I really like this. I think it's a nice touch in the various races, keeping them feeling both conventional and fresh at the same time. I be specially like your take on Goblins as an artificial race. If I could say one thing? Maybe add a few more paragraphs for each race. Maybe talk about how they interact with each other? For example, are there whole blood humans or orcs who resent the half orcs? If so, how does this resentment play out?
Throwing my lot in here as a comment on the races, both as a (+1) to rd's and my own input: Love that you delved into small details to characterize the whole. I'm with fleshing out the races a bit more (which I'm sure you're intent or at least ideas lead towards). An add-on to the idea of interactions that I thought of with was the idea of religions or expansion of philosophies that characterize the peoples and how that plays out in their relations to each other. I love how rd spoke to Life span is a brilliant factor in race population, view of the world, and so forth, as you had delved into. An interesting look into how race psychology works is comparing them to others in light of their physiological or ideological differences. Again, you've already done it (i.e. dwarves and alcoholism, and goblins not amounting to much) how they play into other races would bring (in my mind) good context as well. What is the goblin relation to orcs or half-orcs?For example, are there whole blood humans or orcs who resent the half orcs? If so, how does this resentment play out?
My thoughts went in the direction of goblins' attitude for humans. Humans are the creation of goblins, how does that make them feel/interact with humans? What are the power dynamics if any, knowing as well that they have such a short life span brought about by their makers.
Yeah, I've been trying to put that off because it (edit : religious thinking ) isn't something I really think about in my own life. I know what the religious tendencies for the various nations probably are, but haven't thought much about how to play off that yet. For the Dwarves and the Elves I have a pretty good idea of how that affects them, but the other nations not so much yet. Since I've gone with Goblins being based off of dogs (which I just told rd about), I think Goblins still feel a strong desire to trust humans. They're wary of them because of how most humans treat them, but they super loyal to the onces that are nice to them. The flip side of that is that they revere dogs and are very militant about keeping them from harm. Which leads to a lot of violence with other races. I don't want to color too much of their relations off of the fact that a human made them, because it was just a human. They hold a grudge with him, but he was so magically advanced that he was pretty distant from the rest of humanity by that point. Not great. Most of the Orcs and Half-Orcs live in areas where dog sled teams are common, which is a major deal breaker for the goblins.An add-on to the idea of interactions that I thought of with was the idea of religions or expansion of philosophies that characterize the peoples and how that plays out in their relations to each other.
My thoughts went in the direction of goblins' attitude for humans. Humans are the creation of goblins, how does that make them feel/interact with humans? What are the power dynamics if any, knowing as well that they have such a short life span brought about by their makers.
What is the goblin relation to orcs or half-orcs?
Religion arose as a means to understand the world. It was a defence mechanism for when people had no idea what happened and what were the reasons for it. Sure, tigers ate those humans who came too close - that one was blatantly obvious - but given our innate tendency towards wishful thinking, those of early protoreligions considered that, maybe, if one does something to please the tiger (or, the idea of said tiger, for the tiger itself is intangible while away), it'll stay away, not attack. Then it snowballed from there. Some people got in power by asserting that they have contact with the spirits/the gods. Some good people tend to serve those in charge by believing into whatever the religion posits as the truth. Different believers felt differently about the truth and broke off with their own interpretations of the teaching (Christian branches). Others got inspired and made teachings of their own (Christianity from Judaism, later Islam from Christianity). As with any sort of thinking, religious outlooks take all shapes and sizes: - "There is god" or "There are gods" (theism: mono- and poly-) - "Maybe there is god; we can't be sure" (agnosticism) - "There is no god" (atheism) - "There is god, but he/she no longer takes part in the world" (deism) - "I can be god" (autotheism) - "Spirits guide the world" (animism) - "God isn't a reliable moral source" ("God is dead") - "God is and is good" / "...is not good" / "...is evil" (eutheism / dystheism / misotheism) ...and a lot more. I want to keep going - there are so many interesting belief concepts around the world, barring even those you can constuct yourself - but I'm sure you'll able to navigate the front without me. It's telling, too, that once science gained traction in Ancient Greece, mythology lost its: people had a new, objectively better means of understanding the world - one that actually grants information.Yeah, I've been trying to put that off because it (edit : religious thinking ) isn't something I really think about in my own life.
woah, sorry, I just realized that I never replied to you and kantos. :( After I started reading the blog TFG linked me to, I got to thinking about how I could play with their artifical origins more. I'm trying to make each race neither evil or good, because I don't really buy into that. Cultures might be, sure, but not races. So I needed to figure out a way to hammer home that these aren't traditional Goblins while still keeping them the high energy little balls of chaos that make them so much fun to play. I've decided that Goblins were once dogs that have been magically raised up and made intelligent huminoids. They're super smart, but they also see the world from a point of view closer to dog than man. They'll eat anything, love to play, only kinda understand property rights, refuse to poop without finding the perfect place, ect. They're also distrubing to look at, and tend to be driven to the edges of society. I'm trying build it up slowly. Change it, add in more, and then get input. See what bits people find interesting, and what bits they don't. That way I hopefully won't build it all up only to realize I want to change something fundamental. I just showed the first draft of this to yall, but the next one is going to my players too. It isn't really in there yet, but I'm planning on outlining this sort of stuff when I talk about the nations and their cultures. I'm not too sure why you couldn't get my website to work (net stuff isn't really my forte), but I should be able to throw a pdf of the next version onto Dropbox if you'd like to read it. I be specially like your take on Goblins as an artificial race.
Maybe add a few more paragraphs for each race.
Maybe talk about how they interact with each other? For example, are there whole blood humans or orcs who resent the half orcs? If so, how does this resentment play out?
You are right, I said that clumsily. I was thinking in terms of Pathfinder and how their setting descriptions handle morality. I am trying to set it up so there always be some areas where my players will find antagonists, and I'm trying to make it because the cultures are all over the map on values, not because the Goblins are usually described as Chaotic Evil.
You will find a good way in the quote I've provided. Antagonists are not necessarily those opposing the protagonists: they may be chasing after one thing - be it wealth, admiration of one person or the public, perfection in an art or anything else - and, in the process, damage another that the protagonist values greatly. The antagonists seek whatever it is they seek for the same reason that the protagonist might wish to deny them that: because they believe it, with their whole heart, to be the right thing to do.I am trying to set it up so there always be some areas where my players will find antagonists