In the process of adapting Star Trek, Dune, Star Wars, Asimov, Star Frontiers, and Gundam 8th MS Team to Hard Nova, I found that I needed many gimmicks. Fortunately, Hard Nova is the easiest game I have ever seen to expand with core material. Here are my new gimmicks. You’ll notice I have devided all character gimmicks into Cultural, Enhancement- Biomechanical, Enhancement- Alien/Transgenic, Mechanical, Psionic, and a Detrimental category for each. I actually divided every gimmick in the GDi manual, the Hard Nova game, and the Earth AD game into these categories, going so far as to repreat them where necessary to make sure that each category of gimmicks included absolutely every available gimmick for that category. I did this to ease my job in the huge number of conversions I am doing. (This way, I can say that an alien may choose from the Psionic category, and the player and GM can easily reference the category to see all available psionic beneficial and detrimental gimmicks.) I have an index of the whole thing, but tabs do not copy and paste from word to here, so I will have to edit it for presentation here. CULTURAL GIMMICKS Advanced the character hails from a society that is far more technologically and scientifically advanced than the USU or Empire; he can use the following skills unskilled: computers, engineering, mechatronics, and sciences Code the character has a strict code of behavior that colors his every thought and action; the code should be specified and can be any reasonable code of conduct: honor, stoicism, greed, etc; opponents attempting to alter his behavior or beliefs through social interaction or psychic influence suffer a +2 DIFF Cosmopolitan the character is extroverted and friendly, getting along well with everyone; this could be a cultural trait or a personal one; he gets a -2 DIFF to Negotiation, Seduction, and Bluff skills except when dealing with aggressive characters or those who do have an enmity or vendetta against his species or himself Devious the character is cunning and tricky; this could be a cultural trait or a personal one; he gets a -2 DIFF to Espionage, Interrogation, Disguise, Forgery, Seduction, and Bluff skills when he is dealing with those who do not know him or his reputation; the bonus is reduced to -1 DIFF if the character is known Expert the character is particularly skilled in a specialized area of a skill, receiving a -2 DIFF to all rolls involving his specialization; this should be fairly specific, such as firearms- blasters, investigation- scientific, design- painting, piloting (starships)- space transports, performance- dancing, etc; not all skills may have specialties Nomad the character is constantly on the move, as a result he knows his way around and knows how to move among a large variety of cultures; he gets a -2 DIFF bonus to survival, streetwise, and astronavigation skills; in addition, he can roll general knowledge to recall landmarks and to speak enough of a native language to interact on a basic level Patriotic the character’s belief in his planetary or racial culture is one of sincerity and honesty, particularly to others from the same culture or race; all influence based tasks involving other characters of the same culture or race receive a bonus of -2 DIFF DETRIMENTAL CULTURAL GIMMICKS Aggressive the character is from an aggressive or warlike culture; he suffers a +2 DIFF on influence rolls except for intimidation, in which he enjoys a -2 DIFF; he also must roll a reasoning based composure roll to undertake a non-violent response to aggression shown towards him Enmity the character or his species despises another species; the character suffers a +3 DIFF to all influence rolls when dealing with a species he bears enmity or which bears him enmity Incommunicado the character’s vocal chords cannot form any language other than his own; those wishing to understand him must have the multilingual or telepathy gimmicks Terrible Hearing the character cannot hear very well and suffers a +2 DIFF on any awareness tasks relating to his hearing, including tasks involving music and singing Terrible Smell/Taste the character cannot smell or taste very well and suffers a +2 DIFF on any awareness tasks relating to his smell or taste Vendetta the character has a bitter enemy; both are sworn to destroy the other and all influence rolls suffer a +4 DIFF; any rolls requiring cooperation between the two also suffer a +4 DIFF, even if the task is mutually beneficial Wanted the character has a bounty on his head, either because he is a known criminal or because he has crossed the wrong person; a roll of 1D6-1 (0-5) indicates the number of bounty hunters currently after the character; when in any heavily populated area roll a 1D6- on the roll of a 6, a bounty hunter has found the character and will close in for the capture—or kill ENHANCEMENT- BIOMECHANICAL GIMMICKS Dart Attack the character can fire a spine or dart as a short range attack that does 1 FAT; the range is a number of meters equal to the character’s Fitness score plus Athletics skill Enhanced Communication the character is capable of communicating in a specialized fashion that others cannot understand, such as using ultrasonic frequencies or subtle sign language Enhanced Hearing the character is capable of hearing sounds outside the range of ordinary human hearing ENHANCEMENT- ALIEN/TRANSGENIC GIMMICKS Dart Attack see above Enhanced Communication see above Enhanced Hearing see above Face Change the character can alter his face to appear to be someone else; this does not alter anything else about the character Fast-Paced the character can move at a faster pace than his Fitness score would otherwise indicate; he gets a -2 DIFF to Athletics skill tasks that involve speed Longevity the character lives up to twice as long as a typical human being (a typical human being living 100+ years) Shape Change the character can alter his shape into that of another life-form that is roughly the same size; if combined with the amorphous gimmick, the character can transform into any animate or inanimate shape desired; in a harder science setting, the mass of the character does not change with his shape (thus, if he becomes a mouse, he still weighs 200 pounds); transforming costs the character 1 FAT and takes a round Telepathic Immunity the character is completely immune to telepathy and empathy and skills and gimmicks that utilize such abilities will not affect the character is any fashion; the flip side to this is that the character may possess no psionic gimmicks or skills of any kind Venomous Attack one of the character’s natural attacks (biting, claws, tail, etc) is poisonous and does 2 INJ, if lethal, or 2 FAT, if not, ignoring armor MECHANICAL GIMMICKS Alternate Locomotion the character can move in another fashion other than walking- it could be wheels or tracks, swimming, flight, climbing, or anything else, but it must be specified; for more than one alternate locomotion, this gimmick must be taken more than once Artificial Emotions the character has an emotion chip that allows him to imitate emotions; this removes any Influence Limitation the character may have Environmental Tolerance the character is adapted to a harsh environment and can operate in it normally; the environment can be anything desired from a vacuum, deep ocean, volcanic, etc, but must be specified; for more than one extreme environment, this gimmick must be taken more than once; note that no mechanical entity needs to breathe, so operating in airlessness or in toxic atmospheres is an assumed ability of the character, conversely, this gimmick is required if the robot wants to swim Humanoid Appearance the character looks human, either possession sophisticated synthetic skin (such as Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation); having a cloned epidermis over its mechanical parts (such as the Terminator); or by being a biobot (a biobot is the opposite of a cyborg, instead of being an organism with biomechanical parts it is a machine with organic parts, such as the replicants in Blade Runner and the boomers in Bubblegum Crisis) Positronic Brain the character has Positronic brain that allows him to grow and evolve; this removes any Creativity Limitation the character may have DETRIMENTAL MECHANICAL GIMMICKS Regeneration Cycle normally, machines do not need sleep or rest, but with this gimmick, the character must spend at least 4 hours a day in a regeneration cycle; without this cycle, the character’s systems become fragmented and his energy runs low, and he suffers 2 FAT Restraining Bolt the character is outfitted with a device that restricts his movements or allows another character to remotely halt his movements Secret Programming the character has a secret program implanted in his matrix that subtly influences his actions; this program is rarely a beneficent one, and if the character has the Three Laws gimmick, it can cause serious damage by conflicting with his integral programming; this makes a great plot device, but can remove some of the palyer’s choice in the game, so the player should okay any character with this gimmick with the GM first Three Laws the character has Isaac Asimov’s famous Three Laws of Robotics hardwired into his matrix; these laws restrict his actions and violating them can cause serious damage: violating the third law cause 1 INJ, violating the second law causes 2 INJ, and violating the third law causes 4 INJ; this damage cannot be reduced by any means; the Three Laws of Robotics (as quoted in the Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.) are: 1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. PSIONIC GIMMICKS Ancestral Knowledge the character has access to memories and skills from past lives or from ancestors whose DNA reside within the character’s genes; the character can use all skills unskilled and gets a -2 DIFF to all General Knowledge and Academics skill rolls Blink Teleportation the character can rapidly teleport short distances; he can blink a number of meters equal to his Awareness, but he must be able to see where he is going or he suffers 1 FAT; he can increase the distance he can blink by taking FAT: x2: 1 FAT, x3: 2 FAT, x4: 3 FAT, x5: 4 FAT; used in combat, this gives the character a +2 to his reaction rolls and allows him to make a Second Attack or to attack a Second Target with no penalty; while blinking, he counts as a Moving Target; to teleport another requires a Warp skill roll Cosmic Connection (requires the aurasence and life sense gimmicks) the character has a deep connection with the life force of the cosmos and can sense and detect great disturbances in the life energy of the cosmos, extraplanar or cosmic catastrophes, and fluctuations in the time/space continuum (including alterations to his native time-stream) Dilated Perception (requires the longevity gimmick) the character can slow his passage through time, creating a perception of absolute stillness of the world around him; this allows him a -2 DIFF to awareness rolls when studying a moment he has paused; it takes 1 minute to create the dilation and it can last up to a number of minutes equal to his awareness; this can also halt the spread of any disease or toxin or the loss of blood; to last longer requires a complex awareness-based composure roll; in extreme emergencies, he can also slow the passage for another individual- to do this, the two must be in direct physical contact and the gimmick user suffers 1FAT Empathic Healing (requires the empathy skill or the empathic sense/empathy gimmick and the broadcast empathy skill) the character can use his empathic abilities to remove fatigue and pain from another; the character spends one round concentrating the target, after which he makes a routine Broadcast Empathy roll; if successful, he can remove 1 FAT or allow the target to lower the DIFF penalty resulting from injury or fatigue by 1 Jump Teleportation the character can teleport long distances; he can jump a number of kilometers equal to his Awareness, but he must be familiar with where he is going or he suffers 1 FAT; he can increase the distance he can jump by taking FAT: x2: 1 FAT, x3: 2 FAT, x4: 3 FAT, x5: 4 FAT; to teleport another requires a Warp skill roll Mental Masking (requires the telepathic sense/ESP gimmick) the character can prevent other psionics from recognizing his own abilities or from sensing his emotions and thoughts; he may make an Influence-based Composure roll to send false results to the psionic attempting to get a grasp on him Mental Retention the character has perfect recall, and is able to access his memories like a computer database; he gets a -2 DIFF to all Reasoning skills Mind Meld the character can merge his own thoughts and feelings with those of another by concentrating on him for 1 round, creating a perfect form to telepathy; this causes 1 FAT to both parties; in a mind meld, neither character can keep secrets from the other, and if one is experiencing any great emotion, the other will feel it as though it were his own; the target can forcibly break the contact with a challenging Awareness-based composure roll, and doing so causes both an additional 1 FAT Muscle/Reflex Control the character has nearly complete control over his body’s functions; he can also make a Fitness-based composure roll to ignore conditions that would cause unconsciousness, to ignore DIFF modifiers resulting from FAT loss, and to metabolize poisons and diseases out of his body, thereby changing any INJ damage to FAT damage and halting the progress of the toxin; he can enter into a trance, slowing down his body’s functions to near stop and thus alleviating his need for food, water, or air for a number of days equal to his Awareness; if the character is a female, she can not only choose the time of her pregnancy, but also the gender of her child Precognition the character can perceive the future; this can take one of three forms- he can see only the far future, perceiving things like his own destiny or the fate of a world; he can see the close future, perceiving tremendously (life-threatening, usually) things that are to happen within a number of days equal to his Awareness; or he can see the immediate future, thereby enjoying a +2 to his reaction rolls and ignoring reaction roll modifiers resulting from wearing armor, being surprised, or carrying heavy or bulky items; it is up to the GM how the power works- he can decide that it works in all 3 ways, only 1 or 2 ways, or may disallow the power altogether Psychic Time Travel (requires the psychic travel gimmick) the character’s psyche can travel through time to visit other periods; unless he also possesses the possession skill, he can only view what is happening (like in A Christmas Carol); while traveling, his body appears to be comatose and he must make an unmodified Awareness roll to sense conditions disturbing his body; if his body is killed while he is away, he is forever trapped in his psychic form Psychic Travel (requires the telepathy skill or gimmick) the character’s psyche can travel through space to visit other places (including other dimensions like the astral plane or the dream realm if applicable); unless he also possesses the possession skill, he can only view what is happening (like in A Christmas Carol); while traveling, his body appears to be comatose and he must make an unmodified Awareness roll to sense conditions disturbing his body; if his body is killed while he is away, he is forever trapped in his psychic form Psychoathletics (requires the muscle/reflex control gimmick) the character can use his muscle/reflex control to perform acts of impossible athleticism, including running at extreme speeds, jumping great heights, landing from falls from great heights, brawling, melee, etc; the character can act fast enough to block or catch ranged attacks; the character can add +2 to his reaction rolls and use his Awareness attribute as a DIFF bonus to fitness-based composure, athletics, brawl, or melee rolls, allowing him to routinely perform otherwise impossible acts Space Warp the character can teleport stellar distances; he can travel a number of light years equal to his Awareness, but he must be familiar with where he is going or he suffers 1 FAT; he can increase the distance he can warp by taking FAT: x2: 1 FAT, x3: 2 FAT, x4: 3 FAT, x5: 4 FAT; to teleport another requires a Warp skill roll DETRIMENTAL PSIONIC GIMMICKS Called to Darkness the character uses the emotional content of the living universe as a channel for his psychic abilities, and he is thus vulnerable to the darker emotions: fear, hate, anger, jealousy, greed, lust, etc; every time he uses a psionic gimmick or skill in a situation where a negative emotion could surface, he must make a routine Awareness-based composure roll, if he succeeds, he resists the lure of the darkness; if he fails, he can call upon those negative emotions to give himself a -2 DIFF bonus to any aggressive action he wishes to take the next round, but he loses 1 point from his composure skill permanently (he can restore it through character advancement); if his composure score ever reaches 0 he is consumed by negative emotions and gains the aggressive and rage gimmicks; a character who wishes to do so can voluntarily fail his composure roll in order to gain the DIFF bonus Contact the character’s psionic abilities require him to physically touch his target; if pressed, he can use his powers at a range in feet equal to his Creativity + composure skill, but doing so causes 1 FAT