The Xeno Template

## Groups: Species and Plan

Each xeno belongs to one Species, and most belong to a Plan.

Pick a Species and a Plan, and record their Boons.

## Modified Traits: Role and Behavior (Virtue and Vice)

Instead of Virtue and Vice, a xeno has Role and Behavior.

### Role

A xeno's Role is the way he is viewed by those around him who are not aware of his nature. This can be a number of things: a profession, a personality trait, a stated goal, membership in a group. Whatever it is, those who interact with the xeno will view it as the most important part of his life.

A xeno regains one Willpower whenever he acts in accordance with his Role.

A xeno regains all lost Willpower whenever he endangers the public perception of his Role in service of an Instinct or Aspiration.

A xeno whose Role is throughly exposed as a lie may choose a new Role at a cost of 1 experience, and immediately regains a dot of Alienation for free.

### Behavior

A xeno's Behavior is his driving motive. It is the story the xeno tells himself about who he is, and why he does the things he does. This can be any valid Virtue or Vice.

A xeno regains one Willpower whenever he acts in support of his Behavior at no or little cost or danger.

A xeno regains all Willpower whenever he acts in support of his Behavior at significant cost or danger.

A xeno who furthers an Aspiration or obeys an Instinct while regaining all Willpower from his Behavior immediately regains a dot of Alienation for free.

## Modified Advantage: Alienation (Integrity)

**Alienation** is the degree to which a xeno is in tune with his Instincts. Being fully himself allows the xeno to operate his Tech easily and remain sane. However, it applies a penalty to interact with anyone who does not share his Instincts.

A xeno's Alienation starts at 5.

### Modified Trait: Instincts (Breaking Points)

Choose five principles that guide your character's actions. These principles should be at least somewhat at odds with normal human behavior, and should have some survival advantage in some environment. Deliberately avoiding doing these when presented with the opportunity is a breaking point.

### Advantages of Alienation

* When targeted by Tech, or certain other supernatural powers (see Immigration), a xeno may add Alienation to his dice pool to resist the effect as Supernatural Tolerance.
* A xeno rolls his Alienation when attempting to use Tech.
* A xeno may have no more dots in Tech installed than his Alienation.
* A xeno may spend no more Understanding in one turn than his Alienation.

### Disadvantages of Alienation

* A xeno suffers a breaking point (see the God-Machine Chronicle rules update) when acting against his Instincts. Roll this normally.
* A xeno suffers a breaking point when observing another being behaving in a way that is massively and drastically opposed to his Instincts. For instance, a xeno with a compulsion to avoid wasting resources would not suffer a breaking point for seeing someone leave food uneaten, but might suffer one for learning that a friend engages in conspicuous consumption or hearing about a food shipment being destroyed.

* A xeno applies half his Alienation as a penalty to all social rolls that do not involve Composure, Animal Ken, or Subterfuge. This penalty is halved when dealing with beings aware of his nature, and does not apply to other xenos.
* A xeno reduced to zero Alienation suffers the Chains of Man Condition.

### Optional Rule: Mutations

Many xenos use Tech to create or operate their human bodies, and that Tech can fail like any other when used by a xeno at low Alienation. When a xeno rolls a dramatic failure on a breaking point roll, she must take the Branded or Twisted Condition in addition to the normal results. When she rolls a normal failure, she may take either Condition instead of the normal Conditions. When she rolls a normal success, she may instead take the Scarred or Strange Condition.

## New Advantage: Understanding

A xeno uses Tech, but does not fully or naturally understand how it works. He may have an Understanding pool equal to ten times his Alienation.

A xeno starts at 10 Understanding.

### Gaining Understanding

A xeno may gain Understanding by meditating in an Archive. The xeno activates the Memories which he wishes to install, and begins a meditation task. Each success on the extended action past those needed to install the Memories restores one point of Understanding, to a limit of ten times his Alienation.

A xeno who is touching an activated Memory may automatically spend one point of Understanding from it per turn, without spending it from his own supply. He may only spend that point on the Tech associated with that Memory.

### Spending Understanding

A xeno may spend Understanding on the following. Unless stated otherwise, all Understanding expenditures are reflexive actions.

* The xeno may spend one point of Understanding to add his Alienation to his Defense or Speed for one turn.
* The xeno may spend one point of Understanding to apply his Alienation as Supernatural Tolerance against one effect that would not normally qualify for it.
* The xeno may spend a point of Understanding to repair one level of Structure damage to any installed Tech. This is an instant action, but the xeno may spend up to his Alienation to repair damage at a one-for-one rate.
* The xeno may spend three points of Understanding as an instant action to downgrade one level of Lethal damage to Bashing on himself or any other xeno of his Species he can touch.
* The xeno may spend five points of Understanding to regain one point of Willpower.
* The xeno may spend five points of Understanding to downgrade one level of Aggravated damage to Lethal at the moment he takes the damage. Even if the xeno has Alienation 10, only one level may be downgraded.
* The xeno may spend Understanding as an instant action to power Tech. See Clarke's First Law for more details.

## New Advantage: Tech

Each xeno begins play with three dots worth of Tech archived. Unlike other templates, he is not required to start play with Tech from any particular field.