, flying 10/12
Special Abiities:
Flight. Toydarians can fly a distance up to their Movement rating before having to stop and hover momentarily to gather their strength again.
Webbed Feet. When walking, a Toydarian's webbed feet eliminate any negative modifiers that would normally be imposed by marshy or squishy terrain.
Force Resistance. Toydarian neurology is very different from that of most humanoids, and as such Toydarians have a +3D bonus to their Perception or Willpower when resisting the effects of Jedi mind powers.
Special Skills:
Flying. Toydarian characters begin play with the Flying skill (a Strength skill), which they roll when attempting aerial maneuvers. This skill is automatically at least equal to the character's Strength, but can be increased during or after character creation.
Story Factors:
Dietary needs. Without their high-energy diets, Toydarians lose the ability of flight after one day, until suitable nutrition can be found. Once said nutrition is replaced in the diet, it can take several hours before the gasses in the Toydarian's spongy belly have replenished themselves, enabling flight.

Next page...

Home