Worlds Without Number+Yoon Suin Early Draft (Races)

This is a post I fucking swear I wrote and published yet just can't seem to ever find it any archive, which mean I most probably never wrote it: was it just a bad fever dream? Then again in this day and age, it seems like all of reality is a nightmare and a fever dream so what do I know? Anyway here are my firsr draft of garbled notes for 'translating' Yoon-Suin: The Purple Land into Worlds Without Numbers. This is made with the original version of Yoon-Suin in mind and is likely to change once the second edition is released.

These are outlines for the major 'races' present in Worlds Without Numbers+Yoon Suin as I attempt to reconcile the setting of both to the best of my abilities.

Playable Races: Slug-Man

Well, Slug-Person really as they are complete hermaphrodites. The so-called Slug-Men are a somewhat odd crossbreed of ancient demi-human strain and some long lost type of Outsiders, or at the very least this is what sages from beyond Yoon-Suin say on the matter. The Slug-Men consider themselves a distinct civilized race which predate modern human, descendants of great beings be they their true material ancestors or the gods. It doesn't really matter to the Slug-Men, who are the ruling caste of the Yellow City and have always been as far as they can recall.

They are thin of body and human-like in shape, with gangly limbs and a slightly flexible pseudo-skeleton which sticky slug-like flesh wrap around. Their skin is slimy and tend to hang loose, with those who are fat from opulence become massive masses of slimy folds. They are somewhat hunched, having a spine-keel as the axis of their body. Their faces are gooey and slug-like, with stubby stalks with eerily humanoid eyes at the end and their mouth-fold is a disturbing and hideous organ which function similar to both slug and humanoid anatomy. There are many other strange aspect to Slug-Men biology but these are considered somewhat impolite to discuss. While a smart and surprisingly hardy species, they are not particular known for their strength. Very few Slug-Men are Warriors due to their social Caste putting them high in any social hierarchy and they are a philosophically and intellectually inclined people who find the warrior's arts distasteful.

Level 1: Gain Connect and Know as bonus skill. Your Constitution or Intelligence modifier increases by +1 and your Dexterity modifier decreases by -1. You can see clearly in any light level above complete darkness. At the GM discretion you may take the Xenoblooded Foci, representing a Slug-Man's whose Outsider ancestry is more pronounced in their lineage.

Anakim

On most of Latter Earth, the Anakim are the dreaded hordes of primitive and savage humanoids, the twisted goblins and green skinned warriors. In the Purple Land, however, these living weapons of the Outsiders have either gone completely extinct or changed so drastically that hordes and clans of monstrous beast-like men are rather unknown. Perhaps this is due to some efficient purge long ago or perhaps it has something to do with the Yellow City's roots as some long-lost seat of Outsider power. Either way, there are very little of what we could recognize as orcs or goblins who live as war-like societies. Instead, the remaining Anakim have diverged into two distinct and fundamentally different breeds:

• The Asura and the likes of the Ogre Mages descend from a particularly potent and altered breed of Anakim, created and bred by a long lost Imperator. Transformed and empowered far beyond their base cousins, these magically potent demi-gods nonetheless still bear to this day many traits associated with the Anakim, such as a monstrous visage and unnatural skin tones. Where the Anak of old were brutish and short-lived, however, the Asura are potent beings with innate magical powers drawn from the legacy. They are known for their vicious temperament, love of combat and generally explosive demeanor. However, through enlightenment they can and must learn to control themselves and use their powers correctly less they become little more than bloodthirsty ogres with a thirst for battle. Asura are rare and their clans are always few in numbers, whereas the Anakim were once a race bred for explosive population growth.
• The other breed are the Ghost People and similar beings, sometimes also called Yeren, Ghost Ape, Goblin Apes, Ghost Beasts and more. The remaining Anak are creatures which have eschewed civilization entirely, having fled into the deepest wild either to avoid succumbing to The Hate or out of fear of mankind. These creatures are expert survivors, who have devolved into an often ape-like form and forgotten all of civilization. Now they hunt Lahag or mountain peaks, elusive ghost-like beasts who eat traveller who dare enter their territory.

Blighted

There are many kind of Blighted in the Purple Land, yet little of them is understood let alone their true nature, as the land is so old that much has faded into myths, leaving the people of the Purple Land to simply believe such creatures have always existed and have crafted a myriad fanciful myths to explain their true nature, including the belief that they are lower beings who were cursed to be reincarnated in a weakened, servile or animalistic form.

• Much like the Slug-Men, the Crab-Men are another race of demihuman-outsider crossbreed, although the Slug-Men would take offense at the idea of even being vaguely related to such horrible and lowly creatures. The Crab-Men are a form of Blighted, twisted far beyond the human form of their distant ancestors, infused with alien blood and features and now a completely distinct species.
• Tamasic Men, meanwhile, are different strains of subhuman creatures which combine the traits of Half-Men and animals. Common belief is that those who are slothful or negligent in life are reborn as a pathetic crossbreed of a miserable animal and a human being. The truth, however, is that these creatures were created in ancient times by long lost Imperator or similar beings from the population of ancient kingdoms who defied them. These dumb beasts have kept on breeding as some twisted eternal punishment.
• It is possible that other races of Yoon-Suin are, in actuality, Blighted as well but one must not assume this is always the case. Some may simply descend from people altered for different reasons, possibly willingly. Others have stabilized and developed, shaving off most of their Blight through the generations or learning to function with workarounds.

Tieflings: Why do we hate them, again?

Basically this.

Oh right. Its because they've been used so poorly and were reduced to some 'cute cosplay' race. The Tiefling, especially in its current form (since 4th edition) has diverged more and more from the original intent, which was a rare offshoot of human families cursed with fiendish blood but too mortal to be true half-fiends. The modern version, meanwhile, is a mostly coherent race which breed true and has a much more consistent appearance. They are also quite mocked in old school circles due to them being associated with the imagery of modern players doing their Tiefling as some sad misunderstood oppressed minority group. They basically are a darker Half-Elf and a sexier Half-Orc, all wrapped in a nice little package of looking more fantastical and exotic, right?

You're doing Tieflings all wrong.

Tieflings are to Humans what Drows are to regular Elves. If Tiefling are to be treated as a true-breeding race, then this requires changing them. D&D 4e did it right with giving them an empire but somewhat screwed this up by having it be destroyed already. So what is the modern concept of the race, really; Tieflings are, simply put, a stable offshoot of human bloodlines infused with fiendish blood.

The solution to making this take on the Tieflings 'cool' is not to humanize them but, rather, returned to defining them by their inhumanity. They are more than human but also less than human. They are everything which defines the human race in most fantasy settings but pushed to a darker, more inhuman extremes.

Its amazing how much mileage one can get out of race by not really changing their core, established lore but rather looking at it differently. Once you examine a race and go back to the basics of the fantasy genre, so much of it click into place. If you want to cut to the meat and potatoes and not read this long ramble, Tieflings are basically just Melniboneans or Dark Elves. They very much fit within that same archetype and could even replace any type of dark elves within a setting if one felt so inclined to have a race that is powerful, organized, evil, dangerous and magically inclined without the baggage of either being elves or the certain other connotations that make people annoyed.

Tieflings History and Nature

Like these guys, but with horns.

Everything that makes a Tiefling what it is, every single vice? These things already exist in humanity and always did. The slivers of fiendish influence in their blood does not make them evil per se. Rather, it simply amplifies and magnifies all the best and worst qualities of humanity. It is this amplified nature which ultimately brings them back to their fiendish roots, as superior ambition, pride and hubris will invariably drive most Tieflings to evil, although some of them are indeed demented monsters with a twisted mind. As with humans, Tiefling exist in all shape, sizes and quality: some are very smart, some are very dumb. However within each of them burns the fires of ambition which has always propelled mankind forward. The desire for more. The desire to compete. To excel. To conquer. The fiendish blood inside them isn't alone in making them evil. It merely nurture a seed which has always been there, which are all too human desires.

Humans in many fantasy setting are often defined by their ambition and their sheer drive, even when they find themselves coming short next to other races which may be more gifted in certain areas, such as magic or physical might. These positive qualities to constantly strive for more, this ambition? This is the very thing which led to the creation of the Tiefling race and the eternal damnation of all those who descend from their bloodlines. When the great god-kings of old realized their kingdoms would never be at peace, that there was always a greater power and more to be found next door, many could simply not take it. Neither could the greatest arch mages or high priests. Humanity has limitations, as do all things but it is human nature to desire more. To be more and to be greater. That is how great men, who could have once gone down in history as paragons of humanity sold their souls to lower powers simply because they had the all too human flaw of not being able to understand their limitations. They saw it as some great injustice or even more blasphemously, as the gods somehow 'holding down' humanity.

And so, many time across history, this pattern repeated itself. At the peak of their power or at their darkest hour, great heroes of mankind fell prey to the promises of power offered by lower powers. They surrendered their humanity and allowed dark powers to completely consume them, giving them greater might and even a partial form of immortality. Their most direct servants and descendants inherited a portion of this power as they were transformed. The dark pacts couldn't claim entire nations, but they could certainly taint parts of it. And so, several times across history, strains of a dark race were born. Still partially human but carrying within them a horrific taint.

Presenting Tiefling Cultures

Nota Tiefling, but pretty close.

I won't go into the details of whatever complex societies Tiefling could form, as that truly depend on a world's specific history. What is important is to coat the society in the right imagery. Understand Tieflings do not see themselves as a 'monster race', especially not on the same level as orcs or ogres. From their point of view, they firmly belong in the category of the intelligent and civilized folks such as their once-relatives the humans, the elves or dwarves. If anything, Tieflings see themselves as rather superior to all of these. They are, from their point of view, free of many of the petty weaknesses of other races. This, of course, plays in the races' sheer hubris which they inherited from their human ancestors. 

Most of all, Tieflings see themselves with a bloated self importance. They are the center of the world or at least percieve themselves as such. In their minds, the average fantasy setting isn't really some human-centric wilderness with many a decaying Tiefling empire or maybe scattered warrior clans. No no, see, that's the human delusion. To the Tiefling, THEY are the civilized folks, the beacon of civilization and peace in a world full of monsters and mad wizards. When Tiefling adventurers are encountered from a far away land, they see themselves as a plucky band of explorers (with maybe a few token members of other races) who most definitely aren't robbing tombs for riches but, rather, returning priceless artifacts to civilization!

Art by Ahmed Aldoori

Of course, most powerful Tiefling rules are still indebted to fiends, serving the lower powers of whatever hellish dimension their ancestors made pact with. This, mind you, doesn't really appear to be all that strange or sinister to Tieflings, especially with generations upon generation of their culture building and expanding on this. They serve the lower powers, who reward them. If anything, from their point of view, the Tiefling's way of serving their dark masters is more noble. After all, demons and their ilk can and will reward you with magical powers and arcane secrets provided you serve them well. Meanwhile, what can mortal kings and petty gods truly offer? Better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven and all that. Let the weaker men and elves worship oft-silent gods who promise maybe an afterlife, when Tieflings can rise with their ambition, claiming crowns and crushing kingdoms underneath their heels, being showered in gold, wine and of course the comfort of concubines and/or boytoys.

Tiefling certainly have an association with sexuality (if one is fine with bringing that to their game table) but the same taint applies as with everything else. Tiefling sexuality is not a pretty topic and most relationships tend to end as some master/servant or abuser/abused. The best Tiefling couples are those who can manage to be equal partners, constantly testing and hurting each others so they can become stronger or perish. Its all quite masochistic, really.

In spite of their often monstrous features, or because of them, many Tieflings can become object of lust from people who find their stranger traits to be 'alluring' or 'exotic'. While some Tieflings are indeed ugly or monstrous, many of them carry within them the allure and potent physical presence of many of the more deceptively beautiful fiends. Unfortunately for many, this fact is usually more often than not exploited by Tieflings, as is their 'sad and tragic' origin. Being open minded around a Tiefling, to open oneself to them and to show interest is a surefire way to die. Most of them don't see human as worthy opponents, let alone as something to love (a word which, by itself, does not translate to their language well as love and obsessive urges=same thing in their dialect of Fiendish Tongues+Common).

4e Tiefling art

Despite seeing themselves as a cultured and civilized people, few other races truly ever bother interacting willingly with Tieflings. While they claim to praise certain values which may seem fine or appealing, such as beauty, power, ambition or 'loyalty' (which is also different in meaning for them, as loyalty is a conditional term for them), their culture remain tainted by their fiendish influence and remain utterly unpalatable to most other races. Tiefling sports are invariably horrific blood games or even a form of ritualized hunt. Their art is grotesque and degenerate, favoring flesh and bone interwoven with beautiful gems and precious metal. To Tiefling this is 'natural' and speak of the profound, almost mystical beauty of the juxtaposition of violence, pain, love and wonder. To a sane person, a Tiefling artist is a psychopath with sick tastes. The Tiefling, meanwhile, doesn't seem to take kindly to being called a monster because he has a refined taste of painting exclusively with the blood of different sentient races.

The way Tieflings see the other races isn't really all that different from how hegemonistic and imperialistic cultures saw their neighbors. Their superiorty is self evident in their noble bearing, the fine lines of their faces, their sharp fangs, glowing eyes and the complex and varied forms of their horns. Any Tiefling simply has to look their history or even in a mirror to see it self-evident they are a master race and everything else is just ugly. They can turn to their culture and history and see it as self-evident that they are a more enlightened people which have cast aside the yoke of cruel or uncaring gods in favor of a harsh but fair new master, one which values the only things that truly matter in life: power and survival.

So what are Tieflings, then? How do you use them? Simple, they are the dark mirror to humans. They are also the evil and vaguely exotic foreign power which people fear and despise because of their supposed witch ways and worshipping demons, only in their case it is 100% true and more. They are the cruel conquerors, the degenerate empire of sorcerers and the monsters with harem of beautiful women and monsters alike. They are disgusting, vile, base people who are blinded by the idea they are somehow a morally kind.