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Yora
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 29 Jun 2018
Posts: 184
Location: Germany
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 Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 4:03 pm Post subject: Which are your 12 species that Star Wars cannot be without? |
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One thing i find very interesting about Star Wars is that even though it's all set in the same galaxy, stories set in different time periods seem to be dominated by their own sets of species.
In part this is of course because later stories introduce new species that don't retroactively appear in previously existing stories. And I think that generally it has been quite uncommon to see stories added to previously covered periods after a new period has been given the main focua.
Some new species catch on and become staples of the setting (thinking of Zabraks for example), while some older ones fall into obscurity. (Did anyone ever do anything with Givins?)
When it comes to your personal image of the galaxy and preparing adventures for your campaigns, what are the 12 species that you think need to make appearances the most?
Mine (roughly in order):
- Human
- Twi'lek
- Duros
- Wookiee
- Trandoshan
- Rodian
- Mon Calamar
- Ithorian
- Sullustan
- Gran
- Weequay
- Quarren
I feel like if you only had these and nothing else, it would still feel like a complete version of Star Wars with nothing seeming to be missing.
Jawas are super iconic, but only appear on Tattooine, so they don't make my list.
(I also always try to include Herglic. They are really not iconic, but I find them too funny not to use them when I can.  )
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Dredwulf60
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Joined: 07 Jan 2016
Posts: 911
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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I like your list.
I would keep it the same for me, but substitute Ithorians with Gammoreans. I just tend to use them as thugs pretty often.
I would also probably switch out Mon Calamari for Hutts.
I honestly don't think I've ever had an opportunity to feature a Mon Calamari.
And maybe shoehorn in Devaronian instead of Quarren. |
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MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 8:37 pm Post subject: Which are your 12 species that Star Wars cannot be without? |
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- Human
- Twi'lek
- Hutt
- Wookiee
- Trandoshan
- Rodian
- Mon Calamar
- Ithorian
- Sullustan
- Gamorean
- Ewok
- Jawa
The ones I removed from your list are, to me, background characters. Far more important to have Jabba, his Gamorean guards, the Ewoks and Jawas, all of whom get some real screen time in the various series and computer games.
I might also toss in, as a bonus, the Togruta. Plus a variety of near humans.
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Xain Arke
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Joined: 19 Sep 2010
Posts: 989
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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Oh, great and infuriating question Yora 
I'd probably be happy if I had to go with the lists so far, but here is my own (that I had to think about for far too long) in no particular order:
- Human
- Twi'lek
- Devaronian
- Duros
- Weequay
- Gamorrean
- Rodian
- Kel Dor
- Klatooinan
- Hutt
- Zeltron
- Mon Calamari
Mostly these because I like how they look.
Last edited by Xain Arke on Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:56 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Grimace
Captain
Joined: 11 Oct 2004
Posts: 729
Location: Montana; Big Sky Country
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| Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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Mine would be:
Human/Corellian
Twilek
Wookiee
Rodian
Duros
Devaronian
Ewok
Gamorrean
Mon Calamari
Ithorian
Sullustan
Bothan |
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Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 10402
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 2:27 am Post subject: Which are your 12 species that Star Wars cannot be without? |
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I really like the lists posted so far. There is definitely a common ground among us. If I had to limit it to humans and only 11 aliens, the essential list would probably be:
Humans
Duros
Herglics
Hutts
Ithorians
Klatooinians
Mon Calamari
Quarren
Shistavanens
Sullustans
Twi'leks
Wroonians (near-humans)
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Yora
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 29 Jun 2018
Posts: 184
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 4:47 am Post subject: |
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Devaronians and Gamorreans are definitely in me top three runners up (with Jawas).
The reason I dien't pick Hutts is because the species is basically just Jabba, who has like 20 munutes in one movie. The Hutts as a whole play a major role in the EU, but mostly as unseen bosses, not so much as people who fill the streets.
I think if we would make a list of 15 species, we would all end up with about the same list. Which is interesting, given that there's probably way over 300 species in total.
I don't quite remember Klatoonians. Aren't they about the same thing as Weequays as Nikto? I think that archetype has been repeated a lot, while they just could all have been the same species.
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griff
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Joined: 16 Jan 2014
Posts: 507
Location: Tacoma, WA
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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Human
Wookie
Ewok
Twi'Lek
Jawa
Hutt
Mon Calamari
Rodian
Tognuta
Ithorian
Gungan (that's right I said it)
Lasat
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Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 10402
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy
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| Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 2:38 pm Post subject: |
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| griff wrote: | | Gungan (that's right I said it) |
| Yora wrote: | | I don't quite remember Klatoonians. Aren't they about the same thing as Weequays as Nikto? I think that archetype has been repeated a lot, while they just could all have been the same species. |
No, Klatooinians, Weequays, and Nikto are three different species. They all first appeared as Jabba's goons in RotJ.
The last species (Nikto) is the one where they took multiple masks and made them multiple subspecies of the same species (I believe WEG did that in GG12), so you may be thinking of that one. And some of them don't look like each other so they all shouldn't have been put together.
Klatooinians are doglike and they are a PC template for one in Platt's Smugglers Guide. I wanted one of the Jabba's goon species as a playable alien species, and they were best choice in my opinion.
| Yora wrote: | | Devaronians and Gamorreans are definitely in me top three runners up (with Jawas). |
Those three are all on my playable species list.
| Yora wrote: | | The reason I dien't pick Hutts is because the species is basically just Jabba, who has like 20 munutes in one movie. The Hutts as a whole play a major role in the EU, but mostly as unseen bosses, not so much as people who fill the streets. |
Well, Jabba has a lot more screen time than a lot of these background aliens.
Jabba is one of my favorite SW characters and I just love the Hutts, so I invented a way to make them into a playable species. The first issue to address is their size, so I rationalized than Hutt adult life starts way before 600 (Jabba's age) so it takes centuries to get that big. In my SWU, Hutts in the early adult phase of life (about 130-200 year of age) are skinnier than Jabba and more serpentine, like a plump, no-necked Sluissi. The last 20 years of so of this phase, they are about 18D in attributes, and that is the PC age range (about 180-200). For the two other major problems, their wealth and evil, I've instituted ways to address those.
At around age 130, all Hutts are sent away from their families and are expected to go out into the galaxy and support themselves. Many of them do go into black market businesses but not necessarily. If they come back too soon and or fail miserably out on their own, then they have a very lowly place in Hutt society. If they are successful when they return at around age 200, they have gained lots of contacts and experience that will help them vie for the most venerated positions in Hutt society. When they return, they give an account to their clan leaders of their 55-80 years out and about, and their financial portfolios are scrutinized. I imagine that the older Hutts even make a game of it and partake in betting over how how successful the returning young Hutts will be.
I run scoundrels out for themselves and heroes (including flawed heroes), but I do not allow outright evil PCs (DSP rules can lead to PCs permanently becoming NPCs, so no murder hobos in my game). So some young adult Hutts experience a phase where their malevolence is replaced by a more neutral disposition, and rarely, even heroic tendencies. The older Hutts know this just a phase and that they just have to 'get it our of their system' before they return to Hutt society. So the young adult Hutt phase can still have the typically evil Hutts, but those are NPCs in my game.
I adhere to most of the WEG and other fluff about Hutts, but they have such long lifespans it doesn't feel out fo place for them to have this relatively short phase that allows them be a better PC option. I do contradict WEG/EU in one aspect, in that the Hutt species in my SWU are not hermaphrodites. That doesn't just jive with Jabba's film portrayal (and Gardulla). In the new Disney Canon they made them sexual species with both genders, and that makes more sense to me. (However I do have a mutant outcast clan of hermaphroditic Hutts so they do still exist in my SWU).
Here is a post that goes into more details about the young adult Hutt phase and PCs.
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Naaman
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