Scribe
Legend
In the setting and/game? Sure.
In the species? Not at all.
D&D General Race Has No Mechanics. What do you play?
- Thread starter Reynard
- Start date
In the species? Not at all.
Kannik
Hero
Nope. While I love some mechanical differentiation (but by the gods interesting ones, not something like attribute bonuses), if a world has different races/kin/species, then they're gonna have different cultures and histories and views, and RPing one of those is going to make each one different to play in the game, and thus cool to play. I mean, one only has to look at earth, with our hundreds upon hundreds of various cultures and sub-cultures, and though we all share our humanity there's plenty cool to include in our character by drawing upon those different cultures.
If the game world is a monoculture but with people with different aesthetics, then that's an interesting choice in the fiction as well... what happened there, on that worlds? Where did the physical differences come from, and why have they persisted into this age where there has been enough mixing to form a monoculture?
As for the title, well it really depends on what's available in the game world. But if it's fantasy, probably dwarf. That's one of my larger go-tos already.
(Though my current batch of characters are all humans... which probably just means it really is time for me to get my dwarf on again!)Corinnguard
Hero
If your group does role-play an all Tortle group, will their characters be in their teens and learning to be Monks from Way of the Shadow?
Baron Opal II
Hero
Yes, it is. Thanks for the benefit of the doubt.
These orcs have talents in woodworking, seamanship, enhanced strength and are lucky. These halflings are resistant to fire, have metal cunning, and enhanced dexterity.
Baron Opal II
Hero
What more do you need for these two species? How could I expand the lore?
Scribe
Legend
Unless I missed it.
What do they look like, what are their motivations, what are their unique biological attributes, are some stronger, faster, smarter, than others, do some live longer, why or why not?
What makes these two species anything other than (going back to my first post in the thread) Humans, and why would I not be a Conquest Paladin?
Baron Opal II
Hero
Well, a conquest paladin would be appropriate for the former.
What they look like has already been stated, although I am being vague about that for reasons.
Thulians have long had a tumultuous relationship with the land and sea. This has lead them to a conflict-based mindset, interactions with others, even peaceful ones, tend to be one of contests, with a winner and a loser. In trade and market this is largely symbolic, taking the form of spirited haggling. Even so, these people are able to subsist on coarser and less food than others. A few days of food for someone in the Six Kingdoms could last a couple weeks for a Thulian. However, when the harvest is plentiful and the nets full, they are able to use their broad frames to fearsome effect. Such is their partnership with ships and the sea, some say they hear the whispers of the wind. They have a caste of magicians that claim to bind the winds like other tame horses.
The Empire of Thule has been enjoying a calm after 30 years of hard battle and conquest. Through tactical excellence, strong esprit de corps, and strange good fortune, they have conquered the lands surrounding the Bolor Sea. Their emperor, Tavus the Blue Lion, is currently eyeing surrounding lands debating furthering his holdings after a time of peace. Excellent shipwrights, their merchants sail through the Dogged Channel past the Broken Lands, a collection of islands that are rumored to be but the tops of mountains of a sunken kingdom. The famous good fortune of these people is shown by the Northern Lions, a section of Imperial culture that has the remit to travel freely through and out of Thule. They often take risks that others find foolhardy and yet survive to tell the tale. Their presence in the lands of the Six Kingdoms is worrisome; are they scouts for the Blue Lion or simply meddlesome adventurers?
* * * * *
The Sunaya dwell south of the Ring of Fire, the barrier of scorched deserts and steamy seas that ring the globe. Rarely are they seen in the lands of the Six Kingdoms as they must go through the high passes of the Roof of the World mountain range. There the air is thin yet cool. This alone prevents many Sunaya with wanderlust from travelling northeastward as they are more accustomed to severe heat and humidity of the jungles south of the Ring. While they are well accustomed to the stifling heat and monsoon rains of their home, even they cannot easily cross the Ring of Fire.
Curiously, much of their metalwork is based in brass rather than iron. The clime attacks iron viciously causing items to rust quickly. Brass resists the corrosion to a much higher degree. Often, a typical sword would be worthless in a month without constant care and maintenance. Of their brasswork, one commonality is their paired dagger and knife. The knife is presented to them on the eve of adulthood. It is marked, stamped, and engraved with signs and symbols of clan and heritage. As a full adult, they either make or commission a dagger that bespeaks their identity and goals. Those that marry trade these daggers, showing that their partner's hopes and dreams are now their own.
From their myth, their ancestor was found as an abandoned or lost infant by the Phoenix. This ever-reincarnating being had never seen such a strange humanoid creature before. But, the cries of hunger were familiar to all avians as to the cry of the chick in the nest. It was fed by the Phoenix as birds do, and was strengthened thereby. Now all the Sunaya hear the speech of those of wing and feather. Rumors persist of exiles who hear the nocturnal screech of bats. They have forsaken the light of the Sun, and the heat of their patron, the Phoenix. But, surely, those are just tales to scare children.
Many of those who do make the trek over the mountain passes are from the Golden Mantel clan. Their clan specializes in the many alloys of brass, bronze, and copper. Their warriors are usually armored with shining coats of brazen mail burnished to golden gleam. When encountered they seem quite gregarious, some presenting gifts of brass bells, flowers, or other baubles. The local smiths have some concern, however, as conversations drift towards questioning on their secrets of ironwork.
* * * * *
That help?
Scribe
Legend
No, actually. Both could be Human, just as easily as anything else.
And I do not mean to be dismissive or disrespectful of the setting work, as its quite nice and evocative of the cultures at a high level and in brief, so well done, but it says nothing of the species.
W'rkncacnter
Hero
this is really nicely written.
well, i mean, thulians can seemingly subsist on less food then humans while sunaya can speak to birds, according to those entries. i guess humans could do the latter with magic, but the text implies it's an innate ability, not a spell.
that said, i'd expect those two things to be represented as racial/heritage/ancestral/whatever word you wanna use mechanics, so...
Scribe
Legend
It is well written, I like it, but its not getting to the meat of the issue here at all.
What are these species, and what mechanics do they have? Yes we could infer, subjectively, that there are some cultural things going on, maybe a dash of magic, maybe some increased hardiness but if there is no mechanics behind it, its fluff.
Well written, nice structure, evocative, but its fluff, it doesnt nothing for me in play, on the game side.
"Race has no mechanics, what do you play?"
Human.
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