Humans are easily the most outworldly, idealistic, and expansionistic race in the United Federation of Planets, and possessed those qualities in a greater degree than many of the alien races they would encounter. Humans had no true specialty or extraordinary qualities and were average in both a technological and physical sense. --Human - Memory Alpha
Humans are warm-blooded primates. Their skin tone ranges from pale through browns to very dark. Their eyes are typically brown, but blue and green are not too uncommon.
Humans are known for their innovation and adaptability. Their dominance within Starfleet is due in part to this, their willingness to cooperate, and the fact that Starfleet was originally a pre-Federation Earth organization. While Humans are ubiquitous among all of Starfleet's departments, they, more so than other species, have a propensity for command.
Human Template (0/-3 pts)
| Male ♂ | Female ♀ | |
|---|
| Social Background |
|---|
| 0 | | 0 | | Cultural Familiarity (Human) | You get your native culture for free. Cultural Familiarity (Human) is ubiquitous within the Federation. |
| 0 | | 0 | | Language (English–native) | You get your native language for free. English is the primary language of the United Federation of Planets. |
| 0 | | 0 | | total |
|
| Attribute Modifiers |
|---|
| 0 | | -3 | | ST -0/-1 | ST is ±3 points/level; ST 10/9 is Human average |
| 0 | | -3 | | total |
|
| Secondary Characteristic Modifiers |
|---|
| 0 | | 0 | | total |
|
| Advantages |
|---|
| 0 | | 0 | | total |
|
| Disadvantages |
|---|
| 0 | | 0 | | total |
|
| Skills |
|---|
| 0 | | 0 | | total |
|
| Point Summary |
|---|
| 0 | | 0 | | Social Background |
| 0 | | -3 | | Attributes |
| 0 | | 0 | | Secondary Characteristics |
| 0 | | 0 | | Advantages/Perks |
| 0 | | 0 | | Disadvantages/Quirks |
| 0 | | 0 | | Skills/Techniques |
| 0 | | -3 | | total |
Common Traits
While not part of the Human Template, there are traits that are associated with Humans, more so than other species. Those in yellow are exclusive to Humans.
Common Traits
| Male ♂ | Female ♀ | |
|---|
| Advantage |
|---|
| 10 | | 10 | | Jack of All Trades Talent | [GPU3 p11] Only humans are allowed to take this talent–up to three levels. |
|
| Disadvantage |
|---|
| -5 | * | -5 | * | Compulsive Playfulness (≤12) | ≤6 -10, ≤9 -7, ≤12 -5, ≤15 -2 (inspired by GURPS Space, p. 170) |
|
Features
GURPS Character Sheet Program Downloads
Minimum and Maximum Limits
There are limits to the minimum and maximum values of realistic characters fit for adventuring. The tables below gives these limits as ±% to the species average in the case of attributes and maximum levels in the case of advantages. To find the limits for a species' Attibutes, apply the ±% to the species' average score (round <0.5 down, round ≥0.5 up). E.g. Human females have average ST 9. A Human female's minimum ST is 7 (9 - 9x0.20 = 7.2), maximum ST is 14 (9 + 9x0.60 = 14.4).
Attributes
Attribute Limits
| Min | Max | Attribute |
|---|
| -20% | +60% | ST | e.g. Human male: min-8, average-10, max-16 |
| -30% | +40% | IQ | e.g. Human male: min-7, average-10, max-14 |
| -30% | +40% | DX | e.g. Human male: min-7, average-10, max-14 |
| -30% | +30% | HT | e.g. Human male: min-7, average-10, max-13 |
The maximum limits are soft. Increasing an Attribute beyond the species maximum requires purchasing an Unusual Background (Peak Attribute) Advantage that increases in cost the higher above the species maximum you go.
Unusual Background (Peak Attribute) Costs
| Score | ST | DX | IQ | HT |
|---|
| 12→13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13→14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 14→15 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 15→16 | 0 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| 16→17 | 1 | 40 | 40 | 40 |
| 17→18 | 3 | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| 18→19 | 6 | 160 | 160 | 160 |
| 19→20 | 12 | 320 | 320 | 320 |
For example, the cost to raise your IQ from 14 to 15 would be 30 character points: 20 points to increase IQ from 14 to 15, plus 10 points for Unusual Background (Peak IQ).
Secondary Attributes
Secondary Attributes can be adjusted within some ±%.
Secondary Attribute Limits
| Min | Max | Attribute | |
|---|
| -30% | +30% | Hit Points | can vary by ±30% of ST[B16] |
| -40% | +40% | Will | can vary by ±40% of IQ [B16] |
| -40% | +40% | Perception | can vary by ±40% of IQ [B16] |
| -30% | +30% | Fatigue Points | can vary by ±30% of HT [B16] |
| -40% | +40% | Basic Speed | can vary by ±40% of (DX+HT)/4 [B17] |
| -60% | +60% | Basic Move | can vary by ±60% of Basic Speed [B17] |
The +40% max for Will and Perception are a house rule. If you modify your IQ from your species' average, you should consider moving Will and/or Perception back toward your species' average, unless the modified values suit your character concept. Lowering Will or Perception (-5 pts/lvl), or any Secondary Attribute, does count against the campaign's disadvantage limit
Advantages
Limits in your species template override those given below.
Advantage Limits
| Level | Advantage |
|---|
| 4 | Acute Hearing | [GURPS: Tactical Shooting, p36] |
| 3 | Acute Taste and Smell | [GURPS: Biotech, p57] |
| 3 | Acute Touch | [GURPS: Biotech, p57] |
| 2 | Acute Vision | [GURPS: Tactical Shooting, p36] |
| 2 | Night Vision | [GURPS: Tactical Shooting, p36] |
| 4 | Species Talent | Exception: Human's Jack of All Trades Talent has a 3 level maximum. |
Your Appearance may not be Horrific, Monstrous, or Transcendent
Species Specialties and Skill Penalties
Because of the common genetic ancestry of most of the races of the Milky Way Galaxy...--Hybrid - Memory Alpha
Many behavior/cultural and medical/physiological skills and techniques require you to specialize by species. There is a penalty when using these skills with culture [B23] or physiology [B181] you aren't specialized in. It is assumed you will specialize in your own species, but you don't have to. (Being specialized in other species but not your own requires a plausible background story—a 1 character point Unusual Background Perk).
Behavioral/Cultural Off-Culture Penalties
The penalties for using the behavioral/cultural-type skills – Anthropology, Body Language, Carousing, Connoisseur, Criminology, Dancing, Detect Lies, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Games, Gesture, Heraldry, Hypnotism, Interrogation, Intimidation, Leadership, Merchant, Poetry, Politics, Propaganda/TL, Psychology, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire, Sex Appeal, Sociology, Streetwise, and Teaching [B23] – on a species outside your specialty are given in the table below. The Expert Skill (Xenology) skill suffers from the same penalties when used to identify or answer general questions about a species' culture.
Off-Culture Default Penalties for Behavioral/Cultural-Type Skills
| Prevalence | Penalty | Culture |
|---|
| Common | -1 | Human, Andorian, Tellarite, Vulcan |
| Uncommon | -2 | Alpha Centauran, Caitian, Deltan, Denobulan, Edosian, Klingon, Orion, Rigelian, Saurian |
| Rare | -3 | Arcturian, Argelian, Betazoid, Bolian, Brecon, Coridan, Cygnan, Cygnian, Jidarian, Kaferian, Kzinti, Medusan, Mynieni, Nausicaan, Prellarian, Romulan, Suliban, Trill |
| Very Rare | -4 | Bajoran, Benzite |
| Unknown* | -5 | Ferengi, Gorn |
| Enigmatic† | -6 | Tholian |
* Cultural Familiarity for unknown species costs 1 character point, plus a 1 character point Unusual Background.
† Cultural Familiarity for enigmatic species costs 2 character points.
Counseling officers have access to Cultural Adaptability (10 pt) (or Xeno-Adaptability (20 pt)) which allow them to ignore these cultural unfamiliarity penalties for Common and Uncommon species (or all species). The Counseling! wildcard relative skill level bonus reduces these penalties for those skills above that aren't covered by Counseling! E.g. If you had Counseling! at Attribute+1 (36 pt), you would have only a -1 penalty when Carousing with an Alpha Centauran and no penalty when Interrogating one.
Medical/Physiological Off-Species Penalties
The off-species penalties for medical/physiological-type skills are based on the Zorsky Interspecies Compatibility Table [from GURPS: MODULE PRIME ALPHA, pp. 28-29] given below. These penalties can be waived if you can make a Physiology (species) roll for that species first. You may roll against Physiology (species) at defaut; such a roll suffers from the same penalties given below.
Physiology (species)/TL
IQ/Hard
IQ-6, Diagnosis-5, Physician-5, Physiology-off species penalty, or Surgery-5
This skill is covered on p. B213. A successful roll against your species specialty of Physiology temporarily removes the off-species penalty for physiology-esque skills [B181]: Diagnosis, First Aid, Physician, Pressure Points, Pressure Secrets, or Surgery. If you fail this Physiology roll, you feel the full effects of any off-species penalty. While a high Physiology skill with several species specializations can be an efficient way to go for high-IQ individuals and/or those with a wide range of medical/physiological skills, purchasing additional species specialties for particular skills removes their off-species penalty permanently.
Off-Species Default Penalties for Medical/Physiological-Type Skills
| Zorski Group | Description | Default Penalties | Example Species |
|---|
| I | Humans and all species moderately compatible in terms of blood and biochemistry. (Alpha- Centaurians are genetically human.) |
- -1 within a subgroup
- -2 with other Group I subgroups
- -3 with Groups II-IV
- -4 with Group V
- -5 Groups VI-IX
- -6 Groups X
|
- Subgroup a: Humans/Alpha- Centaurans (same species), Rigellians
- Subgroup b: Brecon, Cygnans, Prellarians
|
| II | Species dissimilar to Group I in biochemistry and/or have significant internal organ differences including extra or unique internal organs. |
- -2 within Group II
- -3 with Groups I, III, and IV
- -4 with Group V
- -5 Groups VI-IX
- -6 Groups X
|
Arcturians, Klingons, Tellarites |
| III |
Species dissimilar to Groups I and II in that their blood chemistries are not based on iron, e.g. copper (a) or cobalt (b) based. |
- -1 within a subgroup
- -2 with other Group III subgroups
- -3 with Groups I, II, IV
- -4 with Group V
- -5 Groups VI-IX
- -6 Groups X
|
- Subgroup a: Vulcans
- Subgroup b: Andorians, Orions
|
| IV | Mammalian species with biochemistries moderately compatible with Group I, but which have significant internal and external differences. |
- -3 with Groups I-III
- -4 with Group V
- -5 Groups VI-IX
- -6 Groups X
|
Kzintis |
| V | Reptilian species with biochemistries and internal/ external differences that are significant when compared to Group I. |
- -1 within Va subgroup
- -2 with other Group V subgroups
- -4 with Group I-IV
- -5 Groups VI-IX
- -6 Groups X
| |
| VI | Exoskeletal species that are significantly different to Groups I-V and each other. |
- -5 with any other species, including other Group VI species
- -6 Groups X
|
Jindarians, Mynieni |
| VII | Species that do not have individual internal organs or their equivalents, and include plantlike species. |
- -5 with any other species, including other Group VII species
- -6 Groups X
| |
| VIII | Species that do not breath oxygen and come from subzero (though not cryogenic, see Group IX) climates. |
- -5 with any other species, including other Group VIII species
- -6 Groups X
| |
| IX | Species that do not breath oxygen and come from cryogenic climates. |
- -5 with any other species, including other Group IX species
- -6 Groups X
| |
| X | Species that are highly unique and defy classification. |
- -6 with any other species, including other Group X species
|
Tholians |
The above table is a modified version of Zorsky Interspecies Compatibility Table that appears in GURPS Module Prime Alpha.
These penalties can be waived if you can make a Physiology Skill roll for that species first, which will of course suffer from the same penalty. If you don't have the Physiology Skill for that species, you can roll against a default: IQ-6, Diagnosis-5, Physician-5, or Surgery-5.
