New Race Ideas?

[Gwazi Magnum]

I'm working on making a world where none of the PC races exist and are replaced by brand new races to play as to give the players a different experience.

I have some ideas so far such as Wolf people called Wolven, Fox people, Dragon people etc.

Any other ideas for interesting races to add?

[Xaotiq1]

Nearly any of the monster races would work here. Also, Raptoran (RotW), Karsite (ToM), Catfolk (RotW), Goliath (RoS), Dromites or Xeph (XPH), Warforged, Shifters, Kalashtar, and Changelings (ECS), Kenku (MMIII). Lots to look through. Hope this helps!

[Admiral Squish]

'wolf people', 'fox people', 'dragon people'. Seems pretty tame to me. If you wanna shake up your players, get wierd! One race is a swarm of tiny people in a construct body, another race is deer-centaurs, another is huge and tree-like.

[Mithril Leaf]

Totally not parasitic mushroom race that only eats what's already dead. Kind and friendly, they are well liked. An ooze that specializing in using it's squishy body to be an expert sneak, able to infiltrate building through unaccounted for holes. Wooden constructs that defend the forests and are natural druids, despite being wholly unnatural. Tiny bipedal dragons (look like wyverns) that run the economy of the campaign. Natural bankers. D&D already has X-anthro races out the wazoo, get interesting with it.

[Lappy9001]

'wolf people', 'fox people', 'dragon people'. Seems pretty tame to me. If you wanna shake up your players, get wierd! One race is a swarm of tiny people in a construct body, another race is deer-centaurs, another is huge and tree-like.

In a similar vein, look up the 4e edition of Gamma world for some wacky combinations. Plant/Cockroach mutant? Sure. Super fast rock man? You betcha! Living swarm of malevolent kittens? Why not!

Edit: Ah, here it is http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/10/13

[gurgleflep]

I'm working on making a world where none of the PC races exist and are replaced by brand new races to play as to give the players a different experience.

I have some ideas so far such as Wolf people called Wolven, Fox people, Dragon people etc.

Any other ideas for interesting races to add?

You could always go through the various homebrew races around here. Think of a game, show, book series, or movie you like and use some of the races from one of those

[smoke prism]

Humanoid Aberration that have supreme control over there bones. They have ability like swords, spikes for range attacks or for armour

[Deepbluediver]

'wolf people', 'fox people', 'dragon people'. Seems pretty tame to me. If you wanna shake up your players, get wierd! One race is a swarm of tiny people in a construct body, another race is deer-centaurs, another is huge and tree-like.

Yes! Races that aren't the standard humanoid versions would be a big plus.

Rakshasa instead of cat-folk, for example, and that still clings pretty closely to the old model.

Edit: I recall one player making a post where he described how he was playing as a brain-in-a-jar. Though that was more of a single occurance than a race. Still, you could homebrew something like those intellect-sucking brain creatures from Futurama.

[EdroGrimshell]

My Zshar and Tsora races might work for that, there are also my Gestalt Races rules if you want to mix racial traits (had a pathfinder human / half-orc / elf gestalt race to make a Pale Orc, like Azog the Defiler from The Hobbit). All of those are in my Extended Signature.

The mongrelfolk would be a good one to include in this setup in place of humans, have it so all the races eventually merged into a single race, resulting in the Mongrelfolk being the dominant race with rare pockets of the "common" races, which would end up much more isolationist than the other races.

Bring in awakened animals as well as anthros, maybe even a symbiont on an artificial, organic body with no will of its own, undead versions of the old, core races (like the Necropolitan, lesser vampires, and the like), and maybe larval monsters that have a humanoid form (or whatever works as the standard body type) when young to blend in, and you have a fairly decent setup, IMO.

[LordErebus12]

One race is a swarm of tiny people in a construct body

my Timeforged came to mind, although its pathfinder and homebrew. the nanos that live within them repair and maintain them

Id use the anthropomorphic race rules in savage species, if you need a place to start.

[gurgleflep]

Id use the anthropomorphic race rules in savage species, if you need a place to start.

While a good idea, the Savage Species instructions weren't the clearest or very well thought out. There's a revised version of the anthropomorphic rules that works quite a bit better, they can be found here. I've linked to the comment that revised the revised version

[paladinofu.s.a]

How about the astralven which are people who come form a meteorite

[Mithril Leaf]

My Zshar and Tsora races might work for that, there are also my Gestalt Races rules if you want to mix racial traits (had a pathfinder human / half-orc / elf gestalt race to make a Pale Orc, like Azog the Defiler from The Hobbit). All of those are in my Extended Signature.

Ooooh, I do love the Tsora. Not quite the best psion race, but simply knowing they exist actually inspired me to add a clause to my own homebrew class.

Another possible idea is a race that is somewhat similar to the shifters and changelings, but straight up steals forms and parts from other dead races. They could have a few slots (augmentable with feats) which they can put a +2 or some natural attacks or something of the sort, with a base negative modifier to account for that.

[Gnorman]

I agree that the whole "make a bunch of animal races" angle is pretty overdone, and occupies existing design space. D&D already has wolf people and fox people and dragon people and cat people and bird people and lizard people and snake people and rat people and yak people and goat people and hyena people and lion people and tiger people and bear people (oh my) and fish people (like, three kinds) and octopus people and crab people and eel people and I could keep going but I feel I've made my point.

Granted, it's harder to conceive of "new" races. But there's ample unoccupied space to expand on - maybe a race of undead descended from people rescued at the last moment from sacrificial lich rituals? Maybe faceless stalkers from beyond the astral plane who believe in death as a transmigration of the soul, and murdering someone is actually freeing them of their metaphysical chains? Heck, a race of psychopomps could be interesting in and of itself.

I like the modular undead idea above my post, as well. Maybe a race of genetic mutants that see their deformities as expressing the blessings of their alien gods?

Or, if you really want to mess with them, just eliminate all the races except humans.

[Jarrick]

Ive got a few races in my sig that fit the bill, I think.

[anddrival]

This is a very good new idea. This is very innovative and practical applicable real scenario. I really appreciate your such a nice thinking.You just need to publish it with a beautiful book design.









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[Thomar_of_Uointer]

http://www.seventhsanctum.com/genera...me=fantasyrace

Here's a generator. You're welcome.

I got these out of the first batch:

Spoiler

Show

The race of halflings. They are dark-haired and have four legs. Their sense of smell is incredibly powerful. They are naturally good at drug-making. Their magical practices tend to focus on divination. A great destiny awaits them, yet they know it not.

The race of evolved Chimeras. They are genderless, and are able to reproduce on their own. They have an affinity for mountain ranges. They return insults with violence. They manage to control a mountain empire.

The race of sentient Wyverns. They are split into two conflicting factions. Their government is a technocracy. They manage to control a rich kingdom that is known for its exotic plant life.

The race of reptile-people. They produce great soldiers and hunters. They are well-known for their banks. Their magical practices tend to focus on animal magic. They control a state. No one knows where they came from.

The race of humans. They are silver-skinned and fair-haired. When severely hurt, they enter a regenerative trance. Only their females are sentient. In their culture, theivery is a highly prized ability. They are famous for their tombs. They worship a hierarchial pantheon of gods and goddesses. The god of marriage is especially important to them. They believe the powers that be are generally distant and uninvolved in their lives. Most religious observation is very disordered and disorganized. They manage to control a wealthy city-state that is known for its incredible beauty. A great destiny awaits them, and they wait for it patiently.

[LOTRfan]

-A race of semi aquatic lizards, like deinonychus but with opposable thumbs and a slightly more upright back. They're four-eyed and have three rows of teeth (i.e. large-sized bite attack despite being medium). They evolved a small organ that transmits electromagnetic waves in order to communicate underwater, and two or three times a day they can supercharge it to create an effect similar to an extraordinary shocking grasp.

-A race of tall, wookiee-like creatures that are extremely thin and have no mouths. They absorb food through their skin and "speak" telepathically.

-A group of living stones descended from a great meteor that hit the world millions of years ago; they stand about three feet tall and look sort of like glowing green Earth elementals. They've spent the majority of their lives in hibernation. The meteor itself was designed by the gods in an attempt to wipe out the creatures of that time period, so the living rubblemen get a bonus to attacks against ancient aberrations, dire animals, and dinosaurs.

-An race of Deathless creatures, about twelve feet tall. They're the remains of an ancient Giant civilization that underwent an apocalypse, so they created a contingency plan that bound their souls to their bodies. Though their bodies no longer function, they can transfer their minds to small astromech-like constructs that function as their personal vessels.

[TripleD]

How about something based on the "Squibbons" from that mockumentary "The Future is Wild"? There basically a species of squid that has adapted to life in trees. There arms could easily manipulate weapons and armour.

[Deepbluediver]

How about something based on the "Squibbons" from that mockumentary "The Future is Wild"? There basically a species of squid that has adapted to life in trees. There arms could easily manipulate weapons and armour.

You could probably do a whole theme based on creatures that where at one time or another the most I intelligent creatures on the planet.

The squids are your intellect-based thinker races (elves), raptors are your honorable warrior/berserker society (orcs), chimpanzees and gorillas are your crafters/toolmakers (dwarves), etc.