What would this society look like?

[Loonook]

Please... don't be this guy. You seem to have one solidly 'in it' race with our bird-riding humans which is pretty different from anything which includes the same elements... don't just go 'well, elves need to have nature, and halflings are traders'.

If anything, elves are even better at the whole secret-keeping thing than your average gnome. And they're better at a lot of other interesting things. Here are some things which would fit into your setting... possibly. I'll run through for each race:

Elves-

It is said that in the high places, the humans crawl through rocky paths to find a very rare specimen. There is a bird which lives two lives; one as a great shell, and another as a thing of beauty. In both, to touch it would cause excruciating pain or death. Perhaps we are not too unlike this creature... - J.A., Elven Seneschal.

Elves are focused on the longtime. While Gnomes use their talents to gain political control in the provincial lands, Elves live for the understanding of the depths of existence. Though elves seem focused on nature, it is truly only an exercise in understanding changes over time and ways to shape them. The image of a sylvan glade is far removed from that of the elven orchards; nature itself is bent to the will of the elven craftsman, and their understandings of the world only garner a greater ability to change it.

Young elves (read: Those whose life has yet to exceed humans born in the same season) are sent out from the community in tight-knit groups known as Groves. They live in small settlements which have been the gathering place of their kind for millennia, learning crafts and the ways of other races. Most humanoids have not met an elder elf, and due to the deep similarity in bloodlines some superstitious peoples believe that elves are actually immortal, though fickle and aloof.

When the grove's members are sent for, they return to live their second lives amongst their own people. It is then that they apply their knowledge and thoughts to their elders. Elven culture trusts its young with a strong voice; elders are usually pushed away from service.

The reason behind this casting out is simple; the elves spread their seeds through their elders. Highly trained and still strong and fecund for several decades after their casting out, elder elves establish new cities and fortresses, serve in militia, and live amongst the other races in quiet solitude. These wise elves are usually well received, but hide their elven appearance for fear of reprisal. Indeed, amongst the humans there is talk of men who live in hermitage who bear strange eyes, and are thought to be the spirits of the land itself.

An elven forest will appear shaped by the hands of time; strange stone formations worn away by channeling water through odd canals, trees in unnatural shapes via pressurization and weighting, and beautifully complex arrangements of plants are all common signs.

Dwarves -

So many things to do with dwarves. Hell, I would love to see dwarves actually be the unicorns of a setting for once; very rarely seen, revered and feared at the same time, and highly valued. But since that's never going to happen...

Gnomes

You would be amazed at the intelligence gathering power boost which occurs when gnomes change from burrowing creatures to avians... or common city creatures. Cosmopolitan magicians, linked with the creatures of the city. Rumors abound of gnomes who can take the shapes of cats, rats, pigeons... They're looked on with a bit of worry, but their talent lies in brokering information. Cliche, but if it works for you go for it.

Halflings -

Please, I beg you... no river folk/gypsy halflings. This is even worse than Tolkien in a lot of ways, and gives me a weird Kenderish vibe on the little guys... and it isn't fair. What they do depends on a lot of things... would need to know more.

Lizardfolk -

Again, don't jump on this bandwagon... please. There are plenty of fascinating creatures who can fill the slot here... Litorians come to mind, but also have a lot of baggage. You don't really need a scaly race, and it's becoming the 'big thing' to do. Again... be original. If you can give more information... maybe we can make an actually decent lizardfolk rather than the dreck with is around.

Shadefolk - Get away from Shadar-Kai. It's an interesting little bit, and I do so love the concepts of shadow magic (had shadow magic weapons used in my games by the fey)... but you can change them up so much with various paths. A couple of possibilities:

- Men who have crossed the desert where Death is said to roam. There are no women (or vice versa) in the entire race. They know exactly what lies ahead of them and they either fear it or come to accept it. Eyes the color and glint of sapphires set in skin which can vary from dusky gray to deep ebony, the Shadefolk gain strange powers as they age. The eldest of their race are said to be able to hide in plain sight, blend into the very shadows themselves, and summon forth creatures from the depths of Death's kingdom. Many fear they are evil, but they are quite neutral in their sentiment. They serve that which hides behind every door, whispers when your heart skips a beat... and they do their job well.

- There are children born without shadows. Usually considered freaks of nature they are cast out, but over time there have been people who care and take them in, allowing them to survive into adulthood. Known as Shadefolk they are known to pronounce rather than talk. They are alluring in their appearance; upon puberty their eyes take on the look of golden orbs, which set against their skin "like the stars of the highest heaven on a sheet of smooth velvet". Shadefolk who survive their change are natural leaders, fearless and strong. Shadefolk mages find that their energies are different than their counterparts, and they may draw inspiration for their rituals from the stars themselves. They feel little discomfort in heat or cold, and wear clothing which accentuates their otherworldly appearance.

---

That's some sleep rambling... take what you will.

Slainte.

-Loonook.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If you want to make things different, here's another take on things:

1) Of the races you talked about, if anyone should be river-traders, it should be the Lizardfolk.

But I recently went a different direction with this: Anthro Snapping Turtles (- a little bit Dwarf, a little bit Orc, and some Lizard Man). What appears below is just a rough idea.

Alligator Snapping Turtle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Anthropomorphic" Snapping/Alligator Snapping turtles.

Short & slow, but strong and very stocky, with a vicious bite & the obvious natural armor. They don't need boats- they're excellent swimmers- but often work as ferrymen, towing rather than poling them across. Those that own the riverboats that take goods the length of the rivers have a status much like caravan masters.

Their natural armor and physical power make them highly valued as soldiers on warships, though they lack the speed that pirates and raiders favor.

If they have a failing, it is their tempers, which are usually volcanic. They are patient- often to a fault- but when they lose their tempers, they completely lose it. Think, "long fuse" but "huge explosion"

As such, they are largely a tribal species, with strength in combat or success in trade being the measuring sticks for prominence in their society.

They love adorning themselves to show wealth or status. Warriors especially favor bright pigments (red is a favorite, followed by yellow) for painting symbols on their faces, and its not uncommon for them to have intricate designs etched into their shells. Those with etched shells sometimes paint the shells or the etchings (or both) to highlight the details.

* +4 Strength, -4Dexterity, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma.
* Natural Armor: +4AC
* Natural Attack: Bite 1d8
* Darkvision out to 60 feet.
* Light Sensitivity: they are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
* Poor Hearing: -2 to all checks involving hearing
* Crafty: +2 to all checks involving commerce (Appraise, Bluff, etc.). They may not be charismatic, but they know how to bargain.
* Medium: As Medium creatures, they have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* Base land speed is 20 feet. However, they can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations). Their land speed is also unaffected by mud.
* Base Swim speed is 30 feet. Like their land speed, they can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations).
* Hold Breath: While living a very aquatic life, they are air-breathers. However, they can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to six times their Constitution score before risking drowning.
* Rivercunning: They get a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice and avoid river hazards, like whirlpools, hidden sandbars or rocks, submerged logs or hidden river predators. One who merely comes within 10 feet of a river hazard can make a Search check as if he were actively searching, and can use the Search skill to find traps involving rivers as a rogue can. They can also intuit depth, sensing his approximate depth underwater as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
* Stability: They gain a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground (but not when climbing, flying, riding, or otherwise not standing firmly on the ground).
* Because their diet consists largely of fresh or scavenged meat, they have built up a natural resistance to toxins, giving them a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison.
* Favored Class: Barbarian

2) Craftsman, Magic & Nature niches: If you look at the legends that inspired fantasy writers, you'd find that "elf," "dwarf," "gnome" and other names were fairly interchangeable. There were nature-loving or magic using or über-crafters of all three names around.

If I may suggest...

Take one group and make them true fey- I'd go with gnomes- and have them be masters of nature, conjuration (summoning) and abjuration. They are in tune with nature on many levels ("Speak With Animals" at will as a SLA is not a game breaker, IMHO). If you're using Favored Classes, make gnomes into Druids.

Take one group- say, dwarves- and make them craftsmen without peer who have mastered evocation and conjuration (creation)- all the better to make nifty weapons.

Take the last- elves- and make them true fey as well, ones who have mastered divination, transmutation, enchantment and illusion. They know all and hide much...and can make reality bend to their will, if need be. If you're using Favored Classes, make Elves natural casters (Sorcerers) switching out their +2Dex with a +2 Cha (or even +4).

3) Halflings: I can see them being an amalgam of the Tolkienesque bumpkins and natural thieves with a society of traders- every thief needs a fence, after all!

I would, however, play up the "city mouse"/"country mouse" aspect of things a bit more. There was a great comic strip in the back of Dragon magazine back in the late '70s and early '80s called Fineous Fingers. The Halflings in that series- the urban ones, at least- were a thieving scourge. But this could be viewed as simply the ones who left the shires putting their natural skills and abilities to their "best" use.

Sort of like Amish kids who leave the farmlands and never go back after getting a taste of America's seedier side...

 

[rogueboy]

Elves-<snip>

Simply put, I like it. It maintains the association with nature that many people (especially in my group) give to elves, while providing a significant twist from most other settings (bending nature to their will).

Dwarves -
So many things to do with dwarves. Hell, I would love to see dwarves actually be the unicorns of a setting for once; very rarely seen, revered and feared at the same time, and highly valued. But since that's never going to happen...

I think this could be an interesting route to take with dwarves, but I’m concerned about making a player race into a race that is “rarely seen,” as that seems to run counter to them being a player race. Perhaps using this for an NPC race? If I go that route, any ideas as to what would be a good choice, either for the NPC race or for a new PC race?

Gnomes

You would be amazed at the intelligence gathering power boost which occurs when gnomes change from burrowing creatures to avians... or common city creatures. Cosmopolitan magicians, linked with the creatures of the city. Rumors abound of gnomes who can take the shapes of cats, rats, pigeons... They're looked on with a bit of worry, but their talent lies in brokering information. Cliche, but if it works for you go for it.

Halflings -

Please, I beg you... no river folk/gypsy halflings. This is even worse than Tolkien in a lot of ways, and gives me a weird Kenderish vibe on the little guys... and it isn't fair. What they do depends on a lot of things... would need to know more.

3) Halflings: I can see them being an amalgam of the Tolkienesque bumpkins and natural thieves with a society of traders- every thief needs a fence, after all!

I would, however, play up the "city mouse"/"country mouse" aspect of things a bit more. There was a great comic strip in the back of Dragon magazine back in the late '70s and early '80s called Fineous Fingers. The Halflings in that series- the urban ones, at least- were a thieving scourge. But this could be viewed as simply the ones who left the shires putting their natural skills and abilities to their "best" use.

Sort of like Amish kids who leave the farmlands and never go back after getting a taste of America's seedier side...

I like the idea of an ‘urban-specialist’ race, and for some reason the combination of these ideas leads me to lean towards making that race be halflings. Taking Loonook’s idea to give them a Speak with Avians-type feature, and merging that with their typical association with being sneaky characters makes them, in my mind, a perfect race for an urban information broker. My thoughts for races had been to have a racial “capital” (major city dominated by each race), but perhaps that isn’t the best approach to take… ideas?

Of course, this leaves gnomes out to dry, unless I go with one of the ideas DA suggested:

Take one group and make them true fey- I'd go with gnomes- and have them be masters of nature, conjuration (summoning) and abjuration. They are in tune with nature on many levels ("Speak With Animals" at will as a SLA is not a game breaker, IMHO). If you're using Favored Classes, make gnomes into Druids.

Take one group- say, dwarves- and make them craftsmen without peer who have mastered evocation and conjuration (creation)- all the better to make nifty weapons.

Take the last- elves- and make them true fey as well, ones who have mastered divination, transmutation, enchantment and illusion. They know all and hide much...and can make reality bend to their will, if need be. If you're using Favored Classes, make Elves natural casters (Sorcerers) switching out their +2Dex with a +2 Cha (or even +4).

Combining the last idea here with Loonook’s idea for elves (above) works well, I think… masters of divination and illusion, who use this to learn about the world, and transmutation magic to bend nature “to the will of the elven craftsman.”

Having dwarves be master craftsmen seems a bit clichéd to me, but perhaps adding the evocation and creation magic will make that a distinct difference? I’m at a bit of a loss as to dwarves here…

Lizardfolk -<snip>

I went with Lizardfolk not because I was particularly happy with them, but because I was getting frustrated with having a couple ‘open’ PC races and thought that they could fill the role of a ‘strong’ race (half-orcs in 3.x, Dragonborn in 4e). I don’t know much about Litorians, but if you’re saying they come with a lot of baggage I probably don’t want them (as I said earlier, I am trying to avoid having an ‘evil’ or untrustworthy race, even if only perceived as such). Any other ideas as to what can fit here? I’m hoping to end up with a race that benefits each stat, or does that not make sense as a design goal when selecting/designing PC races?

Shadefolk - Get away from Shadar-Kai. It's an interesting little bit, and I do so love the concepts of shadow magic (had shadow magic weapons used in my games by the fey)... but you can change them up so much with various paths. A couple of possibilities:

- Men who have crossed the desert where Death is said to roam. There are no women (or vice versa) in the entire race. They know exactly what lies ahead of them and they either fear it or come to accept it. Eyes the color and glint of sapphires set in skin which can vary from dusky gray to deep ebony, the Shadefolk gain strange powers as they age. The eldest of their race are said to be able to hide in plain sight, blend into the very shadows themselves, and summon forth creatures from the depths of Death's kingdom. Many fear they are evil, but they are quite neutral in their sentiment. They serve that which hides behind every door, whispers when your heart skips a beat... and they do their job well.

- There are children born without shadows. Usually considered freaks of nature they are cast out, but over time there have been people who care and take them in, allowing them to survive into adulthood. Known as Shadefolk they are known to pronounce rather than talk. They are alluring in their appearance; upon puberty their eyes take on the look of golden orbs, which set against their skin "like the stars of the highest heaven on a sheet of smooth velvet". Shadefolk who survive their change are natural leaders, fearless and strong. Shadefolk mages find that their energies are different than their counterparts, and they may draw inspiration for their rituals from the stars themselves. They feel little discomfort in heat or cold, and wear clothing which accentuates their otherworldly appearance.

I mentioned Shadar-Kai not because I wanted to use them as the basis for the race, but instead because when I was looking through the 3.x and 4e MMs it was one of the few races that struck myself and a friend as a good race for the charismatic race (we had the other 5 stats covered with Lizardfolk, halflings, dwarves, gnomes, and elves at the time) – the others that held potential to me were Yuanti Purebloods (eliminated because I don’t like the snake-men feel, especially not when I had Lizardfolk as an additional scaled race) and changelings (dropped because I wasn’t sure how to do the shapechanging ability that is paramount to the race’s identity without allowing them to pass undetected as any race, since that would lead to a natural distrust from the other races). The features I liked were the connection to a non-evil death god (fatalistic? My initial thought was to avoid that, but perhaps that would be more interesting?), and perhaps the general appearance. If something else works better for that, then great.

As to your specific possibilities: first off, I assume these are separate suggestions and not interwoven in some manner (when initially proposed, at least)? I think I prefer the second possibility, but I’m not entirely sure why. I think my only disinclination to use the first is that it implies that the Shadefolk are humans who have been transformed (reminds me of the half-dead from Chronicles of Riddick, if you’ve seen that movie).

As to your “more info would be required” comments, Loonook… to be honest, I don’t have a whole lot more info I could give. I have a (very) rough outline of a plot arc, but I’m planning to more or less let the PCs control the way that plot plays out. Was there anything specific you were looking for regarding those points?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Re: Lizardfolk

If you don't want to do extreme race design or redesign, but you don't want to fall into the trap of overusing the main selections of scaly races, you could also just beef up the presence of kobolds.

Scaly, small and cunning, they have a lot of potential, as evidenced by their being the main ingredient of Tucker's Kobolds.
http://www.tuckerskobolds.com/

Having dwarves be master craftsmen seems a bit clichéd to me, but perhaps adding the evocation and creation magic will make that a distinct difference? I’m at a bit of a loss as to dwarves here…

Well, you could make gnomes the master craftsmen instead...they're a little bit smaller so they might be better at fine work- the kind of work you'd see in clockwork constructs and Warforged, for instance.

As for dwarves?

You could take a page from earlier editions of D&D and make Dwarves highly resistant to magic, to the point that they almost can't use it. What little they can master- evocation and creation- they use to make technomagical devices to address the "spellgap" they suffer vs other races. To do this, you'll need to give them some kind of bonus to their saves- maybe even a doubling- vs magic, possibly even some spell resistance or something to make it concrete.

I've also done several oddball things with them.

One thing I did with dwarves (in one campaign) was make them into Earth Elementals who are native to the campaign's home plain. Each dwarf was carved from solid rock, given life by a secret ritual. One thing I intended to do but never got around to doing was making each dwarf have characteristics based on the kind of rock they were carved from. Ones from things like granite would be tough and strong- fine warriors. Others, carved from gemstone, would be spellcasters of some kind.

Another conceptually related thing I did was have all dwarves in a campaign world killed off in a horrible extinction level event, except for those who transferred their (psionically active) brains into construct bodies- think Daleks or Cybermen and you're on the right track. The Inheritors, as they were known, were essentially Warforged with dwarven cultural traits, plus Darkvision.

Re: Shadar-Ki

One of the best things they did with these guys was make them fey. Beyond that, I didn't care for much of their fluff.

If you have access to the Planar Handbook, take a look at the Shadowswyft race. A little tweak here and there- again, I like the fey idea- and you could have something nifty.

OTOH, you could have them be a warped version of your elves (still keeping the nature affinity and fey thing) and they'd be the Bane Sidhe. Instead of living in harmony with nature, they dominate it. Think...the distinction between DarkSun Preservers and Defilers.

 

[Noumenon]

This doesn't fit the tone of this thread now, but I still have to post it:

Barter is probably a respectable way of doing things still and getting 50 sheep is a good reward.

Correction: Getting 50 sheep is a hilarious reward. One of my PCs will undoubtedly be getting 50 sheep from a grateful villager in the near future.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Getting 50 sheep is a hilarious reward. One of my PCs will undoubtedly be getting 50 sheep from a grateful villager in the near future.

Look up the BBC/CBBC/Disney TV show "Shaun the Sheep"- you'll know what to do.

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/cartoons/shaunthesheep/html_site/flock.shtml)

PS: It airs at 6:55AM most days and is only 5 minutes long. It is done by the same guy who did "Wallace & Grommet." It is quite excellent.

 

[rogueboy]

OK, it's been a while since anything's been posted, but I am still working on this... I'll probably get a list of the redesigned races (particularly humans, but also several of the other races discussed in this thread) up some time this weekend for more feedback, once I've had time to go through and do a brief summary/write-up for each of them. Humans will, not surprisingly, be the longest, and I think they're the closest to complete. Elves, Gnomes, Halflings, and Shadefolk will have some basics worked out, but will likely need a few other ideas to get them from potentially interesting to actually being interesting. Additionally, very few ideas for things to do with Dwarves have been mentioned (DA's idea about being carved from rock is about it) have been mentioned, and I'm still at a bit of a loss as to what should be done for a strong race...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Dwarves still a problem, eh? Is it more about flavor or mechanics?

How about making them scaled-down versions of Stonechildren?

Or swapping out "earthglide" for whatever?

Or (and here's a nifty one) lift a page from classical Greek mythology, and give them something like the strength of Antaeus ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antaeus ). He was phenomenally strong- strong enough to challenge Hercules- when he was in contact with the earth. You don't want to make them that strong, but perhaps giving them a situational bonus similar to the Str bonus from Rage, usable only a few times per day per 4 PC levels...as long as they're in direct contact with the earth (excluding or including footwear is a DM call).

If you don't want anything quite that complex, make them like scaled down Half-giants or Goliaths, giving them the Powerful Build racial attribute. Yes, that IS 9 kinds of wrong.

 

[rogueboy]

Dwarves still a problem, eh? Is it more about flavor or mechanics?

Right now, all of this is about flavor. I'm not too concerned about figuring out reasonable crunch once I get the flavor down, and I'll probably post that for review once I get there, but for now I'm just looking at the fluff on all of the races. Ideas for possible crunch is fine, but I'm holding off on the final crunchy bits until I've got the races to a point where I'm happy with them.

How about making them scaled-down versions of Stonechildren?

Or swapping out "earthglide" for whatever?

I don't recall Stonechildren offhand, I'll take a look at them (RoS, iirc?) and see if anything triggers ideas there... I do like the association with stone, but as I mentioned earlier, I'm concerned about taking the dwarves (or any other race) "as is" from 3.x/4e... but the more I think about it, the more I realize that perhaps that shouldn't be something to be concerned with... having the 'tough' race associated with the earth makes a lot of sense.

Or (and here's a nifty one) lift a page from classical Greek mythology, and give them something like the strength of Antaeus ( Antaeus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ). He was phenomenally strong- strong enough to challenge Hercules- when he was in contact with the earth. You don't want to make them that strong, but perhaps giving them a situational bonus similar to the Str bonus from Rage, usable only a few times per day per 4 PC levels...as long as they're in direct contact with the earth (excluding or including footwear is a DM call).

If you don't want anything quite that complex, make them like scaled down Half-giants or Goliaths, giving them the Powerful Build racial attribute. Yes, that IS 9 kinds of wrong.

I definitely like these ideas... I'll have to make note of them for when I do get around to putting together some crunch for them.

 

[rogueboy]

If you don't want anything quite that complex, make them like scaled down Half-giants or Goliaths, giving them the Powerful Build racial attribute. Yes, that IS 9 kinds of wrong.

I'm not sure why, but this image (dwarves with really big axes) intrigues me... I'll have to consider keeping this as a final bit of crunch... but for now, here's the fluff I've settled on using for the various races:

Humans:
As the race that most of this thread has focused on, there's more for the humans than other races. Additionally, I dropped the focus on fire magic (though I may bring that back in, I'm not sure) since I'm leaning towards scrapping the non-costly material components (basically give every caster Eschew Materials for free). Reasoning for that is that I don't see any advantage to requiring them, except for saying "you don't have your spell components" as a way to say "you ca n't use spells" or as a way to allow opponents to limit casters - either of which can be achieved by requiring use of an implement (perhaps leading to magical implements akin to 4e?).

Anyways, here's the fluff:
Humans are a nomadic race, living in tribes in the Whatchamacallit Plains. Warriors in human tribes specialize in mounted ranged combat, favoring a composite bow from the back of large birds which resemble emus. The raptors, called FancyRaptorRaceNameX, are typically about 5 feet tall, and are ridden much as horses are. Each member of the tribe prizes their personal FancyRaptorRaceNameX highly, often placing them in their top few of their (minimal) possessions.

Due to the heat from being in an open environment, human tribes tend to wear lightly-colored, loose-fitting natural fiber (cotton) fabrics, with arms and legs covered. Warriors wear either no armor or very light armor, and metal armor is unheard of. Similarly, metals in general are a scarce commodity among human tribes due to their inability to maintain active forges to make use of the metal.

Humans hunt for themselves, and have renowned wilderness skills. Aided by their nomadic lifestyle, they are respectful of the land and its need to recover after being used for a time. As such, it is rare for a human tribe to remain in one place for more than 2 weeks.

As a whole, humans are somewhat xenophobic. While they will dine and trade with other races, it is unlikely that they will trust anyone without repeated encounters to prove the foreigner's trustworthiness. Despite this innate distrust, humans are infamous traders, traveling the world acquiring things needed elsewhere (the Whatchamacallit Plains cover enough of the world that it is a short [relatively speaking] journey from the edge of the Plains to almost any major settlement). Humans trade using a barter system, as they have no use for coins outside of other races' lands. In addition to exotic goods, human traders are an excellent source of news from the outside world, particularly politically, as they have found that political knowledge is highly valuable to many leaders of major settlements.

Human tribes provide the vast majority of the world's exotic honeys, as they maintain beehives during their travels, using the wide variety of plants they encounter to influence the quality and flavors of the honey they produce. This has the added benefit of pollinating the flowers, which some settlements pay for, especially if they are unable to afford or access magical aid to the pollination of their plants. Many tribes have developed chambered caravans for their beehives, allowing them to control which hives have access to each area's pollen. This allows each tribe to produce several varieties of honey each year. A large portion of the tribal leaders' role is in determining when and where to travel. Missing blooms means the pollens are missed, leading to a poor crop of honey. In a particularly good year, honeys that are as complex and subtle as the best wines are produced, and sell for exorbitant prices.

Magic in the human tribes is of critical importance to their survival. Mages aid in the breeding of FancyRaptorRaceNameX, providing the raptors with more strength, agility, endurance, and other critical factors to their use in war and hunting. Human tribes also maintain several locations with historic importance. Perhaps the most well-known is a cave, somewhere in the Whatchamacallit Plains, where tribal elders bring the greatest warriors of the tribes when they are killed in order to be revived. Little is known about the cave, but many suspect that it is surrounded by natural crystals (perhaps a natural diamond node?) that can amplify magic. The tribal elders maintain the secret of the location of this cave for fear that if it is discovered, the ability to restore great warriors to life will be lost forever.

And for the other races...

Gnomes are quite possibly the race that is most in-tune with nature that still has regular interactions with the other, city-dwelling, races. Gnomes have mastered the arts of summoning and protection (abjuration) magic, as well as communicating with forest creatures (Speak with Animals at will, limited to forest creatures).

Halflings, as their name suggests, are small, standing roughly three-and-a-half feet tall, on average. They have an innate connection to birds, and are able to communicate with them using their innate Speak with Avians (as Speak with Animals, but limited to avian species) ability. This ability to communicate with avians allows halflings to gather information that most people believe private. With natural skills allowing them to sneak around effectively and their dexterous tendencies, halflings make excellent hidden informants, particularly in urban settings.

Elves have a focus on the long-term that takes advantage of their natural lifespan and their ability to act slowly and still live to see their actions come to fruition. While gnomes use their talents to protect and nurture the natural world, elves use their talents for divination, transmutation, enchantment, and illusion magic to manipulate the natural world to the plans of the elves. Though elves seem focused on nature, it is truly only an exercise in understanding changes over time and ways to shape them. The image of a sylvan glade is far removed from that of the elven orchards; nature itself is bent to the will of the elven craftsman, and their understandings of the world only garner a greater ability to change it. An elven forest will appear shaped by the hands of time; strange stone formations worn away by channeling water through odd canals, trees in unnatural shapes via pressurization and weighting, and beautifully complex arrangements of plants are all common signs.

Young elves (read: Those whose life has yet to exceed humans born in the same season) are sent out from the community in tight-knit groups known as Groves. They live in small settlements which have been the gathering place of their kind for millennia, learning crafts and the ways of other races. Most humanoids have not met an elder elf, and due to the deep similarity in bloodlines some superstitious peoples believe that elves are actually immortal, though fickle and aloof.

When the grove's members are sent for, they return to live their second lives amongst their own people. It is then that they apply their knowledge and thoughts to their elders. Elven culture trusts its young with a strong voice; elders are usually pushed away from service.

The reason behind this casting out is simple; the elves spread their seeds through their elders. Highly trained and still strong and fecund for several decades after their casting out, elder elves establish new cities and fortresses, serve in militia, and live amongst the other races in quiet solitude. These wise elves are usually well received, but hide their elven appearance for fear of reprisal. Indeed, amongst the humans there is talk of men who live in hermitage who bear strange eyes, and are thought to be the spirits of the land itself.

Shadefolk tend to dwell in areas that other races find uncomfortable, either due to heat or cold (as the Shadefolk feel little discomfort in head or cold, and even that is limited to temperatures well out of the human norm). Clothing worn by these Shadefolk accentuate their otherworldly appearance, which stems from their eyes and skin: upon puberty their eyes take on the look of golden orbs, which set against their skin "like the stars of the highest heaven on a sheet of smooth velvet". Shadefolk who survive their change at puberty (from an appearance that is human but for the lack of a shadow to their otherworldly appearance of adulthood) are natural leaders, fearless and strong. Shadefolk mages find that their energies are different than that of the other races, and often draw inspiration from the stars themselves. While rumors abound about the source of Shadefolk and whether they can reproduce naturally or are deviant births from other races (particularly human), it is generally believed that Shadefolk are able to reproduce. If any non-Shadefolk has given birth to a child with no shadow, the child was abandoned and the preceding pregnancy explained off as a miscarriage or a stillbirth.

This leaves the strong race open (I don't have anything particularly good in mind) and the tough race (dwarves) somewhat undefined. Any comments, questions, ideas, or otherwise would be greatly appreciated.