The Vat-Born and Strangers

A new race and destiny. Thanks to Bat for the inspiration and co-writing.

Vat-Born
The vat-born are cloned augmented humans from before the shattering of the moon. Their vats have been scattered and buried across the globe by the breaking of time, and as each vat is exposed to the air, a new vat-born is freed. There are very few vat-born, as the majority perish within the first few days after leaving their birth vat. Vat-born possess the following benefits:

• It Always Works: Vat-born have no chance of failing a racial tech conflict.
• Slowing the Sands of Time: All Vat-born possesses the Long-Lived highlight. If this is rolled during the Highlight process of character creation the lifespan of a vat-born is increased to 300+ years.
• Purity of Flesh: Vat-born have no mutations.
• Scarless: Vat-Born have superior bodies, possessing Regeneration (Ultra) and +1 to all rolls against toxins.
• I Remember Now: Vat-Born are always Strangers.
• Ability Modifiers: Vat-Born gain +2 to all primary abilities.


Stranger
The first thing I remember is waking up to a shrill, incessant beep. The dim green glow of a single fading light illuminated the many small tubes that traveled in and out of my body. Barely conscious, I watched the tubes self-detach and fall with a soft clang upon the metal floor of my metal coffin. A red seam formed above my head and the coffin split open with great force. I crawled out, naked and groggy, into a world filled with nightmares. With a strange sense of detachment, I found myself assessing the situation and I quickly armed myself and built a shelter, even though I had no memory of learning those skills. The next day I returned to my coffin and found it mostly encased in the hard soil of the area. Inscribed within it was the message “You are born to Serve.”

Strangers are cloned elite soldiers from before the shattering of the moon who have managed to survive past the first few days after crawling out of their vats. Using their physical toughness and extensive knowledge, strangers are gifted survivors under the shattered moon. Strangers possess the following benefits:

• Born with a Steering Wheel in Hand: Strangers are natural drivers, adding +2 to any conflict rolls regarding piloting or operating a vehicle.
• Commanding Presence: Strangers can be intimidating and intense and add +1 to all socially-oriented conflicts.
• Past Knowledge: Strangers receive a +2 to all skill set conflicts excepting those dealing with sorcerous subjects or artifacts.
• Polyglot: All strangers are literate and fluent in 4 languages.
• Deadeye: Strangers receive a +1 to Combat conflicts.

At creation, a Stranger possesses the following skills at (Basic) 2: Knowledge of Biology, Knowledge of Chemistry, Knowledge of Electricity, Knowledge of Materials, and Knowledge of Mechanics. A Stranger possesses the following skills at (Intermediate) 2: Animal Husbandry, Farming. A Stranger also possesses the following skills at (Advanced) 1: Operation of Computers, and Operation of Tech. In addition, a Vat-Born Human possesses the following skills at (Ultra) 1: Item Identification, Operation of Vehicles and Operation of Weapons and Armor.

A Stranger has 2 thresholds and 4 ranks with which to customize his skill list. For example, he could choose to spend 2 thresholds to possess Operation of Computers (Ultra) 1 and Operation of Tech (Ultra) 1 and spend 4 ranks to possess Item Identification (Ultra) 3 and Operation of Vehicles (Ultra) 2 and Operation of Weapons and Armor (Ultra) 2.