For an upcoming project, I've been going over a simple way to allow for a variety of species that won't complicate the system, but will allow there to be a lot creatures.

This is suggested by J Arcane, but I'll call it the "Rubber Suit Rule"

That is there are a nigh infinite number of similar species that can interbreed in Derelict Delvers.

They fall along certain very similar "base" forms:

Humanoid: Humanlike with some slight physical differences. Everything from pointed ears, blue skin, antennae, and the like, but still fundamentally human like.


Felinoid: Catlike, mostly humanoid, with some slight variations in mass and builds and lines of descent. All feline, but with different ears, snouts, paw-claw arrangements, tails and no tails and so on. Mostly fleet of foot, and known for their love of wilderness.



Reptiloid: Lizard folk, basically scaled warm blooded reptiles, humanoid enough to be familiar, but not quite enough to fall into the humanoid camp. Most Reptiloid are ferocious warrior sorts, and rather tough.



Insectoid: Insect like species. They have internal skeletons, and are covered in a light secondary skeleton of chitinous material. These species are quite hyperactive, and friendly despite their often fearsome forms to the mammalian species.


Then for each of these races have the "Minor Features" chart, a list of traits that can be picked to make them slightly different from the "base" species.


For humanoids it could be funny noises and ridges on their heads, for Lizardmen it could be patterns on their skin, fanged mouths, tails or no tails, lower limbs or no lower limbs. Etc.

What do you think?

Sounds cool. I'd say those classifications pretty much cover anything I can think of, beyond the downright bizarre arachnid-porpoise cross.

When I dabbled with different species, another thing to carefully consider is one species being massively more powerful than other species. Players will soon figure this out and might ask questions why they aren't dominant. Also, I saw a points system that was rather good, where you had a base set of points, rolled a die to add some more to it and then you split them up between each stat. Nothing odd there, obv, but each race had its maxima. It was simple but effective. To mix races, you could suggest people take a mid point between the two contributing races to work out the racial maxima for each of the stats. I remembering it working nicely anyhoo.

You should check out the random demon charts at the back of the AD&D1e DMG, they begin like that.

Quote from: Silverlion;237163That is there are a nigh infinite number of similar species that can interbreed...

A small detail: if they can interbreed, they're not species, they're races or breeds. There are frequent and intense debates regarding the precise application of the word to living organisms, but as a rule, when you're talking about what you're talking about, interbreeding varieties are considered races.

That said, if your reptilians and your insectoids can interbreed, do they produce fertile offspring, or are the hybrids sterile [like mules]? Are they intermediate between the two races? Is the rate of infant mortality very high, as you would expect it to be in any situation of interbreeding between two wildly differing physical forms?

None of this level of detail may be important to the game, but it's something to consider, nevertheless.

edit: Oh, wait. These are aliens? As in, each from different worlds? How can they interbreed at all?

Can players be aliens?

If they can, the main thing to classify would probably be how playing a different species alters your skills/characteristics.

If they can't, the main thing to classify would depend on how the players are expected to interact with the aliens (eg if it's mostly fighting, D&D-type statistics like how tough they are, how many in a group, morale etc. If the characters hire them, how do they help the players and how much does it cost, and so on).

I'd look at regulating those elements of appearance which effect whatever you decide are the relevant stats, and making the rest player or GM choice. For example perhaps you can have vestigal wings at will, but there are rules for being able to fly.

Quote from: Engine;237305edit: Oh, wait. These are aliens? As in, each from different worlds? How can they interbreed at all?

Magic.
Or more precisely, much the same way most space opera works. It just "does", the explanation isn't more complex than that. However, I wasn't making the overall groups interbreed, just the sub divisions (Insectoid from this system with Insectoid from that system.)

 Felinoids (being mammalian) probably can interbreed with Humanoids (also mammalian), of course then they're Half-Felinoids. This covers the general spread I'm after. Of course I've yet to come up with a Half-Orc equivalent

QuoteCan players be aliens?
If they can, the main thing to classify would probably be how playing a different species alters your skills/characteristics.


I'd look at regulating those elements of appearance which effect whatever you decide are the relevant stats, and making the rest player or GM choice. For example perhaps you can have vestigal wings at will, but there are rules for being able to fly.

There  will be player character aliens. However, they are "human" enough to operate with mostly the same equipment, and utilize the same environments. The space opera elements are a stand in for the fantasy ones of D&D. However, closer to Basic D&D/1E hybrid than anything else. Although, I am including a few "modern" sensibilities in this old school concept. Think of it a bit like Mazes and Minotaurs, but the designers were more inspired by Sci Fi and Space opera than fantasy.

As it stands right now, none of the "minor" characteristic differences will impact play. (Vestigial limbs, different variations of head or limb builds)


I'm pretty much re-skinning D&D races here, adding a tiny bit more to make it feel more Sci Fi than fantasy.

Currently:

Humanoids-Humans
Felinoids-Elves
Reptiloids-Dwarves
Insectoids-Halflings

I am not sure, at this point of the design, if I'll have multi-classing or not. It is currently up in the air.

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;237254You should check out the random demon charts at the back of the AD&D1e DMG, they begin like that.

Excellent suggestion actually. Now to find who has my copy of the DMG.

What about robots?

Quote from: SilverlionMagic.
Or more precisely, much the same way most space opera works. It just "does", the explanation isn't more complex than that.

That's extremely stupid even in space opara... I have no problem with hybrids from the same branch... I can get over for example humanoid-feline hybrid (catgirl!) but hybrid between insection and vertebrae is too imposible even for space opera! Well not mentioning absolute imposibility of roducing something like this because they are too different on molecular level, how would they do it...?

Quote from: Fritzs;238228That's extremely stupid even in space opara... I have no problem with hybrids from the same branch... I can get over for example humanoid-feline hybrid (catgirl!) but hybrid between insection and vertebrae is too imposible even for space opera! Well not mentioning absolute imposibility of roducing something like this because they are too different on molecular level, how would they do it...?

Maybe it's done by genetic engineering.

Or maybe the Ancients coded fragments of the location of their Great Library into the DNA of several intelligent species, and ensured that they could all interbreed. The complete code will only be revealed when the various fragments are united ie when a creature is born who is a hybrid of all intelligent species. This will ensure that, when the civilisation of the Ancients is rediscovered, all species will have access to their knowledge. Also, all species have myths of a Messiah figure, which are actually referring to this creature.

Quote from: Fritzs;238228That's extremely stupid even in space opara... I have no problem with hybrids from the same branch... I can get over for example humanoid-feline hybrid (catgirl!) but hybrid between insection and vertebrae is too imposible even for space opera! Well not mentioning absolute imposibility of roducing something like this because they are too different on molecular level, how would they do it...?

You're assuming "insectoid", means "full on insect", as opposed to an insect-like species. It's quite possible for them to simply have the appearance of an insect, without being a exo-skeletal, six limbed species related in a general way to earth bound invertabrates.

I actually have a chitin skinned alien in one setting, that LOOKS like a bug, but is actually a vertebrate, live young bearing creature. Its just a random unusual symmetry of the universe that gives it a resemblance on the outside to insects. That setting is also way more hard SF.


  However, let me reiterate, I did not intend for there to be crossbreeds across the dissimilar groups. (only those with gross parallels of biology.)


The fact that this is space opera, and has no real relation to "hard" science. At best its a messy combination of  the covers and stories of pulp sci fi from the early era of such fiction crossed with D&D.



As for robots. I'm not sure yet. I was considering making robots the equivalent of undead in the setting. Which would make it as a PC race taboo.

However, there might be robots (of current culture manufacture), which are a stand in race for Half Orcs. While the artifact robots left by the ancients, bear little to know resemblance to these humanoid units.  I must consider it.

Quote from: Age of Fable;238307Maybe it's done by genetic engineering.

Or maybe the Ancients coded fragments of the location of their Great Library into the DNA of several intelligent species, and ensured that they could all interbreed. The complete code will only be revealed when the various fragments are united ie when a creature is born who is a hybrid of all intelligent species. This will ensure that, when the civilisation of the Ancients is rediscovered, all species will have access to their knowledge. Also, all species have myths of a Messiah figure, which are actually referring to this creature.

This is pretty much how later Star Trek handled it, revealing some ancient species had seeded a certain set of traits throughout the galaxy. (Hence why Klingons, Romulans, Humans, could all interbreed.)

Considering the basis of this game is a routine cycle of civilizations rising up, spreading out, influencing the galaxy then collapsing back into primitive barbarism for a while. For all anyone knows, most of the races COULD be descended from a common ancestor--a proto-ancestor and highly adaptable species.*

However, I'm not sure where I'm going with the game yet, or if I want to use it.


*Though rightly refuted.  The concept that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, might have been truth to this common alien ancestor. Literally choosing to stop a fetuses development when it met an environments criteria for survival. Whether that is through cloning, genetic engineering, or a feature of the proto-ancestor.  It would explain a lot about the similarity of the races in a fundamental way, despite their significantly different current form after epochs of single environment exposure and development.

I'm with Silverlion (which I wrote as Silverloin first time round, which made me chuckle) on this. The very definition of space opera is that you don't have to explain it all away. Explaining it down to the nth degree is the job of Hard Sci fi and the million gradiation inbetween. You can bully science into a corner and make it work. What seems impossible and ridiculous to one person is not to another. With Space Opera, you gladly turn down the critical part of your brain that frowns and shakes it head a lot.

If you didn't let space opera do that, you'd end up with a lot fewer 'what if' settings.

If I was doing something like this (bearing in mind that I'm not, and talk is cheap), I'd make the races/species thinly-disguised versions of popular creatures from Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who etc (what are 'the kids' into nowdays? Alien vs Predator?). Like Encounter Critical but 'serious'.

What I've worked out, I'll post later. I'm keeping the basic xenotypes, but with a few modifications. After all, what is a Klingon, but a human with a funny head and honor code (something you role-play, not usually a stat..)

You choose a basic xenotype, and can roll or choose (with GM's permission) modifications to the xenotype. This is of course aimed a bit more old school, than simulation of modern movie aliens. (Also, can be completely imbalanced..but that's often old school. )