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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steampunkette" data-source="post: 8340353" data-attributes="member: 6796468">In the beginning of all things the Beast created life in myriad forms. Plants and Insects were his first creations, but animals of all kinds swiftly followed into this burgeoning world. And from these forms the other gods, in their wisdom or temerity, reached down to his works and made some their own. This angered the beast, who had created all life to live and die, kill and consume, to destroy each other for his pleasure. But we, the Mortals, are the result of their actions. And though we have changed since those savage days, the dark heart of the Beast still beats within our breast.-The Chronicler-So for races... Humans are practically a must in any setting. They're the baseline identity which is closest to our own. The rubric by which we determine how strange the other options are. And I've already established the existence of Minotaurs as a thing through the myth of Ukada.What other races should we add, and what story should they tell? I am inclined, as in the Chronicler blurb above, to play with the idea of convergent evolution. Sort of like Carcinisation in evolutionary biology where so many different creatures have evolved into Crabs or crablike forms.With monsters like Lizardmen, Minotaurs, Satyrs, and the like being super common across D&D I think it's as valid a direction to go as any other. Particularly those whose appearance "Ties" to the gods.My current thoughts are:Human: Children of the Mountain.Minotaur: Human-Created Beast-Children.Renamed Yuan-Ti without the ritualistic evil: The Serpent's people.Insectoids of some kind, potentially spider people. The Weaver's people.Stormborn: Genasi style elementalistic children of the Tempest.Changelings: The Dweller's children.Fairies or Fey: The Witch's children.And then entirely independent of what their heritage is, their cultures are regionally based and fulfill the role of subrace. You can be a Fairy from Musarra or from Il'sha-ah. And a fairy from Il'sha-ah has all the available cultural traits of that locale and their background is a part of that culture but is also limited to that culture.Il'sha-ah as a center of commerce, the seat of the Serpent's religion, and a cultural capital could offer a selection of cultural options. Like "Cosmopolitan" or "Street Rat". Each with it's own list of character traits. And then your background is also determined by where you're from. Someone from Il'sha-ah can't take the Hermit background because there's nowhere to go off and be a hermit at within the city. But you could take the Courtier or Noble or lots of other background options.Again, storytelling through exclusion.This isn't to say that Elves and Dwarves and Gnomes won't exist at all. I just don't specifically have a story for them, so they might wind up being either rare peoples (Perhaps their gods died in the war and only a handful remain in the world) or just not be included at all.Compilation of Project Chronicle Links: <a href="https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/jEBy9H5RnJQN" target="_blank">Project Chronicle: Master List - The Homebrewery</a></blockquote>

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