Designing reasonable aliens

[Michael Hopcroft]

What is the best way to design Star HERO aliens?

I want aliens that aren't "guys with bumpy foreheads". "guys with pointed ears", or "guys in rubber suits". I want aliens with abilities and disadvantages that reflect their, well, alienness. These aliens shouldn;t think or act like humans -- they should thing and act alien.

I don't have Terran Empire yet, so I don't really know how Steve and company do it. So how would you guys do it?

[keithcurtis]

Apologies for length.

I usually try to start with the environment that produced the race.
What hardships created their civilization? The building of civilization is a direct response to environmental pressure. If the trees gave manna, if it was always a comfortable climate and nothing ever wanted to eat you, you would have no need for civilization.

Look at animals in our own world and see how they have adapted. Ask yourself "Why?" a lot.

Are they arboreal? Why?
Do they hibernate? Why?
How they reproduce is IMO, vital to designing the way they think. Do they care for children comunally? Family groups? Release them into the wild and catch them as adolescents? Why?

How do they age?
What happens once they can no longer reproduce?

I guess my response is , develop a biology and ecology for them and the psychology will flow from that. I humbly submit the T'Katran race from my Solar Colonies campaign:

<B>The System</B>
The Alpha Centauri system is comprised of three stars. Two are very close to Sol in character, though B is a bit dimmer and more orange. Proxima Centauri is a distant companion, and although it has two small rocky planets of its own, is unsuitable for life due to its variable nature (frequent flare-ups can double the surface temperature in minutes).
A. Centuria A has four planets, none of which support life.
B. Centauri is the home system of the T’Katarans. It has two planets, the second of which is inhabited.

<B>The Planet</B>
Alpha Centauri B IV is a small world about seven/eighths the mass of Earth. Its surface gravity is about .75 and its surface pressure is about a third of Earth’s. It is an old world, about 5.5b years. It has lost almost all of its vulacnism, though there is evidense that it was much more active in the past.

The planet is tilted about 45° from the vertical, leading to a great variation in seasons. Although not as hot as the hottest areas of earth, it can get a quite a bit colder than an antarctic winter near the poles. Water comprises about 1/8th the surface area. The seas are very shallow, since frequent glaciation has caused a scouring, “levelling� effect on the surface. At no point is the water more than a mile deep, and in most places it is less than 300 feet. It is surmised through archaelogical investigation that the seas once covered nearly twice their current extent. Much of the planet’s water is contained within the “world-tree� (see below).

When life first arose, it took hold near the equator, the only place with liquid water. Some life became nomadic, following the warmer climes, while other forms developed hibernation techniques, enabling them to survive during extended cold periods.

About thirty million years ago, a phenomenally successful organism developed. Mostly analagous to earthly plant life, it resembled the baobob tree of Africa in that it was a single organism with vast networks of offshoots that allowed it to cover a significant area. The later-arisen sapient species called it the “World-Tree�, or in their tongue, the S’akkat.

The World tree has three main parts: canopy, pump and root.
The canopy looks much like an earthly forest in that it is covered with shoots of photosynthetic leaves. These leaves vary from season to season, according to the available sunlight. The shoots (analagous to tree trunks) are rarely taller then five meters. The roots perform much the same function as plant roots, absorbing water and nutrients form the soil. The roots can go down as far as 200 meters. It is the pump area that has no earth-plant counterpart.

The pump is similar to the circulatory system of an earth animal, but instead of blood, it transports liquid water. The pump is a tremendous web of organic conduits ranging from capillary size to diameters of several meters. Its thickness varies from ten to forty meters, although it is sometimes much thicker around a good water source.

The water is kept liquid by the biologcal waste-heat of a symbiotic micro-organism. This symbiont lives in the cisterns and tubes of the pump area. The tissue of the pump system is also an insulater of great efficiency. By keeping the water liquid, the world tree has liberated most of the surface of the planet from the tyranny of the seasons.

There are four main kingdoms of life. The most obvious is of course the S’akkat, which could arguably classified as a single organism. It is roughly analagous to a plant, though the pump tube possess a rudimentary musculature system and something akin to a nervous system.
The second kingdom is biotic bacteria. Performing much the same function as earthly bacteria, the most significant form is the symbiotic form that dwells within the world-tree.
The third kingdom can loosely be described as water-parasites. These are life forms that are directly dependant on the action of the world-tree. Resembling earthly fungi, without the nutrient laden water of the pump, they would die.
The fourth kingdom is a higher order of the third. Also dependent on the world tree, they are more complex and adaptable. Some are ambulatory, and the highest order are very similar to earth animals.

The T'Kataran race belong to the fourth Kingdom. They could survive a short time without the bacterial soup of the S’akkat pump, but they ultimately need it for continued health.



<B>THE T'KATARANS</B>


The T'Katarans are a race of six-limbed sentients from a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B. They are relatively technologically backward. Their tech level is about equivalent to post-industrial earth of the turn of the twentieth century. They have been at this level for about a thousand years. Their history goes back 40,000 (earth) years.

<B>STRUCTURE</B>
<B>Anatomy</B>
<B>Adult - Female</B>
The T'Katarans at first glace resemble large furry spiders. The have six locomotive limbs arranged in a radial symmetry from their massive thorax. Each limb terminates in a double claw with a third opposable claw, capable of simple grasping, but no fine manipualtion. Fine motor skills are are proveided by the maniples. The maniples are tiny, four-fingered limbs that are mounted on the skull.
The front of the thorax is protected by a flexible bony plate (DEF 5, 9- ACT). The ears are mounted on the thorax. Respiration is carried out by large spiracules, three to a side, located on the anterior of the thorax.
The "neck" is actually a specialized limb with a joint at thorax, skull and midway between. At rest, the neck folds back atop the thorax and the head rests atop the bony plate. There is a pulmonary located in the neck to assist in blood flow.
The head is wide, flat and triangular. Huge compound eyes are set at left and right extremities, the maniples are mounted below and slightly inward. The eyes are somewhat near-sighted, though their ability to distinguish detail is somewhat superior to humans. The mouth is a hard, leathery, beak-like affair with one retractable tooth. The tongue is thick grey and rope-like. A small air-bladder allows the mouth to make sound. T'Kataran speech sounds to human ears to be mostly consonants and glottal stops. Careful listening can make five vowel sounds plus a true glottal stop. T'Katarans have no history of music, though they are capable of hearing pitch.
The body is entirely covered with hair with the exception of claws, mouth, maniple digits, and plate. Part of the underbelly may be hairless in advanced age. Coloration tends to be black with yellow, orange or red stripes. In some individuals, this may be reversed.
All adults are female.

<B>Juvenile-Male</B>
The juvenile form of the T'Kataran is basically a pupal stage. At this point in their development all are male. The male T'Kataran resembles a large termite, and is somewhat repulsive to human eyes. Their are fat, hairless and have rudimentary limbs. They are incapable of caring for themselves. Their eyes are single-faceted, and the the neck-limb is very short but flexible, lacking the middle joint. The maniples and beak are similar to the adult form.

<B>Egg</B>
The T'Kataran egg is about the size of a softball.It will grow to about the size of a soccer-ball before hatching. It is grey and leathery, similar in texture to the T'Kataran mouth.

<B>BIOLOGY</B>
T'Katarans are warm-blooded, carbon-based life forms with similar amino acid structure to humans. They can eat many of the same foods a human would eat, but they are primarily vegetarian. They are adapted for a colder climate than humans and are capable of hibernating for decades at a time. Such hibernation is extremely stressful for a T'Kataran and they will go to great lengths to avoid it. Most modern T'Katarans have never hibernated. They have an endoskeletal structure for locomotion and an exoskelatal carapace under the fur for protection. (DEF 1) The front part of the carapace is extra-thick concealing the brain (DEF 4)

<B>SENSES</B>
Sight: T'Kataran's are near-sighted and see best in the longer wavelengths. They do NOT have infravision, but they are more likely to detect a heat source or luminous object than humans. (-3 range, +3 luminous or hot objects)
Hearing: T'Kataran atmosphere is very thin (about twice Mars) and the T'Katarans have developed good hearing to compensate. The hairs of the carapace pick out sound (Telescopic hearing and +3 hearing perception.
Smell: T'Katarans have no taste of smell.
Taste: T'Kataran taste is far superior to human, and taste organs are to be found in the beak and the maniples. The T'Kataran environment is bacteria-rich and parasite-rich and they have developed the ability to test for the safety of what they eat before they actual place it in their mouths. (+3 taste perception, detect poison)
Touch: The maniples of of a T'Kataran are slightly less sensitive than human hands (-3 touch Perception)

<B>REPRODUCTION</B>
A T'Kataran will mate twice in its life. When it is hatched as a pupal male form, it will require the same care and training as a human child for about ten years. At this point it will become sexually mature. When conditions are right, it will mate with as many females as possible for a period of about a month. Then hormonal changes will allow it to spin a coccoon. It will ie in this chrysalis for 6 months, slowly changing sex and gaining adult characteristics. What emerges is a young female, ready to be trained for her life's task (see Culture and Behavior). A female decides when to sexually mature. When she is ready, she will mate. If the first male does not result in pregnancy, she will try different males until fertilized. Three months later she will lay a clutch of 5-10 eggs. These will be tended in a communal nursery. Racial clues allow a parent to know which children are hers, but all children are the responsibility of the warren and those females who have devoted their life to the Nursery. After reproducing, the female becomes sterile, but retains her female characteristics. T'Katarans live for about 70 earth years, not including any time spent in hibernation.

<B>CULTURE AND BEHAVIOR</B>
T'Katarans are caste-oriented. These castes are divided along professional, rather than biological lines. The male pupal period of education helps the T'Kataran discover his aptitudes. While in the chrysalis, it will develop the physical, mental and emotional attributes necessary to perform its life's function. T'Katarans are remarkably well-adjusted because of this. Warfare is uncommon to T'Katarans and social inequity is a concept they don't understand.


<B>CHARACTER BITS FOR ROLE PLAYING</B>
Emotion is shown by the color of the eyes:
Red Anger/Fear
Blue Calm/Sleepy
Gold Humor/Pleasure
Green Curiosity/Concentration



<B>T'KATARAN LANGUAGE</B>

CONSONANTS
B P D T G K L M N R S Z Ch Kh Cr Pr Pt @ ! *

B as in English, but unvoiced
P very similar to “B� but softer
D as in English, but unvoiced
T very similar to “D� but softer
G Hard G as in English, but unvoiced
K very similar to “G� but softer
L pronounced with a short inhaling sound
M pronounced with a sharp kissing noise
S pronounced with a long inhaling sound
G really “@�, but used when it is more pronounceable by humans
Z pronounced “ts� as in “Tsar�
R always voiceless and rolled
Kh pronunced as ch in the hebrew word “Lechiem�
CH pronunced as ch in the word “church�

Tr, Pr, Cr, etc. a consonant followed by “r�
is a long, rolled voiceless “r�. “Tr� is similar to whispering
the word “tree� (not “chree�)

@ is made clicking the back of the tongue
Frequently used for an intial sound unpronounceable by T’Kataran tongues or
a final “ing�
! is made by clacking the tongue away form the hard pallet
frequently used for “lo�
* is a sharp snap of the tongue
frequently used for a final “n� or “da� or “ta� or “ning�

Consonants that have voiced and aspirated forms (i.e. B/P, D/T) are all aspirated. The difference between the two is vanishingly subtle to human ears, but distinct to T’kataran listeners.
All double consonants represent diphthongs. (i.e. the double-n sound in the English word “pen-knife�). So, “S’akkat� is pronounced “Sssahk-kaht�, not “Sssahkat�


<B>VOWELS</B>
All vowel sounds are very faint, almost indistinguishable from a glottal stop. Careful listening can pick out differences.

A f A alter
E f E y
I k I lt
O r O ll
U b U tton
‘ peculiar stop or joining of two words or consonants

ree is a long, rolled voiceless “r� simalar to whispering “tree� (not “chree�)


<B>MORE PRONUNCIATION GUIDES</B>
T’Kataran’s have no voice box. Therefore, a human speaker should never use their vocal chords, but should use a “stage whisper� for proper effect.
Grammar is far beyond the scope of this paper. A particular word can have different meaning depending on the words preceding and following it, and its position in the sentence. Word meaning relies heavily on context. A direct translation of the language would be very difficult to interpret.


Katara The World
T’katra Sister of the world (Adults)
S’akkat The World-Tree
S’arka (name) a communicator/ambassador
Brakha (name) a life-path finder
Dobra Pupa (male)
Ek Egg (one of the few homophones!)


Keith "Long-winded" Curtis

[keithcurtis]

Sorry, meant to post this link.
Anatomical picture can be found here:
http://home.attbi.com/~TheGM/SC/tkatarans.html
Solar Coly information can be found in my sig

Keith "Oh, one more thing" Curtis

[Mutant for Hire]

One of the main areas of variation are in feeding habits. Humans are at their base a hunter/gatherer species, and a good chunk of our evolutionary behavior can be traced to instincts coming from the tens of thousands of years (if not hundreds of thousands counting our evolutionary ancestors) when we hunted and gathered.

A purely gathering species is not going to have the hunting instincts that we and more predatory species have. This is not to say that the creatures of such species are not going to be capable of killing. The traditional duty of males in many herbivorous herd species is to fight off predators. However there's going to be a far lower level of bloodlust in that species. The species on average will be less violent, though even among herbivors, males compete in displays of prowess to impress mates.

Gathering also tends to be a matter of patience and careful observation rather than the thrill of the hunt. A gathering species doesn't need to thrive on challenge the way a hunting species does. What a gathering species needs is the ability not to get bored easily, to spot small details. A good memory of what is edible and when it is edible also helps.

There's also an instinct to aquire rather than an instinct to hunt. As a purely herbivorous species develops civilization, I expect that the species will have more of a general will towards aquisition and accumilation. I expect their rate of technological progress to be slower. Males of a herbivorous species competing for the attention of females are likely to do it through showy displays of wealth. The males are going to have a strong inclination to aquire wealth. Capitalism, trading and so on will probably come very naturally to this species.

Their vision will be adapted to color and the spotting of small details. Expect color perception to match if not exceed ours. Likewise smell and taste are going to be sharper since they have to worry about being poisoned much more than a hunter species does.

A purely carnivorous species is going to have an interesting time of it advancing technologically. Remember that the development of agriculture was a big deal on the way forward. For a carnivorous species, agriculture is purely for feeding the animals that they hunt on, and an emergency food supply the rest of the time. As for the species' behavior, the traits that make for good gatherers are minimal and both males and females of the species have full sets of hunter instincts predominating. Hunters need to thrive on challenges. Hunter species will be constantly looking for ways to test and challenge themselves.

Incidentally, hunters also need good deductive facilities. Whereas gatherers primarily observe, a hunter needs to spot spoor, tracks, signs of grazing and so on and deduce what passed through and how long ago and where its likely to be now. Hunting down prey also is a test of planning skills as well.

I expect faster technological progress since a lot of the instincts of hunting and capabilities of hunting can be sublimated in technology. On the flip side the species is going to be a lot more warlike and that can slow down progress as well. Expect a society where there is a lot of brawling. As they grow more "civilized" it becomes increasingly non-lethal and things like sports, gambling, and so on replace the old fashioned brawl, but I expect a lot more acceptance of casual brawling, especially among males trying to impress females.

Their senses are going to be focusing on spotting patterns of all sorts. Spotting the patterns that indicate tracks, grazing, or the natural camoflage of some animal hiding in the brush. They're also going to be sharper on tracking motion as well.

So to a purely gathering species, human beings are going to seem horribly prone to violence and dangerous thrill-seekers, doing risky activities, lacking the patience and observational skills that mark their own kind. Of course that's how a hunter species is going to look to us. They're going to be even more violent, even more adrenaline addicts than the rest of us are, probably less incliened to patience and having a need to vent their hunting instincts in all sorts of ways. To them a barfight is a routine way to blow off steam. Going hunting together is a common bonding activity.

The hunter species will see us the way we see the purely herbivorous species: dull. The males are almost violent and competitive enough to be interesting but otherwise the species tends to lack drive, the thrill of the challenge.

[AlHazred]

I use a really simple yardstick for aliens. After doing preliminary design on an alien, I try to find a single terrestrial analogue as a nickname for it (like "cat-men", "caterpillars", "spider-bears", etc.) If I can't, then I figure I'm doing my job.

Personally, I think too much thinking leads to unconvincing aliens. There has to be an organic, intuitive process involved, since there should always be unexplainable elements in any species (just look at our own, for instance). I highly recommend the alien-oriented works of Wayne Douglas Barlowe (Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials, Expedition, and to a lesser extent The Alien Life of Wayne Barlowe) as inspirational material. Barlowe's folks taught him proper anatomy and ecology, since they're Audobon-style illustrators. His stuff has a very natural feel as a consequence.

[Barghest]

Michael--

An excellent source material is Stanley Schmidt's "Aliens and Alien Societies" which is edited by Ben Bova and is part of Writer's Digest Books Science Fiction Writing Series. I highly recommend it whether you are an aspiring SF author or are running Star Hero. The other books in that series are well worth the cost as well. For a general SF setting manual, I recommend "The Writer's Guide to Creating a Science Fiction Universe" by George Ochoa and Jeffrey Osier, also from Writer's Digest Books. This book also has a chapter on designing aliens.

Once the concept is down, I think the points follow. The rules are easy enough to simulate with once you know what you want.

Best of luck.

[bcholmes]

Originally posted by Barghest
An excellent source material is Stanley Schmidt's "Aliens and Alien Societies" which is edited by Ben Bova and is part of Writer's Digest Books Science Fiction Writing Series. [...] For a general SF setting manual, I recommend "The Writer's Guide to Creating a Science Fiction Universe" by George Ochoa and Jeffrey Osier, also from Writer's Digest Books. This book also has a chapter on designing aliens.

Oooh. Good suggestion. I'd also suggest How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card, unless one is adverse to Card.

[keithcurtis]

Originally posted by AlHazred
I use a really simple yardstick for aliens. After doing preliminary design on an alien, I try to find a single terrestrial analogue as a nickname for it (like "cat-men", "caterpillars", "spider-bears", etc.) If I can't, then I figure I'm doing my job.

Personally, I think too much thinking leads to unconvincing aliens. There has to be an organic, intuitive process involved, since there should always be unexplainable elements in any species (just look at our own, for instance). I highly recommend the alien-oriented works of Wayne Douglas Barlowe (Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials, Expedition, and to a lesser extent The Alien Life of Wayne Barlowe) as inspirational material. Barlowe's folks taught him proper anatomy and ecology, since they're Audobon-style illustrators. His stuff has a very natural feel as a consequence.

Sorry, I agree with your points except on Barlowe. While I find his rendering technically flawless, his creations look stilted, forced and unnatural. His Puppeteer for instance looks like the "heads" were inserted like pipe cleaners, lacking a natural "flow" from the body like, say, an elephant's trunk.
I could give more examples, but it would be a pointless digression.

Keith "We return you to the thread in progress" Curtis

[Barghest]

Scott Card's "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy" might help with story issues but really wouldn't be of much use in the nuts and bolts of creating worlds and SF universes. The MICE quotient has its place in writing but I don't think it would work as well for RPGs. Nonetheless, there is overlap between what we do as SF authors and what we do as GMs and the resources that are offered for writing definitely should be checked out by GMs wanting to build a consistent and compelling SF milieu.

[AlHazred]

Originally posted by keithcurtis
Sorry, I agree with your points except on Barlowe. While I find his rendering technically flawless, his creations look stilted, forced and unnatural.

To each his own. Personally, I prefer Expedition. I think it's really creative imagineering. But then, it helps to have a visual reference to how alien the alien is.

Speaking of which, nice illo on your example alien. How/where did you get such a great image? Your own work or someone else we can patronize/exploit?

[Syberdwarf2]

Originally posted by bcholmes
Oooh. Good suggestion. I'd also suggest How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card, unless one is adverse to Card.

I own and have read all three several times. Card's book is great and some of his other writer's guides have helped me immenseley in the past with my own fiction. However for SH help, specifically, of the three books mentioned thus far, I'd recommened The Writer's Guide To Creating A Science Fiction Universe for the setting. Aliens and Alien Societies for, uh, well....
And, World Building (Ben Bova??)(also part of the same series by Writer's Digest) for creating plausible worlds (but only if you wanna get really technical.

[keithcurtis]

Originally posted by AlHazred
To each his own. Personally, I prefer Expedition. I think it's really creative imagineering. But then, it helps to have a visual reference to how alien the alien is.

Speaking of which, nice illo on your example alien. How/where did you get such a great image? Your own work or someone else we can patronize/exploit?

Thanks for the compliment! I did it in Adobe Illustrator about 5-6 years ago. The original print was on a white background and was meant to evoke the feel of a DK book. (You know, those great Eyewitness books).

As long as you don't publish it or pass it off as your own, you're welcome to exploit me to your heart's content. Hmm... that didn't sound right...

The whole Solar Colonies site was done for fun when I was first learning to do HTML. I would do it differently today. I really should update it, since I have a ton of material lying around.

Keith "Staggering amounts of free time... not" Curtis

PS. I have Extraterrestrials and Fantasy. I haven't seen Expedition. I'll check it out.

[AlHazred]

Since we're discussing reasonable aliens, I'd like to say that Keith brings up a good issue. One reason many GMs fail to make aliens alien enough is because of a lack of visual reference. It's not that their players lack imagination; rather, I think it's because if the GM puts a lot of work into an alien's design, he wants the players to see exactly what he's talking about.

Are there any good resources for GMs who want to have their aliens illustrated? Is there a utility?

[keithcurtis]

If you feel daunted by the artistic challenge, I would suggest working backwards. Find an illustration you like and extrapolate an alien from that. I have done that in the past if I found miniatures I thought were cool.
The advantage is that your visual reference is "dead-on"

BTW, for the alien in question, it was a "First Contact" ever situation. I actually made a hand puppet for the players to react to. They were peering into a dark spaceship, so I had them turn off the room lights and only use a small mag light. Besides providing atmosphere, it hepled hide the puppeteer.

Keith "God, did I have too much time" Curtis

[Tweedle]

Originally posted by Michael Hopcroft
What is the best way to design Star HERO aliens?

I want aliens that aren't "guys with bumpy foreheads". "guys with pointed ears", or "guys in rubber suits". I want aliens with abilities and disadvantages that reflect their, well, alienness. These aliens shouldn;t think or act like humans -- they should thing and act alien.

I don't have Terran Empire yet, so I don't really know how Steve and company do it. So how would you guys do it?

Perhaps you might find inspiration with these items:

Is There Life On Other Worlds? by Poul Anderson
Extraterrestrial Civilisations by Isaac Asimov
Evolving the Alien - The Science of Extraterrestrial Life by Jack Cohen & Ian Stewart
What If the Moon Didn’t Exist? by Neil F. Comins
Are We Alone? by Paul Davies
The Cosmic Water Hole by Emmanuel Davoust
Extraterrestrials by Terence Dickinson and Adolf Schaller
Life Beyond Earth by Gerald Feinberg & Robert Shapiro
Extraterrestrial Intelligence by Jean Heidmann
The Science of Aliens by Clifford Pickover
Intelligent Life in the Universe by I. S. Shklovskii & Carl Sagan
Rare Earth by Peter D. Ward & Donald Brownlee
Extraterrestrials - Where Are They? by Ben Zuckerman & Michael H. Hart

I'd also recommend Aliens & Artifacts by David L. Pulver, written for ICE's Spacemaster RPG.

You should also check out this article - creator.rtf . It's an excellent step-by-step guide to designing alien species. It's written for GURPS but is easily adaptable to HERO.