Greetings!

I was inspired to create several new races for my Thandor world, and wanting to create some races that were genuinely different from being "Humans with Weird Masks On"--I read up on many natural animals, and thought of making the animal races more true to corresponding to their natural animal natures than to human preferences and sensibilities.

In their eating habits, social behaviors, mating habits--as well as communication modes, based on colouration, scent, pheromones, and raw emotions of desire, lust, jealousy, dominance, and fear, makes it very clear that having non-human, animal-like races is far more challenging than merely considerations of "Alignment". Customs involving property rights, ownership of food, items, toys, even monopolizing the attention and affection of other members of the social group--social competition, authority, privileges, all of these primal dynamics are in play on full display with animal-like races.

After some work, I was confronted by some surprising realizations. Embracing these animal-like races is of course possible, and even reasonable in a fantasy milieu--however, there are some very large obstacle dynamics involved that make it clear why these races can be very problematic including them as a normal part of a community's population. It is obvious that WOTC has ignored such considerations, and indeed, probably the vast majority of gamers also ignore such considerations.

Especially gamers that regularly attend groups in Adventurer's League at local game stores.

Still, though, I found the revelations to be enlightening, and in a very intriguing way, eye-opening.

Humans, of course, can be very adaptable. It seemed to me that while human communities *could* choose to accommodate non-human, animal-like races, many human communities simply would not. Absolutely not. *Laughing* Then, I looked at many dynamics, and pondered that should a human community actually actively desire to embrace and accommodate a group of non-human animal-like people into the local society--it would still require extraordinary demands, socially, sexually, food-wise, differences in communication, frequent and constant misunderstandings, constant need to remind humans to think and be aware of "X" and "A, B, and C" when dealing with such and such animal-like race.

Definitely a challenge for any campaign wanting a deeper level of verisimilitude and grounding in real-world dynamics. As well as wanting to incorporate non-human races that are actually distinctive from Humans.

Toads have anonymous, mass-group mating sessions, based on sexual pheromones. The female Toads embrace being mated with by dozens of male toads, over and over.

Lions, Wolves, and such creatures, routinely kill young members of the species that are viewed as being too sickly or weak. Or when a strong male kills another male, and takes the females for themselves as mates. The defeated male animal's offspring are routinely killed and eaten.

Female Praying Mantis's mate with a male Praying Mantis--and then, the female, after being impregnated--rips off the male's head, and kills him. She then eats the male Praying Mantis, using his nutrients to supercharge her food stores within her for the growing offspring.

On and on. Many such natural, instinctive behaviors within the primary animal, to humans, would seem absolutely monstrous and horrifying.

Squaring that kind of circle within a fantasy community...ahh, yeah! That creates such fun, both for DM's and players alike!

What do you all think about such considerations of animal-like races in the campaign?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

The big question to ask for many of the behaviors you cite though is, how much does the addition of human-like intellect and reasoning capacity (including the ability to understand long-term consequences) alter those baseline animal behaviors?

Ex. Wolves are territorial social predators. So are humans... and until relatively modern times (basically from the earliest humans through basically the coming of Christ) we also killed our young who were too weak, fought for mates (or the powerful just took them), and killing or enslaving the men and children of the losers while carrying off the women as sex slavesbrides was normal behavior. They created rituals and rules to help regulate and justify it, and it took something as radical as Christianity for that to stop being the norm of civilizations.

The point being; if you're making these beastmen with the reasoning capacity of men, then they will adapt their behaviors in accord with reason. What is "too weak to survive" is different when your society also needs laborers, craftsmen, smiths, scribes and priests. The stealing of mates might become ritualized or even criminal (at least among one's own community) as part of the social contract needed for something beyond hunter-gatherer civilizations to function.

Similarly, killing the fallen might logically give way to sorting and enslaving those with useful skills instead of summary execution.

And who know what happens if Wolf-Jesus shows up and teaches them to be dogs, not wolves.

Morning Shark,

     I agree, it would be fun to introduce truly non-human animal races into a campaign.  I have toyed with the idea several times during my on again/off again world building, including the idea that they would be playable races, not just NPC's.  Of course any player wanting to generate a character of such a race would need to really buy-in to the whole concept of the race,  both the good and bad facets.

     The opportunities for role-playing just in the social interaction between the humans and the animal races would be varied and really fun; a true 'fish out of water' experience.  Something to consider regarding those interactions is inadvertent behaviour from the humans (considered harmless normally) that might set off an animal based race.

  - A human male talking a little too long to a female 'deer-based' race.  It's the rut and her boyfriend 'the buck' doesn't take too kindly to the attention a rival is paying to part of his harem.  Does the buck bellow a challenge and engage?  How would the PC react? Do they even know they are being challenged to a fight?

  - The PC's leave the tavern, having consumed a little too much ale, and as everybody knows, you don't drink ale, you rent it.  So as they stagger back to their rooms, one PC stops to return some of that ale on a fence post.  All of a sudden a 'wolf-based' race comes storming out of a nearby cottage wanting to know why the PC is infringing on 'his' territory.

  - The PC's stop along the side of the road for a rest/lunch.  As they are unpacking their gear a 'bear-based' race happens along, spots a couple bottles of oil and immediately offers to buy one of them.  The PC's not wanting to appear hostile agrees to purchase price and hands a bottle over.  To the astonishment of the PC's,  the bear man proceeds to uncork the bottle and sip on the oil.*

  - A PC walks into a shop.  The merchant is a 'sheep-based' race.  The merchant is busy being the counter and the PC merely walks up to talk to him.  Unknown to the PC, he has approached in the merchants blind spot, so as soon as the PC talks, the merchant screams (bleats) and runs away, possibly summoning guards.**

     I worked in the bush for 20 plus years (oilfield surveying) and I have seen some truly strange behaviour from animals.  I won't go into it, but one thing I will say.  Black bears and grizzlies are nothing compared to a cow (moose) defending her calf, truly awe inspiring and scary at the same time.

     I'm looking forward to what you have come up with.

* I can't count the number of two-part (chainsaw) gas jugs I've lost to bears.  They just love that bar oil.

** Generally prey animals have eyes on the sides of their head; it gives them a wider field of view on their flanks, but does leave a blind spot directly in front of them.

"Woof, woof, that's my other Vargr imitation."

I liked the Spacemaster Privateers setting because the animal races were easy to play archetypes much like elves and dwarves.

In some fantasy games I've used the nation of Bashana, an India expy where the caste structure is a hierarchy of animal races.  Everyone started out human but the wizard lords wanted specialization and clear distinction.

I've played in a game where most of the party members were some kind of intelligent animal-like things. It's amusing now and then, but I don't like such games in general because it makes the adventuring party feel like a traveling circus.

Embracing, eh?

I'm a long time Gamma World 1e GM and the base choices for PCs is to play a Pure Human, a Mutant Human or a Mutant Animal. Various versions added Mutated Plants as PCs and robots/androids.

The big question with Mutant Animal PCs - aka animals with human intelligence and usually human-like hands - was always how much Animal vs Man are you?

Most players run all non-human PCs as humans wearing a costume. This isn't a dig. It's completely understandable. They're players, not actors. I've noticed kids actually do mutant animals better than adults.

As a GM or game designer, there needs to be some level of explanation of the Animal-aspects of each races culture. Palladium Fantasy did a decent job with the Wolfen race and subraces - in PF, the wolf-men are becoming the Roman empire of the world so they're a lovely group to deal with.

I'm not saying every GM needs to write a treatise, but players deserve a half-page about their non-human species...and I say a half-page because that's also the max reading / memory ability of most players.

Of course, today I question even having Mutant Animals or Half-Animal races in a RPG because I don't want to deal with some freakjob player acting out his furry fantasies at the table.

It doesn't matter if the animal races (or any race for that matter) is borderline "human in a skin suit" or completely alien.  Either way, it needs something in the rules to reinforce whatever the race is about.

I've got two animal-like races in my setting, a short cat-like humanoid and a taller wolf-like humanoid.  Each one has a few hooks, just like the elf, dwarf, and other races.  And not merely an attribute adjustment.  Mine is fairly muted, because I'm closer to the "human in a skin suit" side--on purpose, but the differences are still strong enough that the players feel it.  For example, in a game where perception and "save" bonuses are difficult to get, the cat race is quite quick and incredible at climbing and avoiding falls, while the wolf race has some sizable bonuses to smell and hearing perception. With a pack mentality, the wolves have a morale bonus, too.  (And my elves really are strong at magic at the expense of combat and the dwarves really are notably tougher than everyone else.) 

The problem with recent D&D is not merely the huge amount of races (and classes/feats/spells/etc.).  It's not merely the blandness of them, either.  It's the combination of a huge list of bland options that don't have any kind of meaningful affect on how they get played.  It's all skin suit and no human (or elf or dwarf or anything else) left.

I've been using some animalish races for my current project (playtest starts in 2 weeks, yay!) and what worked for me is to start with humans as a baseline, add several traits from the animal, and see what logically develops.  I have races based on crabs, bears, lemurs, and birds, and would like to make one based on raccoons if I have time and no higher priorities.  What I've found is that introducing even a few animal elements of psychology can radically change what society looks like.  A good example, is that the bear men are very intolerant of children not their own.  A society that can cope with this and function looks very different than anything human.

Each of the races has about a half page description in chargen plus about a 4 page in the setting section for players that really want to know more about them.  I'm very curious about whether the players in the playtest will 1) want to and 2) be able to play the nonhuman psychology of the characters.

Greetings!

Here are some brief notes that I created for the Yheddu. The Yheddu are a humanoid race of Frog-People that exist in my world of Thandor. Within the notes are commentary and prompts describing many of the political, religious, and social challenges that routinely face the Yheddu. These kinds of challenges combine to create enormous economic challenges for Yheddu in most areas of urban life, and even rural life. Still, despite the challenges involved, I think that the Yheddu race is pretty interesting as a Character option. Even is Player selections of Yheddu is less likely, the Yheddu make fantastic NPC's. I also like the dynamic of providing the basis for a different kind of cultural recipe than the more traditional Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Halflings. Not to say that those other cultures cannot also exist alongside the Yheddu--within Thandor, they do so, in whatever local environment that they are appropriate. The weird coloured skin, the bizarre cultural behaviors, all of that--plus the visual of a humanoid frog--I think provides an element of humour and comedy in a subtle manner to the campaign as a whole. I think while the Yheddu serve as a somewhat comical race, the character types that can be rolled up easily embrace both comedic presentations and opportunities, as well as more serious, dramatic, and heroic themes.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Yheddu Race

Yheddu Culture (Civilized Frog Humanoids)

Yheddu Traits

Amphibious
Yheddu can breathe underwater.
Strong Metabolism
Yheddu are omnivorous and can eat raw animals and food that would often be likely to make other humanoids very ill. Yheddu also can survive successfully on 50% less food rations as required for Humans. Yheddu also enjoy Advantage on Checks made to resist diseases. There are some diseases of course that can severely affect Yheddu, though the Yheddu are very resilient against most kinds of diseases.
Rugged Athlete
Yheddu are strong, rugged, and agile creatures. Yheddu gain Advantage on Swim Checks as well as Jumping Checks. In many instances, Yheddu also gain Advantage on Climbing Checks. Such bonuses do not always apply in any situation, though in a natural environment, Yheddu are very skilled in climbing and moving through grasses, trees, dense shrubbery, along riverbanks and up hillsides.
Fierce Bite
Yheddu possess a mouth full of strong, sharp teeth. The Yheddu can make a fierce Bite Attack whenever engaged in melee combat. Yheddu Bite Attack: 1D6 damage+Strength modifier.

Alignment: Any. Yheddu have a natural tendency towards favouring a Chaotic alignment. The Chaotic alignment reflects the Yheddu's naturally wild, and savage nature. Neutral alignment is popular for many Yheddu as well, though such popularity is a minority.

Character Classes: Yheddu can pursue any class, much like Humans. Culturally, Yheddu have preferences for most any kind of crafting profession. However, many communities are likely to maintain strong restrictions and prejudiced policies regarding training and employing Yheddu in many professions and crafts. For classes, Yheddu are generally attracted to being Priests, Fighters, Rangers, Thieves, Bards, and Witches.

The Yheddu Frog People

The Yheddu are a race of Frog-Humanoids, closely related to the Ghormah tribes. The Yheddu are Frog-Humanoids that are somewhat civilized, however, and have become a sedentary and urbanized culture. The Yheddu typically form minority communities and sub-groups within larger human cultures, making their homes in various human towns and cities. The Yheddu have developed a wide range of skills and professions, and are generally proficient in navigating in an urbanized environment with a complex and diverse economy. The Yheddu however, suffer from various challenges and obstacles which limit their success and achievement. Many Yheddu become mired in urban ghettos, living in grinding poverty, squalor, and debauchery. Many Yheddu embrace lifestyles entrenched in the shadowy margins of urban society, embracing drugs, liquor, crime, and debauchery of every kind. Many Yheddu feel the best that they can achieve is grinding their lives away slaving away in some common labour, or a range of low-paying, low-status jobs that ultimately get them nowhere. Most of the larger towns and cities throughout the Dharyev region have large, crime-filled, and impoverished urban ghettos of Yheddu communities.

Yheddu Physical Appearance
Yheddu are typically 4'9" +1D20" in height. Thus, providing a range of 4'10" to 6'5" in height. Average Yheddu are 5'7". Yheddu generally weigh 140+1D12x10 pounds. Thus, a typical Yheddu weighs 200 pounds. Both male and female Yheddu are generally broad shouldered, thick, and robust in their physical appearance. While Yheddu possess a fairly higher degree of fat, their Yheddu bodies are strongly muscled, and have extra ligaments, joints, and cartilage. Yheddu are far more agile and flexible than their customary physique would suggest.
Average Yheddu Height: 5'7" Height Range: 4'10" to 6'5"
Average Yheddu Weight: 200 pounds. Weight Range: 150 to 260 pounds.

General Appearance Traits
Yheddu Skin Colour
01-50%: Pale Lime Green
51-70%: Pale Lemon Yellow
71-85%: Pale Turquoise
86-00%: Special: Milk White, Black, Sea Gray, Bright Orange, or some bright, Pastel Colour.

Yheddu Eyes
Yheddu generally have large, prominent eyes, that provide the Yheddu with excellent vision abilities. Yheddu have eyes of many different colours, though Pale Gray, Dark Brown, and Copper are typical.

Body Markings
Yheddu often have stripes, swirls, striations, lozenges, or other pattern characteristics of darker or lighter skin colour over their body, as well as white coloured belly and highlights.

Other Physical Characteristics and Attributes
Yheddu are humanoids, and while their heritage is amphibian and reptilian, there are also some mammalian attributes. The Yheddu have some sexual dimorphism—though such sexual dimorphism between male and female Yheddu tends towards being more muted, when compared to other humanoid races. Male Yheddu are somewhat physically stronger and more densely built than female Yheddu. In addition, female Yheddu have breasts, milk, and customary sexual attributes for most female humanoids in a general sense. Female Yheddu pregnancies have a duration of 6 months, with 1D3+1 live young being born to a given pregnancy.
Yheddu Lifespan: Yheddu generally live for 200 years. Yheddu reach sexual maturity at 10 years of age, and enjoy young adulthood until the age of 60. Upon age 60, Yheddu are mature adults. Yheddu enter old age at the age of 120, and remain so into their twilight years until death at around 200 years of age.

Yheddu Religion
Early Yheddu religion was, historically, simple Animism and Ancestor worship. Such ancient traditions remain, though for a stable minority. There are always a few Yheddu that choose to practice and keep the old religious traditions alive and flourishing. Having said that, most Yheddu embrace whatever the dominant religion is amongst the region where the Yheddu dwell. In the cases of multiple religions, Yheddu are inclined to embrace different religions much in the same manner and degree that humans do so.

Yheddu Names

Yheddu possess their own individual names in their native language of Common Yheddu. Such names, however, do not translate well to mammal-based language. Yheddu native names are a composition of sounds put together, representing some kind of personality or character trait, such as "Meadow Jumper" or "Berry Gulper". Furthermore, such "names" are enhanced by unique pheromone signatures. Thus, every Yheddu has a unique and personalized name and identifying attribute. Even if individuals possess the same name meaning—they smell unique, and all Yheddu can instinctively identify other Yheddu by their unique pheromone signatures. From this, Yheddu have embraced the cultural name conventions and traditions of whatever humanoid community that is predominant within the region that they dwell in. Yheddu keep their native language alive and active, though they are keen on learning the dominant region's language from a young age. Despite the Yheddu's social and cultural obstacles, it is common for most Yheddu to become fluent in several languages, in addition to their own Yheddu language.

Traditional Yheddu Culture

Traditional Yheddu culture is essentially the same as their cousins, the Ghormah, from which the Yheddu originate from. The Ghormah are somewhat primitive, and live as barbarians organized into tribes that dwell amongst the wilderness regions, whether such is marshes, hills, forest, or other woodlands, and even some badlands and wastes. The Yheddu culture has therefore been largely traumatized, as the Yheddu have sought to dramatically transition their primitive tribal and wilderness culture, into adopting a civilized rural and urban culture. Some basic foundations and traditions have survived, and endured. The Yheddu embrace strength, food, and breeding as primary values, though the Yheddu also remain steadfast in respecting parents and elders, and the general health and prosperity of the family and tribe. Yheddu value hard work, diligence, tenacity, and fortitude. Yheddu applaud self-sacrifice, discipline, and serving the family, as well as serving the tribe and community. Yheddu are keen to embrace pragmatism—the yheddu are often maniacally focused on what actually works, that which provides security and success, as apart from emotionalism or sentimentality. For all of the Yheddu's highlighted pragmatism and cold-blooded ruthlessness, the Yheddu also celebrate an honest sense of humour that also embraces a deep sense of humility and often applauds a sense of self-deprecation.

Socially, the Yheddu Frog-People experience frequent, and oftentimes almost constant friction amongst many human communities in which groups of Yheddu have settled. This social friction is based upon many factors. One major point of friction between the two races is based upon cuisine, food, and eating habits. Yheddu often eat their food raw—or even while it is still alive and wriggling. Yheddu are largely omnivorous, with a strong preference for meat. Yheddu typically consume insects, fish, snakes, various kinds of amphibians, smaller mammals, as well as birds, eggs, and a wide variety of young animals and creatures. 6; While many of the Yheddu eating habits and cuisine is negatively judged by humans, Yheddu do eagerly embrace gaining culinary skills, and it is not uncommon for Yheddu to adopt many aspects of human cuisines, and to embrace and promote popular fusion-styles of cooking that embrace both Yheddu and human cuisines. From such traditions, the Yheddu have increasingly developed success within the restaurant, food service, and hospitality industries within their home regions and communities.
Another point of conflict revolves around sexuality and mating rituals. The Yheddu have strong pheromone-based attributes, and one of them involves the female Yheddu releasing a potent sex hormone that signals to all male Yheddu within a far range that she is fertile, and ready for mating. The female Yheddu often release this sex hormone, typically on a monthly basis. Some individual female Yheddu release the sex hormone more often. Of course, Yheddu mating practices also incorporate socialization, physical gestures, gift-giving, and overt, physical displays of affection. Individual Yheddu may meet or see a particular male that they find especially attractive, though the female sex hormones gradually drive her into a sensual frenzy, where she eagerly and indiscriminately mates with any and all possible male partners that are available to her. The Yheddu—both males and females alike—are also bold and public in their mating sessions, being entirely unconcerned with the presence of an audience, or any kind of considerations of modesty.

Greetings!

Yheddu Frog Race PART II

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Furthermore, as yet another example of the friction between the Yheddu and humans—or many other races as well—is the Yheddu's swift disregard for laws, order, or other social customs involving violence, fighting, or bringing down punishments against those individuals that violate Yheddu codes of conduct. Yheddu regularly embrace duels between rivals—both males and female Yheddu may engage in fights over jealousy, food, pride, or other motivations and rivalries. Most of these fights, while physical, and involve biting, strangulation, clawing, or use of weapons—are not always fights to the death. The involved parties fight in their duels, and various issues and conflicts are thus dealt with. However, in such combats to the death, the victorious Yheddu typically devours the defeated rival, and proceeds to rip them apart and gulp them down promptly on the spot. Sometimes, the eating of a rival is delayed until some time later, when a proper feast and celebration has been organized.

As can be imagined, most humans, and many other civilized races as well, find such customs deeply disturbing, and even alarming. What humans and others often find especially alarming and bewildering, is that such violent conflicts amongst the Yheddu can erupt over things that non-Yheddu typically find incomprehensible, or at least difficult to fully appreciate. The Yheddu may fight over something very serious—such as a direct challenge or threat of violence—or such duels can develop from dynamics that are far less obvious, such as one Yheddu being offended that another Yheddu took her food, or a male Yheddu stared at another male Yhedddu for too long, in an aggressive manner that was deemed threatening. Or one female Yheddu was openly affectionate to a male favoured for mating by a different female Yheddu—all of these types of issues can result in conflict, and even fights to the death. The Yheddu feel little remorse or apprehension about killing a Yheddu or, for that matter, some other race of creature—for what others generally view as vague or petty reasons. Part of this rough, killer instinct comes from the Yheddu having an instinctual disposition that is hyper-violent, and hyper-competitive, and everything in life is a struggle for survival, security, and dominance. Thus, as can be seen, there are powerful social dynamics and traits which produce frequent challenges for Yheddu to fully get along within human communities or amongst other civilized races in a harmonious manner. Scholars have speculated that such challenges may also be rooted within the Yheddu's amphibian, and reptilian heritage, which fundamentally shapes their approaches and behaviors in ways that non-amphibian, and non-reptilian races are distinctly and radically different in nature.

Yheddu, while having an amphibian, reptilian heritage, are not amoral. Yheddu have some basic understanding and value for simple morality. Yheddu understand fair play and sharing, generosity, loyalty, courage, and fortitude. Yheddu eschew stabbing an enemy in the back, or cutting their throat while they sleep. Yheddu have a sense of personal courage that compels them to seek to challenge an enemy or rival straight away, out in the open. Fighting a rival out in the open also serves additional purposes—it demonstrates one Yheddu's courage, glory, and strength—so that all within the community can witness such a noble display—and also demonstrates the defeated Yheddu's arrogance, weakness, and inferiority by being crushed and defeated in combat. Everyone witnessing such a contest can immediately calculate awarding prestige to the victorious Yheddu, and shame and less confidence in the defeated Yheddu—if the defeated Yheddu survives and is not otherwise killed and devoured. Such defeated Yheddu that survive are burdened for some time in the future of working to strengthen, grow, and improve themselves. Not least of which is a new social awareness of bowing their head in the presence of their betters, and fully realizing that some Yheddu are superior to themselves.
Such is the harsh and brutal reality of life. The weaker or the foolish must serve and defer to the stronger or the wiser. Yheddu understand that there are differences between physical elements, and mental, or spiritual elements, which contributes to their communal value, respect, and cherishing of older Yheddu. Older, wiser Yheddu are deeply respected in Yheddu culture. Likewise, the large, beautiful, and physically strong and powerful are enormously respected by other Yheddu around them. In addition, Yheddu also value traits such as beauty, tongue thickness and agility, as well as the individual Yheddu's scent signature. Yheddu make many particular assessments about how different Yheddu smell, with some being rated higher or lower in pleasantness, as appropriate and variable to the individual. Yheddu also greatly value and respect an individual's oral and vocal abilities—singing, musicianship, as well as public speaking and rhetoric. Yheddu have an extensive tradition of respect and prominence for scholars, mystics, bards, and musicians.

Such figures have always been prominent within the Yheddu's cousins, the tribal Ghormah, that continue to live amidst the wilderness as barbarian tribes. For the Yheddu, even within their newly-embraced urban culture and lifestyle, such traditional figures remain prominent and greatly cherished. In contrast to the prominence and respect for elderly Yheddu, is a seemingly very casual regard for the Yheddu young. Yheddu generally breed prolifically, easily giving birth to several children from each pregnancy. Yheddu grow and mature quickly, and are viewed as adults upon reaching the age of 10 years old. Yheddu women can also easily endure being pregnant and giving birth every year, which results in huge numbers of Yheddu children being born. The Yheddu recognize that it is also part of nature that some Yheddu children will be eaten and devoured by predators; some Yheddu children will surely die in accidents from the environment; Disease, ailments, famine, and mental illness will also kill more Yheddu children; and some Yheddu children are simply too stupid, clumsy, or weak, and will likely be killed by a rival before they are much into adulthood. Thus, Yheddu mothers eagerly breed, as they unconsciously take stock of these brutal realities, and breed frequently, hoping that a good portion of their children will survive to grow and prosper well into their adult years. Even concerning Yheddu breeding and raising of children, such generates tension, and often conflict and disapproval amongst other civilized races living alongside the Yheddu.

Despite such consistent social conflict, tension, and disapproval, Yheddu possess a fanatical desire and commitment to breeding, eating, and proving their strength and vigour. These three primary values hold onto the Yheddu with an enduring grip, which influences their culture in powerful ways, even down to the individual. Yheddu will even eat slower, weaker members of their own community, when severe famine and disaster threatens the survival of the community as a whole. Strength, Food, and Breeding are the Yhedddu's driving values, regardless of whatever else they may believe or embrace through life. From the youngest Yheddu, to the elderly Yheddu, all are unanimous and strict on holding onto these three primary values amongst their people and culture. Of course, foreigners, outsiders, non-Yheddu, that become aware of these deeply-rooted cultural values and dynamics, can often manipulate individual Yheddu in many ways. Yheddu quite easily respond to such considerations of strength, glory, food, prestige, and breeding. Most of even the higher social values, such as pride, prestige, glory, and strength—are still looped around to acquisition and provision of food for the family, and of breeding more and more children.

Yheddu are not particularly concerned with the precise bloodlines of their offspring—as they are a very fertile race, they are likely to breed dozens of children in their lifetime, so having children of mixed-race parentage is viewed with similar pride to having full-blooded Yheddu children. Having some mixed-blooded children is viewed as a positive thing, in embracing different heritages and traits that can be embraced within the larger Yheddu family. Despite these deeply-held and cherished values, the Yheddu can often be manipulated by con-artists, charlatans, and demagogues, into providing donations of money, providing work or other services, or supporting particular social, political, or religious causes, leaders, or various activist organizations. These kinds of social dynamics often playing under the immediate surface of a community, can cause significant damage, impoverishment, and other forms of misfortune to large populations and neighborhoods of Yheddu. However, much of the time, most Yheddu are unlikely to ever truly recognize such pervasive and far-reaching manipulation and grifting going on towards them, whether as individuals, or as a group.

The growth of Yheddu communities throughout the Dharyev region has also resulted in a demographic explosion of a secondary ghetto population, filling the larger urban areas with swarming masses of unwashed, hungry people. The secondary ghetto demographic is the growing population of the Rhuggnoy—people that have a mixed heritage of Yheddu blood, mixed with some other humanoid race, usually human. Both the Yheddu and the Rhuggnoy breed in enormous numbers, entirely beyond concern for feeding, housing, or providing other proper care for their offspring. They have an overwhelming desire to mate and breed, and whenever they have more offspring than they can reasonably care for, such hordes of filthy, hungry children are set loose to wander the streets of the urban landscape, fending for themselves. Such constant population growth in the urban centers fuels the sex professions, further increasing the breeding of mixed-race people. The whole environment becomes consumed with debauchery and the pursuit of pleasure of every kind. Eager, frantically hungry lovers and playthings are not merely available for sale in clubs, bars, taverns, and brothels—they are often freely available in every area, especially the ghetto neighborhoods, where they prance and frolic about, keen to embrace pleasure and debauchery at every opportunity. The enormous population booms also increase the supply of cheap slaves that can be purchased in slave markets, which also further impacts the economy by increasing the unemployed masses, further increasing the population of drug-addled, hopeless and despairing hordes, eager to do anything to survive. Throughout the urban areas of the Dharyev region, manual laborers, domestic servants, cleaning girls, porters and ditch diggers, bodyguards and mercenaries, as well as hordes of dancers, concubines and prostitutes, are common, cheap, and plentiful.

Beyond the squalor and grinding poverty, a distinct Yheddu culture endures, though it is often obscured from the margins of the urban environment, which seem to always be flowing in a river of misery and wickedness. Many traditional and hard-working Yheddu simply focus on survival, working diligently and trying to slowly build a better life, if not for themselves, then for their surviving children or grandchildren. Many others become violent, bitter, and cynical, while yet more simply give in to the allure of drugs, crime, and debauchery. Many Yheddu and Rhuggnoy alike, grow up with the knowing certainty that life is nothing more than poverty and squalor, hunger and suffering, punctuated on occasion by whatever pleasure that comes to hand. They often become consumed with self-interested opportunism, pursuit of hedonism, and a simplistic, jaded and cynical view of everything in life. The traditional Yheddu culture survives, though it too, is trying to grow, change, and adapt to an ever-changing environment. From the first generation of Yheddu immigrants into the human cities, no one had an easy life. The Yheddu, after all, upon their forebear's arrival in the different human cities—only a few, at first—in those early years, the Yheddu knew that they would have to change their culture and way of life, for they were no longer forest-wandering nomads, but people seeking to live in an urban civilization. The Yheddu people's journey as an urban sub-culture continues to grow, and is often ugly, bitter, and terribly painful, though slowly, progress is being forged.

Yheddu Racial Traits
Roll 1D20 Every Two Character Levels, and roll on the Yheddu Racial Traits Table, shown below.
1: Strong, Tough Skin
2: Unusual Skin Colour or Skin Attribute
3: Strong, Alluring Pheromone Scent
4: Large and Prominent Eyes
5: Amazingly Fast and Accurate Tongue
6: Rugged Metabolism
7: Blessed Fertility
8: Inspired Craftsmanship
9: Inspired Scholarship
10: Inspired Spiritual Awareness
11: Inspired Physical Prowess
12: Inspired Voice
13: Long, Powerful Tongue
14: Powerful Bite
15: Grippy Hands
16: Huge, Powerful Legs
17: Extraordinary Swimmer
18: Superior Acrobat
19: Potent Regeneration
20: The Yheddu Character gains a +2 Bonus to any Attribute, and is allowed to choose one selection from the Yheddu Racial Trait Table.

Quote from: Chris24601 on March 11, 2024, 09:35:47 AM
The big question to ask for many of the behaviors you cite though is, how much does the addition of human-like intellect and reasoning capacity (including the ability to understand long-term consequences) alter those baseline animal behaviors?

Ex. Wolves are territorial social predators. So are humans... and until relatively modern times (basically from the earliest humans through basically the coming of Christ) we also killed our young who were too weak, fought for mates (or the powerful just took them), and killing or enslaving the men and children of the losers while carrying off the women as sex slavesbrides was normal behavior. They created rituals and rules to help regulate and justify it, and it took something as radical as Christianity for that to stop being the norm of civilizations.

The point being; if you're making these beastmen with the reasoning capacity of men, then they will adapt their behaviors in accord with reason. What is "too weak to survive" is different when your society also needs laborers, craftsmen, smiths, scribes and priests. The stealing of mates might become ritualized or even criminal (at least among one's own community) as part of the social contract needed for something beyond hunter-gatherer civilizations to function.

Similarly, killing the fallen might logically give way to sorting and enslaving those with useful skills instead of summary execution.

And who know what happens if Wolf-Jesus shows up and teaches them to be dogs, not wolves.

Greetings!

Excellent points, Chris!

Yes, I think it is very interesting thinking about all of these kinds of dynamics at play, involving very different races, and cultures.

"Wolf-Jesus!" I love that! *Laughing*

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: aganauton on March 11, 2024, 09:36:32 AM
Morning Shark,

     I agree, it would be fun to introduce truly non-human animal races into a campaign.  I have toyed with the idea several times during my on again/off again world building, including the idea that they would be playable races, not just NPC's.  Of course any player wanting to generate a character of such a race would need to really buy-in to the whole concept of the race,  both the good and bad facets.

     The opportunities for role-playing just in the social interaction between the humans and the animal races would be varied and really fun; a true 'fish out of water' experience.  Something to consider regarding those interactions is inadvertent behaviour from the humans (considered harmless normally) that might set off an animal based race.

  - A human male talking a little too long to a female 'deer-based' race.  It's the rut and her boyfriend 'the buck' doesn't take too kindly to the attention a rival is paying to part of his harem.  Does the buck bellow a challenge and engage?  How would the PC react? Do they even know they are being challenged to a fight?

  - The PC's leave the tavern, having consumed a little too much ale, and as everybody knows, you don't drink ale, you rent it.  So as they stagger back to their rooms, one PC stops to return some of that ale on a fence post.  All of a sudden a 'wolf-based' race comes storming out of a nearby cottage wanting to know why the PC is infringing on 'his' territory.

  - The PC's stop along the side of the road for a rest/lunch.  As they are unpacking their gear a 'bear-based' race happens along, spots a couple bottles of oil and immediately offers to buy one of them.  The PC's not wanting to appear hostile agrees to purchase price and hands a bottle over.  To the astonishment of the PC's,  the bear man proceeds to uncork the bottle and sip on the oil.*

  - A PC walks into a shop.  The merchant is a 'sheep-based' race.  The merchant is busy being the counter and the PC merely walks up to talk to him.  Unknown to the PC, he has approached in the merchants blind spot, so as soon as the PC talks, the merchant screams (bleats) and runs away, possibly summoning guards.**

     I worked in the bush for 20 plus years (oilfield surveying) and I have seen some truly strange behaviour from animals.  I won't go into it, but one thing I will say.  Black bears and grizzlies are nothing compared to a cow (moose) defending her calf, truly awe inspiring and scary at the same time.

     I'm looking forward to what you have come up with.

* I can't count the number of two-part (chainsaw) gas jugs I've lost to bears.  They just love that bar oil.

** Generally prey animals have eyes on the sides of their head; it gives them a wider field of view on their flanks, but does leave a blind spot directly in front of them.

Greetings!

Good Morning, indeed, Aganauton!

You raise some excellent commentary. All of the yabbering about "Diversity" makes me friggin LAUGH. It's like, really? Have you thought about the diversity of races typically available in a fantasy world?

As you hone in on, like a laser, so many of the social and cultural aspects of running animal-humanoids alongside Human society--or Elves, or whoever--the potentials are mind boggling. Lots of elements of humor, as well as opportunities for lots of high drama, for sure!

I love dogs. I often think about the expense in money, as well as time and effort, that we as a society put in, think about it, to live harmoniously with happy dogs, right? It is absolutely mind-blowing to think of the challenges we would have if there was a *Humanoid* race of dog people, you know?

I also think that Players can be really challenged to truly embrace genuine diversity, you know? Hell, even I keep notes for running NPC characters that are weird races, because getting the details and approaches right--keeping them all straight, and fairly consistent--can be a challenge, even under the best of conditions.

Great stuff, my friend!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: Rhymer88 on March 11, 2024, 09:53:18 AM
I've played in a game where most of the party members were some kind of intelligent animal-like things. It's amusing now and then, but I don't like such games in general because it makes the adventuring party feel like a traveling circus.

Greetings!

Yeah, Rhymer88, I sympathize. I can see that being a definite consideration. "Traveling Circus!" *Laughing* So true!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: Rhymer88 on March 11, 2024, 09:53:18 AM
I've played in a game where most of the party members were some kind of intelligent animal-like things. It's amusing now and then, but I don't like such games in general because it makes the adventuring party feel like a traveling circus.

This is the problem for me as well. Offer a bunch of strange races and you end up with the Dr. Doolittle party. Unless the setting features humanlike races as the oddity an all animal race party is just out of place. I prefer that a tavern in a regular fantasy campaign not resemble a Mos Eisley cantina.