QUARIAN

The quarians are a nomadic species of humanoids known for their skills with technology and synthetic intelligence. Since their homeworld Rannoch was conquered, the quarians live aboard the Migrant Fleet, a huge collection of starships that travel as a single fleet.

Approximately 300 years ago the quarians created the geth, a species of rudimentary artificial intelligences, to serve as an efficient source of manual labor. However, when the geth gradually became sentient, the quarians became terrified of possible consequences and tried to destroy their creations. The latter won the resulting war and forced their creators into exile. Now the quarians wander the galaxy in a flotilla of salvaged ships, second-hand vessels, and recycled technology which they call Migrant Fleet.


BIOLOGY

Quarians are generally shorter and of slighter build than humans. Quarians have an endoskeleton, lips, teeth, and two eyes with eyelids and tear ducts; they also have three thick fingers on both hands which include a thumb and an index finger, as well as three toes on each foot. Their ears or ear analogues differ in a noticeable fashion from those of humans.

The most important fact of quarian biology is their weak immune system. As a result, all quarians wear highly sophisticated environmental-suits, to protect them from disease or infection if they are injured. Their suits can be compartmentalized in the event of a tear or similar breach to prevent the spread of contaminants.

Quarian immune systems have always been relatively weak, as pathogenic microbes were comparatively rare and insect life was simply nonexistant in their homeworld’s biosphere. Furthermore, what few viruses and other microbes were native to their homeworld were often partly beneficial to them. After living aboard the Migrant Fleet for generations, the quarians’ immune systems have atrophied further due to the years in the sterile environment of the Fleet. As such, quarians are given various vaccinations and immunizations to help ward off disease. However, they prefer the safety of their suits even in clean environments and are reluctant to remove them without a good reason.

A quarian who wishes to remove their suit must take antibiotics, immuno-boosters, herbal supplements, or the like in order to do so safely, and even then there are inherent risks. As a result, physical acts of affection are difficult for quarians, even for the purposes of reproduction. Ships in the Migrant Fleet contain “clean rooms” where quarians can give birth or undergo medical procedures in relative safety, though there are always risks. The most intimate thing quarians can do is link their suit environments. Doing so guarantees a quarian will get sick, although they will usually adapt over time.

Like turians, the quarians are a dextro-protein species of reverse chirality from humans and asari. The food of levo-protein races such as humans or asari is at best inedible and at worst poisonous, most likely triggering a dangerous allergic reaction. Quarians who want to taste something (other than the refined edible paste issued to all who leave on their Pilgrimage) can eat specially purified turian cuisine.

Since quarian’s live inside suits their whole lives, being inserted into special suits right after birth, they are never exposed to eezo and so no quarian ever develops any biotic ability.

HISTORY

Hailing from the world of Rannoch, the quarians were always a technologically advanced species. They created the geth around 1900 CE to be used as laborers and tools of war. The quarians, mindful of the Citadel Council’s laws against creating AI, kept their programming as limited as that of a VI but because they required the geth to perform more complex tasks, they improved the geth by developing a sophisticated neural network. These changes altered the geth to such an extent that they became sentient. This made the quarians feel as though they had made a terrible mistake by creating a sentient species and then using it for labor. Something that would be punishable by the Citadel Council.

Panicked, the quarian government ordered an immediate shutdown of all geth, hoping to strike the first blow, but they had underestimated the power of the neural network and how intelligent the geth had become. Their servants defended themselves, resulting in a war that cost billions of quarian lives and drove them from their homeworld. After being refused aid from the Citadel Council, the quarians fled in the Migrant Fleet while the geth took over their systems. Soon after, the Council stripped the quarians of their embassy, cutting the quarians out of Citadel politics as a punishment for their actions. Ever since, the quarians have devoted all their skills and resources to preserving their species aboard the Migrant Fleet. The quarians have since been struggling to survive.

While most of their efforts have been directed toward surviving and maintaining their species aboard the Flotilla, another major concern is to find new ways of combating the geth and possibly even reclaiming their home world.


CULTURE

One of the factors of life aboard the Migrant Fleet is population control. Most of the time, it is illegal for quarian families to have more than one child to maintain zero population growth, so families tend to be small. Along with the fact each quarian relies on the others for survival, this ensures that bonds between quarians are very strong, compared to a more individualistic race like the krogan. Loyalty, trust and cooperation between quarians are essential for the survival of their species.

Quarians enjoy storytelling, and hold dancers in high esteem. Some ships from the Fleet linger in orbit over planets used as drive discharge sites, to sell refreshments, supplies or trinkets made by their children to passing crews.

Young quarians go on a Pilgrimage as a rite of passage, leaving the Flotilla to look for resources, information or supplies that will be useful to the rest of the fleet. Their discovery is then presented to the captain of the ship they wish to join as a gift upon the quarian’s return. As well as proving they are a productive member of society, this ensures that the quarians maintain genetic diversity by not intermarrying with the crew of their ‘home ship’. It is also seen as an opportunity for quarians to experience life outside the Migrant Fleet, to appreciate their own culture.

Aboard ship, quarians are used to dealing with cramped conditions. Quarians place low value on personal space and possessions, evaluating objects by their usefulness, and often barter items that are not being used to the rest of the crew. Even when at home, quarians wear their environmental suits at all times, partly out of caution and partly as a psychological reaction to the lack of personal space. Because their suits make it harder to identify individuals, quarians have developed the habit of exchanging names whenever they meet.

However, the environmental suits themselves have gained a certain significance in quarian society. Quarians do not gain their first individual suit until adolescence, and being fitted with their first suit is considered a rite of passage. After completing their Pilgrimage, quarians will sometimes change their suit to reflect their newfound maturity. Linking suit environments is seen as an intimate gesture of trust and affection.

Their technology and relations to synthetic life have had a profound effect on quarian culture. As a result, in contrast to other races, quarians are reluctant to trust virtually – or artificially – intelligent machines, but they are also far more likely to treat them as if they were living beings.


ECONOMY

The quarians have a very different economic system from the rest of the galaxy. While credits influence what is available in Citadel space, currency is non-existent in quarian society. Quarians value the little space they have above all else, so no unused items are kept to maximize space. When a quarian has an item they do not need, they place it in a public area, in what resembles a market. The items available are put into storage lockers, and those in need may simply take what they find. Since quarian society is based around honor and loyalty to their fellow quarians, there is rarely disagreement.

However, food and medicine are handled more strictly. The food coming from both the Liveships and from scout ships is put into a central stock and distributed carefully to individuals. Outgoing food is tracked carefully, so as not to put the Migrant Fleet at risk of food shortage or starvation. Medicine is also distributed carefully, even if there is a very low risk of sickness thanks to the suits. Controlling the flow of medicine also creates an emergency stockpile in case of a widespread outbreak.

Another means of resource income for the Fleet is from whatever system that the Migrant Fleet is passing through at the time. The quarians will strip-mine any promising planets for resources with well-trained efficiency. Any other races with industrial or corporate interests in that system will often offer a “gift” of ships, food, or other supplies to encourage the Fleet to leave. Usually, the Admiralty Board accepts the gift, as the Migrant Fleet is in no position to decline resources or to engage in open hostilities with other races.


RELIGION

The quarians used to practice a form of ancestor worship. This involved taking a personality imprint from the individual and developing it into an interface similar to a VI. The quarians began experimenting with making these imprints more and more sophisticated, hopefully leading to the wisdom of their ancestors being preserved in an imprint that could be truly intelligent. However, the geth destroyed the quarians’ ancestor databanks when they rebelled. Some quarians saw their subsequent exile as punishment for their hubris, but most accept that the geth rebellion was a mistake, not a punishment. However, respect for their ancestors is still prevalent in quarian society.

LANGUAGE

Now that the quarians are reduced to a small, insular population they have one common language. Such words as are known have slipped out from intra-quarian insults.

• nedas – nowhere
• tasi – no-one
• vas [ship-name] – crew of
• nar [ship-name] – child of
• keelah – exclamation
• keelah se’lai – possibly a religious statement,
sometimes used in the same terms as a benediction
(see above)
• bosh’tet – curse/insult, likely being relative to “sonof-
a-bitch” or “bastard”.

Quarian names are composed of four parts – the quarian’s given name and clan name separated by an apostrophe, the title (“nar” means “child of”, referring to their birth ship, while “vas”, adopted after the quarian has completed their Pilgrimage and joined a ship, means “crew of”) and the name of their vessel.


GOVERNMENT

There are roughly 17 million quarians on the Migrant Fleet (also called the Flotilla). It is technically still under martial law but is now governed by bodies such as the Admiralty Board and the democratically-elected Conclave, though ship captains and onboard civilian councils tend to address most issues “in-house” before it gets that far. Quarians are divided into several clans that can be spread across several ships, or restricted to one.

Although the Conclave establishes civil law much as any planet-based democracy, enforcement and trials are more unique. Police-force is maintained by the military, who are responsible for taking into custody those accused of a crime, before it is brought to the ship’s captain for judgement. While the ship’s council may make recommendations, tradition holds that the captain has absolute authority in matters of discipline. Most are lenient, assigning additional or more odious maintenance tasks aboard the ship. Persistent or the worse criminals are “accidentally” left on the next habitable world. This practice of abandoning criminals on other people’s planets is a point of friction between the quarians and the systems they pass through but captains rarely have another choice, since the lack of space and resources prevents them from supporting a non-productive prison population. Offences that carry exile as a penalty include murder, treason, repeated violent episodes, and sabotage against vessels, food stores or the Liveships themselves. Quarians practice capital punishment; mutiny or hijacking starships is punished with execution. Exile is generally the preferred punishment, as any offspring an exile may have are welcomed back to the Fleet (the exiled quarian, however, may not unless under very special circumstances).


GALACTIC RELATIONS

Humans have no political relations with the quarians because the Migrant Fleet has not yet passed through any human-controlled area of space. Other species tend to look down on the quarians for several reasons, the foremost of which being their supposed “unleashing” of the geth upon the galaxy. This act led to the quarians’ losing their embassy on the Citadel. Quarians are often viewed as beggars and thieves. And because of the Flotilla’s limited resources, quarians strip-mine the systems they pass through, which often puts them at odds with any species currently settled there. The Migrant Fleet also tends to drop off criminals on planets it passes.

However, life on the Migrant Fleet means quarians have unique skills. Quarians have developed an imperfect technique for recovering data from geth memory cores. They are masters at maintaining and converting technology, especially ship parts, and they are also expert miners because the Fleet requires huge amounts of fuel. They are able to repair what most species would melt down. This proficiency means corporations sometimes quietly hire quarians “on the side”.

This unpopularity, and the fact their entire species travels and works as one, makes most quarians quite insular, caring only about the continued survival of the Migrant Fleet. Their nomadic life and exclusion from the Citadel mean that the concerns of the Citadel races don’t particularly interest or impress them.


MILITARY

In the early years, many quarian freighters were armed and used as irregular “privateers.” Civilian ships still show a strong preference for armament, making them unpopular targets for pirates. Though they have rebuilt their military, there are still mere hundreds of warships to protect the tens of thousands of ships. The quarian navy follows strict routines of patrol, and takes no chances. If the intent of an approaching ship can’t be ascertained, they shoot to kill.

For this reason, young quarians on their Pilgrimage are given code phrases to repeat upon their return, as they often arrive back in vessels they have bought or scavenged which are unknown to the Flotilla. One phrase denotes a successful Pilgrimage and the quarian navy will permit them to rejoin the Fleet; the other alerts the navy that the quarian is returning under duress, and their ship will be immediately destroyed.


RACIAL TRAITS

Homeworld: Rannoch
Lifespan: 150 years
Creature Size: Medium
Movement Speed: 3
Talent: Quarian
Level Up: 100xp


TALENT: QUARIAN
Rank1 Quarian Level 1 Exile:
Due to living in a sterile environment, if a Quarian is poisoned they take double damage until the effect is reversed, they also receive double toxic damage. When examining technology, a Quarian always had advantage, even when faced with unknown technology due to their life-long exposure to engineering and technology. Quarians are intelligent, and dexerous, but because of their weak immune systems they prefer fighting from a distance rather than getting up-close and personal. Quarian starts game with +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 to Constitution.

Rank2 Quarian Level 5 Synthetic Precision:
Quarians live and die by their technology, and even created the Geth. Quarians have an intimate understanding of technology and synthetic constructs, and as such, may apply precision damage to constructs. Synthetic targets are naturally immune to critical hits. Quarian at  this level ignores this immunity when dealing damage to Synthetics.

Rank3 Quarian Level 10 Enviro-suit:
All Quarians use enviro-suit to survive outside their Flotila. In time, just like every other tech, Quarians love to upgrade their own suits. Thanks to Quarians' enviro-suit, the helmet provides Darkvision and Quarian no longer suffers penalty when fighting in total darkness. Because of the enviro-suit, Quarians can breathe anywhere, and have damage reduction 10% against these damage types: fire, cold, electricity.

Rank4 Quarian Level 15 Tech Expert:
Quarians are master technicians and experts in dealing with electronics. They are masters at maintaining and converting technology, especially ship parts, and they are also expert miners because the Fleet requires huge amounts of fuel. They are able to repair what most species would melt down. This proficiency means corporations sometimes quietly hire quarians "on the side" if the Migrant Fleet is nearby, replacing existing workers, much to their annoyance. When using a tech talent, Quarian never auto fails at roll of 1. Additionally, when upgrading a tech talent on a level up, Quarian may spend talent points on upgrading all missing evolution of their tech talent tree.

EvolutionA Extended Tech: Tech talents last longer when used by the Quarian, compared to other species. When a tech power that has duration is used by the Quarian, duration effect is extended by 1 round.

EvolutionB Tech Affinity: Tech  talents are stronger when used by the Quarian, compared to other species. When a tech power that has effective number (damage/shield points/damage reduction) is used by the Quarian, the effect is increased by 10%.

Rank5 Quarian Level 20 Quarian Specialization:
Quarian who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field becomes a specialized in one of the three categories. Regardless of the chosen perk, then Quarian will receive +25% to all damage done by the quarian weapons (Arc Pistol, Reegar Carbine Shotgun and Adas Anti-Synthetic Assault Rifle).

EvolutionA Geth Expert: Quarians created the Geth. But these were created by the ancestors. Modern Quarians have to undergo through detail research of history data as well as learn from their own experience when encountering present version of the Geth to be able to make most use of it. Not all Quarians focus on research of the Geth on this level of depth, but those who do gain +100% damage vs geth targets. Additionally, the quarian may recover geth weapon from the destroyed geth and adapt it to their own use.

EvolutionB Tactical Tech: Some Quarians cannot stop talking about tech and robotics. This is their hobby with passion. And while it can be annoyance, it can prove very useful during the combat. As long Quarian is active in combat, the party of the Quarian receives the benefit Synthetic Precision. This means crew mates of the Quarian will ignore critical immunity of the synthetics as well.

EvolutionC Cyber Quarian: Other species tend to look down on the quarians for creating the Geth and for the negative impact their fleet has when it enters a system. This has led to many myths and rumors about the quarians, including the belief that underneath their clothes and breathing masks, they are actually cybernetic creatures: a combination of organic and synthetic parts. But in some cases this is not far from truth. Some Quarians go to extreme of upgrading their suits with technology that can support these created myths and rumors. Quarian that takes this path is capable to double prime targets with tech powers, meaning each time target is primed it can be detonated twice.