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Trickquestion
2013-09-09, 07:40 PM
As part of a homebrewed campaign I've been cooking up for my players, I've had to generate an entirely unknown continent, whose discovery is a major turning point in the campaign. The continent has tropical coasts that give way to thick jungles, peppered with swamps and criss-crossed by rivers, that eventually gives way to a vast desert (and if that doesn't make geographic sense, good. Some very unnatural stuff went into making this place). I've inhabited most of it with the necessary retinue of monsters and adversaries, but I wanted to appeal to you forum goers for obscure/interesting specimens.

In particular, I need a sentient race to inhabit the desert region, and one to live along the coast line. For the deep jungle, I'm pretty set on sprawling Lizardfolk empires supported by Ettercap slaves, and for a tropical island ring not far from land, tribes of Lovecraftian, blood sacrificing Bullywugs really struck a chord with me. But none of the races I've looked up really sprung out at me for the last two niches. The coast dwellers are a xenophobic, paranoid bunch, but for good reason, as the Lizardfolk raid them for slaves, the Bullywugs raid them for blood sacrifices, and the sea floor dwelling Kuo Toa raid them for surface goods. They're slow to trust, but solid allies if you can win them over. I thought about making them Gnolls, but couldn't get passed the fact that Gnolls aren't particularly suited for swimming, as fishing and diving play a significant role in this civilizations culture. As for the desert dwellers, they're the wandering, nomadic survivors of a long destroyed empire, occasionally congregating at the ruins of their cities and wonders, which are slowly being lost to the sand. They consider the remains of their lost culture to be holy places, and will savagely assault trespassers, but let them go if they escape.

So, now that I've laid all that down, wow me with obscurity!

Scow2
2013-09-09, 08:52 PM
I am too fond of Desert-lion people in deserts... probably because of depictions of Sehkmet and the Egyptian deification of cats. What are you looking for?

Trickquestion
2013-09-09, 09:02 PM
Lion people, that's a pretty good idea. Are you referring me to any specific race, or just lion people in general? As for the question, I basically want a race that seems biology adapted to desert life, to hint at the extremely long time they've lived in the region, and something that can operate like the Sand People from Star Wars.

Ivellius
2013-09-09, 09:04 PM
For the coastal group, I'd consider orcs of some sort, unless that's too generic. Eberron's shifters might be a good fit as well, given that they can have animalistic traits. I think it's "longtooth" shifters that have werecrocodile ancestry.

For the desert group, gnolls could fit. You can borrow the Hamunaptra setting's modification in which they all look like Anubis.

Ravian
2013-09-09, 10:01 PM
Thri-Kreen for desert? Always loved Dark Sun and the mantisfolk in particular.

Scow2
2013-09-09, 10:19 PM
Lion people, that's a pretty good idea. Are you referring me to any specific race, or just lion people in general? As for the question, I basically want a race that seems biology adapted to desert life, to hint at the extremely long time they've lived in the region, and something that can operate like the Sand People from Star Wars.Just lion-people in general. I've never seen any stats for Wemics, and they're probably not quite what work anyway (As badass as the liontaurs from the QFG series are).

I say lion people, but really they're "Anthropomorphic cat-people with fur ranging from tawny to tabby, lion-tufted tails, and pointed ears (Like those of other desert cats, instead of the rounded ears of other Big Cats). The males do not have notable manes." I'm not sure how significant the statblock would be... what edition D&D are you running?

Maybe have the desert feature both Gnolls and lion-headed people - the lions seem to be more proud of their now-lost heritage, and the gnolls aren's sure of what theres was after the lion-people largely destroyed their cultural identity when the leonine race made its glorious, now-fallen empire.

... I could put WAY too much information into fleshing out cultures of desert cat-people races.

Why not make the Kuo-Toa the coastal race, with the Sahuagin the raiders from the deep? It might throw the PCs for a loop when they find out that the people they thought were mere monsters are actually the closest thing to a civilization the area has. It would also reinforce actual xenophobia - why would the natives want to trust the PCs? They look nothing like them, and probably kill a few of their kind in the process of learning they're the actual People here - but if the PCs want anything, they'll have to learn to negotiate and get into the native's good graces.

Admiral Squish
2013-09-09, 11:23 PM
'They're the actual people there'? Sorry, but I have to comment on this. One thing I think is important to any setting is to avoid flanderizing the groups involved. These are all people who have reasonable explanations for their behavior.
Let's take the blood ritual stuff from bullywugs. If you KNOW for absolute CERTAIN that you and everyone you know is going to be trapped in an inescapable hell-scape where everyone you love is being picked off one by one by some unimaginable horror from beyond the stars that is not only indestructible, but actually is so horrible that it drives you insane from just looking in it's general direction, wouldn't you do whatever it takes to avoid that kind of fate? Even if it involves sacrificing strangers for the cause?
Or the lizardfolk slave empire. Living in a swamp is never easy. Imagine trying to till mud to plant crops. Doesn't work very well, honestly. It's hard, back-breaking labor, that oftentimes seems completely pointless. Now throw in a race of poison-fanged savages that attack you whenever possible. If you can take that threat and turn it into a free source of labor, why wouldn't you?
These aren't pretty options, for certain, and they're certainly not acceptable in a modern society, but in the same approximate time period, these aren't uncommon policies in the world.

The point is that these are sentient beings, and if it's at all possible, they should be treated as such. They're not just a bunch of 'faceless generic bad guys', they're legitimate civilizations in their own right, with realistic motivations. Or at least they should be.

Scow2
2013-09-09, 11:37 PM
The point is that these are sentient beings, and if it's at all possible, they should be treated as such. They're not just a bunch of 'faceless generic bad guys', they're legitimate civilizations in their own right, with realistic motivations. Or at least they should be.Which is kind of my point :smallamused:

How many adventurers see Orcs, Sahuagin, Kuo-Toa, and the like as just mere sword-fodder, and treat their "Culture" as nothing more than "Reasons we should wipe these guys off the map?" and "How many guys we have to kill to do that?" instead of seeing them as an actual culture and people.

Trickquestion
2013-09-09, 11:47 PM
Well put Admiral. Actually, the Bullywugs have a specific reason for their bloodshed - A colony of aboleths live in a reef nearby and have been driving them insane, forcing them to fight each other as a form of natural selection in order to build them an army from the strongest.

A significant portion of this campaign is discovering the cultures these traditionally monstrous races have built, and who the players decide to side with, and which ways they wish to shift the balance of power.

originalginger
2013-09-10, 01:12 AM
Were I making a desert Race, I would tend towards a bird-headed, Jackal-Headed, Whatever-Headed race inspired by the Egyptian pantheon. As I think was mentioned before, Dark Sun is a great resource for desert creatures, and in fact, you would be surprised how many Dark Sun creatures I have been able to reflavor perfectly well as jungle creatures.

And for the record, both Africa and Central America have tropical jungles that give way to deserts, so your geography sounds plausible. Hard to know without a map, and you said you don't care anyway, so just a relevant factoid I guess.

Weirdlet
2013-09-10, 01:48 AM
My suggestion for the desert race? Drow. With matrons riding on the backs of giant spiders, surrounded by their veiled guardsmen, traveling in caravans between their underground homes that resemble enormous trapdoor-spider burrows, held together beneath the sand by silk and magic.

Heck, they could have cousins on the coast.

Gamgee
2013-09-10, 03:12 AM
Have stone golems left over running towns from a previous once dominant race in the desert. They can not create more of themselves, but it isn't too much a problem given their durability and longevity. Learning to communicate with them or even if they are friendly could be a good adventure. I would have even these powerful beings fear the coast though. Obviously water, but something in it.

This is the other species, deep under the water that raids unto land. A hybrid of a lizard and a serpent.

Thrudd
2013-09-10, 03:50 AM
Have you guys all forgotten about Flinds? You know, the lion-headed race introduced in the Fiend Folio, related to Gnolls in some way, which already exists in D&D? Gnolls and Flinds would completely make sense for the desert, if you want jackal/hyena and lion people for the desert dwellers. Flinds are the tougher and stronger of the two and are usually found leading packs of Gnolls who fear and respect them, or running in prides of their own kind.

(Apparently, the 3.5e monster manual III re-introduced flinds as a stockier, stronger gnoll sub-race with the same hyena like heads. In 1e Fiend Folio they were lion-headed, felinoid race that's how I remember them .)

prufock
2013-09-10, 06:39 AM
The coast dwellers are a xenophobic, paranoid bunch, but for good reason, as the Lizardfolk raid them for slaves, the Bullywugs raid them for blood sacrifices, and the sea floor dwelling Kuo Toa raid them for surface goods. They're slow to trust, but solid allies if you can win them over.
The Darfellan (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20050805a&page=2) would be good fit for this, I think. They are semi-aquatic, and the history written by Wizards actually includes a backstory of enmity with the Sahuagin. Change that to an evil water-based race of choice.


As for the desert dwellers, they're the wandering, nomadic survivors of a long destroyed empire, occasionally congregating at the ruins of their cities and wonders, which are slowly being lost to the sand. They consider the remains of their lost culture to be holy places, and will savagely assault trespassers, but let them go if they escape.
Possibly the Asherati out of Sandstorm Or perhaps a nomadic group of desert dwarves or halflings?

Scow2
2013-09-10, 08:17 AM
Have you guys all forgotten about Flinds? You know, the lion-headed race introduced in the Fiend Folio, related to Gnolls in some way, which already exists in D&D? Gnolls and Flinds would completely make sense for the desert, if you want jackal/hyena and lion people for the desert dwellers. Flinds are the tougher and stronger of the two and are usually found leading packs of Gnolls who fear and respect them, or running in prides of their own kind.

(Apparently, the 3.5e monster manual III re-introduced flinds as a stockier, stronger gnoll sub-race with the same hyena like heads. In 1e Fiend Folio they were lion-headed, felinoid race that's how I remember them .)

...why the heck did they have to change it?!

Trickquestion
2013-09-10, 12:29 PM
I'm liking what I'm hearing about Flinds and Darfellans, they seem excellently suited for the niches I have open. The Flinds in particular gave me an interesting idea for a twist on the origin of Gnolls: These Gnolls weren't created by fiends, but their dealings with them are what destroyed their civilization and reduced them to barbarity. As for the Darfellans, they sound perfect, but does anyone else have any more info on them?

Nebel
2013-09-10, 01:40 PM
I've always loved the idea of a civilization of the intelligent undead, dwelling in the cursed ruins of their civilization which they themselves have mostly forgotten.
It's tragic, poignant, and can make for really good adventuring.
Note- These aren't evil undead, they're just people trapped in a wretched situation. Expect lots of madness, both in the minds of these people and in the ruins that they exist in. Ghosts, echoes of the past, etc.

Trickquestion
2013-09-10, 02:34 PM
I've always loved the idea of a civilization of the intelligent undead, dwelling in the cursed ruins of their civilization which they themselves have mostly forgotten.
It's tragic, poignant, and can make for really good adventuring.
Note- These aren't evil undead, they're just people trapped in a wretched situation. Expect lots of madness, both in the minds of these people and in the ruins that they exist in. Ghosts, echoes of the past, etc.

That doesn't fit well enough into the mythos of this continent to be a full race, but it could make for a small dungeon. One of the cultural bits is that the Lizardfolk have a great number of mages amongst them, and necromancy is the most respected school of magic. I came up with this for the same reason I decided the Lizardfolk would be slavers: Building and farming in the thick jungle is exceedingly hard work, so in addition to slaves, they also maintain their empire with undead labor. Plus, nobody ever gives the Lizardfolk a ton of magic.

Scow2
2013-09-10, 02:41 PM
I'm liking what I'm hearing about Flinds and Darfellans, they seem excellently suited for the niches I have open. The Flinds in particular gave me an interesting idea for a twist on the origin of Gnolls: These Gnolls weren't created by fiends, but their dealings with them are what destroyed their civilization and reduced them to barbarity. As for the Darfellans, they sound perfect, but does anyone else have any more info on them?Seeing how the Flinds were originally lion-headed... would the Gnolls be a mix of hyena-, cat-, and dog/jackal-headed humanoids (With the Hyena form being the one the vast majority were twisted into by Yeenoghu when they took up Fiend Worship)?

I like this idea a lot.

Trickquestion
2013-09-10, 05:14 PM
I've been reviewing my notes for this campaign, and while I'm very please with how the sentient race suggestions fit in, I've realized I have a noticeable lack of random encounters when it comes to the beach. Does anyone have any good beach encounters besides pirates, night time Kuo Toa raids, and giant enemy crabs?

Beleriphon
2013-09-10, 07:40 PM
I've been reviewing my notes for this campaign, and while I'm very please with how the sentient race suggestions fit in, I've realized I have a noticeable lack of random encounters when it comes to the beach. Does anyone have any good beach encounters besides pirates, night time Kuo Toa raids, and giant enemy crabs?

Take anything aquatic that can also exist on land (sharks are right out, unless you have Dr Evil), or use the nearest predominant land based terrain and use that. Creatures that live in jungle that borders the ocean will also move on to beaches without too much trouble. Jaguars in Central America for example will hunt sea turtles that are laying eggs on the beach.

Scow2
2013-09-10, 11:41 PM
I've been reviewing my notes for this campaign, and while I'm very please with how the sentient race suggestions fit in, I've realized I have a noticeable lack of random encounters when it comes to the beach. Does anyone have any good beach encounters besides pirates, night time Kuo Toa raids, and giant enemy crabs?

MOAR giant enemy crabs! And oversized turtles! And maybe dragon turtles! Hydras! Ursula Andress in a white bikini!

Honest Tiefling
2013-09-11, 01:09 AM
What about dinosaurs? I mean, you could even have your Lizardfolk riding around undead dinosaurs. And just when its safe, you can assure your party that they see no signs of dinosaurs. And then they are eaten by a plesiosaur.

Or, you could include a barbaric version of a standard race, such as elves, halfings, or humans trying to eke out a living on the fringes of the other societies and forced to rely on raiding and looting in order to survive, through the governments of the Lizardfolk are constantly hiring small groups of well-armed merciless thugs to wipe out their settlements when they become too much of a problem.

Some sort of aggressive giant eagles also for the beach? Perhaps some version of seals or walruses? Yeah, I got nothing.

Trickquestion
2013-09-11, 11:07 AM
Had a thought for an awesome beach side random encounter: Giant Attack Starfish. Size of a van, each arm has a different beam attack, and it will use the tendrils on the bottom of its arms to draw adventurers towards its mouth, then spit its stomach out on them.

prufock
2013-09-11, 12:20 PM
As for the Darfellans, they sound perfect, but does anyone else have any more info on them?

I believe the two and a half pages they got in Stormwrack are all that were written on them. There might be a Darfellan-centric prestige class or feat or two, but that's about it as far as I know.

Beleriphon
2013-09-11, 03:01 PM
Had a thought for an awesome beach side random encounter: Giant Attack Starfish. Size of a van, each arm has a different beam attack, and it will use the tendrils on the bottom of its arms to draw adventurers towards its mouth, then spit its stomach out on them.

It need to have mind control. Why? Because Starro (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starro)!