I’m designing a fantasy environment and I’m stuck on what races I should include. So far as pc’s I’ve got, Gnomes and Satyrs, but I’d like to include at least one more. The environment is a sort of steampunk/ fantasy mix. The Gnomes have a Victorian/”rebel without a cause” thing going and the Satyrs are kind of a redneck/biker/samurai mix. We’ve toyed around with pixies, lizard guys, dog guys, and rock guys but nothing has stuck so far. Anyone got any Ideas? Thanks for the help Btw: For game-play purposes the characters need to be bipedal and we’ve agreed no elves, dwarves, orcs or humans.

How bout some form of a hybrid sea creature adapted to land.

bird people?

Bird people would be good if you wanted some snooty nobility and puffed-up merchants to add to the Victorian society. Or, what other professions/personalities do you want - some kind of outdoorsman? Stolid peasants?

BTW have you considered giving your gnomes a tail, pushing their appearance a bit more in the monkey direction? That would be appropriate to mischief-makers.

Sheep Cow hybrid, that walks on 4 feet with claws and a long lion tail with a flowery bush at it's end...

One thing about races in most stories... they all are very humanoid. There are few that don't do it that way. Might want to think on that.

Anyway, the tail can release toxic poisons. The claws can function like a hand though more limited in movement/dexterity but stronger in power. In combat, they can maybe equip 4 weapons, one on each and fight that way.

Sounds like a monster... heh, but it could be a race.

Some kind of insect is probably a good idea for the more sinister roles. Praying Manti? I can just imagine them as a sinister Grand Vizier or as an upper-class, elitist society. Although, again, they might work well as clergy or wizards (assuming your game has magic).

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Original post by wicked357 How bout some form of a hybrid sea creature adapted to land.

-haha, did my girlfriend talk you into that, she’s been pushing for an “Orca-Mermaid”. It could work though. The game is meant to be a team puzzle solver, so having a swimmer could be useful.

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Original post by greenaction bird people?

Flyers would be cool too. They just change level design so much I’ve been afraid to include them. But what kind of Bird?

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Original post by sunandshadow Bird people would be good if you wanted some snooty nobility and puffed-up merchants to add to the Victorian society. Or, what other professions/personalities do you want - some kind of outdoorsman? Stolid peasants? BTW have you considered giving your gnomes a tail, pushing their appearance a bit more in the monkey direction? That would be appropriate to mischief-makers.

I kinda like the snobby bird people idea, I’m just not sure of the mechanics of making them PC’s.
Professions aren’t really relative to race in this game, but there are about 18 areas of expertise, with plenty of recon and exploration.
We had some stolid peasants, but they evolved from buffalo versions of the Satyrs into Pygmy Buffalo Pirates with no sense of self preservation but a fear of water (due to the fur and hooves).



I really like your idea about tails on the gnomes. They started out with a very different look and have started to look a bit to elf for me. The more I think about your idea, the more I like it :)

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Original post by pothb Sheep Cow hybrid, that walks on 4 feet with claws and a long lion tail with a flowery bush at it's end... One thing about races in most stories... they all are very humanoid. There are few that don't do it that way. Might want to think on that. Anyway, the tail can release toxic poisons. The claws can function like a hand though more limited in movement/dexterity but stronger in power. In combat, they can maybe equip 4 weapons, one on each and fight that way. Sounds like a monster... heh, but it could be a race.

That might make a cool monster, but it wouldn’t work as a PC.
I guess I should have mentioned that all of the playable characters need to be able to climb in and out of a large variety of vehicles. So the rigging needs to be similar on all of the models. (for animation purposes)

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Original post by Delphinus Some kind of insect is probably a good idea for the more sinister roles. Praying Manti? I can just imagine them as a sinister Grand Vizier or as an upper-class, elitist society. Although, again, they might work well as clergy or wizards (assuming your game has magic).

No magic in the game, but the insect idea is cool. Maybe a friendlier version of the prawns from district 9.

Many thanks to all :)

About professions, I was thinking in terms of 'racial personality', not professions as gameplay. The bird people could be flightless bipedal birds, preferably with some sort of feathered crest. You could either give them feathered arms, or separate arms and decorative-only wings (maybe that would be more like griffins?) A secretary bird or a cassowary might make a good model (although cockatoo crests are always nice too).

Gnomes and satyrs (judging from the illustrations) represent the reasonable extremes of how almost human races can be small and weak or large and strong respectively; pixies would be too small to be compatible, something like golems or vampires would be too strong and exotic, "animal people" would be too blandly average people in funny suits.
In my opinion, the only remaining niche is something weird enough to be hard to compare with the two original races or with normal humans.
- Star Trek style humanoid extraterrestrials, with unusual physiology, food, habits, etc. and of course an alien mindset and a cool arbitrary appearance; they should of course be immigrants and guests without easy access to starships.
- Undead people (as opposed to monsters); something weak but interesting, with an interesting backstory (e.g. a zombie virus, a necromantic disaster, a fad for vampirism), supernatural powers and limitations and a peculiar value system.
- Magically altered people; cheap self-improvement manuals could include actually working spells to grow wings or gills, to bind a spirit into one's mind as an advisor and personal assistant, etc.

Original post by sunandshadow
About professions, I was thinking in terms of 'racial personality', not professions as gameplay.quote]

Ah..In that case, ..I'm not sure. I based the the Satyrs off of the typical "proud southern redneck". I figured their culture is hardley used in games and could be fun.
The Gnomes are a bitmore generic, usually hardworking and good spirited folk.

The only other factor is age. In this envirionment/world, the characters don't get decrepit with age like we do. Their mentalities change. Gnomes get exponentially greedy untill it consumes them. Satyrs get bigger and meaner, eventually getting themselves killed.
The society looks down on individuals that allow themselves to "over-live", so around a certain age most people look for a good death.

So what ever the third race is, they also need a reason to not want to live to long.


Lorenzo-
No magic or undead in the game, and alien technology would seam out of place in this environment. But characters do go through some changes.I kinda like the idea of Golems.
Thanks for your input.