 October 16, 2012 - 1:53pm | One of the most common tropes in science fiction is sophisticated interaction with cetaceans (dolphins, whales, orcas, etc.). Dolphins were written up as a PC species for Traveller. The RPG Blue Planet features dolphins & orcas as PCs. They have sonar-based technology. Dolphins & orcas are members of the Federation in Star Trek, and there are several on board the Enterprise-D, working in the navigation department (according to the technical manual). They are even mentioned there in one episode of TNG. Star Trek IV treats whales as a sapient species. The book Cachalot, by Alan Dean Foster, goes into great detail about dolphin & whale culture. They are given a colony on a water planet as a way of apologizing for past atrocities against them. In Larry Niven's Known Space, whales are in the process of a lawsuit against humanity for past whaling. He says they are prolonging & dragging the case out because the love the "legal gymnastics". In the Pern series, dolphins assist humans in colonizing Pern. In David Brin's Uplift series, dolphins are building & flying their own spaceships. They have technology that allows them to move about on land. In the real world, scientists have stated that cetaceans constitute the equivalent of an intelligent alien species on Earth, and a good example of how difficult it would be to communicate with aliens in real life. Scientists have officially lobbied to have cetaceans declared "non-human persons", due to their intelligence. In my own game, cetaceans are considered a sapient species, although they mostly keep to themselves. Opinions? Thoughts? |
 October 16, 2012 - 2:06pm | Funny you mentioned this. I was just thinking about Traveller's uplifted Dolphins the other day. I saw a picture of one in a space suit doing an EVA. IMHO, dolphins and whales are a little too far for me, however, I do find the general concept intriguing: an advanced species that is aquatic. I thought the Xindi aquatic race in the show Enterprise were one of the more interesting species. I actually am considering adding a an aquatic race of some kind, but probably something more like the Selkath from Star Wars KOTOR. (I use a lot of pictures in my campaign for my kiddos-lotsa pics of them... ) |
 October 16, 2012 - 2:13pm | You have the semi-aquatic Saruians from the Dragon magazine article you could consider as well. Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
 October 16, 2012 - 6:11pm | I loved David Brinn's Uplift trilogy. I've been largely unsuccessful in winning an auction for a boxed set of miniatures designed to be used with the GURPs setting book for David Brinn's universe. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
October 16, 2012 - 10:28pm | My family gave me the GURPS Uplift book for my birthday this year. They know I like the Uplift series. I didn't know there were miniatures for it. |
October 17, 2012 - 2:47am | They can be tough to get for a price I want to pay for miniatures. there is a dophin in the spider walker I've considered finding another dolphin miniature somewhere else and scratch building the spirder walker. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
