Ebonwood: Race List Foundations

[Drakevarg]

Among the several projects I'm juggling for my new less-low-magic setting is figuring out a new race list. Unlike my previous and now-strictly-nWoD setting, which had only a small handful of sentient races, Ebonwood is aiming to be a bit closer to traditional fantasy, though leaning more on a gothic bent. Overall tone is meant to be somewhere between Bloodborne and Thief, though that's not especially relevant to what's currently under consideration.

My intention is to create a set of setting presumptions that would allow most - though not all - sentient races in D&D to make sense in-universe with a bit of refluffing. Not just the playable races, I want to be able to articulate the raison d'etre of pretty much any sentient creature I'm likely to pull out of the books, give it a coherent place in the world beyond 'lol it's fantasy weird stuff happens.' My setting backstory is (I think) broad enough to make most tonally-appropriate ideas make sense, though there are a few blind spots I'm still chewing on. I won't bother going into too much detail on the specifics unless someone needs the context to make sense of something, but I'll present my current list of race categories so that input can be offered. Keep in mind that beyond the basic premises, most of this isn't really set in stone, and I'm open to alternative interpretations.

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Fae
The eldest of the races, Fae sprung up from the roiling chaos of the Primordial Realm. While their forms are roughly humanoid, for many this is little more than an affectation or a state of rest, capable of twisting themselves into a variety of shapes or foregoing shape entirely.

Demons: Born from the corruption of the Primordial Realm by mortal efforts to force their way back, demons are spirits of fire, blood, and sin. Some seek retribution on mortals for their crimes against the realm of the Fae, while others embrace that corruption and revel in excess.
Djinn: Nature spirits, djinn are roughly humanoid, but are either clearly composed of natural elements (stone, plants, fire, etc) or they are naturally shapeless but can take a humanoid form as an affectation.
Elves: The 'lowest' of the Fae, elves are those who are closest to human. Elves come in a wide variety of proportions and colorations, but are typically identifiable by their pointed ears. Most have little magic of their own, though some bloodlines retain significant power.
Sprites: Despite their size, sprites are typically considered higher Fae than elves due to their more intrinsically magical nature. Sprites have the proportions of a small child or smaller, some even appearing as mere wisps of light.

Humans
As the 'mid ground' between the natural magic of the Fae and the twisted magic of the Cursed, there is proportionally not much variety amongst humans. While they can be quite diverse in color and appearance, most retain the expected rounded ears and minimal innate magic that is seen among the majority of the Material Realm's population.

Cursed
With few exceptions, the Cursed are either former humans or descended from human stock. Twisted by magical energies, they take on bestial forms to better adapt to their environment. While many of these cursed beings may have technically little to do with each other, they are frequently categorized by the nature of their mutation. Some are little more than misshapen mortals, while others have a swath of strange abilities.

Curse of Affliction: Sometimes called 'false giants,' it's not certain if those beset by this curse are degenerate giants or humans twisted into monstrous proportions, and these deformed creatures are rarely articulate enough to clarify the matter. Three traits are shared amongst those with the curse of affliction: immense size, physical deformity, and low intelligence. While some seek to live simple, peaceful lives, many others are dangerous cannibals.
Curse of Beasts: Born from the plague of lycanthropy, those struck by the curse of beasts are former humans or descendents thereof who have been twisted into an animalistic form. Some fade in and out of this state, while others are permanently struck with this bestial form. These beast-men are rarely in full control of their faculties, driven by their base instincts or simple madness from the magical energes affecting their mind.
Curse of Crows: While most of the Cursed are descended from human stock, the curse of crows affects the descendants of those angels who stood against the Master Builder when the Titans warred amongst themselves. They and their offspring were stripped of most of their former glory, taking on lesser winged or birdlike forms.
Curse of Floods: The sea can provide bounty and disaster both, and none know this better than those afflicted by the curse of floods. Humans bent into amphibious or fishlike forms, they have been perhaps some of the most successful of the Cursed, rarely living solitary lives like most of their ken, instead maintaining large communities ranging from remote fishing villages to entire undersea empires.
Curse of Horsemen: Found along lonely roads and forsaken battlefields, one of the more nightmarish varieties of the Cursed are those subject to the curse of horsemen. A grotesque splicing of rider and steed, these creatures range from equine to reptilian in description, but all are filled with an endless bloodlust befitting the broken remnants of a mounted warrior.
Curse of Locusts: Perhaps the most inhuman of the Cursed, there is some doubt among scholars as to if those carrying the curse of locusts were ever human at all, or if they're merely arthropods molded into cruel mockeries of the human form. Most under the curse are virtually mindless, and those who aren't have little interest in scholarly discussion.
Curse of Undeath: Regarded as the foulest of the Cursed, the plague of undeath has soaked into the very bones of the land. At their lowest, the undead are little more than shuffling corpses driven by hunger or mere territorialism, while others are virtual demigods of the night. All shun the sunlight and are generally considered evil by the populace.

Celestials
Considered by some to be a subset of Cursed, Celestials are enigmatic beings connected to the Astral Realm. Always magical in some description, they are rarely seen by mortals and are as a rule secretive to a fault, as is becoming of those following the path of the Hidden One.

Once-Men: The more humanoid of the Celestials, Once-Men are mostly humanoid... but not quite. Almost elves in the opposite direction, they have been molded by magic in some way, though not in the feral manner of the Cursed.
Serpentkin: The more bestial of the Celestials, the serpentine form seems to have some connection with the Astral Realm, perhaps relating to dragonkind or the concept of the ouroboros and immortality. While they superficially might seem like reptilian victims of the curse of beasts, serpentkin are much more in tune with occult magics and are prone to mutation and evolution.
Unbodied: The most alien of the Celestials are the Unbodied. Evolved beyond the need for a basic humanoid form, the Unbodied are little more than floating heads or brains, molded by magic into something that can't really be described as humanlike in any way. The Unbodied are generally incomperehensible to mortals, driven by goals outside most mundane contexts.

Olympians
Descended from the original inhabitants of the Material Realm, Olympians come in two main varieties: giants are towering, quasi-elemental humanoids, while angels are winged beings of light. Typically solitary, their motives range from the impenetrable to the brutish, as they worship the Titans of old, both those which are dead and those which became Archfae. As the Primordial Realm's influence has spread throughout their lands, many Olympians have become twisted and corrupted into lesser forms.

Angels: Created as the Master Builder's messengers and heralds, angels are elegant, refined representatives of the glory of the Builder's design. Appearing as beautiful, winged humanoids with skin like precious metal or polished stone, they live amongst the clouds and are rarely seen by mortals unless they have some agenda.
Giants: Largely retaining their original forms, giants look like towering, regal humanoid figures with a quasi-elemental nature. While they have little use for humans, they remain faithful to the Master Builder and the dead Titans, seeking to restore the Material Realm to the Builder's design.
Trolls: Also called 'low giants,' trolls have become brutish, hunched things as they degenerate away from the Builder's design. However they are still considered closer to true giants than those with the curse of affliction, as like their ancestors they take on traits of the world around them, taking on somewhat elemental forms as befitting of their environment.

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So aside from a vague sense of dissatisfaction with the Beastmen/Cursed set, there are a few notable blind spots on this list:

1) Angels, specifically in the 'winged humanoid of light' sense. Considering associating them with moonlight and categorizing them as Moonkin, going on "God moves in mysterious ways" vibes and maybe a bit of Angel's Egg flavor.
2) I decided against including avian races, since birds don't really fit the 'lower plane' vibe of the Primordial Realm nor the cosmic horror vibe of the Astral Realm. Kinda like the idea of scooting them in with angels, however I decide on expressing them.
3) Bugs. While there's plenty of precedent for them in thematic vibes I'm trying to emulate, listing them alongside the other beastmen just felt... out of place, and I'm not sure what to do with them.

On the overall subject of the Beastmen Cursed, I've got vague mumblings about emphasizing lycanthropy and associations with the moon bouncing around my head, but figuring out how that connects to everything else is fuzzy at best, so I'm hoping someone might be able to find the words I can't. And of course if there's any big categories I'm missing, it wouldn't hurt to point those out, at least so I can articulate why I didn't include them if it had occurred to me at all.

[Drakevarg]

Updated the original post after some discussion amongst my friends:

- Moonkin are now called Celestials. No, they're not generally good-aligned.
- Angels have been added as creations of the Master Builder alongside giants, their umbrella renamed "Olympians" (as in, 'powerful humanoid mountaintop/sky folk'), at least until I think of a better term. Avians have been added to the Cursed as descendants of fallen angels.
- The term 'beastmen' have been dropped from the Cursed umbrella, as it has been expanded to include more than just varying degrees of anthropomorphic animals (undead, for instance). The 'beastmen tribes' have been scrapped in favor of categorizing them by the nature of their curse.

I'm much more satisfied with this new arrangement, aside from two things:

- I'm not entirely satisfied with the name 'Olympians.' Bit too much of a proper noun.
- I'd like there to be seven curses overall, preferably reaching into some ideas other than flavors of furry. Not sure what else to go for, though.

Edit: Added a sixth curse, the Curse of Horsemen. All ears for better names on these.

[Drakevarg]

Added the seventh plague, the Curse of Affliction - or, more accurately, redefined low giants as Cursed.

With that I'm pretty much satisfied with this list of race categories. Still open to suggestions for refinement or better names, but in terms of the base concepts I think it's enough to run with.