Quarians (D20 Modern Racet)

Quarians

Personality

The quarians' top priority is the survival and sustainability of the Migrant Fleet. Most of their laws and customs revolve around this goal. It is illegal for couples to have more than one child, so that the fleet can maintain zero population growth (if the population begins to shrink, this rule is temporarily lifted, and incentives may be provided to encourage multiple births). Families are thus very small and close-knit. Because every quarian depends on his or her crewmates to survive, they are much more community-minded than individualistic species like the krogan. Loyalty, trust, and cooperation are highly prized qualities. Quarians enjoy storytelling as a means of escape from their often trying lives aboard the fleet, and are known to hold dancers in high esteem.

Physical Description

Quarians are generally shorter and of slighter build than humans. Quarians have an endoskeleton, lips, teeth, and two eyes with eyelids and tear ducts; they also have three thick fingers on both hands which include a thumb, an index finger, and a long finger, similar to the middle fingers for humans, as well as three toes on each foot. Quarian facial structure and hair actually makes them the most similar to humans in physical appearance. Their lower legs are bowed backwards significantly, compared to asari or humans. Aside from hands and legs, their general body shape and sexual dimorphism is similar to humans. Male quarians, however, appear to lack a third toe. Their ears or ear analogues differ in a noticeable fashion from those of humans, with references made to "what [passes] for the quarian version of an ear". Also like humans, quarian blood is red.

The most distinguishing feature of quarian biology is their weak immune system, compounded by centuries of living in sterile environments. As a result, all quarians by necessity dress in highly sophisticated enviro-suits, to protect them from disease or infection if they are injured. Their suits can be compartmentalized in the event of a tear or similar breach to prevent the spread of contaminants (similar to a ship sealing off bulkheads in the event of a hull breach). Along with their suits, quarians also have extensive cybernetic augmentations integrated into their bodies. A quarian's lifespan is roughly equal to a human's, but is prone to be less if infection breaks into the suit.

Relations

The Systems Alliance has no political relations with the quarians because the Migrant Fleet has not yet passed through any human-controlled area of space. Other species tend to look down on the quarians for several reasons, the foremost of which being their supposed 'unleashing' of the geth upon the galaxy. This act led to the quarians' losing their embassy on the Citadel. Quarians are often viewed as beggars and thieves.

Because of the Flotilla's limited resources, quarians strip-mine the systems they pass through, which often puts them at odds with any species currently settled there. The Migrant Fleet also tends to drop off criminals on planets it passes, because the quarians cannot support a non-productive prison population—they simply lack the resources. However, life on the Migrant Fleet means quarians have unique skills. The quarians have developed an imperfect technique for recovering data from geth memory cores. They are masters at maintaining and converting technology, especially ship parts, and they are also expert miners because the Fleet requires huge amounts of fuel. They are able to repair what most species would melt down. This proficiency means corporations sometimes quietly hire quarians "on the side" if the Migrant Fleet is nearby, replacing existing workers, much to their annoyance.

This unpopularity, and the fact their entire species travels and works as one, makes most quarians quite insular, caring only about the continued survival of the Migrant Fleet. Their nomadic life and exclusion from the Citadel mean that the concerns of the Citadel races don't particularly interest or impress them.

Alignment

Quarians tend to work for the betterment of their people, or to bring back something valuable to the Flotilla if a young Quarian is on their Pilgrimage. This usually puts them in the Good Alignment (lawful, neutral, or chaotic), but there are always exceptions.

Lands

Quarians are most comfortable on ships, with a large crew preferably. Quarians are used to the hum of a ship, people speaking, and the last they want to hear is silence as within the Flotilla it would mean an environmental system stopped functioning.

Religion

The quarians used to practice a form of ancestor worship. This involved taking a personality imprint from the individual and developing it into an interface similar to a VI. The quarians began experimenting with making these imprints more and more sophisticated, hopefully leading to the wisdom of their ancestors being preserved in an imprint that could be truly intelligent. However, the geth destroyed the quarians' ancestor databanks when they rebelled. Some quarians saw their subsequent exile as punishment for their hubris, but most accept that the geth rebellion was a mistake, not a punishment. However, respect for their ancestors is still prevalent in quarian society. Many quarians offer the phrase "Keelah se'lai" as an apparent benediction or religious oath. This means "By the home world I hope to see one day." It is often said in the same vein as "peace be with you".

Language

Now that the quarians are reduced to a small, insular population, they have one common language known as Khelish. Words from the language listed below are taken from intra-quarian conversation.

• nedas — nowhere
• tasi — no-one
• vas [ship-name] — crew of
• nar [ship-name] — child of
• keelah — "By the homeworld"
• keelah se'lai — "By the homeworld I hope to see one day."
• bosh'tet — curse/insult, likely being relative to "son-of-a-bitch" or "bastard".
• geth — "Servant of the People"
• Rannoch — "walled garden"
• von — "one who has a weak bladder"

Names

Quarian names are composed of four parts—the quarian's given name and clan name separated by an apostrophe, the title ("nar" means "child of", referring to their birth ship, while "vas", adopted after the quarian has completed their Pilgrimage and joined a ship, means "crew of") and the name of their vessel.

Racial Traits

• Ability Score Increase "+2 Intelligence, +2 Dexterity.", +1 Wisdom -3 Constitution: Quarians are intelligent, and dexerous, but because of their weak immune systems they prefer fighting from a distance rather than getting up-close and personal.
• Skills Quarians are automatically proficient in Disabling Devices, Computer usage, and Repairing.
• Medium: Quarians have no height modifiers.
• Quarians base land speed is 35ft.
• Darkvision (30ft): Thanks to Quarians' enviro-suit, the helmet provides limited Darkvision
• Emergency seals (Ex): When hurt, a Quarian can seal off parts of their suit to prevent surface infection from spreading. When this is done, they take half damage from infections from an open-air exposure, but this does not stop an infection that got into the blood stream.
• Quarian Training (Ex): When examining technology, a Quarian always had advantage, even when faced with unknown technology due to their life-long exposure to engineering and technology.
• Enviro-Suit (Ex): Because of the enviro-suit, Quarians can breathe anywhere, and have resistance against great cold and heat.
• Weak Immune System (Ex): Due to living in a sterile environment, if a Quarian is poisoned they take double damage until the effect is reversed
• Native Language: Khelish (all other languages are translated for them to understand through their suits, and Khelish is translated for others as well.)

Vital Statistics

Table: Quarian Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
18	+2	+3	+4 -->

Table: Quarian Aging Effects

Middle Age1	Old2	Venerable3	Maximum Age
18 years	40 years	60 years	+80 years
At middle age, −1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +2 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At old age, −2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +3 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At venerable age, −3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +4 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

Table: Quarian Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	5'11"	N/A	160lb.	N/A
Female	5'10"	N/A	157lb.	N/A

• All information thanks to the Mass Effect Wikipedia

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