Races of... contrasting views

[JoeGKushner]

What other bird races are there?

The quote you grabbed mentioned one, avariels, a subrace of elves. It was the one I was expecting to see. Another old favorite, the aaruaock (spelled that wrong) and there are a few others here and there, but I'd have to do some more hunting through Dragon.

 

[JoeGKushner]

And if you really want to go back in time, look for the Winged Folk in the pages of Dragon magazine, which I believe is what the avariel are based on.

Ah, the old Best of Dragon is where I first saw them along with other such classic bits as the Archer and the Archer Ranger.

 

[diaglo]

What other bird races are there?

dire corby
kenku
aarack...something or other spelling
wereraven
hawk the slayer... oops... flashback...

 

[Dragonhelm]

Ah, the old Best of Dragon is where I first saw them along with other such classic bits as the Archer and the Archer Ranger.

Same here. Loved that Best of Dragon issue (#3, I believe. Maybe #5.)

What I like is that the archery fighting style of the ranger sorta fills the role of the old archer-ranger. But that's a discussion for another thread.

 

[Benben]

dire corby
aarack...something or other spelling

My friends tend to make it halfway through the word, give up and call them "Almond Roca."

 

[Scarbonac]

Aarakocra, Baby.

 

[Crothian]

The quote you grabbed mentioned one, avariels, a subrace of elves. It was the one I was expecting to see. Another old favorite, the aaruaock (spelled that wrong) and there are a few others here and there, but I'd have to do some more hunting through Dragon.

Muy point is that even with the examples shown not all of them are written as player races and there are not many anyway. We still have more elf variants then flying races....

 

[Turjan]

Muy point is that even with the examples shown not all of them are written as player races and there are not many anyway. We still have more elf variants then flying races....

Aarakocra and Avariel have both been written as player races (Aaracokra with 2 pages, Avariel with 3 1/2 page), or similarly the Kir-lanan. Then there are the gliding Draconians of Dragonlance, but these may not count .

 

[Stormrunner]

No, there's a historical precedent for archers lying on the ground and using their leg muscles to fire torqued-up bows. Obviously, they're not aiming their shots from that position--just arching their volleys into units--which is why ARP added the caveat that it's not quite the same thing.

Of course raptorans have a capability that real people don't, and IMO it is quite an excellent idea to provide a race with a weapon that complements their racial advantages.

Watch the movie "Hero" - there's an excellent scene of an army using footbows to bombard a town.
The idea of the historical footbow is it allows you to use your leg AND arm muscles to draw the bow, thus letting you draw a stronger-than-normal bow without the time cost of a crossbow.

 

[Gez]

dire corby

Dire corbies, however, are not winged at all. Not even a little.

In the same book as the Aaracokra (and if you can say "a raccoon cram" you can say "a raco kra") for 3e, there's the Pterafolk. Not birdmen, but winged.

In Mystara there are the Ee'ar, who can be considered to be avariels.

Personally, I think the designers would have been better off trying to emulate the Complete series of race books from 2e.

The Complete Elves Handbook was perhaps the best one.

, dammit!

I would have liked to have seen that model followed a little closer.

Oh yeah, I can see it now.

Instead of Races of Stone, we would have had:

"Races of Dwarfness"

Dwarves are supreme beings, noble and gifted for everything. All other races pale in jealousy before the wonder that is the dwarven race. Dwarves are immune to everything that can harm someone. Dwarven meals are like ambrosia, and their ale is like nectar. Dwarven craft, once finished, can never be broken, not even by a Greater Power's will. Truly, dwarves are gods walking the earth. Let us introduce you to a dozen of munchkined-out dwarven subraces, overpowerful dwarven magic items, and a few dozen dwarven racial traits that weren't listed in the Player's Handbook but we felt they would be cool, like flying and wailing their guitars.​

And

"Races of Gnomitude"

Gnomes are supreme beings, wise and gifted for everything. All other races pale in jealousy before the wonder that is the gnome race. Gnomes are immune to everything that can harm someone. Gnome meals are like ambrosia, and their ale is like nectar. Gnome magic items, once crafted, never run out of charges and can never be broken, not even by a Greater Power's will. Truly, gnomes are gods walking the earth. Let us introduce you to a dozen of munchkined-out gnome subraces, overpowerful gnome magic items, and a few dozen gnome racial traits that weren't listed in the Player's Handbook but we felt they would be cool, like hypnosis without save and teleportations without error.​

Then we would have had the other.

"Races of Halflingism"

Halflings are supreme beings, cute and gifted for everything. All other races pale in jealousy before the wonder that is the halfling race. Halflings are immune to everything that can harm someone. Halfling meals are like ambrosia, and their ale is like nectar. Halfling trail rations craft, once cooked, last forever and can never be finished, not even by a Greater Power of hunger. Truly, halflings are gods walking the earth. Let us introduce you to a dozen of munchkined-out halfling subraces, overpowerful halfling magic items, and a few dozen halfling racial traits that weren't listed in the Player's Handbook but we felt they would be cool, like disappearing into a puff of smoke and flipping out and killing people.​

What can I say? If they were all built that way, it would have been somewhat OK, I guess.