D&D General trying to make a more alien arcane race.

[Mind of tempest]

So WHFB Slann who don't sleep all day and trap their own food?

I do not know much about the slann, but I know these guys are not the biorobots the lizard men of wfb are.
I was going for something that can at once be a wandering monster but also a party member without it being inherently evil.

 

[HammerMan]

where I am not a fan of the frog person, I did make an alien arcane race back in 3e. (I don't remember all the stats) but it looked 99% human but was an aberration. It took inspiration from the Time Lords (redundant organs) and the DC comics Homo Maji, but the rules came about when the psionic handbook introduced the Elan.

Flavor text they looked like humans but with solid color eyes and hair that had bone 'antlers' growing in it. They COULD live forever. They were hatched (yes they leg eggs) as fully formed adults that resembled elderly humans, then aged backwards for 10 years until they reached maturity looking like a 'silver fox' then ever 50 years they aged backwards 1 human year... until they looked like a 15-20 year old... then they stopped ageing (unless they made the choice to start ageing forward in witch case they could CHOOSE to age 1:1 or 1:2 or any other variable up to 1:50 up to a max of that silver fox look again... then they would automatically start ageing back wards again) they would never die of old age.
The eggs they lay ALSO made them odd (odder) because to lay an egg required 3-13 members of the race at least 1 of each of the 2 genders to spend a month together, and who would lay the egg was random with the group but it had to be TRYING to procreate it could not be an accident but they still had sexual organs. However they COULD have sex with any humanoid race. In doing so (regardless or male or female of this aberrant race) if it was with a person capable of having a child they could produce an offspring.
They sleep like the dead (you could mistake them for dead they do not breath and there hearts don't pump when they sleep) and they can not eat meat at all (I mean they can but it would be like you or me eating dirt), but they CAN eat some minerals like stone. Mithril was a special rare treat that they loved to eat.

they were an old rare race, but one most people knew of. They acted as shepherds (sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes looking like 1 but being the other) to the other races... but they did not originally come to this world by gods... infact in there own ways they were gods themselves.

millennia ago, when the elves were a young race 13 outsider/aberration Cthulhu like energy beings took mortal form. they tried to help the dragons and the elves, but found there were too few of them. So they created a ritual to have 'offspring'. every member of the race can trace themselves back to those 13... even though long ago (about the time humans started to show up) the original 13 went 'home'

 

[Yaarel]

It is a tough call. The advantage of being able to pass as human is, it can sometimes slip past gamers who are Tolkeinesque and avoid monstrous races. But if the point is to play a monstrous character, it is a formidable challenge. It has taken over 30 years to get even two monstrous characters into the Players Handbook, the dragonborn and tiefling, and at least visually the tiefling isnt even all that monstrous.

 

[Mind of tempest]

where I am not a fan of the frog person, I did make an alien arcane race back in 3e. (I don't remember all the stats) but it looked 99% human but was an aberration. It took inspiration from the Time Lords (redundant organs) and the DC comics Homo Maji, but the rules came about when the psionic handbook introduced the Elan.

Flavor text they looked like humans but with solid color eyes and hair that had bone 'antlers' growing in it. They COULD live forever. They were hatched (yes they leg eggs) as fully formed adults that resembled elderly humans, then aged backwards for 10 years until they reached maturity looking like a 'silver fox' then ever 50 years they aged backwards 1 human year... until they looked like a 15-20 year old... then they stopped ageing (unless they made the choice to start ageing forward in witch case they could CHOOSE to age 1:1 or 1:2 or any other variable up to 1:50 up to a max of that silver fox look again... then they would automatically start ageing back wards again) they would never die of old age.
The eggs they lay ALSO made them odd (odder) because to lay an egg required 3-13 members of the race at least 1 of each of the 2 genders to spend a month together, and who would lay the egg was random with the group but it had to be TRYING to procreate it could not be an accident but they still had sexual organs. However they COULD have sex with any humanoid race. In doing so (regardless or male or female of this aberrant race) if it was with a person capable of having a child they could produce an offspring.
They sleep like the dead (you could mistake them for dead they do not breath and there hearts don't pump when they sleep) and they can not eat meat at all (I mean they can but it would be like you or me eating dirt), but they CAN eat some minerals like stone. Mithril was a special rare treat that they loved to eat.

they were an old rare race, but one most people knew of. They acted as shepherds (sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes looking like 1 but being the other) to the other races... but they did not originally come to this world by gods... infact in there own ways they were gods themselves.

millennia ago, when the elves were a young race 13 outsider/aberration Cthulhu like energy beings took mortal form. they tried to help the dragons and the elves, but found there were too few of them. So they created a ritual to have 'offspring'. every member of the race can trace themselves back to those 13... even though long ago (about the time humans started to show up) the original 13 went 'home'

I am not making an aberration just a more psychological and technologically different species that can be both wondering encounters and playable race but more emotive than say lizardfolk.

 

[steeldragons]

As soon as you say "Frog People" in D&D, my mind goes to "Bullywug." When you say "but MAGIC Frog People who are bigger," my mind says "Slaadi."

That is not to say this is a bad idea. It's your race. If you like/want frog guys, make frog guys.

Their "differing" psychology doesn't really scan as "alien" to me either...they sound at once "Vulcan"...but still have pets? They gravitate toward jobs of emotional detachment...but are alleged to have "empathy?" They are "loners/wandering" but a great many of them have decided to "copy" civilization and give it a go?

The dichotomous nature of what you describe makes them sound all the more Slaadish, if you ask me.

NOW, that could be precisely the sort of feel you want/are going for when using "alien" as an adjective. And that's fine, if that's the case.

Again, not "bad ideas," per se. They're your homebrew race. Knock yourself out!

But these "frog guys" you describe do not translate as, "Ooooo, alien species..." To me... In/for D&D.

 

[Mind of tempest]

As soon as you say "Frog People" in D&D, my mind goes to "Bullywug." When you say "but MAGIC Frog People who are bigger," my mind says "Slaadi."

That is not to say this is a bad idea. It's your race. If you like/want frog guys, make frog guys.

Their "differing" psychology doesn't really scan as "alien" to me either...they sound at once "Vulcan"...but still have pets? They gravitate toward jobs of emotional detachment...but are alleged to have "empathy?" They are "loners/wandering" but a great many of them have decided to "copy" civilization and give it a go?

The dichotomous nature of what you describe makes them sound all the more Slaadish, if you ask me.

NOW, that could be precisely the sort of feel you want/are going for when using "alien" as an adjective. And that's fine, if that's the case.

Again, not "bad ideas," per se. They're your homebrew race. Knock yourself out!

But these "frog guys" you describe do not translate as, "Ooooo, alien species..." To me... In/for D&D.

well it is more who those parts are each designed was to be just stutterly off so it is both playable as a PC but still clearly not a human, was not detailed sufficiently in those areas? could I do it better somehow I want to know?

 

[Stormonu]

Playing something alien is difficult. Most people I suspect instead reach for playing something that is familiar to them in some fashion and somehow strikes a chord that they can associate with in some fashion. Trying to play something you are not is increasingly difficult and runs the risk of just becoming contraryism.

Not that it should stop you from attempting to come up with something unique, just be aware that if it doesn’t somehow appeal to someone, it’s less likely to be used.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Have a ninja themed black ops groups??

 

[Mind of tempest]

Have a ninja themed black ops groups??

I forgot how creepy those things were.