Species trees (preview)

Like Specialties, each Species will also enjoy a Talent tree that contributes, in whatsoever degree, to a Character's Singularity. The Species, as such, no longer provides a static set of bonuses; instead, they are absorbed into the Singularity, most typically, through the expenditure of [A]dvantage results. The solid arrows represent viable tile sequences; the dotted arrows indicate potential connections to tiles from outside sources—i.e., those from a Specialty or, in special cases, a custom bit of cybernetics.

A tile, once absorbed into the Singularity, brings with it all the arrows it had in its original source tree. If the surrogate arrows manage to draw a viable tile sequence between this new tile and an adjacent, preexisting Singularity tile — in fact, it needs to make at least one such connection to be absorbed in the first place — then a new and likely unique connection is forged, and the sequence of tiles flows as intended.

The magnitude of the [*] tile cost corresponds, in most cases, with the tile's Range Band — i.e., the level above the foothold that its tile occupies. As such, tiles at +1 Range Band from the foothold cost +1[A] in a Species, those at +2 Range Bands cost +2[A], and so on, with the notable exception of tiles that combine more than one type of result, or tiles which bear a Force die commitment. The various tile costs typically indicate the duration of their effects, once their tile cost is paid (or committed):

• [A]dvantage: until next Scene
• [S]uccess: until next Chapter
  
• [Tri]umph: until next Episode
  
• [F]orce die: until committed die relinquished
  

The Ithorian Bellow Talent has been renamed to Supersonic Bellow here, and will follow suit in the next update to Murmur's Character sheet.

Droids present a much different problem, in terms of mechanics:  They don't follow the rules, so to speak, in terms of genetic predispositions. Perhaps this will lead to a Species System tree for each Class of Droid, but for now I wanted it to remain largely customizable. The Droid tree is inverted, which presents its own difficulties to its User; additionally, it may more easily absorb into its Singularity any Installation tiles it encounters — something else new I'll post about in an upcoming devlog — whereas a Species has an easier time absorbing Specialty tiles. Every Character with a Species, whether traditionally viewed as Force-sensitive or not, enjoys a Force Rating, the dice rating of which can be committed, piecemeal, to such Talents as alluded to above (several on the trees pictured here, too). The Droid, however, treats each FR increase it would otherwise acquire as either an Ability upgrade to a Characteristic or +1 Cybernetics Threshold.

The two Talents a Droid enjoys from the jump are the only two the Creator has detailed thus far which bear a Simple cost. If the User would take note, each of these Talent descriptions reveals that the tiles in which they're enclosed shift:  The Droid's Singularity begins with each automatically, and as the Character absorbs Talents from other sources that would otherwise land on the same tile, the Droid's subroutines automatically shift the tile, one space in any direction, so long as the destination space is unoccupied by another tile.

Droids in many ways are the mirror-image to organic species, and here the Creator wished to express that with a series of clearcut mechanical differences.

If the User would prefer to use these Species trees in games based upon the original rules, the Creator suggests the following:

• Treat any Talents already enjoyed by the Species as normal, and remove them from the Singularity; and
• Purchase all leftover Talents at the cost of 5xp per Range Band.

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