5e Homebrew Setting: Malebolge, Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy

[QuietBrowser]

So, whilst still eagerly waiting to further this discussion towards refining the kobolds and improving on my mistakes with them... I thought I might as well share two big things that've been sitting on my chest.

The first is a tentative "map" of the world. Now, before anyone brings up the old warnings, the "Known World" is very much NOT the entirety of the world. Before the Black Dawn, most if not all of the planet was covered by the territories of humans, dwarves and elves. The Known World, which is the collective territories that've been mapped in the centuries since the Black Dawn, is only a comparatively small fragment - roughly the size of North America, and there's more land beyond that.

The Known World is synonymous with one particular continent on Malebolge, which roughly corresponds to Ansalon in Dragonlance or how Faerun technically refers to one particular continent on Toril in the Forgotten Realms. This is, as far as this project is concerned, "the setting entire"; there's other areas out there, the Kara-tur/Al-Qadim/Maztic to its Faerun, or the Kalimdor to its Lordaeron, but touching on them is something for another project entirely, assuming this gets going. It'd be like having a "Fallout: Lost Britannia".

The Known World is subdivided into several "territories" or "regions". These are distinctive places on the Known World map, close to, but not quite, kingdoms or sub-continents. The exact borders between the two are hazy at best, partially because I haven't been able to fix them that clearly in my mind, partially because even in-universe the fact these areas are known to exist thanks to the stories of travelers and merchants doesn't mean people precisely know where each starts or ends.

The tentative list of territories so far stands at:

The Cradlelands: These were the center of the human empire before the Black Dawn, which is where their name comes from. In Fallout terms, this is the Capital Wasteland; the destruction was really heavy here, and rebuilding is minimal due to an abundance of environmental hazards. Local sentients mostly consist of small, often nomadic, tribes and bands, or very heavily fortified and isolationist Vault-analogue cities.

The Scarred Coast: A large and relatively verdant strip of coastal terrain on the only rediscovered sea thus far, the Sea of Blood. In Fallout terms, this is the New California Republic, or whatever it was called in Fallout 1, or the Boston Commonwealth - this is the place where civilization is truly getting back on, city-states slowly rising from the raiders and the tribals and looking with a bright eye towards the future. Here, danger is somewhat less focused on running out of supplies or being attacked by raiders/predators, but more on political dangers; cults, war between city-states, suburban predators (serial killers and other "social" monsters), intrigue, corruption, etc.

The Jaderealm: A vast and verdant land of untamed tropical forests and swamps, the Jaderealm is sort of an "anti-Mojave" - the same unsettled, untamed, foreign frontier, but dangerously lush and rich with deadly life instead of a parched and scorching wasteland. Attempts at penetrating this region have been... unsuccessful, making it one of the least understood of the territories.

The Slagheap: Once known as Nidavilir, that was before the Black Dawn devastated the region. Volcanoes, mountains and glaciers to begin with, the entire region has been mangled and torn apart by incredible magical cataclysms. This is dwarf country, gnome country, kobold country, and it's not a safe place. It might even be more screwed up than the Cradlelands in terms of natural hazards and towns full of folk who don't want you around.

The Bitterflats: A parched and deadly savannah, this is effectively the Mojave Wasteland of the Malebolge setting. This is the new frontier, as far as the "civilized" peoples of the Scarred Coast are concerned, attempting to push onwards into this land despite the protests of the native cultures, who aren't generally welcoming of a bunch of foreigners.

Refining or expanding upon these is something that I'd love to have help with.


The second is, as I've been hinting, my thoughts/worries about expanding the list of known races in Malebolge. As you probably pieced together from the first part, even though only bits and pieces of "the map" are actually still on the map after the Black Dawn, that's a fairly big area, so not all races are going to co-habit. You can still have mixed parties, but you'd theoretically need backstories explaining how you got from region A to region B. Even so, I do worry that some of my ideas are pushing too much into the setting.

Anyway, these are the races I'm thinking of adding, and why, as best I can explain. I really do need someone to talk to in order to fix these up...

Elves: I keep whiffling on whether or not to include these guys, because I've got dwarves mutating (even if there are some purebloods, although their role in the setting is kind of a less assholish version of the Enclave) into many species, so, it kind of makes sense that elves have some similar mutants, doesn't it? The big issue I'm struggling with is whether or not there's any surviving purebloods... I kind of want to include them, but I want them to be legendarily rare. Like, most of them are probably still hiding from the world in the shattered remains of flying cities or behind illusion-cloaked citadels; the neutral ones want to be left alone, the evil ones dream of conquering the world. To see an elf pureblood in the flesh should be even rarer than seeing a pureblood dwarf... but, I don't know if that then defeats the point of having them.

Shadar-Kai: These guys are... well, I don't know. To me, it makes sense that since the elves were big necromancers, when the whole world went pinballing through dimensions, some would be overwhelmed by necrotic energy and mutated into shadow-infused versions of themselves who need stimulation to keep from fading into oblivion, but... does it make sense to anyone else?

Drow: These guys, I just... I don't know. Like I said, I'd like to include some elfin mutant species in Malebolge, but these guys just don't quite seem to fit the bill? Maybe you guys can help me think of a better way to spin them in order to make sense for this crazy, messed up world of mine.

Derro: This actually wasn't an idea I started out thinking about seriously. It began as just my mind throwing up that picture of the Derro Urban Stalker from Pathfinder's "Inner Sea Monster Codex". After enjoying the recollection, I began to wonder "how would a player handle playing a derro, anyway?" and, when I started to piece together a short guidebook for playing derro without being the typical Chaotic Stupid annoying PC*, I began to think that maybe I had something here. Still, it's a very vague idea, and I want to talk with folks about how to make it work - my loose idea starts with the Derro being a further mutation/degeneration of the Gnomoi (Rock Gnomes), maybe caused by some expy of Pathfinder's cytilish, and that the Gnomoi consider them unfortunate kinsfolk who need to be succored (but not at the extent of themselves; if a derro clan turns into a band of Saywer expies, gnomes will be the first to put them down), but that's all I've got.

*Yes, I can and will write it up and share it here if folks are interested.

Gnolls: It's no secret, from posts I've made here before. I love gnolls. I love to take these hyena-folk, whom 4e made me fall in love with via its wonderfully crafted "Playing Gnolls" article, and give them the Ork-treatment, as I've taken to calling it. They'd fit in perfectly into the Bitterflats as, perhaps, the dominant culture... but beyond knowing that I want them, I don't really know how to get them. I'm not even 100% convinced they're a good idea...

Lizardfolk: I wasn't originally planning on these guys, but since Volo's Guide came into my possession, I can't help but wonder if they're not a good idea. I mean, can't you just see them as a kobold experiment in regaining their physical prowess gone wrong somehow? I don't know, maybe I should let you guys talk me out of them...

Bugbears: So, Orks were engineered in this setting to be super-soldiers. Goblins are a random mutation that arises, an attempt to regain some of their inherent magical nature from back when they were elves. Bugbears, as shown in Volo's Guide, are freaky-scary assassins. So... I don't know, should I maybe give orks even more mutant offshoot subspecies? Why not the hobgoblins while I'm at it?

Diaboli: Mostly, I just like these guys. They've got a long tradition of being interplanar refugees, and RIFTS was a big inspiration for Malebolge, so... I don't know. Do they make sense as a race stranded here in this hellhole and trying to cope?

Githyanki/Githzerai: Weakest of the races here, I was basically thinking of using them like the Diaboli... I don't know, maybe that's not called for?

Nagas/Serpentfolk: I... can't explain the idea here. But, we got spiders evolved into magically talented mages because of the "fallout", and a race of mad magi-scientist kobolds who keep messing around with their own unborn kids, so why is there not a magical race of serpent-people?

Draega: These guys are just... like I said, I really like the Shin'hare. They're freaking creepy. The elves were some fairly sick folk, so I like the idea of having a race around that's basically an elfin attempt at revenge even generations after the war was lost. I really do think I can make it work, I just... I don't know, maybe I should just go ahead and do their gazetteer now, instead of waiting to fix the kobolds first. Let folks get a chance at seeing them the way I see them... Also, my intent is to use Draeg as the singular and Draega as the plural, but I would dearly love a less awkward sounding name to call them by.

 

[Lanliss]

Hmm. Not sure how much I can help on this decision. For me at least my Races, and their stories in my world, are just short of the most personal choice. They are my personal view of these races, and I doubt anyone could really talk me out of or into ones I don't want. I guess what I am really saying is, deep in your heart, do you want these races? This is all yours, don't worry about being judged or corrected on anything. No one can say "that isn't how Gnolls work" because this is your world.

I will say, my list of allowed races is just about anything (conditionally, depending on their story) because of the central theme of my world. It was torn into by Chaos, a real and physical force of nature in my world, allowing me to get away with literally anything I want in there. Your world is similar, but slightly more structured. I would say, if you absolutely want an opinion of how to work races in, figure out the underlying physics of your world. How do Plane quakes interact with Volcanos, or tundra? What kind of alchemical experiments do the Kobolds do? Mashing together some dust, throw a bunch of different magic into a single bottle? Once you know how your World's physics interact with the things in it, you will know what could happen with it, what kind of races it could cause, and where that series of events would be likely to occur.

Now, this is not to say that you need to publish a thousand books on Alchemical/Necromantic/magic/nuclear interactions. You just need to think slightly below the surface. For example, the Surface of our world's grass is green. If you go to just below the surface, from a physics view point, you arrive at photosynthesis. You obviously already know the Surface of your world but, to answer deeper questions like this, you need to know a bit more.

All IMO, Hope this helps.

 

[Quartz]

There's some seriously cool stuff here. However, when it comes to intelligent races, I think you've got far too many. Where do they all live?

As for druids, perhaps you've forgotten the obvious: the world-soul. Make druids those who tap into it, those who are blessed by it. The world itself has awoken and the druids are its agents in fixing itself. You'd need to change them - no shapechanging, for instance.

With regard to elves and orcs, perhaps the elves were plant-folk, the old aldryami of Runequest, which makes orc plant-creatures too. Or you could look to the pentapods of 2300 AD.

Naga / serpentfolk / lizardfolk / kobolds: perhaps they're just variations of the same race, like yuan-ti?

 

[QuietBrowser]

Thank you both for taking the time to weigh in on this.
[MENTION=40552]Quartz[/MENTION]: I appreciate the suggestion, but, personally, I'd use the various "elementalist origins" for sorcerers to represent characters with that kind of power. Easier than trying to work out how to make Druids work without Wild Shape.

On a different topic while I hope that (@Chaosmancer and [MENTION=6801670]Istbor[/MENTION] return to continue discussing kobolds/others take up the discussion in their absence)... whilst Malebolge is definitely a world where lots of things can try to kill you, do folks think it'd be a good idea for me to go over my 4e/Pathfinder/5e material and start drafting up a list of monsters that I, personally, would see fitting into the setting? Sort of an official monster manual for Malebolge?

 

[Chaosmancer]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to this. I wanted to take time to go over things, not just post and bolt, but life has not been conducive to that.

Ah, I think there's been some confusion. It's not that they switch genders... I guess maybe I made things a bit too PG rated, and that clouded things. I was just worried about how the folks would handle it. I'll explain their reproductive anatomy, since I've obviously muddled things, I just hope it's not too graphic.

[sblock]
Kobolds are male and female, in that they do have two different body-types that are more orientated towards one of the sexual roles - inseminating, or gestating. They are hermaphrodites in that all kobolds have both male and female sexual organs simultaneously.

"Male" kobolds have a penis contained within a groinal slit and a cloaca - a combination anus and vagina - under their tail. A distinct "branch" of their internal cavity leads to a fully functional uterus and set of ovaries, meaning that these "male" kobolds can be inseminated through what is, in human terms, anal sex. These kobolds are orientated towards doing the inseminating, though; their phalluses are larger, their testes are more productive, they can more readily stimulate a penetrated partner, and their sperm count is generally higher, meaning they have greater chance at fertilizing another kobold's eggs than being fertilized themselves. This is why, in general, a "male" kobold will only produce half as many eggs when impregnated compared to a "female" kobold.

"Female" kobolds, in comparison, are built for producing eggs. They have a frontal vagina, a retractile phallus taking the place of a clitoris, and an anus. More of their internal cavity is given over to their uterus and ovaries, meaning their internal testes are comparatively small; they do not produce as much sperm as as the "males" do, and their smaller penises make penetrating sex slightly more difficult for them compared to "males", but they can still effectively inseminate a kobold partner if they desire to.
[/sblock]

In essence, what I did in the gazetteer was an attempt to convey my idea of "undifferentiated hermaphrodite dragons being forced, however crudely, into the human framework, complete with pseudo-males and pseudo-females", in a way that was hopefully not too graphic for the readers. It looks like I may have been too worried about reader reactions, and in the end confused the issue because... yeah, they're supposed to be hermaphroditic all the time, just some are better at carrying and some are better at fertilizing, not "males turn into females and vice versa".

Does that explain things better?

Okay, it explains your intentions better, and for me reemphasizes my point. The differences between them are not the same differences as we see between male and female. It is big or small, front or back. So, why should they characterize them in the same way we do? A “same-sex” kobold couple in the way you have it set up is simply a couple with the same set-up instead of different set-ups. It’d almost make more sense for same-sex couples to be the norm rather than the other way around from how you’ve presented them.

Their biology doesn’t support the terms your using in the same social context we use them.

Also, spoilers are done with [sblock]

Secondly, my plan was to use Half-Orcs for Orks and Forest Gnomes for Goblins, and that plan hasn't changed thanks to Orcs turning out to be "Half-Orcs with -2 Int and Aggressive". But, at the same time, I found myself really liking the official writeups for the Goblin, Hobgoblin, and even the Bugbear. Since the existant plan for Orks and Goblins was that they're due to inherent instabilities in the dwarven alchemy that created them from elven captives, should I consider incorporating the official goblinoids as more mutant strains of orkoid?

Sounds like a solid plan to me, bugbears seem like they’d make an excellent ork type, long-limbs give them advantage of reach in combat after making it harder for enemies to close, the sneak could be interpreted as shock tactics, a squad busting out of hiding and laying into an enemy will do massive carnage before the enemy can react.

Thirdly, I could really use folks opinions on the topic of "how much is too much?" These races aren't all going to share the same little stretch of land. What I'm essentially planning on doing is covering large swatches of distinct "territory" - think how Fallout as a series has covered... whatever the hell the New California Republic was called in FO1, the Capital Wasteland, the Mojave (what is the Mojave's title, anyway?) and the Boston Commonwealth - and so that means I've got a very, very big map to scatter all these races in as I see fit. But, at the same time, even if this is me creating a sandbox that others can play in, there's still the problem of oversaturation, isn't there? Even if, say, the Kingdom of the Snakefolk is way down here in the south-east and the Tritons of the Poisoned Sea are up in the northwestern continental shelf, isn't that technically making too many races?

Too many is a hard bar to judge. Arista technically has 14-15 races, sometimes more.

Some of them all live together in the same kingdom, for example High elves, Wood Elves, and Gnomes are all distinctly different, and yet all reside in the massive Southern Woods, called the Feylands, while my dragonborn live isolated in the frozen north.

Part of it is who is interacting with whom, and part of it is how secret do you want them to be. Your rat-people for example, are nearly completely isolated in those wastes, but you have at least one other race in their as their enemies. IF those two “kingdoms” are the only ones deep in the those Wastes it doesn’t feel crowded.

In terms of players though, which I know is not exactly what you are going for, it would be best to start them in an area, and make only the races they would encounter in that area available. Everyone else is just interesting lore to be found later.

Essentially, do you think it is too much? If you are populating an entire world, it could work, especially since some of your races necessarily must be living together.

Finally, pretty much all of my races are essentially planned as magical mutants, from calibans to shadar-kai to the various beastfolk. But, Rifts was a big inspiration for this setting. Do folks think I should consider more "stranded" type races? For example, Diaboli, Tieflings, Aasimar and Genasi all being fluffed as natives of other worlds or other planes who were stranded here during the Black Dawn, to emphasize just how messed up this planet got during Arcano-Nuclear Global Holocaust?

There are permanent portals to other planes correct? Blur the line and have them live on the border of those planes?

I don’t think it is necessary , but I am almost completely unfamiliar with Rifts.


A lot of interesting discussions I missed, but looking over your “world map”. My first thought is, are we sure we want to have all the races native to this “continent”? One very interesting thing you can do with highly magical ancient world spanning civilizations is ask “how did they travel that world?” If the Human, Dwarf and Elf civilizations had teleportation stations that transitted between the main continent and some place else. You could have a race that discovered one of the this transit stations and use it to colonize a new continent, giving them a small area on the continent, but leaving them mainly based somewhere ese.

The Cradlelands: These were the center of the human empire before the Black Dawn, which is where their name comes from. In Fallout terms, this is the Capital Wasteland; the destruction was really heavy here, and rebuilding is minimal due to an abundance of environmental hazards. Local sentients mostly consist of small, often nomadic, tribes and bands, or very heavily fortified and isolationist Vault-analogue cities.

So, mostly humans found here? Maybe a few small tribes of Kobolds.

The Scarred Coast: A large and relatively verdant strip of coastal terrain on the only rediscovered sea thus far, the Sea of Blood. In Fallout terms, this is the New California Republic, or whatever it was called in Fallout 1, or the Boston Commonwealth - this is the place where civilization is truly getting back on, city-states slowly rising from the raiders and the tribals and looking with a bright eye towards the future. Here, danger is somewhat less focused on running out of supplies or being attacked by raiders/predators, but more on political dangers; cults, war between city-states, suburban predators (serial killers and other "social" monsters), intrigue, corruption, etc.

A cooperation between the races? Perhaps Human and Dwarf? Could have travelers from many areas come to find fortune and trade, but who lives here? Who settled it? Also, is the Sea of Blood where your Tritons are?

The Jaderealm: A vast and verdant land of untamed tropical forests and swamps, the Jaderealm is sort of an "anti-Mojave" - the same unsettled, untamed, foreign frontier, but dangerously lush and rich with deadly life instead of a parched and scorching wasteland. Attempts at penetrating this region have been... unsuccessful, making it one of the least understood of the territories.

I assume this is where the Draege are (the bunny people?) perhaps Orks, Elfs, Kobolds and others as well? Not a place for people, but a place for exploration and battle

The Slagheap: Once known as Nidavilir, that was before the Black Dawn devastated the region. Volcanoes, mountains and glaciers to begin with, the entire region has been mangled and torn apart by incredible magical cataclysms. This is dwarf country, gnome country, kobold country, and it's not a safe place. It might even be more screwed up than the Cradlelands in terms of natural hazards and towns full of folk who don't want you around.

Sounds like fun, also how bad is are the Cradlelands then, because I would think a place of mountains, glaciers, and volcanoes would be much worse, not the same.

The Bitterflats: A parched and deadly savannah, this is effectively the Mojave Wasteland of the Malebolge setting. This is the new frontier, as far as the "civilized" peoples of the Scarred Coast are concerned, attempting to push onwards into this land despite the protests of the native cultures, who aren't generally welcoming of a bunch of foreigners.

And I think this is where you said the rat-folk were as well as whatever it was that was trying to destroy them. Memory says Orks?

The second is, as I've been hinting, my thoughts/worries about expanding the list of known races in Malebolge. As you probably pieced together from the first part, even though only bits and pieces of "the map" are actually still on the map after the Black Dawn, that's a fairly big area, so not all races are going to co-habit. You can still have mixed parties, but you'd theoretically need backstories explaining how you got from region A to region B. Even so, I do worry that some of my ideas are pushing too much into the setting.

Anyway, these are the races I'm thinking of adding, and why, as best I can explain. I really do need someone to talk to in order to fix these up...

Elves: I keep whiffling on whether or not to include these guys, because I've got dwarves mutating (even if there are some purebloods, although their role in the setting is kind of a less assholish version of the Enclave) into many species, so, it kind of makes sense that elves have some similar mutants, doesn't it? The big issue I'm struggling with is whether or not there's any surviving purebloods... I kind of want to include them, but I want them to be legendarily rare. Like, most of them are probably still hiding from the world in the shattered remains of flying cities or behind illusion-cloaked citadels; the neutral ones want to be left alone, the evil ones dream of conquering the world. To see an elf pureblood in the flesh should be even rarer than seeing a pureblood dwarf... but, I don't know if that then defeats the point of having them.

.

The elves are the most practiced in body altering magicks, they introduced the stuff to the world. Also, they technically exist in the bunny-folk as the Wraith Liches. So, if no actual elves exist, the only version you have are those messed up and horrible things.

Biggest question I have: Do the Elves want to finish the job or fix what they broke?
Are the elves still big into exactly what they were doing before the Black Dawn or are they trying to reverse a lot of the damage that was done? It seems like it should be relatively easy for pure-blooded elves to still exist, as well as plant-mutant ones. Heck, they are the only ones who had spaceships, so they could have an orbiting satellite city that they retreated to. Easy enough to include them, it is just a matter of should you make them allies or villains of the world?

Shadar-Kai: These guys are... well, I don't know. To me, it makes sense that since the elves were big necromancers, when the whole world went pinballing through dimensions, some would be overwhelmed by necrotic energy and mutated into shadow-infused versions of themselves who need stimulation to keep from fading into oblivion, but... does it make sense to anyone else? .

I’m only vaguely familiar with Shadar-Kai, 4e, shadow teleporting, something about being gloomy. They don’t excite me very much. I like what you’re talking about but not sure how unique they would end up being. Did all races end up with this, just humans, who were the Shadar-Kai beforehand, may inform who they are now.

Drow: These guys, I just... I don't know. Like I said, I'd like to include some elfin mutant species in Malebolge, but these guys just don't quite seem to fit the bill? Maybe you guys can help me think of a better way to spin them in order to make sense for this crazy, messed up world of mine. .

Well… why not make them the Elven version of the Shadar-Kai? Make some sort of attack that literally made them photonegative shadows of elves who have a hard time in direct sunlight. Ignore all the assumptions about what they do and ask yourself, you have elves living deep in massive cave structures, what is their culture like? Heck, maybe they went down there to protect themselves and when the World Soul got hurt, something from the depths hit their underground shelters and messed them up. They could be crazy cannibals, they could be shadow monsters, they could have an English accent, they could see their existence as punishment for fighting a war for pride and be pacifists who are trying to heal the world from the depths, nearer to the core, or protect the surface from the terrible things that lurk below.

Decide good or evil, what is their goal as a society? That is where you start.

Derro: This actually wasn't an idea I started out thinking about seriously. It began as just my mind throwing up that picture of the Derro Urban Stalker from Pathfinder's "Inner Sea Monster Codex". After enjoying the recollection, I began to wonder "how would a player handle playing a derro, anyway?" and, when I started to piece together a short guidebook for playing derro without being the typical Chaotic Stupid annoying PC*, I began to think that maybe I had something here. Still, it's a very vague idea, and I want to talk with folks about how to make it work - my loose idea starts with the Derro being a further mutation/degeneration of the Gnomoi (Rock Gnomes), maybe caused by some expy of Pathfinder's cytilish, and that the Gnomoi consider them unfortunate kinsfolk who need to be succored (but not at the extent of themselves; if a derro clan turns into a band of Saywer expies, gnomes will be the first to put them down), but that's all I've got.

*Yes, I can and will write it up and share it here if folks are interested. .

Sounds interesting, but doesn’t that make them mutants of mutants? How far down the line are we going to end up going?

Gnolls: It's no secret, from posts I've made here before. I love gnolls. I love to take these hyena-folk, whom 4e made me fall in love with via its wonderfully crafted "Playing Gnolls" article, and give them the Ork-treatment, as I've taken to calling it. They'd fit in perfectly into the Bitterflats as, perhaps, the dominant culture... but beyond knowing that I want them, I don't really know how to get them. I'm not even 100% convinced they're a good idea... .

Do you mean stat wise or story wise? I definitely agree they make a good fit for that area.

Lizardfolk: I wasn't originally planning on these guys, but since Volo's Guide came into my possession, I can't help but wonder if they're not a good idea. I mean, can't you just see them as a kobold experiment in regaining their physical prowess gone wrong somehow? I don't know, maybe I should let you guys talk me out of them... .

Not gonna try to talk you out of it here, they could make a fascinating subculture of Kobolds. But they wouldn’t be terribly numerous I wouldn’t think. Kind of rare.

Bugbears: So, Orks were engineered in this setting to be super-soldiers. Goblins are a random mutation that arises, an attempt to regain some of their inherent magical nature from back when they were elves. Bugbears, as shown in Volo's Guide, are freaky-scary assassins. So... I don't know, should I maybe give orks even more mutant offshoot subspecies? Why not the hobgoblins while I'm at it? .

I was thinking the Bugbears made good Orks, but that could work too.

Diaboli: Mostly, I just like these guys. They've got a long tradition of being interplanar refugees, and RIFTS was a big inspiration for Malebolge, so... I don't know. Do they make sense as a race stranded here in this hellhole and trying to cope? .

No idea what they even are.

Githyanki/Githzerai: Weakest of the races here, I was basically thinking of using them like the Diaboli... I don't know, maybe that's not called for? .

I don’t think it is necessary to have the be a major force, they are kind of happy in the Astral Sea aren’t they?

Nagas/Serpentfolk: I... can't explain the idea here. But, we got spiders evolved into magically talented mages because of the "fallout", and a race of mad magi-scientist kobolds who keep messing around with their own unborn kids, so why is there not a magical race of serpent-people? .

You’ve got a heavy reptile presence. Not sure if the Serpentfolk really need to be added. As an off-shoot sure, but not something that has a large prescence I don’t think

Draega: These guys are just... like I said, I really like the Shin'hare. They're freaking creepy. The elves were some fairly sick folk, so I like the idea of having a race around that's basically an elfin attempt at revenge even generations after the war was lost. I really do think I can make it work, I just... I don't know, maybe I should just go ahead and do their gazetteer now, instead of waiting to fix the kobolds first. Let folks get a chance at seeing them the way I see them... Also, my intent is to use Draeg as the singular and Draega as the plural, but I would dearly love a less awkward sounding name to call them by.

I think I mixed up kobolds with your bunny-folk earlier, Draega just sounds so draconic to me.


I think the biggest thing with the other races is how rare are they. If you want to include them for the occasional weird mutant off-shoot of another race, include them. But if the only Derro are going to be in a single village, and there is only that or maybe three other villages, they don’t need a big write up.

They exist as the weird mutants that off shot from their parent race, not as a spate race entirely perhaps. If you don’t think you’ll have a lot of them in the world, I wouldn’t bother putting a ton of thought into them at the moment.

 

[QuietBrowser]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to this. I wanted to take time to go over things, not just post and bolt, but life has not been conducive to that.

No apologies necessary; but thank you for taking the time to go over this. Honestly, I was a little afraid I'd offended you and driven you off. It's good to have folks around willing to help me work out the kinks in this.

Okay, it explains your intentions better, and for me reemphasizes my point. The differences between them are not the same differences as we see between male and female. It is big or small, front or back. So, why should they characterize them in the same way we do? A “same-sex” kobold couple in the way you have it set up is simply a couple with the same set-up instead of different set-ups. It’d almost make more sense for same-sex couples to be the norm rather than the other way around from how you’ve presented them.

Their biology doesn’t support the terms your using in the same social context we use them.

The basic reason I went with "male" and "female" is because there technically is a biological split between those kobolds optimised for laying eggs and those optimised for fertilizing them. Any two kobolds can produce offspring together, but this particular kind of pairing produces offspring most readily, and in a tribe focused on producing more kids as quickly as possible, that is the going to be encouraged. Although, if that's not the case, you're right in that "same-sex" couples are probably more common.

So, do you advocate abandoning the male/female split for a different set of terms? Any suggestions on what those might be? Sire/Carrier, Seeder/Bearer and Sower/Grower all spring to mind.

Or do you think I should just abandon any semblance of feigned gender division and there's only the one "gender" of kobold - say, the "male" type of kobold (seperate phallic slit and a cloaca)?

Also, spoilers are done with [sblock]

Seriously, thank you so much for telling me the code; that was nagging the hell out of me.

Sounds like a solid plan to me, bugbears seem like they’d make an excellent ork type, long-limbs give them advantage of reach in combat after making it harder for enemies to close, the sneak could be interpreted as shock tactics, a squad busting out of hiding and laying into an enemy will do massive carnage before the enemy can react.

So, you like the idea of further "strains" of orkdom, huh? Well, I'm not sure how to incorporate canon goblins, or even hobgoblins, but sems like we agree that bugbears make sense as ork mutants bred for stealthy killing.

Too many is a hard bar to judge. Arista technically has 14-15 races, sometimes more.

Some of them all live together in the same kingdom, for example High elves, Wood Elves, and Gnomes are all distinctly different, and yet all reside in the massive Southern Woods, called the Feylands, while my dragonborn live isolated in the frozen north.

Part of it is who is interacting with whom, and part of it is how secret do you want them to be. Your rat-people for example, are nearly completely isolated in those wastes, but you have at least one other race in their as their enemies. IF those two “kingdoms” are the only ones deep in the those Wastes it doesn’t feel crowded.

In terms of players though, which I know is not exactly what you are going for, it would be best to start them in an area, and make only the races they would encounter in that area available. Everyone else is just interesting lore to be found later.

Essentially, do you think it is too much? If you are populating an entire world, it could work, especially since some of your races necessarily must be living together.

I'm not really sure what to say, except to thank you for taking a weight off my mind. This is very reassuring advice.

There are permanent portals to other planes correct? Blur the line and have them live on the border of those planes?

I don’t think it is necessary , but I am almost completely unfamiliar with Rifts.

Rifts' entire population of non-human sentients - "D-Bees", in universe, for "Dimensional Beings" - are aliens from other worlds/planes who either migrated through the now-stable portals or descended from populations swept up in the "plane-quake", the unstable portals that rippled across the multiverse when the planet was blown apart on its doomsday, and stranded permanently on Earth.

My point with the question you quoted was, essentially, "I have plenty of magical mutants, but should I have otherworldly beings stranded here too?" if that helps make things clearer.

A lot of interesting discussions I missed, but looking over your “world map”. My first thought is, are we sure we want to have all the races native to this “continent”? One very interesting thing you can do with highly magical ancient world spanning civilizations is ask “how did they travel that world?” If the Human, Dwarf and Elf civilizations had teleportation stations that transitted between the main continent and some place else. You could have a race that discovered one of the this transit stations and use it to colonize a new continent, giving them a small area on the continent, but leaving them mainly based somewhere else.

Huh... you know, I honestly hadn't thought of that. You've actually suggested a very brilliant idea! Heck, maybe take it a step further? Maybe the reason the "Known World" map is so blurry is because one or more of the territories on it are actually on entirely separate continents - it's just that, for whatever reason (native portals, remnants of the old teleportation network, spatial "interstices", etc), travel between those two parts of the two (or more!) continents is easy enough that the fledgling nations haven't figured out just how far apart from each other they really are?

Originally Posted by QuietBrowser
The Cradlelands: These were the center of the human empire before the Black Dawn, which is where their name comes from. In Fallout terms, this is the Capital Wasteland; the destruction was really heavy here, and rebuilding is minimal due to an abundance of environmental hazards. Local sentients mostly consist of small, often nomadic, tribes and bands, or very heavily fortified and isolationist Vault-analogue cities.



So, mostly humans found here? Maybe a few small tribes of Kobolds.

Originally Posted by QuietBrowser
The Scarred Coast: A large and relatively verdant strip of coastal terrain on the only rediscovered sea thus far, the Sea of Blood. In Fallout terms, this is the New California Republic, or whatever it was called in Fallout 1, or the Boston Commonwealth - this is the place where civilization is truly getting back on, city-states slowly rising from the raiders and the tribals and looking with a bright eye towards the future. Here, danger is somewhat less focused on running out of supplies or being attacked by raiders/predators, but more on political dangers; cults, war between city-states, suburban predators (serial killers and other "social" monsters), intrigue, corruption, etc.



A cooperation between the races? Perhaps Human and Dwarf? Could have travelers from many areas come to find fortune and trade, but who lives here? Who settled it? Also, is the Sea of Blood where your Tritons are?

Originally Posted by QuietBrowser
The Jaderealm: A vast and verdant land of untamed tropical forests and swamps, the Jaderealm is sort of an "anti-Mojave" - the same unsettled, untamed, foreign frontier, but dangerously lush and rich with deadly life instead of a parched and scorching wasteland. Attempts at penetrating this region have been... unsuccessful, making it one of the least understood of the territories.



I assume this is where the Draege are (the bunny people?) perhaps Orks, Elfs, Kobolds and others as well? Not a place for people, but a place for exploration and battle

Originally Posted by QuietBrowser
The Slagheap: Once known as Nidavilir, that was before the Black Dawn devastated the region. Volcanoes, mountains and glaciers to begin with, the entire region has been mangled and torn apart by incredible magical cataclysms. This is dwarf country, gnome country, kobold country, and it's not a safe place. It might even be more screwed up than the Cradlelands in terms of natural hazards and towns full of folk who don't want you around.



Sounds like fun, also how bad is are the Cradlelands then, because I would think a place of mountains, glaciers, and volcanoes would be much worse, not the same.

Originally Posted by QuietBrowser
The Bitterflats: A parched and deadly savannah, this is effectively the Mojave Wasteland of the Malebolge setting. This is the new frontier, as far as the "civilized" peoples of the Scarred Coast are concerned, attempting to push onwards into this land despite the protests of the native cultures, who aren't generally welcoming of a bunch of foreigners.



And I think this is where you said the rat-folk were as well as whatever it was that was trying to destroy them. Memory says Orks?

Firstly, I'll be sure to post up a list of my currently planned species by region, just to clear things up for you.

Secondly, the "Duties of the Palatine" fluff-piece from earlier in the thread refers to exactly one clan of rodushi from the Cradlelands; it's a look at general culture for Malebolge's ratfolk, but not covering all of their territory, if that makes sense?

Elves: I keep whiffling on whether or not to include these guys, because I've got dwarves mutating (even if there are some purebloods, although their role in the setting is kind of a less assholish version of the Enclave) into many species, so, it kind of makes sense that elves have some similar mutants, doesn't it? The big issue I'm struggling with is whether or not there's any surviving purebloods... I kind of want to include them, but I want them to be legendarily rare. Like, most of them are probably still hiding from the world in the shattered remains of flying cities or behind illusion-cloaked citadels; the neutral ones want to be left alone, the evil ones dream of conquering the world. To see an elf pureblood in the flesh should be even rarer than seeing a pureblood dwarf... but, I don't know if that then defeats the point of having them.

The elves are the most practiced in body altering magicks, they introduced the stuff to the world. Also, they technically exist in the bunny-folk as the Wraith Liches. So, if no actual elves exist, the only version you have are those messed up and horrible things.

Biggest question I have: Do the Elves want to finish the job or fix what they broke?
Are the elves still big into exactly what they were doing before the Black Dawn or are they trying to reverse a lot of the damage that was done? It seems like it should be relatively easy for pure-blooded elves to still exist, as well as plant-mutant ones. Heck, they are the only ones who had spaceships, so they could have an orbiting satellite city that they retreated to. Easy enough to include them, it is just a matter of should you make them allies or villains of the world?

Very good points here. I'll have to let you know when I have an answer to your question.

Shadar-Kai: These guys are... well, I don't know. To me, it makes sense that since the elves were big necromancers, when the whole world went pinballing through dimensions, some would be overwhelmed by necrotic energy and mutated into shadow-infused versions of themselves who need stimulation to keep from fading into oblivion, but... does it make sense to anyone else?

I’m only vaguely familiar with Shadar-Kai, 4e, shadow teleporting, something about being gloomy. They don’t excite me very much. I like what you’re talking about but not sure how unique they would end up being. Did all races end up with this, just humans, who were the Shadar-Kai beforehand, may inform who they are now.

Ah, sorry, it wasn't as clear as I thought; I meant that shadar-kai in Malebolge would be elves consumed by necrotic energy and mutated into living shadow-wraiths.

Drow: These guys, I just... I don't know. Like I said, I'd like to include some elfin mutant species in Malebolge, but these guys just don't quite seem to fit the bill? Maybe you guys can help me think of a better way to spin them in order to make sense for this crazy, messed up world of mine.

Well… why not make them the Elven version of the Shadar-Kai? Make some sort of attack that literally made them photonegative shadows of elves who have a hard time in direct sunlight. Ignore all the assumptions about what they do and ask yourself, you have elves living deep in massive cave structures, what is their culture like? Heck, maybe they went down there to protect themselves and when the World Soul got hurt, something from the depths hit their underground shelters and messed them up. They could be crazy cannibals, they could be shadow monsters, they could have an English accent, they could see their existence as punishment for fighting a war for pride and be pacifists who are trying to heal the world from the depths, nearer to the core, or protect the surface from the terrible things that lurk below.

Decide good or evil, what is their goal as a society? That is where you start.

As I said above, "photonegative shadows of elves" is kind of what shadar-kai are in this setting. Otherwise, what you've said are definitely good things for me to contemplate. I do remember wanting to go with the assumption of drow actually being the "nice elves", but I really should give that some more thought.

Derro: This actually wasn't an idea I started out thinking about seriously. It began as just my mind throwing up that picture of the Derro Urban Stalker from Pathfinder's "Inner Sea Monster Codex". After enjoying the recollection, I began to wonder "how would a player handle playing a derro, anyway?" and, when I started to piece together a short guidebook for playing derro without being the typical Chaotic Stupid annoying PC*, I began to think that maybe I had something here. Still, it's a very vague idea, and I want to talk with folks about how to make it work - my loose idea starts with the Derro being a further mutation/degeneration of the Gnomoi (Rock Gnomes), maybe caused by some expy of Pathfinder's cytilish, and that the Gnomoi consider them unfortunate kinsfolk who need to be succored (but not at the extent of themselves; if a derro clan turns into a band of Saywer expies, gnomes will be the first to put them down), but that's all I've got.

Sounds interesting, but doesn’t that make them mutants of mutants? How far down the line are we going to end up going?

Well, technically, they wouldn't be alone in that field - lizardfolk and dragonborn are both planned as kobold offshoots, after all. But even so, it's something I want to keep fairly rare and this is about as far as it'd go.

Gnolls: It's no secret, from posts I've made here before. I love gnolls. I love to take these hyena-folk, whom 4e made me fall in love with via its wonderfully crafted "Playing Gnolls" article, and give them the Ork-treatment, as I've taken to calling it. They'd fit in perfectly into the Bitterflats as, perhaps, the dominant culture... but beyond knowing that I want them, I don't really know how to get them. I'm not even 100% convinced they're a good idea...

Do you mean stat wise or story wise? I definitely agree they make a good fit for that area.

I don't quite follow what you mean by "stat-wise or story-wise"? The "ork-treatment" is definitely a story-wise thing; they're not an Always Chaotic Evil race, but they're not fluffy bunnies, either, if that clarifies. And looks like we agree that thematically they're good for that region.

Lizardfolk: I wasn't originally planning on these guys, but since Volo's Guide came into my possession, I can't help but wonder if they're not a good idea. I mean, can't you just see them as a kobold experiment in regaining their physical prowess gone wrong somehow? I don't know, maybe I should let you guys talk me out of them...

Not gonna try to talk you out of it here, they could make a fascinating subculture of Kobolds. But they wouldn’t be terribly numerous I wouldn’t think. Kind of rare.

I'd love to talk about how to make them work and explore their culture/origins with you, in that case.

Diaboli: Mostly, I just like these guys. They've got a long tradition of being interplanar refugees, and RIFTS was a big inspiration for Malebolge, so... I don't know. Do they make sense as a race stranded here in this hellhole and trying to cope?

No idea what they even are.

Diaboli are a race from Mystara, back in 1e and 2e. Essentially, they're inhabitants of the Dreamworld/Demiplane of Dreams who have been forced to migrate enmasse to the material plane due to invasions from the Nightmare World. Their original lore is big on how they creep people out due to looking like purple devils - goat legs, barbed tail, tiny horns, forked tongues - but their predominant racial aligment is Chaotic Good, with a small minority of Chaotic Neutral and Neutral Good members. Also, they find humans as scary as humans find them. I just figured they'd be a natural fit (with some lore-tweaking) for the "D-Bees slot".

Githyanki/Githzerai: Weakest of the races here, I was basically thinking of using them like the Diaboli... I don't know, maybe that's not called for?

I don’t think it is necessary to have the be a major force, they are kind of happy in the Astral Sea aren’t they?

Good point. Really, I'm happy to cross those off of the list.

Nagas/Serpentfolk: I... can't explain the idea here. But, we got spiders evolved into magically talented mages because of the "fallout", and a race of mad magi-scientist kobolds who keep messing around with their own unborn kids, so why is there not a magical race of serpent-people?

You’ve got a heavy reptile presence. Not sure if the Serpentfolk really need to be added. As an off-shoot sure, but not something that has a large prescence I don’t think

Huh... well, I certainly wouldn't mind making them some kind of failed kobold experiment turned its own success story ala the lizardfolk, personally - they could be a "rekindling magic" experiment in contrast to the lizardfolk being a "rekindling might" experiment. Or just a natural mutation/offshoot of the lizardfolk. It's something I'd love to discuss with you/anyone else who's interested.

Draega: These guys are just... like I said, I really like the Shin'hare. They're freaking creepy. The elves were some fairly sick folk, so I like the idea of having a race around that's basically an elfin attempt at revenge even generations after the war was lost. I really do think I can make it work, I just... I don't know, maybe I should just go ahead and do their gazetteer now, instead of waiting to fix the kobolds first. Let folks get a chance at seeing them the way I see them... Also, my intent is to use Draeg as the singular and Draega as the plural, but I would dearly love a less awkward sounding name to call them by.

I think I mixed up kobolds with your bunny-folk earlier, Draega just sounds so draconic to me.

It's actually the AD&D elf word "Draga" (Hate/Malice) spelled with an "ae" to better meld the pseudo-Nordic vocabulary that Malebolge's elves have going on - Aelfar, Aelfheim, etc. But yeah, that's one of the reasons why I want to get a better racial name for them.

I think the biggest thing with the other races is how rare are they. If you want to include them for the occasional weird mutant off-shoot of another race, include them. But if the only Derro are going to be in a single village, and there is only that or maybe three other villages, they don’t need a big write up.

They exist as the weird mutants that off shot from their parent race, not as a separate race entirely perhaps. If you don’t think you’ll have a lot of them in the world, I wouldn’t bother putting a ton of thought into them at the moment.

Very good points, thank you for bringing them up.

 

[QuietBrowser]

So, I promised I'd share my current "racial breakdown" for the territories I've currently got slapped up on the map. Further tweaking is definitely possible, but this is what I would reasonably expect to find living in that area from my current mental tableau of the setting.

...You know something? I actually started working on this, and then I realized I've half-forgotten the races I had planned for it. :ashamed: :grumpy:

Then I went and double-checked my lore, and I actually didn't have that many different races initially planned.

If folks want me to explain my current racial writeup, please, go ahead and ask; I want to refine this, so explaining where I'm working from is a good place to start.

The Cradlelands:

• Humans
• Calibans
• Warforged
• Ratfolk/Rodushi
• Orks (with Goblins & Bugbears)
• Gnomoi (Rare)
• Kobolds (Rare)
• Dwarves, Forgeborn (Very Rare)
• Shadar-Kai (Very Rare)

The Scarred Coast:

• Humans
• Calibans
• Warforged (Rare)
• Ratfolk/Rodushi
• Orks (with Goblins & Bugbears)
• Gnomoi
• Kobolds
• Dwarves, Forgeborn
• Dwarves, Pureblood (Very Rare)
• Shadar-Kai
• Aranea (Rare)
• Tritons (Very Rare) [If they exist]
• Dragonborn (Very Rare)
• Draega

The Jaderealm:

• Kobolds
• Lizardfolk (Rare)
• Dragonborn (Rare)
• Aranea
• Ratfolk/Rodushi (Rare)
• Draega
• Serpentfolk and/or Nagas [If they exist]
• [If we ever come up with plant-based race(s), they'd live here]
• Thri-Kreen [If they existed]

The Slagheap:

• Dwarves, Pureblood (Rare)
• Dwarves, Forgeborn
• Gnomoi
• Derro
• Kobolds (Rare)
• Humans (Very Rare)
• Warforged (Very Rare)

The Bitterflats:

• Gnolls
• Draega
• Ratfolk/Rodushi (Rare)
• Humans (Rare)
• Calibans

 

[QuietBrowser]

Alright, so, this thread is kind of slipping down the page, so while I hate multi-posting, I figured I might as well go ahead with that explanation I offered in the last post.l

The Cradlelands:
These were the birthplace of humanity, so, it only makes sense that humanity - and its mutated descendants, the calibans - are the primary race living here. These are also the pre-Dawn birthplace of the Warforged (meaning they remain here in great numbers, as this is where their creche-forges and/or the lore to build/repair them were and might still be) and the post-Dawn birthplace of the Rodushi, who arose in a city of philosophers and thinkers that had been emptied by the disaster. Beyond those four races, other races are willing to make their home here in large numbers for different reasons; gnomoi are outcasts in the eyes of their pureblood dwarf kin, and so many have chosen to migrate here to live their own lives, whilst kobold tribes have long looted human ruins in hopes of finding the key to undoing their "curse". Shadar-kai and forgeborn dwarves... well, I don't really have a good reason for them. Orkoids basically live wherever they please, so, really, you'll find them all over.

The Scarred Coast:
This is the great melting pot of the known regions so, really, you'll find representatives of most every "civilized" race here. It covers a large amount of territory ranging from mountains and forests to plains and river deltas, so there's plenty of environments for different species to be comfortable with. Pureblood dwarves are xenophobic and uncommon these days, so they're rarely seen outside of their ancestral homeland; it's a testimony to the melting pot nature of the Scarred Coast that there are actually clanholds still living here. As the 'breadbasket' territory, it's also very attractive to the conquest-fuelled Draega.

The Jaderealm:
Nobody living knows if these are the ancient forests where humanity first arose at the dawn of Eden, or if they're elven territory showcasing what generations of elven super-botany with no caretakers does, or even if it's a little of both. Lush, verdant tropical forests and swamps and wetlands, this is a natural place for the reptilian races and for elfin "offspring" races. The Aranea are particularly common here because the very three-dimensional nature of the forests appeals to their arachnid natures; the Slagheap would technically be just as appealing, but the environment is less deleterious to their precious textbooks.

The Slagheap:
This is the ancient homeland of the dwarves. Of course they predominant here, in all their current forms. Humans and warforged represent human settlements that dwelled here before the Doom War, or which fled here for perceived shelter after the Black Dawn, whilst kobolds descend from mountain-dwelling dragons or are here for ancient dwarven ruins, much like their presence in the Cradlelands.

The Bitterflats:
These are the iconic Mad Max/Fallout-style "wastelands"; arid savannahs and rugged steppes and harsh desert regions where only the strong survive. Gnolls rule here, the cradle of their species, but the draega also thrive with their sheer numbers, as do the mutated calibans who migrated here generations ago. Other races, like humans and rodushi, are recent settlers to the region.

 

[QuietBrowser]

Alright, so, folks, I started working on the Aranea's racial gazetteer. I'm just starting into the Courtship section, work's proceeding apace and I'm liking how it's going, but I could really use feedback on it. In particular, I could use some contemplation of the Physiology segment of the gazetteer.

Aranea have long been described as being very "mutable" in terms of what their hybrid form looks like, beyond being a melding of human and spider. Their Red Steel bestiary art basically was a rather doofy four-eyed vampire squirting goo out of her hands, whilst their Monstrous Compendium art was essentially a multi-eyed drider type creature. With that in mind, I found a fan artwork of a humanoid spider - actually based on the D&D Ettercap - that I thought was a nice blending of human and spider. I can post a link to view it online, but I don't know if I'm allowed, as it's a rather non-work-safe image; female nudity with exposed, non-realistic nipples and genitalia.

But, anyway, I used what I found online as a basis, and I could really use feedback on how the resultant textual description looks. Fun fact: Araneas actually DO canonically give live birth and even implicitly nurse their young, and have done since the days of Red Steel.

Aranea Gazetteer (Partial)
Who Are They?
Originally a species of giant spider cultivated to serve as guardians and custodians of elven libraries, the aranea found themselves liberated in more ways than one by the Black Dawn. Simultaneously freed of their former masters and mutated into a more humanoid state, the aranea have since sought to continue the process of uplifting themselves, pursuing the restoration of the lost arts of magic with a fanatic's zeal.




Physiology
Distinctive even amongst their kindred "beastman" races, aranea have perhaps the most exotic of all bodies of any stable, true-breeding humanoids in Malebolge. Resembling a surprisingly harmonious melding of human and spider, even without meaning to, an aranea is quite imposing; only the more deformed and unsightly calibans tend to have greater difficulties with not accidentally terrorizing those unfamiliar with their species.


At its basis, the aranea frame is the standard for a humanoid; standing upright with a distinctive head, upper torso, and lower torso. However, the aranea form incorporate many arachnid traits, and the overall result is very much like a giant spider emulating the human form.


An aranea's head is fundamentally human. Many aranea are naturally bald, though some family lines do grow hair like humans. All aranea have at least four eyes, which tend to be slightly larger than a human's and oval shaped; they can have up to nine eyes, though this is a somewhat random trait. Aranea eyes are "eerily" human-like, with visible pupil, iris and sclera. An aranea's mouth contains teeth orientated for a carnivorous diet, with four pairs of incisors, both upper and lower; these are particularly long, slender and wickedly pointed, making their nature as venom-delivering tools quite obvious. An areanea's tongue is slightly longer than a human's, and also somewhat pointed.


It is at the upper torso that perhaps the first and most obviously inhuman trait appears. Aranea have four arms, arranged in vertical pairs on the sides of the shoulderblade, roughly where a humanoid would have only one arm. Their arms are elongated and more slenderly built than a human's, which, combined with the delicately elongated and claw-tipped fingers on each hand, gives them a subtle "spidery" build.


The lower torso, however, is the most extreme divergence from the humanoid, and more closely resembles a spider's abdomen. At roughly the same pount as a human's pelvis, an aranea sports four legs, arranged in a horizontal pair. Each leg is long and slender, consisting of three increasingly slim segments that ends in a small, dainty foot comprised of two prehensile, claw-tipped toes. Back from the pelvis, where a human would have buttocks, an aranea has a short abdomen, roughly shaped like an inverted teardrop, with spinnerets, genitalia and excretory organs placed on the underside of the abdomen's far tip.


Aranea are usually completely hairless, with slightly stiff, tough skin that isn't true chitin, but looks more "solid" than human skin. Some aranea do possess partial or total coverings of fur, much like some spiders do. Skin and fur color come in a wide variety of forms; various shades of black with hourglass markings of crimson on the upper and/or lower side of the abdomen make up perhaps the most iconic "color scheme" for these spidery humanoids, but other colors and patterns are very much possible.


What many consider the most disturbing aspect of aranea physiology is that they combine both spider and humanoid sexual dimorphism. Like spiders, female aranea are much larger than males; males average 5' to 5'6" tall, whilst females average 5'3" to 6'6" tall. However, female aranea also have distinctly wider "hips", a larger abdomen, and, perhaps their most alien feature to some, human-like breasts on their upper torso. Though perfectly justified by the fact that infant aranea are actually born live and nursed on milk like humans, this does not stop the sight of " on a spider" being quite a shock to the unfamiliar.




Personality
The three words that most readily sum up the typical aranea's attitude are Intellectual, Inscrutable and Inquisitive. Shaped by their origins, aranea mentalities blend the patience of their trap-weaving arachnid ancestors, a natural fascination with knowledge, and lingering remnants of their original racial duty to guard knowledge to produce a race of natural scholars.


Aranea, as a whole, love to learn. They enjoy finding things out, and dislike ignorance; an aranea is the kind of person who will always ask himself "why?" and will not stop until he has an answer that satisfies him. Any aranea worth her salt can read and write, has a basic understanding of mathematics, and probably has at least two fields of interest that she has devoted herself to mastering, as much out of the sheer delight of knowing things as for any practical benefits to such things. In most aranea settlements, ignorance is held up as the most grievously offensive sin and knowledge prized as almost sacred.


But even this pales in comparison to their racial fixation upon magic. Maybe it's because magic created them, first by uplifing humble spiders, and then by transforming those guardians into aranea. Maybe it's because they were used to guard libraries of magical texts, wizard's labs, and similar locales before their ascension. Maybe it's simply because magic is the deepest and most absorbing form of knowledge one can pursue. For whatever reason, aranea are fixated upon magic as a racial pursuit; though arcanists are most common, psionic magic is also quite respected, and those who avoid anything to do with magic are extremely rare amongst their people.


Despite scurrilous stories painting them as cold-hearted and amoral, or vicious and sadistic, aranea are no more inclined to evil than any human is. Indeed, as the typical aranea wants little out of life beyond the freedom to learn, study and experiment in peace, one could argue that aranea are generally less likely to be evil.


It is true, however, that amongst strangers, aranea can be a cool and aloof people, keeping their emotions in reserve and focusing on logic. And, truthfully, aranea as a people are usually very quiet and emotionally introverted.


But that does not make them emotionless drones, and in fact aranea emotions run quiet but deep. An aranea may not make the grandiose displays "expected" of a typical human in love, but his devotion and passion cannot be questioned, nor can his loyalty to his mate.


Pragmatic is perhaps another defining trait of aranea. Though not usually ruthless, they are a practical species, who enjoy solving puzzles from the hypothetical to the very real, and consider it a matter of pride to ensure than once something is fixed, it stays fixed.

 

[Bitbrain]

*Reads entirety of thread*
whoa, dude . . . There are a lot of really awesome ideas here.