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| #1Bobfred21Oct 19, 2008 1:37:59 | Alright, so I'm looking for some inspiration: I've got a vibrant interesting cast of races right now and I'm just looking for a few more to round off the group. Each race has it's own special and unique role playing angle and I need two more which I have basic ideas for but they need fleshing out. For now I'm going to give a brief overview of the races and as time goes I'll flesh out each more in this section for your enjoyment and use if you wish, on top of that as an aid in any suggestions you might make in the two races I'm looking for. Before I tell you about my ideas for the races I'm looking for here's the brief overview of what I've got for the other races: I. Humans: Bread and butter humans, pretty standard fare here. Versatile all round race pretty much the dominant race right now. II. Elves: Suffer a great deal of racism from the other races, in the ancient past they were almost entirely whiped out but the Elf Crusades in the name of the Sovereign, as such they are rare. The racism against them isn’t overwhelming and isn’t so much a penalty as it is a role playing opportunity. III. Dwarves: Dwarves are creditted as the original philosophers, scientists and the ones who discovered Magic. This discovery allowed them to build the most powerful empire that Mazoria has ever seen, this empire has long since crumbled though and the Dwarves are wildly regarded as a people past their prime. They still have plenty of political power and arn’t treated poorly, but they are pretty well recognized as being on their way out. IV. Goblins: A race steeped in tradition and old religious ways. Goblins are known for their craftiness, clever business and wily nature. Urban Goblins are often seen as rogues and scalywags while others are shamanistic and ritualistic. Goblins often have speach impediments, not because of a lack of intelligence, but because the Goblin language is incredibly complex and difficult, it breeds speach habits that dont translate well to other languages. Goblins also tend to have slightly higher resistance to Miasma than other races because of the fact that their homeland, the Balmung swamplands are one of the worst Miasma hotspots on the planet. V: Gaardric: A race of dragon people. At the end of the hundred year war, the major Gaardric cities (the center of their empire) were shrouded in lasting Miasma, which sent their civilization reeling. Gaardric seats of power compromised, the race was scattered and is now a people divided. VI. Half- Elves: Considered bastardizations of human and elven bloodlines by both sides of the conflict, Half-Elves suffer racism at the hands of even their Elven counterparts who dislike the dillution of Elven blood now that so few are left. Not greeted with as much outright hatred as Elves are, half-elves face instead, pity. VII. Changelings: Though uncommon, changelings are notorious trouble makers. Their ability to change their appearance causes authorities no end of trouble. They’re arn’t many around. VIII. Tieflings: Of all races, scholars have most trouble explaining Tieflings. They are not a true breeding race, Tiefling are only born to parents of other races, most often (but not always) following exposure to Miasma. Though rare in any race some races are more likely to give birth to a Tiefling, the order is as follows: Half-Elves, Changelings, Humans, Elves, Dal-Crae, Gaardric, Dwarves, Goblins with Dwarves never giving birth to Tieflings. The birth of a Tiefling is often seen as a bad omen, this can lead to families abandoning the child or internal family strife. Despite this Tieflings are not treated terribly in most societies, only sometimes within the familly unit. IX. Dal-Krae: I don't have the time to type up a full explanation right now, but basically all Dal-Krae are born with a disease known as the "Genophage" (I'm aware of it's medical meaning, this is part of the back story) which ensures that while they may grow up and adventure and have a life, NO Dal-Krae will EVER die a natural death until a cure for the Genophage is discovered. The basic idea for these two races are: 1. As much as I dislike furries, this one is a furry. To give you an idea of what I'm picture type "Worgen" into a google images search. I see this race as being very tribal and tied to the land, probably more common in a colder area. I don't want a minotaur feel for them (no horns), but what I have here doesn't really give me an interesting back story and role playing angle. They'd have very shaggy hair and as a racial ability the ability to fight with their claws (I'll flesh out the mechanics when I have a more solid idea on fluff). I've considered many routes so far but I'm not completely satisfied with any of them. Here are some of the ideas I've considered. I. Some connection to lycanthropes. Perhaps a rare result when lycanthropes breed or something. I.a. XXXX amount of time ago, a lycanthropic plague swept the land. It was everywhere, ran rampant, it seemed inescapable. Finally, the kings son was afflicted with the horrid condition. The King had not the heart to kill his own son as was royal decree when dealing with Lycanthropes. The King looked for another solution. Through some dark magic, perhaps a deal with a devil or some kind of eldritch machine, barely understood by the Kings scholars, a solution was found. That machine would reverse the lycanthropic disease on all people within a XXXX radius. The King in his desperation activated the machine and, as expected lycanthropy was reversed in the machines radius. However, there was a dire side effect: Every single not infected human in radius somehow... Changed. Body and mind were altered, taking on decidedly... beastial, canine features. These ancient ancestors would become the _______ of today. (This for some reason leaves me wanting something, it could use something more, doesn't say much for their racial identity as I don't want them to be hated and feared, at least not on an especially large scale) Race #2: They were Elves once: through a series of dark rituals, deals with devils, curses, whatever they are no longer the graceful, majestic people they once were. They are more morbid, dour and angry, though that is not to say they are without positive emotions. Physically speaking their skin is very pale, taking dominantly light gray shades, sometimes even white. Hair colour is about the same as normal elves. Their ears aren't nearly as perky, instead drooping, though they retain their pointed Elven heritage. On top of this their skin is mottled with thin red lines criss-crossing intricately, often in arcane patterns. I need a much more developed back story and I'm not set on my current ideas for it. Mostly I know there are a couple of holes in my settings races that could be filled and I have these vivid images in my head set aside for these races so I'd like to breath some life into them and fill those spaces. |
| #2aethergreyOct 19, 2008 6:28:36 | Race #2 caused the downfall of the elves and are the reason the dwarf nation lost it's power? Jealous of the dwarves' mastery of the arcane arts a group of elves set out to steal their secrets, conducting lightning raids on dwarven settlements. The dwarves retaliated by going to war against the elves, unaware it was only a small group causing the troubles, and slaughtered many. The ancestors of race #2 used their incomplete knowledge of magic against the dwarves, gaining some reprieve for their innocent relations, but warping their own bodies with the effort. An uneasy truce was negotiated, the elves exiling race #2, but lost the trust of the other races. Something like that, anyway. |
| #3Johnathan_VagabondOct 21, 2008 13:13:16 | Race 1. Hey man, don't stunt yourself by immediately referring to them as something you don't like. Then you'll never be satisfied with their background. Anthropomorphic Race (way better than something that makes you think negatively about a race you want in your game). Here's a few animals I wikipedia'd for the more northern climes that might be interesting. Musk Oxen, Wolverines, Lynx, or Lemmings. Now, personally I prefer Musk Oxen, so thats what I'll roll with. X. Muxsosken: Slow to trust and slow to anger, Muxsosken (or Muxsosk; singular) inhabit the unkind northern climes of the world. Their shaggy ox-like faces express very little emotion and as such they have often been hunted like animals by north-faring humans. Despite their general lack of predatory behavior, Muxsosken are omnivorious. They little difficulty subduing prey when necessary but cultural taboos brought about by their own 'prey-status' endear them to mainly herbivorous habits. Physically, the muxsosk is imposing. Averaging between six to seven and a half feet tall and weighing upwards of five hundred pounds, a muxsosk is no light weight. Thick shaggy fur, usually about two feet long, covers their entire body. They have cloven hooves and three fingered hands with a hoof-like bone protrusion that covers the top of their thick fingers. A vestigal tail-bob adorns the rear of a muxsosk. Although muxsosken do not have the curved horns of their ancestors, their skulls are exceptionally thick and their brains well padded. Muxsosken originated in the deepest winter portions of the feywild, possibly as a result of normal musk oxen that somehow crossed over. Later generations fled from the stronger monsters of the frozen feywild into the material world. Finding the frozen north of the world more welcoming than they feywild, small families and tribes of muxsosken settled there, living off the heather and lichen befor migrating a small distance south, from the tundra to the tiagra and boreal forests. This was where muxsosken were first encountered and hunted for their warm fur and generally meaty bodies. Because muxsosken language is heavily dependant on body positioning and drawn out sounds, it was dismissed as a possible language until many years later. Socially muxsosken keep very much to their own people, treating outsiders with cautious hospitality. It wasn't that long ago that other races hunted them and that breeds distrust. Muxsosken are practical to a fault. The frozen feywild was unkind to even the best prepared and the tundra was only a little better. On those rare occasions when they kill animals, each piece is used for something. This has lead to their reputation as packrats. Of course, most muxsosken would rather have what they need on hand, rather than wishing they had it. |
| #4Bobfred21Oct 22, 2008 13:52:05 | Race #2 caused the downfall of the elves and are the reason the dwarf nation lost it's power? Jealous of the dwarves' mastery of the arcane arts a group of elves set out to steal their secrets, conducting lightning raids on dwarven settlements. The dwarves retaliated by going to war against the elves, unaware it was only a small group causing the troubles, and slaughtered many. The ancestors of race #2 used their incomplete knowledge of magic against the dwarves, gaining some reprieve for their innocent relations, but warping their own bodies with the effort. An uneasy truce was negotiated, the elves exiling race #2, but lost the trust of the other races. Hmm... Unfortunately, much of this conflicts with my ideas for the Elves and the racism they suffer. I don't want this race to be a cause for the racism, likely is a reaction to the racism they suffered at the hands of the others. However, before I hadn't considered a connection to the fall of the Dwarven empire and I think I actually want to work that in now. Thanks for the inspiration. Race 1. Hey man, don't stunt yourself by immediately referring to them as something you don't like. Then you'll never be satisfied with their background. In honesty, my problem is more with peoples perceptions of Furries and the often sexual bent put on them. Mostly my desire is to get away from that angle and actually use them as a race. I like the angle you proposed with them having been hunted as savage beasts and while my homebrew uses a different planar setting than core and doesn't include the feywild, I think I will include another plane in their origin, as well as many of the suggestions you've brought forward. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your ideas. Thanks for the help from both of you. I have to go to class now, but hopefully later today I'll start hammering out these races more fully with the help of this new inspiration. Thanks again, and new inspiration is still more than welcome. |
| #5Book5Oct 29, 2008 11:46:25 | Race 1 - Why not catta? Or Kata, or some Cat based race. Everybody likes cats. (see avatar ;) Race 2 .... so Drow, but not. Have you looked at Xephs as a possible corollary? |