What do you want the other race(s) to be?

[Gecimen]

Personally im ok as lonmg as they add some real races and not just paint jobs of a human.

 

Played SWTOR recently?

 

@OP; I know it's nerdy but I'm a huge fan of Draconoids or that kind of stuff.

[Semper]

There's not even a big differences of climate in the world, just generic temperate forests and things.

 

so you've seen the whole world map and not just that tiny part they released so far?

[eimatshya]

@OP; I know it's nerdy but I'm a huge fan of Draconoids or that kind of stuff.

 

I can go either way on Draconoids. I've thought they were cool in some settings and less so in others. I was never that interested in the Sarnak in EQ, but I think the Dracha from Arcana Unearthed/Arcana Evolved just look really cool:

 

 

I don't find their lore/culture that interesting, but if Obsidian were to create a race of Dragonoids that looked that awesome, I'm sure they could come up with some interesting cultures for them. Also, for me at least, Dragonoids would feel much more appropriate for medieval fantasy than an insectoid race or lizard men.

Edited September 25, 2012 by eimatshya

[hideo kuze]

From a morphologic POV Dragonoids are quite similar to Lizards

 

However, due to the physical similarity to tieflings I doubt we would get both.

And tieflings look p. c. to me.

(and asimar are just another human looking race)

[eimatshya]

From a morphologic POV Dragonoids are quite similar to Lizards

 

True, but, at least in the case of the Dracha, there is a difference. Also, medieval European folklore is full of tales about dragons (e.g. Beowulf, St. George and the Dragon, Sigurd and Fafnir), but I don't recall any Medieval European stories about lizardmen (although I'm hardly an expert on the subject). What I'm trying to say is, from the names and apparent focus on traditional fantasy races, it seems like P:E will be set in a Medieval Europe-esque area. As such, Dragonmen would seem more setting appropriate than lizardmen due to the former's deep-rooted association with Medieval Europe.

 

Of course, if the setting will not be heavily based on Medieval Europe, that argument probably goes out the window.

 

However, due to the physical similarity to tieflings I doubt we would get both.

And tieflings look p. c. to me.

(and asimar are just another human looking race)

 

You may be right, depending on what their Godlike are like. That Tiefling you posted earlier in the thread did look pretty cool, anything like that would be pretty neat.

 

Also, if the fifth race is truly odd, then dragonoids and lizardmen probably wouldn't fit the bill anyways.

Edited September 25, 2012 by eimatshya

[Luckmann]

I would have loved to have seen more "fantastical" choices rather than the regular old dwarves and elves. They don't even have to be "Unique"; just not the regular tropes. Take a step away from the regular "races" and a step away from the regular tropes associated with the more uncommon races.

 

Civilized Minotaurs, deeply dedicated to architecture and spiritual creationism and creativism, influenced by Babylonian and Sumerian motifs, adjusted for a forestlands-and-hills setting.

 

Tribal Insectoids, with many different sub-species, influenced by a number of different kinds of bugs, such as mantids (thri-kreen), ants, or scarabs, in an organized hierarchical society, where the variety of sub-species, castes and phenotypes cannot procreate, as in being physically incapable of crossbreeding, yet all with a uniform culture.

 

Aasimar & Tieflings - not common enough to be trope-like, and can be as diverse as the gods they worship or the creeds they live by. Especially interesting if there would be no "baseline" humans, turning each human into however they live their life, or with pronounced ancestry. A multitude of religions, creeds, cultures and nations, as pronounced as the diverse racial profiles of mankind.

 

Beastmen; Tengu (ravens), Gripplis (frogs), Skaven (rats), Kobolds (lizards) - the feral and barely civilized lesser races spread throughout the wildlands, specializing in whatever environment they live.

 

Dragonborn, masters of the sea, high pirates of salt and rust, that only settle remote, isolated or well-defended cliffs, seaside mountains and islands. Recognizes no borders and as a people are deeply anarchical, yet honourable to those that show strength.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Luckmann

[SirMonkeyMonk]

 

I also hope they won't go with some cheap fanservice. Like lizards and goddamned furries, as others here suggested.

 

While I would dislike those races in a typical setting, like forgotten realms. However in a new setting, which I expect will include some more "bizarre" elements, I think races like those can work. But then I want them to lizardblood or fur to have some real effects, like lizards getting quickly tired when fighting in the dark and getting attacked by cold damage (and getting charged by fire damage?) while furries could catch fire?

The game should also be based on P:T, which already had quite bizar races (as NPCs), I am not surpised at all if the other races could pass for monters in other settings.

[Flying Magician]

There's not even a big differences of climate in the world, just generic temperate forests and things.

 

so you've seen the whole world map and not just that tiny part they released so far?

I happened to see a map, depicting most likely the entire game world. Maybe you've seen it too. It had few colors, mostly green and yellow.

As long as it's their own setting, it doesn't matter what's outside of those boundaries.

 

But hey, it's just a small part of the world! So maybe it's a part of flat earth, placed on the four elephants, standing on the giant space turtle! FFS

[Wintersong]

Thri-Kreen

 

Playable race of overpowered insectoids who don't fit any setting? Bad joke indeed.

 

I also hope they won't go with some cheap fanservice. Like lizards and goddamned furries, as others here suggested.

What? I thought that Thri-Kreen fitted Dark Sun quite well? Forgotten Realms also had some kind of mantis "people" but my memories are more from Eye of the Beholder than from monstrous compendiums.

 

Not really sure how lizardfolk are "cheap fanservice". Not very "odd" but they have potential as race. Also, "furries"? What's this? A romance thread? Catfolk or Shifters wouldn't be "odd", much like the lizardfolk. I also find them interesting and with some potential but as I said, not "odd". Ratkins would be something I'd really want to see but same issue as the others. Or maybe just my perception about them.

 

Mindflayers on the other hand... well, I wouldn't play one even if payed. But it's "odd" enough to be "Ewww". Does that count for Obsidian?

[eimatshya]

I also hope they won't go with some cheap fanservice. Like lizards and goddamned furries, as others here suggested.

 

Also, "furries"? What's this? A romance thread? Catfolk or Shifters wouldn't be "odd", much like the lizardfolk. I also find them interesting and with some potential but as I said, not "odd". Ratkins would be something I'd really want to see but same issue as the others. Or maybe just my perception about them.

 

Mindflayers on the other hand... well, I wouldn't play one even if payed. But it's "odd" enough to be "Ewww". Does that count for Obsidian?

 

Mindflayers would definitely be odd; no arguments there. Not sure that I'd want to play one either, though.

 

I too have never got the whole "furry" reaction to anthropomorphic animals. Maybe I just haven't encountered enough people who are into that kind of thing for my mind to naturally go there. I, personally, wouldn't have any inherent objection to such a race. I've seen some humanoid animal races that I thought were cool and others that didn't interest me. As much as I like cats, I've never really liked races of cat-people (such as the Vah Shir from EQ or the Khajiit from Elder Scrolls). Not sure why not. I've also never really been into lizardmen. I did like the Ratonga ratmen from EQII, and I think something like wolfmen could be cool. I also think the Sibeccai from Arcana Evolved look really neat. Something along those lines might be fun, although it probably wouldn't count as "truly odd."

 

Here's some pictures anyway:

 

 

Sibeccai:

 

 

And here's one in combat:

 

 

And one with human-like hair for some reason. Although the hair does make him look pretty neat:

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2012 by eimatshya

[Skie Nightfall]

My vote goes toward anthropomorphic races, but I'm biased.

It was nice to see such suggestions in the topic from a bunch of people.

 

Something equivalent to an orc/half-orc would be nice as well.

[TrashMan]

Bleh.... anthropomorphic animal races are garbage. Do not want.

 

Everything has been pretty much done. Now, givne armor and weapons, any race that is added will have to be humanoid - it will have to have the similar body build.

 

Which is basicly why a "new" race will probably be something similar to quanri. Basicly a start trek alien - human with a few minor additions.

 

Frankly I don't care about the 4th or 5th race.

 

Humans, elves and dwarves are fine by me.

[TrashMan]

Oh, if there are furrie races in the game, I do hope that if we run into one of their villages, we can purify it with fire.

[Luckmann]

God, I'd love Illithids. Since it's a new setting, they wouldn't have to be wildly overpowered and get like 9 adjustment levels.

[drgonzo]

Bleh.... anthropomorphic animal races are garbage. Do not want.

 

Everything has been pretty much done. Now, givne armor and weapons, any race that is added will have to be humanoid - it will have to have the similar body build.

 

Which is basicly why a "new" race will probably be something similar to quanri. Basicly a start trek alien - human with a few minor additions.

 

Frankly I don't care about the 4th or 5th race.

 

Humans, elves and dwarves are fine by me.

 

QFT

[Pope]

Yeah, I've been thinking about the possibility of a construct race, too. I know Eberron has a construct race called the Warforged, but having never played an Eberron campaign, I don't know much about them.

 

One possibility for such a race would be that they were constructs created in some magocratic nation to serve as laborers. To make them more capable, their creators imbued them with increasing levels of intelligence and animacy. Still, they remained submissive and obedient due to their soulless nature. Then, strangely, souls started being reborn into the bodies of the constructs. The precise reason for this would be a topic of debate amongst scholars and theorists. Did the increased sapience of the constructs make them viable vessels for souls? Did the gods do it as a punishment for the mage's hubris in creating life, a power the gods considered theirs alone? Whatever the case, now that they were imbued with souls many of the constructs developed the willpower and desire to resist their masters and found their own societies. Others chose to remain in their subservient posts, seeing the security offered as preferable to the uncertain future that awaited their brethren who sought to carve out a new place for themselves in a dangerous world.

 

Alternately, it may have been necessary for the mages to give the constructs souls in order to animate their lifeless husks.

 

Anyway, it might be an interesting race to explore. Are they a dying race due to their inability to reproduce? Or have they discovered the method to make new constructs that will be imbued with souls, thereby allowing them to make their own children? If not, do they turn to stealing the souls of members of other races and placing them in new constructs? How would they view biological beings? Do they have societal splits as a result of differing opinions on this issue? How cohesive are their societies? Do they work well together or are they individualistic (or do they not have any predisposition towards either)? Or maybe they would be too much like a machine race from Sci-fi; I don't know.

Loving this.

[Stiler]

I'd like to see some greek inspired races that are usually treated as "creatures/bad guys" in most rpgs and never a playable race.

 

Centaurs, Minotaur, Satyr, etc.

 

Apart from that I wouldn't mind seeing a more beast like race, something more like a werewolf (but not one that turns into a human or vice versa, always a "werewolf"

 

Perhaps a race that they just make up on their own. It'd just be nice if it wasn't a humanoid (IE two legs, two eyes, nose/mouth, etc).

[Guts]

Centaurs would be cool, not many games have them.

 

I want a pair of mercenaries for a companion, a centaur and a dwarf (maybe even a crippled one) who go to battle as a pair. The centaur would be heavily armored tank with melee weapon and a large shield and the dwarf would ride on his/her back and fire guns or sling spells from there. Also, they would constantly argue with each other. How awesome would that be?

Edited September 26, 2012 by Guts

[Stiler]

Yeah , that'd remind me of Master Blaster in Mad Max:BT lol.

[Direlda]

First off, it must be said that I try to play an anthropomorphic fox whenever a game allows it (or something close enough that I can pretend). I discovered servers for NWN that used mods which allowed you to be an anthropomorphic fox (among many other options), but the leveling rules were too wonky. >.> When my roommates convinced me to play WoW with them following cataclysm, I rolled a red-furred Worgen and pretended it was a fox. In D&D I've played shifters, werefoxes, and worked on creating a fox race that was balanced with respect to core races. In Shadowrun I played a fox shapeshifter. And then there is Ironclaw, which is all anthropomorphic beings. So it should be understood that I really would like to see a race that would at least allow me to pretend it is an anthropomorphic fox.

 

That being said, this game does not need a race like that for me to be excited to play it! This is partly because of what the developers seem to be doing with races. Humans are being given subtypes. This is significant because in D&D and D&D-inspired games, humans usually don't have subtypes and just go with something along the lines of choose a stat to boost (4.0e), get a bonus feat, gain extra skill points at first level, etc. When compared to the other races, which sometimes have subtypes, this tendancy highlights how all non-human races end up being pushed into a particular role. Given the same stats pre-racial modifiers, your dwarven bard won't be as charismatic as your human bard because all standard dwarves lack social skills (3.5e, with negative stat modifiers for all races but humans) or humans are adaptable (4.0e, where humans get +2 to a stat of choice). All standard dwarves are also innately good with stone and know how to craft and appraise things made of stone. Dwarven subtypes help provide dwarves a little more flexability, but they can't match with humans' flexability, while humans have flexability, but lose out on all the nifty abilities.

 

Which is rather frustrating. Humans should have subtypes, such as Human: Seafaring or Human: Mountain Clan, which give some relevant abilities and stat adjustments. Climate, geography, and culture should have an impact. So I am extremely happy to hear that this game is apparently going to implement that sort of subtypes for all races. And another benefit of subtypes is that you can create one that goes against the usual conception of that race. For instance, desert elves who aren't so in touch with nature (perhaps even caused the desert to occur centuries before through deforestation) and are sturdy (good Con) would go against most of what we imagine elves to be (and then what if they met their more traditional elven kin...). There is a wealth of possibility for fresh takes on races such as humans, elves, and dwarves in a system that gives each race multiple subtypes. This, then, helps with the fact that there will be races in this game that show up over and over again. If the developers do it right (as I'm sure they will...), then there will be subtypes for those races that break the mold.

 

Now, I agree that when done poorly, anthropomorphic animal races end up being no more than humans in animal suits. This gets compounded if the animal the anthropomorphic race resembles is also in the world. And the result is often rather lackluster. However, these do have potential. Let's take anthropomorphic foxes as an example, since I know some about vulpine behavior. If done poorly you end up with a bunch of humans that look like bipedal foxes. They might visually appeal to certain people (such as myself), but nothing really would feel unique about them. But, if you start adapting behavior of actual foxes and thinking up a different culture based off those adaptations, then you start getting a decent race. Foxes communicate through vocalizations, body language, and scents - a race of anthropomorphic foxes probably would do the same, which would affect their culture. Would their tails and ears betray their emotions (a tail lashing back and forth on a fox signals either fear or aggression - perhaps another race would mistake it as a sign of happiness, causing trouble) or would they be able to train themselves to lie with their body language? You might be able to have an entire conversation without saying a word. Would they have a writing system? How would something like crime be different if they scent-marked valuables (in addition to land)? Would the females of the race go into heat and the males compete for their attentions? If this were the case, would a system eventually have been put in place in their more civilized domains to prevent unnecessary bloodshed (some sort of games instead of combat)? Their architecture would probably be different and they might not wear as much clothing because of the fur. And this is just the start. In other words, it is possible to make an anthropomorphic animal race that isn't trash, but it requires thought instead of just putting a human in animal clothing. So if this game does get an anthropomorphic animal race, let us all hope that it is done right, so that we get something memorable and fresh instead of disguised humans.

[lobotomy42]

Lizard-people

Mole-people

Talking Bears or Bear-people

Little Green Men

Ghosts!

A "Slime" type thing (like you fight in Dragon Quest)

An animated suit of armor

[LucyZephyr]

I play non-human in every game that lets me. I think a big part of why I haven't finished DA2 is that I was shoehorned into playing human, and I just... no thanks. I've played Argonian (**** yeah waterbreathing), city elf (whoo, metaphor for institutionalized racism), orcs (screw tanking, imma ranged stealth build). I genuinely enjoy games more when I don't have to play human, but I like the roleplaying aspect of such games a lot, the way I can step outside myself and think not "what would I do" but "what would my PC do".

 

I'd want ALL THE RACES, tbh. So long as, as others have said, they're not just reskins of the humans. And not vaguely appropriative cultural counterparts to real life peoples. Y'all have no idea how uncomfortable the Space RomaQuarians in Mass Effect made me.

[eimatshya]

[eimatshya's idea on how a construct race might work in Project Eternity(snipped to save space)]

Loving this.

Thanks!

 

*snip*

 

Great points about the subraces. I hope we can choose some interesting backgrounds for our characters.

 

The dev update that really got me interested in P:E was the one that brought up the issue of diversity. I'm a little burned out on traditional fantasy races, but the big problem with them is that they are almost always monocultures. Giving elves and dwarves the same cultural diversity as humans gives them a chance to be interesting again.

 

I also really hope that linguistic diversity is considered as well. I hate that every race in fantasy games has its own language that all members of that language speak regardless of where they live. It takes absolutely no effort to say that Dwarves from Flindur speak Flinduric and Dwarves from Kazo'aan speak Kazo'aani. It's not like that have to actually make up these languages. But no, they always speak Dwarvish. As if language were genetic or something.

 

So, back on topic, whatever races they do end up including (and from the KS page it now looks like the Godlike will be a sixth race, so I guess there are two unannounced races, not one), I hope they will be divided into diverse cultures, with each culture having its own language (unless it would make sense for it to share one).

[BasaltineBadger]

Races I'd like them to add in non-random order:

-goblins

-cat/bug-people

-pixies

-halflings

-giants

-orcs

I would hate to see half-elves for obvious reason and gnomes, since they are is almost no difference between them and dwarves then it comes to anything besides stats.

[Dorateen]

and gnomes, since they are is almost no difference between them and dwarves then it comes to anything besides stats.

 

ohhhhhh boy....