Favorite Solar Echoes Alien Races (part 2)

Matthew, my friend and the co-author of the Solar Echoes game, emailed me about his favorite alien. He wrote: “My favorite Solar Echoes alien is probably the Archaeloids, though they are all interesting races with cultures that mesh well together in a roleplaying game. The Archaeloids are a prime example of how a book should not be judged by its cover, but on multiple levels. On the one hand, they are physical hulking and mighty creatures with strange bodies and an aquatic origin that is utterly alien to not only people who play Solar Echoes, but the other races in the game. In short, they appear disturbing and dangerous. On the other hand, they are often gentle giants that face many challenges integrating into the community of alien races because of their unusual nature, remote home-world location, and need to catch up to the technology advances of the other races. But aliens, like people in real life, can have many layers to them, and Archaeloids are well suited for this role. Those who don’t know them assume that they are big, dumb, and deadly. Those who do know their race assume they are relatively peaceful and perhaps a bit innocent or even backwards. But reality could be anywhere in between or something else entirely. A mighty, battle-hungry Archaeloid warrior as a player character would be unexpected – as would be one who is skilled at manipulating others by using the seeming innocence of his race as an advantage. And an Archaeloid villain – cruel, cunning, and as deadly as his physical bulk would indicate – is something nobody would expect. So, for interesting variety and a race with many layers, some of which are easily understood, some of which are not, I’d go with the Archaeloid as my favorite alien race in Solar Echoes.”