Earth 2100: Player Characters
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Every character is an employee of LSU (La Sûreté du Union européenne), the Security Police of EU, and together they form one special team. Characters can have different fields of expertise.
Unusual characters (such as PCs) are often employed by the state or one of the megacorporations. They are often pressured to service, gently or less gently, depending on their home country. In the 23rd century, there's usually plenty of young, brilliant, highly educated, and competent unemployed people available, but very few really special people such as the PCs.
Point Total and Power Level
Starting Points: 250. Power Level: Larger-than-Life.
Recommendations and tips:
- Spend about 80 to 200 points to Attributes, less, if you have a template.
- Use about 50 to 100 points to gengineered traits and/or cybernetics. You might want to start with one of the templates and build on that.
- Don't overlook secondary characteristics, senses, cultural familiarity, languages, appearance, wealth, allies, contacts, mundane Advantages, and so on. If you haven't spent points on something, you don't have it.
- Take as much Disadvantages you feel is right for the character. You don't have to take it all the way to -75 points. Same with Quirks, if you can't think of five of them, it's okay. You can come up with some later.
- Leave about 30 to 75 points to skills. You may be special, but as a police officer you aren't yet very experienced.
Attributes
Basic Attribute Limits: Minimum 8, maximum 20.
- Hit Points: Maximum variation ±30 % from the base.
- Will: Can't lower it more than by -4, and the maximum is 20.
- Fatigue Points: Maximum variation ±30 % from the base.
- Basic Speed: Can't increase more than 2.00 from the base.
Note that decreases to secondary characteristics are counted as disadvantages.
Build, Age, and Beauty
Build: With TL9-10 drugs, therapies, and bodysculpting, few people are fat or skinny unless they want to, or are too poor to afford change.
Age: Characters should start at 18 to 40 years old.
Physical Appearance: Gengineered people are almost always Attractive or better, and there's still bodysculpting if you aren't yet. (Transcendent beauty is not available, it's supernatural.)
Advantages
Gengineering (Bio-Tech) and/or Cybernetics are allowed. See Earth 2100: Technology.
Prohibited Advantages: All Exotic and Supernatural Advantages, unless they are gengineered (Bio-Tech) or cybernetic (Ultra-Tech); Gadgeteer; High TL; Legal Immunity; Rapier Wit; Wealth (Filthy Rich) or better.
Ask before adding Cinematic advantages and perks, however, 250-point characters are pretty cinematic so they could well have some.
Most PCs have Cultural Familiarity (Western Europe) [0] (Native). Of course, your native culture could be something else; in that case, Cultural Familiarity or even Cultural Adaptability might prove useful. In an unfamiliar culture you suffer a -3 penalty for Carousing, Connoisseur, Criminology, Dancing, Detect Lies, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Games, Gesture, Heraldry, Intimidation, Leadership, Merchant, Poetry, Politics, Psychology, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire, Sex Appeal, Sociology, Streetwise, and Teaching.
Disadvantages
Disadvantages: Max. -75 points, plus up to -5 from Quirks.
Prohibited Disadvantages: All Exotic and Supernatural Disadvantages unless allowed by GM; Amnesia (Total); Appearance (Hideous) or worse; Blindness; Cannot Learn; Cannot Speak; Duty, because all PCs have it already; Low TL; Pacifism (Total Nonviolence); Sadism (you can take Callous though); Slave Mentality; Split Personality; Terminally Ill; Trickster (take a Quirk if you have to); Quadriplegic; Wealth (Poor) or worse. Also I don't recommend Killjoy, serious mental illnesses, or serious depression for a character.
You may have Dependent(s), but you need to come up with the details.
Skills
Recommended skills: English (Accented) [4] or (Native) [6] if it's not your native language already. Yes, there are translators, even real-time translation, but it's always not quite as good as knowing the language. Any subtle nuances will almost always be lost when using a translator program.
At least [1] in Law (Security Police), and Savoir-Faire (police). See Police Skills, below, for more.
- Wildcard Skills: not allowed.
See Also: Skills: Choosing Your Skill Levels.
Police Skills
- General: Body Language, Computer Operation, Detect Lies, Diplomacy, Driving (automobile, and/or motorcycle), Electronics Operation (comm, surveillance), First Aid, Guns (pistol, rifle, shotgun, and/or submachine gun), Interrogation, Judo or Sumo Wrestling, Intelligence Analysis, Law (police), Observation, Photography, Savoir-Faire (police), Search.
- Chief: Administration, Leadership, Tactics, Teaching.
- CSI: Criminology, Forensics.
- Detective/Undercover: Acting, Brawling or Karate, Lip Reading, Lockpicking, Shadowing, Stealth, Streetwise, Tracking, Traps, Urban Survival.
- Medic / Coroner: Diagnosis, Pharmacy (Synthetic), Physician, Physiology, Psychology, Surgery.
- Net Agent: Computer Hacking, Computer Programming, Cryptography.
- Negotiator: Diplomacy, Psychology, Streetwise.
- Profiler: TODO.
- Prosecutor/District Attorney: Diplomacy, Law (criminal law, procedure), Research, Writing.
- Space Police: See below for spaceship skills.
- SWAT: Forced Entry, Guns (grenade launcher), Guns (rifle), Intimidation, Tactics, Throwing, Vacc Suit (battlesuit).
- Surveillance: Electronics Operation (surveillance).
- Pilot: Navigation (air), Piloting (helicopter).
- Tank Police: Artillery (cannon), Driving (tracked), Electronics Operation (comm), Gunner (cannon), Gunner (machine gun), Mechanic (tracked).
- Traditional: Animal Handling (Dog), Liquid Projector (Sprayer), Melee Weapon (shortsword) (for using a baton and/or stun wand) or Tonfa, Riding (Horse).
- Tech: Electrician, Electronics Repair (communications, computers, electronic warfare, media, medical, scientific, security, and/or surveillance), Explosives (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), Mechanic (automobile, conventional firearms, micromachines, powered armor, and/or fuel cells).
Space Travel
This isn't the focus of the campaign, but here's the list of skills which are useful on a spaceship:
- Operating: Computer Operation, Computer Programming, Electronics Operation (Comms), Electronics Operation (sensors), Free Fall, Navigation (Space), Piloting (aerospace, high-performance spacecraft), Vacc Suit.
- Repairs: Armoury (Vehicle Armor), Electrician, Electronics Repair (communications, computers), Mechanic (fusion reactor, life support, spacecraft, reactionless drive).
- Additional: Shiphandling and Spacer, but those are mostly for professional spaceship captains and crew.
Wealth, Possessions and Influence
Starting Wealth: $30,000 (Average). You can start at Struggling, Average, Comfortable, Wealthy, or Very Wealthy level. For convenience, we use "$" as money, when it actually is € (euros) in the EU. Let's just say it's the same thing.
- See Earth 2100: Technology.
- Player Characters are issued equipment by LSU. Take note of your character's weapon(s) of choice. ("No, we are not giving you a portable railgun. If costs half a million dollars and is awfully conspicuous. You are supposed to be a secret agent!" {Electromagnetic guns cost 30 times the listed prices, due to the ridiculously expensive materials required.})
- Armor is normally not issued (if it is, the mission is something extraordinary). Buy your own armor if you wish - tailored armor is the most common as it doesn't look obvious. Also remember things like Bioplastic Skin (though it's 35 points and costs $40,000)...
- PCs are also licensed to legally own things up to LC2.
- Off-duty, they can't carry their LC3 and LC2 things everywhere, such as through the security check at an airport.
LSU Ranks
Position | Police Rank |
Cost | Status | Average Monthly Pay |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Field Agent | 0 | 0 | +0 | $3,600 | — |
Detective or Investigator | 1 | 5 | +0 | $5,400 | — |
Sergeant | 2 | 10 | +1 | $7,200 | — |
Lieutenant | 3 | 15 | +1 | $10,800 | — |
Captain | 4 | 20 | +1 | $14,400 | — |
Major | 5 | 25 | +2 | $18,000 | — |
Colonel | 6 | 30 | +2 | $36,000 | — |
Deputy Chief of Police | 7 | 35 | +2 | $54,000 | — |
Chief of Police | 8 | 40 | +3 | $72,000 | — |
Traits Common to all PCs
All Player Characters have the following traits automatically. Don't calculate them into point totals or limitations.
- Advantages: Legal Enforcement Powers (EU) [10]; Patron (Security Police) [15]; Police Rank 0
- Disadvantages: Duty (Security Police) [-10]. You can buy Police Rank up to Sergeant level [10].
- Job: Police, TL9, Base Monthly Pay $3,600.