Do you create other humanoids/races?

[Nomadica]

I'm in the process of creating races for my world. This is my favorite part, making races that are different then the traditional elvs or dwarfs. This is one I scetched up today. Would love to hear what other creations people like to make when worldbuilding.

 

[Nomadica]

By the way, if anyone wants to help me think of a name for this species shout one out. I'm just calling them tree rats for now.

 

[Ireth]

Arborants? Verdenes?

 

[Queshire]

Heh, this sort of topic holds a special place for me and the answer is a loud and resounding "NOPE!" The only time I ever make custom races is in a Sci-fi setting. I have nothing against custom races. I do have a problem with people that just scoff at the classic races and act as if they have nothing to add. That's why I make a point to take the classic races, and while still keeping what keeps them them, put my own twist on them.

For example...

Elves: Transhumanists with a habit of utilizing organic technology or genetically engineered creatures thanks to their mastery of Life Magic, after the destruction of their homeland and ruling caste they've become divided up into various tribes each of which naturally thinks that THEY should be the ones to become the new ruling caste.

Dwarves: Due to their numbers being cut dangerously low thanks to an engineered plague unleashed during the war with the elves they've been forced to rely on cloning to supplant their numbers (because Our Dwarves Are All The Same) and wear enchanted armor nearly their entire life which serves as an environmental suit.

Orcs: ... Basically magically created super soldiers

Edit: And since I'm an ass like that, for a name suggestion for those guys how about Elves?

 

[Nomadica]

Don't worry Queshire, I'm not a fantasy racist. They are all good. But still fun to creat something fron scratch or close to it.

 

[valiant12]

Do you consider customizing an already existing race as making a new one.
Honestly none of the races that I have "created" are 100 % my creation.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I haven't really created any sentient races for my setting, but I've made up plenty of animals that I haven't really encountered anywhere else (windbear, night-squirrel, etc).

Apart from humans I've got elves, dwarves, and hobbits (except they're called anfylk due to trademark restrictions). Visually they look pretty much like you'd expect. The main exception there would be that the anfylk have fur all the way up to their knees (and let's not get into the winter fylk at all). Also, the average height of a full grown elf is higher for earlier generation elves than for more recent ones.

The differences that set my races apart from the "standard" versions are mainly below the surface.

The anfylk come in a number of different varieties relating to the season during which their goddess created them (spring, summer, etc...) and their appearance and disposition vary a little depending on this. There are other differences as well, but they're things that you'll learn as read the stories.
The key point is that a reader should recognize where the inspiration for the race comes from, but that the race has its own quirks and features that sets it apart from the original source of inspiration.

The same thing goes for the elves and dwarves.

Humans I've copied straight off from the real world.

 

[KC Trae Becker]

Nomadica, I really like your sketch. Do all of them have the same markings or are those tattoos? Is the hair truly green or is it algae growing in it like sloths?

I also have e tree focused race so I'm curious about the details of your race? Do they live in the trees exclusively or just primarily? The jewelry would imply they are civilized, do they have a written language? What are their relationships to the races around them? What is their philosophy about the trees they live in?

I love making up races and species. The trick is getting them complex enough to feel real, then hiding most of the information either in your story in little snippets or in notebook somewhere so your story doesn't read like a field guide.

 

[AJ Stevens]

Yes I do. I have a number of vaguely humanoid races in my current WIP.

- A race that is human, but with varying degrees of animal physiology. This might range from someone having gills that allow them to breathe underwater, to someone who is more animal than human, which may involve shapeshifting. I haven't decided on that one yet. Perhaps the more interesting aspect of this is that this race is treated with suspicion and fear by humans, so they tend to live in small pockets out in the wild, and they've been hunted down so that they're few and far between.

- A race which is plant-based. Humanoid in form, but they function as plants would. I need to flesh this out to some degree and put some backstory against it.

The underlying premise is that the gods of the world had various attempts at creating life forms in their own image, and some of the other races are the prototypes to humans.

EDIT: I really like your drawing. Oh, how I wish I could draw. Even just a little bit!

 

[Devor]

I've found that I've largely moved away from humanoid races. At some point I've realized that I'll never be all that prolific, and I've focused on places where I can make a bigger mark with my writing.

That said, I have a few. The Traelu are a race of sprites that just about annihilated the shapeshifting-addicted Gorgit, but could never find the source of a magical curse they left behind. The Keskua are a race of birdmen based on the skua, birds that eat other birds and sometimes steal fish right out of another birds' beak. I have half-dwarves in a Nordic setting who look like old men by day and young warriors by night (since pure dwarves in Norse myths turn to stone and die in the sunlight (or transform into animals)).

My favorite is tied up with the spirit world. The spirits of the dead in the setting can sometimes empower an animal when enough spiritual energy builds up. Each type of animal represents a different personality type. There's a place where every member of a certain animal species has been elevated in this way, forming a community of happy magical reincarnated animal monks.

I am also trying to develop a humanoid race for a setting that has some RPG / gaming undertones. I want to develop a magic system that's on par with - well, I tend to use "Nature/Druids" as a reference. And a race is one of the ways I want to tie it off. It hasn't been a priority, and I'll probably flush it out the next time I get obsessive-brained on the project. But I have a chart, based loosely on elves in Warcraft, outlining how the race may have developed over time or for different purposes along with the magic in the setting. In their rawest form, they're only semi-conscious spirits of the mist; but they've sort of merged with a group of humans and evolved them into a unique magical race. I haven't nailed the details yet,.

 

[Nomadica]

KC Trae Becker, The markings on the face are tattoos but the markings on the ears are natural stripes. They also have a teal like a kangaroo rat or a Jerboa ( just peach fuzz type fur for most of the length of the tail and then a tuft at the end) which will have stripes also. Their hair is natural and comes in shades of greenish ranging from a greenish blond to a greenish blue. Primarily they live in trees in something hanging from them like giant hanging lanterns connected by rope bridges. I'm thinking the hanging houses will be made of some kind of giant seed pod. They also live on these pods floating on the water of shallow lakes connected by wooden docs. I'm thinking I'll make these pods semi translucent so at night they glow with the inner light of whatever they use to light their home.

And thanks

 

[Nomadica]

AJ Stevens, I like the plant-based idea. I'd like to hear more when you have the fleshed out

 

[skip.knox]

By the way, if anyone wants to help me think of a name for this species shout one out. I'm just calling them tree rats for now.

FWIW I really like that name, at least as an insult thrown by other races.

 

[Nomadica]

Thanks Yep that is what it's going to be, an insult lol.

 

[Lunaairis]

Making races up is my favorite thing to do. Usually they end up being based on a mythical creature that already exists, but I always try to put a twist on them. I also like thinking of the kind of cultures they would have. Things they would believe to be true. How they would eat, family life etc. There is already so much versatility with humans, imagine if we had extra arms or something. What kind of sayings would we have? Would we keep three hands off the table when eating? Would it be custom to have a fork in each hand? So many possibilities!

I have these naga-like people who are visually based off of slavic cultures. They inherently are born able to control fire which leaves them with no fear of the cold climates. So even though they are reptile-like people they don't usually live in deserts or jungles. They are also story tellers and find tattoos to be a great way to record an individuals life story. When they die they don't bury a body. Instead their body is skinned and their skin is tanned to hang in their traditional skin halls. The rest of their body is turned to ash to feed a family burial 'hearth' in the center of these halls. Keeping with how important fire is to their existence.

 

[Nomadica]

Wow thats great. I really love the ideas you have for their culture. The story tattoos and then skining after death is really interesting.

 

[Drakevarg]

My setting began as just another DnD campaign world, complete with elves and dwarves and so forth. But after writing on it for a while I realized that having these different cultures be different species entirely added absolutely nothing to them, so I simply wrote that bit out. All of them became different (totally fictional) human ethnic groups.

That said, I still like having nonhuman cultures running around, but I have a rule for that, based on the same reasoning that made me give elves and such the boot: if I'm going to make a nonhuman race, they need to be really not human. Now, there's a limit to what I can do with that and still make them relatable, but at minimum my standard is "no forehead-makeup aliens." Pointy ears or bad teeth do not a new race make.

 

[Nomadica]

But after writing on it for a while I realized that having these different cultures be different species entirely added absolutely nothing to them, so I simply wrote that bit out. All of them became different (totally fictional) human ethnic groups.

You may find it more fitting when a races looks match thier abilities. Better night vission= bigger eyes, better hearing = bigger ears, better jumpers= bigger glutes and quads, mayby they live in a cave and have an organ to sense heat like a snake but lake good eye sight. These abilities could add to a stoy to make a formidable foe.

 

[Drakevarg]

You may find it more fitting when a races looks match thier abilities. Better night vission= bigger eyes, better hearing = bigger ears, better jumpers= bigger glutes and quads, mayby they live in a cave and have an organ to sense heat like a snake but lake good eye sight. These abilities could add to a stoy to make a formidable foe.

That might work for some, but I would never write a race in just to be a "foe." If any sort of group is going to be added to my world they need to be fully realized, living breathing people within the world. And "they'd be mildly more impressive in certain specific fight scenes" is not enough of a reason to make an organization a different species.

 

[Miskatonic]

I may have lizard people but I'm not sure yet.