Alternate Races?

[Aust Diamondew]

Try using some of the races in the 3.5 psionics hand book.

 

[Desdichado]

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.

Huh. Well, since new races typically are found in setting books, I think you're kinda setting yourself up for a failure there.

Here's an idea though; are you keeping the "monster" humanoid races? Goblinoids and the like? Gnolls? Maybe some of them can step up to the plate?

Or, as someone else suggested, maybe you can pick up Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed and go with the lion men and dog men. :\ There's some other great ideas in there, though; the giants, the sprytes and the mojh are particularly flavorful, and give you the opportunity to try out a variety of different things.

Also, have you picked up Savage Species? Potentially any entry in any monster book becomes a PC race with that. It even gives good guidelines for converting the ECLs into actual levels so that you can start at first level without anything odd.

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?

I know you said you don't want the ECLs, but I had an idea in my head for only humans, half-orcs (replacing actual orcs, as it turned out) and planetouched races. I kinda modified the idea somewhat and went a different direction with my current campaign, but I'd like to revisit it someday.

Maybe if you gave us some more info on what you are looking for; you're excluding so much yet not giving a whole lot of info on what you're trying to find, which is making it somewhat difficult.

 

[Desdichado]

Oh, and have you checked out Oriental Adventures? I understand it's out of print, but you should be able to order it from Amazon still, as well as probably find it in most game stores. It had a fair amount of alternate races too -- ratmen, monkeymen, spirit folk, weird little goblin/dwarves, etc. Not their actual names, of course.

 

[Durandal]

Mostly, I just want to use something new and unusual, somethign that will make my players think outside their boxes rather than making characters that seem to be cardboard cutouts of Legolas and Gimli. Really, it is difficult to say exactly what sort of thing I am looking for, which is why I tried to explain what I'm not looking for. There have definitely been some good suggestions, though, so thanks to all of you who have answered - I'm sure it will help me in my quest for fresh blood.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Mostly, I just want to use something new and unusual, somethign that will make my players think outside their boxes rather than making characters that seem to be cardboard cutouts of Legolas and Gimli. Really, it is difficult to say exactly what sort of thing I am looking for, which is why I tried to explain what I'm not looking for. There have definitely been some good suggestions, though, so thanks to all of you who have answered - I'm sure it will help me in my quest for fresh blood.

Maybe they won`t create a Legolas or Gimli, but there is always the risk that simply all of them play a human if they can´t relate to one of the new races.
This will be most likely if you chose some very alien, possibly nonhumanoid races...

This didn´t happen with my Arcana Unearthed group, though - only one of them plays a human. Since there are four to five regular players, not all races were covered - mojh and verrick are missing. (And these two races are definitely a bit more difficult to roleplay - or relate to, so the choice of races isn´t really surprising)

 

[Desdichado]

Mostly, I just want to use something new and unusual, somethign that will make my players think outside their boxes rather than making characters that seem to be cardboard cutouts of Legolas and Gimli. Really, it is difficult to say exactly what sort of thing I am looking for, which is why I tried to explain what I'm not looking for. There have definitely been some good suggestions, though, so thanks to all of you who have answered - I'm sure it will help me in my quest for fresh blood.

yeah, but what's your campaign like? What kind of tone, what kind of adventures? Dungeoncrawling? Medieval urban espionage? Courtly intrigue?

I still think, based on what you said you're looking for, that you can get some great ideas from a setting like, say, Eberron. The shifters, changelings and warforged are all pretty unique and innovative PC races, IMO. I'd use just about any of them in a heartbeat next time I whip up a homebrew.

 

[Voadam]

Mythic Races (bunch of variety)
The Silverthorne games ones
The races from the XPH (also in the 3.5 psionics srd)
AU's races (lion men, jackal men, half dragons, fey, medium giants)
MM races mostly evil humanoids such as orcs, goblins, kobolds, gnolls, hobgoblins, etc.
Races from a different monster book, for instance, Bastion's Into the Black has snailfolk who are pretty neat, being freaked out by anything with bones inside them, and Into the blue has otterfolk who are good woodland craftsmen.
OA (spirit folk, korobokuru, hengeyokai, ratmen).

If you want races divorced from any setting go with a generic monster book for your race palate.

 

[Estlor]

Some things to consider are:

1. The type of setting
2. The primary environments used
3. Archetypical monsters used

A high fantasy setting will account for different sorts of PC races than a space opera or grim and gritty setting. The higher the fantasy element you use, the more likely you'll find things like elves, dwarves, and halflings running about - humans with a certain aspect of their personality exaggerated.

One good thing to do is keep in mind what kind of dominant environments would have shaped the races. If large forests and jungles are common, there is likely to be an animal-like race that is at home there. If deserts are common, a reptilian or leathery-skinned race probably dominates the region. If extra-planar forces constantly sweep across the world, supernatural or extraplanar aspects will manifest more often.

Lastly, what kind of monsters have a large role in the world or HAD a large role in its history? Try to find a way (using Savage Species or similar products) to power down the critter into an ECL+0 race and promote that as a PC race.

In the end, there are really only three types of PC races:

1. Human-like races that are 'bigger than life' in some single way
2. Anthropomorphic characters that mix savage and civil
3. Alien races that are insectile, aquatic, or generally wierd.

 

[Tonguez]

Just continuing some of the points above. I personally feel that if your gonna be ading new races then they need to be integrated into the setting. Its not enough to simply say "okay the forests are going to inhabited by a dog headed race of hunters" and I'll have a tall thin race with natural psionic powers.
The psychic race in Ebberon (which I cant recall atm) works because it is integrated into the cosmology as do Warforged 9to a degree)

so What is your setting and cosmology and work from there

 

[Varianor Abroad]

Arcana Unearthed also has mojh, draconian, genderless beings that were once human. They are a really neat race IMO.

Also, there's a few free races available under the Characters section of www.diamondthrone.com, including Frank Carr's Mandragorans (a preview from his Lands of the Jade Oath "oriental" AU book), the Ruash - lizards, dryads, shades, pucks (very cool) and bach'narii, a primitive race that worshi the Drum Lord.

IIRC, at one point WotC had the saurials up for free. I also think that there's some free SS-style racial progressions up at www.seankreynolds.com.