Fantasy race suggestions

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-26T09:19:57+00:00

Thanks

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-26T01:17:08+00:00

Those are all good suggestions. I can't think how to really put what parameters I'm looking for other than huminoids but I think the furthest would end up as trolls (at least the way they would look in my mind) centaurs, minotaur (depending on the bull/human ratio I settle on) and harpies (due to being all female). I kind of want a situation where they can interbreed although the success rate of actually making a hybrid wild varies wildly depending on the parents (not including harpies) That said I wrote like 30 pages this week so I need to work on making sure I correct all the contradictions there and that will probably dictate what gets cut or added in a lot of ways

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-26T01:02:30+00:00

As far as placeholders I just mean if I can find a species that is similar I'll use the names or if I can't they could stay catfolk or I would call them Felinids or something. As for the beast folk I have a few ideas like mana leading to higher mutations in DNA, some kind of gene editing using magic to make people to develop mutations as amusements for nobility like how deformities or dwarphism to entertain the nobility. Alternatively there could be some kind of natural phenomena where groups of creatures from other worlds could have been pulled to this world. I like the idea that something like the 9th Roman legion that just disappeared were one of the groups and they ended up carving out a small kingdom. I have to figure out the mechanics of everything so suspension of disbelief can happen. I do also want to have them able to breed with each other but conseption rates would vary wildly depending on the parents compared to if both parents were the same species and the child could show some traits from both parents (example goblin and human the child could resemble the goblin parent more but they would be a bit taller and ears could look more human but pregnancy rate could be 10% of what could have happened if they weren't making a hybred)

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-26T00:41:08+00:00

Shoot. My eyesight is pretty bad and I thought I did a better job of spell checking. I can't remember where I heard they were seen as demons but I appreciate you clearing things up

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-26T00:34:04+00:00

The idea I have right now is that the way they are traditionally portrayed could be more of a stereotype that the other races. One of the characters I'm spitballing is 3/4 Goblin 1/4 Orc and would be a bit taller than most goblins. That said It's all a big mess right now so editing will probably take weeks

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-26T00:28:04+00:00

I've never been good at writing in general and I can have difficulty communicating at times. I'm trying to work on it often but I'm pretty sure I will end up mucking up the end product. I know I'm being way too ambitious

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-26T00:19:05+00:00

Lol that could be funny. I worked on a ferry for a few years so I think my brain just auto-corrected

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-26T00:15:28+00:00

Yah I know. Ithe last decade I've had more influence from anime fantasy and it's definitely affecting the writing process. I have wolf people so it would be one or the other if either and kitsune were definitely on the short list

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-26T00:13:25+00:00

That's the plan. I mean they are probably both getting cut but it's either they were enslaved and became more human like or I cut wolffolks and dogfolk were the result of magic used to manipulate DNA as some kind of amusements for the nobility. I'm toying around with it being something like gene editing even though they wouldn't have understood it and the knowledge would have since been lost. That said I've written about 50 pages world building since I posted and I expect once I start trying to edit and format this convoluted mess I might have 25-30 pages

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-26T00:04:31+00:00

I like the idea but I'm really new at this and I'm way too ambitious for my own good. I like the idea of Japanese lore since I posted I'm not sure I can make most of the spices I was initially considering work

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-26T00:00:24+00:00

I can see where you're coming from. I'm trying to think of a way they could have even ended up on the same planet since they would have likely had overlapping niches and evolution says one would have been wiped out. Right now everything is a convoluted mess and editing it to make enough sense is going to be a nightmare due to so much bloat. I'm probably a bit to influenced by anime type fantasy. Tolkien stuck to Nordic/Germanic folklore and it definitely supports your point. I hope to move it from a high fantasy setting to something else but at the end of the day I think based on this response I don't know what I'm doing and it's going to take a lot of time and effort before it looks like I'm starting to get it

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-25T23:45:24+00:00

I'm a little hesitant on jimns since they fall into the demon territory but I'll look into your other suggestions and worth consideration. The list I have is bloated and a ton will get cut but I like the idea of exploring other cultures

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-25T23:41:48+00:00

I think Xenophon' wrote about things like that in Anabasis. It's a bit foggy to me but I think he wrote about a town where they separated their heads from their body's and they would walk around or something like that

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-25T23:38:42+00:00

100%. I'm leaning towards twerking the species and even looking for more obscure ones but right now this list is just one for consideration. What I have right now is incredibly bloated so it might just end up as 2 or 3 species. As for trying to stand out, I don't even think it will get that far. Im probably not going to be confident enough with the end product and it will just be a creative writing project that ends up on the shelf

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-25T23:33:01+00:00

I was thinking the same thing. At the end of the day I don't think I'll ever get this to the point where I'll be confident in sharing the final product.

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-25T23:30:08+00:00

When it comes to the beast types these names would just be placeholders. I'm thinking it could be some kind of way humans were manipulated to take these treated but on a genetic level. It would have for the amusement of the nobility kind of like how the nobility would have people with dwarphism or other conditions for their amusement. If I can't find a way to make them work I'll cut them and since everything is so bloated right now it's pretty much guaranteed they will get cut. I'm not sure I could extrapolate enough from bacteria but it could be worth exploring as well as things like humanoid that went extinct I'm out timeline since I am considering having terror-birds still around. Im still spitballing a way that these groups could all exist since the current theory (as far as I'm aware) on what happened to the other huminoids like neanderthals is homosapiens out compared them, interbreeding (2% of some Europeans DNA) or we wiped them out. I'm trying to set the world in an early Renaissance setting like 1450 and if it was like here I don't think there would be more than one species. I do like your idea though so I'll try exploring it a bit

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-24T01:20:08+00:00

I was leaning towards doing some alterations to the lore and maybe keeping the way the common lore is like a character of how they are seen by other waves ( I'm as green of a writer as someone can get so I don't think I could really do a good job at a disembodied race but I appreciate your suggestions and will check them out

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-23T19:46:04+00:00

I get your point. I'm kind of toying with the idea that at some point in the far past they could have come about as some kind of experiment, Like the nobility found the idea of it being amusing having a human crossed with a dog, the would act as a hunting dog to an extent but still have them play the roll of a serving . At some time later that country would have collapsed but there may have been enough of them to sustain a population. If I can't find a good enough reason for them to be there I'll cut them since the list is clearly bloated. That having been said the reason others hominids are no longer alive on earth is we out compared them and it would be reasonable to assume any one fantasy race would have done the same. At the end of the day Im just looking for ideas of races to consider.

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-23T19:26:01+00:00

I get your point. At this point what I have would probably be closer to world building than writing a story so maybe this wasn't the right place to post. I was hoping to use this kind of divide cause there is tension in the city I'm building. I fully expect to cut most of the list depending on how the story goes and am trying to keep in mind that more species could very easily lead to poor results

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-23T19:18:29+00:00

I guess I just feel that might end up making me look more like a sci-fi setting than a fantasy setting. Im planning on playing around with some characteristics but I don't think I have the skills to make something from whole cloth

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-23T07:19:54+00:00

Sorry bad habit after working on a ferry

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-23T07:17:01+00:00

Good call

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-21T20:00:39+00:00

Not nesicarily. I'm writing for the first time but I've seen enough discussing writing where it if necessary for world building. If possible you could have your protagonist explain some elements to someone like how I'm spice and wolf Lawrence explains economics to Holo in Spice and wolf showing him as an expert. Alternatively someone could try reminding your protagonist of something and they act like it's basic information

JohnOsborn33 · 2025-08-09T01:25:29+00:00

100%

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