This article and its companion, covering Australians, are a terrific way to detail where NPCs are from, even if you do not use it for PCs in your games.  My thanks to Clare for granting permission for me to host it on my web site.- Kevin Clark - Oct. 26th, 1998.

INTRODUCTION

This article is written to provide players and referees with a simple system for determining a characters homeworld.  Using the system given in the 2300 AD rules, a player has to choose a homeworld based on some die rolls which determine whether the character is from a Core or Frontier world, and then what the gravity of that homeworld is.  Using the tables provided in this article, the process takes place in a different order.

First, the player randomly determines the character's homeworld.  The result then automatically determines the homeworld's gravity type and whether it is a Core or a Frontier world.  Not all players may wish to use this system as it may cause some difficulties for their characters.  If a harsh world such as King is rolled, a player character will be forced to wear a respirator in normal atmospheres, and so on.  It may also designate characters as coming from worlds they know little about.  However, even with these possible draw-backs, this system provides a challenging element of random chance which may place a characters home at L-4, Ellis, Tirane, or somewhere in Idaho back in the states.
 

PROCEDURE

This system requires the use of percentile rolls.  As the 2300 AD game does not use percentile dice, some players may need an explanation.  To make a percentile roll, roll 1D10 and multiply the result by 10.  Then roll a second die and add its result to the total.  This new total is the percentile result.  For example, a 4 is rolled on the first die.  Multiplying this by 10 gives a result of 40.  The second roll comes up a 6, which is added to the first result, giving the percentile result of 46.  If both dice come up 0s, treat the roll as 100.  This system allows for the random generation of numbers between 1 and 100, and is commonly referred to as a percentile roll.  It is also commonly notated as D100.

When a character is created, the first step is to determine the character's homeworld.  Instead of using the Homeworld Table included in the 2300 AD game, use the tables included in this article.  To begin with, roll percentile dice and consult the American Homeworlds Table.  This will provide the name of the homeworld, whether it is a Core or a Frontier world, and its gravity type.  Certain results may require further explanation or additional rolls to complete the process.  Information on Tirane, Hermes, Ellis, and King may be found in the Colonial Atlas.  Information about Earth may be found in the Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook.  Little information is currently available concerning the remaining American colonies.

Earth:  The result "Earth" indicates that the character is from somewhere within the continental U.S., including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.  The player has the option of rolling to determine the character's home state.  To do this, a roll of 1D100 should be made on the Earth-America Table.  Rolls between 96 and 100, inclusive, indicate a state containing less than one percent of the total U.S. population.  If this result is rolled, simply make a second 1D100 roll and consult the States Below 1% Population Table.

Ellis:  This is the 50th American state, even though it is not on Earth.  It is in fact far at the end of the American Subarm of colonial space.  While Ellis is on the Frontier, it is a state, complete with the government, bureaucracy, legalities, and modernization that goes along with the title.  For this reason, players with characters from Ellis may choose their background skills from either the Frontier or Core categories, or both.

King:  All characters who come from King possess genetically modified bodies to survive in that hostile environment.  The main result of these changes is that, aside from strength and dexterity modifiers when operating in non-high-G environments, the character must wear a respirator in normal atmospheres.

Australian world:  The character was originally raised in Australian territory.  This may be because one or both of the character's parents were Australian, because his parents were Americans who worked for an Australian firm, or simply because his parents were Americans who moved to Australia during the character's growing years.  The result is that the character has had both American and Australian influences, though he is presently an American citizen.  At the referee's option, the character may be assumed to have dual citizenship.  The system provided in the 2300 AD rules will have to be used to determine the character's homeworld.  An upcoming Challenge article will do for Australian characters what this article does for American characters.

Other Foreign World:  The character is as described above under Australian World, but is from any non-American and non-Australian world.  The system provided in the 2300 AD rules will have to be used to determine the characters homeworld.

Asterisked Colonies:  Any colony listed with an asterisk next to its name is an outpost and is too small for any permanent settlers.  Characters who receive this result were probably born at the colony listed, but were then raised at a larger colony shortly afterward.  The player rolling this result may wish to make a note of his birthplace, but should immediately roll again.
 

AMERICAN HOMEWORLDS

                       Percent  Dice   World
Homeworld              Chance   Roll   Type      Gravity
Earth                     20%   01-20  Core      Normal
Alpha Centauri, Tirania   10%   21-30  Core      Normal
Ellis                     28%   31-58  Frontier  Normal
King                      10%   59-68  Frontier  High-G
Mu Herculis ( Hermes)     17%   69-85  Frontier  Low-G
Red Speck*                 1%   86     Frontier  Zero-G
Vega*                      1%   87     Frontier  Zero-G
Broward*                   1%   88     Frontier  Zero-G
New Melbourne*             1%   89     Frontier  Zero-G
Barnard's Star             1%   90     Frontier  Low-G
L-4                        1%   91     Core      Zero-G
Australian world           6%   92-97  Varies    Varies
Other foreign world        3%   98-100 Varies    Varies

*See Asterisked Colonies section in the text above.

If this chart were based on actual American populations, Earth and Tirane would be the characters' homeworlds about 90 percent of the time.  So we will assume a majority of the Core world populations prefer the comforts of home to the challenges of the Frontier.  The chance of space-faring citizens having one of these Core worlds for a homeworld is reduced to match the 2300 AD Homeworld Table.  A character's chance of being from King has been similarly reduced as its inhabitants have gone through biological changes to adapt to its harsh conditions.  This is assumed to force most inhabitants of King to stay on King, doing less interstellar travel than inhabitants of other American colonies.
 

EARTH-AMERICA

                  Percent  Dice
State             Chance   Roll
--------------------------------
Alabama               2%   01-02
Arkansas              1%   03
California            7%   04-10
Colorado              1%   11
Connecticut           2%   12-13
Florida               6%   14-19
Georgia               2%   20-21
Illinois              6%   22-27
Indiana               4%   28-32
Iowa                  1%   33
Kansas                1%   34
Kentucky              2%   35-36
Louisiana             2%   37-38
Maryland              2%   39-40
Massachusetts         4%   41-44
Michigan              5%   45-49
Minnesota             2%   50-51
Mississippi           1%   52
Missouri              2%   53-54
New Jersey            4%   55-58
New York              9%   69-67
North Carolina        2%   68-69
Ohio                  6%   70-75
Oklahoma              1%   76
Oregon                1%   77
Pennsylvania          6%   78-83
Puerto Rico           1%   84
Rhode Island          1%   85
South Carolina        1%   86
Tennessee             2%   87-88
Virginia              2%   89-90
Washington            2%   91-92
West Virginia         1%   93
Wisconsin             2%   94-95
States less than 1%   5%   96-100

STATES BELOW 1% POPULATION

                  Percent  Dice
State             Chance   Roll
--------------------------------
Alaska                3%   01-03
Delaware              9%   04-12
Hawaii                8%   13-20
Idaho                 6%   21-26
Maine                 7%   27-33
Montana               6%   34-39
Nebraska             12%   40-51
New Hampshire         9%   52-60
Nevada                4%   61-64
New Mexico            4%   65-68
North Dakota          6%   69-74
South Dakota          6%   75-80
Utah                 10%   81-90
Vermont               6%   91-96
Wyoming               4%   97-100

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