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Author Topic: Races  (Read 140905 times)
pspeed
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« Reply #45 on: December 25, 2011, 11:10:26 PM »

You could probably type up an "essay" on this. I'm sure I and alot of other people would enjoy it. Or just do a recording of yourself talking for 45 minutes. That would be nice too.

That answered almost every question I have, thank you.

Heheh.  Yeah, I need to write more up all the time.  It's funny because I actually was just talking about putting together a full-color book about this at some point assuming I can get the proper artwork together.  It's a project that on its own could easily get out of hand but hopefully I will have scraps of concept art to draw from at some point.  Sort of a "races and creatures of Mythruna" sort of thing.
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ayoriceball
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« Reply #46 on: January 01, 2012, 10:01:09 PM »

I think each race should seem like it could survive independently.  So each race will have a variety of "subclasses".  For example, there may be large gorilla men which are the warriors and the smaller monkey-men are the tinkerers and craftsmen. 

Elves are in tune with the earth and would likely not kill aggressively any living creature.  There warriors would tend to be very skilled in defensive tactics as their plan would be to outlast an opponent.  They are skilled hunters only in that they are very experienced (from living a long time) and because they prefer to bring animals down in one kill and only for need.

In real life, I actually _do_ make furniture and I'm not a very strong person.  You learn ways to work around it... and a simian would be no less strong than a human, in general.

But to reiterate, each race would have lived independently before humans arrived to draw them together... so each race, within their own cultural limits, would have had to fill all of the roles necessary for survival.  They each would have their scholars, farmers, craftsmen, warriors, priests/shaman, and leaders.  The way those take shape would be different.  For example, Avians probably have a limited warrior sect since they would be more likely to just leave at the sign of conflict but they would have hunters and ways to defend their pre-flight-capable young.

Where as in the pantherian and reptilian races, probably nearly everyone has warriors skills to some degree.

So the differences between races are mainly cultural? But then what about the Avians? How are their losses in melee combat balanced?

Perhaps they could be more agile than humans? Because I'm thinking that a race of thin people would be less capable of hammering away at stone than a bunch of big, heavy-muscled humans or dwarves (or whatever else you have in mind).

Unless I missed something.
« Last Edit: January 01, 2012, 10:04:53 PM by ayoriceball » Logged

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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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pspeed
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« Reply #47 on: January 02, 2012, 05:51:15 AM »

So the differences between races are mainly cultural? But then what about the Avians? How are their losses in melee combat balanced?

Perhaps they could be more agile than humans? Because I'm thinking that a race of thin people would be less capable of hammering away at stone than a bunch of big, heavy-muscled humans or dwarves (or whatever else you have in mind).

Unless I missed something.

You might misunderstand.  The "each race could survive independently" just means that each one will have a variety of sub-types such that their culture could function independently.

The avians, resembling aboriginal (native American, whatever) nomads, will probably not specialize as much as humans.  So if you fought an avian then you can probably expect a pretty consistent response... lighter, thinner, more likely to just fly up in the sky to get away.  There will be some specialization, sure... the tribes will have their warriors, etc.  And their race/stature definitely plays into how successful they are in melee and they would have adjusted their tactics accordingly.  For example, they are not likely to engage in direct melee to begin with.

Where as humans tend to specialize.  If you fought a human then the response will be dependent on whether they are a dedicated fighter, a blacksmith, or the old baker.  The first two are likely to be more of a challenge than the third.
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ayoriceball
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« Reply #48 on: January 02, 2012, 11:23:47 AM »

Ok, thank you for the clarification.

I'm most likely going to bombard you with questions once combat is done. Tongue
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« Reply #49 on: January 11, 2012, 05:47:07 PM »

Most of you read both places anyway but I thought it appropriate to post this here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.325058730849985.73652.204533646235828&type=1

Mythruna races concept art... a beginning at least.
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BenKenobiWan
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« Reply #50 on: January 11, 2012, 08:18:06 PM »

Not bad.

I thought the simians were going to live in trees.
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pspeed
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« Reply #51 on: January 11, 2012, 08:35:32 PM »

Not bad.

I thought the simians were going to live in trees.

They will... and anywhere else they want to live.  Usually high, though.
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ayoriceball
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« Reply #52 on: January 11, 2012, 09:05:12 PM »

The Simians feel a bit too much like Humans. But that is good for a High Fantasy feel.
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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 #53 on: January 11, 2012, 09:39:03 PM »

The Simians feel a bit too much like Humans. But that is good for a High Fantasy feel.

They have a sort of symbiotic relationship.  The Mythruna humans were the explorers and the simians were the engineers.  The two civilizations originally developed independently and now thrive in tandem.

In a human city, 9 times out of 10 the libraries will be run by simians.  And if a human army goes to war, they will have a team of simians to maintain their siege engines, etc..  And chances are any schools or universities have a simian on staff somewhere... and the finest universities will be in simian cities.  For a human to attend a simian university would be a great honor reserved to only a few... especially so if it is a technology curriculum.  History and language would be the most common human studies at a simian university.

Meanwhile, the humans have learned technology from them and supply exotic trade in return.  The simians are the keepers of all knowledge and the humans tend to rely on them for that knowledge rather than collect it themselves.  Additionally, humans are more versatile farmers and have a better grasp on the healing arts.  The similarities in physiology mean that those skills transfer easily between the two races.

Pre-human-contact simian culture was stunted by lack of resources.  They developed advanced technology to survive in different climates but were still essentially harvesters/foragers.  Despite a strong warrior caste, their basic nature was to defend and hold onto what they had rather than expose themselves through exploration.  Spending time in rolling plains long enough to farm it seems totally foreign to them.  It just never occurred to them that they could farm and defend that much territory.

Post-human-contact simian culture expanded rapidly.  As human trade routes were setup and previously scarce goods suddenly became abundant, simian cities and towns tripled in size... though they still stuck to their normal locations, ie: not many new settlements were created.  Furthermore, their culture specialized even more than before.  Where previously there was only the warrior caste and the engineers, now the warrior caste and "thinkers" have split into several more specialized sub-groups.

When humans began expanding in the world of Mythruna, the simian race was not the first they had encountered.  It is a fortunate thing because rather than initially distrust or harbor prejudices, the humans were amazed at the technology they saw and instantly felt a sort of kindred bond as compared to the quite strained relations they had with many of the other races.
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ayoriceball
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« Reply #54 on: January 11, 2012, 09:53:19 PM »

Definitely High Fantasy-ish. Seeing that you are "mixing" the races together makes me happy. Now I just need Dwarves and Lizardmen to work together Smiley .







I'm still going to kill them all though. Cheesy
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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.
I have a skin, a potato has a skin, therefore, I'm God
pspeed
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« Reply #55 on: January 11, 2012, 10:03:52 PM »

Hmmmm.... dwarves and lizard men.  Interesting idea.  Usually, probably not but I could easily see a relationship of necessity developing between desert dwelling lizard men and desert dwarf populations (in the mesas and cliffs).

...which also implies that maybe the elves and pantherians occasionally make good neighbors for similar reasons.  I will have to think on this.
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ayoriceball
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« Reply #56 on: January 11, 2012, 10:07:22 PM »

Hmmmm.... dwarves and lizard men.  Interesting idea.  Usually, probably not but I could easily see a relationship of necessity developing between desert dwelling lizard men and desert dwarf populations (in the mesas and cliffs).

...which also implies that maybe the elves and pantherians occasionally make good neighbors for similar reasons.  I will have to think on this.

If there's any cultural or ethical variation between individual civilizations, such a thing should easily be possible.
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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.
I have a skin, a potato has a skin, therefore, I'm God
pspeed
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« Reply #57 on: January 27, 2012, 09:32:28 PM »

I was talking with a buddy of mine about the reptilians and he ended up asking these questions:
Quote
Just read the description - got a few questions:
Are they fairly muscular, or sleek?
Are they a "range" between fat and skinny, or mostly bulbous, or mostly thing/skinny?
Are they leggy and fast, very upright or fairly both 4 and 2 legged okay?
Do you see them ad having a rich and colorful culture or are they scroungers and cave dweller types?
What do you see their behaviors as, and their daily activities that they would need to be physically able to do?

I ended up rambling on for many many paragraphs so it's probably better to consolidate those here. Smiley

My answers:
Quote from: pspeed
All good questions. I think they range in size. I can't decide whether "warrior" versus "non-warrior" is a specific sub-race or just a set of traits that warriors happen to have. Like the big strong ones with longer horns or whatever tend to become warriors.

I think there are places where their culture could be rich. I do think for sure that they are cold blooded. So when they live on fringe climates they probably suffer routine catastrophic events that keeps culture from advancing too far. However, in the desert regions maybe they have a quite rich history.

In general, I view them more like aboriginal humans... perhaps with hints that maybe in the past their culture was vast and great but now we only see hints of that except in the deeper deserts where the culture might still thrive. Maybe think what would happen if ancient Egyptians and Arabs had ventured far from their seats of culture and in these new places routinely had their populations decimated.

If "warrior" is a specific sub-race then I think in the more tribal villages then they are part of the ruling structure... where biggest and baddest makes them leaders. But this belies their original history where the warrior class was bred as the protectors and armies... and the ruling class grew softer over time. It's also possible that in the tribal villages that the distinction between warrior subrace has mostly disappeared through necessary cross-breading and now those traits are stronger or weaker in some.

Thus sort of reversing what their original ancestors had done by breeding a military sub-race.

For every other race, I can usually think of a good human analog. The lizard men I have trouble pegging... I tend to pull from anywhere an ancient earth culture had to deal with really harsh climates. So aboriginal australians, mongols, desert nomads, etc..

The opposite are the Pantherians. They more resemble native americans or south american tribes where resources and hunting are rich and it is the things that live in their environment that are the only real danger... and they are masters of that domain even still. The Pantherians, prior to human contact, never had a very rich culture because they eat what they hunt and never had the reason to develop beyond immediate supply.

And I'm really liking the idea that they would have selectively bred after thinking about it.  If they had any sort of culture and they are unisex then they likely wouldn't form traditional pair bonds like we think of as humans.  It seems logical that breeding and selection would become very utilitarian.  But without a larger culture, in small isolated village settlements these imperatives would disappear and be replaced by mere survival.  Mate selection would tend toward broader sets of attributes instead of just specialization.
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BenKenobiWan
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« Reply #58 on: January 28, 2012, 08:26:00 PM »

I believe you said somewhere that they (or some of them) can breathe underwater. How does that work?
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pspeed
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« Reply #59 on: January 28, 2012, 09:50:00 PM »

I believe you said somewhere that they (or some of them) can breathe underwater. How does that work?

What do you mean exactly?  They are amphibious... though I'm not exactly sure they are like earth amphibians as that would be hard to explain since they sometimes live in desert climates.

It's more likely that sometime in their ancient past they were water breathers and now retain that capability.  Fortunately, in a world like Mythruna they wouldn't necessarily need gills to do it as they might just posses the innate magic or a similar organ to form oxygen in their system.

...though it does bring up the point that I might want to draw artistic inspiration from salamanders.
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