Mr. Wilson
Explorer
Humans, Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, Elves, Gnomes, Dwarves, Halflings, Hobgoblins, and Orcs were my PC races in my 3.x homebrew.
Races of YOUR World
- Thread starter Fallen Seraph
- Start date
helium3
First Post
My campaign setting is a world that's been heavily influenced by migration. Of all the currently known races, only the Greenbloods (Goblins, Hobgoblins and Bugbears) lack any sort of folk-lore or mythology that indicates they came from somewhere besides where they're found now.
The game is currently located in the Dominion of Heva, a quasi-theocracy that is home to Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Greenbloods, Haflings and Humans.
Orcs and their Orc-Blooded spawn infest a vast jungle to the north. I've just placed Kobolds and I've known for a while that Sauhagin live in the coastal waters to the East of Heva. I loosely have an idea where Gnolls would be found but I don't expect the party to ever get there.
Of the three "new" races from the PHB, I've only alluded to the existence of Eladrin. I have some ideas about how to work in Tieflings but I'm a bit stumped by Dragonborn. I don't really have a problem with them as a PC race, they just don't really mesh with my current setting's take on Dragons.
I really like my current setting and plan to stick with it, so I'm not going to convert to 4E until I figure out how to make that happens. The lack of Psionics, Druids, Bards and Gnomes in the 1st set of core books REALLY SUCKS.
The game is currently located in the Dominion of Heva, a quasi-theocracy that is home to Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Greenbloods, Haflings and Humans.
Orcs and their Orc-Blooded spawn infest a vast jungle to the north. I've just placed Kobolds and I've known for a while that Sauhagin live in the coastal waters to the East of Heva. I loosely have an idea where Gnolls would be found but I don't expect the party to ever get there.
Of the three "new" races from the PHB, I've only alluded to the existence of Eladrin. I have some ideas about how to work in Tieflings but I'm a bit stumped by Dragonborn. I don't really have a problem with them as a PC race, they just don't really mesh with my current setting's take on Dragons.
I really like my current setting and plan to stick with it, so I'm not going to convert to 4E until I figure out how to make that happens. The lack of Psionics, Druids, Bards and Gnomes in the 1st set of core books REALLY SUCKS.
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My PC races:
Humans
Dwarves - Some Mongolian flavor to spice them up a bit. The most populous race after humans.
Elves - I want a bit of a Native American feel, but without going nowhere near making them Native Americans with pointy ears. I think there's some interesting elements that can be pulled from Native American culture.
Eladrin - Small in numbers, but incredible spellcasters due to their sheer dedication. I like what I've seen out of them in 4E.
Drow - Replacing tieflings as the evil-curious race IMC. I like the interplay between elves/eladrin/drow, and I like having Lolth as one of the major evil gods.
Dragonborn - They're going to be renamed and I'll have to wait and see how much of the standard fluff I use, but I'm on board with the idea.
Halflings - They'll also be renamed, and probably reimagined a bit by combining them with gnomes to create a race of small people who are very adept in naval matters, are good and far-reaching traders, and have an affinity to magic born out of the necessity of self-defense.
Minotaurs - I want another big, bruiser race to compensate for the small numbers of dragonborn in the world. In my campaign, minotaurs were forced out of their subterranean homes by the drow and they now mostly live alongside dwarves in the dwarves' mountain homes, and often worship Moradin.
Humans
Dwarves - Some Mongolian flavor to spice them up a bit. The most populous race after humans.
Elves - I want a bit of a Native American feel, but without going nowhere near making them Native Americans with pointy ears. I think there's some interesting elements that can be pulled from Native American culture.
Eladrin - Small in numbers, but incredible spellcasters due to their sheer dedication. I like what I've seen out of them in 4E.
Drow - Replacing tieflings as the evil-curious race IMC. I like the interplay between elves/eladrin/drow, and I like having Lolth as one of the major evil gods.
Dragonborn - They're going to be renamed and I'll have to wait and see how much of the standard fluff I use, but I'm on board with the idea.
Halflings - They'll also be renamed, and probably reimagined a bit by combining them with gnomes to create a race of small people who are very adept in naval matters, are good and far-reaching traders, and have an affinity to magic born out of the necessity of self-defense.
Minotaurs - I want another big, bruiser race to compensate for the small numbers of dragonborn in the world. In my campaign, minotaurs were forced out of their subterranean homes by the drow and they now mostly live alongside dwarves in the dwarves' mountain homes, and often worship Moradin.
mhacdebhandia
Explorer
In my opinion, Maztica was nearly 100% pure garbage.Dr. Strangemonkey said:
My setting wasn't going to have "Native American" dragonborn and "Aztec" tieflings, but the broad strokes were kind of similar. I'm not sure that "Central America in D&D drag" is a viable, publishable concept, even if people like the idea of "point of contact" settings.
Evilhalfling
Adventurer
Imagine the eastern Coast of Asia - more or less.
Humans dominate china and mogolia.
Elves are from the northern boreal forests.
Elderin settled the islands of Japan, after their homeland was destroyed.
Dragonborn are from the desert Platue of Leng (Tibet)
Tieflings from a pensuila (korea? vietanam?)
Halflings live in the interior of India - they were driven from the coasts by larger races until they developed powerful psionic abilies and were able to hold thier own.
Lizardmen live in the Indan river deltas
Dwarves live in the low valleys of the the Himalyan mountains. They have divided into two warring clans that have fought each other for hundreds of years, but for reasons outsiders rarely understand.
I thought I would at least offer all the options, if none of the players are interested they may get quietly written out.
Humans dominate china and mogolia.
Elves are from the northern boreal forests.
Elderin settled the islands of Japan, after their homeland was destroyed.
Dragonborn are from the desert Platue of Leng (Tibet)
Tieflings from a pensuila (korea? vietanam?)
Halflings live in the interior of India - they were driven from the coasts by larger races until they developed powerful psionic abilies and were able to hold thier own.
Lizardmen live in the Indan river deltas
Dwarves live in the low valleys of the the Himalyan mountains. They have divided into two warring clans that have fought each other for hundreds of years, but for reasons outsiders rarely understand.
I thought I would at least offer all the options, if none of the players are interested they may get quietly written out.
Orius
Unrepentant DM Supremacist
I'll just use races like I always do. That's the way I like it, and it's my homebrew, after all.
Humans are the predominant race. The other major races are Dwarves, Elves, Goblinoids, Orcs and Ogres. These major races have the dominant kingdoms and empires.
Dwarves are a major mercantile race. They thrive on trade with many of the human lands. They can also be warlike, and usually fight the goblins, orcs, ogres and giants. They may fight evil human kingdoms, but they generally prefer strong trade agreements with human lands. They pay little heed to the elves.
The other major races pretty much function like they always have in the game. Because I like elves less, they're in a state of decline, and I generally prefer to use goblins more than orcs. Normal goblins are also fairly common in human lands, and not always hostile, sometimes they provide menial labor in some kingdoms. The drow are around too, but they are never available as a PC race.
Other largely standard races like kobolds, halflings, gnomes, gnolls, giants, and so on are present, but they're never as powerful as the major races. They also don't have their own kingdoms, but sometimes live in semi-autonomous regions in the main kingdoms. Tieflings and dragonborn will fall into this category if I use them.
Anything else are minor races, if I choose to use them. Usually, they just exist in small remote villages or something, and don't have much impact on the campaign.
Humans are the predominant race. The other major races are Dwarves, Elves, Goblinoids, Orcs and Ogres. These major races have the dominant kingdoms and empires.
Dwarves are a major mercantile race. They thrive on trade with many of the human lands. They can also be warlike, and usually fight the goblins, orcs, ogres and giants. They may fight evil human kingdoms, but they generally prefer strong trade agreements with human lands. They pay little heed to the elves.
The other major races pretty much function like they always have in the game. Because I like elves less, they're in a state of decline, and I generally prefer to use goblins more than orcs. Normal goblins are also fairly common in human lands, and not always hostile, sometimes they provide menial labor in some kingdoms. The drow are around too, but they are never available as a PC race.
Other largely standard races like kobolds, halflings, gnomes, gnolls, giants, and so on are present, but they're never as powerful as the major races. They also don't have their own kingdoms, but sometimes live in semi-autonomous regions in the main kingdoms. Tieflings and dragonborn will fall into this category if I use them.
Anything else are minor races, if I choose to use them. Usually, they just exist in small remote villages or something, and don't have much impact on the campaign.
Dr. Strangemonkey
First Post
mhacdebhandia said:
Well, I think there are story concepts coming out of Meso-American and the Pre-Columbian meliaux that are salvageable or even really really attractive.
But I agree that Maztica was very much not it. I don't even know that pure analogue settings work well.
The best method, for my money, is to set it up as a literary experiment rather than a historical one. OA works as DnD with Chanbarra and Wuxia. Al-Quadim as the Arabian Nights rather than simply the Dar.
So I think you'd have to go with something like New World Adventures and hit all three angles of the point of contact. The Indiana Jones style pulp/archaeology angle, the Columbian dog headed men and Cities of Gold fable angle, and finally the myths and histories of the inhabitants themselves.
If you don't mind a question: You've said that that approach wasn't working out for you, what was going wrong?
Jürgen Hubert
First Post
For Urbis, I plan on using all of the 4E core races, plus gnomes and hobgoblins. Of special note are:
Humans: Most common race in the setting with a large number of cultures. All in all, more sexist than the other races.
Eladrin: Elves born to noble elven families. They undergo a mystical blessing shortly after birth which gives them eladrin powers - otherwise they would end up as "common" elves. Drow are created through a perverted version of that blessing - all drow children are born with fair skin.
Dragonborn: Created by blue dragons as their favorite servants when the dragons built their own nation - then scattered around the world when the ruling dragon matriarch went berserk and tried to kill them all. Some of them are trying to establish a new homeland of their own - I'm currently working in parallels to the pre-1933 Zionist movement.
Halflings: I'm mostly going for the classical, "pastoral" view of them. They present the majority population of a nation which is roughly equivalent to Switzerland.
Gnomes: A lot of them also live in the Switzerland-equivalent. Naturally, they are very strongly represented among the bankers:
"Trust not the gnome. Do not listen to his witty banter. What he lacks in stature he more than makes up in malice for humankind. Do not take his money, for then he will cast you into debt and force you to sell your own children into slavery..."
Humans: Most common race in the setting with a large number of cultures. All in all, more sexist than the other races.
Eladrin: Elves born to noble elven families. They undergo a mystical blessing shortly after birth which gives them eladrin powers - otherwise they would end up as "common" elves. Drow are created through a perverted version of that blessing - all drow children are born with fair skin.
Dragonborn: Created by blue dragons as their favorite servants when the dragons built their own nation - then scattered around the world when the ruling dragon matriarch went berserk and tried to kill them all. Some of them are trying to establish a new homeland of their own - I'm currently working in parallels to the pre-1933 Zionist movement.
Halflings: I'm mostly going for the classical, "pastoral" view of them. They present the majority population of a nation which is roughly equivalent to Switzerland.
Gnomes: A lot of them also live in the Switzerland-equivalent. Naturally, they are very strongly represented among the bankers:
"Trust not the gnome. Do not listen to his witty banter. What he lacks in stature he more than makes up in malice for humankind. Do not take his money, for then he will cast you into debt and force you to sell your own children into slavery..."
GreatLemur
Explorer
My natural inclination when coming up with fantasy settings always leans towards humans only, or humans plus magically transformed humans. As demonstrated by the real world, humans can be interesting and varied enough that I don't really feel the need for fantasy races, especially considering all the Tolkien-flavored baggage that elves and dwarves bring with them. That said, I think tieflings and dragonborn sound pretty cool, so maybe I'll end up running some kind of short, totally-by-the-book 4e game just for the hell of it.
An excerpt from The Protocols of the Elders of Zilargo?Jürgen Hubert said:
