Alien races: The Bizzarre form VS the vaguely humanoid form

Urizen · Oct 20, 2008

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering, as far as believable/playable alien races go in a sci-fi / space opera game is concerned, what is more attractive to you, a race that is nothing like a human in form and function (no human features whatsoever), or a race that has some humanoid elements ( legs, a discernible head/mouth/eyes, arms, etc)?

I'm of the opinion, that if you make a PC race_too_bizarre, your much more likely to have that race rejected by players.

On the other hand, if you make the race_too_human in concept, people don't believe it's an alien race.

So, how "alien" should an alien be?

Please provide examples of what you think is bad, and what you think works.

Thasmodious · Oct 20, 2008

I think it's not so much about the individual race, but the overall racial design for the game/campaign. If all aliens were human-like but with a metal eyebrow or something, it would be uninteresting. OTOH, if all the aliens were a Lovecraft-esque menagerie of forms, it might be too much. I think a good mix between the familiar and truly alien is ideal for sci-fi games. A levitating cephalopod telepath might not get as much play as the 10' tall bipedal race made of organic rock or the pointy eared, highly intelligent human-like race, but it would be the perfect pick for the player who wants to really go alien (I would be one such player).

If you're looking to create a race to fit into an existing game, go for the truly alien form to make something interesting and memorable. It's important, of course, to make sure the race is playable, not to much of a challenge. My floating cephalopod-like friend would be a challenge with no means of communication other than a complex series of squiggles. He doesn't require a mouth, but telepathy or some form of communication with the others is a must, even if its a piece of technology, a translator or implant or something.

Stoat · Oct 20, 2008

Hard Sci-fi: utterly inhuman, probably not available as PC's.

Space Opera: Star Wars/Star Trek style humans with rubber foreheads.

El Mahdi · Oct 20, 2008

I guess, for me, appearance needs to be in the middle somewhere, kind of like what you said. Not too alien but not too human like. However, I too don't like getting caught in the Star Trek trap: all humans are bipedal, have two arms, two eyes, one mouth, etc. (I understand that Star Treks constraints are based on the limitations of television, it's hard to find good amorphous, multi-limbed actors these days.

)

I think, that once you get past appearance, or once a player can look past appearance, there are only a few specifics that really matter for an RPG character race.

If not bipedal humanoid, the race must have a mode of locomotion compatible with the challenges of the adventuring environment (must be able to navigate stairs, ladders, rough terrain, etc.), whether through natural biological or artificial means, without undue advantage or handicap.
The alien character race must be able to communicate with other PC races, whether through natural biological abilities or artificial means, without undue advantage or handicap.
The alien race must be able to interact with it's environment (touch, handle objects, sense environmental factors, eat, etc.) whether through natural bilogical abilities or artificial means, without undue advantage or handicap.

Other than the above requirements, the only thing limiting the form of alien character races would be the preferred aesthetics of your group, or your desired customer base. Tastes vary, although I'd expect that most people would best be able to relate to a race that has at least some features familiar to, or similiar to, themselves.

Brutorz Bill · Oct 20, 2008

I personally don't mind the "Star Trek Trap". In the past I've created some truly alien races for my games and none of my players wanted to play them, saying they were too different from the "norm". They were more comfortable selecting a near human-like race that was different somehow. I also don't mind the occasional earth-like animal alien race. Vargr and Aslan from Traveller for example were very popular in my old Traveller Campaign. I also usually played a Yazirian during our Star Frontiers days. So my vote goes for nothing too way out from the human norm.
Thanks for asking,
Bill

Umbran · Oct 20, 2008

Urizen said:
I'm of the opinion, that if you make a PC race_too_bizarre, your much more likely to have that race rejected by players.

I don't see them rejected by players so much as I see them played as "human in an alien-shaped suit". The mechanics of being of the physical form wind up taking precedence over playing an alien psychology. I suppose that's fun, but it isn't what I'm really in the market for when I'm thinking about aliens.

I'd prefer that a character play a lizard-man (basically humanoid form) with a convincingly different cultural outlook than in him playing Ensign Horta who is of startlingly alien form, but who acts like just one of the other guys.

And I think not going too far afield on physicality typically aids what I'm looking for - the player only has so many many things they can juggle before some of then get dropped on the floor. I'd prefer they keep psychology in the air.

Psion · Oct 20, 2008

I think the supposed desirability and plausability of "utterly inhuman" races is vastly over-rated, on two counts:

First, plausible or not, most players don't have the mentality or role-playing ability to really portray a utterly alien creature. If the alien is to be a PC race and not a puzzle, then you need something players can relate to.

Second, he supposed implausibility of vaugely humanoid races is in doubt. People who come across and say that aliens wouldn't resemble humans don't really know. We haven't, to my knowledge, contacted or observed any alien life, so how much they diverge from us is entirely conjecture. Given in our own natural history, similar characteristics are known to re-evolve to similar forms in certain niches, I don't find it beyond reason to assume that advanced tool-using species might develop a form similar to our own.

THAT SAID, don't be telling me we can cross breed with these creatures or they would really look desirable to us... unless your game is really meant as implausible space opera or you have a reasonable explanation (far future genetic variants, progenitor experiements, etc.)

Dragonbait · Oct 20, 2008

I think that it all depends on what the players empathize with. Some players feel no bond to a character that lacks very human physical features - the personality and culture are secondary. Some players look for the truly bizarre and want to stand out simply on their appearance alone - the nature of their appearance and background are secondary. Some latch on to other things. The alien may or may not look human or near-human, but there is something in the culture and/or personality that they find endearing.

In general, I've found that Sci-Fi has even more leeway than fantasy when it comes to strange looking aliens (compare the core D&D races with the core Star Wars or Traveller species). Most of the time, people want to play something that is functional in a human society and world. Typically a humanoid. The truly alien aliens are seen as NPCs only, in their mind.

Personally, I like a good mix of humanoid and near-human types as “Player Species”. Star Wars is a good example (humans, humans with some prosthetics, and rubber suits), but the galaxy would probably have a lot more strange and truly alien life forms (Star Wars meets Call of Cthulhu).

Klaus · Oct 20, 2008

From vaguely humanoid to near-human.

Mallus · Oct 20, 2008

I think the shape of the funny suit isn't really important as long as there is a more-or-less human person inside of it.

(A character needs to be a character; a person. It doesn't matter if that person is a Vulcan, a surgically-enhanced dolphin, a particular shade of blue, or a brave little toaster.)