Umbaran

BRAWN	AGILITY	INTELLECT	CUNNING	WILLPOWER	PRESENCE
2	2	2	2	2	2

Wound Threshold: 10 + Brawn Strain Threshold: 10 + Willpower Starting XP: 100 Special: Add one rank to Deception. Entrancing Gaze: Add one boost die to Charm, Deception and Negotiation checks. Shadow Dweller: Remove up to 2 setback dice imposed due to darkness. Add 1 setback dice to all checks made in bright natural light (such as direct sunlight).

The Umbarans, also known as the Shadow People, are a near-human species native to Umbara. They are characterised by pale bluish skin and colourless eyes. Umbaran society is divided into strict castes, and individual Umbarans often spend their lives striving to improve their social rank, be they slaves aspiring to freedom or landowners desperate for political power. Their homeworld, Umbara, is a dangerous, inhospitable place, yet the Umbarans seldom colonise other worlds, perhaps owing to their spiritualism or strict traditionalism. To the wider galaxy, Umbarans are practically synonymous with their "shadow cloaks," complex garments that appear white or grey to most species, but to the Umbarans and others who may see into the ultraviolet spectrum, the cloaks are patterned in such a way as to signify caste and clan. Presently, the Umbarans are on the Empire's favoured species list. Teams of Umbaran agents will operate alongside Imperial Intelligence as spies and assassins. Though it is uncommon to find an Umbaran stormtrooper, as they are almost always excluded due to their photosensitivity, specialised Umbaran military units sometimes assist the Empire in the beginning phases of colonisation, should the environment call for people comfortable operating in the dark.

Basic Information

Behaviour

Umbaran society fosters ambition and mistrust. The natural inequality of a violent caste system builds discontent, and as a slaver society, the labouring class is always chaffing against oppression. Umbaran slave revolts are routine enough that the Empire has adopted several classically Umbaran strategies in putting down revolts, such as light and sound bombardment. An individual Umbaran is more likely to be affected by competition within his own caste: social mobility and climbing from the lower castes (or falling from one's station) are both possibilities within the Umbaran system, and as only the higher castes are permitted to own land and thus be protected from relocation acts, sabotaging one's peers has become a matter of course in Umbaran life. As such, Umbarans raised on Umbara are primed to be secretive and cautious to the point of paranoia. They often do not understand more trusting aliens, and thus Umbarans who leave their homeworld are usually at odds with new would-be social groups. Ironically, this often results in the formation of Umbaran cultural enclaves of Umbarans who left Umbara to escape other Umbarans, as when confronted with a perhaps more trustworthy corner of the galaxy, the difficulties of an Umbaran youth so often lead one to conclude: better with the traitor you know.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Umbarans are able to see into the ultraviolent spectrum, as are a handful of species and specially-designed droids. This is key to Umbaran society and culture: Umbarans often wear clothing that signifies important personal information, such as one's caste or planetary nationality, in ultraviolet colouring. Conversely, Umbarans are sensitive to bright light.