Lazer General Rules and Species - Character Creation

This is the Creation section of LAZER General Rules and Species, optimized for the web. If you would like to see what the actual section looks like in the book you can download it in Acrobat PDF format at the bottom of the page. You can also down load a PDF version of a LAZER Character Sheet so you can print your own.

1 8 L A Z E R C R E A T I O N

NAME
The characters name is entirely up to the player; whatever you choose is alright.

SPECIES
The player must choose one of the eight character species available. What is a character species? A character species is any one of the eight species of Lifeforms that I suggest be used as characters when playing Lazer. Complete descriptions and accompanying illustrations of these eight species are provided in the following section in the manual. In this game there are many, many Lifeforms, but I feel only a handful of them are suitable for players to run in the game. Consequently, I have tried to prepare detailed rules outlining the eight core species I have selected for you. Occasionally a player will want to play a creature that is not in the suggested Species section. Check with your Gamemaster to see if it’s all right. He or she will have to assign characteristics to the new lifeform in order to play, but if they don’t have a problem with it, go ahead.
Why so many species? Simple, variety is the spice of life - and role playing! The choices from which the players select are designed to give the players fresh angles from which to approach game situations. Character classes, physical bonuses or limitations, and individual character abilities are all designed with playability and fun in mind.

AGE
Age is dependent on both the player’s choice and the character’s species. The species description section gives the average age of maturity for each species.

SEX
There is no rule which demands that male players run male characters or female players run female characters. In fact, running a character of the opposite sex can add a little spice to the play so don’t be afraid to do it. Don’t worry about what your friends say...
All species, with the exception of Marcoon, consist of both male and female. Marcoon are genderless and reproduce asexually.

HEIGHT and WEIGHT
Again, both are dependent on the species of the character, and the player’s discretion. The species’ average will be provided in order to give you an accurate sense of proportion in relation to other species. Height and Weight

will also be effected by very large or very small characters. The numbers provided in the Species section are averages. If your character is far above average in physical strength, then add some extra weight. If your character is a smaller specimen, then deduct a little. Just use your head. The next six attributes are rated on a scale from one to thirty; thirty being exceptional and one being extremely poor. The scores for these characteristics are generated depending on the character’s species. The exact die to be rolled will be found in each description section.

PHYSICAL STRENGTH
This indicates your character’s pure physical strength, i.e. lifting objects, carrying equipment, combat, etc. A character’s maximum Dead Lift (how much your character can lift off the ground) will be provided. Any Damage bonuses your character might have due to exceptional strength will also be shown here. You can find these adjustments in the Combat Modifiers chart in the COMBAT section of the rules.

ENDURANCE
Closely linked to PHYSICAL STRENGTH, ENDURANCE represents the character’s bodily resistance to fatigue, physical pain, punishment or disease. It also plays a role in determining how quickly your character regains lost Life Points, or recovers from wounds and fatigue which is known as your character’s Recovery Rate, which tells you how many life points he or she can heal naturally per day...

L A Z E R C R E A T I O N 1 9

AGILITY
Refers to the character’s dexterity in relation to his or her general body movements. Your character’s overall grace and ease of movement is rated here.

Jumping, rolling, diving, fighting... all are heavily affected by a characters AGILITY score.

MANIPULATION
Concerns mainly those tasks which take a great deal of hand/eye coordination. Targeting and firing a weapon, catching thrown objects, picking locks, reloading a weapon during combat, sleight of hand... all fall under MANIPULATION. I have drawn a distinction between Agility and Manipulation because I feel there is a world of difference between grace of movement and hand-to-eye coordination.

WILLPOWER
Primarily the character’s “mental discipline”, WILLPOWER scores effects the character’s resistance to pain, mind probing, memory, resistance to elements, etc... WILLPOWER is important to all abilities as it is almost always considered in Saving throw equations (detailed in the GM’s Notes section later on). WILLPOWER also has a very important bearing on magic, if the character possesses this ability, as Mana Points are initially based solely on your character’s WILLPOWER score.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
This is no more than how handsome/ugly, beautiful/disgusting your character appears to others. This score rarely has any real bearing on game situations, but players seem to like to know just the same. One thing to remember is that this score is relative to individuals of the same species. A Scree with a PERSONAL APPEARANCE of 18 would be exceptionally attractive to other Scree, but about a 3 to the eyes of a Tamaran.

LIFE POINTS
LIFE POINTS are lost when a direct hit or a critical hit is scored on your character or any extremely serious harm befalls your characters physical body. When all your LIFE POINTS are gone, you’re dead, period. All characters begin with a number of LIFE POINTS dependent on their species. Every time a character advances to a new level he, she or it immediately gains more LIFE POINTS. The number of new LIFE POINTS gained per level is also determined by the character’s species (see SPECIES section for details). This number is determined by the species LIFE POINT DIE. The number will be provided in each species description, and represents the potential number of new LIFE POINTS your character will receive once he or she advances to a new level.

RECOVERY RATE
Once a character becomes injured or fatigued, rest is required in order to heal. Exactly how long a player character must recuperate is determined by their Recovery Rate. This number shows how quickly each species is capable of recovering lost Life Points in eight hours of rest or sleep. This number will be determined by the character’s species (see SPECIES for specifics).

	20 L A Z E R C R E A T I O N
	Assuming that a character’s Recovery Rate is one Life Point per eight hours, he or she could recover three Life Points per day, as long as no strenuous activity is engaged in. A character’s Recovery Rate may also be influenced by a superior ENDURANCE score, which will be shown in the ENDURANCE description above. EXPERIENCE Experience is a way to measure the expertise a character holds in his or her various skills. Once the character has enough experience points he or she is raised one Level. The more encounters a character faces, the more experience points a character gains. The more experience points the character earns, the higher LEVEL he or she becomes. As the character raises in levels, he or she gains LIFE POINTS (among other things), becoming stronger. LEVEL Once a character gains enough experience points, that character advances to the next level of his or her class. With each level gained, the character increases Life Points, adds Skill Points, possibly more attacks per round, targeting adjustments, Mana Points, etc. Exactly what will be gained and which dice will need to be rolled to determine the number of points gained is dependent on the character’s species (see SPECIES section for exact listing), and chosen skills. The appropriate dice will be rolled and the resulting numbers added every time a character advances one level. Sounds complicated but it’s really very simple (the chart on page 19 should help a little). ARMOR LEVEL Unless the character possesses a natural armor of some type, ARMOR LEVEL will depend on whether the character buys armor and what type of armor it is (see ARMOR for details). If the character has a natural armor (hide, scales, etc.) its natural rating will be added to any additional armor worn.		MANA POINTS Mana points are necessary only for characters that utilize magic to some extent or another, so if your character didn’t choose magic as a skill ignore this section. Mana points are initially based on the characters WILLPOWER score. All spells have a Mana Point value assigned to them. This value is representative of the number of MANA POINTS that must be expended in order to cast the spell once. If the magic user has enough points the spell may be cast. As the magic user rises in levels, MANA POINTS will be gained (consult MAGE section for the details). RECOVERY RATE Once a character becomes injured or fatigued, rest is required in order to heal. Exactly how long a player character must recuperate is determined by their Recovery Rate. This number shows how quickly each species is capable of recovering lost Life Points in eight hours of rest or sleep. This number will be determined by the character’s species (see SPECIES for specifics). TAROTS Simply put, this is how much money your character begins the game with. The chart that I have provided allows players to randomly generate their character’s wealth and also gives a clue to their character’s possible background... you will see what I mean... SEE CHART BELOW SKILLS All characters in Lazer will possess many different skills. Which skills, and to what extent the character is proficient in them will be displayed here (see the SKILLS section for all the details). Many role playing systems on the market use a Class system, wherein your character is pigeon-holed into a particular profession i.e. Fighter, Thief, Magician, etc. Lazer doesn’t work this way...what I would like you to do is visualize what you want your character to be like and then select skills that will complete that image.

L A Z E R C R E A T I O N 2 1

Let me give you an example: Let’s say that you want to run an assassin-like charcter this game. Well, first think of all of the traits that a good assassin would possess... stealth, skill with weapons, knowledge of their targets’ habits and anatomy, hand-to-hand combat(?), etc. If it were me, I would choose skills something along these lines...

SNIPER		TACTICS
MARTIAL ARTS		CONCEALMENT/POSITIONING
ANATOMY		WEAPONS MECHANICS
STEALTH		ELECTRONIC LOCK PICKING

These would be my first choices, and I would add to them as I increased in level (assuming I lived that long). These eight skills would give my character a well rounded knowledge of his craft and a better-than-average chance of eliminating opponents quickly and quietly.

EQUIPMENT
This is just where you write down all the stuff your character owns. Make sure to keep the stuff actually carried seperate from the rest of the stuff you might own. You and the Gamemaster will need to know exactly what your character has on his or her person at all times. You will find all the goodies you can purchase in the EQUIPMENT section.



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