| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So the the new Lost Omens Character guide has the Lizardfolk which we know shows some vastly different art for different individual Lizardfolk. The Lizardfolk are all one species with a shared language but Lizards in the real world are different species and only related in that they are reptiles.
Anywho with the given different art examples would it be reasonable to assume that Lizardfolk can have outward physical traits of any reptile? Could they have chameleon eyes? Or could they have a wide spikey head and color changing beard like a Bearded dragon? Can they have a smooth body with splotchy coloration and a spiky tail and be strictly vegetarian like Uromastyx?
As a forever GM in my own games I say yes but in setting is this the case? Looking at the art in the book there are 5 lizardfolk no two of which look alike. One looks like an Iguana another like some kind of Frilled Water Dragon, The Cliffstrider looks like a dinosaur and not any lizard I am familiar with, and the Sandstrider looks similar to a Crocodile Skink in head shape and eye markings and the wetlander again doesn't resemble any real lizards I know and looks more like a dinosaur.
In fact, there is art of a lizardfolk from one of the PF1 race guides that is portrayed with chameleon eyes. Given that lizardfolk somewhat blur the line between reptile and dinosaur, I think having some aspects of both reptiles and dinosaurs makes sense. That said, I think that the appearance of lizardfolk would be dictated by the environment they live in, as the various heritages suggest.
Creative Director
|
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
THe different looking lizardfolk in the Character Guide illustrate different heritages, and they have different outward physical traits as illustrated—but are NOT just "different real-world-lizards on people bodies." They're more than that, and deserve their own unique appearances that all stem from the same source.
Lizard humanoids with different very identifiable species of lizard heads is a role better served by werelizards.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I think it's pretty frigging cool that the Lizard folk have different heritages that indicate different aspects/roles/evolution.
Good job there!
|
Creative Director
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I think it's pretty frigging cool that the Lizard folk have different heritages that indicate different aspects/roles/evolution.
Good job there!
Thanks!
A part of why we're calling it "ancestry" now is that it lets us do this sort of thing for EVERY one of them, from humans to lizardfolk to tieflings to whatever we wanna do in the future. It's good to have variety.
I think it's pretty frigging cool that the Lizard folk have different heritages that indicate different aspects/roles/evolution.
Good job there!
Thanks!
A part of why we're calling it "ancestry" now is that it lets us do this sort of thing for EVERY one of them, from humans to lizardfolk to tieflings to whatever we wanna do in the future. It's good to have variety.
Can't wait to see Goblin and Hobgoblin heritages. :D
Can't wait to see Goblin and Hobgoblin heritages. :DI think it's pretty frigging cool that the Lizard folk have different heritages that indicate different aspects/roles/evolution.
Good job there!
Thanks!
A part of why we're calling it "ancestry" now is that it lets us do this sort of thing for EVERY one of them, from humans to lizardfolk to tieflings to whatever we wanna do in the future. It's good to have variety.
I will leave you with the names of but not the mechanical effects of 2 new Goblin Heritages in the book.
Tailed Goblin and Treedweller Goblin
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I will leave you with the names of but not the mechanical effects of 2 new Goblin Heritages in the book.
Tailed Goblin and Treedweller Goblin
Ooo, a puzzle! My guesses are that the Treed-weller Goblin likes to go around digging wells, but can be easily chased up a tree, while the Tailed Goblin always has someone following them.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
It is probably better to go for more realistic facial diverse facial features thing since different lizard heads solution just results in everyone assuming all lizards of one species looks the same :PThat's my preference, but that seems to be a tricky thing to convey.
I think its because most players and artists don't really interact with reptiles a lot. Like animals DO have facial features, but unless you spend lots of time with them, its going to be harder to notice. Cats and dogs are probably easiest example.
Like it would probably help artists if they had some reference to variance between reptiles of same species.
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
It could be that they understand the difference between features in a same species, but in art that's going to be 3 to 5 inches, top to bottom, leaving a face about an inch, it's hard to cram that kinda fine detail in there, in the medium.
With humans it's one thing. The human brain has been trained for hundreds of thousands of years to recognize human faces, (And at distance) it's why 'face paint' is used in the military. to break up the recognizable dimensions/outline of a human face. But 'lizard faces' aren't imprinted on our brains.
So showing for distinctive facial features for fictional lizard people drawn in comic or nigh comic styling in images where in the face is only an inch or so is going to be a touch more difficult.
So showing different heads gives an instant visual cue to define something. Each member of that heritage of course is going to look different, but you can tell the heritage at a glance and define it in your mind.
You see this in videogames. Blizzard for example spends a great deal of time working on 'racial silhouette'. So you can tell an orc running at you vs a Tauren running at you vs a gnome. At a glance. No matter what gear they're wearing. It's a large part of the design philosophy. When they added the panda's which could be on either team they worried that it would be a big problem. (and it should be noted that after they did that they have -not- repeated it)
So the 'different heads' define the lizard heritages at a glance and allow for you to 'know what you're seeing'.
You see this in other 2E stuff as well. The Visual Update on the Hobgoblins is AWESOME!. They look more like goblinoids now, and less like "Gray Orcs" or "Gray half orcs" You can tell a Hobgoblin at a glance now. "Goblinoid Head. Goblinoid Mouth, spindly overlong limbs, but 5-6 feet tall instead of 2-3 feet tall. That's a Hobgoblin!"
I think it's pretty frigging cool that the Lizard folk have different heritages that indicate different aspects/roles/evolution.
Good job there!
Thanks!
A part of why we're calling it "ancestry" now is that it lets us do this sort of thing for EVERY one of them, from humans to lizardfolk to tieflings to whatever we wanna do in the future. It's good to have variety.
I know this is a super old Post but I was hoping that JJ could maybe give some input: there's some art out there of a lizardfolk Oracle with a crocodilian head and take wearing a cool lilypad hat. I'm not sure if it's official Paizo art or not but is a more crocodile-like appearance something that is possible with iruxi? Longer snout, ridges, etc?
Edit: looks like it is official at least circa 2016. https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lipn
Question is now, I guess, is it STILL canon? Working on a PC and the Sobek aesthetic really speaks to me.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I think it's pretty frigging cool that the Lizard folk have different heritages that indicate different aspects/roles/evolution.
Good job there!
Thanks!
A part of why we're calling it "ancestry" now is that it lets us do this sort of thing for EVERY one of them, from humans to lizardfolk to tieflings to whatever we wanna do in the future. It's good to have variety.
I know this is a super old Post but I was hoping that JJ could maybe give some input: there's some art out there of a lizardfolk Oracle with a crocodilian head and take wearing a cool lilypad hat. I'm not sure if it's official Paizo art or not but is a more crocodile-like appearance something that is possible with iruxi? Longer snout, ridges, etc?
Edit: looks like it is official at least circa 2016. https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lipn
Question is now, I guess, is it STILL canon? Working on a PC and the Sobek aesthetic really speaks to me.
Things change as time goes on, including my preferences.
Going forward, my hope is that our lizardfolk will have very different colorations and perhaps variation in their head crests when you go from heritage to heritage, but you won't see a "chameleon lizardfolk" and an "iguanna lizardfolk" and a "crocodile lizard folk" and a "skink lizardfolk." It's something that hasn't QUITE been ironed out yet, alas, but for the most part the way we want to present lizardfolk is close in appearance to what you see in the Bestiary.
A crocodilian humanoid is an interesting idea, but to me, that is best served by creating a brand-new ancestry.
Going forward, my hope is that our lizardfolk will have very different colorations and perhaps variation in their head crests when you go from heritage to heritage, but you won't see a "chameleon lizardfolk" and an "iguanna lizardfolk" and a "crocodile lizard folk" and a "skink lizardfolk." It's something that hasn't QUITE been ironed out yet, alas, but for the most part the way we want to present lizardfolk is close in appearance to what you see in the Bestiary.
I suppose having an "iguanna lizardfolk" and so on would be like if there where "baboon humans" and "Tarsier humans" running around? (Humans with blue and red bottoms and humans with weird long fingers respectively)
|
Creative Director
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I suppose having an "iguanna lizardfolk" and so on would be like if there where "baboon humans" and "Tarsier humans" running around? (Humans with blue and red bottoms and humans with weird long fingers respectively)Going forward, my hope is that our lizardfolk will have very different colorations and perhaps variation in their head crests when you go from heritage to heritage, but you won't see a "chameleon lizardfolk" and an "iguanna lizardfolk" and a "crocodile lizard folk" and a "skink lizardfolk." It's something that hasn't QUITE been ironed out yet, alas, but for the most part the way we want to present lizardfolk is close in appearance to what you see in the Bestiary.
Kinda, but even more so. Like how Planet of the Apes has human people, gorilla people, orangutan people, chimpanzee people... which is fine, but those should all be different ancestries in my opinion, not different heritages of one thing called, for example, "Primatefolk."
I like how PF represents the lizardfolk in art.