Nuar
A distant, smaller cousin of minotaurs, nuars have a calm nature that belies their tall frame. With their home and history lost to the vacuum of the Gap, nuars find company in other cultures while creating their own as they go. Adept at solving problems and mysteries, a nuar is always an asset wherever they are.
When the Gap ended, most people had historical records previous to its advent to fall back on—nuars weren't so lucky. The only records of their past were the mission logs of an expedition that landed on Absalom Station in 3 ag, with no memory of where they came from. Nuars have no other history, home world, or culture to speak of, leaving them with a species-wide mystery. While unable to properly source their origins, nuar investigators nonetheless proved incredibly adept at puzzle-solving and adapting to other cultures across the Pact Worlds. They can be found within their own enclaves or living seamlessly among different species.
Nuars can live anywhere, but the largest group of their species live on Absalom Station, particularly in the labyrinthine Conduit neighborhood. Nuars with a taste for exploration work as mechanics, medics, or hunters on the frontiers of known space, filling vital roles as experts in their fields. Some find fulfilling lives on settled worlds and space stations, often holding careers as researchers, investigators, or urban planners. The combination of bulk, endurance, and spatial awareness most nuars possess make them indispensable in construction, whether it be in condensed city centers or at a pop-up installation on a desolate world. Nuar builders might decide to inhabit the city or structure they constructed, at least for a time, since many feel a deep connection to places they've created or explored.
Most nuars excel with mathematics and spatial reasoning, leading many to become mechanics, engineers, or starship crew members. These skills are sometimes used for less physical careers, such as in the computer sciences, where a nuar's talent for puzzles is advantageous. Some rely on their brawny appearance to get them gigs as laborers or muscle, then quickly navigate the maze of workplace success to rise all the way to the top—just ask Primex Kantol! If you want to play a character who is inquisitive, can pick up skills quickly, and is something of a gentle giant, you should play a nuar.
Nuars can live anywhere, but the largest group of their species live on Absalom Station, particularly in the labyrinthine Conduit neighborhood. Nuars with a taste for exploration work as mechanics, medics, or hunters on the frontiers of known space, filling vital roles as experts in their fields. Some find fulfilling lives on settled worlds and space stations, often holding careers as researchers, investigators, or urban planners. The combination of bulk, endurance, and spatial awareness most nuars possess make them indispensable in construction, whether it be in condensed city centers or at a pop-up installation on a desolate world. Nuar builders might decide to inhabit the city or structure they constructed, at least for a time, since many feel a deep connection to places they've created or explored.
Most nuars excel with mathematics and spatial reasoning, leading many to become mechanics, engineers, or starship crew members. These skills are sometimes used for less physical careers, such as in the computer sciences, where a nuar's talent for puzzles is advantageous. Some rely on their brawny appearance to get them gigs as laborers or muscle, then quickly navigate the maze of workplace success to rise all the way to the top—just ask Primex Kantol! If you want to play a character who is inquisitive, can pick up skills quickly, and is something of a gentle giant, you should play a nuar.
You Might…
- Solve puzzles compulsively or just for fun.
- Look for answers about your ancestral origins or forge your own path.
- Decorate your horns and hooves as part of your style.
Others Probably…
- Wonder about the differences between you and a minotaur.
- Envy your deep knowledge of esoteric topics.
- Assume you're a know-it-all or weaker than a true minotaur.
Physical Description
Nuars tower over many other species at about 7 to 8 feet tall—short in stature compared to their minotaur cousins. Their multiple horns can reach up to a foot and a half long. Bipedal on strong hooves, nuars move with a deftness unusual for their size, never lumbering so much as moving with weighted purpose. Nuar fur grows in a short coat of multiple layers, creating a thick, coarse pelt with shaggier fur toward the crown of the head. Nuars living in humanoid-centric communities often cut or style their head and face fur for fashion, much in the same way humans do. Their fur is naturally colored in neutral tones, such as shades of white, cream, or tan. Nuars who treat another species as their own might dye their fur or take supplements to change it to a more unique or meaningful color, though this practice is somewhat uncommon.
By maturity, nuars grow multiple horns, with two or four horns being the most frequent. Pairs usually vary in angle from each other. The lower pair typically grows out and forward with thick bases that make them efficient in close-range combat. Higher pairs tend to point at higher angles, adorning the nuar's brow in a crown-like configuration. The greater the number of horns, the more intricate the angles become, though they somehow avoid each other as they grow. Nuars who grow an odd number of horns are uncommon but not impossible. Other nuars notice the oddity, though interpretations vary widely between enclaves if it's a sign of good or bad luck. The odd horn occasionally grows directly from the forehead, presenting an even more formidable challenge for any foe within goring distance.
Nuars possess the uncanny ability to remain comfortable at any level of gravitational intensity. Even on worlds where the gravitational pull is strong enough to pin an average humanoid in place without technological assistance to resist, nuars plow forward, albeit at a slower speed as if trudging underwater. Likewise, some nuars have shown the ability to provide themselves with quick bursts of personal gravity in a vacuum, making them ideal for spacewalks outside of ships or stations. Youths raised from birth in extreme gravity conditions never show the deficiencies in bone growth or muscle density that other humanoids might, which has led to an emerging theory that their original home planet was prone to dips and spikes in gravity that necessitated a quirk of evolution. Xenobiologists are unsure of precisely how nuars manage to flex the limitations of gravity on themselves, but they agree that all nuars seem to possess signs of this trait on an innate level.
By maturity, nuars grow multiple horns, with two or four horns being the most frequent. Pairs usually vary in angle from each other. The lower pair typically grows out and forward with thick bases that make them efficient in close-range combat. Higher pairs tend to point at higher angles, adorning the nuar's brow in a crown-like configuration. The greater the number of horns, the more intricate the angles become, though they somehow avoid each other as they grow. Nuars who grow an odd number of horns are uncommon but not impossible. Other nuars notice the oddity, though interpretations vary widely between enclaves if it's a sign of good or bad luck. The odd horn occasionally grows directly from the forehead, presenting an even more formidable challenge for any foe within goring distance.
Nuars possess the uncanny ability to remain comfortable at any level of gravitational intensity. Even on worlds where the gravitational pull is strong enough to pin an average humanoid in place without technological assistance to resist, nuars plow forward, albeit at a slower speed as if trudging underwater. Likewise, some nuars have shown the ability to provide themselves with quick bursts of personal gravity in a vacuum, making them ideal for spacewalks outside of ships or stations. Youths raised from birth in extreme gravity conditions never show the deficiencies in bone growth or muscle density that other humanoids might, which has led to an emerging theory that their original home planet was prone to dips and spikes in gravity that necessitated a quirk of evolution. Xenobiologists are unsure of precisely how nuars manage to flex the limitations of gravity on themselves, but they agree that all nuars seem to possess signs of this trait on an innate level.
Society
Nuars' origins remain a compelling mystery, thanks to the Gap. While they appear related to minotaurs, there's no record of their existence pre-Gap, resulting in the when, where, and how of their ancestry's genesis being lost. The character of nuar culture is as such still developing, with many of them split on how to best discover their past. About half of the nuars in the Pact Worlds attempt to raise their children in isolation and study their behaviors to discern any inherent preference or cultural milestones. This approach has had mixed results, with no conclusive evidence that the behaviors of young nuars are the product of nature rather than nurture. A growing portion of the nuar population believes that such study is pointless, choosing to look forward and build culture from scratch rather than trying to dig through time for what was. This stance has proved popular in recent years, and young nuars have left their once-secluded enclaves in droves to find their own wants and needs among the stars.
The two most prominent trends shared by virtually all nuars are the concepts of the maze of life and the personal legend. The maze of life represents the many twists and turns an individual can experience, leading to wandering, experimentation, and possibly losing one's sense of self. Nuars who have become disillusioned with their lives are said to be “lost in the maze,” searching for purpose and changing perspective frequently until they find it. By contrast, a personal legend is born when a nuar settles on their version of truth. Personal legends often bind nuars together in a community, and it's common for other nuars to accept the personal legend of another at face value, no matter how outlandish it seems. Legends become popular stories that stand in for tall tales about the history of the people, filling in the gaps in nuar culture and leaving something for other generations to expand upon.
Nuar enclaves can be found dotted about most Pact World planets, forming around small communities of elders weary of travel and new parents raising their offspring. The elders stay permanently in the enclaves, assisting with child-rearing and offering insight to younger generations. Nuars not of a venerable age stay in the enclaves only so long as they need support from the elders before departing on a new investigation or adventure. Bonded mates might travel together or separately, sometimes opting to leave their offspring at the enclave until these youths reach maturity and begin their own paths through the maze of life. Whole nuar families stick together as a traveling unit on rare occasions, but much more commonly, they separate from each other while maintaining sporadic contact. It's widely understood that pursuing different paths in life doesn't dissolve a family bond, but neither is togetherness the only definition of connection. Mates, siblings, and cousins can go years without speaking, only to be as close as ever once their paths cross again or they enter one another's errant thoughts.
The two most prominent trends shared by virtually all nuars are the concepts of the maze of life and the personal legend. The maze of life represents the many twists and turns an individual can experience, leading to wandering, experimentation, and possibly losing one's sense of self. Nuars who have become disillusioned with their lives are said to be “lost in the maze,” searching for purpose and changing perspective frequently until they find it. By contrast, a personal legend is born when a nuar settles on their version of truth. Personal legends often bind nuars together in a community, and it's common for other nuars to accept the personal legend of another at face value, no matter how outlandish it seems. Legends become popular stories that stand in for tall tales about the history of the people, filling in the gaps in nuar culture and leaving something for other generations to expand upon.
Nuar enclaves can be found dotted about most Pact World planets, forming around small communities of elders weary of travel and new parents raising their offspring. The elders stay permanently in the enclaves, assisting with child-rearing and offering insight to younger generations. Nuars not of a venerable age stay in the enclaves only so long as they need support from the elders before departing on a new investigation or adventure. Bonded mates might travel together or separately, sometimes opting to leave their offspring at the enclave until these youths reach maturity and begin their own paths through the maze of life. Whole nuar families stick together as a traveling unit on rare occasions, but much more commonly, they separate from each other while maintaining sporadic contact. It's widely understood that pursuing different paths in life doesn't dissolve a family bond, but neither is togetherness the only definition of connection. Mates, siblings, and cousins can go years without speaking, only to be as close as ever once their paths cross again or they enter one another's errant thoughts.
Beliefs
Given their wide range of interpretations and experiences, nuars lack many unifying cultural beliefs that are common among other ancestries. Most nuars are too consumed with historical or physical puzzles, such as the events of the Gap or an unruly engine manifold, to put much focus toward metaphysical matters such as the divine. Those who do give their attention to worship tend to follow Eloritu in pursuit of knowledge and mysteries or the scattered conceptual studies of an amalgamated god or pantheon. Even religious nuars admit that their faith is aligned with their personal experiences, a marriage of coincidence and preference rather than a true calling. It's more common to find nuars who subscribe to a philosophy or general moral code than a divine source of worship.
Though they lack a cohesive culture, nuars are unified in their beliefs on a single point: that opinions and experiences are what make life real. It's exceedingly rare to find a nuar willing to invalidate or persecute the beliefs of others, instead simply accepting that what they see is their individual truth, which will vary from another's. This mindset doesn't mean that they accept outright lies, bigotry, or refrain from objective debate about the nature of others' views; rather, it's understood that such beliefs are a result of teaching and events compiled through one's life, a perception that might need its filter cleaned from time to time. In this way, nuars have become good friends with the emerging generation of vesk who seek to unlearn the harmful traditions imposed by centuries of Veskarium doctrine. It isn't uncommon to see nuars as counselors for individuals escaping from indoctrination of cults or other oppressive cultures that corrupt individual thinking.
Popular Edicts calm those alarmed by your size, pursue truth and share it with others, seek answers to questions
Popular Anathema dismiss the beliefs of others without proper analysis, fixate on a task or idea to the point of obsession, value brawn over brains
Though they lack a cohesive culture, nuars are unified in their beliefs on a single point: that opinions and experiences are what make life real. It's exceedingly rare to find a nuar willing to invalidate or persecute the beliefs of others, instead simply accepting that what they see is their individual truth, which will vary from another's. This mindset doesn't mean that they accept outright lies, bigotry, or refrain from objective debate about the nature of others' views; rather, it's understood that such beliefs are a result of teaching and events compiled through one's life, a perception that might need its filter cleaned from time to time. In this way, nuars have become good friends with the emerging generation of vesk who seek to unlearn the harmful traditions imposed by centuries of Veskarium doctrine. It isn't uncommon to see nuars as counselors for individuals escaping from indoctrination of cults or other oppressive cultures that corrupt individual thinking.
Popular Edicts calm those alarmed by your size, pursue truth and share it with others, seek answers to questions
Popular Anathema dismiss the beliefs of others without proper analysis, fixate on a task or idea to the point of obsession, value brawn over brains
Nuar Mechanics
Hit Points
10
Size
Medium
Speed
25 feet
Attribute Boosts
Constitution, Intelligence, Free
Attribute Flaw
Charisma
Languages
Two regional languages of your choice
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it's positive). Choose from the list of common languages and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent on your home world).
Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it's positive). Choose from the list of common languages and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent on your home world).
Darkvision
You can see in darkness and dim light just as well as you can see in bright light, though your vision in darkness is in black and white.