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.

Proposed Species: We-russ *UPDATED*

Species Info:

We-russ

(Playable Main)

So this was written in a style similar to how species are portrayed in the MOAG book. Certainly more stiff and verbose than what I've seen others do... Forgive me, I'm still an infant MOAGer!
Also, give me lots and lots of feedback. I love feedback. 

Species Traits:

Electro-Magnetic Alter*:

We-russ’es natively manipulate broad spectrum EM waves - this is how they communicate with each other. This gives them 1D½Knowledge free skill points towards the write-in RP skill EMA, which they can use to generate magnetic fields, scan their surrounding environment, or any other conceivable use for being sensitive to and able to manipulate EM waves.

This skill counts as their native language roll, but should be placed with regular skills. Modifiers will be added at GM discretion - dense metropolitan areas in particular should incur modifiers for heavy use of EM waves (space wi-fi, etc.)

They don’t have vocal chords, and their airways are not connected to their mouth. This means that to speak, they use special devices called comm recryptors, which allows them to use their EMA to speak directly into other character’s comms. It handles encryption, decryption, and other complex tasks required to transmit and receive digital audio via comms.

Because they must communicate with other sentients through comms, points in languages for them is less “I can speak and understand the language with level amount of proficiency” and more “I can restructure my thoughts to be compatible with a recryptor translating this language with level amount of proficiency”. This means, first, that they cannot speak to any creature that does not have a comm, and second, they only have a chance of understanding the spoken language without a comm if they have invested points in the language.

The best this skill can achieve as a scanner is equivalent to a level 1 scanner - at GM discretion, if the skill is at level 10 they have a chance of reaching level 2 scanner equivalency.

Empathic Resonance:

We-russ’es can enter a trance state where their emotions, sensations, thoughts, and any knowledge carried by them are broadcasted to each other and shared.

When in this state, they get a helper of 1 for all rolls per pair that are in the trance, to a maximum helper of 5. This means more than 10 entering a trance will grant no additional helper - the increased distance and complexity arising from more participants means each of them can only really use information from about 9 others beneficially). To enter this trance state, they must all beat their EMA skill by 8 or more, which will effectively give them 20 seconds worth of resonance with each other. They also are unable to communicate with other species while in this trance due to the intense focus required to synchronize with each other.

Stone-age Culture:

We-russ’es are in the process of being elevated from a stone-age culture. Their capacity for learning is good, but they struggle interacting with other sentient species and adjusting to FTL level technology.

On character creation, after you have rolled knowledge for skill points, exhaust ½ of your points immediately.

Weak Fingers:

Due to the unique physiology of their hands, a We-russ struggles to pull the trigger on most weapons.

On character creation, roll 1d4+2. Add the result as a modifier to the base roll of every gun skill. This may be undone if the character gets a cyborg frame, or at GM discretion in certain situations (if the gun has no trigger), so it is recommended to write it out as base (base+modifier) and roll (roll+modifier), or to just write in the added modifier:

Skill	Level	Base	Roll
Rifle	4	6(11)	2(7)

Species Backstory:

Home Planet and Star System:

H'rarwi is larger and colder than earth. Similar to how a meteor strike wiped out dinosaurs on earth, a flurry of meteor strikes wiped out much of the life on the planet many millions of years before We-russ’es existed. The planet was already very high in iron, copper, and other similar metals, and this only increased even more due to the meteor strikes. Cloud cover is almost omnipresent. Intense lightning storms combined with the extremely high ratio of electromagnetically relevant metals on the planet made it difficult to continue to live without developing some sort of protection against the electromagnetic chaos.

Most plants and animals on this planet are anywhere from rust orange to bright neon violet, with smatterings of metallic pigments. The soil is rust red, and most of the omnipresent clouds are near to the same. Plant life has evolved to convert both static electricity and solar radiation into cellular energy, making it by far the most dominant and prolific form of life on the relatively cold, stormy planet. Animal life is primarily omnivorous, making every animal a potential predator to any other animal. This has led to some very complex evolutionary pressures and relationships.

Evolutionary History, and Rise to Sentience:

This species adjusted to the frequent electromagnetic storms on the planet by evolving electromagnetic affinity. Early in their evolution, We-russ’es were arboreal marsupial primates whose EM connection with each other allowed them to better warn each other about the presence of predators on H'rarwi, and detect/avoid particularly dangerous EM storms. Over time, this interconnectedness of emotion pushed We-russ’es with brains better able to process the stream of information from the others to be superior among their peers, eventually leading to overall larger brains and then, sentience.

EM sensitivity allowed them to locate hives of insects for food with relative ease, giving them a nutritional foundation for a larger brain. The kinds of insects they rely on for nutrition are typically in well-hidden colonies underground or sometimes in decomposing trees. Being able to use EM sensitivity to “see” insect-like activity, or even visualize underground hives became extremely important for pushing them into nutritional superiority. Better and quicker processing of their environment, and superior ability to communicate that information to others in the tribe gave them almost supernatural awareness in response to predatory threats. If one notices a predator, within a quarter of a second, any others within 100 meters know exactly where and what it is, a feat achieved by hundreds of thousands of years of evolutionary refinement of their visual/spatial cortex in tandem with their electromagnetically specialized Broca’s area.

We-russ’es now use EM affinity to communicate thought very efficiently - almost instantaneously - as well as to keep tabs on environmental variables. When they were discovered, they were still in the stone age, but extremely successful, with many competing tribes on every continent.

Physical Appearance: Like a humanoid Tarsier

Photograph of a We-russ brandishing a ceremonial stone knife

They have large eyes to adjust to low-light conditions, and three ear canals per ear, all of which are used at least partially in their EM sensitivity. They evolved separate tubes for breathing and swallowing due to a deadly parasite whose airborne eggs only hatch after exposure to hydrochloric(stomach) acid. They have a flap in their swallow tube that looks like what used to be vocal chords. Two arms, two legs, six digits per hand and foot. Skin color ranges from dark brown to black. If humanoids appear more like apes, then We-russ’s appear more like monkeys - slender limbs, thin bodies, and an equal emphasis on arms and legs.

Their hands do not have a palm connecting the digits to each other - each finger is rooted directly in the wrist, connected only by a web where the palm would typically be. This reduces overall hand strength, but increases the nimbleness and flexibility of their digits significantly.

Reproduction:

Their reproduction is sexual, very similar to that of other species, except that copulation happens very quickly - no repetitious thrusting involved, just one simple package delivery. Sexual interaction usually happens extremely isolated from the rest of the tribe. Since their thoughts and emotions are broadcasted, and strong emotions become overwhelming, it’s extremely taboo to copulate anywhere near the village.

Technically they are monogamous, but they only pair together to mate, and usually only once or twice in their lifetime. They don’t practice any long term cohabitation that could be interpreted as marriage, except for some isolated examples. Females typically give birth to an odd number of infants, between 5 and 9. Infants are born hairless, blind, deaf, without anal or urinal cavities, and completely helpless. Not long after birth the father lays next to them and allows them to crawl into a pouch on his belly. From there it is primarily his job to protect and feed them until they become mobile and their eyes open at about 13 weeks. During this period, the weight of the litter in his pouch triggers patches of modified hair follicles to grow sweet, protein-rich edible fibers dubbed “cotton milk” by sentient mammals, a nod to how mammals make use of modified sweat glands to lactate. Because the infants have not yet developed anal or urinal cavities, and they lose very little moisture and have no need to drink fluids yet. They rely solely on the cotton milk for sustenance. When the infants do finally develop urinary capacity, the urea in the first urine triggers the edible hairs to stop growing, and not long after the father will not allow them to stay in the pouch, typically a few days before the first bowel movement.

Behavior and Culture:

They are hyper-empathetic, as emotion and thought are transmitted via EM in a form purer than would be possible if only sound and language were used. This necessitates responsible emotions and thoughts, which makes them extremely socially cautious. It’s rare to find a rash We-russ.

Extreme disdain for individuals who cannot control their words or feelings is a cultural norm, curbed somewhat by how empathetic they are. This effect is muted further in alien environments, as they understand that different creatures behave in different ways.

Privacy of thought and language are both foreign and extremely difficult concepts for them to adjust to, making interaction with other sentient species sometimes very frustrating for them. That being said, they are reserved enough that most species can hardly tell what they are feeling or thinking unless they verbally express it.

Technology:

We-russ’es were discovered in their stone age, and so have no native technology of any note. However, in order to communicate with them, more advanced sentient species developed a kind of speech interface for them, dubbed a comm recryptor - it enables them to ‘think’ digital audio data into comms, and interpret/decode comm information back into EM waves they can ‘hear’. Every We-russ that leaves H'rarwi has one of these.

Language:

Because they communicate with EM waves, they have no spoken language. They were discovered at a pre-historic point in their timeline, so no written word was developed. Because their EM language transfers meaning exactly, rather than using phonetic elements, they have no specific word for themselves beyond what is roughly translated as “us” - it took several years to learn how to communicate with them, and once asked who they were, the translation was simply, “We Are Us”, and this was misunderstood as the literal "We-russ". When asked the name they had for their planet, they replied "Here Are We" - mistranslated as the literal "H'rarwi". Similarly, their names are usually Adjectival in nature, describing the personality and appearance of the creature, and can change with time, particularly if their understanding of or relationship with the subject has changed. This means they can each have a slightly different name for the same thing, per individual. They might all use similar “root” meanings, i.e. hard, heavy for a rock, but the meanings are also colored by personal experience, i.e. a We-russ who was hit very hard with a rock as an infant might call it a “HardHeavyPainful”, where a We-russ who makes stone arrowheads might call a rock “HardHeavyCraftable”. Each will use this meaning and each will know exactly what the other is wanting to communicate because the experiences associated with the words are shared as instantaneously as the words themselves.

The difficulty in learning how to communicate with them was exaggerated by their lack of vocal folds - several of their early evolutionary predators had extremely good hearing, and so their vocal folds went the way of the appendix. Within a few months of discovery, the more advanced sentient species figured out that they were communicating with EM, but converting that into a phonetic based language was extremely difficult without expensive, specialized equipment. Eventually, they were able to teach a few young We-russ’es how to send signals in ‘Macanean’ by inventing and building a comm recryptor. This was a very difficult and arduous process that was only possible because these We-russ’es were exposed to interaction from the alien sentients from birth.

Sketch of a We-russ holding a bow

Physiological Table:

Lifespan	40 years(on home planet)
Height	4’8”
Weight	70 lbs
Eye Color	Brown
Skin Color	Rust brown to Black
Hair	Rust red to Black
Sleep	10 per 30 hours
Diet	Primarily insectivores - they also eat fruits, seeds, and nuts when available.

Attributes Table:

	Dice	Low	Average	High
Strength	1D8 + 3	5	8	11
Endurance	1D8 + 3	5	8	11
Knowledge	1D10 + 5	7	11	15
Reasoning	1D10 + 4	6	10	14
Comeliness	1D10 + 2	4	8	12
Charisma	2D4	4	6	8
Dexterity	1D12 + 5	7	12	17
Perception	3D8 + 12	18	27	36
Heal	2D4	4	6	8
Willpower	+1	1	1	1
Add	1D4	1	2	4

Sum of averages/Average of averages**:

We-russ:    96  / 10.66~
Human:      99  / 11
Macaneon:   108 / 12
Mo-Ti-Quee: 137 / 15.22~
Gorloch:    140 / 15.55~

Natural Add***:

We-russ:    2.00833~

Human:      0.9

Macaneon:   1.05

Mo-Ti-Quee: 4.425

Gorloch:    3.19166~

*Scientific grounds for life forms developing electromagnetic sensitivity:

https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/can-organisms-sense-via_radio-frequency
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15627020.2016.1151828
http://madsci.org/posts/archives/2005-07/1121843568.Zo.r.html

**Low/avg/high rolls are calculated by ignoring 1's, because if you roll a 1 on an attribute you typically add and re-roll.

***Natural Add: This is the sum of the probability of getting a 1 from each die that is rolled. It does not account for re-rolls. (Someone with math skills should make a formula that accounts for re-rolls so I can use it, haha.) This roughly represents the average extra attribute points a character will have just from rolling a 1, adding and re-rolling.
Ex:
If 2D10 and 1D12 are rolled, the Natural Add is  0.2833~, or 2/10 + 1/12.

Species Contest 2019

    Well Friends, Its time again for another round of the annual Species Contest. This time I hear we have contestants from across the globe, hailing from exotic places such as Cedar City, Provo, Ogden, and Turkmenistan!  (Actually no... Not Turkmenistan.) But hey, its a species contest anyhow.
   Fire up that thinker that you store in the round thing on your shoulders, and respond to this blog with your entry into the species contest for a chance to win one of the many various prizes being showcased this year! If your Species wins, tell them what they'll get Bob.
   Bob?   Hmm..  Well I've just been told that our budget for prizes this year is pretty low. Zero in fact. The best part however, is that the winning Species will be ushered slowly into the MOAG universe as a regular at the parlay table.
  The rules are as follows.
1:  Post an original picture (it doesn't have to be great) of your species.
2:  Post a brief (not too brief) description on this blog of the basics of your species.
3:  Post what you think their stats would be. Strength, Endurance, etc...
4:  Sit back and wait for Shadowwire to make a decision.
  Don't get too antsy about a fast decision. This not a trial. But do remind Shadowwire to check the blog if your post seems to have been passed over, he doesn't check it as often as he should.
  You can get inspiration from the previous entries that are still here from years past.
  I can hardly wait to see what entertainment our contestants will provide this year!
  Now get out there and make a winner!

  That's a wrap Bob, Now lets go get dinner with all this money we didn't spend on prizes. Ha ha... Is this thing still on? Oops.