Alien Races

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by lwcamp

Odd ... it works for me. On the Mant page, go down to the bottom and click "Back to Vergeworlds Main Page". Then scroll down until you see a picture of a bunch of aliens and Human against a white background (this one http://panoptesv.com/RPGs/Settings/V...geSapients.png), underneath the section title "Sapient Species". The different sapients (or aliens, if you will) are broken down by which major migration they belong to - Human Space, Mant Space, Gummi Space, and Outsiders. The options should be Humans, Pannovas, Laers, Enhanced Animals, Mants, Gummis, Tweechis, Pirangs, and Squirm. Or, I guess once at the main page you could do a control-F and type "Mant" or any of the other names into the search bar.

If this doesn't work for some reason, please let me know.

Thanks,

Luke

Ahh, I was looking for a link from http://panoptesv.com/, the main page. I see the alternate route. Still wish there was an index page route.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by lwcamp

Yikes! Why would anyone engineer something like that? I can just see the design meeting.

Engineer 1: "Lets build some helpers to go gather minerals for us."

Engineer 2: "Okay, but what if they turned into spaceships, too, so they could go gather minerals from other worlds?"

Manager: "Hey, good idea. We'll also make them resistant to blaster fire, and give them castes that are super fast and aggressive and extremely dangerous."

Everyone Else: "..."

Anyway, a fun read. Thanks.

Luke

Heh. As for the resource gathering version of the idea, they probably would have started out as just the diggers, with some queens (who originally also took the role of food supply) to support them, as well as maybe some sort of "scout" caste for searching out and finding new resource-rich areas to mine. The master race of aliens would have been in competition with each other for the resources being mined, but were disinclined to get their hands (or equivalent, I never actually designed that race, as they had long since departed and their gatherers more-or-less gone feral by the time the humans showed up) dirty, so would have eventually started using their resource-gathering servants to wage proxy wars against each other (interestingly, this is pretty much exactly the same thing the humans are doing with their bioroids in the setting). That's when you get the hunters, stalkers, soldiers, and so forth. No bioships or blasters though - that wasn't part of the concept until the malakim of the Harpyias setting.

The malakim, on the other hand, were created by a rather cinematic, immortal, mad scientist. The "design meeting" probably involved a lot of muttering, and a few more uses of "rue the day" than is typical for such.

[ericthered]

And another species I built when I first learned gurps:



Lichean are a group of aliens whose bodies are formed of several symbiotic species from different kingdoms of life. The exact form of the alien depends on which species are combined to create it.


Each individual has a shape, a covering, and a mind. Each is a different organism with a very different evolutionary history. But each also requires the others to live (at least outside of a lab). Terran Scientists have compared them to Lichen in this way.



The shape is the largest of the three species, and forms the individuals general layout. The most common shapes include an ape-like "Climber" form, an speedy but manipulator free "agile" form, and a lumbering "labor form" with multiple tentacles attached to its face.


The covering replaces the skin, scales, and so forth of the creature, as well as having a large effect on the creature's metabolism. Some Lichean have thick armor. Others have a simple skin that can rapidly heal, or long spins, or long fur. Coverings are photosynthetic, though that only matters if the Lichean spends its time in a near torpor (which they can survive).



The mind organism also includes as the individual's immune and sensory systems. There are a few different species that appear. The "Wise" are substantially smarter than the others, but tend to be quite a lot more frail. The "Crafter" and "Worker" Castes are more common, and for most purposes are just as useful, though they lack much of the social ability of the wise. "Brutes" are closer to very smart animals than people, but are physically strong, agile, and robust. They talk very simply, but can communicate, and are fairly obedient to higher "castes".



Lichean Mental castes are not immediately apparent to the naked eye, though observing social interactions will quickly sort out which is which. Lichaens usually move about with other with the same shape and covering, the Wise caring for and commanding the others. This system is as often informal as formal: Wise are naturals at social leadership, at least compared to the rest of their kind (they are perhaps a touch better than the average human).



Licheans are very intentionally bred, with the community deciding what specific combination is needed. Before their space-faring years, they did so in large bowls filled with nutrients and exposed to sunlight. Different mental castes take varying amounts of time to grow up, from the 6 years of Brutes to the 22 years of the wise.



Licheans are aggressive bio-engineers. The mind organism is well adapted to learning and taking over different forms. In addition to tinkering with their own ecosystem, Licheans often try to adapt the frames of other biospheres for their own use, with varying success. Or rather, they try to convert the bodies of other complete organisms into Lichean frames.

[lwcamp]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Ahh, I was looking for a link from http://panoptesv.com/, the main page. I see the alternate route. Still wish there was an index page route.

Ah. I see what you are saying. It should be fixed now. Thanks.

Luke

[lwcamp]

Tweechis

Tweechis are ... it is difficult to describe their physical appearance. They are about the size of an eagle or bobcat. They have one pair of limbs, which they use as wings, legs/feet, and arms/hands. Their body has some similarity to the bauplan of an insect, with both limbs attached to a thorax, an abdomen behind that with much of their organs inside of it (including their lungs, they breathe through stomata in their abdomen), and a head on the end of a long neck. The head has large eyes, the analogue of mammalian pinnae (external ears), feeding palps that can be used for fine manipulation, and a long, strong, prehensile stinger-tipped tongue. The abdomen has a pair of claspers at the back. Seriously, it is easiest to just follow the link below to see the pictures.

http://panoptesv.com/RPGs/Settings/V...es/Tweechi.php

Tweechi eat by stabbing things with their tongues, injecting digestive juices, and then sucking up the resulting soup. They speak using their trachea much like a flute or oboe.

Tweechi have strong flock bonds and flock loyalty. They also form lifelong monogamous mating pair bonds. Young are hatched from eggs, and raised by the parents. Tweechi prefer to make house-nests in high places with a good view, which they decorate with all kinds of trinkets. They are proud, curious, and do not take practical jokes well.

Luke