Why are hyumans the default (or not) in your world?
If everything is fantastical, nothing is.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
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Question: Why are hyumans the default (or not) in your world?
For my world - because elves and dwarves live so long - their population remains low. Halflings, who take their lives slow, don't spread around to the various environments, kept their population low. Humans, with their short life spans, spread like vermin. And then, in my world, the orc god, furious that the other gods of light claimed so much land (elves in the forests, dwarves in the mountains, halfling in the hills) - he cut his palm and bled his blood into the the world - and humans tainted by the blood turned into the first orcs - which makes orcs the highest population on that side of things. (His blood reigning down on the world had other rippling effects - such as the creation of beholders, blights (the monsters) were an effect, as corrupted plants, and on and on and on)...
Why are hyumans the default (or not) in your world?
Which world…
All joking aside, the one that I’ve put the most work into has humans as the default race simply because they’re the oldest. Other races are newer to the land because they originated on a distant continent. Humans were the original inhabitants of this core continent and so they remain the majority. In addition, as SirTawmis says, longer lifespans lead to creatures such as elves and dwarves reproducing less frequently than humans.
However, the other world I’m working on has humans as the main ancestry for a different reason. Humans are free in this land, but the other ancestries, Nisse, Vattir, Loa, Draguür, and Sidhe are all hunted by the tyrant of this land. They must travel elsewhere or hide away until someone can free the land from his reign.
Basically, my worlds focus on areas where humans are more prevalent to create a setting that’s more familiar, as both worlds are otherwise very different from the fantasy norm, so that players can ease in more naturally.
Because we need an in-group of "normal people" against which we can contrast the lazy halflings, alcoholic dwarves, effeminate elves, degenerate goblins... [/sarcasm]
Why are hyumans the default (or not) in your world?
I now realize that you could have been asking about the worldbuilding reason, so I'll answer that too. My world uses slightly modified Greek mythology, so the first humans were molded from clay by Prometheus, the titan of knowledge. They were prosperous, and quickly spread throughout the world, and as such they garnered much jealousy from other gods, especially those of Olympus. Being a benevolent titan (and quite possibly fearing the wrath of Olympus), he gave a man to each of the Olympians. As creatures of clay, each gifted man was free to be molded into the image of their respective gods. Athena made elves, Hephaestus made dwarves, Hermes made gnomes, Apollo and Dionysus together made halflings, Hades made tieflings (and quite possibly aasimar, if I add them in later), Poseidon made tritons, and Ares made goblinoids (including orcs).
All the races spread out around the world and many became unparalleled masters in the crafts and abilities of their god, but since they were twice molded none were nearly as adaptable as humans, who could yet mold themselves to conquer any challenge and adapt to any land.
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Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
The Humans in my campaign world got their asses handed to them and they had to beg shelter from the Elves and Dwarves. At that time they were a definite minority.
Over the course of hundreds of years the Human population outpaced those of their hosts and they began to see an uptick in their influence even though there is still some social stigma of being lesser citizens.
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Why are hyumans the default (or not) in your world?
Humans aren’t really the default. Dwarves have similar populations but the majority of them stay in their subterranean kingdoms. Most Halflings prefer to live in small, rural communities separated from the noise and hubbub of city life. Gnomes mostly enjoy solitude, building small hidden communities that others don’t see. Elves might not be playable in my world, though I am not completely sure about that. Dragonborn are naturally tolerant to extreme environments so they often establish settlements in places that humans don’t often go. I will stop now because there are to many species to list here.
Most settlements that my characters go to will have much diversity. If Dragonborn and Gnomes exist in my world then I want to use them. Most NPCs my characters meet won’t be humans.
Why are hyumans the default (or not) in your world?
Cause the original sentient species were humans, but contact with powerful entities mutated groups of them into elfs, dwarves, gnome, hobbits, and all the other base races that have their own civilization. This is on a fly kind of thing cause I procrastinate. Don't call it basic.
Because we need an in-group of "normal people" against which we can contrast the lazy halflings, alcoholic dwarves, effeminate elves, degenerate goblins... [/sarcasm]
While I can see that you are joking, this brings up something that I’ve thought long about. Humans are nice because they’re familiar, but more so, they are the way by which we create a very jack-of-all-trades character. We can picture the qualities of other peoples (dwarves, elves, etc.) as definable traits and clear abilities that they can have so that we can create creatures that synergy well with certain builds. Humans, however, we can’t really define abilities for. We are the base from which we create all other playable races. We thus have humans to be our anything. They can take on any role with ease and they’ve been a mainstay in fantasy for years.
All the sentient races but two on my world are descended from the original humans -- my elfs and dwarfs do not have the long lifespan stuff (though Cambion, Seraph, and Faery do) -- all the species basically live around 125 years, with only the last 20 being "old", the exceptions having longer lives but not in a way that passes on.
That includes Imps, Goblins, Orcs (half goblin, and seriously messed up), grendels, Thyrs (bugbears), and the like.
An unknown people, Dragons, and Meka are all technically exceptions. Dragons were there first, impacted by terraforming, and they really don't like all these people. THe mystery race is a mystery. Even I don't know anything about them yet except they exist, they hang out with deer centaurs and dragons, and factor in during the 18th level plus part of the main campaign. So I got time.
Meka are constructs, like Golems and Dreadnoughts (horizon zero dawn robots, lol). THey are animated by a miasmatic spirit, so really are possessed machines, lol, featuring a "modern westworld" brain marble. It is weird, I admit.
So, really, almost all the peoples are human -- it is differences in what they can do that make a determination. My dwarfs are logistical types -- seabees, if you are familiar with that. Elfs are more like Rangers and green berets. Tritons are sailors and marines. Imps and Goblins fill in the "survival soldier" and the engineer side for the "bad guys". And if it souns really militaristic, that is because they became those things during a war that lasted 500 years and wiped out 99% of the population.
(really. and 80% of that was before magic came along).
That was 1500 years ago, and is still having an impact today.
I also have only one "racial homeland" for PC races, and that's the animal ears people. kemonomimi. And they got it because they were meant to survive the war. The bad guys got pushed to their places by the end of the war (which is a deus ex machina of the highest order) and that fuels their being pissed because they almost won.
All the rest are very mixed, with enclaves in major cities and the occasional village or maybe a town that is mostly one sort. The big cities have clan halls for dwarfs and Communes for Elfs. Ports will have grottoes for Tritons.
I do have a lot of half breeds, and I used Halfling as the collective term for them. Half-elf, half dwarf, dwarf-elf, half triton all come out as Fay, Gnome, Spright, and Iaran. Ogres are technically one quarter goblin, but the changes to goblins made them oviparous.
I don't have the mainline races, obviously, lol. No avian ones, either.
So humans are the majority because they have always been the majority, and they tend to stay the default, genetically overriding the others. insofar as genetics could be counted on in a world where people can have blue, pink, green, and purple hair. All at once.
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While there are many humans in my world, they're not available as a PC option because every human in my world is secretly a Mercury Dragon.
I kid, but I saw the thread fell onto the second page, so...
Just remembered my last regular D&D group I ran, no one was human. I guess that may be more common these days. Next most recent D&D game I ran was set in Humblewood, where there are no humans or core races (you pick from options among Humblefolk and Birdfolk). Never really dwelled on that much.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Just remembered my last regular D&D group I ran, no one was human. I guess that may be more common these days. Next most recent D&D game I ran was set in Humblewood, where there are no humans or core races (you pick from options among Humblefolk and Birdfolk). Never really dwelled on that much.
My current live game I run, there are no humans (Aasimar Twilight Cleric, Tiefling Paladin Redemption, Goliath Monk of the Four Elements, Tabaxi Rogue Soul Knife). My "off week" game as I call it, I run is: A Halfling Rogue, A Half-Elf Warlock/Druid, a Human Warlock/Paladin. So one human in there. My normal game I run is: Air Genasi (Rogue), High Elf (Cleric), Tiefling (Artificer), Half-Elf (Ranger), Gnome (Wizard), Human (Paladin) so one human traveling with a lot of non humans. My monthly game I run is: Half-Elf (Monk), Human (Monk), Half-Orc (Paladin that acts more like a Barbarian), Gnome (Wizard), Tiefling (Bard), Water Genasi (Druid). So again, one human, traveling with a bunch of non humans.
So, looking at it - humans are rarely selected in my campaigns that I run.
Just remembered my last regular D&D group I ran, no one was human. I guess that may be more common these days. Next most recent D&D game I ran was set in Humblewood, where there are no humans or core races (you pick from options among Humblefolk and Birdfolk). Never really dwelled on that much.
My current live game I run, there are no humans (Aasimar Twilight Cleric, Tiefling Paladin Redemption, Goliath Monk of the Four Elements, Tabaxi Rogue Soul Knife). My "off week" game as I call it, I run is: A Halfling Rogue, A Half-Elf Warlock/Druid, a Human Warlock/Paladin. So one human in there. My normal game I run is: Air Genasi (Rogue), High Elf (Cleric), Tiefling (Artificer), Half-Elf (Ranger), Gnome (Wizard), Human (Paladin) so one human traveling with a lot of non humans. My monthly game I run is: Half-Elf (Monk), Human (Monk), Half-Orc (Paladin that acts more like a Barbarian), Gnome (Wizard), Tiefling (Bard), Water Genasi (Druid). So again, one human, traveling with a bunch of non humans.
So, looking at it - humans are rarely selected in my campaigns that I run.
I play a human in a play by post party with two halflings and a Furling (basically a reskinned Gnome sorta Fox folk).
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Why are hyumans the default (or not) in your world?
Humans (and Hin) are a hybrid race created through the interbreeding of Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Ogres, and Orcs. They all used to be able to interbreed, but all the interbreeding lead to the creation of two godless mutt races and the gods agreed to put aside their differences and place a planet wide geas on everyone that from then on, blood could only breed with blood. So elves for example could only breed with people who were at least part elf, and orcs could only breed with people who were at least part orc, etc. Since all humans (and hin) have a li’l bit of everything in them, if an elf or orc bread with a human (or hin) you would get a half-elf or half-orc. Same for dwarves, gnomes, goblinoids, and ogres. And since orcs and bugbears have a li’l ogre in them they can breed with ogres and make ogrillon as opposed to regular half-ogres you get if an ogre breeds with a human. The geas still holds to this day, and blood can only breed with blood. In fact, the word “human” is a derivative of the orcish word “humie” (pronounced oo-mē) which means “mongrel.” Since humans are the “universal breeders,” they breed a lot, especially with each other. And if two different half-humans were to interbreed, such as a half-elf and a half-orc, the human halves breed true, and any resulting offspring would be essentially human.
Heh - was going through the hard drive and found the silly story that was being written... figured, maybe start wrapping that up, otherwise my brain remembering I started this will not be happy... so we begin moving towards a conclusion...
Writer’s Note: This madness is something out of sheer boredom. It all began when AllMightyLordOfDND assigned races and classes to people who were participating in the thread. He was basing it on people’s responses, avatars, signatures (I am not sure what his formula was). But I was bored, and decided to start writing… I can’t even call it a story. I will call it an “Attempt To Curb My Boredom.” It keeps going, and no idea how long it will even go for. I have no plans where this story is going, as the conversations in the thread often dictate where the story is headed.
Part 20 – Closer to ending this… You thought they were dead?
His goblin laughter of joy rang through the mist. Theology of Bagels sat up. “Alas! I am dead! I am united with my deity! The one who saved me! The great Biadh! Make yourself known to me! I, who have followed you so faithfully since that day you rescued me from that arid desert! Show yourself to me, my lord! I am here to bear witness to your great visage!”
Antonsirius, the Kobold Druid, sat up from the mist. “My head hurts.”
Theology of Bagels stared in disbelief. “You are not Biadh!”
“No,” Antonsirius replied, matter-of-factly. “But you should already know that. We’ve been talking for weeks now. How hard did you hit your head that you’ve already forgotten my name?”
Theology of Bagels was confused. “Biadh be praised!” he finally said, raising his hands in jubilation. “You have brought with me, Antonsirius! Even though he is not a believer, your great power brings him here to your incredible realm to bear witness to your great power and visage! Show him, my master! Show him and make him a believer.”
The_Summoning_Dark sat up. “Wow. That was quite a ride.”
Theology of Bagels spun on his goblin feet. “You! You’re here too? My god has brought us all here? Together? This is incredible! Perhaps his gluttony for showing off his magnificent power is equaled by his gluttony for food! Then if this is true! Show us! Show us great, Biadh! Show us your amazing gluttonous power! Your bulging visage!”
Drakenbrine, the dwarf sorcerer stood up (it required standing due to his short stature, in order to be noticed). “Listen lad, I don’t know what you’re goin’ on about, but that racket is poundin’ in me head, lad. Ye think ye can keep it down?”
“Keep it down!? Are you mad! You have all been brought here to the misty realm of Biadh to behold his gluttonous visage! We must all open our hearts, and our stomachs, to his devouring ways!” Theology of Bagels shouted, louder than ever before.
Thorrison, the massive Giff ranger came into the mist. “Gods, all that noise I am surprised you don’t have every manner of beast descending on you.”
Antonsirius looked at Theology of Bagels, “At least that one is a tad on the gluttonous side.”
“What’s all the racket?” Thorrison asked.
“Theology thinks we’re in his deity’s afterlife realm,” Antonsirius shrugged looking around his misty surroundings.
“What?” Thorrison asked. “He thinks we’re dead?”
“How else do you explain the misty realm? It’s the realm of my great deity!” Theology pronounced.
“No, you idiot,” Thorrison growled. “Keep it down. We’re not dead. But we’re also not in the Fey Realm anymore. Apparently the lot of us all got shunted back to the normal world. We’re in Mist Haven, just southeast of Freehold where all this began. It would seem when the deity ‘awakened’ he shunted us back. I am not sure where the others are.”
The others… in the Fey Realm…
“Do you think any of them could have survived AllMightyLordOfDND returning back to the stars?” AEDorsay asked, fidgeting with her tattered robes.
“You need not feel guilty,” Midnightplat, the changeling rogue, said, patting her on the back. “You returned a fragment of a deity constellation back to its proper place with your magic.”
“But,” she whispered, “it may have cost them their lives.”
Wysperra who was back to his Halfling wererat form twitched his nose. “I’ve never seen an Elf so remorseful for someone who wasn’t an elf.”
“We’re not all like that you know,” AEDorsay growled as she stood up, pulling her shredded robes around her and walking off.
“I didn’t mean to offend her,” Wysperra shrugged looking about the others, his rat-like beady eyes reflecting the camp fire’s flames.
AEDorsay was stomping through the woods when she let out a started scream seeing Sirtawmis, the half-orc, arms crossed in front of his chest looking at her. “It’s charming when someone sees me and screams,” he smirked. “Really hits on the good looks I feel may be suffering.”
“It has nothing to do with your looks,” AEDorsay snapped. “I just wasn’t expecting anyone else out here in the dark of the woods.”
“Least of all a half-orc,” Sirtawmis laughed. “Someone who has the blood of your greatest enemy.”
“My people’s enemy is not my enemy,” AEDorsay replied, her hands firmly on her hips. “And my people’s views are not my views. I am an individual with my own beliefs and my own views. I am not to be lumped in as some generalization!”
“Did not say you were,” Sirtawmis shrugged. “Listen. What you did back there. You can not blame yourself. IAMSposta knew what he was – that star fragment or whatever. He was using that knowledge in hopes of getting in close to the hag, Mealladh, and use you to ‘awaken’ AllMighty at that point. But he got himself into trouble with the bullywugs and didn’t see a way out – so he used his plan then and there. Regardless, he was going to use you to ‘awaken’ AllMighty and give him the knowledge and power to return to the stars. Whether it was then or now or later, people were going to get hurt, possibly die. But if it meant restoring the OGL Tower, he was going to do it.”
“What is this damn OGL Tower?” AEDorsay asked.
“It’s a tower,” IAMSposta’s voice cut in as he stepped out from the shadows, “that exists here in the Fey Realm. From this tower, it broadcasts all the magic that fills this realm, and thus, pours into the … what do you call it? Mid-Realm? The place where you … mortals… dwell?”
“Prime Material,” Sirtawmis sighed.
“Yes, so the magic pours from here into that ‘Prime Material’ Realm of yours,” IAMSposta began to explain. “That’s why here in the Fey Realm your magic is more powerful, AEDorsay, and you were able to help a god return to the stars. And that’s why the Halfling reverted back to the wererat – because on the Prime plane, it’s weaker – here, the curse is much stronger so he’s not able to control his form. And the half-orc is right. I was using you – and would have used you against the hag – hoping your power awakening the AllMighty in front of her would have banished her the way it did our companions. Now,” the Satyr shrugged, “I admit I don’t have a back up plan. Because that witch controls the tower which means she controls magic. Once we get close to her, if she detects us, she cuts off the power – and we lose all magic while she keeps hers. So we need to find a way to get her out of the OGL Tower, and destroy her, so the magic is neutral again.”
Back at the camp, “… and that’s why I don’t think Sirtawmis is the half-orc he claims to be,” ChoirOfFire explained to Amnon_Balderk and Quar1on. BoringBard who had been traveling with ChoirOfFire nodded his dragonborn head in agreement.
“There was even a look he gave when Stertle09 – rest in peace – mentioned Lord Bhasmhor, who had sired Stertle09 into a vampire… the look Sirtawmis gave when he heard that name,” the dragonborn added. “He thinks no one noticed, but I did,” the bard nodded. “It’s my job to notice these small details. And I noticed.”
“So if he’s not this half-orc that knows the Satyr,” Amnon_Black began, “then who is he really?”
“I suspect he’s,” ChoirOfFire began.
At that moment Sirtawmis, AEDorsay and IAMSposta returned to the camp. “Why’s everyone look so suspicious right now?” Sirtawmis asked, sitting down and poking the fire with a stick, sending embers floating towards the sky.
Just remembered my last regular D&D group I ran, no one was human. I guess that may be more common these days. Next most recent D&D game I ran was set in Humblewood, where there are no humans or core races (you pick from options among Humblefolk and Birdfolk). Never really dwelled on that much.
My current live game I run, there are no humans (Aasimar Twilight Cleric, Tiefling Paladin Redemption, Goliath Monk of the Four Elements, Tabaxi Rogue Soul Knife). My "off week" game as I call it, I run is: A Halfling Rogue, A Half-Elf Warlock/Druid, a Human Warlock/Paladin. So one human in there. My normal game I run is: Air Genasi (Rogue), High Elf (Cleric), Tiefling (Artificer), Half-Elf (Ranger), Gnome (Wizard), Human (Paladin) so one human traveling with a lot of non humans. My monthly game I run is: Half-Elf (Monk), Human (Monk), Half-Orc (Paladin that acts more like a Barbarian), Gnome (Wizard), Tiefling (Bard), Water Genasi (Druid). So again, one human, traveling with a bunch of non humans.
So, looking at it - humans are rarely selected in my campaigns that I run.
I see humans a bit in my games. However, I had this one player, and while it wasn’t what he played every game… he was almost always a human fighter. Male or female, any subclass, and always with a cool backstory. But human fighter he was!
In the game I’m playing in (nothing to GM right now! Soon though…) we have a human, elf, human, dwarf, and warforged. I’m one of the humans and we have one more player joining soon (he couldn’t make the first sessions so our GM wrote up a little introduction storyline for him). The fact that we’re almost all core races is funny, but our ages also go as follows. 28, 26, 18, 57, SO OLD WE DON’T KNOW HOW OLD HE IS. That damn warforged is played by someone who played a warforged last time. I kid you not, so far it’s the same character but he actually cares about one party member instead of none.
Heh - was going through the hard drive and found the silly story that was being written... figured, maybe start wrapping that up, otherwise my brain remembering I started this will not be happy... so we begin moving towards a conclusion...
Writer’s Note: This madness is something out of sheer boredom. It all began when AllMightyLordOfDND assigned races and classes to people who were participating in the thread. He was basing it on people’s responses, avatars, signatures (I am not sure what his formula was). But I was bored, and decided to start writing… I can’t even call it a story. I will call it an “Attempt To Curb My Boredom.” It keeps going, and no idea how long it will even go for. I have no plans where this story is going, as the conversations in the thread often dictate where the story is headed.
Part 20 – Closer to ending this… You thought they were dead?
His goblin laughter of joy rang through the mist. Theology of Bagels sat up. “Alas! I am dead! I am united with my deity! The one who saved me! The great Biadh! Make yourself known to me! I, who have followed you so faithfully since that day you rescued me from that arid desert! Show yourself to me, my lord! I am here to bear witness to your great visage!”
Antonsirius, the Kobold Druid, sat up from the mist. “My head hurts.”
Theology of Bagels stared in disbelief. “You are not Biadh!”
“No,” Antonsirius replied, matter-of-factly. “But you should already know that. We’ve been talking for weeks now. How hard did you hit your head that you’ve already forgotten my name?”
Theology of Bagels was confused. “Biadh be praised!” he finally said, raising his hands in jubilation. “You have brought with me, Antonsirius! Even though he is not a believer, your great power brings him here to your incredible realm to bear witness to your great power and visage! Show him, my master! Show him and make him a believer.”
The_Summoning_Dark sat up. “Wow. That was quite a ride.”
Theology of Bagels spun on his goblin feet. “You! You’re here too? My god has brought us all here? Together? This is incredible! Perhaps his gluttony for showing off his magnificent power is equaled by his gluttony for food! Then if this is true! Show us! Show us great, Biadh! Show us your amazing gluttonous power! Your bulging visage!”
Drakenbrine, the dwarf sorcerer stood up (it required standing due to his short stature, in order to be noticed). “Listen lad, I don’t know what you’re goin’ on about, but that racket is poundin’ in me head, lad. Ye think ye can keep it down?”
“Keep it down!? Are you mad! You have all been brought here to the misty realm of Biadh to behold his gluttonous visage! We must all open our hearts, and our stomachs, to his devouring ways!” Theology of Bagels shouted, louder than ever before.
Thorrison, the massive Giff ranger came into the mist. “Gods, all that noise I am surprised you don’t have every manner of beast descending on you.”
Antonsirius looked at Theology of Bagels, “At least that one is a tad on the gluttonous side.”
“What’s all the racket?” Thorrison asked.
“Theology thinks we’re in his deity’s afterlife realm,” Antonsirius shrugged looking around his misty surroundings.
“What?” Thorrison asked. “He thinks we’re dead?”
“How else do you explain the misty realm? It’s the realm of my great deity!” Theology pronounced.
“No, you idiot,” Thorrison growled. “Keep it down. We’re not dead. But we’re also not in the Fey Realm anymore. Apparently the lot of us all got shunted back to the normal world. We’re in Mist Haven, just southeast of Freehold where all this began. It would seem when the deity ‘awakened’ he shunted us back. I am not sure where the others are.”
The others… in the Fey Realm…
“Do you think any of them could have survived AllMightyLordOfDND returning back to the stars?” AEDorsay asked, fidgeting with her tattered robes.
“You need not feel guilty,” Midnightplat, the changeling rogue, said, patting her on the back. “You returned a fragment of a deity constellation back to its proper place with your magic.”
“But,” she whispered, “it may have cost them their lives.”
Wysperra who was back to his Halfling wererat form twitched his nose. “I’ve never seen an Elf so remorseful for someone who wasn’t an elf.”
“We’re not all like that you know,” AEDorsay growled as she stood up, pulling her shredded robes around her and walking off.
“I didn’t mean to offend her,” Wysperra shrugged looking about the others, his rat-like beady eyes reflecting the camp fire’s flames.
AEDorsay was stomping through the woods when she let out a started scream seeing Sirtawmis, the half-orc, arms crossed in front of his chest looking at her. “It’s charming when someone sees me and screams,” he smirked. “Really hits on the good looks I feel may be suffering.”
“It has nothing to do with your looks,” AEDorsay snapped. “I just wasn’t expecting anyone else out here in the dark of the woods.”
“Least of all a half-orc,” Sirtawmis laughed. “Someone who has the blood of your greatest enemy.”
“My people’s enemy is not my enemy,” AEDorsay replied, her hands firmly on her hips. “And my people’s views are not my views. I am an individual with my own beliefs and my own views. I am not to be lumped in as some generalization!”
“Did not say you were,” Sirtawmis shrugged. “Listen. What you did back there. You can not blame yourself. IAMSposta knew what he was – that star fragment or whatever. He was using that knowledge in hopes of getting in close to the hag, Mealladh, and use you to ‘awaken’ AllMighty at that point. But he got himself into trouble with the bullywugs and didn’t see a way out – so he used his plan then and there. Regardless, he was going to use you to ‘awaken’ AllMighty and give him the knowledge and power to return to the stars. Whether it was then or now or later, people were going to get hurt, possibly die. But if it meant restoring the OGL Tower, he was going to do it.”
“What is this damn OGL Tower?” AEDorsay asked.
“It’s a tower,” IAMSposta’s voice cut in as he stepped out from the shadows, “that exists here in the Fey Realm. From this tower, it broadcasts all the magic that fills this realm, and thus, pours into the … what do you call it? Mid-Realm? The place where you … mortals… dwell?”
“Prime Material,” Sirtawmis sighed.
“Yes, so the magic pours from here into that ‘Prime Material’ Realm of yours,” IAMSposta began to explain. “That’s why here in the Fey Realm your magic is more powerful, AEDorsay, and you were able to help a god return to the stars. And that’s why the Halfling reverted back to the wererat – because on the Prime plane, it’s weaker – here, the curse is much stronger so he’s not able to control his form. And the half-orc is right. I was using you – and would have used you against the hag – hoping your power awakening the AllMighty in front of her would have banished her the way it did our companions. Now,” the Satyr shrugged, “I admit I don’t have a back up plan. Because that witch controls the tower which means she controls magic. Once we get close to her, if she detects us, she cuts off the power – and we lose all magic while she keeps hers. So we need to find a way to get her out of the OGL Tower, and destroy her, so the magic is neutral again.”
Back at the camp, “… and that’s why I don’t think Sirtawmis is the half-orc he claims to be,” ChoirOfFire explained to Amnon_Balderk and Quar1on. BoringBard who had been traveling with ChoirOfFire nodded his dragonborn head in agreement.
“There was even a look he gave when Stertle09 – rest in peace – mentioned Lord Bhasmhor, who had sired Stertle09 into a vampire… the look Sirtawmis gave when he heard that name,” the dragonborn added. “He thinks no one noticed, but I did,” the bard nodded. “It’s my job to notice these small details. And I noticed.”
“So if he’s not this half-orc that knows the Satyr,” Amnon_Black began, “then who is he really?”
“I suspect he’s,” ChoirOfFire began.
At that moment Sirtawmis, AEDorsay and IAMSposta returned to the camp. “Why’s everyone look so suspicious right now?” Sirtawmis asked, sitting down and poking the fire with a stick, sending embers floating towards the sky.
To Be Continued... or concluded... we shall see.
You can’t hear it, but I’ve got some applause for you. It may be off-the-cuff, but it’s a good story.
Most of my players have very rarely played a human, and the reason for it is they have no special abilities, lol.
I do have a couple, though, who play almost exclusively human.
Each of the five kinds of human have some Talent and some Trait. Ok, all the races have a talent and a trait, and these are their special abilities. They also have a weakness -- an example is Thalasians are a river and sea folk human. they don't get the long breath or breathing underwater options, but they have a natural affinity for currents -- both in the air (wind) and int he water (river).
They do gain advantage on rolls involving water, but they gain disadvantage on rolls involving earth (and stone, but not sand/particulates).
It isn't much, but advantage on a save versus a water bolt for damage is useful, and I have 12 different elemental bolts to deal with, lol.
Which gets me to a new question:
What are your elements?
I have 12. Air, Earth, Fire, Spirit, Water of course -- I am relying on a lot of rule of five stuff.
But I also have Frost, Lightning, Sand, Smoke, Stone, Sun, and Thunder, because I am not using the whole "rock-paper-scissors" kind of elemental thing. A lot of folks will point out that Stone and Earth are the same (and sosand would be as well) and while they aren't wrong, for the purpose of this one should treat Earth as "soil" -- loose. Sand is actually all manner of particulate solid material. Which to some folks puts it close to smoke, which is fogs, smokes and the like.
It doesn't makes sense, but it isn't supposed to -- there is a sense of "magic", of "wonder" in play around it.
I technically have 13: Void is an element. But is also Void. THe last wizard to conjure a void blast died when half of him was sucked into it. Vacuum of space kind of thing, lol.
All of that and I still have paracelsus' four Elemental Lords. I don't use his terms, though -- undines, sylphs, and salamanders are all merely examples of beings, and Sylphs aren't elementals.
But I do have fun with elementals: there are elemental versions of all manner of animals. Starting with the Phoenix and Thunderbird, there are bird forms of all the elements (three each: predator, prey, and song). Same for Wolf, Cat, Bear, and so forth. Those are elementals. and that, in turn, means that the sentient Elementals are all versions of the same thing for them.
I only have one adventure that actively involves one on the list (in the Ocean's 11-13 series based heist adventure), and that's down the road so haven't looked too closely yet.
Spent the last two days playing around with video like a fool instead o working. I do mean playing - I ended up putting together a nearly 20 minute "introduction" video that I need to trim down to something tolerable, lol.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
My elements are quite similar to the base four. However, I’ve recently borrowed from Pathfinder to add in wood and metal. I’m using these in my world prep because I like the idea of more elements, but I’m not sure that I will keep them (in their current form at least) due to issues with how it feels thematically to me. I definitely will have more than four, but it’s been a process to figure out what I will bring in. I do know that I will not be using aether or void (or whatever other names you call these by) because they have too much around them when it comes to things that have already been written. I am considering an element of light, however, along with one of spirit. The spirit thing I could go deeper into. So I will!
So, in my world we have ghosts (One of the worlds. Not the one I’m working on. A different one… Don’t worry. I’ve narrowed my worlds down to only two that I’m actively working on.). These ghosts are the echoes of a person in the final instants before they were dead. However, for a ghost to form, electricity must have been involved in the final moments of their life. Electricity stimulates the body for an instant and ghosts are born of the final electrical impulses running through the synapses of the brain. The ghost acts on the final thoughts, which are usually very simple for most people. These ghosts cause shivers because of the currents that create them (like when you get a shock because your socks are just wooly enough to rub on the carpet and build up some static) and they can manipulate (small) objects and things that run on electricity. In addition, an unnamed type of mage that can manipulate electricity is all about controlling and altering ghosts.
How do ghosts work in your world? And do you have electricity?
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If everything is fantastical, nothing is.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
For my world - because elves and dwarves live so long - their population remains low. Halflings, who take their lives slow, don't spread around to the various environments, kept their population low.
Humans, with their short life spans, spread like vermin.
And then, in my world, the orc god, furious that the other gods of light claimed so much land (elves in the forests, dwarves in the mountains, halfling in the hills) - he cut his palm and bled his blood into the the world - and humans tainted by the blood turned into the first orcs - which makes orcs the highest population on that side of things. (His blood reigning down on the world had other rippling effects - such as the creation of beholders, blights (the monsters) were an effect, as corrupted plants, and on and on and on)...
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
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Which world…
All joking aside, the one that I’ve put the most work into has humans as the default race simply because they’re the oldest. Other races are newer to the land because they originated on a distant continent. Humans were the original inhabitants of this core continent and so they remain the majority. In addition, as SirTawmis says, longer lifespans lead to creatures such as elves and dwarves reproducing less frequently than humans.
However, the other world I’m working on has humans as the main ancestry for a different reason. Humans are free in this land, but the other ancestries, Nisse, Vattir, Loa, Draguür, and Sidhe are all hunted by the tyrant of this land. They must travel elsewhere or hide away until someone can free the land from his reign.
Basically, my worlds focus on areas where humans are more prevalent to create a setting that’s more familiar, as both worlds are otherwise very different from the fantasy norm, so that players can ease in more naturally.
Because we need an in-group of "normal people" against which we can contrast the lazy halflings, alcoholic dwarves, effeminate elves, degenerate goblins... [/sarcasm]
I now realize that you could have been asking about the worldbuilding reason, so I'll answer that too. My world uses slightly modified Greek mythology, so the first humans were molded from clay by Prometheus, the titan of knowledge. They were prosperous, and quickly spread throughout the world, and as such they garnered much jealousy from other gods, especially those of Olympus. Being a benevolent titan (and quite possibly fearing the wrath of Olympus), he gave a man to each of the Olympians. As creatures of clay, each gifted man was free to be molded into the image of their respective gods. Athena made elves, Hephaestus made dwarves, Hermes made gnomes, Apollo and Dionysus together made halflings, Hades made tieflings (and quite possibly aasimar, if I add them in later), Poseidon made tritons, and Ares made goblinoids (including orcs).
All the races spread out around the world and many became unparalleled masters in the crafts and abilities of their god, but since they were twice molded none were nearly as adaptable as humans, who could yet mold themselves to conquer any challenge and adapt to any land.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
The Humans in my campaign world got their asses handed to them and they had to beg shelter from the Elves and Dwarves. At that time they were a definite minority.
Over the course of hundreds of years the Human population outpaced those of their hosts and they began to see an uptick in their influence even though there is still some social stigma of being lesser citizens.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Humans aren’t really the default. Dwarves have similar populations but the majority of them stay in their subterranean kingdoms. Most Halflings prefer to live in small, rural communities separated from the noise and hubbub of city life. Gnomes mostly enjoy solitude, building small hidden communities that others don’t see. Elves might not be playable in my world, though I am not completely sure about that. Dragonborn are naturally tolerant to extreme environments so they often establish settlements in places that humans don’t often go. I will stop now because there are to many species to list here.
Most settlements that my characters go to will have much diversity. If Dragonborn and Gnomes exist in my world then I want to use them. Most NPCs my characters meet won’t be humans.
Cause the original sentient species were humans, but contact with powerful entities mutated groups of them into elfs, dwarves, gnome, hobbits, and all the other base races that have their own civilization. This is on a fly kind of thing cause I procrastinate. Don't call it basic.
MY INFO
While I can see that you are joking, this brings up something that I’ve thought long about. Humans are nice because they’re familiar, but more so, they are the way by which we create a very jack-of-all-trades character. We can picture the qualities of other peoples (dwarves, elves, etc.) as definable traits and clear abilities that they can have so that we can create creatures that synergy well with certain builds. Humans, however, we can’t really define abilities for. We are the base from which we create all other playable races. We thus have humans to be our anything. They can take on any role with ease and they’ve been a mainstay in fantasy for years.
My own answer is that humans were there "first".
All the sentient races but two on my world are descended from the original humans -- my elfs and dwarfs do not have the long lifespan stuff (though Cambion, Seraph, and Faery do) -- all the species basically live around 125 years, with only the last 20 being "old", the exceptions having longer lives but not in a way that passes on.
That includes Imps, Goblins, Orcs (half goblin, and seriously messed up), grendels, Thyrs (bugbears), and the like.
An unknown people, Dragons, and Meka are all technically exceptions. Dragons were there first, impacted by terraforming, and they really don't like all these people. THe mystery race is a mystery. Even I don't know anything about them yet except they exist, they hang out with deer centaurs and dragons, and factor in during the 18th level plus part of the main campaign. So I got time.
Meka are constructs, like Golems and Dreadnoughts (horizon zero dawn robots, lol). THey are animated by a miasmatic spirit, so really are possessed machines, lol, featuring a "modern westworld" brain marble. It is weird, I admit.
So, really, almost all the peoples are human -- it is differences in what they can do that make a determination. My dwarfs are logistical types -- seabees, if you are familiar with that. Elfs are more like Rangers and green berets. Tritons are sailors and marines. Imps and Goblins fill in the "survival soldier" and the engineer side for the "bad guys". And if it souns really militaristic, that is because they became those things during a war that lasted 500 years and wiped out 99% of the population.
(really. and 80% of that was before magic came along).
That was 1500 years ago, and is still having an impact today.
I also have only one "racial homeland" for PC races, and that's the animal ears people. kemonomimi. And they got it because they were meant to survive the war. The bad guys got pushed to their places by the end of the war (which is a deus ex machina of the highest order) and that fuels their being pissed because they almost won.
All the rest are very mixed, with enclaves in major cities and the occasional village or maybe a town that is mostly one sort. The big cities have clan halls for dwarfs and Communes for Elfs. Ports will have grottoes for Tritons.
I do have a lot of half breeds, and I used Halfling as the collective term for them. Half-elf, half dwarf, dwarf-elf, half triton all come out as Fay, Gnome, Spright, and Iaran. Ogres are technically one quarter goblin, but the changes to goblins made them oviparous.
I don't have the mainline races, obviously, lol. No avian ones, either.
So humans are the majority because they have always been the majority, and they tend to stay the default, genetically overriding the others. insofar as genetics could be counted on in a world where people can have blue, pink, green, and purple hair. All at once.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
While there are many humans in my world, they're not available as a PC option because every human in my world is secretly a Mercury Dragon.
I kid, but I saw the thread fell onto the second page, so...
Just remembered my last regular D&D group I ran, no one was human. I guess that may be more common these days. Next most recent D&D game I ran was set in Humblewood, where there are no humans or core races (you pick from options among Humblefolk and Birdfolk). Never really dwelled on that much.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
My current live game I run, there are no humans (Aasimar Twilight Cleric, Tiefling Paladin Redemption, Goliath Monk of the Four Elements, Tabaxi Rogue Soul Knife).
My "off week" game as I call it, I run is: A Halfling Rogue, A Half-Elf Warlock/Druid, a Human Warlock/Paladin. So one human in there.
My normal game I run is: Air Genasi (Rogue), High Elf (Cleric), Tiefling (Artificer), Half-Elf (Ranger), Gnome (Wizard), Human (Paladin) so one human traveling with a lot of non humans.
My monthly game I run is: Half-Elf (Monk), Human (Monk), Half-Orc (Paladin that acts more like a Barbarian), Gnome (Wizard), Tiefling (Bard), Water Genasi (Druid). So again, one human, traveling with a bunch of non humans.
So, looking at it - humans are rarely selected in my campaigns that I run.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
I play a human in a play by post party with two halflings and a Furling (basically a reskinned Gnome sorta Fox folk).
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Humans (and Hin) are a hybrid race created through the interbreeding of Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Ogres, and Orcs. They all used to be able to interbreed, but all the interbreeding lead to the creation of two godless mutt races and the gods agreed to put aside their differences and place a planet wide geas on everyone that from then on, blood could only breed with blood. So elves for example could only breed with people who were at least part elf, and orcs could only breed with people who were at least part orc, etc. Since all humans (and hin) have a li’l bit of everything in them, if an elf or orc bread with a human (or hin) you would get a half-elf or half-orc. Same for dwarves, gnomes, goblinoids, and ogres. And since orcs and bugbears have a li’l ogre in them they can breed with ogres and make ogrillon as opposed to regular half-ogres you get if an ogre breeds with a human. The geas still holds to this day, and blood can only breed with blood. In fact, the word “human” is a derivative of the orcish word “humie” (pronounced oo-mē) which means “mongrel.” Since humans are the “universal breeders,” they breed a lot, especially with each other. And if two different half-humans were to interbreed, such as a half-elf and a half-orc, the human halves breed true, and any resulting offspring would be essentially human.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Heh - was going through the hard drive and found the silly story that was being written... figured, maybe start wrapping that up, otherwise my brain remembering I started this will not be happy... so we begin moving towards a conclusion...
Writer’s Note: This madness is something out of sheer boredom. It all began when AllMightyLordOfDND assigned races and classes to people who were participating in the thread. He was basing it on people’s responses, avatars, signatures (I am not sure what his formula was). But I was bored, and decided to start writing… I can’t even call it a story. I will call it an “Attempt To Curb My Boredom.” It keeps going, and no idea how long it will even go for. I have no plans where this story is going, as the conversations in the thread often dictate where the story is headed.
Part 1: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=501
Part 2: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=522
Part 3: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=552
Part 4: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=599
Part 5: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=631
Part 6: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=665
Part 7: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=696
Part 8: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=748
Part 9: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=811
Part 10: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=821
Part 11: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=829
Part 12: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=880
Part 13: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=972
Part 14: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=986
Part 15: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=1006
Part 16: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?page=53#c1050
Part 17: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=1141
Part 18: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?page=61#c1221
Part 19: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?page=84#c1677
The Story Map: http://www.tawmis.com/ogl/ogl_map.jpg
The Fey Map: http://www.tawmis.com/ogl/ogl_fey.jpg
Remaining cast so far...
IAMsposta: satyr bard
AEDorsay: elf wizard
Midnightplat: changeling rogue
Wysperra: halfling artificer (Wererat)
Sirtawmis: half-orc fighter
Amnon_Balderk: orc monk
Quar1on: gnome warlock
ChoirOfFire: tielfing paladin
BoringBard: Dragonborn bard
Part 20 – Closer to ending this… You thought they were dead?
His goblin laughter of joy rang through the mist. Theology of Bagels sat up. “Alas! I am dead! I am united with my deity! The one who saved me! The great Biadh! Make yourself known to me! I, who have followed you so faithfully since that day you rescued me from that arid desert! Show yourself to me, my lord! I am here to bear witness to your great visage!”
Antonsirius, the Kobold Druid, sat up from the mist. “My head hurts.”
Theology of Bagels stared in disbelief. “You are not Biadh!”
“No,” Antonsirius replied, matter-of-factly. “But you should already know that. We’ve been talking for weeks now. How hard did you hit your head that you’ve already forgotten my name?”
Theology of Bagels was confused. “Biadh be praised!” he finally said, raising his hands in jubilation. “You have brought with me, Antonsirius! Even though he is not a believer, your great power brings him here to your incredible realm to bear witness to your great power and visage! Show him, my master! Show him and make him a believer.”
The_Summoning_Dark sat up. “Wow. That was quite a ride.”
Theology of Bagels spun on his goblin feet. “You! You’re here too? My god has brought us all here? Together? This is incredible! Perhaps his gluttony for showing off his magnificent power is equaled by his gluttony for food! Then if this is true! Show us! Show us great, Biadh! Show us your amazing gluttonous power! Your bulging visage!”
Drakenbrine, the dwarf sorcerer stood up (it required standing due to his short stature, in order to be noticed). “Listen lad, I don’t know what you’re goin’ on about, but that racket is poundin’ in me head, lad. Ye think ye can keep it down?”
“Keep it down!? Are you mad! You have all been brought here to the misty realm of Biadh to behold his gluttonous visage! We must all open our hearts, and our stomachs, to his devouring ways!” Theology of Bagels shouted, louder than ever before.
Thorrison, the massive Giff ranger came into the mist. “Gods, all that noise I am surprised you don’t have every manner of beast descending on you.”
Antonsirius looked at Theology of Bagels, “At least that one is a tad on the gluttonous side.”
“What’s all the racket?” Thorrison asked.
“Theology thinks we’re in his deity’s afterlife realm,” Antonsirius shrugged looking around his misty surroundings.
“What?” Thorrison asked. “He thinks we’re dead?”
“How else do you explain the misty realm? It’s the realm of my great deity!” Theology pronounced.
“No, you idiot,” Thorrison growled. “Keep it down. We’re not dead. But we’re also not in the Fey Realm anymore. Apparently the lot of us all got shunted back to the normal world. We’re in Mist Haven, just southeast of Freehold where all this began. It would seem when the deity ‘awakened’ he shunted us back. I am not sure where the others are.”
The others… in the Fey Realm…
“Do you think any of them could have survived AllMightyLordOfDND returning back to the stars?” AEDorsay asked, fidgeting with her tattered robes.
“You need not feel guilty,” Midnightplat, the changeling rogue, said, patting her on the back. “You returned a fragment of a deity constellation back to its proper place with your magic.”
“But,” she whispered, “it may have cost them their lives.”
Wysperra who was back to his Halfling wererat form twitched his nose. “I’ve never seen an Elf so remorseful for someone who wasn’t an elf.”
“We’re not all like that you know,” AEDorsay growled as she stood up, pulling her shredded robes around her and walking off.
“I didn’t mean to offend her,” Wysperra shrugged looking about the others, his rat-like beady eyes reflecting the camp fire’s flames.
AEDorsay was stomping through the woods when she let out a started scream seeing Sirtawmis, the half-orc, arms crossed in front of his chest looking at her. “It’s charming when someone sees me and screams,” he smirked. “Really hits on the good looks I feel may be suffering.”
“It has nothing to do with your looks,” AEDorsay snapped. “I just wasn’t expecting anyone else out here in the dark of the woods.”
“Least of all a half-orc,” Sirtawmis laughed. “Someone who has the blood of your greatest enemy.”
“My people’s enemy is not my enemy,” AEDorsay replied, her hands firmly on her hips. “And my people’s views are not my views. I am an individual with my own beliefs and my own views. I am not to be lumped in as some generalization!”
“Did not say you were,” Sirtawmis shrugged. “Listen. What you did back there. You can not blame yourself. IAMSposta knew what he was – that star fragment or whatever. He was using that knowledge in hopes of getting in close to the hag, Mealladh, and use you to ‘awaken’ AllMighty at that point. But he got himself into trouble with the bullywugs and didn’t see a way out – so he used his plan then and there. Regardless, he was going to use you to ‘awaken’ AllMighty and give him the knowledge and power to return to the stars. Whether it was then or now or later, people were going to get hurt, possibly die. But if it meant restoring the OGL Tower, he was going to do it.”
“What is this damn OGL Tower?” AEDorsay asked.
“It’s a tower,” IAMSposta’s voice cut in as he stepped out from the shadows, “that exists here in the Fey Realm. From this tower, it broadcasts all the magic that fills this realm, and thus, pours into the … what do you call it? Mid-Realm? The place where you … mortals… dwell?”
“Prime Material,” Sirtawmis sighed.
“Yes, so the magic pours from here into that ‘Prime Material’ Realm of yours,” IAMSposta began to explain. “That’s why here in the Fey Realm your magic is more powerful, AEDorsay, and you were able to help a god return to the stars. And that’s why the Halfling reverted back to the wererat – because on the Prime plane, it’s weaker – here, the curse is much stronger so he’s not able to control his form. And the half-orc is right. I was using you – and would have used you against the hag – hoping your power awakening the AllMighty in front of her would have banished her the way it did our companions. Now,” the Satyr shrugged, “I admit I don’t have a back up plan. Because that witch controls the tower which means she controls magic. Once we get close to her, if she detects us, she cuts off the power – and we lose all magic while she keeps hers. So we need to find a way to get her out of the OGL Tower, and destroy her, so the magic is neutral again.”
Back at the camp, “… and that’s why I don’t think Sirtawmis is the half-orc he claims to be,” ChoirOfFire explained to Amnon_Balderk and Quar1on. BoringBard who had been traveling with ChoirOfFire nodded his dragonborn head in agreement.
“There was even a look he gave when Stertle09 – rest in peace – mentioned Lord Bhasmhor, who had sired Stertle09 into a vampire… the look Sirtawmis gave when he heard that name,” the dragonborn added. “He thinks no one noticed, but I did,” the bard nodded. “It’s my job to notice these small details. And I noticed.”
“So if he’s not this half-orc that knows the Satyr,” Amnon_Black began, “then who is he really?”
“I suspect he’s,” ChoirOfFire began.
At that moment Sirtawmis, AEDorsay and IAMSposta returned to the camp. “Why’s everyone look so suspicious right now?” Sirtawmis asked, sitting down and poking the fire with a stick, sending embers floating towards the sky.
To Be Continued... or concluded... we shall see.
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I see humans a bit in my games. However, I had this one player, and while it wasn’t what he played every game… he was almost always a human fighter. Male or female, any subclass, and always with a cool backstory. But human fighter he was!
In the game I’m playing in (nothing to GM right now! Soon though…) we have a human, elf, human, dwarf, and warforged. I’m one of the humans and we have one more player joining soon (he couldn’t make the first sessions so our GM wrote up a little introduction storyline for him). The fact that we’re almost all core races is funny, but our ages also go as follows. 28, 26, 18, 57, SO OLD WE DON’T KNOW HOW OLD HE IS. That damn warforged is played by someone who played a warforged last time. I kid you not, so far it’s the same character but he actually cares about one party member instead of none.
You can’t hear it, but I’ve got some applause for you. It may be off-the-cuff, but it’s a good story.
Most of my players have very rarely played a human, and the reason for it is they have no special abilities, lol.
I do have a couple, though, who play almost exclusively human.
Each of the five kinds of human have some Talent and some Trait. Ok, all the races have a talent and a trait, and these are their special abilities. They also have a weakness -- an example is Thalasians are a river and sea folk human. they don't get the long breath or breathing underwater options, but they have a natural affinity for currents -- both in the air (wind) and int he water (river).
They do gain advantage on rolls involving water, but they gain disadvantage on rolls involving earth (and stone, but not sand/particulates).
It isn't much, but advantage on a save versus a water bolt for damage is useful, and I have 12 different elemental bolts to deal with, lol.
Which gets me to a new question:
What are your elements?
I have 12. Air, Earth, Fire, Spirit, Water of course -- I am relying on a lot of rule of five stuff.
But I also have Frost, Lightning, Sand, Smoke, Stone, Sun, and Thunder, because I am not using the whole "rock-paper-scissors" kind of elemental thing. A lot of folks will point out that Stone and Earth are the same (and sosand would be as well) and while they aren't wrong, for the purpose of this one should treat Earth as "soil" -- loose. Sand is actually all manner of particulate solid material. Which to some folks puts it close to smoke, which is fogs, smokes and the like.
It doesn't makes sense, but it isn't supposed to -- there is a sense of "magic", of "wonder" in play around it.
I technically have 13: Void is an element. But is also Void. THe last wizard to conjure a void blast died when half of him was sucked into it. Vacuum of space kind of thing, lol.
All of that and I still have paracelsus' four Elemental Lords. I don't use his terms, though -- undines, sylphs, and salamanders are all merely examples of beings, and Sylphs aren't elementals.
But I do have fun with elementals: there are elemental versions of all manner of animals. Starting with the Phoenix and Thunderbird, there are bird forms of all the elements (three each: predator, prey, and song). Same for Wolf, Cat, Bear, and so forth. Those are elementals. and that, in turn, means that the sentient Elementals are all versions of the same thing for them.
I only have one adventure that actively involves one on the list (in the Ocean's 11-13 series based heist adventure), and that's down the road so haven't looked too closely yet.
Spent the last two days playing around with video like a fool instead o working. I do mean playing - I ended up putting together a nearly 20 minute "introduction" video that I need to trim down to something tolerable, lol.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
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My elements are quite similar to the base four. However, I’ve recently borrowed from Pathfinder to add in wood and metal. I’m using these in my world prep because I like the idea of more elements, but I’m not sure that I will keep them (in their current form at least) due to issues with how it feels thematically to me. I definitely will have more than four, but it’s been a process to figure out what I will bring in. I do know that I will not be using aether or void (or whatever other names you call these by) because they have too much around them when it comes to things that have already been written. I am considering an element of light, however, along with one of spirit. The spirit thing I could go deeper into. So I will!
So, in my world we have ghosts (One of the worlds. Not the one I’m working on. A different one… Don’t worry. I’ve narrowed my worlds down to only two that I’m actively working on.). These ghosts are the echoes of a person in the final instants before they were dead. However, for a ghost to form, electricity must have been involved in the final moments of their life. Electricity stimulates the body for an instant and ghosts are born of the final electrical impulses running through the synapses of the brain. The ghost acts on the final thoughts, which are usually very simple for most people. These ghosts cause shivers because of the currents that create them (like when you get a shock because your socks are just wooly enough to rub on the carpet and build up some static) and they can manipulate (small) objects and things that run on electricity. In addition, an unnamed type of mage that can manipulate electricity is all about controlling and altering ghosts.
How do ghosts work in your world? And do you have electricity?