Having not read the Vorkosigan stories I didn't know to include them as another all human setting. Interesting.
As for the multiplicity of Aliens being D&D Races I expect you're right. Which is really a shame, since in a lot of SF (especially the SF that Traveller modeled itself on, and Star Trek for another thing with an RPG treatment) alien races aren't just collections of abilities. They're complex puzzles to be unravelled or (if a constant presence) a storytelling vehicle used to highlight fundamental commonalities and diffeerences between sentient species (or amongst humanity). The Integrated Bundle of Abilites option feels much more Scifi.
While I appreciate how the Star Trek RPGs have included stats on all the races so that the players could do, say, an all Klingon or all Ferrengi crew with a single off race outlier to mirror the source material I suspect that a lot of game groups apply either strategic considerations ("we need at least one telepathic race...") or personal dramtic ones (everyone wants to be the outlier) that produce menagerie crews.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-12-16 11:55 am (UTC)As for the multiplicity of Aliens being D&D Races I expect you're right. Which is really a shame, since in a lot of SF (especially the SF that Traveller modeled itself on, and Star Trek for another thing with an RPG treatment) alien races aren't just collections of abilities. They're complex puzzles to be unravelled or (if a constant presence) a storytelling vehicle used to highlight fundamental commonalities and diffeerences between sentient species (or amongst humanity). The Integrated Bundle of Abilites option feels much more Scifi.
While I appreciate how the Star Trek RPGs have included stats on all the races so that the players could do, say, an all Klingon or all Ferrengi crew with a single off race outlier to mirror the source material I suspect that a lot of game groups apply either strategic considerations ("we need at least one telepathic race...") or personal dramtic ones (everyone wants to be the outlier) that produce menagerie crews.