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uplift personality

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Fri, 2009-08-28 18:52

poobaed

uplift personality

My group has justfinished our second session of EP, and we have noticed that certain uplifts exibit certain personality traits in commen when roleplayed, the most notible being that octopus uplifts are alwasy grumpy and gruff, just like dwarfs in all fantasy settings from the lord of the rings, to D&D. Any thoughts on this phenomenom?

Sat, 2009-08-29 01:23

GregH

I can see it, not as them

I can see it, not as them being dwarfs but an innate holdover from their instinctual days. While they are curious they also are known to be fairly territorial and at times simply retreat and don't want to bother with you. They also have a knack for overcoming any obstacle to something they want which can translate to grumpy attitudes when denied. There may also be a sort of disconnect going on from their perspective... on average they live around 5 years (far, far less for most) and now some have transited to an existence that includes immortality and resleeving, it's possible that for them (with no thousands of years of cultural speculation on immortality to drawn on for consideration) that they may have some sort of varient of the "Immortality Blues". There may be something also to both Pivo and the Mercurial Scavenger's comments... a notion of an idylic existence within the ocean that man both physically (via the Fall) and metaphorically (via uplifting and the end of instinctive existence) has destroyed.

Mon, 2009-09-07 02:10

Admini

I'd say this phenomena is

I'd say this phenomena is probably singular to your game. Something that evolved from a first example, likely a played in an octomorph with that personality, at a guess.

Fri, 2009-09-11 09:47

Tearlach

I do lack more uplift fluff,

I do lack more uplift fluff, there is a few words on octomorphs, even less on the birds and nothing on the rest of them afaik. I know that an expansion will cover them, but I'd like atleast a little to work with.

Fri, 2009-09-11 10:39

Admini

I do lack more uplift fluff,

I do lack more uplift fluff, there is a few words on octomorphs

And those few words are the Autophagy mental disorder. Just what I always wanted my character to do... Eat his own appendages.

Fri, 2009-09-11 16:52

Tearlach

omnomnom, now I finally

omnomnom, now I finally understand why the japanese fished up so many of our ancestors ; _ ;

Omnomnom.

Fri, 2009-09-11 19:14

jackgraham jackgraham's picture

GregH is going in the right

GregH is going in the right direction by starting with the animals' natural behavior and extrapolating. I could also recommend David Brin's books, which influence our take on uplifts. Startide Rising not only examines Terran uplifts -- it portrays a number of alien species and their relationships with their uplifts.

As for the fluff (side note: me at 22 would have had such a bruised ego by the widespread use of this term; good thing I've grown up!), check out my accounts of the asteroid Ceres and the hab Mahogany in the Gazetteer. While not going too much into uplift society, they at least try to describe places where they live.

We generally portray Octopi as being one of the least human-friendly of the uplift categories. This is partly because of how humans treat them ("eew!" ... or even worse, "tasty!") and partly because their radical morphological differences from humans make it really hard for them to socialize well.

Avians, OTOH, don't have nearly as many issues, partly because humans tend to find them cute or at least non-threatening, and partly because their ancestral flocking and pair bonding instincts (contrast with the solitary/paranoid nature of octopi) make socialization much easier.

Personally, I don't have much to say about neohominids, but the chapter in the-supplement-whose-name-I-may-not-speak should cover them.

—

J A C K G R A H A M :: Hooray for Earth! http://eclipsephase.com :: twitter @jackgraham @faketsr :: Google+Jack Graham

Sat, 2009-09-12 19:09

Tearlach

Cephalopods are social

Cephalopods are social creatures; when isolated from their own kind, they will take to shoaling with fish.[6]

-Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopod

I do not know how true it is, but I found it an interesting quote nontheless.

Besides, would octopods be so scaredy? They eat sharks and doesn't afraid of anything.

Sun, 2009-09-13 22:16

jackgraham jackgraham's picture

My understanding is that

My understanding is that while this might be true of cephalopods generally (the Humboldt squid, f'rinstance, is a rather terrifying & fearless predator), it's not really the case with octopi, who are pretty into hiding from potential threats. But then, I'm not the one writing the new material on uplifts...

—

J A C K G R A H A M :: Hooray for Earth! http://eclipsephase.com :: twitter @jackgraham @faketsr :: Google+Jack Graham

Mon, 2009-09-14 07:46

#10

Tearlach

Apparantly, one diver who had

Apparantly, one diver who had interacted with Humboldt squids, said that they were more curious than agressive, when not feeding.

But yeah, octopodes seems to be more into personal space. However, since it seems they can learn from observing others it would make sense that they have some sort of social network.

Mon, 2009-09-14 17:38

#11

Tearlach

Thanks for pointing out where

Thanks for pointing out where I could dig btw, it wasn't much but it is nice to know that there are actual independent octomorph colonies (and that not every one of them is owned by a corp).

Sat, 2009-12-12 08:12

#12

knasser

Re: uplift personality

Just adding for interest a pre-gen I have for my upcoming game. Its an Octopus uplift that is noticeably influenced by its heritage. It is a stealth / assassin style character. He has vacuum sealing purely because I love the image of him drifting silently outside a space station. He is into snuff sexual XPs (octopuses die after mating) and an all-round scary non-human character. I think given what a wonderful idea uplifts are, it's a terrible shame not to capitalise on their role-playing potential.

—

"We're here to save the planet. But not for free."

Mon, 2010-03-01 19:52

#13

killj0y

Re: GregH is going in the right

I'm going to point out another intresting source for Corvid ideologies. It's not as appropo as some other sources but it's the only book I know of that takes on the idea of human level intelligence in ravens. Breedbook: Corax from White Wolf Publishing has always been an intresting read into the minds of a non-human non-mammal. I'm betting only the first 2 or so chapters of the book would be much good but it beats the DND reference to a corvid ideology which would be the gnome/kender.

Mon, 2010-04-05 07:06

#14

GreyBrother GreyBrother's picture

Re: GregH is going in the right

I agree with killj0y and would recommend the other Breedbooks as well, though there are no Weremonkeys and Wereoctopi (latter is a sad fact but okay to me). I'm not much familiar with uplifting as a concept, but which species can be uplifted? Is there some kind of No Go or is it theoretically possible to uplift every kind of animal life? What about plants?