Race Meet the Phobe (or Geist) "The Halloween Race"

Discussion in 'NPCs and Creatures' started by Cruxifer, Dec 16, 2013.

  1. Cruxifer

    Cruxifer Subatomic Cosmonaut

    I imagine not, like some of the foods that exist now, I am certain that depending on your race and the type of food you're eating that you will gain or perhaps even lose a specific amount of hunger. Such as with the Apex banana and the Ocumelons, these state explicitly that they will probably make anyone besides Apex (In the case of the banana) and Floran (In the case of the Ocumelon) sick. If this is the case, the starting difficulty for a Phobe might be slightly higher than that of other races who might find a greater nutritional value in the alien meat, the food they will mostly likely first obtain. That isn't to say that plants, biomes, and other naturally occurring sources of "sugar" foods won't exist. Such as the Neonmelon, which would be richly nutritious for a Phobe.
     
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  2. Zaisher

    Zaisher Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    I love it though I was thinking more on the comb- TWO MODES one for scout one for a weak explosion
     
  3. Cruxifer

    Cruxifer Subatomic Cosmonaut

    Not a bad idea, though that would involve a complexity I would like to avoid. However, multitasking is also a good way to keep a player involved and focused, depending. Myself as an example, if I am not multitasking, I become somewhat lethargic. Doing and focusing on only one thing at a time is honestly quite boring to me.
    I think I would rather leave both of those ideas as completely separate concepts to be handled by someone else, I believe even light drones have already been covered in mods, quite "brilliantly" so might I add. ;)
    (I apologize for taking roughly five months to respond but yes, I am still around, and still refining this concept behind the scenes. :lickitung:)

    I am well aware of where this concept fits and am also aware that someone else will very likely do it much better than I have before all hallows eve, which honesty, I expect to happen.
     
  4. Tatterdemalion

    Tatterdemalion Phantasmal Quasar

    I've just been a lurker on the forums for the longest time, but I just have to come out of the woodwork to say that I love this race! The way I'm picturing it, their clothing would be very quirky and flashy, using bright colours such as acid green, purple, and orange, with black as the primary accent. I'm seeing them as performers reveling in darkness and spookiness. Sort of like The Nightmare Before Christmas meets a Venetian carnival. I can imagine small towns and villages of other races receiving unexpected visits from traveling Phode troupes, having one crazy night of debauchery and magic, and then they've disappeared the next day, leaving no trace.
     
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  5. Cruxifer

    Cruxifer Subatomic Cosmonaut

    I've been working on this race for awhile (mostly contemplation and second guessing) and though I am please with the concept itself I believe my design and execution are quite lacking in this instance. You did in essence capture the spirit that they are largely designed to represent. I suppose their overall theme, at least how I imagine the player to see them from the position of an observer, would be a lighter take on dark or sinful pleasures. Not all Phobe are like this though and can often be quite prude, miserly, paranoid, and so on.

    My mind is a bit of a trap for chaos and the thought of scrapping this idea and rebuilding it from the ground up has more than once crossed my mind, though as I tour these forums I stumble across race after race that already fits the description of what I would have attempted to design next.
    I think my primary peeve with this race is the masks themselves. The masks complicate things in a certain way, at least in my mind they do, unless I remove the idea that they are masks as much as faces. Seeing the masks as faces rather than an accessory helps significantly and is how they should be perceived.

    I suppose I could do a living cloth/fabric/fiber race, call them "The Woven" or something. I've had a variety of ideas up to this point but this one is the most "me" of them all.
    Perhaps another anthropomorphic race.

    See, the way I see it, you can theme races, or at lease they are themed largely on the following sub-types:

    Animal
    Humanoid
    Material (Crystals, goo, flesh, metal, etc.)
    Energy (Cosmic, spiritual, magnetic, natural, etc.)
    Element(al) (Fire, water, air, earth, etc.)

    Sometimes combinations of the above, human and animal/aberrant/alien percentages (How human or animal they appear), often vary greatly. These are of course off the top of my head and subject to expansion and or simplification but that's the jest I receive.
    Somewhere in there is the perfect formula for a race, but no matter how "perfect" it can be or is perceived as being, without the proper execution or reception it will fall into darkness.

    ... Boy howdy, I trailed off into a rant there.
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2014
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  6. Omega 3

    Omega 3 Void-Bound Voyager

    This is the best race suggestion I've seen so far. In love with the theatrical idea, they should always talk either mysteriously (How does it feel to be.. nevermind.) or in big carnival voices (Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!)! Keep up the good work!
     
  7. Cruxifer

    Cruxifer Subatomic Cosmonaut

    Thank you, though I hardly believe that it is the best suggestion so far, and you're right, it's supposed to be both or either.
     
  8. Zaisher

    Zaisher Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    ok i honest to goodness thinks this is a better post than the novakid post and if your race is not made canon i will mudeer my entire neighborhood
     
  9. Cruxifer

    Cruxifer Subatomic Cosmonaut

    Again, thank you. You give me too much praise. I can see the problems with my concept and have at great length been trying to sort it out without sacrificing too much. Really, it's just me though.

    Furthermore, you shouldn't murder your entire neighborhood.
     
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  10. fernworrier

    fernworrier Giant Laser Beams

    i love this idea as much as i love the avali race. btw what would your race and the avali think of each other?
     
  11. Zaisher

    Zaisher Scruffy Nerf-Herder

    so.......its probably a GOOD thing it wasn't MY neighborhood the first time then?
     
  12. rhomboid

    rhomboid 0118 999 881 99 9119 725... 3

    I guess no one's mentioned it yet, but you've got the title saying "Phode" instead of "Phobe" and I definitely clicked because it sounded like chode lol.
    You've got a good thing going here though, typos aside. The masks look venetian to me.
     
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  13. L. F. Oxidizer

    L. F. Oxidizer Pangalactic Porcupine

    Your suggestion is top-notch, great job!

    Kind of reminds me from that series, The Mask. Actually, this could make for a good story!
     
  14. Cruxifer

    Cruxifer Subatomic Cosmonaut

    I cannot speak for certain how they would interact, for quite some time I have been a fan of that race though, their technology especially. I can say being nomadic and hunters that they would likely have friendly, if brief, interactions with the Avali. Considering the nature of the Avali these interactions would probably consist mostly of trade and lodging with a touch of trepidation over their advanced, near singularity, technologies. The Phobe know all too well what eldritch things can happen when a civilization, or in this case nomadic peoples, reaches the point of technological singularity.

    That's the general idea and I do apologize for any errors. I tend to type a lot very quickly and despite this my brain often gets ahead of my fingers. Usually I go back and proof read what I've written several times, a process that can take hours, before and after posting it... I am actually surprised that such an oversight made it past me, and for so long...

    Edit: Fixed.
     
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  15. creca

    creca Big Damn Hero

    Pretty good idea ( for some reason I'm imagining a bunch of them dancing either to "this is Halloween" or "spooky scary Skeletons". Honestly both wold be hilarious)
     
  16. Warped Perspectiv

    Warped Perspectiv Pangalactic Porcupine

    I feel like their evolutionary background doesn't match their lore background (or at least the inspiration of Halloween, from the looks of it).
     
  17. Cruxifer

    Cruxifer Subatomic Cosmonaut

    How so? Their current cultural origins come not from evolution but an unfortunate circumstance that rendered their entire species "ghosts" devoid of memories. That said, the Phobe are portrayed as having a strong connection to "spooky" and "strange" things such as quantum energy, phenomenon that cannot be outright explained or completely understood.

    I know that it is not as well constructed as it could have been but I believe that my explanation in the OP, if vague, is adequate. Though, it is noted that I have considered going back and editing the race from the ground up. I have considered starting from scratch more than once but I figure at least one major factor into this equation, the Phobe will probably never be an official or mod race.

    As of now, the timeline goes;

    >Advanced space fairing (Limited to their solar system) human-like civilization.
    >Experiment gone awry kills everyone in the solar system, focus in particular on the homeworld.
    >Side-effect leaves them separated from their bodies, between "life and death".
    >These phantoms retain rudimentary instincts such as a longing for food and warmth but no other tangible intelligence.
    >Their cities crumble, becoming haunted ruins. The flora and fauna who were also effected manifest in new twisted ways.
    >After an unspecified length of time Jack appears with the first blank masks. (Jack seems to be one of the only Phobe with memories of prior to the experiment.)
    >Thanks to the technology of the masks they are able to reclaim their sentience but not their memories.
    >The masks integrate with their forms so completely that it becomes a vital "organ".
    >The masks reflect some semblance who they were in life and show to some extent their current state of mind.
    >It works like an exchange amplifier, giving and taking information, and magnifying that information several times over. This mechanic leaves them vulnerable to traumatic stimulation, which in their case can lead to grotesque transformations of both their bodies and masks, resulting from either emotional or physical distress.
    >The return to borderline mortality requires some form of sustenance, namely oxygen and glucose.
    >When a Phobe dies they leave only their mask/face behind and disperse.
    >Their masks can theoretically be used to reconstitute them post-post-humus.
    >To combat the inherent instability, their culture, largely under Jack's direction, rapidly developed into a carnival-like hierarchy driven society. If one can imagine for a moment the two sides of the Shiver Isles, every Phobe displays some degree of madness. Curiously it is this "madness" that keeps them stable.
    >This lead to corruption among the candy barons who exploited Jack's genetically engineered candy crops and began using false scarcity to control the population.
    >War would end up breaking out between the rich and the poor throughout the system over control of the food production.
    >Somewhere in there the Floran would attempt an invasion to disastrous effect to themselves.
    >The first Phobe children are born and emerge from their mother's wombs with masks already "affixed". Their masks look noticeably less technological. (Decided to just throw this one in there. When I said that the masks integrated completely, I really meant it. It is unclear as to whether or not this "evolution" will continue.)
    >You are a refuge from the war, having barely escaped a crossfire, or something.

    It's a tad convoluted and probably somewhat inconsistent but it makes sense to me. Then again I'm also really bad at explaining things. I mean, I could just say, "Hey, they're ghosts. What more do you need to know?" rather than actually try and explain how I came to the conclusions that I did regarding their race and culture.
    The Phobe are sentient ectoplasmic beings with hard faces. Those "mask-like faces" and "coat hanger shoulders". ;)

    This would not be an inaccurate portrayal of the Phobe in general.
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2015
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  18. creca

    creca Big Damn Hero

    I know it's inaccurate, in fact it's the equivalent of a person thinking that arachnioid females eat the males just because their a race of spider people, but it's strictly for humorous purposes, not for cannon, it's just so silly I couldn't resist but to think of that, for humor of course( although you have to admit it would be silly, not probable, but silly none of the less)
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2015
  19. Cruxifer

    Cruxifer Subatomic Cosmonaut

    I said it would not be inaccurate, a double negative you see. (I was agreeing with you. :hylotl:)
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2015
  20. creca

    creca Big Damn Hero

    Oops, well none of the less it would be funny wether accurate or not. Next time I should read more carefully
     

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