Thread 96139293

Don't beastfolk just fill all the possible nonhuman roles you could want for TTRPGs?

Elves, dwarves etc. only have lasting power because of Tolkien. All popular TTRPG 'fantasy' races are just humans with exaggerated traits anyway. When people go too weird as a counterreaction to that, it turns people off. But since time immemorial humans have been emphasizing natural traits by associating them with animals: animal spirit worship, animal-headed gods, medieval heraldry etc.

Isn't it just easier to use wolf people, ox people, cat people, tapir people and so on and on to fill all your nonhuman fantasy people needs?

Yes but /tg/ isn't ready for that

>>96139293 (OP)
Species are like races on earth. Sometimes you just want to play something humanoid, but different. Plus, a lot of normies don’t like anthropomorphic animals.

I love beast races because my games never have them and that alone stops all furfaggots from ever sitting at my tables

>>96139293 (OP)
I tried thinking once what kind of animal-person each "classic" D&D race responds to. Elves seem to be fox people, halflings maybe something like mouse or badger people, dwarfs I guess mole people? Orcs can be either pigpeople or maybe something related to baboons.

>>96139333
This is pretty much the answer. People like playing characters that are more human-like. Elves just look like humans with weird ears, but fantasy gets a lot of mileage out of them.

Beastfolk are cool af tho.

>>96139293 (OP)
No, it's shit colored. It's less creative to just make things animals, and it's even cringier to lie and claim that fantasy races are humans with exaggerated traits.

The reason that this is cringe is that it is human nature to anthromorphize nonhuman things as a way of rationalizing expanding in-group preference to non-humans. So not just fantasy races, but LITERALLY EVERY LIVING ORGANISM we interact with becomes either a human with exaggerated traits, or an enemy.

Of course you are a retarded furry so you don't know what racial friend-enemy distinction is, because your mother while pregnant was kicked by a particularly ignorant horse--but mine was not.

>>96139442
>The reason that this is cringe is that it is human nature to anthromorphize nonhuman things as a way of rationalizing expanding in-group preference to non-humans. So not just fantasy races, but LITERALLY EVERY LIVING ORGANISM we interact with becomes either a human with exaggerated traits, or an enemy.
This is honestly a pretty interesting point and not something I'd previously thought about, so I appreciate you posting it even though you also mistakenly call me a furry.

>>96139381
Orcs are definitely pig or boar people by the classic D&D aesthetic, which is why they are that so often in Japanese shit too.

>>96139293 (OP)
There's nothing wrong with generic Tolkien-inspired fantasy, though. There is something very, very wrong with encouraging furfaggots like yourself though.

>>96139293 (OP)
It would all be fine but then furries came into existence and now we have to shame, distance and point fingers.

>>96139293 (OP)
Not a furry, so no.

>like the concept of beast folk
>it's forever tainted by furfaggotry
I just make them anime style if I do it at all. Just give regular people animal ears and a tail.

>>96139407
>People like playing characters that are more human-like.
To be fair the nips figured out the perfect compromise.

>>96140133
Warhammer Beastmen dont have a lot of furry fans either

In the games I run, I usually give elves animal ears and animal tails, and reserve the traditional pointy-eared look for half-elves.

Elves already have nature-themed associations, so I do not find this to be too great a stretch.

This is a very 5e D&D player facing argument.

The point of tolkien races in the books is that they are their own thing and you discover their history and traditions and weirdness. Like someone from america going to europe and seeing all those bizarre castles that meant something at some point but now are either trash on the side of the road or a fancy tourist trap. And you can spend a lifetime learning about their history or judging how they are used now, any take can be fun for you.

Animal race lacks all of that. It's just a flavor to jumpstart your role play. It is just a human with exagerated traits and you can play a human with exagerated traits. They bring nothing to the world. When a japanese property tries to find a middle point between both things they end up with
>the fox people are japanese
>the dragon people are chinese
Not only they still might as well be people, but you're making the setting less interesting by making it just like real life but every nation has a single personality type.

Now, people tend to play 5e this way. They pick a cool race, maybe one that gives them cool buffs, and at most add a single personality trait vaguely related to the drawing they saw. Even WotC thinks this way when they add races with no justification of what they are, how the behave, where they come from or what's their deal; like their take on plasmoids. No take.

It's like character creation in an action game. Actrion games are fine, playing in a way that is fun for you is fine. But no one wants to spend time making a game where the lore is whatever, weirdos exist and it doesn't affect anything. That's something an illustrator does, not a game designer or module writer. That's why you don't see it in games or modules.

>>96140245
>Animal race lacks all of that
Really nigga?

>>96140245
>This is a very 5e D&D player facing argument.
No, you're just mentally ill. I made the thread and I literally mainly play rules cyclopedia D&D, swords and wizardry and ACKS and favour race-as-class.

You might have an argument if you had said D&D instead of '5e D&D' and also if you hadn't done some weird America vs. Europe thing (I'm European).

>>96139293 (OP)
no, that shit is irretrievably ruined.

>>96140415
yes
that's a human depicted as an animal to make evident their traits. It doesn't have an independent culture, magic, history and so on.

>>96140446
I didn't do an america vs europe, I was using a tourist's experience as an example of interacting and being interested with a culture that doesn't relate to yours. It's an american but tall and smug or an american but short and quick to anger, it's a different independent thing with its own logic.

And it's a very 5e player type of argument, all the time they treat races as flavors of human so they see no issue mixing and matching because there is nothing besides a vague tone. I'm sorry you made a 5e type beat.

>>96139293 (OP)
Yes, but furries ruined it for everyone.

>>96139293 (OP)
What are some more obscure creatures and beings from myth and folklore, like picture related, that would make great races for fantasy settings?

>>96139293 (OP)
Or just make regular Humans super aliens and have all your animal eared people be the normal people.

>>96141039
Nommo, who are basically Deep Ones (fish-people aliens that interbred with humans) but real. Their descendants are even called the Dogon!

>>96139293 (OP)
>Don't beastfolk just fill all the possible nonhuman roles you could want for TTRPGs?
Sure. Humans or stick figures could, too. Do what you wanna do at your table, anon.

>Isn't it just easier to use wolf people, ox people, cat people, tapir people and so on and on to fill all your nonhuman fantasy people needs?
Look at the book for the RPG you're playing. What's in it? That's what's easiest.

>>96141073
Based and Arknightspilled.

>>96141073
Does she have another set of human ears under the hair besides the animal ears? Elsewise how is she wearing those headphones?

>>96141215
I don't know. Probably not.

>>96141242
Now post my wife Lappland who is pertinent to this topic

>wake up in a king size bed on a sunny morning
>I'm between two snow-white ratgirls in sheer negligee
>need to get up without waking them to get breakfast
>realize one of the two has her legs locked over mine
>look at the situation
>"fuck, that's a lot of muscle"
>manage to sneak off the bed
>approach door quietly
>"where are you going"
>it's the leglock girl
>she's a bit scary desu
>I say "did we have sex yesterday"
>"we were saving it for the morning"
>"oh"
>she comes close and licks my neck with a little breathy moan
>wake up
I'm not even making it up. I've been thinking about it all day. godfucking damnit this was a prank from God

>>96139333
>Plus, a lot of normies don’t like anthropomorphic animals.
And a lot of normies don't like elves or dwarves.
Or don't see them as anything but "annoying rich guy" and "drunk uncle".

>>96141253
On it.

>>96139293 (OP)
>Don't beastfolk just fill all the possible nonhuman roles
Don't humans?

>>96140158
That's because they're savage animal people instead of Briar Rabbit

No, and you have mental illnesses. Elves and dwarves have staying power where furfaggot shit doesn't because Elves and dwarves are cool, fag shit isnt.

>>96141577
>Elves and dwarves are cool
Nah, they are boring and massively overused.

Non-humans in media are actually just setdressing that no one really gives a fuck about, this has always been the case.

>>96141763
But isn't that part of what makes fantasy's appeal?

>>96142130
chances are anon's fantasy is a world where everyone looks like his cousing and he can kill anyone who doesn't

>>96139293 (OP)
We have a worldbuilding general. Go there next time you have something retarded to say.

>>96140158
>>96141564
Do warhammer beastmen rape?

>>96141395
>least mentally ill coomer

>>96145403
Does Balthazar Gelt like gold?

>>96139293 (OP)
>beastfolk
furshit.

Question... what's the best class to use with a Harengon?

>>96139293 (OP)
You should try being creative for once, instead of slapping a wolf head and limbs on a human torso, making it behave like an irl wolf, and calling it a day. Besides, even people who do like them won't use them to avoid being associated with furfaggotry, as evidenced by this thread.

>>96140158
>>96145403
I thought Warhammer was associated with killing furries and that was thanks to FlashGitz.

>>96141577
>Elves and dwarves are cool
lmao what
they're shit and will always make a game look like cheap bootleg versions of lotr
plus most shit media just make every dwarf the same character and every elf either a smug aristocratic faggot or a retarded coombait slut.
even making them more complex doesn't remove the baggage of elves and dwarves being shit.

>>96140149
>the perfect compromise
>posts abysmal dogshit

>>96139381
>Orcs can be either pigpeople
Always have been.
>>96139293 (OP)
Furries go to /trash/.

>>96140149
>everyone is human, some of them wear cheap trinkets from Temu.

>>96139311
fpbp
/thread
New thread topic: how does a post-human sci-fantasy setting deal with the physical forms of the players?

>>96140008
Oh man, you think furries are bad, wait till you find out about anime.

>>96149107
nta but anime got mainstream and lost a lot of edge while the furry scene became increasingly demented and filled with actual bestiality fags
moeslop is cringe but harmless

>>96149366
I don't find that true in the absolute sense. By being mainstream and more "accepted" it often results in the more obnoxious types to become way more uppity.

>>96149083
Whatever they want, because changing your body is as easy as changing your clothes.

>>96139293 (OP)
The problem is that they become <animal> people, which leads them to be generic. An elf is "a human with long ears," but there's also enough personality baked into the idea of "elf" that they feel unique.

In contrast, "wolf people" or "cat people" are just people with wolf or cat traits. The approach tells you everything about them, and it leaves them feeling derivative. They need some kind of twist to make them unique.
For example, werewolves are classics in folklore because they're not just wolf people, but people cursed to be both wolves and humans and thus neither. They have to navigate dual identities, and a lack of control over their animalistic behavior. Now, you have something more than "wolf people," you have "werewolves."

>>96150588
I see this sentiment a lot, though in reality other races like the usual elves dwarves etc. essentially act like humans too most of the time no matter how much someone tries to dress it up. I see it a lot in fact here on /tg/ and often the argument becomes very stupid, like if any non-human acts even a little human then that means they are just a human but worse, and thus unnecessary.

>>96150664
>elves dwarves etc. essentially act like humans too most of the time no matter how much someone tries to dress it up
Elves and Dwarves have more diverse aesthetic and narrative themes, however.
For example, a stereotypical dwarf has a long beard, likes drinking beer, lives underground, mines for a living, believes in honor and family, and is short.
Similarly, a stereotypical elf has long, pointed ears, a graceful build, loves poetry and music, lives in trees among nature, and is well-versed in magic.

With both cases, the individual characteristics won't suddenly evoke "elf" or "dwarf," because humans can have most of these things. However, putting them together yields a distinct blend that is different from a normal human.
In contrast, a wolf person would have a wolf-like appearance and wolf-like behavior. There's no depth or distinction there, just the animal.

When people talk about "acting like humans," that's all they mean—too many non-human races feel like humans because they don't have anything making them feel different from humans outside of cheap gimmicks.

>>96141039
You don’t see yokai much outside of anime and manga.

>>96139293 (OP)
What are some types of animals that you wish you saw as beastfolk more often, are there any species that are particularly underrepresented/underutilized?

>>96156326
I feel like birds and insects as a proper race instead of enemies is really rare. With beastfolk mammals are super common

>>96139293 (OP)
You could also just have interesting and different human cultures instead of turning everything into lame, samey races.

>>96156360
Why is it fags spew this as though it were some profound, revelatory choice? To me at least it's the most boring shit ever. Like, why even bother with fantasy then?

>>96150721
>In contrast, a wolf person would have a wolf-like appearance and wolf-like behavior. There's no depth or distinction there, just the animal.
This is ass-backwards. The animal, because it is real, is deep and distinct. Wolves have centuries of built-up mythology and cultural associations, reams of books about their behavior and psychology, and so much more material to draw on for inspiring characters and cultures.

Drawing on something real gives you so much more material to work with it's not even funny. Ars Magica has a deeper and more lore-rich setting than Forgotten Realms.

The actual reason for the dwarf/elf preference IS that they are relatively flat and easy to grasp compared to cats, rabbits, goats, foxes, wolves, etc.

>>96145403
yes
>>96148350
Thats 40K, fantasy has 3 races of furry beastfolk people, but furfaggots never pay attention to them. Beastmen are too rapey, Skaven are too repulsive, Lizardmen are too sexless

>>96160168
>be animal
>do things on instinct
Very deep indeed furfaggot. Also none of the peoples who used wolves, or any other animal for that matter, as symbolism for something ever wanted to dress up as them and sniff each other's assholes, just so you know.

>>96160941
Do the dog-people wag their tails when they're happy and curl them up when they're afraid? That also has to do with the smell of their ass (they're waving around/obscuring their scent). In fact, this is a great example: dogs wagging their tails is an instantly identifiable signal of their emotional state despite being totally alien from humans signals.

>uhm, it's not REALLY dog people behavior unless they sniff each other's asses
When Earthbound got localized into the West, they put Ness in pajamas instead of having him naked for Magicant. Sometimes you tweak things a bit to make them fit better with people's cultural sensitivities.

>>96161094
So it's just like the other anon said: a dog person with dog-like appearance and dog-like behaviour. No depth or distinction, just the animal.

>>96160208
>Skaven are too repulsive
>He don't know.

>>96161094
Why do Americans fear nudity but love ultra-violence?

>>96161210
Why do Europeans fear ultra-violence but love nudity?

what are some beastfolk that don't feel like they are just humans with a coat of paint?
the 40k beastraces, khajiit and argonians..

>>96161143
How come nobody ever separates human from ape behavior to see just how much of human behavior is actually uniquely human and not just a general ape or mammal thing?

>>96139293 (OP)
Kill yourself, furfag tourist.

>>96161143
>So it's just like the other anon said: a dog person with dog-like appearance and dog-like behaviour. No depth or distinction, just the animal.
An entire animal species, with a complete life cycle and unique social organization, has no depth or distinction, but a dwarf loving beer is super deep? Are you mentally retarded?

If you just define "if it's real, it's not deep," then fine, but by that logic actual medieval England is way flatter than Sword Coast flanderized city state #32

>>96139494
I would go further and suggest that this even applies to non-living things. People anthromorphize machines and places all the time.

>>96162446
I didn't say anything about dwarves, and there are a million ways to take something that exists in real life and make it cool and interesting in a fantasy setting. Making a dog man wag his tail when he's happy is not one of them.

>>96162787
Yes, if that were the only thing that made dogs different from humans, they would not be very interesting. My point is that the behavior (wagging tail when you're happy) a) requires no "educating" the players about what it means, and b) is completely alien to human behavior. If I describe a wolf person wagging his tail, then players know that means he's happy, without me having to lore dump them at all. Imagine, for example, nonhumans who snort on people they like. You'd have to explain that, but with tail wagging, you just say "he wags his tail" and everyone known what it means.

Wolf people instantly give you, as flavor, just by being wolf people:
- Carnivorous
- Hunters, of the stalking/stealthy/social type
- Very strong sense of smell, use it in identifying others, tracking, smelling emotional states
- Excellent hearing, poor vision
- Monogamous, litters of children
- Quite gender-egalitarian (minimal sexual dimorphism)
- Territorial
- Baring teeth, growling, sniffing, tails wagging, tails curled between legs, etc, as instantly identifiable body language that's different from humans

All with 0 loredumps whatsoever. And that's just off the top of my head.

>>96139293 (OP)
I use beastfolk because I want to have relations with them.

>>96162832
Diff anon, but what I'm getting from this is animal people are different and better because people know what animals do, which is of course different from how people know what dwarves and elves do.

In all seriousness though, what I'm understanding from your argument is that you think that since animals have well defined traits that we have historically ascribed meaning too, this means that they come as a fleshed out and instantly recognizable fantasy race, that avoids the genericisms of elves and dwarves without having to explain worldbuilding to players.

This betrays one of the biggest appeals of fantasy though, which is that it is speculative fiction. The entire point to many people is the ability to explore weird settings with different rules and cultures. Animal people simplify that to the point that it can suck the appeal straight out of it, especially if someone has spent a lot of time on fantasy fiction and already seen the same fucking race of naked mole rat people 12 times, with no actual differences between them other than how dwarvish they were in the details.

I think you can do animal head people right, though you are best off using their animal nature to bounce off something else. Skaven have Warpstone, and that is as central to them as their ratness.

>>96164507
My main point is the way that the real world always has more and greater depth of material than stuff you made up, and players can bring preexisting knowledge, and are generally more willing to learn about it (since it is real - people go to the zoo and learn useless facts about animals! They read history books of their own free will! They do these at roughly one billion times the rate they read the lore for your home campaign!).

>Animal people simplify that to the point that it can suck the appeal straight out of it, especially if someone has spent a lot of time on fantasy fiction and already seen the same fucking race of naked mole rat people 12 times, with no actual differences between them other than how dwarvish they were in the details.
Oh yeah, when I read fantasy fiction I definitely see a lot of naked mole rat people, I've gotten tired of it, time to read about something creative and new instead: dwarves and elves.

For real, there's not even a damn wolf-people race in 5e. It's not actually so common as to be played out.

>>96164507
To expand on my point, Elves and Dwarves being somewhat vague actually lends them strength in this area, since it means the avid worldbuilder has a lot of room to take them to new places. Elves are ancient, and thusly usually magic, wise, and in tune with the world/nature. Dwarves are productive and so they live inside their mines, carving impressive constructions from the mountain and forging artifacts. beyond that, elves and dwarves pretty much blank slates.

I also just prefer them to animal people arbitrarily, and if I feel creative and want to make my own races then I'm not going to simplify it with animal people, since I'd rather make something weirder.

>>96139293 (OP)
No furry. Beastfolk aren't replacing elves, Orcs, and other nonhumans. Go back to your porn now.
(I would like the idea of beast races but furries ruin any chance of that happening with them trying to fuck everything with a tail. Hell they try to get the talking animals too.)

>>96162832
And the point was that you're just describing a wolf. It's not deep, it's not interesting, you're adding nothing to make me care about it. It is quite literally just a normal ass wolf that walks and talks like a person. Even without the furryshit angle, that's just boring.

They are carnivorous and hunters, but what/where do they hunt exactly? Do they have weapons? What kind? Do they make them themselves?
They have lots of children, but where do they live? In a hole on the ground with their families? Or have they built some kind of society?
They are territorial, but what's out there that's making them this way? Humans? Other beast people? What's their relationship with them like? Are they at war? Do they have allies?

Plenty of people are tired of Tolkien elves and dwarves and will try to make them different in some way. Usually it's shit, but at least they're trying to move away from it. You stopped at "it's a wolf doing wolf things, but on two legs" and you're trying to be all high and mighty about it, for some reason.

>>96164507
>I think you can do animal head people right, though you are best off using their animal nature to bounce off something else. Skaven have Warpstone, and that is as central to them as their ratness.
This is the key point. Skaven are actually interesting because they have a unique identity distinct from their animalistic nature. I can also think of Dark Crystal's Skeksis, who are more than just bird people, or JRPG pig orcs, who have reached the point of being a standard trope.

>>96164616
>the real world always has more and greater depth of material than stuff you made up
But how much of that will players actually know? People will mostly resort to basic stereotypes and tropes when interacting with fiction, because they don't expect the author to know the finer details of wolf anatomy, much less to include that in their fantasy race.
"Wolf people" will basically reduce to the set of traits posted by >>96162832, and won't go beyond. The race devolves to performing a trope without pushing things.

>For real, there's not even a damn wolf-people race in 5e
Werewolves are in 5e, just not playable. Same with wolfweres.
As playable races, you also have: harengon (rabbit people), aarakocra (bird people), giff (elephant people), centaur (horse people), dragonborn (dragon people), hadozee (monkey people), lizardfolk (lizard people), thri-keen (preying mantis people), yuan-ti (snake people), and tortles (turtle people).
Incidentally, the most popular of the beastfolk races are dragonborn, kobolds, and aarakocra. Aarakocra are only popular for their flight speed, while the other two are not grounded in real world biology or real world species.

>>96165011
Okay, let me try to use bullet points since you are apparently deeply, deeply retarded:

- Wolves are inherently more complex than "vague concept of an elf", because they are real things, and thus have entire books written about them. Elves do have many books written about them, but they all contradict each other.
- There is nothing stopping you from adding more on top of wolf-people, just as you add more on top of elves. I was listing what you get from wolf alone; the equivalent for elves is much less, and much flatter.

>>96165043
>Werewolves are in 5e
Werewolves are not wolves. C'mon.

>>96165075
>Werewolves are not wolves. C'mon.
Neither are wolf-people

>>96165079
Okay, if you want to do the "autistic retard who forces me to explain every single sentence for you" act, I'll do it once:

Werewolves do not act like wolves. Wolves are not Chaotic Evil, do not have "fiery tempers," are not "ravening beasts," do not "emerge at night to spread terror and bloodshed," etc. Werewolves are not "humans who turn into wolves," they are "vaguely wolf-themed monster that acts nothing like a wolf."

>>96165107
>Wolves are not Chaotic Evil, do not have "fiery tempers," are not "ravening beasts," do not "emerge at night to spread terror and bloodshed,"
That's literally what people thought of wolves before we killed them all

>>96165075
The things that make wolves wolves don't correlate to a culture, history, manufacturing or anything you can interact with in a game. It's just a general nature that you translate to a human to make it just a dude with a certain personality. Fictional races have fictional things you an interact with and do stuff with them, so a dwarven city is different from an elvish one and most players won't need extensive details to get this. You'll get different products and services for them and have different adventure seeds.

You could get a wolf person and give them all that. But at that point it's not a wolf person, it's something else you attached to wolves. And if it's original, then you'll need a lot more work for players to imagine the same thing because there's no accepted concensus on what wolf humanoid society would be like.

Usually in manga it'll just be a real life society that didn't need the animal part. Dragons have chinese societies, bunnies or foxes are traditional japanese, and so on. The animal part is just an extra for cute drawings, but in ttrpg you're imagining things so the animal part might as well not be there (or you can imagine everyone as animals, it's the same)

>>96139293 (OP)
>Don't beastfolk just fill all the possible nonhuman roles you could want for TTRPGs?
No, and I say that as a furry.

Elves, dwarves, and other "human" species have their own niches and uses in ttrpgs. Beastfolk also have their niches and uses. But one cannot cover for the other without issue.

>>96161756
Because doing so would result in people finally understanding that humans arent special in regards to our actions or activities. Humanoid animal people are less different from humans than people would want and that scares them because of furries.

>>96164507
>>96165043
This is absolutely true. Pathfinder does this with most of its animal people and they are far more interesting than just "here's a wolf person, they act like wolves".

Sarangay are Filipino "minotaurs" who have soul gems in their foreheads. Their culture includes these as special elements, and their unique magic powers stem from them. They also get powers reminiscent of the legends they are based on. Far more interesting than if they were just humanoid carabao with a precolonial Filipino culture.

Anadi are giant jumping spiders with transformation magic (so they dont scare other people because giant spider), a culture obsessed with weaving, and a vague African culture that honors stories of Anansi without blatantly saying so.

Even PFs gnolls, kholo now, are more interesting than just being hyena people, with strange magics, an odd culture, and an actual place in the setting.

Each of these is not just the animal with a real world culture slapped on, but a humanoid animal with an interesting gimmick and a fitting culture that reflects both their land of inspiration but also the gimmick and the ways it changes it.

Which is more interesting, a fox person who is just a fox and a person from Europe or Asia, or fox people with transformation magic and a culture of trickery, with powers and feats that replicate stories from Europe and Asia? The latter, of course.

This seems like a good enough thread to ask this.

How would you handle nails/claws for beast folk and still allow for fine manipulation?

>>96165223
furries solved this ages ago. You do a cross between human fingernails and claws, a sort of flatter blunt claw.

>>96165312
I would still have it connected to bone but I think I would remove the ability to retract/extend the claws in favor of a more Human like hand which I imagine most furries would go with if they think that deeply on it.

Then again I prefer the sort of body type of pic related

What's the verdict on Thundercats style hybrids?

>>96165389
>Shnarf trying to be tough

>>96165389
thundercats could be cool if you use their lore. Was Mumra just some random alien from the planet they crashed or was he related to them?
I personally like their kind of gonzo style.

>>96165223
People can learn to handle both smartphones and old fashion typewriters with long nails.

>>96164616
The naked mole rat people are a hyperbole, though the "fucking" probably just made me sound legitimately pissed.

>>96165389
This looks awesome. So, yes is my vote.

>>96139293 (OP)
Now the truth no one is prepared for:
Special races that look exactly like humans, but either immaculate and angelical, or horrendous qnd demonic
No horns, no weird ears nor any quirky appendages.

>>96139293 (OP)
It would unironically be pretty awesome, but only if every furry suddenly dropped dead too. Not really interested to run a game where one guy fondles his dick under the table when I describe an anthromorphic sheep with zero sexualization.

>>96139381
Elves are actually swan people, and they're Finnish. You cannot refute this.

>>96150588
It feels like the traits, behaviors (both real and perceived), plus fables, for a variety of animal species, gives a lot more to work with than the slush elves have become

>le man but le wolf
>le man but le ox
>le man but le cat
>le man but le tapir
>...
>"wow so original"

Total OP death.

>>96139293 (OP)
>Elves, dwarves etc. only have lasting power because of Tolkien.
Elves and dwarves have staying power because they actually have developed depth. Sure, they don't have any in D&D specifically, but expecting any depth from a D&D player (or any American consumer) is like expecting a nazi to not hate Jews.

>>96172214
>le man but short
>le man but tall
>le man but skinny
>le man but short and fat
>le man but short and skinny

>>96165011
>wolves come with a lot of well-known attributes before you even start adding things to make them stand out
>"but it's not deep or interesting yet!"
Please quit the hobby

>>96172647
>before you even start adding things to make them stand out
The problem is that implies people add things to make them stand out. That doesn't happen.

>>96139293 (OP)
I have made a point out of making humans the only race that is allowed to have smooth, hairless skin.

>>96165223
Make them retractable.

>>96161241
Because killing people is bad, but everyone has a human body so why the fuck would you be ashamed of it? Unless you're a sloppy fat fuck, in which case you should be ashamed - perhaps that explains why americans hate nudity so much.

>>96145403
almost exclusively yeah

>>96139293 (OP)
How do you handle beastfolk or other races with wings, especially if they can actually fly and not just glide?

>>96187036
Not OP, but my bird people have a generic resource upkeep to keep their flight going turn per turn. So that there is an opportunity cost between flight and saving those resources for something else.

>>96139293 (OP)
You just want furfaggotry in your games. Never EVER give furries a fucking inch. Stomp them out the second they rear their ugly heads.

>>96139333
>Plus, a lot of normies don’t like anthropomorphic animals.
Except they really don't. So long as you're not being a horny faggot about it, the entry level nerd whose not big into D&D or Tolkien already will handle beastkin easily. Especially if they grew up on kids cartoons.

>>96187036
In my autistic attempt to explain how dragons work in my setting, naturally I apply the same sort of magic biology to all other creatures.

Wings serve as a conduit for the magic/psychic energy which allows them to fly and they can learn how to harness this energy to do different kinds of magic suitable for it.

>>96160168
>reams of books about their behavior and psychology

Which your average faggot, fur or not, hasn't read and just knows the bullshit 'alpha' shit from that one overexposed study about domesticated wolves from different packs.

>>96165178
I think the carnivorous nature of wolf-people is going to lock them out of agriculture, which was pretty important to basically every major power we've ever had on Earth. Agriculture allowed for supporting a lot of non-farmers, who could go on to make metal goods and such.

They could be pastoral, which would tie into the territorial aspect of wolf people: it's not just animal instinct, but the actual practical concern that their herds need grazing area, and some other group coming in and grazing their herds means yours starve, and thus you and your people starve.

But that's not that different from human pastoralism, after all.

>>96187720
>I think the carnivorous nature of wolf-people is going to lock them out of agriculture,
Wolves are not obligate carnivores, unlike most big cats. Wolves eat lots of berries and fruits, various root plants and mushrooms, and can eat quite a bit of human food. In fact, berries make up a large chunk of wolf diets during summer months.

In the change to humanoid form their diets would likely open up, becoming more omnivorous but still leaning toward meat. And they are neither more or less territorial than your average human group. And the change to humanoid tool use and sociality would necessarily bring them closer to human style social groups (being highly fluid and intermixed) instead of simple family groups.

Youd likely see large semipastoral family clans, with a central agricultural hub they circle their herds around.

>>96140245
There's literally nothing stopping you from saying "Elves and Fox-kin are the same in this world". The fox race follows the same theme of Elves, down to their nature connection and ethereal beauty. Bear-men can be the Dwarves: strong, rugged beings with a penchant for the mountains.

It's fantasy. You can make any race anything. Hell, in my PF2E campaign, the Dwarves are the ones in tune with nature, carving and caring for their mountain homes, while the Elves are industrious crafters, spending their long lives perfecting their arts.

>>96188586
I've always asked myself how an obligate carnivore society would function, especially in the early days.
It's a huge downside.

>>96188921
>There's literally nothing stopping you
A buy in from the players. Games worth playing aren't the GM dictating a setting, but crafting something the players want to play in.

>>96140166
Are you perhaps a fan of the Lunar series? Because that's how they do their half beastmen.

Why does this furry faggot keep spamming shit about muh beastFOLK? Fuck right off

>>96139293 (OP)
What if I want elves and dwarves specifically, smart guy?

>>96194618
NTA, but I've never heard of it. I'd love to rectify that if you're up for it though.

>>96139293 (OP)
My fantasy jam was always Avernum with its lizard and cat men, so damn straight they do

>>96189011
I would guess that for the most part it just doesn't. I think agriculture is a requisite for anything resembling the human conception of civilization, and therefor any other advanced technology (hence its role in the Civilization games). If there were any society at all, it would probably resemble primitive hunter-gatherers.
All this is beside the point, of course, since tolerating "beastfolk" of any kind is just invite furfaggotry to ruin whatever you're doing.

>>96210021
It's a series of videogames. People live on a world called the Silver Star and talk about how they used to live on the Blue Star before reckless magic use and endless wars forced their goddess to relocate them. Beastmen exist and can have kids with humans, resulting in elf looking kids. Picrel is a full blooded beastman in the sequel.

>>96139293 (OP)
Where on the scale of anthropomorphism do you prefer your beastfolk? Are they closer to RWBY Faunus, or are they so animalistic that they don't even have hands that are human-like, or what?

>>96139293 (OP)
I don't want just Humans and a bunch of anthros. I want those plus Elves and Dwarves and Orcs and Gnomes and Hobbits and Ents and Tieflings and so on as well.

>>96217012
>RWBY Faunus
Nobody considers something like that beastfolk honestly, the term draws up a very specific image to most people. Something like your pic still firmly falls into being called a demihuman, like elves and such.

>>96140133
Then you don't actually like the concept of beastfolk, you like the concept of anime catgirls.

>>96217029
Source/context please?

>>96224363
Yes.

>>96227219
A beast cries in the wilderness.

People get genetically modified into animal people and it's roughly based on the chinese zodiac

>>96227239
What book is this from?

>>96232301
Transhuman Space. Update for 4e in Changing Times and also in Biotech.

>>96233662
Thanks. Any other books that are useful for this kind of thing in particular?

>>96139293 (OP)
Beastfolk and furries are top tier RP characters, people understand animal tropes

>>96139381
Elves both in the terms etymology and from Tolkiens intentions correspond to humans.

In a purely animal setting they'd be there as the humans.

>>96230134
Imagine posting a picture of best girl without her guns.

If you're a D&D fan and you have a problem with SFW anthros, remember that you play a glorified board game about glorified fairy tales.
The public perception of your hobby was "that silly nerd game only incels care about" for 40 years.
You can stay on your high horse, but you're standing in a ditch deeper than the horse's height, and the horse is a furry.

>>96241096
>seething furfag is upset that even social outcasts find his fetish disgusting.
Kek. If it wasn't for your hugboxes on the internet you would have no place in this world.

Let's all just ignore the truth that an interesting player is what causes an interest character. No amount of lore will change someone who refuses to act alive in their role play.

That aside, people will shit blood no matter what you do. Some people exist just to make up reasons to be mad on the spot. They are unpleasable. They exist only to tear others down and exalt themselves. So do what you want so long as it is right by Christ. If you want to play a dog man who wags his tail and chases sticks, do it. If you want to play a bull man who has an unexpectedly deep and unique culture he is from, do that. Someone being an evil cretin about it is literally their problem. Not yours.

>>96241096
Good thing I'm not a D&D fan then, furfaggot.

>>96241187
>says the guy clinging to a hugbox opinion when outright furry hate is literally a somethingawful/old 4chan thing he is clinging to like a cargo cult

>>96241352
>hugbox opinion
Anon. No one likes furries. Your hugbox echo chambers have gotten louder to be sure but that dosen't change the fact that normal people veiw your fetish for what it is.

>>96241090
We need more art of her here, but this is a great start, thanks!

>>96241388
Furries are not in the day to day mind of normal people.

>>96170850
But can we breed their women?

>>96233662
What animal is she supposed to be?

>>96139293 (OP)
Go play Ironclaw

>>96139381
High elves are different kinds of Goats.
Sea elves are Capricorns.
Wood elves are Cervidae, mainly does and deer; the most common elf you can see, but they become more elky the deeper into the woods you go.

>but f-f-f-furries!!!?
Geezuz unc grandpa you still stuck in your something awful years? still swinging that rusty katana sword on some tropical island decades after your side lost and rest of the world already chose peace?

>>96255617
>High elves are different kinds of Goats.
Why goats? I get Wood Elves being deer, but the others, not so much.

I mean in most instances and cases you're right, and in fairness I use some of that philosophy in my own writing, however I prefer to use the shades of humanity look for a good CHUNK of the more humanoid creatures in myths, legends, and monster books. For me its a matter of preference that I don't make Dwarves look like beetles or make elves a form of deer folk. but instead leave them as humanoid because it adds a layer I feel. Looking at an elf should feel like looking at a denisovan, looking at a dwarf should feel like looking at a neanderthal with a beard. but that's just how I look at things.

>>96145420
Coomer website, tourist.

>>96261443
Goats and magic.
(Dark, secret, arcane and demonic magiks that were their civilization's doom and created the dark elves, leaving only the mountain goat species in their hidden and isolated and magic mountain top settlements the last ancient and wise "pure" elves)
Sometimes one or 2 of them descend from the mountain tops to teach mankind magic and how to use it wisely.
(Or maybe it's a renegade, who comes down to whisper sacrilege and lewdities into the ears of saints, trying to tempt men to do dark magic, but the right way this time around)

>>96139293 (OP)
My only problem wit adding beastfolk is that I want to be inspired, and also want to avoid the usual generic species. Right now, the setting I have on the back burner has two beastfolk races.
>Pecorids: Sheep people with wooly fur. They live in communities built like monasteries because of their tendency to devote themselves to deities and causes. Even in human communities, pecorid priests are not uncommon.
>Squirlek: Bushy-tailed rodents who live in the forest treetops. They are highly curious and love to tinker. Their inventions tend to be very focused on ropes and pulleys, like early elevators and crossbows.

I try to make the cultures a bit alien.

>>96265157
Yeah, that's a good but difficult goal. In videogames as an example I always liked the Charr. They are clearly mammalian, but distinctly not a direct transplant of a real world species. It's a design you pretty much once you see it, know that it isn't anything other than what it is.

>>96245305
We've had plenty of monke art.

>>96266381
Is there some kind of art that we're particularly lacking then?

Dwarves are Rabbits.
Just like Hobbits, but hobbits are more domesticated and have become bunnies, while dwarves have become more industrious and ambitious, digging their burrows even into stone.
Halflings are squirrels, curious and nimble... and they are always finding their way into the birdfeeders that they shouldn't get into, even through locks.

Pretty insane that a demented bumpfag has kept this thread going for 3 weeks.

>>96270548
How beast do you like your beastfolk, anon?

>>96268802
Canines, maybe? People tend to just categorize them as werewolves or dog kobolds, and thus different from beastie bois.

>>96268802
I feel like insectoids and avians in general are always pretty rare among beastfolk along with more nonstandard mammals.

>>96270548
The longest he's been able to keep a thread alive is nearly 4 months.

>>96139293 (OP)
I'd be okay with animal people if they weren't connected to a degenerate subculture of freakish perverts.
Furries are just so disgusting and nasty that I don't want games to be hospitable to them.

They can also fill all the human roles.

>>96139379
>that alone stops all furfaggots from ever sitting at my tables
AHAHAHA no.

>>96276921
True, you also got to get rid of Tieflings. The queers made them their personal race in D&D.

>>96276943
You're not getting rid of furfags that easily, you're just forcing them to be slightly more subtle.

>>96276943
You also gotta get rid of druids, because they can turn into animals.
Don't forget any sort of class that gets access with Polymorph so no Bards, Sorcerers, or Wizards.
Maybe no warlocks either because they might try to make their familiar some sort of furry.
Rangers can't be played as well. They might try to screw Fido.

>>96278575
Don't worry, I already don't play dnd

>>96279370
Praise the Lamb!

>>96139293 (OP)
dont rockfolk just fill in all the possible nonhuman roles?
dont elementalfolk just fill in all the possible nonhuman roles?
dont tankfolk just fill in all the possible nonhuman roles?
dont plantfolk just fill in all the possible nonhuman roles?

any (theme)folk can do that.

>>96148259
It's been two weeks and no one has answered this.

>>96279382
Do they have any weaknesses? Asking for a friend, lol.

>>96279376
Always liked Gegege's anthropomorphizations. Especially the lizards where he doesn't take them full anime character.

>>96281988
For me it's the catgirls however

>>96282578
For me its his owl girls.

>>96282590
>>96282578
y not both?

>>96282904
Fine too

>>96266210
Charr were such a cool species till the devs started listening to the community.
Vanilla GW2 they looked like a successor to the Iksar but now they’re reduced to sparkledogs

>>96139293 (OP)
What if I don't want nonhuman players in the first place?
No, it's no easier. It's easier to use what's people are got well used to and doesn't irritate anyone.

If anything, it's more irritating about the attempts to fix what's not broken.
Meanwhile at the core of it, your solution is the same humans, but animals, and also with a sexual furry degenerate subtext.
No thanks.

>>96284398
>What if I don't want nonhuman players in the first place?
Where do you even find nonhuman players

>>96284464
MTG tournaments.

>>96279376
>>96281988
Reminds me of the lizard mercenaries from Kulipari Army of Frogs

>>96139293 (OP)
i like sheep aesthetic that's a good sheep

>>96284398
This. Humans are just better, more relatable, more understandable, and there's nothing subjective about the fact that non-humans just suck. Human characters can accomplish all that you need or want to achieve with a character concept better.

>Well what if I don't like making humans?

Then you're wrong.

>>96284655
my opponents are usually human.
that's why I win so much.

>>96140133
>Just give regular people animal ears and a tail.
This is cowardly and you know it.

>>96285189
NTA, but where do 'you' draw the line then?

>>96288198
Aisha Clan-Clan is just before the line between catgirl and beastman, literally toeing it. Right behind her is Nikki Tithel from Mana Khemia and Katt from Breath of Fire 2.

>>96289458
I hadn't heard of the latter two, I'll check them out, thanks.

>>96288198
>>96285189
>Tier 1:
Ears and Tail Tier. If it's just ears and a tail, but no fur on the body, not furry. Aisha Clan Clan in her normal form would be here.
>Tier 2
Furry with plausible deniability. Body has fur but is still human-shaped with a human-shaped face. Michiru is one example, see also Izutsumi from Dungeon Meshi, or Catra from She-Ra, or Cheetara from Thundercats.
>Tier 3
Furry with no chance of deniability. This is mostly human body (making exceptions for digitigrade feet) with animal face. This is classic sparkledog furry tier. Loona from Helluva Boss would reside here. Or Lola Bunny from the first Space Jam. Or Nyaanta from Log Horizon for a not-so-common anime male furry.
>Tier 4
Animal body standing on two legs. This is Zootopia Tier. Or Robin Hood (1973) if you're a boomer.
>Tier 5
This is just an animal with vaguely anthropomorphized features. This is Lion King tier. For those degenerate fucks who talk about being turned on by Nala's "bedroom eyes". Also, Aisha in her transformed state would reside here.

>>96292190
>>96293830
>>96293904
>>96294515
>>96294678
kill yourself bumpfag

>>96285013
What kind of deck do you use?

beastmen are usually boring. Typically very uninspired, and i don’t see a lot of world builders play with them that much. Just easy set dressing to make a location look more fantastical without much thought.
Warhammer is a good example of both
Skaven are interesting because they both play with the extreme of the idea of a rat man, while also not just being rat men
The other beastmen are just barbarians who got chaos corrupted who barely stand as their own developed culture and faction. Loosely held together by the net of chaos

>>96304683
As a non-Warhammer player, thanks for the explanation. Are there any other settings that do beastmen at least semi-decently, like how Warhammer does Skaven?

>>96306222
hard to say since beast men are usually just set dressing a lot of the time to establish the setting as more fantastical like Final Fantasy
or like Wakfu/Dofus just gives them a gimmick loosely associated with their species or country the animal is from
(Cats are gamblers because the lucky cat thing, Pandas do martial arts because chinese)
Warcraft is the same as this where Taurens are native americans but cow guys
thats not much better than cat people being sneaky because they're cats like in Elder Scrolls

this might be enough for most people but i don't think that makes them that interesting

>>96306755
Okay, so what else needs to be done to make beastfolk more interesting that you haven't said yet?

>>96304683
Skaven gotta be one of the best examples of a beastrace done well. I agree they're better than the regular beastmen, those guys feel more like furry chaos orks.

>>96306755
Hey khajiit are pretty good tho. Nothing wrong with a cat race leaning on cat tropes, so long as they have planty of personality on top.

>>96308482
the stereotype of a rat is they're greedy, cowardly pests but that has also led them to obtaining technology and magic that is far beyond the means of their kind with warpstones and chaos worship
they take this to another extreme where they have crazy tech much more advance than other races that they can't possibly understand and also use that stuff to mutate themselves into monsters far bigger than some little rat man
this doesn't forget that idea that every ratman thinks of themselves as the center of the universe and are willing to backstab their own allies in their own pursuits

Skaven are interesting because they are an extreme of their cliche and are actually deeply connected to the rest of the lore of their world

in a less inspired setting the rat man would just be a side character who is a good thief or troublemaker
but warhammer knows that this is also a setting with magical technology and dark gods. their culture isn't just being a rat, its also influenced by hubris from using tech they should have never had and corruption from dark gods

>>96308482
>>96308808
basically, i think what makes a good beast race would be one where the lore of the world informs their existence but they are also influences on the world around them

>>96281988
Okay, this is nice. We need more art like this here.

>>96177659
Based

>>96139293 (OP)
>puckee art
kill yourself

>>96139293 (OP)
Races are boring. Cultures are cool.

It's why Orkz are cool, it's why Warhammer Dwarves are cool, it's why Burning Wheel Elfs and Orcs feel original, it's why the cannibal lizardfolk from 5e are interesting.

You want to make beastfolk? Ok, will they have a different and interesting culture like the Skaven or just be people with mouse ears/features?

>>96322480
This is pretty much it. The more effort you put into developing your beastfolk's culture, the more interesting they'll be.

>>96282922
Nice! What is the owl girl looking at though?

>>96141039
No one bother with races like the Blemmyes or those one footed people too much because they can all be summed up as "Humans with deformity quirks" and frankly that's not interesting

>>96327774
Probably /b/
Would explain why the cat is shocked.
One of my favorites of his is the secretary bird girl.

>>96328358
You are a great anon. What do you like about her exactly?

>>96328367
what is reptiles were also girls?
https://gelbooru.com/index.php?page=post&s=list&tags=gujira+personification

>>96328358
>>96328367
Cutie but I don't see a game in which to play this kind of concept unless it's one of those anime games

boompspam ftw

>>96139293 (OP)
I'm honestly surprised that no one has mentioned aquatic beastfolk yet. Especially given the Fishmen in One Piece means that it's not like there hasn't been examples in prominent media. How do you feel about beastfolk with features from aquatic animals, and besides the more obvious animals like sharks, octopi, and dolphins/whales, what fish or other aquatic creatures would make good sources for such beastfolk?

>>96139293 (OP)
>Don't beastfolk just fill all the possible nonhuman roles you could want for TTRPGs?
Demihumans fit all possible nonhuman roles I'd want.
No need for beastmen.

>>96332778
I find aquatics and avians are often wholly ignored most of the time.

>>96140158
That's because skaven and lizardmen are taking most of them, goats end up getting the left over scat fetishists. If they were the only game in town furries would flock them.

>>96145403
Yes and it's not just the humans, the livestock too. They're basically scotts.

>>96161094
>In fact, this is a great example: dogs wagging their tails is an instantly identifiable signal of their emotional state despite being totally alien from humans signals
It's not a great example and isn't alien to humans at all. Modern dog behavior is literally the result of them adapting to us.

>>96161756
You're not allowed to anymore, otherwise it would be readily apparent that problems with certain demographics are entirely down to their fundamental nature. And we can't have that.

>>96254253
And Jadeclaw for the Orientalists.

>>96335861
Yeah, such a shame. Why do you think that is?

>>96343503
Not him, but maybe it’s just easier for people to see themselves as the mammals?

>>96335861
technically illithids are a beast race but feel somewhat odd thinking of them as so since they're less squid people, rather cthuhlu people
so any of the unique personalities irl squids and octopi doesn't really get exaggerated into them.

>>96343503
people do have more empathy for mammals because more of them are domesticated and tamed and thus we can see more of their personalities and can think of how a human crossed with these animals would act like
as far as anyone short of being a marine biologist, a fish is just a mindless creature who only exists to eat. any type of merman acts more like a regular person who just happens to have gills
birds have a ton of personality and corvid people will come up from time to time, but we don't really see birds of prey often (except if you're a falconer) and the others are kinda stupid little dudes. i guess we have chickens and ducks. i guess i don't know why they don't show up as fantasy races often. they certainly are very present in cartoons

>>96348011
Yeah, I know what you mean. Their methods of reproduction and diet don’t help there either.

>>96353082
>Their methods of reproduction and diet don’t help there either.
No kidding. You'd think such an intelligent race would have found alternatives, if just so that they don't have to worry about replacing their slaves so often. How would you change them to make them more like beastfolk?

>>96357453
i would walk in the opposite direction
the lovecraftian influence is far to intertwined into their dnd for them to start acting similar to real cephalopods
i mean i guess being very smart, and sneaky are cephalopod things
but it would be more interesting in they also started digging into design characteristics of other lovecraft horrors

>>96150343
I love Botan!

>>96335861
avians are scalies with no usable mouth and ugly feet
downgrade in every way

>>96359072
What about flight? Surely that’s a plus.

>>96361743
this is why they're less common than mammal men
flight is op and if they don't have it are they even birds

>>96357453
>How would you change them to make them more like beastfolk?
I wouldn't. Id make an entirely separate squid/octopusfolk to contract their natures. Illithid arent beastfolk, theyre aberrant parasites that have taken over a body. Their true nature are the neothelids, giant psychic worms with tentacle tongues.

Pictured is what an illithid tadpole turns into if it isn't stuck into a humanoid body and is simply allowed to grow normally.

>>96362120
>flight is op and if they don't have it are they even birds
Considering the many types of flightless birds? Yes. This is an entirely stupid question based on limited stereotypes and not how birds are. Most birds over a certain weight and size stop being able to fly, and large humanoid birds very much would reach that limit.

>>96362147
i know there's lots of flightless birds
but no one wants to see a chicken man. as to why they never got made into a common beast man like the other barnyard favorites of pigs and bulls. (orcs and minotaur, even if the former later became something else)

also the beak will always look less aesthetic than giving a girl cat ears or cow horns

>>96362203
Orcs were never really beastfolk, the very old D&D art of them with a pig head was a misinterpretation of being pigheaded: stupidly obstinate. From there lots of systems derived from old D&D went with pig heads and so porc were born. And playable birdfolk have existed for ages, Aarakocra and Kenku are some 30 to 40 years old at this point.
>giving a girl cat ears or cow horns
Oh, youre one of those types. Young human girls with animal cosplay are the shittiest "beastfolk" around. In fact, they arent even beastfolk. Its just weebs and pedophiles lusting after dehumanized girls.

>>96362678
the beastman is a spectrum and Kemonomimi is a key part of that even if a setting prefers their animal people to be more furry
it might just be a correlation but its no surprise bird people have an awkward place in the more animalistic side of the beastman spectrum when they have no place in the more people with limited animal influence on them

sure aarakocra and kenkus have existed in dnd for ages, but can you really call that notable
i mean cow people are a staple in warcraft

>>96187388
fpbp

>>96363082
The fact you used fpbp horribly wrong makes me think you're a retarded kid or tourist or something.

>>96335861
At a baseline level they are just too alien.

>>96363529
How can we make them less alien then?

>>96366216
Increase the ratio of human parts, to start. Other than that I’m less certain on.

>>96366216
you dont becaue what is the point

>>96139293 (OP)
What do you guys think of this?

>>96139293 (OP)
>Isn't it just easier to use wolf people, ox people, cat people, tapir people and so on and on to fill all your nonhuman fantasy people needs?
Yes. Bonus it turns off the people you don't want to play with anyway.

>>96375992
Have you ever done that yourself then? And how can you tell if a player would be okay with that without asking them?

>>96139293 (OP)
Every game needs at least 1 race of fluffy cat people

>>96276949
Forcing them to be subtle is the same as forcing them to stop breathing. It could work for 30 seconds but no longer

>>96139293 (OP)
Animal people are just a lazy way to point out some prominent traits.
Elves and Dwarfs do the same, but they are covered by combination of mythology and pop-culture.
Animal-people are essentially just cheating at creating a new fantasy race, its always either half-assed and lazy, or anime slop

sex

>>96139293 (OP)
A world of mostly beastfolk comes with its own set of problems. Like how reconcile our treatment of animals vs treatment of beastfolks of the corresponding species. Or the matter of interbreeding; I can believe that a human and an elf can mate. A human and a lionfolk, not so much.

>>96379650
Having anthros wearing clothes and doing normal human stuff is so lame.

>>96385083
>Like how reconcile our treatment of animals vs treatment of beastfolks of the corresponding species.
Not a real issue. Beastfolk don't necessarily correlate to the animals, just as chimps and gorillas don't really directly correlate to humans.
>Or the matter of interbreeding; I can believe that a human and an elf can mate. A human and a lionfolk, not so much.
Mostly a shallow issue. I'd say even the human looking fantasy races have no business interbreeding with humans most of the time, and resulting human/beastfolk children easily could just run between anime catgirl and semi catfolk.

>>96386613
What is the point of the little things in front when there's no spider mouth there?

>>96148259
>Small flippy dippy animal man
The obvious choice is acrobatic monk.

>>96357453
Illithid are all incels. Giving them dad bods and a gym culture will fix it.

>>96386613
>>96392469
creatures like these i just see as creatures
i can't imagine a culture around them, rather just an anomaly caused by a recent curse or something rather than a culture that's developed for centuries

>>96392545
hmm, you may have a point.

>>96335861
>Everyone else saying it's because they're too Alien

No it's because most adventures take place on fucking land and even when you have races like the Sea Elves and Tritons, races who can walk on land people would still rather go for any other Elf and any other second option that's not Tritons
Why would I play a race with an a restriction about how long I can be on land before I need to dunk my head in a fish bowl, which the limit is arbitrary anyway, when I can play a guy that doesn't need to worry about that

>>96393313
Something I imagined for an idea of mine:

The fantasy world is full of greater beasts, super version of the normal beast.
Human made offering to have their clemency.
The greater beasts are capable of magic.
And this is what happen when one of them decide to heal a human.
The chosen one was venerated and human started worshipping the greater beast.

Babies born from human and a chosen still retain most attributes, when they meet such beasts with proper offerings, they are usually "healed" to the level of a chosen.
Those born from chosen and chosen are born with the full attributes.
Greater beasts show some respect to chosen and half-breed, normal beasts treat them as equal (they may still be territorial).

Legend say that human HAD their own greater humans, but that they died in a sacrifice to save mankind or killed each other with a magical plague that fortunately left mankind alive.

No one worship the Greater Platypus tho

>>96386613
I like the idea of things like this, but in my opinion, many creatives tend to be lazy and fall short when considering the consequences of a form like that. I mean, think about it - how would something like a centaur function in a city (modern, medieval, or any other period)? Their large size would be a problem for architecture and city planning in areas designed for (roughly) human-sized things - to say nothing of the problem their hooves would likely cause. The more cramped nature of "traditional" cities would also mean centaurs would be particularly vulnerable to attacks from cutthroats or pickpockets.

In all due likelihood, centaurs, or other similar large and unweildy beings, would be rare in urban environments, tending to prefer the countryside and more pastoral lands. Seeing as culture stems from biology, environment, and circumstance, it's probably a safe bet that centaurs would be fairly conservative with a heavy communal bend to them (literally cannot wipe their own ass without help).

Different results can come about if you play with sizes as well. A miniature horse, for example, might be able to function better in a city. Similarly, something like an arachne/drider modelled after a smaller type of spider, ie a jumping spider.

>>96393313
I meant more along the lines of why they would have pedipalps like >>96386613 does than anything cultural. Like, how does the biology work, what are they even for in a drider?

>>96139293 (OP)
>Don't beastfolk just fill all the possible nonhuman roles you could want for TTRPGs?
Just wait, until OP finds out that Hobbits/Halflings are rabbit-people.

>>96399644
>considering the consequences of a form like that
...and that's why most fiction have "transformation" or keep them humanoid. It's not like it make sense biologically in the first place.
The only trouble is to keep the transformation from being so convenient they erase the novelty.

>>96403449
And the one I wanted to post...
Trying to rationalize the biology of centaurs

>>96399644
>Horses?
>In cities?
>Preposterous!

>>96139293 (OP)
No thanks, furries should die in a fire.

>>96403569
I'm not seeing horses in the stairs or at those windows.

>>96404205
That's just systemic racism inherent in the homocentric system.

>>96399644
What if the cities are made with centaurs in mind, leaving non-centaurs in the dust? Too short to reach everything, in danger of getting trampled, unable to enjoy all the furnishings designed for centaur anatomy in mind?

Do people think of githyanki as frog people or their own thing?

>>96139311
/thread

>>96139293 (OP)
It doesn't make a ton of sense to me that every race would just be human or human + animal. Why? There should be some explanation.

In MY setting, all playable races are the degenerated offspring of ancient, highly advanced humans. The humanity of that time somehow managed to kill an eldritch god from outside of reality, but doing so fractured their own reality, rewriting the laws of physics into a metastable state that conveniently lines up with common fantasy tropes like magic and other planes of existence.
In the wake of this conflict, most of humanity returned to their ancestral form (or close to it), but even the corpse of an eldritch god is powerful and it warps the forms of many living creatures. Thanks to widespread gene editing and hardcoded genetic limits, *most* of the species descended from humans are still human-ish. This gives you elves, dwarves, halflings, cat people, deer people, lizard people, etc. Some humans degenerated more than others, giving you ogres, trolls, swamp people, and the like.

But there are also semi-intelligent to intelligent monsters, borne of animals or a mishmash of animal and human DNA. They, unlike humans, did not have as many genetic protections, so they take much more varied forms. This is where you might see intelligent frogs, bugs, snakes, birds, or even mushroom people. Again, they rarely resemble humans. Not all of these races form a culture or society, and not all of them even can.
Then there are the creations of humanity, in the past through science, and in the present through magic. Mechanical and magical constructs can be viewed as tools or monsters, but the biological forms are rarely regarded as anything but monsters.
Lastly, there are abominations borne of eldritch magic. Few of these are intelligent and they are always evil.

>>96139293 (OP)
The beastfolk in my campaign setting are alchemical creations called homunculi, or munmun as they call themselves. They're about 2 to 2.5 feet tall and can look like any land, water, or flying animal. They first appeared two centuries ago in the setting and struggle to find their place in the world.
They're a predominantly religious people who venerate their original creator as a goddess and that when they die they'll join her in the afterlife.

>>96403449
I'm sure people can cook up some way to make things like that work on a biological level, even if you have to play a little fast and loose with the rules.

>>96403569
Brother, they weren't riding their horses into convenience (general) stores to pick up some milk and cigarettes, or riding their horse up three flights of stairs to go to someone's apartment and chill in their living room.

>>96404585
I mean, you could have a city made by centaurs. I'd imagine they'd probably have something akin to the old Chinese metropolitan design - wide streets, low buildings. Building interiors would have to be spacious as well, so you're looking at a high demand for space in a place where it's already at a premium.

>>96139293 (OP)
What are some reasons why a humanoid race would have horns besides looking like a non-sapient animal? What biological purpose would it serve I mean.

>>96399644
The only way centaurs make sense in my mind is if they are comparatively small like dear (proportionally to) while the horse sized and above centaurs would be mythical in and of themselves

Or imagine a deertaur that could hulk out and turn into a giga-nigga clydesdale taur until they transformed back.

>>96139293 (OP)
I think they’re easier to write for.
Playing on the natural instinct of the animal makes for an easier time bringing players up to speed.

People also haven’t developed tropes to subvert the standard in the case of sheep people or ox people.

That being said, I think outside of the common races you have a great propensity if freakshit making its way onto the table. Specifically furries.

I try and be inclusive of everyone at my table but of the 3 problem players I’ve had in my time, 2 specifically were beast kin of some sort.

>>96407350
>they weren't riding their horses into convenience (general) stores
You were talking about city planning and yet we planned cities for horses. If the horses had a need to go inside, then we could easily accommodate for that too. We didn't build our houses with horses in mind because horses had no reason to come inside.

>>96139293 (OP)
No because what is the point of Beastmen if they don't act in ways echoing their animal theme? Then they're all the same single species: Bipedal animals. They're not like elves, dwarves, gnomes, etc. who all have different traits and psychologies.

>>96149083
>>96406622
well, you tried.