fantasy races

[Kenny]

You could look at the Ancient Egyptian gods for ideas, quite a few animals all with human bodies and some research into the background of the gods will give your races some interesting traits for the race.

[Vaevictis Asmadi]

Myths are full of potential fantasy races that aren't often used: Urmahlullu (lion-centaurs), Girtablullu (scorpion-bird-human hybrids), Kinnari (similar to Greek sirens), Suparna (similar to the god Garuda), snake-shaped spirits of the dead, bizarre Egyptian dragons, Lamassu/Shedu, anthropomorphic griffins, Adaro (horned merfolk that fly in the sky), the flying Orang Bati of the Moluccas and Alan of the Philippines, unconventional therianthropes (weresharks, tanuki, were-hyenas, semi-undead land otter people, encantados/weredolphins, skatini/were-owls, etc.) . . . D&D does have write-ups for some of these, like lion-centaurs, lamassu, and some unusual therianthropes.



I started to develop a fantasy setting that I thought was fairly original, but compared to some of the stuff you guys have written (such as Celestial Ocean) the races are unfortunately rather unoriginal... the four main races are minotaurs, catfolk, underwater humanoids, and a dwarf-like race based on Philippine mythology. There are also minor races such as centaurs, talking dolphins, and dragons, plus various invading aliens, and the setting has no humans. I'm trying to develop some more unique races though, starting with Tikbalangs, which are hideously mutated minotaurs in my setting, and forest nymphs based off some half-deer and half-lion creatures in southeast Asian myth. My eventual goal is to increasingly draw elements from Indian, Southeast-Asian, Indonesian, and Philippine myth into it to get away from the overdone pseudo-European fantasy cliches that I started with.


Hmm, maybe I could replace the Centaurs with Urmahlullu or something.

[Rickoise]

you need furry gurps

[Johnny Angel]

Originally Posted by Vaevictis Asmadi

Hmm, maybe I could replace the Centaurs with Urmahlullu or something.

If you're looking for an alternate to Centaurs... based on your interests, I think a centaur-like race based on Komodo Dragons might work in your setting.

[tantric]

I had an inspiration for a DnD style world that used Fae vs. Goblins as invaders from another world. The Fae were: Elves, Sidhe, Pixies, Sprites, Trollkin and others who use spontaneous Arcane magic. The Gholb were: Hobgoblins, Blues, Bugbears, etc who are psychics. Both groups are immortal and abhor iron: it blocks psionics and poisons the Fae. Both groups have pursued their Final Conflict across numerous worlds, utterly ruining them in the process. In this campaign, there is no good or evil: only winners and losers (or so they think...). Crossbreeds are: the half-Fae, half-Gholb humaniods. Tengu, Halfings, Men, Chims and Ogres, all able to use Arcana and Psi, and all tragically mortal. Yes, Chims are basically chimpanzees. The native inhabitants of the planet were: Grippli, Saurians, Aarakokra, Thrikreen and Dolphins. These guys are caught in the middle of a worlds-spanning war.Unlike the Fae and Gholb, they are in touch with the lifeblood and history of Sha-Ur, and thus its sacred Domains (aka clerical magic).

Unfortunately, I couldn't convince myself to spend the time trying to adapt DnD to this, when GURPS would be so much better, and I already have a GURPS world in the oven.

Do the Arcana Wiki have a page for mythological sophonts?

[Cyratos]

Originally Posted by RedMattis

Wow, this sounds really cool. Mind giving a short description for the lesser/ethereal races too?

Sure.

Faerel (plural -faereli - Ghost - like, ethereal race that lives only in the Dead Sands on Nullan side of Terg'Haron (nulla = south). They communicate by telepathy, and cannot create any other sounds whatsoever (except when moving and breaking things with telekinesis). Their eyes usually glow in blue or green colors, while their faces , along with their body, is completely invisible. However, some of them have bandage-like clothes wrapped around them, defining their curves. There are no sexes, Faereli are born out of mana storms, phenomena typical for Dead Sands, since all negative magical energy concentrates in this very desert.

EDIT: I am uber tired, I'll list the lesser races tmoz.

[Phoenix_Dragon]

Bugs are good, yeah. Typically, Insect Men seem to be portrayed as ants, both in appearance and "society," although with a hive mind. I like to mix things up when I can, though, so the ones in my campaigns are more beetle-like, with a social structure more like bees than anything else. They have no hive-mind, but they have various castes, and some of them are incredibly simple-minded. The smarter castes generally consider the other species to be rather disorganized, poorly-structured, and chaotic in their social structures (And why do you give your menial laborers free will and no bred-in sense of selflessness? Then you wonder why you're facing yet another revolt...).

I also stole the name Coleopteran from DF, just because it both sounds cool and exotic enough to fit them, but it also seems like a much better name than just "Insect Men" (Even if that's what most people still refer to them as, for simplicity).

As for others... Even in the very D&D-style fantasy settings (Like my Kaldrum world), I like to both mix up the species a bit, so they're not quite the stereotypes (Mainly, this involves fleshing out the "monster" species, such as gnolls, to be less slavering-mindless-evil-monsters and more of actual beings with some more depth to them), as well as adding in some new ones. And quite often removing some, as well, for various reasons (Ranging from "I don't like them" to "there's no room for them" to "they got killed off!").

[Infornific]

There's a couple of interesting columns on races in fantasy rpgs on rpg.net that you can find here and here. Basically, you want to think about which niche each race fills. I would suggest approaching it as follows:

1. Figure out what kind of races you want - e.g., a strong and tough race, an agile race, a magical race, etc.

2. Create races that fit these niches and fit into your world.

3. If possible, base the races off of pre-existing mythology so the players can get a quick grip on each race. The problem with creating entirely new and original creatures is that you have to give a lot of background for the players to understand them. Part of the reason for the persistence of elves, dwarfs and halflings is that players come into the game with some knowledge of these creatures.

For example, say you wanted to create races for a sword & sorcery/Greek mythology themed fantasy. You want a strong and tough race, an agile race and a magical race. For the strong and tough race, you go with minotaurs - everyone knows what they're like. For the agile race, you go with a satyr type race similar to the fauns of Fantasy Folk. For the magical race, you go with Atlanteans - defined as magical, smarter and longer lived but frailer than ordinary men, typically decadent and arrogant. In GURPS terms, increased IQ, Magery, reduced HT, increased life span and possibly social stigma and intolerance of other races. You've got a set of races that fit your world and are easy for players to get a handle on.

- DW

[Nemi3e]

There's the Hradrani from David Webber's Oath of Swords Universe. Very large humanoids with furry fox ears, the Horse Stealers regularly top seven feet. They have unnatural endurance, stamina, and strength (hooked into the magical feild, but they can't cast spells) to the point where, on foot, they can keep pace with men on horses. The Horse Stealers are so tall because they spent generations chasing down and eating horses. (There's a reason why).

However, the males are all berserkers. Though recently, if they summon 'the Rage' they can control it and it makes them calm and focused deadly.

I'm personally cooking up some non-anthropomorphic spiderfolk, and am thinking about doing a presentient ant species based upon SimAnt. (Hive mind, instant reincarnation?)

Hmm, if you're willing, there's a wealth of nonhumans in Sci Fi, which can't take their cues from fantasy. Off the top of my head from James White I recall Huldars, which are huge, vacuum adapted, six legged and no mouthed creatures. And this three legged nonflying bird/stork creature with a frightening dexterous beak...

[Gudiomen]

I have made a ton of fantasy races in the past, from basically human to stuff that escapes classification.

My basic approach is amalgamation, either physical or conceptual.

Physical would be like a hybrid between a human and some animal, or example the Giants in one of my setting are roughly the cross between humans and orangutans... they have bodies covered in long reddish hair, long arms, grayish skin... they have low tech (TL0), and are very big... about 3 yards tall.

Conceptual is more an amalgamation of the subjective characteristics you'd expect from a cross with pretty much anything. Dwarves for example, are to some extent, what Tolkien expected that humans made from stone would develop into. The sithi of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn draw on conceptual tones from birds of prey... the way they move, think and build their societies... differences are much more on the abstract level than on the physical one, both dwarves and sithi are very human-like physically (one is short, the other has pronounced cheek-bones and other minor differences). Elves are a pretty good example too, they are "elevated humans", they draw on the conept of perfection (they are beautiful, immortal, everything they do is better be it a song, a weapon or a boat...).

You can do both, physical and conceptual amalgamation. One of my races is slight physical amalgamation with hunting bats, they're hairer than humans, have sharper teeth, are slightly smaller and lighter, and have keen hearing. They are the conceptual addition of Id, humanities primal instincs, so all things emotional are enhanced, pride, lust, love, taste for fighting, etc... very visceral.

You have to be careful not to overdo it though, ideally anyone playing in your setting shouldn't spot the origins of the species without putting a lot of thought. The same goes for conceptual amalgamation, if it's too strong or brash it becomes stereotypical or unbelievable.