Don't write an Aslan sourcebook...

[kafka]

Yes, I also liked that cover. However, the stuff that I have seen in GT, T20 and so-far MGT does not convey the majesty nor the alien-ness of the Aslan. DGP sourcebook is good but really for MGT, we need to really think alien (even if familar which is why I suggested look at L5R). Another source would be look at contemporary Japan...what always struck me about the Aslan was it was more Japonese (Japan viewed through Western eyes) rather than a true representation of Japan in all of its complexity.

 

[Cyphr]

Yes, I also liked that cover. However, the stuff that I have seen in GT, T20 and so-far MGT does not convey the majesty nor the alien-ness of the Aslan. DGP sourcebook is good but really for MGT, we need to really think alien (even if familar which is why I suggested look at L5R). Another source would be look at contemporary Japan...what always struck me about the Aslan was it was more Japonese (Japan viewed through Western eyes) rather than a true representation of Japan in all of its complexity.

I kind of like the line art work GT sourcebook for the Aslani. They did a good show of their fashion and body postures and motion, IMHO.

 

[khazwind]

Another source would be look at contemporary Japan...what always struck me about the Aslan was it was more Japonese (Japan viewed through Western eyes) rather than a true representation of Japan in all of its complexity.

I don't know, the view that, "they are tough warrior types, therefore they must be like samurai," is getting to be a cliche, not just in Traveller but in SF generally. Well, either samurai or klingons.

Aslan are more concerned with territory than cultural acceptance AFAIK. OTOH, you reference modern (early 21stC Japan).

I like the idea that the Aslan could be, like modern Japan, the big-swinging-d***s (not my phrase) of the business world as well as inheriting the martial background.

However, the concept that warriors are somehow more honourable and hence better than soldiers is also fast becoming cliche. There are many historical examples of warriors essentially sacrificing their cause, their people, even their families to gain personal honour; beaten by soldiers who sacrifice personal honour for survival of the group.[/rant]

Perhaps the martial aspect of Aslan culture could be modelled on the pre-WWI Prussian concept of professionalism. I could see Aslan loyalty to the clan working this way, even as the concept of clan evolves with population and technology.

In fact, the more I think of it, the more it makes sense (at least in MTU):

Aslan are agressive and territorial, hence the martial aspects to their culture. OTOH, they're not dumb. They would realise that success would be tied to slightly re-defining territory to account for personal/clan/culture/race ambitions, so where an individual would compete within his clan for personal territory, he would also compete as part of his clan against others to increase clan territory.

OTGH, I could be wrong.

 

[rust]

Perhaps the martial aspect of Aslan culture could be modelled on the pre-WWI Prussian concept of professionalism. I could see Aslan loyalty to the clan working this way, even as the concept of clan evolves with population and technology.

I somewhat doubt this, and there is a certain danger to replace one cli-
che with another one.

The Prussians were extremely good when it came to "drill and obedien-
ce", and therefore rather good soldiers (but not warriors), and their pro-
fessionalism is somewhat overestimated - the soldiers of the British Army
were far more professional than those of the Prussian army, I think.

But then, I am from Bavaria ... :lol:

 

[alex_greene]

They could be portrayed as being students of warfare, in all its many forms, rather than being hung up on this personal improvement warrior kick or being professional soldiers serving some lord or other.

Aslan could as easily feel at home being master strategists or grandmaster boardgame players as ruthless warrior types.

I imagine that, in particular, the Terran boardgames chess and Go could capture the imagination of many an Aslan ihatei looking for excellence in some field of endeavour that his fellows haven't yet mined and taken control over.

 

[DCAnsell]

The Aslan are one of my favorite alien races. In MTU, which is pretty much my spin on the OTU, I treat them as to one extent or another all about personal honor.

One of my favorite continuing villains in GURPS Traveller was an aging former clan leader who had accompanied an ihatei expedition to provide guidance to the younger aslan. He was old and scarred and cagey enough to use all the tools at his command, assassins, hired human scum, and even economic means (though his daughter actually did the numbers work) to grind towards control of Romar, in the Spinward Marches.

I'm very much looking forward to the MGT take on the Aslan.

 

[Cleon the Mad]

I haven't read every post, so hopefully this won't be either a derailment or an unwelcome post due to that.

Anyway, I don't think an Aslan suppliment written like an "Aslancentric" core book would work well. Neat idea, but not too practical, and would be very esoteric. One has to remember that they are not just selling to Traveller grognards. They are also trying to attract people new to Traveller. An esoteric book like that might end up more confusing then anything.

Having said that, I would like to see a fairly large section devoted to how an Aslan who's part of one of the 29 clans differs from one who's part of a minor clan. And from there, a fair amount of detail as to how one who's an Imperial Citizen or one who's a Darrian citizen might differ. I do have some concept of how each might differ, from both the Aslan male and Aslan female viewpoint, but it still IMO would be good to include such. Let's have a good chunk of the book include culture, both "mainline" and offshoot for the race, and maybe even some game rules if there needs to be such up and beyond just the roleplaying aspects for each.

My thoughts anyway.

 

[Mongoose_Will]

The Mock of the Aslan cover is on the upcoming releases section of the Website.

 

[simonh]

I'm reading Man Kzin Wars 12 at the moment, and loving it. I haven't read one of these since about 3 or 4 and was disapointed back then, but this one is a cracker so far. Compared to the Kzin the Aslan are a bunch of pansies. Kzin would eat them up like light puffy little canapes. On the other claw, even 'normal' Alsan are still playable*, which is a significant advantage for an RPG.

At a certain level I'm quite happy that it is possible to play Aslan as alien samurai because it gives people new to the idea of playing aliens a handle on how to do so. After all it's hard enough to actualy play a Samurai in an authentic manner, let alone an alien organism.


Simon Hibbs

* In the context of a campaign not specifically built around the idea of playing Aslan. I've run a game where the characters were all Patriarchy Kzin, but only as a one-off.

 

[whtknght]

The Mock of the Aslan cover is on the upcoming releases section of the Website.

You folks at Mongoose can do better than that. I thought the Aslan in JTAS 7 p25-28 had shorter snouts.

The Vargr are the ones with the long snouts

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

The Mock of the Aslan cover is on the upcoming releases section of the Website.

You folks at Mongoose can do better than that. I thought the Aslan in JTAS 7 p25-28 had shorter snouts.

The Vargr are the ones with the long snouts

Well see, you are used to seeing Aslan from the Hierate. The Aslan on the cover are a subspecies that developed after they moved across the Great Rift. In their semi-isolation, they have become a separate racial/ethnic group. Their fur is a slightly different color too. Some females like the look, personally, I think they look ugly...

Like Humans, Aslan will have racial and ethnic subtypes, they may be more or less diverse than humans from Earth. Now add in Vilani, Daryen, Zhodani etc and there should be a LOT of physical differences between groups (or within groups) of Aslan. They are not all going to look the same...

 

[kafka]

Any chance that you could go back to the drawing board on this proposed cover...

Here is what was discussed earlier:

Personally, I like

Image (c) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Image (c) Michael Whealan

Image (c)BBC Doctor Who

or why not secure the rights from Marc for the unpublished Aslan cover...

Image (c) Far Future Enterprise

 

[GypsyComet]

"The Aslan are revealed as never before"

That's a pretty tall order, considering the artwork of both the GDW and DGP tomes.

Those are awfully snouty, aren't they?

 

[alex_greene]

Actually, I'd have loved to have seen Aslan come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and coloured fur, including striped, spotted, black, snowy white and sandy golden, with facial features running the gamut from bobcat to great cat.

The ears of the Aslan always reminded me of lynxes, my favourite species of wild cat; but to have Aslan with the sleek faces and markings of cheetahs, or stripes resembling tiger stripes, would have shown the sheer phenotypical diversity of Aslan racial groupings.

And like all humans, they would be Aslan to the core, all interfertile.

 

[OldMongooseFordy]

Chances are the traditional look of the Aslan will undergo some changes. Though we understand that a lot of people will simply want a rehash of the old Aslan books, that's not what we're going for. Some concepts may be forthcoming.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

And in their pre-history, Aslan would have had ethnic wars.

"We hate them because they have BROWN stripes on their tails, not BLACK stripes like a true Aslan! They are nothing more than animals!"

Ethnic cleansing might have been tied to their strong territorial instinct as well. Those spotted Aslan over there are not real Aslan, so we can take their land for ourselves... good possibilities...

 

[Dave Chase]

Chances are the traditional look of the Aslan will undergo some changes. Though we understand that a lot of people will simply want a rehash of the old Aslan books, that's not what we're going for. Some concepts may be forthcoming.

One of my main concerns with any 'Alien' race is are they alien or just humans in rubber/funny suites.

I don't need extreme differences but I don't want just some sublte ones either in an alien race like Hivers, Aslan, Kkhee, etc.

I understand that some human traits or customs will be picked up or modified possibly by alien cultures after centuries of interactions between them (same with humans picking up some of the alien tendencies or attitude quirks).

Please, just don't make them (or any 'Alien' Race) just a human in a funny suite.

Dave Chase

 

[alex_greene]

And no captions with the images, either.

 

[daryen]

One of my main concerns with any 'Alien' race is are they alien or just humans in rubber/funny suites.

Sorry, but no matter how they are done, if these Aslan can be played as player characters, then they are "just humans in rubber suites". Pretty much by definition. Not much anyone can do about that, and expecting different is unreasonable. (If not outright silly.)

Trying to make them something other than "humans in rubber suites" would make them unplayable, which would greatly defeat the point of producing a 200 page book on them.

So, again, sorry to burst any bubbles or cherished SF tropes, but the Aslan will not only be "humans in rubber suites", but they pretty much have to be.

 

[GypsyComet]

One of my main concerns with any 'Alien' race is are they alien or just humans in rubber/funny suites.

I don't need extreme differences but I don't want just some sublte ones either in an alien race like Hivers, Aslan, Kkhee, etc.

That is a common dichotomy when designing aliens, whether for fiction or a game like Traveller. Its also a dichotomy the original designers claimed to be aware of. Some races ARE going to be pretty close to human-comprehensible behavior. In CT the Aslan and Vargr were specifically meant to populate that end of the dichotomy, while the K'kree and Hivers were intended to occupy the other end (emphasizing alienness over playability), or at least get close to it. The Droyne float around the middle, going from difficult to comprehend communal thought to more comprehensible individual thought when those few who become PC grade survive their end-of-career ordeal.

And in their pre-history, Aslan would have had ethnic wars.

I'm not sure they ever needed that as an excuse, frankly, until meeting true aliens. The monoculture of Honor probably wiped out any alternatives early on, and when combined with the territorial urge is more than enough to justify brutal war. I also get the impression that the Aslan bounced around their world a lot faster that Humanity did due to the territorial urge, so population feedback would also have either lended itself toward homogenization of looks, or toward early emphasis of motive over appearance. If that foreigner wants your land and your females, your response has nothing to do with the color of his fur; its a LOT more personal than that.