hideous, rotting bodies bound in wrappings and covered in a hooded long robe called a newile to hide their appearance from other races. They are very cagey about their origin, claiming to be either from the future or another reality. Staying in this time and space and using their powers puts constant strain on their bodies and causes the decomposition they suffer from. The Zen-Rigeln resent the Sye-Men, calling them a mockery of everything their culture stands for and deem them a potential threat to the Alliance; the Sye-Men in return neither confirm or deny these assertions. Xarians: Hexapedal, flat-bodied amphibians with bumpy, moist skin; they have been described as looking like "bumpy, slimy endtables". The first two pairs of legs are also used as hand-like manipulators; all six legs are fully rotational. They speak and eat with a long thin mouth mounted between the first set of legs and have a long tri-forked tongue that can be used as a manipulator for delicate work or to grasp or strike far-off objects. They have four small eyes along the front of their bodies above their mouth. They wear clothing made of "t-cloth" that keeps their skin from drying out. They store oxygen in the bumps on their skin and can use them to float in water. The Xarians are merchants; their society is divided into oligarchical clans called Confederations, each of which is ruled by the richest and oldest member of that Confederation. The head of the most powerful Confederation serves as the "CEO" and heads the alliance of confederations called the Hegemony. Their ambition is to destroy or subjugate the Alliance, which they see as a competitor and business rival. Locations The Galactic Alliance spans portions of several galaxies, including the Milky Way, Andromeda, Fornax, Spirax, M32, and the Magellanic Clouds. Details of two 'sectors' of the Fornax Galaxy are presented in the planetary atlas supplements, No Man's Land and Hell's Kitchen. System Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century features a d100 (percentile) based system for resolving combat and skill checks. Character Statistics and Skills Each character has eight Vital Statistics scores (Strength, Manual Dexterity, Intelligence Quotient, Agility, Constitution, Aggression, Intuition, and Charisma). These are used to calculate the four Secondary Statistics scores (Knowledge, Military Leadership, Persuasion, and Bargaining). These scores are significantly influenced by the character's race. There are no character classes or character levels in Battlelords of the