Not The Intended Use: Wix Logo Maker for modern/cyberpunk games?

Ever come across something and end up using it for tabletop because its such a fitting tool? Now I am not sponsored by Wix or anything, this blog is too small for a sponsor and beside that its not YouTube. However here is what happened: the adblock bugged and I got an ad, which was Wix talking about their new logo maker for a company, using algorithm to help generate a logo. Now all this seem a bit soulless right? By the numbers, maybe? While the whole thing is paid, you can download a 'free sample' which should be enough for a Game Master to show to the players.

Well it turns out this is perfect if you want to add a fictional company in a modern or cyberpunk page. Here are some I generated for fun, using resources such as Corporation Generator from Seventh Sanctum and the Corporation Name Generator from the donjon.bin website.

Slay The Ascended: Full Premise

This is a rework, rewording and expansion of my Slay The Ascended! post which, hopefully, better outline the ideas and concepts since that original post was an old draft I one day decided to just overhaul a bit and finish just because it was the mood for the day, not knowing it would become one of my most viewed posts. The original ideas, outlined less formally, can be found in that post and its recommended to read it first.

The Time of Ending

On some fundamental level, Mankind always understood there would come a time where our species would end. It could be a species-wide fear of the inevitability of Death as every civilization out there, every culture, speak of the end of time: be it a permanent end or a great cataclysmic era which will usher in a new era. From the Mayan Calendar to the Book of Revelation to the cycles of the Kalpa to Ragnarok. On some level we always knew it was coming. Or maybe its just species-wide neurosis and fear of death and change or, perhaps, we knew that whatever great unknown would follow would cause is great distress and reveal to use new fears beyond our imagination.

Art by Mario Alberti.

The Ages turned. Around 2030, it just seemed humanity was falling apart: pandemics were in increase even after the somewhat hysterical (at times) response to the 2020 pandemic. The first superbugs arose in the following years and made a Chinese flu look like a complete joke. Entire species of animals and plants died in a mere year or two. Those were the easier times. As the world seemed on the verge of collapse, political and social tensions of all stripes just seemed to unravel at an ever escalating pace, with every continent erupting in either war and/or civil disorder and millions died. More died from the superbugs. The rest? It was merely the start of a new nightmare in a depleted world. The voices started. There were spikes in mental cases which many attributed to the decade of chaos but as time progress, it seemed as if some deeper madness was gripping humanity as mental breakdowns escalated and turned people into monsters: cannibalism, cults and the likes arose in this period which only fueled the chaos.

By 2040, the brief Age of Monsters had begun. Unexplained freak mutations had dramatically increased in the past decade but by the 2040 it had reached a boiling point as nature itself seemed to unravel in ways which past science could not explain. Cancerous growths of unexplained fleshy matter, parasitical worms with mind control and farm animals reverting to an almost primal state, such as chicken growing teeth and a taste for flesh. As mad dreams and visions kept increasing, the humans changed as well, only further driving humanity in a frenzy. Entire new religious branches were born then, only to fuel the fires of war, as entire population began accusing each others of devil worship or similar concepts. Others blamed the government mandate vaccines of the 2030 which had prove ineffective at best or dangerous at worst. It seemed humanity would never catch a break. The wheel of the Ages was turning. There was a new reality boiling on the surface of the world which seemed ever stretched. Night kept growing darker. Madness kept running deeper. Stars burnt out in the sky. Freak or still births peaked to three quarter of all births in a single year. It rained blood. Entire populations shuffled into the wilderness, naked and screaming the names of what could be alien gods. The end of days had come.

The Ascended

No one knows for sure when exactly the first of the Ascended arrived. Perhaps they had always been among us, even if this seems unlikely or, more likely, they are the byproduct of those times of ending when the ages of the world turned. When they appeared it didn't take long for people to take notice and, within days of their appearance, small towns and outpost had fully surrendered to their new master without a single weapon being fired. There was something so fundamentally perfect about the Ascended which, combined with their innate gifts, just made them natural leaders. Some were gurus and philosophers while others presented themselves more akin to warrior-gods who would help their faithful reclaim their lands from raving bands of lunatics or particularly dangerous bandits and traffickers. One by one, the various remaining pockets of human civilization bent the knee to their new masters, the new rulers of mankind and our species direct successors: the Ascended. Their reign had come.

Ascended Culture and their Thralls

Art by Anthony Jones

The Ascended are called that way because they are above and beyond the mere humanity they emerged from. They do not hide that they were once human, because much of their perfection is an improvement upon humanity. Ascended have a language of their own and their own word to describe themselves but this language cannot be spoken by human or even understood by our puny, primitive minds. They communicate in a language with concepts utterly beyond our understanding but beyond that little is truly understood of their emergent culture. Ascended see themselves as above and beyond human failings and the natural leaders of our species from here on out. They have emerged across all human cultures and all creeds and claim to be beyond and above petty distinctions of mankind, even if many speculate they must have their own cliques, philosophies and beliefs but we would not be able to understand them.

An Ascended is the master of any settlement, with the largest settlements on Earth hosting a population of Ascended in a certain hierarchy which vary depending on the local culture. Different Ascended groups, called either pantheons or cabals have different societal organization depending on the ruling Ascended's specific plans for humanity, as they organize mankind and tend to them much like in a way we would tend a garden. Some Ascended have created military-like places, ruled with an iron (but just?) fist, with a meritocratic system rewarding skill and loyalty for the human soldiers as to encourage them to see themselves as mankind's defenders. In other places, they create almost anarchist commune of pot-smoking pseudo hippies which encourage free love while in others they could create religious cults or even hyper traditionalist places with the goal of ensuring a steady breeding of new humans for generations to come. War between different pantheons and their thralls should be seen as non-existent, even if in reality it is more complex.

Those who serve the Ascended are wholly devoted to their new masters. After all, are they not perfect? All Ascended have an innate charisma and magnetism which borders on mind control and they are able to draw strong emotions from entire human populations. This is not pure mind domination, however: very few Ascended (if any) can truly order a human like a full puppet. Rather, they built their devotion through the years by engineering a culture where the Ascended are not only seen as infallible gods but also by ensuring people have a reason to believe it. Ascended-ran settlement are the most prosperous, stable and safe of all the world's remaining human cities. Any mutated monster in the area is slain in glorious combat by the local Ascended, their heads display on pike or their skins turned into coats and capes. The Ascended cultivate an image of heroism and godhood which help reinforce the belief system they have created. Slowly but surely, humanity has slowly changed and simply accepted that they must defer to the superior Ascended, much like how a child defer to their parent because their parent knows more. To be a second class citizen and chattel to the Ascended is a gift and a privilege, for who would not want to be loved by living Gods? Some are driven by love, by faith or even by lust as many Ascended have such a perfected physique and raw animal magnetism that entire crop of humans willingly surrender to become their sexual slaves and perhaps one day hope to help them birth Ascended children.

Ascended Biology

Art by Nyctoinc Illustrations

Each Ascended began its life as a mortal human and was transformed into another Ascended through infusion of genetic material. The process is dangerous and unstable as well as excruciatingly painful as well as utterly destructive to a human sense of self and identity. After days of agonizing with a body riddled with ever creeping cancerous, alien growth the flesh will slowly dissolve and the body will seemingly melt and then harden into a crystalline cocoon, at which point transformation into an Ascended can begin. Nothing of the original body remain unchanged and the individual is changed at a cellular or even molecular level. The trauma and confusion of Ascension leaves the individual original humanity behind no matter what. There are no 'friendly neighborhood Ascended' who secretly retain their old personalities. While they can retain their memory of past lives, most willingly discard them as their newly born body continues to mature.

Ascended appear, at least initially, as physically perfected humans even if this can somewhat vary. They are tall (most start at six feet and a half and can grow to eight feet tall), clean limbed and perfectly symmetrical. Some appear eternally youthful while others have a completely cosmetic age, appearing as well formed and well preserved older individuals: these tend to radiate more a sense of wisdom, kindness, paternal love or intellect. Yet even the 'old' looking Ascended have a supernatural, nay, unnatural beauty and perfect to them. Their skin tone and hair color can vary and can include all human permutations and even colors or traits which do not exist in humans, such as green hair, pure white skin or even blue skin. Their eyes tend to almost shine in the darkness, with some even having flat out glowing eyes. Some are elfin, with a thin and tall wispy beauties while others are brawny, with a perfectly sculpted physique no human could ever hope to match. Different strains of Ascended have different styles or even fashion to their biology, such as those who prefer a more divine or even almost 'demonic' appearance, with horns and fangs or even growing an extra pair of arms. One must keep in mind that the subtle mind warping of Ascended ensure that human thralls are not bothered: indeed, should a particularly popular Ascended decide to reorganize their biology on a whim, expect sycophants to self mutilate to emulate their master or mistress. To some extent, Ascended biology is just as much sculpted and engineered as it is part of their biology, as each represent an idealized form of perfection to their old human selves. Several Ascended are also hermaphrodites or, in some odd cases, utterly lacking in sexual organs if such was the perfect the individual desired.

This, however, is a lie.

Art by Marcus Siergiejew

The idealized human form of an Ascended is not their true form. Their 'godly' form is a coping mechanism of the newly reborn Ascended, as their real form is utterly alien and disgusting. While there is an eldritch, unnatural and alien mindset inside every Ascended they retain enough of their humanity for vanity. Indeed, such vanity is generally enhanced to an absurd degree. The true form of an Ascended is always unique and always alien and disgusting to look upon, with some even lacking a human form at all are nothing but a head and snapping, razor-tipped tentacles or stretched multi limbed bug-forms with ephemeral wings or floating piles of organs held aloft by gaseous excretion. The Ascended never show these forms to their followers and most, if not all, are unaware of them.

Ascended are eldritch monstrosities, with an unnatural physiology. They are by default stronger, faster and smarter than the average human and able to heal extremely quickly without any lasting consequences, even if healing larger wounds require consumption of human biomass. As one would expect given the thematic, the Ascended are vampiric creatures and they sustain themselves off of humans. Actual consumption of flesh and blood is rare, usually every few months and rather they live off the mental energies and devotion of their human thralls. Through a mixture of pheromones and psychic abilities, the Ascended inspire the blind devotion in humans they crave so much and in turn slowly feed the mental energy this generate as human minds are slowly warped and sucked of their sanity. The full abilities of the Ascended are unclear and it is likely even they are not aware of their full potential and limitations.

Despite their clear advantages, however, Ascended are not immortal (even if its likely they do not age). They are still flesh and blood, even if said flesh and blood can sometimes appear to bend the rules of reality a bit. When not surrounded by their entourage of thralls and servants, an Ascended can be cornered and killed with human weapons. Blowing their brains out and then setting the twitching remains on fire usually works, as does hacking or blowing them apart. According to their own propaganda they are true immortals but this is false: around the world, some have already been killed in gruesome manners. They are not Gods. They are creatures of flesh. They can be killed.

The 'Slay the Ascended!' Sandbox

Art by Lina Porras

A 'Slay the Ascended!' campaign is very well suited to a sandbox and a lot of it can overlap with typical fantasy setting sandbox, even if it is set in the near, post apocalyptic future. There are ruins to explore (the lost cities, full of mutations, madness or cults) and there are monsters roaming around, namely the remaining mutations from the Age of Monsters. The key difference, however, is that player characters plays the part of the 'Rogue Humans', which are these human populations which have either not submitted to the Ascended or composed of people who have slowly broken away from the brainwashing and fled their fellow thralls. The key locations in a Slay the Ascended campaign are the various settlements under Ascended control, which own the most resources be it food, water and/or guns. Functionally, this mean players are either going to be functionally bandits and raiders or they will be saboteur, spies and 'fifth columnist' inside the Ascended-ruled settlements.  The more characters attack Ascended stronghold the more they will be hunted. This can be a good chance to take down an Ascended for good, should they be goaded to attack themselves.

One issue they will need to deal with is that most of their enemies are humans too. A life freed from the Ascended is not an easy life nor is it a good life. It requires, more often than not, to kill and steal from fellow humans and to uproot their way of life and ruin their day. The world of 'Slay the Ascended' is a bleak place and doesn't shy away from the realities that a resistance group can be a particularly violent and dangerous group that often cause more harm than good. To oppose the Ascended may be morally right in terms of human freedom but it requires one to actively harm other humans which is a difficult moral choice to make. Rogue humans are seen, by the thralls, much in the same way we see dangerous fringe groups and/or insane preppers who amass guns in their bunkers for the 'coming race war' or similar concept. From the POV of a Thrall civilian, a 'Rogue Human' is a dangerous, narrow minded, bigoted and irrational unbeliever at the best of times and an absolute monster at worst. Even those few in the Thralls who know the Ascended brainwash (and sometimes eat them), the life of a Rogue Human seems dangerous or even destructive: after all, modern society of the 21st century generally required us to accept that sometimes, things are rather imperfect and that we sometimes work for bad people doing morally dubious things. To those folks, serving a flesh-eating alien man-god isn't really much different from their parents who worked for a soulless global mega corporation which exploited uncertain child labor laws in foreign countries while pretending to be virtuous. At the end of the day, its meet the new boss same as the old boss, right?

Who is really in the right here, anyway?

One difference, of course, is that the Ascended are not human. Not anymore. They are creatures of an alien origin, even if they were derived from human stock initially. Many 'Rogue Humans' are individuals afflicted by some odd form of 'madness' which fills them with a revulsion for the Ascended. Perhaps this is akin to a species-wide immune response to a parasite having entered the body of collective humanity. The same alien dreams which drove people mad in 2030 and onward are still there. There is an unspoken fear that the Ascended are but the first step toward...something? Slowly the Ascended are changing humanity society, creating these assemblages of human civilization toward a certain goal they themselves perhaps don't understand. They have only ruled for a few decades, after all. Whose to say their existence is not the mere first step toward a horrific transformation for humanity, as we are turned into food, cattle or who knows what else for alien powers. After all, where did the First Ascended come from? Who created them? And why?

You can feel it gnawing at your brain. The wheel of the ages hasn't finished turning. You know it in your gut: this is just the start. The parasites must be removed from humanity before its too late, before they consume us and make us into something else.

Game Concept: Scifi Television On A Budget

This one is a bit unusual and quite a bit of game gimmick that does not really rely on any system of choice or, indeed, even genre. However for the purpose of this idea I have chosen Science Fiction, as being locked down as made me binge back some old scifi ranging from Classic Doctor Who to Star Trek. Watching so much of it makes you see the idiosyncrasies and the silly elements born of budget constrains.

My Game Has Limited Budget

A mundane, wooden box is a lot cheaper on the budget
than a 'proper' space ship.

Its an odd restriction, when tabletop RPG allows one to use their imagination as much as they want. You don't need to bother about budget. Some people might, a bit, if they insist on using miniatures for Dungeons & Dragons but in my experience that rarely is enough of a limiting factor: people will repurpose a mini and go 'Okay I know its a bandit, but its a hobgoblin'. Most people who use mini and map nowadays use some mat where they can erase and draw at will. Only those gifted with time and skill usually bother to build elaborate sets, unless they are war gamer who can reuse terrain. As a result, the idea of 'budget' is a non-issue for tabletop. Even in an era of supplement creep, there are things like the SRD/OGL and Pathfinder has a wiki where all the info is available. There's no need to buy books.

Overall, anything can happen. A game can be set in any number of villages, cities, biomes or planets with only the GM's words to change the setting. Fantastical monsters can be dime a dozen, spaceships can show up as massive fleets and action scenes can be as overly detailed with flourish as much as one choose to elaborate upon. But what if it wasn't so?

Suppose my game was based off televised Science Fiction, from the sixties to the late nineties. This was the era of televised episodic budget science fiction: immensely popular, yet still not quite mainstream in the way they are now. These shows were often very ambitious but sadly lacking in budget. This is the era of Classic Doctor Who, of the original Battlestar Galactica, of Star Gate, of Babylon Five, of Star Trek from the Original Series to the end of Voyager. Television budget was often a mess. Computer generated images weren't a thing yet or, if they existed, were extremely primitive and limited until the tail end of the nineties. That's why aliens looked like 'men with weird foreheads in funny clothes'. There was no budget to allow twelve feet tall, four armed reptilian creatures or floating psychic amoeba, at least not in any form which would age well visually. Aliens were usually just people in funny clothes, maybe with some makeup or at best some 'rubber suit monster'.

Not only that but the action was limited by budget too, as was every aspect of world building. Most (in)famously is the example of the ubiquitous Transporter technology in the original Star Trek. It existed because some cheap sfx trick was much cheaper and easier to do than build the following: a shuttle's interior, a shuttle's exterior (with launch pad/hangar bay), a shuttle model for it flying in space and maybe oversized parts of the Enterprise's back showing said model landing or launching from the ship itself. It was just easier to add some bad sparkly after effect and make people vanish into thin air, the same way it was easier to make the Tardis magically look like a police box. Both elements would end up becoming so iconic to their respective universe its basically impossible to imagine the settings without them.

What Would It Affect?

Vasquez's Rocks aka 'Kirk's Rocks' aka 'every single
rocky alien planet ever'.

So if a game was ran to emulate this era of television, what would it be like? How much would it change? Would it fundamentally alter tabletop RPG? No, not at all the core elements are still there. This is more of a 'cosmetic' thing and a set of restrictions on the Game Master's part. It would be best suited to episodic games (granted, given my pacing, something closer to a classic Doctor Who serial) to fit the style of the era.

• All aliens would either be humanoids or rubber suit monsters. The former would range from the obvious cop out of 'human aliens' to 'rubber forehead aliens' while the latter would be better suited to something that's less of a person and more some monster, as it would not be able to convey emotions properly due to the bulky suit.
• There would be very little, any animals shown especially not alien wildlife. This is too costly. Any set in the wilderness would be some quarry or random forest which just so happen to look very conveniently like Earth. There would be very little exotic environments without straining an episode's budget or trying to get creative.
• Sets would be quite limited and reused as lot, so if the game is focused on a ship (the Enterprise and the Tardis are good examples) or space station (like DS9 and Babylon Five) it would make heavy use of the same major reused locales as much as it can. When a new set need to be used, the descriptions would try to mention as many reused elements as possible to show its the same old sets with a few pieces added/removed and maybe a coat of paint.
• There would be a very commonly recurring caves, a bunch of desert rocks and/or a quarry set for any kind of mine shaft, alien tunnels and long lost civilization ruins. That they all look the same would just be a happy coincidence. These desolate locations would be heavily abused as any kind of evil lair or dangerous location.
• Props face a similar situation. If an adventure showcase some ancient alien artifact which take the form of bronze colored geometric foam and cardboard shapes topped by a crystal, then a later adventure might conveniently happen to have an alien ship control's be a stack of geometric shapes, but in green and grey.
• Many minor NPC would be recurring actors in different makeup, so some element of their physical descriptions and mannerism would be repeated as the same guy in one episode plays an asshole security guard who gets murdered by an alien and 3-4 episodes later plays an alien trader in makeup.
• Spaceship action would be kept to a bare minimum, as the budget cannot sustain massive space battles, those requiring too many models and/or CGI. If the game is text-based then as many 'shots' of recurring spaceships would be reused as stock footage. Heavy kitbashing of ships may occur if the game use space ships a lot.
• Finally, action scenes would be somewhat limited to basic action stuff with some added 'pew pew' laser effects for the guns. This is not the kind of setting where advanced weapons, power armor and complex shields effects can be used. This will result in the characters being a lot more 'grounded' with little to no display of any kind of superpowers, with even supposedly fearsome warrior races displaying little super strength beyond tossing someone to the ground. Psychic powers, likewise, will be mostly effects-less. They just happen without any description of glowy lights and sounds and tend to be abstract. In other words, it isn't Warhammer 40 000 , Mass Effect or Halo, with big spectacle of military scifi and/or space magic.
• This would also mean monster's abilities would need to be abstract, such as mind control or death rays as graphic things like acid or melting people is not only out of the budget but also not allowed on television.

Worldbuilding Resources: Youtube Channels

Just figured I'd post some of the Youtube-related resources which have helped me flesh out things for games. Some of these are fairly obvious and well know, others maybe a little less so. Keep in mind quite a few of these include writing advice, which isn't quite relevant to Tabletop RPG but they are here on this list because they discuss matters of world building in some shape or form or because they include information on the how and why of reality. These are put in no particular order.

• Stoneworks World Building: General purpose world building and history.
• James Tullos: Worldbuilding and literary critiques. Good to see the glaring worldbuilding pitfalls before crashing right into them.
• Artifexan: Include not just world building and science fiction but also Conlang.
• Invicta: Lot of good historical information about the lives of ordinary people and how it worked.
• Kings and Generals: More historical matters.
• Terrible Writing Advice: A self explanatory name using sarcasm and self-deprecation to explain the do and don't.
• Isaac Arthur: In depth, but very approachable and easy to understand discussion of plausible hard science fiction concepts.
• Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell: More science-related videos.
• PBS Eon: Videos about prehistoric life and evolution. Good if you want ideas for plausible creatures to throw at the player which would still come off as strange, like a crocodile with hooves.
• Ben G Thomas: More videos about paleontology as well as some related to speculative biology.
• Trey The Explainer: Even more paleontology, anthropology as well as more odds and ends including discussions about mythology in relation to their history and development.

Random Dragon

Dragonlord Atarka by Karl Kopinski

There hasn't been any 'Random Generic Monster' post on this blog for some time and for good reason: in general these were among my weaker posts and, generally, they weren't very interesting or unique. However this is one which was originally supposed to be posted in the earlier days of this blog but got ultimately cancelled and left to rot in some obscure corner of the 'draft' folder.

No more.

The great beast stirs, the slumbering serpent awaken: the dragon has risen from it's sleep and is ready to unleash it's fury upon he who would dare enter his lair! These are the Random Dragon tables, one which is somewhat more serious and traditional than the admittedly really cool Unexpurgated Dragon Generator. This post is an experiment, of sorts.

Click here to generate a Random Dragon

Random World Part 3: West of Caldbrygg and the Legacy of Karnegras

Third part of the fleshing-out of a randomly-generated world and last part to focus on locales for now, as the areas described are enough material to make full game work, be it sandbox or otherwise. As such the next part will be some hodge podge of ideas for adventuring in these regions.

West of Caldbrygg.

Waywood, The Last City of Karnegras

Ravnica 'Forest' by Richard Wright.

The last city is a misnomer, as Caldbrygg and many other towns owe their origin to the destroyed civilization of Karnegras. However, of all of them, only Waywood still fly the flag of old Karnegras and in the street of Waywood the code of law and covenant with spirits still hold. While still a prosperous city, outsiders tend to dislike Waywood for its rigid code of law and conduct which limit the greed of Cryham magical barons.

• The people of Waywood have held ancient covenants with spirits and many of their bloodlines have retained great potency in magical abilities.
• A great fortified city with tall ramparts and mighty watch towers to protect against hordes of monsters from the Orcfen.
• Last city to hold the code of law of Karnegras and to fly its flag: traditions go back a millennia if not more.
• The city has an extremely harsh code for those who try to cheat, steal and blaspheme against the spirits which still inhabit the city. The code is unfortunately quite antiquated, obtuse and has suffered in translating it from the language of Ancient Karneggi, leading to conflicting interpretations.
• Has a large market outside the city core which has grown into a bit of a shanty-town where the ancient codes of law old little sway. The city officials have not purged it because it swell with refugee from monster attacks near the Orcfen who are of common ancestry to the people of Waywood. Codes of hospitality to your fellow citizen and all that.
• Some of the spirits in Waywood have grown corrupt and seek to undermine the tenuous social order.

Glanda, the Final Outpost

Frozen Lair by Nico Navarro.

Once a part of Kanegras, the outpost of Glanda is now an increasingly grim locale. Once a port for the (now destroyed) great ships of Karnegras to stop before sailing beyond the world, Glanda is now a sad, dreary and cold place. The people there have long abandoned all official ties with Waywood and it is now a haven for pirate and raiders.

• Outpost to the ancient civilization of Karnegras.
• Now it is an outpost for pirates and raiders who sail across the world.
• Cold, dreary locale. The environment is unfriendly and unwelcoming. If not for the food the raiders and pirate bring it would be a much less lively place. It also has the best jerky in the world.
• Sorcerers frequently travel here hoping to uncover the ancient path of the Karnegrasian sailors which led them to other world, before the walls of ice closed the world.
• Monstrous mercenaries from faraway lands are a decently common sight in this place.
• Island is home to giant, man-eating walrus.

Mavre Woods

Hinterland Logger by Karl Kopinski

The name 'Mavre Woods' is a deformation of their name in ancient languages: 'The Maw Woods' or rather 'The Woods Which Devour Men'. It is the homeland of many wood trolls and these creatures are notoriously hostile and hungry. Their population has supposedly declined in past centuries but they remain a dangerous threat to the communities of the region.

• A region with many wood trolls, which are known to enjoy human flesh.
• Wood trolls vary in size between being as tall as a large men to being noticeably much, much bigger as they keep growing all their lives some say. They are intelligent and devious but fortunately rather solitary and anti-social creatures.
• Troll Wyrd are terrifying troll-sorcerers known for their bizarre appearance, bizarre magic and even more bizarre mannerism. Run away when you see one.
• The woods have tunnels which some say lead to other worlds, pocket dimensions and other strange realities where the trolls supposedly dwell. There's strong magic in the depth of the woods.
• The area is home to a many local folks who live in their walled cities. They are known for being a strong and tall people. Their women are as tall and as strong as the men, which outsiders often find funny and exaggerate in jokes as them being huge, burly and as ugly as trolls! Locals find this tasteless.
• In addition to their strength, these people are famous archers: they developed their skills because no one is stupid enough to get in melee with an angry troll!

Scarwood Forest

Kaladesh Swamp by Adam Paquette.

Ancient (but what isn't in fantasy lands?), broken and twisted, the Scarwood Forest is another locale where ancient powers bend the world around it. There is a pervasive miasma of unnatural influences in these lands. The beasts there are imbued with disturbing sentience. Time and distance seemingly bend and those who travel deep enough and return are forever changed.

• Yet another high-magic wilderness locale.
• Time, space and reality bend easily here. Travelers risk being temporally displaced and/or mutated.
• Local beasts become possessed of a malign alien intelligence and can eat people to gain their memories and shape.
• Several coven of witches and sorcerers live around the area, trading with the Middle Landers some times and trying to enslave them most of the time.
• One of the few locations where undead are common, as one find themselves distorted and unable to fully die.
• Trickster spirits, part ghost, part goblin, live in the trees and lure travelers in the roads around the region.

The Middlelanders

In between Mavre Woods and the Scarwood Forest are hospitable lands and, as such, make for a decently 'normal' place for people to stay. Composed of a mixture of plain, woodlands and farmlands it is a relatively simple place...if one ignore the threats which lurk in the shadows. Being between two dangerous locales and relatively close to the Barakzahd Highlands mean there is always a good chance for some monster to wander there. Adventures also bring trouble.

• Normal and quaint locale by comparison to the rest.
• Relatives of the people living around the Mavre Woods.
• The people there are fairly normal if one ignore all the travelers from other regions.
• Composed of several city-states in plains and woodlands, who trade their excess food and resources with the others.
• Warring and feuding nobles, knights and mercenary guilds.
• Monsters, bandits and rivals all around.

Random World Part 2: South of Cryham and the Jungle of Spears

The short and simple fleshing out of a map with meaningless words and locales on it into something more coherent and usable continues.

South of Cryham.

The Jungle of Spears

Magic the Gathering Forest by Zoltan Boros(?)

As one goes south from Cryham they will slowly but surely make way toward lush and warm lands. These lands border the immense Jungle of Spears, a sprawling region of endless vegetation and perils. The Jungle of Spears can be roughly separated into three areas: the Northern Borderlands, which trade extensively with Cryham, the Jungle Folks who form the vast majority of it's human population and the people of the Three Inner Seas. All of these are but large categories where thousand of distinct ethnic groups and cultures exist.

The Borderland People

These people are mostly feudal in nature and inhabit the lush, but mostly tamed lands between the upper lands (and Cryham) and the wild jungle to the south, with whose inhabitants they often share a common ancestry.

• Large and rather diverse group of people who descent from northerners and the people living down south in the jungle lands, leftovers of an ancient civilization.
• Feudal, with a strong focus on agriculture and the product of spices and drugs.
• Extremely prone to greed at the cost of abandoning many old values if it mean their nobles can buy goods from Cryham.
• Practice slavery in mass in order to maintain their workforce. Not above declaring war with a weakened neighbor to enslave their people if it mean double production of goods to sell to Cryham.
• A strong source of mercenaries who hire themselves to rival nations to fight their war and/or to conquer smaller tribes close to the jungle edge.

The Jungle Folks

The Jungle Folks is less of a racial denotation more than a cultural one, as they live in their ancestral homeland (now the Jungle of Spears) rather than in the hybrid feudal society of their neighbors to the north or the way of life of their southern relatives.

• They are an ancient people whose history is often forgotten to themselves and their neighbors.
• Like their northern relatives they are not a distinct ethnic group but rather several hundred of them, with many languages, dialect and ways of life.
• Their source of metal are several, millennia-old Metal Trees (see Part 1) in the depth of the jungle. The other tribes and nations rely more on the chitin of giant insects to make arms and armor.
• They have many large cities which are more sacred locales and trading ground than places where people live full-time, barring a few exceptions which are cities built upon major rivers.
• It is said their greatest warriors wield magical spears, are dressed in armor made from jungle drake scales and have poisonous blood. These warriors have a strong honor code. Think Paladin.

The People of the Three Sea

South of the Jungle of Spears are three inland sea and many rivers and it is upon these rivers that a society flourished. As with the other two, this classification is more geographic than cultural or ethnic. Great city-states have been built on lake and rivers, such as the Ilethy River. There is also Pabrygg, which is the only land-bound city and connected via an extensive network of man-made canals which took centuries to build.

• Relatives of the above two people and those further down south. Not an homogeneous group either.
• City-states built around waterways and lake edges. Cities very often make use of canals and boats.
• Societies are more inter-connected via the waterways and canal, both natural and man-made. Lots of trade going on.
• Raiding via canoe and raft is not uncommon, both from rival cities and bandits alike.
• Tribes of scaly humanoids, ancient inhabitants of the region, interact with humans: however in  most settlements these 'lizard men' are second-class citizen. In truth they are not lizards but rather somewhere halfway between fish, lizard and frogs and they are not wholly of this world, with roots in the spirit world some say.

Yarford

Temple of Plenty by Noah Bradley.

Proud, ambitious and imperious. Yarford traces it's origin to the exploration of lords of northern kingdoms and their foray into southern land who went down the Ilethy River and through parts of the jungle. Centuries later, the people of Yarford and neighboring cities and town are a unique people to both the people of the Three Sea and their ancestors.

• Feudal people with strong martial and hunting traditions.
• Yarford is their capital and is well fortified. It's castle is decorated with the bone of slain beasts.
• Pride, duty, martial skill and a pioneer spirit are considered its core values as a society.
• Can be friend or foe depending on circumstances and if the adventurers can be of use to the local lords.
• The lords of Yarford (and their bloodline) have slain many spirit-beasts when they arrived and they are gifted with a double-edged endowment of their power, which grant them enhanced senses but also increase aggression. Some say they are prone to Theriantropy.
• Their lord is called the Jaguar Lord, after the great beast which prowl from the Jungle of Spears down to the Three Sea. To bear the mark of the Jaguar is to be a great warrior and hunter and only their nobles and greatest hero may bear it on their armor or helm.

Cafeld, the City of Mercy

City of Temples by surendrarajawat.

A holy city, known for it's many shrines and more importantly for its healer-monks: doctors, alchemist, mystics, assassins and councilor all at once and more (they have a lot of sects, its just the healers are obviously the most famous). Individuals seeking healing and relief from curses travel there in hope of being healed. Given it's high population of sickly individual, one is more likely to catch a disease there unless they are one of the monks born there, who are often immune to sickness.

• A holy city, most famous for it's healer-monks.
• The monks, in theory, don't need money. However they will often ask for indebted servitude for their service, which is also used as a conversion tool. Alternatively donating one of your children to the monastery also works.
• Full of competing sects of monks, mystics and alchemist with wildly varying dogma and field of study.
• Thousand of people flock to this city for it's healing, magical or otherwise. The sick outweigh the monk population 3:1 and the monks can't heal everyone.
• Has massive slums of mutants who could not be cured but now live as an underclass in the city, hoping that living piously will grant them a healthy body in a future life or cure their children. Some are disfranchised and violent, however.

Random World: Having some fun with a randomly-generated setting!

I'm sure it's been done too many times for me to bother searching who else did it but I've decided to take a randomly generated fantasy map and just make a short, bullet-point description of the setting. Why? Just for fun. And for the sake of flexing some creative muscles, I suppose. While this is going to be relatively system-neutral, I'll be going with the core assumptions of D&D-derived tabletop rpg. Beyond that anything goes.

The simple, bullet point style is inspired by Tritan Tanner's 'Condensing Ravenloft' series and the complete document can be found here.

This is the map, which has been randomly generated from here. I could have sworn I saw that generator somewhere else.

Rather than flesh an entire world in a single post, I've decided to start with a single region which would make a good starting area for player characters, with two major settlement with a strong connection to magic allow Magic-Users to have enough support to research new spells, find a mentor and help pawn off the various magic trinkets their party have found for the right price and not get ripped off (too much). Likewise, these cities are defended and provide a quick origin for Fighters who want to be part of some former group (city guards, maybe?) while the cities are full of greedy and cunning and corrupt individuals: the perfect breeding ground of Thieves.

Two cities with magic presence, a wasteland and implied orc-infested wilderness,

The Orcfen

Shadowmoor Swamp by Warren Mahy.

An expanse of swamp and forests and the breeding ground of Orcs, the horrible minion and children of antediluvian Witch-Trees. The Orcfen is an area of wilderness inaccessible to the civilized folks, dotted with the ruins of past and forgotten civilizations and the hideout of bandits, thieves and criminals who dwell at the very edge, either avoiding the orcs or striking deals with them.

• Wilderness of murky swamp and dark forests, full of monsters.
• Ruled by ancient Witch-trees, progenitor of Orcs and other horrors.
• Orcs are small, wiry (yet fierce and strong) monsters made of a mixture of flesh, mud and magic. They look like misshapen, waxy humans with skin which can be the color of mud or green/blue/sickly yellow. They have little to not individuality beyond their allegiance to their progenitor.
• A few orcs become truly sentient when they eat the flesh of powerful and strong-willed individual or of magic-users. These beings are a threat to Witch-Trees but some manage to coerce them to continue their service in exchange for greater privilege in their horde. A few are rebels and lead rebel band which are enemies of Witch-Trees but no friend to men.
• The terrain is difficult to navigate due to the thick underbrush, tangles of moving roots, fetid pools and more.
• Settlements come in three types: isolated swampfolks (Helpful/Neutral/Hostile), Bandit camps (Neutral/Hostile) and Orc dens (Always Hostile).

The Mystical City of Caldbrygg

Ravnica Forest by Yeong-Hao Han.

Last heir to a mostly-fallen culture of mighty warrior, kings and mages, the city of Caldbrygg is one of the last true bastions of civilization in the area around the Orcfen. Mighty walls and a network of rune-stones protect it from monsters as does it's knights, who ride giant birds. Caldbrygg is split in rulership between the ancient royal lines and the Mystics, which are a caste of Sorcerer-Priests who are privy to the last secrets of their forebears.

• Walled city, with ramparts of stone and giant trees with magical (albeit slowly failing) defenses.
• Tug-of-war of rulership between the Mystics and the royal line.
• The inner circle of Mystics are masters of the secret arts which maintain Caldbrygg's defenses. Other forms of magic are slightly more democratized among lesser guild, cabal and sects who can exchange information and knowledge...for a price.
• Has orders of armed nobles/knights who maintain the aerial defenses. A possible origin for a Fighting-Man is to be a lesser noble, too poor to afford to maintain a mount who goes on adventures to gain riches and status.
• There is a black market where people trade items acquired from the demons to the south. The Mystics have ensured the city guards are suitably bribed to keep these exchanges going.
• The main rival to Cryham.

Cryham, City of Spells

Crystal Street Market by Sandara Tang.

Where Caldbrygg tries to stick to tradition when it come to magic, Cryham is the complete opposite: in Cryham all are free to practice magic and learn of it's powers and gifts provided one has the resources. The city is a thriving market of goods, magical or otherwise, full of ambitious upstart competing with one another to acquire more power and prestige.

• Market city, where money, power and magic is all that matters.
• Magic is for all....provided you can afford it. The city is rife with magical barons with too much gold just as much as it has upstart magicians with big dreams, ambitions and maybe the talent to get the recognition and market share they desire.
• Slavery is legal in the sense you can sell yourself. Slave contracts usually are defined by the number of years one is selling themselves.
• A goldmine of opportunities not only for magicians but also warriors of all stripe who can work as sell swords and bodyguards. There's always stuff going on in regards to the jungle to the south anyway.
• Full of drugs and wild orgies.
• The main rival to Caldbrygg.

The Furnace Waste

Mirrodin Plain by Marc Tedin.

Separating Caldbrygg and Cryham is the Furnace Waste, which true to it's name is a really really scorching place and is the birthplace of many earth, fire and metal elementals upon the material plane. While the outside appears to be desert-like the core of the wasteland is increasingly more alien, with nothing but rock, glass, jutting metal and the sudden eruption of volcano which grow within years only to eventually simply collapse from the shift in elemental energies.

• Magical fire-and-rock wasteland.
• Alien place where the core is more like a metal and stone world.
• Full of elemental creatures, most of them hostile. A few of them can be tamed as beast of burden or war: it's always nice to have a giant metal beast that breathe fires in your army.
• Main sapient inhabitants are the Furnace Men, which are made of living metal and procreate by forging new bodies which are then infused with life. They can be helpful, neutral or hostile depending on the tribe.
• Frequently invaded for those looking for a newly sprouted metal seed, which grows into a metal-tree which produce renewal metallic ore. However more than a few cities have exploded from reckless attempt to grow one.

Low-Level Monsters (Orc, Hobgoblin and Grimlock replacement)

While I've gained a renewed interest in making use of orcs, goblins and pals for some people they've certainly become cliche. Here's a few replacements ranging from mild-re imaginings to completely new monsters filling a similar stat niche. Primarily I'm going off Basic Fantasy and D&D 5e for this list. Some of these descriptions imply a setting, others can be dropped in anywhere.

Shout to The Level 1 Creature Generator and the Castle Oldskull books.

Woodwose

Sometimes called the 'wild men', the Woodwose is in many way the primal reflection of man without civilization, law, order and (theologian says) the gods. Bestial, gnarled, hirsute and vicious they are a belligerent race unable to develop any kind of society beyond the basic family structure. Some even display hints of vegetal or mineral traits. Woodwose tend to be strong-looking, muscular, with skin full of clumped hair, mold and even some plant growth. Their skin tone tend toward earthly or bark-like brown, stone grey or pine green. They speak no language (and cannot learn any without losing many of their Woodwose traits) but innately understand their family unite.

• Basic Fantasy: Orc 
• D&D 5e: I'd say Orcs too but with added Survival skills.
• Potential Powers: Small resistance to metal or the tools and trappings of civilization, maybe?
• Primary Tactics and Purpose: Woodwose, while vicious and fearless in battle, are more akin to extremely cunning and vicious animals than marauding bands or invading armies and will use wolf-like pack tactics in combat and use the environment to their advantage, even going as far as to use terrain as natural-made traps. They fiercely defend their territory more than they invade. Any weapons and armors they have are looted from dead humans. They should be encountered in smaller numbers than orcs but fight in a much more cunning fashion.

Antithesis

If the Woodwose is compared to a primal counterpart (or even ancestor) to men, the creatures known as Antithesis are truly a literal dark reflection of people. Antithesis are not born like ordinary folks, at least not the first generation of a tribe/nation of them. They are born when dark forces converge over an area, especially those which tend to be peaceful and relatively civilized at the time. At that point, a dark inversion of the location manifest itself in the Plane of Shadows (or something similar). Peaceful nations begat violence conquerors. Beautiful people begat ugly reflections and good men and women spawn vicious villains. Meanwhile, horrible individuals spawn heroes, which unfortunately are slain by their kin due to an instinctive sense of their nature.

• Basic Fantasy: Hobgoblin
• D&D 5e: Hobgoblin or Githyanki for higher-level individuals.
• Potential Powers: As part of their ethereal and supernatural nature, they can cast spell-like abilities as a mean of warping reality around them.
• Primary Tactics and Purpose: These beings are the evil 'mirror universe' counterpart of good (or at least decently okay) folks. They exist as a dark reversal of them trying to creep into our universe, filled with a foul desire to erase their counterparts. Their very existence is the result of some creepy cosmic phenomena.

Sankati Monks

In ages past, a group of monks pondered the meaning of existence, suffering and beauty. Unable to look at how wicked and foul the world truly was once they had achieved enlightenment the monks decided that the world needed to be burned and cleansed. They mutilated themselves through magical means, dulling their senses. Centuries later they still exist, preaching enlightenment through suffering, self-mutilation, holy destruction and rejection of all things. They will cleanse this reality and hasten it's demise at any cost. 

• Basic Fantasy: Grimlock
• D&D 5e: Grimlock but remove the Stone Camouflage and jack up mental stats.
• Potential Powers: Heightened pain resistance and the ability to become eventually unaffected by mental effects.
• Primary Tactics and Purpose: Crazy Buddhist monks-meet-Hellraiser's Cenobites! They exist to convert all beings to their messed up way in order to improve mortal life and through their actions they seek to destroy the whole of reality. Their tactics are likely incredibly varied and as complex as they need to be. They can also operate in secrets as an evil cult.

Sandbox Tool: Random Exotic Barbarian Tribes

The barbarian and the exotic foreigner have a long history in fantasy. Fantasy world, just as much (if in my opinion not as often as they should) are filled with all manners of people and when one travel far away from the centers of civilization they might come across all manner of people which could be called 'barbarian' or 'savages', often in a pejorative manner. These tables certainly draw upon the imagery and tend to generate somewhat isolated and unusual people who exist at the tribal level: while it is very likely any character from a more sprawling civilization would see them as backward savages due to their less developed technology these people are by no mean stupid. They are simple unusual cultures which have naturally been shaped by their environments and would likely find the player characters to be the backward stupid ones for not knowing how to navigate the perils of their lands.

In fantasy settings, these tribes may be ancient keepers of long-lost sacred sites, have powerful supernatural patrons or have ancient and unique magical traditions which could very well explain why they never experienced the need to develop along the path one would expect from the rest of the setting. A few others are noticeably more advanced than one expect once they get past the initial prejudice and misunderstanding. Some are peaceful people who only turn to bloodshed when feeling threatened while others are vile, flesh-eating cannibals. Or maybe some are peaceful cannibals who only practice the consumption of their own dead. Hey you never know!

In general, 'fantasy barbarians' tend imply and be defined as:

• Living in tribal or semi-tribal society.
• Generally less technologically advanced from the rest of the world.
• Odd, strange and somewhat apart from the main cultures of the setting.
• Connected to (admittedly sometimes silly and misunderstood) concepts related to nature. Many of them are often vaguely shamanistic and pagan-ish in nature. When they worship a single god it's usually a war god of some kind.

These tables aren't exactly setting-specific but I do plan to use them for my Godbound Exalted game and as such does tend toward ideas and concepts which would work best in that game.

Goblin's business by Istvan Straban.

What is their culture like?

D4	Tribal Culture
1	Isolationist: These people are less advanced than their neighbors because of centuries of isolation from neighboring people for a variety of cultural reasons. They don’t like to show themselves to outsiders.
2	Warrior Culture: These people have waged wars (of any possible scale) on outsiders and their own kind for centuries. Their entire culture is built around fighting in some capacity.
3	Spiritual People: These people have a long and complex history of interaction with spiritual and arcane matters. There is a certain other-worldliness to them.
4	Degenerate Savages: Unfortunately, these people aren’t misunderstood, they really are closer to monster than people. Even their neighbors don’t like them but their history may hide tragedy which led them down this path.

D4	Isolationist
1	Fear of Assimilation: In ages past, these people encountered another culture group and saw their kind adopt the ways of the outsiders for good and for ill. Fearing to lose their identity, they isolated themselves and are now seen as backward savages by their neighbors.
2	Isolated Locale: These people simply live in an area most other people would not dare live and are not isolated by choice, or at least weren’t initially. They lay claim to dangerous and exotic locales, like top of jagged mountains or fetid monster-infested swamps.
3	Tribal Remnants: These people were once part of a larger culture but it has been destroyed by outsiders and the survivors only exist as isolated tribes which fear outsiders. Their history is sad.
4	Sacred Duties: These people believe themselves to have some sacred duty or purpose and their isolationist way of life is built around preserving the rites related to this purpose.

D6	Warrior Culture
1	Paranoid and Vicious: They don’t like outsiders and not only assume the worst from them but also themselves treat neighbors rather poorly, frequently attacking them (and outsiders) at the slightest provocation.
2	Ritual Combat: These people’s way of waging war is one of complex rituals of combat and their warriors spend years mastering the intricate fighting style of using their ancestral arms and armors. Roll on the Ritual Combat style table.
3	Tribal Warfare: These people constantly wage wars on each others and nearby cultures and these raids and battles are seen as an honorable way of life where one’s worth is judged by their skill with weapons.
4	Conquerors: These people have begun to expand and conquer other, weaker cultures around them including possibly a more ‘advanced’ civilization which had grown weak and decadent. They are a culture on the rise but changes are on the horizon.
5	Sacrificial Rites: This tribe is more known for capturing their foes and sacrificing them rather than simply killing them. There are complex religious motivations and meanings behind such acts.
6	Tranquil Warriors: These are a people more than willing to fight, with a proud history of combat yet they do not desire to start any hostility. They are currently in a peaceful moment of their history but will viciously defend this peace if threatened.

D4	Spiritual People
1	Spirit-Chosen: In ages past, some spirit/god/whatever chose these people as his favored people. They have not changed their way of life out of fear or respect for this otherworldly patron.
2	Inhuman Blood: There is something in the lineage of these people which account for their disconnect of nearby cultures, be it fae-blood, demon-blood or something along those lines. In some cases this has made them unfairly disliked. Roll on the Unusual Appearance table.
3	Arcane Traditions: In defiance to the stereotype that magic is a tool of the so-called ‘civilized folks’ these people have well-established, centuries-long traditions of sorcery. This is a powerful advantage for them. Roll on the Arcane Tradition table.
4	Guardians of the Sacred Site: These people established themselves to guard a place which is held to be sacred/magical in some way. They have long dedicated themselves to guarding it.

D6	Degenerate Savages
1	Fall from Grace: In the past these people belonged to a highly advanced (by setting standard) civilization which has since fallen from it’s own hubris. The survivors are a twisted, inbred lot.
2	Demonic Patron: These people worship a demon of some kind and their culture is twisted, alien and most likely violent. They dislike outsiders and in turn are disliked for their wicked ways. Roll on the Unusual Appearance table.
3	Ancestral Cults Gone Wrong: Worship of tribal ancestors is normal and expected. What is less expected is being ruled from beyond the grave by wicked ancestors who have become twisted and evil spirits. Roll on the Ghost-Touched table.
4	Cursed: A powerful curse has been laid on the ancestor of these people, which number and clouded their memory and destroyed their sanity. Unless the curse is broken they cannot act as normal people would.
5	Diseased: These people are afflicted by a mundane or not-so-mundane plague which has driven them into increasingly desperate measures to stave off the effects of the disease, such as eating brains or drinking blood. If it is not cured they’ll remain vile and twisted...or go extinct.
6	Enslaved: A powerful being, maybe a demon or sorcerer has enslaved these people for a generation or more. Their entire culture is being changed into something more suitable for his evil minions and the young people have only known violence and bloodshed.

D4	Ritual Combat
1	Wrestling: These people prefer (usually) non-lethal forms of ritual combat, specifically wrestling. While the intent isn’t to kill, their matches are vicious and brutal affairs and outsiders who wish to engage with them should know this in advance.
2	Specific Weapon: These people have ritual combats with a specific weapon, which is seen as sacred. There are entire ‘schools’ and ways to dedicate to using the weapon in a specific way against a specific fighting style.
3	Blood Hunt: Ritualistic seek-and-destroy rituals where individuals must hunt each others down in the wilds, sometimes naked with just a knife. They must bring back the head or skin of the defeated.
4	Duel to Death: A staple which need no explanation. Surprisingly less common than one may expect.

D4	Arcane Tradition
1	Skin-Writing: These people lack books and sorcerers amongst their kind will write down spells, formulas and whatnot on their very skin so that initiates which have been taught how to read these can read it on their master’s flesh.
2	Elemental Powers: These people have a limited form of elemental magic or rituals which allow them to either imbue their weapons or call minor disasters such as earthquakes or forest fires by appealing to elemental spirits.
3	Infusion: By imbibing certain plants or the blood of animals, these people are able to gain a measure of temporary preternatural strength, agility or endurance or enter a berserk fury.
4	Sorcerer-Tribes: In spite of being seen as savages, these people maintain centuries-long and complex traditions of magic which rival that of any so-called civilized folks.

D6	Unusual Appearance
1	Supernatural Albinism: These people are extremely prone to a condition similar albinism, which they see as both a curse and blessing. They have pure white hair, skin and in some cases even empty white eyes. Many of their champions bear such a condition.
2	Clawed Hands: While human, these people are prone to having long and hardened fingernails which they can use to claw opponents if disarmed. Their fingers are, likewise, longer than average to not affect dexterity.
3	Animalistic Markings: These people have tiger stripes, jaguar spots or maybe some scale-like patterns on their skin. Alternatively they could have facial features which vaguely suggest animals, such as hawk-people with long and pointy faces.
4	Fearsome: These people have a naturally intimidating appearance, be it a striking and terrifying gaze or just looking generally intimidating and scary, which is a very useful advantage in combat.
5	Poisonous: These people naturally emit a poison from their skin and/or mouth, which they are immune to. This often give them an odd skin tone or greenish-blue lips and tongues. They can coat their weapons in poison.
6	Piercing Gaze: These people have an unsettling, almost glowing gaze, possibly having golden or red eyes. They don’t quite have night vision but their eyesight is always sharp and never decline with age.

D4	Ghost Touched
1	Wasting: Many members of this tribe are sickly and pale, seemingly one foot already in the grave. They feel less pain and are less emotional, more detached and able to fight without any fear nor feeling injuries too much.
2	Reanimated Warriors: This tribe is not above raising the corpses of their own warriors as undead creature. This is sanctioned, approved and seen as culturally significant rather than horrifying.
3	Pain Craft: These people practice some dark craft which involves pain, bloodshed and turning angry ancestor-ghosts against their enemies. They bring fear wherever they go.
4	Necrocracy: Rather than being manipulated by their ancestral spirits, these people are flat out ruled by an undead chief who openly display his undead nature and is worshiped almost as an unliving god.

What do they look like?

D10	Appearance	Tribal Markings
1	Muscular: These people do in fact live up to the stereotype of ‘barbarians’ being muscular or brutish, being on average rather strong and/or stout looking, even the women.	Impossibly Long Braids: Men have long, elaborate braids in their beards while the women have long braided hair. Their hair is never cut and the shape and decoration of the braid indicate social status.
2	Beautiful: In spite of their possibly odd way of life, these people tend to be rather healthy and beautiful individuals, proud and well-formed. While they may have battle scars, horribly disfigured individuals are seen as bringing bad luck and are shunned, seeking honorable death.	Bald: These people shave all body hair, even eyebrows (and down there), be it for health or religious reasons. Thus their culture associate physical cleanliness with spiritual cleansing. They will not attack a bald individual in a party unless he or she attack first.
3	Skinny: These people, while perhaps quite fearsome, are known for their wiry builds. Any muscles they have are lean and hard muscles, not bulky.	Vivid Hair Color: These people are known for having wildly colored hair, which could be natural but is most likely some natural dye.
4	Impossibly Tall: These people tend toward a height noticeably higher than the average for the region but within human limits. This increased height is an advantage in combat, both for the purpose of intimidation and for added reach.	Colorful Robes: These people’s robes, while simple, are decorated in a very impressive and colorful fashion and they are easily spotted. These robes are worth quite a bit.
5	Amazonian: In this tribe, it is the women which tend to be larger and stronger than the men. This could have a more mundane explanation or have ties to something more supernatural.	Piercings: These people are known for their extensive use of piercings and body modifications, often decorated with precious gemstones or metals.
6	Hideous: These people are naturally rather unsightly, having natural and non-deformed but otherwise unsightly features as the norm such as googly eyes, large noses and ears or a tendency toward warty skin.	Mutilated: Through some bizarre practice, these people willingly undergo some form of ritual mutilation that won’t impair their daily lives but will no doubt unsettle outsiders which they could very well end up using to their advantage in combat.
7	Filed Teeth: These people all file their teeth, giving them a menacing grin and making them look like wild animals. This also allow them to bite opponents.	War Masks: In battle, these people wear terrifying masks depicting savage beasts and demons, which are decorated with precious jewels and other fineries. Steal at your own risk.
8	Ritual Scarring: Intense ritual scars adorn the entire bodies of their warriors. These have complex symbolic meanings no outsider can hope to decipher. Alternatively, this scarring could indicate successful kills.	Ancestral Arms: These people are known for their beautifully crafted weapons and armors, colorful and unique. These are passed from father to son and may or may not be magical.
9	Long-Lived: The members of this tribe are known for a life span above the average of the area. They have many older warriors who fight with the ferocity of men decades younger.	Body Art: These people love to cover themselves with impressively detailed paint, either for war and/or religious events. This paint may or may not have magical powers.
10	Roll on Inhuman Appearance.	Soot-Covered: These people cover themselves in soot, giving them grayish-white skin. This is part of religious rituals.