strange/less-humanlike aliens

[BwapTED]

Which races for Traveller (canonicity does not matter to me) strike you as good examples of "really alien aliens"?


I'm looking for races that you guys think show one or both of these qualities:

• psychology notably different from humans
  
• anatomy and physiology very different from humans

It doesn't matter to me, for purposes of this thread, if the alien race seems playable as a PC or not.

Low-sapient and borderline intelligent races are fine, please do include any you think of.


I know that many of us have different ideas about what is a ''rubber suit'', a ''really alien alien'', an ''animal man'', etc. That's great! It's better that we don't all agree, because this way the thread will likely show greater variety. I don't want to straightjacket things early on by providing strict criteria. Just go with what you read above and let me know which ones you think fit.


This is for building an ATU.

Thanks in advance!











I'm posting this here because it concerns alien races and Contact! seems to be the best sub-forum for such topics even when a specific new race isn't the focus of the thread.

 

[tjoneslo]

Which races for Traveller (canonicity does not matter to me) strike you as good examples of "really alien aliens"?

Odder than the Hiver and Dryone? That's kind of a tall order.

• Devi Intelligence - a sessile psionic plant with a mobile immature form.
• Domination - A gas giant dwellers with the ability to possess other creatures.
• Jgd-ll-jagd - Another gas giant dweller.
• Lorcvih - A communal microbe intelligence.
• Sulliji - A genetically engineered immortal lifeform

 

[Timerover51]

I would say that the K'kree would qualify as well, a militant herbivore with an instinctive desire to exterminate all non-herbivores, making relations with them extremely difficult to achieve.

 

[Carlobrand]

The Vegans (Library Data N-Z) are pretty unusual, especially in physiology.

 

[Golan2072]

The Matriarchate - (formerly) Human belters who have embraced post-planetary life and post-humanism to the hilt. All are heavily enhanced by cybernetics and fully adapted to zero-G life, and all are linked to the collective data-net of their Mothership. This collective consciousness of each Matriarchate Collective did not completely destroy the individual, but rather diffused it quite a bit; imagine people who are subconsciously and instinctively connected to Facebook-Twitter-Whatsapp and automatically share most of their thoughts with the rest of the collective. Each Mothership has a digital Mother Computer which sums up this constantly-changing consciousness, wired to a living Matriach - who adds her human spirit to the Mother Computer's mechanical calculations. The Matriarch, contrary to popular Baseline (i.e. ordinary Human) belief, is not a ruler, but rather a component in the collective-consciousness network; the decisions made are by the collective networking of the entire Collective, not by her. The end result is an absolute direct democracy - all major decisions count literally every member's opinions, and the system always knows exactly what to produce with neither a market nor a central planner because everybody's material wants are networked (and tallied by the Mother Computer to generate work allocation for the manufacturies and hydroponic farms).

Contrary to popular belief, the Matriarchate lacks a centralized leadership (each Collective is independent), and is also not interested at all in adding anyone else to their networks or conquering anybody. HOWEVER, the Matriarchate Collectives show utter disregard for Baseline property rights and have an annoying tendency to simply emerge from Jumpspace in the middle of a rich asteroid field and mine it for raw materials despite the fact that whatever corporation owns it under Imperial law.

Each Matriarchate member rarely strays far (over a few light-seconds) from her (or his or its) Collective or at least a sub-collective (centered on a smaller ship), as the disconnection from the network would be crippling. Only those with special training to serve as Emissaries can function individually away from the mother-network.

 

[BwapTED]

The Matriarchate - (formerly) Human belters who have embraced post-planetary life and post-humanism to the hilt. All are heavily enhanced by cybernetics and fully adapted to zero-G life, and all are linked to the collective data-net of their Mothership. This collective consciousness of each Matriarchate Collective did not completely destroy the individual, but rather diffused it quite a bit; imagine people who are subconsciously and instinctively connected to Facebook-Twitter-Whatsapp and automatically share most of their thoughts with the rest of the collective. Each Mothership has a digital Mother Computer which sums up this constantly-changing consciousness, wired to a living Matriach - who adds her human spirit to the Mother Computer's mechanical calculations. The Matriarch, contrary to popular Baseline (i.e. ordinary Human) belief, is not a ruler, but rather a component in the collective-consciousness network; the decisions made are by the collective networking of the entire Collective, not by her. The end result is an absolute direct democracy - all major decisions count literally every member's opinions, and the system always knows exactly what to produce with neither a market nor a central planner because everybody's material wants are networked (and tallied by the Mother Computer to generate work allocation for the manufacturies and hydroponic farms).

Contrary to popular belief, the Matriarchate lacks a centralized leadership (each Collective is independent), and is also not interested at all in adding anyone else to their networks or conquering anybody. HOWEVER, the Matriarchate Collectives show utter disregard for Baseline property rights and have an annoying tendency to simply emerge from Jumpspace in the middle of a rich asteroid field and mine it for raw materials despite the fact that whatever corporation owns it under Imperial law.

Each Matriarchate member rarely strays far (over a few light-seconds) from her (or his or its) Collective or at least a sub-collective (centered on a smaller ship), as the disconnection from the network would be crippling. Only those with special training to serve as Emissaries can function individually away from the mother-network.

Your creation?

Pretty nifty.

Talking to one of these guys who isn't an Emissary--if you could even get him to talk with you-- might be an unsettling experience.

EDIT -Ah, I see they are part of ''Two Visions of Empire.''

 

[BwapTED]

RE Other suggestions--

All fun stuff, guys!
Keep it coming.

I'll add a list of aliens to my ''ATU Library'' thread after I've picked some out.

I may also create (or convert, in the case of stuff I've made for other systems) some of my own in future weeks or months. Those will go up on Contact! for feedback.

 

[robject]

Some of the minor races qualify: Addaxur, Shriekers, the Chamaxi sophonts.

 

[AlanMN]

Most aliens from David Brin's Uplift series of novels.

 

[mike wightman]

I use the Kafers, the Ylii, the Pentapods and the AGRA intelligence from T2300 IMTU.

 

[HG_B]

I use nothing from any Trav books. I do have one space faring race that is really different from humans. They are a land based cephalopod. 6 arms, ~60kg. About 1 meter tall when moving about...

 

[Golan2072]

Your creation?

Pretty nifty.

Talking to one of these guys who isn't an Emissary--if you could even get him to talk with you-- might be an unsettling experience.

EDIT -Ah, I see they are part of ''Two Visions of Empire.''

Yep, part of Vision #2. My creation, they evolved from a concept of matriarchal belter tribes in my old Solar Triumvirate setting.

One who isn't an Emissary - speaks as part of the Collective; not with one voice, or one thought, but with many. Thinking might be extra-labyrinthine and very hard to follow.

Also many human concepts, from privacy to any kind of government to lying, would be meaningless in the Matriarchate. Not because they are repressed, but because there are obsolete and pointless in such a society. There is some semblance of individual, but it is very diffused; it's hard to tell when one Matriarchate member ends, and the other begins.

More inhuman than most aliens.

Oh, and unlike the Borg, they have zero interest in "assimilating" Baseline humans. They care little for what they perceive as utterly primitive, animal-like Baselines with their atomized society, like of planetside life, disconnected minds and complete ignorance of each other. Baselines may be a nuisance, or a threat, but not a resource. The only resources a Collective needs come from asteroids and comets. And if one Baseline or the other contests these, well, it's time to hack their ships, and if that fails, use mining lasers and plasma torches on them.

Now that the Empire has collapsed, a few Collectives do enter former Imperial space, not only to harvest asteroid belts, but to trade high-end electronics for various organics and rare earths that are uncommon in asteroid fields.

EDIT: Feel free to use these at your setting if you desire The key to them is to steer clear of any "evil cyber-collectivists out to assimilate us" trope and focus on their utter posthuman alieness. They are not evil. They are just... Different. Inhumanly different.

 

[Limburger59]

The Sheol from GURPS Alien Races #1: http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Sheol

 

[BwapTED]

Yep, part of Vision #2. My creation, they evolved from a concept of matriarchal belter tribes in my old Solar Triumvirate setting.

One who isn't an Emissary - speaks as part of the Collective; not with one voice, or one thought, but with many. Thinking might be extra-labyrinthine and very hard to follow.

Also many human concepts, from privacy to any kind of government to lying, would be meaningless in the Matriarchate. Not because they are repressed, but because there are obsolete and pointless in such a society. There is some semblance of individual, but it is very diffused; it's hard to tell when one Matriarchate member ends, and the other begins.

More inhuman than most aliens.

Oh, and unlike the Borg, they have zero interest in "assimilating" Baseline humans. They care little for what they perceive as utterly primitive, animal-like Baselines with their atomized society, like of planetside life, disconnected minds and complete ignorance of each other. Baselines may be a nuisance, or a threat, but not a resource. The only resources a Collective needs come from asteroids and comets. And if one Baseline or the other contests these, well, it's time to hack their ships, and if that fails, use mining lasers and plasma torches on them.

Now that the Empire has collapsed, a few Collectives do enter former Imperial space, not only to harvest asteroid belts, but to trade high-end electronics for various organics and rare earths that are uncommon in asteroid fields.

EDIT: Feel free to use these at your setting if you desire The key to them is to steer clear of any "evil cyber-collectivists out to assimilate us" trope and focus on their utter posthuman alieness. They are not evil. They are just... Different. Inhumanly different.

Thanks.

I'm not sure I'd use them, but if I did I would adhere closely to what you have written here.

Because they make such heavy use of cybertech, they stand out against my historical boogeymen , the Provolutionist Democrats. The PDs were all about geneering.

Mostly horrible failed experiments and partial successes that had serious defects, but fanatics are wont to press forward all the same until someone stops them...

 

[BwapTED]

I use nothing from any Trav books. I do have one space faring race that is really different from humans. They are a land based cephalopod. 6 arms, ~60kg. About 1 meter tall when moving about...

Sounds cool! Have you posted them as a Contact! thread?


RE GT Aliens books:
Nice list, guys! I sold most of my GURPS Traveller stuff a while back, but I am familiar with the entries of the Sheol and the others mentioned, Fun and funky.


RE: Chamaxi sophonts and Shriekers

I'm giving serious thought to buying the double adventure with the Chamax, if I can find it at a decent price.




RE Uplift races

Indeed, Brin came up with a tubful of aliens. I haven't read the books, but I've seen the GURPS conversion.



RE 2300 AD races

Anybody know of a CT conversion? I'm not planning on buying the 23 AD game, although I might nab one of the books if I see a beat up, cheap copy someplace at a low price.


What else?

Looking over the T-wiki offers some possibilities.

These guys seem fun:


http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Yslai


It references books I don't have.
I don't recall them being stated in GURPS Traveller Alien Races 2, but they may have been mentioned.


I'm guessing any description of them in JTAS or library data would be very short, not as detailed as that wiki article.

Does anyone know if there's more on them in those other sources, or is Mitchberg's article the fullest treatment?

Nobody strain too hard on this one. I'm just curious. I know some guys love an excuse to look through their books.


The Athar from Signal GK #2 might count as weird. They certainly differ from humans in physiology and anatomy.





These guys look promising:

http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/H'oskhikhil

I have the GURPS version of the adventure (it's free!). Thus I lack CT stats for them. but I think have a pretty good understanding of what they are like, insofar as they've been developed. The details are mostly physical, with notes on their life cycle.
They (or at least ones encountered as adults in the adventure) are friendly. But are they weird in psychology and culture? I'd probably interpret them as strange, because their bodies and life cycle are very different from humans. That would likely mean they think and behave differently, too.




http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Flare_Star

 

[wbyrd]

This is one I created, non human, non humanoid, and evolving from a totally foreign environment.


Boloids:
A semi aquatic sentient life form common to most regions of space. They are large bulbous bodies armored with bony plates, and ropes of muscular tissue. They sport dozens of muscular stubs which end in sensory organs and blunt grasping pincers that are usually used to latch onto other Boloids, and move about in tight spaces. Inside their armored shell Boloids house numerous specialized tentacles for feeding, manipulation, and defense.
As individuals Boloids are only marginally intelligent. When several Boloids link their nervous systems through their grasping organs they radically increase their mental capacity, memory, and problem solving skills. Many Boloids form semi permanent unions fusing their shells with their mates and effectively becoming a single organism..

A few truly massive Overminds are responsible for governing and organizing the Boloid society. These Overminds are truly impressive in size some nearly as large as an office block supported by hundreds of servants and assistants.
Most Boloids are formed by four to five individuals formed into a central body using ten or more tentacles for locomotion and manipulation. When linked to a Boloid is a robust and capable creature. Often able to survive injuries to one or more of its member nodes and still function with little hindrance. The networked nervous and circulatory systems allow a single node to provide circulation for injured nodes, and control the tentacles and stalks of the injured node even if that nodes central brain has been disabled or destroyed.

For much of their history the Boloid had little use for machines or tools. Their many tentacles and ability to multitask allowed them to exist as free swimming masses without permanent structures or more than the most basic tools and devices. Once introduced to mechanical devices the Boloid quickly adapted technology to suit their needs. Incorporating many devices directly onto their shells or into their bodies. Forcing them to adapt and alter their largely nomadic lifestyle to construct factories, mines and storehouses to feed their growing dependence on mechanical and electronic aids.
A modern Boloid union is now a mesh of mechanical and organic components that more closely resembles a cybernetic life form than an organic creature. As a result, many species have never encountered a non enhanced Boloid and may not even be able to tell where the Union ends and its collection fo devices and add-ones ends.

Boloid culture is rapidly changing and varied their constant merging and separating into varied unions means that personalities and power structures change so rapidly that few races can truly understand their society or even the individual unions they deal with on a regular basis. The addition of a younger, less experienced node or an older more seasoned node can radically alter a Unions personality and behavior, although they might keep the same basic outlook their reactions to events may alter significantly in a very short period of time causing sometimes unexpected shifts in relations with other species.
Normally Boloids pass through several stages, Larvae, Free Swimmer, and finally progressing to Node. Then, as an adult merging into a Union or network.
As a larvae Boloids resemble terrestrial jelly fish. Soft, transparent and extremely fragile and are seldom found outside of the voids and interior spaces of a Boloid mass. Large have little intelligence and have no place or function in Boloid society In more primitive times many thousands of Larvae would never survive long enough to mature into free swimmers. The sheer number of larvae and the random, emotionally unimportant nature of Boloid reproduction have not engendered any emotional attachment to larvae.
Free swimmers are immature, not having developed a hard carapace or more advanced appendages they serve as messengers, scouts and menial laborers in Boloid culture. Usually a union or node will have several dozen free swimmer drones who accompany it and follow it’s instructions until they mature into nodes and are capable of serving in more complex and important ways.

 

[BwapTED]

Boloids are pretty cool.

I like the Overminds. Office building sized conglomerations; that's fun.

 

[Meeko100]

Jane from the Enderverse is alien, but less because of some otherness, but because of some... Complications in the exact manner of her existence, and what she is. Its very complicated, and I don't want to spoil the books for whoever may have not read all the books yet.

 

[BlackBat242]

And no one has yet mentioned Virushi?

Ignore the silly human in the drawing:

 

[Nathan Brazil]

No mention of the Droyne?

Genetically caste based yet sentient? Sports not withstanding, I see they are like the Moties, they are aware of other things, but only work in what is their area...