OK, then create your own race

[Jay R]

We currently have two or three threads going about how people don't like the races in D&D. So how would you fix it?

Please tell us about a race you created, and what your motivation was.

I wanted a race of generic mooks that several other races would dominate for attacking humans, with a good reason for the ubiquitous -1 in daylight.

So here are my 1HD Goblins:

These are not standard D&D goblins, they are similar to D&D Orcs, but with slightly more stamina and slightly less long-term courage. They have a pasty white skin which is subject to sunburn. Their legs are slightly shorter than men’s, and the arms are slightly longer.

They are almost free-willed and sentient, being tribal creatures who will follow a strong leader - similar to the Great Apes in Tarzan books. They have no desire to be in an army – a raiding party is their preferred organization. Their morale is quite steady when they are winning, or when their leaders are behind them ready to kill stragglers.

Their claws are decent weapons, though not quite as good as swords. They prefer using weapons, to provide a little distance, but are quite willing to rend flesh with their claws if necessary, and will always feed with their bare hands.

They have no competent craftsmen, so their weapons are crude – clubs or very rough spears. If they have anything better made, they have been armed, or have stolen the weapons.

Goblins have no sense of tactics or planning. The same, alas, cannot be said for those who are leading them. Whether you see him or not, if there are more than 20 or so goblins together, there’s a leader from some other race commanding them.

They will occasionally be found riding wolves. It is an open question which race is in charge, and probably depends on the relative strengths of the orc goblin chief and the leader of the wolf pack. Certainly wolf-riders tend to ride in quickly, cut one victim out of the pack, and run away with it for feasting later.

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Anybody else want to share with the class?

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Thank you, Lorsa

[killem2]

I think most issues would be solved if we never had level adjustments.

[Ghost Nappa]

Replace "Racial Hit Die" with "Racial Hit Die Modifiers."

Modifier = ceiling(current_#_of_Racial_Hit_Die / 2)

So For Example Lizardfolk get a +1 Modifier. (2 Racial Hit Die -> 2. 2/2 = 1. ceiling (1) = 1. So a +1 Modifier.

What do you do with this modifier?
Simple. Whenever you are rolling for HP, increase the size of the die by that modifier.

d2 -> d3 -> d4 -> d6 -> d8 -> d10 -> d12 -> d20

If you would go OVER a d20, (say a Fighter Stone Giant who has a +7 RHDM), you instead put the remainder towards a BRAND NEW DIE. So a Fighter Stone giant gets 1 d10 for HP normally, but the +7 Mod brings that d10 to a d20. However, you have maxed that die with an extra +5. So, instead you create a brand new die starting at d2 (a coin). You wind up with 1d20 + 1d8 + CON Mod HP for every Fighter Level in Stone Giant.

Then, remove the RHD from ECL and re-balance LA's from there.

Edit: I considered adding a d% to the line, but that's WAY too good. Imagine rolling a 100 for HP? That's 5d20. No way.

Also, maybe make Kobolds a LA-1 race. They're kind of weak with net minus -4 to stats and some odd little bonuses like +2 to craft (trap-making). If you made them start with 2 Class Levels everytime, I think that might mitigate it somewhat.

[SethoMarkus]

I haven't created a fresh race for D&D, but there are two sub-races that I created for a campaign I was running set in a budding steampunk-era setting. For the most part they are just re-flavored Half-Elves and Gnomes, but I'll post them below. NOTE: Though they are homebrew, they are heavily influenced by Core 3.5 races; if anyone thinks it would be better to leave certain details out, I will gladly edit/remove the stats portions of the post.

City-Elves


+2 Int, -2 Con: City-elves are intelligent and inventive, but their Elf lineage makes them frail.
City-elves are not truly an elf subrace, but they are often mistaken for elves. City-elves have characteristics of both their Human and their Elf ancestors.
Humanoid (Elf).
Medium: As Medium creatures, city-elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
City-elf base land speed is 30 feet.
Immunity to sleep spells and similar magical effects, and a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells or effects.
Low-Light Vision: A city-elf can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
+2 racial bonus on Craft (Mechanical) and Knowledge (Technology). Inventing and mechanical engineering play a large part in city-elf culture, and so they learn of such things at a young age.
Elven Blood: For all effects related to race, a city-elf is considered an elf.
Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic).
Favored Class: Rogue.
Level Adjustment: +0.



The city-elves are not actually true elves, though they share the same ancestry. A subspecies created by interbreeding among the half-elves, city-elves have a much stronger blend of both human and elf qualities than that of an ordinary half-elf, who normally shows a stronger genetic link with one or the other parent species. City-elves Are muscular and tall like a human, but graceful with a hint of their Fae origins like an elf. City-elves are much like half-elves in their position in society, though they have developed a very strong culture centered around the newly developed technologies of Kraakia. Steam engines, airships, and firearms are all the result of mostly city-elf research and development.

City-Elf Random Starting Ages
Adulthood ------- Simple ------- Moderate ------- Complex
20 years --------- +1d6 ----------- +2d6 ----------- +3d6

City-Elf Aging Effects
Middle Age1----------Old2 ---------- Venerable3---------- Maximum Age
62 years ---------- 93 years -------- 125 years --------- +3d20 years
1At middle age, −1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
2At old age, −2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
3At venerable age, −3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

City-Elf Random Height and Weight
Gender ----- Base Height ----- Height Modifier ----- Base Weight ----- Weight Modifier
Male ---------- 4’ 10” ------------- +2d8 -------------- 110 lb. -------------- × (2d4) lb.
Female -------- 4’ 5” ------------- +2d8 --------------- 80 lb. --------------- × (2d4) lb.

City-Gnomes


+2 Constitution, –2 Strength.
Humanoid (Gnome).
Small: As a Small creature, a city-gnome gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but he uses smaller weapons than humans use, and his lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
City-gnome base land speed is 20 feet.
Low-Light Vision: A city-gnome can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
Weapon Familiarity: City-gnomes may treat gnome hooked hammers as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons.
+2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions.
Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against illusion spells cast by city-gnomes. This adjustment stacks with those from similar effects.
+2 racial bonus on Perform (Any Music) checks. The type of perform check this bonus applies to is to be chosen at the creation of the character. Music and entertainment is a large part of city-gnome culture, and all city-gnomes learn to play an instrument, sing, or somehow entertain at a very young age.
+2 racial bonus on Listen checks.
+2 racial bonus on Bluff and Gather Information checks.
+2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy) checks. City-gnomes have sensitive noses and can track the progress of alchemical processes through their sense of smell.
Automatic Languages: Common and Gnome. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, and Orc. In addition, a city-gnome can speak with a burrowing mammal (a badger, fox, rabbit, or the like, see below). This ability is innate to city-gnomes. See the speak with animals spell description.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—speak with animals (burrowing mammal only, duration 1 minute). A city-gnome with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation. Caster level 1st; save DC 10 + city-gnome’s Cha modifier + spell level.
Favored Class: Bard. A multiclass city-gnome’s bard class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty.
Level Adjustment: +0.



City-gnomes are the most common variety of gnomes, after the disappearance of their ancestral forefathers. City-gnomes stand 3 to 3-1/2 feet tall and weigh 40 to 45 pounds. Their skin color ranges from dark tan to woody brown, their hair is fair, and their eyes can be any shade of blue. City-gnome males prefer short, carefully trimmed beards. City-gnomes generally wear rich and lavish clothes of bright colors, though they often also decorate their clothes with intricate stitching or fine jewelry. City-gnomes reach adulthood at about age 40, and they live about 350 years, though some can live almost 500 years.


City-Gnome Random Starting Ages
Adulthood ---------- Simple ---------- Moderate ---------- Complex
40 years ------------- +4d6 -------------- +6d6 --------------- +9d6

City-Gnome Aging Effects
Middle Age1 ---------- Old2 ---------- Venerable3 ---------- Maximum Age
100 years ---------- 150 years ------- 200 years ------------ +3d% years
1 At middle age, −1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
2 At old age, −2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.
3 At venerable age, −3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

City-Gnome Random Height and Weight
Gender ----- Base Height ----- Height Modifier ----- Base Weight ----- Weight Modifier
Male ------------- 3’ 0” -------------- +2d4 --------------- 40 lb. --------------- × (1) lb.
Female ---------- 2’ 10” ------------- +2d4 --------------- 35 lb. --------------- × (1) lb.


Personally, I never had much of an issue with (core) D&D races, specifically the 3.5 versions that I was introduced to the game with. Anything in the "Races of..." books are fine with me as well. It has always been templates that I start to roll my eyes at...

[yougi]

I've included a city of Vakarians in my game, which is nothing but Mass Effect's Turians turned medieval, named after the playable Turian in the game. Culturally, they were pretty much Spartans: the war-focused, my-honor-is-my-life people.

They had something like +2 Str, +2 Int, -2 Wis, and a +1 natural armor. They had a racial power called "Paid to fight, nor to think", which gave them a +2 to saves vs Fear, but a -2 to saves vs charm and dominate. They also had a penalty to Bluff, Hide and Move Silently, from being knightly and never practicing those tactics (while still open to them).

[Lorsa]

Very interesting. I haven't created any races lately, or what I can remember. I'll see if I can come up with an interesting idea!

By the way, Jay R, I think your last paragraph mentions "orc" when it should say "goblin"?

[Dimers]

I've created one ...

Caverners, a race well suited to living in dark recesses of volcanic vents. They are extremely sensitive in most ways -- the D&D 3.X equivalent would be something like blindsight, the Scent ability and +4+level to all sense rolls. Their sense of smell is so fine, in fact, that they can communicate among themselves partly with smells they deliberately produce. Their native 'language' also includes broad gestures, and frequently, some inborn psionic talent, so they can talk with each other soundlessly in pitch darkness.

The smells they produce can't be sensed at all by most PC races, but anything with Scent can do it. Most animals distrust caverners because they can sense the changes in smell but don't understand them inherently.

Caverners are weak and slow because their home environment protects them from most sources of harm. Not many predators come down into volcanic caverns, y'see, so they take the sloth's approach to spending energy. Like a sloth, a caverner is also fine at gripping and climbing -- they just have no striking strength. Their bodies are definitely not mushy, though. Their flesh is almost as tough as softwood, with thick, waxy black skin that protects them from heat and noxious chemicals. They barely bleed at all, and they use food and water extremely efficiently, eventually coughing up about a few ccs of dust as their only excretion from a large meal.

Caverners are WEIRD in my gameworld, and not at all common. People distrust them to the point of superstition -- they're also called 'gremlins'. It doesn't help that their extreme sensitivity makes them cover themselves in heavy cloaks when roaming the surface world, to block out some of the constant torrent of sensory info. The cloaks make them look like stereotyped thieves. And their stats and traits do make them excellent burglars.

It's hard to explain briefly what I wanted when I started to design caverners, but it included "Small-sized race that is not ridiculous like hobbits and gnomes, dammit".

And greatly modified two others:

I took lizardfolk, added the idea that (like sewer crocodiles of urban legend) they don't stop growing with time, gave them a culture beyond the tribal level, made two distinct subraces, gave them expertise in spirit-work, removed their piratical kill-and-eat-all-sapients motivation, adapted their agricultural practices to make sense for their environment, decided that they're only decent swimmers but can run like the dickens, and as a final touch decided that they can do excellent vocal mimicry. Like my caverners, lizardfolk have a sort of language that isn't like the languages you and I are familiar with -- the lizardfolk use dance movements as words in what you might call aerobic poetry.

And I also rewrote mongrelfolk for my nefarious purposes. Their shapes can vary much more widely from each other, though most PCs would choose to be humanoid. Their animal parts can give them all sorts of physical abilities that other races just can't get -- in a world where shapechanging magic is viewed as demonic and corrected with lethal beatings, so no, other races STILL can't get those abilities. But I also made mongrelfolk socially even more of wretches than they were presented in AD&D 2nd ed., making them slaves with no rights in most parts of the world and adding in humiliating social injustice and intolerance everywhere.

My Elves Are Different and My Dwarves Are Different, but those races are really something that can no longer be confused with the usual lineup.

[GoblinGilmartin]

I don't know if this counts, and I don't have the stats at hand, but I once modified lizardfolk to be bigger and meaner by way of a half-tyrannosaur template added to the whole species.

Also, my current setting utilizes Desert Elves and Aquatic Dwarves. I haven't statted them out yet, but i think i'll just stick to the unearthed arcana modifications.

[Harbinger]

I refluffed and restatted a few LA +1 races to be LA +0. My personal favorite is the bugbear, which in my world is what happens when a hobgoblin mates with an orc.

Bugbear:
+4 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -4 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
Medium size.
Bugbear base land speed is 40 feet.
Orc Blood: For all effects relating to race, a bugbear is considered an orc.
Low light vision.

[Yora]

I've included a city of Vakarians in my game, which is nothing but Mass Effect's Turians turned medieval, named after the playable Turian in the game.
I used Turians as my primary model for a civilization of Lizardfolk in my campaign setting. The savage tribes of the jungles and islands are based on the Jungle Trolls from Warcraft.

I also created a small civilization of water genasi based on the Quarians. Since they are amphibious, they get sunburn very quickly, which is why they always dress in robes with the hoods up when going outside their villages. My main inspiration were some fanart pictures of quarians from before ME3.
http://newsimg.ngfiles.com/246000/246167_tali_without_helmet_by_cal.jpg

http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad130/gandolas/my_wife__s_tali_zorah_redesign_in_3d_by_nebezial-d4szlc0.jpg
I actually rely quite a bit on Mass Effect for designing my races. They are all so well connected through simple backstories that you only have to say "Quarian encounters an AI" or "Krogan runs into some Salarians", and you immediately know trouble is brewing and what it's going to be about.

The lesson to take away from this is: Design not just each race individually, design them simultaneously and connect them.

Goblins I redesigned very slightly for Pathfinder, since I really love the Moria goblins from the Lord of the Rings movies. I kept all the basics stats, but instead of a racial bonus to Ride, they have a bonus to Climb. There are no other goblinoids or orcs, and the goblins live entirely underground and very rarely go outside to the surface. Living underground, they are the only humanoid race that make regular trips into the actual Underworld and any attempt by surface people to descend all the way into their depths pretty much has to include getting goblin guides or at least directions.
It's still goblins, but with a somewhat different identity than disposable mooks for 1st level characters.

An entirely new race I created, though not a terrible unique or exotic one, are the Kaas, which are humanoids that blend characteristics from mountain lions, wolves, and ibexes. They are very tall and muscular and being native to mountains they are extremely good climbers. They also live in open plains and forests and basically take the role of non-evil orcs.
It's a bit of a blend of Warcraft orcs, the Ferai from the not-well known game Primal, and a bit of the Cathar from Knights of the Old Republic. They still need a lot of refinement of their specific culture, though.
http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/3/33745/1267711-primal_4.jpg

[BWR]

I don't invent new races. There are so many to choose from, I will find what I like and adopt it, and possibly reflavor it slightly. Sometimes it's fluff, sometimes just mechanics.

For instance elves (and other long-lived races) are allowed to, on average, be more powerful (high level) than shorter-lived races. The idea that 'humans learn faster and PC elves are exceptional' is just silly. However, I really like the Mystaran idea of elves being dabblers. They often get a bored doing the same thing for more than 50-60 years or so, so they try something else, whether it be life partners, careers or hobbies.
So an average 500 year old elf in my games might be nearing level 20, but those levels will be spread over several classes. A couple of levels in fighter or ranger because elves know how to use swords, a dip or two in wizard because elves know magic, swinging by bard because they like music and dance, passing through cleric or druid because you've picked up a few things from living in the forest, and there was that period she lived as a thief in some human city, and a few levels of commoner when you spent a 100 years or so tending crops.

In one abandoned homebrew setting, I decided to play up the 'organized and militaristic' description of hobgoblins, introducing a country of aggressively expansionistic hobgoblins. Sort of like Romans, without the same degree of political infighting. The hobgoblins were a major concern in that world (except for the elves, because they also followed the trend of being really high level and having lots of magic). Many kingdoms had fallen to the hobgoblins. Also, they were very good at incorporating conquered territory into their empire, taking their time to thoroughly subjgate a place before moving on. Very similar to the Yodotai of L5R, though I 'invented' these hobgoblins before I knew L5R.

[DigoDragon]

One of my popular homebrew races in my local group came about due to my group's dislike for gnomes and that all "cat people" races are essentially Dex-based creatures. So I mixed-n-matched and created a race of cat-people who were good crafters/inventors, but had no bonuses to Dex. They built large cities in the mountains and I even added a bit that made them less useful as clerics and cited that they were a race that believed in math more than gods.

Two years later was my first experience with The Eder Scrolls series.
I took one look at the Dwemer and thought, "Hey, that sounds awfully familiar..." :smallbiggrin:

[Friv]

If I were going to use nonhuman races in a way that I prefer, I would do the following:

1) Decide on what traits make them behave in a way that isn't how humans respond to things. Ideally, this would be tendencies that are nearly human, so that they're relateable and such.

2) No +s or -s to actual Abilities. Those make races too tempting to specific classes.

3) Each race gets a "major" trait and two "minor" traits, which shouldn't be things obviously good for a given class. Minor traits can be +2 to certain skills, as long as they aren't skills that are central to class ideas (so +2 Listen is okay, because everyone likes Listen, but +2 Open Locks is not okay, because that's specific to thief-types).

Low-light vision and Darkvision 60' are both considered minor traits. Darkvision is more useful within the 60' range, but low-light vision extends out much farther.

So, using pathfinder, dwarves get:

Major Trait: Paragon of Stability. Dwarves get a +2 bonus on saves against magic.
Minor Trait: Darkvision 60'.
Minor Trait: Hearty. Dwarves get a +2 bonus on saves against poison and disease.

Elves get:

Major Trait: Keen Senses. Elves have +2 to Spot, Listen and Search checks.
Minor Trait: Low-light vision.
Minor Trait: Sleepless. Elves trance 2 hours a night instead of sleeping, and are immune to spells and powers that cause sleep.

Halflings get:

Major Trait: Survivor. +1 bonus on all saving throws.
Minor Trait: Small.
Minor Trait: Fearless. Gain +2 bonus on saves against fear.

Humans get:

Major Trait: Lucky. Once a day, take 10 on any roll after rolling it.
Minor Trait: Adaptable. When you take at least one rank in a cross-class skill, you get a +1 training bonus in that skill.
Minor Trait: Friendly. Gain a +1 bonus to Diplomacy and Bluff checks.

Orcs get:

Major Trait: Thick Skin. Orcs gain a +1 natural armor bonus.
Minor Trait: Hearty. Orcs get a +2 on saves against poison and disease.
Minor Trait: Nocturnal. Orcs gain Darkvision 90', but are Dazzled in bright sunlight.

[Segev]

Posted this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16153629&postcount=218) in the "I hate X race" thread, but it seems topical here, so I'll repost:

Orcs with a sex-segregated culture:In the same setting I had the elves who couldn't start learning to be more than children, mentally-speaking, until they learned to meditate (since they can't sleep and get the long-term memory effects thereof), the orcs had a very sex-segregated culture. Females dwelt in cities, towns, and villages, and maintained farms as landowners. Small children and goblins, as well as younger females who had yet to inherit or develop their own homestead (or business), provided most of the manual labor to maintain a farm.

Males universally (or as close to it as possible due to cultural pressure) joined roving mercenary gangs. These gangs had tribal colors and emblems, unique quirks to their internal culture, and all those things one might usually associate with orcs in a fantasy setting (or Orks in Warhammer 40k) - culturally speaking.

Battles between these bands were as common and as popular as sporting events, but sporting events where bodily harm and death were very much on the line and in which practically every healthy adult male participated in some way. They pillaged, they served each other and other races as mercenary units, and generally give the external appearance of "orcs" to the rest of the world. Each band usually had 2-5 settlements that they called "home," and would wander from one to another. The males bring home some of their loot from their adventures, and pick up supplies from the towns.

The society is both polygamous and polyandrous:

Males often have a "female in every port," wooing and wedding them and visiting them as the "father of the house" when he's in town. Females often have a man in each of several of the roving bands, wedding and supporting them and providing them a home to stay in when he's in town.

More successful, higher-ranked males would often woo and wed younger, unestablished females, and use their wealth from their war efforts to set them up. Younger, less (as-yet) successful males were often wooed by more successful, established, wealthy females, and taken in as prize studs and the occasional aid to manual labor (but usually not, because it's not "manly" unless there's a great deal of posturing and demonstration of physical prowess to be done).

Don't let this make you think the females are erudite and peaceful and break all the orcish stereotypes, though. Compared to the males, this is true, but they are still most commonly impressed by bald strength and endurance. They share their race's lower-than-human natural intelligence and charisma, but they value high force of personality more, and they put their wits and wisdom to work to design situations where their strengths show the most.

Duplicity happens, but compared to humans, elves, and especially goblins, it's very rudimentary. Orc females will conflict openly far more often than will human women. They will bring raw economic force to bear, and are not above pitting their husbands against each other. Because the females value their lands and property very highly, they tend to have a more "rules of engagement" view on things: don't send males to attack undefended females. That's dishonorable. But scheduling a duel for their males is definitely encouraged.

Because of these arrangements, family names are inherited from the mother. Often, young males identify with a particular potential father and seek to join his gang, whether he's their biological father or not, but in truth, there's only the mildest of cultural pressure to join one of your fathers' gangs as long as you pick one and join one.

Similarly, most sedentary government posts were female-held. You can't have a Mayor who travels from city to city. Governorship (rulership over multiple cities and mercenary bands) is the only one that either could hold. If a female Governor ruled, it usually meant her home city was the dominant cultural and economic power amongst all those in the area, and she probably has a high-ranking husband in each of the major mercenary bands. If a male Governor, then his band is probably THE dominant military force in the region, and most of the Mayors are his wives. Every now and again, a powerful female and powerful male are wed, and while one of them is technically the Governor, the combination of a primary-dominant city and merc band made them as close to a traditional King and Queen (or Emperor and Empress) as orc civilization is likely to find.



Goblins, which I might write up in a separate post, had a shadow-culture and parallel government within orcish society. Sneaky and cunning (compared to orcs, at the least), they made up councilor and majordomo positions to males and females alike, as well as serving as menial laborers. While the orcs do treat them much as one expects, on the surface, with bellows and (relatively light) blows to get to work, the undercurrent and understanding of both races' cultural expectations is that, by being the ones whose hands are on so many vital systems of their mutual culture, the goblins are not actually to be looked down upon. Those who do will find their farms falling into disrepair, their businesses' essential supportive services delayed, and generally will suffer for it. But, conversely, the orcs are nominally the decision-makers; goblins make the decisions happen. And advise as to what is possible with resources at hand, and what might be possible with additional ones...

And, since it's referenced in the beginning of that spoiler-block, what I did with elves in that setting:In my custom D&D setting, Elves are very Feudal Japanese-like, and are one of the dominant races of the world. They enslave humans, because humans are "incapable" of civilization without elven supervision.

Interestingly, to me, elves are slow learners in this setting because they don't sleep naturally. Sleep is when short-term memory gets converted to long-term memory, which means it's when lessons are really internalized. Not that they had no memory, but really integrating them is hard. It's not until they learn the meditation technique that elves famously use in lieu of sleep that they actually start to learn at the same sort of rate humans do.

And, since it's a learned technique, it takes a very long time for them to master it. Especially since it seems kinda dull to child-like mentalities.

[Black Jester]

I use these two versions of the classic Elves and Dwarves for HarnMaster; a setting that is otherwise very smart and well thought-out, but has incredibly dull, cooky-cutter dwarves and elves.


Dwarves: There is only one stronghold of the Dwarves in the whole world left. They are a dying species, but they are not gently going into the light.
Due to the significant surplus of male to female dwarves, dwarf culture is matriarchal and polyandrous; The last stronghold of the dwarves is governed by a council of the most prestigious women of the settlement; for these women a large number of husbands is an important status symbol. Likewise, each guild or clan is lead by the most prestigious women; while the dwarven realm is often called a kingdom, it is actually more a republic. The great respect for their women has the unfortunate side effect that female dwarves face very severe social expectations - the dwarven people are dying after all, and the loss of any woman is a severe drawback. As such, dwarven women are not supposed to follow any dangerous or risky profession (and are supposed to bear children, preferably many).
Likewise, male homosexuality among dwarves bears no stigma, and the core military troops of the last dwarven settlement consists of a Sacred Band style unit of warriors.
Due to their endagered status, the dwarves have become isolationist, but not paranoid. They allow humans who acknowledge dwarven rtule to settle within their realm. These humans basically fulfill the same role of peasants they would also have in the human realms and are responsible for most of the food production in dwarven lands. These dwarven servitors however enjoy a few unique freedoms and are by default better educated - many can even be regarded as semi-literate.
Dwarven is one of the oldest written language around, and many human alphabets are based on the original dwarven runes. Generally speaking, dwarves put a lot more resources on written documentation and non-magical research and exact calendars. As a result, the most common time calculation measures, astronomy, mathematics and as a result advanced philosophy is based on dwarven concepts, even though this is a long forgotten fact. Modern dwarves are more concerned with survival than with philosophy or astronomy.
Dwarven religion is odd, as they worship the same god the Elves do and are basically monotheistic. Dwarves regard their deity however as female (unlike the Elves). There are organized priests, the vast majority of whom are male bachelors supposed to be the husbands of their goddess.

Elves: The original Elves once were basically transdimensional aliens settling in the physical world. Originally, Elves were actually beings of pure spirit who had to flee their original spirit world to the physical realm - but could not interact with it until they begun to possess humans - or at least tried to. The actual possession was not as perfect as planned, and the Elven spirits and the human minds of their usually unwilling hosts usually merged and form a new, unique being. These merged beings are usually also called Elves, the same as the spirit beings, which can be confusing at some times.
The originally human bodies now possessed by the Elven spirits began a slow but specific transformation and morphed slightly; however, most Elves who are physically almost indistinguishable from normal humans. However, most Elves have a few common traits: they age only very, very slowly, they are more agile than humans and they are a lot more sensitive towards magical energies.
Elves cannot truly reproduce, but the spirit part of an Elf is basically immortal and will survive the death of a host. If an Elf dies, the spirit leaves the dead body and find a new host (a human infant) to merge with it again. This has spawned the legend that Elves steal children (because they do). This immortality grants the Elves a vast amount of knowledge and lore, and usually Elves are both mentally and physically superior to humans. Another result is that the number of Elves is basically static; while a few hosts die from time to time, the Elven spirits are eventually reincarnated, but their actual number cannot increase.
Elven society in general is quite diverse, tolerant and open - for Elves. Their general abilities and their talent for using plant magic allows for a plentiful horticulture, and a lot of leisure time. And for most more unpleasant tasks, the Elves use human slaves (who also form their livestock for reincarnations).
Despite their often rather condescending position to humans, dwarves or any other sentient creature, Elves are not immoral, however. To the contrary, they often apply very high moral standards to themselves and have been known to treat any human who has earned their respect with great dignity. They may be condescending and even parasitic, but that doesn't mean that they are ruthless or cruel.
In many ways, that makes them worse.

[Yora]

I once created a completely new and original race. Unfortunately, I don't really have a space for them in my own homebrew setting. The niche they would fill is already taken by a different race.

The Erynir are humanoids who stand about 1,50m in height. Their skin is a pale light green and rubbery like a dolphin, and they have straight dark brown to black hair. Their faces are almost featureless with only small flat noses, a thin mouth, and dark eyes, resembling a bit a snake but on a human skull.
The Erynir are amphibious and generally live along riverbanks in family groups of a few dozen individuals.
Their technology is rather simple, being mostly stone blades or shards of steel cut from blades and armor plates made by other races. Even though they are good swimmers and completely at home in the water, they can also run and balance on wet rocks and roof tiles at high speed and are very confident in their ability not to slip. Racing over difficult and dangerous terrain is regarded with great value in their culture. Being aware of their small stature and relative frailty, they rely heavily on their mobility and hit and run tactics, but also very tenacious when it comes to pursuing a fleeing enemy if they think they can defeat him before he can reach safety or allies to help him in a fight. When faced with enemies too strong for them, they try to escape and won't give up or surrender for as long as there are still possible paths to escape, even if they would be very difficult and treacherous.

It's a neat idea and I created them especially to come up with a race that is really new and not a variant of an existing race. But they just overlapp with too many other races in my setting and wouldn't really have a niche for themselves.

[hiryuu]

Hmmm. Let's see here. Other than humans, who are basically the boss kings of magical power and have sponsored or even created whole other races.

Maize-cutters
These are my “savage race;” they live out in the setting's wilderness areas and on the continent I usually run games in, they generally mark their territory with animal remains and have a subsistence-level society. On two other continents there are cultures that are actually building longhouse-sized dwellings. They're essentially dinosaur-people, large dromaeosaurs, called “maize-cutters” due to the large toe claw. They use their mouth as a primary manipulator, are covered in feathers, and are violent but not aggressive. Humans helped them become a “true” race, so they call humans “big siblings” and vice-versa.

Opanian
Four legs, two arms, five eyes, one giant long tentacle hand for a face. They're basically crab-monsters from another universe who got stranded and then adopted by the ocean. They live underwater in rather expansive nations – they're essentially alone in the ocean except for Sky People, the occasional Iokyu, and so on. They have had contact with the Narhoojai, but for the most part their society plays out much like the surface does, with varying cultures and countries duking it out in the political arenas for control, only they don't like going to the surface because it's filled with aliens who have freakish non-organic technology. Also called “Fish” and “Silurans.” Despite having no actual resemblance to fish.

Sky People
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/181/f/5/races___sky_people_by_mr_author-d6bft9d.jpg
This is Thunder's race. They have several origin stories their cultures talk about, varying from the idea that they used to be human to Thunder watching them form themselves from moonlight. They have several cultures and can take human form, though it is all white, hair, clothes, and skin, and zip around between the earth and the moon in “sky baskets,” big ships made of light filled with dirt corridors and strange laboratories. They're basically white to slate gray with big spherical heads that have lights inside. They have cool outfits, though. They can teleport short distances by briefly turning into lightning and have a magic that lets them turn clouds into a type of metal they sell, because it becomes lighter than air when charged with electricity.

Golem
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/108/1/b/golems_by_mr_author-d624ixe.jpg
Golems are big, complicated ritual circles. The original technology to make them used human souls, then more complicated golems trapped tiny spirits into what amount to circuit cards, and now they can just form from certain types of stones and tree circles. They tend to look like big, clunky 1950s space robots. They have a unique form of magic they've developed revolving around singing and other types of art, but otherwise they haven't form too much of a unique culture for themselves yet, and look to human cultures for that.

Iokyu
Ancient, galaxy-old beings that thrive on cultures and react to memetic weight as if it were gravity. They rode here in their hosts, an alien species that died soon after arrival, and get by through possessing humans and visiting cultural events to feed. They're stuck on the planet until their hosts either leave or all cultures on the planet die out. The planet's memetic pull is too strong for them to escape. They can't otherwise interact with the physical world and resemble three-eyed shadows covered with petroglyphs just barely visible in their darkness.

The Language
A sentient language, straight up. They have no physical form other than something that can only be described as a floating metal dollop surrounded by electrical energy that walks on spider legs made of shadows. The majority of their body exists in a wholly metaphorical environment. They spend more time with Sky People than anything else since it's easier for them to manifest in sky baskets. They build cities out of potential ideas and suffer greatly when large-scale arguments breeze in. They try to communicate the fact that nation-wide conflict creates death and destruction for them, but it's hard to get across.

Narhoojai
Shapeshifting psychic pterosaurs who live underground. Long ago, when the Mother of All Things made dragons, some of them got “wrong,” and were able to bargain directly with the planet, the requirement to become a “race” and take one's place among the cosmology. They're old, but not as old as the Iokyu, and often serve as the planet's mouthpiece if something goes wrong. They don't have the ability to produce Voices like humans do (a sort of “planet dryad” that can think on a small enough scale to warn people of danger; there are only five at any one time and they wander around), but they can tell what it's feeling in general, and tend to congregate in “trouble spots,” mostly because they can get curious. They have a sort of monoculture, but only because they're constantly tapped into the wellspring of their origin.

Genesis
A demon space virus that slowly transforms the host into one of its own kind the more about its culture you learn. Usually they just use corpses, as that makes the transition instantaneous. The problem is that they're part of an alien ecology that been accepted by the planet as part of its own; used to be you'd just get infected by genesis syndrome and then horrifically mutate into a monster, but they've since gotten “better” and are in the midst of building a rather xenophobic settlement near one of the southern continents. They're only xenophobic because most of them remember what it was like to be human and want to protect people. They tend to look sort of like organic katsina.

[Jay R]

Humans get:

Major Trait: Lucky. Once a day ...

No wonder there are so many half-human races.

[Couronne]

I went with the following:

Vulkira

Basically overgrown, barely humanoid, vultures with a distinct lack of any ability to innovate and a habit of wearing ridiculously long robes, despite the tendency to get in the way when flying. They got that way by evolving enough intelligence to pick up on some basic techniques of civilisation (like herding and basic cultivation) from pictograms in ruins left over from a precursor race (ruins they inhabited, but never repaired because they couldn't work out how). They rapidly became the dominant species in their territory due to their use of the techniques they learned (everything else in their locale is basically feral), since when they effectively went into stasis as a culture. They operated like a sort of cargo cult, copying the pictograms as closely as they possibly could in a highly ritualised fashion because doing so seemed to get results - hence the robes...however impractical, it's what the precursors wore.

Zimoran

These were shaped like lithe humanoids but actually made out of a soft, supple type of rock (think Dryads but with rock instead of bark) which formed around a deep underground well of magic (magic in this setting was a resource much like oil). They were slighty insectoid with antennae which alerted them to the presence magic and instead of normal eyes they grew gems in faceted structures like a bug eye (and saw in same way as insects). They were also slightly empathic and therefore susceptible to 'catching' and reinforcing each other's emotional states when in large crowds. They tended to live apart from others, in small tribal structures, so that they didn't get overwhelmed by emotion too often. However there were occassions when particlarly strong empaths accidentally affected Zimoran over a wide area and large numbers of them came together, creating several 'Great Works' based on whatever upwelling of feeling they were experiencing (e.g. 'community spirit' ended up with a massive hive and 'terror' resulted in a twisted fortress carved into the side of a mountain with reliefs of screaming faces).

[AttilaTheGeek]

I feel any discussion of creating custom races would be incomplete without mentioning Pathfinder's race builder (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/creating-new-races). It is by no means perfect, but it at least gives an idea of a race's relative power and makes player races a little more varied, if that's what you're looking for.

[ReaderAt2046]

I had an idea for weird alternate versions of elves and dwarves.

Elves
Elves in this setting are not humanoids, but plants. Specifically, elves as we know them are the mobile seeds of enormous and highly magical "Mother-trees". Physically, elves look a lot like they do in regular D&D, except that they are bright green. The clorophyll in their skin provides them with a lot of nourishment, so even mobile elves only need to eat half as often as other races. In addition, elves have no need to sleep (and are immune to sleep spells), and possess a +5 racial bonus to saves against disease or poison, due to their peculiar metabolisms. They can communicate with any sentient plant or plant creature.
Elvish culture is kind of odd. Elves live in small bands of 20-30 elves that guard a single mother-tree, which will on average produce 5-6 new elves a year. Periodically, an elf will be seized with a form of wanderlust, and will go on a quest to find a perfect spot to root. This quest can take many years, but when it is completed the elf undergoes a starting transformation, encasing itself in a woody shell. Inside that shell, her body dissolves into goo, and then reassembles itself in a new form. Finally, the husk splits to reveal a sapling Mother-tree. Note that due to their unorthodox reproductive cycle, elves have no discernible genders, though all elves are referred to as female by convention.

Dwarves
Dwarves, on the other hand, are perhaps even more magical. Not even organic, dwarves are animate stone statues granted life via ancient magic. Dwarves thus have all the usual traits of constructs, and weigh about four times what they should, taking a hefty penalty on climb, athletics, and swim. They live underground, mining and burrowing. Dwarves do not have genders either, but by convention, dwarves are referred to as male. A dwarf will reproduce by carving a new dwarf-body out of a suitable stone, then infusing a portion of his soul into it, creating a new dwarf with its "father's" memories up to the moment of awakening. This process leaves both "father" and "son" weakened, and though their energies return, it takes some considerable time. For this reason, a dwarf who has sired once will wait decades or even centuries to repeat the experience.

[Scow2]

I feel any discussion of creating custom races would be incomplete without mentioning Pathfinder's race builder (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/creating-new-races). It is by no means perfect, but it at least gives an idea of a race's relative power and makes player races a little more varied, if that's what you're looking for.I see your Pathfinder Race builder and raise you Seventh Sanctum's Race Generator (http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=fantasyrace). Doesn't give you crunch, but it can give you sometimes usable races. If you generate more than one at a time, you can populate a whole section of a world (Or even an entire one!) with a diversity of races, and the traits assigned can often paint a picture with implied racial relations.

For example:The race of Pixies. They are well-known for their use of widespread semaphore systems. They are exceptionally good at divination. Their primary deity is a patron of their own race. Their government is extremely corrupt. A great destiny awaits them, and they wait for it patiently.

The race of Undead. They are naturally good at cryptography. Their primary deity is a patron of their own race. Their government is inefficient. A great destiny awaits them, yet they know it not.

The race of sentient Pegasi. As a people, they are generally good at record-keeping. Their magical practices focus exclusively on demonology. Their government is a plutocracy that is efficient.

The race of halflings. They are white-skinned and have black eyes. They have perfect memories. They are naturally good at history. They control an impoverished land. They came from another dimension.

The race of Griffin-people. As a people, they are generally good at haggling. They are noted for their stables. Their magical practices tend to focus on plant magic. They are integrated into another culture, but have no land of their own. A great destiny awaits them, and they wait for it patiently.This world seems to be highly cooperative, though there's some regional competition between the Undead, Pixies, Pegasi, and newly-arrived halflings, while the Gryphons form a universal service-and-agrarian-based middle class. The world/campaign seems to deal heavily with information, time, and destiny.


And then there's my earlier attempt:The race of humans. They have many horns on their heads. In their culture, astrology is a highly prized ability. They are famous for their tombs and black market. They are merciless towards the weak - even among their own species. Their government is a meritocracy that is efficient. Once slaves, they overthrew their masters and rule their realm now.

The race of dwarves. They are silver-skinned, fair-haired, and have light eyes. They are a hermaphroditic race. Their hearing acts as a kind of sonar. Their primary deity is a patron of their own race. Their government is a technocracy. They are integrated into another culture, but have no land of their own.

The skeletal race. They have cold-colored eyes. When they die, their bodies decompose instantly. They are an all-female race. They are famous for their shrines. Their culture has some strict regulations on technology. They barely control a land. Their history is unknown even to them.

The delicate-looking race. They have bony plates instead of hair. They have webbed ears. They are exceptionally good at demonology. Their government is extremely corrupt. They control an island chain that is known as a source of strange minerals. They are the reincarnation of another species.

The race of evolved squids. In their culture, astronomy is a highly prized ability. They avoid all kinds of magic except light magic. They are only interested in religion for practical value. They manage to control an impoverished empire. They are the descendents of angels.

The race of intelligent wasps. In their culture, story telling is a highly prized ability. They avoid all kinds of magic except earth magic. Their government is a technocracy. They exist outside this dimension, but have some influence inside of this one.

The misshapen race. They have tentacles instead of hair. They have blue eyes. They produce great craftspeople and priest(esses). They are famous for their houses of ill repute. They are the descendents of another race.Seven distinct races, and I'm still exploring how they all interact, and generate the history of this world (And it's bizarrity). It seems sort of like inverse-Lovecraft, where demonic humans have overcome and marginalized the heavenly cephalopods that,while it says 'enslaved' the humans, quite possibly had a more benevolent relationship (Evoking the "If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary." quote)... except the humans demanded democracy anyway, and turned everything to a hell. There's also quite a few issues of marginalization, and the subsumed dwarves (Who I'm guessing are sorta like Discworld dwarves in their homogeny, except you can't be wrong in guessing sex)

And, apparently, the world is actually just a bunch of 1st-world wasps playing some sort of Role-playing game... Oh, good grief. Not 'bug' wasps... White Anglo-Saxon Protestant "WASP"s... The generator just went full meta on me, and I just realized that.

[ReaderAt2046]

I also have an interesting homebrew race called the Dubbies. They're an arctic race, with a semi-tribal culture focused heavily around hunting and war. Their homeland is too chilly to grow much good food, but they supplement their diet via tribute, plunder, and trade with the human nations to the south.

Dubbies are divided into three distinct "aspects" which are essentially specialized subraces: Warriors, Crafters, and Mages.

Warriors stand about 8-9 feet in height, and are built vaguely like gorillas. Their bodies are protected by blue-gray plates of organic iron, which give them a +8 Natural Armor bonus, though they also incur a -4 Natural Armor Check Penalty. In addition, their hands end in massive, wedge-shaped claws of the same material, which give them a 1d6 damage unarmed attack. In addition, these claws mean that they are always considered armed for purposes of attacks of opportunity. They are incredibly powerful (+4 Str and Con), but rather clumsy (-2 Dex), and their claws tend to give them trouble with fine manipulation (-2 to rolls requiring fine manipulation). They also have the racial ability to rage 1/day (as the barbarian ability). They'd probably be a +2 LA race.

Mages, on the other hand, are smaller, slenderer, and more lightly armored. Their scaly hide is thinner than the Warrior's plates, granting only a +4 NA bonus, their claws deal only 1d3, and they have no rages or ability score adjustments. However, they calculate spells per day and caster level as if they had +1 level in whatever casting class they first took levels in. Probably also +2 LA. Note that non-Mage dubbies can never take levels in a casting class.

Crafters, finally, have the physical body of a Mage without their casting abilities. (Mages can be identified by the glowing blue sigils that appear at random on their bodies). As you might guess, these are the workers and craftsmen of dubbiec society. Probably +0 LA

As younglings, Dubbies are born with a crafter-style body (thinner armor and less muscular build). However, about 50% of those younglings will become warriors and another 5% will be mages. Once these younglings reach puberty, extreme emotion can induce the change. Especially for warriors, agony, rage, and fear are most effective, so Dubbies often beat their own children, hoping to trigger the change. Warriors change by "Warping", gaining armor, claws, a couple of feet of height, and lots of muscles within a few hours. Mages instead "Flare", discharging huge amounts of raw magic in showy flashes of light and fire.

[Reality Glitch]

I've tried my hand at stating a custom race of mine, I'm still in the process, but I have enough that I'm willing to show it for critiquing.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Drakin_(3.5e_Race)

[Jay R]

I've tried my hand at stating a custom race of mine, I'm still in the process, but I have enough that I'm willing to show it for critiquing.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Drakin_(3.5e_Race)

That link requires the closing parenthesis mark, like this:

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Drakin_(3.5e_Race)

[Reality Glitch]

Thanks, I didn't notice.

[Another_Poet]

Orpheans.

The premise of a campaign was that the PCs' home nation was falling. They were in the final, Helm's Deep-esque fortress and the king ordered them to take the princess and a small number of civilians and escape through a cavern system. The seal on the cavern was broken for the first time in many centuries, and away they went.

I needed a friendly race to exist down here, and I decided that it used to be dwarves, at war with orcs. But the two came up against a mutual foe so twisted and horrible that they actually banded together, and have interbred so long that a new race was born: the Orpheans.

(Better than Dworcs, I will say.)

Their stats were relatively blasé, a +4 to Str and some other adjustments. But they had a special ability: upon dying in combat, an Orphean can choose to immediately trigger up to 2 Alchemist's Fires, on themselves and one adjacent square, essentially blowing themselves and an enemy up. This was considered the noble and honorable way to go down, and was also meant to prevent the body from being turned into undead.

(Which is superstition, a few burns don't prevent necromancy.)

Their culture was the interesting part. They worshiped Moradin-Gruumsh, syncretized Roman Empire style, his holy symbol a hammer with a single eye in it. They had tried to preserve some of their old language, and the PCs' dwarf cleric could use Dwarven to cobble together a conversation with them.

They prized wood above all things, as they had no access to the surface in centuries. Almost every one of them was ready and willing to die in combat for his/her people, and they assumed that one day they would all be wiped out.

The PCs fixed that, and led the Orphean army to final victory against the mighty enemy who called himself "The Hero." He was the ghost of a human general from the PCs' own nation, sent down centuries ago to help annihilate the orcs, but then turning into a vicious atrocity-committing mutilator.

The PCs defeated him in combat several times, but he kept re-forming until they brought their Princess to him. Showing him the royal insignia, they had her congratulate him on a successful campaign and officially dismiss him from duty with honors. His soul passed on, and his undead army fell.

It was the first campaign I ever ran.

[BeerMug Paladin]

I sometimes run games in a homebrew fantasy setting that uses an assortment of homebrew fantasy races. Here is probably the most unique one: an amphibious octopus race.

They can't move very fast on land but are faster than anyone else in the water. If I recall correctly, it took two tentacles to equal the wielding strength of one human arm, but a single tentacle could hold an item at the ready. Four tentacles were dedicated to movement and another four could hold things.

They couldn't wear most clothing or armor (for obvious reasons) and they could shift their skin colors to hide (I think it was a +8 racial bonus to hiding, plus they could hide in plain sight if they did not cover their bodies with armor or such).

I believe that's most of it. They could naturally breathe both air and water. They principally made their homes in the shallows of coastal areas, using corals like dwarves used stone. They have cities of the stuff, often times along valuable trade routes. Although I don't think I gave them any craft coralworking or coral-structure related bonuses to crafting or such. If I rewrote them now, I would.

Large coastal cities would often have seaside fortifications made by these guys. To some extent, they're like my fantasy world's version of dwarves.

[Shadowknight12]

I create races at the drop of a hat. Made a Pathfinder satyr race using their points system and ended up with a fairly balanced (if slightly underpowered) take on them. I could have emphasised something else and given them other traits, but I wanted a diplomancer and I got one.

I am also fond of making themed subraces, like dwarven subraces themed after metal, orc subraces themed after semiprecious crystals/stones, elven subraces themed after aspects of nature, etc.

I am also fond of porting over mythological fae.