Sup/tg/, what non-standard races do you guys use in your campaigns?I'm thinking of running a hindu mythology campaign and making a bunch of mythological races into player races. Stuff like asparas, asuras, yakshas, maruts, vanaras, rakshasas, etc.You guys ever done something this? Completely replace traditional fantasy with something different?
>>97946148What game?
>>97946148Traditional fantasy is the faculty or activity of imagining things, especially things that are impossible or improbable, so there is no replacing it with something different; not that people haven't tried.Anyway, it isn't typically a good look when someone says they're thinking about eating shit, and your own expressed intent isn't too far off from that.If you're going to do something, just do it, don't be a worthless "ideas guy" who just always blathers on about what new idea he got, but never does anything with them ever.
>>97946722What do you think? 5E of course.>>97946732>don't discuss ideas you have until after you implement themFuck off.
>5efagThat tells us everything we need to know.
>>97946953>noooooooooo you can't play the most popular system! Y-you just can't... okay!
>>97946722DND
What's the purpose of fantasy races?
>>97947676Give plausible deniability for peoples racists instincts by giving them fictional equivalents to be racist about.
>>97946777Honestly, and with the greatest sincerity.Try Mythras instead.It will make the Kundalini serpent ascend your root chakra, if you know what 'm sayin'.
>>97947684That's why the truly based play 18th century colonial wargames and rotate sides at the battle of Islwanda.It's just as well Impis are fun to paint; you're gonna need "Zulus, thousands of 'em"
>>97947742I mean I'm open but 5e is what I know, it is really so much better that I should make the effort to switch?
>>97947756Open up any book based on BRP, which is what Mythras is.At a glance, you will understand that the system is based on percentiles out of a hundred.A skill at a hundred percent is presumed to always succeed in "optimal" "unnoposed" circumstances, but can be reduced by malus or opposed skill checks.Basically, if you can count to a hundred, you can play Mythras, or any other BRP system like call of Ch'thulhu or Runequest.It's modular, and easier to learn, read and teach than D&D, as well as easier to generate custom content for practically off the cuff; an NPC stat block can essentially be shat out on the spot with a standard racial stat profile and hitting the broad benchmarks for an expected standard of competence in a handful of key skills, and throwing in a cult spell from whatever religion they practice or whatever.However, the feel of the game is very different; characters stats normally don't grow intrinsically from advancement, but their skills develop, and you can gain extrinsic stat bonuses by magic, reward, divine blessing or plot contrivance or whatever.Also, Runequest has no hard barrier between what is a "Player race" and what is a "Creature"; the main difference is just thematic resources and official support; player characters and creatures essentially operate on the same system, so you can use BRP games to play whatever the fuck you like.Classless too, as you might intuit.>So you wanna be a fisherman>Roll your stats>Select from the pool of fisherman relevant skills, raise them to a level of adequate competence for a starting character>Select a few more misc skills just for fun and flavour>Character advances by using skills and gaining percentages on the skills they exercise during sessions.So much less hassle.If people who play other games talk down to you, it's because you're in a sort of Plato's Cave scenario; D&D's market share is mostly down to history and marketing, rather than being the easiest or best game.
>>97947202>nooooo cigarettes are the most popular stress relief! That means there's nothing wrong with them... okay?
>>97948374>cigarettes are the most popular stress reliefIt's not 1950 anymore grandpa.Why don't you just keel over already and make some room for the rest of us?
>>97948374>>97948507It's gooning desu.>SourceI just know.
>>97946148>running a hindu mythology campaignNot technically hindu but this will definitely fit
>>97946148A race based off of Mothman could be pretty cool, same for a Sasquatch race. Besides cryptids like them, what are some less popular creatures and beings from mythology and folklore that might make good fantasy races besides a certain race that has no head and a torso face, the dog-headed ones, and those guys with only one leg?
>>97948643Mothman and generally modern uban myths are cool and people should use them more (in horror if not fantasy), but he shouldn't be a race.
>>97948643Wendigo
>>97948643I've been wanting to do a new age fantasy campaign for ages. Grey and reptillian aliens are a must for that sorta thing
>>97946148There are no standard races, so there can't be any non standard races.
>>97947202Correct. You may not.
>>97951067>There are no standard racesCome on now, you know this is untrue. Human, dwarf, elf, dark elf, orc, halfling, gnome, etc. Don't play dumb, you know damn well what makes up the standard canon of fantasy races.
>>97946148Harpies
>>97951337>standard canon of fantasy racesD&D isn't the entirety of all potential and created fantasy.
>>97946148It depends on what setting I run. I tend to make new settings for every game. I tend to avoid the "standard" fantasy races, but it really depends on what my brain thinks "fits" into the setting.That being said of my last 4 fantasy games, 2 were published worlds , one was urban fantasy and one was pure fantasy. The UF I used humans, vampires, a shifter type, ghouls and Mara (think nightmare hags).For the pure Fantasy I used no standard races with humans being extinct. I had a felborn(kinda tiefling like), harpies, drakes, gotebruts(a minotaur like race), a felborn/harpy hybrid, and a cat like race
>>97946148What about ways or tips to put new spins on fantasy races while still keeping them recognizable? Like, maybe elves are still tied to nature but have scars and a berserker streak instead of being archery focused.
>>97951971>What about ways or tips to put new spins on [D&D] racesShoving a rusty fork up your ass would be a good start.
>>97951337OP said "in your campaign". There are no standard races in my campaign. Like I said.Dumbass.
>>97951971Every elf has a scar? What, are they born with them?
>>97951833If you're going to continue to play dumb, I'll just treat you like you are dumb.>>97952687But you didn't say there are no standard fantasy races in your campaign, you said there are no standard fantasy races, you disingenuous faggot.
"How much water is in your swimming pool?""There isn't any.""SO THERE IS NO WATER ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD HUH?"This is what you sound like. I know you aren't actually this stupid. Stop pretending to not be able to parse sentences properly.
^Retard
>>97953027>If you're going to continue to play dumb, I'll just treat you like you are dumbMe pointing out your limited perspective doesn't make me the dumb one.
>>97953482You're right, what makes you the dumb one is denying cultural canons exist.
>>97951971I feel like this is even worse than OC donut steal races. The point of standard fantasy is that you already know the basics of what the races are, how they act and interact with one another. By keeping their designs but changing everything else you screw that up while not even having the benefit of making something new and mysterious. It's the worst of both worlds.
>>97951339One of my most fun campaigns in anbennar was making the harpy empire.
>>97953509>[Fortnite, the TTRPG] is cultureYou are beyond hope.
>>97946148What about for a Chinese mythology based campaign world besides descendants of the Monkey King? Or a Japanese mythology based setting, sure there are Kitsune, Oni, and Tengu, easy, but what other options are there? I know there’s other yokai, but some are probably better-suited to be monsters than races, especially the more ghostly ones, and there should probably be other options besides. Or at least Japanese versions of existing fantasy races.
>>97957393That's the cool thing about fantasy, you can just create what you want instead of worrying about what already exists.
>>97956903>popular media isn't cultureI'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume your trolling and not actually this stupid. this will be the last (you) you get from me.
>>97953432>I know you aren't actually this stupidI'm pretty stupid.
>>97957393Chinese fantasy is of course popular in china, the issue for us is that xianxia has pretty fundamentally different assumptions to western fantasy. you'd really need a dedicated system for it. Japanese fantasy is also pretty popular.The issue is again japanese fantasy really conceives of non-humans as demons who solely exist to fuck with humans rather than races with their own lives. You could do it but it'd be a lot of work.
>he unironically thinks Fortnite is cultureI thought it was bad enough he's a 5efag, but OH BOY is this telling.
>>97953474Retard.
>>97946148You weirdos are all the same. You can't be satisfied with an elf or something like that, you need all your games to have a race selection like this:>Human>Sharkgirl>Jumping cactus>Marionette>Fire elemental>Giant intelligent friendly talking spider
>>97960180I enjoy this pasta on its own merits but I have to wonder if anyone has actually run at least a oneshot with this.Jumping cactus main btw
>>97960180Gygax himself suggested players go as far as asking to play as a young dragon.Say what you want about how shitty a person he was or how little he knew how to design an actual game, but he understood the spirit of fantasy; something nobody here has any sort of grasp on.
>>97960180i would love to play a cactus
>>97960180>Giant intelligent friendly talking spiderThe Avernum thread is two blocks down.
>>97946148>>97957617>>97957393Been doing some research for hindu campaigns among other "Oriental Adventures" ones. Google Gemini has been helping a lot, but one thing we talked about is how India culture seems like it's missing a bridge to feel more familiar for western players.
>>97960180Yeah. We prefer things that are good to things that are bad. I'm sorry you're satisfied with eating slop.
>>97963676Why is that necessary? Isn't the whole point to have something new and fresh?
>>97960180this minus the humanseveryone should play as freak-shit all of the time
>>97963676>Google Gemini has been helping a lotI don't know why you'd need a robot to research your own culture, jeet.>but one thing we talked about is how India culture seems like it's missing a bridge to feel more familiar for western players.doesn't need one, just drop them in the deep-side and watch them sink or swim.
>>97967186I feel like there needs to be a bit of a balance, then again maybe it's because I just like mainstream culture. It's hard to explain, like, usually PCs will look for the tavern equivalent first thing. They hear about a temple to the god of destruction, they know it's bad news. Also to have a mental image of things, it's a whole other deal. You might need a good guidebook to give a feel of the setting.
>>97948507What a stupid nigger
>>97967755I feel like hindu mythology isn't actually all that different to western myth, it is all based upon the same indo-european base after all. The underlying logic is the same.
>>97967755Jesus you're boring
>>97946148The "Men of Wo"They're basically like men but they have huge lumps of fat on their chests which you can squeeze and suck for sustenance.
>>97971254Sounds gay ngl
>>97946148Make some stats for those races or shut the fuck up.
>>97946148hello saar
>>97946148You can do whatever you want as long as it doesn't break the rules of your world. I have a species of psionic plant arms that farm and parasitize mindless insect men, using them to move around and do stuff. Just think of something neat and worldbuild around it in a way that makes a little sense.
>>97960180>You can't be satisfied with an elf or something like thatI know this is a copypasta posted by a lazy useless nobody, but yeah, I cant. I played enough of them to last for a very long time and now I prefer exploring the stories of things that arent just short but thick hairy people, skinny hairless people, and my fucking neighbors. And the less said about haflings the better.Now I want minotaurs, fish people, catfolk, weird robots, ambulatory plants and the weird societies they would make, and so many others.As for the list of races, I've always liked how PF2e allows all of this.>HumanTheres even fire-breathing ones from notAsia>SharkgirlCarcharadon merfolk, Swimming Awakened Animal [shark], Beastkin [Shark] Human (or other ancestry), or Born of Animal Yaogui>Jumping cactusCactus Leshy or Born of Vegetation Yaogui>MarionettePoppet, Born of Item Yaogui, or depending on DM and theming, an Automaton>Fire elementalBorn of Elements Yaogui or "universal subrace" Ifrit. >Giant intelligent friendly talking spiderThats straight up just an Anadi. As in an archetypal fundamental description of what an anadi is.
>>97975040>hello saarNTA, but who?
>>97981100OP presumably because he mentioned hindu myth
>>97946148I know it's not that uncommon and Im not a furry but I like Dog Men and Duck Men in the style of the Suikoden rpg franchise. Also the King of Dragon Pass if I am going to get technical.
>>97969305The Aryan invasion. White sythians conquered India and imposed their religion and caste system. Very politically incorrect but the archeology proves it.
>>97984792Suikoden is absolutely based.
>>97984792Well I AM a furry and I hate duck-men. Totally unfappable. I just think they're too silly, like the Glorantha ducks also being the best warriors, its too cartoonish for me.
>>97960180This is just an average shonen anime cast.
>>97948507Why don't you?
>>97986595I don't smoke
Race lineups are one of the biggest and trickiest things about making a fantasy setting in the first place. It tends to be the first player-facing setup for a fantasy world; since it tends to be the first step of character creation and in-universe buy in. It also establishes a lot of things, like what major cultures/peoples we can interact with, who the "good guys" are, how magical or grity the setting is, and so on. The issue with just replacing a fantasy kitchen sink setup with race choices with a thematically different one (Indian mythology) is it divorces the inherent worldview and cosmological implications of that settings beings and people into a fantasy mileu. Like the vast majority of mythologies hold humans as the main, best, or central race (since the stories were made up by humans) and it doesn't really make sense you can just pick one to be next to or "equal" in any way to a divine or demonic being. Even Tolkien, the trope originator, kinda has this unfairness baked in between the super elves and everyone else, with the inherent understanding that elves are a fading and dying race, only equal to the others in that they are not chosen by Eru to be the ones truly in charge of their own destiny in the way Men are.The other issue is replacing fantasy races with a completely unique set is you start going away from the "fun" part of fantasy roleplaying. As in, the generic tropes ARE what make fantasy fun and appealing. For a lot of people saying "fantasy" means they want their comfy elves and dwarf stereotypes to fall back on, and fun adventures against generic skeletons and giant rats. >>97951971 Changing them too much might be original, but it also takes away the familiar feeling of escapism that people enjoy fantasy more. The tough part is that you're "allowed" to change one, or two, or maybe three of the races, add a few more, and it still "feels" fantasy, but add too many furry races or a different tech level and you cross the line, no longer "fantasy".
As someone with a small bit of passing interest and knowledge of hindu Mythology and Buddhist beliefs, OP, I'd also struggle with your implementation as once again you can't give that comfortable "lived in" feeling to a fantasy setting when you adapt the material into something ill-fitting. Like you mentioned asuras, rakshasas, maybe pretvas, etc. these aren't really "races" that exist in the mortal physical worlds, more spirits or even different "levels" of being. If you're doing the authentic buddisht fantasy setting then reincarnation is 100% in, and it really does not make sense for these beings to be mucking around together. The entire point of the cosmology is more pure and spiritual teaching & living is to ascend to higher (or lower, through misdeeds) places of being. Pretvas or hungry ghosts for example would only be fitting as monsters or sad creatures only rarely encountered, but by allowing say an asura to be playable it creates this weird disconnect. It'd be like making a Diablo style setting where the "races" are humans, angels, and demons and you let humans and demons be playable, but not angels. Why? It's weird.I'd also like to add here that just because you like the idea of a fantasy character or being, it doesn't necessarily mean they have to be a "race" but you can still have them be playable. Like if you wanted your campaign to be a TTRPG version of Journey to the West and somebody wanted to play something like a Sun Wukong, you don't necessarily have to make an entire Vanara monkey race to do it. Just adjust the one character sheet or player-facing element and adapt accordingly. Same as the concept of letting a player a Mothman. >>97948643 You could have a player play a mothman in your otherwise humans-only backwoods conspiracy x-files game. In fact, you might even prefer it, as you can keep the beings mysterious and not "common" by not letting them be playable, but you can still "play" them, if that makes sense.
>>97988025>these aren't really "races" that exist in the mortal physical worlds, more spirits or even different "levels" of beingYeah but you could say the same of elves before tolkien made them into a physical race. What I'm doing is at least as different to hindu folklore as tolkiens elfs are to germanic folklore.
>>97946148rakshasas are my favourite non-generic choice for any fantasy race. they are just so flavourful and can inhabit any niche you need filled in your setting>jungle demon raiders>gluttonous slavers>benevolent teachers>spiritual master buildersliterally endless possibilities
>>97951833yeah tolkien and dnd are outmoded by WoW as the standard. People need to drop "halfling" from their standard race lists already, and add "furry"
>>97993066didn't wow add the furry race a few expansion back?
>>97967661>everyone should play as freak-shit all of the timemeh. i find humans who are weird as fuck make for way more interesting characters in the long run.
>>97976448>I know this is a copypasta posted by a lazy useless nobodyneedless ad hom. you can do better.
>>97993079tauren have been around since launch im pretty sure
>>97993110He probably means the Vulpera.Tauren are animal people.But they're not -sexy- animal people.The addition of Vulpera to WOW increased the Yiff rate by something like 1500%
>>97994170*And Worgen before that even.
>>97946148I recently saw a science fiction RPG based on the idea that the Europeans never made it to the New World and that got me thinking, what races would make sense for a fantasy world/region based on the Americas before Europeans arrived? My best ideas so far are beast-folk of animals native to the Americas.
>>97946148>races for indian settinghmm lets see human-cow hybridshuman-goat hybrids human-dog hybridssentient toilets (limited to hostile NPCs only)poopmenpoop ranchers could certainly be a class but you might restrict them to a race in itself like some systems restrict elves and wizards etc.
>>97993057I think yaksha/yakshi are also really good, who can hate a race who's standout feature is their giant tits/balls?
>>98001641I hadn't heard of that. Please, do tell...
>>97953027No I didn't. I said there aren't any in my campaign.
>>98003001It's hard to find art depicting yaksha with their huge testicles but easy to find lots of art of huge yakshi titties, they have these traits cause they're nature deities and it's supposed to represent fertility.
>>98003870Not gonna lie, that's a pretty decent rack.
>>98004490Yeah, again one of their defining traits, they're also usually depicted hanging off or entwined with an ashoka tree. They're in concept a lot like greek dryads and nymphs. I suppose they both come from a common indo-european root myth. I wonder if it'd be interesting to have them be born from ashoka trees? Like how fairies are sometimes depicted?
>>98003870>>98004516I truly wonder how many indians gooned to these. considering they're all horny dumbfucks I also wonder if indians groping statues is a common occurrence
>>98008388Funny you mention it, wikipedia has this pic of yakshi statues that have their breasts clearly polished by generations of groping hands.
>>97957535Based
>>97946148How do you handle races that are inherently antagonistic? I don’t like most takes on that kind of thing, but Frieren actually does a good job.
>>97954327Yeah, this is what sucks about Age of Shitmar.>elves but they're underwater>dark elves but they're snakes>dwarves but they're on fire>dwarves but they're ugly tacky steampunkTakes away the instant recognition of the classic fantasy trope, but doesn't do anything genuinely original either.
>>98016872>Takes away the instant recognition of the classic fantasy trope, but doesn't do anything genuinely original either.How would you fix them in AoS then?
>>98013718Personally I like the ogre take on it as a more fun kinda evil race. Something just so inherently soul suckingly hungry at all times that they can't help but resort to cannibalism. Also they have good music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDFDKcizVdw
>>98019244Huh. Okay then.
>>98013718That's easy, I make them just like us.
>>97946148What do you need to consider when creating matriarchal races like the Drow (especially if they aren’t all evil) and/or fully female ones? What about solely male races, just for the sake of completeness? Happy Mother’s Day!
>>98025753I don't get it. Is that a reference?
>>97946148SAAR
I'm pretty sad blemmys aren't really a thing in fantasy, not even as a monster race like orcs. I think they're neat.
Races seem like a very western fantasy thingDoes xianxia have any?
>>97946732>Traditional fantasy is the faculty or activity of imagining thingsum no, traditional fantasy is just being derivative about magic shit like elves and dragons in a supposedly medieval world
>>98034088Sort of, they usually distinguish animal cultivators as separate from human cultivators. This isn't really the same thing, but since the animals become sapient and get humanoid bodies it also kind of is.
>>98034088>>98034119there's also bloodlinesxianxia doesn't need racism though, they're perfectly willing to genocide based on even looser criteria than race
>>98031989Well, be the change you want to see. Though I vaguely remember an urban fantasy book involving them. Also, are there any other races you wished were seen/used more?
>>97993099Disagree, this guy isn't content to post here and has to crosspost his opinion on multiple other boards all the time any time he finds a similar topic like the loser he is.
>>98031358In Earth Defense Force 5, one of the earlier missions has some radio chatter about encounters with "human-like" aliens - bipedal creatures with two arms, two legs, and the expected mouth and eyes (in contrast to the monsters encountered in previous levels, which have all been giant bugs). Side characters remark that their description sounds just like humans. Then an alien dropship arrives, and you see that the humanoid aliens in question are just giant frogs with guns, yet your fellow soldiers still react as though they look just like humans.
>>98035395>Well, be the change you want to see.I would but I don't know how to mod dominions
>>98034119>>98034222They always seem to have been kinda of a thing at the periphery of the genres, but it seems to have been an established staple in the past maybe 15 years
>>98037763>I would but I don't know how to mod dominionsNot familiar with Dominions, what's the issue?
>>98037763modding it is done through plain txt files, pretty much the easiest possible option
>>98042330Theres a blemmys mod for dom 5 but it hasn't been updated to 6 yet. I would like to do it but I don't know how.>>98043047>then draw the rest of the owl
>>98044227Where is the mod?
>>98048573http://dominionsmods.com/index.php?showtopic=3540&cf_validate=1Heres the download
>>98049597Thanks! Are there any others in particular that you like?
>>98054517My favorite mod nation of all time has to be the clown mod http://dominionsmods.com/index.php?showtopic=3330Not only is it way funnier than it has any right to be but it's also a pretty fun mage and sacred nation to boot. Legit one of the best of all time.Another one thats really good is the stone nation http://dominionsmods.com/index.php?showtopic=3361It's gimmick is that the entire nation is made up of immobiles. This really forces you to change up how you play. A really unique nation.Last one I'll mention in this post is whoa.dm http://dominionsmods.com/index.php?showtopic=3331A nation of mages that figured out they exist in a game. Their entire concept is exploiting game mechanics and glitches to give their rather weak troops an edge.
>>97971254It is but a ploy brother for they say they psychically retard other men for they are devils in disguise. They bleed for days at a time without felling like most animals, their thoughts are vapid and incoherent for they are emotionally stunted creatures and they seem to possess the quality of bringing to this world other rabid creatures via their damned flesh portals.
>>98031989Mr. Frog is the closest thing you get nowadays. Actually introducing the critter race from smilling friends would be cool since they come in all sort of shapes and sizes are somewhat magical in origin (some sort of homunculli)
>>97993057Rakshasa's are indeed very cool, there exists some awesome art of them too
>>97946148What about those with draconic heritage as a race? What are the pros and cons of something like picrel versus Kobolds and/or Dragonborn?
If I'm invited to a group and there's not 3 of the 4 core races playable, I decline. If there's more homebrew races than not, I decline. If I show up to a table and there's more than one token freakshit PC, I stand up and leave. I've walked out on a campaign going strong for 20 months because the scale tipped.
>>98065154Kobolds should never be related to dragons
>>98069771>Kobolds should never be related to dragonsWhy not? Isn't that their whole deal?
Quinkins, australian aboriginal fey thingsThe small fat ones (Imjims) steal children to turn into more Imjims, the tall skinny ones (Timara) try to protect children. Imjims bounce on their tails to ambush and travel long distances very quickly. The Timara are skinny enough to hide behind or slip between almost anything, like some kind of benevolent slenderman. Both cast spells and create illusions and hate each other.I dunno if they're any good for player races but they're weird enough that non-australian players might have no intuitions about an encounter even if they're pretty standard folk tale entities under the surface.
>>98072736nta, but folkloric kobolds are very different to dnd kobolds
>>98072736Nah, in addition to what >>98072925 said, D&D kobolds started out a bit more doglike, which is why some anime still do that. The "related to dragons" thing kinda feels like a joke that got out of hand. 3e D&D sorcerers were theorized to have dragon blood, as an explanation for their natural magic in the Player's Handbook, and they mentioned "kobold sorcerers are the biggest supporters of that theory". Then in later books they decided to run with that.
>>98065923You're the common element in all your interactions, anon. It sounds like no one even tried to stop you from leaving. You should think about why.
>>98065154>prosnone>consAttracting tranime posters like you
>>98072776Do they have pug dog cheeks or are those ears?
