/tg/Station 13

The species roster on /tg/ has seen some developments over the years: some interesting, some not so much. This got me thinking- why not replace one of the more boring species with one that's got some character? I present to you: an idea for amphibious race.

Mechanics: Their specialties are simple. They don't slip on water puddles, but they need to drink water (or spritz themselves with some mist) every several minutes or they'll start to "dry out". Drying out increases vulnerability to brute damage, and if untreated for a long time, inflicts brute and oxygen damage until death or rehydration. As with most other species, they have a unique language.

Appearance: This is the fun part. They can look like pretty much anything. Catfish? Salamanders? Sharks? Mermen? Kappa? The plausible variety of facial features and interesting colours an amphibious species could have is endless.

Some images, for inspiration: Fluff/Lore: They could be an alien species or a genetically engineered variant of humans meant for underwater mining and construction. I personally favour the alien idea, with these guys hailing from a highly imperial, stratified society with old-fashioned ideas about etiquette and a monarchic view of the station command structure. Lots of wiggle room here.

Honestly, I love this idea so much that I'd code and sprite it myself if I weren't busy with so many other projects. So here ya go, forumites. Do feel free to drop suggestions/ideas down below.

I'm down with it as long as I can name one foo fighters

Shadowflame909 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 8:49 am I'm down with it as long as I can name one foo fighters

That's another thing. What sort of naming scheme would they have? Would be interested to hear ideas.

Would be funny if there was a optional negative trait that forced them to wear a water suit or a fishbowl helmet for the dry out bit.

This rules I'd love to be a fish

JusticeGoat wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 7:14 pm Would be funny if there was a optional negative trait that forced them to wear a water suit or a fishbowl helmet for the dry out bit.

I admit that this image was kind of what inspired the idea, but I didn't want them to be too similar to plasmemes. Despite this, the idea of a fishman freaking out because some assistant on a skateboard cracked his fishbowl makes me smile ear to ear.

TheSmallBlue wrote: ↑Sun Nov 13, 2022 6:56 am This rules I'd love to be a fish

It must be a spiritual connection with our fish ancestors from millions of years ago

Fluff/Lore: They could be an alien species or a genetically engineered variant of humans meant for underwater mining and construction. I personally favour the alien idea, with these guys hailing from a highly imperial, stratified society with old-fashioned ideas about etiquette and a monarchic view of the station command structure. Lots of wiggle room here.

I like the lore. I wouldn't mind getting some more Stellaris-like flavor for SS13.

As for ideas: If they are not wearing a wetsuit they should regularly have to get water to moisturize their skin.
Also maybe a deep sea nightvision-variant species exclusive trait which in return screws with their eyes in bright like areas like shadowpeople.

i can not support any new races until we get Snailiens roundstart.

I don't want to be stoned to death but I might be of the unpopular opinion that having an aquatic race in space would be a thousand times cooler than having humans with cat ears and tails.

I really like the idea of them needing water every certain time to not dry to death, with the option to use a suit with water in it (and yes, a fishbowl on their head).

Maybe they could be more resistant to cold but way more susceptible to heat and fire cause it dries them.

The first thing that came to my head when thinking on name conventions was a two part name with one part being any colour. Don't ask me why.

I think they should be less resistant to cold since their water freezes, and more resistant to fire since it's kind of hard to burn wet things.

Their names should also be something fishy, pun intended because the pun is literarily the naming convention. IC justification: things sound weird when your head is underwater.

ChristopherRobin wrote: ↑Mon Nov 14, 2022 1:04 am I think they should be less resistant to cold since their water freezes, and more resistant to fire since it's kind of hard to burn wet things.

Their names should also be something fishy, pun intended because the pun is literarily the naming convention. IC justification: things sound weird when your head is underwater.

When they get hot enough the water boils them into a nice snack for the crew to eat also when deep fried it gives a moodlet?

I don't think races operate on a one-in-one-out system, you can just add more if you have a good enough idea that the headcoders like it
It's just that nobody has good ideas and only suggest animal people


A milder form of what plasmamen have might be fun but you'd probably want to avoid the horrible problem plasmamen have of terrible fashion on account of only being able to wear a small subset of items.

I have an idea for their say_mod string:
When they talk, they "gargle". When they yell, they gargle loudly. When they whisper, they gurgle softly.

If we eventually add talking sound effects, one of us can just fill our mouths with water and we got ourselves as many royalty-free sound effects as we please.

I'm making a Murloc

Love this idea.
Vulnerable to fire / heat as mentioned. The need for refreshing themselves with water if they don't have their suit on every 20 minutes or so?
The fishbowl helmet is an excellent idea. They don't need oxygen either.

Oh and vulnerable to fishing rods like moths are vulnerable to the fly-swatter?

Oh and the names should be something blubbery and gurgling sounding...

You could add an option to the control panel of Hygienebots that makes them drench any dried out fishpeople they spot.

space axolotl when