 July 9, 2013 - 2:00pm | I was considering creating a Cat Like humonoid race to be and adversary to Frontier People and the Sathar... I was planning on placing them to the left of the Frontier In acordance to the Alpha Dawn Map. Off the AD map of course. And I just read about The Adrainians in SFman#19. They are very close to what I was thinking of.... Wow. Now I have to think of something new and different.... I am of course reading this issue late, because I have ben busy for many many months with Real Life. Lots o work to do lately. The bombing starts in five minutes. |
 July 9, 2013 - 3:33pm | There are many many different types of felines in the world. Everyone seems to go for the lion or tiger. Why not try something a little different like an ocelot, snow leopard, Chinese mountain cat or pampas cat. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
July 9, 2013 - 3:57pm | Yeah the idea has merrit, but on the other hand I would still be Johny-come lately... My own fault for procrastination. I have made a map of the area I intend to use. I Just have not named any of the stars or labeled any jump routes. Planning for 2 maps one for players, with just Labels for the stars as the UPF knows them through telescopes and such. Another map for the GM as a campain map. I will try to write more on the subject later I have ben planning to do that for months and months but have writers block you might say. I was motivated by the Man-Kzin Wars series of short story books along with the Wing Commander bad guys The Kilrathi. I want to make thier tech almost on Par with the UPF stuff but not quite the same. For instance they would not have Asault rockets, Electron Beam, Proton beam or disruptor cannons. They would have more variety of laser type weapon systems. Maybe an IFF seeker, Or one that locks on to a target. Perhaps an Railgun or Gauss weapon, perhaps different drive or engine types. Maybe some slug throwers like conventional cannons. Just ideas I am kicking around. The bombing starts in five minutes. |
 July 9, 2013 - 4:09pm | I belted out feline and canine SF races long ago but never really implemented them. One of those back burner deals that never made it into the campaign for one reason or another. Still, I've thrown an occasional NPC in for grins along the way. |
 July 9, 2013 - 5:18pm | IIRC that feline race was one of Deryn-Rys, we had a back log of race submissions at the time and I worked with the artist to get that illustration. You could just use the illustration for your own race. Most people do a dog race and make the race's culture like what you'd imagine for that of a golden retriever or black lab or they do feline with a culture that you'd imagine for a lion or tiger (Novel: Pride of Chanur- which I thought was a well done race in that novel). In a novel, a good writer will be able to convey compelling characters but in an rpg setting a cat or dog race will seem like just an anthropomorphic animal (at least to me they seem lacking). I was thinking that you could could take cat race and mate it with a specific human culture of the past or present. It would be at totally new animal, so to speak and would not come across as, "He's just trying to make a line race". For example what if it was a cat race but the cultural model was Ancient Rome? Especially in all its decadance but we change the names like senators, pleabs, colliseum, legion, and Ceasar. I think I'd find that interesting. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 9, 2013 - 5:36pm | Rome under the Ceaser's would be almost perfect.... Lots of political intrigue that players could take advantage of. An overpopulation of slave labor that keeps citizens wages low and has them turning to the military for a decent wage and a promise of newly conquered lands to call thier own..... The original 40 acres was a Roman idea for retireing soldiers. Call it 40 Hectares on a newly conquered or colonized world... Gladiators and Air car/ground car races.... food lines.... food riots.... all of it. And a desire to conquer simply to keep control of trade and expand economic opportunity.... Ancient Romans would work well. The bombing starts in five minutes. |
 July 9, 2013 - 5:51pm | I wouldn't let the fact that one feline race has been done stop you. Just make it unique. I think the suggestions about ancient Rome are good ones. In a fantasy game I played in, the GM had a feline race that had a unique characteristic based on the racial history. That was that they had to have a bladed weapon on them at all time, even if it was just a small knife. If they didn't, they would go absolutely crazy and start freaking out. They basically couldn't do anything else except try to get a bladed weapon until they had one. It was only a NPC race but it made for some interesting dynamics. Small things like that are what you want to add, along with rationale as to why those traits exist. It gives the race it's unique flavor and makes it stand out. 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 |
July 10, 2013 - 6:16am | of course Rome needs a Carthage... with a Hannibal and Numidian Light cavalry mercenaries IMO just change the names to protect the innocent or confuse the PCs, innocent or not. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 10, 2013 - 6:34pm | I've contemplated revamping my feline race along an Egyptian mythos, seeing as ancient Egyptians held cats in high regard to ward off evil spirits and they were even mummified much the same as their human counterparts. Bastians. That's what I'll call them. I'd copyright the name if not for the anciet Egyptian god Bast that predates any legal claim I could come up with.   |
July 10, 2013 - 6:32pm | Skip Rome and go for Alexandria or Memphis or Trapezius under Roman rule. Different cultural influences with a familiar undertones. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
July 11, 2013 - 4:36am | Crocidille games has some great minis for these from their Wargods line https://www.crocodilegames.com/store/itemDetail.cfm?prodID=140&catID=21 EDIT: What if the Tetrarchs were Anubis, Basti, Horus and one other and they visited ancient earth ala chariots of the gods. Its 10,000 years latter and humanity has discovered the Frontier and low and behold Basti had been operarting on another planet and crafting a race of cat people? Incidently the common house cat was left behind on Earth as an agent to keep an eye on humanity. You just know that some cats, when they are sitting there staring at you that they are reporting to the mother ship. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 July 12, 2013 - 1:03am | I always too great offense to that pic! The breasts should be less perky, and the hair should fall to the sides of the breasts. You know, $@#&ING GRAVITY!!! |
July 12, 2013 - 3:46am | I always too great offense to that pic! The breasts should be less perky, and the hair should fall to the sides of the breasts. You know, $@#&ING GRAVITY!!! Clearly in ancient cat egypt they had breast implant technology. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 13, 2013 - 5:07am | Silly mortals, Bast was a deity. As such the laws of physics do not apply to deities. |
July 14, 2013 - 2:26am | Silly mortals, Bast was a deity. As such the laws of physics do not apply to deities. Nope, Bast is still subject to the (literal) pitfalls of gravity, as seen in this older (but updated) pic of her tripping from her own tight dress:   ) |
 August 20, 2016 - 8:35pm | I've seen lots of panthers/melanistic jaguars and wolf/german sheppardish canids too. |
August 20, 2016 - 10:51pm | This is an earlier rendering of a feline race I used as an NPC in several games. And another from a few years later:  |
 August 21, 2016 - 5:54am | There is a feline race in one of the magazines for SF... you might want to take a look at them. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
August 21, 2016 - 9:09am | The Boon-sheh? Saw them. Personally didn't think they were quite right. YMMV. |
 August 21, 2016 - 5:23pm | Not the Boon-sheh. See the Adrainian in Star Frontiersman 19, page 22. -iggy |
