A Little Help, please?

[Legend]

Allright. So, I've finally been inspired as to what I want to write...however, I've been -over- inspired and I'm not sure which options I want to go with. So, I'm asking for opinions to help me make a decision.

The basic premise involves Space Pirates. They'll have a ship rather like a pirate ship and all that jazz, so it's not going to be like Star Wars/Star Trek with Pirates, it'll be more like Pirates with space thrown in.

My questions are thus:

Which types of aliens would you be most interested in seeing as the lead characters for such a storyline?

1) Humanoid Aliens-- these are like 90% of Star Trek races-- they're pretty much human, but often with some small differences, like the Ferengi ears, the Trill spots, or something like that.

2) Non-Humanoid Aliens-- these are closer to what you'd find on Star Wars-- they're less like humans and more odd. Admittedly, I'm not so good at designing these types of races, but if this interests people more, I can make an attempt.

3) Regular Human-type characters of different cultures-- These people would be just like those you find on the street these days, possibly with some very small additions (pointed ears, perhaps, maybe different skin/hair/eye colours, or at an extreme wings or some vaguely animalistic characteristics like cat ears or eyes or tails or something, but most likely without those)

What Type of Setting Are You Interested In?

1) Fantasy-like-- this would have mild sci-fi elements given they're in outer space, but would be much more similar to a fantasy setting

2) Modern-day-- this would add in some small fantasy and sci-fi elements, but be closer to a modern day setting.

3) Science Fiction-- this would be mostly science fiction, but possibly add in some fantasy elements (I can't help it, I love fantasy elements)

4) Other-- I've been playing around with possibly steampunk or something, but I'm not as familiar with these genres, so if I go that route I may need to do some more research and/or enlist help from those more familiar with the genre.

I will NOT do a completely modern-day setting. Modern day is boring.

Any other suggestions for things you might find interesting?

I like seeing what other people are interested in. I'm not saying "design my story for me!" but I might take elements of ideas you give me to use in it. By submitting your ideas, you're agreeing that it's okay for me to use them in what may eventually be a published work.
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[Reverend]

Hmmmm.....Well, as one of your big themes is pirating/outlaw/crimminal activity, looking to place that action in a more "historical science-fiction" could work well. What that would entail is playing up on the themes of that era.

Say you're interested in having this be a pirate crew similar to the late 1600's/early 1700's of our time. Perhaps a nearby solar system has been discovered and the current major powers in the established solar system are all jockeying for new resources. People who are fed up with their lot in life can set out for a shot at a new beginning. Should they survive they voyage.

Perhaps the arduous travel between solar systems makes higher technology less reliable, leading to more physical confrontations (Swords, etc.) Perhaps firearms are blasters, but are front loaded like a musket, or conventional firearms that shoot plasma shot. Use that feeling that a crew with a ship can dissappear into a new world and what they left behind.

I don't know if that would give you a start at all my wonderful twin sister, but it was what I could think of off the top of my head.

Oh, and I would say get your crew personalities down, if they are humanoid or not will come from after that. I could easily see the ship having a first mate everyone is deathly afraid of but looks closer to what other races would call "cute"

[Legend]

I already know the backstory as to how they all get together and all that jazz. To be honest, though, I want to figure out what sort of setting and races I'm looking at before I start forming personalities. This is because I have to create the cultures before I can create the people themselves.

[Reverend]

Ah.

Well, I vote the "Pirate Movie in Space" then. It worked with Star Wars, Firefly, and Cowbop Bebop to bring the western to space, so I'd say go the similar route.

[Legend]

So, you're talking keeping some historical accuracy/something similar to POTC and putting it in space? Or something else?

[Shino]

Rogue Galaxy.

I thought humanoid included all races with 2 arms and 2 legs pretty much.

For instance... General Akbar is humanoid, but Jabba the hut is not.

[Legend]

General Akbar is borderline. Technically I'd classify him in the non-humanoid category simply because the only trait he has that is humanoid is being bi-pedal, really. I could throw someone like him into the humanoid alien category, though.

[Reverend]

[Sperrit]

It sounds like your description of humanoid and and Human-type are really similar, just from a first reading. They both sound like humans with variations, which would be cool. Maybe you're thinking of it in different degrees.

Well, as far as setting and style, I'm not sure. Pirates pop up wherever there are ships so space pirates aren't a big leap. You could do a lot with it. I think that it really depends on what situation you put them in. Are they the outcasts/outlaws of a finite universe who are just tyring to live life in a way that suits them or are they frontier-men, searching along with everyone else to stake a claim in the new galaxy. You could go either way. Both would be interesting. I think that it really depends on the characters.

Join the Fun

[Legend]

*nods at Rev* That's kind of where my last character-race idea comes from, the idea of keeping them all on one planet with many different cultures, or perhaps several different planets within the same galaxy and traveling from planet to planet, similar to Rogue Galaxy (for Shino-sama and whoever else gets that) or to maybe Star Wars, as far as the planets-with-different-cultures thing goes.

The other idea is more of a Star Trek idea with many galaxies and tons of races, but it's so large scale I'm worried it'd get unwieldy. However, to have a lot of non-humanoid races, it'd probably be necessary, as the races within a same galaxy would probably be similar, and I do want at least one or two characters that are humanoid.