Newest rough draft of the Android race for NeoExodus

Here is the updated android image. I like where this is going but I needed to make a FEW changes like removing to the swords to show what the Arcane Essence effect would look like. So what do you think?

Androids in NeoExodus and their inspiration…

I always wanted to add androids to the world of NeoExodus from the original idea and creation of the Kaga. I mean, if we have a sentient “computer system” how far could other artificial entities like androids and robots be? Cut to Paizo adding the Android to the Bestiary AND to their Iron Gods adventure path. So with that the rules for Androids have been created. Once they did that, I started thing was to add them to the NeoExodus setting where there would not be an issue with the original races, while at the same time how to make sense of all this. That was the easy part; the hard part was to understand them as a race. And with that I went to my old playbook of comic books and pulled out something from my past that seem to work almost perfectly with theses android. And with that I had to go to Valiant Comics  and specifically to Psi-Lords.

I like the idea of a caste system that I saw on Babylon 5’sMinbari with Psi-Lords also seemed to develop their own with the colors of Red, Orange and Yellow for the Psi Lords. So I carried over this idea for Androids for NeoExodus, which I renamed and how the androids refer to each other as Kagan. I guess you can figure out who created them.  So like the Minbari, the Kagan are split into the three castes of warriors, workers and religious. Any class can belong to whatever caste they choose. That is really for the choice of the player, but this adds some interest ideas and concepts to what PCs might be. I mean a Kagan Alchemist of the warrior caste might be very different from a Kagan Alchemist of the religious caste. Plus personally it make more sense for the Kaga to have created the Kagan. The Order of the Kaga sourcebook has proven that it is only a logical extension of the Prestige Classes of the Auger and Harbinger.

With all this said, we will be making changes to the normal stat blocks for the android race. I want to make them a little more interesting to those that play them for NeoExodus. I mean there are a few ideas that I think might work well with them. I guess you have to wait and see. Talk to you later…

Still working on the update to NeoExodus campaign setting book…

So I am working on the revamp of NeoExodus campaign settingbook, and I am AMAZED about how much art will be in this book. In addition to using art we have already used we are still adding MORE artwork. For example we are doing new artwork for the races of Cavian, Enuka (See here), Gevet and Sasori.  The reason being many of the pieces were created years ago and need updating. Also we are adding flag for each empire (in color) so you can get a better idea of the usage of the symbols we use for the empires. Plus I want to add more content for the race in the way of additional race traits. I personally what each race to have at least four racial traits. I think it will give the races a more balanced feel and the ability to make a more “unique” version for PCs.  And for some reason I will be adding in height, weight and age charts for each of the races. People seem to get really crazy if this is missing.  I don’t know when this will be finished but it is keeping me excited. Talk to you later…

I wonder what [Insert gaming professional] will think about this…

Very often, I get an idea that I think is great but I know well enough that I need to get a second opinion on. The reason for that is because lots of things sound great in your head and become absolutely crap-tastic when they get on paper. So the idea that I am working with if from a blog post I did called, “Taking a chance on getting the kinks out of the Androids...” and I came up with this simple little idea: Robots looking for the “truth of things” and who are religious fanatics about gambling and taking a chance.

But I don’t want to get response from just ONE gaming professional, I want to get response from A LOT of gaming professionals. So here is my question to you gaming professionals out there: What do you think about this android / robot / construct idea in a fantasy setting? There are no wrong answers (Clinton Boomer and Owen I am talking to you) just interesting ideas. Talk to you later…

Taking a chance on getting the kinks out of the Androids...

I am still working on the concept of androids for NeoExodus and then I can up with an idea that I originally had planned for another race that was originally based off of Senson Girl of the Legion of Super Heroes. Her original powers of illusion generation were enhanced giving her the ability to see beyond the illusions of life (such as the "illusions" of distance and physical obstacles). I like this idea and could work very cool of a race; This ability plues the ability of her teammate, Dawnstar whose unique powers include the ability to track life forms and objects across light years of distance and through interstellar space; could have interesting effects on a game. I think the idea of the androids always looking for the “truth” of things that can be a cool piece of fluff that can have interesting game mechanics attached to it.

Add on to that a concept that I saw once while watching the sci-fi tv show, Space: Above and Beyond that artificial Intelligent robots, which were called Silicates (I love that name. The Silicates referred to humans Carbonites) rebel from their human creators on a simple concept created by an engineer programming a simple line of code that gave them the ability , “Taking a chance” or simply take risk that a machine would not logically do. The artificial intelligent robots then become fascinated with the idea of taking a risk and gambling. It becomes their religion to them. What a concept: Robots looking for the “truth of things and who are religious fanatics about gambling and taking a chance. I wonder where we will be able to go with that idea. Talk to you later… 

Rough Draft of the Prometheans

So as we told you before we are working on updating and building new races for Obsidian Apocalypse. One of the newer races we have been working on are called the Prometheans.  Prometheans are simple put "Created People". Think Frankenstein's Monster and you are in the right place.  We are also working on a horror clockwork version with a "brain in a jar" motif to it for all you mad science types out there.  So here is the rough draft of the female Promethean.  We will see where this goes.  Talk to  you later...

More races coming to Obsidian Apocalypse...

So with such a positive response to Obsidian Apocalypse I have decided that I will be adding back the races Raijin and the Uzamati that were originally created in Obsidian Twilight.   In addition I will be add some all-new races to the setting including the Prometheans; Two versions: one version would be constructed flesh golems like Frankenstien’s monsters and the other version as clockwork men with the brain in the jar look to them. Other people on the Paizo forums have suggested that I do a race of Gill Men similar to the Creature from the Black Lagoon. So now I have to think are we going to have to do a horror based bestiary sourcebook also. I guess time will have to tell. Talk to you later…

These images have me thinking about insect humanoid races...

So for some CRAZY reason I am thinking about all kinds of things I can have in the upcoming Codex: Torment. The one creature/monster that people have said they DON’T want are “insect humanoids”. But for some reason my head keeps saying, “You know, you should do a real cool take on insect humanoids.” So of course I have been thinking of ways I can make insect humanoid interesting. The images you see here are really what I think of when I think insect humanoids. Maybe there is something here. Maybe I am just crazy. Maybe I have a cool concept to add to them like the ability to see and perceive beyond the illusions of life such as the "illusions" of distance, sound, light and even time or physical obstacles to be able to locate anything. Maybe something is here. Maybe there are few good ideas for that old Pirates of the Bronze Sky idea I had a few years ago. I guess we will have to wait and see. Talk to you later…

Another Race for Obsidian Twilight that is returning as a monster in Obsidian Apocalypse, the Uzamati

This has one of the coolest ideas that came up race-wise for Obsidian Twilight, but with the revamp for Obsidian Apocalypse there was NO WAY we could do this as a race for the setting. The Uzamati, while AMAZINGLY cool, were “broken” due to their powerful abilities when compared to the other races of Obsidian Twilight who were ALREADY on the powerful side of playable races. Guess those who did not donated to the Obsidian Apocalypse kickstarter are going to have to wait and see what we did. Talk to you later...

Now only seven races for Obsidian Apocalypse…

When I originally did Obsidian Twilight, I made the setting with 8 races to play in it, with this up date to Obsidian Apocalypse I have reduced the amount of races from eight to seven. Which race didn't make the cut to this new edition? The Raijin. The original concept of them was a beetle / insect races that I wanted to create for the Obsidian Twilight setting but since we did the Sasori in NeoExodus I decided not to do them in that way.  With this new updated we took a hard long look at the Raijin and decided they would work better as a monster than a PC race.  While everyone one LOVED their concept, they were just not a 10 point based race created using the Advanced Race Guide rules. So with that the Raijin go from friend to foe. Balance in races and gaming in general is tough due to the fact that the “coolness factor” of something can be overridden by the rules as written and this was one of those times.  Oh well I guess you will have to just live with seven very bad ass races. I mean come on when was the last time you say a race as cool as Khymer? A Sentient parasitic psionic blood based life form is VERY cool.  Talk to you later...

New race idea for NeoExodus...

Since NeoExodus: A House Divided has the Machinesmith class, should we have a construct based race for the setting? I know many of you are think the Android from the Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Bestiary but I don't want to do something that is "so" sci-fi sounding, I mean this is a fantasy setting and there is a difference. Visually, I have a cool idea of what the race might look like (inspired from Warrhammer 40K Necrons) but building it to fit in a 10 RP build from the Advanced Race Guide is becoming an issue.  So I am opening it up to the fan base, what do you think about a construct race for NeoExodus? Tell us what you think! Talk to you later...

Obsidian Evolved's Uzamati race draft released for Pathfinder

Just I just uploaded the draft version of the Uzamati race for Obsidian Evolved. Go to Paizo.com message board where you can download a copy of it and get in on the conversation.  Tell us what we have done right, what we have done wrong and what more you would like to see.  Thanks for your support with this upcoming setting. Talk to you later...

Testing out the Advanced Race Guide Playtest on the P'Tan

So I downloaded the Advanced Race Guide Playtest from Paizo and the first thing I have to say, It's a basically an update to the original Race Creation Cookbook for 3.5 OGL we did 6 years.  I don't mean that in a bad way, I just mean if you liked the Race Creation Cookbook, then you will like Advanced Race Guide Playtest. While this is a playetest and can see what they left out and what they should have added.  I guess they are waiting for the comments back from the playtest to show the full system.

So I decided to put this system to the test and I decided to make our NeoExodus: A House Divided race, the P'Tan using this system.  This is what I got:

Racial Trait: Native Outside - 2 RP
Size: Medium - 0 RP
Base Speed: Normal Speed - 0 RP
Ability Score: Standard Mode - 0 RP
Language: Standard Array - 1 RP
Defensive Racial Abilities - Standard Ability
-- Ancient Foe - 3 RP
-- Illusion Resistance - 1 or 2 RP

Offensive Racial Abilities - Standard Ability

-- Elemental Assault - 1 RP

-- Hatred: 1 RP

-- Weapon Familiarity: 1 RP

Weakness Abilities

-- Light Sensitivity - -1 RP

Total: 8 or 9 RP

While the abilities didn't completely match up, it was close enough for me.  There are several threads you can take a look at about this playtest and put your two cents in.  So system-point wise it was very close to what I do to make races.  So download it and test it out.  I think you will enjoy it.  Talk to you later...

Working hard with JP on NeoExodus...

Over a week ago, JP Chapleau handed of the first draft of the NeoExodus: A House Divided Campaign Book to me.  I have been reading it over making changes and explaining things in more detail of what I wanted to see it in and what I didn’t want to see.  The only thing that I had huge issue with above all others was the use of the monster from Monsters of NeoExodus: Caliban and making them a PC race. This was one of those things that I was not too sure about, but I trusted JP so I said OK and we went with it.  But now after reading them in the book, it didn’t make sense to me why we would use them in this way. Today, I spoke to JP about this issue in great length and detail. JP and I went back in forth on this each of us discussing why we thought they were needed the Nomadic Caliban as PCs and why not. Eventually all this discussion gave us an answer HOW we could add them to the setting and WHY it ties in to the setting so well.  So we are changing the concept of Nomadic Caliban into the Kalisans. There of course will be some changes with their background and game mechanics from this draft but this only helps make the NeoExodus setting better.  Teamwork, talking it out and smart thinking are the best ways to handle and problems and issues.  This book is going to be amazing.  Talk to you later…

Looks like Race Creation Cookbook days are numbered due to Paizo...

The one of the greatest TRULY resourceful PDF books that LPJ Design put out has to be the Race Creation Cookbook.  I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! The reason I made it was NOT to help people make balanced races, it was created to help ME make more balanced races.  Any race that I made before having this books was WAY overpowered. They were basically silly and I knew it. So I decided that I need a book like this and, in turn, figured other people might find this book very useful also.  With that idea and a little sweat, a few month later, we have the Race Creation Cookbook.  This book was so important to me, that when Paizo released Pathfinder, I updated it with a Pathfinder version.  So you can see, I am a real fan of this book.

But I got some BAD NEW from PaizoCon that looks like they book days are really numbered. Pazio announced they are doing a Advanced Race Guide for Pathfinder. This is the write up for this product:

This definitive sourcebook for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game provides tons of new character options for all seven “core” player character races, from archetypes that allow elf characters to explore their connection to nature and magic to feats and spells that let a dwarf character carry on the legacy of his multi-generational clan or a gnome explore her connection to the First World or delve deep into her weird obsessions.

Additionally, the Advanced Race Guide offers meaty sections on a dozen “spotlight” races that make interesting and exciting player character options, such as goblins, aasimar, tieflings, dhampyrs, drow, the elemental races from Bestiary 2, and several others.

All PC-appropriate monster races in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, including creatures from all three Bestiaries and The Inner Sea World Guide, receive race options equivalent to those presented for the core races in the Core Rulebook, for the first time allowing players to create and play characters like merfolk, grippli, duergar, stryx, and every other appropriate monster currently in the Pathfinder game.

Lastly, the Advanced Race Guide includes an extensive section that allows players and GMs to build their own custom races, either to emulate more powerful creatures that already exist in the game or to create wholly original characters unique to their campaign. This section will be the focus of Paizo’s next major Open Playtest effort, which will kick off in late fall 2011.

It's that last paragrapgh that has me a LITTLE MORE than worried. When Paizo releases this and it becomes the "official" Race Creation Cookbook, my original is going to suffer a serious slow down in sales.  Well at least it's good to know I am a head of the curve on product planning compared to Paizo, at least in some areas. The Advanced Race Guide will not be coming out until April 2012, so It still gives me some time to make sales on such a good proejct that has sold well for me over seven years.  Well played Paizo.  Talk to you later...

[LPJ Design] Races of NeoExodus: Sasori Preview

Resources wax and wane, weapons and spells become obsolete, the master craftsman of one era is displaced by the industry of the next, and even land becomes worthless with the shifting ages - information, say the sasori, is the one commodity that is always in demand.  These scorpion-like creatures are brokers of information, by turns the greatest secret-keepers and the supreme spies of Exodus.  Sasori are also known for their willingness - and ability - to kill to protect their secrets.

Personality: Sasori are excellent listeners; they prefer to hear than to be heard, and what they hear, they never forget.  A Sasori can be surprisingly personable, wheedling information from an unsuspecting informant.  Sasori are fiercely independent of outside control, and just as fiercely loyal to their clans.  Most are extremely honorable, never breaking a confidence, risking their lives for a few words on a contract - yet, their honor does not prevent them from turning on a long-time associate if someone else contracts their services.  Sasori do not understand concepts like fidelity or friendship outside the bonds of family; they are loyal to the death to their kin and the agreements they bind themselves to, but any and all outsiders are fair game.  Sasori value information above all else; to learn something from a Sasori, one must tell him something he does not know.

Physical Description: Sasori resemble humanoid scorpions.  Their hands are claws, their jaws mandibles.  Their bodies are covered with a dark, rust-colored carapce and small, fine hairs with which they ‘smell’ the surrounding air.  Sasori ‘eat’ by vomiting forth acidic digestive juices to melt their prey and lapping up the result, a process that can take several hours in the case of a large meal.  Sasori rarely wear clothes (except for concealing robes when moving about in public), instead painting elaborate clan, rank and religious symbols on their exoskeletons.

Relations: Few like the Sasori, but almost all depend on them.  Sasori are welcome at the back doors of the houses of the mighty of all races, who require their services to maintain power; cyneans and prymidians regularly partake of the Sasori’s immense stores of knowledge.  Sasori are considered a necessary evil by most people on Exodus; the common folk, who have less need and desire for information, sometimes omit the ‘necessary.’  Despite this, Sasori can be pleasant conversationalists and many find themselves treating the creatures as close confidants almost without realizing it.

Alignment: Most Sasori cleave strongly to tradition and contract - and their morals end there.  The typical Sasori is Lawful Evil.  Lawful Neutral, Neutral Evil and True Neutral Sasori are not uncommon, and a few are even Lawful or Neutral Good.  Chaotic Sasori are generally considered mad by their fellows, and are usually exiles.

Sasori Lands: Sasori can be found anywhere in Exodus.  They have few physical needs and can survive in most environments.  Sasori rarely gather in groups larger than a single clan, and even a clan may be dispersed over an entire region.  The largest concentrations of Sasori dwell in the Wildlands of Bal, leading many scholars to suggest these may be their place of origin.  If the Sasori know where they come from, they certainly aren’t telling.

Religion: Like much about the Sasori, their religion is an intensely private affair.  Outsiders are not welcome at Sasori ceremonies, and even the names of Sasori gods are closely guarded secrets.  In their own enclaves, the Sasori are deeply religious and worship a vast pantheon.  These gods preside over all aspects of ‘the long night,’ as Sasori call life, and the rituals and customs dedicated to them establish the rhythm of Sasori existence.

Language: Sasori communicate amongst themselves with a complex series of sounds, gestures and pheromones.  Other humanoids have difficulty deciphering this language, much less reproducing it.  Sasori also speak common, and many learn other languages as well.

Names: All Sasori possess both a clan and a given name.  These names are closely guarded secrets, as the Sasori believe a true name can give power to magicians and witches - and, as they are the premier brokers of information on Exodus, perhaps they are right.  Sasori use nicknames outside their clans, favoring those that reflect shadows, knowledge and the desert.
Clan Names: C’kat, Dar’rat, Kr’rt, T’kart, Za’tar
Male Names: Hd’bol, Kn’lod, Tak’fc, Ws’dm,
Female Names: Ch’ot, Mek’tal, Nki’ol, S’stal, Ut’al

Adventures: Sasori adventure either as part of their information-gathering activities or because they have been severed from their clans.  By far the majority of Sasori adventurers are spies or assassins in good standing, the only difference being that they seek information held mostly by those already dead rather than brokering it among the living.  Sasori cast out from their clans usually have few skills applicable outside the adventuring life; they may be out for no one but themselves, or they may adopt their adventuring companions as a surrogate clan.

[LPJ Design] Races of NeoExodus: P’Tan Preview

In ancient times, the First Ones enslaved all of Exodus; their plans were served well by countless thousands of unwilling servants.  Once their slaves rose up and overthrew them, however, the First Ones were cast into the depths - bereft not only of their power, but also of the vast majority of the very slaves who brought them low.
The P’Tan were created to replace those slaves.

The P’Tan are a created race, fashioned from elemental shadow-stuff infused into what were initially crude mortal shells.  By dark sorcery and darker worship, the First Ones made these creatures into a lasting race that could breed true without their magical influence… the better to provide them with slaves for all eternity.
Only a handful of P’Tan have escaped the crushing oppression into which their people were born, but those who have are perhaps the most determined foes of the First Ones in all of Exodus.  Other races have but dim memory of their primeval slavery; for the P’Tan, that existence is indelibly etched in living memory.

Personality:  Free P’Tan love life and freedom so ferociously they can unnerve members of more staid races.  To the P’Tan, every second of liberty is a treasure worth fighting, bleeding and dying for.  P’Tan tend to be obsessive about their passions - and one of those passions is, almost invariably, freeing the rest of their people from First One bondage.  The P’Tan saw their hated masters weave plots over the course of centuries; they will do no less to undo those plans, subtly incorporating even the smallest action into their overall goal of freeing their fellows and destroying the First Ones once and for all.  On those rare occasions P’Tan gather in groups of their own kind, they form loose packs ruled by the strongest among them; challenges to a leader’s authority are short, vicious and usually to the death - perhaps, among the passionate P’Tan, why so few gather in numbers!

Physical Description: P’Tan are tall and sleek humanoids.  They somewhat resemble humanoid cats and have a coat of short, stiff fur.  The older a P’Tan grows, the lighter the color of his fur; a young kit may be almost pitch black, while an elder near the end of his life is snow white.  Beneath their fur, P’Tan sport the hard muscle typical of a people who were created, bred and pressed into the most grueling labor; there is nothing sculpted or decorative about a P’Tan’s frame - it is pure, purposeful power.  P’Tan tend to prefer loose-fitting clothes, sometimes favoring concealing cloaks and robes that hide their nature from races who may react suspiciously toward unknown visitors.

Relations: P’Tan often face suspicion and fear from other races; their background and powers both call to mind the First Ones, who most prefer not to think about. P’Tan also have trouble winning friends among other races because their obsession with destroying the First Ones forces others to confront what they would prefer not to think about.  Only a handful of trusted companions ever learn to overcome these impediments and accept a P’Tan.  When dealing with the First Ones, of course, P’Tan have only one thing to offer: death.

Alignment: Having been denied their freedom in the cruelest way since the very inception of their race, P’Tan value it above all other concepts.  They tend to be passionate, determined and fierce.  Most P’Tan are Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral; those whose obsession with destroying th First Ones eclipses everything else in their lives sometimes fall to Chaotic Evil.

P’Tan Lands: The P’Tan were born into slavery, and not enough of their people have escaped it to ever core out a homeland of their own.  For now, at least, the P’Tan are nomads cast adrift in Exodus; they are usually found in the largest cities, selling their services as mercenaries or bodyguards.  Many dream of one day carving out a place to belong for their people, but that is a dream far in their future.

Religion: During their enslavement, the P’Tan were expected to pay at least token worship to the bloody god of the First Ones, Khayne; as this worship often involved the P’Tan being offered up as bloody sacrifices, it should be unsurprising that most abandoned the faith of their masters as soon as they could!  Free P’Tan usually adopt the predominant religion of whatever region they spend most of their time in.

Language: All P’Tan speak Exodite, the common tongue of the First Ones.  Free P’Tan understand this language but rarely use it; they quickly master modern Common and find their old language unpalatable.  Many even swear by whatever they hold sacred to never again utter the speech of their hated former masters.

Names: P’Tan were never given names during their enslavement and refer to each other only by terms of relative rank.  Once a P’Tan has interacted with outsiders long enough, he usually picks up a name or nickname in the local language and often takes it more seriously than others would.

Adventures: Most P’Tan do not adventure in the traditional sense - yet in another sense, they do little else.  The P’Tan are a race of nomadic warriors who spend most of their time honing their skills and acquiring powerful weapons to wield against a terrible evil; if that’s not an adventurer’s life, what is?  P’Tan mercenaries often join adventuring companies to hone their skills, and this race’s small population is disproportionately represented amongst adventurers.

[LPJ Design] Races of NeoExodus: Enuka Preview

The most primal and barbaric of the savage humanoids have nothing on the enuka.  Enuka are ferocious creatures of the wild lands, animalistic predators blessed with humanoid form and intelligence.  This combination has not softened their instincts for battle and the hunt, but it has given them a fatalistic warrior culture well suited to their savage natures.

Personality:  Most enuka are fierce, dour creatures, observing the world through the lens of predator and prey and seeing themselves at the top of the food chain.  They are capable of surprising kindness and mirth toward to their own, and shocking brutality to rivals.  An enuka does not understand concepts such as mercy or pity, but nor is he actively cruel; he kills for food, honor, or to send a message, not with the relish of the sadist but with the terrifying practicality of nature.

Physical Description: Enuka are massively built humanoids, covered in thick, tough fur and with animalistic features.  Only their apish faces are bare. Curling, ram-like horns sprout from males’ heads.  In addition, individual enuka have greatly varying features, as though the entire race were a sort of testing ground for savage gods.  Powerful claws, armored exoskeletons - even gills are not unknown among the enuka.

Relations: Other races are wary of the enuka, and with good reason.  Enuka in their own land are fiercely territorial.  Most tribes are willing to allow strangers passage, hunting, or other resources, or even to trade - provided the outsider comes openly to the enuka and asks them for these boons.  In enuka territory, it is difficult to ask permission, but impossible to ask forgiveness; anyone who, through ignorance or malice, fails to appeal to the creatures before entering what they consider their lands faces only death.  Enuka abroad are rare, but when they travel they are at turns mystified and disgusted by the civilized world.

Alignment: Most enuka are True Neutral, Chaotic Neutral or Chaotic Evil, but they run the gamut of chaotic and neutral alignments.  Few are lawful.

Enuka Lands: Enuka dwell in the remote wilderness of Exodus.  Most inhabit the undeveloped lands of Koryth, as far from cities and farms as they can get - or perhaps the citizens and farmers settled far from them.

Religion: Enuka are fatalistic regarding life and death.  They acknowledge no higher power than the greatest predator, no life beyond the short, passionate existence on the mortal plane.  While this nihilism would crush most other races, the enuka hardly seem to care.

Language: Enuka speak their own tongue.  Those who leave their tribes or deal with outsiders also speak common.  Occasionally, enuka learn the tongues of minotaurs or the savage humanoids.

Names: Enuka names are descriptive, and they prefer to have outsiders address them by the meaning rather than the sound.  When in foreign lands, an enuka translates its name into the local language.  Enuka may go through several names as they achieve new heights of prowess: Lizard-Leaper as a child, Elk-Gnasher as a hunter, Troll-Killer after a victory in battle, and so on.

Adventures: Enukas are well suited to a life of adventure.  If choice or circumstance pushes an enuka from his tribe, he will often gravitate toward adventuring circles, finding in the life-and-death play of sword and claw the closest analogue to his life in the wilderness.

[LPJ Design] Races of NeoExodus: Dalrean Preview

Dalrean are a race of sentient, mobile plants.  If a treant is a thinking tree, a dalrean is a thinking flower, and indeed, the spellcasters of this race are noted for their astonishing floral ‘spellbuds.’  dalrean, who live exceedingly long lives, are closely tied to the natural cycles of Exodus.

Personality:  Dalrean are extremely social creatures, with a culture rooted in constant spore communication.  A dalrean patch is invariably tranquil and united, and under normal circumstances, individuals within it are likewise the most calm and sociable of creatures.  A dalrean separated from the society of its kind becomes morose and nervous, and a dalrean deprived of even the substitute company of other intelligent creatures may become severely, even dangerously, unbalanced.

Physical Description: Dalrean are blueish-green-skinned, eyeless humanoids, slightly less than 6 ft. in height, with a ‘fin’ running from the top of the head to the small of the back.  Some observers erroneously conclude from this that they are an offshoot of aquatic humans or elves from the deepest oceans.  Beneath its relatively conventional exterior, a dalrean’s physiology is quite unique.  Dalrean are actually plants, reproducing via seeds and deriving sustenance from photosynthesis.  A dalrean possesses floral equivalents to the muscles and skin of most fauna, but these are little more than camouflage; its physical workings operate under entirely different principles.  This difference is more obvious in the case of a dalrean spellcaster; when the creature generates brilliant flowers called spellbuds on its body.

Relations: Because dalrean custom and psychology are so alien, and their homes so isolated, other races have little contact with these intelligent plants.  Humanoids tend to see dalreansas a sort of boogie-men, equally capable of calm beneficence and unfeeling cruelty, and switching from one to the other for reasons that would seem trivial to a creature of animal ancestry.  For their part, the dalrean are mostly tolerant of their animalistic neighbors.  If a dalrean patch’s customs are violated, however, they will neither forget nor forgive.  Yet, because dalrean operate on a different timescale than most creatures, their vengeance may come countless centuries after an offender has died of natural causes, and the dalrean will scarcely know the difference.

Alignment: The vast majority of dalrean are true neutral as far as outsiders are concerned.  The majority of exceptions appear Lawful Neutral or Neutral Good.  Dalrean do not experience enough internal strife to make such distinctions; they are almost universally ‘good’ to their own patch and disinterested in the wider world, including dalrean of other patches.

Dalrean Lands: Dalrean occupy the deepest wildernesses of Exodus, from deserts to jungles, although they do favor warm lands over cold.  Each dalrean patch is a nation unto itself, unable to comprehend such notions as politics or loyalty to creatures outside spore communication.  Sages debate the origins of the dalrean race, proposing as wildly diverse suggestions as Bal, Sametia and even Ablis.

Religion: Dalrean psychology is unable to grasp the concept of a being “outside” the network of life, such as a god.  Most dalrean patches subscribe to a belief in a universal interconnectedness that mimics on a larger scale the close connection the members of the patch experience among themselves, but beyond this nebulous concept, ‘divinity’ is outside the dalrean experience.

Language: Dalrean normally do not speak.  They do have the ability to speak as normal humanoids, however they will often communicate by modulate their communications spores to elicit complex and tailored emotional responses; a humanoid “speaking” with a dalrean believes he is hearing the creature, or at least experiencing its thoughts telepathically, when his actual reactions are physiological.  Dalrean can understand languages normally.

Names: Dalrean do not have names within their patches; such divisions make little sense to them.  A dalrean forced to deal with “meat” races will adopt a nickname in the local language, usually one relating to plant life or nature.

Adventures: At intervals known only to the dalrean, individuals will leave a patch and scatter like seeds in the wind.  These wandering dalrean have trouble expressing their motives to animal-based intelligence; the best they can manage is to call their journey “spreading an oneness.”  Other dalrean are forced into a life of adventure when misfortune befalls their patch.

[LPJ Design] Races of NeoExodus: Cynean Preview

Crystalline scholars of all things arcane, the cyneans are as mighty in mind as in body.  While the psionically-inclined might expect the cyneans to share their tendencies, these beings of living crystal are masters of magic, not mentalism.  On Exodus, which is both their home and their only known haunt, they can ever be found seeking some mystical secret or long-lost spell.

Personality:  The iconic cynean is as stoic and sedate as the rock crystal he so resembles.  As a rule, these creatures are honorable and thoughtful.  They are as slow to trust as to anger, though members of other races have come to trust in them.  A cynean’s only passion is magic - and in this alone, he can be as fervent as the most fanatical human ideologue.  Cyneans are often misunderstood by other races, who read either dullness or tranquility into their slow, deliberate way of thinking and their quiet nature.  In fact, most cyneans are constantly thinking, their crystalline minds leaping from one thought to the next at great speed; they simply prefer not to articulate their thoughts and feelings until they’ve finished mulling them over internally.

Physical Description: Cyneans are orc-sized blocks of roughly humanoid crystal.  A cynean is nearly as wide as tall, and many who do not know of this race mistakenly believe them a species of indomitable warriors.  Despite the oddities of his appearance, a cynean is actually a living creature, not a construct or an elemental.  In youth, a cynean’s body, which may be any color from rose quartz to jade, is light and almost entirely transparent.  As the creature ages, his crystalline skin darkens and becomes more opaque; an ancient cynean may be black as night and entirely solid to the eye.

Relations: Cyneans receive the respect - and occasionally fear - of the other races of Exodus.  Known for their immense magical abilities, they are often sought out by spellcasters, particularly wizards, hoping to expand their mystical knowledge.  Cyneans respect casters of all races; those who lack magical abilities, they treat with a kind of polite pity, as a human might a pauper or a cripple.  Because cyneans speak slowly and think things through thoroughly, they can grate on the nerves of those who prefer to think on their feet.

Alignment: Cyneans often appear lawful to outsiders because the passions that rule them are quite alien, but in their own way they are creatures of instinct and obsession.  Most cyneans are split evenly between chaos, neutrality and good.  Few cyneans are lawful and fewer still are evil.

Cynean Lands: Cynean originated in Gavea but the majority of them have migrated to Koryth and the rest to the other highly populated areas of Abaddon, Cordel, Nas and Sametia in Exodus.  Some of the braver cyneans have even set up small outposts on the lands of Unthara.

Religion: Cyneans believe their arcane studies have unearthed underlying principles agreed upon by most of the major religions of Exodus, and it is to these core principles they address their devotion.  Cyneans believe in “life energy” permeating the planet and hope to see it increased; powers that destroy this “life energy,” such as undeath, are anathema to them.

Language: Cyneans speak their own language, a slow but methodical and highly detailed tongue, and common.

Names: Cyneans use different names for different purposes.  A cynean has a version of his family name, which is usually taken from an honored forefather; this is his name as far as outsiders are concerned.  He also has a personal name, often a diminutive of his family name, which he uses only with the closest friends and relatives.
Male Names: Axo-Sal, Dema-Ma, Gals-Pa, Has-Ona, Kas-Bi, Xan-Ti, Yav-Ma.
Female Names: Boasx, Iska, Joia, Kaxis, Maqia, Qan.

Adventures: A cynean adventures to acquire the magical knowledge so craved by his race.  Many cyneans live a life others would describe as adventurous; to a cynean, battling eldritch horrors, unearthing unimaginable secrets and wrestling with the fundamental forces of the universe is simply ‘field research.’