GETH
"Organics fear us. We wish to understand, not incite."- Legion
RACIAL TRAITS
Average Height: 6' 0"-6' 6"
Average Weight: 270-300 lb.
Ability Scores: +2 Constitution, +2 Dexterity or +2 Intelligence
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Normal
Languages: Basic, Geth
Skill Bonuses: +2 Repair, +2 Mechanics
Synthetic Construct: You are a synthetic machine designed by the
Quarians. You gain the following benefits:
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You do not need to eat, drink, breathe or sleep. You never
make Endurance checks to resist the effect of starvation,
thirst or suffocation.
*
All other conditions (poisons, radiation) and effects still affect
you normally.
*
You are immune to diseases.
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You cannot choose classes with the Biotic Power Source.
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You are subject to powers and conditions affecting Synthetic
targets.
*
When you make a death saving throw, you can take the
better result of your die roll or 10.
Unsleeping Watcher: You do not sleep and instead enter a state of
inactivity for 4 hours to gain benefits of an extended rest. While in
this state, you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice
approaching enemies and other events as normal.
Hive Mind: You have a +1 racial bonus to your Will. In addition,
you gain a +2 bonus to saving throws to resist fear effects.
When selecting a Geth, choose one of the following powers:
Geth Shield Boost: You can use Geth Shield Boost as an
encounter power.
Geth Shield Boost
Geth Racial Power
You activate your advanced shield boosting capabilities, allowing
you to deflect incoming fire.
Encounter * Shield
Minor Action Personal
Effect: You gain a number of temporary shield points equal to 3 +
one half your level. In addition you gain Resist All 3+ one half your
level until the end of your next turn.
-OR-
Enhanced Optics: You can use Enhanced Optics as an encounter
power.
Enhanced Optics
Geth Racial Power
You enhance your firing reticule briefly, allowing you to scan and
search for potential weaknesses on your target.
Encounter
Minor Action Personal
Effect: If you have combat advantage against a target, you deal
+1d8 damage on the next attack roll you make against that target.
You must apply the bonus before the end of your next turn.
Increase the extra damage to +2d8 at 11th level and +3d8 at 21st
level.
Having rid themselves the bonds of slavery by their Quarian masters 300 years ago, the Geth are Synthetics trying to find their own place
within the galaxy. Recently, the Geth have splintered into two factions, with one throwing its lot with the Reapers, whom they view as gods.
The remaining Geth now try to find some way of establishing peace, not only with their heretic brothers, but with the rest of the known galaxy.
Play a Geth if you want . . .
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To be agile, tough, and built for battle.
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To be a creature feared by all organic races in the galaxy, but searching for your own place in the galaxy.
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To be a member of a race that favors the Engineer, Infiltrator and Soldier classes.
Overview
being transferred and downloaded; the mind operating one of
these "mobile platforms" might just as easily inhabit a starship
The geth are a race of networked artificial intelligences that reside
body should it need to. Most of the time geth programs can be
beyond the Perseus Veil. The geth were created by the quarians,
found residing in server hubs, which function as something akin to
as laborers and tools of war. When the geth became sentient and
the organic equivalent of a city, and can run millions of geth in
began to question their masters, the quarians attempted to
communion.
exterminate them. The geth won the resulting war, and reduced
the quarians to a race of nomads.
As all geth are networked to each other, they may communicate
their exact thoughts and ideas at the speed of light. They find
The history of the geth's creation and evolution serves as a
organic methods of communication, such as body language and
warning to the rest of the galaxy of the potential dangers of
spoken word, to be largely inefficient; the geth are able to
artificial intelligence and to the legally enforced, systematic
communicate their thoughts flawlessly without any fear of
repression of artificial intelligences throughout galactic society.
misinterpretation. Because of this they have no true form of
government and no system of rank. When a matter must be
decided upon, the geth communicate all viewpoints of a situation
and a consensus is made, the decision being whatever benefits
the geth as a whole the greatest.
Physical Qualities
Physically, the humanoid geth resemble quarians--their hands,
head shape and legs are similar--which is probably a holdover
from their origins. They are described as having "flashlight heads".
Geth are built of two materials, a large plastic or steel outer shell,
and a kind of synthetic muscle tissue that gives Geth Hoppers their
incredible agility. It is actually possible for this synthetic muscle to
be grafted to organic tissue. Geth "bleed" a white conductive fluid
when shot, but they don't have any internal organs or nervous
system, so the geth don't feel hunger or pain. The geth are also
seen using omni-tools, and have seemingly modified them to heal
synthetic wounds.
Part of the geth's success is due to their neural network.
Effectively, they "share" their processing power, distributing low-
level processes like motor control and visual identification to free
up bandwidth for higher reasoning and complex thought. Geth
can't share sensory data--they aren't a hive mind like the rachni--
but in large groups they have more to think with. An individual
geth has only a basic intelligence on par with animal instincts, but
in groups they can reason, analyze situations, and use tactics as
well as any of the organic races. An exception would appear to be
Legion, a geth specifically designed to operate as an autonomous
sentient unit outside the Perseus Veil. Legion possesses over 11
times as many geth programs as a standard geth platform and can
function intellectually on its own.
According to a geth platform named Legion, each geth is made up
of hundreds of programs equivalent to VIs, all operating in parallel
with one another to form a kind of emergent intelligence. An
individual geth is thus more of a "mobile platform" than an actual
body; the programs that make up its consciousness are constantly
Playing a Geth
interventionism in respect to the affairs and development of other
races. The geth primarily seek the peaceful advancement of their
own race independent of the influence of the rest of galactic
The geth are reclusive and secretive. This is partly due to their
society and believe every sentient species should be able to do the
synthetic nature. They have no need to interact with other races
same, an attitude which suggests the geth may be significantly
because they do not share the same goals, needs or instincts as
less hostile than the galactic community initially believed.
organic species. As machines, comfort is also not a concern for
them, something that is reflected in elements of geth ship and
station design (e.g., minimal gravity, efficient use of space,
Depending on the context, the term "geth" refers to an individual
function over form, lack of atmosphere, and absence of climate
program, mobile platforms which house a number of individual
control).
programs, or the entire collection of all programs. Organics
generally refer to each mobile platform as a geth. However, the
geth think in terms of the entire collection.
According to Legion, geth do not actually live on any of the
quarian planets they conquered, serving merely as caretakers for
them instead. They find it more efficient to live on space stations
Geth psychology is completely alien to organics. They do not value
and draw resources from asteroids, though they maintain mobile
individuality, preferring to share all memories and thoughts of all
platforms on the worlds to clear rubble and toxins left by the
programs regularly. This means geth cannot and do not wish to
Morning War. Legion likens this behavior to the human tendency
hide their thoughts, even those that do not follow the norm, with
to establish cemeteries and memorials to commemorate dead
their reasoning for such thought being apparent. Legion often
persons and tragic events. However, since geth do not "die" in any
uses the term "we" instead of "I", since it is both part of the geth
traditional sense (upon the destruction of a geth platform, its
society as a whole and is also a gestalt of over a thousand geth
programs are simply transmitted to the nearest available
programs.
platform) and so have no real losses to mourn from the Morning
War, Legion posits that they instead clean and maintain the
More importantly, deceit, manipulation and lying are impossible
quarian worlds out of respect for their quarian creators who died
among the geth. No concepts of vulnerability or privacy exist; geth
in the conflict and in preparation for the eventuality of their
are completely honest with each other about their thoughts and
return.
their reasons for those thoughts. This means there is a great deal
of understanding amongst geth, with every geth being a
combination of every other geth. Geth have no government or
leaders; the geth use FTL communications to "build a consensus";
a completely Consensus Democratic method of every geth
program making their choice on any matter. Even within Legion
itself, consensus must be reached among its many programs
before decisions can be made.
However, the geth are not above using deceit to study organic
behavior. One example is the geth introducing a falsified report on
the extranet detailing a constellation resembling a salarian
goddess seen from the batarian homeworld, which the salarians
immediately believed to be proof of the goddess' existence. The
experiment ended when a salarian cult bought rights to the stars,
only to find that they did not exist.
The only geth who have interacted significantly with organics
aside from the Legion platform are a sect that Legion refers to as
the "heretics". They are a small, radical group of geth who worship
a hyper-advanced but long-vanished machine race called the
There is some question of whether geth personalities remain
Reapers, whom they see as the pinnacle of non-organic evolution.
stable over time. When an artificial intelligence is transferred to a
This group is estimated to consist of about five percent of the total
new blue box, a completely new personality is created. Geth
geth population. According to Legion, the geth are content to stay
download into different hardware according to need, from
separate from the remainder of Citadel space to "build their own
starships to the "mobile platforms" that many are familiar with. It
future" and claim that all sentient creatures should have the
is unknown whether new personalities result from these
ability to "self-determinate", strictly adhering to a policy of non-
downloads, or whether it matters to the geth. As a result, what
organics would describe as geth culture is either non-existent, or
is in a form incomprehensible to organic life.
Names: Geth don't have individual names (since they are
effectively a Collective), though some have shown to be an
exception. Legion, for example, chose his name based upon a
verse in the Christian bible: "My name is Legion, for we are many".
Geth Adventurers
Two sample Geth adventurers are described below.
[To Be Completed]