April 10, 2024: Holotype Characters

Okay, here they are . . . Not tested; any balance is pure accident. Brexwerx folks, if anything here is useful, it's yours!

YT's Doc Dino
Charisma 18. Releases well-scripted videos from the field; gets associate producer credit on Hollywood dino films. Gets a second grad student at publication of her sixth holotype. Limitation: can't publish a holotype worth less than 6 VP (including trace fossils).

The Reader
Full photographic memory. Hires similar talents for staff! Spends one less data cube for any description, and gets *two* data cubes on recall. Limitation: will send no one to the field if there is a Library slot open.

The Fringe Theorist
Believes the deinonychids were developing intelligence. Won't dig outside the Cretaceous if he has a choice. +1 VP for any Cretaceous species, or +2 if also theropod, or +3 if "raptor."

The Grand Old Man
Has been contributing to science and museums for 40 years. Welcome anywhere. Pulls a free Specimen card if he (personally) works in the Library; pulls an extra cube of his choice if he (personally) works in the Museum even if that color is not in the Museum's current supply.

The Dynast
Doesn't need money. Has money! Needs bones. Every adult in his family for three generations has been a degreed paleontologist or a famous collector, or both. The Dynast's grad student (his niece) can displace a professor. His field worker (his older brother) can displace a grad student.

Indy Jones III
Accompanies every field expedition – never sends students or workers out by themselves. Rolls one extra die when hunting fossils.

The Dilettante
When the track reaches 20, the Dilettante may go through all unused personal goals and pick a new one. Only the new one scores. The Dilettante may not describe two like creatures in a row – no two theropods, no two sauropods, no two marine reptiles, and so on.

The Splitter
The researcher (only) can spend 5 data, with one fossil of the appropriate color, to redescribe any described creature once. Record it for her score as though she had an identical "virtual" card. The virtual card does not advance general knowledge or the holotype track, and only two can count for personal goals. The Splitter does not bother with trace fossils and cannot use them.

The Polymath
Divides their time between two broad fields, either one of which would tax the average researcher, yet brings insights from each to bear upon the other. The researcher (only) can take two successive Publish actions when placed in the Journal.

Cope Marsh Spielberg
Dr. Spielberg grew up on "Bone Wars" and "Jurassic Park," and loves the science he does not understand. He is the kindest and most hard-working person east of the Mississippi, and Cs got degrees. Cope (personally) may use one wrong-colored fossil in any description. His peers are gentle with him and corrected papers usually appear within the year. Nevertheless, he cannot personally benefit from the Lab or Library and is no longer permitted to present posters at SVP.

-- Steve Jackson