Non-earth human ethnicities

Desdichado

Legend
I think having different ethnicities amongst my humans is important for diversity and interest to the setting, but for my campaign setting, I don't want to simply replicate earth-ethnicities on another world. So, does anyone have any ideas? Post your non-earth human ethnicity here including physical description, type of climate/environment they call home, any cultural peculiarities, and how they spread and diversified (assuming they did). Here's a page I did once for a campaign setting I worked on for a while (but never ran) that is a pretty good example of what I'm looking for.

http://www.geocities.com/raolin.rm/faerytaleII/background.htm
 

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For my Trinalia game, I worked up charts of complexions, hair, and eye color. The hair and eye color rolls were modified by the complexion rolls.
  • Avelan: Moderate complexion, hairs include browns, reds, few blondes. Marked by more rounded or button noses.
  • Aborian: light tan to cocoa complexion (south islanders tend to have darker complexions), but wide range of hair and eye colors. Little red hair, but occasional blonds with blue or green eyes (but almost unknown among darker complexion/south islanders). More gentle, rounded features than Kennans, more rounded noses than Turanians.)
  • Turanian: Light complexions except among more primitive tribes, which are tanned and or freckled, but never as dark as Kennans. Straight, narrow noses, higher proportion of blondes than any other ethnicity.
  • Neo-Turanian - a mixture of Turanian and Aborian; some darker hair colors.
  • Kennan: Cocoa complexion (similar to Aborians, but without the light hair/eyes, and marked by high cheeckbones and chiseled features.)
  • Stygian: Cocoa to dark brown complexion, typically brown eyes and brown to black hair.

Most of these, in fact, draw from real world ethnicities. I deliberately sort of make Aborians known for having light hair/eyes with darker complexions (like polynesian with the occasional lighter hair that is sometimes seen in hispanics), but most of the rest are extrapolations of existing real world cultures (e.g., the Turanians are a Nordic style ethnicity with more exposure to warmer/sunnier conditions, Avelan are Irish, etc.)

In my planar setting, I intend to mix it up a bit more with odd hair colors, skin colors, &cetera.
 

Alternate Cultures

I didn't make these but as part of my Tekumel advocacy:

www.tekumel.com

www.jorune.org

Both worlds are filled with scads of human societies that are truly unique from the Tsolyanu, Burdothians, Gatoni, Pijena, etc. I can't get my players to play an extend Empire of the Petal Throne game, but it doesn't stop me from using the cultures in my own game, heh.

Oh, I forgot

www.glorantha.com
 
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From the past:

Rufins, 'red men'. So named for their distinctive skin pigmentation - it's not like they're painted scarlet, but you wouldn't call them anything but red. Tend to low body fat and well-defined physiques, capable of making some truly hideous grimaces. Dwellers on the plains - hunter/gatherers whose relatively high population and organisation enables them to stand on an even footing with the more advanced, iron-using civilisations with whom they trade for weapons they cannot make themselves.

From my current Twilight project:

Bownar (singular Bown). 'Dwellers in Wilderness'. In the height of past civilisations, some people decided to go live in the wilderness, where the day/night cycle was irregular or absent and life was harsh. Tall, sleek, and very dark. Traditional bownar culture is neolithic and animistic, believing in spirits that live in all things; West Bown embrace all spirits and will tattoo themselves with animal features to gain their strength, while East Bown believe that animals should deal with animal spirits, and forbid depictions of any image but that of Man. Today, the West Bown have been adopted into more advanced cultures, with especial dominance in Aerie Cathedra's upper classes (warriors and dragon-riders), and the deserts of Desolate Noon, while East Bown remain in the deep wilds.

Tallaern. Shorter and paler than bown, of a technological background, with red, blue, green, or gold hair. Ears come to a small point midway between top and bottom of the helix, featuring a spur emerging from the antihelix (the 'transhelic spur', not found in other human anatomy). Tallaern are most common in advanced areas, and form the primary technological backbone of Riftsea. They are practicers of various forms of technomancy. One of the four post-Draconis races.

Androgyne. Besides all looking the same, many of this beautiful race are naturally hairless. They are expert swimmers and all possess some level of telepathy or empathy. Androgynes are a small section of the population, but maintain a distinct and internally-open culture (they can't help but be friendly). One of the post-Draconis.

Derica (singular Deric). One of the post-Draconis races, the derica are the only ones who stayed in their home when the Draconis fell and the land started dying in an eternal day. Today, their population has homogenised many of the gene-traits the Draconis gave to their subordinates. The modern deric has red, blond, or brown hair, is pale-skinned and takes literal decades to tan, and is inordinately tough - will not sunburn until nearly halfway to the sun. They're stubborn, mostly rural lizard farmers who do things The Way They've Always Been Done. Herders, water prospectors, and so forth.

Cathedral. The latest post-Draconis race, created by a disparate population of bownar, tallaern, and other races (including many gene-altered families) who had a falling-out over the role of dragons in society. The Aerie (a faction dominated by bownar warlords) held that dragons were excellent servants once you lobotomised them. The Cathedrals held that dragons were gods. You can probably see why they left for a new land, with as many gods in tow as they could manage. Once the population restabilised (with a little help from some draconic sorcery), the cathedrals were the shortest of the human races, prone to putting on fat against harsh months, and quite stratified in society, with dragon priests at the top and peasants at the bottom. They have black or brown hair, and fingernail-like scales on elbows, clavicles, and spine.

Blessed, Ascendant. Two post-human races created by the Angel Queens in the far East, the Blessed have insect features to make them more efficient (because of the availability of life magic, they only rarely use tools, although in recent years the coastal Blessed cities have acquired some DC power networks from tallaern traders), while the Ascendant have been grouped into hiveminds of a dozen or more members with strange intelligences. Blessed Ascendant are not unknown.

Sundered. In the First Shadow War, the demonic Shadow Brethren recruited from their enemies, breeding them with shadows and forever tainting their blood. Members of any race became Sundered, but as the Cathedral Exodus happened in the middle of the War and ended up right on the edge of the Shadow Brethren's invasion site, cathedrals were most afflicted, and even today are expected to stone, skewer, or burn Sundered whenever they are discovered. Of course, the Shadow Brethren are long gone from this plane, so Sundered born in the past three centuries are unlikely to be evil. Those who possess extreme physical changes such as wings or horns are easily detected and driven out; they tend to grow twisted and become the very thing their detractors wanted to stop... if they survive.



OK, that's what I've got in human races. They tend to get blurry due to migration, and culture and race are distinct concepts. Hopefully that's whetted someone's appetite...
 


I'm building the Twilight world in my homebrew system (coincidentally called Twilight), but if I ever get around to publishing, I'll probably do a d20 version or appendix somewhere too. It'll lose some nuances unless I do some serious overhauls to the d20 system and make it virtually unrecognisable, but what remains should still entertain and intrigue. (And reworking the system would no doubt create a nice, solid book to sell in its own right.)

One of my friends wants me to work it into GURPS, although it'd lose the same nuances. Tsk.
 

I actually have in the past (and probably will again because I enjoy it) constructed reasonably complicated paleo-ethno-linguistic studies of my settings. To simplify somewhat, I'd start with major ethnographic groups (equivalent to "Caucasian" or "South Seas Islander"), put them in a location, and then charted their spread through time. As they interact with other groups, they create new ethno-linguistic entities, split into different groups, etc.

Then once I've got a map that sorta charts ethnic, cultural and linguistic groups, I overlay a political map on top of that. They don't necessarily coincide, just as we don't in the real world. I like to have groups that are kinda the equivalents of the Basques or the Kurds; they don't have their own nation, but they do have a common ethno-linguistic heritage, and their politics is driven by desires for separatism mated with two or more political units whos borders overlap theirs, etc.

It's a little more complex, but I greatly prefer the results as opposed to "country X has culture/ethnography/linguistics x, and country Y has culture/ethnography/linguistics y, etc."
 

IMC, I've based some of the races on RL, & designed others myself for my 'sky-island world' homebrew. The main races & their relationships are (note that for some of the less widespread races, race & culture are virtually synonamous):

Hjelan: These are the fierce Nordic tribes of the northwest. Few are found in 'civilized' lands today, & their once-proud warrior culture has degenerated into weak tribes who rarely manage even minor raids. At one time they ruled all of the small continent of Galor & almost 1/4 of the main continent (Terathilon), & introduced the first system of writing & formal education to the area. It's rumored that an extremely advanced Hjelan civilization persists in an unknown area to the west, beyond the small shards & floating ice of the Fordning.
Features: Pale complexion; strong jawlines & squared faces; blue or brown eyes; blond, red, or brown hair.

Riuskan: The descendants of the ancient Hjelans in Tabol (the portion of Terathilon which they formerly ruled). Cultures range from nomadic plainsdwellers in the north to the byzantine remnants of a former vast empire in the west to a thriving confederation of southern citystates.
Features: Pale complexion; faces less squared than the ancestral Hjelan, with moderately chiseled cheekbones; mostly brown eyes (blue often aesthetically valued); red or brown hair.

Kapsche: Another branch of the Hjelan line, these are the 'half-giants' (not as per the psionic race, though) of the mountains south of Tabol. Mostly nomadic, though the southernmost tribes have recently (past 200 years) settled the Ngoli region of the former Davelian Empire where they have adopted aspects of that xenophobic culture (a frightening prospect for their neighbors).
Features: Pale to tan complexion; tall, barrel-chested, thick-browed; hirsute; brown eyes & hair.

Irigan/Mynkosi: The 'proper' name of this race depends on who you ask. Swarthy seafarers said to have originated in the warmer south, they now dwell among the plentiful islands & mild coasts of the northern (temperate) Sea which fills the center of Terathilon. Hints of Irigan ancestry can still be seen among the southern islanders today, mixed with Davelian traits.
Features: Olive-tanned; brown or black eyes; black hair.

Ghozar: An offshoot of the Irigans, this is the common race of the northeastern portion of Terathilon, Ghoz. Mostly 'civilized' nations, with one nomadic group of tribes.
Features: Lack the olive complexion of the Irigans, but tan with exposure to sun; hair mostly brown but blond not uncommon; eyes any color.

Davelian: Originating from the southern Irigans, this race conquered most of Kysar (the southwestern portion of Terathilon), as well as portions of the southeast & scattered small shards beyond. No longer united in a single vast empire, most Davelians today dwell in free nations with varying degrees of multiracial peace or strife.
Features: Golden-tan complexion; hair golden-brown; eyes green, brown, or black.

Kysari: The original race of Kysar. Mastered the arcane prior to any other human race (unless one believes the fanciful tales of an ancient Aulduun civilization). No advanced purely Kysari civilizations remain in Kysar, though there are rumors of strange things in the isolated land of Zadaru to the east -- the one Kysari nation never conquered by the Davelians.
Features: Dark brown or black complexion; eyes black; hair black & curly.

Aulduun: Limited today to the fertile river valleys of the Valunds, the Aulduun take pride in claims that they were the first human race to master arcane magic. They are less likely to mention the rest of the tale, that they destroyed their own nation with the disastrous results of their hunger for greater power, flooding a vast area & creating the brackish moors of the Broenfens.
Features: Dark brown complexion; chiseled cheekbones; eyes black; hair black in women, usually shaved in men.

Dandin: The strange 'elf-men' of the eastern continent (Brennan Llyd) & two neighboring mid-sized shards. Frequently psionic. The remaining Dandin on Brennan Llyd itself are much reduced in number, though fiercely proud of their past achievements.
Features: Pale complexion; slightly shorter than average humans; often strikingly beautiful; eyes any human color; hair the same, usually very fine.

Khavron: Accustomed to the long nights of Spin & Tumble, this offshoot of the Dandin is a very 'goth'-looking race.
Features: Extremely pale complexion; eyes mostly black; hair black or (rarely) pure white.

Barrine: The other race of Brennan Llyd, originating in the south. Today found throughout most of that continent except the extreme northeast & southeast; have also spread to some neighboring shards. One ancient expansion even managed to colonize eastern Terathilon, where their descendants have mixed with the Ghozar in some regions. Even more frequently psionic than the Dandin.
Features: Black complexion; eyes black; hair black or (rarely) blond, straight.

In addition, there are at least 3 major 'off-map' races (corresponding to Aztec, Arabian, & Chinese); I'll probably also use the Imskar as an Underdark offshoot of the Aulduun.
 

One cool thing you could do is to have genetic engineering (either magical or technological, depending on the setting) be a factor.

Like in the TV show Dark Angel - DNA from cats makes her have a very high dexterity (and makes her go into heat...), etc.

Some of these crosses could become sub-species.

Joshua Dyal said:
I think having different ethnicities amongst my humans is important for diversity and interest to the setting, but for my campaign setting, I don't want to simply replicate earth-ethnicities on another world. So, does anyone have any ideas? Post your non-earth human ethnicity here including physical description, type of climate/environment they call home, any cultural peculiarities, and how they spread and diversified (assuming they did). Here's a page I did once for a campaign setting I worked on for a while (but never ran) that is a pretty good example of what I'm looking for.

http://www.geocities.com/raolin.rm/faerytaleII/background.htm
 


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