Duplicant

Lore & Background

The Expedition's records, as glimpsed through the game's narrative fragments, describe the Duplicants as a hardy, versatile population chosen for their adaptability rather than any single specialized talent. They are not warriors, not scholars, not engineers by birth — they are generalists, and that is precisely why the Expedition trusts them with the most dangerous assignment: establishing a foothold on a world whose geology, atmosphere, and biology are still being mapped from scratch.

In the cross-section of the planet they inhabit, Duplicants carve out habitable pockets from raw rock, pump air through hand-built ducts, and coax crops from soil that was never meant to grow anything. Their small stature and large heads are a recurring visual motif, giving them an endearing, almost toy-like quality that contrasts sharply with the brutal survival math the player must manage. They talk, they complain, they get attached to their rooms and their coworkers, and they will absolutely refuse to work in a flooded basement no matter how many times the player reassigns them.

As the base species, Duplicants carry no hidden racial modifier. Every point of work efficiency, every mood swing, every skill point earned is purely a function of the individual's traits, training, and the environment the player builds around them. This makes them the cleanest canvas in the game and the species most players default to when learning the systems.

In Their Own Story

The air tasted like rust and recycled sweat. Duplicant #7 — the one with the slightly lopsided helmet and a persistent habit of humming while shoveling — paused at the edge of the new growing bay, her small hands still caked in wet clay. Below them, the planet groaned: a deep, tectonic shudder that rattled the pipes and sent a thin trickle of water weeping from a joint no one had noticed before.

"You hear that?" she called back to the others, who were already arguing about whether the new kelp crop needed more light or more water.

No one answered. They were too busy. That was the thing about Duplicants — they would argue, they would grumble, they would file a very formal complaint about the temperature of the break room — but the moment the floor started to crack, every single one of them was already moving, already building, already keeping the colony breathing. The planet didn't care about their moods. It didn't care about their little painted walls or their carefully arranged furniture. It only cared whether they were still alive in twenty minutes.

Duplicant #7 wiped her hands on her overalls, adjusted her helmet, and went back to shoveling.

Reader's Guide

Duplicant (Base Species)

Stat profile: The base Duplicant carries no species-specific bonuses or penalties. Work efficiency, mood sensitivity, and survival thresholds are all at the standard baseline that other species (Glitchlings, Goblins, Bunnies, Spuds, etc.) modify up or down. This makes the Duplicant the neutral reference point for every colony calculation.

Needs (standard): Oxygen at or above the minimum threshold (20 %), a regular food supply, access to drinkable water, and a dry environment. They cannot survive submerged in liquid or in a fully flooded room. Temperature tolerance is standard; extreme cold or heat will degrade mood and health over time.

Skills: Duplicants can learn and improve every standard colony skill — Farming, Mining, Drilling, Plumbing, Chemistry, Biology, Medicine, and Engineering. Skill progress is driven by repeated practice in the relevant role; there is no species lock on any category.

Mood triggers: Base Duplicants respond to room quality (dryness, cleanliness, temperature), social proximity to other Duplicants, the type of work they are assigned, and the quality of their food. Positive traits (e.g., a love of a particular crop or task) and negative traits (e.g., a distaste for a specific job) are rolled at creation and shift individual mood curves. There are no species-exclusive mood modifiers.

Restrictions: None beyond the standard survival needs. Duplicants cannot fly, cannot survive in vacuum without a suit, and cannot operate machinery that requires a different species' physiology. They are, mechanically, the most straightforward crew to manage — which is why they are the recommended starting species for new players.

Did You Know?

• The base Duplicant is the only species with zero racial stat modifiers; every other species in the game is defined by how it deviates from the Duplicant baseline.
• Duplicants can be trained in every available skill category, making them the most flexible workforce in the colony — at the cost of no single specialty.
• A Duplicant's mood is a living system: it shifts in real time based on room conditions, social interaction, work type, and food quality, directly scaling their work efficiency.
• Despite their small, cartoonish appearance, Duplicants are treated in the game's narrative as fully autonomous individuals with personal preferences, social bonds, and a capacity for genuine distress.