Mass Effect RPG Part Seven - The Salarians

The Salarians were the second species to join the Citadel and founder members of the council. In many ways they could not be more different than the Asari, being short-lived and stretching the definition of ‘humanoid’ pretty far.

‘Hyperactive’ doesn’t even begin to describe the nature of the Salarians. They think fast, talk fast, move fast and live fast, few Salarians live over the age of forty, despite advances in medical science.

Warm blooded, but amphibious, the Salarians are known for their observational skills, non-linear thinking and quick reflexes. Despite their short lives they have a great capacity of research, science and espionage and are driven as few other races are.

Bipedal tall and elongated the Salarians are ‘bendy’ with a skeletal structure that is more cartilege than bone. Their heads are long and thin and have a pair of fleshy horns protruding from the top. Their skin comes in all manner of different colours, reds and greens as well as more common blue and grey. Their eyes are large and oval, excellent at gathering light and seeing underwater, they also blink from the bottom up.

Salarians only need to sleep one hour in every earth-equivalent period.

Salarians are egg-layers. Unfertilised eggs produce males, fertilised ones produce females. 90% of all Salarians are males and breeding rights are decidedly unromantic and based upon lineage, wealth and accomplishment of well-recorded family lines.

The Salarians have a chequered history, perhaps due to their necessarily short-sighted thinking given their lifespan. They were responsible for recovering the Krogan and turning them against the Rachni during those wars and also responsible for crippling the Krogan reproductive system with the Genophage.

The Salarian military is not particularly powerful or effective but their espionage and commando teams are almost peerless in the galaxy. They are master manipulators, preferring deflection and politics to direct conflict.

Salarians are gadgeteers who could be characterised as ‘early adopters’. They much prefer having something powerful, new and complicated over something proven, reliable and simple.

Salarian females normally remain on the Salarian homeworlds out of tradition. Salarian matriarchs (Dalatresses) run dynasties and run their clans and families ruthlessly.

Salarian names are complex including – in order – the name of a salarian’s homeworld, nation, city, district, clan name and given name. For example, the salarian on Feros is named Gorot II Heranon Mal Dinest Got Inoste Ledra, but he would be called either by his clan name, Inoste, or his given name, Ledra.

The salarian race also includes the Lystheni ‘offshoot.’ They are outcasts and criminals, perhaps a sub-species, and found running with mercenary gangs such as Batarian clans.

Salarian Worlds
Sur’Kesh – homeworld, Dagnes, Erinle, Gorot, Halegeuse, Jaëto, Mannovai, Nasurn, Olor, Rannadril, Senoquol

Salarian Statistics
After the character’s statistics have been generated, modify them as follows:
AGI +1, BLD -1, CRE +1, KNO +1, PER +1, PSY -1, WIL -1
Salarians are short lived, living no more than 40 years, they tend to specialise in a very few arenas to the best of their ability and lose some diversity in skills, this is reflected in having five less skill points than normal.