Well the only problem we run into there, is the whole "copyright" issue that was recently brought up on these forums. Most of our Sci-Fi lore is actively under copyright, as opposed to the ancient mythologies which anyone can copy as closely as they like.
Be that as it may, I think that certain amount of deviation could be done to base races on many pop culture creations to avoid any claims of direct derivation.
And you're right DW, we need to keep this discussion public, to drum up interest, and hopefully bring more people onto the team so that this can all come together.
As far as the gems go, I'm not sure the names are in an accessible place for modding, so that is one place that imagination would be required - especially considering if someone uses "Blood" magic, they will have girls in robes flying around their spaceships. >.> Well no I'm sure we can change that, but still.
