Original post replied in the Dev Diary thread.
This post is to actually write them better using Stellaris languages.
I am going to drop you some ideas of humanoid themes.
Humanoid has been around as long as space SF is concerned, even before we had film or tv drama productions. Many novels and anime works exist but they do not have the requirement to make aliens humanoid to make make-up arts easy.
Humanoids are the best ones we have fantasised the most, familiarised the most and written the most, particularly among the themes of common precursors and their seeding.
And Humanoids themselves are superior in terms of evolution, because we have a pair of hands to use tools, good mouth structures to make complicated languages, eyes pointing forward to read fine prints, and being physically not that great to push to adaptability.
Humanoids may share these common themes:
Special themes may include
- Common ancestors - naturally being able to communicate and have similar cultures
- Adaptive evolution - simply being adaptive in many things, at the trade-off that our pragnent women carry long terms instead of laying a clutch of many eggs at the same time
- Superior forms - that we simply find our limbs very good at using tools, not leaving body fluid, feathers or scales everywhere
And to be honest, Humanoids have a very special connection with us humans. You don't find it as strong if an elephant race is psionic in nature. It's that when we see a blue-skined human, we expect them to be just a recolour of us humans. So we have some form of expectation. Then if they act strangely, we have a stronger response. Humanoids are a very good platform to put many SF tropes on.
- Cloned race - A race that has just a handful of individual ancestors. All clan members are clones of the clan's founding father. Each individual has self-identity, but everyone has the same genes within a clan.
- Segregation by sex - An extension to the above. This time the race takes it a step even further that male and female members don't even live together (see the Zentradi from Macross). Being cloned is not a requirement. Just that all members must be created instead of born. (I think Zentradi aren't cloned.)
- Unisex race - Not related to the above. But this time the Asari from Mass Effect. The race is unisex and reproduce by some alternative gene sharing instead of sexual intercourse. This trope is particularly popular for an all-female race for some reasons.
- Vampires - Similar to Necrophage but they suck blood
- Latent Psionics - Starting as Latent Psionics with a trade-off. A Psychic race is a somewhat recurrent theme in many Space SF
- Uncultured - Somehow since we expect a fellow humanoid species to have a similar culture as us, and it turns out this one race doesn't have a culture. It'd be intriguing. (Also a trait taken from the Zentradi from Macross) It means they have no notion of civilians. Everyone is a soldier or a worker for the government. They don't need entertainment. Similar to the Hive's Civic Ascetic. Then, they suffer from a big culture shock at first contact. (Like the Zentradi just froze when they see humans kissing, as they also have segregation by sex)
This post is to actually write them better using Stellaris languages.
- New Compulsory Species Traits (Applied to all Humanoids)
- Humanoid - Bonus Opinions with other Humanoid countries at first contact, easier infiltration against other Humanoid countries; +10% Habitability, -10% Growth Rate
- New Optional Species Traits
- Cloned Clans - When a Leader dies, an identical Leader replaces him with 2 Levels lost but keeping all possitive gained Skills (losing all Red skills)
- Unisex - -10% growth rate, half-species created with other species will always be a subspecies of this species, begins with Xeno-Compatibility but with only 20% bonus growth
- Civic + Species Trait used in conjunction
- Vampires - -10% Habitability, -20% Energy income from Jobs; when Planet has other non-Vampire Species occupying more than 20% of population, Food upkeep reduced by 90%, +5% Habitability and +5% Growth
- Segregation by Sex - Starts with a nearby country with the same species but with the opposite sex with some rocky relations. When a planet has both the male and the female subspecies, +10% Happiness, +10% Growth; first contact with other species with 2 sexes will have special cultural shock
- Just Civic
- Humanoid Superiority
- Requires Xenophobe
- Considers all other Humanoids as Primary Species, no penalty, no ethic attraction, no diplomatic malus
- +5% Fire Rate when engaging against Fleet not led by a Humanoid Admiral
- Note: Humanoid Robots and Synths are considered Humanoids
- Heritage of Precursor Culture
- Requires Spiritualist and Xenophile
- Considers all Species to have some common Ancestors seeded aeons ago. Bonus Relations with everyone.
- Entertainers produce +2 Society as well
- Reduces duration of the debuff "Recently Conquered" by half
- Humanoid Superiority
- 16
- 2