In RFI:Freelancers it is almost impossible to guess where a person is from based just on their race or visual appearance. Humans, for example, could be from almost anywhere in the populated galaxy. Lyndri are almost always from their homeworld.
A character’s Environment grants the character a single trait, one point in a single attribute, and one point in a single skill.
A player may choose their Environment, or randomly determine it from the Random Environment table by rolling a d20.
The character grew up among another species. They might have lived among a small enclave of their own kind, or they may have been orphaned by some manner of disaster and raised by aliens. Whatever the situation, the character may have unique perspectives on their own species and on those they were raised alongside.
- Trait: At this step, the character gains a single trait. This trait should reflect the environment and culture the character was raised within. Consider how the character views their own culture, and how they connect —or possibly, don’t connect— to the philosophies and traditions of their people. Considering a trait associated with the species your character was raised among can be fitting here.
- Attribute: Choose or randomly roll another Species, then choose one of the attributes that species increases and increase your rating in that attribute by 1.
- Skill: Increase 1 skill rating by 1.
The character comes from one of their culture’s oldest or most prosperous colonies, which may be another world within their home system or one of the first worlds colonized. These colonies often develop a fiercely independent outlook, often having developed with little direct aid from their homeworld, and a sense of pride that accompanies being among the first of their kind to tame another world.
- Trait: At this step, the character gains a single trait. This trait should reflect the environment and culture the character was raised within. Consider how the character views their own culture, and how they connect —or possibly, don’t connect— to the philosophies and traditions of their people.
- Attribute: Choose one of the following attributes and increase it by 1: Presence or Will
- Skill: Choose one of Combat, Leadership, or Science; the character increases that skill by 1.
The character comes from a colony located on the fringes of known space, either on the edge of uncharted space or on the border with another civilization. (Typically, this will be either along the Front or in Freelance space.) Frontier colonists tend to be hardy and determined, even stubborn, and well-prepared for the dangers that their home may pose.
- Trait: At this step, the character gains a single trait. This trait should reflect the environment and culture the character was raised within. Consider how the character views their own culture, and how they connect —or possibly, don’t connect— to the philosophies and traditions of their people.
- Attribute: Choose one of the following attributes and increase it by 1: Agility or Fitness.
- Skill: Choose one of Combat, Piloting, or Survival; the character increases that skill by 1.
The character comes from the world that birthed their civilization and has been surrounded by cultural and spiritual legacies their entire life. Species homeworlds are often utopian and idyllic, serving as the platonic ideal of that species’ culture, or the recipients of an empire’s wealth and prosperity. They also exemplify aspects of a culture’s most revered traditions and serve as the heart of that civilization’s legal and political landscape.
- Trait: At this step, the character gains a single trait. This trait should reflect the environment and culture the character was raised within. Consider how the character views their own culture, and how they connect —or possibly, don’t connect— to the philosophies and traditions of their people. The sidebars on each species’ values can serve as inspiration here.
- Attribute: Choose one of the three attributes the character’s species improved; increase one of those attributes by 1.
- Skill: Choose one of Influence, Leadership, or Science; the character increases that skill by 1.
The character comes from a colony that is isolated from broader galactic society. Religious groups use worlds like this as an opportunity for contemplative isolation, while others are settled because they present unique research opportunities. The cultures of these colonies tend to focus on learning and introspection.
- Trait: At this step, the character gains a single trait. This trait should reflect the environment and culture the character was raised within. Consider how the character views their own culture, and how they connect —or possibly, don’t connect— to the philosophies and traditions of their people.
- Attribute: Choose one of the following attributes and increase it by 1: Cunning or Reason.
- Skill: Choose one of Influence, Science, or Systems; the character increases that skill by 1.
The character grew up in space, traveling aboard a starship or living aboard a space station. While they’re unlikely to have lived aboard a military vessel —very few carry families— many freighters, transports, and other civilian vessels have a tradition of family or generational crews, and many officers with families take postings to stations rather than ships. Those raised in space learn the ins and outs of shipboard life as children, and many are groomed for leadership, or learn to fly a shuttle in their formative years.
- Trait: At this step, the character gains a single trait. This trait should reflect the environment and culture the character was raised within. Consider how the character views their own culture, and how they connect —or possibly, don’t connect— to the philosophies and traditions of their people.
- Attribute: Choose one of the following attributes and increase it by 1: Agility or Cunning.
- Skill: Choose one of Leadership, Piloting, or Systems; the character increases that skill by 1.