Xzayler said
I can make a map if you'd like. I like making maps :)Just give me a general description and what kind of lanscape it should be.Oh, and major settlement locations as well if theres any.

Thing is, none of that has been established yet. I wanna work with the players to pick out the races and such we'll be playing with, let them do the backstories they want, and weave a world together from that.

Kinda an experiment in building a world backwards, really.

Just pm me or anything when you get it all fixed. I could also get info from each race and put a map together.
Anyways. Wish the best to all of you, happy RP-ing.
(I dont make super beautiful maps but I make them fast and clear)

Xzayler said
Just pm me or anything when you get it all fixed. I could also get info from each race and put a map together.Anyways. Wish the best to all of you, happy RP-ing.(I dont make super beautiful maps but I make them fast and clear)

Thanks, I'll keep you in mind!

And if you ever decide to revise the magic rules for your setting there, I'd be happy to get a character going for it again :P

I'm a stubborn donkey and like the word magic. :P
Good luck Primal, just PM me for any help.

No room for discussion? Didn't have plans for him to be much more powerful than the average were-beast.

Dead Cruiser said
No room for discussion? Didn't have plans for him to be much more powerful than the average were-beast.

No interest in were-beasts being in this in general.

Primal Conundrum said
No interest in were-beasts being in this in general.

Strange. Oh well, good luck with whatever you're doing, then.

I feel your pain dead. DREAMS CRUSHED. HOPE RIPPED OUT OF THE SKY AND THROWN IN THE TRASH AND LIT ON FIRE.

Primal, I remember you saying something in reference to Vampires/Werewolves. If someone were to make a character that was acceptable, and would work, you would accept it instead of throwing it out because it is a vampire/werewolf. SOooo, can you apply the same to "humanoid versions of ___" races, as long as they aren't just a humanoid version of an animal with traits like the animal?

VarionusNW said
I feel your pain dead. DREAMS CRUSHED. HOPE RIPPED OUT OF THE SKY AND THROWN IN THE TRASH AND LIT ON FIRE.Primal, I remember you saying something in reference to Vampires/Werewolves. If someone were to make a character that was acceptable, and would work, you would accept it instead of throwing it out because it is a vampire/werewolf. SOooo, can you apply the same to "humanoid versions of ___" races, as long as they aren't just a humanoid version of an animal with traits like the animal?

I'm actually no longer offering that option to people wanting to play vampires / werewolves, so I'm not going to be extending it to humanoid versions of ______ either. Sorry.

once again, DREAMS CRUSHED. HOPE RIPPED OUT OF THE SKY AND THROWN IN THE TRASH AND LIT ON FIRE.

VarionusNW said
once again, DREAMS CRUSHED. HOPE RIPPED OUT OF THE SKY AND THROWN IN THE TRASH AND LIT ON FIRE.

I have that effect on boys :P

If you want werebeasts or anthros just wait five seconds for the next werewolf/anthro RP to pop up on forum. Same with vampires, pokemon, zombies, dragons and ghastly High School settings.

That being said, there is something the GM will need to be careful about and that is convergent evolution. Try to think of a flying race that spends much of its time airborne and does not have wings akin to a bat's or a bird's. Try to think of an underwater race without fins like a fish or webbed feet like many aquatic mammals. These patterns repeat because they are the logical morphological option for these environments which means when tailoring something to such environments one might honestly come up with something that could be viewed as a bird or fish person without intending to make an anthro race. There's a fine line between furry/scaly simplicity and simply designing races that are adapted for their environments in ways that make evolutionary sense. Perhaps I can craft an example.

Name: The Orii

Description: The Orii are a subterranean species and are supremely adapted for life underground. Though humanoid in general shape, they differ from topsiders in many other respects. For one they are stooped and short, standing no more than three feet. Their faces boast beady weak-sighted eyes, all but useless in their underground realm. Instead they navigate by other senses, smell, hearing and touch. Their nostrils are gaping and forward facing like an animal's snout. These are flanked by long whiskers which tell them the dimensions of a tunnel even in absolute dark. Their ears, though they appear small and stunted, conceal acute hearing organs oriented assymetrically so that they can pinpoint the origin of the faintest sound in three dimensions. For clothing the Orii often wear an assortment of dirtstained cloth and remnants of surfacer clothes which they have scavenged, the tears often revealing much of their wrinkled, hairy skin. On their fingers, beyond the thick claws they use for digging, the Orii wear many rings and bracelets, showing off their most prized plunder.

Society: The Orii are arranged in a system of Guilds, a system, it is believed, they borrowed from human thieves on the surface, but for the Orii it became the basis of their entire society. Each Orii guild is arranged in a pyramid with stolen loot flowing up from the lowly dirt pads to the Guildmaster himself. The entire Orii culture revolves around theft and they work honestly for almost nothing, instead relying on their astounding digging skills to penetrate the most well guarded grainaries, vaults and treasure rooms. A guildmaster lives or dies on the basis of plunder. When the wealth flows his position is secure, but if it ever stops rivals will soon be looking to overthrow him. Orii choose their leader by a contest they also borrowed from human thieves called the gauntlet, a tunnel bristling with deadly traps, pitfalls and chained monsters. Guildmasters earn their rank by running this gauntlet and challengers dethrone such figures by racing them along its treacherous path. Orii language is like the rest of their society, stolen, a pidgeon tongue of a hundred different dialects including their own long lost native tongue. As a result almost anyone listening to an Orii speak their chaotic gibberish will recognize a word or two regardless of race or birthplace. Orii family life, like all other aspects, revolve around the guild. Only accomplished thieves who have proven themselves earn the right to breed and Orii females often demand expensive dowries of plunder before they will consent to a marriage. Polygamous by nature, the most successful Orii dirt burglars can stockpile as many as twenty wives. Guildmasters have been known to have upwards of fifty. Unsurprisingly Orii society is harshly patriarchal and females are often viewed more as another kind of loot than equals. Occasionally female Orii will prove themselves accomplished thieves but their struggle up the hierarchy of theft always faces extreme resistance.

So with the Orii I've taken lots of inspiration from animals because the adaptations simply make sense. Much comes from moles. The assymetric ears are from owls and the skin and general appearance are from naked mole rats. So will people in the world refer to my race as 'mole men' on occasion. I have no doubt. Is it anthro? Well, I don't think it is because the society and personality are not animal derivatives and the appearance draws from multiple species along with some fantasy tropes like gnomes. Still it stradles the line so only the GM can really decide. If we reject everything that has animal inspiration, though, we will have a world full of unrelatable aliens who show no adaptation to their environments.

Too Old 4 This said
Snip

See, this is a well-designed race that I would accept. It's not just "humanoid version of moles", it's a full in-depth explanation of why they are the way they are, and it does source material from a few real-world analogues.

I'm okay with animalistic species on this level, because I get the whole convergent evolution point, it's valid. A big plus with this though is that it doesn't feel like you set out to make mole anthros- it feels like you set out to make a subterranean species and looked at how real-world creatures adapted to such a habitat.

I think we are more than ready for an OOC. The map and unified theme is going to be the gamebreaker for me personally. If it's just people spitting up disconnected random sauce it's going to end up feeling fake. There needs to be that common element of theme and geography that ties them together. Otherwise you just wind up with...

I would like to see an example CS please, I want to understand the stats and detail level required..

Too Old 4 This said
I think we are more than ready for an OOC. The map and unified theme is going to be the gamebreaker for me personally. If it's just people spitting up disconnected random sauce it's going to end up feeling fake. There needs to be that common element of theme and geography that ties them together. Otherwise you just wind up with...

I agree, although I would strongly advise against this theme being too restrictive on creativity. The selling point of this was that it's pretty much a sandbox; however, as Old has said, it'll need something tying things loosely together otherwise my character might go home to bake bread for the whole RP without ever perusing a greater goal. It wouldn't be much in the way of story, but you'd sure get an insight into medievalesque bread making!

I'll hopefully have something up about that city state I spoke of a few days ago, along with a map of the locality. The map is just an idea, and can be incorporated, cut or changed into the larger world.

Stay tuned.

EDIT:

Here's the map of my invented city state. I've got to pop out to get food, before I die of starvation, but when I get back I'll give it some back story.

WELP, I'm interested. I wanted to a do a human rangery-wizardy type fella, with a golem as his muscles. A brains brawn combo? No? Yes? Maybe? Interesting? I would play the golem as having acquired some level of sentience due to magic or longevity of being alive. Probably animimalistic or child like in nature to keep it as loyal brawn to the other character's wit. Most likely magically bound to prevent deception, or playing off the low intelligence. Main Ranger guy would be capable of fighting his way out of a paper bag, but relies on his pal to do the dirty work and such.

So, okay, or no?

Hmm how large would that uchfos forest be? My sirens need a deep ininhabited forest.

Also, if there are any races that wish to have some kind of history with the sirens, please tell me. (everything from resistance to their voice, to long time allies, to siren hunters etc. would spice up the lore a bit I think.)

Noyuri said
Hmm how large would that uchfos forest be? My sirens need a deep ininhabited forest.Also, if there are any races that wish to have some kind of history with the sirens, please tell me. (everything from resistance to their voice, to long time allies, to siren hunters etc. would spice up the lore a bit I think.)

I was thinking quite large, but not gigantic. Let's say the size of that map is two hundred miles horizontally and vertically, so Uchfos would be around a hundred and fifty miles long, fifty miles deep. Would take someone 2-3 days to traverse its length on horseback.

If your Sirens want to live there, that's fine. I'll put it that Uchfos was simply given a wide birth because of the dangers associated with it, and that even to this day patrols of Eblistani warriors scour the forest's borders to keep the Citadel safe.

Sorry that the OOC isn't up yet, I'm going to try to get it on tonight. Would have done it yesterday, but I was running on three hours of sleep and got home from work at midnight after starting work at 8AM, so I was just dog tired.

Slept like the dead for like 12 hours last night though, so I'll do what I can to get it going tonight.

Hamster bro, since you're the first one to have a solid region defined for your creatures, I think it would be best if we expanded outwards from there. We're not going to start in that city, but as far as defining where our characters are from, it should be described in relation to the map you have there.

Stefan0620 said
WELP, I'm interested. I wanted to a do a human rangery-wizardy type fella, with a golem as his muscles. A brains brawn combo? No? Yes? Maybe? Interesting? I would play the golem as having acquired some level of sentience due to magic or longevity of being alive. Probably animimalistic or child like in nature to keep it as loyal brawn to the other character's wit. Most likely magically bound to prevent deception, or playing off the low intelligence. Main Ranger guy would be capable of fighting his way out of a paper bag, but relies on his pal to do the dirty work and such. So, okay, or no?

Wouldn't really work with the startup I have planned, and I don't want people playing doubles at this point. Possibly later, but no promises. If you want to play a golem-like character, that's fine, and I'd advise looking up the Warforged from the Eberron setting of D&D for an example of a well done and well balanced version of the "living golem" archetype. Not saying that you need to play as a warforged to be a living golem, but look at them for a rough idea of a good power level and such. If you want to be a mage-created golem where the enchantments have, for lack of a better word, fermented over time and given rise to some degree of self awareness, that's fine too.