In my science fiction RPG adventures,I often have alien characters or NPCs. The Star Trek universe is full of aliens, most of the “rubber-forehead” variety; i.e. an alien species only one or two facial features away from humans. Star Wars got a bit away from that trope and brought on humanoid aliens that look like humans in shape but are nothing like us. The Third Imperium setting for Traveller RPG introduced a version of humanoid aliens with the Vargr. Playing Classic Traveller was where I first ran into the concept of an uplifted species. As much as I read about them, I never actually played an uplifted character.
In several Ships of the Clement Sector stories, one can find uplift characters so I understood that they were part of that setting. Gypsy Knight Games has now released The Wondrous Menagerie: Uplifts in Clement Sector. This lavishly illustrated 82-page sourcebook lays out the good, and the bad, of uplifts in the Clement Sector. Wondrous Menagerie provides background for how uplifts are treated or dealt with in the four Clement sectors and the colonies. Many uplift species are detailed with some more suitable for NPCs while others could be used as Player Characters.
When generating a character, the player is immediately forced to deal with three broad legal status’;is the uplift a slave, free but segregated, or totally free (living in a mixed community)?
Yes, your character may be a slave. There is even an Uplift Slave Career detailed within the book.
At first this bothered me; I don’t want to play a slave! However, as I read on I was challenged by the author. John Watts very thoughtfully added an Author’s Note at the back of the book. Within this note, Mr. Watts makes observations as to how he has seen uplifted characters played in the past. He talks about uplifts as comic relief and uplifts as combat driven characters. He then talks about uplifts in the Clement Sector, and the opportunities the setting gives players to explore “more serious undertones” of racial bias and prejudice. He also offers the challenge of playing uplifts through method acting.
Few games offer a “series undertones” approach like GKG is offering here. Even Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars Edge of the Empire Roleplaying Game, set in the (now decanonized) Dark Times -era with its speciesism mostly avoids that element of the setting in the core book.
For some, the good news is that you can play uplifts in Clement Sector without the serious undertones. But if you want a challenge, then take the one Mr. Watts offers.
Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 