Babylon 4: Costuming Guidelines

The aliens in the Babylon 5 TV show involve a lot of prosthetics and makeup that can be difficult to costume. Many of the species are bald-headed which we don’t expect anyone to costume.

To help indicate your character's species, we’re using cloth and colour themes for each faction, but all of these guidelines are optional. Players will also be given nametags listing their species so the costuming can help but is not essential.

We do ask people to be cautious about their approach to how facepaint and makeup are used so as to avoid being mistaken for "blackface" and similar problematic portrayals.

Makeup Guidelines

Avoid covering your whole face in a colour that is a natural human skin tone, and instead either:

Use bright and obviously non-human colours: red, blue, green, purple, etc.
Or only cover part of the face, for example just colouring around the edges, or only using highlights or accents.

Guidelines

These are some suggestions about ways to costume each species, they are entirely optional.

Humans

Costuming: For Babylon 4 staff, anything resembling work clothes or a military uniform, ideally in blue with brown accents would be most suitable. Commercial Telepaths tend to wear business wear and black gloves, with a silver badge bearing the Psi Corps logo. Poorer people wear worn or tattered looking clothes.

Minbari

Costuming: Minbari are all bald-headed but we don’t expect you to costume this. All Minbari have a bone crest on the back of the head, consider some form of head band to represent this.

Religious Caste wear light colours, creams and pastel robes.
Worker Caste wear brown or earth tone working clothes or smocks, avoid leather.
Warrior Caste wear black and dark toned cloth armour with metalic accents.

Centauri

Hair: Male Centauri wear their hair in a large crest that stands straight up, the size of the crest representing their status (or how seriously they take their status). Female Centauri are usually bald although some leave a ponytail at the back. Their bald head is to symbolise being above the trappings of status. We don’t expect people to shave their head or manage a big crest, but any styling to represent this could help.
Costuming: 19th century European clothing, particularly French or Italian. Vibrant colours, particularly purple are common, often with gold accents. Gem-encrusted jewellery is also common.

Narn

Makeup: Red with black spots. Avoid brownface.
Costuming: Leather clothes in red, brown, and other earth tones. Military characters might wear chainmail under their leather jackets.

Drazi

Makeup: Drazi can have Blue, Purple, or Green skin (pick one, don’t mix)
Costuming: Brown and grey loose fitting clothes, often with multiple layers. Many wear one or sometimes two baldrics or bandoliers.

pak’ma’ra

Makeup: Mottled skin, gaunt features, tentacles around the mouth.
Costuming: Loose fitting brown or grey robes, with a brown shawl over the top.

Brakiri

Makeup: Minimal, maybe some brow or cheek ridges
Hair: Slicked back away from the face.
Costuming: Brown or grey business attire, ideally in a material with a dense pattern like tweed, twill, or wool.

Abbai

Makeup: Minimal, maybe some highlights to create a more fishy appearance.
Costuming: Dark blue and red flowing clothes. Some wear a cape.

Hyach

Makeup: Minimal, maybe some brow or cheek ridges
Clothing: Loose fitting medieval clothes like tunics and tabards in yellow and black.

General

Main Page

Rules and Character Creation