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How do you make your races feel unique and/or more original?
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<blockquote data-quote="Slander" data-source="post: 4606292" data-attributes="member: 1593"><p>At the beginning of our campaign, one of my players stated they wanted to be a cleric of Athena. I hadn't really given much thought to the campaign pantheon, and really just assumed I'd be using the default core. But since that player decided to go greek on me, I backfilled the entire history of the campaign based on greek mythology. It was actually a fun little project, both in terms of creating the backstory and digging deeper into greek myth.</p><p></p><p>In my case, I got away with using a lot of greek names and references. But it could just have easily been as interesting if I had switched out the greek pantheon for a custom one. If I create another campaign again, I may look at other creation stories for similar inspiration.</p><p></p><p>Here's a quick recap of what I came up with:</p><p></p><p>Elves were the first race of the Golden Age created by Cronos and the other Titans. There's was a life without toil or sorrow. Elves disdain for all other races is particularly accute because their appearance coincided with the destruction of the Titan's rule and the end of paradise.</p><p></p><p>During the Ascendance of the gods, Giants attempt to overthrow the gods of Olympus and restore the Titans rule. As Zeus struck down the Giants, Gaea fashioned the blood-soaked rocks into Goliaths as a living memorial to her sons.</p><p></p><p>Orcs (a primary race in the campaign) were created from the teeth of the first dragon, slain by an elf. As the dragon was personal creation of Ares, he commanded the orcs to slay the elf in retribution. The elf tricked them into fighting one another and made his escape. To this day orcs are torn between fighting amongst themselves and fighting the elves.</p><p></p><p>Humans, dwarves, halflings and gnomes were all created by Prometheus from different elements of the earth in order to pay homage to Zeus and the gods.</p><p></p><p>Aasimar are decendants of the gods or their servants, and often find themselves wrapped up in the affairs and politics of the gods.</p><p></p><p>Tieflings are the decendants of devils specifically (which themselves are creations of Tartarus, tasked with eternally tormenting the wicked souls that end up there). Tieflings often have one strong urge or vice that reflects a specific evil which can doom a soul to Tartarus. Those who seek to fit into society constantly struggle against that urge.</p><p></p><p>While Prometheus was out creating races for Zeus, Dolos (his assistant) tried his hand at modeling a new race, male and female, from some clay. Each time he would complete a new form, he would ball the clay up and start again. Prometheus returned unexpectedly in the middle of another attempt. Afraid Prometheus would be angered at his workings, Dolus threw the incomplete forms out the workshop window. And thus, Changelings came to be.</p><p></p><p>Killoren are a new creation of Gaea. There numbers are scattered and few, and the purpose for their creation isn't known ... yet.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Slander, post: 4606292, member: 1593"] At the beginning of our campaign, one of my players stated they wanted to be a cleric of Athena. I hadn't really given much thought to the campaign pantheon, and really just assumed I'd be using the default core. But since that player decided to go greek on me, I backfilled the entire history of the campaign based on greek mythology. It was actually a fun little project, both in terms of creating the backstory and digging deeper into greek myth. In my case, I got away with using a lot of greek names and references. But it could just have easily been as interesting if I had switched out the greek pantheon for a custom one. If I create another campaign again, I may look at other creation stories for similar inspiration. Here's a quick recap of what I came up with: Elves were the first race of the Golden Age created by Cronos and the other Titans. There's was a life without toil or sorrow. Elves disdain for all other races is particularly accute because their appearance coincided with the destruction of the Titan's rule and the end of paradise. During the Ascendance of the gods, Giants attempt to overthrow the gods of Olympus and restore the Titans rule. As Zeus struck down the Giants, Gaea fashioned the blood-soaked rocks into Goliaths as a living memorial to her sons. Orcs (a primary race in the campaign) were created from the teeth of the first dragon, slain by an elf. As the dragon was personal creation of Ares, he commanded the orcs to slay the elf in retribution. The elf tricked them into fighting one another and made his escape. To this day orcs are torn between fighting amongst themselves and fighting the elves. Humans, dwarves, halflings and gnomes were all created by Prometheus from different elements of the earth in order to pay homage to Zeus and the gods. Aasimar are decendants of the gods or their servants, and often find themselves wrapped up in the affairs and politics of the gods. Tieflings are the decendants of devils specifically (which themselves are creations of Tartarus, tasked with eternally tormenting the wicked souls that end up there). Tieflings often have one strong urge or vice that reflects a specific evil which can doom a soul to Tartarus. Those who seek to fit into society constantly struggle against that urge. While Prometheus was out creating races for Zeus, Dolos (his assistant) tried his hand at modeling a new race, male and female, from some clay. Each time he would complete a new form, he would ball the clay up and start again. Prometheus returned unexpectedly in the middle of another attempt. Afraid Prometheus would be angered at his workings, Dolus threw the incomplete forms out the workshop window. And thus, Changelings came to be. Killoren are a new creation of Gaea. There numbers are scattered and few, and the purpose for their creation isn't known ... yet. [/QUOTE]
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