How many races are too many? I sometimes go to DND for inspiration for my own writing, and there are literally like 100s of unique races. How can a world like that even exist? Inb4>B-but it's fantasy! It doesn't have to make sense!
>>98325807To be fair, all DnD races are not present in every world. You wouldn't see a Reborn in Eberron or a Changeling in Athas.I'll say there's too many when some races are basically the same as others.
I think 8 is where it starting to push it.Mind you, D&D has tons of subraces and also splatbooks with unique races (supercool new race buy our new stuff!) and lots of it is legacy shit or making formerly monster race playable in some form.Although, I'd say, if you still manage to find valuable (mechanical and narrative) niches and archetypes for your races, then go for it.
>>98325807There's no one right answer beyond "does this race make sense for this project in this setting?"Personally, I think the sweet spot is probably around 4-6 main races and probably about 6-8 "guest star" races, but everybody's going to be different. Human only + an interesting setting with interesting characters is going to be much better than 100 races but everything is Fantasyland sludge.
>>98325807Variety is the spice of life, anon.
>>98325807Man, Elf, Dwarf, Some kind of hobbity thing, orcs. No more. Maybe less.
>>98325807The sweet pot is 1 intelligent race.You can get away with 2 intelligent races but only if one is playable.3 playable intelligent races is pushing it.Any more and you are way out of line bud.
>>98325807As many or as few as you want there to be.
>>98325807Historically, there were around 7-9 different homo species (lol) around during about the same time a couple hundred thousand years ago. So that’s a basis. But if you have multiple different branches of life that became intelligent as opposed to just one, that number could be a lot different, and shit like magic / gods / extremely long lived species throw all of that out the window. If every jackass god in the pantheon tried to make their own race of worshippers out of clay and salt, then there’s no reason why there wouldn’t be tons of them around. And remember, a world is a very big place. If you treat races more as ethnicities rather than different branches of life (wood elves/high elves/ night elvees etc.) then there’s probably thousands of them, just like Earth. And of course if there’s Planar travel etc. all of that should increase exponentially. The answer thus depends a lot on your setting. So tell us about your setting or any answer is meaningless
>>98325975Ents, eagles, trolls, maiar, dragons, goblins, wargs, spiders …
I think 3 -4 is a goo number. But FFS, actually try making them sufficiently different from each other instead of basically palette swapped humans with minor differences.
>>98326059NPCs
>>98325975>Some kind of hobbity thingNo
>>98326213That’s what you are; he isn’t talking exclusively about playable races.
>>98325807You use more subraces than races if it bothers you that there are so many.
>>98325807im using six. feels full enough to be complete you know? in defence of D&D's bloat, it helps to imagine something like iron age greece where athens and sparta are only about 10 days apart by foot, but have completely different ethnic groups. go north 30 days and the macedonians dont just have a different language group, they arent even greek culturally. if ten days is the difference between high and wood elves, and 20 is elves to men, what's a week across the sea? dogheaded men? a headless race with a face in their torso? immortals that eat only the lotus flower? goatlegged serial rapists with 2ft penises? and what about those pale golden haired guys who show up occasionally to buy wine from a land covered in perpetual frost? what could be to the far south, or east, or west past atlantis?
>>98325807If you can say "there are too many" then your setting is a shoebox instead of a sandbox. There's always room for more wonder in a well-crafted world.
>>98325807As many as you want as long as you can find some reason for it
>>98325807>How many races are too many?there's no such thing as too many>How can a world like that even exist?by the acts of gods/immortals creating races as they please and by wizards/bioarcanists experimenting with living beings
You want 2-4 political/military factions, at varying degrees of cold war or hot war or uneasy truce depending on what kind of game it is, the number of common races can maybe be a few more than that if some races are aligning with others or fitting into the margins. But you still only want 3-6 common races (D&D has basically 6 playable races, I think that’s too many for what it is, most people agree that you can cut gnomes or halflings).The thing is, once you’ve hammered out the common races, there’s nothing to stop you from putting a new species of frogman in every dungeon. You can go nuts with the local stuff.
>>98325807I think it's the same as with stories - races are like roles, they have a purpose to fulfill so the author can actually make a point.Take stories from ancient civs for example. Usually just humans and monsters, gods and titans. That gives you solid conflict: human vs nature, civilization vs barbarism, order vs chaos. Then medieval times hit and it's christianity vs paganism. All the fair folk like elves, goblins, trolls now stand in for pagan stuff, but with some nostalgia mixed in.Nowadays we're obsessed with racial and class conflicts, so every setting has a shitload of races whose only job is to exist and be a problem for each other. But if you actually want to make a real fantasy story or setting, you don't need more than two, maybe three races. Humans for the current age, fair-folk for the good old times, and pure monsters for the ancient fiery past.
>>98325807Take the space opera pill so there's always room for more instead of needing to cram them all on a single world.
>>98325807Two.But seriously, we have thousands of unique races in the real world, so have as many as is relevant to your story.
>>98325807If you include Tolkien races, around 7 or 8If you don’t include Tolkien races 5.The races all also need a clear place in the world and picking a race should come with a ton of assumptions about your place in the world
>>98325975ditch the halfling, replace the orc with a dragon person.
>>98325807Most of the people here are contrarian shitasses or are autistic Tolkien dick suckers, so they're going to recommend as few as possible to go against D&D's wide variety. Just pick whatever you want, include it however you want, and have fun. Stop worrying about how many is too many and then asking this shithole its opinion. Only you can make that decision for your setting.Personally, I like having a wide variety and can easily get away with it because I dont subscribe to needless realism or autisticly adhering to Wikipedia science articles.The single best answer to why there are so many and how they keep existing is "the gods will it". You really dont need more than that. >>98327499>we have thousands of unique races in the real worldThis exact retarded sentiment is why D&D moved to Species and Pathfinder moved to Ancestry.Race as applied to humanity =/= race as applied to fantasy species. You know this but instead you have to post some idiotic trash. The difference genetically between two people from anywhere in the world is drastically less than two chimpanzee troops divided by a river. Humanity as a whole is remarkably genetically similar. We are one species and thus one race in D&D.
>>98327595>This exact retarded sentiment is why D&D moved to Species and Pathfinder moved to Ancestry.No, they did it because saying "the human race" is mentally retarded.
>>98327595If you have more COMMON races than D&D it means that your setting just isn’t as cool as it could be.The common ones are the ones that the PCs should be discussing even before they meet them because they *inform the setting* in some way. You want the setting to be informed or shaped by a smaller number of races, even if that’s just to create room for tons of local races that the PCs will never hear about until they see one (which is more fun).
>>98325807One.
>>98327787>saying "the human race" is mentally retarded.the phrase has been in use for longer than you've been alive
>>98326947BASED AS FUCK
>>98328110Yeah, and it's still stupid
>>98325807Once you start seeing mechanical or cultural overlap, you've gone too far.My Modern Fantasy System has 18 Species with five generic Subspecies and between 2 and 4 Subspecies for all the other Species. One of the generic options is a hybrid option that lets you mix (most) of the species together by picking a Species and a Subspecies from a different species, which not only affects your mechanics but also what type of hybrid your character is visually. For example, Centaur + Human Subspecies is a smaller centaur, but Human + Centaur Subspecies is basically an umamsume. This number includes two of the currently experimental/playtest species, so without those it's 16 species.
>>98327787>No, they did it because saying "the human race" is mentally retarded.No, they did it because they're woke. Fans have been criticising the way RPGs handle races for 30+ years, but no publisher gave a shit until it was the bluehairs that complained.
>>98329494Proof?
>>98325807As many or as little as you want. My favourite fantasy TTRPG system has forty, not including the other setting books.>How can a world like that even exist? That's the neat part; you can create friction and intrigue wherever you'd like.
>>98325807>B-but it's fantasy! It doesn't have to make sense!It's something caused by whatever originated the universe and for some reason happens only in a single known planet with macro life.
>>98331045>only in a single known planet with macro life.
>>98329494D&D is a game about invading the homes of intelligent humanoids to kill them and take their stuff (and it’s okay because their race/species is bad), that’s the basic game loop that everything is built around, and people have been discussing the ramifications of that since before you were born. This whole obsession with young ostentatious liberals is just your way of coping with the fact that you never really understood normal western values.
>>98331453>Complete non-sequiturOkay, fag.
>>98331453Western values mean stealing from and killing intelligent humanoids, only to later claim it was justified because they were "problematic."
>>98326270Yes I am
>>98331526I’m not the one who brought up racism in D&D, I’m just the one identifying the central issue that you’re trying to obfuscate. Also, since you brought it up, why DO you work so hard to obfuscate this issue?>>98331533By ‘problematic’ I assume you mean ‘arab’ (and asians before that), in which case yes. There is certainly a strong precedence for orc-like behavior in the west, western values contain imperialism, but they also contain the desire to put that shit in the past and move beyond it. You shouldn’t be surprised to see people talking through these issues in the context of D&D because that’s one of the central purposes of heroic fiction.
>>98325975No playable orcs. Orcs are humanoid monsters that exist to be killed in fun ways.
>>98331453>Young ostentatious liberalsWe’ve got a faggot here fellas.
In my opinion, I think you have too many when it gets to the point that only a few of them are developed or have a presence and history in the world and everything else might as well be bystanders.
>>98327595>The difference genetically between two people from anywhere in the world is drastically less than two chimpanzee troops divided by a riverThis might be the most egregious, arrogantly-stated pile of absolute contrarian leftshit bollocks I’ve ever read.
>>98332759That actually just makes it sound like you’ve never met a really bad liberal, lol. I mean it’s bad but it’s mid-tier bad, they (we) get way worse.
>>98332759And you sound like a drooling retard who thinks that the earth is flat.
>>98325807The races are to help DMs populate their own worlds. Most of their official worlds don't have all that many races.I think the right number of playable races is based on what you want your players playing, and the right number of total races is based on what you can shove into your game world and have it feel good. Note that races that "properly" live on another plane are much more easy to include than races that all want to live in the forests or plains or cities or whatever.
>>98325807Depends on how much effort you want to put into said world. The more races and subraces and cultures those races have. The more you have to think about their history, and how they interact with the other races and cultures. Yes, you can lazy with it. However, that might bite you in the ass later.
>>98325807I am up to around 70 races right now, and that is the conservative number. Add as much freakshit as you please as long as it is written well and you and your players will like it.Gobs unrelated.
>>98325807>B-but it's fantasy! It doesn't have to make sense!it really doesnt
>>98325807I'm a fan of monsters.But not star-trek rubber forehead alien monsters, if you get my drift.I don't trust my players to manifest a non-human intelligence.When I put the laundry basket over my head and start doing the robot voice you know shit's about to get super serious my nigga.
>>98325807My setting has about fifty different playable races because the God of Creation (me) is an obsessive moron who doesn't know when to stop iterating, no matter how bad it gets.
>>98325807In my setting there is only one race, 'jin', but with so many regional differences and inherited traits from every other species it's crossed with over the millenia it encompasses every race.Whitebread male bunnyman? Jin.Black halflings that can stoneshape? Jin.Islander 7 foot tall catgirl? Jin.Wolf-headed winged lamia? Pushing the envelope for a starting character, but still playable and still jin.
>>98334417Cute. What are the races in your setting so far? I’d love to hear more.
>>98325807I think like 9 is a good number3 lawful3 neutral3 chaotic
Sometimes I wish games had original creatures, something that I haven't seen before. But then I worry about how to pressent that to players whose characters should know about this world. Maybe something in the style of Fallout or isekai, where they don't know what's going on outside but the locals see a Mikroc carrying three bags in its three arms and it's absolutely normal?
>>98325807my games don't have predetermined races. players can be whatever they want.
>>98332759>This might be the most egregious, arrogantly-stated pile of absolute contrarian leftshit bollocks I’ve ever read.Bonobos and chimpanzees are both chimpanzees, and they began to genetically deviate because they got separated by the Congo River.They are more different from each other than any two human populations.You are just stupid and don't know basic facts so you screech about leftism whenever somebody doesn't say black people have tiny brains.
>>98325807>How can a world like that even exist?Easily? So long as they are not capable of interbreeding, a mix of niche partitioning (ogres hunt these things, humans hunt these other things) and simple cosmopolitanism will result in populations maintaining many different species at the same time.
>>98325807You're right, that is too many races for one world. That's why there are countless worlds, and you can travel to different ones if you have access to a spelljamming ship.
>>98325807It seems like every setting these days is trying to come up with new races, just look at some of the DnD books. What about going back to the roots, with races from legends and folklore besides the big mythological names like Centaurs, Harpies, Minotaurs, etc.? There’s the dog-headed guys and the ones with faces in their chests, but what else can work? I was partially inspired after I heard of Huldras, and I wondered if people would be interested in a setting with them as a race. I’d love to hear what you think please!
>>98325807Playable races at outset: 1Races to play as on reroll: as many as you have alliances with“Playable” races in total: 4 (maybe five as a surprise “bad guy allies aren’t as bad as you thought” twist)Monster races: infinite
I don't mind options, I do mind kitchen sink settings that give every option the same level of attention.My fav player character was a dude playing a giant mushroom based on brian badonde.Give me loads of races and classes, but give me a setting that only features a handful of them.
>>98335947I’m really interested now! Please tell us more about this!
>>98327595"Species" is more accurate. Races implies a relatively close common ancestors, and we got dwarves molded from clay and given life by Moradin or some shit... and Orks being friggin' mushrooms.
>>98325975>playable orcsUnless it's TES it's fucking shit, and those are "orcs" in name only
>>98325807>there are literally like 100s of unique raceshow many of those races are just "Human, but X" or "Dwarf/Elf, but X" though?>>98325975Evil:Ogre, Goblin, Orc, TrollGood:Elf, Dwarf, Human, Halfling
I personally dislike fantasy races because I feel the inclusion of a new race always exponentially increases the amount I need to write and explain for my setting. I like things to make sense so I'm not happy to just drop them down randomly without thinking about the sort of influence they would have on their surrounding.Human only settings are peak. Adding elves is a concession to my players.
>>98325975>no gnollShit setting
>>98347451What’s so great about gnolls?
>>98349324He likes futa.
I like to keep races, classes, etc. limited not to some specific number, but instead some number that you could roll dice to randomize. Maybe 6, or maybe 11 so you can roll 2d6 or 3d4 and have a little weighting to the randomness where thw most common race is listed right in the middle, something like that. Other than that I think you can make almost any number of races work in a setting as long as there's space (physical and narrative) for them to exist and make sense in.
>>98345810Well hold on, lemme get the laundry basket.Right.>01010010 01100101 01110011 01101001 01100100 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01001111 01110010 01101001 01101111 01101110 00101101 01000011 01111001 01100111 01101110 01110101 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110010 01101101 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101100 01100100 00100000 00100010 01000101 01100001 01110010 01110100 01101000 00100010 00101100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01100111 01110010 01100101 01100001 01110100 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100111 01110010 01100101 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01110111 01100101 00100000 01101001 01101110 01100110 01101111 01110010 01101101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01110000 01100101 01101110 01100100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101100 01101001 01110001 01110101 01101001 01100100 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00101100 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01101001 01101110 01101111 01110101 01110011 01101100 01111001 00100000 01101001 01101110 01100100 01100101 01100011 01100101 01101110 01110100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101110 01110100 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100001 01101110 01100101 01110100 01100001 01110010 01111001 00100000 01100010 01110010 01101111 01100001 01100100 01100011 01100001 01110011 01110100 00100011 01110011 01101000 01100101 01101100 01101100 00101110
>>98325807>How can a world like that even exist? it can't, rpg settings are meant to be fun, not realistic>my own writingif you're looking to dnd for inspiration for that, you're fucked.
>>98325807There should be humans, dwarves, e*ves as the civil societies, and then goblins and orcs for them to slaughter.
>>98334417would each of these goblins
>>98337517Gobs still unrelatedThis is going to take a few posts. The shtick of this project is "use the ideas presented by standard D&D/Pathfinder to make some identifiably High Fantasy while trying to do something different that plays to things I personally like". This is because A. I have been making Dread Delusion-Book of the New Sun-The City and the City Kirkbridian surreal hellscapes for years now and B. Because I lost most of my old group and need a game which is amenable to potential new players. Im gonna be real I think I have lost the plot and made things a little weird, but whatever, I like a lot of what I have. Also there are a lot of placerholder names because I always do language stuff last. Anyway, with that in mind:I say there are 70 races, and effectively there are, but if you want to you can smoosh things down in a few categories. Those being Man, Beastfolk, Fey, Giant, Dragon, Orc and Everything Else. Under those categories there are:
>>98352463Man>Elves (First Men, Oldmen)The first life created in image of the gods in the first iteration of reality, the First World. The first world is morphic and so are Elves, changing to perfectly match their environment. The Elves would use both these facts to establish islands of order in the First World, leading to a kind of cosmological harmony and complacency from them. Eventually the gods took the idea of these islands order and made the Second World atop the First World. These islands of Harmony, being the model for the Second World, got to exist in both and thus Elves came to adapt to the Second World. This led to a bunch of different kinds of Elves for each region (Wood Elves, Sand Elves, Snow Elves, Grass Elves, Mire Elves, Mountain Elves, Cave Elves, Water Elves). These Elves are mentally and physically suited for their respective regions and embody it, for example a Wood Elf has skin made of bark and hair made of plants or moss or something and so on. And then there is a plethora of very specific adaptations for niche circumstances. Notable among them are High Elves, Elves adapted for the mountain-sized Anor Londo/Gormenghast-esque castle the Empire is based out of and Steel Elves, Elves adapted for war. There are also Seer Elves, translucent skinned, sexless mages and other weird shit.
>>98352468>Humans (Second Men, Tallmen)Humans are the Men made for the Second World, static in form and designed to change the world around them. The first Humans were Elves that set out from their harmonic glades and into the Second World and were changed by the gods to suit it. They're humans. They, next to Beastfolk, are the most populous race (The Second World WAS made for the them after all). Notable abilities include this ability and drive to shape the world to suit them (As opposed to shaping themselves to suit the world as Elves did) and being hardy enough to survive just about anywhere (Elves CAN survive anywhere once they adapt to it, but once their body has changed, they tend to just stay put. And if they move elsewhere, they are extremely unsuited to it and will likely not survive the necessary century or so to adopt a new body). >Halflings (Half Men, Smallmen)Halflings, basically, are the Elves that set out from the glades but refused to allow themselves to be fully changed in order to shape the world. They are eternal wanderers with no desire to change themselves nor the world. They were partly transformed from Elves to Human, looking small and somewhat unfinshed, Elven and Human. They lack both Elven harmony and Human determination, but still hold that cosmological godly force in them. It manifests, basically, in luck. Something which lets them wander and live in their present moment perpetually. It means their agriculture-less, industry-less lifestyle of scavenging is actually viable.
>>98352473Beastfolk>Beastfolk (Clever Beasts)All your furry shit. In the First World, parts of the plane formed into Beasts. Which were, of course, Fey feverdream morphic bullshit. When the Second World was built atop the First, Beasts near the Elves' glades got taken to the Second World. Most would disperse into it and turn into the normal animals we have today, slowly solidifying and morphing into something that can be in the Second World. However, the most clever of them saw this transformation happening, saw how they were losing their intellect and potential, and took steps to stop it (Things other than Beastfolk resulted from this, but we are focusing on Beastfolk). Seeing how better off Men were than their kin changing to suit the Second World, they would go to Humans force themselves into their lives and developing societies. They did this either by helping them and fitting into a particular niche (Dogfolk, Catfolk, etc.) or by harassing them (Wolffolk, Ratfolk, etc). By doing this, their forms became Man-like before solidifying, keeping their intellect and giving them "clever hands". They are the second most numerous race next to Humanity. Beastfolk in civilized society tend to work in a very niche area that actual animals have worked in or been adjacent to historically, they are the best of the best in these areas and often kind of run them but always answer to Men. For example Dogfolk work as guards, catfolk as servants, Beefolk make honey, Donkey and Horse folk are in logistics or are couriers, etc. Beastfolk not in society basically act like a heightened, humanized version of their animal, Ratfolk steal shit, Wolffolk hunt (inculding Men), etc. Basically, the criteria for being a Beastfolk race is "animal that has either lived with humans for a long time or interacted with them a lot, for good or ill".
>>98352479FeyAs previously mentioned, bits of the First World formed into Beasts. Fey races are, vaguely, what happens if this done deliberately and with direction, usually by Elves. This may sound contradictory to the idea that Elves were locked in a kind of cosmological stasis, but arguably creating the fey races contributed to that. It is complicated. Anyway, Fey are bits of the First World shaped, usually into the image of Elves and to serve them in some way.>GnomesGnomes (Who are technically a different form of Goblins and vice versa) look like little, squashed Elves with 6 fingers, oversized ears and pale chromatic skin alongside vibrant chromatic hair. Gnomes were made by Elves in the First World to perform the dual task of exploring the everchanging land around the harmonic glades and making new things within them. Gnomes saw both of these tasks as "creation", creating literally new things or creating new knowledge. Them doing this helped Elves keep things stable by knowing what was out there, and of course by literally building things. However, when the glades fell into the Second World, most Gnomes went a bit haywire. Given the Second World is static, not morphic, they could now go far, far beyond the everchanging lands around and outside the glade. Most either went with the Elves that would become Humans or went out into the Second world to discover and create. Being in the solid Second World though, their nature had physical effects. Specifically they were given a form of mortality, they have to keep creating/discovering things as they were created for, or they literally fade away. This gets harder the more they do.
>>98352487>GoblinsGnomes (Who are technically a different form of Gnomes and vice versa) look like little, squashed Elves with 6 fingers, oversized ears and vibrant chromatic skin alongside pale chromatic hair. Goblins were made by Elves in the First World to destroy threats from outside the glades or to the glades stability. This of course often involved killing things, but just as often involved stopping growing features or structures or general fever dream bullshit from reaching the glades. But when the glades fell into the Second World, these Goblins, like the Gnomes, went a bit haywire. There was now an entire solid world to destroy instead of being stuck as eternal fairy doomslayers. So, these Goblins went out into the world to do that. Being in the solid Second World though, their nature had physical effects. Specifically they were given a form of mortality, they have to keep destroying things as they were created for, or they literally explode. This gets harder the more they do. >SpritesSprites basically look like little Elves with wings. They were made to be attendants for the Elves, and they basically still are. A lot ran away or went with the Elves that would become Humans though, so they are around. I need to write more on them.>Assorted Small PeopleThere are other Fey races alongside these, most of them being a mutated form of Gnome/Goblin or something similar. This includes Gremlins, Brownies, Redcaps and others.
>>98352490GiantsLong story short, Giants are the genesis of the various forms of matter. From the concept of Earth, down to an individual hill. Giants literally are the form of matter or natural feature they represent, a Hill Giant IS a certain hill, a Mountain Giant IS a specific mountain, and so on. They are generally sleeping, however. This is especially good eldritchly large giants like the Fire Giant. Elementals also exist and are vulgarly kind of like the cells of Giants, but that is another thing. >DwarvesDwarves were made by Giants for the Second World made in the image of Man. Their "waking selves", in a way. Basically, Dwarves are elemental machines with a soul made to look like a small Human. Their body is made out of stone and dirt, their internals are water and fire and vapor, and so on. Further, Dwarves are not born, they are created. This mean Dwarves can vary pretty wildly from place to place. A Dwarf could look like someone with skin made out of smooth stone and hair that looks like "strands" of crystals, or someone with obsidian skin and magma crackling up from underneath or other stuff I haven't thought of yet. It very much so depends on where they are. Dwarves are so good at crafting and such because they "get" matter on a fundamental way other species do not. Their crafts are "alive" in a way similar to themselves, though lacking souls, that is why they are so quality and enduring.
>>98352494DragonsLong story short, Dragons are manifestations of the god's domains. Basically an attempt to create life before they knew anything other than themselves. The Draconian form is, thus, the primal form, the form before man. Dragons hoard things relevant to the domain they were created from, and reproduce by shaping these hoards into dragon eggs which hatch.>KoboldsKobolds are to Dragons as Dwarves are to Giants. Made by Dragons for the Second World, physical in a way they are not but still Draconian. They look like little, wingless dragons as kobolds tend to. The specifics of their appearance and character depends on what kind of dragon originally created them. For example, a Time Kobold may have white scales and markings that look like a clock, a Death Kobold may have black scales and white markings that look like a skull, etc. Originally they served the dragons, being their agents in the Second World, but many have had their dragons killed or left them for one reason or another. Thus, Kobolds are diffused and in perpetual diaspora. They're based on Medieval Jews a lot and practice a lot of similar mysticism, (Centered around their domain and an attempt to figure out the First Dragon, basically God).
>>98352498OrcsOrcs are the result of war, anger, blood, soil and grass coming together. They are given Ethereal bodies through the emotions around war and are given phsical bodies by the mixture of blood, soil and plants coming together (This all works out for metaphysical reasons). All Orcs have regenerative ability and either green or red skin (or rarely both). They came about when Humans started to do war with one another (Something Elves did not do), so basically immdietely. They are made by and for war and reproduce via it, so that is all they do. Due to this most Orcs are maurading warbands fighting a perpetual war, but some nations have integrated them into their militaries. However, they need constant direction and enemies, or they will turn on their masters, so this is not exactly the norm. >OrcsThe main type of Orc. Man-sized, muscled and ugly. They tend to be created on battlefields which have hosted particularly violent battles or multiple battles. >TrollsGiant Orcs, usually made from battles in thickly wooded and planted areas. Due to their increased size, they have the best regenerative ability. Their limbs and digits and features are long and gangly. There are trolls born of naval battles and seagrass that massive, like 30 feet tall.>HobsLittle Orcs, more akin to traditional Goblins. They are made from battles in sparsely planted areas and/or by "battles" won via backstabbing and trickery.
>>98352501Everything ElseThere is a lot of other shit. There are various niche New Men races I count as distinct races, things which straddle the line between "Race" and "Monster", things that people are more transformed into and dont count as "Races" per se, etc. Here are a few I feel like mentioning.>MagiMages suffer from madness in this, and when they become fully subsumed in said madness they put on a magical bifurcated mask they are to never remove. It is said, with time, a true Mage loses their face and physical form, becoming a mask suspended in robes and with a body made of the magic they practice.>DwellersNew Men with Cavern Elf and Human or Halfling blood. Cave morlock people.>ChimeraExtremely broad category that probably does not truly exist. Basically, the result of two creatures overlapping eachother, being written in the same space. Cosmological mutants. An example is Gorgons ala Medusa.>TouchedYour Tieflings and your Aasimar and the like. Mortals warped by prolonged exposure to that outside the Second World. >A lot of other shitIm tired. I hit the 70 races mark I promise.A lot of this is not exactly the most original stuff ever, but that is kinda the point. And, most importantly, I like writing it and I think the people I am planning to run this with will like it. This is not a very serious project and is largely for fun and is very obviously tailored around what I like, so whatever. Feel free to steal whatever ideas you want or to ask for elaboration. I will either have something to tell you or try and make some things up.Last unrelated gob.
>>98350885Is this binary? Did you get brain uploaded, lol? AI made from humans as a race is an interesting idea, actually…
>>98338186>Bonobos and chimpanzees are both chimpanzeesThey are not.>and they began to genetically deviate because they got separated by the Congo River.Over a million years ago. By comparison, bantu Africans are separated from Polynesians by about 70 thousand years, and also separated from pygme forest-people by about 70 thousand years (this level of drift is just a blip in the history of life but it’s still generally enough to name multiple species, the split between red wolves and timber wolves was probably around the same time for example).The good news is that it should only take a few million years for us to evolve into a lesbian matriarchy.
>>98355142>Bonobos and chimpanzees are both chimpanzees>They are not.They will fuck eachother, though
>>98339735>I wondered if people would be interested in a setting with them as a race.Huldras are crazy insecure fey creatures who live in the woods and kill people, occasionally marrying them before killing them. I don't think they're race material, even though they have been used as a race before.
>>98357722A lot of things will, with or without being cross-fertile (and those guys actually are, even after a million years, and even with a 1%-ish genetic variance which is much bigger than the difference between any two humans). The human story definitely included a lot of division and re-hybridization like this and that’s part of what makes it hard to trace, most non-Africans for instance have Neanderthal ancestors that Africans don’t have
>>98357722A lot of things will, with or without being cross-fertile (and those guys actually are, even after a million years, and even with a 1%-ish genetic variance which is much bigger than the difference between any two humans). The human story definitely included a lot of division and re-hybridization like this and that’s part of what makes it hard to trace, most non-Africans for instance have Neanderthal ancestors that Africans don’t have.It’s also worth noting that red wolves are wolf/coyote hybrids and timber wolves are differenter wolf/coyote hybrids, wolves and coyotes having split 1 to 2 million years ago (like chimps and bonobos). In nature, things fuck.
My setting has seven races at the moment. It's mostly been a matter of how many ways I could think of to make the gameplay different from one to the next, although I may have to put in more work to differentiate them further.
