Hey. Before I got into animal-people, I had a big list of fantasy races that I used to keep around for projects. Now that I'm starting to like animal-people better for fantasy, I'm probably not going to use them, so I thought I'd make the list here in case any modders find it useful. This was made before I ever heard of DF, so it's not originally intended for DF, and my version of things like dwarves and goblins are different from the ones that exist in DF.
Human - The standard
Barbaroi - A variety of humans with a more savage, animalistic nature and increased physical ability. Sometimes I give them animal ears and tails. Could also be called Barbarians or Wildmen.
Sorceroi - A variety of humans with a genetic gift for magic. Like a race of Witches or Wizards that are genetically distinct from other humans. I would usually give them pale skin, purple eyes, or something like that to visually distinguish them.
Dwarf - I usually try to make Dwarves more different, like small but stronger than a human. Because of their higher muscle-mass, they sink in water, and can't swim. (except apes can swim, so that doesn't necessarily pan out) Highly materialistic and capitalistic, obsessed with trade and wealth, sorta like Star Trek's Ferengi. Their leader is called the Chairman.
Zwerg - Meant to be more like the Old Norse version of dwarves, more like zombies or vampires. They were like living corpses, standing still for days at a time, pale skin and eyes like burning coals. Not necessarily evil, but alien to surface dwellers and difficult to relate with.
Genoma - The original word for Gnome, I usually cast them as a race of dwarfoids with a stronger tradition for magic and illusion than for metalcraft and martial prowess. Living in mushroom houses and hiding behind magical barriers and so on. I give them darker skin and brightly colored hair to distinguish them from normal Dwarves.
Powrie - In legend, they are a race of evil dwarves that can run with supernatural speed and need to dye their hats red with blood, or else they die. Also known as red caps. I would usually make them more physically plausible, a predatory dwarfoid that has to drink blood to survive. Sometimes combine them with Zwergs, like in one idea, Zwergen special forces units wear red caps and use speed enchantments.
Kobold - To my mind, another type of evil dwarfoid rather than an animal-hybrid as they are portrayed in DF and D&D. Their name actually has the same root as Goblin, Kobaloi, so they could be a sort of goblin-dwarf hybrid.
Sylph - A forest elf. Xenophobic, highly militaristic, kinda like a fantasy North Korea. They use plant magic to genetically engineer trees to provide for their needs, like a wheat tree that grows wheat vertically, and mining trees that extract ore with their roots. Their senses are highly acute and can see, hear and smell at greater distances and more accurately than humans. Sylphs (and elfoids in general) have green blood, which is toxic to any non-elfoids. These toxins are part of the Sylvan immune system and prevent most common ailments and extend the lifespan of elfoids compared to other creatures.
Aelf/Alfar - A high elf. More interested in architecture and pursuing arcane magic. I would typically use them as antagonists or frenemies. In one of my fantasy worlds, they were once Gold Elves and Grey Elves. The Gold Elves gained an upper hand and enslaved the Greys. The Golds built flying cities and blotted out the sky with grey clouds and forbid the Greys to learn arcane magic. But the Greys discovered a different source of magic, Psionics, and eventually rebelled and destroyed the Golden cities, and chased down the last of the Golds across the world, killing anyone who dared assist the Golds. In another, they lived on an isolated island-continent, where they fought endless wars against each other using powerful magic. As they grew tired of the death-toll, they started inventing golems and automatons to fight on their behalf. Eventually, the Aelf-wars ceased and they started a campaign to conquer and "civilize" the mainland, home to humans, dwarves, sylphs and others. In a story where they play a more benign roll, they live on floating cities and high mountain strongholds, carefully guarding their magical and technological secrets, lest the lower races become a threat. Sometimes they send disguised agents to the lower world, to upset the balance of the lower races, to end wars or halt prosperity so that the lower races are balanced against each other and struggle against each other and not the Alfar.
Drow - These are sort of redundant in my worlds where Sylphs and Alfar are already perfect antagonists, but Drow can come into play as an underground dwelling elf if needed. I would lean more towards a culture of hedonism and debauchery rather than murders and thieves, as in D&D. Supposedly the word Drow actually started as Trow and is related to Troll.
Goblin - A predatory race with sharp teeth and claws, they have no qualms about eating people. They try to terrify their foes to gain a psychological advantage, and so often engage in torture or displays of brutality for the benefit of their victims. They are human-sized or dwarf-sized, but lean and more agile.
Gremlin - A smaller sized race of goblinoid. They are also predatory, but make due with things like rats and bugs. Adept at sneaking and sabotage, also good with machinery in fantasy settings where that is appropriate. These are more like the small goblins of Warcraft or D&D.
Orc - I usually avoid Orcs because they don't have a mythological background, Tolkien made them up. However, the word comes from Orcus, a Latin underworld deity, so I might use them as a kind of demon race, summoned from another plane of existence for the sake of destruction, or a magically constructed race, kind of like a golem. (possibly constructed or summoned by Alfar)
Ogre - Since I don't like Orcs, I usually use the word Ogre for the same kind of people. I like a more Shrek-like Ogre, mean and dangerous, but not inherently evil.
Vanara - A race of monkey-ape-human hybrids from the Ramayana. Like apes, they are super strong, they are described as wielding boulders and tree trunks as weapons. They are possessed of an animal-like naivety, they care little for fineries but enjoy the simple pleasures of a good meal and good companionship. Sometimes I throw in elements of Sun Wukong, who is more of an anti-hero, to give them more dimension.
Rakshasa - The demonic antagonists of the Ramayana, they are cannibals who hunt humans for food. They can fly and have venomous claws. They seem to be prone to mutations, like their king Ravana who had 10 arms and 10 heads, or his broth Kumbakarna who was a giant. But they are also refined, they live in a beautiful city created by the gods, and some of them turn against Ravana to follow their sense of justice. In early artwork, they are portrayed as various animal-people, in later artwork, they appear as black or purple skinned humanoids. D&D Rakshasas have little to do with anything.
Tengu - A Japanese bird goblin. They can range from completely bird-like, to winged ogres with red faces and long noses to normal looking people with bird wings.
Kinnara - A southeast asian creature, they have a human torso and the lower body of a bird, kinda like a centaur, but with a bird instead of a horse. In India, Kinnara is a centaur, and is probably cognate to the original Greek word, Kentavros.
Naga - Snake people. In legend, the term Naga can range from talking snakes, monsterous snakes to snaketaurs, to people who transform into snakes. When they angered the holy bird Garuda with evil deeds, he vowed to hunt them down so they fled, some to the bottom of the ocean, some to a deep subterranean world.
Kappa - A Japanese turtle goblin that needed to keep its head moist or it would die. In more plausible settings, they are a race that breaths through gills. I'm pretty sure this is the basis for Koopas from the Mario universe.
Yak/Yaksha - The Thai version is an ogre-like creature that guards holy temples. An other-world bouncer if you will. In India, Yaksha is a very undefined mythological being, although the female version, Yakshini, is often portrayed as a beautiful woman with huge boobs.
Kitsune - The Japanese word for fox, they were believed to have the ability to transform into humans or humanoids. As they grow older, they grow more tails, eventually becoming the Kyuubi (nine tails) and then the Tenko, a golden furred, god-like creature. They could also possess people with magic, and some legends tell that they needed to drink blood to survive, while others claim they have a soft spot for sweetened tofu. In human form, they were infamous for seducing people, like a succubus. And the one from Sonic the Hedgehog can fly.
Troll - Rock skinned people. Depending on the level of realism, they could be genuinely made of rocks, or they have a very hard body armor that is camouflaged to look like stone, akin to a crocodile. The mythological background for Trolls is interesting. In Old Norse, they were a sort of half-Jotun (Titan), associated with magic, modern Norwegian word for magician is trollman. Supposedly, trolls and dwarves would turn to stone if exposed to sunlight, and rocks that look like people are called troll stones. The D&D version of Trolls is not based on anything. If one wanted to differentiate between various types of trolls, there are other variants like risi, thurs and huldra. Alternatively, the rock people could be called Petrads, a variation of Dryad.
Dryad - Same idea, humanoids with wooden exoskeleton or wood camouflaged armor. They are born from eggs that look like seeds. (Of course in DF that won't work)
Myconian - Mushroom people, or people with mushroom camouflage, following the theme. Or Mycad, if following the Dryad, Petrad naming convention.
Kryad - Ice people. Following the same naming convention, but totally made up.
Centaur - I love centaurs and I always try to throw them into fantasy settings. I've often thought about the physiology of centaurs. I think they should not be as big as modern horses, as the horse body is too big and it looks silly. Some have told me that centaurs should be as big as horses, but the human torso should be scaled up to match. If you look at ancient Greek depictions of centaurs, they are actually very low slung, shorter than humans. One theory behind the extra body area is that centaurs have a set of back-up organs, two hearts, four lungs, and so on, though probably just one very long digestive tract. Although I've been told than in DF physiology, you'll still die if one of your four lungs gets punctured, and having more lungs just increases the chance that this will happen. Another theory is that Centaurs are actually related to or descended from Nagas and Merfolk, their "horse" body is actually a modified tail and the horse-like appearance is coincidental or convergent evolution. I tend to prefer Shining Force's rendition of centaurs as armored knights, rather than forest dwelling archers. After all, we've already got forest dwelling archers. Possibly a version of centaurs that are more like the Mongols.
Yaktaurs - The dreaded upgrade of centaurs from Dungeon Crawl. They have yak bodies instead of horse bodies.
Leotaur - Lion bodies instead of horse bodies.
Dracotaur - Reptilian or draconian bodies instead of horses.
Beartaur - In Soviet Russia, bear taurs you!
Arachnetaur - Spider bodies, like a Dryder, although not necessarily related to Drow.
Horsetaur - A centaur but with a horse's head instead of a person. Or in other words, a horse with a human torso instead of a neck. Look it up, there are pictures.
X-taur - You get the idea, anything can be a centaur. Although this is etymologically incorrect, as mentioned earlier, the Greek word for Centaur, Kentavros, probably comes from Indian Kinnara, it's nonsensical in Greek. (as opposed to Mino-Taur the bull (tavros) of Minos)
Wulver - Wolf people. They do not transform like a werewolf.
Salamander - Lizard people or dragon people. I've sometimes used the name Dracosapien, but Salamander or Salaman sounds more fantasy.
Maniraptor - A straight up dinosaur, preserved from primordial times. As intelligent as any humanoid, they speak to each other in a kind of bird song, but can mimic sounds and voices like a parrot. Because I thought lizard-men were boring.
Myrmidon - Ant people, or rather intelligent ants. I would typically have them standing on 4 legs with 2 arms, like a centaur, rather than 2 legs and 4 arms as they are often depicted. Size could be anything, though I usually think of them as being as tall as humans or even larger, as this makes them scarier.
Psychovore - A non-trademark infringing version of Mind Flayers, also thought about Brain Eaters or Brain Suckers. Squid-like people from deep underground or underwater or wherever that eat brainwaves or brain tissues. More intelligent brains are more nutritious, thus they prefer to hunt humans and dwarves and the like.
Neko-jin - Cat people.
Bug-Bear - A big burly bug-person. An actual insectoid, unlike the D&D version. Would probably have an intelligence level akin to a DF Troll. These ones I imagine with 4 arms and 2 legs.
Scissorian/Scythian - An insectoid people with pincers or mantis scythes on their hands, so I guess 2 weapon hands, 2 grasper hands and 2 legs. Inspired by D&D's swordwings, and the pokemon, Scyther and Scissor.
Molemen - For worlds where I don't want dwarves, or if I don't want the underground race to be dwarfy, there's molemen, who can be anything I want. Usually with big shovelly hands, sometimes looking like Magi-Nation's Underneath magi.
Dragoon - Humanoids with dragonic horns, wings, tails, and sometimes claws, but still humanoid face and body shape.
Darkling - A race like He-Man's Orko or Final Fantasy's Black Mages. I would usually cast them as an underground race, possibly dwarfoid, possibly as a more monstrous version with a mouth full of shark teeth.
Devilin - Like a little devil, horns, hooves, pointy tail, red skin, pitchforks. Could also be more like WoW's Dranei or D&D's Tiefling.
Mekka-Jin/Cyberoi - A race of cyborgs with power cables for tails.
Puck/Brownie - A race of tiny people with super-human strength. Kinda like the Nac Mac Feegle. I think technically, Puck is a single entity, where as Brownies are a type of creature, but Brownie sounds offensive.
Pixie - A tiny people with wings and a gift for magic.
Undine - Mermaids with legs, or if I need it, a race of mermaids with no rules. Possibly with both legs and a tail.
Tendrillite - A race of humanoids or elfoids that were corrupted by Cthulu-like beings (or possibly vice-versa). They have slit-pupils and hands with tentacles instead of fingers. They are from GURPS' fantasy settings.
Nymph - An all female race of plant people, possibly like an alraune, or an elf-that's-not-an-elf if needed.
Dhampir - Half-vampires, or a race of humanoids descended from vampires with whatever's the right balance between cool vampire powers and civilized behavior.
Raijin - A race of thundergods or people descended from thundergods. Raijin actually is the name of a specific thundergod, though it's also just the words Rai (thunder) and Jin (person) so there might be something better out there. Thorians, Jovians, Shangomen, Vajrashura, Nimboss, etc.
Ogresaur - Another race of lizard people for if Salamanders or Maniraptors aren't quite right. I usually give them red skin and horns, like an Oni.
Asuran - A goblinoid race with 4 arms. Possibly not a specific race, but a mutation of goblins or rakshasas. Like instead of a certain percentage being bald or colorblind, they are born with 4 arms.
Sometimes I think of doing something special with the Alchemical elemental beings, Genoma (earth), Sylph (air), Salamander (fire), Undine (water). For an exotic variation, there are the Chinese/Japanese celestial beasts, Genbu-jin (turtle, earth), Byakko-jin (tiger, air), Suzaku-jin (bird, fire), Seiryu (dragon, water). (Jin means person, so Genbu-jin is just saying a celestial turtle-person) Chinese version has 5 elements, which I think is Turtle = Water, Dragon = Wood, Tiger = Metal, Bird = Fire, Qilin = Earth. The Japanese equivalent of Quilin is Kirin, if you wanted to use that.
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Topic: Ace's List of Fantasy Races (Read 9190 times)