OGC equivalents to Yuan-ti?

[VelvetViolet]

I've been googling, and I've found two OGC monsters that serve the same "sinister snake-people" niche as Yuan-ti: Illujans and Ophiduans. Are there any other OGC monsters like this, and does anyone have any criticism or commentary on the Illujans or Ophiduans? The Illujans, particularly, seem like the Ophiduans in an earlier historical era when they were first interacting with humanoid races, but there are also noticeable physical and magical differences (Illujans are based on constrictors and can swim, climb and naturally cast spells, while Anguineum have the ability to speak with snakes, implant snake-phobia, have two elbows in each arm that makes them chain experts, a split tail and creepier faces; the Illujan spawn are much more human-looking than the Hominis but have the ability to spit poison with vestigial fangs; the Illujans also had counters made for them, which introduced variants like the serpentongue initiate, assassin, warrior, and celebrant). I'm thinking about maybe combining the aspects of the two races and writing a supplement expanding on their ecology.

 

[Cadence]

There are a few hiding around in the PF stuff that might be helpful
http://paizo.com/PRD/additionalMonsters/serpentfolk.html
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/uncommon-races/arg-nagaji

 

[VelvetViolet]

There are a few hiding around in the PF stuff that might be helpful
http://paizo.com/PRD/additionalMonsters/serpentfolk.html
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/uncommon-races/arg-nagaji

Those, in practice, are your garden variety reptilian humanoids (the Serpentfolk derive from Robert E. Howard and Call of Cthulhu, and the Nagaji aren't much different from Lizardfolk). They don't have the je ne sais quoi that the Illujans and Ophiduans do.

 

[Tovec]

Those, in practice, are your garden variety reptilian humanoids (the Serpentfolk derive from Robert E. Howard and Call of Cthulhu, and the Nagaji aren't much different from Lizardfolk). They don't have the je ne sais quoi that the Illujans and Ophiduans do.

Your link to the Illujans didn't work for me, and I can't find any links or pictures of them online.

Also, the Nagaji has the word ophidian in the first sentence of their description. So clearly you are looking for something else.

What about the descriptions for Illujans and Ophidians do you like? What makes them special? I guess what I'm asking is for more info about this je ne sais quoi quality as, by definition, it is kind of unknown - especially to us. Beyond that, you asked for Yuan-Ti (meaning snake-people) and it was delivered, so I guess we need more information if the qualities you are looking for rely more on powers or aesthetics and less on physical description (snake-people).

 

[Wicht]

I think, Tovic, that Ranath is looking for something without a lot of "baggage" that can be written up in an ecology supplement.

My advice Raneth, would be to make your own race and make it how you want it to be from the ground up so that you can deliver that "fresh, new" feeling by being, well, both fresh and new.

Though for a yaun-ti "replacement," the serpent folk are the exact right call as the former are, imo, actually replacements for the latter and its just the wheel going full circle back to the beginning. But if you want something with je ne sais quoi, then you are probably better off to start from scratch.

 

[VelvetViolet]

Your link to the Illujans didn't work for me, and I can't find any links or pictures of them online.

Sorry about that. It's been fixed. Here's the new link.

Also, the Nagaji has the word ophidian in the first sentence of their description. So clearly you are looking for something else.

What about the descriptions for Illujans and Ophidians do you like? What makes them special? I guess what I'm asking is for more info about this je ne sais quoi quality as, by definition, it is kind of unknown - especially to us. Beyond that, you asked for Yuan-Ti (meaning snake-people) and it was delivered, so I guess we need more information if the qualities you are looking for rely more on powers or aesthetics and less on physical description (snake-people).

Their aesthetic is that they're an ancient race of snake-centaurs that crossbreed with humans to create varying degrees of human-snake hybridism, plus the usual religion of evil and slavery and stuff that's par the course for evil races. Nagaji don't quite fit that mold.

I think, Tovic, that Ranath is looking for something without a lot of "baggage" that can be written up in an ecology supplement.

My advice Raneth, would be to make your own race and make it how you want it to be from the ground up so that you can deliver that "fresh, new" feeling by being, well, both fresh and new.

Though for a yaun-ti "replacement," the serpent folk are the exact right call as the former are, imo, actually replacements for the latter and its just the wheel going full circle back to the beginning. But if you want something with je ne sais quoi, then you are probably better off to start from scratch.

Ophiduans are "fresh and new" because they take the idea of an ancient evil race of snake-centaurs crossbreeding with humans and then turn it on its head when the hybrid race overthrows their creators and reduces them to second-class citizens.

The Phrenic Scourge originated in the same book as the Ophiduans, and has been given a deal of attention by Dreamscarred Press in their Psionics books (Psionics Unleashed, High Psionics: Phrenic Scourges, Psionic Bestiary: Phrenic Hegemony). Oddly, I've never seen any third-party books using the Ophiduan material, despite them being OGC.

 

[VelvetViolet]

So, any thoughts about the Illujans and Ophidians? What kind of mileage do you think I can get out of them? Do they seem like they could coexist in the same campaign setting?

 

[Kinak]

I agree with [MENTION=221]Wicht[/MENTION]. Yuan-ti are just Robert E. Howard's serpentfolk with a new coat of paint. There's no reason to worry about the yuan-ti when we still have the real thing in the public domain.

So, any thoughts about the Illujans and Ophidians? What kind of mileage do you think I can get out of them? Do they seem like they could coexist in the same campaign setting?

I think the Ophidians are a much better replacement for yuan-ti, although the Illujans could serve as well with a bit of fleshing out.

As far as mileage... neither monster gives you a ton to work with. What are they doing? What sort of plots are ongoing? Why do they show up in adventures? That's the stuff you want to write up, but it's all on you.

I'd just pick one and expand on it, rather than include both. Their concepts are a little off from each other, which would just make things confusing. It might work merging them into one, but I'm not sure what you'd gain by that.

Cheers!
Kinak

 

[Wicht]

So, any thoughts about the Illujans and Ophidians? What kind of mileage do you think I can get out of them? Do they seem like they could coexist in the same campaign setting?

I think that you could do just about whatever you wanted with them if you were going to write up a supplement. That is one of the beauties of fantasy writing, you can make up whatever you want.

As for whether they could coexist, the simple answer is: yes, unless your campaign setting says otherwise.

How you would want them to coexist is entirely up to you though.

 

[VelvetViolet]

I'd just pick one and expand on it, rather than include both. Their concepts are a little off from each other, which would just make things confusing. It might work merging them into one, but I'm not sure what you'd gain by that.

The Ophiduans have the empire thing down, but the Illujans are cult leaders who believe themselves the children of a god. I don't have to merge them, but I think I could get some mileage out of the Illujans being an ancient splinter group of the Ophiduan empire.