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tbok1992
2012-10-24, 02:31 PM
It's always kinda bugged me that most derivative (IE, not invented specifically for D&D) D&D races are based on European or Tolken-derived concepts.

They do have a few, like the Hengeyokai and the Kenku/Tengu, that break the mold, and Pathfinder is way better on it with races like Vishnyakas, Varanas, Samsarans (though I do think they're suspiciously similar to D&D's 4e Deva) and my favorite Pathfinder race; the Wayangs, but for the most part basic D&D derives most of it's non-original races from European folklore or Tolken.

So, I ask you folks, what creatures or concepts (Like the Samsarans from Samsara or the Wayangs from shadow puppets) from other cultures folklore, like Asia, Russia, Africa, the American Indians, the Phillipines, and so on, or what creatures from other fantasy works could be knocked-off for a D&D race.

I can come up with five from only the original Wizard of Oz, but I want to see which ones you think would work first.

Voyd211
2012-10-24, 02:53 PM
Well, let's see... Japanese folklore comes to mind first, so...

Kappa: A turtle-goblin with a fondness for cucumbers. It has a bowl-shaped depression on its head that holds water.
Shinigami: A god of death. The exact meaning of this varies from source to source: The ones I can think of off the top of my head are Bleach, Death Note and Touhou, all of which are wildly different in their portrayal of shinigami.
Yuki-onna: An ice succubus of sorts, although she makes you cold instead of sucking out your life force. Alternatively, one yuki-onna saved the life of a traveler.
Oni: Actual oni weren't demons, they were more akin to ogres.


That's all I can think of at the moment.

Gamer Girl
2012-10-24, 03:01 PM
When you say D&D is European/Tolken your talking only 3X and 4E. D&D 2E was full of all sorts of flavor with races and creatures that did not fit the European/Tolken mold.

What to guess what happened? Well, when they made 3E ''better'' they got rid of all the other stuff except the European/Tolken stuff.

Yora
2012-10-24, 03:27 PM
Shinigami as seen now in fiction are a relatively new concept heavily influenced by the grim reaper.
Oni are essentially what D&D calls an ogre mage. Several editions even call them that.
A very good fit for PC races are Nezumi, a race of humanoid rats, but I don't know actually much more about them.
What might possibly work are Kitsune. Kitsune are not just shapechangers that can take the form of foxes, but actually all foxes do have this ability to switch between human and fox form. They can become very old and gain lots of magical power with age, but a young one could work quite well as a PC in an RPG.

A race that is quite common but rarely given much thought are lizard people. There's a lot of potential to make something out of them, but the Iksar of Everquest are the only ones I know. I have lizardfolk as one of the two big races for the setting I am working on, giving them influences from the Jungle Trolls of Warcraft and the Turians of Mass Effect.

Voyd211
2012-10-24, 03:36 PM
Kitsune are already in Pathfinder, which is why I didn't mention them.

Eldan
2012-10-24, 03:59 PM
Anyway, looking at the SRD...
Aranea: I faintly remember a shapeshifting, poisonous spider creature from either Japanese or Chinese mythology. It turned into a human.
Couatl. Of the Quetzal variety.
Genies are Arabian.
If you count Russian as non-western, the Lich definitely goes there. And if slavic isn't western then, well, vampires too.
Nagas are south and south-east Asian.
Rakshasa, Indian. Though only remotely.

That already covers quite a few. Now, I know it's western, but I'm still said that D&D doesn't have any decent celtic sidhe.

Morph Bark
2012-10-24, 04:20 PM
What to guess what happened? Well, when they made 3E ''better'' they got rid of all the other stuff except the European/Tolken stuff.

Except maybe besides the fact that the core of 2E is still quite Tolkienian overall and 3E has a lot of Oriental and original races here and there throughout?

scurv
2012-10-24, 04:51 PM
tolken based his stuff on euro folklore

Prime32
2012-10-24, 05:01 PM
(Like the Samsarans from Samsara or the Wayangs from shadow puppets)I'm not sure what a Wayang is, but Samsara is just "the cycle of reincarnation"; calling someone out as a samsaran is meaningless, since it applies to everything.


A very good fit for PC races are Nezumi, a race of humanoid rats, but I don't know actually much more about them.Nezumi is just the Japanese word for mouse. Like all animals, with age they become intelligent and can learn how to take human form (though foxes and racoon-dogs are the best at it).

Togath
2012-10-24, 05:13 PM
Depending on what exactly the OP means, European Goblins(traditional ones) could be interesting, as could trying to come up with adaptions of various Japanese yokai(some are a bit weird, though a few could make interesting PC races)

Zombimode
2012-10-24, 05:53 PM
I fail to see why the cultural background of anything fantasy-related is in any way important.

If I like Orcs, I will use them. If I like Kenku, I will use them. I couldn't care less if the ideas originally come from ancient Rome, medieval Japan, or my grandma.

Yora
2012-10-24, 06:27 PM
If you have any north european that havn't been done to death a thousand times, I am sure it will be very much welcome here.

BootStrapTommy
2012-10-24, 06:47 PM
I feel like crytozoology (pronounced:ˈkrāzē) would be an endless fount of this kind of stuff.

Bigfoot (is there already a bigfoot, or no? There's a yeti.)
Any number of the X varieties of Bigfoot that exist in North America
Those one things which are like midget bigfoots in Asia
El chupacabra.
Some things like that?


tolken based his stuff on euro folklore

Yes, but his depictions of elves was very original and he invented orcs.

123456789blaaa
2012-10-24, 06:59 PM
Shinigami as seen now in fiction are a relatively new concept heavily influenced by the grim reaper.
Oni are essentially what D&D calls an ogre mage. Several editions even call them that.
A very good fit for PC races are Nezumi, a race of humanoid rats, but I don't know actually much more about them.
What might possibly work are Kitsune. Kitsune are not just shapechangers that can take the form of foxes, but actually all foxes do have this ability to switch between human and fox form. They can become very old and gain lots of magical power with age, but a young one could work quite well as a PC in an RPG.

A race that is quite common but rarely given much thought are lizard people. There's a lot of potential to make something out of them, but the Iksar of Everquest are the only ones I know. I have lizardfolk as one of the two big races for the setting I am working on, giving them influences from the Jungle Trolls of Warcraft and the Turians of Mass Effect.

Nezumi's are actually in the Oriental Adventures splatbook (as a PC race) for dnd 3.0 :smallsmile:.

Ravens_cry
2012-10-24, 07:16 PM
I fail to see why the cultural background of anything fantasy-related is in any way important.

If I like Orcs, I will use them. If I like Kenku, I will use them. I couldn't care less if the ideas originally come from ancient Rome, medieval Japan, or my grandma.

I can see where you are coming from. On the other hand, maintaining some semblance of cultural theme can help create tone.

Dimers
2012-10-24, 08:40 PM
Gremlins/mogwai, like from the old movie, but with adaptations to make it PC-appropriate. Infinite castings of Summon Baby Gremlin (just add water) is ripe for abuse.

Gummi Bears (from the 1980s cartoon series) and Care Bears could each provide fodder for homebrew. And if you ask me, halflings are no more threatening than Care Bears are.

The vast array of folk tales from sub-Saharan Africa includes were-spiders -- they could transform into spider swarms.

Aborigine 'sky heroes' could make a decent race for a high-level adventure game. They'd definitely have LA.

EDIT: Oh, and a shout-out for Raymond E. Feist: cho-ja and Thun.

Serpentine
2012-10-25, 05:25 AM
From aboriginal stories of the Dreamtime you can find... people? Tribes? Families? that heavily blur the line between animal and human. Humans turn into animals, animals act like humans... Could be potential for something interesting there.
There's the yowie, which is sort of Australia's equivalent of Bigfoot.
There's plenty of monsters in Australian folklore, but I'm not sure how many are really good fodder for PC classes. The devil-dog, a sort of were-dingo, could possibly be adapted. There's also a harpy/mothman-like creature, with a tooth-filled mouth set into its shoulders (i.e. no neck) and huge, stinking, smothering wings; it was a terrifying monster, but you could always use a bit of artistic licence.

scurv
2012-10-25, 06:09 AM
http://www.skindeepcomic.com/archive/issue-1-cover/

You can read though here, and check korys blog. She might have something to offer.

Eldan
2012-10-25, 09:40 AM
...his depictions of elves was very original...

Not really all that much. Sure, it was novel compared to Victorian ideas of flower-hugging pixie-elves, but compared to the Alfar or some celtic ideas, they aren't all that new.

Voyd211
2012-10-25, 10:00 AM
What about Kami? You know, the Shinto beings that are basically gods of everything. At least, that's what I've been able to determine.

Yora
2012-10-25, 10:05 AM
Kami is more of an adjective than a noun. If it's a spirit that can be praised, it's a kami. Some can make good PC races, most don't.

tbok1992
2012-10-25, 12:09 PM
I'm not sure what a Wayang is, but Samsara is just "the cycle of reincarnation"; calling someone out as a samsaran is meaningless, since it applies to everything.

This is true, but what makes the Samsarans special is that their reincarnation works Time-Lord-regeneration-style, and they do remember a bit of their past lives.

And Wayangs are a race from The Plane of Shadow based on those elaborate, jointed asian shadow-puppets, which I think is an incredibly clever idea. They also have a Bard build based on making lethal shadow puppets ala "Killer Klowns from Outer Space", which I think is hillarious.

"And this one's a gorilla, who is going to tear out your intestines and strangle you with them!"

Also, here are those 5 races from the first Oz book that'd work well to base D&d races on:

The Flying Monkeys- Sort of like Hadozee with actual flight, but with a heavy vulnerability to mind control in exchange due to an unwise pact the race made generations prior (Ala their link to the golden cap in the first book)

The China People- Yes, they were known in the book for being fragile and small, but they might work as a race that could not only do extra melee damage when at half helf (Due to shards of them cutting extra hard) but also able to be repaired by spells designed to mend constructs and objects as well as by healing spells, though they'd be made extra-fragile to compensate.

The Scarecrow- While they don't give a reason why he came to life after being finished in the original book, I could easily see it being explained via primal spirits giving a bunch of scarecrows life to become agents for some unknown purpose.

The Tin Man- if any of you are familiar with the Tin Man's pretty gruesome backstory, it seems like a good hook for a sort of Warforged subrace. I mean, a group of people so heavily injured that they had to be modified with construct parts until they consider themselves no longer human? there's loads of character potential there.

The Hamemrheads- Alright, this is kinda cheating, as they seem more suited for a monster/villain race than a PC race, but it would be interesting to stat out an armless race with those funky weaponized heads. So sue me, I couldn't come up with 5 real races from that book.

Giegue
2012-10-25, 08:42 PM
If you have a more "modern" setting why not borrow from the modern mythology that is conspiracy theories? The shape-shifting reptilian aliens from the (insane) conspiracy theories of David Icke would make an excellent PC race and I actually created an approximation of them using the pathfinder race creator for pathfinder once. They can also be used in less modern settings if you ditch the alien backstory and just make them lizardmen who can shape-shift and are extra manipulative and evil.

If your into Native American mythology the Skinwalkers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin-walker) could make interesting enemies and possibly a good PC race(Though they may need some LA). Also, while they have been mentioned, the Tanuki and Kitsune from Japanese mythology are both suitable for PC use and the latter have already been stated as a Pathfinder race. If you don't mind borrowing from anime and manga the infamous "catgirl" would make a good PC as well, though they'd need a new name since there would be male members of the race as well.(The version of them I use of them are called the "Nekoran") The same general "catgirl" aesthetic can also be applied to other animals to make other races, Wolves/Dogs being a popular choice for this.

tbok1992
2012-10-25, 09:34 PM
If you have a more "modern" setting why not borrow from the modern mythology that is conspiracy theories? The shape-shifting reptilian aliens from the (insane) conspiracy theories of David Icke would make an excellent PC race and I actually created an approximation of them using the pathfinder race creator for pathfinder once. They can also be used in less modern settings if you ditch the alien backstory and just make them lizardmen who can shape-shift and are extra manipulative and evil.

Funny thing, in my somewhat-Gonzo mondern setting for my NaNoWriMo novel I'm gonna be working on (The closest comparison would be the Dr. McNinja setting, though the story would be set in a heavily fictionalized version of my hometown, Tucson), the Icke-style Lizardmen are a major running subplot.

Though, the joke about them would be that they're utterly; hillariously incompetent as a species at conspiracy-mongering, with the results usually being hillarious failure (The only political family they've managed to marry into is Gerald Ford's) or their "projects" going out of their control and becoming far more dangerous than them (Like this setting's alien-controlled version of Scientology).

Speaking a little off topic, I think I'm going to make a topic on said novel to see if I can get any help from these forums on it, because while I have quite a bit of ideas for vignettes, as the story's structure would be very episodic, with the plot's threads slowly intertwining until the climax, I'm not sure how to fit those together Would that be a good idea?.

Lyndworm
2012-10-25, 11:01 PM
If your into Native American mythology the Skinwalkers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin-walker) could make interesting enemies and possibly a good PC race(Though they may need some LA).
Skinwalkers strike me as more of a class than a race (so much so that I posted my take on that concept, if you care to see some inspiration), given (some versions of) their origins and abilities. A similar Native American concept better suited for a race would be the nahual, though they'd probably be almost identical to D&D's lycanthropes (nahual aren't always carnivores, are often good guys, don't have a weakness to sivler, and don't spread their "curse," but the main concept of shapeshifter is wholly intact).


If you don't mind borrowing from anime and manga the infamous "catgirl" would make a good PC as well, though they'd need a new name since there would be male members of the race as well.(The version of them I use of them are called the "Nekoran") The same general "catgirl" aesthetic can also be applied to other animals to make other races, Wolves/Dogs being a popular choice for this.
Both of those already exist in 3.5, actually; the catfolk (LA+1) are in Races of the Wild and the lupin (LA+0) are in the Dragon Compendium, though the lupin have wolf heads instead of wolf features on a human head. To a lesser extent, shifters could also fill both roles (the razorclaw and longtooth varieties, respectively).

Serpentine
2012-10-26, 12:24 AM
As Oz is being brought up so much, I really want to make an adventure based on Return to Oz. I'm not sure how many of the characters in it would make good races as opposed to unique creatures, but anyways (note, it's been ages, so the names at least are probably gonna be wrong):

The Clockwork Soldier: a Warforged prototype, perhaps? An intelligent (usually...) construct, which needs to be wound up to work. It has a different key for different faculties: iirc, one for thought, one for senses, and one for action. Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral.

Wheelers: Definitely Chaotic, possibly Chaotic Evil (although I could see an argument that it was just circumstantial that made them so nasty), human-like creatures except that instead of hands and feet they have wheels.

Trolls: Rock-creatures, greedy and covetous. I actually can't remember what these guys were like at all, except they were practically a part of the stone itself. I think I also sort of conflate them with the rockmunchers from Neverending Story - which would themselves be a good race.

Jack Pumpkinhead and the Gump: I put these two together because they were both "born" using the same methods. They're creatures cobbled together using bits and pieces then sprinkled with a dust that brings them to life. They're only as sturdy as their initial construction, and bits tend to fall off them throughout the movie.

The head-witch: I can't really imagine this character being turned into a race, but she's a witch who likes to steal other people's heads and swap them around with her own like stylish hats. Actually quite creepy.

Geostationary
2012-10-26, 04:28 PM
Gummi Bears (from the 1980s cartoon series) and Care Bears could each provide fodder for homebrew. And if you ask me, halflings are no more threatening than Care Bears are.



You have no idea (http://imago.hitherby.com/2004/02/rainbow-noir/) how well Care Bears can be used.

Morithias
2012-10-26, 04:33 PM
Kitsune, Earthman, Undine, Wood mana, fey....

Go play a Japanese RPG you'll get a ton of creature concepts.

Eldan
2012-10-26, 04:49 PM
At least the Undine and Fey are western, so they don't really count.

Morithias
2012-10-26, 05:05 PM
At least the Undine and Fey are western, so they don't really count.

Screw it, I'm going to break an unwritten rule.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JapaneseMythology

Here. Have fun.

Ashtagon
2012-10-26, 05:44 PM
What about Kami? You know, the Shinto beings that are basically gods of everything. At least, that's what I've been able to determine.

They were rendered down to make spirit folk (Oriental Adventures, and again in Unapproachable East).

tbok1992
2012-11-18, 09:14 PM
The Clockwork Soldier: a Warforged prototype, perhaps? An intelligent (usually...) construct, which needs to be wound up to work. It has a different key for different faculties: iirc, one for thought, one for senses, and one for action. Lawful Good or Lawful Neutral.

Wheelers: Definitely Chaotic, possibly Chaotic Evil (although I could see an argument that it was just circumstantial that made them so nasty), human-like creatures except that instead of hands and feet they have wheels.

Trolls: Rock-creatures, greedy and covetous. I actually can't remember what these guys were like at all, except they were practically a part of the stone itself. I think I also sort of conflate them with the rockmunchers from Neverending Story - which would themselves be a good race.

I actually think Tik-Tok would make more sense as an artifact, as in the books there's pretty much no magic said to be involved in his making (Which would make him very hard to reproduce), just really complicated clockwork, with three keyholes to wind up his body, brain and voice.

And the hilarious thing about the Wheelers is that in in the one of the two books that Return to Oz is based on (Ozma of Oz) that they were featured in, Dorothy defeated them by pointing out that those wheels aren't really all that good for fighting, as they can't punch, scratch or choke, and they retreated out of shame. Not so nightmare fuel now, eh?

And those "trolls" you were talking about are actually called Nomes, and in fact the Nome King was pretty much the main villain of the Oz series for the rest of the books. Of course, with their name, porting them straight-up to D&D would be difficult for obvious reasons.

Also, for another race that should be playable, I'd love to see Kappa as a PC race. Mike Mearls did say on his Twitter that if they made a new race, he'd love to see a fae bruiser-type, and since Obakemono are pretty much Japanese fae, I think it'd work pretty well in that niche.

Also, I'd love to see a Day-of-the-Dead-Calaca-based race, perhaps made out of a humanoid skeleton covered in paper mache made out of pieces of parchment covered in holy script, using both negative and positive energy to create the Undead equivalent to the Living Construct type...

I think I just came up with something to add to Dungeonworld.

Fhaolan
2012-11-19, 02:10 AM
There's a lot of non-european stuff in D&D, but it's been so divorced from the original myths in order to fit the base D&D settings and systems, that they are almost unrecognizable.

For that matter a lot the european stuff in D&D is just as badly damaged from the transition to D&D. For example the Nucklavee; a true European monster from minds of the Orkney people. A skinless amphibious cyclops sharktaur fae. Yes, really. There is a 2nd edition AD&D attempt at this thing buried in one of the DM suppliments.

The problem is that making any of these creatures 'playable races' separates them from what makes them culturally unique and interesting. These things are supposed to be monsters, who have weird powers and abilities far beyond that of mortals. People run away from them, screaming in fear. A myth-based Kappa or Couatl can't just walk into a tavern and check for rumors of sunken temples or forgotten tombs to raid.

Making one of them a PC race, and they become just like the Tolkien-like elf. Who started life as the mysterious and dangerous semi-deific Alfar and/or Tuatha De Danann, and quickly got turned into the D&D 'detects secret door in 1:3 chance.'

CaptainLhurgoyf
2012-11-19, 04:03 PM
I'm planning to run a game set in an Asian-inspired setting where I'm consciously trying to avoid doing another Fantasy Japan, so I'm drawing primarily on Chinese, Indian, and southeast Asian influences. To that degree, there's a lot of inspiration for races from the Indian "exotic tribes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exotic_Tribes_of_Ancient_India)". Among some of the ones that would be interesting: kinnara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinnara) (with the top half of a human and the bottom half of a bird or horse), kimpurusha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimpurusha_Kingdom) (humans with the head of a lion or horse), vidyadhara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidyadhara) (curious air spirits who can fly and shrink themselves), vanara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanara) (monkey-men), and pisacha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisacha) (angry demons who cause insanity). It'd also be neat to base a race off of the traditional depiction of Hindu gods and demons as having multiple arms and sometimes heads, and from there you could also borrow some inspiration from the Shokan from Mortal Kombat.

Drawing away from ancient mythology for a bit, I've actually thought that the trolls from Homestuck could fit into a DND setting (hear me out here). Yes, they do come from European mythology, but they really don't have much in common with Norse trolls apart from in name. The amount of worldbuilding that went into their society and culture is really intriguing and could lead to some interesting ideas. I've seen fanfics that put the trolls in the context of a medieval fantasy world, and it actually works. If only as a crazy idea, I'd like to see a game using them instead of hobgoblins as the lawful evil mook race of choice.

hiryuu
2012-11-19, 06:05 PM
Here's some from a homebrew setting.

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/309/0/c/aesca_races___lineup_2_by_mr_author-d5k3whb.jpg

The shadow thing is inspired by, well, shadow people.
The spindle thing is based on viruses and an alleged alien encounter from 1952.
The ball head is based on the wondjina of Australian mythology.

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/322/f/0/aesca_races___lineup_3_by_mr_author-d5le1mo.jpg

Reptile man/flying lizard based on David Icke style shapeshifting psychic subterranean reptilian humanoids crossed with Mahars of Pellucidar.
Kachina monster is a space demon virus that mutates its host based on how much you know about its culture.

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/304/d/b/aesca_races___lineup_by_mr_author-d5jjawe.jpg

Dinosaur is a, well, a dinosaur with a stone age level of technology and uses its mouth as a manipulator.
Weird bug thing is based on Opabinia (http://www.as.wvu.edu/~kgarbutt/EvolutionPage/Studentsites/Burgesspages/images/opabinia.gif), a Cambrian creature from the Burgess Shale.
"Robot" is a golem with a sort of retro sci fi look. A FANTASTIC METAL MAN.

Admiral Squish
2012-11-19, 08:15 PM
Did you know Tolkien based much of his world off the Ring of the Nibelung operas? The writer was the first one to create that weird mishmash of german, norse, and english myths. I just think it interesting to trace the origins of our collective obsession back a bit further.

There are a lot of mythologies I would love to see D&D material based off, mythologies that are largely ignored by the public.
Africa's one. I once saw an oriental adventures style book based on african lore, but that's the only mention of it I EVER saw of african myth in a D&D book.
Australia's another. Since the land's so isolated, the lore is all really cool. I've heard that aboriginal oral traditions still have stories passed down from the ice age.
Hawaii's another, but it's unlikely to see it happen. For one thing, I just love the way the language sounds. The lore features powerful elemental figures, and a strong focus on water, unlike most other cultures I've found.
Native american myth's got a lot of really awesome myths and beasties, and there's so many tribes to choose from, they all have their own subtle differences in myths.

tbok1992
2012-11-20, 12:37 AM
There are a lot of mythologies I would love to see D&D material based off, mythologies that are largely ignored by the public.
Africa's one. I once saw an oriental adventures style book based on african lore, but that's the only mention of it I EVER saw of african myth in a D&D book.
Funny thing, I did come up with my own idea for an Africa-inspired area in the same world as the Nentir Vale. I may have to post it here sometime

Fhaolan
2012-11-20, 01:57 AM
Africa's one. I once saw an oriental adventures style book based on african lore, but that's the only mention of it I EVER saw of african myth in a D&D book.
Australia's another. Since the land's so isolated, the lore is all really cool. I've heard that aboriginal oral traditions still have stories passed down from the ice age.
Hawaii's another, but it's unlikely to see it happen. For one thing, I just love the way the language sounds. The lore features powerful elemental figures, and a strong focus on water, unlike most other cultures I've found.
Native american myth's got a lot of really awesome myths and beasties, and there's so many tribes to choose from, they all have their own subtle differences in myths.

I vaguely remember some Dragon articles with creatures and whatnot from Africa, Australia, etc. Probably 2nd ed AD&D and earlier though.

pffh
2012-11-20, 02:07 AM
If you have any north european that havn't been done to death a thousand times, I am sure it will be very much welcome here.

Well there are the hidden people. They look like pretty humans, have invisibility at will, can meld into and live in rocks and are on average about as strong as the strongest humans but aren't all that bright or observant.

I'd peg them as +2 cha, +2str, -2 int and -2 wis. Some sort of stone meld ability to step into rocks and invisibility at will at +1 LA.

Cerlis
2012-11-20, 02:27 AM
There's a lot of non-european stuff in D&D, but it's been so divorced from the original myths in order to fit the base D&D settings and systems, that they are almost unrecognizable.

For that matter a lot the european stuff in D&D is just as badly damaged from the transition to D&D. For example the Nucklavee; a true European monster from minds of the Orkney people. A skinless amphibious cyclops sharktaur fae. Yes, really. There is a 2nd edition AD&D attempt at this thing buried in one of the DM suppliments.

The problem is that making any of these creatures 'playable races' separates them from what makes them culturally unique and interesting. These things are supposed to be monsters, who have weird powers and abilities far beyond that of mortals. People run away from them, screaming in fear. A myth-based Kappa or Couatl can't just walk into a tavern and check for rumors of sunken temples or forgotten tombs to raid.

Making one of them a PC race, and they become just like the Tolkien-like elf. Who started life as the mysterious and dangerous semi-deific Alfar and/or Tuatha De Danann, and quickly got turned into the D&D 'detects secret door in 1:3 chance.'

This is true. You cant make most of the mythological ideas out there into a playable race. otherwise you just get "fox people" "snake people" "spirit people" machine people"



I think hiryuu has the best idea. It would be best to do something original. because otherwise its just a matter of "what culture do i want to be the backbone of the setting". Original creatures. Give something a stichk and ask "why would it have this" "how would this affect its social group" "how would it affect its enviroment" ect.

I mean i'm sure the writers at pixar would be clever enough to make a story and interesting characters that where those........spindle......things.

For a unique race though i'd get an artist friend to help you make some sketches of aspects of their culture. For instance for the spindle people a daycare filled with various pieces of ground (rocky, water, ectt) and different objects where they help the newborns learn to hover and use their telekinetic powers. Or for any creature without humanoid hands, maybe crude items they slip over their tentacles/hands to help them manipulate fine objects (imagine a beastly creature sticking its finger into the soft part of a nut/fruit to use the wood hard stem as a needle or tweezer like fine point for manipulation)

Fearan
2012-11-20, 06:48 AM
May I suggest the power of the Evolution?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr2kWqsqvl0

Premier
2012-11-20, 07:12 AM
Not a ready-answer-on-a-platter to the OP, but a more general suggestion:

As others have already pointed out, one problem is that as soon as a race becomes a PC race, it will immediately lose all its mystique and exoticism in the hands of your players who'll just treat them as yet another case of humans with plastic ear prosthetics and extra bonuses.

I would suggest taking a step back and addressing the issue at a "higher" level of world building: cultures. As a DM, first learn how to draw distinctive cultures with broad brush strikes and small embellishments.

Imagine, if you will, a bustling port city in a bay with hills and agricultural lands beyond and a major place of worship. There are dozens of ways of doing this beyond the usual hodgepodge of medieval and renaissance elements poured over 19th century Wild West morals that D&D tends to assume. This could be an early medieval Nordic-fantasy place with low wooden houses, drakkar leaving on raids, the Jarl's elaborate feast hall on a hill, grazing cattle and a mighty ancient tree on which the sacrifices to Odin are hanged. Or a faux-Arabic city with domed towers and elaborate arcways, a bustling bazaar with wondrous wares, olive and fig groves and scimitar-wielding city guards. Or Roman with triremes, a marble-clad Forum, legionnaires, a slave market and grand palaces. Or something Mesoamerican. Or Oriental. Or anything.

And the important thing is that once you start thinking about such design choices rather than taking things for granted, they become much more than just visuals. Once you - and your players - have a good mental image of the place, they'll quickly understand what it means for gameplay. Is this a place of bitter family feuds, duels and the same bag of weregild changing hands back and forth? A place of arrogant courtiers engrossed in the plots and counterplots of the rich and the privileged? A place where merchants use mercenaries against each other in an ever ongoing war for economic dominance? All of these affect how the party fits into the gameworld (or at least this particular bit of it) and what sort of activities and adventures they're likely to be involved with.

Using real-life cultures as a base is good because it's something the players can grasp quickly. "This is Viking world" gives them some immediately useful handholds on how to play their characters. "This is Eberron, here are 300 pages on how entirely unique, gonzo and completely different from anything you're actually familiar with it is" does NOT.

What you're trying to do is help your players actually put some (really not much) effort into actual shaping their characters according to cultural considerations. If the game starts in a faux-Arabic part of the world, give them a large list of Arabic and Persian names and say "You can name your characters these, or something that sounds like these. No, you can't be Zorblox the Terminator." Make sure the weaponsmith only has scimitars and the like for a sword and ridicules the concept of a straight-edge double-bladed weapon. Adopt some approprate mannerisms - don't have to be truly historically correct, just consider pop culture perceptions: "Oh, mighty Effendi, thank you for gracing the humble establishment of Ali the fruitseller. Let me offer you these flawless dates. As it were, there is a wondrous story that comes with these fruits, told to me by the very man who cultivated them. [Three lines from the 1001 Nights, perhaps a minor adventure hook]" Give out XP bonuses to players actually make an attempt at playing along.

If you can get your players to make an attempt at something more unique than "It's really just me in maille", you have it made. THEN let them pick a demihuman race, and you'll see the tired old bland elves and dwarves come alive. And also, you'll get some world-building experience under your belt, so if and when you introduce some new race, it will feel more authentic.