Alien races?
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Morgenstern
First Post
Galactic Races for Dragonstar.
I HATE endless reams of humanoid - people in bad make-up - races. The guys at Fantasy Flight me do a couple of the real weirdies, and I think they came out pretty well
.
I HATE endless reams of humanoid - people in bad make-up - races. The guys at Fantasy Flight me do a couple of the real weirdies, and I think they came out pretty well
.Ranger REG
Explorer
T20: The Traveller's Handbook.
d20 Modern Menace Manual.
d20 Modern Menace Manual.
Last edited:
inthisstyle
First Post
Not to toot my own horn too much, but Bulldogs! d20 has a set of race generation rules. My biggest gripe with sci-fi games was just what you are running into: you generally can't just make up a race and then build characters with it (at least not without taking a long time). So, this system lets you point-buy racial attributes and build an alien race. It works pretty well--I've have people make races from fiction (Farscape and Pride of Chanur) as well as completely new ones.
trancejeremy
Adventurer
That's actually something I am surprised hasn't been put out - a book of aliens for SF d20. There's certainly enough SF games.
Lord Something or others Stellar Bestiary for Fading Suns d20 is a good book if you want alien animals.
Lord Something or others Stellar Bestiary for Fading Suns d20 is a good book if you want alien animals.
(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
ALTERNITY has a few of them. Some are in the Menace Manual, but I will give direct conversions.
Mechalus: you might want to ignore these, since they're very humanlike and require cybergear rules.
Sesheyans: my personal favorites, these aliens look like winged bat-salamanders with eight eyes. They have low-light vision and also light blindness (special sunglasses can remove the penalty.)
They can fly at 100 ft. (maneuverability is difficult to determine, but since they can hover it's good) - this alone gives them a level adjustment.
Their stats, directly converted, are quite harsh: Str +0, Dex +4, Con -4, Int -2, Wis +4, Cha -2.
Maybe Dex +2, Con -2, Wis +2 is more appropriate...
They would get Zero-g training (as the feat) for free, since they came from a low-gravity environment - a small planet with very thick jungles.
Their history is pretty interesting: they were enslaved by a powerful human corporation and uplifted (against their will) to a high-tech existence from their stone-age existence. They adapt to tech as quickly as other races, however. Of course, some have escaped slavery, but most don't give up technology.
Before I spend too much time on the sesheyans:
Weren. Direct stat conversion: Str +6, Dex -2, Con +6, Int +0*, Wis -2, Cha -2. (Converting Int was difficult, it was either Int +0 or Int -2.)
They had really high durability (the equivalent of a massive Con +12 for D20 purposes) but it's probably not a good idea to use their inflated sttas.
Weren are about 7 feet tall and 450 pounds. Their height is within medium range but, like minotaurs, maybe they should be large.
Camouflage (Ex): a small +2 bonus to Hide. Their hair goes from black to white, but in all the pictures they have brown hair.
Claws: natural attack (use iterative rules) for 1d6 damage. Males have tusks as well, but using a bite attack is more trouble than it's worth.
Weren were discovered by a human religious organization, in a Rennaissance setting, and were a race of philospher-warriors who also carried muskets. However, they have trouble adapting to technology (additional -4 penalty) and so most resist using human tech.
Fraal are also called grey aliens. In ALTERNITY they were Medium-sized but in the Menace Manual they are Small. I prefer Medium.
Fraal had crazy stat bonuses: Str -4, Dex -2 (or no mod if you used Dark Matter), Con -4, Int +4, Wis +6, Cha +2. You probably don't want to use the direct stat conversions for fear of a weird level adjustment.
They also had bonus power points and could manifest lesser mindlink at will and suggestion three times per day. Roughly 1 in 5 fraal have levels in a psionic class and like to focus on Clairsentience, Psychokinesis and Telepathy (especially the latter). I suggest just using Wisdom for manifesting their powers (and coming up with a more balanced D20 Modern psionics system and advanced class).
The fraal don't know their own history; they lived in world ships for ~14,000 years, longer than even a fraal's lifespan, and came to Earth early in our history. They spent a lot of time watching, but some spent their time experimenting on Earth life, like cattle or humans.
Their tech is more advanced than that of humans, although they're not warriors.
The t'sa are a dizzyingly fast race of small reptilians (probably Medium, but definitely shorter than a human). Stats Str -2 (I think), Dex +6, Con -4, Int +4, Wis -2, Cha +0. Again, modify as appropriate. Also they have natural armor +6 (again, modify as appropriate).
They had a bonus to Initiative (probably +2) in addition to everything else.
I don't know much about t'sa history. They are fiercely independent and won't allow the humans to dominate them. Although high-tech, they had not discovered faster-than-light travel when they met humanity... but they very quickly learned it and developed their own space fleets.
A lot of Dark Matter races were copies of these races. Sasquatch were basically Weren but with a different history (lower-tech, replace human with frrall in their history). In Menace Manual they're the same thing... but use the Dark Matter history.
Sesheyans became mothmen (same balance, different flavor), fraal became greys (got Dex +0 but otherwise were the same), t'sa became kinori and the mechalus became sandmen with some slight stat mods.
Mechalus: you might want to ignore these, since they're very humanlike and require cybergear rules.
Sesheyans: my personal favorites, these aliens look like winged bat-salamanders with eight eyes. They have low-light vision and also light blindness (special sunglasses can remove the penalty.)
They can fly at 100 ft. (maneuverability is difficult to determine, but since they can hover it's good) - this alone gives them a level adjustment.
Their stats, directly converted, are quite harsh: Str +0, Dex +4, Con -4, Int -2, Wis +4, Cha -2.
Maybe Dex +2, Con -2, Wis +2 is more appropriate...
They would get Zero-g training (as the feat) for free, since they came from a low-gravity environment - a small planet with very thick jungles.
Their history is pretty interesting: they were enslaved by a powerful human corporation and uplifted (against their will) to a high-tech existence from their stone-age existence. They adapt to tech as quickly as other races, however. Of course, some have escaped slavery, but most don't give up technology.
Before I spend too much time on the sesheyans:
Weren. Direct stat conversion: Str +6, Dex -2, Con +6, Int +0*, Wis -2, Cha -2. (Converting Int was difficult, it was either Int +0 or Int -2.)
They had really high durability (the equivalent of a massive Con +12 for D20 purposes) but it's probably not a good idea to use their inflated sttas.
Weren are about 7 feet tall and 450 pounds. Their height is within medium range but, like minotaurs, maybe they should be large.
Camouflage (Ex): a small +2 bonus to Hide. Their hair goes from black to white, but in all the pictures they have brown hair.
Claws: natural attack (use iterative rules) for 1d6 damage. Males have tusks as well, but using a bite attack is more trouble than it's worth.
Weren were discovered by a human religious organization, in a Rennaissance setting, and were a race of philospher-warriors who also carried muskets. However, they have trouble adapting to technology (additional -4 penalty) and so most resist using human tech.
Fraal are also called grey aliens. In ALTERNITY they were Medium-sized but in the Menace Manual they are Small. I prefer Medium.
Fraal had crazy stat bonuses: Str -4, Dex -2 (or no mod if you used Dark Matter), Con -4, Int +4, Wis +6, Cha +2. You probably don't want to use the direct stat conversions for fear of a weird level adjustment.
They also had bonus power points and could manifest lesser mindlink at will and suggestion three times per day. Roughly 1 in 5 fraal have levels in a psionic class and like to focus on Clairsentience, Psychokinesis and Telepathy (especially the latter). I suggest just using Wisdom for manifesting their powers (and coming up with a more balanced D20 Modern psionics system and advanced class).
The fraal don't know their own history; they lived in world ships for ~14,000 years, longer than even a fraal's lifespan, and came to Earth early in our history. They spent a lot of time watching, but some spent their time experimenting on Earth life, like cattle or humans.
Their tech is more advanced than that of humans, although they're not warriors.
The t'sa are a dizzyingly fast race of small reptilians (probably Medium, but definitely shorter than a human). Stats Str -2 (I think), Dex +6, Con -4, Int +4, Wis -2, Cha +0. Again, modify as appropriate. Also they have natural armor +6 (again, modify as appropriate).
They had a bonus to Initiative (probably +2) in addition to everything else.
I don't know much about t'sa history. They are fiercely independent and won't allow the humans to dominate them. Although high-tech, they had not discovered faster-than-light travel when they met humanity... but they very quickly learned it and developed their own space fleets.
A lot of Dark Matter races were copies of these races. Sasquatch were basically Weren but with a different history (lower-tech, replace human with frrall in their history). In Menace Manual they're the same thing... but use the Dark Matter history.
Sesheyans became mothmen (same balance, different flavor), fraal became greys (got Dex +0 but otherwise were the same), t'sa became kinori and the mechalus became sandmen with some slight stat mods.
Vigilance
Explorer
The Prometheus Rising book, a 30 page setting book for Blood and Space has some aliens in it. You can download it free at the link below.
Chuck
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2115&
Chuck
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2115&
Morgenstern
First Post
Dude, the "four-armed women" are SO not my fault 
. Some of the templates may prove usefull though. You'll have to tell me what you thought of the Quasta and Ulb (my guys).
How 'out there' do you want to get. largely wet-and-squishy carbon-based critters? crystaline, rocky or energy based beings an option? The -tools- of d20 will cover a lot of ground. After that it's just balancing things.
. Some of the templates may prove usefull though. You'll have to tell me what you thought of the Quasta and Ulb (my guys).How 'out there' do you want to get. largely wet-and-squishy carbon-based critters? crystaline, rocky or energy based beings an option? The -tools- of d20 will cover a lot of ground. After that it's just balancing things
.
malladin
Explorer
Fading Suns has a small number of races.
The original Trinity game had NPC Alien races and there was talk about doing an aliens book where rules for alien PCs could be used, but it never materialised due to the line being largely unsuccessful (a big shame IMO). The aliens in Trinity were fantastically well constructed, but I personally would wait to see how they turn out in Trinity D20 rather than trying to fudge their storyteller stats into D20.
Also, I think Farscape has a lot of different player races in to, but has a weird hit dice mechanic that might be difficult to integrate into a more standard D20 base.
I like the sound of Bulldogs' race construction system. Where can I find out more about this, inthisstyle? is it a pdf or print product?
cheerio,
Ben
The original Trinity game had NPC Alien races and there was talk about doing an aliens book where rules for alien PCs could be used, but it never materialised due to the line being largely unsuccessful (a big shame IMO). The aliens in Trinity were fantastically well constructed, but I personally would wait to see how they turn out in Trinity D20 rather than trying to fudge their storyteller stats into D20.
Also, I think Farscape has a lot of different player races in to, but has a weird hit dice mechanic that might be difficult to integrate into a more standard D20 base.
I like the sound of Bulldogs' race construction system. Where can I find out more about this, inthisstyle? is it a pdf or print product?
cheerio,
Ben
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