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Monday, September 3, 2012

A Gaggle of Random Races

First - a commercial message

If you've been waiting for a Lulu sale to buy Blood & Treasure, wait no longer


Now then ... random races. When I'm stuck for something to write, either for the blog or a hexcrawl, I often venture into one of the many fine random generators floating around the internet. Thus - some random races. All of these races were generated at Abulafia, a site I highly recommend for referees and writers.

In each of these cases, I'll present the product of the generator, and then some notes on how I would interpret this, along with a race write-up for Blood & Treasure.

WHITE GNOMES

"This culture is made up of Gnomes, they are known for their long, white hair and long beards. They are known for their feistyness, they are usually considered to have minds that are practically non-existent and in battle they are known to untrustful of officers, their favored tactic is destruction by plague. They are organized into towns lead by a king who takes his place by being elected. The race worships the death god, they make weekly sacrifices to their god(s). They are known to possess magic including clerical magic and sorcery."

Sounds like these gnomes are morons, and a bit on the chaotic side. They are almost like the anti-gnomes - death worshipers, and with some spell casting ability.

White gnomes are abysmal little creatures, members of the unseelie court who resemble their normal kin save that they are hairy little brutes with long white hair and long white beards on the males. White gnomes have very dark, macabre senses of humor, and they seem to take a grim satisfaction in the misfortunes of others.

White gnomes are small creatures with a base speed of 20 feet. They have darkvision to a range of 60 feet and have a knack for listening at doors.

White gnomes are as rugged little folk, but a bit short on brains. They add one point to their starting constitution scores, but lose one point of their starting intelligence score. These ability modifications cannot increase a score above 18 or reduce it below 3.

White gnomes have a natural affinity for death and death magic. A white gnome with a charisma score of 10 or higher can cast the following spells, each once per day: Inflict minor wounds, bane and doom.

White gnomes speak Common and Gnome. They might also speak Dwarf, Goblin, Hill Giant, Orc, Sylvan and the language of nocturnal mammals.

White gnomes can multi-class as cleric/fighters, cleric/magic-users or cleric/thieves.

GULLINBURSTI
"This culture is made up of Half-Orcs, they are known for their long, golden hair and nonexistent beards. They are known for their acceptance, they are usually considered to have minds that are practically non-existent and in battle they are known to mutinous , their favored tactic is a slow artillery supported advance. They are organized into republics lead by a council who takes his place by killing his predecessors. The race worships the gods of war, they make offerings of food on mondays to their god(s). They are known to possess magic including battle magic and wild magic."
Half-orcs with golden hair. First thing that came to my mind was gullinbursti, the golden boar from Norse mythology.

Gullinbursti are half-orcs with a strong strain of elf blood (so it's no surprise they are outcasts and loners). They have the faces of orcs with long, golden hair on their heads, and shorter fur on the rest of their body. Gullinsbursti have a more intelligent look in their eyes than most half-orcs.

Gullinbursti are medium-sized creatures with a base speed of 30 feet. Their mix of orc and elf blood grants them a one point bonus to their starting strength score, and though they are more urbane than the average half-orc, their piggish faces leave them with a one point penalty to their starting charisma score. These modifications cannot put a score above 18 or below 3.
Gullinbursti have darkvision to 60 feet. They have a 30% magic resistance to sleep and enchantment spells, and are immune to the paralyzing touch of ghouls.

Gullinbursti speak Common. They might also speak Elf, Orc, Gnoll, Goblin, Hill Giant, Ogre or Dragon.

Gullinbursti can multi-class as cleric/fighters, fighter/magic-user and fighter/thief at fist level. If they choose not to multi-class at first level, they can change careers as humans.

MOGS

"This culture is made up of Catmen, they are known for their short, orange hair and long beards. They are known for their acceptance, they are usually considered to be dumb as a box of rocks and in battle they are known to disciplined, their favored tactic is a head-on charge. They are organized into bands lead by a warleader who takes his place by being chosen by his predecessor. The race worships a pantheon of gods, they make offerings of food on mondays to their god(s). They are known to possess magic including prayer magic and clerical magic."

There are plenty of what you might call stereo-typical catmen out there - high dexterity, etc. I'm picturing something more akin to Garfield - lazy, stout bastards who enjoy killing things smaller than they.

Mogs are big-boned cat people with long, orange fur and black tabby markings. They have long "beards" on their chins and narrow eyes that never betray their emotions. Mogs have a penchant for cruelty and bullying, and most people have a tough time trusting them.

Mogs are medium-sized humanoids with a movement rate of 30. They are a sluggish folk, and suffer a one point penalty to their starting dexterity score. Although they prefer to save their energy, they are always on the alert, and enjoy a one point bonus on their starting wisdom score. These modifications cannot put a score above 18 or below 3.

Mogs have darkvision to 60 feet. They are only surprised on a roll of 1 on 1d8 and have a knack for finding secret doors and listening at doors. Mogs become excited when they know a foe is on the ropes, getting a +1 bonus to hit and damage against creatures with fewer than half their starting hit points.

Mogs speak Common and their own tongue. They might also speak Dwarf, Elf, Gnoll, Goblin and Halfling.

Mogs cannot multi-class, as they are simply too lazy to be bothered.

HOBORKS

"This culture is made up of Hoborks, they are known for their short, red hair and short beards. They are known for their generosity, they are usually considered genius and in battle they are known to attack at the right moment, their favored tactic is an ambush. They are organized into bands lead by a warleader who takes his place by being elected. The race worships Order Gods, they make offerings of weapons to their god(s). They are known to possess no magic."

Illustration by the great Tony DiTerlizzi
This one works based on the word "hoborks" alone. It could be interpreted as hobgoblin-orc crossbreeds, but hobbit-orc crossbreeds would be pretty kick ass as well. For this one, I wanted to base it on a halfling made big and stupid with orc blood.

Hoborks look like large, ugly halflings with black, bristly hair on their heads, feet and hands. They have lank legs and arms and big hands (known for their iron grips) and feet. Hoborks are pig-headed, hamfisted bullies who love a good fight (but not a fair fight).

Hoborks are medium-sized creatures with a movement rate of 20 (due to their bow legs) and darkvision to a range of 120 feet. Hoborks are as tough as nails, and loathe to succumb to pain, so they enjoy a one point bonus to starting constitution. This same pig-headed-ness and "full speed ahead" sort of thinking deprives them of one point of their starting wisdom score. These modifications cannot put a score above 18 or below 3.

Hoborks have a knack for moving silently, for they prefer to surprise foes from behind. Their large hands grant them a +1 bonus on grapple attacks - they are born stranglers.

Hoborks speak Common and Halfling. They might also speak Dwarf, Orc, Goblin, Kobold, or Ogre.

Hoborks can multi-class as cleric/thieves, fighter/thieves and magic-user/thieves at fist level.

9 comments:

  1. I thought Mogs were one part man, one part dog. They're their own best friends. ;)

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  2. Nice - I was playing off the term "moggie" - forgot about that.

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  3. These are great! But when I saw the coupon picture I thought you might do a race of Bardic Banjo playing Baboons! Hey can I put in a request for those?

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  4. Just ordered the hardback and adventure. With the kind of support your doing for this, I just couldn't resist.

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  5. If the next issue of NOD comes out before Friday, I might use this coupon for something.

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