I'm new to Traveller and a while ago I designed some alien species for a novel I was writing (I was never fully satisfied with it). Anyway, I am going to use some of them for adventures, however there is one species that I think is interesting but I'm not going to use apart maybe in a minor way.
They were originally called Centaurs (for obvious reasons) but that term is an alternative to K'kree in Traveller, so I've renamed them T-Centaurs for reasons that will become obvious. There's lots more that could be added about them.
T-Centaurs are omnivores.
T-Centaurs have a black body, four legs and two arms. They are descended from hexapod mammal-analogues. Other species on their planet have developed wings from some of their limbs. Some from the front limbs and others from the mid-limbs.
Their face has a nose and mouth, in what humans would consider the normal arrangement.
They speak through their nose, the mouth is used for ingestion only.
Political system a republic with limited democracy
Their cities don’t have large buildings, very rarely going onto a third story, they don’t handle stairs well. The cities maintain a rural feel.
Opera is one of their more popular genres of entertainment. Historical events and myths are often recreated as opera.
Numbers based on base 12.
Home planet is called Home, in their native language.
The equivalent of nodding is to pull their head back. No, is indicated by pushing head towards the ground.
The planet consists of a large single continent. As the T-Centaurs evolved, the adults were large enough to avoid predation, but the young were prey for several larger predators. In response, both the adults were needed to look after the young. One result of this is that once T-Centaurs mate, a hormone is released into their brain that causes them to bond. They mate for life. If one dies, the other often commits suicide. Divorce is virtually unknown in T-Centaur society.
The T-Centaurs on the main continent have an orange mane. There are some volcanic islands about as far away from the main continent as it is possible to be. Thousands of years ago, a group of T-Centaurs were shipwrecked there. Here, they were the top predator and either the hormone release mechanism didn’t evolve, or more likely it disappeared through evolution.
This subspecies is easy to distinguish in that the members have a lilac mane and are smaller and thinner than the main species (about half the mass).
Because of that, they do not mate for life and divorce and affairs are common.
The islands are a special political area. Where the Oranges can keep the Lilacs under close supervision because of their decadent and degenerate lifestyle.
In theory the Lilacs are full citizens, in practice they are not. All requests for full political independence have been turned down in order to protect themselves from themselves. No Lilac has ever held major political office.
Technically, the two types are subspecies and could interbreed, in practice they never do.
Ship names are very utilitarian, e.g. Survey4.
Dex: 2D-2
End: 2D+2
Int: 2D
Edu: 2D
Soc 2D (applicable to T-Centaurs only)
Dex: 2D-1
End: 2D+1
Int: 2D+1
Edu: 2D-2
Soc 1D (applicable to T-Centaurs only)
Fourth planet out:
Starport X: There isn’t one or at least useable.
Size 8:
Hydrographic percentage 5: (55%)
Population 8: (900M)
Government Type 8: Best fit, flawed democracy.
Law Level 8:
Tech level: 9
Bases None useable
No trade codes
Also:
Look up insular dwarfism on wikipedia
They were originally called Centaurs (for obvious reasons) but that term is an alternative to K'kree in Traveller, so I've renamed them T-Centaurs for reasons that will become obvious. There's lots more that could be added about them.
T-Centaurs
T-Centaurs are so named due to their trinocular vision. They have a large central eye with two smaller eyes on either side to provide a larger field of view and depth.T-Centaurs are omnivores.
T-Centaurs have a black body, four legs and two arms. They are descended from hexapod mammal-analogues. Other species on their planet have developed wings from some of their limbs. Some from the front limbs and others from the mid-limbs.
Their face has a nose and mouth, in what humans would consider the normal arrangement.
They speak through their nose, the mouth is used for ingestion only.
Political system a republic with limited democracy
Their cities don’t have large buildings, very rarely going onto a third story, they don’t handle stairs well. The cities maintain a rural feel.
Opera is one of their more popular genres of entertainment. Historical events and myths are often recreated as opera.
Numbers based on base 12.
Home planet is called Home, in their native language.
The equivalent of nodding is to pull their head back. No, is indicated by pushing head towards the ground.
The planet consists of a large single continent. As the T-Centaurs evolved, the adults were large enough to avoid predation, but the young were prey for several larger predators. In response, both the adults were needed to look after the young. One result of this is that once T-Centaurs mate, a hormone is released into their brain that causes them to bond. They mate for life. If one dies, the other often commits suicide. Divorce is virtually unknown in T-Centaur society.
The T-Centaurs on the main continent have an orange mane. There are some volcanic islands about as far away from the main continent as it is possible to be. Thousands of years ago, a group of T-Centaurs were shipwrecked there. Here, they were the top predator and either the hormone release mechanism didn’t evolve, or more likely it disappeared through evolution.
This subspecies is easy to distinguish in that the members have a lilac mane and are smaller and thinner than the main species (about half the mass).
Because of that, they do not mate for life and divorce and affairs are common.
The islands are a special political area. Where the Oranges can keep the Lilacs under close supervision because of their decadent and degenerate lifestyle.
In theory the Lilacs are full citizens, in practice they are not. All requests for full political independence have been turned down in order to protect themselves from themselves. No Lilac has ever held major political office.
Technically, the two types are subspecies and could interbreed, in practice they never do.
Ship names are very utilitarian, e.g. Survey4.
Stats
T-Centaur (Orange)
Str: 2D+2Dex: 2D-2
End: 2D+2
Int: 2D
Edu: 2D
Soc 2D (applicable to T-Centaurs only)
T-Centaur (Lilac)
Str: 2DDex: 2D-1
End: 2D+1
Int: 2D+1
Edu: 2D-2
Soc 1D (applicable to T-Centaurs only)
World
Star: YellowFourth planet out:
Choose your own name (I used the name Centaur-0)
World Profile: TBD XXXX X8658889Starport X: There isn’t one or at least useable.
Size 8:
- Diameter: 14,000 km
- Gravity: 115%
- Axial Tilt: 12%
- Day: 18 hours long
- Year: 1.2 years
- Atmospheric Pressure: 1.2. Oxygen 18%, Nitrogen 78%, CO2, 0.5%, Noble gases (mostly Neon & Argon) 3.5%.
- The high level of CO2 will be dangerous to humans.
Hydrographic percentage 5: (55%)
Population 8: (900M)
Government Type 8: Best fit, flawed democracy.
Law Level 8:
Tech level: 9
Bases None useable
No trade codes
Also:
- Moonless
- One large continent, with some volcanic islands on the other side.
Look up insular dwarfism on wikipedia
