Minor Race
Minor Races are those races who are not Major Races (did not independently develop the jump drive) and were not geneered (genetically engineered) by others, except possibly the Ancients.
Description (Types)
Minor Races have been living on a world from before the Vilani got jump drive and have not independently developed faster-than-light-travel (FTL) or the jump drive.
Geneered races are sometimes erroneously called Minor, but the proper term is Variant. Numerous minor races exist, some have been fully developed, some only briefly mentioned, in the Traveller background material. Minor Races can exist at all levels of technology and may have acquired faster than light travel from all sorts of sources from traders, or even reverse engineering ancient technology. This page contains a summary of the best known Minor races taken from the complete list of known sophont races.
There are at least 100 intelligent races in the Imperium and 400 in Charted Space, but these figures do not included Minor Human Races or variants. Some have been described in great detail, some only mentioned, and many others not mentioned at all.
There are several types of Minor Races:
Minor Human Races
As well as the three recognized Major Human Races (Solomani, Vilani, and Zhodani), there are 46 Minor Human Races known to the Imperial scientific community (though some dispute this classification).
The Ancients transplanted populations of Homo sapiens antiquus to more than a hundred worlds. On a large number of these the populations survived down into historic times. Some became extinct between the time the Vilani first invented jump drive and the Classic Era. Some became so intermixed with Vilani that they ceased to have a distinct existence. Others simply died out. Some were exterminated by the Vilani.
By 1100 there were 49 human races (including the three major ones) known to Imperial scientists. At least one more (the Loeskalth) are known to exist, but the news has not yet been accepted by the established scientific community of the Imperium. Of those 50, 26 or more have been mentioned in canonical works.
50 human races in Charted Space works out as roughly one per sector, but that's an average. A sector doesn't absolutely HAVE to have a minor human race and a sector could conceivably have more than one (Reaver's Deep and the Trojan Reach each has THREE!). However, any sector with more than one is well over its quota.
90% of all known homeworlds of human races, surviving and extinct, lie within a kidney-shaped area that stretches from the Spica sector to trailing to the Eiaplial sector to Spinward. This means, of course, that 10% lies outside this area. If one gets far enough away from the Imperium, one may even encounter MHRs that are not part of the canonical figure.
Many human races are indistinguishable from each other without genetic testing, though a number of them began from a small gene pool and/or evolved in an extreme environment and developed unique characteristics. Some were tampered with by the Ancients.
A list of minor human races is available, some extra details are listed below.
Altareans
Altareans. No information yet available.
Answerin
Answerin are mentioned in Travellers' Digest No.5, p. 40; GURPS Traveller: Humaniti, p. 17-23; and Vilani & Vargr, p. 98. Their homeworld is Answerin (Vland 0431). They are a subspecies of Homo sapiens, but their taxonomic name has not been mentioned.
Ayansh'i
Ayansh'i are mentioned in Reaver's Deep Sector Sourcebook, p. 48-49. Their homeworld is Ghost (Reaver's Deep 3115). They are a different Hominid species than Homo sapiens, but their taxonomic name has not been mentioned.
Azhanti
Azhanti are mentioned in GURPS Traveller: Humaniti, p. 24-29. Their homeworld is Irale (Antares 2315). They are a different Hominid species than Homo sapiens, but their taxonomic name has not been mentioned.
Cafadans
Cafadans are mentioned in Travellers' Digest No.3, p. 47. Their homeworld is Cafad (Corridor 3135). There is little or no description of this race, so it could be Human or it could be Hominid.
Cassilldans
Cassilldans (also spelled Casilldans or Cassildans) are pictured in Solomani & Aslan, p. 24 as a tall, sword-wielding minor human race. No other details are provided. In Traveller Chronicle 11 they are described for the New Era as "contacted by the Terrans during the Second Imperium (Rule of Man). Their total fascination with all things Terran, and a belief that they were to play a significant role in Terran history, led and them in 605 to establish a colony on Terra on the coast of Lebanon near Tyre" (35). Illustrations also appear in Traveller 5th on pages 54 (craftsman) and 572 (Core Rules v5.09). There they are described as "a minor branch of Humanity, abandoned by one of Grandfather’s Sons on a low gravity world in the aftermath of the Ancient War.' Their homeworld, Ambemsham (Antares 0216 A5457BC-B), is a tide-locked world in orbit 0 of Krof, an M3 V star with an M6 V companion in Antares Sector (Core Rules pp. 546 and 572).
Darmine
No information yet available.
Darrians
Darrians live in a small group of worlds immediately spinward of the Imperium or the Regency. Such is the cosmopolitan nature of Darrian society that, within Darrian borders, you can find 'pure' Darrians, Aslan (mostly citizens of the Confederation, although a small number of Ihatei have been allowed to settle on Darrian worlds), Zhodani and Imperials. Darrians mass slightly less than other Humans on average, probably due to their origins on a low-gravity world. The Darrians are detailed in Classic Traveller Alien Module 8 "Darrians - The Secret of the Star Trigger" and GURPS Traveller: Humaniti. Their taxonomic name is Homo sapiens darrianus.
Dynchia
Dynchia are mentioned in GURPS Traveller: Humaniti, p. 50-59 and in JTAS No. 24, p. 44-48. Their homeworld is Melantris (Leonidae 2733). Their taxonomic name is Homo dynchia.
Fiorin
Nine of the Lightning class cruisers had very similar names [<Something> High Lightning]. Of those, one was named after the Vilani, five were named after minor human races living inside the Imperium but outside the Solomani Sphere, and one was named after a variant human race (the Acheron). The last two were the Fiorin and the Ilurian. Odds are that they, too, are minor human races.
Floriani
Floriani are mentioned in GURPS Traveller: Humaniti, p. 60-67. Their homeworld is Floria (Trojan Reach 0213). Their taxonomic name is Homo floriani.
Geonee
Geonee are mentioned in GURPS Traveller: Humaniti, p. 68-78 and in Travellers' Digest No. 11, p. 8. Their homeworld is Shiwonee (Massilia 1430). Their taxonomic name is Homo sapiens geonensis.
Halkans
Halkans are mentioned in Travellers' Digest No. 20, p. 8. Their homeworld is Halka (Trojan Reach 0510).
Happirhva
No information yet available.
Iltharans
Iltharans are mentioned in GURPS Traveller: Humaniti, p. 79-85. Their homeworld is Drexilthar (Reaver's Deep 1826). Their taxonomic name is Homo sapiens ilthara.
Ilurian
Nine of the Lightning class cruisers had very similar names [<Something> High Lightning]. Of those, one was named after the Vilani, five were named after minor human races living inside the Imperium but outside the Solomani Sphere, and one was named after a variant human race (the Acheron). The last two were the Fiorin and the Ilurian. Odds are that they, too, are minor human races.
Irhadre
Irhadre are mentioned in GURPS Traveller: Humaniti, p. 86-92. Their homeworld is Chanad (Lishun 0935). They are a subspecies of Homo sapiens, but their taxonomic name has not been mentioned.
Issugur
Issugur are mentioned in Alien Realms, p. 3 and 15-16. Their homeworld is Parthinia/Fessor (Foreven 3018)).
Kargol
Kargol are mentioned in GURPS Traveller: Humaniti, p. 93-102. Their homeworld is Kargol (Leonidae 1205). They are a different Hominid species than Homo sapiens, but their taxonomic name has not been mentioned.
Kedepu
No information yet available.
Khulan
No information yet available.
Liberts
Liberts. No information yet available.
Loeskalth
The Loeskalth are mentioned in The Trail of the Sky Raiders, p. 28 and 45. Their homeworld was somewhere in Gushemege Sector, but the surviving remnant have fled far, far away. They were thought to be extinct, but a population was found around 1110 in Far Frontiers. The Imperial scientific community did not learn of their existence for some time, and they are not part of the 46 Minor Human Races known to exist.
Luriani
Luriani are mentioned in GURPS Traveller: Humaniti, p. 103-112 and the The Traveller's Handbook, p. 26. Their homeworld is Daramm (Ley 0821). Their taxonomic name is Homo luriani.
Mal'Gnar
No information yet available.
Menetha
Menetha. No information yet available.
Miyavine
Miyavine. No information yet available.
Murissi
Murissi are mentioned in Solomani & Aslan, p. 49. Their homeworld is somewhere in the coreward Aslan Hierate.
Plexxans
Plexxan. Near enough to Human, two legs, two arms, a head, but with a strange metabolism, and an added awareness sense that saw fields and auras that Humans can’t. There is little or no description of this race, so it could be Human or it could be Hominid.
Ronni
Ronni. No information yet available.
Suerrat
The Suerrat are mentioned in JTAS No.26, p. 4-5. Their homeworld is Ilelish (Ilelish 2907).
- The Suerrat claim to be a Major Race as they independently developed interstellar travel. However this was based on generation ships, not jump technology, so the claim is not accepted by other races.
Sydites
The Sydites are mentioned in The Traveller's Handbook, p. 27-28. Their homeworld is Khuur (Ley 3026). They are a different Hominid species than Homo sapiens, but their taxonomic name has not been mentioned.
Syleans
The Syleans have their own article.
Tapazmal
The Tapazmal are mentioned in Travellers' Digest No.20, p. 27. Their homeworld is Dlaekan (Reft 3134).
Thaggeshi
The Thaggeshi are mentioned in Vilani & Vargr, p. 18. Their homeworld is Thaggesh (Vland 2530).
Traltar
Traltar. No information yet available.
Urunishani
Urunishani. No information yet available.
Vanejenese
No information yet available.
Vlazhdumecta
The Vlazhdumecta are mentioned in The Trail of the Sky Raiders, p. 53. Their homeworld is called Afachtiabr.
Yilean
The Yileans are mentioned in GURPS Traveller: Humaniti, p. 135-142. Their homeworld is Gashikan (Gashikan 2732). They are a subspecies of Homo sapiens, but their taxonomic name has not been mentioned.
Zaris
No information yet available.
Ziadd
No information yet available.
Variant/Chimera Human Races
A list of varient/chimera human races is available, some extra details are listed below.
Acheron
The Acheron were genetically engineered to exploit the mineral wealth of their homeworld. They are stronger, tougher and more resistant to high radiation levels.
Jonkeereen
The Jonkeereen were created in the 6th Century by SuSAG under contract from the Ministry of Colonization to create a Human race that could survive in hazardous environments. A breeding population was originally established on Jonkeer. They have subsequently spread to a number of other worlds Behind the Claw.
Nexxies
The Nexxies were recently genetically engineered to help exploit the water world of Nexine (Spinward Marches 3030). The Nexine Mining Consortium was granted the license to mine resources from Nexine, but most high tech mining methods damage the local environment and prevent the creation of Gemores. The first true Nexxies were bred in 1096, making them the youngest human race.
Otari
The Otari were genetically engineered during the Rule of Man to allow them to survive on Otrai (Glimmerdrift Reaches 0329).
Wuans
Wuans are genetically modified human beings living in a genetically planned society on Wu (Magyar 0203)
Non-Human Races
A list of non-human minor races is available, some extra details are listed below.
Devi
The Devi Intelligence, an unusual K'Kree subject race, consisting of the sedentary Intellects, who resemble colonies of giant fungi, and their mobile spores, the Shiverbats.
Ebokin
The Ebokin are an eight-legged, matriachal minor-race native to Yebab (Spinward Marches 3002). They rarely travel, but appear as colorful passengers in the The Traveller Adventure.
Gurvin
The Gurvin are a Hiver subject race native to Ofilaq (Folgore 0305). They are detailed in the books GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 3
Inheritors
The fluorine-breathing Inheritors inhabit a Dyson sphere created by the Ancients, at Sphere (Nooq 3201). Their whole society relies on technology they do not understand. They are detailed in the books GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 3
Inyx
The Inyx are a race of aquatic parasites native to Matrix (Banners 2337), who absorb electrical energy from their whale-sized hosts. They are detailed in the books GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 2.
Ithklur
The Ithklur, native to Tryylin (Extolian 2514), are the most feared warriors known to man. To an Ithklur, Vargr plunder is a walk in the park; Aslan warrior spirit is the babbling of a toothless child. Other races make such a fuss over violence - why not just do it and enjoy it? To the Hivers, the Ithklur are their trained, elite shock troops, lovingly perfected by millennia of manipulation and social engineering. No finer tool has ever been fashioned. But as far as the Ithklur are concerned, they have the Hivers just where they want them. Who wants to be a boring taxi driver anyway? If the Hivers want to pretend they're in charge, what does it really hurt, so long as they leave the Ithklur alone? Who is manipulating whom? The Ithklur are detailed in the books GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 3 and Traveller the New Era - Aliens of the Rim
Lithkind
Lithkind are a tiny nocturnal race, native to Izyme (Gzirr!k'l 1833). They are detailed in the books GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 3
Llellewyloly
Llellewyloly are a radially symmetric species native to Junidy (Spinward Marches 3202), colloquially referred to as Dandelions due to a supposed similarity to that Terran plant. They play a part in The Traveller Adventure.
Mahkahraik
The Mahkahraik, which means “People of This World” in their native tongue, are a species of warmblooded, bipedal reptiloids native to Ma (Ley 3021). Full details of this race are available as a free download from QLI/RPGREALMS PUBLISHING
Saie
The Saie were a mysterious, civilization which vanished approximately 3,700 years ago, believed to have been based in the Caledon Subsector of the Reaver's Deep Sector.
Schalli
The Schalli are an uplifted (genetically-engineered) Dolphin-like piscinoid-like species of air-breathing mammaloids and a natural ally of Humaniti, their creators. Schalli are natural navigators (with a superior sense of 3D and 4D environments), but lack manipulator limbs, a serious handicap for a sophont species. To overcome this handicap, a variety of exoskeleton suits with mechanical manipulators have been created to allow the Schalli to operate in terrestrial environments.
Shriekers
See Shriekers.
Vegans
Vegans are an alien species originating on Muan Gwi (Solomani Rim 1717) and inhabiting the Vegan Autonomous District. They are named by humans after the bright star near their homeworld. They are of some importance in the Third Imperium when they were granted them a small semi-autonomous state as a counterbalance to the racist Solomani Confederation.
Za’Tachk
The Za’Tachk are a Hiver subject race, native to Loza'tch (Wrenton 2330). They are detailed in GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 3.
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