This article and its companion, covering Americans, 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 as a follow up to "Where Ya from, Mack?".  Both are designed to aid players and referees with a simple system for determining a character's homeworld based on nationality.  The previous article was for American characters; this article determines homeworlds for Australian characters.

Using the system given in 2300 AD, players choose a homeworld based on die rolls which determine whether they are from Core or Frontier worlds and what their world's gravity is.  In this article, the process is a little different.  First, players randomly determine their 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 could cause some difficulties for their characters.  For instance, if a harsh world such as King is rolled, the character will be forced to wear a respirator in normal atmospheres, and so on.  This system may also assign characters to worlds they know little about.  However, even with these possible drawbacks, this system supplies a challenging element of chance which may place a character's home at L-4, Botany Bay, Tirane, or somewhere in the Northern Territory back on Earth.
 

PROCEDURE

When a character is created, the first step is to determine the character's homeworld.  Instead of using the Homeworld Table included in 2300 AD, use the tables in this article.  To begin with, roll percentile dice ( 1d100) and consult the Australian Homeworlds Table; this table 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 ( New Canberra), Botany Bay, Kingsland, and King may be found in the Colonial Atlas.  Little information is available concerning the Australian outposts at Ross 863 and New Melbourne.

Earth:  The result "Earth" indicates that the character is from somewhere within the Australian continent, not including the area north of New Queensland, which is now part of the nation of Papua.  The player has the option of rolling to determine the character's home territory.  To do this, a roll of 1d100 should be made on the Earth-Australia Table.  Additionally, the player also has the option of determining whether the character is from a rural or urban area.

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.

American World:  The character was originally raised in American territory.  This may be because one or both of the character's parents were American, because his parents were Australians who worked for an American firm, or simply because his parents were Australians who moved to America during the character's growing years.  The result is that the character has had both American and Australian influences, although he is presently an Australian citizen.  At the referee's option, the character may be assumed to have dual citizenship.

The system provided in the 2300 AD rules may be used to determine the character's homeworld.  Alternatively, "Where Ya from, Mack?" provided a system for determining an American character's homeworld.

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

Asterisks:  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 this, but should roll again.
 

URBAN AND RURAL CHARACTERS

Characters who come from urban backgrounds may purchase Core world skills as described in the 2300 AD rules.  Characters from rural backgrounds instead may choose from the Core World Skills/Rural Characters list given below.  Because rural characters are still influenced strongly by their Core world's urban society, they may purchase up to half their background skills from the Core world skills list given in the 2300 AD rules.  However, the total number of skill points spent on Core world background skills may not exceed the total number of skill points spent on rural background skills.  For ease of reference, the Core world skills from the 2300 AD rules are listed below under Core World Skills/Urban Characters.

Core World Skills/Rural Characters:  Ground Vehicle, First Aid, Riding, Swim, Mechanical, Hunting, and Rifle ( Combat Rifleman).

Core World Skills/Urban Characters:  Computer, Ground Vehicle, Hover Vehicle, Sea Vehicle, Bureaucracy, and Information Gathering.
 

Australian Homeworlds

World                       Chance   Roll   Type      Gravity
Earth                          10%   01-10  Core      Normal
Alpha Centauri, New Canberra   30%   11-40  Core      Normal
Botany Bay                     25%   41-65  Frontier  Normal
King                            9%   66-74  Frontier  High-G
Kingsland                      12%   75-88  Frontier  Normal
New Melbourne*                  1%   87     Frontier  Zero-G
Ross 863*                       1%   88     Frontier  Zero-G
L-4                             1%   89     Core      Zero-G
American world                  7%   90-96  Varies    Varies
Other foreign world             4%   97-100 Varies    Varies

Over 95 percent of all Australians live on the Core worlds of Earth and Alpha Centauri.  However, it is assumed that a much larger percentage of Core world inhabitants prefer the comforts of home to the challenges of the Frontier.  So the Core world contribution to the total number of space-faring citizens has been reduced here to roughly 40 percent.

The chances for a character being from King have been similarly reduced as the inhabitants of that world have gone through certain biological changes to adapt to that world's harsh conditions.  It is assumed here that this forces most inhabitants of King to stay on-planet, doing proportionately less interstellar travel than the inhabitants of other Australian colonies.
 

Earth-Australia

Territory        Chance   Roll    Urban
New South Wales      33%  01-33   57%
Victoria             28%  34-61   89%
New Queensland       14%  62-75   31%
South Australia      13%  76-88   44%
Western Australia    10%  89-98   12%
Northern Territory    2%  99-100  33%

The Urban column indicates the approximate percentage of in habitants of the territory who live in an urban environment.  To determine if a character is from an urban environment, simply make a percentile roll.  If the result is less than or equal to the percentage indicated ( treat 00 as 100), then the character is from an urban background.  Otherwise, the character is from a rural background.
-Clare W. Hess

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