Sci-Fi Worldbuilding: Ofrian Sphere

Sci-Fi Worldbuilding: Ofrian Sphere

Here's a new species for my sci-fi setting. This one is a classic "rubber forehead" alien race.

Ofrian Sphere

Capital World: Ofria III.

Major Species: Ofrians.

Languages: Ofrian, Hands-Free Ofrian.

Culture Groups: Ofrian.

TL: 10.

Ofria III is a planet not unlike Earth, but with smaller oceans. Lush forests of tall trees used to cover the land, and the planet was home to a multitude of species. One species – the ofrians – have developed sapience and civilization, mastering the nature around themselves. Eventually, industrialization caused severe ecological damage, forcing the ofrians to adopt strict environment protection laws.

When an artificial object orbiting Ofria VII was detected, a space race between the most developed nations of Ofria started. This has increased the overall scientific progress, but also caused unrest and international tension. Eventually, the Arilan Confederation, one of the largest nations of the planet, managed to launch the first unmanned mission towards the unidentified object. The object was a malfunctioning automatic kabaun warship from the Domain of the Eternal King. While most of the technologies were too complex to reverse engineer, this allowed the ofrians to build their first FTL starships.

In the current times, the Ofrian Sphere is a large, but loose alliance of worlds, not unlike the United Solar Alliance. Ofrians can often be found on human, belarian, and basan worlds, as they all have similar habitability requirements and similar body morphologies. Ofrians try either to stay away from ecologically damaged worlds or to “resuscitate” them. Their intention to preserve natural wonders and prevent biosphere damage makes them get along well with fessamids.

OFRIAN [10] Advantages: Acute Touch 1 [2]; Flexibility [5]; Payload 1 [1]; Telescopic Vision 1 [5]. Cutaneous Chemical Sense: Detect Chemical Substances (Biological (Passive), -5%; Melee Attack, Reach C, -30%; Nuisance Effect, Must touch with palm of hand or sole of foot for full sensitivity, -5%; Reflexive, +40%; Touch-Based, Reversed, -20%) [8]. Disadvantages: Restricted Diet (Herbivore) [-10]. Perks: Long Fingers/Thumbs [1]. Quirks: Broad-Minded [-1]; Distractible [-1]. Natural Comfort Zone: 1°C - 32°C (35°F - 90°F), 1 atm., 1g, oxygen atmosphere. A clothed ofrian can be mistaken for a human from afar. Under closer inspection, one will see their elongated faces with two slits instead of a nose. Their skin color ranges from light brown to pale to bronze. Hair is typically very short, but ofrians living with other species have adopted different new hairstyles and often dye their hair. Ofrians have chemical sensors in their skin, especially the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet. They can taste chemical substances as if with their tongue; a Taste roll will detect unobvious tastes or judge concentration. An IQ roll can discern combinations of tastes. Over the general body surface, their chemical sense is more limited. They can recognize strong tastes, but not judge concentrations, and they can’t attempt an IQ roll. This quality makes cleanliness-related quirks and disadvantages very common among the species. Clothing with specific tastes can be bought on ofrian worlds. Ofrians have acute vision and touch. Ofrian language requires usage of both hands to gesture and mouth to speak. One can use only one hand instead of two, but this will drop the effective fluency level by one. In time, ofrians have developed a vocal-only language for workers and soldiers, who rarely have both hands free. Both of these languages can be learned by humans, although ofrians find short-fingered humans trying to speak their language funny. Digestive system of an ofrian cannot digest meat – ofrians are strictly herbivorous creatures. Alien food with strong taste (like oranges or belarian purplefruits) are considered delicacy. Ofrians are hermaphrodites. Like marsupials of Earth, they possess a pouch that can be used to carry newborns or some small items. Ofrians are a very spiritual people. While they have multiple religions, one of the most popular ones is fohoss (One Faith in Ofrian). Fohossites believe that there is only one Overgod and all other deities, including deities of alien faiths, and only its aspects that deserve equal veneration. Spiritualism of ofrians not only sometimes attracts aliens to fohoss, but also attracts ofrians to alien faiths. Sample Names: Maloss Tukalik, Falsis Kolombass, Fusoss Mahovak, Fenolis Vilas.