I like this, and it probably works well for other critters as well.
I can see someone deliberately cultivating yellow musk mold, or an anti-civilization minded community of fey husbanding rust monsters...
Breathing New Life into your Monsters
I like this, and it probably works well for other critters as well.
I can see someone deliberately cultivating yellow musk mold, or an anti-civilization minded community of fey husbanding rust monsters...
Kid Charlemagne
I am the Very Model of a Modern Moderator
I recast orcs as being bedouin-ish desert warriors. They ride lizards into combat, which make them supreme warriors in their own lands, but in the more northern, colder human lands, the lizards are not effective, thus reducing the orcs to footsoldiers instead of elite cavalry and preventing them from projecting their power.
They're also carnivorous and cannot process plant matter. Thus, supply lines are difficult to maintain, and they need to live off the land, or off the bodies of slaves or prisoners that they take in combat.
They are also absolutely practical. Orcs constantly examine their world for that which is useful, and that which is not. So while they won't replace a leader on a whim, they will if it will mean the overall benefit outweighs the negatives. They'll make a deal with humans for peace, but if the deal starts to go bad, they'll break it off - especially when dealing from a position of strength. They tend to be non-religious, not being capable or willing to accept anything on faith. They have few or no taboos - things like cannibalism just seem like a solid use of resources to an orc.
They also tend towards smaller power groups and "nations", but will occasionally band together when a powerful or charismatic leader can convince them of the value in doing so.
So in my game, orcs could probably become productive members of mainstream society if the logistical issues surrounding their diet could be worked out - but its just not practical for them to get meat by any means other than stealing it, taking it by force, or killing each other for it.
They're also carnivorous and cannot process plant matter. Thus, supply lines are difficult to maintain, and they need to live off the land, or off the bodies of slaves or prisoners that they take in combat.
They are also absolutely practical. Orcs constantly examine their world for that which is useful, and that which is not. So while they won't replace a leader on a whim, they will if it will mean the overall benefit outweighs the negatives. They'll make a deal with humans for peace, but if the deal starts to go bad, they'll break it off - especially when dealing from a position of strength. They tend to be non-religious, not being capable or willing to accept anything on faith. They have few or no taboos - things like cannibalism just seem like a solid use of resources to an orc.
They also tend towards smaller power groups and "nations", but will occasionally band together when a powerful or charismatic leader can convince them of the value in doing so.
So in my game, orcs could probably become productive members of mainstream society if the logistical issues surrounding their diet could be worked out - but its just not practical for them to get meat by any means other than stealing it, taking it by force, or killing each other for it.
I did this with Trolls. A troll's defining features are his strength and (effective) immunity to all sorts of damage... except fire and acid. That's a pretty big chink in the armor.
I got to thinking about that. What if it was deliberate? What would be the benefit of a super-soldier with such an obvious Achille's heel?
So trolls in my campaign are the servants of dragons. Bred and selected to be powerful warriors that are uniquely vulnerable to their masters' signature weapon.
Dragons (as usual) tend to work behind the scenes, rarely leaving their massive palaces (I've never understood why a genius creature of unimaginable wealth and power would stoop so low as to sleep in a cave). The trolls are their elite envoys and servants, wearing fine masterwork armor and skilled in both diplomacy and the arts of war. Each troll bears, both on his shield or robe and across his back, the seal of his draconic lord.
Makes'em scary not only for what they are, but who they represent. A party of trolls on the road is to be given a wide berth, both physically and diplomatically.
I got to thinking about that. What if it was deliberate? What would be the benefit of a super-soldier with such an obvious Achille's heel?
So trolls in my campaign are the servants of dragons. Bred and selected to be powerful warriors that are uniquely vulnerable to their masters' signature weapon.
Dragons (as usual) tend to work behind the scenes, rarely leaving their massive palaces (I've never understood why a genius creature of unimaginable wealth and power would stoop so low as to sleep in a cave). The trolls are their elite envoys and servants, wearing fine masterwork armor and skilled in both diplomacy and the arts of war. Each troll bears, both on his shield or robe and across his back, the seal of his draconic lord.
Makes'em scary not only for what they are, but who they represent. A party of trolls on the road is to be given a wide berth, both physically and diplomatically.
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Ogres: Long before Gaiman did it in the new Beowulf, I decided that ogres were not a distinct race but rather the offspring of nobles whop had been seduced by hags. Great, dumb, foul creatures witha taste for human flesh, indeed, but by the laws that govern nobles, they cannot simply be exterminted. More than once it has led to a very interesting adventure when the PCs are hired by one person (the Lady, for example) to go destroy an ogre in the moors, but find themselves at odds with the Lord's men while doing so (who, of course, will not explain their actions). All the while, the hag watches and smiles, for her goal is to create chaos and cause havok and perhaps even find a way to legitimately place her monstrous bastard in the seat of power.
Centaurs: The Valoran Riders were the greatest heavy calvary mercenary company in the world an age ago. They fought for whichever crown offered the greatest portion of its treasury, but they were still skilled and honorable knights errant. However, they treated their mounts as the tools of war they were, and this angered Elhona, goddess of horses, and her druidic followers. After a time, the Riders and the druids went to war and the cruelty with which they used their mounts became too much for the horse goddess. Incensed, she cursed them, each man melded with his mount to become one being. She had expected wailing and rage, but what she found was a quiet weeping among war hardened men. "We do not fear death," they said to her, "we fear that out line is forever lost, for each one of us that dies can not be replaced." Taking pity, Elhona similarly "cursed" the many maids and hangers on that follwed the Riders wherever they went to war, giving the men wives so that the newly created centaur race would live on. In the centuries hence, the centaurs have become chivalric culture, knights never unhorsed, still waging wars with honor, but now always in defense of their goddess.
Centaurs: The Valoran Riders were the greatest heavy calvary mercenary company in the world an age ago. They fought for whichever crown offered the greatest portion of its treasury, but they were still skilled and honorable knights errant. However, they treated their mounts as the tools of war they were, and this angered Elhona, goddess of horses, and her druidic followers. After a time, the Riders and the druids went to war and the cruelty with which they used their mounts became too much for the horse goddess. Incensed, she cursed them, each man melded with his mount to become one being. She had expected wailing and rage, but what she found was a quiet weeping among war hardened men. "We do not fear death," they said to her, "we fear that out line is forever lost, for each one of us that dies can not be replaced." Taking pity, Elhona similarly "cursed" the many maids and hangers on that follwed the Riders wherever they went to war, giving the men wives so that the newly created centaur race would live on. In the centuries hence, the centaurs have become chivalric culture, knights never unhorsed, still waging wars with honor, but now always in defense of their goddess.
TarionzCousin
Second Most Angelic Devil Ever
Nice!NealTS said:
"Faeries/"Fey"/"Elves"
In another campaign of mine, Elves were actually Greys (you know, the guys from Close Encounters, X-files, Stargate Asgardians, etc.) who crash landed on the planet while doing a survey. While unable to repair their ship, they WERE able to construct a new home for themselves.
Using components from their ship, they created an extratemporal/extradimensional space beneath a hillock in which time passes more slowly than in the outside world. Inside it, they await rescue others of their kind. In the meantime, they minimize their contacts with the outside world, though the occasional experiment still gets conducted...
Hmmm...it was so much fun, I may have to use that one again!
In another campaign of mine, Elves were actually Greys (you know, the guys from Close Encounters, X-files, Stargate Asgardians, etc.) who crash landed on the planet while doing a survey. While unable to repair their ship, they WERE able to construct a new home for themselves.
Using components from their ship, they created an extratemporal/extradimensional space beneath a hillock in which time passes more slowly than in the outside world. Inside it, they await rescue others of their kind. In the meantime, they minimize their contacts with the outside world, though the occasional experiment still gets conducted...
Hmmm...it was so much fun, I may have to use that one again!
I'd considered Dwarves with a more muslim flavor. Desert-dwelling warrior scholars. They have advanced mathematics and magic to phenomenal degrees, but ultimately their culture puts fighting prowess above all else.
Half-orcs would be horse-back riding mongels.
Elves would be distinctly Asian; wearing samurai styled armor. More importantly, they would be the crafters - "growing" metals and gems and simply sculpting it as it grows, rather than blacksmithing.
Half-orcs would be horse-back riding mongels.
Elves would be distinctly Asian; wearing samurai styled armor. More importantly, they would be the crafters - "growing" metals and gems and simply sculpting it as it grows, rather than blacksmithing.
szilard
First Post
Rechan said:
I'm playing a dwarf in a game in which dwarven culture wasn't really sketched out... so I made it vaguely Amish. Among other things, they wear a large-brimmed black hat with a chip of stone sewn into the inside. This represents a cavern ceiling, as they consider it improper not to have stone between them and the sky.
-Stuart
Aberrations are always fun. Gricks make great "cattle' for illithids for obvious reasons. I have used choakers as magically engineered assassins and/or the first taste of things that live deep in the earth to good effect before. Ettercaps make great 'stalker' type horror monsters. A low-mid level party moving through the "dark forest" being hounded by attercaps (who aren't trying to kill them so much as funnel them toward their giant, bloated Shelob like mother's lair) is a wonder to behold.
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