Re: GURPS Space campaign setting
 

Thoughts on TL of various species/civilizations:

Humans from core worlds TL 10, safetech , FTL

Frontier worlds: TL9 or less[ if world has regressed] Little or no FTL capability on their own

Bwaps: TL 10, retrotech[ they were still using punch card computers not so many years ago] FTL capable?

Memer & Saret: TL 10- lacking in life support tech/terraforming[ they don't have as much need for such things as do most species]- build big, leaky, FTL freighters

Racconids[ if i use 'em] : TL 2, developing towards higher TL after contact

Heavy Gravity Humanoids[ undecided about specifics]: TL 3 before contact

Pachekki: unsure, possibly TL 9 or 10, maybe alternate cyperpunk or high biotech path

Re: GURPS Space campaign setting
 

Latest I could find was some remarks from mid-2006. Given that it's all speculative, and that our understanding of biology is rather limited to only one world, I'm a little more open-minded (or perhaps just naive or gullible :) ) about what other worlds and biologies might be like. :)

That aside, the question asked was about squids, and I brought up a fun (educational is questionable...) video. Watching man-sized squids swinging through the trees, attacking an invader... What's not to like? :)

Re: GURPS Space campaign setting
 

He probably means my mini-outburst about the silliness from that program.
It would take some very strange planetary environments to limit the development of endo/exo-skeletons enough for squid-likes to take the land. But starting with other planets it's at least technically possible.

One theory regarding the evolution of mineral deposits leading to skeletons involves iron accumulation for magnetic field detection. Maybe a weak field gave the squishies enough of a head start.

Re: GURPS Space campaign setting
 

Sure, I'll buy that for a dollar.

Re: GURPS Space campaign setting
 

The Precursors and High Gravity Species:
I was thinking of having a Precursor species as part of the setting. It's an old trope, but one I enjoy. It worked well in Traveller. I like the idea of them seeding worlds with life as part of a terraforming project.

If the Precursors visted Earth, they did it before modern humans evolved.

The high gravity humanoids I mentioned earlier[ Dwarves in Space, basically- idea from an old Dragon Magazine article of the same name], could be the descendants of hominids brought to an alien world several million years ago.

I like the whole ''Humaniti'' angle in Traveller, but I don't want to copy it wholesale. The ''dwarfs'' would be my only almost-human aliens.

Re: GURPS Space campaign setting
 

Then you might get radiation tolerant brachiating octopoids.

Re: GURPS Space campaign setting
 

For some "exotic" aliens, I would suggest some from http://www.orionsarm.com/xenos/index.html this. They take pride in the fact they have no humanoid aliens at all. Unfortunately that means that a significant number of them look like lobsters.

Re: GURPS Space campaign setting
 

You may even want to consider multiple precursor species.

-Mike

Re: GURPS Space campaign setting
 

I like it.

I want them to raise roaches as food. Maybe the roaches were pests aboard a starship that visited their world long ago. The insects disrupted the local ecology, but then the octopoids began to use them as a food source- eventually developing ''roach-iculture''. Too silly, or does it sound workable?


Definitely have to consider this possibility. I'm not even sure all the Precursors will have been super-advanced. There's no reason there cannot have been a widespread Precursor species that used TL9 STL ships to colonize/explore a huge region of space, if the timeline is long enough to allow it.

Re: GURPS Space campaign setting
 

Looks very cool. It seems as if they've really put a ton of work into the universe.