Where did half the aliens go?

[chiron0224]

I was looking through character creation and I got to the part with alien characters and it dawned on me that there are only two races listed there: Aslan and Vargr. Let me be clear from the get go. I freaking love the Vargr and I also really love the Aslan (but not as much as Vargr. Sorry but not sorry.). Still though, where are the Droyne? K'kree? Hivers? Zhodani/Vilani I get because they are humans with no mechanical difference from Solomani (although a Zhodani entry might include a rule that any Zhodani character can make a SOC 7+ roll to go straight into the psion career and maybe get a racial bonus to their PSI score test. Like +2 to roll to determine PSI). I get that the Vargr and Aslan are the most likely to end up plying space as Travellers and that Hivers and K'kree don't work well in mixed parties (who can hold a conversation with a Hiver? And it's really going to suck when the lone K'kree character gets sick and dies before the end of the first play session because there aren't any others around). Still though, I've often toyed with the idea of an all K'kree party (Badass vegetarians of doom!!) or of a Hiver in the party who understands Galanglic and mutely does his job exceedingly well. Like a really good engineer who's a Hiver.

Captain: "Bob, I need more power to the gun turrets!!"

'Bob' the Hiver: "......."

(Turrets come back online)

Captain: "Thanks Bob!"

(The humans named him Bob because they will never learn the pheromones and hand gestures that are his true name)

 

[Belisknar]

They are off hiding in their own supplements waiting to be released when the rules on the current more easily handled races are nailed down.

 

[chiron0224]

Yeah, I guess. It just seems a bit sparse to have the CRB only have two alien species in it. Besides, they are major races. Lastly, in previous editions the major races all had the short blurb in the CRB and were then fleshed out more thoroughly in the race modules. I don't mean to sound like I'm slamming Mongoose here, but this added to the lack of ship design rules just further creates the appearance that we are going to end up being sold a sparse and incomplete rule book in order to sell us additional books.

 

[CosmicGamer]

I'm not a big fan of things moving this direction but I do understand that Mongoose is a book publishing company so doing things in order to sell us additional books is kind of their mission statement.

 

[chiron0224]

Still though, alien modules with a ton of extra material per race would accomplish that without seeming so blatantly money grubby.

 

[qstor]

I've been waiting for the Hiver and the K'Kree books for over two years. It seems the 3I line was dead for a while. Let's home something new comes out instead of just "reprints" for MgT 2e.

 

[andreav]

Still though, alien modules with a ton of extra material per race would accomplish that without seeming so blatantly money grubby.

I'm working on one now.

 

[Reynard]

As with other things left out, the Traveller Core Book is a basic intro to the Traveller universe with enough of everything to get players and refs up and running from common iconic ships to two of the most popular playable alien races. Just like High Guard, other aspects will be expanded in their own books later.

 

[Condottiere]

If people are interested, I'm sure that some fan or writer can whip out a fast character generation system for any alienated alien that would be more or less canonical, just not nuanced or fleshed out.

Perhaps a twenty or fifty page booklet with an adventure and a nominal alien designed and crewed ship.

 

[Reynard]

I was disappointed they didn't put out a droyne book for 1e. I always found them to be very interesting and much more alien than the humanoid aslan and vargr with their physiology and caste orientation effecting their lives.

K'kree always had potential as the most unusual threat to the Imperium, killer vegans rather than a highly standoffish people who are big. Vargrs have been more threatening and nowhere near as psychotic. Even hivers had more importance and campaign use after virus and the Star Vikings.

 

[legozhodani]

I'm still desperate to see some Hiver info. As their Federation is so massive it's always seem to lurk and never really been touched on. As there are lots of races living within the Fed there should be plenty of scope. Oodles of human colonies just being happy not to be Imperials or Sols.

 

[Condottiere]

Never shake hands with a Hiver, you don't know where that's been.

 

[andreav]

Never shake hands with a Hiver, you don't know where that's been.

Or worse you do

 

[Infojunky]

You Guys have that all wrong, "You Never take a Corndog from a Hiver"

 

[Condottiere]

When did Vargr agriculturists get involved?

 

[legozhodani]

And one asks, what the hell is a corndog?

 

[JBRocky]

My group was also waiting on the Droyne book for a game we running now. Good thing we had the CT version which gave us a base line to do our own character gen.

 

[Reynard]

Corndog = vargr comedian.

 

[Condottiere]

Two dogs, one ball.

 

[Reynard]

"I was disappointed they didn't put out a droyne book for 1e."

While looking around, I found a Mongoose forum thread for Alien Module 6 Dryone for 1e in the works. I hope that means they have starting material and may create a droyne book for 2e.

On a similar note, I perused my AM 5: Droyne and saw the section for Standard ship designs for droyne ships. Must see what converting to HG2e does. Not really a big deal. Mostly droyne ships can normally carry two droynes per stateroom at 1/2 life support sts and normally are constructed maxing at TL 13. Their group orientation prefer large staterooms.