I'm trying to design a world that will exceed the expectatios of my players, and I think I would like to get away from some of the stereotypical races. I wan't to keep humans and half-orcs, because I have some interesting ideas to turn orcs on their heads, but I'd like to take elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, and half-elves out and replace them with new races. I'm trying to avoid picking races out of pre-existing setting books, so I've eliminated books like Galactic Races for Dragonstar, Oathbound: Domains of the Forge, Races of Faerun, Warcraft, and Eberron from the things I'm looking through. So basically, I'm trying to find new races to fit into the gap left by the ones I am removing, and I'm looking for suggestions. The only thing I'd like to avoid is races with an ECL of +1 or higher. Any suggestions?
Alternate Races?
- Thread starter Durandal
- Start date
SteelDraco
First Post
Well, it's going to be tough to make recommendations to you if you don't want to use stuff from other settings. That limits it to 'you might think about a bug race', or similar things that aren't really fleshed out to any degree.
Soemthing to consider is what are the holes left in the PC races by the removals you've made. If there aren't any elves, who lives in all those forests? Without dwarves around to fight them, are the various goblinoids more prevalent? Or do the goblinoids even exist?
Are there any powers out there that might be capable of creating new races, and what would they want to do with them?
In general, you might consider the various PC types, and fill in races that can fill those niches.
In the one game I've run that I didn't use the standard D&D races, I used humans, lower-powered genasi (elemental-infused humans), and wyldlings (humanoid animals). It was a game based on Exalted, which has powerful elemental poles in geographic regions. IMC, staying near an elementally-associated area tended to change people nearby, so humans that lived near fire-associated areas tended to have fire genasi children. Wyldlings were the result of people who stayed too long in the 'primordial wilderness' area; they started to take on the appearance of whatever kind of animal I thought best suited their personality.
Soemthing to consider is what are the holes left in the PC races by the removals you've made. If there aren't any elves, who lives in all those forests? Without dwarves around to fight them, are the various goblinoids more prevalent? Or do the goblinoids even exist?
Are there any powers out there that might be capable of creating new races, and what would they want to do with them?
In general, you might consider the various PC types, and fill in races that can fill those niches.
In the one game I've run that I didn't use the standard D&D races, I used humans, lower-powered genasi (elemental-infused humans), and wyldlings (humanoid animals). It was a game based on Exalted, which has powerful elemental poles in geographic regions. IMC, staying near an elementally-associated area tended to change people nearby, so humans that lived near fire-associated areas tended to have fire genasi children. Wyldlings were the result of people who stayed too long in the 'primordial wilderness' area; they started to take on the appearance of whatever kind of animal I thought best suited their personality.
Benben
First Post
Have you checked out Mythic Races by Fantasy Flight Games? It has a 30 different races for you to pick and choose from.
your father is
First Post
There are some really wierd things in ancient Chinese mythology. And other mythic traditions have lots that hasn't been mined yet as well.
Or you could always steal from Miyazaki
How about a God-Thing or Forest-Spirit...
Or you could always steal from Miyazaki
How about a God-Thing or Forest-Spirit...
Phineas Crow
First Post
There is a series of pdf race books by Silverthorne Games that I recommend checking out.
Races of Evernor (Part I)
Races of Evernor (Part II)
Races of Evernor (Part III)
Five Free Races
Races of Evernor (Part I)
Races of Evernor (Part II)
Races of Evernor (Part III)
Five Free Races
Connorsrpg
Adventurer
Monte Cook has taken THE VERY approach that you have.
His discussions on the development for the races in Arcana Unearthed sounded a lot like what is here.
So I guess i am saying check out Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed. It doesn't have an all-encompassing CS to go with the races. They were created for any setting. (I know Diamond Throne exists, but it is not a over-detailed monster and the races still fit nicely into other CS's).
Connors
His discussions on the development for the races in Arcana Unearthed sounded a lot like what is here.
So I guess i am saying check out Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed. It doesn't have an all-encompassing CS to go with the races. They were created for any setting. (I know Diamond Throne exists, but it is not a over-detailed monster and the races still fit nicely into other CS's).
Connors
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Zweischneid
First Post
Uh, sounds alot like the Elemental Poles / Races from James Clemens Wit'ch Fire Series.
Anyways for different races.. IMO an interesting replacement for elves/woodlovers/old&wise race are the Orgiers from WoT.
Also the Books by James Clemens above feature some wierd Races/Monsters and (kinda) new spins on old races. They are a bit goofy to read though.
Also Green Ronins Bastards & Bloodlines features many a strange thing that might be used as race itself (instead of mix-breeds).
Those beast do feature some hefty ECL though and even with those they are a bit to far on the powergaming side of things for my tastes.
Green Ronin also published a Splatbook on Vampires as a race for players. I don't have the book, so I can't say if it's any good.
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Incenjucar
Legend
Alternative races are very enjoyable to build.
My own 'setting' (read: Stuff I want to make into a setting eventually) includes:
Humans: In various roles, from kingdom-dwellers to jungle-dwellers.
Ulari: Tall human-looking beings with a few serpentine features (mostly superficial). They tend to take on the roles of diplomats, rulers, and leaders, or, when they fail to find affluence, skilled weavers and artisians, due to their high dexterity. They have a screwy gender ratio (1 female for every 4.5 males) that keeps them working in unison for survival, leading to a odd variety of reproduction-based societies, from queendoms with chosen, elected, or victory-based mating rights, to male harems, to females being used as captive breeding stock, with their use being sold to the highest bidders for vast sums. Their charm-resistance-numbing venom gives them a sinister edge, no matter how good of beings they are, and their weakness to cold gives them amusing tendancies to cuddle with warm or hairy people or animals.
Burunjhu: Smallish race (just barely small enough to be 'small',) with feathers for hair (including body hair, which is the same on males and females), Romanesque noses (beaked-looking), and clawed fingers and toes. They're horribly clever, but have an innate irritability and sense of personal emptiness that makes them horrible leaders and diplomats, and weak performers and spontanious spellcasters. While they're agile, their clawed fingers mean they're no better than a human at manipulating objects. They mostly exist in nomadic clans, something like gypsies, sans that they sell ideas and information instead of charms and fortunes. They're like cranky, roaming intellectuals.
Chitinoids (Naming in progress): Bearing two sets of eyes, one for Darkvision, one for Low-Light and normal vision, as well as a carapace-style body that affords a tiny natural armor boost. I'm still working on some details, but they're a very nature-oriented species that tends to use animals to a great extent, but can't consume meat. I may make them the first species to discover the idea of harvesting milk. More urban ones tend to work in stables and zoos, keeping the animals happy.
Mistlings: A naturally shapeshifting species that are, basically, protist people (as such, they lack any of the resistances one gains by being a more magical shape-shifter, as it's tied to their actual physical substance). Their most common forms are grayish, conical lumps with a single large, black, disk-shaped eye. They usually just bask in marshes and such and conversing. With some time and effort, however, they can change in to a variety of forms (though with largely the same stats), allowing them to roam around as quadrapeds (usually when they want to carry a lot of weight) or bipeds of various shapes, but their normal size. Though they can look like spongey gray humans, they usually prefer a mouthless newt-like humanoid shape. I'm thinking of giving them some sort of healing or disease-curing ability requiring some self-sacrifice ("Here, eat my hand, and you'll most likely survive that illness.")
Sizeshifters: (Naming in progress) Small-sized fae beings that can shift in to medium-sized forms when they need strength more than dexterity. As they have long, (hairless) donkey-like ears, they have great hearing. They're pretty much tree-hugging hippies, but much more pastoral than elves. Almost like lazy forest hobbits.
My own 'setting' (read: Stuff I want to make into a setting eventually) includes:
Humans: In various roles, from kingdom-dwellers to jungle-dwellers.
Ulari: Tall human-looking beings with a few serpentine features (mostly superficial). They tend to take on the roles of diplomats, rulers, and leaders, or, when they fail to find affluence, skilled weavers and artisians, due to their high dexterity. They have a screwy gender ratio (1 female for every 4.5 males) that keeps them working in unison for survival, leading to a odd variety of reproduction-based societies, from queendoms with chosen, elected, or victory-based mating rights, to male harems, to females being used as captive breeding stock, with their use being sold to the highest bidders for vast sums. Their charm-resistance-numbing venom gives them a sinister edge, no matter how good of beings they are, and their weakness to cold gives them amusing tendancies to cuddle with warm or hairy people or animals.
Burunjhu: Smallish race (just barely small enough to be 'small',) with feathers for hair (including body hair, which is the same on males and females), Romanesque noses (beaked-looking), and clawed fingers and toes. They're horribly clever, but have an innate irritability and sense of personal emptiness that makes them horrible leaders and diplomats, and weak performers and spontanious spellcasters. While they're agile, their clawed fingers mean they're no better than a human at manipulating objects. They mostly exist in nomadic clans, something like gypsies, sans that they sell ideas and information instead of charms and fortunes. They're like cranky, roaming intellectuals.
Chitinoids (Naming in progress): Bearing two sets of eyes, one for Darkvision, one for Low-Light and normal vision, as well as a carapace-style body that affords a tiny natural armor boost. I'm still working on some details, but they're a very nature-oriented species that tends to use animals to a great extent, but can't consume meat. I may make them the first species to discover the idea of harvesting milk. More urban ones tend to work in stables and zoos, keeping the animals happy.
Mistlings: A naturally shapeshifting species that are, basically, protist people (as such, they lack any of the resistances one gains by being a more magical shape-shifter, as it's tied to their actual physical substance). Their most common forms are grayish, conical lumps with a single large, black, disk-shaped eye. They usually just bask in marshes and such and conversing. With some time and effort, however, they can change in to a variety of forms (though with largely the same stats), allowing them to roam around as quadrapeds (usually when they want to carry a lot of weight) or bipeds of various shapes, but their normal size. Though they can look like spongey gray humans, they usually prefer a mouthless newt-like humanoid shape. I'm thinking of giving them some sort of healing or disease-curing ability requiring some self-sacrifice ("Here, eat my hand, and you'll most likely survive that illness.")
Sizeshifters: (Naming in progress) Small-sized fae beings that can shift in to medium-sized forms when they need strength more than dexterity. As they have long, (hairless) donkey-like ears, they have great hearing. They're pretty much tree-hugging hippies, but much more pastoral than elves. Almost like lazy forest hobbits.
Lonely Tylenol
First Post
Apparently Dragon magazine plans to print a new playable race each month until they change the format of the magazine again, so after a year or so there's gotta be something interesting in there...
I have to second Arcana Unearthed. The races in there are pretty nifty. I especially like the giants and the faen.
I have to second Arcana Unearthed. The races in there are pretty nifty. I especially like the giants and the faen.
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