Design a Race Competition

So here I sit, this massive universe in my head and trying to get all the details down when I suddenly realise that I have a whole load of names for races in the northern most part of the C69 galaxy and yet that is all they are, just a name, no idea of what they look like, what their history is like or so forth. So, I wrack my brains, trying to think of ideas and then it suddenly occurs to me, hey, why not get you guys to design a few races. So here it goes, here's the competion:

Basically, take one of the names given below for a C69 race along with any vague ideas I have about the race and change it into a complete racial description for me and I will award each player who has a race chosen to be in the C69 galaxy an additional 500 credits to begin with (characters start normally with 2500 credits).

So whats the catch? Well, it's got to fit in with the Dark Thaum setiing and also please bear in mind that I intend to go big with C69 and the Dark Thaum universe, releasing novels, roleplay games and who knows what else based on it. Though acknowledgement will alwys be given to people who aid in designing parts of the C69 universe (this goes without say), I don't want to battling several years down the line people over their submissions to it, leaving whole chunks of the universe to be rewritten. So what I am saying is, that once the race is submitted, it is essentially surrendered to the C69 / Dark Thaum universe and Dark Engineered games (more information on Dark Engineered Games and becoming a part of the new era of gaming will be coming up this summer - stay tuned).

Also, please bear in mind that once it has been submitted that I reserve the right to make ammendments as necessary to fit it in to the C69 galaxy. Nor does submission automatically mean it is in, for I will have to review it first and approve. But as long as the idea is original (try to avoid ripping off any other sci-fi ideas too much) and fits the setting, then I will do my best to include it in some shape or form.

So what do I need from you? Well, basically, I need the same sort of information that is already presented for Humans and Elayans. This basically falls as follows:

Name: There is already a preset list of names (see below) for all the races in C69, so choose one of these for your race to be named after.

Average Height: In most cases you can make the race as short or as tall as you like. However, bear in mind taller races are going to be restricted to where they can go while extremely small races (like the Funok) often need some power suited mechanical aid to help them interact properly with other species.

Average Life Span and Maximum Life Expectancy: Again, set this as you will, though I don't want immortal races. Basically, as a rule of the thumb, make twenty sols (earth years) the minimum for a races life expectancy and a millenia the maximum. Most should fall between 50-250 sols however.

Time taken to reach maturity: Again set this as you will, bearing in mind the life span you have given. A minimum should be around six sols and he maximum upto about 250 sols.

Sensory Abilities Most races use the basic five (sight, sound, smell, touch and taste) but do you have any idea for strange new senses (e.g. the Baladin once I have them written up lack sight, but they can see their surroundings using a biological radar). Before people jump to the conclusion, yes this could include psychic senses, but please read the notes first for the next entry.

Psychic Abilities As a rule of the thumb, I don't want to be over run by psychics from every angle. If a race as a whole has a unifying psychic ability, don't make it galaxy shattering or ultra-hard. Telepathy tends to the most common (certain races not described yet on this website do use this, such as Moriak, Dolphins and Garask) and even that should be rare. However, to get your minds working, a cool idea would be a race that could sense life and non-life as one of their senses. Just an idea though...

Genetic Cross Reference: Don't worry about this at the moment. I will discuss this with you should a race be chosen, though you may decide whether the race is silicon or carbon based. However, please bear in mind certain restrictions on silicon life forms (i.e. how the hell do you breath out sand?).

Physiology: Describe the races biological make up. What advantages do they have over other races. What disadvantages do they have when compared to others. How do they mate? What happens when they hit old age. Basically, I want things balanced in C69, which means even if a race is at a real advantage at one point, they may not be as good in other fields compared to others. I don't want any God like races or power gamed creations. Creatures with natural weapons are fine, just don't go overboard. The Katani and the Mutants are about as tough as the races are supposed to get.

History: Give a little bit of history concerning the pre-contact with the nations and being brought upto the modern age. This would be centred on their homeworld. Again, don't worry about home world or home star system names as I will deal with this, nor too much History once they joined the nation(s) they now belong to. Again, I will deal with this.

Your Race within the nations: Do not worry about this catogry for the same reasons as History. To make sure that they fit in with the C69 history and the natures of the nations, I will need to sort this one out.

Crossbreeds: Also don't worry about this too much, I will sort this out as it ties in with Genetic Cross Reference. However, I don't need any more races that are human simalar right now (they can crossbreed with too many races as it is) and so when designing your race it might be an idea if you bear in mind some of the other races so far as many of these so far can't cross breed with others yet without scientific intervention and it seems unfair that Human and other like wise races are able to hog the whole cross breeding thing.

Ok, so that's the brunt of it. There is a few hints and tips amongst that lot for your race, but if you want to ask any more questions to help you out or if you have a race to submit, then please email me. - Draken

Races Available to be designed

These names have been preset so please choose one to represent your race. However, please bear in mind the few pointers I give for each one as well as these are quite essential to C69 history.

Agcarin: Nation in Resque. Resque is very scientifically minded, both theoretically and practically, so this race should lend itself to be able to fit in with this grand scheme of things.

Akanonil: This race actually comes from another nation not yet mention so far, the nation of Iras Mirage. Iras Mirage is a nation of traders of illrepute and though most of the race go along with this, some have decided to distance themselves away from this nation and settled in other nations, some of which are in the North.

Baolest: The most populas race in the nation of Kyraken. These should appear somewhat humanoid in form as Kyraken is basically a nation of Mech Pilots at the moment (of which the Baolest make up a large number of the pilots - however, they tend more to man the starships and control things - The Dalgora are the real Mech Elites) who are at war with Planica / Plantia.

Dalgora: Second most populas race in Kyraken (see Baloest). The Dalgora more so than the Baolest make up the bulk of Mech Pilots.

Monasil: Monasil come from the war like military nation of Cyran Dor. Martial Law is their policy and so this race should suit in with this typical idea of Cyran Dor, though they should not be too powerful.

As time goes on, there are numerous sentient races from the North that have also been named (though not on this website yet), both Native and Alien that belong to the independant nations. If this competition proves popular, I may open these up too for designing.

Final note on Humanisation

A once intelligent professor spent his whole life devoted to the study of sentient evolution and came up with the idea that the humanoid form is possibly one of the most efficient and easiest sentient forms to evolve, which explains why Humans, Mistelareia, Elayans and Efell are all so simalar. Even other races tend to display properties akin to this evolutionary method (walking on two limbs, using another two (or more in the case of Deleebans) for manipulating objects).

However, the galaxy is a varied place, evolution causes many different forms of life to crop up. Basically, what I am saying is that the more alien you can make a race, so much the better. Think about every aspect from looks, to communication, from their out look on life to their reproduction methods (not all races should reproduce sexually). Be bold, be different, be imaginative.