New Races in 2022
--------------------------------------- Duros, Gank, Quarren, and Shistavanen ---------------------------------------
We're adding four new races to the mud! Free race changes from the abominable machine will be available for a short period of time. Please, do not use the race change room in the hospital as that is for paid changes only.
Skill Verbs
A lot of you will notice that there are not a lot of new and unique skill names in this list. This is an intentional choice that we discussed upstairs after the last big batch of races went in. In an effort to keep things simple for area, guild, and future race design we will be re-using skill verbs more often on races than in previous iterations. Designing new skills and actions in areas has become a bit tricky at times due to those verbs already being used elsewhere. Most of the time there will be a difference in the effect of the skill. For example, while both Defel and Shistavanen get <claw>, the added debuff is different. For things like <influence> and <intimidate> each race will get distinct messaging that fits with their themes. We are now at 36 playable races on the mud with plans for more as the movies and shows bring additional options. Much like the Star Wars films we plan on doing the "cantina model" of species availability.
Duros Heritages
Some of you might notice that Duros has three skills listed. That is because, like Devaronian, we're doing a little experiment on the race's design. Neimoidians and Duros are actually the same species separated by 25,000 years of culture and evolution on different planets. Therefore, both share the species of Duros with heritages that vary their skills, stats, and inherents. Additionally, they actually speak different racial languages. So, that'll be fun for all of the bugs and edge cases it introduces.
Charisma Bonuses
We've kind of figured out how we're handling Charisma bonuses and penalties. Being as beauty is in the eye of the beholder we decided instead to focus on how those races interact with others. For example, Shistavanen are wildly xenophobic and write their laws to match that xenophobia. Therefore, they get a penalty to Charisma since they don't play well with others. Quarren are isolationists and don't play nice. Gank are notoriously cruel thugs. For Duros you have the Neimoidians which are always trying to suck up to you in order to make a deal and their Duro-Sector cousins which, while are nice enough, are often stoic and stern at first appearance. It's not a perfect system, but it should provide decent guidelines going forward.
New Race Stats
Below is the general stats and skills of the new races. Have fun everyone!
| RACE | STR | DEX | MECH | TECH | FOR | CHA | SKILLS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duros* | -1 | +1 | influence avoid trip | ||||
| Gank | +1 | +2 | -1 | +1 | -2 | -1 | overkill intimidate |
| Quarren | +1 | +1 | -1 | -1 | ink slam | ||
| Shistavanen | +1 | +1 | -2 | claw bloodhound |
And:
| RACE | STR. | DEX. | MECH. | TECH. | FORCE | CHA. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duros* | 6/17 | 6/18 | 8/18 | 9/19 | 6/18 | 8/18 |
| Gank | 9/19 | 10/20 | 7/17 | 9/19 | 1/16 | 7/17 |
| Quarren | 9/19 | 8/18 | 8/18 | 9/19 | 2/17 | 7/17 |
| Shistavanen | 9/19 | 9/19 | 8/18 | 8/18 | 8/18 | 1/16 |
- Duros is a special case. Since their 'sacrifice' attribute is strength, but starting with a very low strength makes playing unusually difficult, they start with a slightly increased strength, but reductions in the initial value of other attributes.
- In addition, Duros heritages have been divided long enough that they vary in their stats.
- Duro-sector gain a +1 bonus to mechanical and a -1 to charisma.
- Neimoidian gain a +1 bonus to charisma and a -1 to mechanical.