AU - first impressions?

[Bagpuss]

No disagreement there! I think that Traveller is the only one I saw that really came close - especially the Hivers and the Centaurs.

And the Kafers from 2300AD, the Kafer Sourcebook has to be the best RPG book on an alien race.

 

[drnuncheon]

No disagreement there! I think that Traveller is the only one I saw that really came close - especially the Hivers and the Centaurs.

...and so we come full circle, since there have been many people talking about the similarities between Aslan/Vargr and litorian/sibbecai (ignoring the fact that Monte did litorians long ago for some kind of Rolemaster supplement, I believe).

J

 

[Plane Sailing]

...and so we come full circle, since there have been many people talking about the similarities between Aslan/Vargr and litorian/sibbecai (ignoring the fact that Monte did litorians long ago for some kind of Rolemaster supplement, I believe).

J

I'm pretty sure that Aslan predated anything that Monte may have done for Rolemaster... they've been around for decades (but then again, I'm not so familiar with Rolemaster). Litorians are so bleh though. Just like every other cat-race that I've seen from fantasy games. Where was the imagination?

 

[tetsujin28]

The only fantasy rpgs that had really alien races were Runequest (when it was connected to Glorantha) and Tekumel.

 

[drnuncheon]

Litorians are so bleh though. Just like every other cat-race that I've seen from fantasy games. Where was the imagination?

I guess that depends - are they supposed to be new, unusual and imaginative, or are they supposed to be archetypal (like the core races)? I figured the latter, so something really strange/unusual/alien would actually detract from the purpose of the AU races.

If you want an elf in D&D, then you probably want the base elf to be woodsy and magical (not slash-and-burn farmers), and you want dwarves to live underground and mine things (not live in treehouses and be gourmet chefs). Certain settings can change that, but they only work well because the base is there. Similarly, if you want lion-people in D&D, you probably want strong, individualistic, proud warrior types, and not something weird but original like a race of pacifistic philosophers.

(Giants aren't quite the archetypical giants, it's true - unless you go back to, say, Prometheus, but calling a race 'titans' when they start out as size M seems wrong.)

J

 

[Ezrael]

The only fantasy rpgs that had really alien races were Runequest (when it was connected to Glorantha) and Tekumel.

I'd also say Talislanta had quite a few alien races.

On the whole Aslan/Vargr thing, why not just say he ripped off the Kzinti? I don't say this thinking he did rip anything off...it's hardly a new concept, as someone else wrote in the thread about the hostility the game's recieved from people who think it's overly 'furry' or whatever, there have been legends of animal-human combinations going all the way back to the Egyptian gods, even.

I think the mojh and the verrik are alien enough considering how AU is intended to be used. I admit I would have liked it more if there were another four or five races in AU, gotten a little weirder. But I can wait for the Diamond Throne to see what else he's created.

 

[Negative Zero]

... people who think it's overly 'furry' ...

there's been a lot of talk about "all the furries" in AU, and this strikes me as odd. there are 9 new races in the book, and only 2 of them fall into this grouping. maybe i'm dense, but, i just don't get it.

~NegZ

 

[JeffB]

there's been a lot of talk about "all the furries" in AU, and this strikes me as odd. there are 9 new races in the book, and only 2 of them fall into this grouping. maybe i'm dense, but, i just don't get it.

~NegZ

Because two furry critter races are two too many!

 

[Krieg]

To me, the entire mohj mindset is alien. Give up your gender and your race for scales and the ability to bud kobolds? I'd think that anyone who became a mojh would be a creepy, creepy dude, and probably more alien than most so-called "aliens" in sci-fi, if only because he used to be human.

J

I am in complete agreement, which is why the main "human" antagonist in my CoC campaign is going to be making the transformation very soon.

My players should find it suitably disturbing.

 

[woodelf]

Akashik(sp?)- This is the first time I have ever wanted to play a skills based class EVER. Rouge/bard never really did it for me but the Akashik, mmmmmm.

Perhaps it's because it's the first time there's really *been* a skills-based class in D&D.