Animal Peoples

#1

Ok, I have been throwing this idea over in my mind for a few months now and after looking at a few new miniatures that I have seen. I have come to the conclusion that I wish to add more animal type races to my world. To be played by either NPC or PC has not been determined yet. So I would like your input on that matter.

Are animal races worth the effort to put into a world/ system? As a player race are they overly unpopular or a choice for a fresh outlook? As a non-player type character are they worth the effort to detail the information about the race and culture if they are limited to location?

I have many more questions but am unable to form the proper example of these questions.

So far I have already detailed one animal race into my system. The Sslassti can be found in my Hewdamia Thread detailed there.

So what I was thinking about doing since I just expanded on my current world and added another large section to my main continent is populating it with these animal races.

Here are the few ideas I have come up with thus far. please give me your input on this matter. I would hate to waste so much effort if it is seen as a fruitless venture.

Wolf - Mongol type horde.
Lion - Honorable society... possibly asian influence.
Panther - Intelligent, mediator type. Scholarly.
Jackal - Devious, thieves, brigands
Lizard - A darker cousin to the Sslassti.

Animal Peoples

#2

This is a pretty cool idea, though it might be a bit too reminiscent of lycanthropes, assuming you're talking of a human-animal hybrid ("Furry"... yuch). Well, I'd imagine that these kinds of animal PCs could be an appealing choice of race and could make interesting NPCs to interact with.

Might I contribute by continuing the theme of making the animal-hybrids like real-life cultures? These are just ideas, but the Panthers could have an Indian feel with turbans and the like (though I remember there being some kinda creature like this in D&D) and the Jackals could be Arabian-flavored, you know, long robes and drapes. And funny curled shoes.

The Lizards... I dunno, the first thing that comes to my mind is ancient South American cultures, but that's already been used in Warhammer. Perhaps an Egyptian feel might fit in? The Egyptians revered crocodiles. Hmm... although reading your description of the Sslassti, if you want the Lizards to be their cousins, an Egyptian flavor could be too sophisticated for the brutal savages you're thinking of.

Animal Peoples

#3

Okay.... before you start... need to address a few points.

1) Where did your animal people come from? And are these humanoid animals or just intelligent near quadrapedal animals with claws/psuedo hands?

1b) Are these Humans in fur suits or really animals/ alien species.

2) If they came from people, would they not inherit that same culture.

3) If they came from people a long long time ago, would they not develop cultures suitable to their environment (modified for their mental morphology of course).

4) How much in the way of biologica/ animal abilties do they have?

Animal Peoples

#4

1) Where did your animal people come from? And are these humanoid animals or just intelligent near quadrapedal animals with claws/psuedo hands?

They are a creation of the Gods, a hybrid so to speak. They are a humanoid animal. In response to Minsk, similar to werea-animals in appearance, yet not containing a genetic, viral, or magical disease of any kind that others can contract. They are born and raised in their humanoid-animal form.

1b) Are these Humans in fur suits or really animals/ alien species.

They are an animal appearing humanoid. I don;t want to use the term creature for the simple reason that creatures bring to mind animalistic and unintelligent creatures. They are intelligent like the other races with a culture and society all of their own.

2) If they came from people, would they not inherit that same culture.

They do not come from people, but are born as their own culture. They are all isolated from the normal and average races by continental barriers or mountains and deserts, yet live in a thriving part of the continent normally. Having farms, cattle, cities, etc.

3) If they came from people a long long time ago, would they not develop cultures suitable to their environment (modified for their mental morphology of course).

Not to continue with the, 'they are their own people'. But they have developed a culture all of their own. Their society and government are all different as are their beliefs. While they worship Gods with different names, they are still the worldly Gods seen by other cultures and races.

4) How much in the way of biologica/ animal abilties do they have?

Strength and speed would be a big advantage. But it would soley be based on the individual race. I am thinking that while each race would be physically stronger than an average human, as are some of the other player races, they have a diversity all of their own. One race will have a dominant attribute of strength, where another will be more mentally intelligent. I am not looking at any sort of night vision or heat vision or anything of that nature. If I do, then only the possibility of a minor ability to see in the dark, but with a small light source, the moon for example.

Climbing trees will be as a normal humanoid, with the slight advantage of having sharper claw like fingers. In the case of the wolf race, thinking the advantage of being stronger physically. The lion race, thinking a higher and superior endurance. The panther race, thinking a auperior agility and quickness. The jackal race, I'm really at a loss for what they could have different than the others. The lizard race, while they are similar to their more intelligent cousins who I have already detailed out, I would think they could have very minor camoflauge advantages. Nothing spectacular, but making them a little harder to see or track.

The types of cultures I am thinking of are all rough ideas and will be based losely on the real earth cultures. For instance, while the Wolven race (named differently due to Palladiums Wolven race) will be based off of the Mongols, their culture will adapt to be able to survive more then the few decades that Chingas Chan ruled his mighty barbarian empire. The Lion race will be based off of an asian influence, not Japanese, not Chinese, but loosely based off of the type of society.

I am not basing these off as an experiement gone arwy but as a natural, or in the case of the Gods, a helping hand in evolution. This would also give the possibility of an alternate campaign setting of the PC's being these animal creatures as opposed to the more conventional races. But that is further in the works.

I hope that cleared up your questions, as this is just a fleshing out session to get possible ideas. I want to keep them in the same format as I described my other races, but with Captain Penguin's comment on needing more information I need a helping idea.

Animal Peoples

#5

The Lion race will be based off of an asian influence, not Japanese, not Chinese, but loosely based off of the type of society they had in Feudal Japan/ China.

That is so apple and oranges. Technically China never had a real feudal period, but the "Times of Trouble" is the closest you can get. Fedual Japan is in direct cultural opposition to China's culture. So that phrase is about as descriptive as Europe from 1350 to 1650 which contains three different periods of enlightenment and two levels of feudal culture.

So perhaps we can look for something vaguely Asian...

Animal Peoples

#6

The jackal race, I'm really at a loss for what they could have different than the others.

Perhaps expert co-operation skills, a "pack instinct"? Or maybe well honed reflexes? Or, if you want them to be thieves and other such ilk, they could be sly and excel at careful sneaking and such.

Just some thoughts I'm throwing round, I think all these points describe a normal jackal well(except maybe the sneaking bit. They are rather sly animals, though.)

Animal Peoples

#7

Jackals are known for their quickness, even if not for their running speed. They could be given a bonus for thinking faster, such as an initiative bonus, higher Wits, etc.

Also, there could be more than one type of reptilian species. White Wolf's shapechangers, for example, include both crocodilian (mokole) and snake (naga) varieties. You could have a robed serpentine race known for its persuasive abilities and mercantile nature. You could also have a sneaky chameleonic race, and a contemplative (perhaps mystically adept) tortoise people.

Animal Peoples

#8

Another option is to completely disregard the stereotypical personified traits of animals, or to use their opposites. As examples, a crocodilian people can be known as a kind, fun-loving, and joking people; rodents can be brave, fierce, and loyal; wolves can be known as treacherous loudmouths who are always looking for a handout.

So we are doing?

#9

So are we doing How many races? So as I understand this, this is a set of a dozen or so, furry/ scaly humanoids. These species are not really linked, any more than elves, dwarves, and humans are. So besides pulling out a copy of Albedo, Iron Claw, Jade Claw, or TMMT the RPG (which was very under rated in my opinion), what should we do?

Mourngrymn, perhaps if you created a new thread for the first species you want to work on... then when that one is done... start enother one. This sheparding of threads is annoying, but will actually get a great deal done on each race

New Race: XXXXX (the name of your species)
with your introduction for the post describing the race and what you see as "the way to go" for the Lifeform/ Species

Animal Peoples

#10

I was mainly looking for a few ideas not for the community to do the work... but I will post something I have been writing up here soon. It is no where near reading form yet.