Compilation: Playable Races' backgrounds (official info)

I have decided to gather in this thread the different background stories for the different races so far. This was done in an attempt to help organise information, thus allowing easier access to this data to those interested. (All the info below was taken from the monthly updates of this website's homepage, as well as from other official sources, such as the newsletter.)


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*Avians*
"Avian culture revolves around the worship of Kluex, the winged god of the Aether. Avians believe they were stripped of their wings as punishment for entering the mortal world and will only regain their wings in the afterlife should they achieve absolution through worship.Throughout their history Avians have always been a primitive race, making little scientific progress. Avian numbers were beginning to dwindle when a superior race took pity and bestowed the gift of advanced technology upon them. This new found tech allowed the Avians to flourish and spread across the universe, building temples of worship as they go.

Avians soldiers are trained from birth to be fierce warriors and will protect their temples at any cost. Avian weaponry may look primitive at first glance, but the incorporation of advanced technology makes them particularly formidable. Avian generals forge wings for themselves that function much like jetpacks.

Though rare, Avians have been known to stray from their religious culture. Dubbed the grounded, these Avians become outcasts and find solace amongst other races."


Extensive Avian Lore pdf - Their background story, timeline and planet explained in great detail. The origins of Kluex as well. Very interesting stuff!


Avian Intro Sequence



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*Apex*
"For millenia the Apex were close to human in appearance until breakthrough research into accelerated evolution led to the creation of the “Vestigi-Evo Process”. The VEP allowed the Apex to trade physical devolution for intellectual evolution.

The Apex operate under a collectivist regime controlled by the Miniknog (The Ministry of Scientific Progression). Each Apex dedicates his life to the survival and progression of the Apex as a whole. The nature of this regime allowed the VEP to be administered species wide in less than 10 years.

The most honored members of Apex society are those chosen by the MiniKnog to donate their bodies to furthering the VEP. Those chosen for the experimentation process are rarely seen again, but their names are said to be inscribed on the wall of the chosen which sits deep within the Ministry.

For a time the MiniKnog received criticism from several prominent Apex for what appeared to be a bias towards selecting only the poorest in society to be members of the chosen. This criticism was silenced however when the critics themselves were selected.

There are whispers of a rebel group ready to denounce the MiniKnog and lead the Apex into revolution. But in Apex society discussion of dissension is punishable by death.

Glory to the chosen!"


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*Florans*
"One would expect a race of sentient humanoid plants to be peaceful, nature-loving environmentalists – that presumption is what allows this hyper-aggressive tribal civilisation to thrive. Unwitting explorers are prey of choice to the carnivorous Florans, who frequently salvage or reverse engineer the technology they bring to enable their colonisation of the stars.

Introducing space travel to the primitive Florans had the undesired effect of Floran colonies spanning across star systems, each with their own customs and levels of aggression. Despite this, individual Florans have been known to split apart from their society to lead their own lives in isolation or in the solace of other races, at the cost of being cut off from the collective and considered enemies of all flora for good.

Though a unisex race, Floran culture values survival through reproduction and expansion over environmentalism or any percieved bond to Mother Nature. Cannibalism during funeral rituals and wars with rival factions are commonplace, though it remains unclear whether it’s out of conservation or simple tradition.

Their aggressive nature appears to be borne from a lack of a concept of non-plant life as opposed to outright contempt. Owing to their relatively young age as a species, this tenet dominates their culture and justifies their treatment of visiting races, though there are signs of some beginning to question this, implying that Floran individuals might not be inherently “evil” as previously thought."


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*Glitch*
"The Glitch were part of a program invented by an unknown race of enormous intelligence, they were built as a means of simulating the social and technological progress of a civilization.

These experiments took place in a vast number of regions across the Universe, despite changing a plethora of variables, each civilization eventually destroyed itself when its technological progression began to overtake its social progression. All but the Glitch.

For reasons unknown a fault caused the Glitch to become stuck early in the simulation, where they now remain. The experiment long abandoned, the Glitch are unable to shake their Medieval values and beliefs. They’re entirely unaware of their origin and are built to experience the feelings and desires of any other sentient organism.

The Glitch reproduce by finding a mate and physically building a new Glitch together. Occasional faults in this process has caused Glitch to be produced free from the limitations of their programming. Entirely self aware and full of advanced knowledge, these Glitch are generally thought to be insane and are hunted, imprisoned and executed.

Small numbers of faulty Glitch have managed to escape their homeworlds and set up villages amongst the Stars."


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*Novakids*
"Forged aeons ago in the fusion furnaces of a now-dead star, the Novakids are a perfect example of nature’s emergent beauty. These creatures, described by a human astronomer as “interstellar gas-bag people”, have no known single origin point: that information is long lost, as the Novakids have little to no desire to record their history, or even pass it on to their offspring. Though they are (generally) more intelligent and intuitive than the “fleshy” races, their attention spans are lacking – this does not make them any less effective in combat, but has the effect of restricting their technology research (and any groundbreaking research is forgotten within a few generations).

The force that drives the Novakids is contained within the brand on their faces. Charged with huge amounts of energy, these pieces of metal generate the hard plasma “shells” which stop their constituent gases from leaking – if a Novakid is depleted of his or her vital gases, the energy contained within their brand is instantly vented into the very fabric of spacetime, leaving only a twisted metal symbol and a nearly undetectable warping of light around the area of death.

Since the Novakids have a short memory (and attention span), diplomatic relations can be strained at times; because of their completely different composition to other lifeforms, Novakids are sometimes unable to grasp the nuances of interracial social interactions, and have thus attained a slightly dubious reputation amongst other races. In particular, an Avian diplomat reportedly described a Novakid he met as “dense”, and elaborated upon his statement by mentioning that the Novakid in question had cheerily asked him if his god, Kluex, was real."


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*Hylotls*


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*Humans*


Human Intro Sequence




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I'll update the list as more information is provided.

 

It's said that robots will have faster mining, hylotls will have faster swimming and gills, and humans will have more item space.

EDIT: What I said was not set in stone for the game, you can stop replying now.

 

It's about game mechanic, not background. Also this is not set in stone yet, just 'most probably'.

And Florans reproduces through butt rubbing, hehe...

 

Those things have been mentioned to be buffs granted by racial gear. This topic is merely focused in gathering and displaying the several background stories.

 

As said before, each race does not gain any racial benefits at all; they instead get different crafting recopies to start to make gear which can later be passed on to every other race. So therefore every race can be at equal stances end game because of this.

Butt rubbing is best way to reproduce.

 

wow thank you for the awesome info! Always wanted to see this. Wanna be apex now

 

*Humans*

From Earth. They have skin.

 

Good info. Very informative. Avians are best.

 

They should describe the humans from the point of view of another species. For example say something like "Humans are a curious species that originate from a small planet called Earth. Just recently they have adventured into space with the intention of figuring out if they were alone in the universe. They like to hold onto their beliefs and are easy to anger if challenged." (something like that, i'm horrible at describing a race obviously..)

 

False. These are forum rumors. All races will play exactly the same; there will be no bonuses.

As stated below, this is armor buffs. Playing as a Robot isn't any different from playing as an Apex, but each race armor provides buffs. So a Hylotl could wear Floran armor to get the buffs.

 

I agree that the description of the Human race in Starbound should be written in that style. However, I hope that they come up with an original (maybe even controversial, why not? ) story regarding them. Knowing Chucklefish, I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

 

Humans are from Earth.. The Unknown thing destroys the races' homeworlds.. Oh no!

 

PLAYER'S homeworld, not whole race's.

 

Oh. Well. Um.

 

I'm not sure if Earth will exist in Starbound's universe, actually. We'll have to wait and see what Chucklefish comes up with. :alien:

 

Well, since it could possibly be the Human player's homeworld........

 

List updated with The Glitch.

 

I think an Earth planet along with Earth's Solar System as Sun should be an Easter Egg in Starbound. Just like in Spore.

 

Updated with a link to the new Avian pdf.

By the way, I really loved Kluex's origins.

It's pretty interesting that he was merely a regular, though wise and strong, Avian who led the enhanced people and ended up being revered as a God. ^^

What are your thoughts on the new boost of Avian lore?