Typical races IN SPACE

[Faolyn]

Just for the heck of it, I created a Random Space Opera Alien Generation table, in case you'd like me to post/email it...

[Langy]

Originally Posted by Faolyn

Just for the heck of it, I created a Random Space Opera Alien Generation table, in case you'd like me to post/email it...

I would rather like that!

[The Rampant Gamer]

I've not hit the TT links yet, but the alien race that creeps everyone out, but is humanity's best friend - think giant bugs, but either peaceful or with knowledge we need. See the Vrusk in Star Frontiers, or the Thranx in the Humanx Commonwealth.

[Sindri]

Originally Posted by lwcamp

They might not be typical, but Dralasites are by far the coolest science fictional race yet produced.

Luke

They were always my favourite species in Star Frontiers.

[Faolyn]

The Random Space Opera Alien Generator
The default Space Opera alien looks like a human: mammalian, normal human range of skin, eye, and hair coloring, ages like a human, reproduces like a human, eats like a human, etc. For some random alien features, roll on one or both of the following tables, as many times as you like.

Input is appreciated.

Part I: Physical Characteristics: The alien species… (Roll 1d, 1d, 1d)

1, 1, 1-3 — Has bumps or ridges on forehead, nose, cheeks, neck, or any combination thereof.

1, 1, 4-6 — Has an exoskeleton or shell. This could be an insectoid carapace, chitin plates, or a shell like a turtle, snail, or clam. Optionally, it may build an artificial shell.

1, 2, 1-3 — Has no bones or exoskeleton; it relies on tough skin or surface tension to keep it together. Optionally, it may build an artificial shell.

1, 2, 4-6 — Roll 1d: Has an incredibly (1-3) tough or (4-6) fragile skeleton.

1, 3, 1-3 — Has multiple (1d+2) redundant internal organs or (1d) internal organs that humans don’t have; optionally, it has no organs or has organs with multiple functions or that can change function.

1, 3, 4-6 — Has several (1d) external body parts with no ready human analogy. Optionally, it has normal body parts in unusual places (arms coming out of its head), or normal body parts with unusual properties (hands that double as infrared detectors).

1, 4, 1-3 — Has unusual skin, hair, or eye color(s). This could be any non-human normal color (such as blue or green skin or hair), or could be more exotic, such as pearlescence or opalescence, metallic, neon, translucent/transparent, or completely albino. Optionally, their blood oxygen binds to something other than iron, giving their blood a different color and causing them to “blush” a different color even if they have human-normal skin tones.

1, 4, 4-6 — Has a pattern of some sort: stripes, spots, rosettes, splotches, or stipples. Optionally, the pattern looks like letters, geometric shapes, Celtic knots, or something else not entirely natural-looking.

1, 5, 1-3 — Has fur, feathers, scales, bristles, or quills. This may cover the entire body, parts of the body, or just take the place of human hair.

1, 5, 4-6 — Has bumpy, slimy, wrinkly, or suede-like skin.

1, 6, 1-3 — Has fully functioning and controllable chromataphores or bioluminescence. Optionally, these are autonomic reflexes and the creature has no control over it.

1, 6, 4-6 — Has a decorative or vestigial horns, antlers, frill, crest, spikes, fins, or antennae.

2, 1, 1-3 — Occasionally molts or sheds its skin.

2, 1, 4-6 — Is hermaphroditic. Optionally, it’s a hermaphromorph; roll 1d: (1-3) the hermaphromorphism is cyclical or responds to certain stimuli and is uncontrollable otherwise; (-4-6) is completely controllable.

2, 2, 1-3 — Has three sexes; the third sex is either (1-3) neuter or (4-6) needed for reproduction. Optionally, it has 1d+3 sexes, some or all of which are needed for reproduction.

2, 2, 4-6 — Has extreme sexual dimorphism. Optionally, it has really extreme sexual dimorphism, to the point where the sexes look nothing like each other.

2, 3, 1-3 — There is absolutely no sexual dimorphism, or sexual dimorphism isn’t immediately obvious to humans, such as the sexes can only be told apart by scent, or they grow obvious sexual characteristics only during mating season or pregnancy. Optionally, both sexes have something that among humans or earth animals is relegated to only one sex (such as both sexes having full facial hair or horns).

2, 3, 4-6 — Has an unusual reproductive process. For instance, it lays eggs, spawns, reproduces via budding or parthenogenesis, the females don’t carry the young, has parasitic or cannibalistic young that either eat the parent(s) or are implanted in another creature, or it gets other species to raise their offspring. Optionally, it might go through a larval stage, eventually growing into a full adult or cocooning itself and later emerging in adult form.

2, 4, 1-3 — Roll 1d: It’s sessile when (1-2) young, (3-2) old, or (5-6) all the time. It may be able to be moved easily, or it may be able to be moved only with great difficulty, or it may be completely immobile.

2, 4, 4-6 — Has a marsupium or other form of natural pouch.

2, 5, 1-3 — Has a tail, which it uses to express emotion, for balance, etc. Roll 1d; on a 6, it has an unusual property, such as being prehensile or having a stinger.

2, 5, 4-6 — Has unusual eyes, such as multifaceted insect eyes, overly large “anime” eyes, bulging “grey alien” eyes, eyestalks, or simply nictitating membranes. Optionally, it may have 1d+1 pairs of eyes.

2, 6, 1-3 — Has unusually shaped pupils, such as slit pupils, horizontally-slit pupils, Kermit the Frog “plus sign” pupils, multiple pupils per eye, etc.

2, 6, 4-6 — Is blind. Optionally, it has primitive eyespots or simply very poor, non-correctable vision.

3, 1, 1-3 — Can see in the infrared, has X-ray vision, can see radio waves, telescopic or microscopic vision, has tetrachromatic (or pentachromatic, or higher) color vision, is completely colorblind, etc.

3, 1, 4-6 — Has one or more (1d+1) elephantine trunks.

3, 2, 1-3 — Has multiple arms (1d arms or 1d pairs of arms), and/or multiple legs (1d legs or 1d pairs of legs). Optionally, it has tentacular arms or legs.

3, 2, 4-6 — Has multiple (1d, min 2) heads and/or (1d+1) mouths, which may or may not be in its head(s).

3, 3, 1-3 — Has tentacular fingers and/or toes, facial tentacles, or a disturbing number of tentacles, everywhere.

3, 3, 4-6 — Roll 1d: It has 1d+1 (1-3) oversized or (4-6) undersized body parts.

3, 4, 1-3 — Has no neck. Roll 1d: head is (1-3) set directly on shoulders or (4-6) in the chest.

3, 4, 4-6 — Has an unusual tongue. It could be forked, prehensile, or sticky. Optionally, it has 1d tongues.

3, 5, 1-3 — Is larger or smaller than humans. Roll 1d: (1) It is extremely tiny (just a few inches tall or long); (2) it’s pretty small (up to 3’ tall); (3) it’s kind of short (no more than 5’ tall); (4) it’s taller than most humans (up to 7’ tall); (5) it’s pretty big (up to 9’ tall); (6) it’s huge (more than 10’ long or long)

3, 5, 4-6 — Roll 1d: Is either (1-3) incredibly skinny by human standards, or (4-6) very fat.

3, 6, 1-3 — Roll 1d: Has (1-2) fully functioning wings that allow for flight, or (3-6) wings that only function in certain gravities. Optionally, it has wings but no arms.

3, 6, 4-6 — Has patagia or a natural balloon for gliding. Optionally, it may a form of biological jet.

4, 1, 1-3 — Is deaf. Optionally, it can only hear certain frequencies, or has very poor, non-correctable hearing.

4, 1, 4-6 — Has unusually shaped ears, such as pointy ears, webbed or fanned ears, animal-like ears, or no external ears.

4, 2, 1-3 — Can hear and speak in the subsonic or supersonic range.

4, 2, 4-6 — Has claws. They can be of any size and may or may not be retractable.

4, 3, 1-3 — Has a beak, proboscis, anteater-like muzzle, a jawless mouth, or can unhinge their jaws to a frightening degree.

4, 3, 4-6 — Has an animalistic appearance. This can be just hints, such as a pronounced muzzle-like jaw, a tail, or hooves; a human body with an animal face; full “furry”-style anthropomorphism; or may look just like an animal, with or without manipulators or the ability to speak.

Roll 1d: (1) it looks like a fierce-looking predatory animal, like a wolf, lion, eagle, orca, alligator, or carnivorous dinosaur like a raptor or tyrannosaurus; (2) it looks like a harmless, generally friendly-looking animal, like a housecat, small dog, rabbit, squirrel, sheep, duck, or sparrow; (3) it looks like a large, potentially fierce herbivore, such as a horse, goose, rhinoceros, great ape, or brachiosaurus; (3) looks like a creepy-crawly, such as a jellyfish; mosquito, beetle, centipede, tick, or worm; (4) looks like an animal known for sneakiness and cunning, like a crow, weasel, rat, monkey, or spider; (5) looks like a silly animal, like a penguin, otter, or platypus; (6) looks like a fantasy animal, like a gryphon, dragon, or gargoyle.

What the alien looks like and what it actually acts like are two different things.

4, 4, 1-3 — Roll 1d: (1-2) looks extremely beautiful; (3-4) looks absolutely adorable and/or child-like and innocent; (5-6) looks hideous and/or monstrous.

4, 4, 4-6 — Looks weird. It may or may not be humanoid in form. Roll 1d: (1) looks like (or is) a plant or fungus, (tree, vine, cactus, mushroom, or mold); (2) looks Lovecrafitan (tentacular, geometric, or blobby); (3) looks robotic or mechanical; (4) looks like a rock, a rock-person, or grouping of rocks; (5) looks like a stuffed animal or cartoon character; (6) looks like a pile of stuff.

4, 5, 1-3 — Roll 1d: Smells (1-2) bad; (3-4) good; (5-6) weird.

4, 5, 4-6 — Is aquatic. It may be amphibious or have the ability to breathe air, or it may only be able to breathe water.

4, 6, 1-3 — Breathes something other than human-friendly nitrogen/oxygen. It may be able to breathe nitrox as well without problems, may require an “atmosphere tank” to provide additional supplies of necessary gases, or it may require full life support equipment.

4, 6, 4-6 — Roll 1d: Can’t tolerate temperatures either (1-3) above 0o C or (4-6) below 100o C. Optionally, it can only tolerate temperatures between 0o and 100o C.

5, 1, 1-3 — Roll 1d: Can’t tolerate gravity (1) higher than 2Gs; (2) higher than 10Gs; (3) higher than microgravity; (4) lower than 1G; (5) lower than 10Gs; (6) lower than 50Gs.

[Faolyn]

5, 1, 4-6 — Roll 1d: Is based on (1) silicon, (2) ammonia, (3) chlorine, (4) sulfur, (5) hydrocarbons, or (6) something really weird or exotic.

5, 2, 1-3 — It has unusual dietary needs or eating habits. For instance, it’s purely carnivorous or herbivorous; it’s a liquivore and eats juice, nectar, blood, or pureed food; it’s a filter feeder; or it’s capable of eating anything organic, or even anything at all.

5, 2, 4-6 — Has an unusual primary form of communication, such as through body or sign language, scent, only through writing, or by controllable chromataphores or bioluminescence. Optionally, it speaks too slowly or quickly for humans to follow, speaks in a musical language that can only be written by humans in musical notation and spoken via instrument, or has a extremely complicated and alien sentence structure. It may or may not be able to communicate in human-friendly ways as well.

5, 3, 1-3 — Has an incredibly good sense of smell and/or taste. It may be able to detect emotions or other body chemistry changes via scent.

5, 3, 4-6 — Breathes through gills, its skin, or is capable of storing oxygen or other gas of choice for long periods of time, so it doesn’t have to breathe very often. Optionally, it doesn’t breathe at all.

5, 4, 1-3 — Is a telepath or empathy. Roll 1d: (1-3) it has touch telepathy; (4-5) it can use telepathy at range. It may be able to only communicate with members of its own species, only with certain members of its own species, only with other telepaths, regardless of species, or with anyone. Optionally, it may have a range of telepathic-like powers, such as mind control or being able to mentally ride someone.

5, 4, 4-6 — Has other, non-telepathic psi powers. Optionally, it has powers that can only be described as magic and which can’t be stopped with anti-psi.

5, 5, 1-3 — Requires such massive life support that no one knows what it looks like. Optionally, it may have a taboo against others seeing its face or true form.

5, 5, 4-6 — Comes from another dimension, or exists partially in another dimension.

5, 6, 1-3 — Roll 1d: Uses cybernetics, gengineering, or both, in (1-3) moderate amounts; (4-5) extensively; or (6) to such a degree that the species’ original form is completely obscured.

5, 6, 4-6 — Roll 1d: Is of (1) slightly lower tech level; (2) much lower tech level; (3) extremely low tech level or has no technology at all; (4) slightly higher tech level; (5) significantly higher tech level; (6) is of a sufficiently advanced technology level.

6, 1, 1-3 — Can produce, spit, or secrete a substance. This may be a poison or paralytic, webbing or a sticky substance, a flammable substance, acid, or pheromones of some sort.

6, 1, 4-6 — Hibernates or goes comatose rather than sleeps. It may hibernate for a very short period of time (such as a few days a month or one month a year), a third of the time, half the time, or even most of the time.

6, 2, 1-3 — Roll 1d: Is (1-3) incredibly intelligent (species average IQ is at least twice human average); or (4-6) only barely sapient. Optionally, it can be either very or barely intelligent and also be naïve and lack common sense.

6, 2, 4-6 — Is a shapechanger. It may be limited to structurally similar forms, or it may be able to become something quite different (like a were-creature), or it may be able to become anything. It has either an unlimited number of forms or 1d-2 (min 1) additional forms.

6, 3, 1-3 — Has a symbiotic relationship with another species, and both require the other in order to live. Optionally, it may have a parasitic relationship with another species, a group of other species, or any other species.

6, 3, 4-6 — Have incredibly short lifespans. Optionally, it has a very long juvenile stage (perhaps even longer than a normal human lifespan) but dies quickly upon reaching adulthood.

6, 4, 1-3 — Can live for hundreds or thousands of years, or may even be completely immortal.

6, 4, 4-6 — Is an evolved machine-life. Optionally, it consists of a natural-born body wherein the brain is installed or the intelligence is uploaded into a cybernetic body or computer..

6, 5, 1-3 — Is a colony-based, hive-minded, or multi-bodied life-form. It can’t function if a certain percentage of its body or bodies are destroyed. Optionally, it can continue to function but loses intelligence, skills, or personality.

6, 5, 4-6 — Is an intelligent planet, asteroid, star, or other stellar object.

6, 6, 1-3 — Has evolved beyond the need for a physical form. Optionally, it is an energy being of some sort, based on plasma, electricity, cohesive air or clouds, psychic/mental energy, or something else.

6, 6, 4-6 — Is basically omnipotent.

[Faolyn]

Part II: Mental Characteristics: The alien species… (roll 1d, 1d)

1, 1 — Has a really bad temper and is very prone to violence. Optionally, rather than being violent, they are very curmudgeon-y.

1, 2 — Thinks like an intelligent animal.

1, 3 — Roll 1d: Is (1-3) xenophobic, or (4-6) xenophiliac.

1, 4 — Roll 1d: Is (1-2) overly logical; (3-4) overly emotional; (5) emotionless; or (6) has a very limited range of emotion.

1, 5 — Roll 1d: Has (1-3) absolutely no sense of humor, or (4-6) has a really weird sense of humor.

1, 6 — Is very stubborn and may be very resistant to change.

2, 1 — Is warlike and the species is organized along military lines. Either the majority of the race belongs to a racial military and war against other species, or the various factions constantly war amongst themselves.

2, 2 — Is mercantile, and the species is organized along business or trader lines. The race may be very greedy.

2, 3 — Is very sneaky, and the species embraces stealth, trickery, and guile. Optionally, the race may have kleptomania.

2, 4 — Is very cautious. Optionally, they may be incredibly shy or secretive.

2, 5 — Has a strong sense of personal, familial/clan, or racial honor.

2, 6 — Is mostly, or completely, pacifistic.

3, 1 — Has a very strange compulsion or obsession.

3, 2 — Has one or more really annoying traits.

3, 3 — Finds another species (or more than one other species) to be really annoying.

3, 4 — Are natural mimics, and copy other people’s or other species’ actions.

3, 5 — Can really hold a grudge. Individuals who have been wronged may refuse to deal with those who caused the insult. Optionally, revenge may be sought out by others of the individual’s family or clan, their business/guild, nation, or even by the entire species.

3, 6 — Is very curious about everything, and tries to learn about anything and everything.

4, 1 — Is compulsively playful, even more so than humans. Optionally, they may also be tricksters.

4, 2 — Is megalomaniacal.

4, 3 — Refuses to believe an obvious fact of the universe, regardless of the evidence is presented to them.

4, 4 — Is completely insane by human standards. Optionally, its actions and reactions are too alien to be understood.

4, 5 — Roll 1d: (1-4) has a logical racial phobia; (5-6) has an illogical racial phobia)

4, 6 — Feels the need to prove something. Roll 1d: (1-4) their worth as a species; (5-6) a belief they hold.

5, 1 — Is sadistic, especially to members of other races.

5, 2 — Are very bigoted amongst themselves in some way (sexist, racist, etc.). This may spill out into how they deal with other species.

5, 3 — Is very impulsive.

5, 4 — Hates being alone and is naturally gregarious. Optionally, it has a hive mentality.

5, 5 — Wants to assimilate everyone.

5, 6 — Roll 1d: Wants to study other species (1-3) via observation and study or (4-6) via tests and dissection.

6, 1 — Is actually quite nice and friendly.

6, 2 — Believes in the supernatural, the power of oaths or taboos, fate, etc.

6, 3 — Roll 1d: (1) is very religious; (2) is very religious and tries to convert or kill nonbelievers; (3) worships another species as gods; (4) poses as gods to another species; (5) is very atheistic; (6) is very atheistic and tries to deconvert or kill believers.

6, 4 — Roll 1d: Is either (1-3) very good or (4-6) very bad at taking orders.

6, 5 — Is very, very boring.

6, 6 — Has truly terrible taste and absolutely no shame.

[Apache]

GURPS Aliens pretty much hits all the space opera alien tropes.

IIRC its cheap on e23.

Yeah, its 3e, but easily converted.

[Pomphis]

Eric B Smith has done a conversion into 4e:

http://gurpsland.no-ip.org/#Aliens

[smurf]

Therapsids

Mammal Lizards... ok this was an old idea and I think I have them at basic 150 points. If you want to slap psi on them then they will break the 300pt barrier.

I liked the Dr Who Homo Reptilia, especially the last version of an awkward female trying to navigate human emotion. 2000AD did the classic Saurons with Tyranny Rex.

However the usual thing is Lizard/Snake thing is evil (hence the Kaa in the old Aliens book). Maybe something to do with various mythologies demonising the reptiles.