Each of these abilities will have a score from 1 to 100. An ability score of 1 means the character is very poor in that ability, while a score of 100 means the character has very high ability in that area. Players find their ability scores by rolling dice. This is explained under How To Create Characters.

Explanation Of Abilities

 Strength is a measure of how strong the character is. A character with a low Strength score is scrawny and weak. A character with a high Strength score is very strong. A character with a Strength score of 100 may be one of the strongest characters on that planet.

 Stamina measures a character's physical fitness and general health. A character with low stamina will get tired easily and will be prone to injury and disease. A character with high Stamina could work hard all day without getting tired, and might never be sick a day in his life. Stamina also measures how badly a character can be wounded before he passes out or dies.

 Dexterity measures a character's coordination. Character's with low Dexterity scores are clumsy, while characters with high Dexterity scores are very agile. Dexterity is very important in combat.

 Reaction Speed measures the quickness of a character's reflexes. If a character with a low Reaction Speed is attacked suddenly, he probably will fumble with his weapon and react slowly. A character with a high Reaction Speed could draw and fire a weapon quickly, jump out of the way of falling boulders, etc.

 Initiative is not really an ability, but a character's Initiative modifier is important. It is equal to the character's Reaction Speed divided by 10, and is used to determine which character acts first in a fight.

 Intuition measures a character's alertness and ability to draw conclusions from what seem to be unrelated facts. Characters with high Intuition scores are more likely to solve problems by having hunches or making guesses than by carefully considering all the evidence.

 Logic is a character's ability to solve problems in an orderly, step-by-step way. It is the opposite of Intuition. Characters with high Logic scores make good scientists and computer experts.

 Personality measures how well a character gets along with other intelligent beings. Characters with high Personality scores are friendly, pleasant and persuasive, while those with low scores may be grouchy and hard to get along with.

 Leadership measures a character's ability to give orders that other people will understand and obey. It also measures how willing other people will be to work for the character, take his advice or follow him into a dangerous situation.

Players can choose to make their characters members of one of four races: Human, Dralasite, Vrusk or Yazirian.

 Humans are similar to Earthmen, but these Humans developed on another planet closer to the center of the galaxy. Humans are considered the average characters in STAR FRONTIERS games, so their abilities are not modified when the character is created.

 Dralasites are rubbery, elastic aliens sometimes called "blobs." They can change their shape at will. creating as many artificial arms and legs (pseudopods) as they need at the moment. They are stronger than Humans, but are also slower. They enjoy philosophical debates and have a very strange sense of humor; they love telling old jokes and puns they hear from Humans.

Vrusk look like large insects, and are sometimes called "bugs." They are quicker than Humans, but are not as strong. Vrusk are excellent businessmen and merchants. They love art, beauty and music.

 Yazirians are tall, light-boned humanoids with furry manes around their necks. Humans nicknamed them "monkeys" because they look a little like chimpanzees. Thin membranes that stretch between their arms, torso and legs allowed Yazirians to glide between the trees on their native planet. They are generally smarter and quicker than the other races, but are not as strong. Their eyes are very sensitive to light, so they usually wear dark goggles during the day. Yazirians were very warlike in the past, and are still considered pushy and aggressive by other races.

To create a STAR FRONTIERS character, follow the eight steps given.

 1. Use the STAR FRONTIERS character sheet included with the game, or make a copy on a blank sheet of paper. Use a pencil when you fill in the sheet, because some things may change during the game.

 2. To find your character's Strength/Stamina ability score, roll percentile dice. Find the number you rolled on the ABILITY SCORE TABLE. Your base score for that ability is the number listed under the die roll. Write this number in the space marked "Base Score" for STR/STA on the character sheet.
 

 EXAMPLE: Dave Schick is creating a STAR FRONTIERS character. To find his character's Strength/Stamina base score, he rolls percentile dice. The result is 53. Checking the ABILITY SCORE TABLE, he sees this gives his character a Strength/Stamina base score of 45.

 3. Repeat step 2 to get your character's Dexterity/Reaction Speed, Intuition/Logic and Personality/Leadership base scores.

 4. Decide which race you want your character to be. Your choice will affect your ability scores as described in step 5. Any number of players can choose the same race for their characters. Groups with characters from several races usually are more successful and more fun to play.

 5. Add or subtract from your STR/STA base score the number shown in the STR/STA column of the ABILITY MODIFIERS for your race. Write the result on both sides of the slash in the space marked "STR/STA ___/___" on the character sheet. This number is your ability score for both Strength and Stamina.
 

	STR/STA	INT/LOG	DEX/RS	PER/LDR
Human	+0	+0	+0	+0
Dralasite	+5	+0	-5	+0
Vrusk	-5	+0	+5	+0
Yazirian	-10	+5	+5	+0

EXAMPLE: Dave Schick has decided he wants his character to be a Yazirian. Looking at the line of the ABILITY MODIFIERS for Yazirians, he sees that he must subtract 10 from his Strength/Stamina base score. This is because Yazirians are not as strong as the other races. Subtracting 10 from his base score of 45, Dave gets a final Strength/Stamina ability score of 35 for his character. He writes ''35'' in both blanks after "STR/STA" on his character sheet.

 6. Repeat step 5 for Dexterity/Reaction Speed, Intuition/Logic and Personality/Leadership.

 7. Divide your Reaction Speed score by 10. If the result is a fraction, round it up to the nearest whole number. The final result is the character's Initiative modifier. Write it in the space marked ''IM'' on the character sheet.

 EXAMPLE: Dave Schick's character has a Reaction Speed of 45. To find his Initiative modifier, he divides 45 by 10. He gets a result of 4%. Because this is a fraction, he rounds it up to the nearest whole number, which is 5. He writes "5" in the space marked ''IM" on his character sheet.

 8. Give your character a name. If your character is an alien, try to give it an alien-sounding name.

Sample Character Sheet
The character sheet for Dave Schick's Yazirian female character, Eusyl, is shown on this page.