Character options:
Regular human - The majority of the sector is inhabited by average human beings, various ethnicities and nationalities all mixed up after years of travelling the stars. A character may have strong Asian features but speak fluent Spanish or Italian and vice versa. Traditions and cultures were heavily mixed up especially in the post Scream period so one can expect to see anything from ancient polytheism to purely scientific atheism in terms of religion. Regardless of sex or ethnicity, regular humans are generally taken to be the norm and as such there are no societal or cultural restrictions applied to them.
MES Human - Psychic is a more common term, though the scientists love saying Metadimensional Extroversion Syndrome. How and who develops this condition is seemingly random and doesn't seem to be directly hereditary, though it is a matter of fact that MESes only started appearing after the first generation space-faring humans started settling down. Most MES humans require proper and accurate training by another Metapsion who can dampen their powers and allow them to safely practice their gifts without bear of burning their minds. Those who pull too much Metadimensional energy at once, in an activity often aptly called 'Torching', tend to burn away their neurons losing bits of themselves almost permanently until nothing but a shell remains. Without fear of losing anything more, this shell often goes on a rampage using its powers to their fullest potential. These Feral Psychics are only one of the reason why many fear them, hate them or at best tolerate them.
Exotic Options:
Metahuman Variants - During the Mandate era there was plenty of genetic experimentation and development, some innocent prospects seeking to unravel the human DNA and achieve transcendence through transhumanism, others intent on cloning soldiers for war or breeding mindless drones. Regardless of what created them, there are three distinct variants of mutahumanity within Elysian Omega sector.
Platonians - An odd alteration but one with some sense and logic, given their planet's state (Plato has an inert atmosphere). They require no air in the atmosphere to breathe but merely need to ingest enough water and their organism will crack it into oxygen. Excess hydrogen is released through pores in their skin which are clearly visible as black spots that seem to shift and grow while expunging hydrogen. They are additionally capable of feeding on mere microbes rather than have a strong need for solid meals. A single nutri-pack can keep a Platonian going for a whole week.
Dwarves - Supposedly it was due to the planets slightly stronger gravitational pull that the inhabitants saw fit to alter their progeny until they came to resemble the fantastical dwarves. Anthropological minds would say there was likely some bias involved as simple bone reinforcement could have helped and the folks of planet Aberdeen were big on mining and tunnelling. While the origin could be either or both the fact of the matter is that now there are Dwarves in the sector and much as one might expect they tend to excel with technical work as well as any hard labour and fighting.
Elves - On the subject of pointy ears, they were a consequence of stretching the genome whilst trying to encourage the development of MES Humans. Regardless the new breed of humans does not mind being referred to as Elves and in a way, they tend to act high and mighty while looking down on other regular folks. Every single elf is at the very least a novice at Precognition which means that every elf is an active Psychic. Those who are aware of the fact tend to be wary around real Elves while ignorant merely consider them posers who spent too much money on plastic surgery. Their life expectancy is however not as prolonged as their fantastical counterparts unless they become strong Biopsions.
Wulfen - It must have been a product of some sort of super soldier programme. These variants are essentially anthropomorphized wolves but they did not start as animals but as humans. Bit by bit they were turned into literal Dogs of War. Sure enough, the programme succeeded in creating the most fearsome shock troopers that even unarmed could wreak havoc on the battlefield but the true benefit was how well they worked as a team. With an instinctive and intrinsic need to be a part of a group or a pack a Wulfen will seek out strong individuals to voyage the space with. Centuries have passed since this type of humanity faced open warfare and in that time they took to appreciating more finer aspects of human culture.
Of sparks and metal
VI or AI? - Virtual and Artificial Intelligence may at a glance seem quite similar but there are some important differences between the two. A Virtual Intelligence(VI) is one that is capable of independent thought, limited growth and development and often aware and programmed to simply serve humanity to its fullest capacity. Artificial Intelligence(AI) is something that cannot be simply created out of thin air. It took the Mandate scientists immeasurable amount of resources to create the first AI and even after that point it wasn't much clearer how it is done. AI may at first seem like a VI but its development is rapid and limitless. In a matter of weeks or months an AI will surpass any intelligent human and in its thirst for more knowledge will start to develop dangerous personality quirks and obsessions. For this very reason, it is strictly forbidden from even creating an AI and leaving in un-broken or un-breaking an already broken AI.
Virtual Intelligence - They are fairly common for the elite clientele though few can tell the difference between a real VI and a simple Expert System. VIs are capable of growth, if limited, which separates them from simple programs designed to play your music, schedule your appointments and make notes for you. VI are often hooked up to robotic shells if used for specific tasks or within vehicles if one so desires. They tend to have limited control over things not directly linked to their shell and changing from one shell to the other requires a capable mechanic and about an hour of work or less with an exceptional one.
Artificial Intelligence - A braked AI can be used for many things and can be easily reined in if they overstep their bounds. Simply put they are incapable of developing past a certain point and have significant flaws in their reasoning much like humanity often does when influenced by bias. Un-braked AI, however, is a whole other story. Both require a very specialised vessel for their intellect called a Quantum Identity Core. This TL5 piece of translucent material is incredibly difficult to produce even for those that know how and is near impervious to standard weaponry. In a workshop, however, with proper tools, it can be cut and heavy weapons tend to obliterate it as well. There is one caveat, however. Cutting the Core into bits lower than 40% original volume simply causes those bits to evaporate, but if it is split into two with each piece larger than 40% something odd happens. The larger part continues to carry the AI's mind while the smaller remains active if in stasis. This smaller part serves as a backup if the larger part is ever destroyed and no matter the distance the AI's mind will always simply appear in the backup core and then proceed to regenerate mass until it is whole again. Unlike VI, an AI can ride the networks it has access to, and interface with equipment as if it had direct access. Unbroken AI are a menace, not a single one had ever managed to avoid going utterly insane when faced with contradictory occurrences within humanity and indeed within the universe. A perfectly logical mind seems incapable of accepting such outcomes and renders itself mad.
GM's Note: I wish to leave the option open, but I would prefer players to stick to non AI characters, but for those absolutely must play a 'God in the Machine' I require an investment of a ~500-word essay on why and how you want to play the AI. Even then it will have to be braked so as not to go insane.
Character Sheet:
Name:
Type: (Human, MES Human, Metatype etc)
Age: (adult characters, ages 20+)
Sex:
Appearance: (detailed description or semi-realistic image, feel free to add a description for what is not shown in the image, clothing styles, height/weight, tattoos and such)
Personality: (demeanour, behaviour, self-explanatory)
Background:(2-5 paragraphs yea? Try and hit the three stages of childhood, adolescence and adulthood if you have no idea what to put here, some skills and knowledge can be pulled from experience)
Skill-set:(what are they good at? Shooty shooty, stabby stabby? Hacking? Piloting?)
Standard equipment: (no need to list all thirteen knives and where they're hidden, just enough for us to get an idea of what the character finds normal to have at all times, should always include a Compad or maybe even a Dataslate for scientific characters)