Human subrace: craker -- engineered "innocent" humans [Archive] - Wizards Community

Human subrace: craker -- engineered "innocent" humans [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
JulesCARV
07-18-07, 10:21 AM (Note: this is obviously inspired by Oryx and Crake, which I haven't read in a few years at any rate, but meh.)

Crakers are a subrace of humanity created by the mad wizard Glenn, better known by his nickname, Crake.

Crake saw humanity in a state of constant pain and suffering, seeing humans inflicting horrendous misery on themselves, each other, and the world at large. In his analysis, the root of this state was not in the specifics of humanoid cultures, technologies, or institutions, but in the biological nature of humanity itself. Solving the problems that lead life for humanity to be so unbearable required a rewrite of human biology -- removing the greed, competitiveness, violence, and other factors that made human life so unbearable.

To this end, Crake created two projects: one was to destroy existing humanity through a plague, ideally one that killed as swiftly and painlessly as possible. The second was to create a new replacement for humans, "perfected" according to Crake's ideals. The new humans were to live in an innocent, vapidly edenic state of grace, living without greed, violence, hierarchy, culture, technology, religion, or art, and having no sexual desire other than those relating to reproduction (which is almost exactly at the rate of replacement, even in conditions of abundance).

In addition to these psychological changes, a number of physiological ones were implemented -- congenital diseases were eliminated, the digestive system was altered to process unprocessed, uncooked plant foods (producing caecotrophs), and the general fitness of the body was improved; while a craker is not necessarily stronger or more agile than a fit, highly conditioned human, a craker is always fit and highly conditioned. Life expectancy was curtailed to a mere thirty years (crakers die as young adults, without ever passing through middle, old, or venerable age), but crakers are intrinsically incurious and fearless with regards to death (a state which Crake regarded as tantamount to immortality).

It is uncertain whether Crakers are as intelligent as humans. Certainly, they are less driven to use their intelligence for abstract thought or practical problem solving, the former having been regarded by Crake as a source of human misery and the latter supposedly superceded by the absence of any problems in their lives to be solved, having been designed to be "perfect." They are likely to come off as less intelligent to a casual observer, although by some measures, such as the speed with which they learn when motivated to do so, some have claimed that they are somewhat more intelligent than most humans. Overall, there is no consensus about how Craker intelligence relates to that of humans, although they are certainly less driven and ambitious and more inclined toward idle contentment.

Crakers have no sense of morality per se, but they also lack any inclinations which could lead them toward immoral actions.

In physical appearance, crakers appear as humans, having a broad array of human characteristics, from ebony skin and tightly curled black hair to blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. However, they are generally "flawless" in appearance, having, for instance, no tendency toward excessive fat, and essentially always being fit and healthy. The most marked difference between humans and crakers to a casual observer, however, is the fact that crakers rarely wear any clothing.

Although the attempt to destroy humanity with a painless, incurable, magical plague failed, the Crakers have survived, although how long they can do so given the survival of other humanoids remains to be seen. Their docile nature makes it likely that they will be exploited by others.

Crakers as Characters
-Humanoid (human)
-Medium size
-Base land speed: 30 feet.
-Str +2, Dex +2, Con +2, Cha -2
-No bonus feat or skill points at first level -- Crakers lack any semblance of human ambition or drive
-+2 racial on fortitude saving throws vs. disease
-Automatic Language: Common Bonus Language: Any
-Favored class: none
-Unlike other humanoids, crakers do not, by default, replace their initial hit die with a class level: the typical craker is a 1 HD humanoid, with a single humanoid hit die, rather than, for instance, a commoner level. However, if there is some reason for them to do so, crakers are capable of replacing their initial hit die, and do not need to retain it.
-LA +1
katarl
07-18-07, 03:16 PM Instead of giving them +2 to physical stats, you should allow them to roll 5d6 for their physical abilities, taking the three highest.

This would fit in better with your fluff of them not being any stronger than the strongest humans, and would lower their la, because at the moment, they're not well balanced against the human (+6/-2?).

Why a virtual racial hd though?
JulesCARV
08-02-07, 03:24 PM Ability scores shouldn't be tied to a specific method of generation, IMHO. After all, there are many methods of generating ability scores, from point buy to array distribution to rolling. Although there is the possiblity of specifying that in spite of the +2 to physical abilities, they can't be raised above 18 at level 1, so 16-18 are all treated as 18, but 15 is converted to 17, etc.

The HD is just thematic, mostly.

BTW, I added a level adjustment of +1. I meant to have it there all along, but somehow it slipped my mind.
Phelot_Plaguecrafter
08-02-07, 05:43 PM Okay, is anyone else noticing this:

Human subrace: Craker.

Am I wrong, or is that like saying

Subrace: Racial slur.

Is it supposed to sound like that? Is it ironic? Or did you just not notice that you were naming your race after a well known racial slur?

(Yes, I know how Cracker is actually spelled. Yes, I know you could potentially pronounce this one 'creigh-ker' but c'mon...)
SilentOne
08-02-07, 05:46 PM Yeah, that's actually what I thought when I first saw the thread...
ArcTan
08-02-07, 06:03 PM Like he said, it's from a novel, Oryx and Crake. He didn't make it up.
ATroubledMarco
08-02-07, 07:44 PM Crakkari, Craken, Craklings, Craikmen, Craikfolk?
JulesCARV
08-02-07, 11:49 PM The craker/cracker thing never occurred to me, although now that you mention it, I want to smack my forehead and say "of course!" Anyway, though, I always saw it as being pronounced "kray kur."

I seem to remember them having some other name, and "craker" being an unofficial nickname for them, but I can't remember what the official name was, and I don't have the book on me....

Although really, I'm not sure what they'd do in a D&D game anyway. About the only thing I see them doing is getting enslaved by orcs to work in quarries or something so that the PCs can rescue them, maybe.
ewancummins
08-03-07, 12:13 AM The race seems interesting. I'm not usually concerned with political correctness, but a name change might be in order, simply to avoid confusion.;)
ArcTan
08-03-07, 03:16 AM The craker/cracker thing never occurred to me, although now that you mention it, I want to smack my forehead and say "of course!" Anyway, though, I always saw it as being pronounced "kray kur."

I seem to remember them having some other name, and "craker" being an unofficial nickname for them, but I can't remember what the official name was, and I don't have the book on me....

Although really, I'm not sure what they'd do in a D&D game anyway. About the only thing I see them doing is getting enslaved by orcs to work in quarries or something so that the PCs can rescue them, maybe.

The whole point of Crakers is that they're helpless against any normal, aggressive, selfish sentient race. They can *only* exist in a world where the human race has been destroyed by Crake's plague. That's the point of them. If all normal sentient life hasn't been destroyed, it goes without saying that the Crakers would be chopped up and decimated. (Indeed, the big dilemma at the end of the book is that the Crakers are quite helpless compared to humans, and even a single surviving true human can decimate the Crakers.)

Also, racial slurs aside, in the novel the name "Crake" comes from the name of a bird (the red-necked crake).

I wouldn't use Crakers in D&D. They have no place there. I might run some kind of d20 Modern or D&D-ish scenario that takes place in an Oryx and Crake-like scenario, but I'd see no reason to make up racial stat adjustments for a Craker, since Crakers are totally inappropriate for a PC race. I'd just stat them up as NPC humans, none of whom has an Int higher than 8, none of whom has a Con lower than 14, and none of whom has any class levels or truly useful feats and skills (all skills in Perform or Craft, all feats things like Toughness or Athletic).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JulesCARV 07-18-07, 10:21 AM	(Note: this is obviously inspired by Oryx and Crake, which I haven't read in a few years at any rate, but meh.) Crakers are a subrace of humanity created by the mad wizard Glenn, better known by his nickname, Crake. Crake saw humanity in a state of constant pain and suffering, seeing humans inflicting horrendous misery on themselves, each other, and the world at large. In his analysis, the root of this state was not in the specifics of humanoid cultures, technologies, or institutions, but in the biological nature of humanity itself. Solving the problems that lead life for humanity to be so unbearable required a rewrite of human biology -- removing the greed, competitiveness, violence, and other factors that made human life so unbearable. To this end, Crake created two projects: one was to destroy existing humanity through a plague, ideally one that killed as swiftly and painlessly as possible. The second was to create a new replacement for humans, "perfected" according to Crake's ideals. The new humans were to live in an innocent, vapidly edenic state of grace, living without greed, violence, hierarchy, culture, technology, religion, or art, and having no sexual desire other than those relating to reproduction (which is almost exactly at the rate of replacement, even in conditions of abundance). In addition to these psychological changes, a number of physiological ones were implemented -- congenital diseases were eliminated, the digestive system was altered to process unprocessed, uncooked plant foods (producing caecotrophs), and the general fitness of the body was improved; while a craker is not necessarily stronger or more agile than a fit, highly conditioned human, a craker is always fit and highly conditioned. Life expectancy was curtailed to a mere thirty years (crakers die as young adults, without ever passing through middle, old, or venerable age), but crakers are intrinsically incurious and fearless with regards to death (a state which Crake regarded as tantamount to immortality). It is uncertain whether Crakers are as intelligent as humans. Certainly, they are less driven to use their intelligence for abstract thought or practical problem solving, the former having been regarded by Crake as a source of human misery and the latter supposedly superceded by the absence of any problems in their lives to be solved, having been designed to be "perfect." They are likely to come off as less intelligent to a casual observer, although by some measures, such as the speed with which they learn when motivated to do so, some have claimed that they are somewhat more intelligent than most humans. Overall, there is no consensus about how Craker intelligence relates to that of humans, although they are certainly less driven and ambitious and more inclined toward idle contentment. Crakers have no sense of morality per se, but they also lack any inclinations which could lead them toward immoral actions. In physical appearance, crakers appear as humans, having a broad array of human characteristics, from ebony skin and tightly curled black hair to blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. However, they are generally "flawless" in appearance, having, for instance, no tendency toward excessive fat, and essentially always being fit and healthy. The most marked difference between humans and crakers to a casual observer, however, is the fact that crakers rarely wear any clothing. Although the attempt to destroy humanity with a painless, incurable, magical plague failed, the Crakers have survived, although how long they can do so given the survival of other humanoids remains to be seen. Their docile nature makes it likely that they will be exploited by others. Crakers as Characters -Humanoid (human) -Medium size -Base land speed: 30 feet. -Str +2, Dex +2, Con +2, Cha -2 -No bonus feat or skill points at first level -- Crakers lack any semblance of human ambition or drive -+2 racial on fortitude saving throws vs. disease -Automatic Language: Common Bonus Language: Any -Favored class: none -Unlike other humanoids, crakers do not, by default, replace their initial hit die with a class level: the typical craker is a 1 HD humanoid, with a single humanoid hit die, rather than, for instance, a commoner level. However, if there is some reason for them to do so, crakers are capable of replacing their initial hit die, and do not need to retain it. -LA +1
katarl 07-18-07, 03:16 PM	Instead of giving them +2 to physical stats, you should allow them to roll 5d6 for their physical abilities, taking the three highest. This would fit in better with your fluff of them not being any stronger than the strongest humans, and would lower their la, because at the moment, they're not well balanced against the human (+6/-2?). Why a virtual racial hd though?
JulesCARV 08-02-07, 03:24 PM	Ability scores shouldn't be tied to a specific method of generation, IMHO. After all, there are many methods of generating ability scores, from point buy to array distribution to rolling. Although there is the possiblity of specifying that in spite of the +2 to physical abilities, they can't be raised above 18 at level 1, so 16-18 are all treated as 18, but 15 is converted to 17, etc. The HD is just thematic, mostly. BTW, I added a level adjustment of +1. I meant to have it there all along, but somehow it slipped my mind.
Phelot_Plaguecrafter 08-02-07, 05:43 PM	Okay, is anyone else noticing this: Human subrace: Craker. Am I wrong, or is that like saying Subrace: Racial slur. Is it supposed to sound like that? Is it ironic? Or did you just not notice that you were naming your race after a well known racial slur? (Yes, I know how Cracker is actually spelled. Yes, I know you could potentially pronounce this one 'creigh-ker' but c'mon...)
SilentOne 08-02-07, 05:46 PM	Yeah, that's actually what I thought when I first saw the thread...
ArcTan 08-02-07, 06:03 PM	Like he said, it's from a novel, Oryx and Crake. He didn't make it up.
ATroubledMarco 08-02-07, 07:44 PM	Crakkari, Craken, Craklings, Craikmen, Craikfolk?
JulesCARV 08-02-07, 11:49 PM	The craker/cracker thing never occurred to me, although now that you mention it, I want to smack my forehead and say "of course!" Anyway, though, I always saw it as being pronounced "kray kur." I seem to remember them having some other name, and "craker" being an unofficial nickname for them, but I can't remember what the official name was, and I don't have the book on me.... Although really, I'm not sure what they'd do in a D&D game anyway. About the only thing I see them doing is getting enslaved by orcs to work in quarries or something so that the PCs can rescue them, maybe.
ewancummins 08-03-07, 12:13 AM	The race seems interesting. I'm not usually concerned with political correctness, but a name change might be in order, simply to avoid confusion.;)
ArcTan 08-03-07, 03:16 AM	The craker/cracker thing never occurred to me, although now that you mention it, I want to smack my forehead and say "of course!" Anyway, though, I always saw it as being pronounced "kray kur." I seem to remember them having some other name, and "craker" being an unofficial nickname for them, but I can't remember what the official name was, and I don't have the book on me.... Although really, I'm not sure what they'd do in a D&D game anyway. About the only thing I see them doing is getting enslaved by orcs to work in quarries or something so that the PCs can rescue them, maybe. The whole point of Crakers is that they're helpless against any normal, aggressive, selfish sentient race. They can only exist in a world where the human race has been destroyed by Crake's plague. That's the point of them. If all normal sentient life hasn't been destroyed, it goes without saying that the Crakers would be chopped up and decimated. (Indeed, the big dilemma at the end of the book is that the Crakers are quite helpless compared to humans, and even a single surviving true human can decimate the Crakers.) Also, racial slurs aside, in the novel the name "Crake" comes from the name of a bird (the red-necked crake). I wouldn't use Crakers in D&D. They have no place there. I might run some kind of d20 Modern or D&D-ish scenario that takes place in an Oryx and Crake-like scenario, but I'd see no reason to make up racial stat adjustments for a Craker, since Crakers are totally inappropriate for a PC race. I'd just stat them up as NPC humans, none of whom has an Int higher than 8, none of whom has a Con lower than 14, and none of whom has any class levels or truly useful feats and skills (all skills in Perform or Craft, all feats things like Toughness or Athletic).