D&D General how are stories infused with a race?

[Mind of tempest]

I think we would all agree that races have stories as part of them with tieflings and the half races being outsiders, halflings being the humble people and so on

what I want to know is how they are infused and what examples there are as I want to get my custom race working properly?

 

[overgeeked]

Most of the "stories" attached to races come from pop culture perceptions of those races or the component parts of those races.

For example, tieflings, hobbits, and minotaurs. Tieflings are half-devils. The cultural baggage attached to "devil" carries 99% of the weight for their story. With hobbits it's Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Minotaurs are almost entirely defined by Greek mythology.

If your custom race doesn't have the pop culture cache in the vein of The Hobbit (i.e. popular literature backing it up) or mythology, then your best bet is to go the route of the half-races. Devil-folk are largely defined by our culture's general attitude towards devils. Rabbit-folk are largely defined by our culture's general attitude towards rabbits. Etc.

I mean, that's all the people who made the game did in the old days. Take something from pop culture or mythology and tweak it slightly to fit the game.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Most of the "stories" attached to races come from pop culture perceptions of those races or the component parts of those races.

For example, tieflings, hobbits, and minotaurs. Tieflings are half-devils. The cultural baggage attached to "devil" carries 99% of the weight for their story. With hobbits it's Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Minotaurs are almost entirely defined by Greek mythology.

If your custom race doesn't have the pop culture cache in the vein of The Hobbit (i.e. popular literature backing it up) or mythology, then your best bet is to go the route of the half-races. Devil-folk are largely defined by our culture's general attitude towards devils. Rabbit-folk are largely defined by our culture's general attitude towards rabbits. Etc.

I mean, that's all the people who made the game did in the old days. Take something from pop culture or mythology and tweak it slightly to fit the game.

yeah, I built something from nothing so that is why I am having such huge trouble?

 

[Lyxen]

The thing is that for me the story, up to creation myth and legend is everything, because this influences the race's characteristics and in particular its magic, which in turn influences the cultures developed by the race during the history of the setting.

Unfortunately, I don't have any good one in D&D since most of the races are more or less humans in funny hats, and in any case the creation myths are setting dependent, but the drows were not too bad (including at start where Gygax did not create them as inherently evil, but where their only shown society can give that impression).

Best races for me are those from RQ, they have a strong creation myth, and therefore their powers and general outlooks comes from this (Uz/Trolls being created by/in Darkness for example), which in turn described the way the cultures developped and the history. And it does not prevent the history to influence it further, for example the Uz/Trolls where subjected to the Trollkin Curse, which has had a major influence on all their cultures since then.

 

[Mind of tempest]

The thing is that for me the story, up to creation myth and legend is everything, because this influences the race's characteristics and in particular its magic, which in turn influences the cultures developed by the race during the history of the setting.

Unfortunately, I don't have any good one in D&D since most of the races are more or less humans in funny hats, and in any case the creation myths are setting dependent, but the drows were not too bad (including at start where Gygax did not create them as inherently evil, but where their only shown society can give that impression).

Best races for me are those from RQ, they have a strong creation myth, and therefore their powers and general outlooks comes from this (Uz/Trolls being created by/in Darkness for example), which in turn described the way the cultures developped and the history. And it does not prevent the history to influence it further, for example the Uz/Trolls where subjected to the Trollkin Curse, which has had a major influence on all their cultures since then.

RQ?

 

[Lyxen]

RQ?

Sorry, Runequest, and in particular in Glorantha. The races are highly distinctive, including extremely strong stats variations.

 

[overgeeked]

yeah, I built something from nothing so that is why I am having such huge trouble?

What's the race? Because most things, even if they're "new," have antecedents.

Even something as simple as descriptive tags like "nomad" or "horse-focused culture" will lend a lot to their story.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

I want to get my customer race working properly?

Entitled by centuries of market economy, Customers are the bane of the land. Everywhere they settle, not unlike a plague of locust, their appetites incite other into turning everything into goods for them to consume.

Customer Traits:

• Ability Score Increase. Increase one ability score by 2, and increase a different one by 1.
• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character.
• Creature Type. You are a Humanoid.
• Size. You are Medium. If your favorite product is fast food, you can be Large, too.
• Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
• Darkvision. Countless nights spent on shopping website have given you the ability to see thing in dim light.
• Compulsive purchase. You're proficient in Shopper Tools. You can also summon any object worth less than 100 gp out of your shopping bags. You can use this power proficiency bonus times per long rest.
• Nature's Bane. You have advantage against spells cast by a Druid.
• Questgiver. Instead of going out adventuring, you prefer to sit in dark corner of a tavern (due to your natural Darkvision), smoking a pipe, and waiting for an adventurous group to hire them to do it for you.

 

[Nefermandias]

yeah, I built something from nothing so that is why I am having such huge trouble?

After tens of thousands of years of human history, I don't think it's really possible to build something from nothing. And even if you somehow manage to come up with something completely new, it's going to be so alien and detached from human sensibilities, that it's probably going to end up being unusable.

 

[Mind of tempest]

What's the race? Because most things, even if they're "new," have antecedents.

Even something as simple as descriptive tags like "nomad" or "horse-focused culture" will lend a lot to their story.

do you want the whole thing or do you want buzz words as sadly I only have the long version? also I plan to rework a lot of it.

After tens of thousands of years of human history, I don't think it's really possible to build something from nothing. And even if you somehow manage to come up with something completely new, it's going to be so alien and detached from human sensibilities, that it's probably going to end up being unusable.

true but I did not build off a standard monster or animal of any culture so I am at a loss at how to work something in?