Everyone has a background: where they grew up, who their parents are, what kind of upbringing they had, et cetera. For the most part, your character’s background will influence how you approach roleplay more than anything, but different Settings come with their own history and options for who your character could be. Some of those options even come with specific gameplay perks.
In this Setting, we’ve divided Heritage into three categories: Location, Race, and Alliance. Typically, a character will select one option from each category, but as you and your GM grow familiar with the Kergol Space, you can get more creative and even come up with unique Heritages of your own. You will also usually pick an option in the Race category that matches the one you picked earlier in character creation, but the Alliance has been together long enough that it isn’t completely unheard of that some Races have adopted and raised members of another. Just understand that while it does happen, it is a rarity and should be reflected in both how you play your character and how others view you.
Location
As expected, these Locations are the different places your character could have been raised. You don’t have to be born in the same place you grew up, but as far as perks are concerned, we prefer you select the one your character spent the time that developed who they are, as far as this campaign is concerned. All of these Locations have many more places people could be from, but these represent the different major cultures of the Location, which may duplicate in several other settlements around it.
Lupsis
Kino City – The predominant culture found throughout most of Lupsis, and the Alliance for that matter. Being the capital city of both the planet and the Ninlei as a people, Kino City is full of hustle and bustle, and the attitude permeates most of the society. It is a highly multicultural city, up to 25% more so than the next city like it, so the crime rate is much higher than elsewhere, but most people have a general attitude of well-being toward the other Alliance Races. Likewise, most other Alliance-run cities have a positive attitude toward people from these areas, but older, more mono-cultural settlements tend to be just a little suspicious of them.
Starting Reputation: +10 home city; +5 Alliance cities; +5 Alliance Races; -10 rural areas; -5 Moravt; -25 Sybl City.
Moravt – A historic Ninlei city in the desert mountains that operates within the Alliance, but keeps its traditional monarchy for local affairs. Being built around a natural oasis lake that collects most of the water in the region, it is a paradise surrounded by wasteland on all sides. It is still mostly populated by Ninlei, but you will find small groups of the other Races here and there, especially among the stockyards. While modern technology is still abundant here, it isn’t fully integrated into the older architecture as it is to the mechanical cities like the capital. People come here for a laid-back lifestyle that still offers most modern luxuries. Those from around here tend to have a very favorable view of the local monarch and prefer him to how the other big cities are run.
Starting Reputation: +10 home city; +5 Alliance Races; -5 Wiggaton; -10 Sybl City.
Wiggaton – The oldest historic city on Lupsis still thriving. They aren’t part of the Alliance and operate more like a protected reservation within Alliance territory. They live an older lifestyle that does not rely on Photon Energy, but instead uses electricity from local sources, such as the rivers and wind, leaving them as a low-tech society unable to provide the grid needed for modern life. As far as we can tell, only Ninlei live here permanently. They have no laws preventing other races from moving in, but they have a polite ostracization toward any of them that stay longer than on tour, and the lack of social support prevents it. They do admire those of other Races that live closer to their respective historic lifestyles; they just don’t want them changing theirs. They have traditional farms and ranches across the rolling hills that surround the city instead of the safer subsurface biomes of the other cities and spend much of their effort defending them from the Darkbrood (though it is often K.A.O.S. doing the clean up for them). If you are from here and out adventuring, odds are you gave up this way of life, but it may have instilled certain old-fashioned values within you, such as “doing things yourself” (instead of relying on full automation) or “figuring out why a fence was put there before tearing it down”.
Starting Reputation: +50 home city; +10 Sybl City; +10 rural areas; -20 Kino City [specifically]
Sybl City – Also known as Space City historically. Sybl City is the second largest city (and first most technologically advanced) on Lupsis and where space travel was first invented among the Ninlei. The culture here is very different than the other major cities, because despite being an Alliance city, Sybl City has strict laws only allowing Ninlei to take residency there. While the Alliance won’t let them prevent entry or travel of the other Races, many businesses refuse service outright. They were never happy to form an alliance with other Races to begin with, but their Spacefaring League evolved into the Alliance without their consent, and they refuse to give up the benefits of K.A.O.S.; they just repurpose everything the Alliance learns solely for the advancement of the Ninlei (even if their own brethren leak their insight back to the rest of the Alliance).
Starting Reputation: +20 nome city; +10 Alliance cities; -15 other Races; -5 rural areas; -10 Alliance executives
The Northern Reach – At the Northern most reach of the world at the pole on an arctic continent, there is a settlement that guards strange, deep ruins, which go so deep that no one has ever made it to the bottom. The ruins are crawling with Darkbrood, but otherwise the Northern continent, Gelvilda, is mostly clean of the creatures. Most of the people who live there either come from recent service posts or generational families from past posts. There is a sense of honor that many attach to this post, as while they don’t know why, they feel maintaining the guard at these ruins is the single most important charge one can take. Some teens and young adults who don’t feel the call leave for a different life, but often they still enter service careers because they grew up with those values. On the other hand, some leave for further training so that when they are ready to settle down, they return to the Northern Reach to take the charge.
Starting Reputation: +10 home city; +25 other Lupsis Locations; -10 Alliance executives.
Jhebos
Et’ka – The Yolei are confused by the concept of a capital city, but since the elders convene here, it has the highest population, and is considered a holy sight with large tourism traffic due to pilgrimage, if Jhebos does have a capital, it is by default Et’ka. There is no law enforcement in Et’ka, but crime is about as proportional as it is with any city its size. Instead, as part of their religious charge, every adult is always armed, and issues are handled by the communities themselves. The only time the Convention of Elders steps in is when things escalate to the level of blood feuds or clan warfare, in which the military is directly sent to intervene on their behalf. This has, for the most part, worked for them for several millennia, but in recent times they’ve come to rely on K.A.O.S. since they are the planet’s main port, and things have been reasonably more peaceful just knowing the possible consequences of the Alliance getting involved. Still, most Yolei are culturally used to handling matters themselves as a principle.
Starting Reputation: +15 home city; +5 Yolei settlements; +5 Alliance cities; -15 Akulei settlements
Y’raios – Some Yolei have fully embraced the gifts of their Alliance and created a city contemporary to Kino City. Y’raios is the only city not built among the giant trees of their planet, but instead cleared land to erect a Ninlei-style Photon reactor and built the city around it. It has the highest density of other Races on Jhebos due to the more compatible city structure with what they are familiar with, but it has made them plenty of enemies within their own Race. They don’t care. These are people that dream of tomorrow and won’t let others stop them from reaching it.
Starting Reputation: +10 home city; +5 Yolei settlements; +10 Alliance cities; -50 In’ghal; -5 Sybl City
In’ghal – Just like Wiggaton, many societies have their own groups that refused to join the Alliance and keep a safe haven for them. But In’ghal isn’t just a group wanting to keep an older way of life alive; they are actively hostile to the Alliance. They have an elder on the council who always tries to convince them to disband from the Alliance and to consider their Race’s interests before all others, but they are always outnumbered. They live in old-fashioned tree houses instead of the prefabricated domiciles the others use, with very little Photon technology in their daily lives, since most of it came from the Alliance at this point. They are the toughest people from Jhebos, but if someone came from here in the Alliance, it is because they turned their back on their former way of life and are probably branded a traitor back home.
Starting Reputation: -25 home city; +15 Alliance cities
Jaspnai
Chuihaan – The crown seat of Jaspnai. Built into a large crater, it became the capital at the start of their Space Age since the nearby sea turned out to be the best spot to launch into the heavens. The most forward-thinking members of the Akulei, Chuihaan quickly became a trade center with embassies and enclaves of other Races the week they were convinced to finally join the Alliance. The law is tighter here than in other Akulei settlements for the sake of their Allies living among them, and, in general, they are also the ones least likely to attack someone just for fun. They are also the ones most accustomed to being in direct daylight for most of the day, since they spend a lot of time in the open parts of the crater city for transit and business.
Starting Reputation: +10 home city; +10 Alliance cities; -100 Ulrach
Lohul – A rustic backwater city built fifty kilometers along a river within a deep crevice. They aren’t lower tech than the capital because they want to be, but because the area is poor and refuses to change in any way that would solve that issue. They still have plenty of Photon technology, though. The pastimes here are fighting, drinking, gambling, and sometimes all three at once. Many of them don’t even understand what the idea of addiction means; this is just a way of living. Not everyone who joins the service gets fully clean, but they are probably still better off than with whatever they were doing before.
Starting Reputation: +10 home city; +5 Alliance cities; -5 Alliance executives; -100 Ulrach
Donaghul – The old capital before the Space Age. Many proud clans still live here and refuse to move elsewhere. They respect the monarchy and why they moved, but this is their hole in the ground and will always be the historic seat of the empire to them. Though nearly fully integrated with the Photon tech standards of the modern age, many of the buildings here are so old that there are no longer records that prove their age. They are more peaceful than they used to be, every clan previously going head to head for gains all the time. Now, they engage in mock warfare for sport. They are now the most competitive and sporty people on the planet. Every clan has their own teams and champions, and you wouldn’t catch a member dead rooting for anyone from any other clan. Even in the service, they tend to be too competitive with rival clan members, and tend to perform more reliably when not in the same squad as one.
Starting Reputation: +10 home city; +5 Alliance cities; +10 personal clan; -10 other clans; -100 Ulrach
Ulrach – For many millennia, there has been a tense civil war between the rest of the Akulei and the ones of the Southern Continent, also called Ulrach after its capital. They were different civilizations to begin with, but they tried living as a single-planet society for a few centuries until they were sick of the way the culture was enforced and decided to revert back to hostilities with everyone else again. They are nearly as technologically advanced as their enemies when it comes to intraplanetary warfare, though they’ve never had the agency to make it into space on their own. If a character is from here, they likely defected and are considered a high-priority target from their own people. Unfortunately, the other Akulei don’t inherently trust defectors, so they typically seek asylum from the Alliance immediately and are deployed elsewhere.
Starting Reputation: -100 home city; +10 Alliance cities; -5 other Akulei settlements
Chuihaal Deep – Far below Chuihaan, hundreds of meters below the crater, is another city. It used to be the ruins of some older Akulei society of which they lost all records from several millennia ago. It is possible it was dug into the ground before the crater was ever formed. They found it when they followed bewildering Darkbrood attacks back to their source. If they were going to keep appearing down there, they thought it would be best to reclaim the ancient city as an outpost. It is now a warrior training city with acclaimed arena fights and shows. The Akulei that live down there are more reckless than average and get excited at the threat of a Darkbrood attack. It is quite the tourist destination for those that don’t mind the danger.
Starting Reputation: +10 home city; +10 Alliance cities; -100 Ulrach
Haedrin
Haedrin Prime – The “first” moon of the gas giant Haedrin. It’s the first because that’s where the life that named it came from. Originally dominated by some organic race many millennia ago, Haedrin Prime is now occupied by the mechanical Race they created and left behind before going extinct. Every “city” is the same because they are more just sectors of a planet-wide city connected by transit systems, like a giant factory. The systems are always moving, but the Gorolei lived a laid-back lifestyle that seamlessly flows in and out of work and relaxation, like flipping a switch. They slowed progress to a linear rate just before entering the Space Age after a war between Embodied AI [themselves] and former Unembodied AI. After, they concluded only individual Embodied AI are allowed to live in their culture, without internetwork access. They are extremely skeptical of the other Races’ use of Unembodied AI, especially the Ninlei, but won’t step on their cultures’ toes. Instead, they offered safeguards to prevent what happened to their history and keep a vigilant watch on the progress of their technology. They are just a bunch of chill factory workers that want to be your bro.
Starting Reputation: +50 Haedrin Planetary System; +10 Alliance cities; -15 non-Alliance cities.
Haedrin II Mining Outpost – The second moon (the first other one they explored) is roughly 78% larger than Haedrin Prime and uninhabitable for most organic life. The desert moon without an atmosphere has so many useful minerals for the production of new Gorolei that they stopped mining on Haedrin Prime altogether and use mass drivers to launch the materials into transit back home. This is a place of strict work ethic, mostly filled with those who don’t jive with the more laid-back lifestyle of the homeworld; to the point that many of them choose to do the labor with their own bodies instead of the large-scale ore harvesting machines. It’s not that they look down on the other lifestyles; they just have no time for them.
Starting Reputation: +50 Haedrin Planetary System; +10 Alliance cities; -15 non-Alliance cities.
Haedrin Null Research Facility – During the time their creators were still around, they established a network colony of floating cities on top of the thick, sea-like atmosphere of the gas giant they orbit that they refer to as Haedrin Null. This colony was set up as a research facility to study the large celestial body they see all the time. Though the original use has long passed, the Gorolei have reclaimed the facility and begun using it to study the Darkbrood, especially considering that large Leviathans have been found in the planet’s atmosphere. It is mostly the ultra-inquisitive types that choose to live here long-term.
Starting Reputation: +50 Haedrin Planetary System; +10 Alliance cities; -15 non-Alliance cities.
K.A.C.V. Yuril
Yuril City – Functionally a mobile version of Kino City floating amongst the stars. A metropolis that blends together aspects of the cultures of all four major Alliance Races with the company of a few small enclaves of various less impactful Races that have joined the Alliance. Despite culturally being very similar to Kino City, it lacks any of the negative reputation the other has. Likely because everyone finds it more rational with everyone crammed together on an ark exploring the cosmos. Still, it isn’t without its fair share of crime. In some ways, it is far worse than the cities back home, but thankfully it has a very healthy justice system. The majority of the city consists of civilians, but a sizable chunk of them go on to become service members, just as a sizable amount who grew up with service parents in the Tunnels reject the service and move into the city.
Starting Reputation: +25 all Alliance locations.
“The Tunnels” – Referring to the inner workings of the colony ship the city rests within, the Tunnels are the various living facilities scattered throughout the different decks and blocks of the vessel. Many of these areas are practically little towns of their own where families of service members run cafes and shops that give everyone a sense of purpose and community. It’s a lot more spacious on average than the more cramped environment of the service vessels that support the colony ship, with many areas feeling like underground malls. Families from the tunnels also occasionally take day trips to the city for vacation, and a select few even commute to work there.
Starting Reputation: +25 all Alliance locations.
Service Vessels – Since Support Ships are temporary charges that cycle out periodically, those who grow up on these vessels don’t have the emotional attachment to the colony ship that the others have. They get so used to the confined spaces and moving between ships so often that they tend to seek careers that keep them traveling for most of their lives. Most of them live very minimal and detached lives, which also makes it equally hard for others to get attached to them. It fosters a high-etiquette environment, so people do immediately like them on a formal level, as even the children are hard-working.
Starting Reputation: +25 all Alliance locations.
Race
Again, this doesn’t have to be your character’s Race, just the Race that raised them. Though, for about 99% of people, they will be raised by their own Race. Raised in any Race’s household means you will have a solid grasp of their native language in addition to the Common Tongue, which, for the Ninlei. The cost and benefit of forming and running the Alliance in the first place. Aside from certain differences at specific settlements as stated in the previous section on Locations, the Racial Heritage bonuses in this particular Setting are fairly monolithic. There is nothing to choose, so just pick up the bonuses here that match your Race, unless you are in that minority of being raised by another one.
Ninlei
While the Common Tongue belongs to the Ninlei, since they are the glue that holds the Alliance together, it is extremely common for them to have studied at least one other Race’s Language. You may select one to start with half the proficiency of the Common Tongue, unless you grew up in an Ambassador household, in which it may be the same proficiency.
The Ninlei are also a very food-focused people, with many of their customs being centered around sharing complex meals (this does not seem to be normal for most other Races they’ve met). Being raised by Ninlei gives a native +5 to Cooking and a -10 to the Difficulty of Task Checks related to foreign foods.
Yolei
The Yolei’s native tongue is called Lolalai. It is a very easy language to pick up the basic vocabulary, as it is composed entirely of basic syllables and a unique character to represent each one. When transliterated into the Ninlei alphabet, each character is represented by a single consonant followed by one or two vowels that make the sound. The issue with learning it is that their vocabulary isn’t complex enough to cover every concept, and often one word can mean twenty adjacent things depending on the context. To learn Lolalai, you must learn the Yolei culture.
Nature and Climbing are very important to Yolei culture. They live within the canopies of terribly tall trees, so while they do have highways connecting everything for the elderly and visitors, those still in shape spend much of their travel time navigating the trees the old-fashioned way. Being raised in the Yolei culture giv
Akulei
The Akulei’s native tongue is called Gi’wuich. It is a sharp but rolling language that is often referred to by outsiders as “talking in cursive.” Unfortunately, the Akulei never developed a formal writing system with a proper alphabet, but instead uses a series of pictoglyphs that resemble emotions and concepts directly. This creates a big gap between navigating the spoken word and the signs in their cities. When transliterating their tongue to the Ninlei alphabet, they decided to make it equally confusing by using letter sets with following letters telling you how to pronounce the previous letter in alternating consonant-vowel sets. It’s not even that complicated to understand, just to initially learn and translate.
A lot of social interaction in Akulei society is based on Intimidation and boasting. Almost anyone raised in this culture will at the very least be used to navigating this dynamic. You get -20 to the Difficulty to Task Checks involving Intimidation.
Gorolei
The Gorolei’s native tongue is called Geshpanas, and was the last major language of the people that created them. They no longer use the ancient alphabet, though. For home world use, they use a binary system that looks like | and —, but for Alliance use they just transliterate all their words into the Ninlei alphabet.
Those raised by the Gorolei are cultured around finding creative mechanical solutions to any problem. Most of their school is functionally practical engineering, where they pose them with an issue, leave them with a bunch of junk supplies, and let them figure it out themselves. Because of this practice, they get a native +5 in Mechanics and -10 Difficulty toward Task Checks related to Inventing.
Alliance
These background options are specifically related to Alliance life, like whether your family has a history of serving in K.A.O.S. or working in some other facet of governance.
Civilian Family – No Recent Alliance History – Also often referred to as “New Blood”. Aside from maybe the one-off political ramblings of a member of your household, you have no experience with the internal workings of the services until you joined. Your family could be anywhere on the ladder between poverty and well-off enough not to care, but they’ve had no reason to deal directly with aspects of the Alliance that aren’t already pervasive to day-to-day life.
Characteristic: You can get away with not knowing how things work just a bit more than others with a longer history with the services. Everyone just assumes you don’t really know any better, but you better be learning now. On the other hand, you are the last person anyone goes to when it comes to handling these situations. Lower Difficulty when Task Checks involving social accusations are aimed at you by -10.
Merchant Family – Some of your family might have served, but your primary experience is through the merchant class. Your family is traders that work directly within the Alliance, buying and selling to both them and civilians, faring on service ships, even living in or around service complexes. You probably have the closest non-service view of how the services operate, so you are still expected to understand how things work.
Characteristic: Having an understanding of how trade works within the Alliance, you get a -10 Difficulty toward Task Checks related to Negotiation and Trade within these sectors.
Nobility – Many of the class structures have remained mostly intact under the Alliance. They mostly only retain local levels of control, but under the regulations of the Alliance systems. Because of this, many nobles are expected to be in the services at some point in their lives. Even the nobility from non-Alliance territories are expected to build a functional understanding of how the Alliance operates, since they will have to deal with them no matter what. Nobles aren’t always rich; they have just inherited some social stature and responsibility by their birth.
Characteristic: Having a general understanding of political affairs and etiquette, your Difficulty for Task Checks directly involved in such things is -10.
City Assignment – You grew up in one of the major cities under either one or both parents in the service that was assigned there. As long as it wasn’t too dangerous, you found yourself often running around with them on errands and jobs, learning a lot about the goings-on in that particular city, but also how to handle interacting with the common person in a professional manner. You don’t have any titles or wealth to your name, but you make up for it by starting with experience.
Characteristic: Knowing that particular city so well, you get -20 Difficulty to Task Checks specifically related to the city you are from. This includes social aspects, but also things like Navigation and Investigation.
Service Vessel Assignment – You spent your childhood aboard an Alliance Service Vessel. It may be the K.A.C.V. Yuril’s escorts, or one of countless other ships out among the stars. You weren’t privy to what the vessel’s mission was (unless it was escorting the Yuril), but you always had an idea of what part of the galaxy you were in and have a solid grasp of the social workings of these ships.
Characteristic: Since all of these vessels have the same layout, your knowledge transfers to most of them. You get a -20 Difficulty to Task Checks related to Service Vessels, pertaining to Etiquette, Navigation, and anything that isn’t specific to a particular ship.
Outpost Assignment – You grew up at a defense outpost under parents that served there in either combat or supportive roles. Life at the outpost isn’t terribly different from the Service Vessels, except that they [typically] get fresh air and are possibly close enough to travel to a town or city. Outpost Assignments are also somehow more stressful since the main reason they are there is because of frequent Darkbrood or enemy attacks. You tend to be more comfortable in Darkbrood emergencies than most people, and in some cases are more stressed out by longer periods of peace and quiet than the other way around (we call this reasonably developed paranoia).
Characteristic: Always looking over your shoulder in case Darkbrood attacks that day, you gain +10 to surprise DIS checks.
Ambassador Family – Never staying in a place for more than a few years at a time, one of your parents was an official Alliance Ambassador for your Race to another Race’s settlement to maintain positive relations. You may have stayed on a single planet or system, or maybe you jumped between star systems a lot, but the important thing is that you didn’t grow up mostly around your own Race. This gives you a pretty good understanding of the Race you were raised around, go to their schools and everything, but an unfortunately poor understanding of your own Race’s practical dynamics.
Characteristic: Being able to navigate the social dynamics of the Race you were raised around, you get a -10 to the Difficulty of any Task Check related to interacting directly with that culture.