Jesse Booth
Scribe
This is a list of races I plan on including in a video game someday. I prefer to keep the descriptions brief for now, but if you think of anything I can do to improve them, please let me know. In all, there are twelve of them:
4 high races, consisting of the oldest and most advanced societies/cultures. 3 Elven races and Gnomes. little interest in expansion, as they are already at the apex of their civilizations, though the individual races have varying levels of activity in international politics.
*Gnomes, a race of brilliant inventors who, while lacking in warrior potential, are talented rogues and mages. magical automatons and constructs are a hallmark of their race's militaries. they have several worker castes, made up entirely of lesser races they have conquered, "for their own good." readily intervenes in the affairs of other races.
*your standard High Elves, they're arrogant, aloof, and somewhat xenophobic, but have the credentials and history to back up their claims of superiority. their government is something between an aristocracy and a meritocracy. highly isolationist.
*a separate High Elven culture based on free markets and independence, a loose federation of sorts. vigilantism is a popular method of dealing with government corruption, and will definitely be featured in an important plot arc. trade is encouraged, but alliances with other nations is avoided as much as possible.
*Dark Elves, a violent and militaristic subspecies of Elves. powerful warriors, lacking the frailty most Elven peoples are prone to. they are barely considered a High race, and owe that title entirely to their Elven heritage. readily ally themselves with warring nations, and have a military that they often hire out to other countries.
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4 middle races: less political power than the High races, but much more ambitious and more interested in forming empires. They developed later, and on another continent. definite distrust of the more "exotic" races. all human races.
*a French analogue. poor class making up most of the population, and a corrupt monarchy in charge. at some point in the series, the aristocracy will be overthrown in a violent rebellion. this will not end well for anybody involved, regardless of which side of the conflict they fight on.
*a German analogue. pre-Germany, based on the people before there was a single unified German nation. a loose confederation, the people are fiercely loyal to their region, rather than the country as a whole.
*an old-english analogue. probably the most amalgamated of the human races, names and voices will be based more on England prior to Roman domination, but will include several dialects from other places in the UK. tend to be stubborn and superstitious.
*a Greek analogue. the only human race that does not govern by some form of feudalism, they have a representative democracy. not actually on the continent humans developed on, mostly inhabit a large island to the west.
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4 lesser races. little to no political power, and frequently resentful toward other races. very nonhuman appearances. even more lesser races, but they will not be playable and will mostly exist as enemies in the game.
*an insectoid race. no hive mind, but still incredibly loyal to the hive, where a literal hive mind exists; centuries of accumulated knowledge and memories from members of the hive are stored in a magical construct of some sort. all player characters are gender-neutral drones, so you don't end up with something like the Argonians (seriously? Boobs on a reptile?). appearance of your character will have little room for modification, as appearance will mostly be determined by what hive your character was born in, and what class they are.
*a shark-like race. little magical potential, if any. has an ability to take on a bestial form that is extremely powerful, similar to Lycanthropy in some regards. armor and weapons will not carry over to the bestial form. oldest race in the game world. they are more muscular than most races, and their skin comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns found among actual shark species.
*goblins. not comical like in many games. very cunning and intelligent. a tribal people that rarely stay in one place for very long. they are very humanoid, but with sharp, angular facial features, and their skin usually has a dark greenish tint.
*a canine race. chaotic, ruthless, but with a pack mentality that allows for a surprising empathy for other members of their concept of a pack, regardless of race. essentially anarchy, with all the instability and danger that comes with such a government. the members of this race tend to be more than a little insane. appearance tends to favor coyotes, hyenas, and jackals. they have warred with the gnomes for thousands of years.
4 high races, consisting of the oldest and most advanced societies/cultures. 3 Elven races and Gnomes. little interest in expansion, as they are already at the apex of their civilizations, though the individual races have varying levels of activity in international politics.
*Gnomes, a race of brilliant inventors who, while lacking in warrior potential, are talented rogues and mages. magical automatons and constructs are a hallmark of their race's militaries. they have several worker castes, made up entirely of lesser races they have conquered, "for their own good." readily intervenes in the affairs of other races.
*your standard High Elves, they're arrogant, aloof, and somewhat xenophobic, but have the credentials and history to back up their claims of superiority. their government is something between an aristocracy and a meritocracy. highly isolationist.
*a separate High Elven culture based on free markets and independence, a loose federation of sorts. vigilantism is a popular method of dealing with government corruption, and will definitely be featured in an important plot arc. trade is encouraged, but alliances with other nations is avoided as much as possible.
*Dark Elves, a violent and militaristic subspecies of Elves. powerful warriors, lacking the frailty most Elven peoples are prone to. they are barely considered a High race, and owe that title entirely to their Elven heritage. readily ally themselves with warring nations, and have a military that they often hire out to other countries.
__________________________________________________ ______________________________
4 middle races: less political power than the High races, but much more ambitious and more interested in forming empires. They developed later, and on another continent. definite distrust of the more "exotic" races. all human races.
*a French analogue. poor class making up most of the population, and a corrupt monarchy in charge. at some point in the series, the aristocracy will be overthrown in a violent rebellion. this will not end well for anybody involved, regardless of which side of the conflict they fight on.
*a German analogue. pre-Germany, based on the people before there was a single unified German nation. a loose confederation, the people are fiercely loyal to their region, rather than the country as a whole.
*an old-english analogue. probably the most amalgamated of the human races, names and voices will be based more on England prior to Roman domination, but will include several dialects from other places in the UK. tend to be stubborn and superstitious.
*a Greek analogue. the only human race that does not govern by some form of feudalism, they have a representative democracy. not actually on the continent humans developed on, mostly inhabit a large island to the west.
__________________________________________________ ______________________________
4 lesser races. little to no political power, and frequently resentful toward other races. very nonhuman appearances. even more lesser races, but they will not be playable and will mostly exist as enemies in the game.
*an insectoid race. no hive mind, but still incredibly loyal to the hive, where a literal hive mind exists; centuries of accumulated knowledge and memories from members of the hive are stored in a magical construct of some sort. all player characters are gender-neutral drones, so you don't end up with something like the Argonians (seriously? Boobs on a reptile?). appearance of your character will have little room for modification, as appearance will mostly be determined by what hive your character was born in, and what class they are.
*a shark-like race. little magical potential, if any. has an ability to take on a bestial form that is extremely powerful, similar to Lycanthropy in some regards. armor and weapons will not carry over to the bestial form. oldest race in the game world. they are more muscular than most races, and their skin comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns found among actual shark species.
*goblins. not comical like in many games. very cunning and intelligent. a tribal people that rarely stay in one place for very long. they are very humanoid, but with sharp, angular facial features, and their skin usually has a dark greenish tint.
*a canine race. chaotic, ruthless, but with a pack mentality that allows for a surprising empathy for other members of their concept of a pack, regardless of race. essentially anarchy, with all the instability and danger that comes with such a government. the members of this race tend to be more than a little insane. appearance tends to favor coyotes, hyenas, and jackals. they have warred with the gnomes for thousands of years.