Thread 96295400

If your system is over 50% different kinds of [Animal]folk and Fucked-Up Elves, you need to reorganize.

>>96295400 (OP)
Why would anyone care what you think they need to do for their games? You don't even play games so your opinion on the subject is irrelevant.

>>96295426
>someone who's game has too many elves and animalfolk

>>96295400 (OP)
Sure.

>human, elf 1, elf 2
>you need to reorganize
Bitch, reorganize what?

>>96295439
I thought it said blackmen

>>96295400 (OP)
Yeah you only need elves

Okay, lets salvage this shitpost of a thread.

Most ideas will have been touched by someone over the years or compare to something existing, however: What custom races have you implemented in past games?

>Stonehearts - Carved from standing stones that served as the gateway between the land of the living and the dead, these stone beings were forced into the life as a soul was bound to the body by a gemstone. They are unaware of their previous life, but shadows of their experience comes through on occasion. They have affinity for necromancy and channeling souls more easily than most. They can only create more of their own kind by finding a standing stone, they are born without passion or desire of flesh or food but are drawn to creative persuits.

>3 options for making a race are...
humans of various heights and ear shapes
technicolor humans
or beast men, just beast men
how to make more interesting races?

>>96295682

Sci-fi seems to be more bold in going for something non-humanoid. However I think fantasy loses something if you veer too far off and make something entirely alien, it has to be rooted to myth and our past in some way to keep the genre.

Usually best drawing on cultural elements because you have the benefit of generations of very bored and drugged up spiritual leaders cooking up wild shit on drugs to ward kids of from doing stupid things. Pathfinder had those shadow-puppet dudes who are really cool as one example. Wasn't just some half-x, or y-folk.

>>96295682
otherwise inert material is blessed/cursed with a humanoid form and sapience
or take any of the things you listed and add a twist; two heads, no head but chest face, more than two arms, no arms but 4 legs, blind but better ears, no eyes and ears but some form of accurate tremorsense,mix some beast into the height varied humans, make spider-dwarves, chameleon-elves, elephant-gnomes, giraffe-goblins, Bacteria-Orcs
Get weird with it. Turn them to dust, put crystals along their spines, make their clothes funky, invert rationality

>>96295656
It's already been saved >>96295439, but alright

>tombborn
>all dead creatures are returned to megadungeon-sized crypts, so huge and complex that they've developed their own spirits
>in times of unbalance they can manifest semi-corporral bodies to go out into the world and take a more... proactive role in the death cycle
>they can appear as shifting amalgamations of everyone within their true structure, but often mimic important personages or beings they're attached to.

>>96295400 (OP)
What's your homebrew then? Or are you complaining without offering a solution?

>>96295656
>>96295682
PF2e has some cool art for some of the weirder races but it's PF2e. Goloma and Surki are both pretty cool.

>>96295821
>tomboy race
NOW the thread is saved

>>96295400 (OP)
No.

>>96295682
Wrong, the four categories are
>just a human man
>brick shit houses
>tall lanky fucks
>funny little guys

>>96295682
Make them interesting beyond just their appearance

>>96295929
looks cool but i don't think i could see an entire race off these dudes

>>96295400 (OP)
Animal people are great

>>96295970
this sounds spot on

How do you solve races being just human look-alikes without dipping into furries, AND without just giving up and falling back on humans only?

>>96295400 (OP)
>humanoids
>feys
>artificials
>chimerics
categorised enough?

>>96295400 (OP)
Good point: 100% Animalfolk it is.

>>96295400 (OP)
You don't know what an animal is, do you?

>>96295400 (OP)
agreed, it should be 100% animalfolk

>>96295682
Originality is dead anyways, rip shit off left and right and/or give races your own twist

>>96297739
Elves and giant-folk adapt rapidly to local conditions, so elves and dwarves appear much more human than they might in an alien environment. Elves do this because they are fey and use magic to adapt. Dwarves tap into elemental forces to do the same.
>>96298051
>>humanoids
>>feys
>>artificials
>>chimerics
>categorised enough?
Add mutants and that's pretty good.
>t. working on a futuristic magic setting

>>96298051
where do orcs fit into?

>>96298051
>artificials
>chimerics
Wouldn't those two be similar to the point of overlapping?
Artificials could be the catch-all race for the various homunculi, chimeras, automatons, and so on.
Alternatively, may I suggest aberrants, a catch-all for mutants and various other twisted beings, including eldtritch stuff, if it exists in the setting.

>>96302703
Unironically a fey race.
Elves are often depicted as angel-like perfect people — a human before he fell from God's grace.
Orks would be the corruption and perversion of that perfection, twisted into savages that live to fight and kill.
>dark elves
If elves are the angels, dark elves are the fallen ones, aka demons.
Orks could be twisted by an outside force, rather than coming into sin and corruption on their own.
It just werks.

>>96295400 (OP)
>le white human male fighter is based and everything else is cringe
Mind your own business faggot

>>96302945
WoW Orcs - Humanoids
LoTR Orcs - Feys
40k Orks - Artificals
Porcs - Chimerics

>>96295400 (OP)
I have as many Elf subtypes as I have Human subtypes (3).

>>96295583
Humans, orcs, hot elves, and undead shenanigans and boom there ya go.

The reason people make 600 different "races" is because their story, by it self, sucks and they are trying to make it seem deeper than it is

>>96295656
In a similar vein (of the concept, not the lore), Shadow Slave novel has some pseudo-gods (daemons) which were prohibited by the actual gods to leave a lineage behind (so any kind of direct breathen).
One of said daemons was not happy so it "created" life, in the form of stone-like golems that were flawlessly beautiful, but expressionless because they were just living statues.
Thousands of years later, all gods and daemons are dead and a few of said golems still exist, unlike breathen of any other divine being.

>>96295400 (OP)
Anima's solution was making all the non-human races extinct. Instead there's Nephilim — humans born with souls of non-humans and possessing neutered racial traits of those souls as mutations.

>>96307192
>undead shenanigans
Undead what? Humans? Elves? Undead doesn't seem distinct enough to be on the same tier.

>>96295656
Sounds neat! Do the standing stones still function after coming to life?

For me it's
>Marad - Giants standing 2 to 2,5 meters tall, with flat noses and flared ears curling around their heads. Their fight or flight reaction is so intense their body starts canibalising their muscles for energy within minutes. This has lead them to teach their young to flatline their emotions, as any excitement is a risk of burning yourself up, likely resulting in death. Their already impressive strength is amplified when their temper flares, allowing them to move at uncanny speeds (gaining an extra turn at the cost of max hp each turn). These dangerous outbursts belied by an appearance of being cold and distant makes it hard for people to trust them, though they are greatly valued as labourers.

>>96297739
Change something inherent about the biology and consider how that affects the race in the context of their environment (and vice versa). How does a different metabolism change their lifecycle and culture? How does a species living in the mountains adapt to traversing the heights?
Think about it not as "human but different" but consider how and why they are the way they are to begin with.

>>96295523
Fear of a Block Planet

>>96295400 (OP)
>t. Elder Scrolls hater

>>96295426
fpbp kill this tourist with hammers

>>96295439
Based

>>96318525
War actually isn't cool.

>>96318780
When you're not the one fighting it, yeah it really is.

>>96295400 (OP)
i only need elves
the rest is just for killing purposes

>>96295400 (OP)
You mean setting, not system, but otherwise correct.

>>96295426
Take your freakshit elsewhere

>>96295400 (OP)
So, what, is every system supposed to have over 50% of their races be machines, golems, and elementals?

>>96324867
Based

>>96295400 (OP)
>actual races of humans with anatomical differences (four)
>sentient not!trees (not treefag faggotry)
>exiled shapeshifting aliens
>dolphins
How am I doing?

The only playable races should be the following:
Humans
Dwarves
Halflings (or gnomes)
Elves (very sparingly since most people do not grasp how to roleplay an Elf who isn't some kind of a retarded young human girl with long ears). That's it.

tolkientards are very uncreative, shocker

>>96295400 (OP)
Humans only. Anything else is faggotry.

>>96325621
Tell us about the races in your setting, or at least the races you pick when you play games

>>96325639
it depends on the game, some people play games with non generic non retarded races

>>96325639
NTA, but I have a sci-fi setting you can take your pick from if you want.

>>96325650
And the males.

This is still relevant to the thread despite being a sci-fi setting because when I set out to make my setting, I started with the core races of D&D as inspiration, though I went pretty far afield in most cases.

>>96325650
one sex, no sex, daily sex, one sex, weekly sex, no sex, no sex.

>>96325645
>non generic non retarded races
Such as?

>>96325668
like i said, it depends on the game

>>96325676
So pick one.

>>96325650
>>96325659
Sci-fi is a lot better than fantasy in this regard because you can really go wild with your races and nobody is expecting elves and dwarves to begin with.

>>96325677
ok. most recent game is a post apocalyptic frozen world: earth is divided in two by a huge frozen ocean. there are northern humans and southern humans -- which have grown apart after 5000 years of isolation, sentient polar bears, cyborgs, and a "race" of animals that are suffering from a pandemic disease caused by fungi that is rabies-like but worse -- control is partial and they will eventually run completely out of control but they are very strong for the start of the game.

i'm currently playing a northern human with stolen cyborg parts, my party is just another northern human woman who practices occultism, and a horse that has caught the disease and is slowly losing control.

his personal story is pretty basic, his daughter caught the disease, and he is looking for the cure on the southern side. i have made a few drawings. he looks more or less like pic related, i've tried redrawing him to be more fitting for the setting but i'm garbage so i'm just using this pic as reference right now.

i'm mostly baiting anyway, but anytime someone invites me for a game with guilds and the tolkien shit races, it just makes me lose interest right away.

>>96325749
Yeah, that's the issue with not having generic tolkienshit in your fantasy game. It doesn't matter how much time and effort you put into making completely original never before seen races, most of them will just default to human if that's the only "normal" race available, because most people don't really want to play as a hivemind bug race that speaks in clicks, or the fursona you made an entire race of.

Elves and dwarves give you a bit of diversity while also not alienating the average playoid. I'm not a fan of it either but it works, and I can still try to make them interesting through their culture and so on. Beats being a nogames that comes to /tg/ to huff my own farts about how unique and cool my worldbuilding is.

>>96295400 (OP)
What if my setting is 100% animal folk but its literally just animals that can hold swords and shit

>>96325534
>humans
Animals.
>not-not trees
So they are trees, or aren't they? If they aren't, they're animals.
>aliens
Also animals.
>dolphins
Also also animals.

>>96325650
>I have a sci-fi setting
Pic not related.

>>96325707
That anon you replied to posted fantasy, though.

The playable races are dwarves, elves, humans, orcs. There are no half-elves or half-orcs, but you can play someone who is considered one of the other races but has human ancestry. Every PC starts with a free spell-like ability tied to their ancestry, chosen from a sort list.

>>96303018
Would

>>96295426
fpbp

>>96326014
>If they aren't, they're animals.
Fungi aren't animals
>humans
>animals
Not in this setting
>aliens
>animals
Not in this setting
>dolphin
Correct

>>96325997
>most of them will just default to human if that's the only "normal" race available
>because most people don't really want to play as a hivemind bug race that speaks in clicks, or the fursona you made an entire race of
says you kek
>I'm not a fan of it either but it works
i never denied that
>Beats being a nogames that comes to /tg/ to huff my own farts about how unique and cool my worldbuilding is.
correct, i agree with that since its not my case

>>96326016
They're deliberately clothed as little as possible since it's a species lineup that's not supposed to suggest anything about their classes or professions. If I had actual drawing talent they'd all be just in underwear; alas, I must rely on AI.

>>96295400 (OP)
Races are stupid and for children in general.
If your setting is more than 10% fantashit races you need to reorganize.

>>96326503
Whether or not they're clothed isn't the point of contention, nor is your drawing talent.

>>96326442
>Not in this setting

>>96295400 (OP)
>If your system is over 50% different kinds of [COOL STUFF] and [COOL STUFF] you need to reorganize
nah

>>96295400 (OP)
It can make sense but it's trite. Just do humans + 1 or 2 sapient species, but better! Eventually you'll get an epiphany for a larger ensemble of the newer styles. A lot of settings in general in all fields are too cluttered and it breaks immersion.

>>96327941
ok talentless hack

>>96326442
Humans are animals, anon.

Aliens aren't, though, other anon was wrong about that. Animal refers to a member of the kingdom Animalia, and obviously aliens would not be members of the kingdom Animalia.

>>96326503
This guy is the mentally ill person who tries to police science fiction such that literally nothing is science fiction.

>>96330649
Not in the setting

>>96331933
If something isn't an animal, it isn't a human.

>>96332116
>If something isn't an animal, it isn't a human.
In real life, yeah.

The humans in my setting aren't animals, what's so hard to understand?

>>96332126
>In real life, yeah.
No, by definition.

>>96332126
>The humans in my setting aren't animals

Look I'm a big fan of convergent evolution, but you're gonna have to walk me through how fungi eventually evolve into something close enough to human that you could call it human even if it isn't, technically, human.

>>96330649
What if the kingdom Anamalia annexed them after a protracted war?

>>96330626
non-sequitur

>>96332324
The Ancient God™ made humans in his image to serve as avatars for the next generation of gods.

>>96330661
But when nothing is science fiction, everything is.

>>96295400 (OP)
The Nonmen from Second Apocalypse are the best fantasy race. 100% the inspiration for the Engineers of the Prometheus and later films, too. Way cooler in the original, beings that are incapable of pareidolia, and only see reality as it absolutely is, without any sort of anthromorphizing.

>>96332427
My preferred hot take is that Science Fiction is actually just fantasy, and Asimov seethed over this and tried to draw an arbitrary distinction between the two for ideological reasons and because he saw Fantasy as a reactionary genre that wasn't gay and communist enough.

The result of this though is that Science Fiction just became steadily gayer and more self-important and pretentious to the point that it lost all wonder and became the cringe fake genre it is now.

>>96334982
All of this.

>>96330661
You're just a shitstain who can't admit he actually likes fantasy despite his pretentious claims.

>>96295400 (OP)
Animalfolk are honestly the best form of races.
>Everyone naturally gets the gist of what the race looks like and how it probably behaves, no "These are the Khlebarians they're 7 feet tall and spindly with blue skin and dozens of tentacles coming out of their scalp instead of hair with a probiscus instead of a mouth and they are very honourable and conservative"
>Still a change of pace from the standard five fantasy races (humans, orcs, dwarves, elves, adult children)
>Can make natural dynamics like predators vs prey animals or reptiles vs mammals

I've actually tossed around the idea of a setting where all species are bug-people living under the foot of a race of giants so massive they can never meaningfully communicate sort of like A Bug's Life.

>>96297739
>>96309806
Give them radically different biological needs and/or habitats. An exclusively vegetarian or carnivorous race (Lovecraft-style ghouls are a good example of this), a race that literally gets blinded in sunlight (not just a penalty on attacks), or maybe even a constructed race that requires a fuel with a manufacturing process that requires a long supply chain. As for habitats, you could just use environmental rules with the catch that some races are cold-blooded and therefore perceive all non-extreme temperatures as 1 or more unit lower than warm-blooded races. Maybe even add a Thrull or Homunculus race that requires some form of energy provided by a non-constructed race which requires a living individual to willingly take on fatigue for the day (or a similar debuff) in return for the Thrull/Homunculus not running out of mana and starving.

>>96336598
No, you are literally mentally ill and don't understand what genre is. You have sage'd dead threads to tell the OP that wormholes aren't science fiction.

I think making species in a game have a wide variety (aka, have alot of those beastfolk) can be actually cool, since having like 50 shades of a humanoid can get pretty stale as well... plus... if they all are conventionally attractive, then who gives a damn? I personally love playing as beastfolk and undead since they look the most interesting to me.

>>96295400 (OP)
Don't care. Give me goblins.

>>96295400 (OP)
Why? If your party is diverse and freakish it gives you more targets for casual racism.

>>96342832
Goblins are bad guys, anon.

>>96343114
>Posts M&M6 goblin
>They became a PC option in the next game in the series
>You also can't go around mass-slaughtering civilian goblins in Deyja and be considered good.

Not today!