Guide to races

During your time on station you may find yourself face to face (or face to mirror) with the not quite human. Be they aliens, mutated humans, or self aware constructs you're expected to try and coexist on this deathtrap
Learning their quirks can be key to knowing how to keep them amicable in times of peace, and easy to put down in times of strife.

Roundstart Races

On tgstation, these are the races allowed to be chosen at round start. Because they are freely available, you should expect to deal with them nearly every round.

Humans

On the station humans enjoy a degree of superiority over other races, everyone you meet in a position of power will generally be a human.
By default, the AI will apply the protections of its laws ONLY to humans, though they may extend that protection to other races out of preference provided doing so doesn't harm humans.
Should a conflict arise between a human and another race, expect the AI to take the human's side.

Gameplay

Behave like the dominant species you are. Beat skulls in with a toolbox and remind everyone that you are essentially a bald ape. Get leg-dropped by a wrestler and watch as your leg actually falls off.
Set up industrial-sized bugzappers in the main hall to deal with the pests.

Diet

• Likes: Fried food and junkfood, often combined into a heavenly form known as fast food.
• Dislikes: Raw food.

Benefits

• AI Protection under the default Asimov lawset.
• Domination of Command Jobs.
• Strength in numbers.

Drawbacks

• None at all.

Where to find them:

• Everywhere.

Lizardpeople

Second class citizens, lizards are generally relegated to lower level work.
Within a department a lizard staff member may enjoy anywhere from almost equal standing to obvious racism and disrespect, depending on their coworkers. They enjoy no advantages beyond their striking appearance.
Their appearance and naming conventions are loosely derived from the Argonians, of Skyrim.

Gameplay

Name yourself Does-The-Gimmick. Set all your accessory slots and become an unrecognizable blob of pixels. Be locked out of important positions. Threaten the HoP with a lawsuit if he doesn't promote you to a Head position and get promptly lasered to death.
Make it hard to understand a word you say by hissing frequently. Get discriminated against for being a snowflake race.

Diet

• Likes: Meat and disgusting things like small creatures that run around on four legs famous for disease
• Dislikes: Grain and dairy, what kind of creature would hate pizza or cake?!

Benefits

• Memorable appearance.
• Solidarity with lizards staffmates.
• Lizardpeople take one third less heat damage.
• Lizard tails and hides can be used to craft sought after items like lizard wine, the Liz O' Nine Tails and lizard cloche hats.

Drawbacks

• Likely target of racism.
• Noticeable lisssp.
• 50% more cold damage.
• Non-human to the AI.
• Your lizard tail and hide can be used to craft sought-after items.

Where to find them:

• Everywhere but command department.

Plasmaman

A recently discovered race that inhabits orbital bodies with high concentrations of Plasma.
Plasmamen have a hard time living on oxygen based space stations as they breathe pure Plasma as their air supply, thus they wear special environmental suits to protect them.
They have almost no advantages mechanics wise, and must rely on their skill and respect to get by.

Gameplay

Light the entirety of the station on fire. Be immune to cold environments, die in seconds to hot ones. Claim that you're a space beast that's come to kill everything, ever.

Diet

• Likes: Vegetables.
• Dislikes: Fruit, only the flesh is weak to scurvy.

Benefits

• They stand out.
• Can use their bodies drawback of setting on fire offensively to scare off attackers.
• Flash-proof, welding-safe helmet.
• Immune to cold, viruses, and radiation.
• Can't bleed.
• Does not need to eat.

Drawbacks

• They stand out, badly.
• Likely target of racism.
• They rely on a constant source of Plasma air to survive.
• If exposed to Oxygen their body will catch on fire.
• 150% damage from brute, heat and fire.
• They are stuck inside an environment suit. [Replaceable by Hardsuit or EVA spacesuit]
• Can't drink or eat through helmet, so dependent on injections and patches.
• No easy ability to hide their identity.
• The AI and its minions are almost always free to maim or kill you if you are seen harming a human.
• Can be cloned, but incompetent medical staff will always fuck it up.
• Cannot be defibrillated.

Where to find them:

• Everywhere aside from command.

Mothpeople

White-faced insect people with wings and antannae. Be the Mary Sue you were always meant to be with a shitload of color 'themes' to choose from.

Gameplay

Get everything unique about you as a species removed by deranged people, but manage to sneak past a free infinite jetpack that never activates when you need it to. Turn into toothpaste when you hack a door wrong.
Be slightly more tolerated by humans than other alien species.

Diet

• Likes: Vegetables & Dairy.
• Dislikes: Fruit.
• Toxic: Raw meat, cooked meat, just don't eat something that moved and made noises.

Benefits

• If your wings haven't been crisped, you can flutter around once gravity goes out.

Drawbacks

• Your eyes are extra sensitive to light. Welding needs both goggles plus a mask and flashbangs REALLY hurt, even with sunglasses on.
• Badly hurt by fly swatters. [10x damage]
• Vulnerable to pest spray. [3x damage]
• Fire will burn your wings off, disabling its benefits.
• Not protected by Asimov laws.
• Nonsensical 'fluttering' speech tag.

Where to find them:

• Near a light bulb or Tesla engine.

Ethereals

Walking lightbulbs that are named after celestial bodies.

Diet

• Likes: Snowflake Ethereal food (High-power energy bars, empowered burgers). Electricity, whether through Cyborg rechargers, electric shocks or indirectly through lightbulbs.

Benefits

• They're walking flashlights.
• Even better when emagged.
• Deal burn damage instead of brute damage when punching things.
• Slightly resistant to electricity.

Drawbacks

• They're walking flashlights.
• Can only regain nutrition by entering a cyborg recharger, by touching lightbulbs or through special Ethereal food.
• Vulnerable to brute damage.
• Not protected by Asimov laws.

Where to find them:

• At Robotics and Engineering.

Human Mutants

Over the course of a shift, you or someone you know may lose their humanity. These races are not born, but made.
These players are less likely to be the targets of racism, as many may simply acknowledge their former humanity, but are none the less NOT human anymore.

Podpeople

Human blood, resurrected through a plant. Podpeople are rare to see, often only making an appearance if the cloner has been destroyed or the power is out for an extended period of time. They thrive in light and can't survive darkness for too long.

Gameplay

End up as mister potatohead after Genetics gets blown up and the Botanist is not stoned enough to forget he can clone too, but too stoned to do a good job. Forget that you photosynthesise and grow obese in the light. Start vegetating with relative ease.
Remember that you're basically a walking matchstick well after you marched into a plasma fire.

Benefits

• Gradually heals and gains nutrition in well lit areas.
• Immune to plant-based hazards such as space vines and killer tomatoes.
• Bees don't mind them.

Drawbacks

• Darkness drains nutrition.
• If starving, takes damage over time.
• Easily eaten by goats.
• Tendency to be overweight due to desire to stay in the light at all times.
• Extra vulnerable to chemicals designed to kill plant life.
• Takes extra burn damage and heats up quickly.
• Mutates if shot by a floral somatoray in mutation mode.

Where to find them:

• Hydroponics.

Flypeople

Walking abominations of mishmatched DNA caused by teleporter malfunctions. Careful use and upgrading of the teleporter can assure those that dabble with it don't end up in this sorry state.
Like the lizard races, there's absolutely nothing redeemable about existing like this, unless you just enjoy being a freak.

Gameplay

Annoy the chef for his cheese, vomit on his food and kill Pete because you need barf fuel muh self defense. Start getting voices in your head when you read the bee movie script over the radio.
Get lynched for attacking the botanist using pest spray, and get gibbed by the chef for 'no reason'.

Diet

• Likes: Gross things, such as vomit. Get your crewmates sick and never go hungry again!
• Dislikes: Anything with nutriment... the first time.

Drawbacks

• Buz-zz-zing lisp.
• Grotesque appearance.
• Badly hurt by pest spray [3x damage].
• CRUSHED by fly swatters [30x damage].

Where to find them:

• Near a teleporter.

Felinids

Effectively human if not for their ears and tail.

Nanotrasen executives agree that Felinids are not befitting of head roles for the same reason certain individuals are drawn to this species.

Diet

• The same as normal humans.
• Dislikes: Furballs.

Gameplay

At the start of the shift, put on clothes that look like they're from one of those Chinese cartoons you're always watching. Have quality interactions with the crew behave like a poorly-written female character created by a sweaty dude who's never actually spoken to a woman except for his mother (and a fast food cashier that one time.) NYAAA at the crew. Become an entertaining electrical conductor for silicons.
Metafriend every other catperson, every single round. Get lynched in the hallways by a mob while the authorities point and laugh from a distance. When in danger, get saved by backup suspiciously fast. Ahelp every transgression people do to you.

Benefits

• Metagangs.

Drawbacks

• Hit harder by flashbangs.
• Non-human to the AI.
• Distracted by laser pointers.
• Felinids aren't allowed to have tattoos because it shames famiry.
• Are below beast races because they abandoned their humanity, as opposed to never having it in the first place.

Where to find them:

• On any station as long as the player made a Felinid character before the great weeb purge of January 2019.

Jelly and Slime Mutants

These races are created in Xenobiology by ingesting mutation toxin.
Further ingestion has a chance to mutate a slimeperson into a Stargazer or Luminescent.

Jellypeople

The proto-jelly race. Its subspecies all share the following traits:

Benefits

• Anything that would deal toxin damage (for example, Plasma) will heal toxin damage instead.
• Slimes will never attack them.
• Able to speak the slime language.
• Has slime jelly instead of blood, which is toxin if ingested by others.
• Take half burn damage from any source.
• Can grow limbs back using their slime jelly "blood".
• Has slime lungs, "vacuole", which will regenerate blood (jelly) volume when breathing plasma. Still needs oxygen though.

Drawbacks

• Lose limbs when "blood" volume goes too low, restoring some of it.
• Take toxin damage from chemicals that would normally cure it. This also drains large amounts of blood.
• Nonhuman to the AI.
• Take triple damage from cold.

Where to find them:

• Only if the admins gods spawn them. Also botany, once in a blue moon...

Slimepeople

Pretty much humans turned into slime.
Like slimes, they can split into multiple bodies, while retaining the same mind.

Powers

• Can split themselves to create spare bodies.
  • To split they need to acquire slime jelly; they generate it either by being well fed or by taking toxin damage (which also heals them). Toxin healing chemicals will remove blood at a fast rate.
  • Reaching 1100 jelly volume will let them split once, and reset them to 600.
  • They can swap between bodies at will; dying in their current body will send them to another body if they have one.

Gameplay

Be the specialest snowflake in xenobiology. Hang out with your only slime friends. Swap between bodies. Inject people with your poisonous blood.

Where to find them:

• Xenobiology.

Stargazers

Stargazers are the telepathic branch of jellypeople, able to project psychic messages and to link minds with participants.

Powers

• Can privately and anonymously "send thoughts" to any target they see.
• Can form slimelinks with any living being.
  • To form a slimelink, they must aggressively grab their target, then use the Link Minds ability.
  • Everyone in the slimelink will be able to communicate in it and hear each other.
  • Slimelink communication also works while unconscious or muted.
  • Slimelinks are broken by death; killing the Stargazer supporting it, or changing its species will unlink everyone.

Where to find them:

• Xenobiology.

Luminescents

Luminescents are versatile; they gain powers by consuming cores and activating them with their peculiar biology.

Benefits

• Emit a faint glow.

Powers

• Can absorb slime cores to gain special abilities. (You can find the various effects here)
  • Using a core may reduce your blood (slime jelly) levels.
  • Each core has a minor and a major ability.
  • Activating them has a cooldown instead of using up the core. Cores can be ejected and reused.
  • You can only have one core absorbed at once.

Where to find them:

• One of the possible mutations from slime mutation toxin, made with green slime extracts.

Exotic Races

These races have very few ways to come about, and often rely on very rare situations to exist at all.
Golems aside, you will almost never have to deal with them, but should be aware of them all the same for when the time comes.

Golems

Lumbering people of shining stone, golems are born into the servitude of their creators. While some will immediately gift these golems with freedom others will keep them close as assistants, bodyguards, or attack dogs. Golems do not have a will of their own unless granted one by their creator, and are not directly responsible for their actions if commanded. Free golems found on Lavaland function equivalently to their station-born counterparts; however, they are not compelled to serve anyone.

Golems have unique benefits and drawbacks, depending on the type of mineral they're made of.

Gameplay

Act like dumb ogre, smash the fleshy idiot humies and trigger gods. Escalate conflicts to deadchat with your ogre fists. Dish out justice with your ogre squad.
Kill people with your flashy radiation, and get banned for card golem counting.

Benefits

• Spaceworthy, can't be dismembered and don't bleed out.
• Immune to the effects of radiation and viruses.
• Most golems punch hard and are highly resistant to brute damage, with some exceptions.
• Have pocket-slots without wearing a jumpsuit.

Drawbacks

• Bound to will of creator unless freed.
• Most are much slower than humans.
• Immune to injections and cryogenic drugs, can't give or receive CPR
• Can't equip most clothing. Not really a drawback, since golems already have pockets.
• The only guns they can use are Kinetic Accelerators with modified trigger guards.
• Often prejudiced against and slain without mercy by the station at first sign of trouble.

For mineral specific benefits and drawbacks, see: Types of Golems

Where to find them:

• Xenobiology.
• Lavaland.

Skeletons

The skeleton within, unleashed! Somehow still alive, a skeleton is just a sack of stark white bones.
Clattering spooks, due to their supernatural qualities they're almost always associated with wizards.
Skeletons enjoy a wide selection of useful immunities, just don't expect the crew to ever enjoy looking at you ever again.

Benefits

• Don't need to breathe.
• Aren't bothered by extreme temperatures and pressure.
• Have no blood to lose.
• Are immune to the effects of radiation, as well as viruses.
• Immune to item embedding and chemical injections.
• Do not need to eat.
• Can attach limbs from the ground without surgery.

Drawbacks

• Loses limbs easily.
• Too spooky for most to tolerate.
• Immune to medical injections

Where to find them:

• Space pirate ships, with wizards, on the station on Halloween.

High-functioning Zombies

Unlike the zombies you find in movies, these high-functioning zombies don't crave your brains (despite what they might be compelled to say sometimes).
It's perfectly possible to coexist with these zombies, though understanding their slurring speech might drive some to wish it wasn't.

Benefits

• Don't need to breathe.
• Can survive in extreme pressures.
• Immune to cold.
• Have no blood to lose.
• Are immune to the effects of radiation.
• Can attach limbs from the ground without surgery.
• Immune to Changeling transmutation stings.

Drawbacks

• Loses limbs easily.
• Hard to understand.
• Ugly.
• Tends to be confused with the infectious kind of zombie.

Where to find them:

• With wizards, on the station on Halloween.

Romerol Zombies

Rotted remains of former humans, brought way less back to life. Unlike the zombies you find in Xenobiology, Romerol zombies aren't just a human mutation.
They are aggressive by nature, and spread an infection when hitting other humanoids, causing them to turn into Romerol zombies on death.

They also won't stay dead as long as the infection is active and their head is intact: to stop them permanently, the body must be destroyed or beheaded, or the infection must be surgically removed.
If this does not happen, the zombie will revive at full health after some time.

The infection is concentrated in a tumor located in the brain. Should this tumor be removed surgically, the body will revert to a normal corpse, which can then be cloned.

Benefits

• Same as regular zombies.
• Strong claws that can even punch through airlocks.
• Revives after death unless decapitated or gibbed.
• Quickly heals wounds.
• Can see in the dark.
• Turn other species into romerol zombies on death.

Drawbacks

• Slow movement.
• Can only use claws to smash.
• (Rightfully) feared and hunted by crewmembers.

Where to find them:

• On the station, after traitors team up to buy Romerol or get lucky with a surplus crate.

Shadowpeople

Cursed beings of darkness, shadows that cannot exist for long in the light. They skulk in darkened maintenance corridors or in workplaces with intentionally destroyed lighting. They are not intrinsically evil, but still invoke an understandable level of mistrust in pretty much everyone.

They share many of the passive effects of Shadowlings, but none of their innate spells or abilities. They are far less a threat.

Benefits

• Gradually heals in the dark.
• Don't need to breathe.
• Have no blood to lose.
• Are immune to the effects of radiation.
• Can see far in the dark.
• Immune to viruses.

Drawbacks

• Will perish in the light.
• Generally impossible to maintain a normal life on the station.

Where to find them:

• In the darkness. Also Xenobiology.

Synths

Humanoid robots, disguised as an organic race. When damaged enough, their fake flesh will fall off and has to be repaired with synthflesh.

Benefits

• Immune to all chemicals but synthflesh.
• Does not need to breathe.
• Immune to viruses.
• Can't be dismembered.
• Does not need to eat.
• Gains all the passive bonuses/immunities of the race they're disguised as, until the disguise falls.

Drawbacks

• Usually valid. Expect the crew to attack you if you're revealed as synth.
• Disguise falls if you take more than 25 damage.
• Can only heal with synthflesh.

Where to find them:

• Only if the admins gods spawn them.

Military Synths

A special type of synth. In addition to classic synths, it has:

• 25% natural armor against all damages.
• High punch damage, with 50% chance of stunning on hit.
• Need to take 50 damage instead of 25 for the disguise to fail.

Androids

Humanlike robots, distant cousins of synths. While visually identical to a fully augmented human, it has some additional perks.

Benefits

• Does not need to breathe, immune to gases and viruses.
• Immunity to pressure, cold and heat, can't be set on fire.
• Does not bleed.
• Does not need to eat.
• Cannot be pierced by syringes or glass.
• Can repair brute damage with welding and burn damage by replacing wires.

Drawbacks

• Cannot heal brute and burn damage with conventional means.
• Paralyzed and heavily damaged by EMPs.

Where to find them:

• Robotics

Abductors

Alien beings sent here to probe the station's crew. They cannot speak normally, but instead use a special frequency tuned to their mothership: different abductor teams have separate channels. Abductors created in different ways share a common abductor channel instead, and cannot hear natural abductors.

Benefits

• Does not bleed.
• Does not need to breathe.
• Is immune to viruses.
• Can use abductor-specific equipment.
• Can see in the dark for short ranges.
• Can communicate without restrictions with fellow abductors.

Drawbacks

• Can't use guns, except the one they start with.
• Cannot be heard by non-abductors when speaking.

Where to find them:

• Abductor ships