Winning Races? YES!!!


Dragon Magazine General Discussion

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

I loved the Grippli, dont mind the Lupin, and have no problem with a fan of Krull wanting to play a Cyclopean. But, what I'm really looking.... what I'd REALLY like to see is Races we've already seen in other books given a playable status without me having to do ANY of the work.

I've even compiled a list of some races I'd like to see:
Oriental Adventures (Nezumi, Vanara, Naga, Tengu)
Monsters of Faerun (Bullywug,Siv)
Miniatures Rulebook (Equiceph)
Monster Manual I (Bugbears, Centaurs, Formians, Gnolls, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Kobolds, Lizard-Folk, Ogres, Ogre Mages, Orcs, Satyrs, Sprites, Troglodytes, Yuan-Ti)
Monster Manual II (Thri-Keen, Yak-Folk, Scorpion-Folk)
Monster Manual III (Armands, Changlings Dracotaur, Goat-Folk, Kenku, Black Scale Lizard-Folk, Poison Dusk Lizard-Folk, Nycter, Shifter, Thorn, Witchknives)

AND any new races you happen to think of!!
I would personally love to see a stylized Egyptian Cat-Folk race, (Basts?)


KissMeDarkly wrote:

I've even compiled a list of some races I'd like to see:

Oriental Adventures (Nezumi, Vanara, Naga, Tengu)
Monsters of Faerun (Bullywug,Siv)
Miniatures Rulebook (Equiceph)
Monster Manual I (Bugbears, Centaurs, Formians, Gnolls, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Kobolds, Lizard-Folk, Ogres, Ogre Mages, Orcs, Satyrs, Sprites, Troglodytes, Yuan-Ti)
Monster Manual II (Thri-Keen, Yak-Folk, Scorpion-Folk)
Monster Manual III (Armands, Changlings Dracotaur, Goat-Folk, Kenku, Black Scale Lizard-Folk, Poison Dusk Lizard-Folk, Nycter, Shifter, Thorn, Witchknives)

I have to agree that it would be neat to see more monster races ported to PC races. The only thing I'd really ask is that if all possible, these races be ECL to the base races and not done as some kind of racial class thing. It would be great just to have new races that you can just play without having to create a whole custom campaign for it, or adopt some wierd monster leveling conceit.

Dark Archive Contributor

KissMeDarkly wrote:
I ... dont mind the Lupin...

w00t. :)

KissMeDarkly wrote:
Monster Manual I... Hobgoblins...

See "Ecology of Hobgoblins" in Dragon #309.

KissMeDarkly wrote:
Monster Manual I... Kobolds...

See "Ecology of the Kobold" in Dragon #342.

KissMeDarkly wrote:
Monster Manual I... Lizardfolk...

See "Ecology of Lizardfolk" in Dragon #335.

KissMeDarkly wrote:
Monster Manual III... Kenku...

See "Ecology of Lizardfolk" in Dragon #329.

KissMeDarkly wrote:
Monster Manual III... Changlings... Shifter...

Um... been done.

Many of the creatures on your list would actually end up in the Ecology section.


Thri-Kreen are presented in playable format in the FR book Shining South.

Liberty's Edge

Ra Ka Sta! Ra Ka Sta! Ra Ka Sta!

Dark Archive Contributor

Heathansson wrote:
Ra Ka Sta! Ra Ka Sta! Ra Ka Sta!

Wizards of the Coast is pretty dead-set against rakasta, for whatever reason. You can find a rakasta substitute in the catfolk of Savage Species.


Mike McArtor wrote:
Wizards of the Coast is pretty dead-set against rakasta, for whatever reason. You can find a rakasta substitute in the catfolk of Savage Species.

The catfolk ot the 3.5 update in Races of the Wild.


Mike McArtor wrote:
Wizards of the Coast is pretty dead-set against rakasta, for whatever reason.

Weird. Bummer. :(

Dark Archive Contributor

Frukathka wrote:
The catfolk ot the 3.5 update in Races of the Wild.

Ah yes, thank you for reminding me.

What Frukathka said. :)

Liberty's Edge

Bummer bummer bummer bummer ad nauseum.


It would be awesome to see this series return.


Frukathka wrote:
The catfolk ot the 3.5 update in Races of the Wild.

The catfolk don't really capture the spirit of the rakasta.

The problem with the catfolk is they are "just another anthropomorphic animal" (JAAA) race. The rakasta, like the lupins, had enough of an interesting culture, society, and variants to transcend the JAAA and be interesting.

I'm very much against new humanoid races, as we have more than we could ever need, but the rakasta are a rich part of D&D history, and should see their day in this edition.

Of course, I think I'm preaching to the choir around these parts...

Dark Archive Contributor

Shade wrote:
Of course, I think I'm preaching to the choir around these parts...

I think you are. Go preach to WotC to let us do it. If we got permission to run a rakasta, you know I'd be writing that bad boy within a week. ;D

Lantern Lodge

Yep!!Rakastas rule!!

Following the Diabolus, Lupin, Tortle and Phanaton Mystarian conversions he are lacking...the RAKASTA!!!

Will this great article (Winning Races) be returning to the pages of Dragon in a near future?


Mike McArtor wrote:
Heathansson wrote:
Ra Ka Sta! Ra Ka Sta! Ra Ka Sta!
Wizards of the Coast is pretty dead-set against rakasta, for whatever reason. You can find a rakasta substitute in the catfolk of Savage Species.

I actually thought he was saying Rock Star with an Asian accent. Derrrr.

Liberty's Edge

The Jade wrote:
Mike McArtor wrote:
Heathansson wrote:
Ra Ka Sta! Ra Ka Sta! Ra Ka Sta!
Wizards of the Coast is pretty dead-set against rakasta, for whatever reason. You can find a rakasta substitute in the catfolk of Savage Species.
I actually thought he was saying Rock Star with an Asian accent. Derrrr.

The pearl is in the river.

Dark Archive Contributor

Nazgul wrote:
Will this great article (Winning Races) be returning to the pages of Dragon in a near future?

All signs point to no. The problem with Winning Races is 95% of our submissions (er... let's say 75% actually, because 95% makes it sound like we got a lot, whereas in truth we only ever received like four) are people with animal heads. Do we really need a race that look like humans in every way except that they have the heads of sugar gliders? I think not.

We might someday run a new race in the magazine, but it would have to be something spectacular. And it would probably be run in the Features well. So if you think you have the next big thing in new playable (i.e., LA +0) races, pop Jason an email at dragon@paizo.com.

Scarab Sages

Speaking of races i would love to see return to their roots, i miss the cat lords. Yes yes they did a crappy redo of them in the epic level handbook but still its not the cool catlords race i remember and miss.


Races didn't really take off in Dragon, much to my dismay. From what I'd heard, the problems were that you can only use a race when making a new character, and that the DM has to find a way to fit that race into his world.

That, and as Mike points out, everyone tries to write anthropomorphic animals without realising that it's the most cliche fantasy race concept ever (and, for that matter, was covered quite thoroughly in Savage Species). Moreover, it always ends up incredibly cliche; bear people are strong and love honey, dog people are brave and honourable, and cat people are coy and sneaky with favoured class: rogue. A catfolk race still made its way into Races of the Wild, and I won't even start on Book of Exalted Deeds.


Jonathan Drain wrote:
and I won't even start on Book of Exalted Deeds.

What, the Guardinals?


The guardinals, for a start, yeah. I don't have the book to hand but I recall rat people, owl people, bear people, rhino people and a horse archangel.

Liberty's Edge

The one thing that I'll never understand about the anthropomorphic creatures - they're all based off of a nomal-earth animal.

You can have zebra headed people, warthog headed people, wolf people, et all, but nobody ever writes a unicorn headed person, or a Catoblepas headed person. Now, a lot of D&D animals already look a lot like normal animals, but I just think it is wierd. I guess most D&D games lack a "magical ecology" to really bring out the rest of the magical races in some kind of hybrid creature.

Not that I don't think there are too many of such races. I do. But, I do have an idea for a new creature. Maybe I should write it up. Maybe it is the next big thing.

Dark Archive Contributor

Just please tell me it's not the beholder-headed creature. ;D


Mike McArtor wrote:
Just please tell me it's not the beholder-headed creature. ;D

I thought that was the Ocular Adept...;)

Dark Archive Contributor

Lilith wrote:
I thought that was the Ocular Adept...;)

Exactly! :D


DeadDMWalking wrote:
...warthog headed people...

You know, I'd actually play one of these guys, just for kicks.


if dogs can blink why not gnomes?
if beasts can displace why not humans?
if wolves can winter why not elves?
if bears can owl why not orcs?
if gangers can dopple why not dwarves?


Requesting statistics for blink gnomes, displacerfolk, winter elves, orcbears and dwarfgangers!


Dwelf!

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