Your Races?

Okay, so I was thinking of putting together a fantasy setting, and was looking at the races to go in it. Thus far I have:

• Humans - Pretty standard fare, with a few exceptions
  • Altenans - White haired and pale skinned, they live much longer than normal.
  • Karijin - Babies are born more proportioned (ie, with smaller heads), which means few deaths in childbirth, and quicker physical development, but slower mental development.
  • Benzar - Short, and often (indeed preferably) 'fat', the extra mass is actually 'water-flesh', allowing them to survive for up to a week in the desert homes without a drink.
  • Varish - Shortish, slightly hunched and bow-legged, they live in jungles where their unusual adaptations allow them to move about much more easily in the treetops.
  • Noralin - Shortish and barrel-bodied, they live in cold places where other humans couldn't (at least for long), their more extensive digestive systems wringing far more nutrients from any bit of food.
  • Whirall - Tall, pale and long-lived, they are humans modified by White Elves to be their servants.
• Dwarves - Short, 'bearded' (the beards are actually fine tentacles covering an altogether non-mammalian mouth), gruff and mysterious as per usual, but definitely non-human in biology.
  • Lightwalkers - taller than normal dwarves, and with a tendency to try to adapt their appearances to look like the locals.
• Elves - The dominant race of a past age, only just breaking even in this one.
  • Vale Elves - Shorter than humans, olive-skinned and forest-dwelling, these guys can be hospitable, as long as you don't attempt to harm their forest homes.
    • Dryads - Fairer skinned than standard, and more relaxed about outsiders.
  • White Elves - Taller than humans, white skinned, and snow-dwelling, who consider themselves superior to their human 'followers' in every way, though this doesn't stop them from employing humans as soldiers.
  • Djinn - About human height, skin of any colour, and can live in many places, although often tied to a single locale or object (be it mobile or otherwise).
  • Merfolk - Slightly smaller than humans, and with iridescent skin. They rarely leave their watery homes.
• Orcs/Orges - Actually one race (ogres are female orcs), they live in nomadic bands, and far from being the vicious barbarians others portray them as, actually quite cultured.
• Goblins - Short, slight and ugly, but intelligent and quick-fingered, they're the settings resident gadgeteers, with a speampunkish level of technology.
• Naga/Lizardmen - Another race often counted as two, naga are simply a sub-species of lizardmen who have continuously growing tails.
  • Gorgons/Medusa (respectively) - subgroups inflicted with a rare disease that causes some of their scales to elongate and go black and floppy, that may resemble hair if not examined closely.
• Werebeasts - Human/animal hydrids. Not really an official race since procreation rarely takes place. Almost always a transformation bestowed on another race (often human) by the dryad.
  • Gnolls - Largish, but hunched and slightly bow legged, gnolls are among the few groups not linked to dryad. Despite their appearance and apparent barbarity, they are normally quite peaceful, and have an actually rather complex culture.
  • Slavehounds - Large anthropomorphic mastiff-types. Dimwitted and servile, they're nevertheless generally well treated, and thus ferociously loyal.
• Thirothrope - Human/animal shapeshifters. Another form of 'gift' from the dryad to non-dryads, although somewhat more 'expensive'.
  • Selkin - Unlike other thirothropes, selkin cannot transform at will, but require magical 'pelts' to do so. They are not limited to only one animal form each though the way others are.
• Deep-Dwellers - Look like vampire squid, but without eyes. They are the world most skilled bioengineers, having created the dwarves, troglodytes and lightmimics
  • Lightmimics - In private they look like D&D Illithids, but in public they can appear like almost anyone. Unlike the dwarves who were almost entirely independent when they surveyed humanity for their masters, lightmimics have a direct psychic connection to their cities, preventing them from even contemplating independence.
  • Broodkeepers - captured during the dwarfish uprising, these creatures have been reduced to poor fair, kept alive only as incubators for dwarven young.
• Demons - Once-humans twisted by dark magic.
  • Succubus - Petite and short by demon standards, they are often the first, secret wave of demon troops, going forth to distract and disorganise other races forces.
  • Incubus - Only slightly more massive than the succubi, incubus pre-empt even they, going forth years before and attacks is even planned to set up secret armies of loyal followers (any child of an incubus is bound to his will).
  • Demonspawn - The child of an incubus or succubus, and bound to the will of their parent.
  • Imps - Child-like in appearance, imps are erratic in their actions, but their tendency to wander makes them excellent scouts.
• Dragons - A former slave-race of the demons who later rebelled.
  • Tengu - Small, intelligent and feathered. Their delicate physique has led them to becoming excellent engineers to make up for it.
  • Cestors - Immense, long-lived and almost invulnerable, these giants rarely interact with others even of their own species, instead seeking solitude to contemplate whatever it is that interests them.
  • Golden-drakes - Much smaller and shorter-lived than cestors but still much larger and longer lived than most other intelligent beings, they are almost the polar opposite of their larger brethren, all but revelling in social contact.
  • Drachrid - Normally not much larger than foxes in their natural state, drachrids are odd looking, with elements of lizards, birds and insects, though given their skill with magic (especially illusion magic) they're rarely seen like this.
  • Kirin - A forest-dwelling race about the size of a large pony, the Kirin are generally friendly and helpful provided you don't attempt to harm their forests. No-one (not even the Kirin themselves) knows what happened to their wings.
• Mocheng - A monkey-like people about the size of a Rhesus Macaque. Although individually not too bright, in groups they can become very intelligent.
• Undead - Quite a varied group here.
  • Borack - The most vital of the undead, they can eat, heal naturally and engage in intercourse (but rarely do). To become a borack, the subject not only has to start out alive, but must also have significant medical and magic knowledge, otherwise the long complex procedure is fatal.
  • Vampires - Blood-drinkers with super-human strength.
    • Blood-Knights - Drink blood, but do little else, though they are also not bothered by daylight. Often their mount is their primary source of blood, and if so is fully under their control.
    • Night-lords - Can turn into a swarm of bats, and control peoples' minds from a distance, but react badly to sunlight.
  • Lichs - Mages who have sought out eternal life, but have been unable to prevent the decay of their bodies.
  • Zombies - The most common undead, and with no limits of skill involved.
    • Borachan Zombie - Almost alive in that they can eat and heal (but not have intercourse).
    • Passover Zombie - A rare condition where people expire, but their soul does not depart their bodies.
    • Skeleton - A physically weak Zombie in which most of the flesh has rotted away , leaving only a bare minimum of muscle-mass and cartilage.
  • Ghost - A soul without a body. May be bound to a particular place or artefact, or free to wander.
• Phoenix - Large colourful birds that can create flames, and if they choose to, bring their eggs to hatching in a moment (though this is fatal for the parent).
• Familiar - A normal animal magically imbued with intelligence, and often bound to the person who gave them intelligence, though not always.
  • Odonfolk - Intelligent dolphins kept by the merfolk as means of long-distance travel.
  • Wildbrothers - Animals bound much more closely to their 'masters' (not necessarily the one doing the binding) than normal, they often share thoughts, and live the same length of time as their masters (often longer than they normally would).
  • Animen - Often considered within the same category, but approaching from the other side, these are humans or other intelligences cursed to live out their lives as an animal, but with a human level of intelligence.
• Godserpents - Immense (longer than Cestor dragons, though also slimmer) beings with long snake-like bodies but also legs that as so flush with magic that they can fly even without wings, and can control the weather. Often erroneously called 'weather dragons' for their scaled hides, though they are entirely unrelated, and indeed predate the dragons.

So what are your races (fantastic or sci-fi)?

edited 27th Apr '14 12:45:44 AM by MattII

My fantasy universe has, at least, the following 'standard' intelligent races:

- Humans (These aren't exactly like humans in our world, though.)

- Elves (A bit smaller than humans, with pointy ears and yellow hair.)

- Dwarves

- Gnomes

- Orcs

- Goblins

- Centaurs (In this setting, a one-gender race. They all look male from a human standpoint, but are hermaphroditic.)

- Merpeople (Mermaids/mermen, collectively.)

- Sprites (They look like women, somewhat smaller than humans, with butterfly wings. Their biochemistry gives them electrical abilities, like electric eels but more advanced.)

- Averans (Basically, flying feathered humanoids. Their wings and arms are separate, giving them six limbs in total.)

- Demons (They're not necessarily bad people, whatever the name implies.)

- Ogres

- Hobbits (Smaller than dwarves, similar in size to gnomes and goblins.)

- Saureans (Basically, reptilian humanoids with tails.)

- Nagas (Like sprites, a superficially female one-gender race.)

- Dragons

- Selkies (Another one-gender race, but unlike sprites and nagas, they are unable to reproduce among themselves and use human males to reproduce; female children are selkies, male children are normal humans. This is basically the only scenario where two standard races getting it on does anything interesting, biologically speaking.)

This isn't counting a number of near-intelligent standard races (i.e. those that generally aren't considered to be 'people' but are nevertheless at least as intelligent as any non-human animal that exists here on Earth), nonintelligent species, or a wide variety of other entities created by mages.

If I actually get around to typing up a story or two to post set in this universe, I may also write more about these races (and other aspects of the setting) in detail.

Interesting. You don't mind if I nick a few ideas do you?

Nurians: A race of eusocial warrior monks, asexual in both the physical and mental sense, as well as aromantic. The originals were created by Heaven or its servants by modifying ordinary humans("Darians"), to serve as its soldiers. As such they are naturally selfless and benevolent, though not always obedient.

Their senses cannot be overwhelmed in any way; For example, the loudest sounds cannot distract or disorient them, mask other sounds, or damage their ears. They feel pain, but do not suffer from it or from any other physical discomfort, though they can still be disturbed by the implications of serious injury. On the other hand, sight is the only sense they can derive pleasure from. They do not cry as babies, but may when they are older. They are immune to all disease, including wound infection, and are somewhat resistant to the harmful effects of heat and the sun.

Some of them ride unicorns into battle, but they don't have many. Their helmets always have a spike in the shape of a unicorn's horn, or several in the case of matriarchs and the patriarch. Their works are richly decorated, making heavy use of shiny surfaces, whites and yellows, and solar motif. Their architecture can be a little overwhelming to other species, and a mild Brown Note to those under infernal influence.

They always have yellow irises. Aside from that, their features depend on their reproductive caste:

• Soldiers: The most numerous caste. Sterile males who have no testicles and do not go through puberty, getting a distinct appearance and voice. They gain strength more easily than darian men, but cannot reach as high a level. They gestate and grow a little quicker, too.
• (unnamed): Sterile females who also don't go through puberty, changing their adult appearance and voice in an equivalent way to the soldiers', though they can still lactate. They don't gain strength as easily as darian women, and generally do the work that doesn't require them to. They gestate and grow more quickly than soldiers, and require little food and water.
• Matriarchs: The least numerous caste. Asexually-reproducing females, with normal adult appearance, though always albino except for the eyes. They have a soldier's strength, and heal better and faster.
  • The Patriarch: Not a caste, but a continuously-reincarnating individual, built like a male matriarch, but sterile. When he fully matures, he regains the memories of previous lives, and becomes the nominal leader of mainstream Nurian society, though his actual authority has varied; The government changes, and some incarnations were found wanting.

A few from my "magic returns to Earth"/"Fantasy Stargate" world:

• Weavers: The resident Precursors. Possibly the first mortal (for a given value of mortal) mages, their experimentation with humans created several offshoot species and spread them throughout all the worlds linked by the Mists. Weavers used Sufficiently Advanced Magic to terraform planets and establish variant biospheres for unknown reasons, along with crossing the magically rather malleable human form with numerous other beings to produce specialized servitor species. Weavers are thought to be extinct after a combination of slave uprisings and a terrible plague, but rumors of some survivors have never quite died out. Physically, Weavers were loosely humanoid with six thin, long limbs (two legs, four arms with six-fingered hands) and elongated skulls on an almost skeletal-looking frame.

• Metahumans: Species based on Weaver experimentation or "natural" mutation from Homo sapiens sapiens stock.
  • Humans: "Baseline" humans are common on hundreds of known worlds. As far as anybody can tell, the species' origin was on Earth, but the Weavers found them useful enough to export them to all of their colonies, and in the ages since several human civilizations have colonized other worlds by themselves.
  • Elves: Descended from human/fae crossbreeds (some the result of Weaver experiments, most simply due to the innate tendencies of certain fae), Elves possess an innate link to the magical world. This can manifest as anything from highly-advanced arcane science to primitive (yet effective) shamanic rituals...Elves are almost as diverse in their cultures as baseline humans, and very nearly as widespread. Elves appear very much like the standard fantasy cliché. They are not immortal, but they are long-lived and don't show outward signs of aging until near the ends of their lives which can span several centuries (or far longer for particularly strong elven mages).
  • Dwarves: Purpose-built by the Weavers for heavy labor duties from humans and earth-elemental spirits, dwarves are still strong, tough and well-attuned to the magics of stone and metal. Contrary to the classic image, not all dwarves live underground but they do have a strong preference for living in areas close to "the bones of the earth", as they put it. As such, most dwarven homelands tend to be in mountainous regions. Dwarves are also notable for being almost entirely incapable of swimming: thanks to a combination of mundane physique (very high muscle density) and elemental affinity, they sink like stones. Dwarves tend to avoid large bodies of water as a result.

• Parahumans: Descended from Weaver experiments with other hominids. Often lumped together as "goblinoids", Parahumans are a widely diverse group of species ranging from the tiny (1m "tall" on average) gnomes (most likely Homo floresiensis with fae blood) to large and bulky examples like the gruuvosh (up to 2.5m tall and powerfully built ogre-like parahumans) and sasquatch (fae-blooded and fully-sapient, albeit somewhat simple-minded gorillas). Most tend to be limited in habitat to a single world, only a few types have been more successful in spreading. Chief among those are the "true" goblins, magically evolved from an australopithecus-like ancestor, which are found on almost as many worlds as humans. In general, goblinoids tend to be hairier and more "ape-like" in appearance than any metahuman, although they are as a rule a lot smarter than their sloped foreheads and stooped postures suggest.

• Beastkin share no common ancestry with humans, unless being created by a human counts. The Mad Mage decided to embark on his campaign of multiversal conquest with an army of humanoid servants created from a number of animal species. Since the Mad Mage really was quite mad, his plans of conquest didn't pan out, but he left behind several distinct breeds of Beastkin which have since made a home for themselves in the Outlands and on several worlds. Beastkin are uplifted anthropomorphic animals with human-level intelligence. The various breeds were supposed to have specialized roles in the Mad Mage's armies, but since once again the mage was really quite insane that ended up more wishful thinking than actual truth.
  • Wolfkin were intended as scouts and trackers, and for once the Mad Mage actually got something right. Wolfkin still take considerable pride in their wilderness survival skills and many packs actively shun civilization, considering it to be a toxic influence. The hardcore packs often refer to their more civilized relatives as "Dogkin", an insult that's pretty much guaranteed to lead to bloodshed.
  • Boarkin were meant to be frontline shock troops. While they did end up tough, strong and fierce, they were also a lot smarter than their creator envisioned them and they deserted in droves when he tried to drive them into battle. Today, Boarkin families are found throughout the Outlands and beyond, living much like humans do.
  • Rabbitkin were supposed to be a rapid-breeding and easily-controlled workforce. The Mad Mage certainly got the first part right, but in the end it was a revolt by the "meek" Rabbitkin that brought him down. After their creator's death, the Rabbitkin soon began to suffer from overbreeding problems, and Jaliya, the Rabbitkin who first came up with a useful contraceptive, is still considered a saint-like figure to them. Rabbitkin are still very careful about keeping their populations regulated, and in general only a few in any given community will actually have children.
  • Ratkin were "designed" as spies and saboteurs, to infiltrate cities and bring them down from within. To this end, the Mad Mage gave them an extra dose of intelligence on top of their already formidable native cleverness, which turned out to be an extremely bad idea for him even by his already generous standards. The Ratkin played along perfectly until the first time they were trusted with a major operation...at which point the entire breed simply vanished...only to return as smugglers supplying Rabbitkin rebels with human-made weapons and other supplies. Ratkin were the first among the Beastkin to learn magic of their own and they are still justly famous for its use. If they have one weakness it is their overwhelming curiosity and thirst for knowledge, which has led more than one Ratkin into serious trouble and has also caused quite a few of them to throw aside all ethical limitations.
  • Bearkin were intended as living siege weapons, a role they weren't particularly happy about...and unhappy Bearkin are Bad News for everybody around. A common Rabbitkin tactic during their revolt was to strike the chains off the nearest Bearkin and point them in the general direction of something important to the Mad Mage...while running away at full speed in the other direction. Bearkin are still known for their tempers, and tend to be given a wide berth by everybody else...which suits them just fine, as most Bearkin are by nature solitary and like nothing more than being left alone.
  • Foxkin, Catkin and various rarer breeds based on mustelids were meant to be the Mad Mage's..."personal servants", effectively designed as toys and attractive pieces of furniture...and it was them who ended up dealing the final blow to his empire. With rebels battering down the gates, the Mad Mage fled into his harem, where he was promptly torn into very little pieces by his various 'kin concubines. Most are still sensitive about their breeds' origins as sex slaves to a lunatic and it isn't wise to insinuate anything even remotely related to that in their presence. This has led to several...unfortunate incidents when the 'kin of Sanctuary encountered certain subcultures of Earth.
  • Lizardkin...may not actually be Beastkin at all. Nobody is quite sure about their origins, and they don't really resemble any common reptile all that much. Some evidence suggests that the Mad Mage modified them not from animal stock but from an existing sapient reptilian species. Whatever their origins, however, Lizardkin were part of the Mad Mage's ill-fated and ill-conceived empire and have maintained ties to the other 'kin breeds ever since. Today, Lizardkin mostly live in an Outlands region of vast mangrove forests, building their villages and towns in the treetops. They are sometimes derisively viewed as a stone-age culture due to their lack of metalworking knowledge (which isn't exactly an option when you live in a tree)...which while technically true couldn't be further off the mark in reality. Instead of using metal, Lizardkin make do with magically hardened and shaped wood and stone, and anybody who's ever had the misfortune of being on the wrong end of a Lizardkin spear is unlikely to ever mock wooden weapons again.

Speaking of races, has anyone ever considered a fantasy setting that has no humans whatsoever? Will it be difficult for readers to relate any of the characters?

It's been done. Just take a look at The Dark Crystal.

Some people might not, but plenty of people will still be able to relate somewhat. Look at everyone playing as non-human characters in various games (video and tabletop), or various television shows and movies that aren't Fantasy but have no humans.

I've got these fully sentient species so far for my fantasy book.

• After-Humans:They're very similar to normal humans of the past, but their DNA has been drenched in residual magic, changing the entire species. Odd hair and eye colors are somewhat common now, like deep blue hair and yellow eyes. Each one is born with a Spirit, which serves as their magic source. An After-human's Spirit usually takes on a particular elemental focus at age seven (or rarely, all 6 of them), and once it is unlocked gives them additional passive magical abilities, like swimming well or sensing air currents.

• Pyros and Kitsune: Magical creatures that take the general form of foxes. They are just as intelligent as people, and have created a culture that mixes human traditions with fox behaviors. Pyros are always born with a fire Spirit, while Kitsune are born with balance spirits. Pyros are masters of flame and can even ignite themselves and turn into fire temporarily. Kitsunes are illusionists and play mind tricks instead. They are heavily discriminated against after the last war outside of their usual geographical territories.

• Sea-people: They are highly intelligent water dwelling creatures that look vaguely like people from the head to the torso. From then on, their bodies have fins or flippers, and a dorsal fin on their backs. Their skin and hair color are usually paler colors that would fit in underwater with the coral and sand, or patterned after other sea creatures. Their Spirits are either water or electrical.

There are two subspecies, Shark and Porpoise (meaning Whale and Dolphin in general). They have formed kingdoms around the continents, with Sharks in the west and south, and Porpoises in the east and north. Rivers are neutral grounds. Shark-men need water to breathe, have jagged teeth to tear apart prey, vertical tail fins with scales, and have gills on their sides. Porpoise-men have blowholes on their backs to breathe air, fine hair, and horizontal tails. They can communicate in human or more animalistic languages. A human and Sea-person can have children, creating more traditional mermaids from fairytales, but the offspring is always sterile.

• Mountain Reithes: They are also similar to humans, except from the waist down, they have ram legs and a tail. Each one also has a pair of curved horns that grow and curl around themselves until they die. A Reithe stops physically aging after reaching about 17 or 18, but their minds and horn growth continue on as normal. The most respected members have the most impressive pair of horns, and both females and males often settle differences with ceremonial headbutt fights. They are very good at climbing mountains and moving long distances because of their hooves. They are total herbivores, and if one eats meat purposely, they are considered deranged or rabid. Reithes tend to not care much for heavy clothing for modesty purposes. They either have earth or air Spirits.

• Dragons: They exist in both Asian and European styled varieties, but they are loners 90% of the time and have no common culture or language. Their size ranges from Clydsdale horses to massive dinosaurs at full maturity, but start out as small as dogs or cats. They are born from eggs and protected by both mother and father. Once the parents feel the child is smart enough to survive, they leave. Dragons are highly intelligent though, and this is atttributed to their massive brain size, tendency to collect information, and long lifespans. Each dragon has their own opinion on other species and therefore each one has a different reputation in their chosen stomping grounds. They are notably the only species beside humans with the ability to be born with any of the six elements for their Spirits. There is even the rare dragon with access to all six.

edited 3rd Feb '14 4:28:51 PM by ScorpioRat

Here are some races form Occupied Space.

• Humans: Us.

• Japhnaara: Genetically engineered humans who hide in the edges of solar systems. Like nice suits, hate nepotism.

• Ascended: Space elves. Formerly human psykers given genetic restructuring to augment their abilities. Went downhill from there.

• Pyrrhekski: Humans who landed on Pyrrhius a thousand years ago. Evolution ensued. Value pragmatism, share a universal hatred of boy bands.

• Mechanids: Alien race that uploaded themselves onto computers long ago. Got an enormous wake up call when humans arrived on their world.

• AI: Poor, downtrodden entities who sometimes go insane and kill everyone.

• Outer Ones: Cosmic horrors from beyond the known dimensions. Only slightly more incomprehensible in intellect and intent than most interstellar polities.

• Progenitors: Neglectful Precursors who got sick of all the other precursors and threw down. Might have been to Sol.

• Demon Blades: Ancient race that was enslaved by an unknown alien race and uploaded onto advanced nanotech weapons platforms. Have a love-hate relationship with anything and everything.

edited 25th Jan '16 12:03:51 PM by MaxwellDaring

Here is my interpretation of the Norse races:

• Jotnar & Gygjar: The natural creations of Ymir, they are very large creatures and also natural shapeshifters. This ability allows them to easily adapt to new environments and can survive on very few nutrients and can even survive in space, which allows them to live at the edge of the galaxy where resources are scarce and have had some success in terraforming. However, their strength is not really proportionate to their size (at least by human standards), and have yet to ever venture to planets with heavier gravity.
• Dvergar & Dyrgjar: Born from the blood and bones of Ymir, they ended up living on a gas giant with heavy gravity, which led to them being stockier and shorter than their older siblings. Like their siblings, they do have some shapeshifter ability, but it is much more limited. Because of the harsh storms and winds on their planet Nidavellir, they tend to dwell below ground and eventually began mining and developing metallurgy, they are also versed in magic to an extent and are very good at making Magi Tech. Despite their great physical strength, they have two weaknesses. One is that due to living underground, they have become very susceptible to UV radiation to the point that they will die if exposed to even small amounts. The other amount is that despite their love of gold, when exposed to enough of it they undergo "dragonization", turning into beings resembling dragons (Fafnir is the most famous victim).
• Alfar & Alfenjur: Humanoid creations of Buri, they dwell a little closer to the center of the galaxy and specialize in elemental and spacial-temporal magic, which they use to make Magi Tech, which they have used to build great cities and fortresses without exhausting natural resources. Their culture values skill with craftsmanship. Most tend not to interact with the other races.
• Vanir & Vanjur: Humanoid creations of Buri, they also dwell a little closer to the center of the galaxy. They have the gifts of telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition, and specialize in "abstract magic", which deals with the mind, emotions, and causality; instead of Magi Tech, they apply their magic more to the "soft sciences". Their culture values knowledge and is very close to nature, which leads to the irony in that while they are very capable of being technologically advanced, they hold back for the sake of not wasting resources. The population generally spaces itself out instead of congregating in cities, but the few cities that exist tend to form around natural structures. After many years, some have even grown tree cities. They are also more "sexually liberated" then humans, and tend not to frown on things like incest.
• Aesir & Asynjur: Humanoid creations of Buri, but the first As Borr took a Gyg as his mate, making the rest hybrids, and many Aesir continue to take Gygjar mates. They also settled on a gas giants, but on one very close to the center of the galaxy, where radiation and elements are present in lethal amounts. While their Gygjar genetics would have made them large, the gravity shrunk them back to about human size. They specialize in "body enhancement magic", which increases their natural strength, speed, healing, and immunity exponentially. This ability allows them to adapt and live on such a harsh planet and actually allows them to process the excess resources into even more power; they are the most physically powerful of all the races. Their culture tends to be more macho and warlike; their cities have large but very simple structures, very Medieval Stasis.

edited 3rd Feb '14 6:12:06 PM by shiro_okami

This thread is a welcome reason to collect all the notes I wrote for my new story. And I see that forgot to name quite a few species, so here are mostly placeholders:

Humans

Supspecies of the homo sapiens, the species mix. I should mention that in my setting, being intelligent has nothing to do with being good with magic.

Cardoci: The homo sapiens sapiens.

Nylani: The elves of my setting. They are more slim, live a bit longer and are physically weaker than the homo sapiens sapiens.

Zorsae: The orcs of my setting and pretty much the opposites of the Nylani. Bigger, more muscles, more "primitive" look, but just as intelligent as the other humans.

Reptiles

Narvens: Small, humanoid wyverns that live among the human species. Only a few of them can fly via special magic

Halfbloods

Human/animal hybrids that were created during the Dawn of the Black Sun. Meteors hit different locations and turned the humans of the area into these creatures. Other than that the different kinds of halfbloods don't any connection. They have long been blamed to be evil as it was told that they were united under the Demon/Hero of the five swords during the war that ended the Age of Men. But most people don't believe this anymore because 1. the halfbloods live on two different continents and 2. said war happened on a third one.

Merfolk: Your typical mermaid/merman. They have one kingdom that is frequently in war with the neighboring human kingdom.

Harpies: Humans with bird claws as feet and long feathers growing on their arms. They can shapeshift their arms into bird wings but still need magic to fly in this form.

Naga: Snake people living in tribes around the equator.

Centaurs: Horse people living on another continent than the other halfbloods. They live in nomadic tribes but have united several times in the past to join forces with the Jalmori Alliance, the human empire on their continent.

Arachnids

Not really half bloods, they were created by the gods as punishment. The witch Arachne enchanted the cobwebs sie collected in the city to make them look like beautiful carpets and sold them. A king bought some of those as he was building a temple for the god Iosos. When the god entered his temple he didn't fall for the trick. He walked to Arachne's house, took a scorpion from the ground, scaled it to human size and fused Arachne to it. Arachne could procreate by injecting eggs into other humans. All Arachnids have the upper body of Arachne and the lower body of an arachnid:

Scorpionae: They are equivalent to queens in a bee hive. They are bigger and the only ones that can procreate. Scorpionae inject their eggs into humans captured by the hunters, workers then put them into cocoon. It is unknown if an person is actually turned into an arachnid or if the human body just serves as incubator for a larva form.

Thelyphonidae: They are the hunters/warriors of the hive. Single Thelyphonidae collect food/other ressources while bigger groups raid human settlements for technology/humans.

Araneae: Workers that produce the protein fibres out of which the hive is build and take care of the brood.

Demonkind

A collective term for beings mutated by the water of the Black Lake. Demonkind are abhorred after a king used this water to turn his soldiers into better fighters and lost the war he started on his neighbors. Most of them live in the Dark Below.

Succubi/Incubi: The first stage of mutation, not really an own race and reversible. Succubi/Incubi are people who came into contact with a few drops of the water, they need to feed off the magic of their kind and gain illusionary magic to do so. To some scholars they are a fourth type of vampires.

Kindred: A small humanoid species that no longer exists in pure form. Kindred are said to be extremely aggressive and vicious, but almost never leave the Dark Below.

Chimaires: result of any of the homo sapiens races that is susceptible to bigger amounts of the water. Chimaires are about 3m tall, physically strong and very aggressive. Only a few of them keep their intelligence and ability to speak.

Gargoyles/Strigae: Chimaires variant for harpies. They have stone-grey skin and strong claws.

Aspis: Chimaires variant for nagas. They produce toxic saliva and are the most common seen demonkind as they leave the Dark Below from time to time to sunbath.

Sirens: Chimaires variant for merfolk. There barely exist any of these since merpeople have little chance to come into contact with the water and usually get killed by their kind if they do.

Demons: Like Chimaires, but their creation was overseen and planned. Demons have two wing, four arms with sharp claws and a tail with spikes at the end. Also, they keep all their intelligence.

That are pretty much all somewhat intelligent species living on my unnamed world so far. There are a bunch of undead versions of everyone and dragons/magical beings hide somewhere, too. But these aren't fleshed out yet.

edited 4th Feb '14 8:18:04 AM by Serox

From a sci-fi setting I'm working on:

• Humans: Us. Nearly extinct, since we were still finding our space legs (and discovering a lot of other species had found them first) when Earth got sterilized. Most of the remaining population (about ten million) is in the Outer Colonies, usually living under the authority of the Il-Tev Junta. The Terran Hierarchy exists as a nominal government and claims jurisdiction over all humans, but lacks the ability to enforce this claim.

• En-Seth: Reptilian, militant, and hermaphroditic, they're the ruling species of the Il-Tev Junta. Their most notable trait is their modular personalities, causing each individual to possess a number of personae. They were the dominant power of this arm of the Milky Way, and are currently putting pressure on the Terran Hierarchy to accept annexation into their state. They also maintain the Sol Quarantine Zone, the cordon that seals the (former) Earth system off from the rest of the galaxy.

• Keainai: Hexapodal, though with two legs, two arms, and two intermediate limbs that can serve as either depending on the circumstances. Standing on two legs and wearing a containment suit, a keainai looks almost human- until the suit comes off. Their brain is stored inside their torso, and their "head" is actually a massive clamshell jaw with two nested inner mouths and an array of sensory organs. They hail from an inner ring of the galaxy, and wear containment suits around other species because of their constant irradiation. They require a radon-rich environment to thrive.

• Teln: The Grays, though the mythology around them has largely died out along with most of the human race. They're thin, short, and physically unimposing- their forms are built for minimal upkeep and extreme survivability, a result of having nuked themselves back into the stone age. Four times. They have short lives, reproduce and mature quickly, and learn at a preposterous rate, making them some of the best engineers in the galaxy. Their natural attitude is seen as "childish" from a human perspective, characterized by extreme mood swings and flights of fancy, and constant internal bickering prevents them from becoming anything like a unified power.

• Ululoom: Sentient cephalopods, with nine bifuracted arms branching off from a central head. They're known to have an odd effect on humans at first sight- they have two massive, spherical eyes set into their head, and the overall effect is seen as extremely "cute" until they see what's hidden by those tentacles.

• Odyarien: A hypothetical species responsible for sterilizing Earth. Almost nothing is known about them, but here are the facts: on day, about eighty years after humanity's first contact with the en-Seth, a ship with twice the mass (perhaps more- analysis suggests that it's spatially transcendent) of the Terran fleet materialized over Sol, warped to high Earth orbit, and began to terraform the planet while still populated. In the wake of Earth's destruction, the en-Seth established the Sol Quarantine Zone, though how effective that would be against a dedicated attempt to spread is a matter of much conjecture. While evidence of many specialized lifeforms appeared in Earth's final hours, there was no sign that any were sapient, and thus the appearance and nature of the Odyarien remains a matter of speculation- all that is known is that they exist in an environment very unlike any found in the Milky Way, and are significantly more advanced than any known species. As a result, they are believed to have an extragalactic origin.

Humans: descendants of the fallen angel Ifa and Atham, who didn't so much fall as step down; they are related to monsters through Ifa.

Monsters: descendants of the animals Ifa bred with before Atham joined her; people with the fur, feathers or scales and horns, claws or fangs of animals - there are 169 clans.

Abominations: like monsters they have a combination of human and animal features but they were created through sorcery rather than natural processes and are therefore hated by all mortals (humans and monsters); there are 16 clans.

Ghosts: only mortals and abominations have souls, which is why they are the only creatures that produce ghosts when they die; ghosts suck the life out of living things to prolong their existence and become more solid.

Witches: contrary to popular belief most witches are not women but men; they create new witches by seeding mortals with magic, planting them under the dark moon and "harvesting" them under the full moon - they are responsible for the vampire and zombie legends because they begin to decompose if they don't drink enough blood.

Demons: witches unconsciously cause elemental forces to assume humanoid form and become sentient; small demons are called imps - they will obey any witch who isn't "cackling" and make unreliable servants.

There are more races but they're still in the development phase.

From the GURPS Sci-Fi campaign I'm running:

• Humans: Thanks to Precursor meddling, there are several subspecies around.
  • (Baseline) Human: "Humans" as we understand the term today. Left Earth in the Exodus after playing around with an Ancient artifact first caused the sun to go berserk and then ripped the entire system through a rift into hyperspace. Nobody has any idea where Earth actually ended up. Modern human civilization got started on the planet Corona, still seat of the Empire, but has since spread out to cover a decent chunk of the galactic neighborhood.
  • Atlantean: Humans recruited as mercenaries and genetically optimized by the Ancients. The origin of the legend of Atlantis, which didn't sink as much as pack up all their stuff and leave after the last vestiges of the Ancients' civilization collapsed. The Atlanteans now control an isolationist pocket empire beyond the fringes of explored space that has only very recently made contact with human explorers and made it quite clear that they are not interested in any further interaction. Physically, Atlanteans are humans with a few improvements...many genetic flaws have been eliminated from the gene pool, the immune system has been boosted and life expectancy significantly increased.
  • Draconis: An offshoot of the basic Atlantean strain modified for a specific purpose (ground combat) by the Ancients. All Draconis are psionic, the rare few born without any talent are considered cripples and widely pitied. Draconis also have a built-in gender imbalance: Only one in roughly eight births is male, the rest are female. While all Draconis are telepathic to a certain extent, females also have a tendency towards psychokinesis while males favor ESP abilities (including limited forms of precognition). Draconis society is a feudal matriarchy, males are considered prized possessions of their clans where they act as advisors and oracles. The Draconis, Ar'Kree and Mantak form the Coalition, and it's the Draconis who provide the coalition with most of its soldiers and a significant chunk of its industrial capacity.
  • Mantak: See their entry.

• Trassak: Reptiloid species that clashed with humans soon after the Exodus. Trassak are bulky and normally fairly slow, but much like earth crocodiles they are capable of frightening bursts of speed when necessary. Also like crocodiles, they run a very real risk of starving to death if they do that too often. Trassak are generally considered somewhat callous and their old empire's tendency to view genocide as the best solution to all of life's problems hasn't made them many friends. Still, with the Issak'Kar empire destroyed, many Trassak live quite amiably among humans.

• Ar'Kree: The second alien species encountered by humans after the Exodus, the Ar'Kree gave the humans advanced weapons technology for two reasons: First, they didn't like the Issak'Kar much, and second, favoring the underdog is practically hard-wired into Ar'Kree psychology. Ar'Kree love David-And-Goliath-type stories, and the opportunity to set one up themselves was well worth a few obsolete pulse cannons. Of course, now that the humans have set up an empire that would probably already have swallowed them up if they hadn't joined the Coalition, some of them are questioning the wisdom of their ancestors' decision. Physically, Ar'Kree still show some traces of their evolutionary history as avian-analogues: Hollow bones (and a generally lightweight physique), great eyesight and an instinctive sense for maneuvering in three dimensions. They are probably the galaxy's best pilots and many spend their entire lives in space. Culturally, the Ar'Kree used to be an extremely warlike people (in fact, they had to rebuild their civilization from scratch after nuclear wars twice), until a legendary figure called the Reetrak ("great teacher") established a system of ritualized challenges to channel their aggressive tendencies into safer directions. Personal honor means a great deal to the Ar'Kree and (heavily ritualized) duels are a common sight in their cities. Under the guidance of the Reetrak's laws, they have managed to shift away from Proud Warrior Race Guy to Warrior Poet as their cultural hat, and Ar'Kree literature and art are well-received among humans as well. They provide the Coalition with a lot of its shipbuilding and tactical know-how along with a highly-skilled naval officer corps.

• Mantak: As much as they deny any involvement in Earth's affairs...they are quite obviously The Greys. The somewhat iconic appearance has turned out to be encounter suits which they never, ever take off where any non-Mantak could possibly see them. They are extremely paranoid about allowing any information about their species to become known and have led extremely destructive military campaigns just to make sure somebody who might have seen an unsuited Mantak is permanently silenced. Physically frail, Mantak are highly intelligent and possess some of the most advanced technology in the known galaxy, which is also their main contribution to the Coalition.

• Tesah: Like the Trassak, the Tesah are classified as "reptiloid" by xenobiologists. However, where the Trassak are big and bulky, the Tesah are short and lightweight. Where Trassak are sluggish, the Tesah are fast...an average Tesah will easily outrun even the best human olympic-grade sprinter. Where Trassak are considered to be emotionally "cold" by humans, Tesah are chatty, gregarious and quite personable. Tesah lost their homeworld to the advancing forces of the Core Hegemony, but as they put it, they've never been ones for staying in one place anyway. Their society was semi-nomadic even on their own planet, now they spend most of their lives in space, travelling aboard family-owned trading ships. Tesah make excellent traders, able to find a market for even the most outlandish goods somewhere, and while they generally lack the cargo capacity to compete with the bigger human shipping lines they control a very respectable share of the tramp freighter business.

• Droak: Easily the single most physically imposing sapient species known. Massively muscled hulks with a somewhat gorilla-like posture, they are also quite peaceful and very, very hard to upset...although if somebody does manage it, they are in for several worlds' worth of hurt. The Droak spent several generations enslaved by the Trassak's Issak'Kar empire, during which time their original homeworld was turned into a lifeless (and heavily irradiated) husk to make an example. After the fall of the Issak'Kar, the Droak have set up new colonies wherever their masters had taken them. Evidence found centuries after the collapse of the empire suggests that the Droak had been patiently planning their own rebellion and had been on the verge of pulling the trigger when the humans dealt the Trassak a surprise defeat and saved them the trouble. Droak get along reasonably well with just about anybody else and are often found doing the heavy lifting on spaceports. Another stereotypical Droak job is as a bouncer, a post where their sheer strength and peaceful natures are both quite useful.

((Will edit with more races later.))

edited 5th Feb '14 3:26:05 AM by MattStriker

My races are:

Draconics: Humanoid dragons with humanlike faces but feline like eyes, they have green blood and vary in appearance by where they live. They typically have a wingspan of ten feet and a height of six to eight feet.

Elves: Tall humanoids with golden blood and eyes with slit pupils. They have a severe prejudice against the Draconics.

I don't know, all my creatures have slit pupils.

edited 29th May '14 7:51:11 AM by Arcee6

3 Branches (Sub-Species) of Human Evolution in the year 42,561 CE: A very quick and hastily typed overview:

NOW EDITED.

• Homo sapiens cosmopolitani: Essentially modern humans with varying degrees of biotechnological and cybernetic enhancements, as well as including populations without significant enhances by these means or by genetic engineering. They live on the terraformed colonies on the galaxy, under thousands of different governments, speaking close to a million languages, worshiping every God conceivable, and making art and culture continue bravely. Sub-groups include planetary populations and the "Starfarer" interstellar culture of space travelers. They have hundreds or thousands of religions and many varied culture, including even on a single planet sharing two or more colonial founder groups. Please note that the majority of these humans cannot be distinguished from Homo sapiens artificialensis (artificial human-emulating machines) by medical scanners due to extensive use of biotech, cybernetic, and other types of upgrades in both (sub)species.
  • Homo sapiens bruderkindi: The "Bruderkind," a group of humans who primarily rely on genetic engineering and selective breeding to creature fierce "Ultra-humans" with enhanced intelligences, hand-eye coordination, reflexes and endurance. Rather than displaying their upgrades, they generally install them underneath their skin. Never underestimate a Bruderkind's resourcefulness, or their genetic rivalries with other Bruderkind. They were useful wolves known to fall upon each others' swords at the slightest provocation. Generally distrusted by other humans because of the secrecy and closed nature of their society, unlike the open trade by which most non-Bruderkind receive their bio-augmentations and cybernetic upgrades. In other words, they have their own separate economy with a whole separate line of products that's not integrated in the interstellar market.

• Homo sapiens artificialensis:
  • The human-emulating androids who formed their own society. They are a hybrid cybernetic and biomechanical technology. Human-emulators are prone to extremes of passion such as belief in a nationalistic ethos or the equivalent of AI religions. This group excludes "pure computers" like the intelligent FTL-Jump computers of most spacecraft. These mechanical entities had no interest in ideology, unlike their human-emulating brethren, and did not segregate themselves from human service and society. T Hey are at this time content to exist in a small sphere of the galaxy where humans don't travel, the "Synthetic Sector," sometimes called the Synthetic Dominion. They're generally isolationist and patrol their borders with well armed, agile defense vesels. They're not expansionistic but they are pretty secretive. Although some of them have proliferated beyond, most people who've met a Synthetic didn't realize they had. The Synthetics have genuine personalities. Some are more charismatic than others. As a new species, relatively speaking, they are currently interested in developing their own potential to improve on the technology used by the universe in general. Again, please note that the majority of these "androids" (they prefer "Synthetic" or "Artificial human") cannot be distinguished from Homo sapiens artificialensis (artificial human-emulating machines) by medical scanners due to extensive use of biotech, cybernetic, and other types of upgrades in both (sub)species.
    • Their civilization also includes straight-up computer intelligences that are like the human-emulating artificial people in that they have spontaneous personalities and creativity, IE "Actual Intelligence" unlike the "Artificial Intelligence" of a "service computer" like an FTL-Jump computer or a spacecraft's database. There's a clear difference between "Artificial Intelligence" and the parallel evolution of intelligent artificial humans. In other words, the Turing Test is insufficient. These computer intelligences seemlessly blend into the Synthetic society, performing roles that human-emulating machines like the Artificial Humans cannot. These include sapient quantum computers.

• Homo sapiens terrestrialensis
  • A minority of transhumans and evolving machine life continued to coexist, even after the Synthetic retreat to their now closed off sector. On Earth, humans and human-emulating machines as well as more advanced Artificial Intelligence units continued living side by side, unlike anywhere else in the galaxy after the AI/Synthetic Separatist Conflict and its Resolution. Earth became Terra, then Terra Prime, and Terra Primus, because more and more isolationist until after a major war they shut themselves off completely from the rest of the universe using a curved bubble of space-time that encloses and protects mankind's "Origin System." Now a truly posthuman civilization, the "Terrans" as they are frequently called are anxiously awaiting the guided reunification of these three strands of human evolution in order to progress to a fourth stage, a new synthesis. A medical scanner would probably self-destruct after trying to make sense of their biotechnological and extradimensional nature. Since Terran consciousness extends into 11 dimensions, they perceive time and space differently than the rest of humanity, and can only interact with other humans using projections or simulacra, sophisticated androids that recreate relatives and friends in order to communicate.

There are no intelligent alien species in the setting, just some very detailed planetary human cultures that are just as interesting if not more than any alien.

edited 17th Feb '14 4:59:03 AM by fulltimeD

Fanboys and Fangirls exists as two one-gender alien races (they can reproduce with other humanoids but not each other). They are humanoid but have a blue and orange morality that makes they quite antagonisitc towards most humans. Fanboys tend to get into conflicts like war and provide both sides with weapons of escalating power and destruction for the sake of "fairness" and "balance". Fangirls tend to ship people in-universe and influence political and celebrity relationships for the sake of "the perfect match". Both fanboys and fangirls are the remnants of an ancient race that weaved the fate of the cosmos, although they have long since forgotten their purpose.

For my science fiction setting:

• Humans: That's us. Most human-held worlds are part of the Terran Colony Federation, an united goverment formed after a war between the Terran forces (Earth and other colonies in the solar system) and the Colony Aliance. Humans are one of the major powers in this area of space, though they are somewhat younger than the other two. Human ships tend to be comparatively slow (both in terms of max FTL speed and the rate of acceleration when moving at subligth speeds), but are also known for being very durable. They usually use mass drivers as their primary weapon system.

• Seirani: Alien species native to planet Seira. They are humanoid in appearance and usually somewhat smaller and lightly built than your average human. Their skin colour ranges from different shades of blue to green. Seirani are descendent of creatures rougly analoquous to Earth amphibians, and have many traits suitable for semi-aquatic lifestyle: their skin is smooth and semi permeable, protected by a coat of slime to retain moisture when in dry enviroment (though they prefer a very humid enviroment) and they have webbed feet and a tail with a flattened tip for better mobility while underwater. They also have electrically sensitive barbells or tentacles on their head, which are used to help navigate in murky waters (their eyes are more adapted to seeing on land, so their eyesight under water is no better than humans'). Like Earth amphibians, the Seirani have eggs and a tadpole-like larval stage which are dependant on water, but they pass through the stage while still inside the mother's body, which is what originally allowed their species to spread to areas of their homeworld that weren't near large bodies of water. The Seiran Republic (consisting of Seira and its colonies) is generally peaceful and has not tried expanding its borders for several centuries, although do engage in less violent means of establishing control over other civilisations, such as trade deals and mutual defensive pacts. They are close allies with humanity, having sold weapons and supplies to the Alliance forces during the colony war and fought togather with humanity during the Demosian war. Their ships favour high acceleration and mobility over armour, and are usually armed with powerful but comparatively short ranged weapons like pulse lasers and particle cannons.

• Demosians:Demosians are native to a planet that is quite similar to Earth, but only has a single supercontinent, most of which is covered in deserts or semiarid regions. They are taller and more muscular than average humans (averaging around 2m tall), and have a reddish-brown scaly skin. Male demosians have four hornr or spike on their forehead and a crest on the back of their head (both traits are also present in females, though less pronounced; this is the main difference between the genders, aside from femals being somewhat more lightly built). Demosians lay eggs rather than giving birth to live young like humans or Seirani. The Demosian Hierarchy has an essentially feudal system of goverment, with the Hierarch being leader of the entire empire and below him primarchs and archons governing sectors of the Hierarchy and individual planets, respectively. In practice most of the governing is done at the primarch or archon level, and the position of the Hierarch has at times been entirely ceremonial. The Hierarchy is expansionistic and has conquered several less developed civilisations. The conquered civilisations are left largely to their own devices, though with a Demosian archon to watch over them and make sure they don't rebel against the Hierarchy, as long as they pay the appropriate tribute to their new masters (usually raw materials). The Hierarchy has recently tried invading the human and Seirnai territories, but was forced to retreat and is now locked in a cold war with the two powers. Demosian space warfare doctrine focuses on outranging and outgunning the opponent in order to destroy them before they can retaliate, and as such their ships tend to be packed full of long range missiles. The downside is that this leaves less room for shields and armour, making their ships quite fragile if the enemy manages to engage them.

• Astraspis: literal Starfish Aliens (as in, their bodies are radially symmetrical and generally similar to Earth echinoderms) from a high ravity world. They have 8 limbs, four of which they use for locomotion and four of which end in three tentacle like "fingers" used for manipulating objects. Much like actual starfish, they have a single orifice on the underside of their bodies, used for both eating and expelling waste, and bony plates under their skin. They use eacholocation to perceive their surroundings and communicate with short bursts of bioluminescence. The Astraspis are very long lived and among the oldest starfaring species, but they have never really founded an empire with centralised goverment, instead having many independent colonies with complex webs of loyalties, pacts and and grudges. Because their biology is suited to high gravity worlds, they have not had to compete with the other starfaring species for space (infact, they are the only known sapient species from a high gravity world that has developed space flight; normally the immense gravity makes reaching escape velocities very difficult, but the Astraspis happened to master anti-gravity technology relatively early in their developement). As such planets colonised by them can be found all over space, including inside regions under control of other civilisations. Though normally peaceful, they will fiercely defend their world, and usually set aside any differences to come to the helpt of another Astraspis world in trouble. Their mastery of gravitivistic technology also extends to their weapons, devastating graviton guns that can crush enemy ships' hulls with immense forces and completely bypass defensive shields.

• N'hii'nn: Insectoid species with a hive-based society. They have no true Hive Mind, but most of their population consists of drones with very little individuality. An outside observer would be likely to think as them having an extremely unified society, but in actuality each of their planets has dozens if not hundreds of individual hives, each with their own queen. The queens are the only memebers of the species that can reproduce, and also act as the leaders of the society. They can release special pheromones that make drones and soldies obey their will. If said pheromones are not present, one female N'hii'nn will eventually metamorphose into a new queen. The N'hii'nn have only recently discovered FTL travel, but have quickly colonised numerous nearby systems. Their warrior and drone castes posess wings that allow them to fly (at least on their homeworld, which has lower gravity than Earth). The instinctive understanding of flight makes them very good pilots. N'hii'nn fleets consists of huge hive ships (which as the name implies act as individual hives, complete with a queen-captain) and smaller, non FTL capable ships that dock aboard the hive ship for FTL travel. Both kinds of ships usually carry small fighter craft, both manned and unmanned.

• The Master: also known as the First the Last and the Undying. Nobody knows much about this species/being, as they are not native to this area of galaxy (or possibly this galaxy) at all, their ships using artificial wormholes to travel distances beyond even regular FTL travel, though what they are doing here nobody knows (they seem to be mostly just observing other civiliations, but why? Are they peaceful or preparing for an invasion?). Their silicon-based biology is utterly alien to all other species, lacking any internal structures and organs. Instead their bodies are composed of black amorphous mass that can change shape at will. They are infact less like individual organisms and more like a colony of single-celled life forms, or communal organisms like the prtoquese man'o'war. Though not known to the people in the setting, it/they are from a planet where evolution took a radically different course early in the development of life. Instead of uncounted billions of individual beings, all life on the planet was effectively the part of a single communal organism, which eventually grew to cover 90% of the planet's surface. Said being eventually achieved sapience through the development of a neural net between the individual cell-analoques, effectively turning its entire body into a gigantic brain. Being billions of years old with a brain the size of a planet, this being is more akin to an Eldritch Abomination than an alien species, working on a scale and timescale utterly alien to mere mortals, with access to technology far beyond the level of even the most technologically advanced species (the ability to open stable wormholes at will being the prime example). Upon learning that the star it orbits will evntually die, it has spread itself to numerous other planets, using wormholes and quantum communucation to stretch its conciousness across countless individual bodies, ranging from continent-covering masses to individual ships and human-sized probes. It has sent its ship-bodies to the area of space to story takes place in to explore and find new planets to colonise, and is unlikely to care much if said planet happens to have other civilisations living on them. However, sometimes its ship-and probe-bodies have engaged in communication with other species, so at least it seems to recognaice them as sapient and may be reasoned with. In any case, attacke the ship-bodies is a very bad idea as they are able to use wormhole technology both defensively (using wormholes to avoid enemy fire or to shield themselves) and offensively (opening a wormhole with one end in the middle of enemy fleet and the other inside a nearby star).

edited 17th Feb '14 7:31:31 AM by Nomic

Here's a list of major (ie intelligent creatures that are seen over the course of the story) races from a high fantasy novel I'm working on:

• Goblins - Apelike creatures that are notorious for being very crafty and pilfering things from humans. They have intelligence that is comparable to that of very early humans. They have a simple language, and can build relatively complex tools. They generally wear rawhide scraps for clothes, and almost always wear masks made out of natural canvas or tree bark. In some cultures, it is considered bad luck to see a goblin without its mask on. Goblins can be quite territorial, and are capable of fending off, trapping, or even killing humans if they feel the need. Goblins can usually be found in forests.
  • Hobgoblins - The neanderthals to the goblins' humans. They are smaller and less intelligent than goblins, but still have a magpie-like tendency to "collect" trinkets that they like. Unlike goblins, which can be dangerous, hobgoblins are annoying pests at worst.

• Giants - Giants are essentially neanderthals, but much, much bigger. They can grow up to 13 metres tall (39.37 feet). The average giant is about as intelligent as a 7-year old human.

• Trolls - Large, rather stupid creatures. They appear as humanoid, hunchbacked synapsids with stone green skin. They are the paradigm of destructive efficiency, as they are surprisingly resourceful when it comes to breaking things. Because of this, they make good soldiers when led by an orderly and powerful authority figure. Trolls have large, tusk-like teeth. Trolls tend to dwell in marshlands.
  • Orcs - Essentially the same as trolls, but smaller. Orcs are a rare, dwarf breed of trolls that stand erect like humans.

• Ogres - Very large, mammalian humanoids that usually grow about half as large as a giant. Ogres are almost as intelligent as humans, and generally live in groups of 5-6. Because of their intelligence, ogres in the same region tend to form cultures.

• Fae - Small winged creatures that resemble miniature people with insectoid wings. Each of the three types of fairy is magically inclined to certain behaviors.
  • Fairies - Lawful Good fae creatures. They are always helpful, and strive to be righteous.

  • Pixies - True Neutral fae creatures. They will help people just as often as they will play practical jokes on them, but will most often ignore non-fae matters.

  • Imps - Chaotic Evil fae creatures. They are nasty, sadistic, and simply get joy out of inconveniencing others.

• Elves - Highly intelligent humanoids with a natural inclination towards magic. They also have a longer life-span, and have paler skin and lighter hair. Other than that, there are few differences between elves and humans.

• Dragons - Enormous reptilian creatures that walk on all fours and have wings. They are the most intelligent beings in existence (on average anyway; of course there are stupid dragons and very smart humans), and have existed for millions of years. Very few still exist because of a natural disaster that occurred in prehistoric times. There are many different species of dragons, each with their own distinctions, but it would take far too long to list them all.

Can fit into a number of settings and I don't mind if you borrow them as long as you give me credit. Originally conceptualized for a now dead idea of a future Earth.

• Terrorcrows
  • Big, nasty birds descended from corvids. Rarely use mounts despite their intelligence, as they can get around well enough on foot. Resemble phorusrachids in many aspects, but are more omnivorous. Terrorcrows have redeveloped claws, but no hands and rely on their beaks and feet to manipulate things, with some help from gear. Most battles are fought with little weaponry. There are a few races (actually species), along with various hybrids.
    • Northern Terrorcrows: Largest and stockiest, hailing from polar environments.
    • Southern Terrorcrows: Smaller, and more adapted for hot deserty areas.
    • Crowned/Dwarf Terrorcrows: Can actually fly short distances with minimal help, but prefer not to. They're also the most brightly colored and the smallest. Calling them 'dwarves' is a terrible idea.

edited 22nd Feb '14 3:35:08 AM by RiverWhiteWolf

Here are the races I have developed as of yet:

• Humans
  • Eichlinnians (based on Germans)
  • Cerestians (based on Romans and Italians)
  • Gienites (conglomeration of several Asian empires)
  • Vicarians (tan skin, dark red hair, occasionally have 'giants' which grow to 7+ feet tall)

• Umber Shades: Humanoids. Generally 4-5 feet tall. Skin ranges from gray to earthy brown. Most striking feature is their itzon; instead of hair, they have tentacles that grow as they age. In addition to being useful appendages, these store the hormones necessary to undergo the Changes, part of the Shades' life cycle. At certain periods of their life, their personality warps to a certain extreme, and they gain affinity for a corresponding element. After the Change, the have learned to control their emotions associated with that element. When a shade Changes, they are offered the choice to tough it out with their tribe, or go join others of their ilk before changing back and returning several years later, if they survive. Umber Shades are a remnant of their former power, since the Changes are divine punishment and a way to deal with elemental corruption; for this reason, the human Church of Aeil holds them in low regard at best, demons of temptation at worst.
  • Fire Shades: brown skin becomes dark red, glowing cracks begin to appear on the itzon. Fire Shades are temperamental and passionate, and are tend to accumulate the best warriors, which are equipped with the best weapons and armor the Shades produce, since they live in an active volcano. Notable in that most shades have very little metal tools, and live a nomadic existence.
  • Water Shades: Jealousy and lust run deep in the blood of a Water Shade. Brown skin turns dark blue, fins and gills grow, and the tips of the itzon become almost translucent. The most fragmented of the Changed Shade kingdoms, they gather in schools of the coasts of the Melahawk Sea's islands. Another reason humans distrust Shades; Water Shades are known for luring sailors to their doom. Known for their power over tides and forms of liquid.
  • Forest Shades: gray skin becomes green, and the itzon harden like bark and begin growing twigs and leaves. Technically the most varied, since their natural growths tend to reflect the nature around them. Forest Shades swing wildly between glee and sorrow, rejoicing in nature's splendor and lamenting its cruelty. They tend to use wooden weapons and armor, and are know for their fierce macuahuitls and riding of giant rats (only faction to use mounts, ungulates do not exist in the Melahawk Sea)
  • Ice Shades: brown skin is replaced with light blue to white, and the itzon harden and crystallize to look like ice. Detached, uncaring, and withdrawn, Ice Shades are the most hostile faction. They also tend to have the most control over their element of cold and ice crystals: they have carved a city out of a glacier, and their icy citadel shrugs off the sun even in summer (which in Vicaria is still quite cold). Know for skating down slopes with only their bare feet, and dislike every other Shade but normal tribes.
  • Once a generation, a Shade will experience all four Changes. After this they are transformed: they grow larger, to higher than six feet, and their bodies grows glowing geometric lines. This shade is known as Huaticya; their responsibility is to safeguard the entire race of Shades.

• Dragons: Dragons once had an empire that surpassed even the Shades' own (based on a mix of Norse mythology and Babylonian culture). They created beasts from their own blood and used them for labor, creatures known as dracons. They enslaved Vicarians and used them as slave labor to build their ziggurats (they also introduced the genetic quirk of Vicarians to occasionally be born giants); they created fairies as assistants. But, before the Shades fell from grace, they mysteriously all disappeared, leaving behind only their cousins the dracons, their architecture, and the fairies.
  • Dracons: a true dragon is scaly, has four legs, two wings, can innately control all six elements, and are civilized and intelligent. The bestial dracons are an offshoot of these, with almost every other type of dragon being represented. They are little more than vicious predators who seek to devour and horde resources.

• Fairies: A diverse set of creatures, all less than a foot tall. They normally exhibit sexual dimorphism, can pick up languages impossibly quick, and are disproportionally strong.
  • Snow Fairies: the Snow Fairies live in Vicaria, making their homes in the few cities or gnarled trees in the wilderness. They have pale white skin, are impervious to cold, have black hair, and moth antennae. The females also have moth wings. They have developed a barbarian culture centered around family and friends living in a hostile world where any predators can and will attack them.

• Luminants: Brother race to the Shades, the Luminants have tentacles replacing where human males would have facial hair, and are universally bald. Driven into the ocean for their arrogance, the Luminants mastered Air Magic to siphon breathable water off the surface, and eventually started capturing ships in vast whirlpools for slaves. They avoid the usual flightiness of Air Magic through sheer hatred of those who live above; they have also mastered Enchanting to build vast engines of war.

• Atherites: Perhaps the strangest on this list, Atherites are not native to the Melahawk Sea. They come from the stars above, having fled from some predatory menace. Atherites exist partially in another dimension, their essence anchored to their mortal forms by pieces of inorganic chitin. This material is harder than diamond, and can hold an edge sharper than obsidian. Upon observing the humanoids of the Melahawk Sea, they grew their young to be closer to the humanoids' forms. They look like floating pieces of chitin connected by a shadowy purple ethereal morass; this can be severed. Atherites have a hive mind, headed by a Monarch, who decides the overall direction of the local detachment's goals. Atherites infants are created as a single, tear-drop shaped head, and all it can do is shake around. As it ages, the chitin is sliced by another Atherite, where more chitin suddenly grows. The most skilled individuals are called the Carvers. They can create Atherites with any body configuration that the Monarch wishes for them to have. The chitin also has an on/off growth, enabling the growth and retraction of spontaneous claws and blades.

• Melshiry: A diverse genus from the Melshiraakhas born from widespread abuse of time travel. They are at war with all other species not their own, with the possible exception of their gods and that is only because most of them think their gods are the same species they are or an elaborate, or out of reach, or any combination of the three. The most common method is to assimilate anything worthwhile into their their own biomass and replace the native ecosystem with their own eco system made of their own species. Some Melshiry believe in destroying all ecosystems not like their and not replacing them with one more similar to the Melshiraakhas. These two lines of thought converged when they saw a place already sufficiently like their own and the resulting unity lead to mankind's extinction. Other more pragmatic Melshiry believe in only engaging foreign habitats when there is obvious economic benefit to it and unfortunately our little planet also had resources they wanted.
  • There are some Melshiry who are content merely kill other species that enter their territory and some really radical pacifists would rather just shut themselves up until the aliens leave on their own but due to the nature of their society, extinction and annihilation of civilization happen to be lucrative business fields for many reasons. The group that killed all humans was merely working for one company who successfully implanted agents into our mist that gave them a sufficient attack plan before we caught onto them. The human identity still lives on in the descendents of these surviving agents created to infiltrate the Earth. Repeating this process several times over has given the Melshiry highly diverse morphology and genetic make up for a single species. Species they cannot replicate in a sufficiently Melshiry manor are exterminated or bred as food stock if applicable, or exterminated for food stocks. Oddly, the closest biological ancestor seems to be the Earth based vertebrae, amphibians in particular. How this happened may unfortunately be lost to time.
  • The works and tools of Melshiry society tends to give off emissions highly toxic or otherwise destructive to other lifeforms, even those that live in nearly the exact same environmental conditions that they do, while leaving the "frogs" themselves unharmed. Many hypothesis on this exist but no solid theories have been determined.
• Shikaakwa: A silicon based species billions of years old of non atmospheric origin. Specifically, they developed in a sort of asteroid belt, they think so anyway based on most recent studies. The Shikaakwa are capable of growing to immense sizes, though confusion as to when one of them starts and one of them ends is common. In addition, distinguishing the organism (the word is a misnomer in of itself) from their "clothing" and the vessels they travel in has proved so difficult some have considered classifying them as Mechanical Lifeforms.
  • Shikaakwa have at least two star spanning civilizations, one of which is divided into multiple, smaller, independently governed parts. There is evidence in the past of great wars between the two known groups but as of this writing they do little more than bicker and are more prone to small internal skirmishes. Their scientists have a tendency to perform involuntary experiments on organic life but they are generally "ethical" in that they try not cause needless harm or environmental destruction. They are particularly interested in temporal irregularities found around Earth as well as the Melshiraakhas, though the latter's expansionist aggression has made study difficult.
• Augustus: Marine photosynthetic omnivorous protists discovered in the depths of the Atlantic, though they have since spread throughout all the oceans. At first appearing to be a kind of seaweed, then a new species of predator then invaders to be exterminated, the Augustus have lately proven to be highly advanced as well, spreading celluloid fortresses reinforced with a stony substance across the depths comparable to human cities. Attempts to determine their origin have been as successful as those to wipe them out. Eventually the radio frequencies they communicated across were discovered and they revealed themselves to be lost. Non terrestrial origin was considered but the presence of DNA suggests they could be of Earthly origin or.
  • Most of the Augustus sensory organs are internal but they can see in both the ultraviolet and infrared spectrum, albeit with organs that only partially resemble what we call eyes. A mixture of stiff hair and cellulose is used to grind apart food for consumption and for self defense "unarmed" though they can often get by for awhile on sunlight and have no natural predators, not even humans at this point. They seem to go through an alteration of generation, motile bodies budding off of sedentary ones.
• Morels: A carnivorous yeast acting in lieu of an unknown entity "behind" a barrier beyond the third dimension of space. The spores choke out those who breathe them in and can devour almost all kinds of organic matter but only get real sustenance from flesh and blood (sugar to a lesser extent). They also seek out and integrate all electronic systems. Initially this seemed only to bring them down but later have shown to achieve a form of motility, confused freshmen to mistakenly classify morels as protists. What exactly they were ordered to is unclear but they seem content to spread, consume and reproduce. Fortunately morels generally do not reproduce asexually, though they resulting spore pay load is still overwhelming.
  • Morel society, or even intelligence, is hard to pin down. Individual "robot" or "vehicle" bodies have formed but whether their actions can be traced back to their hyperspace origins or to a closer source remains unconfirmed, as does any equivalent of a nervous system. More study is required in the area of their respiration and exact circulatory needs. They seem unslowed by frigid temperature and have in fact proved harder to remove in many northern areas, than warmer climates.

• Nelos, the adult forms of larva spawned in the place of destruction. Despite their bodies shining at an average absolute magnitude of -30 they are rarely ever viewed, as they spend most of their time on the material plain near massive black holes, where the intense force of gravity at the event horizon combined with the extreme blue shifting make them ideal places to produce more eggs out of view from their natural predators. They are docile usually but for reasons not yet known, react with hostility toward any tampering with the timeline. They only do this on the material plain (though in most other locations it is not even theorized to be possible, making that almost a moot point)
• Living echoes and reflections of the suffering and pleas humans made from before recorded history till now that prefer to be called gods. How they came into being is debated. Lesser aspects of a greater God? Manifestations of the collective human conscious and or unconsciousness? It is also difficult to tell how many they are; five of what we see to be individual bodies with individual personalities may claim to be the same entity. They also claim to be immortal, at least until the last human dies. Their worldview is universally monist, rejecting attempts to connect them to other gods worshiped throughout history yet also insist all gods are unified on some level. Their connection to humanity means they are aware of all prayers to all gods regardless. Unlike most gods, their ability to effect the world is limited to how much people understand it and perception is not reality in this case. They used to be of little help to followers and were easily sealed away by the Rakshasas not long after they descended upon the Earth. Recently they have started to breakout, growing stronger as collective human knowledge increased. If prodded long enough they sometimes recall things modern civilization forgot.
  • Some only manifest mentally to people, others are able to enter the physical world proper but none have permanent residence in the world as we know it. They have described their homes but have not have figured out how to actually show them, due to their limitations in our world. It has thus been hypothesized that someone must have once seen where they came from, since they can come here and might have brought them into existence just by looking at it. This is why they are called "echoes" or "reflections" in common vernacular. Despite the term their voices and physical appearances superficially resemble ours at best but they have been gradually becoming more like homo sapiens, perhaps because we are the only human species left. This is why they expect to disappear when we go extinct, though there is a controversial theory that they were actually made to replace humanity once it has gone as far it can and are only taking on our features because they are proving to be useful.

edited 23rd Apr '14 2:03:50 PM by IndirectActiveTransport

Here's a list on the species on a world I am currently building (so the result will change to the final)

This world is a really huge cave chamber with some overhangs, and a glowing ball connected into the roof that works as the source of light.

The world is more on the side of humorous but there are some darker themes, like fantastic racism and wars.

Humans

• Lives mostly in city states in the plain areas at the bottom.
• There are some villages in the overhangs too.
• Has the best endurance and healing rate of the sapient species.
• No innate magic abilities.
• Can be pretty arrogant

Felis

• Humans that have cat ears, tail, eyes and other cat like properties because of an ancient hereditary blessing.
• Technically human, and yes, they are a race of catgirls and -boys.
• True carnivore, nocturnal and has the best vision, flexibility and stealth of the sapient species
• Less endurance and wound regeneration than humans
• Also no innate magical abilities
• Lives in the lower overhangs and plains in villages.
• Faces some racism from conservative humans

Trolls

• The smartest and most advanced sapient species
• Grey skin, bulky features
• Some innate magical abilities
• Pacifist culture and tries to keep other species away from their really superior tech.
• Lives in the colder, upper overhangs

Tomten/Tontut/Elves/Gnomes (little bit like the Santa's elves, inspired by Scandinavian/Finnish mythology)

• Short humanoids, but not as stout as dwarves, more like lilliputians
• Hard workers and are often hired as a workers by other races
• Has magical abilities but they are mostly for household chores.
• Mana regenerates with food.
• Good strength and fast learning.

Merpeople

• Lives in the limited water areas

Dryads/forest people

• Has some tree-like characteristics, like branch-like horns and bark-like skin
• Lives in harmony with the forests

Barksmen

• A primitive and hostile creatures that lives in the forests in small tribes.
• They are short, stout and have bark as a skin.
• Were originally created by dryads as a workforce but rebelled.
• They chop trees and uses them to craft and build. They do not live in harmony with the forests

Bugbear

• A shapeshifting monster that disguises itself as a human. Preys on humans, hostile.
• Has a huge mouth and some face skin rips when opens it. Has unnatural mouth movement when disguised.
• It's real form is terrifying mix of humanoid and bear with a huge mouth and large teeth.

Demons

• Many different types
• Lives in the infernal Circus Pandemonium and is lead by the Director.
• Always chaotic evil
• One common type in demonic invasions are demon clowns that spawn from demon clown cars.

Djinns

• Small race. Intangible entities bound to a small personal item that is the only things they can interact with.
• They can control their home item and use it as a tool.
• Some djinns have even created themselves robots, vehicles and such by adding other things into their home item. Powered by the magic of course.
• Likes to create things that help people, but is often likely to fail that hilariously, resulting in a dangerous and useless item. More complex objects have chance of violently breaking when used.
• Body consists only out of mana
• Uses mana in living and interaction and therefore needs a source of mana to live.

There is also the Undead Union, but undeads are not really a race, although they have many unique constructs.

I tried to avoid the most basic races and I like these myself. Any constructive critique is appreciated.

edited 12th Mar '14 3:10:40 PM by mrzalli