 December 4, 2011 - 5:18am | Pets in space has always been with is. Witness Hawk from Buck Rogers in the later season. RPGs are repeat with cat and wolf aliens. Zebs guide had the humma which were really victims of poor artwork, so they got lambasted as kangaroos in space. However with all the work that's been done developing the humma and with better art they don't feel like a pet in space. So I guess you could start with an animal template to build an alien. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 4, 2011 - 5:26am | Bodies that allow tool use: terrapod style body -velociraptor or kangaroo or humma. Body is built with powerful legs for running or jumping. Less developed arms but probably should no be so atrophied as to not have any leverage for tool use. Tail is required for balance and could be prehensile. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 4, 2011 - 5:30am | Climber body: easily adapted to upright configuration. Differentiates limbs into arms and legs. Arms are same length or longer then legs. Tail not required but can be prehensile. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 4, 2011 - 5:33am | Body is parallel to the ground, all limbs tend to be legs. Confers tremendous ability to run but is unlikely to developed tool use. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 4, 2011 - 5:44am | I can't help but think that tool use develops because the animal is disadvantaged in some way and tool use comes about because it was smart enough to figure a way around the disadvantage. For instance deer are successful by just running away so why would they develop tool use? Hawks and vultures are successful in the same way. Brain development comes about by tool use to where the only success full animals were the smart one natural selection takes over and selects for brains. This in turn leads to more creative thought. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 December 4, 2011 - 8:21am | the hand or some other manipulative appendage is also necessary. in thinking up aliens i often get stuck on the creatures ability to manipulate tools. if there is not an appropriate appendage i can't get it to be sapient. -iggy |
August 14, 2012 - 4:16am | So intelligence and the ability to use tools become self reinforcing in evolution. To get an interesting alien that could be used in an rpg for a foil or PC you will need to start with a non runner body body that has a limb free to develop the ability to manipulate tools and a the intelligence to do so. Ability to manipulate tools or the intelligence to manipulate tools becomes the classic chicken or the egg- which comes first? With both present, though, your alien is on the evolutionary track to higher intelligence. I really neet to read Footfall by Larry Niven. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 August 14, 2012 - 5:59pm | Jedion, I believe that the reason we anthropormorphize the way we do is for those reason you mentioned. As humans we see our reasons for using tools or overcoming disadvantages and all of the rest of what we do, and we put that on something else. Even in the old cultural myths, the fantastic creatures are usually anthropormorphic. It would not make sense to most people to come up with a totally unique set of parameters for a race. I am talking tool, tech, religion, philosophy, art everything we associate with intelligence would need to be redefined. I know a lot of authors have addressed this issue in books, bu in rpg's I think most people want to have familiarity while they are gaming. If a races desires are so foriegn to us as humans, then why would I want to play that type of character. Meybe a good npc to interact with, but nothing more. Just trying to understand a whole new thinking process may not make the game fun anymore. |
August 14, 2012 - 7:22pm | yes and look at the core four- we can identify with them and they really were lightning in a bottle when it comes to RPG aliens. And then the sathar are enigmatic and inscrutable or something we just cant identify with or something that evokes revulsion in a lot a people. So the purpose here is to identify what makes a good alien and figure out how to cast lightning like Zeb cook did writing the original manuscript for SF. Its a very fine line between something that is identifiable and yet alien at the same time. I think it was Stars Without Number that I read recently that had a space orc which would normally just pan but the write up on them made me think I might just like to use them, at least in that setting, perhaps not in SF as the feel was different but I could see myself using them You are right anthropomorphizing is popular its just tricky to get it right for example a yaz is not really just a monkey nor a flying squirrel. Its a little of both and in some ways what you'd expect and in others not what you'd expect. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 October 15, 2012 - 2:09pm | In looking through the various Star Frontiers websites over the years, I've noticed that most of them seem to have an anthropomorphized animal as an alien species. For example, the Jakar. I seem to remember it being mentioned on this site somewhere, as well. It is basically a cow-man. However, the write-up was well done, and did a fair job of explaining its "convergent evolution". I have considered using them, but I think they still need some work. I have also seen a great many cat people & wolf people, in both fantasy AND science fiction games. In fact, it was one of the things that initially turned me off to Traveller. Lion people called Aslan? You've got to be kidding me! Over the years I have warmed up to them, since there is a certain logic there, but the initial reaction is what most players are going to have. edit: found the Jakar here in the downloads for this project |
