Name: Veynoba (pl. Veynoba) Mock-up sprites, credited to Aey Extremely rough sketch of their head done in MSPaint, by myself Physiology: Veynoba are a race of insect-based humanoids. Their "skin" is a shiny carapace that comes in shades reminiscent of various insects, such as black, yellow, brown, red, green, and so forth. They have tinted large compound eyes, with the color varying between individuals. On the sides of their mouth are tiny pincers, and instead of hair they sport antennae or beetle-esque horns. Living most of their life underground in caverns and tunnels, Veynoba have greater capability to see in the dark, an impeccable sense of direction, and an uncanny ability to scavange resources. Society: The theme of this race's is Victorian Industrial. The males wear suits and gentlemanly clothing, and the females wear fancy dresses and royal attire. The race has a fascination, bordering on obsession about harmony from efficiency and reliability. Every member of Veynoba is meant to do their part, to operate like a gear in a large, complex machine. This love of gears and clockwork also extends into their technology, giving their ships and gear a Steampunk feel to them. They are excellent at making automatons for the assembly-line type of work The society is very similar to the British monarchy, there's a single queen Veynoba, with several ranks of nobles and royalty branching out from it. The race has a very strict class system, and like many colonies of insects, the females are the more dominant of the sexes, occupying a vast majority of the upper class, while the males are lowly workers and drones. The player characters of this race are trying to break free of this monotony and establish their own individuality. Being an industrial society, the Veynoba became space-faring in order to gain access to the near boundless resources of other planets to grow their industry. They rapidly spread through numerous system, setting up colonies, mining outposts, and trade routes at breakneck speeds, although their hasty expansion and harvesting led to devastation of ecosystems on many of those planets Role: Veynoba have differing role depending on which class they're in: lower class individuals are resource miners, factory workers and servants, while middle and upper class are merchants, shipping and selling the goods the lower class mass produce. Relations: Being a very social race, Veynoba find it extremely easy to cooperate and work together with the groups they're in. Anyone outside of that group, however, is treated much less cordially. Apex: Veynoba relations with the Apex are on the whole friendly, although a particular Veynoba's view on the rebellion will often vary on their class. The upper class will tend to side with the Miniknog, the lower class with the rebellion, while the merchants have no leaning one way or the other, sometimes even trading with both sides at the same time. Floran: Floran to most Veynoba are nothing more than uncultured butes, and are viewed with a mix of disgust and condescension. However, Floran-invaded planets are rather profitable places for Veynoban colonies, as Floran hunting tends to minimize the threat of the planet's wildlife, and aside from the Floran themselves, there are virtually no other civilized races to compete for resources with. Because of this, Veynoba have learned how to deal with Florans to a certain degree. Hylotl: Veynoba see the Hylotl as one of the few truely cultured civilizations, besides themselves. It's for this reason that they are on better terms with the Veynoba than any other race as a whole, being a major trading partner with their merchants Glitch: Due to their interest in machinery and automatons, Veynoba have a sort of fascination with the Glitch. One can occaisionally find a Glitch in the service of a Veynoba as a laborer or servant, although they often are payed and respected more than the Veynoba they work with. Avian: Veynoba generally avoid contact with Avians, considering their religious traditions backwords and overzealous. They have few qualms other than that, so they may interact with a grounded community every once in a while. Structures: Veynoba settlements consist of two sections: one section partly aboveground consisting of a few large, elegant houses, and the other a ways underground with factories and many tiny living spaces
Diggin' it. I would totally roll a dapper bug gent, for sure. Definitely could picture this race fitting in super well.
A set of butterfly/dragonfly wings as a technological upgrade later on that allows for short bursts of flight, or the beloved double jump. I could get behind it, especially if it came with an awesome 'hive race' background.
What exactly do you mean by "hive race"? A race with a hive mind, or one that mainly lives in hive-like communities?
Hive-Mind is the obvious choice in terms of race mentality for a bunch of bugs! Go the opposite route! Follow your industrialist aesthetic to its bitter end! Make them super driven by independence & self-reliance! A race of bug creatures who are only interested in their own personal development! Exclamation marks!
It would be cool to see how their lore would affect the plant race people. Enemies or co-inhabitants of the same ecosystem?
Yeah, I'd rather not go the route so traveled it has a foot-deep rut in it by making the Veynoba a hive-mind, but I do want them to be at least somewhat group-focused. I guess it's just finding the right balance. Also, I've added a little bit about what their planet-side structures would look like in-game.
A great time for these guys would be the 1950s. By that i mean that they posess modern tech but it doesnt have as great a influence
I dunno, I think turn of the century would better fit them. Any examples of how this manifest in the game?
Well, you got this race well thought out in text... now you need concept art. After that, get some sprites done. It'll be grand! But... it can't become a reality as either a mod or a part of the game without those things. Keep working on this idea. The concept of insects with a system that resembles tiers of nobility for society seems what insects would be like if they became intelligent sentient beings In Real Life. Formicidae and Vespidae families of insects already possess the basic concept of civilization in spite of being simple primitive beings IRL, they do farm (ants farm both other insects,plants, and fungus while the other work with only plants), have a social caste (based on birth), perform both war on other 'kingdoms'(hives) and 'civil wars' (rulership dispute amongst ants and such involve two noble pairs fighting and hive members choosing sides amongst the chaos, quite fascinating).
I made a very rough sketch of the Veynoba head in paint. And by "rough", I mean you could use it as sandpaper. I'm sorry for the terrible quality. Like I said, I'm no artist.
Steampunk bugs. I like it. I would love to see this in the game or as a playable mod. Flesh out the lore a bit more, including common responses to the other races! I was bored and threw together some mockup sprites for you. P.S. Throw these at the top of your post if you like them, or near the top, and credit me near the bottom. Folks like to look at shiney things, and even I find myself scrolling through these race posts for images before bothering to read anything. ^^
Wow, thanks a lot! These are actually pretty close to what I had in mind for them. And I added them to my title post
Say, by your initial concept, they reminded me of Kamen Riders or Masked Riders. I think you are probably going towards Japan's take on The Fly, Shin Kamen Rider. (image courtesy from TOEI and the Kamen Rider wikia site)
The eyes and mouth shape are actually spot on to what I imagined them to be. Imagine that thing with the antennae higher up, without the thorns on the forearms, and with the skin more plate-like, smoother, and really glossy. That's what I picture them to look like.
Again, from the Kamen Rider [franchise]: (source: doneplay's deviantart) Thicken its platings, I think we'll be this close?
