So I'm putting together a Sci-fi game for some friends and I would like some help developing an alien race. See the entire game is actually going to involve the players interacting with a single planet and its inhabitants, so I wanted to make sure that said inhabitants are well developed and interesting, and I was looking for a few ideas.
The first big thing is I haven't even decided WHAT they are yet. I'd like to try and avoid them being [specific animal] people, but I would like for them to fit in the standard humanoid alien mold. I guess they could slightly be [specific animal] people in the same sense that humans are primate people
Their culture I kind of have a mind for a little currently but I'm really open to ideas. They are not at peace with one another and there are a few factions fighting for power that the players can interact with. The aliens are neither particularly saintly nor particularly vile.
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Their tech is where I think I'll need the most help. They're lower tech than the players but not by an enormous amount. So like this race would be approximately around what we might consider cyberpunk tech level with functional cybernetics and advanced computers but still using the equivalent of gunpowder weaponry and unable to reach faster than light speeds. The tricky thing here is I don't want the aliens to just be cyberpunk, specifically I'm trying to think about what their weapons look like.
What might be a good semi-sci fi weapon type that an alien species could have reasonably developed that isn't just guns. I'm even willing to stick within the bounds of chemically propelled solid projectiles I just don't want them being exactly the same. I also feel like they should have some areas where they lagged behind (maybe they never quite got into cyborgs) and others where they excelled (holy crap they have force fields much earlier than we did). Again I'm really open to suggestions here and I'm mostly just trying to brainstorm.
I appreciate any help, I'm sorry its all a bit vague at this point but I'm at close to the absolute earliest point in development of this species (I have a lot of other stuff down like player tech, theme, the specific planet, etc, I just feel like this is an important enough part of the game I don't want to mess it up)
interested and formuling a quite exhaustive answer, wait some minutes
What is their planet like? Do you have that figured out? I mean, is it a single biome type deal, or are there a multitude of biomes, like Earth? Are they centered on a specific continent? What's that continent like in terms of flora and fauna? What was it like thousands or millions of years ago? What threats or hardships did the species have to overcome to develop sapience and tool using? We're they second string predators like humanity, or third string, or apex? If apex, why did they need to develop tool using and the tribal mechanisms that lead to society forming? How resource rich is the place on the world they originated from? All these will help you to formulate an idea of what theis cultural background is, and that informs thear present state as an advanced species. Also, check this out for more thought experiment type shit: http://www.frathwiki.com/Dr._Zahir%27s_Ethnographical_Questionnaire
>>46289081
Their* cultural
Their* present state
Fuck phone posting
>>46288757
They use gyro jet guns instead of traditional fire arms. Each bullet is actually a tiny self contained rocket and the gun is just a rail for aiming. They have tiny airtight fuel cells instead of open air combustion
>>46289081
The planet is earth-ish not single biome. It orbits a fairly tame (few spots few solar flares) red dwarf in the habitable zone. The species is spread across the planet, which has fewer oceans than earth but more underground water.
The planet is not overly dangerous but has its share of monstrous beasts and poisonous plants. The primary alien species has done a lot better co-existing with their environment than cyberpunk humans have and there isn't really massive urban sprawl. There is still a ton of development, but you see things more like massive cities sticking out of the middle of a forest or mountain than an endless sprawl of smaller buildings.
The planet is pretty resource rich due to the aforementioned methods of planet preservation. It has some very choice resources including something of a super fuel that, while obsolete at the players current technology level, can still have several uses and value. The planet also has resources the current natives do not realize are valuable but would be valuable to the higher tech player civ.
Not really sure on the evolutionary tract yet. One specific thing I want to avoid is I don't want this species to be dumb, or if they do appear dumb its just because they're differently intelligent (does that make sense). They aren't lower tech because they're stupid they're lower tech because they came later or they didn't really need to advance as fast
Another big thing I'm going for is they can still prove a threat to the players. Sure their weapons are weak-ER but that doesn't mean you wont get killed by them or that the species will just fold over
you could use a society of small humanoid mammals, like humanoid-roden with little furs.
Acquatic society, developed a lot mechanics-hydraulics and chemisty, some much needed fields of science. They have little knowledge of electronics and have yet to formulate an atomic theory. their society is like a city-state ones, with a city ruler, how cooperates with the neighbours rather than fight them. Wars and conflicts are rare but not inexistent and they erupts mostly during famines. Conflicts internal to the city-state are usually resolved throug the conquering of the place of power by the opposing faction, or the killing of the opposition leader and his closest men. conflicts between city states are much morle bloody, with full scale wars. the knowledge of chemistry make them develop a lot of chemical weapons like poisonous gases and gunpowder, so they use a mix of rifling and artillery (like a wolrd war one army type)
>>46289264
Also the planet is rocky and uneven as shit. There aren't really massive sprawling planes there's crags, mountains, canyons, cliffs, etc etc. Most of the super flat areas are developed as they're valuable but the species is also apt at building on uneven surfaces (you could easily see a city built into a canyon or up the side of a mountain)
>>46289264
>>46289290
>crags, mountains, canyons, cliffs
>apt at building on uneven surfaces
>The primary alien species has done a lot better co-existing with their environment than cyberpunk humans have
Faun-like aliens. Humanoids with strong alpine goat legs, evolved to life in rough terrain and on the cliffs, and masters at climbing using nothing but their legs, keeping the arm-appendages free to use tools. Naturally this would affect lots of things in their societies, like making defensive walls far less useful in protecting permanent settlements. Their prehistory could mostly comprise of nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes that lived off the land and migrated between water sources and/or herds of prey. Great cities could be build near the largest and most stable underground water sources. Agriculture could be like that practiced by the Incas in the Andes, lots of terrace farming.
If the planet's quite cold, they could have thick fur; if it's tidally locked, populations that evolved in the twilight or dark zones could have infrared vision. Good lung capacity could result from evolving to live in a high-altitude, low-oxygen environment. Weird-looking, impressively sized horns would be a good touch in my opinion.
So, what I'm suggesting is Native American goat people with infrared vision. IN SPACE. Feel free to abandon this idea without a second thought if you don't like it. I'm afraid my love for all things goat may have clouded my judgement once again.
>>46289944
It sounds pretty solid to me. I particularly like the large exotic horns idea, maybe they grow one way but as a style choice the species deliberately encourages them to grow in specific other ways (e.g. that guy over there managed to turn his horns into a solid ring)
>>46289199
/k/fag here. Gyrojet sucks giga horse dick. Has almost no energy at the muzzle and is inaccurate as fuck. I'm talking 7 foot groups at 50 yards. One Marine brought a gyrojet pistol to Vietnam, and all he managed to do was miss all the VC and set the jungle on fire with the rocket exhaust.
>>46288755
I like this. Seems like you're trying to avoid planet of hats and give the Ayy some character, which is sorely lacking in most scifi settings where Ayys are either mindless murder/rape/both machines or generic Star Trek ripoffs.
>They are not at peace with one another and there are a few factions fighting for power that the players can interact with. The aliens are neither particularly saintly nor particularly vile
Grey and grey morality really is the best for SciFi.
>specifically I'm trying to think about what their weapons look like
Oh goody. Pic related.
>What might be a good semi-sci fi weapon type that an alien species could have reasonably developed that isn't just guns. I'm even willing to stick within the bounds of chemically propelled solid projectiles I just don't want them being exactly the same
This is a slight problem. See, guns as we know them are one of the most mature technologies in Humanity's inventory. Firearms haven't fundamentally changed since the 1940s, we've just been incrementally improving optics, ergonomics, manufacturing, material science and handling. The reason we're at a plateau with firearms is because we have tried literally every other method we can think of, and every one of them except the current generation sucks ass in some way. Flechettes have shit barrier penetration, accuracy and wounding potential. Gyrojets can't hit the broad side of a barn door, and aren't fast enough to be deadly until about 10 yards from the muzzle. When it comes to guns there is really nothing new under the sun, and any race which can develop technology even roughly analogous to ours will have the capability to create traditional guns, and will inevitably plateau at them for some amount of time in their history.
cont.
>>46291020
However, you have the advantage of a near future tech level for these guys, so you can speculate along current lines of development. In my opinion, the two Next Big Things in guns are polymer-cased telescopic ammunition and airburst smart projectiles.
This video shows PCTA and one potential action for making it work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlM8IHij6Hs
Basically it reduces weight and cost, while looking alien to the layperson. In order to make it work you need an action roughly similar to this, with a chamber that moves and a piston that pushes the old cartridge out and a new one in, since they don't have metal rims for an extractor to grab. Caseless gun designs like the G11 PDW mockup in pic related can be used for this as well, as long as you find a way to add an ejection port.
This one demonstrates airburst smart grenades:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-7L0Frj6vQ
Basically you have a computer on the weapon, plus a smart optic or aiming module with a rangefinder. The rangefinder calculates distance to target, then programs the round to explode on the other side of the target's cover. The fragmentation does the killing. With cyberpunk level technology, you can really push the limits of this technology and create a very... explosive... battlefield.
>>46289944
This guy has a good idea. However, remember: in order to develop technology at all and become a world-conquering power you need four basic things: a climate that supports large-scale agriculture without irrigation, useful domesticatible animals, large forests, and easily accessible iron. A civilization without these factors will never advance past the stone age.
>>46291193
If you want to create exotic-feeling guns, I highly recommend watching this guy's youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ForgottenWeapons
He has a knack for finding just plain weird guns, and shows the audience how they work in detail.
