This is a direct continuation of
this post and the first proper post in the serie,
Where lies the line between human and animal? In the real world, we are quite distinct from most animals except maybe particularly intelligent apes, our closest relatives. And maybe dolphins, who are the orcs of the sea (psychotic little bastard!). However, in myths and fantasy there are countless creatures which are both beast and humans,
a theme I've already previous-explored for Godbound. Consider it a sequel and possible companion.
Beast-people are cool and as old as human imagination, it seems. They get a bit of a mild case of bad rep due to people on the internet having some odd fetishes about them. However, thematically speaking, they are a rather broad and interesting concept which has a lot of possible implications for a fantasy world depending how one explores it.
What do they look like?
| d6 |
Appearance |
| 1-2 |
Half-Man, Half-Beast: The
classic look, these creatures are some mix of human and beast.
Roll on the Beast table. |
| 3-4 |
Deformed and Feral: While
leaning more toward the human side, these creatures have some
animalistic traits and peculiar deformities (or what we see as
deformities, anyway). Roll on the Beast and Deformities table. |
| 5 |
Bestial Traits: These
creatures could pass as feral or ugly humans, if not for one small
trait or two which hint at their bestial nature. Roll on the
Beast table and find some small trait from the animal to
add, such as eyes, a snake tongue or feathers for hair. |
| 6 |
Chaotic Hybrid: These monstrous
creatures are an amalgam of animal traits in a humanoid shape.
Roll on the Beast table 1d2 times. |
| d20 |
Beast |
| 1 |
Tiger, Lion or some other large cat. |
11 |
Insect. |
| 2 |
Wolf or Hyena. |
12 |
Arachnid. |
| 3 |
Bear. |
13 |
Cephalopod. |
| 4 |
Deer or similar animals. |
14 |
Worm or maggot. |
| 5 |
Boar. |
15 | Fish. Can breathe under water. |
| 6 |
Bull or similar animals. |
16 |
Cetacean. Can hold breath. |
| 7 |
Bird. |
17 |
Crocodile or Alligator. Can hold breath. |
| 8 |
Weasel or Racoon. |
18 |
Crustacean. Can breathe under water. |
| 9 |
Elephant or Rhinoceros. |
19 |
Ape. |
| 10 |
Reptile or Snake. |
20 |
Bat. |
| d6 |
Deformities |
| 1-2 |
Deformed Face: The creature
doesn’t have a face which is fully human or fully its associated
animal, but rather something ugly and possibly in-between. There is a 50% chance they can't speak human languages properly. |
| 3-4 |
Semi-Quadrupedal: These
creatures can walk on both two and four limbs. They gain 20’ of
additional movement speed when running on all four. |
| 5 |
Multiple Limbs: Either this
is normal for the related animal, or maybe these creatures are
just so strange as to have extra arms. |
| 6 |
Variable Race: No two member
of this race is an identical mixture of human and animal, for some
reason. |
How intelligent and civilized are they?
| d4 |
Intelligence and Civilization |
| 1 |
Barely More than Animals: These
creatures, while socially organized, are not very technologically
or culturally developed. Any weapon and armor more complex than a
spear or a stone axe is stolen from their enemies. |
| 2 |
Human Mimicry: These
creatures aren’t very smart but they love to imitate humans and
copy their way of life, even if they don’t remotely understand
the basics. |
| 3 |
Tribal Society: These
beast-men live in primitive tribal society with a certain level of
organization, at least enough to launch raids or defend themselves
properly. |
| 4 |
Human-Like: In spite
of their monstrous appearance, they are almost as (or just as)
advanced as humans, even if their culture may very well be quite
alien. |
Where do they think they came from?
| d6 | Personal Belief of Origin |
| 1-3 | Creator God: These creatures have a creation myth of some kind, which they believe is their origin. |
| 4 | Related Origin: They believe themselves to share common ancestry with the various human and near-human races, but somehow they (or the others) deviated and changed. |
| 5 | Ascended Beasts: They believe themselves to simply descend from their related animal and that's it. The how or why is something they can care about or not. They have a strong connection to their related animal and are often encountered with them. |
| 6 | Unknown: They don't know or care where they came from and find deep philosophical thoughts to be pointless. +1 Morale. |
Where do they REALLY come from?
| d6 | True Origin |
| 1-3 | Creator God: They were created by a god, demi-god or great spirit of some kind. There is a 50% chance that this creator is something malevolent. If so, roll on the Dark Progenitor table. |
| 4 | Humanoid Subrace: They really are a relative to some other humanoid race, still living or extinct. |
| 5 | Ascended Beasts: These creatures are, somehow, beasts which have become akin to humans. They have a strong connection to their related animal and are often encountered with them. |
| 6 | Unknown: There are no records of their origins. There is a 50% chance that some dark force created them but no one knows. If so, roll on the Dark Origin table. |
| d4 | Dark Origin |
| 1 | Cursed: Someone or something cursed the ancestors of these creatures into becoming beast-like monsters. |
| 2 | Influence of Chaos: A chaotic, impersonal force (whatever is suitable to your setting) created them, most likely at random. These creatures have a Chaotic alignment. |
| 3 | Degeneration: Something long ago degenerated a tribe of humans (or near-humans) into something twisted and beast-like. These creatures have a Chaotic alignment. |
| 4 | Dark Progenitor: Something twisted or evil birthed them long ago. Roll on the Dark Progenitor table. |
| d4 | Dark Progenitor |
| 1 | Demon Lord: A powerful demon (or equivalent force of cosmic evil) created these creatures long ago, either as servants, slaves, worshipers or perhaps just out of boredom. These creatures have a Chaotic alignment. |
| 2 | The Mother: Some ancient, primordial chtonic entity which is the 'mother-of-monsters' birthed them. |
| 3 | Cursed Kingdom: A cruel, evil king or emperor or some similar figure of authority offended the gods (or some similar cosmic entity) and to punish him, all his servants or perhaps descendants became beasts. |
| 4 | IT CAME FROM THE VOID ON ETHEREAL WINGS OF INKY BLACKNESS TO CONSUME REALITY! THERE IS NO ESCAPING THE DARKNESS!! IT HUNGERS ENDLESSLY! These creatures have a Chaotic alignment. |
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