Gundark said:
I've been looking at different settings and been thinking about trying to homebrew a setting that has a strong ancient greek/roman feel to it. What PC races do you think would fit this type of world?
So far I'm thinking humans (of course), satyrs, centaurs, and minotaurs.
What are your ideas?
I personally would not use minotaurs, as in Greek mythology the minotaur was a unique creature.
Centaurs, however, work quite well, and satyrs might as well. I would likely have the centaurs be the equivalent of the mongols or some other semi-nomadic plains peoples. Satyrs could be the equivalent of wild elves, perhaps. Harpies could work, although I wonder how well a civilization could develop without the use of hands. Maybe you could change them to be the equivalent of northern European swan maidens - they have two forms, one human, the other avian with perhaps a human face.
Perhaps a nymph civilization composed of maenads (mountains / hills), naiads (streams / rivers), dryads (trees), nerieds (seas / oceans) - each having a different culture based upon their nature? Children might be made in two manners - their magic allowing them to use parthanogenesis (non-sexual clone birthing), but they can also mate with foreigner humanoids to have children - the females always being nymphs, the males always being comely members of their own race, perhaps.
If you are going to use Minotaurs, then you might want to also consider using Medusae - albeit with a less dangerous gaze attack. Perhaps it just stuns or Holds Person instead, and it can be prevented by the medusa wearing a veil of translucent cloth, such that the view of the eyes is blocked partially. Or perhaps they wear a headscarf and so long as the serpents are not seen the gaze has no effect? As with the idea of a nymph race, you will need to deal with the fact that they do not have a male equivalent. One idea that might have merit is that upon the death of the mythical Medusa, from her body immediately sprung the offspring she would have had (from Poisiedon) had she not been changed into a medusa. So perhaps Medusae have a short life (30-40 years), but upon death one or more of their serpent hairs falls off, the flesh falling away to reveal an leathery egg (akin to those of normal reptiles). It slowly grows, eventually hatching to show a serpentine woman (maybe lacking legs and arms?).
This idea works best with medusas having multiple lifecycle phases. They can reproduce as normal women with foreign males, but they can also clone themselves upon death. Maybe some Yuan-Ti rules from FR's Serpent Kingdoms will work here, with the nacient medusa perhaps growing up as a naga, yuanti, etc rather than a medusa if something goes wrong with her normal development. Over the first year or three she grows larger and grows arms. Then over the next two to four years she grows larger and grows legs, eventually shedding or absorbing the tale due to lack of its growing with the body. (Perhaps it does not grow during the second phase, such that by adult hood the tail remains but it only a few inches long.) Finally, during adolescence, they begin sprouting their serpentine hair features. It is an interesting idea, but I am uncertain if it will work well in your world.
Hmm, other ideas . . . Titans. While most of the titans of legend are gone or living far distant from the civilized lands, some weaker ones - degenerate descendants perhaps or descendants allowed to live / stay due to being so much weaker than their forefathers - now live nearby. Half again to twice the height of a typical human, these beings are towering giants. They needn't be supernaturally powerful or have high mental ability scores. They are just the tall / strong descendants of the glorious but overthrown Titans of yore. Give them, say +4 Str, -2 Dex, +2 Con, -4 Cha (to reflect the curse of the gods upon them after their ancestors were overthrown - that all human(oid?)s hold them in suspicion, distrust, contempt? horror?). I think - if they gain nothing else - then this might not need a LA. They are tall and powerful beings (at 8-10 ft tall), but they are outcasts from other races due to the fall of their forefathers to the gods currently worshiped. I would further say that they could not be clerics - no deity will accept them. They might be druids, however, especially as they probably venerate their ultimate mother - the Earth / Gaia itself.
Have you ever read Roberta Gellis' "Bullgod" - a retelling of the minotaur myth? In it all the 'gods' and 'goddesses' of Olympus are in fact immortal mages of probably epic or near epic level power - but only in the one or two areas where their gift exists. In other matters they are barely better than the best mortal human mages. So Dionysus has ultimate power of vine based plants, passionate negative emotions (rage, etc), and fermentated beverages (such as wine), but he cannot remove a plague of insects from the fields because, as he says, "Bugs are no part of my Gift. The farmers will have to pick them off themselves." Perhaps the deities of your world are similarly limited - sorcerers of extreme specialization who have somehow gained immortality. If you borrow a bit of norse mythology, then perhaps there is a rare apple tree in olympus whose apples restore youth and halt aging for a year. So long as they regularly eat from these apples they are immortal.
)
