Create a Setting By Making Races

[Sergeantbrother]

Most of you are certainly familiar with threads to create a setting, where people take turns each adding some element to a setting. This will be similar and as the name implies, we'll be creating fantasy races, err, species, you know what I mean. Instead, though, of each poster creating a race and adding it to the world, each poster will add just one element to a race that everyone is working on. Here is an example:

Poster1: "The fantasy race is short and squat by human standards."
Poster2: "They have thick black fur which keeps them warm in their freezing homeland."
Poster3: "The race is mostly male, with females being a small minority, but makes up for this imbalance with long lifespans."
Poster1: "The race are nocturnal and largely predatory, surfing mostly on hunting small animals."

And so on.

This will mean that each fantasy race will be the creation of many different posters. In keeping with this idea, I am instituting a rule that only I can create a new race, though other posters can add things to any previous race that has been created. Also, I think that for the time being, we'll keep technological levels at early medieval or less (no full plate armor, gunpowder, or the like) as well as keeping magic to relatively low levels. That is to say that races can have magic as a part of their nature, but nothing earth shattering, completely dominating, or magic than an replicate technology. I would be open to introducing more advanced technology or magic later in the thread, but at the moment, I want to limit the proliferation of both. As always in such threads, try not to contradict the contributions of earlier posters.

So, I will now begin.


We have a fantasy race which is at home living in dense and hot jungles.

Races so far:

Race 1
Females are significantly larger than males
They are very individualistic and have a disunited culture
Were once hosts were giant wasps
Matrilineal with women leading their tribal culture
Males are warriors and outnumber women
Men strive to compete and distinguish themselves for the rarer females
They go through cycles where large numbers of men die off in wars
Males are 4' on average but dextrous and ferocious fighters. Females are 6'6" and thickly built.

Race 2
Very religious
Artificially created
Believe that their creators were goods and have stories of when these gods walked the earth
Believe that new life (souls) cannot be created. They are reincarnated when they die, with only hazy memories of their past and a moral clean slate.
They believe that all souls reincarnate, but ethics do so more quickly.
Their beliefs on souls and reincarnation has influenced philosophy of magic
Very deliberate in their motions and diet, believing that their bodies are gifts from the gods.
Carefree in social dealings, as reincarnation brings forgiveness.
Exclusively female and impregnated when another member of the race dies.

Race 3
They are small and weak by human standards
They are very mobile and can fly, swim, or borrow
They live in the mountains within intricately carved out halls
They live only in small groups separated by many miles, leading to many separate and distinct cultures
They trade with other races who live in valleys and surrounding lands
They are bat people with sonar, fur, and membranous wings and their carvings appeal to echolocation aesthetics
Are feared and thought to be mystical for guerrilla night attacks

Race 4
Semi-quadrupeds with horns or antlers

[Tvtyrant]

We have a race where the females are much larger than the men (like a size category).

[Almarck]

The race is very individualistic. Members often strive to distinguish themselves from others, leading to a very disunified culture.

[Jendekit]

This race was once used as hosts for the eggs of a race of giant wasps.

[Sergeantbrother]

The race is matrilineal, with women running the households and forming the basis for the tribal community. The men, while smaller and weaker than the women, are often warriors of the community and also outnumber women and fight to distinguish themselves to the female tribal rulers.

Another race introduced:
Race 2 is devoutly religious.

[Almarck]

The race is artifical in some manner. It is unnatural and did not exist until someone deliberately created it. The specifics are unknown.

[Sergeantbrother]

The race is artifical in some manner. It is unnatural and did not exist until someone deliberately created it. The specifics are unknown.

The religious or the large female race?

[Almarck]

The religious or the large female race?

Race 2. Race 1 is already complete in my eyes and I already contributed to their design.

[Sergeantbrother]

OK, Race 2 it is then. Though there is still plenty to do with Race 1 and you should feel free to add to them if you like.

Race 2 worships their creators, believing them to be gods and they have stories about when the gods walked the earth and they served them directly.

[Storm Bringer]

race 2 can not create new life. Either they lack the knowledge, or consider the creation of souls of their race as reserved for their Creator-Gods. Instead, they reincarnate. when one of the race dies, their soul goes to join a gestalt consciousness they call the "Uncarnate". When a new member of the race is born/made, one of the "Uncarnate" souls of the race claims the body and is reborn.

Memories of previous lives do carry over, but are very clouded and hard to recall. While it is possible to track the past lives of any given soul of the Race, these lives are considered to be separate, and both morally and legally (so a reincarnated member of the race cannot be held to account for the actions of his previous lives, nor can a member of the race "inherit" the wealth of his previous lives)

[GorinichSerpant]

A very important philosophical concept, The Conversion of Spirit was created by a Philosopher of race 2. The Conversion of Spirit states that "divine" or "soul stuff" is never created, nor destroyed. Most of modern thaumaturgy wouldn't be possible without this knowledge. Race 2 believe that all souls come from reincarnation in some form or another, and that the Creator-Gods have blessed them with a clean and fast cycle. Ghosts of this race are practically unheard of, and demons originating from them are considered to only be theoretically possible.

[Sergeantbrother]

The men of Race 1 are known as adventurers, explorers, and mercenaries. These are men who cannot find a place for themselves within the tribes and who journey out into the world looking for find their way or earn wealth or prestige. The men outnumber the women of this race, so many of the men are driven either to fight or to pursue dangerous professions in order to find a mate.

New race:

Race 3

This race is quite small and weak compared to humans.

[Almarck]

Despite this weakness of small stture, the third race is blessed with great mobility, able to swim, fly and burrow.

[Sergeantbrother]

Race 3 lives in mountainous regions where they carve their homes into the rock of cliff sides and inaccessible peaks or ledges. These mountain abodes are not only difficult for other races to reach because of heights, but the opening tunnels are small and easily defended. Within the holes, are ornately decorated and masterfully carved halls.

[Storm Bringer]

Race 3

because of their mountainous homelands, Race 3 is spread wide, but thin. Mountain ranges across the whole world are known to be inhabited by these people, but the rocks can only support a small population, and each settlement is separated by many miles, and the ranges are hundreds of miles apart. The people of each range are culturally distinct, with notable variations in dress, dialect and such.

Race 3 claims only the mountain tops and the passes, and other peoples have settled into the valleys. Race 3 often trades with the valley peoples, most often metal ores mined out of the hills in exchange for "luxury" items like Wheat, Mutton or Wool. they also generate money by supporting and taxing trade over the mountain passes.


Race 1

The race (Race 1) is matrilineal, with women running the households and forming the basis for the tribal community. The men, while smaller and weaker than the women, are often warriors of the community and (men) also outnumber women and fight to distinguish themselves to the female tribal rulers.

The men of Race 1 are known as adventurers, explorers, and mercenaries. These are men who cannot find a place for themselves within the tribes and who journey out into the world looking for find their way or earn wealth or prestige. the women outnumber the men of this race, so many of the men are driven either to fight or to pursue dangerous professions in order to find a mate.

conflicting descriptions. we will need to pick one or the other.

[Tvtyrant]

I vote for more plentiful men, driven to peacock.

[GAZ]

The men of Race 1 outnumbering the physically and socially more powerful women explains why they're the warriors; grist for the mill. I imagine distinguishing oneself as a soldier and becoming an officer or becoming an adventurer would be one the few paths to success for such a man. Or they could go for marrying well, backing up the peacock principle and the individualistic predilections brought up earlier.

Members of Race 2 are very deliberate in their motions and diets. They believe that their bodies are a gift from their creator for the use of this life and take care not to mistreat the present while they have it. Conversely they are very carefree in their social dealings, knowing that all will eventually be forgiven. They are also more tolerant of others' similarly risque, scandalous, or crass behaviors.

Race 3, the small, flying cave dwellers are straight up bat people. Membranous wings, fur, big ole sonar ears, the works. That's why the intricate carvings in their halls are designed for acoustic or textural art more than visual aesthetics.

[Almarck]

Resolution, race 2s adult male population periodically cycles from out numbering to being outnumbered by women as a result of tribal conflicts every few years.

Fatality rates are around 75%.. survivors are allowed to marry.

[Sergeantbrother]

Oops, sorry. I always meant for the men to outnumber the women. I just made a mistake.

[brian 333]

I am sorry, but there is not enough organization of the ideas for me to follow them. Please consolidate the Race 1, Race 2, Race 3, etc. attributes in the original post where they were introduced. I never realized we were on Race 2 until I saw mention of Race 3 in the posts.

[Sergeantbrother]

I am sorry, but there is not enough organization of the ideas for me to follow them. Please consolidate the Race 1, Race 2, Race 3, etc. attributes in the original post where they were introduced. I never realized we were on Race 2 until I saw mention of Race 3 in the posts.

Good idea. Edit made in OP.

Also, a new turn for me as well. Race 2 is exclusively female. When a member of the race dies, another member of the race receives a religious vision that she is to undergo a special ritual which will impregnate her with the soul of the deceased. A part of this ritual ceremonially cleanses the soul of the Incarnate.

Despite being all women, these beings are not Amazons and bear no animosity towards males, but merely believe that their exclusive femaleness serves some purpose for the gods.

[GAZ]

A suggestion for a starting point for Race 4: sentient, largely quadruped (I am thinking gorilla or bear level locomotion/manipulation) herbivores. With antlers or tusks.

[GorinichSerpant]

Do to their elusive nature, Race 3 has a lot of mysticism surrounding them. Many supernatural feats are ascribed to them, and they are seen as boogeymen, spirits, or monsters in some communities. Some Race 3 communities allow this misinformation to persist, some don't, others still exploit it. Many legendary heros who used guerrilla warfare to fight their oppressors are said to have learned their ways from Race 3.

[Sergeantbrother]

A suggestion for a starting point for Race 4: sentient, largely quadruped (I am thinking gorilla or bear level locomotion/manipulation) herbivores. With antlers or tusks.

I'll allow it.

The females of Race 1 are slightly larger than humans, about 6'6" on average and thickly built. The males are smaller than humans, about 4' and slender and wiry. While the males are small, they are very dextrous and are ferocious fighters.

[Almarck]

Twins in race 2s culture represent a unique part of their mythology. It is how their population expands beyond their original numbers as one soul is divided into two.


The same is true for all other multi births , but twins are the most special with entire rituals about it.


It is believed split souls possess incomplete fragments of the original. And this is evidenced by how twins often are polar opposites of each other. Only by completing the cycle and "recompile" experiance do the split souls become complete. If they are destroyed before then the individual pieces and the sum are truly lost.


This has the effect of slaying twin children before maturity a heinous crime above all else

[Sergeantbrother]

In Race 2 (we need some names at some point) the helping the souls of twins to fully develop is so important that lots of resources are placed into teaching and raising these twins. As a results, twins are often rise to great heights within society from receiving more attention as resources. They are known also for becoming highly skilled in very opposite ways.

[Almarck]

By complete, I mean split souls become whole souls in each. So there's 2 where thee used to be one. They are never reunited just made self sufficent

[Sergeantbrother]

By complete, I mean split souls become whole souls in each. So there's 2 where thee used to be one. They are never reunited just made self sufficent

Oops. I'll edit.

[Storm Bringer]

Race 2

A sect of the race believe that, due the to the only known method creating new souls being the Twinning, it follows that all member of the race are sisters, and the siblings on one singular Progenitor. They search the histories, and the faded memories of the eldest souls, trying to find clues that will point them towards this "First Born". the mainstream faith of the Race believes that their was no single progenitor, but the Creator-Gods made several at once. The difference of faith is a divisive factor in the culture of the Race, but the relationship between the two sides is quite civil, as it is considered a matter of personnel faith, and a difference of specifics, not fundamentals.

[Sergeantbrother]

Race 4 are primarily climbers and have hands with opposable thumbs which they can use to grasp branches and tree trunks. They walk awkwardly on the ground, usually on all fours but back legs are possible. While their body shape is somewhat similar to that of apes, a better comparison for their general appearance would be a tree going rodent of some kind, though their horned heads don't make them look that rodent-like either.