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Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Random Monstrous Humanoids, Part 1 (Beast Men)

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.

The Beastmen Glade by AdrianBorgnine
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. 15Fish. 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?


d6Personal Belief of Origin
1-3Creator God: These creatures have a creation myth of some kind, which they believe is their origin.
4Related 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.
5Ascended 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.
6Unknown: 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?


d6True Origin
1-3Creator 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.
4Humanoid Subrace: They really are a relative to some other humanoid race, still living or extinct.
5Ascended 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.
6Unknown: 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.

d4Dark Origin
1Cursed: Someone or something cursed the ancestors of these creatures into becoming beast-like monsters.
2Influence of Chaos: A chaotic, impersonal force (whatever is suitable to your setting) created them, most likely at random. These creatures have a Chaotic alignment.
3Degeneration: Something long ago degenerated a tribe of humans (or near-humans) into something twisted and beast-like. These creatures have a Chaotic alignment.
4Dark Progenitor: Something twisted or evil birthed them long ago. Roll on the Dark Progenitor table.

d4Dark Progenitor
1Demon 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.
2The Mother: Some ancient, primordial chtonic entity which is the 'mother-of-monsters' birthed them.
3Cursed 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.
4IT 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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