Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How do you make your races feel unique and/or more original?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Silvercat Moonpaw" data-source="post: 4607800" data-attributes="member: 46652"><p>1) <strong>Read up on the original myths D&D races are based on and pay particular attention to the parts you'd never heard before.</strong> Some personal examples:</p><p>* The original Norse <em>alfar</em> are super-humans who look super-attractive but don't seem different in any other way from normal humans. In fact humans seem to be able to ascend to become <em>alfar</em>.</p><p>* Dwarves were more like pale, human-sized spirits of the dead.</p><p>* Trolls weren't always seen as terrible brutes and were actually quite good with magic. In fact the word "troll" may really mean something like "supernatural".</p><p></p><p>2) <strong>Don't be afraid to take inspiration from areas nearby to Europe.</strong> Ex:</p><p>* "European" mythological creatures such as the unicorn and the griffin have their origins in the Middle-East.</p><p>* Medieval travel stories like Sir John Mandeville contain stories of really weird beings such as dog-headed people and people with horns and hooves.</p><p></p><p>3) <strong>Just because it doesn't come from Europe doesn't mean it couldn't fit into a "European" setting with a little work.</strong> Though cultures around the world may seem different at first, if you look at them closely you can see similarities. Find a race from another culture and link it in to the Medieval via the connections you personally can recognize.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silvercat Moonpaw, post: 4607800, member: 46652"] 1) [b]Read up on the original myths D&D races are based on and pay particular attention to the parts you'd never heard before.[/b] Some personal examples: * The original Norse [i]alfar[/i] are super-humans who look super-attractive but don't seem different in any other way from normal humans. In fact humans seem to be able to ascend to become [i]alfar[/i]. * Dwarves were more like pale, human-sized spirits of the dead. * Trolls weren't always seen as terrible brutes and were actually quite good with magic. In fact the word "troll" may really mean something like "supernatural". 2) [b]Don't be afraid to take inspiration from areas nearby to Europe.[/b] Ex: * "European" mythological creatures such as the unicorn and the griffin have their origins in the Middle-East. * Medieval travel stories like Sir John Mandeville contain stories of really weird beings such as dog-headed people and people with horns and hooves. 3) [b]Just because it doesn't come from Europe doesn't mean it couldn't fit into a "European" setting with a little work.[/b] Though cultures around the world may seem different at first, if you look at them closely you can see similarities. Find a race from another culture and link it in to the Medieval via the connections you personally can recognize. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How do you make your races feel unique and/or more original?
Top