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Belphegor
2007-03-04, 04:13 PM
Currently I'm making a world of my own (not for a campaign setting; this is something just for me), but I ran out of ideas for races. I was wondering if anyones got a tottaly new race ideas. Try to stay away from the ussual races such as orcs, halflings, elves (unless something completely different from tolkin ones), gnomes. Also on a side note dwarfs are only known in legends as ingenious and skilled craftsman, leaving gigantic monuments of their skill (a bridge that passes over entire sea). So far I have:

- Zakhemen - nation of humans inhabiting large desert areas. Style should be like persian/egyptian. Great organizers and mathematician but alot idealistic and naive.
- Axrian - pale skin humans inhabiting Varsaav forests made of gigantic trees. They are sneaky and sly trying to disregard their emotions most of the time. Style German/Slavic. Inspired by Kurzick from the Guild Wars: Factions
- Norathi - Idea for flying mounts- Jorkens- nation of humans ascended from the Norathi planes to Northspire mounatins. They now live on mountains, enjoy riding large eagles and are allies with Rogaths, whose caravans they protect in exchange for money.
- Ishlani - made by Collin152 - A nation of sea faring humans living on the volcanic isle of Ish Jing. They are comptetitors for sea trade with Axrian nations. They pursue tasks with efficiency and diligence, with religion favoring the dragons that live inside the volcano. Not quite the craftsmen but sly and persuasive which makes them excelent traders. They make a facade of trust when dealing with strangers and their rarely show their true face to them.
- Tharaii - blue skinned humans with white hair which have amaizing magical powers. They are refugees from their destroyed flying city Zarphen.
- Rogath - race of mice diggers using clockwork mechanisms to dig instead of them.
- Alkarda - brutal tribalistic politheistic society that lives a nomadic life. Though brutal are quite honorable and proud.
- Woodsmen - race of humanoids living in peace with nature. They somewhat resemble woods they live in for better camoflage (also good for scaring the anyone who wants to harm the woods).


So please if you have any good ideas for a race please post it. Also further suggestions for the existing races are more than welcome (like where to put them relative to each other would be helpful. Human nations are close to each other since they are a part of a larger Gesarian Empire).

Collin152
2007-03-04, 04:27 PM
The Ishlani people, those who dwel in the land between the plains and the mountains, who persue tasks efficiently and dilligently, with religion favoring the dragons that dwell in the mountains. A very sly people, but keep to themselves a lot. Nimble with their hands, but not proud craftsmen. Culture derived from China/Japan, with hints of Russia.

Belphegor
2007-03-05, 04:18 AM
Hmm I like the idea of them worshipping dragons (though my world doesn't have dragons) but I would probably place them near a volcano (which they could see as a dragon) and near a great body of water. IMHO their slyness could use them good if they were merchants, selling their not-so-great products to other races. Also I think they deserve an volcanic isle.

Spacefrog
2007-03-05, 05:06 PM
I'm not clear whether the races you list are different human cultures or different species.

I don't think anything is missing, and more races might just make the setting too complicated.

If you do want more, how about a race of strong, tough, dumb warriors who are honourable and civilized rather than brutal like the Alkar'da?

Collin152
2007-03-05, 07:52 PM
Volcanoes, Merchants, whatever. Just let me know if you use them. No dragons? No dragons in our world, yet they got worshiped.

Belphegor
2007-03-07, 11:19 AM
I'm not clear whether the races you list are different human cultures or different species.

I don't think anything is missing, and more races might just make the setting too complicated.

If you do want more, how about a race of strong, tough, dumb warriors who are honourable and civilized rather than brutal like the Alkar'da?

Well practicaly Norathi, Zakhemen and Axrian are just different nations, but nations are OK to post. Adding Ishlani will make them a fourth nation. Tharaii are people born different that have amaizing magical abilities (but are despised for that), while woodmen and Alkar'da are true races.

Yeah I need more races that is my decision, besides I'll probably mix the current suggestions a bit to fit my own universe.

Ok maybe I didn't make myself clear I said brutal but not without honor. I mean they eat their fallen enemies and drink their blood, their culture takes a lot of blood spilling, but that is the way they are. Sure they live a harsh nomadic life and their clans war each other a lot. But when it comes to backstabing someone (to get higher up the ladder) Alkar'da do it less often than Norathi's which are the "exemplars" of chivalry and honor. Axrians have an Assasin Guild doing their dirty works. Zakhemen have the highest moral code but they aren't perfect. Also they are more naive then the other three nations.

Right now I'm thinking of making some sort of Ishlani pirates which do causal jobs for the nation of raiding Axrian's port.

@Collin152: Sure they'll live near the volcano because they believe it to be their Dragon Lord and they are sly sea faring merchants. Style is Asian.

EDITED: First page.

Vaynor
2007-03-07, 11:20 AM
Axran <insert name of choice here>, a brutish humanoid race that lives in hot areas, like desserts or volcanic reasons. They're nomadic and simple, but wise in the ways of the world.

EDIT: Just realized my name was very similar to one of your current races. :smalltongue:

Belphegor
2007-03-07, 11:55 AM
Sorry vaynor but I got Alkarda already. Hmm I might consider changing Alkar'da's a bit. Also I'm not native so if you would care to further explain brutish but smart in the way of the world :)

It puzzles me why would someone want smart brutes :? It makes no sense (I personally have a strong dislike for peaceful shamanistic orcs like the ones in warcraft 3). If they have muscles they don't need the brains to figure what to do with them (I'm speaking as a race in general).

levi
2007-03-07, 01:18 PM
Sorry I can't be more helpful on the main point of your post, but I do have one little nit pick reagarding the name "Alkar'da". Apostrophes are used for five reasons:

1) To indicate possesion.
2) To indicate removed sylables in a contractions.
3) To form a plural of a single lower case letter.
4) As a glottal stop. (And occasionally as other obscure letters.)
5) In a fantasy name to make it look exotic.

I suspect you're using it for reason number 5. Although it is possible that you've intended it as a glottal stop or contraction. If you're using it as a glottal stop, I have to congradulate you on your depth of linguistic knowlege, but have to caution you that most of your readers will be unable to correctly prounce it. (I know what a glottal stop is, but for the life of me can't get my voice to produce one.) If you intend it as a contraction, I must say that is interesting, and I am curious as to what the full name is and why it got shortened.

If, on the other tentacle, you're using it to make thier name look exotic, I suggest you drop it. It's a meaningless and overused cliche. It serves no real use and only needlessly complicates matters. (Especially if one of your readers can pronounce a glottal stop. In which case they'll be pronoucing your race's name wrong. Actually, in this case, they'll likely be unable to pronounce it because a glotta stop is a consonant and I don't think " k' ", " 'r ", or " k'r " are pronouncable consonant clusters. But I could be wrong on this point.)

Belphegor
2007-03-07, 01:30 PM
I agree. Making possesive is tedious (Alkar'da's) that is the main reason for dropping it (besides your post). Actually I didn't came up with the name I borrowed it from a dead build a world project called Urth. I have no real attachment I just liked the way it sounded previously and didn't want to change it.
(another example name from the world is a race Zhuck'noz'or which I simply renamed Cressavians makes more sense)

Illiterate Scribe
2007-03-07, 01:30 PM
Rogath - race of mice diggers using clockwork mechanisms to dig instead of them.


Is this meant to say 'mine'? I actually think that mice would be a good idea - slightly more sinister than gnomes, but retaining the comic element, and of course, it's a small furry rodent.
Miniature Giant Space Hamsters FTW!

Roethke
2007-03-07, 01:47 PM
Well, to steal shamelessly,

Vernor Vinge, in his "Fire Upon the Deep" & "Deepness in the Sky" books came up with a race of canine-like creatures that were only intelligent in packs.

Small packs of 3 dogs or so would end up being pretty dumb (not enough raw material to work with), with the ideal pack size being 4-6, and since speed of thought was the speed of sound, large packs also ended up being not really intelligent. He did mention that huge packs were used as sentries. Really barely more than animally intelligent, but able to relay information at the speed of sound.

A side side effect of this organization is that pack-minds are immortal, so long as they keep integrating new pups (which changes the personalities subtly, depending on the characteristics of the newcomers).

Another aspect was the concept of personal space. In Vinge's vision, if two of these beings approached each other (i.e. their packs intermingled) the thoughts would be confused, and the pack-members would be act much more ferally. This would happen in war, and for mating.

Anyhow, I always thought this would be very cool race to encounter (though maybe difficult to play) in D&D. As written, they'd be particularly vulnerable to sonic spells.


Their thoughts were distributed among packmembers ultrasonically.

Vaynor
2007-03-07, 06:31 PM
Sorry vaynor but I got Alkarda already. Hmm I might consider changing Alkar'da's a bit. Also I'm not native so if you would care to further explain brutish but smart in the way of the world :)

It puzzles me why would someone want smart brutes :? It makes no sense (I personally have a strong dislike for peaceful shamanistic orcs like the ones in warcraft 3). If they have muscles they don't need the brains to figure what to do with them (I'm speaking as a race in general).

Well, I meant they were wise, but not of the kindly sort. Not brutes as in stupid, but they are violent. For example, they would have fairly average to low Int scores, but high Wis and Str scores.

levi
2007-03-07, 07:05 PM
I have no real attachment I just liked the way it sounded previously and didn't want to change it. Well, seeing as the apospostophe didn't actually affect the pronounciation, it's not like you've lost anything by dropping it.

Those hive minded canines sound like a really good idea. I'm wondering how one would work in out in DnD stats though. The obvious techniques of adding together Int scores or providing a static +X bonus per individual to the hive mind's collective Int don't actually work due to the fact that they don't deal with the increased overhead that comes from having an overly large group. I'll do some thinking on this and see what I can come up with. (Yeah for algebra. They said it was good for something, but I don't think this is what they had in mind. He he.)

They sound very interesting to encounter and run as a DM and have great potential as an idea for a PC race, but I wonder if they could ever be adequatly balanced. I'm guessing to avoid combat cheese (you're in five to seven places at once), they'd have to be pretty weak on the melee front. On the other tentacle, I'll see if I can come up with something workable.

Furthermore, they don't nessessarily have to be canines as described in the original author's work. In fact, to be a little less plagaristic about it, perhaps they should be changed to something else. Anyway, before I get two involved in making stats, etc. I guess we should see if Belphegor likes this idea or not.

I'll likely end up doing something with it either way as the idea of a multiple creature hive mind has intrigued me ever since I first read Gödel, Escher, Bach. Making them suitable for a PC race adds a level of challenge I'm not sure my d20 skills are up to, but I feel compelled to give it a try. (Musta' failed my Will save.)

ShneekeyTheLost
2007-03-07, 07:17 PM
I have an interesting concept for Halflings...

The orcish raiding party stomped through the fields, intent on raiding the homey village. They had no care for stealth... what can Halflings do to them anyways?

A string with several pieces of tin was strung along the edge of the field, which clanged loudly as the orcs stepped on it, snapping the string rather than dealing with it further.

An owl hooted three times, and all the crickets go silent. The orcs look around nervously, then see the owl in the tree above them, which hoots three times again. They take another step, then the first three orcs sink hip-deep in mud. The ones in the back curse as briars grow up around them, hampering their movement. Demoralized and confused, the two in the middle try to run off... no one ever heard from them again.

In the morning, the corpses have vanished and the fields seemed undisturbed by the actions of the previous night, carefully tended and well cared for by the earthy halfling folk.

Halflings are a jolly folk content with their life. They enjoy the finer things in life... good drink, good beds, pleasant company... and they are clever in how they go about seeing their wants and needs met. They share a close affinity with Nature, just as much if not more so than the Elves. They tend to live on the rolling plains, but can also be found in woods or hills. They tend to avoid subterranian, swampy or rocky mountains because they are not suited to agriculture.

Their villages sprawl all over the place. In heavily wooded areas, the 'sprawl' may include vertical as well as horizontal space, creating houses in the leafy treetops as well as on the ground. In all cases, their building tries to leave as little impact on the terrain as possible. Thatched adobe houses are used frequently because the building materials are readily available and require minimal impact on the ecology, although the underground burrows of the infamous LOTR series may be found if the terrain suits their build, often times planting a garden on the knoll the building creates. Halflings distain the Human cities because they're too many in too little space and have no reguard for the local ecology.

Halflings are superior farmers and orchard tenders, and the majority of their diet comes from these sources, although they will also tend animals for food sources. They rarely hunt except in times of great need when their supply of grains and domesticated animals is dangerously low.

Halflings place a very heavy significance on family, although they use the term very differently from humans. Generally, a halfling village will be primarily one family, who shares communal property and sees to it that everyone's needs are met, nearly an ideal Democratic Communism where everyone's voice is heard and is weighed before any decision impacting the population is made.This gives them a great sense of a very tight knit community that actively helps one another out. Occasionally, a halfling village will 'sprawl' out into another and their borders merge. When this happens, they will continue to grow in a different direction, and there will be two 'families' in the town, each with their own communal property, although they may borrow and lend with each other frequently. As they marry between each other, the children take on hyphenated names and are considered a member of both families. Marriges between hyphenated and non-hyphenated will result in a hyphenated name. Eventually, after several generations, the majority of the people will have hyphenated names, and the entire community will be a single unit again, with the spare people who haven't been cross-bred yet adopted into the community, and the name is contracted for easier speaking, making it one much larger community rather than two seperate communities.

They place a great importance in Hospitality, and will never break the rules of hospitality. Once hospitality is given, they will ensure the guest's needs are taken care of, a decent meal and place to sleep, and in return the guest is expected to be polite and civil and in general help out where possible. An adventuring group may be able to find food and shelter within a Halfling community, however they will likely end up washing dishes and perhaps mending the roof, so long as the party seems 'the friendly sort'. Refusing hospitality is a VERY serious thing, not often undertaken, and indicating a blatant hostility to the party being refused. Shunning is the most severe punishment given, and may last for as little or as long as the community thinks is necessary for the desired effect. Adoption is a serious matter, and even non-halflings can be adopted into a family if the family decides on it. However, it is a family matter, and so done democratically with every adult having their say and vote. Once adopted, a person is a member of the community, and is expected to act like one, with all the rights and responsibilities as everyone else.

So far, the halflings seem a peaceful sort, and in general they'd perfer peace to war, however when threatened, they are as fierce as any dwarf defending his mine. Their close affinity with nature springs plenty of druids and rangers, and their tactics are most often gurrella warefare, lying in wait and ambushing from concealment with ranged weapons or spells. They don't care as much about property as they do life. Sometimes they are willing to be 'taken over' to present a united front of passive aggression against the oppressor. Against raiders, however, they will simply strike with lethal intent. They will not give chase if the raiders retreat, but they will not show mercy to those who remain hostile.
Halflings do not have a strong desire for property. They do wish to live in comfort, however they find that nature will provide most that they might wish for. They have little use for hoarding gold, since it is of limited value. You cannot eat gold, nor can it make a good bed, nor can it be used to make a decent pot or shoe a horse. Halflings tend to barter for what they need that their community do not have, trading value for value. For example, one village might be situated in fields idealy suited to sheep, and another might be more suited to cattle. The people from the first village would likely trade wool and woolen clothing for cheese and milk from the second, rather than using gold to purchase it. This is generally handled by the people who are responsible for the production of the items, although other members of the community may offer advise or suggest the community as a whole needs to look at the deals closer. So the Halflings who are in charge of tending the sheep and making the woolen clothing would be the ones responsible for trading for the cheeze and milk from the dairy maids of the second village. The logical basis for this is that they figure the ones who actually go about making/harvesting the goods to be traded will best know their value since it's their blood/sweat/tears that go into making it. As a result, the concept of the Rogue is very difficult for most Halflings to comprehend.

Every so often, a Halfling may get the wanderlust and want to go out and explore the world. The other halflings may see this as a bit different, but in general are more amused than upset about it. They see to it that the family member has enough food to see him a goodly long while and whatever else he might need on his journey and wished a fond farewell by the entire family. Very rarely, a halfling will prove to be so ornerous that the family excomunicates the fellow, ejecting him from the community. Oddly enough, he will get nearly the exact same treatment as one who leaves of his own accord, although the party is celebrated after the person leaves rather than before, and is more of a 'glad he's gone' than a 'take care' sort of flavor. From these sorts are adventuring halflings made.

Stats for halflings are as listed in the book, although Favored Class is Druid and Ranger rather than Rogue.

On Classes:

Barbarians are rare, though not unheard of in Halfling communities. Typically, they focus their rage and are the most ardent defenders of the communities. Clerics are also very rare, as Druids perform nearly all the functions that Clerics normally do. Fighters are also rare because typically there is no need for dedicated Fighters in their society, as the majority of the combatants are Rangers or Barbarians. Once in a while, a halfling struck by wanderlust will also develop the thirst for music and become a Bard, and they are generally treated with respect due their calling. Halfling Bards, at least, are proper guests, and will be most happy to sing for their supper, often times creating an impromptu party when visiting other halfling communities. Halfling wizards are very scarce as very few of them ever get 'bookish' enough to study magic and root around libraries and tomes of magic. Sorcerers are more common than wizards, but even they tend to be very uncommon. Monks are almost unheard of because they have no temples nor any places of philiosophical debate (other than the local tavern) which might spawn monks. While Halflings seem idealy suited to the life of a Rogue, they have difficulty with the concept of the class. They have family/community property, and their sense of hospitality will generally keep them from making free with anything from someone who invited them in. Druids are common, and fill the primary role of religious figure. Halfling worship tends to be a general respect of Nature and Her bounty. Rangers, rather than Fighters most often serve as the core of their military and main aggressors in a combat situation.

While they rarely have standing armies, some halflings study the art of war and the best tactics and strategies to use, often being passed down from generation to generation. These halflings will act as generals in times of war, telling the other halflings how to best act in any given situation. Halflings will rarely ever field armies, they vastly perfer hit-and-run tactics, gurrella warefare, and whittling down the opposing army until they go home. An army might conquer a portion of halfling land, but trying to maintain it will be a constant string of hassles and headaches as every halfling will unite to present a front of passive resistance while the militarily inclined ones will strike at strategic targets, then fade away into the background. Figures like Robin Hood and Zoro are far more common than Napolean.

Fax Celestis
2007-03-07, 07:22 PM
Sherevine, wooly yeti-looking humanoids who live in the cold southern/northern reaches. Look large due to their fur, but are really smaller than most humans. Suggested abilities: claw attacks, con bonus, dex penalty, cold resist (or perma-endure elements for cold only), fire vulnerability.

Vaynor
2007-03-07, 07:22 PM
I have an interesting concept for Halflings...

[I][i]The orcish raiding party stomped through the fields, intent on raiding the homey village. They had no care for stealth... what can Halflings do to them anyways?

*snip*

An army might conquer a portion of halfling land, but trying to maintain it will be a constant string of hassles and headaches as every halfling will unite to present a front of passive resistance while the militarily inclined ones will strike at strategic targets, then fade away into the background. Figures like Robin Hood and Zoro are far more common than Napolean.


Can I steal that? :smallbiggrin:

Jorkens
2007-03-07, 07:51 PM
How about an mysterious and slightly spooky race of solitary wanderers - often accumulators of knowledge or traders in rare magic items. They have natural magical abilities (especially relating to extradimensional storage and travel) which explains how they keep their spartan possesions and their exotic wares in the folds of the all-concealing brown robes that they're never seen without. They speak no more than is neccessary to other races, although on the rare occasions when two of them are in the same place they can communicate in their own droning repetitive tongue for hours on end - a lot of people speculate as to what they're saying, but noone really knows. You never see one get angry, but you somehow get the feeling that this is a good thing.

They have as many names as there are places they've visited - noone knows what they call themselves.

Belphegor
2007-03-07, 08:30 PM
@Roethke (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/member.php?u=14926) : Great suggestion. I really like the idea of many caninens forming a higher sentinent being (like a hive-mind). Instead of canniens
@ ShneekeyTheLost: sorry I don't have halflings. In fact my world doesn't have half-anything. Races don't mingle significantly.
@ Jorkens: I have Ashenlocks a race of spirits from destroyed Zarphen. They should have a lot of cool items and probably want to revenge them.

Jorkens
2007-03-07, 08:38 PM
A couple of other points (edit - rereading, these seem a bit negative. Try to see them as suggestions rather than as criticism...)

If the Tharaii are so magical, why aren't they running things? How was their city destroyed? Is there an equally powerful race or being that's keeping them in check? Or do they naturally not get on with each other, so one of them can't start doing too well before a faction of his enemies knock him down again.

Being horsemen and living in the mountains doesn't really go together, so the present description of the Norathi sound a bit weird. You could try giving them flying mounts, though... Even then, I can't help feeling that building up a civilization that can support knights in shining armour would normally be associated with fertile farmland. Maybe they're actually a caste or a tribe from another civilization that at some point moved to the mountains and tamed (or came to an understanding with) the giant eagles that lived there. They built up a symbiotic relationship with the Rogath, protecting their caravans from raiders and their cities from treasure-hungry dragons in exchange for a handsome cut of the profits - enough for them to build spectacular cliff top castles and spend their time practising chivalry.

Sorry, started free associating there.

You don't seem to have anyone who lives on plains and farms. That seems like a fairly important role to have filled - if anything, you'd expect the people in control of the fertile plains to have built up one of the richest and most powerful civilizations.

Re apostrophes - it always seems like a fun idea to have a character called something like J'han, who on being pressed will explain that it's short for Jonathan.

ShneekeyTheLost
2007-03-07, 09:01 PM
Can I steal that? :smallbiggrin:
Give credit where credit is due, but sure, otherwise I wouldn't have posted it.

ShneekeyTheLost
2007-03-07, 09:02 PM
@ ShneekeyTheLost: sorry I don't have halflings. In fact my world doesn't have half-anything. Races don't mingle significantly.

Perhaps you misunderstand... halflings are not half-anything. They are labeled so by humans, who saw them as half the size of a human. It is a play on their size, not their lineage.

Fax Celestis
2007-03-07, 09:08 PM
How about an mysterious and slightly spooky race of solitary wanderers - often accumulators of knowledge or traders in rare magic items. They have natural magical abilities (especially relating to extradimensional storage and travel) which explains how they keep their spartan possesions and their exotic wares in the folds of the all-concealing brown robes that they're never seen without. They speak no more than is neccessary to other races, although on the rare occasions when two of them are in the same place they can communicate in their own droning repetitive tongue for hours on end - a lot of people speculate as to what they're saying, but noone really knows. You never see one get angry, but you somehow get the feeling that this is a good thing.

They have as many names as there are places they've visited - noone knows what they call themselves.

Sounds like the Arcane out of 2e.

levi
2007-03-07, 09:11 PM
Regarding the suggested idea for halflings. It seems to contain a bit of a misconception. It stresses how much regard they have for nature and ecolocology and goes on to "supposedly" support this point by emphasising that they only hunt in dire situations, such as when they've run out of grain and domesticated meat. This is compleatly backwards. Grain farming and the keeping of livestock do serious ecological damage. (Don't get me wrong, I understand that it's nessessary to support modern population sizes.)

Hunting and gathering, provided the population density is low enough to support it as a sustainable lifestyle do far less damage to the ecology than farming or herding does. In fact, much of the ecological damage being done in third world countries is a direct result of the pressure for more farmland and space to pasture livestock. (Much of this sort of damage has already been done in the industialized world.) So if the halflings really wanted to negate thier ecological impact, they'd do the exact opposite of what you suggest. They wouldn't farm or keep large herds of livestock. They wouldn't settle in permant communities. They'd be small bands of nomads who moved about sufficently to avoid overtaxing any one area. Just thought I'd point that out, even though Belphegor isn't using the idea.

Regarding what Jorkens said about horsemen in the mountains. Yes, it dosn't actually make any real sense. Horse tribes and the later cultures that derive from them are found in regions in which the geography is dominated by wide open spaces. This is the native enviroment of horses and where they provide a signifigant advantage so as to make them worth domesticating.

If you want to keep their mounted focus and thier mountain homeland, but don't feel that Jorkens's idea about flying mounts is a good fit for what you had in mind, I have a suggestion. Perhaps they could ride some mount native to the mountains, such as dire mountain goats, or whatever it is the Guy from Princess Mononoke rides. (It had cleft hooves, which are good for gripping rough mountain terrain and could jump like crazy to pass tough obstacles or handle sudden changes in altitude.)

Jorkens
2007-03-07, 09:15 PM
Sounds like the Arcane out of 2e.
He he. I've got a feeling it's basically rehashing something that I can half remember from somewhere, but I don't think it's that...

jjpickar
2007-03-07, 10:47 PM
The Shhhaa. They were once humans who's sole purpose in life was to become immortal. To this end they studied and collected magical lore and after 1,000 years of preparation they performed the ritual. Unfortunately, the gods did not like these mortals presumptuousness and caused the spell to go a awry. They were given immortality but lost physical form becoming living ghosts to the world. The only physicality left to them was each other. As they are not incorporeal in their interactions with each other. They are immortal but after a time they are driven insane and literally fade from existence. This takes ironically about 1,000 years.

Belphegor
2007-03-09, 11:54 AM
1.If the Tharaii are so magical, why aren't they running things? How was their city destroyed? Is there an equally powerful race or being that's keeping them in check? Or do they naturally not get on with each other, so one of them can't start doing too well before a faction of his enemies knock him down again.

2.Being horsemen and living in the mountains doesn't really go together, so the present description of the Norathi sound a bit weird. You could try giving them flying mounts, though... Even then, I can't help feeling that building up a civilization that can support knights in shining armour would normally be associated with fertile farmland. Maybe they're actually a caste or a tribe from another civilization that at some point moved to the mountains and tamed (or came to an understanding with) the giant eagles that lived there. They built up a symbiotic relationship with the Rogath, protecting their caravans from raiders and their cities from treasure-hungry dragons in exchange for a handsome cut of the profits - enough for them to build spectacular cliff top castles and spend their time practising chivalry.

3.You don't seem to have anyone who lives on plains and farms. That seems like a fairly important role to have filled - if anything, you'd expect the people in control of the fertile plains to have built up one of the richest and most powerful civilizations.

4.Re apostrophes - it always seems like a fun idea to have a character called something like J'han, who on being pressed will explain that it's short for Jonathan.
Ok tnx for comments guys I like when pointing inconsistency in my world, feel free to point every possible thing. (I noted your groups of questions for easy answering).

1. Tharaii were a part of human nations once. They are like mutant (1 in every two thousand is a tharaii) and they can breed with any human (or tharaii) normaly but the chance of offspring being a tharaii is relativly small (1 in every five hundred). Tharaii sensed that the other people were becoming jealous of their gifts and moved away to form Zarphen, knowing when the other humans were advanced enough to find their city, they would be more tolerant of them. They believe to be a sort of a higher humans and that they share the duty to protect "lower humans" from outside threats (non human races).
Many humans today posses the same gifts as Tharaii but can't use them. Tharaii usually help such people, hoping they will aid them in future.
Gifts tharaii posses are mostly psionic like reading minds and being able to see into future or even mind control. Tharaii also discovered magic. Any man can learn magic but it depends on his mental abilities how long will it take for him to study. It isn't a correlation but generaly gifted humans learn magic faster.

Secondly they are magical but there is too few of them (less then 100) to actually do something really big, plus they sense that a great threat is emerging and that it must be dealt with, so they are allying with other human nations in order to stop it. Also there are Avatars of the Five Gods who work closely with Tharaii and monitor them most of the time.

As for the destruction an army of reanimated dragons was sieging the city. Despite their efforts the dragons and their masters landed in Zarphen and leader of Tharaii in a last effort unleashed a magic that destroyed the pillars which held the city flying. Because city crashed creating the crater below it. Afterwards the rain filled the crater and the Lake of Sorrows was created. Near the lake of sorrows is Ashenwood (Ashen=Cursed) and the ghosts of the dead Tharaii make the Ashenlock Conclave.

2. Well Norathi have a large proportion of plains below Northspire mountain Though the concept of eagles instead of horses is rather interesting. And as you suggested the wealthier farmers could go up conquer the mountains and tame the giant eagles. Well I don't have dragons (they died out somewhere in past) but flying serpetine creatures could always replace them. Maybe I'll even make the serpetine creatures need gold for building up a nest like some birds do but less benign.
Since Rogarths live in moutains so the Norathi could offer them protection against in exchange for shiney ones (Rogaths prefer food over gold).

3. Norathis own the plains except for a small patch owned by Zakhemen. Axrians are thieves and backstabers not likely farmers (more likely merhcants). Ishlaani could have some sea dwelling plants to sell.

4.Perhaps using it as a nickname ain't a bad idea. Still how will the possesive be pronounced and written (J'han's)?

@Shelkely the Lost: I know but my world doesn't have half* . Rogaths are there instead of halflings or dwarfs. I'm sorry to not use such a great idea but simply halflings aren't fitting my world.

@levi: I addresed some of the questions already. About halfling being good to nature. I already have that with Alkarda's who have Dramdas (demons) and Elams (spirits). Elams tell the Alkarda's not to hunt things and to eat plants and dramdas (demons) enjoy in spilling blood. Alkarda's migrate collect food rarely than to farm it, though they do keep livestock with them.

@jjpickar: Hmm interesting but I had another thing in mind, what if that they were immortal already but in act of foolishness or boredom tried to unlock some secret power. They partially succeded and the Gods took their immortality because of this?
I could integrate them but due to Conclave's mental power they would most likely manifest in Ashenwood. Ashenwood is a sort of a ghost-central due to large number of mentaly strong ghosts (dead Tharaii) somehow allows ghost from anywhere to simultaneously manifest there (like you die in the mountain and you are bound there but your ghost can be seen in ashenwood).

Any ideas to use for the Endelots (hive-minded creature)? Are they to be canine or something else like tigers or some three legged beast?

Belphegor
2007-03-13, 01:12 PM
Hmm no replies. The big post must've scare you off /jk

Anyway I was thinking what if if Endelots the hive-minded creature wasn't just one creature but actually a whole number of creatures that are somewhat similar with canniness or some other creature you suggested.

Vorpal Pete
2007-03-14, 12:39 AM
I could think of a couple ways to make the hive-minded canine idea work, albeit with some tinkering. The most obvious solution would be to make the player character an individual... endelot, you're calling them? His intelligence would suffer a big penalty (-6, maybe). Then he'd get a +2 bonus for each endelot, or each endelot in his pack, within a certain distance (1000 yards, maybe). However, for each endelot over 7, he'd suffer a -2 to a minimum of 3 or 1 or whatever you like. An all-endelot PC party would work very well, but endelots on their own would make poor wizards. To balance it a little more you could give them abilities like share spell, canine affinity, and of course give them group telepathy. Perhaps even having non-endelot canines in the network would raise the endelot's intelligence a little.

You could also abandon the canine idea and make them something smaller - think rodents, bugs, that kind of thing. A player character would play a swarm of them, and their intelligence would be linked to their hit points. Naturally there would be some significant advantages to playing a swarm, stat-wise. The player would have a swarm attack, cause nausea, etc. However, he'd also be very vulnerable to certain attacks. The caveat? I don't think it would be great from the roleplaying perspective. How do you roleplay a bunch of bugs? You'd be totally alien and inhuman, probably not responding to any emotional framework or moral code that we would recognize.

Roethke
2007-03-14, 10:37 AM
Endelots:

I think the intelligence part would require little change mechanically. PC's could roll up stats as usual. An 18-INT could either be a small pack of very smart endelots, or a larger pack of not quite so smart ones-- since the creature is the pack you needn't stat out each 'dog'. There'd be advantages and disadvantages to each situation.


Where things get complicated is hitpoints and combat. If you want to keep things simple, you could rule that "in the chaos of combat, damage is just as likely to be dealt to one pack member as another", especially if they're in the same space. That gets rid of the problem, but doesn't really capture the feel you're going for.

Another way to go is to simply divide HP by the number of pack members. I'd make the race have at minimum, say 2 or 3 HD, total, per pack. For confused situations, divide the damage equally, but for things like magic missile, individual members could be targeted. You could come up with some rule, such as if a pack member is reduced to 0HP, the rest of the pack must make a will save, or be shaken for 1 round, or something. THis vulnerability would go a ways towards balancing any extra attacks/tactical advantage haveing many pack members gives you.

Which brings us to combat. Would pack automatically get flanking? Would an 5-member endelot rogue get 5X the sneak attack damage? Obviously, this would have to be dealt with.

One way to approach it is the sort of weapons that they'd use-- assuming we're going with canines, it could be some sort of evil-looking muzzle to improve bite attacks. If you can come up with some weapon that can only be used in a coordinated fashion, then that goes a long way to solving the multiple attack problem.

For example, for ranged weapons, I'd think it could be done with slingshot-type weapons( the elastic kind, not the whirly kind)-- one member loads the sling, another pulls it back while two brace it. Like the T-shirt launchers you sometimes see at ballgames.

Belphegor
2007-03-14, 12:34 PM
Hmm interesting ideas certainly. I don't like the bugs and mice they are too inhuman. Cannines seem to work best. I'm not too good with the D&D terms so if you excuse my foolish suggestions.
Also is it me or would this race work much better as an NPC?

I think thats the way to go, roll stats normally and decide the attribute penalty on death of individual. Perhaps some form of a mental web that allows the inteligence to be transfered from one endelot to another could explain this?
Yeah I agree with your suggestions Roethke it would made it complicate to calculate the damage for each member everytime unless its some magical missle damage. I wonder will the 0hp penalty be too much since their attributes logicaly would fall of with number of the units, meaning if you kill one the others are as good as dead.

On the attack thing I think there should be a limit I mean they can't all jump out and do sneak attacks. I mean I would prefer to limit the attack to a maximum 2-3x sneak attack, like you see them but only the first two have you suprised. You would instinctly defend yourself (like raising shield or something) against the next attackers.
About flanking I think (I'm unsure what this means in D&D) they could but ussually wouldn't. My guess is that they travel like this, first is the scout,then the muscles and finaly the head or the alfa endelot.

About casting I'm wondering could there be a requirement that would enable each endelot to cast a spell of level equal or greater than the number of individuals in endelot.

Endelots being cannine would get Int bonuses for presence of other non-endelot cannines but get some sort of confusion penalty when near sources of distraction like their common enemy - cats.

@ Vorpal pete hmm interesting but still why is there a such a penalty for Int? I mean with 3 endelots with 2Int they would have 0 Int if not mistaken. The minimum you suggested should work for this too, right?

About telepathy and shared spell I agree. It should be implemented since they are pretty much their founding aspect.

IMO it seems that endelots would work far better as NPCs.

Vorpal Pete
2007-03-14, 02:06 PM
I'm envisioning it differently than Rotheke - as he's writing it up, one player would play a small pack of endelots. As I see it, one player would play a single endelot, and would benefit from having more endelots in the party.

The high intelligence penalty is to make the endelot drop to almost animal intelligence (unless he's a particularly brilliant endelot to begin with) when he's alone. An average endelot's intelligence when he was alone would be 4.

The intelligence goes up (+2 per endelot beyond the first) as more endelots join the pack. A group of 4 average endelots would be as intelligent as an average human. A group of 8 endelots (the perfect pack size) would possess genius intelligence.

Thereafter, the intelligence would drop as you add more endelots, with a group of 17 or more back to animal intelligence. It's actually a very simple mechanic.

So what if only one player wants to play an endelot? You could allow any type of canine to increase the endelot's intelligence a bit. It's as if the endelot was borrowing a part of their brains for computing power, right? So with his canine affinity, the endelot can pick up a number of dogs, wolves, or whatever to boost his intelligence (probably something like +1 per canine, but the endelot can only manage up to four canines that way). As those animals die, run off, whatever, his intelligence would drop again.

That rule would be basically to make endelots more easily playable as PCs, but it would also make some interesting "packmaster" characters. It also suggests an endelot society that incorporates a lot of more mundane canines. Regular canines should never give endelots intelligence penalties.

Certainly the endelots would be more challenging to implement as PCs than, say, hobgoblins or people with wings or whatever. It's a cool concept, though. Kudos to Roethke for suggesting it. :)

Roethke
2007-03-14, 02:18 PM
Ah, Pete, I had missed that.

I think having the PC's as individual members make it a viable PC concept, and really emphasizes the pack = sum of parts aspect.

You could tweak the intelligence/wisdom mechanic to suit the campaign, like I said, that's probably the easiest to deal with. For myself, I wouldn't want genius's and dummies all over the place, so I'd make it the average intelligence of the 3 smartest pack members. Add a penalty for over 4 members or less than 3. That way it kind of reflects the D&D party composition. But however you want to swing it.

To really get the feel of the hive-mind though, I'd have some mechanism to make snap decisions. For example, if the DM needs an immediate reaction, either have the players write down their choice (if there are only a couple of actions possible) or negotiate for a short time among themselves and then vote on what the entire pack should do. Ties could be resolved by a roll of the dice.

Wouldn't use it too often, but it would be pretty novel.