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View Full Version : Unusual races : Yes, but..



Quietus
2009-07-03, 06:09 PM
I've been toying with the idea of joining the DM rotation within my group for a while now, and one of my biggest things (aside from the lack of confidence in general that's prevented me from doing so earlier) is the fact that I'd like to run a more focused game than what we normally have.. and yet, my group in general has a love of playing strange races.

Normal : We are each told "Go make characters", and all of us fly off to the four corners of the world to make our characters individually. In-game, we crash into each other and decide to work together because of the invisible "PC" tattooed on each of our foreheads, even if we really SHOULDN'T - such as an orc-hating Dwarf teaming up amicably with a full-blooded orc. Backstories usually amount to "I'm a dwarf who worships Moradin, drinks a lot, and knows his way around a forge", or "I'm a half orc. My father raped my mother. Now I have an axe."

What I'd like : I'd like to give the group a general theme, such as "Working for the city guard", then ask for backstories that are a little more involved - a paragraph or two, that's all. Limit things to PHB races only (no subraces, either).

Now, those two things mesh very badly with my intention to take up the policy of never saying "No", always using "Yes, and.." or "Yes, but...". My thoughts on the matter : If someone wants to be an unusual race, they have to provide me with a larger backstory (Closer to a page or so) that details why they're doing what they're doing, AND ties them strongly to another member of the party, so that this decidedly out-of-place individual has a serious and obvious anchor to the party.

Any thoughts on this? Does that seem fair, or is there a better way to go about this? I do want to lay down a much stronger baseline for party cohesion, but I want to keep it within what my group in general will find fun, which tends to be rather chaotic and, at times, wacky.

dr.cello
2009-07-03, 06:21 PM
I once played a pixie that was pretending to be the ancestral spirits of a dwarf barbarian, for laughs. It worked pretty well to explain why I was hanging out with the group.

Basically, what I'd do in your situation is not so much just require more, but require it to be good. It doesn't have to be in-depth, but it does have to be good--something that gives you the connection necessary to start the campaign without relying on the invisible PC tattoos.

If the dwarf-hating full-blooded orc in your example is hanging out with the party that includes a dwarf, you shouldn't require a hugely in-depth backstory. Just make him say "okay, I'm hanging out with the party because I owe a life debt to the cleric" or something like that.

BlueWizard
2009-07-03, 06:26 PM
It can be fun to create guidelines for PCs. The DM should always have final approval anyway.

Shademan
2009-07-03, 06:58 PM
working for the city guard can be done. all big cities need a ...ahem... disposable unit.
so why not compose said unit of weird outsiders? all those...unusual races...
hehehe

Quietus
2009-07-03, 07:11 PM
working for the city guard can be done. all big cities need a ...ahem... disposable unit.
so why not compose said unit of weird outsiders? all those...unusual races...
hehehe

Because this city is the main human city in a world that only recently (history-wise, at least) freed itself from draconic rule. The ruling group, namely, the city's militia, is ... wary, about hiring strange creatures. Then again, there is ONE troll/kobold combo that works for the city. I'm just asking for the PCs to create a believable reason why their character wasn't killed on sight inside the city walls, AND a reason why they're going with the group outside of "I was ordered to".

RTGoodman
2009-07-03, 07:20 PM
Some ideas for group cohesion, with or without including unusual races:

-Everyone in the party is related. Either they're all human, they're all half-human (so, human, half-elf, half-orc, half-fey, half-dragon, or whatever), they're all from the same tribe/clan/whatever of another race (kobold, dwarf, gnome, etc.), they're all half-dragon, and so on. Some players may say it's unnecessarily restrictive, but I find it's a very fun way to run a campaign.

-Everyone has been drafted by a military unit, either because the normal draftee population has been depleted, or because the PCs are criminals that they let out to die in war instead of having to pay to keep in prison, or whatever. I haven't done it, but it easily fits your requirement. For your campaign specifically, you could say they were all drafted to fight the draconic oppression (or they were former slaves forced to fight) who've just now been discharged and don't even KNOW anyone else.

-Each player has to write a back-story (around a page or so), but it must also include at least one other PC. You can also add in a "survey" kind of thing so people get into their characters' heads more. It should ask for family, friends, allies, love interests, enemies, employers, hobbies, interests, favorite belonging, most vivid memory, and those sorts of things.

-If all else fails, just start the game at levels 1 to 3, where they CAN'T be an unusual race because of LA/RHD rules. Or tell them that, for the BEGINNING of the campaign, at least, they have to start with a PHB race, or at least one with no LA or RHD. That way, if you decide to allow it later, they can switch to a new PC, but at first at least you don't have to worry about it.

Devils_Advocate
2009-07-03, 08:38 PM
I'd say, if you want party cohesion, require everyone to write a backstory sufficient to explain why they're a member of the group. If an unusual race requires more explanation, so be it. If someone can plausibly explain a weird monster's presence in the group with a short explanation, then, hey, great. The point is, the reason to require backstory is that you want it to serve a purpose. So long as a player's backstory serves that purpose, it should be fine. The only reason to require a particular number of pages or words is that you're looking for plenty of detail in particular. Otherwise... don't turn it into a homework assignment.

Your example basis for a group brings to mind the Ankh-Morpork City Watch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankh-Morpork_City_Watch), especially within the context of a bunch of creatures of different races working together.

Try not to be unnecessarily inflexible. For example, you say that the city's militia is wary about hiring strange creatures. Is that a well-established element of a campaign setting that your group has been running already, or is it something that you could still easily change?

Given your group's tendencies, it would probably be easiest to work with a cosmopolitan region, wouldn't you say? The Big City, the proverbial melting pot. The place where people of all races, religions, alignments, classes, professions, and etc. come to find their fortune. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. The place that... Erm, sorry, I'm just babbling now.

Quietus
2009-07-03, 09:08 PM
Try not to be unnecessarily inflexible. For example, you say that the city's militia is wary about hiring strange creatures. Is that a well-established element of a campaign setting that your group has been running already, or is it something that you could still easily change?

Given your group's tendencies, it would probably be easiest to work with a cosmopolitan region, wouldn't you say? The Big City, the proverbial melting pot. The place where people of all races, religions, alignments, classes, professions, and etc. come to find their fortune. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. The place that... Erm, sorry, I'm just babbling now.

It's an established facet of the setting, which yes, was created by me - part of the reason I want to run the game is to put the setting through its paces, test out its viability as a place for adventure. Changing important sections of the world would kind of defeat that purpose.

That being said, the city (Vaeles, so I can put a name to it) *is* one of the two most cosmopolitan cities in the world - as far as PHB races go, anyway. They don't trust "outside" races, like the goblins and kobolds that live in the plains and woodlands to the east, or the orcs/giants in the mountains beyond that, but the PHB races can be found in the city. Mostly Humans, yes, but there is a representative cross-section of the other base races. It's just uncommon to find Elves in Vaeles because it's very Lawful, and not very natural at all (think a major modern city level of green space). Dwarves aren't common there because they aren't common in the setting; 90-95% of them got wiped out a few years ago in a volcanic eruption that destroyed their home city. Halflings and Gnomes I haven't really expanded upon yet, nor have I touched much on the half-breeds, though they would be more common there than full-blooded elves or dwarves. And there's a new race I'm fighting to put a name to, humans born to human parents, who display some draconic traits and come naturally to Sorcery - and are EXTREMELY distrusted, given the setting's history. Particularly since no one knows why, exactly, they've started to appear.. or what makes apparently pure-blooded humans give birth to children who gain draconic traits at puberty.

Devils_Advocate
2009-07-03, 09:23 PM
And there's a new race I'm fighting to put a name to, humans born to human parents, who display some draconic traits and come naturally to Sorcery - and are EXTREMELY distrusted, given the setting's history. Particularly since no one knows why, exactly, they've started to appear.. or what makes apparently pure-blooded humans give birth to children who gain draconic traits at puberty.
Would you be thinking of spellscales, from Races of the Dragon? At least, they're easily refluffed to what you wrote, even if they don't exactly fit your description now.

Xey42
2009-07-03, 10:42 PM
as per a human with draconic heritage, i would imagine silverbrow humans from dragon magic would fit the bill pretty good. maybe a little fluff change to get it away from only silver dragon's.. same as human, but trades extra skill points for another minor goodie or two, can't really remember without the book at hand.

Quietus
2009-07-03, 11:03 PM
I'm aiming for something that has no level adjustment, and that fits well into the setting, as opposed to refluffing existing races. Hence the new race schtick; I'm going to be creating several feats that only work for that particular race, including one that allows them to cast 0-level spells as a first-level Sorcerer, using their character level as the caster level. For anyone curious, here's the fluff/mechanics I have for them at the moment - I may add dark or low-light vision to them, as well, but I'm not sure. Right now I'd say they're balanced with the middle tier of races; Increasing their visual acuity might put them into the top tier, with elves and dwarves.

Dragonkin (name in progress)

The reason for their appearance is a mystery, but of late, some rare children have been born to fully Human parents who bear some trace of draconic blood. At birth, these people - dragonkin, as they've come to be called - seem to be perfectly normal human children. On reaching puberty, however, they begin to take on some minor draconic traits, growing a thin sheen of scales over their body, and a much clearer sense of individuality borne of their distinct difference from those around them. Some even grow small horns, or vestigal tails, though these are uncommon even among the few who undergo these changes.

Scholars who have studied the process have been unable to tell the exact reason why these children have taken on monstrous traits, but the most common suggestion is that many, many generations back, there was true Dragon blood in their bloodline, and some convergence has caused it to wake in these children after having been all but bred out. Less plausible, but still occasionally accepted theories exist, such as the possibility of nefarious forces at work forcibly changing these children, or that they are an omen of times to come, a forewarning of sorts that Dragons are beginning to rise in power once more. Some even fear that they mark the reawakening of Maulisauna.

Whatever the reason, these children are at best mistrusted, and at worst beaten and killed for what they are. The common people of Vethedar have fought long and hard to throw off the shackles of slavery at the hands of Dragons, and the sudden appearance of draconic blood among their own children is, for many, an abomination fit only for destruction. It doesn't help the dragonkin's case that they aren't all that different from the humans that persecute them, and are just as vulnerable to sword and fist as anyone else. Their scales do afford them some protection, but ultimately, they also restrict their movement, making them slightly awkward. The only saving grace they have is that by virtue of their draconic blood, they also come naturally into sorcery; Magic runs in their very veins, and many dragonkin - even those that don't spend their time honing that power - can cast at least some of the weakest cantrips.


Racial traits
-2 dex, +2 cha - Dragonkin's scales get in the way of their movement, but magical power flows strong in their veins.
Medium : As medium creatures, dragonkin have no special bonuses or penalties due to size
Dragonkin base land speed is 30 feet
+1 natural armor
+4 racial bonus on saving throws against Sleep and Paralysis effects
+2 racial bonus on Spot, Listen, and Intimidate checks; Dragonkin inherit their ancestor's sharp senses, and can play on the general fear of Dragons that many still possess.
Automatic languages : Common
Favored Class : Sorcerer

mistformsquirrl
2009-07-03, 11:35 PM
Any thoughts on this? Does that seem fair, or is there a better way to go about this? I do want to lay down a much stronger baseline for party cohesion, but I want to keep it within what my group in general will find fun, which tends to be rather chaotic and, at times, wacky.

We have a whole lot in common DM-style wise it sounds like <@.@> creepy.


I would very much endorse your idea of "Weird Creature = More Backstory Needed".

The simple truth is this:

A weird race does not necessarily mean the character will be good. In fact, it *can* be a crutch to avoid any real characterization and roleplaying.

For example, the infamous "Drizzt Clone" type characters. I think if they were well written and thought out; they would be more accepted. Occasionally I see a good drow character who is well designed; but only someone who is particularly cynical or jerky would think them a "Drizzt Clone" in the usual sense. It's a well-rounded fully crafted character with a real history and personality; rather than a collection of stats and the 'weird' factor of being an atypical race.

That said... it can also be conducive to an interesting and memorable character if written well enough... thus why I'm endorsing a lengthier and deeper backstory requirement.

I mean, to use another example: If you're going to be a Thri-Kreen, you have a lot of explaining as to why you're standing guard at a human settlement, right?

As long as it's well told; it should be fine; but don't let them use "Weird Race" as a crutch for actual character story.

Quietus
2009-07-04, 12:46 AM
A weird race does not necessarily mean the character will be good. In fact, it *can* be a crutch to avoid any real characterization and roleplaying.

Precisely; I want characters who are interesting based on WHO they are, as opposed to WHAT they are. Oftentimes I find that when someone plays an unusual race, they don't create more of a backstory than "I'm an awakened spider!". I want to avoid that.

Tempest Fennac
2009-07-04, 12:56 AM
Regarding Dragonkin, it looks reasonably balanced. Regarding perty members having incompatable backstories, you could put them all together in a situation where they have to work together*, or just assume they al met in a pub before deciding to adventure together because they are all new to adventuring (to be fair, this wouldn't work too well for things like the Dwarf and Orc).

As far as backstories go, I personally have huge problems thinking up backstories due to a lack of creativity (I also like to avoid having tragedies or mysteries associated with my characters), so I tend not to class people not thinking of very good ones as a serious problem. (Admittedly, I have a preference for playing as half animal races due to not liking being a human in real life, and Halflings are the only core race I'd actally want to use, so needing a bacstory to justify using something like a Lupin or Phanaton wouldn't help me.)

I got round that problem in games I DM by allowing any LA 0 race (or race which has been nerfed down to LA 0) while ignoring the concept of standard races and listed alignments altogether (the only races I don't allow are Halfbreeds due to my view that things like Half Elves and Orcs are pointless.)


*I started 1 PBP campaign with the PCs eaing breakfast at the inn which they were all staying in when a load of random animals suddenly attacked the town.

Quietus
2009-07-04, 01:05 AM
Regarding Dragonkin, it looks reasonably balanced. Regarding perty members having incompatable backstories, you could put them all together in a situation where they have to work together*, or just assume they al met in a pub before deciding to adventure together because they are all new to adventuring (to be fair, this wouldn't work too well for things like the Dwarf and Orc).

As far as backstories go, I personally have huge problems thinking up backstories due to a lack of creativity (I also like to avoid having tragedies or mysteries associated with my characters), so I tend not to class people not thinking of very good ones as a serious problem. (Admittedly, I have a preference for playing as half animal races due to not liking being a human in real life, and Halflings are the only core race I'd actally want to use, so needing a bacstory to justify using something like a Lupin or Phanaton wouldn't help me.)

I got round that problem in games I DM by allowing any LA 0 race (or race which has been nerfed down to LA 0) while ignoring the concept of standard races and listed alignments altogether (the only races I don't allow are Halfbreeds due to my view that things like Half Elves and Orcs are pointless.)


*I started 1 PBP campaign with the PCs eaing breakfast at the inn which they were all staying in when a load of random animals suddenly attacked the town.


Glad to hear the dragonkin class looks balanced to you; I have this odd suspicion it might have some flavor appeal to you as well, though I may be off base with that. :smalltongue:

As for the backstories, I'm not really asking for a LOT... I just want to know there's a greater driving force behind the character than "I'm a two weapon fighter who hates drow", or "I'm Dwarfy McBeardface". Even if it's something so simple as "I'm a human Fighter, who is travelling to reclaim his family's ancestral sword, taken when his father was slain in service with the guard, trying to defend Vaeles from a dragon attack". Something that gives the character motivation, maybe gives me a plot hook or two.

For my games, I just don't see Lupins or Phanatons (sorry if I misspelled the plural of that) as being appropriate for my game world - they don't exist within the canon, for one, and would be seen at best as a wizard's failed experiment, at worst as a monster attacking the city. I'd need the player to explain where their character came from, being a one-of-a-kind creature, and I'd want to make sure that the player has a REASON for playing that creature other than "I'm half wolf, whee!".

Tempest Fennac
2009-07-04, 01:09 AM
I'd probably use an LA 0 Lizardfolk I created (or Kobolds) rather then Dragonkin if they are available (it is still an interresting race, though). I can easily come up with motivstions and backgrounds for characters (usually it boils down to them wanting to help people due to my personal tastes, though). Just out of curiosity, what half-animals are available in your games? (I've also nerfed Gnolls and Minotaurs down to LA 0, and I created a race of humanoid raccoons for Tialait the other day as well as making humanoid red fox, fennec fox and ape races).

Xyk
2009-07-04, 01:15 AM
Whenever my players ask me about savage races, I say "Sure, but you will have to pay double for supplies and weapons due to everyone's hatred for you. Oh, and also due to everyone's hatred for you, they will hate you just for being you. You may or may not be arrested on sight. But go ahead"

They usually do, but I keep my word, and after a few sessions they end up gaining the trust of someone in power.

Tempest Fennac
2009-07-04, 01:16 AM
The item cost penalty sounds a bit harsh, Xyk (I'm guessing that getting someone else to buy things for them would get around it, though).

Quietus
2009-07-04, 01:21 AM
Given that I'm basically trying to break this whole world down into either a publishable book OR an SRD-style setup.. I can honestly say I won't be actively providing any support for half-animals as a PC race anywhere in the world. Shapeshifters/lycanthropes exist - I've actually toyed with the idea of implementing shifters, so if I develop that, then I'll have to eat my words. Gnolls are also part of the world's ecosystem. The closest I'll be suggesting as a PC, however, are these dragon-born people (barring the addition of shifters, of course).

If I do introduce shifters, they're going to be basically taking a role involving them staying mostly outside of public sight, either living in the world's wilds - I had a clan of weres in one particular forest that would become shifters instead - or hiding in plain sight among humans. I've got NO idea how I'd introduce that, though, nor how I would stat it up. Everything I've come up with so far with them is vastly overcomplicated. Thoughts so far : Break them up by role; flyers, stalkers, and predators. Shifting limited times per day, or duration, or something... flyers would get +2 or +4 dex and a fly speed when shifted, stalkers getting +10 base speed and something like +2 str/dex, and predators getting +4 str/con. Of course, when shifted, they'd lose the ability to use standard gear - I might let them gain the bonus of their worn armor as natural armor, I don't even know. A lot of this is off the top of my head right now.

Xyk
2009-07-04, 01:21 AM
The item cost penalty sounds a bit harsh, Xyk (I'm guessing that getting someone else to buy things for them would get around it, though).

Actually, the ogre usually just barges through and takes things. Who's gonna stop an ogre?

Tempest Fennac
2009-07-04, 01:25 AM
I can see why races like that are hated if they act like that. :smalleek: (I'd just get someone else to get stuff for me due to not wanting to be arrested IC. :smalltongue:)

As far as Shifters go, could they be introduced to the world by an adventurer who was able to become a diety?

Quietus
2009-07-04, 01:36 AM
I can see why races like that are hated if they act like that. :smalleek: (I'd just get someone else to get stuff for me due to not wanting to be arrested IC. :smalltongue:)

As far as Shifters go, could they be introduced to the world by an adventurer who was able to become a diety?

As things stand in the known world, there's only one creature that managed to gain divinity - the dragon that served as the lynchpin of the draconic rule, which was ended (as I have it currently) 524 years ago, when she fell. It's not impossible that an adventurer could have done so, and I might be willing to work with a player on a game-by-game basis to introduce that, but I'm not likely to add it to the world's canon specifically.

What I had for them, history-wise, is that originally they just wanted to be left alone. They'd support whichever side served that purpose in general, which means that most humanoid races got a bad taste for them, seeing them as conniving and opportunistic - it doesn't matter that they were just trying to maintain their standard of living, the same as everyone else. Worked with dragons in exchange for being left alone = enemy in many people's eyes. Sure, they did take part in the battle that changed the world's history and brought down the dragon-deity, but only late in the fight, when it was already going well (as well as that sort of fight can go..) for the races of man.

Of course, this is all stuff that may yet change. Of races, I've still got a lot of work to do, I'm still trying to make the dwarves and elves a real niche outside of "standard fantasy race".

Tempest Fennac
2009-07-04, 01:51 AM
Thanks for explaining. Another idea could be to have them living on another plane of existance which somehow collapsed.

(This remind me of when I introduced Fenneckins* into my world; a tribe of them ended up settling a day or so away from a town in a desert due to their traditional hunting grounds running dry and a Rakasta (humanoid cat) nature researcher named Davon Hattenborough came across them before trying to find out what they were. Unfortunately, the Fenneckin thought he was spying on them in order to get information for a millitary assault (Fenneckin are pretty paranoid), so the PCs had to find him and convince the Fenneckin that he wasn't a threat before they could go on a mission they had been hired to do with Davon.) This probably wouldn't work for introducing Shifters unless large parts of your game world are uncharted.

* http://forum.mydndgame.com/index.php/topic,191.msg6400.html#msg6400

Quietus
2009-07-04, 01:57 AM
Not entirely uncharted, but... not settled by the "civilized" races. The woods several days east of the main city are where the weres/shifters/whatever are found, as well as kobolds, goblins, and trolls/giants if you go near to the mountains in the Easternmost reaches of said forest. The entire continent is roughly the shape of Australia, with mountains lining the top arc, and forests on the inside of that. The extents of the forests are roughly known, but generally untravelled, because there's simply not enough resources deep inside of them to be worth going to.

Tempest Fennac
2009-07-04, 02:08 AM
If the forests themselves are well known, could you have the Shifters as being a mainly subterranian race initially? If only limited surveying has been carried out of the forests, it wouldn't be that hard for them to stay hidden.

Quietus
2009-07-04, 02:13 AM
If they were to exist in the forests, they'd be more or less unharassed (and unknown) to the other races of man. There might be a few living in human settlements and hiding their true nature - the average person might hear about the shifters as wive's tales and boogeymen, built up to be frightening creatures far beyond what they really are, and never really believe they're real. Only historians, and the few extraordinarily old elves that still live from Maulisauna's (the dragon-god) time, would know the role they actually played in history.

Aik
2009-07-04, 02:20 AM
I think the simple solution is: Don't have them make the backstories seperately. Get the group to come up with them together and encourage them to riff of each other's stories.
'Oh, so you're a cambion from the 462nd layer of the Abyss? Okay, well, I was thinking fire genasi - hmm...'
'Okay - so how about we met when my Blood War contingent got lost and ended up ...?'
'My father's keep in the Plane of Fire?'
'Right - and we ended up on this Prime World because the Baatezu discovered we were there and attacked. We fled together, and that's how we ended up in <GM's planned city>'
'Awesome.'

(I've been playing a lot of Planescape recently - perhaps you can tell? :p )

Quietus
2009-07-04, 02:53 AM
I think the simple solution is: Don't have them make the backstories seperately. Get the group to come up with them together and encourage them to riff of each other's stories.
'Oh, so you're a cambion from the 462nd layer of the Abyss? Okay, well, I was thinking fire genasi - hmm...'
'Okay - so how about we met when my Blood War contingent got lost and ended up ...?'
'My father's keep in the Plane of Fire?'
'Right - and we ended up on this Prime World because the Baatezu discovered we were there and attacked. We fled together, and that's how we ended up in <GM's planned city>'
'Awesome.'

(I've been playing a lot of Planescape recently - perhaps you can tell? :p )

Heh. Yeah, it shows a little.

That being said, this would generally be what I'm looking for, plus some indication of motivations or goals. The races specifically... no, they (or at least, the Cambion thing) are too far out there for Vethedar. I've toyed with the idea of elemental-tied PCs, however, since I'm aiming for a primalish feel, and my religions include those tied directly to the four classical elements.

Riffington
2009-07-04, 09:00 AM
Also: backstory doesn't have to be finished the first day you play. There's nothing wrong with a few sentences to start, another couple paragraphs over the next couple sessions, eventually leading up to more detailed and interesting histories. In lots of tv shows, they take a few episodes for the characters to really get properly established after all.

Fishy
2009-07-04, 09:35 AM
-Everyone in the party is related. Either they're all human, they're all half-human (so, human, half-elf, half-orc, half-fey, half-dragon, or whatever), they're all from the same tribe/clan/whatever of another race (kobold, dwarf, gnome, etc.), they're all half-dragon, and so on. Some players may say it's unnecessarily restrictive, but I find it's a very fun way to run a campaign.

Everyone is half-human, and they're all half-siblings, chasing down their deadbeat dad, who was a legendary adventurer with a thing for elves. And orcs. And dragons. And that one centaur.

hamishspence
2009-07-04, 03:40 PM
Sounds familiar- reminds me of a character in Star Munchkin.

The sidebar in the gamebook runs:



Update: Universe's Most Wanted

Name: Jack "T-Bone" Quirk, Captain of the C.O.W.P.A.T. Extrovert
HHUL94712 Bounty Code: Trader12, Alignment- Wiseacre
Identifying Marks: Lifelike hair, slight paunch. May or may not be wearing flood-wader pants when encountered. Warning: extreme smarm. With a successful Bluff check, he can charm any female organism out of her armor, if you get my meaning.
Charges: Captain Quirk appears to be on a quest to personally prove that humans can indeed interbreed with all forms of sentient life. Wanted in connection with paternity testing of various children, larvae, and spores on 37 worlds and counting.

chiasaur11
2009-07-04, 03:44 PM
Who, in turn, seems based off of James T. Kirk.

hamishspence
2009-07-04, 03:46 PM
Kirk is a common subject for parody, so its not surprising that Munckin would get in on the act.

tribble
2009-07-04, 03:55 PM
here's a simple idea for the reason of the dragonkin:
Magic contamination.
If enough spells are cast in a given area, some of it starts to stick. Eventually, the magic seeps into stone, wood, and flesh. when the magic buildup in a person passes a certain threshold, it begins to catalyse changes.
Generations of penniless wizards practicing magic in run-down apartment buildings has effectively irradiated the building and tenants, so that poor migrant workers and their families begin to give birth to these "Dragonkin".

yeah, it's pretty heavily influenced by Warhammer, but hey, I think its interesting.

Quietus
2009-07-04, 04:03 PM
here's a simple idea for the reason of the dragonkin:
Magic contamination.
If enough spells are cast in a given area, some of it starts to stick. Eventually, the magic seeps into stone, wood, and flesh. when the magic buildup in a person passes a certain threshold, it begins to catalyse changes.
Generations of penniless wizards practicing magic in run-down apartment buildings has effectively irradiated the building and tenants, so that poor migrant workers and their families begin to give birth to these "Dragonkin".

yeah, it's pretty heavily influenced by Warhammer, but hey, I think its interesting.

That's certainly a possibility - I'm going to be laying down the two "main" theories - dragon blood and the return of Maulisauna - but specifically stating that "No one knows for sure", leaving open plot hooks there.

Side note : Anyone have an opinion on the name Drathyr for the dragon-race?

Devils_Advocate
2009-07-05, 02:24 PM
It sounds suitably fantasy, but if these people are a recent development, they'll probably be recently named. "Drathyr" sounds more like name of a race or ethnicity with its own culture and language.

"Dragonkin" seems pretty likely, really, if people think that they're probably dragon-descended. But if "Drathyr" is Draconic for "dragon-blooded" or something similar, it's possible that some scholar decided to call them that and it caught on.