 February 24, 2009 - 2:46pm | One of the hallmarks of space opera sci-fi, to me, is alien, non-human races. The races of Star Frontiers have always been a source of concern for me. On the one hand, I love the fact that they aren't just "humans with funny foreheads (a la Star Trek). On the other hand, many of the races are just... ugh. Yazirians - flying monkey-men? Dralasites - blobs. Ifshnits - dwarves! in! spaaace!! Humma - feisty kangaroos? Oh, you must be joking! Then it gets worse. Volturnus - we have desert-dwelling octopi (Ul-Mor), jungle monkeys (Kurubandi) and freakish crustaceans (Edestakai), all created by advanced, intelligent dinosaurs (Eorna), who also created a race of cold, intelligent robots (the cleverly named Mechanons). How about Sundown on Starmist? A freakishly aberrant race with purple skin called the Heliopes (heliope being a purplish color). Notui? Naked featherless bird-men. Sathar - psychic earthworms. Ppttthhhbbb!!!!!!! Why are the races of SF such reeking, steaming piles of excrement? True, it isn't easy to create interesting, imaginative alien races that aren't comparable to real-world examples. Additionally, many sci-fi movies and TV shows don't do much in the way of creating great, unique aliens either, and there are plenty of examples of silly or stupid creations out there. My own creations are perhaps a bit lackluster, but I work on culture to compensate for any failings in originality. I'm wondering what any one else has done (outside of the submissions in Star Frontiersman) in the way of alien races. Have you stuck to "humans with funny foreheads", anthropomorphosed animals, or adapted races from other sources? Have you created new races whole cloth? Have you revised/re-envisioned any existing races? In my own games, I have kept the four core races, although the dralasites have undergone a major revision (they are an aquatic race), and the ifshnits have been reinvented as a race called the byshinti. I've added others, and omitted some as well (there just are no humma, ul-mor, kurubandi, etc.). Please share your thoughts. Long live the Frontier! |
 February 24, 2009 - 5:32pm | I have no problem with the Core Four Races. Fine with me. I don't think they are cheesy at all... |
 February 24, 2009 - 5:55pm | Pets in space? LOL I love the core four and have come up with several on my own (coming in future articles and modules). A few are "pets in space" while other are non-human alien. Who wouldn't want to play a race that can see in the dark, glide and go beserk? :-D |
 February 24, 2009 - 8:42pm | +1 to the core four. And finally the sathar --- well you need something people are uneasy around and insects were already spoken for. They're the good guys. So a creepy-crawly worm makes sense as a villain (and their insectoid allies, the Zuraqqor, round out the creepy-crawly factor). As a race they're weak, but their strength is deception and subterfuge, followed by cybernetic technology. They're the ones that bring back your dead enemies to haunt you again. |
 February 25, 2009 - 12:02am | Well the "forehead of the week" trend in aliens didn't really come out till TNG in the star trekverse and even in ST the motion pic the big "alien" on the bridge was the bald chick. The original ST didn't really do fore head of the week it was more make up of week or more properly make up of the season though I've never heard a complaint about the green orien slave girl. but really who were the most memorable aliens on the original star trek? Klingons and Romulan and no fore heads involved. The popularity stemmed from performance of the actors. Some of the worst: Tholians (a weird geometric face on a screen), the guys with half black and half white faces but they hated each other because one had white on the right and the other had black on the right - just a cheesy comment on '60s American society. Advances in latex and silicone prosthesis made it possible for TNG to do so much more but they kind of got sucked in with the 'look' of a fore head of the week and sometimes failed to really develop that fore head into a interesting race. There are exceptions to that but many were forgettable because we weren't really all that wowed by an alien look we needed a great performance and something to identify with that alien. With geeks providing a large share of the population of the legions of Star trek fans its not surprising that Foot ball jock like klingons were readily identifiable or for that matter the cold imperious mean spirited Romulan like authority figures? But to return to the discussion at hand I found the core 4, at that time and place, very refreshing and different and yet very identifiable. I doubt that the Star Frontiers product would have endured if the aliens had been really different in the way you criticised them for not being. The art work in AD (Zebs doesn't count) made them different yet their descriptions gave us something to identify with in them. Take yazerians: the warrior berserker race they had an automatic -10 to str/sta thats the single steepest ability mod in the core 4, it was balance by +5 for both DEX/RS and INT/LOG with implied that though they had this great warrior ethic but they had to fight smarter- that they weren't some big arsed wookie who'd just rip your arms off. It deff. wasn't cliche. I loved them because they reminded me of our French Poodle who had the attitude that dogs smaller than himself he'd let live but dogs bigger than himself he'd have to put in their place - and I had to more than once save him from picking a fight. It took tremendous advances in CGI before we ever saw anything like the drals. so they were different and they were fun. kind of the dorky class clown of the frontier. they were a great excuse to revel in really dorky humor that you'd be too afraid to use in school lest you be ostracized. Vursk- probably the most difficult to identify with but also very intriguing, at least to me, though allen dean foster came out with a novel at that time with a vursk like race and I enjoyed that novel so... For myself the most difficult question of character creation was which race to play, certainly not human- been there still doing that, but which of the other 3 did I want to explore through the process of role playing. I think the answer is really about the role that is played- whether its an actor on screen or a gamer with dice- a great performance will always make for memorable and popular characters. That brings us back to your lack luster creations that you developed more through their culture sound like performance to me. Ultimately and practically in America of 1982 Star Frontier aliens had to be commercially viable and that meant that they looked more like aliens than what we were seeing on syndicated star trek and yet be very identifiable to people- I think TSR did a good job and I still like these aliens 27 years later. I think you missed a great opportunity for playing some great roles. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 February 25, 2009 - 1:02pm | I had no problem with the original core races or with the Volturnus modules. The worst have got to be in Zeb's guide although I kind of like the Osakar. The Humma and Ifshnits just need to be changed in appearance to something better than kangaroo's and dwarves. Mechanons? Leave 'em in the modules as NPC's. The absolute worst would have to be the S'sessu from the Dragon magazine article. Sathar look-alikes that are good guys....please. |
February 25, 2009 - 1:36pm | I agree with Zeram here. Additionally, there is an elegant balance between the core four. Dralasites play off Yazirians, making jokes at their expense while the Yazirians barely resist the temptation to kick their blobs around. Properly played (and some inevitable cliches occur here - no big deal) it is very entertaining and adds a great deal of color and personality to the game. I think a well roleplayed Dralasite is one of the best things that Star Frontiers has to offer. I always enjoyed making my fellow PCs groan, and occasionally really laugh, with my corpulent blob comments and antics. Vrusk take a more "listen to many, speak to few approach" - almost always blunt and logical. Humans are there for that PC who wants to have a personality that would not really fit into the other three races, or one that does, but he's just Human instead. Once you just thrust in more races, the roleplaying water gets muddied. Perhaps there was some potential with the Osakar, but I really did not like the fact that they all looked exactly the same. The idea of a Humma PC acting like a jerk all the time should result in fists to his hairy face, if played the way Zebs described. And the ifshnits, aside from having a terrible name (ifshits? not so funny beyond age 14) are greedy Dwarves. I got that in D&D, thank you. As a ref, I have never really bothered with creating races. I've created plenty of critters and monsters, but never saw the need for new races. What can really work well are variants of the original races. Delve into and develop cultural differences. For example, maybe some bedouin-like Vrusk who have been wandering the desert/mountains/jungle for many generations. The "city Vrusk" see them as country bumpkins, while the bedouin Vrusk are suspicious of the "city slickers". Just a quick example, developed in 12 seconds off the top of my head. With greater attention and preparation, the creation of "alien" variants of the core four is quite easy, with all of the roleplaying opportunities and situations that could come up with the development of an entirely new race. Of course, if you feel that the core four are just terrible, I would first ask why you bother playing SF in the first place, but after that, by all means create more races if you want. I just never saw the need. Yazirians = ancient warrior-type dudes, hairyness Vrusk = merchants and traders, bugginess Dralasites = comic relief, blobbiness Humans = everything else Of course I am over-categorizing/archetyping here. But I think you get my point. What more do you need? The cool thing also is that all of the core four are united in a somewhat unifiying "Frontier culture" which helps bind them together, in spite of their differences. Any significant new races have to be explained by the ref as to how they fit in to this Frontier or "spacer" culture. This is not impossible, but to not be a cheese-fest, a ref does have some explaining to do when inserting a new race. |
February 25, 2009 - 2:50pm | Any significant new races have to be explained by the ref as to how they fit in to this Frontier or "spacer" culture. This is not impossible, but to not be a cheese-fest, a ref does have some explaining to do when inserting a new race. Which, in my humble opinion, actually works best if you "expand the borders". At least Zebs got that much right when introducing the new races...the Rim is not part of the UPF. The few additional PC races I whipped out come from non-UPF worlds that are beyond the borders of the standard map. |
 February 25, 2009 - 9:04pm | I really enjoyed the core races for their originality, and the Volturnus races all made good sense to me as well. Can't say the same about Zeb's races, and I never liked the Saurians or Zethra from Dragon Magazine (but I did like the Ssessu - sathar cousin-race). For me, I have to be able to envision some sort of evolutionary tract for a race. Start with something like a cephalopod (for Ul-Mor) and envision what it might become with some intelligence (or guided evolution). The races that I don't like cannot really be explained in a sensible way, or at least I don't 'get it' when it comes to their ancestry... call me a Darwinist. For that reason, the animal based races don't bother me much... in my thinking a Kangaroo is well suited for evolution to intelligence (upright stance, nurturing young, mammalian/marsupial). Likewise, the Osakar make little sense to me, whether biologically or in their manner. Heliopes don't fit well either with their weird resistance, and Zethra were worst of all. I am all for thinking outside the box with races, coming up with interesting aliens... they just need to make sense as well. <insert witty comment here> |
February 25, 2009 - 11:32pm | As a ref, I have never really bothered with creating races. I've created plenty of critters and monsters, but never saw the need for new races. What can really work well are variants of the original races. Delve into and develop cultural differences. For example, maybe some bedouin-like Vrusk who have been wandering the desert/mountains/jungle for many generations. The "city Vrusk" see them as country bumpkins, while the bedouin Vrusk are suspicious of the "city slickers". Just a quick example, developed in 12 seconds off the top of my head. With greater attention and preparation, the creation of "alien" variants of the core four is quite easy, with all of the roleplaying opportunities and situations that could come up with the development of an entirely new race. That was the point I made in another thread about the space gnomes- rather than have them be an entirely new race make them an off-shoot of humans who shrunk through evolution much like pygmies and keep most of the cultural elements from Zebs. Just write some back story to explain how they got there. Non the less Imp Lord makes a great point. You could even do the whole Vulcan/ Romulan relationship thing with a warrior culture vursk society outside the Frontier who have an tightly controlled fascist like hive society- they become another threat to stability and open another avenue for spies within the frontier with out it being the cliche sathar hypnotized agents. Still you need to explain the lost homeworlds and how you have all these branch off shoot races though. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 26, 2009 - 4:08pm | I guess what I'm saying is that in both SF and much sci-fi in general, most aliens are either too recognizable or too alien. I'd like to see something that is alien enough that it fits the definition, but familiar enough to be believable. Sadly, I don't really have such a race in mind, except maybe the osakar, though they have game mechanics issues. Let me state this, too; I have very little problem with the flavor, background or mechanics of most of the races. That's one of the things that I do like about almost all the races (except the humma - they're kangaroos that act like stupid yazirians). Its more to do with the appearance of the aliens. In movies, aliens are (until recently) humans in a costume, thus we ended up with "makeup/forehead of the week" aliens. The culture and personality of the aliens were usually good, though there were failings ("His colors are different than mine!"). I mean, if drals are essentially giant, sentient amoebas, why not make them at least semi-aquatic? Why do Voltunus' kurubanda have to look like chimapanzees in Aztec clothing? What the hell were they thinking when they created the heliopes? I should have stated more clearly that I'm criticizing the appearance, not the culture, rules or fluff of the aliens. That's why I still use the core four, the osakar, the ifshnits and the sathar, though all have undergone some adaption. I still see room for more races, either to fill niches in game play, or just to flesh out the numerous star systems of the Frontier and beyond. So, what about the rest of you? Have you altered any of the SF races or created your own? I'm curious to see. Long live the Frontier! |
February 26, 2009 - 5:57pm | So, what about the rest of you? Have you altered any of the SF races or created your own? I have a cat-like race based from the Rakasta in the D&D X:1 "Isle of Dread" module. That's the only one I've truly fleshed out...I also have a canine type race that they trade with that hasn't been completely finished. They reside "east" of the Frontier/south of the sathar homeworlds, and the two of them actually trade with the Zuraqqorr who also reside in their sector (but only the Zuraqqorr ally themselves with the worms, the cats & dogs hate the sathar). I have a reptillian race slated for a system north of the Rim and an aquatic race northwest of the Frontier. As most of these sectors are long from being fleshed out for adventure use (I only have a pirate sanctuary sector west of the Frontier in terms of finished material) none of them are ready for use save for my Rasta-clones. |
February 26, 2009 - 11:51pm | Actually, I did think of an alien that fits my criteria for being "alien yet familiar" without being either too alien or too familiar: the grays. Yep, every conspiracy theorist's little telepathic aliens, represented in Alternity and d20 Future as the Fraal. They are alien. No vocal cords or mouths (usually), big black eyes, mysterious nature, bulbous heads, small, frail bodies. Yet they are familiar. Humanoid shape, two arms, two legs, head atop the torso with forward facing eyes, breathes osygen, similar tolerances to light, heat and cold. Since they are so overused in sci-fi now, however, I do tend to avoid using them in any way. Long live the Frontier! |
February 27, 2009 - 6:58am | I see your point gargoyle but it comes down to the fact that currently all art available or obtainable in the near future is done by humans and that means it will be influenced by the human experience. so you will continue to get fore head of the week and anthropomorphized animals as aliens reguardless of how good the fluff and culture backing them is. Sure there will be exceptions- there always is. However, we're talking role playing games and those, when you break it down, are about story telling. Some times you just suspend disbelief to enjoy a story. I know thats not the answer you want but its the practical answer. Certainly some things rankle us so much that the suspension of disbelief is too difficult. Like dressing up a teddy bear as an alien and no matter how wonderfull the fluff and background; Its still a freaking teddy bear and I hate. BUT to suggest aliens that are alien- Have your never read CJ Cherrith's Pride of Chanur? Sure the main characters are Lions in space- but they have great culture and fluff backing them so its easy to swallow YET the rest of the aliens really meet your criteria. especially the methane breathers. its a good read and a good source for ideas for SF. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 27, 2009 - 7:33pm | ... Certainly some things rankle us so much that the suspension of disbelief is too difficult. Like dressing up a teddy bear as an alien and no matter how wonderfull the fluff and background; Its still a freaking teddy bear and I hate. ... That's what I'm really on about here, I guess. Humma, ifshnit, even the yaz; dressing up a teddy bear as an alien. :) Long live the Frontier! |
February 27, 2009 - 11:58pm | ... Certainly some things rankle us so much that the suspension of disbelief is too difficult. Like dressing up a teddy bear as an alien and no matter how wonderfull the fluff and background; Its still a freaking teddy bear and I hate. ... That's what I'm really on about here, I guess. Humma, ifshnit, even the yaz; dressing up a teddy bear as an alien. :) actually I was refering to Ewoks- to me none of the races you mentioned looked like a teddy bear in the artwork and I must have missed something in reading the fluff on those 3 but nothing in the fluff suggested cuddly, fat, and cute which is what I usually associate with teddy bears. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 28, 2009 - 6:00am | actually I was refering to Ewoks- Funny thing, the initial "design" of Ewoks were supposed to be primitive yet menacing creatures that could rip wookie arms out of their sockets. Somewhere along the line they became "cute and adorable"...suffice it to say Jar Jar Binks proved that there are things in the Lucas-verse that are far more asinine than Ewoks. |
February 28, 2009 - 5:33pm | When Quia Gon Jin (spelling?) had Jar Jars tongue in his hand I was hoping he'd slam his head into the table. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
February 28, 2009 - 5:44pm | Speaking of really different aliens some Sci Fi writers have come up with good offerings: Aurther C Clark- Rama series (I only read the first but thought that the "alien life" encountered on the Rama ship was really different. Hard to really identify with it at all as it wasn't a chimp in space.) -Sands of Mars- a good space frontier novel and Clark's take on life on Mars worked for me. C.J. Cherrith- Pride of Channur series- not the "lion aliens" though they were very identifiable and likable however the skiff and the methane breathers came off as different and intriguing Anyone have any others? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 February 28, 2009 - 10:21pm | The Warhammer 40K 'verse had oodles of interesting alien races, but the two which really jump out at me('sides from the Stealers)are the tau and the kroot. "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
March 1, 2009 - 5:11am | When Quia Gon Jin (spelling?) had Jar Jars tongue in his hand I was hoping he'd slam his head into the table. I was actually hoping for a Vader versus Obi-Wan beheading homage... |
March 1, 2009 - 1:53pm | Weeell, some fans do insist Jar Jar turned Sith.... Me, I'm still holding out for the additional bonus footage at the tail end of the ROTJ 40th Anniversary Special Edition, which will show Jar Jar face down in a gutter on Naboo(a empty bottle of Han Walker Red by his side)when the second Death Star blows.... "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
March 2, 2009 - 6:11am | Weeell, some fans do insist Jar Jar turned Sith.... |
March 2, 2009 - 6:12am | Okay for whatever reason that post is not letting me link to what I wanted to. http://www.nemodog.org/Misc/DarthDarthBinks.jpg |
March 2, 2009 - 7:09am | *chuckle* The real reason for becoming Sith; 1. Old flames calling you "Anni" during your teen years when your trying to be cool. 2. The ability to speak without anything intelligent coming out. You look in the mirror and know there right.... |
March 2, 2009 - 4:10pm | Larry and Shadow, too funny.... "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
March 3, 2009 - 5:56am | "I just Sithed my pants." |
 March 3, 2009 - 3:49pm | Join the dark side, we have cookies. In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same. |
March 3, 2009 - 4:29pm | Join the dark side, we have cookies. Double dark chocolate chip. And, for those stormtrooper fans out there, white chocolate chocolate chip. Dark chocolate chip.... "You're everything that's base in humanity," Cochrane continued. "Drawing up strict, senseless rules for the sole reason of putting you at the top and excluding anyone you say doesn't belong or fit in, for no other reason than just because you say so." —Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stephens, Federation |
 March 10, 2009 - 7:45pm | The Core Four were nicely balanced for a party of four - the standard "dungeon" party at the time SF was originally published. I like the Humans and Vrusk the best. The other two don't do anything for me. The Zeb's races always struck me as dorky - but I never really looked closely at them. |
March 10, 2009 - 9:07pm | The Core Four were nicely balanced for a party of four - the standard "dungeon" party at the time SF was originally published. I like the Humans and Vrusk the best. The other two don't do anything for me. The Zeb's races always struck me as dorky - but I never really looked closely at them. Almost like the video game-ooops that was an arcade game with the Barbarian, Valkerie, the dwarf and the wood elf with the bow can't remember the name of the game but i do remember pouring quarters into it. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
