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Author Topic: Races  (Read 140907 times)
pspeed
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« on: October 11, 2011, 01:59:43 PM »

So far, my design has turned up seven races in Mythruna.  This is subject to change and some of their characteristics may move around but I thought I'd write about what I had so far.

I will attempt to attribute special abilities to the races.  It may turn out that certain special abilities are impossible to implement as written... but these are sort of concept sketches anyway.  The concepts will hold even if the game can't express them properly.

By default, races will have in-built special abilities.  As a player character, you will have pluggable slots in your body to which you can insert magical devices that will augment your abilities (potentially at the cost of some other energy).  Races with built in special abilities will have fewer of these slots when played as a player character.  The theory is that it should be possible to make any human (within reason) have the same abilities as some race if they manage to find or build the right components.  Note that such components may be impossible to find or may not work for any number of other reasons, but that's the general theory for most of the abilities.

Human
This is the most obvious one and the first that will be implemented.

Humans are the primary drivers of widespread civilization on Mythruna.  They are the builders of roads and cities and seek to connect the whole world.  The other races would normally be content to live on their own in isolation but the humans sort of force interaction through expansion and curiosity.

They have no built in special abilities and so all of their magic component slots are open.

Most above ground regular medieval style cities and towns will have been built and/or are run by humans.


Elf
You pretty much can't have a fantasy world without elves and they are an easy modification of the human character models, so Mythruna will have them... sometime after human.  Though these are scaled back from Tolkien style elves to make them better fit this world.

These are primarily forest people, tall and thin in stature. 

They are the only race in Mythruna that has an innate magic ability.  It is based on life energy and usually requires sunlight to work.  In other words, they can naturally transform sunlight into life energy.  (sunlight and life energy are two of the many forms of elemental magic on Mythruna)

They build villages in the earth or in trees, either in burrow style huts or by manipulating trees into larger structures or hollows.  They will rarely if ever "construct" things and will never dig in anything but raw soil or sand.  They will never mine and cannot easily distinguish one rock from another even if they did.

As a natural ability, they have a night vision based on the ability to see "life auras" and similar magic energies.

Elves live a very long life which leads to a naturally high wisdom.  As player characters, this shows up as a special ability (if wisdom even becomes a useful character stat).  The knowledge and wisdom of the elves comes less by direct pursuit as it does from mere exposure to lots of things, handed down lore, and boredom.

Elves will tend to be "true neutral" in many respects and understand the ideas of conservation of balance even if it requires destruction.  For example, thinning overpopulated herds or burning sections of the forest to prevent overgrowth.

Extremely likely to be naturalists, druids, healers, and rangers... though most elven rangers will be the product of having been outcast from elven society.


Dwarf

Their short and strong stature make them natural diggers and they will build deep and expansive cities underground where their population thrives.  They are so good at spending time underground that they can determine their position on a map even if they've been wandering underground for weeks without seeing the sky.  They also always know how deep they are.

They are natural miners and have a "nose" for minerals.  Frequently a dwarf will be able to predict whether a mineral vein is worth following just by the smell and shape of the rocks.  Some dwarfs may even possess a homing sense for specific types of minerals and naturally be able to guess where they might be.

They are friends to nearly all underground creatures and even dragons view them as neutral parties unless provoked.  Dragons will see them more as part of the mountain like any other rock-burrowing creature.  Like an ant not worth swatting as long as it stays away.

Their relationship to the earth means that many types of magic energies are naturally and harmlessly absorbed making some magic have a diminished effect on dwarfs.


Simian

The simian race is an ape-like humanoid that retains many of the traits of other apes.  They are the scholars and tinkerers of Mythruna.

They tend to build large and expansive towns and cities in the trees and so over time have become exceptional engineers.  Humans and Simians regularly trade engineering knowledge and secrets and Simian's have an almost compulsive need to collect and read books.  Most Mythruna libraries will be run by Simian elders.

They are mostly herbivores but will eat certain meats.

Tree climbing is an innate special ability and there feet and tails can be used as additional climbing aids.  If they have a chance to situate themselves, they can continue using both hands freely even in precarious positions.  They are the only race that can naturally climb one-handed.

They have no natural magic ability but they can often understand the workings of magic devices enough to construct or repair them.

As humans, they are adaptable.  If they build a tree city then they build it to last and will spend generations there.  Also like humans, they are not climate specific and will find a way to adapt their lifestyle to any particular location on Mythruna.


Reptilian

These silent and cold blooded humanoid reptile carnivores are natural predators and naturally distrustful of outsiders.

There special abilities are many.  They can breath underwater, climb nearly any surface, move silently, and in some cases hide almost invisibly.

Their night vision is heat based, ie: infrared.

As player characters, they have almost no available magic component slots... maybe just one.  There special abilities sap heat energy.

The fact that they are cold blooded limits them somewhat.  While they can swim underwater for an unlimited amount of time, cold water is a severe and constant risk.  They will almost exclusive live in warm climates.  Only the more civilized Reptilian will live where winters are harsh and then only in towns or cities where they can stay indoors most of the time.

Reptilian populates tend to be spread out over a larger area in warm caves of burrows in the desert or warm grasslands.  They do not migrate with the seasons and so will build where seasons are warm to mild.  Certain sects may also live in underground fresh water caves where the waters stay warm all year around.


Pantherian

The pantherian's are a race of humanoid cat-like people.  They are carnivores that can move fast and silently making them formidable hunters.

They have limited tree climbing ability and can leap up short rocky slopes.  They must keep moving and cannot use their hands while climbing trees.

They dislike large bodies of water and will almost exclusively live in simple villages built near or around lowland forests or caves.  Caves especially in winter.  Their dislike of water is such that indigenous pantherians will never travel by ship.  If they must move from one continent to another then they must travel by air.  This is extreme enough that a population of pantherians will stay and die fighting a dragon if sea travel is their only other option.

It is very likely that they build makeshift camps during the warm months to be where food is plentiful, moving to a set of caves during winter hibernation periods.

If the Lion and Tiger sub-races live in close proximity then it is almost always true that they are at war.  The leopard sub-race will often play as neutral parties in these conflicts.


Avian

The "bird men of Mythruna" are the true nomads.  They tend to carry all of their possessions with them and still travel light.  They rarely settle in one location for more than a few weeks at a time.

The have arms and legs like a human but light leathery wings on their backs.  They are short, thin, and very light weight making them weak warriors in hand to hand combat.  It is rare for them to wear anything but the thinnest leather armor since any extra weight will limit their ability to fly.

In addition to flight, another special ability is that they can detect changes in the weather.  If an Avian's wings are damaged beyond healing then they are ostracized from their social group and must find their way in the world.  It is very common to see flightless Avian's on board sailing and air ships as navigators and lookouts.  Their sense of weather and direction, as well as general knowledge of air currents, makes them valuable assets on any long-haul vessel.

The warrior Avian will tend to use a sling or in some cases a short bow.  Bladed weapons are as light as possible and will either be a single dagger strapped across their chest or wooden cudgels or quarter spears.

It is extremely unlikely that an Avian sect has ever built a town or a city.  They tend to move to where the weather is good and resources are plentiful, migrating as the seasons change.  The civilized Avian loner or outcast may live in rented high towers or stay at inns when they travel.  Most of the indigenous Avians will prefer a hastily built shelter on a mountain top or in a tree.

Humans and Simians envy the Avian's for their ability to fly and often ignore the limitations this imposes.  Reptilians and Pantherians see them as a rare delicacy.  Dwarfs think they are crazy for ever leaving the ground.
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sameer
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« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2011, 07:22:44 PM »

All good races, i think i'll be an Avian, flying has always been a dream of mine lol.

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caesar
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« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2011, 01:41:13 AM »

Well done concept, every race has its pros and cons and are all limited in the spaces they live.

Only thing wich could be a problem is that elves and simians both build huge treecities. So they could possibly compete for special areas or trees or even live together in communites and can build even larger structures.
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pspeed
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« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2011, 07:13:27 AM »

Well done concept, every race has its pros and cons and are all limited in the spaces they live.

Thanks.

Only thing wich could be a problem is that elves and simians both build huge treecities. So they could possibly compete for special areas or trees or even live together in communites and can build even larger structures.

They could compete but it is unlikely that they would ever willingly live together.  The elves would sort of view what the Simians do as an abomination.  The Simian's build large complicated marvels of engineering in the tree tops, often chopping away parts of the trees to do it.  If the elves live in trees then it is because they've manipulated the growth of the tree to provide shelter... or they've been very gentle and considerate of the tree.

Still, elves are pragmatic and would coexist with a Simian tribe if they had to... either on the fringe or underneath the city in hobbit style houses.  Culturally, I see elves borrowing a lot from the non-military aspects of the samurai Bushidō... very ritualistic, very patient.  They live ten times as long as the other races and that's bound to affect their world outlook.

The Simians are generally jealous of the elve's natural magic abilities though not strongly.  It bothers the Simians that they can build and repair devices that they have no natural way of using.  They also believe that the other civilized races look down on them as upstarts and this is magnified in the way that the elves seem to come off as patronizing when dealing with other races.

Note: while this is my style guide I don't know if any of the more detailed personality conflicts will manifest in game systems.  I do know that characters who have met will have a relationship linkage along with a "general impression" on a few aspects.  Built in conflict will skew the "first impression" of these relationship links and affect the way one character feels about another if it comes up.  For example, a player character Simian who has just met an elf probably won't be able to get that elf to sign a petition to get a town... even if that elf for some reason would have (I think it unlikely that an elf would by default anyway).  You'd have to do some major sucking up to change the opinion.
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ayoriceball
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« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2011, 09:07:46 PM »

Any similarities to dwarf fortress? I like the direction that it "seems" you are going in and I really want to know more Smiley.

I also like sub-races, but will you have some sub-races or other additional options for all races?
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Don't dwarven ladies know they're beautiful the way they are? They don't need to starve themselves to look like those elven bitches.
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« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2011, 09:22:17 PM »

I only have a passing familiarity with dwarf fortress and at this point I get accused of copying enough stuff that I'm not looking to add to the list yet. Smiley Smiley Smiley

The seven races sort of cut a wide swath and still leave room for customization.  Most of the other things will be how you tweak the character and/or how the appearance is setup.  For example, Pantherians will definitely have subraces even as described above.  Otherwise, given the number of major races already, I don't have a strong desire to complicate it too much more.

...and there will always be the add-ons that other people make that can fill in those options.

Given the story line I'm building at this point, I don't plan to add any particular restrictions other than the ones that manifest physically.  For example, a natural avian won't be able to wear heavy armor simply because it would prevent them from flying.  I mean, they could... but flying seems pretty important.

Any modders wishing to simulate more specific systems like D&D, etc. would obviously want to tightly restrict things and should be able to do so through modding if I do my job right.
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pspeed
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« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2011, 09:25:44 PM »

Also, keep in mind, if the races are balanced properly then it should be possible for a human to find/build/acquire the right components to plug into their "slots" to give them the same special abilities as the other races... with the same number of slots open when done.  (Though, for example, a heavy human may never be light enough to fly even if it did have the ability... without also adding some other things.)

But those components will only be a subset of the slot components that a player might find/build/acquire.
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ayoriceball
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« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2011, 09:32:00 PM »

Also, keep in mind, if the races are balanced properly then it should be possible for a human to find/build/acquire the right components to plug into their "slots" to give them the same special abilities as the other races... with the same number of slots open when done.

I love it! Cheesy
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scorch
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« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2011, 01:14:15 PM »

I''l probabily be an Elf. Grin
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pspeed
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« Reply #9 on: October 23, 2011, 02:36:09 PM »

I''l probabily be an Elf. Grin

Tree hugger.   heheh.

I probably will, too... but for once I'm actually itching to try the different races as well.  If I can make them as fun as they sound. Smiley
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scorch
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« Reply #10 on: October 24, 2011, 02:18:35 PM »

I''l probabily be an Elf. Grin

Tree hugger.   heheh.

I probably will, too... but for once I'm actually itching to try the different races as well.  If I can make them as fun as they sound. Smiley
I just think elves are more wise, powerful, and rubust, and as I like nature, it's the perfect blending.  Grin
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xzardas
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« Reply #11 on: October 25, 2011, 09:29:33 AM »

hej paul these races look just amazing. i can already imagine them Tongue but i want to add some support. i see you have alot of classes but there is not rly one that is big and heavy and might live underground like ogres (nowi know dwarfs also live underground or in mountains but their building is also limitid) i want to suggest an 8th class an muscely-looking-ogre-like person, big, heavy, eats a lot of meat, nearly ever comes outside, verry terratorial, cannot swim good, brute strength, learn a little bit less faster then other races in certain skills, realy stong in combat. yeah that would be a class for me to chose Tongue  in any way you classes are alrdy more then in any other mmorpg i have seen. appart from the series of the elders scrolls. so i would understand if you do not want to import another class Smiley it wont do any harm. anyway thanks for reading Cheesy im off gaming now.
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« Reply #12 on: October 25, 2011, 11:16:16 AM »

Thanks for the idea.  I will consider it.

A lot will depend on what creatures I end up with, also.  The more humanoid creatures I create then the more likely it is that a player can play one of them.

Dwarves were what I envisioned as the "unground race" because they are small and millenia of cave dwelling will do that to you. 

Being able to play an ogre would be cool but I don't think they'd develop much of a society and would be unlikely to have built their own caves, preferring to live in natural caverns... after all, they aren't too bright.  So while it may end up being a playable character type, I don't know if it will graduate all the way up to being its own race.

...but we'll see.  There should be some sort of halc-orc (in class D&D) equivalent, though.  Strong, stupid, ugly... I'll have to think on the subject.  Maybe it's a subrace of the reptilians or something.
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xzardas
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« Reply #13 on: October 28, 2011, 07:34:35 AM »

hahaha yeah orcs are more intelligent then ogres yes Tongue
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ayoriceball
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« Reply #14 on: October 29, 2011, 11:21:45 PM »

I may need to see how much health species have/how much attack damage they do, but I will probably end up playing as a Reptillian or Avian, simply because they support the kind of playstyle I usually have in RPGs- weak, fast, and hard-hitting Smiley. Sneaking will also be important for PvP.
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Don't dwarven ladies know they're beautiful the way they are? They don't need to starve themselves to look like those elven bitches.
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