Homebrew Starbound - Avali Species Details

Like their independent kin, the Avali tribes pride themselves on having their own individual customs, life and architectural styles as much as is compatible with the needs of the central government. A trait readily maintained thanks to the relative seclusion of independent colonies and the societal need for integration of newcomers.

However, as a species, there are still certain cultural norms most tribes display. It should be stressed, that while tribes are an important concept culturally, the vast majority of Avali are not necessarily in a tribe at any given time. As a post-scarcity, post-labor economy the population is ensured a minimum standard of living (A standard that many species would consider borderline Utopian).

Packs
Evolved from relatively small and flimsy pack hunters, that later formed nomadic tribes, Avali society displays a strong tiered hierarchy; at the lowest order, packs of 3-6 individuals, bonded from a young age. While the individual pack members often have a range of skills, the pack tends to become specialized towards certain tasks which becomes their role in a tribe.
Pack members are rarely genetically relatives, but nonetheless, those raised together form extremely close bonds; most packs then go on to form their own internal memetic cues which, in tandem with their incredible auditory processing, enables them to process information and exchange ideas extremely quickly.

The loss of a long-term pack member is extremely crippling to a group's performance; as is isolation from their pack. Replacement of pack members is possible, but unusual, given that surrogate packs lack the initial bonds and memetics of the previous group, and pack fragments of correct age and temperament to fill the gap are rare.

Tribes
Packs in turn form into tribes, large groups of individuals with a shared purpose and containing packs with complementary skill sets towards the tribe's overall goals. Tribes are rarely permanent affairs (though some trace their lineage back generations), and are often they are pulled together by a colony, local leader or illuminate government.

They are in essence a form of free company, wholly owned and operated by its member packs in accordance with some internal agreement on purpose and resource distribution. One example of a tribe might be asteroid miners coming together to clear out a newly discovered resource-rich asteroid, and the illuminate government creates a work order to obtain a certain volume of resources over a given window, assigns a leader pack with experience and releases an inventory of equipment (mining platforms, drones, mobile refineries), needed to complete the project. The leader then sets out to recruit the appropriate crew; drone specialists, engineers, surveyors, support staff, and so on, in order to complete the project.

In addition to any promised benefits (such as better accommodation rights, references, equipment requisition), any production above and beyond that demanded by the work order also becomes the possession of the tribe, to trade or use as they see fit.

Colonies
Often it helps tribe productivity to locate themselves physically near to other existing tribes; for example, a tribe tasked to manufacture electronics would benefit from positioning their facilities close to a tribe extracting rare earth metals, reducing their reliance on long-range transportation. In turn, these tribes may establish more permanent facilities and a support infrastructure builds up around them, becoming a true colony.

These colonies go on to create a colonial council with representatives of the packs as well as one or more representatives of the illuminate government to help in administrating colony affairs.

If a permanent colony is considered strategically important enough, and given official recognition it receives Nexus nodes, long-range FTL communications, residential facilities and supply and distribution networks for temporary and mobile tribes to feed into as well as a representative pack to stand on the administration council.

Starbound - Avali Traits

Happy in cold climates, Avali are from a rather hostile environment. This makes survival in other environments a challenge. However, they can glide and are quite agile in the air.

Future combat

You gain proficiency with firearms and spears.

Wing glide

You may cast feather fall at will.

Environment

Avali do well in cold climates and especially bad in hot climates.
Avali gain 10 feet additional movement in stormy weather.

Resistances and Vulnerabilities

You are resistant to cold damage and vulnerable to fire damage.

Cybernetic augmentation

You gain proficiency with two skills or tools of your choice.

Ability Score Increase

 Your your Intelligence score increases by 2 and your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Age

Avali reach adulthood in their late teens and live less than a century.

Alignment

Avali tend to a chaotic alignment, with no particular tendency towards good or evil.

Size

Avali generally stand around 3 feet tall. Your size is Small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice.