 August 11, 2012 - 4:04am | this comment was in another thread and I thought it would make a good discussion. B5 was a favorite of mine for a long
time. I see it as a different twist on Star Trek, Star Wars type themes.
I think that Firefly has more elements of Star Frontiers than other
sci-fi shows or games. It has the same frontier feel, and at the same
time a "civilized" society. It just doesn't have any of our favorite
alien characters in it.
Bring out you aliens, Your favorite aliens I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 11, 2012 - 4:46am | This is tough, not sure I can pick an all time favorite alien. But perhaps isolating certian aliens in different arenas will help: TV: KLINGONS!- I liked them as a kid watching TOS and the development that went on with them through TNG and DS9 sold me the crazy story line from Enterprise with the mixing of human DNA with Klingon DNA to explain the human looking klingons from TOS- that didn't work for me. But hell yeah I like Klingons. Side note: I really didn't like the Ferengi in TNG- they sucked but after DS9 I really like Quark and one of my all time favorite DS9 episodes, "House of Quark" involved Quark accidently killing a drunken Klingon and then bragging about, then being forced to marry the widow and then shennigans ensue had my favorite ferengi and wait for it...KLINGONS! That was too funny to watch and usually episodes with Klingon are all serious and, "Today, is a good day to die!" And the freakiest alien eyes goes to the TNG klingon Glaron who clearly must have descended Nancy Pelosi. RPG: Love yazirians and dralasites (sometime I get buggy too and play a vrusk), cant think of another RPG with aliens I want to play. Books: David Weber's Treecats from the Honor Harrington series. I've spent many many hours reading and rereading honor harrington books; Nimitz kicks arz! If you have no idea what I'm talking about go to baen.com and get a free electronic copy of On Basilisk Station. Nimitz actually plays a minor role in that one but if you read that book you'll very likely get hooked and have to read the other 20 and Nimitz gets some action in Book 2 Favorite line from the series: "For Nimitz, people who would threaten him or his person came in two varieties; those that had been suitably dealt with and those that were still breathing." And before you say, treecats are just an animal you need to read the whole series. Movies: Nothing from Star Trek stands out other then wait for it.....KLINGONS! but they got listed for TV where they had greater depth and character. though Christopher Loyd as a Klingon rocked even if the Search for Spock was dum as crap. I kind of liked the alien in Alien Mine even though the movie was low budget and cheesier than cheeze whiz. But I guess I have to toss the favorite alien in movies at the xenomorphs from Aliens and the Predators aslong as you only consider the firs two alien movies and as long as you ignore the first AVP. Hard to pick a favorite between the two- though the alien in Alien realy did scare me in a way that the Predator never did so I may just give this one to the alien. on the strength of that though Aliens is more of a favorite movie than the first because of the interesting characters facing death in different ways. In Alien the characters were just slaughtered but in aliens there is a realization amoung the warriors that they are facing death they are not just victims like in the first movie but then the victimization element of the first movie probably heightens the scariness. Worst alien ever: 7 of 9: just an excuse for putting big boobs on the screen. borg drones are not sexy, the borg queen- sure there is a creep sexiness there but not the drones and the handling of 7 of 9 was just typical hollywood-skin tight suit, big boobs, and high heals that made no sense. if they had let her be borg and given her a broke fragility it would have been better, the character could have had more depth and generated more sympathy. Not that i dont like big boobs, because I do, its just the 7 of 9 they delievered on STV sucked, and clearly its possible to introduce big boobs on star trek and have it work because they did it with, wait for it......KLINGONS! Best alien cross over that has never happened (mixing genres) well that would be if a face hugger from the Aliens franchise met a, wait for it.......KLINGON! THAT MIGHT JUST BE FUN AND SCARY. So I guess I have a favorite alien at least for in electronic media- KLINGONS! but rpg its another story altogether. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 August 11, 2012 - 6:28am | Among books I really like the Thanx of Alan Dean Foster's Commonwealth novels. I especially like the story Nor Crystal Tears for how it presents the thranx view. I'll have to get back with you for moves or TV. Too many are just humans in an alien suit. And in later years with CG there are too many that are just a human stereotype in an alien body. -iggy |
 August 11, 2012 - 7:31am | Funny this post is here today. I was just searching for 'well documented' aliens - meaning credible Sci Fi RPG aliens that have decent quality images and fan art available online for my campaign. I'm about to have the Rim "be discovered" in my campaign with my kiddos, but don't care for the one race (can't remember name - it looks spider like with long spindly legs) and can't find good support with art and illustrations online...any input is appreciated... :) Anyways, all that said: I always liked the Klingons, but Jedion takes it to an entirely different level lol... I like the idea of symbiotes - the Go-a-uld or however you spell it from SG-1, and the character Dax on DS-9 were always interesting to me. Kind of combining REALLY alien, with a human package. I know they don't count as alien, but my favorite antagonist in all of sci fi EVER is the Borg. They're like high tech zombies. They get you, take you over, and you're still in there but helpless as they come assimilate your planet. That is bad to the bone. I have to say also that I found the alien races in Mass Effect to be very captivating. The one octopus looking race was really cool, but the Turians, Quarrians, Asari, Krogans - they were all very well thought out with cool back story. I'm actually trying to figure out how to incorporate a "Floatilla" kind of concept outside of the frontier... |
August 11, 2012 - 7:49am | @ oncefaroff:wait for it.....KLINGONS!!!!!! Actually i have an osakar pic i drew. I'll pass that to you. Speaking of which i need to get back to the write up the humma and tackle the one on the osakar then figure out where I'm going to publish Jedion's Guide to the Rim. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 11, 2012 - 7:56am | We had a good conversation about the Osakar going on a while back. We were making good progress on exploring the nature of their clone biology. We were exploring how they are not the typical animal base for sentient life. We should restart the thread(s). Where were they. -iggy |
August 11, 2012 - 7:57am | @ Jedion - dude - I re-read your timeline project for the frontier yesterday. Awesome stuff! Something like that for the Rim would be amazing. I would greatly appreciate a pic of the Osakar. My youngest is much more engaged in the game setting when I can show him pics. and PS - the Klingons too will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. |
August 11, 2012 - 8:25am | Here is the thread I was remembering: Refer to: Osakar Revamp -iggy |
August 11, 2012 - 8:54am | @ Jedion - dude - I re-read your timeline project for the frontier yesterday. Awesome stuff! Something like that for the Rim would be amazing. I would greatly appreciate a pic of the Osakar. My youngest is much more engaged in the game setting when I can show him pics.
I did do a major write up on the Rim with a time line which was suppose to be published by now. I'll have to do something about making it available and if nothing else I'll send you the files as it sounds like you could use them. Yeah, iggy, we need to dust off the osakar revamp. I had wnated to eventally assemble a Guide to the Rim like a setting book. and PS - the Klingons too will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 11, 2012 - 9:05am | Thanks Jedion. I would appreciate that. The rim and frontier are about to make first contact in my campaign. I figure capella can start trading within a year, and that would give me an excuse for my PCs to finish off the Star Devil.. |
August 11, 2012 - 3:38pm | Thanks Jedion. I would appreciate that. The rim and frontier are about to make first contact in my campaign. I figure capella can start trading within a year, and that would give me an excuse for my PCs to finish off the Star Devil..
Suddenly there are rich CFM traders moving through the system and the pirates target them destablizing relations. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 11, 2012 - 6:23pm | @ Jedion - great writeup on the rim! I think I'll have the UPF discover the jump route to Capella since it's after the battle of Zebulon. My kid's campaign started with them having amnesia while they learned how to play, so I think the CFM will "have been there for a while", but brought to the PC's attention by their sudden involvement in helping the Eorna (which I love) and the beginning of talks of alliance. |
 August 11, 2012 - 7:04pm | "Karxan wrote: B5 was a favorite of mine for a long time."I liked Horror on the Hill too. Not quite as much as B2- Keep on the Borderlands or B4 - The Lost City...but it was up there.  Okay I never caught many of the modern TV shows from Next Genration and beyond so I have a smaller pool to draw from, but here goes. RPG >>> SF Yazirians, Vrusk, and Dralasites...in that order. With some revamping the RIm races could make the lsit, but as written they make just as good of a bird cage liner as the rest of the pages from that book do. Aslans from Traveller, lion-like humanoids whose notable aspect is a retractable dwclaw they use in unarmed combat (they actually have a martial arts like skill called "Dewclaw"). Books >>> Kryptonian Villians. General Zod, 'nuff said. Ursa, why don't we just hold hands? Or if you prefer to make yours Marvel, the Kree. Vivers from John Maddox Roberts' "Space Angel" & "Spacer: Window of the Mind". Genetically engineered humans, but think Wolverine with external chitonous armor and retracting claws at every major joint instead of just in the hands. TV & Movies >>> If Jedion meant to say Louis Gosset Jr's Drac character "Jerry" from Enemy Mine (opposite of Dennis Quaid), I fully agree. I like reptilians, the Drac needs some work but the basics are there. Speaking of reptilian aliens, the Visitors from V. I don't care if she was a greenie, who WOULDN'T hit Dianna? Or Pamela (Sarah Douglas, re: Ursa from Superman II)? Or any of the other females for that matter. There's your clue, humans...not an ugly one in the lot. Too good to be true. But what a way to go...what makes a better alien nemesis than the ultimate in deciet and treachery. Ovians from the Battlestar Galactica movie/pilot (reptilians again). They really needed some developement but just like Enemy Mine there is some potential there. Gamorreans from Jabba's Palace. Orcs on steroids, what's not to like? Star Wars was loaded with aliens to draw from, but I liked the Gamorreans best. After that it's a toss up between a pair of --- you guessed it --- reptilians: Trandoshans (Bossk the bounty hunter) and Rodians (Han shot first). Which brings up the worst aliens. I really want to say Gungans because Jar Jar Binks is proof that Ewoks weren't asinine enough, but we can't persecute an entire race over one moron. After all, they were wise enough to banish the fool. So I'm going with Geonosians, those irritating insectoids from Episode II: The Clone Was. All that buzzing around, and just how long can a person really listen to them speak? Dooku must have really exercised enough patience to renounce the dark side to put up with them. Cue the giant light saber-ish fly swatter. And what kind of screwed up society is capable of designing deadly battle droids --- not to mention drafting up the ultimate super weapon (the Death Star) --- but require beasts of burden to pull repulsorlift carts? (translated from pop pop click gurgle click pop) "Sure, Dooku...no problem on this mobile battle station. Never mind the fact that we have yet to master a propulsion system for personal transportation, we can build something the size of a small moon that can move under its own power." Dooku should have called a truce with all those Jedi and gone after the Geonosians, and settle their differences afterwards. That would have made the movie. |
August 11, 2012 - 8:16pm | Which brings up the worst aliens. I really want to say Gungans because Jar Jar Binks is proof that Ewoks weren't asinine enough, Ding! quote of the day! As good as my new favorite quote form Will the Stampede this morning, except his is more of an 'inside' joke. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 August 11, 2012 - 9:32pm | This tread is making me see green:     |
August 12, 2012 - 12:52am | I wanted to include the Twileks, but they're just too human... |
 August 12, 2012 - 1:12am | Since my comment inspired this thread, I guess I should put my favorite aliens out there. For RPG's: dralasites, I have to say an intelligent blob is way too cool. Books: Tran from Alan Dean Foster's Icerigger series or the Kzinti from Larry Niven's Known Space series. I like tigers and they both have that feel to them. I like the Tran maybe more because they are like vikings and not technologically advanced. TV: The visitors from V. Shadow is right, way too many good looking women to argue about. Wolves in sheeps clothing. Even the new V women were outstanding. Movies: Yoda. I cannot help but like a gremlin who is wise, and kicks but with the Force or lightsaber. |
August 12, 2012 - 5:51am | Ah, there she is the Twilick dancer who's boob popped out of her costume on screen, thanks Mal About Yoda- he always came across as more of a one off character than a race to me but as a representative of an alien species he is mad cool and would probably put the beat down on some klingons but then the klingons would wise up and make Yoda their leader and how cool would that be? Klingon warriors with a yoda-esk philosophy! Now that would be fun. I'm a huge fan of the original V series- have the first part of that on DVD but despite the hot women they dont "ring" true for me as an alien, perhaps if I had caught the remake when it was on TV , though the little that I did catch creeped me out. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 12, 2012 - 9:21am | About Yoda- he always came across as more of a one off character than a race to me
It's definitely a race, at the end of Episode one there's another from the jedi council --- a more pink skinned one with a masssive scar over one eye. I've tried looking for the name of the species in the past but so far never found anything on the various SW sites google often sources. |
August 12, 2012 - 10:30am | Ah, there she is the Twilick dancer who's boob popped out of her costume on screen, thanks Mal I'm glade you like it. Being a PG-rated movie, I kept it clean and tasteful. __________________________________________________________________________ OK, so what are my favorite alien races? Well, I have no issue with aliens who "looks too human", if it was established or implied that planets were seeded by a progenitor race. Although most would classify them as "fantasy monsters", I really like the eldrich creatures brewed in the tormented skull of H.P. Lovecraft. They came from a time when the lines between mystical fantasy, supernatural horror and science fiction was blurred. They are "alien" in every meaning of the term! Creatures like The Great Race and The Elder Ones have technology that goes beyond our understanding. I like the Tenctonese - or "Newcomers" - from Alien Nation (the movie and television series). They look like humans, but their biology could not be more alien: getting drunk off sour milk, and having salt water treated as acid. Well before District 9, Alien Nation was a good social commentary of racism and prejudice - even if conveyed through a generic buddy-cop movie. I also like the Daleks: a race of angry, hateful mutant aliens, who are encased in powerful mechanical bodies. Something about their raspy, mechanical voices that I find smoothing. I used to be a big Klingon fan, but the "proud warrior race" has been done to death. They are also a weirdly inconsistent race. Tho original series presented them as space-mongrels. The movies and The Next Generation made them a mix of space-vikings and space-bikers, while Warf - who was establish as being from a noble house - made them seem like space-samurai. As of late, I have been reconsidering my opinion after seeing this:  Yes its true, everything is better with apes!  |
August 12, 2012 - 1:16pm | "Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!" |
August 12, 2012 - 7:32pm | Malcadon, I forgot about Alien Nation. That was cool how they twisted the sour milk and salt water into something different. I really liked the way the movie was handled. District 9 did a good job on the same social commentary. My favorite part of D9 was, "In the movies the aliens always go to New York or L.A., we were not prepared in Johannesburg." or something like that. Jedion, How dare you say 7 of 9 was an alien. Now my heart is crushed. I always held out hope I would meet her someday and she would be my favorite human. Oh well dreams are just that. I did have, and kind of still do, a crush on Jeri Ryan. Sometime Jedion, you should check out the new V series. It was short lived, but when the new Dianna skewered her mother(the Old Dianna), with her tail, I was hooked on them being very, very alien. There was a lot of potential in that show.Shadow, I have never heard of Yoda's race anywhere. I have some SW compendiums and there is nothing. I have always wondered though after reading a lot of the books and comics what his race was like. That pink one implies they have some different skin pigments like humans do. Are they all short too? IIRC the pink one is taller than Yoda. Being 900 years old though, maybe he shrunk. |
August 13, 2012 - 3:49am | Shadow, I have never heard of Yoda's race anywhere. I have some SW compendiums and there is nothing. I have always wondered though after reading a lot of the books and comics what his race was like. That pink one implies they have some different skin pigments like humans do. Are they all short too? IIRC the pink one is taller than Yoda. Being 900 years old though, maybe he shrunk.
Throughout my searches I found two other "Yoda-things" and IIRC both were on the Jedi Council. One was named Yaddle and looked slightly younger and a few inches taller than Yoda. I really don't remember much of the other beyond being green and a Jedi. Then there was the pinkish one eye in Phantom Menace, also a Jedi. It would seem the "Yoda-things" are quite in tune with the Force. Apparently Lucas has kept Yoda's background & race info under wraps...supposedly there were lines in ROTJ that were scrapped that hinted at his race, and he dismisses the question when asked often responding that Yoda is a frog or the illegitimate offspring of Kermit & Miss Piggy (tribute to Frank Oz LOL). |
August 13, 2012 - 6:45pm | Shadow, Maybe Lucas is right about the pink one. A cross between frog and pig? Stranger things have happened. |
August 14, 2012 - 1:45pm | If Yoda is a cross between Kermit & Miss Piggy, how do they explain him having Grover's voice? |
August 14, 2012 - 6:13pm | Wow, now I see why Yoda is a mystery. Maybe SS, something unseamly went on there? Hmmmm?? OR maybe Yoda is a genetic experiment blending several races of muppets together to form a new race. So many questions to answer. I just don't know how to explain why they are so strong in the Force. |
August 14, 2012 - 6:38pm | Grover raised Yoda to keep the child hidden. -iggy |
August 15, 2012 - 12:13am | I always likened Yoda to the Wizard of Oz... "Ignore that man behind the curtain with his hand up my @$$ !!!" |
August 15, 2012 - 2:58am | I always likened Yoda to the Wizard of Oz... "Ignore that man behind the curtain with his hand up my @$$ !!!" Ding! quote of the day. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 August 16, 2012 - 7:48am | What about Sil from the 'Species' series? I guess I have to side with the xenomorphs though from the Alien series - great aliens right there and some of the best sci-fi on film - as my all time favorite. But the alien from the 'Predator' series and Sil from 'Species' were pretty spiffy too. I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you!  |
August 16, 2012 - 11:40am | What about Sil from the 'Species' series? I guess I have to side with the xenomorphs though from the Alien series - great aliens right there and some of the best sci-fi on film - as my all time favorite. But the alien from the 'Predator' series and Sil from 'Species' were pretty spiffy too. yeah Sil was pretty sexy and freaky- especially since she was interested in bedding you but if at the last minuted decided to say no she was probably going to kill you, then again if she did do the horizontal mamba with you she was bound to kill you anyways! Sil walks into a bar and those who are cognitive enought to remember seeing the movie finish their drinks, pay their tab and go home alone. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
