Character Templates: Alien Rogue

The penultimate character template in my set is another one that's usually very popular. There are, I suspect, at least a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, the concept of a 'rogue' is one that's common to a lot of RPGs - it's a standard character type that's as easy to understand as the combat jock and that has a clear role in any party. Secondly, there are many players who, when faced with a science fiction RPG, are keen to play the aliens; there's an appeal in being something out of the ordinary and a little bit special.

Doctor Who, however, presents a problem with alien PCs that most other science fiction shows do not. If the character is obviously alien, it's going to be difficult to justify them doing much in a historical or contemporary setting. And, in fact, even in mid to late 21st century settings. To get around this, when I have run non-convention games where the players design their own characters, I stipulate that all PCs must at least be able to pass for human on cursory examination, and I've used the same principle in these templates. An alien that simply looks human (such as Trion or a Drahvin) isn't terribly interesting unless, like Time Lords, there's something else inherently cool about them. Human-seeming androids might well work since they, too, will likely have unusual abilities. But your other options are some device that disguises the alien's appearance or... well, shapeshifting.

Background

You had always lived by using your talents for deception and infiltration to acquire valuable items or technology so a trip to the planet Earth seemed a good idea at the time. With the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire collapsing, it should have had plenty of ancient riches that would no longer be well protected. Instead, you somehow became trapped in a temporal anomaly and flung back thousands of years through time. Discovering that the rift had been picking up random people from across the planet’s history, you teamed up with them to close it and defeat an invasion by the Gelth. Unfortunately, that still left you trapped in what the humans call the 21st century! Using a TARDIS drawn to the same location, you are now travelling together through time and space (note: how effectively depends on whether one of the other players is playing a Time Lord…) either to get back home, or simply to explore. 

Shapeshifting: You can disguise yourself as a member of another race (usually human). The change is so complete that your true form cannot be discovered by basic physical examination or observation. Replicating specific people may be difficult if you are not already very familiar with them.

DWAITAS stats

Concept: Alien Rogue

Awareness  2	Coordination  4	Ingenuity  4
Presence  4	Resolve  2	Strength  2

Skills: Conflict-1, Convince-4, Intuition-2, Knowledge-2, Science-1, Subterfuge-5, Technology-2, Transport-1

Distinctions: Shapeshifting

Focus: Outwit            Story Points: 10

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In 5E, most of the options are straightforward, since we're just designing the Doctors & Daleks equivalent of a D&D rogue. We'll boost CHA over INT, since Deception is going to be a key ability for somebody who shapeshifts and will often be pretending to be something they aren't. Similarly, it's this and Stealth that get the benefit of the Expertise feature. For the shapeshifting ability, we could take the Feat of that name, but none of the other templates have a feat and the character isn't a Zygon, so isn't going to be able to do things like sprout gills (which the Feat lets you do at 3rd level). So instead, we'll just replace the species cantrip quips that a human would get with the Masterful Disguise quip, which is essentially the same as the Disguise Self spell - close enough for our purposes.

The skill set for a rogue in Savage Worlds, is straightforward, focussing on Stealth and Thievery. We'll throw in a few technical skills, including piloting, since they are supposed to have operated their own spaceship at one point. Greedy is perhaps too large a hindrance at Major level for the sort of game that's intended here, so we'll keep it low and add a range of minor hindrances instead. The edges are also fairly obvious, with Gifted supplying the Disguise power to cover the shapeshifting.

In BRP, however, we run into a bit of a problem, at least if we're sticking to the core ruleset. The mundane statistics and skills aren't much of an issue, although the high cost of both DEX and INT means there's little left for anything else. Taking "thief" (rather than "criminal") as our profession gives the most appropriate mix of skills, even if it may be more intended for fantasy settings. However, while there are rules for unusual powers, there is no way to balance them with other characters, beyond reducing the effective game level for the powered character - and we're already assuming this is at Normal, which as low as it goes. Furthermore, there isn't really a power that fits with the sort of shapeshifting we're dealing with here (or at least not in the core rules). So the best solution is to max out the Disguise skill, handwave what it's capable of doing, and hope for the best.

GURPS, like Savage Worlds, has no such issue out of the box. It's easy to describe exactly what the character can do with an appropriate advantage, but it is quite an expensive one, so we need to use more disadvantages to offset it. Greed once again works, since we can keep the save decent, and we'll add in Clueless to reflect the fact that the character comes from an alien society thousands of years in the future and will know precious little about most of the environments the game is likely to end up in. Once that pays off the Morph ability, skills can easily focus on Lockpicking, Stealth, and the like without any issue.

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5E - Alien Rogue

3rd level Criminal

STR 8 (-1)	DEX 16 (+3)	CON 12 (+1)
INT 13 (+1)	WIS 12 (+1)	CHA 14 (+2)

Saving Throws: Dex +5, Int +3

Armour Class: 13         Plot Points: 20

Speed: 30 ft.         Tech Level: 7

Quip Bonus: +5 Motivation: Lost

Skills: Deception +6, Engineering +3, Insight +3, Perception +3, Sleight of Hand +5, Stealth +7

Tools: Investigator's Tools, Security Tools

Features: Deep Pockets, Trickster Expertise, Sneak Attack (2d6), Cunning Action, Runner, Watch the Face Not the Hands, Master Planner

Quips: Emotional Argument, Logical Argument, Parley, Tricky Argument, Masterful Disguise

Savage Worlds - Alien Rogue

Agility: d8	Smarts: d6	Spirit: d6
Strength: d4	Vigour: d4

Skills: Athletics d4, Common Knowledge (native society) d4, Electronics d6, Fighting d4, Focus d6, Notice d4, Persuasion d6, Piloting d4, Stealth d8, Thievery d8

Hindrances: Cautious, Greedy (minor), Outsider (minor), Suspicious (minor)

Edges: Gifted, Thief

Powers: Disguise                                Power Points: 15

Pace: 6                  Parry: 4                Toughness: 4

BRP - Alien Rogue

STR 8	CON 10	SIZ 10
INT 13	POW 11	EDU 12
DEX 14	CHA 12
Hit Points: 10	Move: 10	Fatigue: 18
Base SR: 4	Damage Bonus: 0

Skills: Appraise 50%, Bargain 15%, Brawl 45%, Disguise 75%, Dodge 60%, Electronics 25%, Energy Pistol 25%, Fast Talk 45%, Fine Manipulation 65%, Gaming 34%, Hide 40%, Listen 45%, Persuade 65%, Pilot (small spaceship) 20%, Sleight of Hand 45%, Spot 45%, Stealth 70%

GURPS - Alien Rogue

ST 9	DX 13	IQ 11	HT 9
Speed: 5.5	Move: 5	Thrust: 1d-2	Swing: 1d-1

Advantages: Morph (cosmetic)

Disadvantages: Clueless, Greed

Skills: Acting-14, Beam Weapons/TL10 (pistol)-13, Electronic Ops (security)/TL10-13, Filch-13, Holdout-13, Lockpicking/TL10-13, Observation-10, Piloting/TL10 (low-performance spacecraft)-12, Search-12, Stealth-15