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I'm a little surprised that nobody has ever created a female-centric race. I realize that most d&d gamers play in 'modern psychologized' campaigns where nobody blinks an eye at a woman wearing pants and swinging a sword. I'm just a little surprise that nobody has yet capitalized on that small population of gamers that would be attracted to a Wonderwoman/Lara Croft/Sara Pezzini/Xena type of 'femheroine'.
Anyway, I'm adding a few races for my next homebrew and the amazon is one of them:
Amazons are a race composed entirely of coal skinned females. A typical amazon stands 6’ 6” tall and weighs 120 pounds; lithe and shapely, amazons possess legendary beauty. An amazon is like a cat in many ways; wily, fickle, self-confident and self-sufficient. The amazonian homeland is Amazon, a land of thick wet jungle where these warrior-women rule supreme. While there are amazon village-ports on the coast of their land, most amazons prefer to live in the wild to hunt, gather and trade for their livelihoods. For the first time at puberty, and every few years afterward, an amazon feels the urge to travel outside of her homeland to mate with some comely male usually of the human or selkie variety. Immediately after mating, she feels drawn inexorably back to Amazon where she bears a pair of twins. One is always a male of the father’s species, while the other is always a female amazon. The male children are immediately sent back to their father’s homeland, though rumor persists that many of these male children are left to die, burned or even eaten by their mothers.
• Typical Alignment: Chaotic Neutral.
• +2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma.
• Medium.
• Base speed 40 feet.
• Low-light Vision.
• +2 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks.
• Automatic Languages: Common and Amazonian.
• Favored Class: Ranger.
Why not just make them human with an unusual culture?
Why not just make them human with an unusual culture?
Because it's been done before.
I would definitely beef up the cultural background a bit more - as it stands, they're not much more than humans with a little mechanical tweaking. Tell me why they're drawn back to their homelands, tell me why they always bear twins (and why are they only attracted to humans and selkies) - 'splain it to me, Lucy! :P Show me the flavor text!
What made you decide to make them dim (Int penalty) and bland (Cha penalty)? Do they have the base 40' move because they're kind of barbarian/monk based? Maybe they deserve WP spear (like the other non-human races), unless you have unique weapons (Xena's thingamabob?) in mind.
As a very different take: get rid of the men altogether and just have them pop out offspring (via parthenogenesis) on their own. That'd be a strong reason for isolationism and the like-- they don't need anyone else. (Do you have a use for the male offspring in your game? They might make a good slave/underclass for the cultures they're returned to, since they have no parent unless the amazon tracks the guy back down.)
Since they have a penalty to both Arcane casting stats, I'm guessing Clerics and/or Druids are their primary casters. Who's the Amazon goddess?
Culture: Do they interact with other cultures? Are they primitve, like the humanoid races, or are they a full steel and crossbow culture? Do they have anything to trade? Do they build cities or wander the jungles?
Hope this is useful in fleshing them out.
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I'm a little surprised that nobody has ever created a female-centric race. I realize that most d&d gamers play in 'modern psychologized' campaigns where nobody blinks an eye at a woman wearing pants and swinging a sword. I'm just a little surprise that nobody has yet capitalized on that small population of gamers that would be attracted to a Wonderwoman/Lara Croft/Sara Pezzini/Xena type of 'femheroine'.
Anyway, I'm adding a few races for my next homebrew and the amazon is one of them:
Amazons are a race composed entirely of coal skinned females. A typical amazon stands 6’ 6” tall and weighs 120 pounds; lithe and shapely, amazons possess legendary beauty. An amazon is like a cat in many ways; wily, fickle, self-confident and self-sufficient. The amazonian homeland is Amazon, a land of thick wet jungle where these warrior-women rule supreme. While there are amazon village-ports on the coast of their land, most amazons prefer to live in the wild to hunt, gather and trade for their livelihoods. For the first time at puberty, and every few years afterward, an amazon feels the urge to travel outside of her homeland to mate with some comely male usually of the human or selkie variety. Immediately after mating, she feels drawn inexorably back to Amazon where she bears a pair of twins. One is always a male of the father’s species, while the other is always a female amazon. The male children are immediately sent back to their father’s homeland, though rumor persists that many of these male children are left to die, burned or even eaten by their mothers.
• Typical Alignment: Chaotic Neutral.
• +2 Dexterity, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma.
• Medium.
• Base speed 40 feet.
• Low-light Vision.
• +2 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks.
• Automatic Languages: Common and Amazonian.
• Favored Class: Ranger.
Good stuff. The party that i have been running for the last few years-being trapped in Underdark-are about to find their way out. When they surface, i have been playing with the idea of a jungle theme and this female-centric race idea just may be what the doctor ordered. Please put something more substantial together and post for i would love to use the race in my campaign. Of course, all credit given to you.
A suggestion: go with a +2 dex/+1 Srength(size)/+1 Constitution(environment) & a -2 Intelligence(environment)/-2 Charisma(possibly environment). Just a thought. Either way works great.
Great idea. I'll look forward to any updates to this post.
Thoth-Amon
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I was thinking about making gnolls a matriarchal society, because hyenas in the wild are matriarchal.
Nothing against matriarchies or nothing. My house is kind of a matriarchy.
Another great idea. I didnt even think of that. From this point forward, i'm going to make gnolls a matriarchal society.
Great post.
Thoth-Amon
There was also a really cool matriarchal society on an island in the Palladium: Adventures on the High Seas.
What really stood out about it was it wasn't a typical drooling teenage male's idea of the Amazon thing. It actually made sense.
Hey, Heathansson, did you ever think the Blind Warrior Women from Rifts Atlantis would make a good PC race in D&D? I always thought so...
Hmmm...*rubs hands together*
I would definitely beef up the cultural background a bit more - as it stands, they're not much more than humans with a little mechanical tweaking. Tell me why they're drawn back to their homelands, tell me why they always bear twins (and why are they only attracted to humans and selkies) - 'splain it to me, Lucy! :P Show me the flavor text!
Oh Lizzy, I love when you call me pet names! ;)
What made you decide to make them dim (Int penalty) and bland (Cha penalty)? Do they have the base 40' move because they're kind of barbarian/monk based? Maybe they deserve WP spear (like the other non-human races), unless you have unique weapons (Xena's thingamabob?) in mind.
Amazons don't have small brains, they just generally don't care about academia and learning in general. They'd just rather go out frolicking in the forest than sit down to think about anything. Amazons are just too self-concerned to be very charismatic; they don't have much trouble finding mates but they tend to get bored of them quickly while their mates get irritated by the amazon's flighty nature. The 40' speed represents the amazon athletic nature and to a lesser extent, their similarity to the animals they hunt such as cats. I am looking into giving them a WP; others have mentioned that possibility too.
Ok, a bit about amazonian psychology:
Amazons are not feral, but they instinctively value their personal freedom above all else. Though capable of becoming captivated by exotic folk and cultures for short (usually) periods of time, an amazon is always drawn back to her homeland which is the only place where she can truly taste the freedom of the matchless towering trees and the thrill of the hunt through emerald leaves and deep shadows.
More culture:
The largest of amazonian settlements are small towns, mostly because the tropical clime is not fit to support larger communities. Though there are amazons that fill every lower- and middle-class position, a large number of these women live alone in the jungle hunting, gathering and trapping. In fact, amazon's most famous export is its exotic furs and ivory ornaments which are sometimes sold for several hundred gold coins apiece. Amazon also exports lumber, strange plants and beasts and the famous green frog poison, if one knows who to ask. Though amazons do enjoy the fine things they gain from other cultures by trading, they trade their own valuables as much to reduce the possiblity of others attempting to forcibly take these valuables as much as to gain others' trade goods. The reason that amazons most often find mates among humans and selkies is because these are the races that amazons most often come in contact with. The selkies man the ships that take an amazon away from her homeland, while she will unually wind up in a human land as a result of probability.
Religion: In myth, the goddess Hatta was the firstborn female among her own generation. Having many brothers and a quiet mother, Hatta yearned for companions with which to hunt and play who would not treat her differently because of her femininity. So Hatta found a huge isolated island filled with many strange plants and beasts. Filled with joy, she returned the Castle in the Sky and seduced her brother Mehir. Finally Hatta returned to her island and declared that she would bear one child of her own and one that would return to Mehir. The result was Bashae, the Mother of Amazons and Pomed of the Forest. Though Hatta long hid the existance of both her isle and her daughter after giving Pomed to Mehir, her secrets were finally found out and much intrigue and chaos followed...
Most amazonian casters are druids of Hatta, though some also take up the mantle of Binder. (I've changed the flavor of the binder class to be similar to that of the druid.)
Double post I guess.
Good stuff. The party that i have been running for the last few years-being trapped in Underdark-are about to find their way out. When they surface, i have been playing...
I reserve +/-1 stat mods for half-breeds, although in the case of the amazons I'm not sure how a crossbreed would happen. In general I just prefer +/-2.
Btw, a resemblance to drow has been brought up on other boards; amazons are not intended to resemble drow. Though drow do not exist in my homebrew, any resemblance between the two races is purely coincidental.
More culture: The largest of amazonian settlements are small towns, mostly because the tropical clime is not fit to support larger communities.
Tropical climes are pretty much the cradle of urban civilizations. Even jungles.
The Maya are a great example of this with a lot of scholarship, though, despite what is typically presented, researchers are finding that the Amazon river basin (which seems to be a model you are using) was HEAVILY developed and settled. Very large settlements.
The first Spainish chronicler tells of continuous settlement that extended for many miles along the river. Population the world didn't see again until cities starting to shift into megalopolises.
They actually figured out how to MAKE fertile dirt from nutrient impoverished rain forest. Much of the area is effectively the largest garden on Earth. The reason why you can reach out and grab something to eat is that those plants were strongly encouraged to grow. There was a lot of animal species management going on as well, by the expedient of habitat control.
Then there was this whole epidemic thing.... Resulting in the societies we see there now. They are effectively post-Apocalyptic.
Which may or may not be of some use to you....
TS, I would consider giving them a weapon proficiency with the aforementioned spear, but maybe blowgun and net as well. Perhaps a +2 racial bonus to Handle Animal and Survival.
More culture: The largest of amazonian settlements are small towns, mostly because the tropical clime is not fit to support larger communities.Tropical climes are pretty much the cradle of urban civilizations. Even jungles.
The Maya are a great example of this with a lot of scholarship, though, despite what is typically presented, researchers are finding that the Amazon river basin (which seems to be a model you are using) was HEAVILY developed and settled. Very large settlements.
I forgot about the Mayans. Though I think the cradle of urbania is more accurately big warm river climates. I was thinking of some documentary that mentioned that tropical climes are not good for storing food which is an important factor in the upkeep of large populations. I wonder how the Mayans got around that problem...
Why not just make them human with an unusual culture?Because it's been done before.
This is the slippery slope that causes character concepts , to be reinvented as (usually) overpowered PrCs. please don't we have enough of them rolling around as is? think of the newbies.
This is the slippery slope that causes character concepts , to be reinvented as (usually) overpowered PrCs. please don't we have enough of them rolling around as is? think of the newbies.Why not just make them human with an unusual culture?Because it's been done before.
Well what I was thinking was actually using humans. It's certianly possible to make humans into Amazon Women. Its all really mostly in the class and feat choices.
Now if I did it...and I have...I'd throw in some specialized features. Maybe give up on access to the armour proficiency and many of the martial weapon proficiencys but allow access to some exotic weaponry. Well designed PrCs that fit a cultural mold are no problem by me - whats an Amazon Shaman like? Maybe a PrC to cover that is in order if they are going to feature in the campaign.
I mean if we are going to worry about Munchkinism then a whole new race is at least as much a worry as a specific human culteral group that opens up some unusual weapon choices and allows some specialized PrCs. That said if a DM wants to make an Amazan Race that is not human that's cool too - I'd like to know what makes them not human however. The breeding without males is an interesting concept. One could definitly use an idea like that to create a unique and memorable culture.
I forgot about the Mayans. Though I think the cradle of urbania is more accurately big warm river climates. I was thinking of some documentary that mentioned that tropical climes are not good for storing food which is an important factor in the upkeep of large populations. I wonder how the Mayans got around that problem...More culture: The largest of amazonian settlements are small towns, mostly because the tropical clime is not fit to support larger communities.Tropical climes are pretty much the cradle of urban civilizations. Even jungles.
The Maya are a great example of this with a lot of scholarship, though, despite what is typically presented, researchers are finding that the Amazon river basin (which seems to be a model you are using) was HEAVILY developed and settled. Very large settlements.
1) Eat it fresh: Fairly easy to do in a tropical rain forest type environment where something is always in season (unless there is a drought). Even easier if you are "managing" your environment by essentially turing the area around the settlement into a garden with an extensive wildlife management program built into your culture.
2) Keep it dry: Keep it under a roof. Put it up high. Use pottery containers you can seal.
3)Use magic: In a D&D fantasy world, I am sure a caring deity would have given the spells to make sure people didn't starve. And/or adepts/wizards would have done so just to get to people out of their hair so they could get more study time.
So do these amazons only have one breast?
Actually, whether or not they removed their right breasts is a matter for conjecture. Sometimes they aree described as having their right breasts merely covered and sometimes removed (often by cutting followed by cauterization).
Amazons were described more as warriors than rangers (more like barbarians or fighters), and one of their other names were the Androktones "killers of men". I think you should call them something else. Amazon is so Xena!
I also discovered that the Amazon tribe would mate with men from the Gargarean tribe. Now gargareans sound cool.
So do these amazons only have one breast?
Actually, whether or not they removed their right breasts is a matter for conjecture. Sometimes they aree described as having their right breasts merely covered and sometimes removed (often by cutting followed by cauterization).
Amazons were described more as warriors than rangers (more like barbarians or fighters), and one of their other names were the Androktones "killers of men". I think you should call them something else. Amazon is so Xena!
I also discovered that the Amazon tribe would mate with men from the Gargarean tribe. Now gargareans sound cool.
Amazons in my game do not remove either of their breasts, just like the mythological ones did not. I created this race to be beautiful because I have found that this is an appealing trait to certain gamers.
I named the race amazon because everybody knows, in a general sense, what that means. Btw, I believe that Xena's title was 'Xena, the Warrior who Needs Anger Management' not 'Xena the Amazon'.
2) Keep it dry: Keep it under a roof. Put it up high. Use pottery containers you can seal.
I thought that this was the problem that had to be gotten around. Isn't it basically impossible to keep anything dry in a tropical setting for any extended length of time? I know from high school earth science class that water destroys/corrodes everything over time.
Still, if the Mayans did it I think some amazonian cities are in order...
That said if a DM wants to make an Amazan Race that is not human that's cool too - I'd like to know what makes them not human however.
What makes an elf different from a human? What makes a halfling different from a very short human? Because they just are.
This is the slippery slope that causes character concepts , to be reinvented as (usually) overpowered PrCs. please don't we have enough of them rolling around as is? think of the newbies.
For the first time ever, I'll be DMing this homebrew for experienced players. Even so, I'm very wary of prestige classes and generally don't see the point of them at all. Certainly, an amazonian culture doesn't require a PrC any more than the knights of the round table need one.
I thought that this was the problem that had to be gotten around. Isn't it basically impossible to keep anything dry in a tropical setting for any extended length of time? I know from high school earth science class that water destroys/corrodes everything over time.2) Keep it dry: Keep it under a roof. Put it up high. Use pottery containers you can seal.
I doubt it is impossible to keep things dry anywhere but underwater.
I know many tribes in the Pacific survive on yams they keep in a hut with no sides. It's pretty wet and they don't seem to have much of a problem. I guess a few might sprout.
But if you put grain in a big pot, seal off the top (say with leather, some cord and wax), someone would have to break the pot to make the insides wet. You would probably want to tresh and dry (in a low heat kiln maybe) the grain beforehand. But it would be dry when you open it.
Tropical Africa, India, and Southeast Asia also had very well-developed civilizations quite early on--even in the Niger Delta, "darkest Africa" to our racist and uninformed forebears, people worked iron and stored food in pottery well before the time of Christ.
As Calloway noted, the food storage problem is primarily a problem in temperate climes where you can only grow one or two crops a year, and in places with extremely dense populations that rely almost exclusively on cereal crops. Otherwise, you can garden year round, planting a variety of crops at different times so that you always have some fresh food. Also note that only a few places are uniformly wet year round. Most tropical rainforests have a monsoon season in which the rainfall is concentrated, and a dry season, when the rain is infrequent enough that grain can be dried in the sun, then packed up and stored in containers that will minimize rotting and consumption by pests. You might not be able to store it for multiple years in such climes, but then you're not as vulnerable to drought cycles, so it doesn't matter.
As for amazons and "matriarchy"--since this is fantasy, we can organize societies as we see fit. There is already one established matriarchal society in D&D--the Drow. They naturally fit the worst stereotypes of "women in charge" that our most conservative ur-patriarchal types have in the deepest recesses of their brains. The flip side of the matriarchal society fantasy is the feminist/anarchist libertarian utopia, in which the constraints of patriarchy are lifted, therefore eliminating all the evils associated with it. All forms of oppression and inequality disappear, etc., etc. The perfect CG society, perhaps?
Most social anthropologists today would say that there is no such thing as a "matriarchal" society, although there are a number of "matrilineal" societies in which descent and inheritance are reckoned through the female line. (In the 19th century, "matriarchy" was widely supposed to have been the most primitive stage of human social evolution, before the emergence of slavery and private property. Since modern ethnographers have failed to come up with any genuine instance of a truly matriarchal society in which women hold the kind of power that men do in the classic patriarchal societies, this theory has been discredited, except in places like China where Marxism, which incorporates this model of human social evolution, still has a strong influence).
Matrilineal societies have relatively egalitarian gender relations, rather than "female dominance." One example would be the people known as Mosuo in southwest China, among whom daughters traditionally stayed in the family and inherited property from their mothers. Men remain in their mother's family--there is no marriage as we would understand it, but there are long-term monogamous relationships in which a man frequently stays as a guest in his partner's mother's home. His labor remains the property of his mother's family, but he often helps out his partner's family as well. Unlike Herodotus's (very patriarchal) fantasy of the Amazons, women in this society do not monopolize power--they just have a much larger say in the way things are run. Men still have the role of protecting family/village against violence from the outside--but a child's protector is not the father, but the maternal uncle. Older women look to brothers, sons, and daughters' sons to do the job.
I've used the Mosuo kinship system as a model for many groups of elves in my homebrew world--some elves form matrilineal families, while other groups practice bilateral kinship, with the eldest child or eldest son inheriting authority.
If there is a candidate for a race with an Amazonian matriarchy, I'd say it's the gnolls. But Tequila Sunrise, your idea is interesting! I wonder, though, how they breed enough to keep their population up. Even assuming that they have a low infant mortality rate due to the availability of magical healing, it sounds as though most Amazons will have at most one or two daughters to replace them and support them in their old age. Since they are hunters, presumably quite a few die unnaturally early deaths from injury, before they can give birth or raise their daughters to adulthood. How do you account for this?
Tropical Africa, India, and Southeast Asia also had very well-developed civilizations quite early on--even in the Niger Delta, "darkest Africa" to our racist and uninformed forebears, people worked iron and stored food in pottery well before the time of Christ.
As Calloway noted, the food storage problem is primarily a problem in temperate climes where you can only grow one or two crops a year, and in places with extremely dense populations that rely almost exclusively on cereal crops. Otherwise, you can garden year round, planting a variety of crops at different times so that you always have some fresh food. Also note that only a few places are uniformly wet year round. Most tropical rainforests have a monsoon season in which the rainfall is concentrated, and a dry season, when the rain is infrequent enough that grain can be dried in the sun, then packed up and stored in containers that will minimize rotting and consumption by pests. You might not be able to store it for multiple years in such climes, but then you're not as vulnerable to drought cycles, so it doesn't matter.
As for amazons and "matriarchy"--since this is fantasy, we can organize societies as we see fit. There is already one established matriarchal society in D&D--the Drow. They naturally fit the worst stereotypes of "women in charge" that our most conservative ur-patriarchal types have in the deepest recesses of their brains. The flip side of the matriarchal society fantasy is the feminist/anarchist libertarian utopia, in which the constraints of patriarchy are lifted, therefore eliminating all the evils associated with it. All forms of oppression and inequality disappear, etc., etc. The perfect CG society, perhaps?
Most social anthropologists today would say that there is no such thing as a "matriarchal" society, although there are a number of "matrilineal" societies in which descent and inheritance are reckoned through the female line. (In the 19th century, "matriarchy" was widely supposed to have been the most primitive...
Not to put words in Sunrise's mouth, but simple replacement or replacement + one seems like an acceptable birthrate for a society that is as individualized as he is describing. Using the feline analog, these Amazons seem very similar to other female cats (excepting the whole lion thing). They want large territories, will endure their children there but fully expect them to go off and get territory of their own when grown. If they lead violent lives they may need a few more kids though.
There is evidence of some significant matrilieality or even matriarchy that has been conveniently forgotten in ancient cultures. For example, the Pharoahs of the I and II dynasties have TINY tombs, especially when compared to the HUGE timbs for their mothers and sisters adjacent.
And don't foget your source material on Amazons! Go back and check out the mythical Greek Amazons. People pull a lot from the whole Heracles and Hippolyta scene, but there is also material involving Theseus. There is a fair number of Amazons involved in the Trojan War. Penthesilia (how feline can a name get?), Queen of the Amazons, fought for Troy. She came to aid her kinswoman Hecuba, Priam's queen. And so on...
Calloway! Call-O-way! Aargh!!!! I've been Anglicized!
Too much information...brain overload...GAAHHH!
As to Peruhain's question, I've decided to do away with the 'exactly one son and one daughter' and just go with 'a single child is either an amazon or HIS kid.' Amazons bear 'litters' every few years which are generally 3-6 children each. That should do it from the practical perspective.
I love D&D because every so often it presents us with historical information that we might no otherwise have access to or think about getting access to. Several interesting points have also been raised by this thread about designing a D&D race (notwithstandding my own joking comments previously).
If Amazons are a different race from humans how are they physically and physiologically different from humans? Tequila hasn't written about this issue, so it would be interesting to hear his thoughts. I would also be interested to see how they evolved.
In some stories mythological amazons kept male slaves to help propogate their number and would kill or enslave male children. They would also steal female children from other tribes and raise them as their own. Obviously, their CG alignment in Sunrise's campaign would preclude them from owning slaves or stealing children, but it would be an interesting solution to the population problem (particulalry if they stole girls from a LE society).
Apparently, the legend of the Amazons has something to do with feminine deities such as Artemis and Hecate, and the all-female mystery cults of Asia-Minor and central Persia (according to some theorists). This might also be worthy of exploration. Maybe a female deity has specially blessed the Amazons with unusual abilities?
The matriachal issue is easy to handle in a small insular society, but how will it work for an entire race? Do men need to be excluded from Amazon society? Perhaps part of the solution is magical in nature, and it would be interesting to see a race where magic has had an impact on the relationship between men and women. Just a thought.
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Amazons are a race composed entirely of coal skinned females. A typical amazon stands 6’ 6” tall and weighs 120 pounds; lithe and shapely, amazons possess legendary beauty.
My girlfriend is 5'2" and weighs 120 pounds. She has a fairly athletic build, not any noticeable amount of body fat. I mention this only as my point of reference.
Now, I know that different people have bodies shaped differently and there are variations on how they carry their weight. But 6'6" and 120 pounds? That's not going to be shapely and lithe. That's going to look like they've just been released from an extended period of captivity in a particularly nasty POW camp.
Amazons are a race composed entirely of coal skinned females. A typical amazon stands 6’ 6” tall and weighs 120 pounds; lithe and shapely, amazons possess legendary beauty.My girlfriend is 5'2" and weighs 120 pounds. She has a fairly athletic build, not any noticeable amount of body fat. I mention this only as my point of reference.
Now, I know that different people have bodies shaped differently and there are variations on how they carry their weight. But 6'6" and 120 pounds? That's not going to be shapely and lithe. That's going to look like they've just been released from an extended period of captivity in a particularly nasty POW camp.
I intended this race to be an excuse for a gamer to imagine his/her character as the truly rediculously proportioned female that we of post-modern times find so sexy. I will admit that I don't have a great grasp of weight:height proportions at all, so any suggestions are welcome.
That said if a DM wants to make an Amazan Race that is not human that's cool too - I'd like to know what makes them not human however.What makes an elf different from a human? What makes a halfling different from a very short human? Because they just are.
Well Elf and Halfling vary from one world to a next but almost all of them do try and work on making them unique. Elves that are little more then pointy eared humans are not very interesting and an encounter with them would not be very memorable. On the other hand of ones players encounter Dragon Lanceshalflings (Kender) I suspect they are going to remember the experience for some time to come. Same deal if one bumps into the head hunting halfling of Dark Sun. I guess what I am saying is that having them be identical to human females except that they have stat adjustments is not very memorable. I'd be looking to spice that up with some thought on what their life cycle was like. What their beliefs and values are and what their history and mythology is composed of.
If that’s to much work then concentrating on three or so unique themes would probably get a DM by in a pinch, especially if this is an encounter and not a race the PCs would want some idea regarding how to roleplay.
If Amazons are a different race from humans how are they physically and physiologically different from humans? Tequila hasn't written about this issue, so it would be interesting to hear his thoughts. I would also be interested to see how they evolved.
You really put that much thought into such modern concerns about a fantasy world? If so, I'd love to hear what your ideas are about Outsider evolution! As to physical and psychological differences, I've already covered that as much as I care to. Anyone who wants to play an amazon in my game is welcome to go into more detail about their own character's physiology and psychology.
Apparently, the legend of the Amazons has something to do with feminine deities such as Artemis and Hecate, and the all-female mystery cults of Asia-Minor and central Persia (according to some theorists). This might also be worthy of exploration. Maybe a female deity has specially blessed the Amazons with unusual abilities?
Certainly amazons have a patron goddess or two but they're just baddass because that's how they're born. I don't feel that there needs to be any more explaination than that.
The matriachal issue is easy to handle in a small insular society, but how will it work for an entire race? Do men need to be excluded from Amazon society? Perhaps part of the solution is magical in nature, and it would be interesting to see a race where magic has had an impact on the relationship between men and women. Just a thought.
Men aren't specifically excluded from Amazon, but very few actually have an interest in it beyond trading. How many men do you know would enjoy, say, spending their Friday night in a lesbian bar...where any one of them could kick his butt? Not many, huh?
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I intended this race to be an excuse for a gamer to imagine his/her character as the truly rediculously proportioned female that we of post-modern times find so sexy. I will admit that I don't have a great grasp of weight:height proportions at all, so any suggestions are welcome.
Thankfully, the aforementioned significant other is still awake to throw in her two cents again. She told me of a female friend of hers that's 5'10" and says her ideal weight is 180. Furthermore, anything under 160 and she looks really sick.
Taller than that I can't really help, except to say maybe gather some info on some of the women pro or college basketball players. You'll have the height, definitely athletic, and not so overly developed that they've lost that modern femininity you're looking for.
Thanks for the input; I think I'll go with 160 lbs. I've played with a lot of anime fans who just love those characters that look like I could wrap my hands completely around their waists. I love anime artwork too, but NOBODY (real) looks like that.
If this helps...I am male. About 6'1/2". At peak shape
(1,000 pushups a day, 500 situps, running 2-3 miles every 2 days) I was 154 pounds. Very skinny, very cut, and veins everywhere. I think 150-160 pounds would be about right. I had wiry muscles, not BIG.
Holy crap. When was this Heath? What were you doing at the time?
Callaway--SORRY! I was posting without looking at your post!
On the proportions issue--I have two sisters who are just under six feet tall--one weighs about 140 and if she gets much skinnier she'll be anorexic, the other is bigger-boned and works as a gardener--she's trim and athletic at 165. So for 6 1/2 feet I'd have to guess 180 would still be fairly slender, and anything less would be distance runner thin.
On the matriarchy issue, thanks for the interesting material from the mediterranean world, Callaway and Phil L. I'm a China specialist myself, so I'm not as familiar with the ancient Near East. I guess I always figured the Amazons were something the ancient Greeks fantasized up based on exaggerated ideas about a less patriarchal society than their own. Is there any study on matriarchy/matrilineality/women's power in the societies that you mentioned?
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Holy crap. When was this Heath? What were you doing at the time?If this helps...I am male. About 6'1/2". At peak shape
(1,000 pushups a day, 500 situps, running 2-3 miles every 2 days) I was 154 pounds. Very skinny, very cut, and veins everywhere. I think 150-160 pounds would be about right. I had wiry muscles, not BIG.
I was working out-of-doors on a greyhound farm. It essentially entailed a lot of feeding dogs, turning out dogs, and standing around watching dogs take a dump or eat. So I started doing pushups while I was standing around doing not much of anything.
After 3-4 months of doing pushups all the time, you can do 120 in a row, or 15 one-handed pushups.I was also in the National Guard, and in 1997, I thought we were going to Iraq, so I figgered I'd get in real good shape. It was when we were just shooting cruise missiles at them.
Oh, and my previous weight estimate I bolloxed it; I thought TS said 6'2" for the amazons' height. So I think 180-190 lbs like Peruhain said would be about right for a 6'6" giant amazon warrior woman.
Here's some more info that you could use:
The Slayer's Guide to Amazons by Mongoose Publishing
Here's a Link:
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/d20/detail.php?qsID=37&qsSeries=10
I know this is an old thread, but I was glad to find it! I have a very "inspired from Greek" pantheon I use for my homebrew, and thought it would be funny to put exiled Amazons in my prison colony, rude and crude types.
did anyone remember the amazons from Robert E Howards conan series?
They seem very intune with what your trying for with the exeption that Mr. Howards Amazons kept males as slaves and lived in high mud walled cities on the open svanah regions and had zebra rideing archers. If you can find the issues it would be worth chechking out. The first mention of them I remember was The avage Sword of Conan during his Quest for the Cobra Crown.
My two cents. If these Amazons are not just a human culture than human standards of proportions would not have to apply and they could be tall and thin. If they are kind of cat-like physically they could have long thin limbs which could add height without weight and also give them a more exotic feel/look. I would also go with parthenogenesis (reproduction from unfertilized ovum) This gets away from the where are the men and the population growth/maintenance problems. As I think about this I may add a cat-like parthenogenic race to my new campaign world. Now I just need a cool name for these warrior women.