Okay, I'm pushing my luck... [smile] Basics: The Kovaunn are a playable reptilian race whose core cultural focus is "survival of the fittest," covert competition and constant change. The society is currently a matriarchal technocracy, with females maintaining strict control of technology, particularly pheromone-based tech that helps pacify the formerly self-destructive male population. Kovaunn females are brilliant and ruthless tacticians, spies and military planners. Through a comprehensive eugenics program, males have been bred for obedience to such an extent that they are now uncomfortable without female guidance in most manners of life. This is in stark contrast to the brutal nuclear empires males once helmed. The Kovaunn core worlds are heavily polluted with radiation and nuclear waste as a result of past wars. However, they are quite radiation resistant. Because their emphasis is on mobility, cities are really "trailer parks" of multi-story armored vehicles that rearrange depending on periodic shifts in clan alliances (they also favor heavily defensible cities built in caverns or asteroids). Social Philosophy: If you suffer loss, it means you’re weak and you deserve it. The weak siphon resources. However, outright mass murder is socially unproductive because it creates social insecurity. Propaganda is also unproductive because it undermines the search for truth, which through science results in tactical superiority. Therefore, the weak are to be exiled and forgotten so that the strong may prosper. History: Kovaunn society changed drastically when the Siegers invaded. Previously, the homeworld had been a violent place beset by volcanic eruptions, hardy predators and cometary bombardment. Kovaunn tribes were fast breeding, with females laying clutches of as many as 3 dozen armored, semi-intelligent eggs whose interior contained racial memories. Often, tribes were wiped out only to be reborn in some hidden warren. Genetics made males 4 to 5 times as likely as females, and thus males came to dominate by sheer numbers. Aggressive empires warred not only for resources, but for mating privileges, and females were often treated as chattel. So it was in the time of the world-striding Emir, whose command of nuclear technology had catapulted Kovaunn civilization into the 3 asteroid belts surrounding their home star. The Emir, to rid himself of dissent, had exiled the most radical and violent feminist Kovaunn to slave labor camps in the closest asteroid belt. Unfortunately for his regime, the Sieger attack devoured almost the entirety of his forces before it was destroyed. This left his empire ripe for revolution, and when the slave contingent broke away they used his own mass drivers to smash his remaining defenses. After exhibiting the Emir worldwide in a cage until he starved to death, the newly declared Sisterhood set about creating a council of leaders to rule over the clans. Government: Kovaunn society is fractured into Brood Clans. Each clan is lead by a nominated Wounded Queen, who has usually bested all challengers in ritual combat and accrued enough scars to be considered the most alluring, wise and deadly. Queens in turn weld military and commercial power through starships helmed by an Executrix, a Kovaunn female selected by a Wounded Queen for her promising traits as a captain (this is how the player starts). Ultimately, Wounded Queens, in turn, may defer to a Dire Empress, one among them who has risen to power not only due to her combat prowess, but her political savvy in making alliances. The position, however, is highly unstable as assassinations, poisoning and genome specific phages are common throughout the Kovaunn Empire. A Dire Empress may also lose her place by failing ritual combat, failing to adopt a powerful rival into her clan (a political compromise) or failing a vote of confidence by the other Wounded Queens. This often results in a kind of instability where laws and rules change so frequently that outsiders have a hard time keeping up. Other aspects:

• Females are winged, but the gene has been excised from most males (concept model)
• Males have been reengineered into 3 different genetic castes: Laborer, Technician, Servant
• Males are forbidden the combat arts, especially the martial arts
• Kovaunn naturally have retractable claws, can spit poison and inject poison through a stinger on their tail. These traits have been removed for males, but amplified with nanotech among females.
• Most females maintain harems of males
• An Executrix must maintain an alliance of Brood Sisters composed of the engineering, support or bridge command staff and their harems. A Kovaunn ship is therefore democratic, like a pirate ship, and an unreasonable or weak Executrix can expect to “have an accident.”
• Overt warfare is the way of the male, and therefore inferior: Instead, ritual combat, stealth attack or subversion is preferable
• Defeated females are subject to mutilation by their rivals. (This is considered hideous, whereas scars are not). An Executrix may have the preserved body parts of her enemies on her wall, or worn as jewelry.

The Kovaunn are more developed, but I’d still appreciate comments, improvement, ideas for history or vignettes, or any other thoughts you may have. Is there anything that doesn't make sense, or is too derivative or unbelievable?

I hate to see such an excellent thread be viewed and ignored. Unfortunately, I don't have much to say. IMO you have a fairly well defined race. Can you give us a little more direction in terms of what you are looking for?

I have some random thoughts after reading through so thats what I will start with.
A large repressed population, being dominated by a small population of obviously different creatures. It sounds like the revolt tinderbox is just waiting for the spark.
From the picture and the description, it seems like you forgot the fire breath. What I mean to say is... Where is the princess to be rescued.... I mean where is the cave that they dwell in.
I don't think I would enjoy playing this race. But I am having trouble describing what I don't like.

I suppose one problem I am having is that they seem one dimensional. Are there no artists? Are there no pacifists? Who does the trading and how? This race almost seems like Darth Vader.

Quote: Trader: Ummm Miss Kovaunn.... There was a mixup in shipping. It's going to take another 4 hours to get here. I'm.... I'm sorry.
Kovaunn: I am sorry too. (flicks tail)
Trader: Gasp... Gurgle...

Okay, enough. Let me try using constructive critisism for a change instead of insulting your hard work.
Do the Kovaunn unite for anything? When the seigers attacked, were they presenting a united front, or did they sell each other out for personal gain?
Is there any sort of family bonding? Does the mother feel proud when her daughter defeats her in battle? Why would any of them want to bring more competition into this world? I notice that you mention clans. Could their society be similar in any way to that of the Clans in the BattleTech series Blood of Kerensky?
How could the political intrigues be involved in a story plot?

Basically, you have a well defined race. I have not seen how you will implement them, but I don't think they would be one of my first choices. However, do not let my opinion deter you. I can imagine that the more action oriented people would prefer this race.

Quote: Original post by Thermodynamics
Can you give us a little more direction in terms of what you are looking for?

You've given me exactly what I was looking for, which is basic impressions and any thoughts that come up for you when you hear about this race. Thanks!

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A large repressed population, being dominated by a small population of obviously different creatures. It sounds like the revolt tinderbox is just waiting for the spark.

Yes, I was hoping to create an environment for conflict. Many of the races I've been designing of late have turned out very bland and uniform when it comes to this area.

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From the picture and the description, it seems like you forgot the fire breath. What I mean to say is... Where is the princess to be rescued.... I mean where is the cave that they dwell in.
I don't think I would enjoy playing this race. But I am having trouble describing what I don't like.

It bugs me that they ended up looking very "dragonish." (This from a person that complains that all cRPGs are medieval. [smile])

I may have overdone this and made them far too Nazi like. That wasn't my intent. Honestly, my intent was to create a matriarchal race that blows away common stereotypes about women without falling prey to the classic politically correct role reversal (superbabes) common today. I also wanted a race that would play drastically different than humans: Paranoia, watching your back, making alliances, constant covert competition.

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I suppose one problem I am having is that they seem one dimensional. Are there no artists? Are there no pacifists? Who does the trading and how? This race almost seems like Darth Vader.

They ARE fascists, jingoistic and clannish. While they band together to deal with outside threats, I think they are a window into a society that has seen no Buddha or Jesus figures, very little compassion outside the clan, but still has managed to develop some very reasonable ethics, at least regarding large scale open warfare. Their poets and artists are probably symbolic painters that devote works to clan pride or victories. In this, they're much like the Spartans were in Ancient Greece.

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Okay, enough. Let me try using constructive critisism for a change instead of insulting your hard work.

Haha, I didn't take it as insult. (The Vader thing was actually pretty funny [grin])

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Do the Kovaunn unite for anything? When the seigers attacked, were they presenting a united front, or did they sell each other out for personal gain?

They Brood Sisters unite against common threats, which is how they've been viable and stable as an empire. When the Siegers attacked the Emir was in charge and martialed the planet's defenses through force of arms.

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Is there any sort of family bonding? Does the mother feel proud when her daughter defeats her in battle?

I didn't think about this specific scenario but I like it. Family bonding would be clan bonding. Covert but non-lethal competition would be present in clans; it's between clans that the really nasty cloak and dagger stuff happens. This might make clans run by ships more stable, but I don't know if that should be the exception or the rule in terms of gameplay (I think, again, it'd be interesting to play a race where you always have to watch your back).

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Why would any of them want to bring more competition into this world?

I think this is a social ethic. Social Darwinism raised its ugly head in human history, particularly during the 18th and 19th Centuries. Out of this you got eugenics and alot of social superiority crap. What I'm imagining here is if this system had taken hold.

btw, there's a great view of this in a movie with Rutger Hauer called Fatherland (premise: What if it were 1964 and Hitler had won WWII). One of the things it highlights is how socially acceptable you can make cruelty so long as it is seen as for the good of society. (Current laws against certain groups in order to defend moral values in American society is a perfect parallel example).

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I notice that you mention clans. Could their society be similar in any way to that of the Clans in the BattleTech series Blood of Kerensky?

I'm not familiar with this. I'll look around for some background material.

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How could the political intrigues be involved in a story plot?

Every race is supposed to have a empire goal subplot, though I'm not 100% clear on what it is for the Kovaunn. It may be something along the lines of a choice between installing a permanent Empress or freeing the male population. Not sure yet.

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Basically, you have a well defined race. I have not seen how you will implement them, but I don't think they would be one of my first choices. However, do not let my opinion deter you. I can imagine that the more action oriented people would prefer this race.

Thanks, as I said, this is good feedback. This race MAY be too harsh to play, but like you said, it would be aimed more at the action oriented people, who I imagine would be the same folks that want to run a human pirate ship. There's a certain level of expected amorality and competitive advancement (dog eat dog) in terms of gameplay, almost like Vice City players would expect.

Quote: Original post by Taolung
I think I'd like some more background on the change of power from the males to the females. I'm not quite following how they took control when they were outnumbered 5 to 1, and how they managed to subdue the males long enough to inflict so many changes on them.

It's long, but ultimately, the story is a very personal one of family intrigue, insanity, contraceptive poisoning and asteroid bombardment. (What more could you want? [smile])

Here it is if you're interested:



Chief among the founders of the new order was a Kovaunn who called herself Daughter of Knives. She was in fact a daughter of the mightiest Emir of the old patriarchy, and named herself in honor of her mother. Her mother, a concubine of the Emir, was savagely murdered by the Emir when she was a child, and she quietly vowed revenge. Appearing loyal to her father in every way as she grew up, the young Kovaunn had a gift for charm and made many friends in the court. Among them was the Emir's resentful youngest son, also quiet about his hatred of his abusive father. The two became fast friends, and he secretly taught her the forbidden knowledge of males: the arts of science and war.

The two young Kovaunn plotted against their father. Unfortunately, their ill-conceived plot unraveled, and the daughter's part was discovered (though not the son's). Finding her too well-liked and useful to kill, the Emir favored exile (under the guise of tutelege) to the asteroid mining camps, where she could be watched by one of his trusted administrators. There he would leave her until he could deal with her properly.

The Sieger onslaught, however, never gave him time. As the fighting engulfed the solar system and the Siegers fell on the home planet (whose large population acted like a psionic magnet), the Emir called up every able bodied Kovaunn. His most disasterous decision may have been to move most of the garrisons in the asteroid colonies, untouched by attack, to protect the capital. Technicians, administrators, and a handful of green troops were left to guard contingents of hardened criminals and would-be female revolutionaries, with the ratio almost 200 to 1 (many female).

The Emir's daughter seized on the situation. She had already made covert alliances amongst the female revolutionaries in the prisoner population, teaching them some of her martial and technical skills. She also had wooed the second in command, gaining valuable intelligence on the homeworld and colonies. At the right time, she persuaded the second in command to arrange an "accident" for the Emir's trusted minion, with the plan being that he would be promoted with her at his side.

But this was a ploy. When she had enough knowledge about the colony control systems, she found a way to inspire a bloody insurrection. The male prisoners overwhelmed the few guards and quickly siezed the main colony. Before he could act, Daughter of Knives dispatched the second in command and gained possession of the colony control codes. The toughest of the surviving male prisoners, weakened from the revolt, met the unfortunate fate of asphyxiation when they refused to yeild to her power. It would be the females, the Brood Sisters who revered Daughter of Knives, who would found the new order.

And they would do so mostly free of meddling by the Emir. In the wake of the Sieger attack the old regime found itself so mired in opportunistic insurrections and messianic movements that it's colonies were secondary. Daughter of Knives leveraged the intervening years to consolidate power, forging traditional marriage / brood alliances among defecting administrators and former slaves as well as supplying the Emir's enemies with war materials.

Yet the aging Emir was fast living up to his legendary reputation of cunning and cruelty. Operating from a hidden underground complex, he restored order with a mix of tactical nuclear strikes and poisons infiltrated into his enemy's food supply (for which he held the only antidote); the most widely deployed among these was an airborne contraceptive which promised to bring a swift end to any rebellious clan's bloodline. Thus the Emir would ensure loyalty among both subdued enemy and professed ally alike.

As the last holdouts fell, Daughter of Knives knew that the asteroid colonies would be next. She also knew that she was fast losing her one chance at revenge. If she were to act, she would have to act soon.

Her opening came when she learned that her old confidante, the Emir's once youngest and now only son, was alive. He had not succumbed to the Sieger attack as had been widely reported. Not only did he know where his father was, he wanted to help. With the Emir out of the way, he would be in a position to create a more diplomatic solution involving the colonies and the now subdued clans.

Daughter of Knives' bold plan was to be smuggled into the Emir's underground stronghold, right into the Emir's chambers. She carried with her the very ceremonial knives that the Emir had used to butcher her mother. With the help of the Emir's son, she would bring to a close the events that had shaped her and driven her to her quest so many years ago.

What she could never know, however, was that her brother had not survived the Sieger assault intact. Quite simply, he was insane. Instead of helping his sister, he betrayed his entire family and merrily arranged for his own death, courtesy of a two kilometer wide asteroid he convinced the Brood Sisters to drop on his father's base.

The base was obliterated. The Emir, however, escaped (though crippled) with a handful of staff and his son. When the Brood Sisters learned that they had been tricked into killing their beloved leader, they went into a rage. They decimated the remaining forces regrouping under the banner of the Emir, lapsing into the primitive and wasteful male way of war in their grief. The Emir was captured, some say hiding in a women's tent in the mountains, and left to starve to death in a cage as he was exhibited among the clans. His son received a more humane end, left to gibber away at shadows in a prison deep underground.

The Emir's brutality, his son's insanity, and his daughter's unintended sacrifice bequeathed the Brood Sisters a strange and unexpected legacy. Lost in the Emir's stronghold were the antidotes to the poisons he had used to keep order. Most vital among them was the liberally distributed airborne contraceptive.

Despite their momentary lapse of control, Daughter of Knives had taught her adopted Brood Sisters to be logical and rigorous. Observation and practicality conferred a tactical advantage. It was clear that the colonial population base was too small to survive on its own, and the planetside clans could not survive without female colonial DNA. Without cooperation, the Kovaunn race would become extinct.

Knowing this, the Brood Sisters, weilding their orbital superiority and technical edge over the planet below, transformed what had long been a curse of their existence--their gender--into a powerbase. Fertile females continued planetside clan bloodlines in exchange for the right to educate the children and free the female population. Over generations, the clan model of patriarchy was unwound. Resistant clans were simply left to degenerate and die out. Thus Kovaunn society was remade.

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On a more general note, it's my opinion that a race that relies on physical domination for control will have a difficult time developing the intricacies of technology and space travel. I think about the Klingons and how everything is decided by bloody battles. I can't figure out how they could have gotten much past the middle ages.

As much as I hate this quote, it seems appropriate (Simone Weil, I think): "In Switzerland they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock!"

As snide as this quote is, it does point to the idea that conflict generates invention. Many of the greatest technical advancements in society have come during periods of great war when one side is attempting to gain an advantage.

Having said that, any age where weapons can destroy entire populations and large swaths of land DOES provide some serious problems. I've tried to account for that somewhat by the adaptive nature of cities, the hearty Kovaunn constitution, and their underground networks.

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Or maybe everyone follows whoevers in charge out of fear and intimidation - a science lab will be run by a ruthless dictator, and work is done mostly out of a desire to not be eaten. The problem I see with this is that it isn't conductive to science. I imagine that a lab of scientists would be afraid to tell their superior the results of a failed experiment for fear of being beaten down or cast out.

Yes, I think they'd have the same problem that the Russians had with their moon lander program, where you get deaths, accidents and fires because people aren't willing to step up to the plate.

However I think ruthless capitalism would balance this out. Fear would be balanced with greed.

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Or maybe there are the few, rare Kovaunn's that aren't violent and enjoy research and study instead. They are shunned by the rest, but as soon as they've come up with something that's useful, it sort of gets robbed out from under them.

I don't think that a violent people would not have the patience for study. Rather, a reckless people (no matter their temperament) would I think have no stomach for the scientific process.

If you have a methodical approach that is very rigorous and exact, and if you have an appreciation for Truth with a capital T, I think you can still be martial and beh highly scientific.

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I guess I can see an odd combination of their physical domination model and science, where labs are in cut-throat and deadly competition with each other. Ownership of technology isn't decided by patents, but by whoever's left alive.

Yes this could work. If they have a "you're responsible for whatever happens to you" attitutude, then I see a very libertarian society (for the females) with lots of opportunity for free enterprise, even illegal activity. I wanted this to be reflected partially by the fact that the laws change constantly.

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But maybe I'm reading your race wrong. Maybe it's organized a bit more like a hive, and the only violence involved is with the Wounded Queen? Everyone else is basically subserviant and obeys without question?

Nah, I've already got a hive species where you are the ship. A playable hive as a drone would be pretty boring.

Quote: Original post by Taolung
Wow. That history is very well thought out, and it explains a whole lot of things. My questions are answered. Good job!

Thanks! With any luck such an implausible shift will spur the RPG player to research what happened, and maybe get into some related missions.

As usual, great stuff, but for once I'll allow myself a little criticism. I think the model you have is kinda, well, cute.
And honestly, it doesn't really fit with the background you give us here.
In fact, when I read matriarcal reptilian society, I immediately thought of another race I have seen before (I do that sometimes) in a RPG called Shaan : the Ygwans.
Check out a nice picture of what they look like.
Sure, you'd need big bad wings on a body like that, but I think scars would look better on them, no ?

:)

Quote: Original post by ahw
As usual, great stuff, but for once I'll allow myself a little criticism.

By all means, very much appreciated!

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I think the model you have is kinda, well, cute.

Part of this is my crappy modeling skills, but it raises an interesting question:

Should your race LOOK the same way that they are. Humans are violent warlike expansionists, yet we have smooth, rounded features. We lack the claws and fangs that ACTUALLY represent who we can be at our worst.

It may be a futile gesture, but I'd like to buck a few stereotypes. I won't expect you to accept killer teddy-bears, but I do need to challenge you.

I see this race as being low and squat, fast, good with the tail whip (when armed with a knife especially) and (if it could be modeled) great with the dive bomb. Now just because they're rounded doesn't mean they have to be cute.

(Maybe I should make a scary looking spikey angular race that is really, really soft-hearted and nice. ;>)

IMO characters and races should look like their personalities. That's not to say that you can't have a shy, tender-hearted cave troll, but you have to express its personality by giving it soft eyes, shy postures, and matching dialogue. With a race you can't really give it dialogue except through NPCs and books, so it's even more important that the graphics express the personality. Why don't you try looking at velociraptors and other running dinosaurs, they seem to be kind of like your race. Or look at the Kzin, this is like that race with the gender dynamic reversed.

Oh, and _The Last Hawk_ is a cool sf book with female leaders and male harems.

BTW I think it's cool that you're doing a matriarchy. I've designed two matriarchies and I have to say that yours looks nothing like either of mine, lol, but you have definitely made me curious to learn more about what males are like, what harem social dynamics are like, how nesting is handled, whether females try to find fiercer male mates because they want strong daughters and so work against their own genetic engineering, whether there are throwback smarter males, what females think about their sons, what kind of relationship females have with their sisters, how children are raised, etc.