>Threads like this constantly posted
>No responses

I cry efrytime.

File: poster___the_lapinduce_by(...).jpg (306 KB, 755x1058)

306 KB JPG

>>59987035
Hare people instead of elves.
They have a reason for being vegetarian.
They can be English as fuck.
You can channel Redwall.
You can have super gluttonous magical forest people.

>>59987035
I've always been a fan of mushroom / plant people

>Myconid (Fungusfolk)
>Slow but hardy alchemists from dark forests / caves
>Regenerative potential, but dependent on water / high humidity environment
>Poisonous to eat
>Maybe capable of better bluff / charm checks

>Phytonian (Plantpeople / Flowerfolk)
>Cheery merchants / innkeepers from wherever plants can be found
>Thrive during the day, but are nearly incapable of doing things after the sun sets
>Water dependent but can slowly regrow if replanted in moist, fertile soil

>>59987905
Yes but what do they replace?

>>59987985
If you're a scrub then they can replace orks and halflings / elves respectively

If you're a fucking G then they exist alongside all the other races

File: d6016-inktober-03-poison.png (336 KB, 946x1200)

336 KB PNG

>>59987905
Mushroom Dudes are fucking ace.
Hugely underutilized and awesome.

I wonder if they ever go to war with themselves...
'Spore Wars', if you will.

File: slavery may be illegal but.jpg (168 KB, 1033x679)

168 KB JPG

>>59987905
>Myconids

>>59988424
>Filename
Got me laffin'.

>>59987035
Robots, bugs, and plants.

These are all niches that are not entertained by fantasy despite being able to fit alongside very well, providing interesting play changes, and being well within the range of creatures you may run into in a fantasy game, especially a fantasy game with sources older than lord of the rings.

>>59988517
I was about to argue with you and then I realized aside from enemies, those species are barely used at all for PC's.

...Now I want a race of mindless insect drones ruled by intelligent, regal insect nobility, with said Nobles being the player characters.

>>59988591
Right?
These things always exist, they're just somehow never PCs.
And I have a similar system, except also opened it up to warrior caste being intelligent as well, just not AS intelligent at most things. Other than battle.

I really like ape/monkey-men. They're really good as the godless savages or the exotic orientals.

>>59988591
What would be more mindless the plantkin?
Consume indiscriminately...With its legs?
Or would it walk upside down so flowers were like vaginas on the bottom and roots were like mouths on top?

File: Aegagropilon_is_the_best.jpg (258 KB, 1280x720)

258 KB JPG

>>59988672
>what do mindless plantkin look like?
AEGAGROPILON

>>59988672
'Drones' of efficient, optimized killers sharing just a shred of personality from a mother-ship of sorts. Some massive, voracious predatory plant. Pitcher, Flytrap, something awful.

Wait shit I just made another NPC monster.

>>59988715
That's why you make the nobles and warrior caste capable enough in their own strengths that they can leave the hive and exist without the drones.

>>59987035
In what sort of context? I love messing around with the vast array of races D&D has and can support, but just how are they supposed to be "alternates"?

Or do you mean something like "this is why gnolls work instead of wood elves" and "this is why kobolds work better in place of gnomes & halflings"?

>>59988775
'This is why plant people make a good alternative to wood-elves' style stuff.

If you really want however, spitball a race of yours at us Anon, no harm in that, or help build a race in the thread with your fellow fa/tg/uys.

>>59988850
I think you should more be slotting things in.
If you're making a new thing without the traditional races, don't try to make "replacements" for them. Try to do your own thing. If some turn out to be replacements for existing things, well, happy coincidence.

not the guy you were talking to, just a random jackoff

>>59987035
Lizardfolk are better scalies than dragon born but I wouldn't call dragon born traditional

>>59988914
WoW did a bretty good job with Reptilian Oldones Naga

File: Spoiler Image (29 KB, 300x432)

29 KB JPG

>>59988901
I appreciate you, random jackoff.

But how else can I market my mountain-top living, thunder-calling, hearth-and-home or skyship sailing, craftsmen sheep+goat people?

>>59989033
Just put them in on top of the dwarves.
They argue about who the true mountain folk are regularly.

>>59989115
I actually considered that, but couldn't find a good justification for the gods of each race sharing such similar spheres so I mothballed it.

>>59989226
>couldn't find a good justification for the gods of each race sharing such similar spheres so I mothballed it
They're married.

>>59989033
Fact of the day: Mountain goats aren't goats.

>>59989241
>>59989226
they're constantly bickering

File: Christian Imageboard.jpg (4.29 MB, 2627x2728)

4.29 MB JPG

>>59989033
You have mountainsheep too, huh?

>>59989241
>>59989254
>>59989253
Does that make the dwarven god a furry?

>>59989325
Much more beastly than that, as you can tell by my original posts pic related, but yes.

Part of a mountainous/ocean world where adventure takes place in the deepest depths or the high-flying world of Skyships.

>>59989363
Their daughters could be the furry Furies.

Alternatively, the Valkaprinae.

>>59989455
See, that makes me feel even more like you want both dwarves and ovicaprids. Dwarves for the depths and wools for the heights.

>>59989507
It definitely looks that way, don't it.
And to be real with you, I would like to have both, but the similarities just give me pause.

>>59989532
I mean, I feel like the similarities and overlap would just give you more opportunity to do interesting things in the in-between spaces. A city that's roughly 50% of each might be a good place for the party to start, fairly cosmopolitan and generic, and then they go to either extreme and see a much narrower culture, with a heavier focus on traditionalism and perhaps even disdain for those of their own that mingle in the shared space.

Satyrs in place of elves.
>Fleet-footed, Dextrous
>Debaucherous
>Mystical in nature, likely attuned to Magic
>Familiar enough where most people know what they are, yet different enough to feel at least somewhat exotic

Goblins have 2 subraces
One is shorter than the average interpretation of gobs and generally fatter. They incredibly intelligent for goblins and are the races engineers essentially
The other is taller than the average goblin interpretation but are lanky and stupid. For them speed is life
The two subraces work together to do goblin things using exotic war vehicles and whatnot

Elves replaced with Cyclops-kin/Mono-eyes for cute magic people. They also clash with Elves for having great eyesight (massive eye, but it means they're bad with projectiles). You can say they made magic missile (or whatever) as a response to poorer aim. Gives the potential for D E E P L O R E when discussing their origins in relation to Cyclops (preferably extinct) and whatever cyclopean ruins they've left behind. Also, the connection to the prophetic nature of Cyclopes makes for a more evocative racial ability than D&D Elves. Elves are kept as faerie-type folk and enigmatic things of legend/folklore who "commonly" (mostly in stories) act as muses and guides to heroes and creative sorts.

Dwarves are replaced with Goblinoids (I run Goblins as small Hobgoblins and Hobgoblins as larger and incredibly neurotic Goblins who would die without someone giving them a comprehensive schedule to live by) who are known for honor, militarism, and a lack of creativity which emphasizes functionality as aesthetic. Dwarves, like Elves, are kept as legendary mythological people who heroes seek out for similarly legendary arms and armor.

Halflings are kept because Dungeon Meshi has made me fall in love with them in relation to the dungeon (otherwise replace them with Monopods who live comfy lives near brooks and hills).

Humans can be kept and most other playable races can be replaced or removed unless they make for interesting monsters (in which case you can't play normally them). Tieflings don't need their own race, neither do Aasimar, just run them case-by-case as planar-touched NPCs (lets you be more creative with the traits of their influence and possible planes of origin). Dragonborn are just lizards without the alien mindset, so use lizardmen instead (as monsters and NPCs). Half-X are lazy, remove them. Gnomes make better NPCs than player material (just stick them underground and let them either invent sick-ass technology or make use of sick-ass technology already present).

>>59989489
Holy shit goatanon, you have to do this. Dwarves live in the mountains, sheeps on top of them, they share a pantheon and a friendly rivalry.

>>59990978
Please though.
I want moar goats and moar sheep in fantasy.

File: 00556682.jpg (244 KB, 700x468)

244 KB JPG

>>59987035
I feel like birds are underused. There's birdfolk, yeah, but they're more often than not winged humans, with the ocasional menacing crow/eagle, which I find weird, since the most social and inteligent birds are parrots so I'd like to see some sort of parrot race with very strict marital rules, but also very noisy and aggresive.

>>59991922
I like the idea of bird-people finding the fashion of other races deeply confusing.

"The WOMEN are the one who get all gussied up and fancy?
Like...
Where's the fun in that?"

File: 7fb15daf7b35c92843f91db57(...).jpg (1.24 MB, 848x1200)

1.24 MB JPG

Is it okay to replace elves with foxboys/foxgirls and catboys/catgirls?

>>59991922
I've always liked the idea of spiritual undead destroying vulture people.

File: 160-fingers_on_chin.jpg (36 KB, 418x277)

36 KB JPG

>>59992461
>elves
>not orcs

File: 86651._SX360_QL80_TTD_.jpg (36 KB, 360x360)

36 KB JPG

>>59992504

File: 1522398029970.jpg (150 KB, 743x1074)

150 KB JPG

>>59992521
The Niche that Orcs fit into is somewhat setting-specific, but
>Physically Imposing.
>Visually Intimidating to normal humanoids.
>Aggressive and Direct, though often respectably Forthright because of it.

Cats are usually the sort to wait until you're not looking and immediately try to get away with something they know you'll throw a fit about either because it's funny to them or they just don't care about what you want, and while some cats Can be physically imposing they seem much more apt as untrustworthy scoundrels than Proud Warriors. See Kadjit maybe.

Foxes are technically canine but fit the ecological niche of cats in most of their environments, and even have an Eastern/Asiatic example/archetype of tricksters in many cases, akin to Native American Coyotes in mythology.

If you need a guileful, canny but not overly ambitious or steadfast race or species or culture, centering it around foxes or cats works fine, and I Guess using them as the "Savage raiders we regularly repel because they're too lazy to invest in agriculture or agriculture but are quick to notice when We have nice things to take," but doing so leaves an opening for big, burly, and physically gifted people somewhere in the setting instead of using orcs there.

Though on that front, may I suggest Constrictor Snake Folks?
>Bigger Than most (For you and everyone else)
>Often considered Slow-witted, though in truth they are physically slow by choice and caloric needs, being much quicker than anyone expects when it suits them)
>If you get into a brawl with one and didn't already have a knife to their throat, you've lost unless you outnumber them.
>Heroes are folks that conduct themselves as much with Strength as with Honor and Consideration.
>Sweet Jegus there's a Tribe of the things and the only reason they don't raid us like the damn Catfolk is because they digest slowly.
>Sleeping Dragons which, when awoken, bring terror and never give a chance to strike back; silent night murder.

>>59987035
I always go for the 4 elementals
>Sylphs
Replacement elfs, flighty and haughty. better because they aren't elves.
>Salamanders
Replacement evil-ish demihumans. Better because they can into aesthetic
>Gnomes
Replacement Dwarfs. Better because dwarfs already get turned into stone people all the time and it makes more sense if they were already elementals.
>Undines
replacement humans

>>59992656
>le fire is evil meemee
dropped like a bomb on Hiroshima.

>>59992431
Not only fashion, social interactions too:
>meet two birdguys
>they keep screaming at each other
>fight amongs themselves all the time
>always eat together
>always sleep cudling with each other
>if one flies away, the other will always follow, no matter what
>puke in each other's mouth
>"jeez, human relationships are weird"

>>59992599
>The Niche that Orcs fit into is somewhat setting-specific, but
>Physically Imposing.
>Visually Intimidating to normal humanoids.
>Aggressive and Direct, though often respectably Forthright because of it.

If you're not basing your catfolk on housecats it fits perfectly.

Housecatgirls can be long-civilized version of them from another continent

Though I am only against if because the aforementioned elf comparison is usually spouted by weeb retards who then start to sperg out how they all are pretty! and long-lived! And magical! And cute! And it makes my soul vomit.

>Anon, you're talking about catgirls, you ARE a weeb retard.
At least I'm a weeb retard with standards.

File: 1526508397512.jpg (32 KB, 564x789)

32 KB JPG

>>59992599
May as well keep at it with this set, so
>Catfolk as the "asshat" race out in the wilds, with Foxfolk filling in for that on the eastern regions.
>Snakefolk as big, drowsy demi-giants, slow to act, quick to anger, decent trading partners if you can offer them something that appeals to their palate or vanity.

And that clears out the Big Bruiser and Default Jackass niches from Orcs and the like.

Replacing elves?
>Longevity
>Mysticism
>Secretive powers held from ancient times.

I like Elans for this. Psionic humanoids that live reclusively or secretly among the populace or out and away in conclaves of their own. They can last for thousands of years, but are numbered by their relatively slow personal growth, and the fact that their reproduction actually requires Ascending a human with psionic talent from the masses; this means they can fill a lot of roles and concepts.
>The Greybeards, calling those chosen by the gods to speak for them.
>The Jedi, keepers of peace and balance, calling youths away from their families before attachments are made to prevent passions from taking hold and establishing The Order as their first major social links.
>Fairy type folks, stealing children and possibly leaving a "fake" behind when they discover psionic talents.

This keeps mind-magic out of the general populace, preserving fantasy elements while still presenting the Elans as somewhat Alien, Other-worldly and using means strange to the rest of the world while folks like the Circle of Sequestered Magic are scratching their heads trying to figure out why Charm Person won't work on them.

File: Salamander-5e.png (851 KB, 669x934)

851 KB PNG

>>59992670
I only said that because there really isn't any comparable races for salamanders to replace. Personally, I like salamanders the most conceptually. maybe they could replace dragonborn or something.

Haven't seen fishmen or other aquatic denizens get mentioned here. Imagine crustacean people with differently-shaped castes, based on mantis shrimps, pistol shrimps, coconut crabs and rock crabs. Imagine religious, meditative jellyfish people drifting about on pilgrimages. Savage shark people imitating the landlubbers. Cuttlefish or octopi people very distantly related to mindflayers and have weird ethics and cultures.

>>59992770
I like pairing up fire-based races with dwarves.

Failing that, djinn/efreeti from islam are an interesting inspiration since it's outright stated there that they're a race just ike humans (only made out of smokeless fire) and can too worship Allah if they want.

File: Ornn_0.jpg (519 KB, 1215x717)

519 KB JPG

>>59992763
So, elves done, Orcs done, let's take a look at the shorter side of things.
>Dwarfs
Earthly, Terrestrial folks, usually good craftsmen, with a niche of stony mysticism and historical presence.

>>59989033
Actually has a nifty idea of it. Spartan Gotfolks casting the weak and the useless and the annoying neighbors from the Grand High Agro Crag.

Their Demi-god craftsman lives at the heart of the mountain, molten metal flowing through its veins and acting as their link to their pantheon. They don't often come down off the mountainside, partly because it's home and comfy for them, and partly because they lose a Lot of tactical and strategic advantages if they do so. The Ibixian Cloud Keeps are renowned for being unsiegable, and only a handful of attempts have ever been recorded; each of them a failure. Rocks fell, cannons roared, gryphon-riders struck with stone and lightning, but not One Ibixian warrior fell from their perches; under fire, under attack, assailed from every lower direction, their bodies Never fell from the mountains, only down to their native stones.

>>59992656
I like the idea, but I'd do it differently:
>Angels
Replace humans
>Golems
Replace orcs
>Salamanders
Replace dwarves
>Undines
Replace elves

>>59993454
Interdasting

>>59993454
>>59992656
>He-mans
Replace humans.

>>59988366
Fun fact, fungi have 200+ genders. This has potential for magialrealmbullshittery!

File: clothing_of_the_dinosauro(...).jpg (45 KB, 600x487)

45 KB JPG

>>59991922
Always wanted to play/run a game where the player characters are a bunch of anatomically plausible bird people.

>>59987035
I go with the Conan approach and have humans with various cultures and ethnicities, but there are definitely some ethnicities which have a bit of something that isn't human in them too. Maybe a couple of people related to ancient serpent gods, a race of people touched by celestial visitors (in the literal sense), you get the idea.

>>59994052
What would an anatomically plausible bird-person look like?

>>59993917
Anon, everything has magical realm potential.

>>59993454
I have never once understood the concept of Angels as an alternative to Humans when Angels are supposed to be near-automaton servants of the divine.

File: xia-taptara-centaur-scout.jpg (128 KB, 800x989)

128 KB JPG

Centaurs would perfectly fit the orc niche of strong, wild, warlike barbarians. Satyrs would also work great. The same with cyclops, minotaurs, harpies, amazones. We don't have to pick only one.
To be honest many greek humanoid monsters could fit well.

>>59993152
Wicked.
Also, Ornn is fucking cool.

>>59996403
It's really not about mythology, but how fitting is in as an aesthetic. Modern rendition of angels make them look as better, prettier, winged humans.

File: IMG_2088.jpg (67 KB, 500x500)

67 KB JPG

>>59995134

>>59997023
What if all the monster folks banded together in some big group?

Like, if there was a whole lot of them, just so many. Like a whole HORDE of monster people.

>>59997423
I could see this happens, tho not as regular thing, as I don't think these monster folks would bear coexisting with each other outside the battlefield. More like they would band together just for war occasions. I think of three main reason to do so.
>raids
Like they say, together easier as each spieces bring their specialization. Centaurs as cavalry, harpies range from the air, cyclops as heavy tanks. After the pillage they share their loot and everyone go their way.
>coalition against greater common foe
Most likely humans or other civilization races
>a large horde band together by powerful persona
Probably the closed to your idea. The leader could be chieftain of one of the tribes, but in old sword and sorcery fasion I would more opting for a powerful sorcerer as the main overlord.

>>59997131
You gain pretty humans and lose out on eldritch-looking greater angels and the politics of the divine.

Seems like a lose-lose.

File: autistic meowing.jpg (75 KB, 700x933)

75 KB JPG

>>59987035
I turned Tieflings into a eusocial hive race with castes resembling different ant types. So there are worker, soldier, drone, and ruler tieflings. However, all castes are fertile, the ruler caste just has a high level of intelligence so they can manage everything. Drones are weak but are good at magic and can hulk out into scary demonic monsters, soldiers have bony plate growths as armor, and common workers have a high level of endurance.

I think its a good idea because I find it cool but have no other justifications.

>>59994052
These are my basis for Kenku/Tengu.

File: Pyrese.jpg (211 KB, 1024x580)

211 KB JPG

Here's one to shuffle your wallnuts, offer the thread an alternate to Dragons.

Something that fills the role of 'Massive, Powerful, Ecosystem Defining monster of variable alignment, intelligence, and temperament.'

>>59998774
Giant spiders

>>59992461
Yes.

>>59998866
Like...
Like HOW giant?
We talking valley-wide webs kinda big?

>>59998949
They need to replace dragons so yes

File: bayard-wu-monster-with-hu(...).jpg (275 KB, 1024x1280)

275 KB JPG

>>59998774
Sphinxes, especially if you play with what exactly constitutes a sphinx visually. Personally I would go with a racial compulsion for riddles and games of wit as well, though some are definitely of the mind that the correct answer to any riddle is "I have eaten my opponent".

>>59987035
I’m working on a setting now. Humans are the only player race, but there are other sentients:
>HUMANS are more as the Númenor at their height in terms of aging and physical capability; they have greater potential than us. Modern man vaguely remembers a series of tragedies called the Typhoon, but little else of their ancient days. Their sorcerers and champions are capable of vast power through proper training, but as a people they maintain a low amount of natural talent. A peasant destined to die on the same farm they were born on has little to no natural Power while even the least spirit or poorest wild folk is capable of the most minimum something
>SPIRITS go more in the vein of Princess Mononoke, great beasts and manifestations of the natural wild world and/or “demons;” there are also faeries/“goblins,” as manifest fears and spirits of man and their half-natural/industrial influence. Greater spirits are equivalent to lower-caste gods, and often cited by scholars on the question of divinity; if known factors can be this powerful, why not the unknown beyond our current reach?
>WILD FOLK or “near-men,” are beast people/non-faerie sentient monsters; commonly hunted/enslaved by men not doing it to themselves. The near-men act as a more in-tune-with-nature parallel to humanity, and are by no means kind or benevolent; just as capable of cruelty, they carry on the circle of violence with man to their own detriment. They may be found as willing servants to spirits and Great Dragons who desire
>GREAT DRAGONS or “draco sanctis,”—as opposed to wilder and less-intelligent “draco vulgaris,” lesser drakes, hydras, wyrms, and wyverns; the Greats made the titles—compete with upper spirits as minor gods on earth but insist they are entirely different entities at their core. Each Great is unique, possessed of intellect and Power. This obviously makes them very rare

File: 32957808_625562754463473_(...).jpg (82 KB, 1080x1080)

82 KB JPG

There is one playable race, they are called humans but the other races like to refer to them as bin chickens.

File: b9120371f5488fb1001a385d5(...).jpg (94 KB, 1024x665)

94 KB JPG

>>59987905
I used myconids in my campaign as generally good guys fighting a guerilla war against the drow.

They have a bit alien dizposition where they don't act like other "civilised" races in certain aspects. Like they have no qualms with infecting prisoners with parasitic fungi to act as bomb collars or use as a type of mind controlled guards.

The pc's opened up diplomatic relations between the mushroom men and the frontier city they've been trying to protect all campaign. End of the last session we played they've just returned from a very long expedition to see giant mushrooms growing from the town...

File: Plato.jpg (12 KB, 263x191)

12 KB JPG

>>59999588
That's a nice reference.

>>59987807
>You can channel Redwall.

Better give them a badger leader.

File: 555553738.png (1.39 MB, 980x1400)

1.39 MB PNG

>>59988943
WC style naga is fine too but they're more fishy (wouldn't that make them alternative to deep ones rather than lizardfolk?)

>>59999978
>Huge funbags
>No nipples
For what purpose? Don't answer. I know exactly why

>>59997397
Has science gone too far?!

>>59999588
>They are called humans
Who is looking at these dudes and saying 'Yeah that's a human'

Some greek dude going on about 'upright, featherless avians'?

>>60000125
Oh wait...
I'm the dumbass.

>>60000075
Yeah, water storage in the desert. Having bountiful water sacks is a sign of great wealth since you can afford to store excess fluids, as compared to the poor, distinguishable by their shamefully flat physiques.

>>60000489
B-but anon by that logic the dudes would have boobs too

>>60000506
No-no, there are no males, they are a female only race!

>>60000506
That's fine they're also pretty like the females, but have more vibrant coloration.

>>60000506
No, the males have water sacks in difference place. Near groin.

>>60000552
>crotch bulge the size of a double-D mammary

that seems counterintuitive

>>59999588
>>59999842
>featherless bird biped with human-like hands but bird face and feet
Holy shit, Diogenes would be seething

So sheepy-and/or-goat dwarves...
What about Deerlike elves?

File: badger_warrior.jpg (56 KB, 388x512)

56 KB JPG

>>59993152
On the subject of dwarves, badger folk could do well in that niche.

Already squat and sturdy diggers.
Pretty chill most of the time but absolute terrors when roused to anger.
Stubborn as fuck once they set their mind to something.

As for culture I'm not really sure. I had some honey badger folk in a setting i was writing. But they were tribal, living on the border between the verdant lands and the wastes, where they came in frequent conflict with gnolls. Their culture was one of strength, with many rites of passage involving violence and poison that would seem like particularly inventive forms of suicide to most races. Finding and capturing Australia level venomous critters and letting them bite/sting you all the way home. Taking on stronger opponents and making them flee/kill them. Raiding gnoll dens in small groups looking to prove themselves adults. Scarification with poisons being rubbed into the cuts, you pass out they just keep "inking" you till their done, only the strong survive but passing out is a black mark on your record.

Didn't have much beyond that unfortunately, other than pretty standard tribal shit. Still, hope that jogs some creativity for someone.

File: this triggers the k.jpg (77 KB, 878x1024)

77 KB JPG

>>60001066
/k/ no
we talked about this
/k/ NO

>>59987035
I tend to blend races rather than replacing them if I feel they're too narrowly defined. For example I've replaced trolls with Nanaue, a race of somewhat shark-like seafaring people. They regenerate and avoid sunlight like trolls, though in their case it's because they don't like their skin getting dried out and their vision is incredibly poor anyway. They're seafarers that largely live on great lashed-together flotillas and the occasional village on the shore where they trade seafood and reclaimed salvage for things like metal and musical instruments. They favor clothing with hanging chimes and bells and often practice ritual scarification that details their family history, profession, achievements, and so on.

File: Spriggan.png (360 KB, 564x645)

360 KB PNG

In place of Elves, sort of filling in the spot for a Race related to nature, it could be something akin to Spriggans from The Elder Scrolls. They could have been created from nature as a sort of retaliation and defense from humans, and other races, raping the land for resources. People could access their forests, but only of they proved themselves, etc.

I want to love and support a sheep girl!

>>60002013
Not even from /k/ but...
YES.
GIVE THEM THE DEER.

>Page 9
Don't take this thread away from me, it's an actual, proper /tg/ thread.

>>60002197
Ever heard of the sylvari from Guild Wars 2? They're just that. Plant people born from a giant tree, with a loose access to a common conscience called the Dream, which gives them random knowledge and sends them on heroic quests sometimes. They are top tier, they mix the dryad, elf and Arthurian knight properties very well.

>>60004225
Now that I rethink it, GW2 was very good with all its alternate fantasy races.
>Asura are the gnome/goblinoid race of smart and magic/technologically inclined guys with a ridiculously corrupt system. Basically allowed cyberpunk plots in their high fantasy world.
>Norn are the proud warrior race #1. The individualists with a deeply spiritual side. Good orc replacement. Though they lost a lot of their characterization between 1 and 2 and are the less interesting race imo.
>Charrs are the proud warrior race #2. Also technologically (but not magically) inclined, very rigid society. Easily replace hobgoblins or dwarves.
>Humans, interestingly enough, replace the elves as the dying, high magic, proud race who once dominated the world. Their other thing is a monotheist religion, which none of the other races have (the thing with norns is a bit different).

Replace halflings with ratfolk.
Honestly, haflings offer very little to tabletop even on their best days, just go full RAT.

>>60001994
I like the phrase 'inventive forms of suicide' for one.
Also brutal cultural tests are a fun element for a campaign if done well.

>>59987035
I'm going to make a civilization of flower people created by transhuman noblemen in their gigantic dyson castles because they wanted their gardens to follow them around.

>>60006814
That is...
Fucking awesome.

File: Censored for your protection.jpg (6.25 MB, 2627x4101)

6.25 MB JPG

>>59989325
Guess I'll follow up this random drop with another of my races. Both of these races originate on the primordial elemental worlds that predate the central world of the setting, having migrated to the center world several millennia ago.

The water race is also fully designed, though I haven't finished redrawing it for this particular concept pass. Air is giving me a hell of a lot of trouble in the basic design stages, though. I've settled on patagium-based gliding, rather than true flight, and am toying around with the idea of a naturally-occurring metallic filigree on the skin, functioning as a sort of Faraday cage, since their home world was very storm-heavy. Beyond that, though, I can't really get the final design to click properly.

>>59997423
That would be quite scary. I guess the other races might form some sort of ALLIANCE to defend against them.

>>60003911
Here goes:

I'm using a standard five races/axis of evil dynamic, but slotting new races into each category to match the setting. It's a science-fantasy alternate history North America, and mixes a lot of stuff. In my setting, magic addiction causes mutations, making each "evil" race more of a subspecies.

>>60007686
First up, the stout (usually dwarves) and the savage (usually orcs), a slot filled by Jotun and Wendigo, respectively.

The great civilization, the Jotun built an advanced civilization thousands of years ago before a growing population of Wendigo wrecked everything. The remaining Jotun subsist on manual labor, having forgotten much of their ancient glory. Jotun mounds are valuable sources for lost technology.

A hominid species descended from Sasquatches, the Jotun gained their name during an era of skirmishes with Viking settlers. They are roughly eight feet tall and strongly built. Wendingo are taller but much thinner, and rely on cannibalism and predation to strengthen their magic and sate their addiction.

So elves seem to be the same across most settings, I decided to put a litte bit of a spin on the ol' trehuggers. These elves are thin boned, large pupiled, semi humanoids, who find mankind fascinating, as they are able to live by shaping the world around them rather than simply commandeering trees like the elves do. They are covered in a rough, paper like carapace, and have big black eyes and long faces, with of course the rgular knife ears. Often they will send ambassadors to human settlements to research and publish leaflets on the nature of mankind. They are warlike and petty juts like humans with muliple factions vying for control of their forest homes. They do not worship trees, rather trees are simly an easy and accessible platform for habitation that they take advantage of. bow and arrows are commonplace as well as autodart throwing popes hand crafter from the bark of trees.

>>60007820
>throwing popes
I'm pretty sure weaponizing the clergy is impractical at best

>>60007786
Next we have the fairy (elves or fair folk) and the eldritch (dark elves or demons) filled by the Nunnehi and their Wampus crones.

A mysterious race dwelling in the Appalachians, the Nunnehi are the immortal survivors of the cataclysm that destroyed Atlantis, having used their magic to modify their bodies, to the point where they are a separate species from humanity. The Wampus are the rarely seen elders of this society, having used their powers to further modify themselves into a predatory feline form. They are willing to use this knowledge to make deals with humans, deals that come at great cost.

>>60007878

This is probably doable in CKII

>>60007889
Next up is mundane (good/evil humans).

The many nations in my setting are divided into two camps dating back over a century to the World War II analogue. One faction, the Vitalists, uses "magic", which in the setting revolves around the use of vril energy, while the other, Amalgamation, relies on antigravity.

Because the technologies are incompatible and have unique drawbacks, the Vitalists have an edge in energy weaponry, biotechnology, and computer technology but must rely on ornithopters and organic zeppelins for air travel. Meanwhile, the Amalgamation faction have dieselpunk UFOs and energy shielding but the electrical fields generated by antigravity have kept their computers at Fallout style vacuum tube level.

>>60008021
Next is high men (wizards) and fallen (evil wizards?).

These slots are filled by the one race without a strain of magic addiction, the Annunaki, a race of reptilian aliens. The "youngest" race from a setting perspective, the Annunaki only arrived on Earth with the Roswell crash of 1947, claiming to be fleeing an aggressive alien race.

This is a bunch of crap, of course, as they are secretly not aliens at all but rather a race of advanced prehistoric lizard people, running a long-term con to steal all they can from the other races and reconquer the Earth.

>>60008118
Finally (this is the loosest match) the cute (hobbits) and crafty (goblins), represented by Streetgaunts and Vampires, respectively.

Streetgaunts are an intelligent, humanoid urban subspecies of nightgaunts, and have made themselves indispensable in the more illicit aspects of human society, seeing a niche to be exploited. Requiring a steady supply of vril from sentient beings, prolonged starvation transforms them into more monstrous Vampires, who construct elaborate traps to capture and feed on homeless people and other high risk urban dwellers.

Not a replacement or alternate of something just comething i wanna see. Crab people, born from a magical reef in the middle of the ocean. They have spread to every coast forming divergent cultures wherever they go but maintaining some constants. Skirmishes and tests of strength are viewed as acceptable recreation, their resistence to pain and constand need to test their armor is what resulted in this. Highly value meditation and self worth, moulting is seen as a religious expirience, though different interpretations of its meaning are common. Some cultures see it as a time for one to meditate and be isolated while the more warlike tribes see one who is able to enter the battlefield freshly moulted and return victorious as a rite of passage. Differences in religious practices concerning the treatment of disgarded shells have caused strife amongst some of the tribes. Some believe that you should keep your discarded shells as a reminder of you growing strength. while others believe that consuming one's previous shell brings oen closer to God, or at least their version of God. They boast a wide array of specalized weaponry for combat, including claw gauntlets infused with the spines of sea urchins, coral pipes infused with sulfur magiks launching molten payloads, domesticated attack shrimps, battle barnacle armor that lashes out with sharpened appendages, skeletons of sawfish, and many more. Able to operate on land for log periods of time, though they will need to keep a puch of salt water to wet their gills once and a while.

>>60008195
Aside from the basic 5, there are a few other races that tend to fill that are considered threats to social order to be eliminated.

One is the Rumtifusel, a sentient slime mold hive mind consuming an area around a collapsed Yellowstone caldera and expanding by parasitically bonding with people and animals in the area.

The Nymphs are considered an urban legend, enormous humanoid insects who appear on the edges of society harvesting resources and kidnapping people for a mysterious purpose.

Addicts of the street drug crimson undego a metamorphosis, developing superstrength, bloodshot eyes and inflamed scaly skin before slipping into homicidal rages.

People infected with the White Plague grow increasingly pale before their eyes cloud over and they start attempting to pass their infection through a conductive mucous.

>>60008021
Humans have the highest population and control every nation on the continent. An abundance of vril turns humans into bestial berserkers while an absence of vril causes them to waste away and become zombis vulnerable to control through magical or technological means.

>>60006780
For sure. For the original campaign i had planned in that world they would have had to pass one to get the badgers on their side. The major conflict was pretty much going to be gnolls, orks and whatnot VS the party + allies they'd gathered over some prime real estate in the fantasy outback. But the idea could be easily adapted to other situations.

File: 1482374319609.jpg (171 KB, 968x399)

171 KB JPG

I once tried to make a clannish forest dwelling race that replaced elves.

Unfortunately, when I once shared it on /tg/, someone pointed out that I inadvertently made them a Jewish stereotype. Now I honestly feel confused/perplexed what to do with them now

>>60008567
Just avoid a diaspora. Most of that anti-Semitic stuff is about how they're all over the place and subverting everything. If you keep them isolated to a traditional territory it undercuts any arguments of that kind. Or you could always tweak them into a Roma stereotype, just avoid the thievery.

>>60008567
Keep it, no backing out

>>60008567
If Star Wars can make Watto you can work with this, just keep the hand rubbing behind the DM screen.

>>60008672
The thing is, the Diaspora-esque was already a major part of their culture when I was making them.
They started as a thought exercise on "how would a Fantasy race work if in addition to the typical hippy forest racs schtick they understood the concept of carrying capacity and population management". So I ended up coming up with an idea for a race that have strict religious guidelines on settlement building, and will often put together pioneer ventures to send members off car enough away to avoid overstressing the local resources.

>>60008685
Not that kind of Jew. As in the highly insular communal reptilian people (well, more like Nightstalkers, but whatever) with strict religious guidelines, a diaspora, and a potential exodus event.

>>60008745
Then role with it, they're zealots then, and X event caused them to become dispersed, if they're not a 1940s cartoon it's fine.

File: tcg-series7-010-full.jpg (282 KB, 872x1200)

282 KB JPG

Warcraft Trolls

>Race that fell from grace
>Voodoo culture
>Canabalism
>Great aesthetic
>Pushed so far that they would kill there own gods to regain their lost glory
>Ride bats and velociraptors

Warcraft Trolls rule

File: 1526492408788.jpg (253 KB, 990x700)

253 KB JPG

Arrakoa flightless bird types, except underneath their hunched and heavily feathered bodies they're actually hench as fuck. They live in pretty much any biome just with different feather and bird head variants and more often than not a very regal and disciplined people but by no means helpless. They'd take up dwarf role in a society scheme but non Subterranean.

Thoughts?

>>60009970
Hellyeah, Dotaverse carries it on quite well too

>>59988656
Oriental monkeymen race
Muh nigga

>>60004225
Pretty sure the art he posted was concept art for avatar of melandru.
Too bad the hamplanet known as "angel mccoy" ruined the slyvari and the story in that game in general.

File: 1525892507901.png (2.57 MB, 1600x1416)

2.57 MB PNG

>Semi-aquatic warforged replace Goblins

File: d910797594f3e9fb8c547971b(...).jpg (105 KB, 1000x750)

105 KB JPG

>>59989033
I liked what people were saying about Lycanthropic sheepfolk that were wolves-in-sheep-clothing. The other turn of phrase that needs development now is black sheep.

Maybe the ultimate punishment in sheepish lands is banishment, and their wool is turned permanently black(some way or another) in order to signify to other sheep to not communicate with said sheep.

Dragons, Unicorns, Fairys, Awakened animals and Ogres/Trolls can make good alternatives, since they are featured heavily in fiction most people can roleplay one decently. An overly loyal dog paladin or a forrest gump style ogre bodyguard can work fantastically. Sadly D&D tends to oppose anything but human sized humanoids.

>The dragons are instead different coloured and themed Sphinxes, just as strong and intelligent but instead using offensive spellwork inplace of breath attacks.

And there aint a single drawback.

File: IMG_2831.jpg (52 KB, 420x388)

52 KB JPG

>>59992599
>constrictor nagas
Also works decently well in place of arboreal elves. Snakes can climb trees, and a usually-slow race would learn to be adept at ranged weaponry, before slithering to their downed prey and finishing them off in a deadly embrace.
Plus, being reptiles, there's already that uncanny not-human thing going on that elves originally were and has mostly been lost.

>>60010985
Lycanthropic sheepfolk?
Are you referring the last thread where there was a lot of sheepy discussions? The 'unpopular ideas that you liked' thread?

Either way you gotta give me details.
However I think 'black sheep' shouldn't mean 'total undesirable' but should just mean 'one who marches away from the crowd' these (often metaphorical) black sheep could make the majority of adventurers, visionaries, extremists, or just general fucken' weirdos.

>>59998985
>the well known "Sphinx's Riddle" is really a popular version of a sphinx's Challenge
>sphinxes occasionally use their Challenge as a race, a spar, a game of cards...
>it's essentially a magically-enforced wager (riddle: I eat you/I fuck off from this area for a couple decades)
>they enjoy competition, so they usually pick things they think will be close
>unless they have a grudge against a specific challenger of course
>friends of sphinxes are occasionally presented low-risk Challenges to pass the time
>a few rounds of a video game for a bottle of soda, perhaps

File: tengu-site.png (619 KB, 900x1053)

619 KB PNG

I'd say kenkus would make an interesting alternative to halflings.

1. disappointed nobody mentioned Thri-kreen when trying to think of bug PC races

2. re: goatanon - anybody remember something about a Three Billgoats Gruff roleplaying homebrew with scandinavian folklore-based gigantic Trolls and playable goat characters? if i remember right it was rad

3. i wish it weren't so hard to come up with alternate races that aren't just "human x animal" or "human x plant". one time i tried to create a setting where everybody was a sentient color and there were a bunch of spheres revolving around a perfect white light and various things happened when the light went through 1+ spheres and acquired some color to shine on the outer spheres ... but then i realized it was kind of just weird for the sake of weird and didn't seem fun.

>>59992504
My friend.

I’ve been looking for an excuse to play an undead hunting bone-eater vulture person

>>60018133
see, what you do is instead of trying to come up with a setting without the standard things, instead add weird shit to the setting.

Like magnetic spheres that communicate through simon noises and manipulate tools with magnetism, having no proper limbs.

>>60008118
finally i can stat out george bush

>>59991922
i once had a game where tengus were one of the key races. gm loved bird people and i got on the bandwagon right away. Played a birdman bard dressed in gaudy colours and was constantly serenading people with music tryna get attention, like how real birds do. it was a real hoot.

File: i wanna fuck that sphinx.jpg (167 KB, 700x1000)

167 KB JPG

>>60017416
>sphinx bro has a light riddle-off with you to determine who tops next
Alternatively
>"Hey, can you take me flying? It looks fun."
>"Ehh.... I'll Challenge you for it. I'll start a couple famous poems, you have to finish them."
>"Sounds fun. And your victory? You're not eating me. (fucking vore furry)"
>"No, but I *will* have half your meat next week "
>"Wow, lewd. Sounds good though, seriously."
>"Okay then, here's the start:
>Hwæt. We Gardena in geardagum,
>þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
>hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon."
>"I'm getting the spray bottle."
>"Doesn't matter, I win!"

>>60020342
The strip may be shit in general, but by god did that make me chuckle.

>>59987035
I had one background race that were soft bodied. Psychologically they were human (I'm not that creative) but their design philosophy was based on tensile strength, not rigidity. Their homes looked like vast tangled knots to outsiders and the few tough enough to be adventurers contort themselves into shapes that make them outcasts among their squishy fellows.

>>60022799
Come to think of it I did try some "other-minded" ones. Some explorers PCs found hieroglyphs and traps which were altered and reset with no one obvious culprits. Turns out that the seemingly sub-sapient spider-things don't meet face to face out of anti-sociality and unsynchronised hibernation cycles but are happy to scrawl messages wherever they can. Not PC material but fun all the same.