In my game, Text Quest, the player gets to decide which type of beast they are. Depending on which you choose the plot will be slightly changed, you'll be able to access exclusive areas, talk to different people, etc - but which creatures should make it onto the list? I'm posting this because I wanted to steer away from the hackneyed choices of human, elf, goblin; but while being different they still need to retain some of the traditional RPGness, and also offer a wide choice for players.
So, which class would you be?
Skateboarder?
Generally in RPGs there is a distinction between class and race.
human, elf, goblin etc are races
classes are things like warrior, druid, mage etc
so what are we talking about? race or class?
Sharp observation. Seeing as it's not a MMORPG I'm not having two classifications, just a species.
So let me rephrase: Which race are you? :P
Quote from: AtelierGames on Tue 27/04/2010 20:02:36
Sharp observation. Seeing as it's not a MMORPG I'm not having two classifications, just a species.
So let me rephrase: Which race are you? :P
Dalek?
I'm a damn err Valunarian!!
The mythical Dragon-Born shall forever rule the skies!
Ahem, awesome!
Malkavian!
No wait! Modron!
NO! I got it! A Mimir!
Gah! Too many to choose from. :(
Betelguesian?
S'Sirthe?
Theria?
Cirius would be a hoopy frood who really knows where his towel is.
Texan?
I guess it would help to have some background info...
What's the setting? Age? etc.
Medieval Fantasy, with a Scandinavian terrain - forests, mountains, tundras, castles... in an age where man has just begun to emerge on top but life is still humble.
I really like the idea of lesser sprites from folklore :D
Hm, how about Viking (warrior), Celt (dwarf), Wulfman (elf), Bearsomething (barbarian), Pirate (thief/rogue)?
Edit: that's combinations of race and class. Oh well.
...have you actually checked out "norse mythology" in wikipedia? Because many "races" are actually pretty close to elf (alfar, humans could become them after death), dwarfs (those are just called Dvergar but are basically the same as main stream dwarfs), humans etc. But maybe try to use the mixed up stuff (who says there must be some famous/major races in that world, right?), like forest spirits, ice giants, humans with deer heads...
But races could have some impact on the story, I mean some histories could be motivation for certain events, maybe humans have emerged cause they were cast out of heaven/Asgard like place, or rather lost their immortality etc.
It also depends if your going for high fantasy or sword and sorcery, cause it depends how unhuman the not-human races will be as well. In S&S you might only have races of men and some demons/rare species (see Conan for example), while in high fantasy you'd get much bigger populations (like Lord of the rings etc. where you have whole nations of certain species).
As an inspiration for mixed up stuff, I suggest list of gods from the book American Gods, which within the story shows gods from "old world" modified by american history and immigrants (the actual story is not about that, but still a lot of work was devouted to that):
http://www.frowl.org/gods/gods.html
I'm white.
King!
Oh, that's neither a race nor a class, right?
Can I just ask; don't use made up ridiculous things.
If the player has to compare your classes/races to other existing types, then you've failed.
A good example I think are the FF13 classes, I've yet to see a review of this game which doesn't qualify the classes by an explanation of what they REALLY are. Something similar applies to races; calling your elves "N'y'rwold Treefolke" and your goblins "horklings" isn't the same as being original, and it's arguably worse than just using the standard tropes.
how about going anthro?
Like, wolf people, then you could base their culture around the way real wolf packs work
Lion people, with huntresses and the king
tiger people, the badass loners
and so on
Arrrr! Lumberjack!
Luxon warrior! [/obscure]
I'm Paris-Dakar.
Metalhead \m/
;D
You should go down the horror route and have Les Vampres, Les Gheausts Les Wolvres de Were et Les Zombreaux. (Apologies to any French people).
Sæterjentene, den grønnkledde, storfolk, Dovregubben, Bøygen. It's scandinavian, you know what I'm talking about ;)
As a proper scandinavian I'd like to contribute with the following:
knäckebröd, surströmmingar, renklämmor, lutfiskar and gammeldanskar
Quote from: Andail on Wed 28/04/2010 15:00:05gammeldanskar
Careful around those unless you have a Complete Restoration spell at hand.
Edit: Oh, and this whole thread reminded me of the best video game presentation ever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWvAznIRVLA), Paul Barnett explaining the races in Warhammer Online (amongst other things) at E3 2006. Highly amusing, but also nails the point of what creating races for fantasy fiction is all about: Conflict.
Quote from: Andail on Wed 28/04/2010 15:00:05
As a proper scandinavian I'd like to contribute with the following:
knäckebröd, surströmmingar, renklämmor, lutfiskar and gammeldanskar
What did you say about my mother?
Random.
But Terran at heart.
Thanks all for the input!
Quote from: anian on Tue 27/04/2010 22:00:18
But races could have some impact on the story, I mean some histories could be motivation for certain events, maybe humans have emerged cause they were cast out of heaven/Asgard like place, or rather lost their immortality etc.
This seems a really great idea, I'll definitely use [parodies of] the Nordic gods somewhere.
Quote from: Captain Ricco on Tue 27/04/2010 22:50:48
how about going anthro? Like, wolf people, then you could base their culture around the way real wolf packs work
This is a wizard idea too! Reminds me of something I saw called Wolf Man, who tried to accept his girlfriend into a pack of wolves. Heh. Or perhaps a branch of yeti people; shy, reclusive.
Living with the Wolf Man, exactly my thoughts
i can really see a society based around the behavior of these animals...
The wolfs, always disputing for leadership, but in a more political way
Lions would be more war-based disputs, or battle, the king would have to accept any chalenger to his crown, and if he loses, he is banished
Hyenas would be like the thiefs and rogues... a society of assassins...
I am a Meat Popsicle.
Korben Dallas.
It's definitely my favorite movie.