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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2015 16:21:27 GMT
So, I keep tarantulas, reptiles, amphibians, and insects as a separate hobby. One thing I like to do is impart animal behaviors onto the animalistic races, like lizardfolk. I have to go to work soon so this post will be short, but I wanted to get a discussion going.  In my current, improv heavy homebrew, the Lizardfolk are the dominant race. Looking at pics of them, and their stat block really makes me think of Australian Water Dragons, a type of Agamid lizard. Agamids, which include bearded dragons, are known for being semi social and exhibit headbobbing and arm waving behaviors which indicate dominance. They are also known for being diurnal, and loving to bask. So, before I had my party run into the Lizardfolk, I had them encounter what I described as Forest Dragons, a type of agamid lizard. I also described the various behaviors, and had my Lizardfolk use these same behaviors to make them seem more like LIZARDfolk, and not just scaley humans. I also had the NPC Lizardfolk Druidic Avenger do his spell prep/prayer during his morning basking. Another example: my Troglodytes are based on monitor lizards. They live underground, and most monitor species live in burrows. So it works out. My kobolds? Kind of like geckos. |
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Samuel Wise
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Post by Samuel Wise on Jun 2, 2015 16:31:23 GMT
My kobolds? Kind of like geckos. I had two leopard geckos. My favorite part about them (which I transfer over to every lizard race, except for dragons) is meal time. Geckos get really, very excited when it is meal time (gosh they look almost happy). What would the players do if they were attacked by hungry lizardmen who, contrary to common lore, looked very happy and excited throughout the entire fight. Obviously I think dragons are much more intellectually advanced so there would be varying differences there... |
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Post by joatmoniac on Jun 2, 2015 18:11:20 GMT
I really really like this idea. For some of the bestial races there is too much personification, but most likely from a honest place. It is much easier to add more human traits to those races because developers have a better handle on what humans do, haha. I think stripping back some of the personification for more natural attributes is awesome it is just getting the knowledge necessary to be able to do this. Obviously this is easier if those animals are in our homes. I have three dogs and a 66 gallon salt water fish tank, but have no experience with reptiles of any kind. The internet would be a great tool to learn from, but a bigger part of me thinks that either a local pet store, or even the zoo would be a much better tool to learn about the animals and try to apply their more natural behaviors to bestial races in role playing. Great conversation started!
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Samuel Wise
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Post by Samuel Wise on Jun 2, 2015 18:28:23 GMT
I have three dogs and a 66 gallon salt water fish tank, but have no experience with reptiles of any kind. Please though, make your fish-races more like people, then fish. That would be a boring race... |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2015 18:50:27 GMT
I'm also going to make my Sahuagin even more shark like, and I need to find a freshwater fish for the Locathah.
Interestingly, Gnolls have a matriarchal culture, probably because hyenas live in matriarchal clans. Of course, with them and Drow it makes an unfortunate case that matriarchy is Evil.
Another interesting tidbit: hyenas have primo genitor, one of the few animals I know of that has that. They also usually have twins, and only provide enough food for one, leaving the young to kill the weaker one. Gnolls are a *lot* scarier if your players know that every single one they encounter committed fratricide as their first kill.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2015 18:51:04 GMT
...pike. Pike could work for locathah maybe.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2015 18:52:15 GMT
I have three dogs and a 66 gallon salt water fish tank, but have no experience with reptiles of any kind. Please though, make your fish-races more like people, then fish. That would be a boring race... Depends. I think borrowing from biology makes things interesting. |
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Samuel Wise
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Post by Samuel Wise on Jun 2, 2015 19:03:49 GMT
Not much of a biology person, but I suppose you could. I think coral would make for one scary race. The documentaries where they eat each other with their own guts made me permanently terrified of biologists and their science... Attachments:
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Post by arnil on Aug 13, 2015 19:13:38 GMT
In a homebrewed setting with lion people i have the whole pride thing set up. There are very few males in the society which are all small towns ruled by one patriarch and a close group of matriarchs. Also only women go out and adventure and fight.
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Post by lasersniper on Aug 15, 2015 20:32:32 GMT
In a homebrewed setting with lion people i have the whole pride thing set up. There are very few males in the society which are all small towns ruled by one patriarch and a close group of matriarchs. Also only women go out and adventure and fight. My players are getting close to arriving at a lion type race of people. I think that is a great idea. I never really thought about adding similarities to the race based on its original animal form. I am defiantly going to use this. |
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Post by joatmoniac on Aug 16, 2015 20:36:14 GMT
Would you say that they would be a very PRIDEful race? Haha. On a more serious note there are a lot of cool traits for lions. Having the females being the hunters/scouts, or having all the males have scars because of constantly battling for the right to lead, or having them be in large groups because of how social lions are in the wild.
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Post by robosnake on Aug 17, 2015 0:07:33 GMT
...pike. Pike could work for locathah maybe. I've always found sturgeon to be freaky, though they don't have a lot of behavior. From the artwork in previous editions, the locathah kind of remind me of lionfish. For freshwater scare factor, maybe goliath tiger fish? |
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Samuel Wise
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Post by Samuel Wise on Aug 17, 2015 0:56:15 GMT
...pike. Pike could work for locathah maybe. I've always found sturgeon to be freaky, though they don't have a lot of behavior. From the artwork in previous editions, the locathah kind of remind me of lionfish. For freshwater scare factor, maybe goliath tiger fish? It would be kind of funny to spread rumors of a fierce lion race deep in the jungles. When the players discover this race it turns out to be gnome sized lion fish people...  |
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