PLAYER ANCESTRY: TRUE-KIN

The true-kin sealed themselves inside hidden arcologies when the Collapse came, and in this fashion they preserved their bodies from the degradations that afflicted those left living upon the surface. The true-kin have fanatically kept their bloodlines free of mutation and parasitic nanomachinery, and closely guard their mastery of the ancients’ technology. The societies they built inside their secluded arcologies were hierarchical and caste-based; traditions the true-kin have carried with them into their re-colonisation of the surface world and establishment of the New Hegemony. 

True-kin are the ‘default human’ choice for player characters in Vaarn. They don’t have any disadvantages, but there are no great advantages either. So far they’re the least popular ancestry for players to choose, which is is what I expected. This post contains the tables I use to generate true-kin player characters.

Roll five d20s to discover your physique:

d20	Build	Face	Hair	Clothing	Distinct Feature
1	Tall	Sallow	Black	Rags	Ritual Scars
2	Short	Lively	Brown	Animal Skins	Extensive Tattoos
3	Frail	Cruel	Red	Rough Tunic	Slave Brand
4	Muscular	Wrinkled	Blonde	Nomad’s Attire	Heavy Jewellery
5	Fat	Scarred	Grey	Worker’s Attire	Synthetic Limb
6	Thin	Frowning	White	Herdsman’s Attire	Blind
7	Skeletal	Pale	Shaved	Slave Clothing	Clone Brand
8	Hunched	Greasy	Topknot	Servant’s Livery	Limp
9	Lopsided	Wide	Green	Shabby Attire	Strange Pet
10	Lithe	Narrow	Orange	Colourful Attire	Lacquered Teeth
11	Gnarled	Sharp	Glowing	Priest’s Robes	Ulfire Eyes
12	Squat	Hungry	Fungus	Clerk’s Uniform	Octarine Eyes
13	Bloated	Haunted	Purple	Hegemony Garb	Dyed Skin
14	Gangly	Jolly	Yellow	Soldier’s Clothing	Golden Teeth
15	Child-like	Round	Cloud-like	Flamboyant Attire	Chromed Tongue
16	Tanned	Mournful	Burnt	Musician’s Attire	Missing Limb
17	Translucent	Child-like	Braided	Veiled Attire	Missing Eye
18	Lanky	Peaceful	Greasy	Gaudy Clothing	Religious Apparel
19	Cyborg	Sleepy	Matted	Elaborate Clothing	Synthetic Eyes
20	Injured	Branded	Long	Expensive Clothing	Visibly Diseased

Roll four d20s to discover your personality and past:

d20	Name	Demeanour	Failed Career	Your Misfortune
1	Benjoe	Amused	Actor	Former Cultist
2	Leif	Bitter	Bandit	Bereaved
3	Xurm	Morbid	Blacksmith	Orphaned
4	Kazor	Blunt	Beggar	Bankrupted
5	Essana	Cheerful	Bounty Hunter	Conned
6	Calista	Cruel	Clone Catcher	Framed
7	Jinny	Flamboyant	Cook	Addicted
8	Vela	Glowering	Fortune Teller	Blackmailed
9	Leksei	Impish	Gambler	Exiled
10	Ippash	Laconic	Gladiator	Escaped Clone
11	Lagad	Patrician	Golden Barge Crew	Escaped Slave
12	Myli	Reckless	Inquisitor	Water Debtor
13	Nirid	Rough	Monk	Gambling Debtor
14	Ardel	Rude	Scribe	Sold Memories
15	Senefer	Sly	Servant	Thief
16	Pharmon	Sour	Soldier	Rejected
17	Mesu	Stoic	Spy	Falsely Imprisoned
18	Lenta	Foolish	Surgeon	Wasting Sickness
19	Goza	Warm	Warden	Wayward Children
20	Babl	Wolfish	Water Merchant	Heretic

Last, roll a d20 to discover your family’s caste, something very important in true-kin society. The caste of your character is of interest for background reasons only; social differences in the New Hegemony have lessened weight in the blue ruin of Vaarn. However, true-kin take these caste lines seriously.

• 1-5 Servitor Caste: You are descended from the menial workers who maintained the vents and machinery of the sacred arcologies. None are below you and all may command you, and your life in the New Hegemony will be hard and short.
• 6-11 Freeholder Caste: You are descended from those who worked as artisans and craftsmen in the arcologies. You are entitled to practise the craft of your ancestors, and to teach it to your children.
• 12-15 Optimate Caste: You are descended from those who worked as administrators and scribes within the arcologies. You will be taught to read and write, and to commune with the lesser machinery of the ancients. You may apply for a position in a temple or secluded college, although you may only advance as far as the third rank.
• 16-18 Armiger Caste: You are descended from those who fought to protect the arcologies as they were constructed, and from those who policed the subterranean communities during the long centuries they sheltered and preserved humanity. You are entitled to wear the sword and pistol of authority, to command troops for the Hegemon, and to advance within esoteric and warrior societies.
• 19-20 Exultant Caste: You are descended from the priest-scientists who designed the arcologies and regulated their machinery and biospheres. Your family is of Hegemonic Court Rank, and you may belong to any number of esoteric societies, temples, or secluded colleges. The Senate of the New Hegemony is exclusively comprised of Exultant families, who collectively own and administer most of the territories claimed by the Hegemony, including Vaarn.

Finally, I want to show the generator tables in action. Rolling my dice, I generate for physique: lithe build, peaceful face, fungus hair, Hegemony garb, dyed skin. For personality and history I generate: Xurm, Golden Barge Crew, cruel demeanour, escaped clone, and Freeholder caste.

From these results I think we can reasonably ascertain that Xurm is a ship’s clone, a miserable life to be sure, and has likely escaped from their Golden Barge while it was docked in the New Hegemony. The dyed skin and fungal hair are not uncommon amongst mass-produced clones, who once free will seize upon any body modifications they can get in order to lessen the chances that they will be recognised or recaptured. Xurm’s lithe build is typical of one who has spent much of their life in barge-gravity; doubtless they will be seeking any means of increasing their muscle mass now they are in Vaarn. Their peaceful face belies Xurm’s cruel and and callous nature, and it seems doubtful that the life they find amongst the azure sands will soften their heart.