I am sure some are think "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?!," and here is my answer, because the concept sounds interesting and is very easily done with the using the rule sets in Shadowrun. I have been working on this setting for a while, mainly the gear and races that could not be translated to over to the there Warhammer 40k counter parts, Autoguns are basically ballistic weapons of some type, while carapase armor is some type of security armor. I have only changed one rule, when ever casting a spell or manifesting a power to put it in the Warhammer 40k universe, you have a chance of attracting the attention of a warp entity that will either try to possess the caster or use him or her as a gate into the material universe killing the caster in the process.

But on to the subject of this thread, the one particular race that is slowing the development of my campaign setting, the Tau. This one race in particular is proving to be more difficult then the others, the Tau, this race is a very interesting one because Tau have a caste system and Tau from each caste have been "breed" to fit the caste he or she belongs too for a very long time. Here is a run down of the caste, they are listed below.

->Shas(Fire) Caste = General fighting force..
-The Shas Caste are the warrriors of the Tau Empire, they are generally larger and stronger then the other castes. Shas Caste Warriors prefer engaging targets from a far with their highly advanced and deadly ranged weapons, most Tau of this caste distaste melee and leave it to there more savage Kroot allies. The Shas Caste are the only Tau that are allowed to fight the Tau Empires wars, they are very aggressive compared to the other castes, they are often referred to as Fire Warriors by the other races.

->Por(Water) Caste = Diplomates, Negotators, Traders..
-The Por Caste are the diplomats and buracrats of the Tau Empire, they are the ones that orcastrate the day to day activities of the Tau Empire, and make deals with other races of the galaxy. The Por Caste are highly skilled diplomates and negotators, they are the ones that make sure the emipre runs smoothly. The Por Caste have gotten a reputation for being very hard to garbin with when negotating deals.

->Kor(Air) Caste = Air/Spacecraft Pilots, Navigators, and Captins..
-The Kor Caste are the pilots and captins of the Tau Empire, they are generally physically weaker then the other castes. Most Kor Caste members spend most of there time on the orbital platforms and docks in orbit over Tau planets, they possess a great sight and are the only ones able to navigate through the warp. The Kor Caste are the only Tau to pilot the empires naval fleet, they are referred to as the Air Caste because they where the first Tau to fly.

->Fio(Earth) Caste = Builders, Engineers, and Scientists..
-The Fio Caste are the builders and scientist of the Tau Empire, they are the one generally stronger then the other Tau except for those tau of the Shas Caste. The Fio Caste are the ones they dream, develop, and manufacture the materials and advanced equipment used by the other castes. The Fio Caste is the the one of the larger castes in the Tau Empire.

->Aun(Ethereal) Caste = The Rules
-The Aun Caste are the rules of the Tau Empire, the Aun generally very charismatic, intelligent, and possess a very strong will. The Aun Caste are the ones the lead the expedition forces and govern over whole systems, the Aun Caste often inspire the other castes to do greater and greater good for the Tau Empire. The Aun Caste are unquestioned by the other castes, as the Aun Caste are the one who saved the rest from regressing into fueding clans and hoards when the race was still very young, this time period is often referred to as The Great Terror.

I have been able to work out some mechanics for the Tau race, Caste Oath. This mechanic basically means that a Tau will only do tasks that was assigned to his/her caste so many generations ago, and will obey any thing asked of him or her from an Ethereal Caste member. The Tau in general are very adapt to living in very dry and hot claimants and environments, they also have very good night vision, I was either thinking of giving them Low-light or thermographic vision. But what is getting to me is the racial modifier for the separate castes, some would obviously be stronger then the others like the Shas Caste would be stronger then the other caste and the average human. I know I could just give them some racial modifiers here and there and be done with it, but I am trying to make them some what balanced and complement each others abilities. Here are the ones that I have done so far, listed below.

->Shas Caste Racial Modifiers: +1 Body; +1 Strength;
->Kor Caste Racial Modifers: -1 Body; -2 Strength; +2 Intelligence; Binocular Vision (count as natual optical magnification 1), Low-G Adaptation.
->Por Caste Racial Modifiers: -2 Strength; +2 Charisma; +1 Intelligence

Keep in mind that technically "binocular vision" just means they have two eyes.

~J

The Air Caste have vision similar to hawks where they can focus in something at really really long ranges clearly, so I figured they would have have the ability to focus on things that are at long ranges like a person using a scope. If binocular vision is not an appropriate name, what would be a good name for there ability to sight things at a far naturally?

Telescopic vision, mayhaps?
As for the rest, I'll take another look at it when I'm awake. 'Night.

~J

Here is what I have for the Tau Ethereal, +3 Charisma, +1 Intelligence, +1 Willpower, and they hold a next to hypnotic effect on the other castes out side the Aun Caste. This mean that a Tau of the: Shas, Por, Kor, and Fio castes will do anything asked of them from an Ethereal, this effect is just about super natural. This ability almost seems to like Influence but with one modification, castes other then Aun automatically fail the resistance test, and will not be broken when asked to do something suicidal. They also have this ability to strengthen the wills around them making them basically all but immune to negative moral modifiers.