Two New Race Ideas

[neva]

Though I am pretty sure neither one of them could fit into the lore of Istaria, but they be pretty cool!

Lets get the first one out of the way, as I am sure it will be a big no.

Race Name: Griffon
Race Ability: Flight (passive)
Second Ability: Keen Eye (passive)

Keen Eye Explanation -
Gives the player a bonus to hit and a bonus to help avoid attacks.

Race Explanation -
A Griffon much like the dragon, is a known mythological creature that has been seen over many forms of fantasy novels and graphic books, is even a monster one could face in many popular book RPGs.

The Griffon tends to be a territorial creature, like much the dragon, and tends to defend its young and nest with every bit of essence it has. The creature is also known to be a highly noble creature and are very easy to teach, have a strong curious nature, and are very **** to sticking their beaks where it does not belong due to wanting to know just what is going on(and just what they could be missing).

The Griffon is seen as a half lion and half eagle. The head being that of an Eagles(or a hawk), wings of the bird, front legs of the bird, back legs, body, and tail of that of the lion.

How would they work in Istaria? -
I have no clue, which is why the idea may be cool, but I am pretty sure there is no room for them in Game lore, at least one that I can not think of.

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Now the Second idea, which may work and they also be neat to see in a game(but probably not likely for Istaria, since again, probably wont fit and be a pain to engineer).

Race: Serpent Dragon
Based off of: Eastern Dragon Lore
Race Abilities: Flight (passive after adulthood)
Race Ability Two: Primal Essence ( Passive, or could be click)

Primal Essence Explanation -
The Serpent Dragons are one with the Primal force around them, this ability raises there Primal skill and Force skills.

Race Explanation -
The Serpent Dragons are called this due to there body shapes. They have a long body, like that of the Serpent, though they do have legs, like there normal Dragon Cousins.
Males tend to have long 'whisker' that hangs down from there muzzle, where the female tends to lack such a thing. The male also has a patch of fur which hangs down from the chin of the muzzle, and again the female lacks this.
However both genders have a large mohawk like mane that runs from the top of there heads down to the end of the tail, which then extends out in a lion like tail fluff at the end.
They have serpent like eyes, large talons on their feet, different shapes of muzzles from some looking a bit canine, to others being very reptilian. They all carry sharp rows of teeth for eating meet and they tend to have very smooth scales, nearly skin like, but they do shimmer in the light when kept groomed. They are capable of breathing fire like any other dragon and are able to fly when the reach adulthood.

This flight is done with a mystical form that the elders had learned long ago, by using the primal energy around them to give them lift. It is a kept secrete from any other race and only those who past the trails are taught how to do this.

Young hover may have a mild understanding of how the energy works, so they are able to glide there bodies in a short distance, but typically many tend to stumble in mid-air and fall looking rather silly for their failed attempt.

The Serpent Dragons, despite there name, are highly intelligent. They tend to have a great scholars mind and tend to like the ways of human living. Their concept of a lair is not one of the cave, but lairs built on high mountains that are actually built like palace structures within. Making pillars laced with gold and silver, and floors of fine marble.
The Serpent Dragons also enjoy reading and holding conversations with all races, they are not ones who believe in violence, but will act out in such form if provoked to do so.

How would they work in Istaria? -
My Idea, is they probably come from another land far away and had been in hiding for some time, however the Blight pushed them out, or at least caused them to ask for help, since they are not a race of violence but have been forced into such acts.
Meaning they need help from there cousins to help them defend off the Blight, or at least keep it at bay.

[Fyrethorne]

I like the Griffin idea. However it would be a huge job to program and implement them. Plus, what sort of plot structure could they build? Maybe dragon lairs with different room types for griffins?

[neva]

I like the Griffin idea. However it would be a huge job to program and implement them. Plus, what sort of plot structure could they build? Maybe dragon lairs with different room types for griffins?

Most Likely. Or they could use some of those massive trees that all shine and glow. >.>

Seriously, they probably use the lair concept as well probably just in a different means. I imagine griffons would have more wood like structures in them(which means they could be another race outside of bipedals that could gather wood and make use of it) and things like cloth and such.

I imagine the Serpents would use more metal, clay and fine stone.

[Sindala]

I'd say lets have Wood Sprites.
They start little like the size of a Dryad but they have their own type of RoP where they grow to be a Wood Golem.
Istaria's version of the golems ingame but obviously with nature bias.

(Their you go, Wood Golems with a purpose now and lore to go with aswell)

[flamestar]

Race Name: Griffon

How would they work in Istaria? -
I have no clue, which is why the idea may be cool, but I am pretty sure there is no room for them in Game lore, at least one that I can not think of.

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Now the Second idea, which may work and they also be neat to see in a game(but probably not likely for Istaria, since again, probably wont fit and be a pain to engineer).

Race: Serpent Dragon

How would they work in Istaria? -
My Idea, is they probably come from another land far away and had been in hiding for some time, however the Blight pushed them out, or at least caused them to ask for help, since they are not a race of violence but have been forced into such acts.
Meaning they need help from there cousins to help them defend off the Blight, or at least keep it at bay.

Hi. I'm kinda new here and all, but I've been browsing the forum and this caught my interest. I think these ideas are pretty cool.

As far as I know, there are no games anywhere that feature griffins as playable charcters (granted, World of Warcraft has them and their cosuins the Hippogryphs, but only as "public air trasportation"). Most of the time you see them in games as creatures to fight. But in mythology, far as I know, they are as well known to the world as dragons and unicorns and pheonix.

Although I see where you are coming from as to the lore. I know almost nothing of Istarian lore, save for the Gifted, Living Races and Whithered-whats-their-names-undead-bad-guys conflict. Where would the griffins fit in? Are there not some as-of-yet unknown parts of this world where they might be hidden? Perhaps they would be a newly discovered race. After all, there are new creatures of our own real world we find all the time.

According to griffin lore I've read (not much mind you) they are found of nesting in high mountains and hoarding gold to line the nests with. Parhaps they are an unknown race which have stayed hidden, but were forced out/threatened by the Undead-Evil-whose-name-escapes-me.

But then there is the game itself to consider. Another flying race would compete with the dragons, would it not? But then again, such an addition might increase interest in the game. And griffins would certainly have differences from dragons in terms of magic and crafting when you think about it (except my mind is blank about that right now). They might at least have woodcrafting skills, since griffins build nests and not lairs. Who knows? should this race come in, the dragons might be the ones who find them.

Anyway, I'm sure the modlers and engineers would have a field day with them. Griffins are a pain to draw and make them look good. :P Trust me. But if done right, they can look downright awesome!

As for the Serpent Dragons, you idea of their story sounds pretty good and they would be very interesting to see alongside their winged cosuins, but you were right when you said that the engineers would have a fit. Serpentine as they are, they would be trouble to make.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts on this. What do you guys think?

[AguaRush]

if istaria did ever which not likely and probably 99.9% sure not going to happen but one can dream xD

i like the griffons i think another flying race would be neat. though some sort of ROP i believe should be required, not that the griffon would have to grow in size maybe get more feathers on a crest or something

but for eastern dragons while they are unique and beautiful i see them as an odd addition only because there isonly one type of dragon in istaria.. Istaria Dragons.. they have no other name.. istaria doesnt have a specific Eastern culture area not that it coulndt be added just think it would fit in odd.

2 coppers worth ^

[flamestar]

if istaria did ever which not likely and probably 99.9% sure not going to happen but one can dream xD

i like the griffons i think another flying race would be neat. though some sort of ROP i believe should be required, not that the griffon would have to grow in size maybe get more feathers on a crest or something

but for eastern dragons while they are unique and beautiful i see them as an odd addition only because there isonly one type of dragon in istaria.. Istaria Dragons.. they have no other name.. istaria doesnt have a specific Eastern culture area not that it coulndt be added just think it would fit in odd.

2 coppers worth ^

What's "ROP"? Do you mean making them look different then how they do in other games? Well, there are only so many things you can do with a griffin and still have it look like a griffin.

You could put ears on it, have feathers on the end of the tail instead of a tuft of fur (wait... they did that in the Disney Narnia movies... nevermind), well, they could have ranging feather/color patterns, like on the dragons; you could even put a mane of fethers (like a lion's mane) around their neck, you know that spot where the neck connects to the chest and shoulders? Maybe the males could have that feature and the females don't? Or would that just look silly on them? Or maybe they could have stripes, wait... nevermind. If they had stripes then they would be Gryphers (half eagle, half tiger).

Anyway, I still think that Griffins would be a cool addition. If we could figure out how to add them and keep the game in balance, seeing as each race has their own strengths and weaknesses. What would be the Griffins? What could they offer to the game aside from sheer coolness?

[awdz]

ROP = rite of passage, a looong quest series dragons undergo before they can fly.
Griffins would not be able to model the bipeds adv/craft because they do not have hands to use tools/weapons, so it would make more sense to model their development along the lines of dragons. I think it'd be difficult to come up with a whole racial line of things to mirror what dragons do and implement them on top of other changes already planned for the world (eventual tiers 3-5 revamps).

I love the idea of the serpent body shape line of dragons. That could directly make use of the current dragon mechanics, just with different body graphics - sort of like the variety of biped races all use the same game mechanics.

Something like centaurs could make use of the biped mechanics while still being a significantly different body shape. I don't know how hard it is to implement the further you go from what's already designed.

[Solitaire]

If we were going to add another player race to the game, I would really want to take the time to do it right. But we do not have that amount of time and manpower to do it currently. And I refuse to cookie cutter out another biped race. Making bull heads and putting them on the Satyr bodies and calling it a 'minotaur' as an example of what I feel would be wrong to do.

However, doing it right would require a tremendous amount of time to develop. There are the art assets to make. Racial makeup, traits and abilities to consider and make up in the database. Quests and lore. Housing. Racial city & structures. There would be a heck of a lot of work to do to make the creatures interesting and fun to play.

And my last argument, purely from a personal point of view but I know that many would share it for one reason or another. Like it or not, Dragons are the signature race of Istaria. Masters of the skies. To me, it seems wrong to put another flying player race into the air. Even if they were something new.

BTW, somewhere back in Istaria's Dark Ages, Griffins were on the table as a creature. If you look hard enough on the net, there are still an image or two of a concept floating about. I ran across them once while searching for something else. I've never seen any assets for them, though. Considering the age and a few assets I found for some other long abandoned races, they would not be usable anyway.

[Dakoren Ironhand]

BTW, somewhere back in Istaria's Dark Ages, Griffins were on the table as a creature. If you look hard enough on the net, there are still an image or two of a concept floating about. I ran across them once while searching for something else. I've never seen any assets for them, though. Considering the age and a few assets I found for some other long abandoned races, they would not be usable anyway.

http://www.crimson-dawn.org/images/R...%20Griffon.jpg

[GlindorOcculus]

Like it or not, Dragons are the signature race of Istaria. Masters of the skies. To me, it seems wrong to put another flying player race into the air. Even if they were something new.

Even though Griffins are pretty cool, I agree with Solitaire that it would somehow feel wrong to share the skies with another race ;-)
And what would the Griffins use for armor?? Enchanted Feathers? :P

[Hawkman007]

hehe sounds cool but how about a sergal? x3 dumb post lol

[flamestar]

hehe sounds cool but how about a sergal? x3 dumb post lol

lol XD What is a sergal anyway?

[Fix]

lol XD What is a sergal anyway?

A horribly overused Second Life Consc-

I mean they're bird-dragon-anthrophamorphs.

SOrt of like a mixture between a dragon, a humanoid and a....chicken.

[dweebgamer]

or there could just be chickens. but they have the hazard of been eaten by dragons.

[flamestar]

A horribly overused Second Life Consc-

I mean they're bird-dragon-anthrophamorphs.

SOrt of like a mixture between a dragon, a humanoid and a....chicken.

Ok... o_O Wait, you mean like a dragon's khutit form, or a sslisk? Only with more feathers?

[Malaya]

Ok... o_O Wait, you mean like a dragon's khutit form, or a sslisk? Only with more feathers?

Nope. Just something that's more tasty

[Kesqui]

hehe sounds cool but how about a sergal? x3 dumb post lol

Presumably the creator of the Sergal race (Trancy Mick) would have to give permission and would probably ALSO want some sort of financial benefit for allowing the use of the intellectual property....

[Shadowedraven]

A few points ... 1) nice ideas although I like the gryphon better than the variation on the dragon theme... 2) gryphon armor would be similar to horse barding with some alterations to account for the wings 3) there is no reason to restrict them to lighter armors as they are magical beings. Horses have plate barding why not gryphons?But if you want them to have to use something light but tough such as resin or leather... Cedar is a cone bearing tree so it should be able to produce the necessary resin. Smelters can provide adequate heat but you would need a new crafting macine to handle the pressure issue. Does Istaria have that level of technology? ...probably not yet but perhaps a new magical/alchemical device... something related to the Scholar's desk we already use. It would probably look something like a table full of flasks and other alchemical type devices.

[awdz]

But if you want them to have to use something light but tough such as resin or leather... Cedar is a cone bearing tree so it should be able to produce the necessary resin. Smelters can provide adequate heat but you would need a new crafting macine to handle the pressure issue. Does Istaria have that level of technology?

Outfitters/tailors use sap to make tannin for processing hide strips into leather armor.