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CrimsonRaven
2019-04-04, 07:11 PM
Hey there guys! I thought I could get some help by you lovely people on the forums
I am staring a new campaign soon enough,( Soon enough meaning in a few months) and I am currently world building along with writing heavy plot points ( Those that contributed to the world building in other words)

However as I created all my different human civilizations, ( And humans are by far the most dominant race in the continent they are starting. Thus chances that my players will be humans are much higher.) Even if most don't I will be having many human NPCs appear over the course of the campaign
And I definitely don't want them all to fell the same. I want them to be varied, and feel like different races actually.
Now I know that this is what the Variant human is attempitng to do, by allowing you to focus on two attributes and a feat that show what the player is best at. I already creater a chart of that.
But I would like to create a second chart with each human race corresponding to unique abilities, either homebrewed or picked amongst official non-human race abilities, shoudl they be fitting.

I do have some ideas, but I thought I could ask for you guys opinions as well. Also I did search both these forums and the web in general for about 90 mins for similar threads and found nothing fitting
You can Post either Ability score increase or features, or both. Homwebred features will be appreciated greatly if not hugely unabalanced of course :smallbiggrin:
Either you want to brainstorm or even write a thesis and an analysis both are welcome.

Here are the races I wish to create more or less:

1)A Greco-Roman Civilization.
Possibly broken down into three subtypes Sailor-Traders. Disciplined Spartan like Fighters(Was thinking Relentless Endurance). Knowledge Seekers-Philosophers
2)A Celtic-Gaelic Civilization
3)A Normand-Viking Civilization. Features for both Explorers and Raiders/Berserkers would be nice
3.5)Possibly something in between for a Gothic Civilization (But I could always have people from the 'German' like country pick either the Celtic or Normand Ancestry)
4) A Northern Balkan Race (Slavs, Romanians, Transylvannia etc...)
5) {{scrubbed}}
6) An Egyptian Race
7) An Asian Race
8) A Central eastern race (Think Mongols)

All ideas will be welcomed, but please do not lose your time telling me to use feats, I already have that chart. I want a new one with new features, and I am on it creating it myself, I am not expecting you make it for me. Just hoping to get some extra ideas and inspiration. Thank you for reading :)

Crisis21
2019-04-04, 07:38 PM
Pro-tip: Make up a race or culture based on those to act as a subrace, but don't directly say what that race/culture is based off of in real life. Because that has the potential to get ugly fast. Especially if the race/culture is one that's still around.

PhoenixPhyre
2019-04-04, 07:53 PM
I agree about not tying the sub-races too closely to real-world cultures.

I don't know how much help it will be, but here are some cultural sub-races I came up with for my humans. Currently this is an optional rule; if chosen it replaces the default human race in its entirety. The region of origin trait tells me what sorts of things they'd know by default without a roll and how others might see them (by default).

I actually made new races/sub-races for all the races that lacked them in the main play area. Eventually I'll get around to doing so for all the playable races, to better fit the setting.


Humans
Known as “the devout kindred”, humans lacked the arcane power of the gwerin [high elves] or the druidic might of the puun ihmisia [wood elves] and so were the first to turn to the gods for aid. With this divine aid they built empires that lasted for centuries, until in their hubris they turned to the arts demonic and the Noefran empires fell into civil war, the War of Souls. This war blasted the landscape with abyssal power, tainting large portions and cutting others off from the rest of the universe (blasting them out of time).

Since then, humans have adapted. Now one of the most common races, their presence is felt in most of the Federated Nations. Three major varieties of human exist in this area--they are described below.

Ability Score Increase. One score of your choice increases by 1.
Age. Humans become adults around age 16 and, if allowed to die of old age, tend to live around 80 years.
Size. This varies considerably between sub-races, but your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Versatility. You gain a feat.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common.


The night’s children originally lived on the high-altitude Nocthian Plateau where they were devout worshipers of Nocthis, the Goddess of Night. After the Cataclysm caused an ice volcano to erupt beneath their capital and killed their Goddess, the survivors fled south to what is now Byssia. There they mingled with the local puun ihmisia. Unique among nations, they almost uniformly reject the current Congregation of gods, preferring to venerate ancestors and spirits of nature.

Physically, night’s children are a striking race. They all have very pale skin (shades of ivory). They do not burn in the sunlight--the superstitious call it a blessing from the Nocthis. The vast majority of them have jet-black hair, usually worn pulled back or pinned up. Almost always straight and long (especially on women). Those with significant elven heritage exhibit slight mottling of greys on their hair, almost like the shadow of leaves at night. Very occasional red with black undertones. They stand tall and statuesque. Wall-builders refer to them as "living statues." The bulkiest of the human variants, they tend to develop hard curves and muscles quite well, even the women. Their eyes are slightly slanted upward and range from ice-grey to bright jewel tones (including purples and brilliant blues). At night, their eyes seem to glow slightly, like cats.

Names: Night’s children are given a name and then, later in life, a cognomen (appellation) is added at the beginning or end of the name.
Common male names include: Admitos, Damon, Adrianos, Aetos, Daphnis, Alkaios, Charklis, Herodis, Ion, Ipparchos, Savvas, and Lambros.
Common female names include: Acathi, Adriani, Danai, Daphne, Dione, Eirene, Galini, Charis, Ippodamia, Sergia, and Sotiria.

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength increases by 1.
Darkvision. As a gift from the dead goddess, night’s children have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.
Region of Origin. Your region of origin is Byssia.


Scale-kin originate in the Jungle of Fangs, once the site of the Fanged Kingdom of aelvar; now the home of the Stone Throne. After magical engineering by the serpent-loving aelvar, centuries of isolation from the rest of humanity, and interbreeding with the remnants of those aelvar (to the point that none remain with even slightly pure blood), the scale-kin have diverged strongly from the rest of humanity.

Physically, scale-kin have light, cool-toned skin. Patterns of colored blotches (like large freckles) are common, especially on the head, neck, and upper torso and upper arms. These often flush and darken with anger or excitement. They exhibit wild variation in hair color, although it is most often a pure jewel or metallic tone--jet black, brilliant silver, golden yellow, ruby red and amethyst purple are the most common, but greens and blues are not uncommon. Most have multiple shades or streaks. They commonly have short, slender stature. Graceful movement is the default. Most individuals are between 5'0" and 5’5", with some variation outside this. Women are slightly shorter than men, but not tremendously. Obesity is very rare. The ideal of feminine beauty is minimal curves and slender lines. Strong fang-kin rarely develop much visible musculature. Their facial features are elongated oval facial features and their eyes are grey to green. Some change in the light or with mood.

Names: Being a hierarchical society, the naming conventions vary by class. The three major classes are nobles (including clergy), tradesmen (including soldiers), and commoners. Given names are similar between the three classes, but the structure of the name and the surnames vary. Nobles are formally named Isal <Family name> <Given>. Tradesmen are given the name Lai <Profession> <Given>. Commoners go by <Given> pe <Location>.
Given names are androgynous and include: Balin, Chea, Da, Dara, Leng, Narong, Nimol, Srey, Son, Bopha, Chanda, Khan, Maly, Map, Phalla, Ry, Rith, Thy, Thuy, and Vanna.
Noble family names include: Sat’psa, Hvang, Boeng, and Prei.

Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity increases by 1.
Size. Scale-kin are shorter than most, ranging between 5’0” and 5’5”. Their weights range toward the lower end of the scale, averaging about 100 pounds.
Ophidious Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned.
Region of Origin. Choose a region of origin from the Central District, the Northern District, or the Southern District.


The least ancient sub-race of humans (and the most mixed in ancestry) are the wall-builders. They call the Council Lands home. Their ancestors were refugees from many pre-Cataclysm nations, forced to flee south from the site of the Battle of Acceptance and from the massive changes in the landscape that happened at the Cataclysm. Gathering around a small settlement and a newly-founded mage school/temple, they have built a very communal, highly-ordered society. It is also the home of many other races--both kinds of elves, dwarves, halflings, and the rare infernal- and celestial-touched tieflings and aasimar. They are also the most devout of the human sub-races.

A unique trait of the wall-builders (and the source of their name) is that they cluster together wherever they build settlements and always construct at least a token wall around their villages, no matter how small. Even single houses, if possible, will have a hedge or fence or wall. They don’t feel safe without one, even if there is no threat. Another oddity due to the genetic bottle-neck of the Cataclysm is that many (but not all) wall-builders are highly allergic to bee stings. Thus, they rarely work as apiarists or tend orchards, leaving that to other races.
Physically, their skin is medium-brown and warm-toned (cafe-au-lait). Darker shades are more common than lighter ones, but neither is particularly uncommon. Their hair is dark brown to black and mostly wavy or curly. While this is the most common shade, throwbacks to other ethnicities are common and unremarkable--red hair, blond hair, etc. Only hardy individuals survived, and compactness meant less bulk to feed, so they are short and stocky in stature. They tend to stand 5'2" to 5'6" tall, with women as tall as men. Taller individuals are uncommon, with 6'0" rarely reached by anyone. Obesity is becoming more common, especially among the wealthy. The fashion in attractiveness favors the well-fed and curved. Squared-off facial features with short noses and square jaws are the norm, as are dark eyes. As with hair color, there is substantial variation to all various colors, including ones not found on Earth.

Names: Humans of the Council Lands use names following the pattern <Given> <Profession>. Children are not given surnames until they are Judged and assigned a profession.
Common male names include: John, William, James, George, Charles, Henry, Robert, and Thomas.
Common female names include: Anna, Emma, Elza, Margaret, Ida, Clara, and Alice.

Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Devout. You gain proficiency in Religion.
Region of Origin. Choose your region of origin from Dreamshore, Moon’s Vengeance Foothills, Sea of Grass, or Southshore.
Skilled. Wall-builders all practice a craft. You gain proficiency in one artisan’s tool of your choice.

theVoidWatches
2019-04-04, 07:57 PM
I'll third the advice not to tie your human subraces to actual races/cultures.

Other than that I just want to let you know that "gypsy" is a slur. The preferred term is "Romani".

CrimsonRaven
2019-04-04, 08:14 PM
@Crisis21
I understand what you mean, but I think you could not have found more of a minor detail to focus on.
I'll put it in this way... That will happen only if people are acting immaturely.

An example: No one says Scandinavian people are mindless brutes. They are not today, and were not in medieval times either (they had many wise and smart kings and leaders, and capable crafstmen).

However they were traditionally people that fought, raided, had feuds and wars of succession amongst themselves, and all around lived in more harsh environmental conditions.
So it's only natural that someone would focus more one their physical and survival capabilities, while trying to create a race inspired by them.

Now people might have different opinions on how to convey that in specific games feautures, but that is no reason to fight and argue. ( Actually the diffrent approaches is why I made this whole thread)
People will fight only if someone A) gets offended over something obvious and not insulting, B) someone attempts to insult others on purpose.
Both sound like man children and should be ignored.

Also obviously I am looking to create races with similar flavours, not the races themselves. So even more reason for none to get offended

LibraryOgre
2019-04-04, 09:38 PM
The Mod Wonder: I cannot remotely picture this staying within the rules against inappropriate topics, and, possibly, against hate speech... especially since a racial slur was used in the OP.

Closed, with prejudice. Do not reopen this topic.