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Short of epic level magic, what are some ways an enterprising person with a hankering to play a god, for good or ill, to create a new race of sapient beings? Either from scratch or from existing beings?
Outside of a specialized quest?
Houseruling a version of homunculi that can breed, or eidolons that can do the same?
Well a wish or miracle can be used to return a reincarnated being to their original form. I don't think it would be unreasonable to allow it to create a brand new form instead.
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This makes me think of the elephant pig South Park episode.
The answer is whatever you as the GM decide is a reasonable way to do it.
I guess the question is why is the player trying to create a new race?
Oh no, this is me thinking about a PC concept actually.
Got to thinking about it from different angles.
Maybe the guy wants to leave one hell of a legacy, a big footprint on the world. Perhaps he is unable to have children, which drives him to one hell of an act of overcompensating.
Maybe he's a dreamer who sees the peoples of the world as having made a mess of things, and he thinks that if he could make a "better" people who could get things "right" for a change. Maybe he'd want to keep them isolated from the world and innocent, or maybe he thinks he can shape them into a people that could lead the world to salvation.
Maybe he has a god complex, or he just plain wants to become a god. He wants to create a race of his own, and possibly be remade as a god in the image of his own creation.
Maybe he's a gnome with too much time on his hands.
Along the lines of using wish or miracle, I wonder if one could use polymorph any object to "redesign" a number of humanoids into a form the caster has come up with, and if their offspring would actually match the new forms of their parents, or if they would instead be born into the parents' original race.
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It's not really for an upcoming campaign. This is more about figuring out what can be done with the tools that already exist beforehand. Saving for later and whatnot.
On polymorph any object, I'd guess it's safe to assume it also modifies the target on a genetic level, considering how more extreme transformations such as animal -> mineral are supported by the spell. That would imply that the new creatures would breed true, eh?
And if it can't, miracle or wish should pick up the slack. I wonder if certain skills could help the project along before level 9 spells are needed though...
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Short of epic level magic, what are some ways an enterprising person with a hankering to play a god, for good or ill, to create a new race of sapient beings? Either from scratch or from existing beings?
In the Second Darkness AP there is an article about Drow Flesh Crafting, which is essentially alchemy and magic item creation combined to create temporary, and permanent changes. Including new races like driders, and mega-trogladytes (Ghonites?) You could that as a starting point.
I like the bit about drow fleshcrafting.
Also, the aspiring Dr. Frankenstein should invest in Knowledge (nature) in my opinion (aside from Craft (Alchemy)). It's no use thinking up cool stuff and having your creation die from starvation because it can't find anything to digest properly.
+2 to Polymorph any Object, should do the trick. And perhaps consult a druid for guidelines.
If this new "race" is to be self-perpetuating, not only do the hybrids need to be fertile, you need the diversity of approximately 50 individuals for short term viability and at least 500 for long term, if the problems associated with inbreeding are to be avoided.
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I think Polymorph any object would be the best bet. Maybe some sort of spellcraft check or something to not accidentally create something that dies after 6 months.
I like the bit about drow fleshcrafting.
Also, the aspiring Dr. Frankenstein should invest in Knowledge (nature) in my opinion (aside from Craft (Alchemy)). It's no use thinking up cool stuff and having your creation die from starvation because it can't find anything to digest properly.
+2 to Polymorph any Object, should do the trick. And perhaps consult a druid for guidelines.
I like this, and I'm pretty much certain I'm going to throw ranks into a lot of those skills. Might as well take on Leadership to fill in the gaps.
If this new "race" is to be self-perpetuating, not only do the hybrids need to be fertile, you need the diversity of approximately 50 individuals for short term viability and at least 500 for long term, if the problems associated with inbreeding are to be avoided.
Securing an island and possibly discretely recruiting volunteers(evil characters have such an easier time with this) is definitely on the agenda.
Damn, now I've got ideas I want to use as adventure hooks in the games I'm running... Like the guy looks to alternate forms of propagation of the species. Maybe they can't breed, and they must instead tranform other beings into more of their own kind, like Meenlocks. Not a good way to tackle the problem, considering what happens if they run out of creatures that aren't already them. Or maybe it works like a disease that has specific fleshwarping effects on certain races(turns elves into cyclopic mindsingers, dwarves into chitinous burrowers, etc.)
Spells like Alter Self, Polymorph, Create Homunculus, Awaken, Simulacrum and others can be used in research to develop a new spell -- there are rules for researching new spells.
Maybe look at some "Creating Template" rules, too.
I'll dig around for those. I've completely overlooked them, honestly.
If this new "race" is to be self-perpetuating, not only do the hybrids need to be fertile, you need the diversity of approximately 50 individuals for short term viability and at least 500 for long term, if the problems associated with inbreeding are to be avoided.
Assuming it is a species that uses sexual reproduction. Not all species on earth do, you realize - in fact, a great many reproduce asexually. Species that reproduce sexually just tend to be more robust when it comes to dealing with parasites and diseases.
If one was creating a species to fill a specific niche then it could easily be argued that asexual reproduction would be preferable to sexual - asexual reproduction tends to be faster so long as the environment is stable; a creature created for a specific purpose would, one would assume, be intended for a stable environment of the creators choice. Rapid reproduction would help the species thrive, and the reduced ability to adapt to new environments across generations would give the creator greater control over the species future.
I just remembered how the Tren are created. You know, the Troglodyte/Lizardfolk-Crossbreed that inherits both of the parent races' abilities with less drawbacks and more strenth and staying power?
As far as I recall, they just Alter Selfed one of the Troglodytes into a Lizardfolk to impregnate the females, collected the resulting eggs and had the tribe's adept cast Bull's Strength on each of the eggs once per day.
Result: more racial hit dice than either parent race, way better strength score (17 as opposed to 12/13), the troglodytes' racial Con score, the lizardfolk's racial Dex score (which is better than the Troggs' one), hold breath, stench, racial skill bonuses, better natural armor.
So, making a new race can't be that hard to do if even a race with a racial penalty to Intelligence can do it. ;-)
I would say that if you started from a base race and progressed from there, it wouldn't be that hard to do for a God. Heck, an epic-level wizard could do it with enough time and resources.
Use Wish, Alter Reality, Reality Revision, or Miracle to change attributes. Use spells again to assign qualities such as Darkvision or Low Light vision, or others to the race. Then use another Wish or similar to have these traits passed onto your children. Of course the DM may add a balancing factor to make them a playable race, something unforseen from exposure to all that magic ...
Fantasy literature and other versions of D&D are full of examples of this ...
- Tolkien's orcs are 'corrupted' elves.
- Eberron's kalashtar are a fusion of quori spirits into human hosts.
- Likewise the Inspired (as empty vessels) are fusions of human, elf and infernal creatures.
- Dragonborn are supposed to be created from other races by arcane ritual.
- Warforged are an entirely artificial race, although the term is loose as they cannot procreate among themselves.
- Skum in Golarian are created from human stock.
- Shifters are humans with lycanthropic bloodlines.
- Numerous races are created by fusing either the essence of other races into one another or by direct interbreeding and later become races in their own right. For example half-giants, Eberron half-elves, and many others.
In short, there is a wealth of races made this way. What's one more?
On the reproductive subject: You could take the Asari approach from Mass Effect (this is very sci-fi, bear with me). The Asari are an asexual (although female in appearance) alien race who reproduce with any species by establishing a mental connection with their partner (the time it takes to develop this link varies from case to case). Their skin becomes permeable and recipts the DNA from the partner and they combine the better traits from both parents. Because of this, Asari disapprove of Asari-Asari reproduction as nothing is gained into the species and inter-species reproduction is fostered.
On the reproductive subject: You could take the Asari approach from Mass Effect (this is very sci-fi, bear with me). The Asari are an asexual (although female in appearance) alien race who reproduce with any species by establishing a mental connection with their partner (the time it takes to develop this link varies from case to case). Their skin becomes permeable and recipts the DNA from the partner and they combine the better traits from both parents. Because of this, Asari disapprove of Asari-Asari reproduction as nothing is gained into the species and inter-species reproduction is fostered.
That whole thing was debunked (or retconned?) in the second game. The Asari don't use any DNA from their partner, but many of the less scientifically inclined ones think they do and it's a piece of popular myth in their culture.
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That whole thing was debunked (or retconned?) in the second game. The Asari don't use any DNA from their partner, but many of the less scientifically inclined ones think they do and it's a piece of popular myth in their culture.On the reproductive subject: You could take the Asari approach from Mass Effect (this is very sci-fi, bear with me). The Asari are an asexual (although female in appearance) alien race who reproduce with any species by establishing a mental connection with their partner (the time it takes to develop this link varies from case to case). Their skin becomes permeable and recipts the DNA from the partner and they combine the better traits from both parents. Because of this, Asari disapprove of Asari-Asari reproduction as nothing is gained into the species and inter-species reproduction is fostered.
I think it was more clarified than changed. IIRC, of course.
The idea, as I remember it, is that asari carry an extra "packet" of DNA that gets "randomized" by synching up with a partner(whatever race the partner is). There's actually a bit of controversy and debate amongst the asari about whether interspecies mating is really needed to strengthen their genes(and prevent the birth of "throwbacks" such as the Ardat-Yakshi), what with alternate methods such as radiation application and whatnot. It's a fairly heated topic amongst their people.
Fun-stuff: I believe the Asari's reproductive methods fall under the domain of parthenogenesis, which was also how Lilends reproduced as they were originally envisioned in Planescape! (including the rare male-looking lilends, who were in fact biologically female)
That whole thing was debunked (or retconned?) in the second game. The Asari don't use any DNA from their partner, but many of the less scientifically inclined ones think they do and it's a piece of popular myth in their culture.On the reproductive subject: You could take the Asari approach from Mass Effect (this is very sci-fi, bear with me). The Asari are an asexual (although female in appearance) alien race who reproduce with any species by establishing a mental connection with their partner (the time it takes to develop this link varies from case to case). Their skin becomes permeable and recipts the DNA from the partner and they combine the better traits from both parents. Because of this, Asari disapprove of Asari-Asari reproduction as nothing is gained into the species and inter-species reproduction is fostered.
Never played ME2 ;)
On the reproductive subject: You could take the Asari approach from Mass Effect (this is very sci-fi, bear with me). The Asari are an asexual (although female in appearance) alien race who reproduce with any species by establishing a mental connection with their partner (the time it takes to develop this link varies from case to case). Their skin becomes permeable and recipts the DNA from the partner and they combine the better traits from both parents. Because of this, Asari disapprove of Asari-Asari reproduction as nothing is gained into the species and inter-species reproduction is fostered.
Kif is an Asari? Though quite girly, he does seem male enough.
Several of the races in my game are the result of excessive use of the various Polymorph and Awaken spells, among others.
Kif is an Asari? Though quite girly, he does seem male enough.On the reproductive subject: You could take the Asari approach from Mass Effect (this is very sci-fi, bear with me). The Asari are an asexual (although female in appearance) alien race who reproduce with any species by establishing a mental connection with their partner (the time it takes to develop this link varies from case to case). Their skin becomes permeable and recipts the DNA from the partner and they combine the better traits from both parents. Because of this, Asari disapprove of Asari-Asari reproduction as nothing is gained into the species and inter-species reproduction is fostered.
That is exactly what I was thinking when I read that! Futurama FTW!
As for creating a new race, As a DM I'd let them use polymorph any object to create the base form out of an existing humanoid, then wish or miracle to "lock in" the changes and make them breed true.
However, the wizard in question would have to be making some difficult skill checks, like knolwedge(nature) and spellcraft to get a viable creature. Failed attempts will end up in a "Island of Dr. Moreau" type situation. Although, that would make a cool campaign hook.
Mad wizard trying to create the perfect race, people dissapearing from nearby villages, strange creatures seen skulking the woods at night... Call the Heroes!