# Runthrough for Species Template

This document has been created to outline certain questions that need to be answered regarding new species for the pills lore. Answering these questions can help the lorecrafters and the loremaster gain valuable insights into the inner workings of a specific species, how they fit in with the larger universe, and most importantly, how they can be used in conjunction with new ideas and developments for the lore. When creating a species, try to answer each of the questions listed in this template as fully as you can, don’t worry about writing too long, these templates have been designed mostly to get as much information about your lore contributions as possible, and they can be condensed later as your ideas develop.

Working through these questions as a whole can also help you gain greater perspective on what you’re creating, chances are you may encounter questions here that you didn’t think of before, or find answers that open up new possibilities for your species.

For brevity, you could just answer the first three questions and come back to the rest of the questions later. The first three questions give the most rounded idea of what your species is, but it’s recommended to answer all of the questions. You’ll also find specific examples along with the questions to help demonstrate the kind of answers being looked for (these sample species have no connection to the pills lore at the moment).

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### What is the name of your species?
This question is fairly straightforward, what are you calling your species and why? Sometimes a name is just a name, but if you have any background to the formation of your species name, this is the perfect place to state it! There’s some quick examples below:

* The Clank — The name is just a name, there’s no background, I just thought it was an apt way of describing my species.
* The Aromin — The name is actually a derivative of the word ‘aroma’ because this species primarily moves through life with their sense of smell.

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### Can you sum up your species in a single sentence?
Treat this single sentence like a blurb, describe both the species and give their intentions. The idea behind a single sentence description is to be able to give a very quick impression to those that haven’t heard about the species before, it sums them up for others to gain a quick understanding. Provided below are a couple of examples:

* The Clank are sentient space rocks that build themselves bodies out of the debris from ancient space battles.
* The Aromin lack all senses except for their ability to smell and their society is completely built upon aromas, including a sophisticated network of smells that functions as a superior communication network.

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### What does your species look like?
Another question that is self explanatory. Feel free to go as in-depth as you like here to really give an impression of what your species looks like. As a tip, it’s always helpful to compare aspects of your species’ appearance to a well-known animal. Provided below are a couple of examples:

* The Clank look like crude machines or piles of junk brought to life; they are formed completely of mismatched parts that have been haphazardly smashed together. They shouldn’t work, by all appearances, and yet they do. The Clank come in many forms, some are simply slug-like piles, while others become more humanoid and sophisticated in their movements.
* The Aromin have spindly bodies and elongated heads that end in several dog-like noses, they walk on all fours and mostly keep to the ground like a stalking panther. They’re covered in black lizard-like scales that flare with an orange energy and they make no discernable noises as they move.

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### What are the defining traits of your species? What makes them different from others?
There’s a good chance you may have already stated your defined traits when you summed up your species in a single sentence, but now is your chance to expand upon those defined traits and go into the granular details of how they have those specific traits, and perhaps even how you envision them, working. Again, some examples below!

* The Clank were once just space rocks floating in the endless void, but over the millennia of their existence they began to grow a strange fungi across their surface. This fungi would eventually develop sentience and allow the rocks to think for themselves, and one of their first thoughts was one of panic. Fortunately, with their newly found ability to think they also found an ability for minor telekinesis. Over centuries, they drew in space debris to surround their bodies like armour, giving themselves a unique form and the ability to communicate with others.
* The Aromin come from a planet that is cast in darkness, but is also home to a variety of plant-life that have managed to thrive in the eternal night. Unlike most plants, these plants derive their food from the centre of the planet. The Aromin were once thought to be worm-like creatures living beneath the ground that, over millennia, managed to evolve to become what they are today. Because of the absence of light and the absence of noise, they evolved purely on their sense of smell and have one of the keenest, if not the keenest, senses of smell in the known universe.

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### Where is your species from? Where does your species live?
Where a species lives and where a species is from can be two different things entirely. For example, a species could come from a long-lost home planet, but mostly live on a system of ships. It’s important to know where your species are from and what their homes are like to give an impression of how your species can fit into the larger narrative of pills. There’s some quick examples below:

* The Clank don’t come from anywhere, their home is that of space itself. As sentient rocks they started life floating aimlessly through the void until they found purpose in their existence. Today though, most of the Clank congregate on an asteroid belt roving around a planet known as Ulthuraa, where they have used their telekinesis and bodies to develop new technologies that harness more rocks in order to defend themselves from anything they see as a threat.
* The Aromin come from a world known as Terraguia Four, a planet that is immersed in eternal darkness and where, because of distortions in the air, noise does not travel. Most of the species still lingers on this planet, but there are a rare few that live out in the larger universe.

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### How does society work for your species? Who are the leaders and why?
Every sentient species has some kind of society, be it one built on technological advancements, high political strife, or primal awareness. The kind of society your species has can determine what type of species they are and how other species or groups can interact with them in the pills narrative. Some examples below:

* The Clank are ruled by a being known as The First One, an eternal creature that was the first of the rocks to become sentient, fashion itself a suit of armour from scattered debris, and search the cosmos for others of its kind. The First One is a wise leader that has seen much of the universe and even claims to have seen its beginning. The Clank look up to The First One as other species might look up to a king, and its word is the final say on all matters. Thanks to the wisdom of this great leader, the Clank have invested their time in using the space debris to create new technologies and transportation, in hopes that they can find others of their kind scattered amongst the cosmos.
* The Aromin have built their society completely on smells, which they use as a network of communication across their planet. There is no singular leader of the Aromin as their network is sophisticated and quick, meaning once one thing is discovered or said, the other Aromin knows it in moments. Their society is completely based upon the voting power of the people. Once a decision needs to be made for one Aromin, no matter how miniscule or massive the decision is, the entire population will vote on the outcome.

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### Does your species, as a whole, have a purpose?
Some species might simply exist with numerous smaller groups that each have their own purposes, or individuals who exist within the species that have purposes on top of that. What’s being asked here is does your species as a whole have a defining purpose that other species and groups would recognise, something that the whole is trying to achieve that certain individuals in the species may have dismissed? Some examples below!

* The Clank are mostly concerned with finding more of their kind, they develop technology and collect space debris in hopes of providing shelter and protection for their own species.
* The Aromin have no singular purpose, except to hunt.

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### Does your species have any real-world mirrors?
Is your species based on anything in the real world? This is an important question to elaborate on if the answer is yes, because it gives everyone else an idea of how to provide further development and offer suggestions. It’s also important so others can go away and research your real-world mirrors. These mirrors aren’t always something to do with crypto culture (although in most cases they most likely will be), your species could have been inspired by pop culture or literature as well. As usual, some examples have been provided:

* The Clank aren’t based on anything in particular, they’re just a species I developed because I thought they sounded cool.
* That Aromin are actually based on ideas presented in Deitmar Dath’s *The Abolition of Species* which describes a similar aromatic network used to communicate at fast speeds.

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## Further Developments
Have you created a new group or a species for this species? We have other easy-to-use templates you can use to expand these aspects of the lore. You can find links to them below:

*Group Template* — <https://hackmd.io/m22sNT-5RqS-ngPvZHnjug>
*Character Template* — <https://hackmd.io/i-eUp0nYSP2FQdVeytLkhQ>