D&D General psychology of a mystical race?

the list is closer to what I mean but I have never seen one disassembled

I am trying to figure out how to make one

and then give it a twist
Dont worry about the twist yet.

Try brainstorm.

Read thru the description of the D&D Elf, sentence by sentence. On one sheet, write down the words, phrases, or sentences about the Elf that you like. Then on an other sheet, write down the words, phrases, or sentences about the Elf that you dont like.

At the end of the process, you should have a sheet with an approximation of what you want your race to be able to do. On the other sheet, you will know what you want to avoid.



You can do the same process again, for vulcan and other species that interest you, plus for the related TV Tropes.
 

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I have some ideas for the twist that might play into psychology.

In Skyrim, it is explained that dragons didn't exist in other games because of being removed from the normal timeline for a while. (There's a bit more to it, but that's enough for the purposes of this thread.)

You've also mentioned elves and Vulcans. That could give a general look which is like what D&D sometimes calls Grey Elves. The older and wiser (but a bit snobby) human-like race is a common trope.

Maybe you could combine pieces from both ideas.

At some point in the past, a group of [elves?] existed who were (at that time) technologically, culturally, and magically superior to most other beings around them. While dabbling in [some magical experiment], they accidentally placed themselves into a demi-plane of temporal stasis. [Number-of-years] ago, the effects of the mishap finally wore off, and their settlement was plopped back into the world.

They're now in a world which has more-or-less caught up to where they were, albeit in different ways. In some cases, they've encountered other races (such as humans) who seem to have found some of their left-behind knowledge but have used it in ways they feel is a waste.

They're still very intelligent and know a lot of things, but are also very adamant that their ways of doing things are more correct than how the other races are doing things -often being guilty of elf-splaining and going off on tangents about how they remember back when humans were barely more than animals. ...and that the original "correct" way of doing xyz is how the [older race] still does it.

They might also be socially awkward in that they're still accustomed to traditions, slang, and clothing styles from untold generations ago.

Trying to balance their own perceived intellectual superiority against being several generations out of date (and needing to catch up) could be a big part of who they now are in your world.

Maybe they still do have a lot of old knowledge which was lost to the world. In contrast, the younger races have knowledge about the contemporary world. Both are missing a large chunk of what happened in-between, so that provides a reason for them to need to learn from (and interacts with) the younger races, while they still wear the mask of superiority and lord stories of their former greatness over others.
 

I am trying to figure out the core mental stuff of mystical races and I hit a dead end.
any ideas?
any setting from any work as fiction is possible as long as it is not counter to basic homebrew race design.
like the core kind of mentality ideally with a single snappy word to make it easier on the chaotic mess of my head.
I am not saying your approach does not work but I simply work with a different one, I am asking for a dissection on how a concept works not a generated option.
I recommend monsters & magical sticks , it's a great book on how the mind works complete with tons of sources summarized within. It has the goal of being useful for hypnosis rather than therapists so gives a wider & more slow shallow than books aimed the other way
 
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Depends what you mean by "mystical." There are two general usages of the word, one roughly corresponding with supernatural and the other with spiritual.

Considering that D&D includes all kind of supernatural phenomena, and thus--in the context of D&D--the supernatural is more "hypernatural," meaning an extension of nature rather than something outside or opposed to natural law--a lot could be considered mystical in that way, to the point that it wouldn't really make sense except to consider the degree to which a race engages with magic and related phenomena. In the D&D world(s), many/most races relate with magic to some degree or other, although some (elves) more than others (halflings).

Mystical as in spiritual presents a more complex and subtle discussion, with mysticism being a wide range of practices that involve an individual relating to domains of experience that most consider superstition and/or hallucinatory. Yet there is a whole field of psychology that deals with this question: transpersonal psychology, and related fields such as Jungian, archetypal, and others.

Various more recent formulations have posited that there are different, broad domains of being: the physical, which is everything that we can interact with via our senses; the vital, which has to to do with subtle energy or life-force (e.g. the prana of yoga or chi/qi of traditional chinese practices); the mental, which is the psychological domain of thought and feeling; and then what we could call the mystical, which is everything beyond the physical-vital-mental matrix that we are all aware of, to different degrees (we sense and interact with the physical world; we are alive; and we think and have feelings, but most of us are not cognizant of mystical realities). We could also add a higher domain, the spiritual, which is divine Oneness.

Mystical practices include, but are not limited to, meditation, trance, shamanic practices (e.g. journeying), psychedelics, breath-work, active imagination, sensory depravation, and so on. Different practices and traditions have different goals; some seek to engage with the "mystical" domain, perhaps for deeper knowledge or insight; some might work on the vital level for healing; some are about calming the mental chatter. Some feel that "true" mysticism is about recognizing the realm of pure spirit, or oneness, and thus everything else is to be bypassed on the way "up."

So with all that in mind, to approach the idea of a "mystical race," we need to have a sense of what that means. Is it a race that recognizes the mystical and/or spiritual domains? Or merely one for whom the supernatural (or hypernatural, aka magical) is a living reality? Again, if the latter, well, that's many or even most races and creatures in D&D to varying degrees, so the question is really a matter of "to what degree."

But if the former, then I think you're talking about a race for whom the waking world is somewhat dream-like, an appearance that "masks" a truer reality - one in which mystical entities exist, and that the underlying nature of reality is a kind of oneness of being that merely appears as the physical world. This could be treated in different ways, depending upon what you're after. Some might be dissociative, treating what we call reality as a dream; others might be more engaged, seeing it as the playing field for the machinations of gods, and with some kind of metaphysical goal in mind (for instance, the journey of souls back to oneness). Etc, etc.
look I have not nailed down the specifics but a mix of the mystical domains and the hyper-natural might be workable.
for your examples of the former do you have any examples/ideas as this is kinda outside what I usually know and joining a comparative religious course is too expensive to justify?
it is more I am working from a reasonably vague spec as otherwise, I would not ask these questions
 

I have some ideas for the twist that might play into psychology.

In Skyrim, it is explained that dragons didn't exist in other games because of being removed from the normal timeline for a while. (There's a bit more to it, but that's enough for the purposes of this thread.)

You've also mentioned elves and Vulcans. That could give a general look which is like what D&D sometimes calls Grey Elves. The older and wiser (but a bit snobby) human-like race is a common trope.

Maybe you could combine pieces from both ideas.

At some point in the past, a group of [elves?] existed who were (at that time) technologically, culturally, and magically superior to most other beings around them. While dabbling in [some magical experiment], they accidentally placed themselves into a demi-plane of temporal stasis. [Number-of-years] ago, the effects of the mishap finally wore off, and their settlement was plopped back into the world.

They're now in a world which has more-or-less caught up to where they were, albeit in different ways. In some cases, they've encountered other races (such as humans) who seem to have found some of their left-behind knowledge but have used it in ways they feel is a waste.

They're still very intelligent and know a lot of things, but are also very adamant that their ways of doing things are more correct than how the other races are doing things -often being guilty of elf-splaining and going off on tangents about how they remember back when humans were barely more than animals. ...and that the original "correct" way of doing xyz is how the [older race] still does it.

They might also be socially awkward in that they're still accustomed to traditions, slang, and clothing styles from untold generations ago.

Trying to balance their own perceived intellectual superiority against being several generations out of date (and needing to catch up) could be a big part of who they now are in your world.

Maybe they still do have a lot of old knowledge which was lost to the world. In contrast, the younger races have knowledge about the contemporary world. Both are missing a large chunk of what happened in-between, so that provides a reason for them to need to learn from (and interacts with) the younger races, while they still wear the mask of superiority and lord stories of their former greatness over others.
trying desperately to work in the elf niche without making an elf and you literally described a type of WoW elf they got running around.
I recommend monsters & magical sticks , it's a great book on how the mind works complete with tons of sources summarized within. It has the goal of being useful for hypnosis rather than therapists so gives a wider more slow dive than books aimed the other way
I will give it a look.
 



There is no core mental "Stuff" of a mystical race. Partially 'cause "Mystical Races" are different based on which story you're reading, but mostly?

Writers and Designers generally create characters and groups of characters to fulfill a story or mechanical element with no more thought given to their mindset than what is needed to fulfill a specific storyline or role within a story or system. Elves are immune to sleep because of the rock-paper-scissors of wargaming and everything about "Trances" was just ad hoc reasoning fleshed out.

Oh, sure. People -say- they're "Wise" or "Ethereal" or apply however many cerebral adjectives to a character race in a book or a game or a movie... but they don't fulfill that. It's a matter of Tell not Show as the character does what the story needs. No matter how "Foolish" or "Mundane" that action is.

Part of that is the fact that exploring the psychology of a given character race or culture is a massive undertaking with, at best, minimal rewards and ever mounting plot holes... but mostly it's because you don't need it. Everyone and their sister is willing to say "Yes, Elves are wise, but he made this foolish mistake because of (insert personal interpretation of reasons here)".

And even if there was a "Psychology" just waiting around for you: It probably wouldn't be exactly what you, personally, need for your project. Sure it could be a basis to modify... but.

I think it'd make more sense to just build something up, yourself. To create something that makes sense to you and fulfills your specific needs.
 

I am trying to figure out the core mental stuff of mystical races and I hit a dead end.
any ideas?
any setting from any work as fiction is possible as long as it is not counter to basic homebrew race design.
like the core kind of mentality ideally with a single snappy word to make it easier on the chaotic mess of my head.

"Mystical race" is insufficient to determine psychology. You could have a mystical race with just about any psychological makeup.
 

There is no core mental "Stuff" of a mystical race. Partially 'cause "Mystical Races" are different based on which story you're reading, but mostly?

Writers and Designers generally create characters and groups of characters to fulfill a story or mechanical element with no more thought given to their mindset than what is needed to fulfill a specific storyline or role within a story or system. Elves are immune to sleep because of the rock-paper-scissors of wargaming and everything about "Trances" was just ad hoc reasoning fleshed out.

Oh, sure. People -say- they're "Wise" or "Ethereal" or apply however many cerebral adjectives to a character race in a book or a game or a movie... but they don't fulfill that. It's a matter of Tell not Show as the character does what the story needs. No matter how "Foolish" or "Mundane" that action is.

Part of that is the fact that exploring the psychology of a given character race or culture is a massive undertaking with, at best, minimal rewards and ever mounting plot holes... but mostly it's because you don't need it. Everyone and their sister is willing to say "Yes, Elves are wise, but he made this foolish mistake because of (insert personal interpretation of reasons here)".

And even if there was a "Psychology" just waiting around for you: It probably wouldn't be exactly what you, personally, need for your project. Sure it could be a basis to modify... but.

I think it'd make more sense to just build something up, yourself. To create something that makes sense to you and fulfills your specific needs.
I am looking into it so I can build a basic lore culture as a starting point and it helps to know what the mental is for a role defined by the mental.
"Mystical race" is insufficient to determine psychology. You could have a mystical race with just about any psychological makeup.
fair point but I am looking for the traits needed for people to see it is the role of the"mystical race" the core concpets.
 

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