Proposed Species: Bahn'gwai

Sexless Figure Drawing of a Bahn'gwai

First time MOAG-er and brother-in-law to Xzebo here. I originally laid this species out in a Google Doc similar to the way other species were presented to me, so if you'd like to view that and see all the fun details of the Bahn'gwai, check out the link below. Now without further ado, brace yourselves: the Bahn'gwai are coming.

Original Google Doc Format

Bahn'gwai (simplified)

Species Traits

• Wings: The Bahn’gwai can fly when carrying items lower than their encumbrance and when a space is large enough to accommodate their wings.
• Echolocation: Able to “see” using ultrasonic waves; +10 PERCEPTION when applicable.
• All Thumbs: The Bahn’gwai don’t have normal hands. They may only operate one weapon at a time, and may incur modifiers depending on the size and shape of the weapon.

Overview

The Bahn’gwai are a pious, bat-like race. They worship their ancestors, holding strongly to principles one might associate with filial piety. They also believe all sentient races descended from one common ancestor—Gwai—and concern themselves with finding a way to reunite all the family of Gwai. The Bahn'gwai are, however, unflinching in their resolve to uphold their own laws, which they believe to have been created by Gwai himself.

Average Physiology

Lifespan: 80 years
Height: 6’ 0”
Wingspan: 18' 0"
Weight: 140 lbs
Eyes: Dark gray or brown. Mutations are possible.
Skin: Tan, Black; Earth Tones
Hair: Brown, black, blonde; Tiny hairs cover the entire body; a thicker “hood” is common
Sleeping Habits: 8 per 18
Diet: Omnivorous but eat mostly meats. Their teeth are primarily canines with 4 molars in the back of the mouth.

Society/Cultures

The Bahn’gwai believe strongly in honoring their forebears. They live in large family dwellings of up to 20 Bahn’gwai. One household typically consists of parents, the entire family of the eldest male child, and any other children who are not yet old enough to live on their own. When the parents die, ownership of the house and guardianship of any children still living in it are passed down to the eldest male child. Resultantly, the leader of the Bahn’gwai is supposedly the “Eldest of Eldests”: the eldest male child of each eldest male child dating back to the first Bahn’gwai. Although this transferral of ownership has been a strict tradition for all of Bahn’gwai recorded history, debates exist over which house was built first as renovations and repairs have caused the oldest houses to have been entirely rebuilt. Occasional disputes happen in lower government because of this, but there has never been a debate in recorded history over which house is the Eldest of Eldests.

Eldest male children are expected to follow in their fathers’ footsteps. They will take up their fathers’ professions and assume ownership of their property when they die. There are very few eldest male children who stray from this responsibility, and doing so often results in disownership by one’s family and, potentially, the Bahn’gwai people. At the extreme end of this, some eldest children will even have the same number of children with the same age and sex distribution as their parents. This is possible due to the extensive genetic technology of the Bahn’gwai.

Non-eldest male children are free to pursue their own careers and lifestyle paths, but only to the extent that it brings honor to the family. When their parents (or, if the parents are deceased, the eldest male child) request something of these children, the children are expected to fulfill the request.

Female children have only recently been allowed to pursue their own career ambitions. However, marriage is still largely the focus of female Bahn’gwai. Upon marrying, female Bahn’gwai are expected to devote the vast majority of their time to raising their children. Bahn’gwai can only give birth once every 13 earth months, but typical households have anywhere from 3-7 children.

The Bahn’gwai believe they originated from a common ancestor—Gwai. Tradition says that Gwai sprung from a crevice in the cliffs of “Uron’gwai”. According to the Bahn’gwai stories, Gwai raised a family that ended in ruin because his eldest son, Utin, left his family to pursue greed. Utin then persuaded half of the Gwai family to rise up against Gwai and take his wealth for themselves. Gwai eventually overcame Utin, but at the cost of his children’s lives. It was then that Gwai wrote the Bahn’gwai laws of filial piety to prevent any further disasters. While scholars debate whether these stories are actually true, all Bahn’gwai believe strongly in the morals as it has kept their planet relatively war-free.

The discovery of new sentient races was shocking to Bahn’gwai culture and required the Bahn’gwai elders to review their cultural doctrines and practices. They eventually concluded that Gwai must have encompassed all of the other sentient species in his singular form—he had the strength of a Klisk, the intelligence of a Mo-Ti, the wisdom of a Bahn’gwai, and so on. They resultantly believe that all other races split off from the family of Gwai at some point in the distant past, eventually forgetting who they were and where they came from. The Bahn’gwai have made it their personal mission to reintegrate these “lost lines” back into the family of Gwai, and send several ambassadors, missionaries, merchants, and historians into the known universe with this intention. Some view the Bahn’gwai as condescending or overly insistent, but the Bahn’gwai have only the best intentions.

Homeworld/System

The Bahn’gwai homeworld is called Kahn’gwai. Due to an active core and rapidly shifting tectonic plates, it is lush with volcanoes and rocky mountains. Due to its quick rotation, the planet also contains several dispersed rainforests even near its poles. Kahn’gwai is located on the outskirts of the Inger’gwai solar system.

Languages

Bahn’gwai speak Hahn’gwai. The language uses a lot of ultrasonic frequencies, so it is very difficult for other species to learn this language. Likewise, it can sometimes be difficult for Bahn’gwai to understand the words of very low-voiced creatures without help. 

The suffix “gwai” means literally “of the family of Gwai”. Bahn’gwai refer to all other races as “yogwai”: literally “Lost Family of Gwai”.

For more information about the Bahn'gwai language and naming conventions, click the link to the Google Doc.

Technology

The Bahn’gwai were able to travel to the edge of their solar system before their discovery, but hyperdrives were a new invention to them. The Bahn’gwai are extremely skilled in genetic modification, however, due to extremist funding for genetically modified children and their keen senses to detect even the smallest phenotypic differences. While this has been helpful to the extremists in effectively “recreating” their ancestors, it has more notably allowed the Bahn’gwai to eliminate a several genetic diseases, including cancer. They could potentially create superhuman Bahn’gwai, but this is unthinkable given their culture.

Fighting Styles

Because of their limited prehensile abilities, Bahn’gwai fighting styles involve distracting the target with wings then biting and scratching.

For more information, click the link to the Google Doc.

Appearance

The Bahn'gwai have an appearance humans would consider bat-like. They have seven phalanges on each hand, ten of which support the flaps of their wings and four of which have limited prehensile abilities. In the modern culture of enclosed spaces, Bahn'gwai normally keep their wings folded against their bodies.

For more information, click the link to the Google Doc.

Characteristics/Tendencies

Bahn’gwai are extremely loyal. Their loyalty lies first to their direct family and race, but after their family obligations are fulfilled the Bahn’gwai are capable of making deep, lasting friendships with other species. They also respect that other races may feel loyalty to their own races before the Bahn’gwai race. Bahn’gwai can, however, become upset when they perceive someone as being disloyal or treacherous, and may hold lasting grudges against anyone who betrays their trust.

The Bahn’gwai have eyesight nearly four times stronger than that of a human and a hearing range to match it, detecting frequencies anywhere from 1kHz to 70kHz. These attributes allow them to perceive vocal tendencies and pick up on visual cues that other species may not even recognize in themselves. Because of this, many races perceive the Bahn’gwai as very wise or even as mind readers. The Bahn’gwai consider this inevitable, supposing wisdom to be the heritage of the eldest children of Gwai.

Proposed Attributes

STR:  2D4 + 3

END:  1D4 + 5

KNO:  1D10 + 6

RES:  1D10 + 5

COM:  1D10 + 5

CHA:  1D10 + 6

DEX:  2D10 + 5

PER:  2D10 + 5

HEAL:  1D10 + 5

ADD:  1D10

AMBI:  2-7 / 15-20

WPR:  1

See the Google Doc for averages.

Monte Carlo Simulation Analysis of Variance

This is accomplished by running 1000 simulations on the race then taking statistics from it. Bahn'gwai compare to Humans in their amount of variance with a total standard deviation of approximately 9. They compare to Macaneons in their average total (excluding ambidexterity) with a score of 108 to the Macaneons' 109. They are somewhere in between a Mo-Ti and a Macaneon when it comes to ambidexterity, with a 35.7% chance of being ambidextrous.

For more details and comparisons to other races, see the Google Doc or, if you prefer a more technical view of how this was accomplished, see this Google Sheet.