Solomani are missing Uplifted species

[J. L. Brown]

Yes, I know -- there are rules for Gorilla and Chimpanzee uplifts, as well as Dolphins and Orcas. But Terra has a multitude of high-potential animals -- elephants, octupi, bears, orangutans, and etc. And Humaniti has been working with canines for so long that a Dog uplift project seems inevitable. Corvids and Psittacines are really smart, too.

I think it would be neat to collect ideas & suggestions for how to make Solomani uplifts beyond just the few we have now. I especially imagine the fun* (* term is used under advisement, and also heavy cover) with encounters between Vargr and dog Uplifts. Maybe a Briard Uplift arriving to clock into his Security job at the same time as his Vargr Corsair friend....

Seriously, though -- I think there is a lot of potential material here, & I would love to see what folks suggest.

[Edit:]
Thought I would provide an example of the sort of stuff I am looking for:

Uplifted Large Dog:
STR: -2, DEX: +1, END: -1
Heightened Senses: Hearing and Smell; low-light vision
Color blind to red
Bite attack

Basically this is just a re-flavored Vargr as it currently stands; but maybe we should vary the attribute modifiers to reflect 'large working dogs'. Small dogs might get a better DEX modification, and lower END.

Uplifted Brown Bear:
The 'Ursa' Terragens were detailed in T20, based on the world of Krhush in Ley sector (Ley 1804).
STR: +2, DEX: -1, END +1, INT: -1, SOC: -2
Short lifespan; Large; 9m base move.
Heightened Senses: Vision and Hearing; low light vision
Automatic skills: Recon-0, Stealth-0

[/Edit]

 

[J. L. Brown]

[* Reserved for summary & index, if this ever takes off *]

Potential Species:
Bears
Crows
Elephants
Kangaroos
Macaws
Octupi
Orangutans
Raccoons

 

[rinku]

Kangaroos and other macropods. They're already upright bipeds with manipulating paws.

Raccoons.

Beavers.

Rats.

Bears did appear in T20, I believe.

 

[rinku]

In regards to dogs... I'm pretty sure the uplift programs date from after the Interstellar Wars, so they might have already been aware of the Vargr. It's not impossible that being aware of those might have triggered uplift programs. But would they have bothered with canines under those circumstances?

 

[J. L. Brown]

In regards to dogs... I'm pretty sure the uplift programs date from after the Interstellar Wars, so they might have already been aware of the Vargr. It's not impossible that being aware of those might have triggered uplift programs. But would they have bothered with canines under those circumstances?

Almost certainly. The Vargr were wolves produced to someone else's specifications; dogs are shaped to roles far more suited to working for Humaniti. Where Vargr are fractious, dogs are very social -- and, as an already-existing & independent star-faring race they don't do much to further the cause of Terragens.

 

[chibiko]

Almost certainly. The Vargr were wolves produced to someone else's specifications; dogs are shaped to roles far more suited to working for Humaniti. Where Vargr are fractious, dogs are very social -- and, as an already-existing & independent star-faring race they don't do much to further the cause of Terragens.

Wondrous Menagerie by Independence Games has looked at this for the Clement Sector setting. It uses the Cepheus Engine rules, but it is trivial to adapt it to the Mongoose ruleset.

 

[rinku]

I guess there's also the angle that the Solomani uplifts are intended to provide helpers, not rivals.

"Loyal non citizens" and "Foster Children" are terms used in the colour text of the DGP Solomani book (which is definitely not objective).

That also has reference to uplifted Orangutans and Gibbons and the nasty Gene War that they were the unwitting trigger for.

 

[rinku]

And in regards to timeline... yep. It's Rule of Man era.

 

[J. L. Brown]

Rinku: Could you please condense your posts a bit? If you have two or three things to say, put them in one post? I'm hoping we get a pretty active discussion -- and I would like to keep the page-count sort of manageable, if possible. There is nothing wrong with editing a post, especially if nobody has responded to it yet. Thanks.

I like the idea of raccoons, especially -- clever little folks, and lots of mischief. I am less sure of marsupials -- but maybe they ought to be included just for the sake of Tank Girl. Rodents... maybe Capybaras (with their bigger size & laid-back attitude) would be the best entry point for rodent uplifts?

 

[Endie]

IMTU I use uplifted Meerkats: they were originally uplifted to provide intelligent, nimble, smart, co-operative groups of workers who can access areas larger species cannot, have gripping hands etc.

One complication the Solomani discovered is that Meerkats are by nature highly adaptive and are given to both teaching and learning from each other, so the Meerkat population were rewarding enough to continue to use, but turned out to be impossible to control in the long run. The Traveller map sector data linter does complain when I add a population A world with a representative democracy in place, though...

Edit: I did think of using the mongoose originally, but it seemed a little on the nose.

 

[Condottiere]

 

[Limpin Legin]

Can mainly think of animal characters that appear in children's fiction, mythology and animation. Could adapt them so they become a race in their own right. These sources show how easy it is to give an animal an extra-ordinary sentient character and behaviour.
Pig - Snowball and Napoleon from Animal Farm
Rabbit - Br'er Rabbit from folklore, or Fiver and Hazel from Watership Down
Horse - Boxer from Animal Farm
Goat - Muriel from Animal Farm
Duck - Donald Duck
Pigeon - Yankee Doodle Pigeon from Dastardly and Muttley
Crow, Jay or Jackdaw from various mythology
Tortoise or Turtle - Toby Turtle from Robin Hood
Beaver - dunno, Walt Disney somewhere
Salamander - good to uplift a creature with camouflaged skin trait?
Panther - as in Pink Panther, an anthropomorphic panther with pink fur

 

[Vormaerin]

So the Solomani uplift capability traditionally isn't all that great. We aren't talking about the ability to make Crows vastly bigger or Dogs bipedal. They uplifted dolphins and orcas because they were fine with the basic body shape. The Great Apes as well. Obviously, no one is required to stick to that.

But if I were uplifting dogs within Charted Space, they would be talking dogs, not bipedal like the Vargr. YMMV.

I will point out that uplifted Bears, the Ursa, are already a thing. I think they originated in T20, but they are also in MgT2e via the Trailing Frontier book.

 

[Endie]

Indeed: I have a couple of uplifted apes as crew members in a PoD campaign:





Edit: Caprisaps are, while kinda daft, Solomani-uplifted goats (JTAS 12). They're by the same guy who touched the third rail and wrote the awful article on near-c rocks in JTAS 18.

 

[MonsterX]

Children of Time by Adrian Tschiakovksy has uplifted Portia labiata jumping spiders. Uplifted by accident. Whoops. Also a variety of other bugs. Why isn't anybody uplifting spiders? Wasps? Or army ants? Those would be good to have.

 

[Condottiere]

My guess would be that we'd be afraid they'd suck the life out of the Two Trees.

 

[Anstett]

Can mainly think of animal characters that appear in children's fiction, mythology and animation. Could adapt them so they become a race in their own right. These

The first thought I had was Charlotte is a very good example of a non-bipedal form that could be adapted size wise for companionship.
Then someone had to spoil the idea of friendly spiders.....

My guess would be that we'd be afraid they'd suck the life out of the Two Trees.

 

[Jame Rowe]

[* Reserved for summary & index, if this ever takes off *]

Potential Species:
Bears
Crows
Elephants
Kangaroos
Macaws
Octupi
Orangutans
Raccoons

Bears are in the Trailing Frontier book, as Ursa.

 

[MarcusIII]

I vote for octopodes.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

Uplift humans.