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<blockquote data-quote="QuietBrowser" data-source="post: 7307719" data-attributes="member: 6855057"><p>So, I figured for today's work, I'd approach races from a different angle. We're all pretty up to date on the "big" races; Humans, Gnomes, Elves, Hobgoblins, Ratfolk, Haffuns, Hutaakans, Gnolls, Deathtouched. So, I thought I'd go on a basic run-down of "little" races - those races which aren't major players on the world stage and may, in fact, be restricted to one relatively small part of the world. These are all very much Work In Progress ideas, so I really want to talk about these and hammer out if they are or are not solid ideas to build from.... then I realized, apart from the goliaths (see below), I don't actually have any really solid ideas for such races.</p><p></p><p>Goliaths: Standard D&D 4e appearance, but fluff-wise, these guys are closer to Conan's Cimmerians - they are the last civilised remnants of a fallen empire, variously believed to come from either the mysterious lands said to lie north of the World End Mountains or in the Peninsula of Mu. Noble, proud and warlike, they cherish martial prowess and determination, but are honorable, not bloodthirsty raiders. Heavy presence in Bitterland and the other mountainous regions of the Republic. Nobody's sure if the Ogres they (vaguely) resemble (which follow Golarion fluff) are the horribly degenerate mutant kin of the goliaths or a slave race that overthrew them and then self-destructed. One possible candidate for the creators of the Netherstorm.</p><p></p><p>So, maybe you folks are willing to talk about that with me?</p><p></p><p>That said, there are two races I want to talk about; Tondi and "Totemkin".</p><p></p><p>Tondi are a thri-kreen subrace that few people remember existed. Created in "Thri-Kreen of Athas", they are an all-female species of Orchid Mantisfolk, brilliantly colored and flamboyant-looking creatures that are adapted to mimic flowers (or outcroppings of rock crystal, in Athas), and whilst there was never much lore given on them in the books, I really they could fit well into the Garden of Zyn as a "little" race. But... I don't know what to do with them.</p><p></p><p>Totemkin, meanwhile, were born out of the Sun Elves. It makes sense that a race that both worships animal totems AND has no taboos about alchemical augmentation would, eventually, try and emulate their totems by physically becoming more like them. But, even if it makes sense... I still see two huge problems with this. Ironically, the "how are you supposed to be a level 1 Totemkin character?" query is the lesser of the two. The greater, in my worried eyes, is that this looks an awful lot like fetish fuel. I mean, I won't deny that I like the idea of playing a centaur or a lamia - heck, the Lillend got a racial writeup in 3.5 for a reason - but, still, given they're tied into the Sun Elves, that basically makes them monstergirls. And this is a serious(ish) setting - I don't expect it to be all doom 'n' gloom, but it's not supposed to be for ERPing by default! ...I don't know, I may just be overthinking things...</p><p></p><p>Anyone got any opinions they wanna share?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="QuietBrowser, post: 7307719, member: 6855057"] So, I figured for today's work, I'd approach races from a different angle. We're all pretty up to date on the "big" races; Humans, Gnomes, Elves, Hobgoblins, Ratfolk, Haffuns, Hutaakans, Gnolls, Deathtouched. So, I thought I'd go on a basic run-down of "little" races - those races which aren't major players on the world stage and may, in fact, be restricted to one relatively small part of the world. These are all very much Work In Progress ideas, so I really want to talk about these and hammer out if they are or are not solid ideas to build from.... then I realized, apart from the goliaths (see below), I don't actually have any really solid ideas for such races. Goliaths: Standard D&D 4e appearance, but fluff-wise, these guys are closer to Conan's Cimmerians - they are the last civilised remnants of a fallen empire, variously believed to come from either the mysterious lands said to lie north of the World End Mountains or in the Peninsula of Mu. Noble, proud and warlike, they cherish martial prowess and determination, but are honorable, not bloodthirsty raiders. Heavy presence in Bitterland and the other mountainous regions of the Republic. Nobody's sure if the Ogres they (vaguely) resemble (which follow Golarion fluff) are the horribly degenerate mutant kin of the goliaths or a slave race that overthrew them and then self-destructed. One possible candidate for the creators of the Netherstorm. So, maybe you folks are willing to talk about that with me? That said, there are two races I want to talk about; Tondi and "Totemkin". Tondi are a thri-kreen subrace that few people remember existed. Created in "Thri-Kreen of Athas", they are an all-female species of Orchid Mantisfolk, brilliantly colored and flamboyant-looking creatures that are adapted to mimic flowers (or outcroppings of rock crystal, in Athas), and whilst there was never much lore given on them in the books, I really they could fit well into the Garden of Zyn as a "little" race. But... I don't know what to do with them. Totemkin, meanwhile, were born out of the Sun Elves. It makes sense that a race that both worships animal totems AND has no taboos about alchemical augmentation would, eventually, try and emulate their totems by physically becoming more like them. But, even if it makes sense... I still see two huge problems with this. Ironically, the "how are you supposed to be a level 1 Totemkin character?" query is the lesser of the two. The greater, in my worried eyes, is that this looks an awful lot like fetish fuel. I mean, I won't deny that I like the idea of playing a centaur or a lamia - heck, the Lillend got a racial writeup in 3.5 for a reason - but, still, given they're tied into the Sun Elves, that basically makes them monstergirls. And this is a serious(ish) setting - I don't expect it to be all doom 'n' gloom, but it's not supposed to be for ERPing by default! ...I don't know, I may just be overthinking things... Anyone got any opinions they wanna share? [/QUOTE]
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