One of my alien designs

[Arawaen]

I am dusting off a shelved project for a variant Trek type campaign. The first difference I went for was to make the humans the new kids on the block. We join an already existing and flourishing intergalactic society rather rather than being one of its pillars. I created five (and then bumped it up to six) major alien species that were the cornerstones of this intergalactic society, though numerous other species were members.

Four of the six species are humanoid (I find humanoids easier to work with, all my non-humanoid alien designs have turned into quagmires of trying to figure out how the tech or biomechanics work).

At the time I was thinking about how much energy humans devote to our sex and romance, its in our songs, our advertising, our fashion design, etc. so I aimed for very different sex drives for some of the aliens.

Anyway, the other day I posted a question regarding Starships and one of my alien designs, so I thought I would share the alien as well.

They were given the placeholder name of Chibi until I came up with a better name, it stuck or a better name never came along. They don't have Chibi proportions so not sure why I ever labelled them as such.

[Arawaen]

Chibi (CHEE-BEE)

PHYSIOLOGY

They are warm-blooded but have many ‘amphibian’ qualities. They have black colored blood.

Body

The vast majority of the Chibi are female. These female Chibi are bipedal humanoids that average 4.5' in height, and 60 pounds in weight. Variation in size exists, but not to the extent that it does in humans. 4' to 5' is probably the maximum range for adult females.

Smooth seal-like skin with a golden-brown coloration with an olive tint. They can have pigmentation markings such as stripes or spots but these are generally localized and not widespread.

They are not mammals so they have no breasts, nipples or belly buttons. Otherwise their skeleton and musculature is very similar to that of humans.

Female Chibi have a pouch in their abdomen that will house the male Chibi if they are ever bonded to one. Most females are never bonded to a male, as they are exceedingly rare.

The rare male Chibi is a large tadpole, about twelve to eighteen inches in length, with tail. All Chibi begin as tadpoles, but females develop into the humanoid form.

Head

Head is slightly larger in relation to the body than a human's. Body is about 5.75 heads tall. It is a tad longer both in front and back.

The face is rounder, especially the jaw, mouth and cheeks. The eye sockets are about 50% larger than a human's relative to their head, the sclera is green in color, but the iris is very human looking, though the colors tend to be bright.

No visible nose or lips. This area of the face extends forward in a rounded fashion. Mouth has no visible teeth, but the Chibi have sharp, pointed teeth that are normally retracted. The bony plate, with the teeth retracted, is used to grind food; the sharp teeth are extended when they want to cut.

They have two 'fronds' on each side of their head. These fleshy stalks start just about where human ears would be, but split into multiple tiny branches that each end in a tiny black sphere. The spheres are similar in size to one another. These 'fronds' are the Chibi's olfactory organs and one of the ways they take in oxygen. Humans tend to mistake them for ears.
The actual ear is located behind the fleshy stalk and is nearly invisible as it is simply a hole in the skull, covered by a sensitive membrane. Most humans would miss it unless specifically looking.

Towards the back third of the top of the skull are a dozen fleshy tendrils that hang off the back of the skull down to the middle of the shoulders. These tendrils are flat and wide on one side, narrow and rounded on the other. These tendrils are pigmented darker than the rest of the skin. The principle use is a threat display when the Chibi is angry or fearful. A Chibi can also get some auditory information from these tendrils, supplementing the ears. These tendrils are roughly arranged in a circular cluster and vaguely resemble a topknot.

Hands

Three fingers and an opposable thumb are found on each hand. Fingers are webbed. Fingers have one additional knuckle than a human hand.

Feet

Feet have a similar arrangement to the hand, but the 'thumb' on the foot is vestigial and not flexible. Feet are very hand like in terms of toe length, like the fingers they have one additional knuckle. Front toes are webbed.

Reproduction

The male tadpole enters into a symbiotic relationship with a single Chibi female, he will spend most of his life inside the abdominal pouch of his mate (technically series of mates - see Longevity). The male is not dependent on being in the pouch, it can and does leave for brief periods whenever the female goes swimming or when she lays eggs. If something happens to his mate, he can survive in the pool just like he did prior to being paired.

A human's first reaction upon seeing a Chibi Mother is to assume that she is pregnant, due to the bump in her abdomen.

During the reproductive cycle, the Mother lays 24 to 48 eggs into the spawning pool, the male will swim over them and fertilize them. The eggs will hatch in the pool as tadpoles, the female ones will slowly develop into the humanoid form over the course of the first year of life. The males will never leave the tadpole form, but males are exceedingly rare.

Longevity

Females without a bonded male partner are short lived, rarely living past 45 years of age.

Females bonded to a male gain some of the male’s longevity and can live to be more than 360 years of age, but only as long as they are bonded (if the male dies, they lose this extra longevity).

Males are very long lived; they can live well past 1440 years of age. A male will outlive his female partner, but will be paired with one of her daughters when she passes, maintaining the integrity of the household.

[Arawaen]

NAMES

Personal names are 3 to 4 syllables long. A full name includes the clutch that a particular Chibi was born in (e.g. the 12th Clutch means the Chibi was born from the 12th set of eggs the Mother laid) as well as the name of the House (which is named after the Mother). The formal name includes all of this, plus the names of the birth Houses of the male Progenitor and the Mother.

Examples: Isame (Ee-Sa-May), Itanui (Ee-Ta-New-Ee), Kumachi (Coo-Ma-Chi), Meiji (May-Ee-Gee), Nahute (Na-Who-Tay), Susame (Sue-Sa-May), Unadoka (Oo-Na-Doe-Ka).

[Arawaen]

PSYCHOLOGY

With the exception of the Mother, most Chibi view their fellow Chibi in one of two ways, they are either a Sister or a Cousin. Sisters are members of their House, most are in fact biologically their sisters, though some will be adopted members to the household. Chibi from other households are Cousins, though they make a slight distinction for those Chibi who share lineage with their household Near Cousin. Near Cousins are Chibi in a household from whence either the Mother or the Progenitor (the male bonded to the Mother) came from.

Mothers view the Chibi in her household as Daughters, most will be actual offspring but some will be adopted into the household. Those Chibi outside a Mother’s household are viewed as Cousins or Near Cousins, even if they used to be Sisters.

Being a Mother in Chibi society is a respected position. Any Chibi not in a particular Mother's House will refer to her as Other Mother acknowledging her position. An Other Mother has no special authority over Chibi not in her household, but she will be shown social regard and courtesy.

The key to understanding Chibi psychology is recognizing that they see themselves as a family, nearly everyone within a household is blood relation, the few that aren't are adopted siblings. An individual Chibi won't get along with all of their Sisters but they are still sisters.

Chibi are big into touching, as a way to establish and affirm connection between individuals. They frequently hug, embrace, lay hands on one another, and even touch heads. They particularly like sharing beds and sleeping together, there is no sexual connotation to this.

The Chibi do not have sexual feelings in the way other species do that need to seek out a mate. They do feel emotions like love, but it is the love of friendships and family.

Males are not intelligent; their function in Chibi society is purely procreative.

[Arawaen]

ECOLOGY

Homeworld

The Chibi homeworld is covered with large swamps and shallow seas. It has a gravity of 0.9 G and an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere (1.1 atmospheres). The Chibi prefer tropical temperature and high humidity. The comfort zone for Chibi is 10 degrees warmer than for humans.

Diet

Chibi cuisine consists primarily of fruit, insect and fish. It tends to be colorful and aromatic. The Chibi frequently use small flowers as garnishes.

[Arawaen]

CULTURE

Habitation

Chibi live communally in large households. A Chibi pair-bonded to a male is a Mother, all the other Chibi in the household under her are her daughters (biological or adopted). Households can become quite large, up to five thousand individuals. Planetside dwellings are designed to accommodate this size, usually in the form of a compound with a number of interconnected buildings.

Chibi dwellings always include large numbers of pools, the most important being the spawning pools where eggs are laid, fertilized and hatch into offspring. They also tend to be decorated with living plants and flowers, creating a very organic feel.

Clothing

The most common fashions among the Chibi are tunic-like shirts with loose fitting pants. Formal attire tends to be a dress-like robe. All Chibi clothing is designed to not hinder movement and tends to be easy to remove, often clasping at the side. They prefer clothing designs that do not involve the clothes going over their heads.

While Chibi fashion does not have the sexual connotations that human fashion frequently does, they do like pretty colors, patterns and styles. Adornments are often shaped like flowers or small animals (insects, fish, amphibians, etc.).

They prefer to swim naked.

Language

Numerous dialects had developed among the various Chibi households, communication could often be difficult. The Chibi Union decided to create a new language that followed clear concise rules. The older languages are sometimes learned as hobbies or for historical purposes, but have otherwise faded from use.

The Chibi language has four distinct tenses, past, present, definite future and indefinite future. Definite future is for things that will happen at a specific time, while indefinite future are those things that will happen sometime in the future, but no date is set. A common joke is how things that appeared definite were really indefinite.

Chibi don't have words for brother or father, they use the word Progenitor, but it has connotations of being non-sapient and doesn't get used for the males of other species. Likewise they don't have masculine pronouns, the pronouns for the Progenitor carry similar implications. Non-Chibi are referred to as female regardless of gender as far as Chibi language is concerned; though the Chibi do understand the distinction from their biological studies of other worlds (even their homeworld does not have universal dimorphism).

Chibi writing consists of characters that are angular boxes adorned with small circles. Each character represents a distinct syllable.

Chibi use a base 8 number system.

Hobbies

Chibi engage in a wide variety of hobbies, many of these are group activities. Examples include sports (team sports or sports that groups can do together, such as running), games (card and board games, multiplayer video games), music (choruses, ensembles). Solitary reading for pleasure is rare, but group storytelling is common.

[Arawaen]

CULTURE (Continued)

Bonding Ritual

When a house gives birth to a male it has the opportunity to strengthen ties with another house by creating a new house and expanding the Chibi species. A house with a male will be courted subtly by many houses, but can make an overt courtship of another house. Courting a house with a male is done low key so as to minimize ill feeling for those not chosen.

The house who will provide the daughter for the coming union, actually selects several potential candidates, whom their Mother feels have good qualifications to be a Mother on their own. These candidates are placed in a pool along with the unbonded male. The male will eventually select one of the females to bond with. This bonded pair will become the progenitors of a new Chibi house, a house that links the two parent houses together.

It is a great honor to be made a candidate and a joyous occasion to be chosen by the male. A daughter can refuse to be made a candidate, though it is considered unusual.

Bonding Ceremony

After the new bonded pair is formed, a ceremony and celebration are held. A number of Daughters from each parent household switch allegiance to the new house. Usually the new Mother will ask her closest Sisters (technically former Sisters) to join her house. The house that provides the male, typically asks for volunteers. If need be a Mother can assign some of her Daughters to join the new house, but again this is unusual and considered a sign of a troubled house.

Unlike other situations where Chibi join a house other than their birth house, these Daughters are not considered adopted, but are full-fledged members.

Dissolution of a House

The male Chibi lives substantially longer than is mate. When she dies, he is usually given a prominent Chibi of the household (often the Seneschal) who becomes the new Mother. Some turbulence can occur in house during such a transition and the second largest number of Daughters seeking to join other households occurs at this time.

A male is not immortal however and will eventually die. At such a time, the house dissolves and all the remaining Daughters seek membership in other households, while they seek they are known as Ronin. Those that choose not to seek or give up seeking will eventually be considered Pariah.
If their male died of old age, these Ronin will have a much easier time finding a new house to take them in. If he died from negligence or misfortune, it is harder, but not impossible.

Communal Society

Even though the various Chibi Houses interact with one another in a capitalistic fashion, the internal workings are socialistic in nature, much like any family unit is. All property within a house belongs to the house as a whole and as such the Mother decides how it will be best used and distributed. In reality she delegates much of this authority to subordinates, the chief among them is her Seneschal. Small items can be owned by individual Daughters, usually a gift from a Mother or handcrafted by a member of the household with found materials (such as a pretty rock carved into an broach clasp).

[Arawaen]

Politics

Government

The Chibi Union is an alliance with representatives democratically elected by the Mothers of the various households. Only Mothers can vote, but the actual representative is rarely a Mother, a household that wins picks a handful of Daughters to handle that duty, though they are always in contact with their Mother.

Power sharing and making deals between households is how business in the Chibi Union is accomplished. Luckily Chibi see themselves as one giant extended family and tensions rarely progress past a rivalry stage.

House Governance

Within a household, the Mother is the ultimate authority, her word and judgment are final. However, Mothers approach the governance of the household from a maternal perspective. They balance their agenda both on what is good for their house as a whole and the individuals who are her Daughters.

Houses can become quite large, impossible for a single Chibi to manage. Officers are chosen by the Mother to help her with the day-to-day operations of the household. The chief officer is the Seneschal, who is charged with making sure the domestic and internal functions of the house run smoothly. Security, medical, education are other positions likely to have officers, though the Seneschal outranks them all. There will also be an officer in charge of whatever business the house uses to support itself (one house might be principally agricultural, another might be a research institute, another a hospital).

Interstellar Relations

The Chibi are one six major species in the Alliance (the others being the Ataxxonar, Drex, Gelph, Ydesu and the Valithorn), as a relatively peaceful and friendly people they don't have any major enemies among the Alliance, though they get along best with the Drex and the Ydesu. The Ataxxonar find the Chibi too touchy and emotional. The Valithorn maintain a distance from the Chibi as they do with all the species other than the Ataxxonar. The Gelph fascinate the Chibi, but the Gelph don't show much interest.

The Chibi have discovered five minor species in their exploration of the galaxy. Two of these are still primitive and have been placed in protectorate status by the Alliance. Two are minor members of the Alliance now. The other species had first contact go horribly wrong (the Chibi first contact team was eaten), while they are nominally a member of the alliance, the Chibi avoid them. (I need to come up with names for these species).

[Arawaen]

Chibi Daughter

Attribute Modifiers: -3 ST [-30], +1 DX [20].
Secondary Characteristics: -1 FP [-3], SM -1 [0].
Racial Advantages: Acute Smell 2 [4], Amphibious [10], Flexibility [5].
Racial Disadvantages: Short Lifespan 1 [-5].
Racial Skills: Swimming (E) @ HT+2 [4].
Cultural Advantages: Cultural Familiarity (Chibi) [0], Language Chibian (Native) [0], TL 10 [0].
Cultural Disadvantages: Chummy [-5], Curious (12) [-5], Humble [-1], Playful [-1].
Cultural Skills: None.
Common Traits: Duty, Patron, Selfless.
Common Skills: None.
Taboo Traits: Lecherousness.

Chibi Mother
Replace Short Lifespan 1 with Extended Lifespan 2 (requires daily contact with male).
Add Status 3+ [+15 or more] (Initial Status is 3 for a new Mother, but can be raised higher).
Add Wealth (Wealthy or higher).
Replace Humble with Proud (A Mother is very concerned about the reputation of her House).
Replace Playful with Serious (A Mother has a great deal of responsibility resting on her shoulders).
Add Administration (A) @ IQ+2 [8] (often higher).
Most Mothers will master Diplomacy, Leadership and Psychology (Applied).

Chibi Progenitor
ST 2, DX 10, IQ 3, HT 9
Per 10, Will 10, SM -6
Amphibious, Doesn't Breathe (Gills), Enhanced Move (Water, Extended Lifespan 4
Bestial, Cannot Speak, Hidebound, No Legs (Aquatic), No Manipulators, Social Stigma (Valuable Property)

[Arawaen]

I never really finished the GURPS stats, but they weren't every really intended to be PCs at the time.