Sir_Chivalry
2011-09-16, 09:53 PM
In my current campaign, I've done some jostling to the race roles (along with minor tweaks to abilities to reflect this) and I suddenly came up with a problem. We have:
Elves that live in a caste-based system, with grey elf priests at the top, followed by high elf warriors, star elf (along with sea and winged) commoners, wild elf and wood elf slaves and the outcast (and embittered) dark elves. Elven gods are merely powerful figures from their history, exalted to divinity after death.
Dwarves that are sea-faring and ship-builders, fighting underwater races instead of orcs and goblins. Heavy armour still stays, but they are aware of the limitations it puts on their survival in water, so only the most rich wear it, as they can afford modifications and special craftsmenship to make the armour less heavy or more water-friendly.
Gnomes that take the dwarves place as masters of rock, earth and stone, ruling both hill and mountain, a xenophobic and untrusting race that when forced out into the world, adopts a facade of geniality and friendliness to confuse and mislead others.
Halflings that are the great keepers of magical lore, but instead of it being a written history stored in books and keep in towers, it is an oral history, one that reveals secrets of the oldest artifacts and the most ancient of heroes, but only if you can find someone who knows that particular story.
Orcs that live in the north and organize themselves into mercenary houses, selling entire clans as additional fighting forces to the greedy and warring humans to the south. A strict code of honour binds them to their employers, and they just as often go to war with other clans as the enemies of their employers.
Goblinoids as the great originators of democracy and republics as a system of government. The three monster manual goblinoids are all as smart as humans overall, so they could easily make a society that wasn't grubbing and war-based. Plus I liked the idea of all the other races still being more authoritarian in their governments, but the goblins have democracy.
And then I realized I didn't think of what the kobolds are doing. Then I realized I didn't now what any reptilian humanoid was doing. Should I:
Continue the trend of shifting the races away from traditional good and evil roles and give the lizardfolk, kobolds and trogs complexities?
OR
Take the niche originally filled by goblinoids and orcs, and put the reptiles there? Like maybe they were originally the favoured races of the gods, but the warm-blooded humanoids usurped them? Perhaps the gods were originally draconic? Perhaps dragons share in this lose?
Let me know what you think? And if you have opinions on the other races in the spoiler, I'm open to that too, always willing to fine tune.
Elves that live in a caste-based system, with grey elf priests at the top, followed by high elf warriors, star elf (along with sea and winged) commoners, wild elf and wood elf slaves and the outcast (and embittered) dark elves. Elven gods are merely powerful figures from their history, exalted to divinity after death.
Dwarves that are sea-faring and ship-builders, fighting underwater races instead of orcs and goblins. Heavy armour still stays, but they are aware of the limitations it puts on their survival in water, so only the most rich wear it, as they can afford modifications and special craftsmenship to make the armour less heavy or more water-friendly.
Gnomes that take the dwarves place as masters of rock, earth and stone, ruling both hill and mountain, a xenophobic and untrusting race that when forced out into the world, adopts a facade of geniality and friendliness to confuse and mislead others.
Halflings that are the great keepers of magical lore, but instead of it being a written history stored in books and keep in towers, it is an oral history, one that reveals secrets of the oldest artifacts and the most ancient of heroes, but only if you can find someone who knows that particular story.
Orcs that live in the north and organize themselves into mercenary houses, selling entire clans as additional fighting forces to the greedy and warring humans to the south. A strict code of honour binds them to their employers, and they just as often go to war with other clans as the enemies of their employers.
Goblinoids as the great originators of democracy and republics as a system of government. The three monster manual goblinoids are all as smart as humans overall, so they could easily make a society that wasn't grubbing and war-based. Plus I liked the idea of all the other races still being more authoritarian in their governments, but the goblins have democracy.
And then I realized I didn't think of what the kobolds are doing. Then I realized I didn't now what any reptilian humanoid was doing. Should I:
Continue the trend of shifting the races away from traditional good and evil roles and give the lizardfolk, kobolds and trogs complexities?
OR
Take the niche originally filled by goblinoids and orcs, and put the reptiles there? Like maybe they were originally the favoured races of the gods, but the warm-blooded humanoids usurped them? Perhaps the gods were originally draconic? Perhaps dragons share in this lose?
Let me know what you think? And if you have opinions on the other races in the spoiler, I'm open to that too, always willing to fine tune.