No PHB races setting - how would you do it? [Archive] - Wizards Community

No PHB races setting - how would you do it? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Rechan
11-25-07, 10:07 PM Just as the title says.

I am Sick and Tired of Human/Demi-human races. Problem is, how do you feel a fantasy setting without using them?
The Ubbergeek
11-25-07, 10:49 PM GET THE HEAThEN!!!!!!
jradd777
11-26-07, 12:32 AM Reword the question... I'm not sure if I'm understanding exactly what it is you're asking. I know that I understand, at base, you're saying none of the races from PHB. But I feel like I'm missing something which direction you're going from there.
CryoSilver
11-26-07, 12:34 AM Difficult to balance, because most everything has LA.
The Ubbergeek
11-26-07, 01:08 AM All new races, I guess.,..

Look at optional races offered around, and settings ones.

Like.... Kalashtar, Warforged, rogue modrons, rakastas, etc....
Rechan
11-26-07, 01:09 AM I would like to put a setting together with little to no humans/elves/dwarves/halflings/gnomes.

But what do I populate with it? How do I structure it? And how do I get players to not just look at it and go "... yeah, we're just going to go back to Tolkien-light, thanks."
jradd777
11-26-07, 01:22 AM Start with a base race(s) that can act sort of the same way that the PHB ones do... there's a TON that are LA 0. Checkout AZNsupermarket's Master Race (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=697653) list thread. Yeah... just... redo the universe. I know a guy that ran us in something similar, I played a Bhuka, there was only one elf in the entire world, Dwarves were all dead... It's not as hard as it might seem, IMO.

You could also use LA 0 anthropomorphic animals. Check out Savage Species in the back part of the book.

Or... you could use all the same bonuses etc and flavor everything different, make up your own names of races, histories, etc. I started a project like that and nearly finished. Then the other guy working on the rest of the setting stopped, so it was pretty much pointless.
Daybreaker
11-26-07, 02:02 AM Say you've got a world where an orcish warlord managed to get all the orcs' acts together and, with the aid of the goblinoids, actually wiped out all of the dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, half-elves, half-orcs and humans. There just aren't any more.

So now this orcish warlord, he's got all this loot, and he starts thinking, "Y'know, I bet gnolls have loot, too ..."

He turns his attention to the other races. For now he's picking on the other humanoids and the fey and that kind of thing, but eventually he's going to work his way up to the tougher stuff. The undead. Beholders. Maybe even the dragons.

His goblinoid allies start getting nervous. What happens when he turns on them? 'Cause it does seem inevitable.
Rechan
11-26-07, 03:23 AM I had intended to use various animal type races, insectoids, Warforged and maybe Shifters...

I was just seeing how best to facilitate a good Fantasy setting without necessitating stout dwarves and elves.

For instance, who's in control? Is it all just isolated, nomadic tribes, or basically Standard Fantasy with a wand waved and the role Humans play (vast population, generally near industrious, etc) and so on, or would it be better to do something Else?
Fireclave
11-26-07, 04:54 AM Flavor is always mutable and most races are just an idea, concept, personalties, or cultured personified and magnified. For example, in reality, Elves are really just really aloof humans, dwarves are just really gruff, stout, hardworking, humans, half-orcs are just really strong, mean, brutish humans, etc. Warforged, on the other hand, represent the fantasy concept of man playing god and bringing free-willed sentient life into the world and the conflicts and consequences that follow (or perhaps instead the concept of technology evolving faster than what man was ready to handle until the tool became a reflection of himself...or something). But now I'm digressing.

First, figure out how you want your fantasy world to differ from whatever you consider the norm for good fantasy (which may or may not be what others think is good fantasy, but who cares at the moment), and what elements you still want to retain. Though not necessary, you might also want to come up with a unifying theme at this point to guide your creative process (all-inset, all furry, floating continents, post-apocalypse, prehistoric, etc, dragons as "gods", kobolds rulez, end of the golden age, etc). Then think up some interesting cultures/personalties/racial concepts. Next, stat 'em up. Once you have all of your races, figure out how they all relate to each other (who likes/hates/is neighbors with/trades with/allies with/enslaves/hunts/competes for resources with/shares ideologies with/owe money to whom). B.S. a couple of centuries or so of world history and sprinkle some cities/states/countries/neutral territories on that squiggly crayon line that's suppose to be a map (I suggest green for grass and brown for mountains). With all of that done, you just need to iron out the winkles.

Now you just need sell the idea to your players, get their characters to meet at a tavern, toss them in a dungeon, and throw some orcs ralgators at them.

Don't forget to add a dash of randomness to creative process. Sometimes our best ideas come from scribbles, mistakes, and ink-blots.And don't forget to steal with reckless abandon from any material you think is good. Remember, there's no such thing an original ideas anymore. Only stolen ideas that we coble together and pimp up to make them shine like new (and avoid copyright infringement).

An example I did just right now while typing this: Take elves, make them love technology instead of forests, put the in the desert, make them unusually tall and lean, and give them fur, large ears (for keeping themselves cool, like a fennic fox), a love for history...something random-ish or odd like...imported, salted fish, and...a British accent. You now have a completely different race: a race of long-lived, nomadic desert archaeologists/tomb raiders with the extraordinary ability to not dehydrate when eating salty foods. Since they love such an unusual food for desert dwellers, it probably means that they have friendly trade with at least one other race, and that the desert where they live isn't too from from an ocean, geographically speaking; both of those points can be expanded upon to flesh out other parts of this new, PH-race devoid world.

And don't forget. Whenever something doesn't make sense, a wizard did it.

:twocents:
dawnbringer
11-26-07, 08:18 AM www.planewalker.com

Download I think chapter 2 of the PSCS, the races chapter. It has plenty of races for you to use.

Also, http://users.erols.com/aburner/planescape/index.html shows all the other genasi.
Kadasbrass
11-26-07, 11:32 AM Well one thing I guess to do is to base one race offeach of the "monster types" if you want truely unique races. Thou with the monster type rules for dnd it may be difficult to balance some of the monsters out...
dawnbringer
11-26-07, 05:36 PM Why go through the trouble of making a race for monsters when you can already get lots of races from planescape?
Sinis
11-26-07, 08:21 PM Goblins, Kobolds, Orcs? Kuo-toa, Locathah, Sahuagin?

There are a ton of humanoids that aren't in the PHB race section. Open up the SRD monsters section, and go.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rechan 11-25-07, 10:07 PM	Just as the title says. I am Sick and Tired of Human/Demi-human races. Problem is, how do you feel a fantasy setting without using them?
The Ubbergeek 11-25-07, 10:49 PM	GET THE HEAThEN!!!!!!
jradd777 11-26-07, 12:32 AM	Reword the question... I'm not sure if I'm understanding exactly what it is you're asking. I know that I understand, at base, you're saying none of the races from PHB. But I feel like I'm missing something which direction you're going from there.
CryoSilver 11-26-07, 12:34 AM	Difficult to balance, because most everything has LA.
The Ubbergeek 11-26-07, 01:08 AM	All new races, I guess.,.. Look at optional races offered around, and settings ones. Like.... Kalashtar, Warforged, rogue modrons, rakastas, etc....
Rechan 11-26-07, 01:09 AM	I would like to put a setting together with little to no humans/elves/dwarves/halflings/gnomes. But what do I populate with it? How do I structure it? And how do I get players to not just look at it and go "... yeah, we're just going to go back to Tolkien-light, thanks."
jradd777 11-26-07, 01:22 AM	Start with a base race(s) that can act sort of the same way that the PHB ones do... there's a TON that are LA 0. Checkout AZNsupermarket's Master Race (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=697653) list thread. Yeah... just... redo the universe. I know a guy that ran us in something similar, I played a Bhuka, there was only one elf in the entire world, Dwarves were all dead... It's not as hard as it might seem, IMO. You could also use LA 0 anthropomorphic animals. Check out Savage Species in the back part of the book. Or... you could use all the same bonuses etc and flavor everything different, make up your own names of races, histories, etc. I started a project like that and nearly finished. Then the other guy working on the rest of the setting stopped, so it was pretty much pointless.
Daybreaker 11-26-07, 02:02 AM	Say you've got a world where an orcish warlord managed to get all the orcs' acts together and, with the aid of the goblinoids, actually wiped out all of the dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, half-elves, half-orcs and humans. There just aren't any more. So now this orcish warlord, he's got all this loot, and he starts thinking, "Y'know, I bet gnolls have loot, too ..." He turns his attention to the other races. For now he's picking on the other humanoids and the fey and that kind of thing, but eventually he's going to work his way up to the tougher stuff. The undead. Beholders. Maybe even the dragons. His goblinoid allies start getting nervous. What happens when he turns on them? 'Cause it does seem inevitable.
Rechan 11-26-07, 03:23 AM	I had intended to use various animal type races, insectoids, Warforged and maybe Shifters... I was just seeing how best to facilitate a good Fantasy setting without necessitating stout dwarves and elves. For instance, who's in control? Is it all just isolated, nomadic tribes, or basically Standard Fantasy with a wand waved and the role Humans play (vast population, generally near industrious, etc) and so on, or would it be better to do something Else?
Fireclave 11-26-07, 04:54 AM	Flavor is always mutable and most races are just an idea, concept, personalties, or cultured personified and magnified. For example, in reality, Elves are really just really aloof humans, dwarves are just really gruff, stout, hardworking, humans, half-orcs are just really strong, mean, brutish humans, etc. Warforged, on the other hand, represent the fantasy concept of man playing god and bringing free-willed sentient life into the world and the conflicts and consequences that follow (or perhaps instead the concept of technology evolving faster than what man was ready to handle until the tool became a reflection of himself...or something). But now I'm digressing. First, figure out how you want your fantasy world to differ from whatever you consider the norm for good fantasy (which may or may not be what others think is good fantasy, but who cares at the moment), and what elements you still want to retain. Though not necessary, you might also want to come up with a unifying theme at this point to guide your creative process (all-inset, all furry, floating continents, post-apocalypse, prehistoric, etc, dragons as "gods", kobolds rulez, end of the golden age, etc). Then think up some interesting cultures/personalties/racial concepts. Next, stat 'em up. Once you have all of your races, figure out how they all relate to each other (who likes/hates/is neighbors with/trades with/allies with/enslaves/hunts/competes for resources with/shares ideologies with/owe money to whom). B.S. a couple of centuries or so of world history and sprinkle some cities/states/countries/neutral territories on that squiggly crayon line that's suppose to be a map (I suggest green for grass and brown for mountains). With all of that done, you just need to iron out the winkles. Now you just need sell the idea to your players, get their characters to meet at a tavern, toss them in a dungeon, and throw some orcs ralgators at them. Don't forget to add a dash of randomness to creative process. Sometimes our best ideas come from scribbles, mistakes, and ink-blots.And don't forget to steal with reckless abandon from any material you think is good. Remember, there's no such thing an original ideas anymore. Only stolen ideas that we coble together and pimp up to make them shine like new (and avoid copyright infringement). An example I did just right now while typing this: Take elves, make them love technology instead of forests, put the in the desert, make them unusually tall and lean, and give them fur, large ears (for keeping themselves cool, like a fennic fox), a love for history...something random-ish or odd like...imported, salted fish, and...a British accent. You now have a completely different race: a race of long-lived, nomadic desert archaeologists/tomb raiders with the extraordinary ability to not dehydrate when eating salty foods. Since they love such an unusual food for desert dwellers, it probably means that they have friendly trade with at least one other race, and that the desert where they live isn't too from from an ocean, geographically speaking; both of those points can be expanded upon to flesh out other parts of this new, PH-race devoid world. And don't forget. Whenever something doesn't make sense, a wizard did it. :twocents:
dawnbringer 11-26-07, 08:18 AM	www.planewalker.com Download I think chapter 2 of the PSCS, the races chapter. It has plenty of races for you to use. Also, http://users.erols.com/aburner/planescape/index.html shows all the other genasi.
Kadasbrass 11-26-07, 11:32 AM	Well one thing I guess to do is to base one race offeach of the "monster types" if you want truely unique races. Thou with the monster type rules for dnd it may be difficult to balance some of the monsters out...
dawnbringer 11-26-07, 05:36 PM	Why go through the trouble of making a race for monsters when you can already get lots of races from planescape?
Sinis 11-26-07, 08:21 PM	Goblins, Kobolds, Orcs? Kuo-toa, Locathah, Sahuagin? There are a ton of humanoids that aren't in the PHB race section. Open up the SRD monsters section, and go.