A new O.L.D. race?

[Morrus]

What race should I add to the O.L.D. character generation preview document?

No dwarves or gnomes. They're both cool and will likely appear eventually, but for the moment I'm trying to steer away from a clone of D&D's core setup. So far we have humans, sylvan elves, smallfolk, orcs, and ogres. The "feel" is a little more Middle Earth than Forgotten Realms, albeit with gunpowder from time to time, and "fey" being a really major creature type.

Any preferences? Pixie? Goblin? Cat people? Golems? Gargoyles?

 

[tuxgeo]

Hengeyokai, for a more "Wind in the Willows" feel? (If the Druids truly do awaken animals, then the awakened spirits might persist beyond the lifetime of the particular Druid.)

Kenku, for a more twisted or "spiral" feel? (I'm thinking more like "the East" in LotR, or more like Eastern Europe to the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, and on to Lake Baikal. Anyway, mostly north of the Silk Road.)

Unicorns and Pegasuses, for a more MLP feel? (Self-explanatory.)

 

[Morrus]

Other options might be centaurs or satyrs for a more Narnia feel. Another type of elf which in my head says "elven musketeer" a lot. Or, hey, just suck it up and go with the dwarf. Minotaurs? Dragonkin?

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I want to see different... a spider like race, a dragon like race that is small...

 

[Morrus]

I want to see different... a spider like race, a dragon like race that is small...

Cool options. I do have to be careful in that I don't want the races to feel "gimmicky" (and remembering that third parties and fan creations may well come up with ideas far better than my own!)

 

[Minigiant]

You could go the land based gargoyles. No wings but facial features of hooves animals like rhinoceros, horses, deer, hippopotamus, and pigs.

Gray folk with horns and tusks who prefer the night. Maybe have the stone skin in there someplace. Not too weird but not to much of the same. And you can go with them in any direction culturally.

EDIT: You can always go back to the cliche of races for rpgs. A mundane race, a magic race, a warrior race, a roguish or noncombat race, and a spiritual or cultural race.

You have humans as your mundane and average race. Both orcs and ogres fit the tough, strong or warrior race. Now your stats for slyvan elves pull them away from the cultural race and trend closer to roguish or magic. And smallfolk run to roguish and cultural. So if you are into "filling slots", you need a magic race with a heavy focus on spirituality or culture, a High Folk. Or a raw roguish crafty race, a smart agile race. Or a different mundane, a human-like that is not the same as human... perhaps with a special ability.

This is why gargoyles can work. Grey horned folk who see in the dark who have a culture based on cunning, personality, and subtlety due to their freakish appearance but are respected for their knowledge.

 

[GMMichael]

You need another elf type. Moon elves - white skin and blue hair - are nocturnal but have enough sense to live above ground, unlike the foolhardy Drow.

 

[GlassEye]

IMO, Smallfolk can model halflings, gnomes and even dwarves or kobolds with ease; you don't need more than one elven race (please, no!); technically orcs and ogres fill the same niche (I would cut orcs). What to add, though? A smaller, centaur race modeled off deer; Beastfolk, like the awakened spirit idea posted above...

OR don't add another race (The simple list of Human, Elf, Ogre, Smallfolk appeals to me). Add a section or sidebar to each of the races giving examples of how to manipulate the races to create the campaign world a particular group wants to play in. Since race is little more than a bit of fluff, an array of base stats, a list of skills, and a special ability it should be simple enough to give some advice/examples on how to switch things around to get the array of races that the group wants. Ogres don't work for you? Change this and this and you've got orcs. Human too generic? Change these things for the Men of the Black Isles. You get my point.

I would much rather have fewer detailed out options and more encouragement, examples, and ideas to manipulate and modify the game to make it what I (as player or DM) want it to be. I feel the same way about traditions.

 

[Darth Quiris]

You could go the land based gargoyles. No wings but facial features of hooves animals like rhinoceros, horses, deer, hippopotamus, and pigs.

Gray folk with horns and tusks who prefer the night. Maybe have the stonewalling in there someplace. Not too weird but not to much of the same. And you can go with them in any direction culturally.

I really like this idea a lot. This would be very cool to see.

 

[Will Doyle]

Brian Froud goblins.