How do you like "Creature"

How do you sort the inhabitants of your setting Veeky Forums? Do you differentiate... How so?
>Fairys, Pixies and Sprites?
>Gremlins and Goblins?
>Zombies and Ghouls?
>Demons, Devils and Daemons?
>Merfolk and Nagas?
Do you relate...
>Yokai and Fey?
>Cyclopses, Ogres, Onis and Ettins?
Do you prefer...
>Pig or green tusked man Orcs?
>Canine or reptilian Kobolds?
Feel free to add more questions as long as they're related to fantasy creatures

Graffiti

What?

I never have the chance to do anything with my mind-settings (read: random thoughs, fantasies, magical realms, etc), but I like to divide creatures into some categories (I'll try to filter the "magic" as much as I can):

Children of nature: Humans, humanoid creatures (centaurs et al), monsters, etc. Not the most magical entities, as a rule of thumb.

Daughters of nighmares: Fairies, dragons, vampires, spirits, demons, etc. Basically all creatures that breathe magic, that exist because of magical energies or are not a product of nature. (not necessarily female)

Sons of dreams: Robots, constructs, techno-mancers and eldritch beings. They are the product of technology, or magic so complex it resembles it. They are fundamentally different from childrens of nighmares. (not necessarily male)

Orcs, elves, nagas, merfolk, gremlins, goblins, cyclopses, ogres, onis, ettins are all childrens of nature, as are humans, dogs and giants.

I don't differentiate between demons, devils and daemons, I don't differentiate either between fairies, pixies and sprites. I haven't ever used yookai as a thing, but they would all be daughters of nighmares. I like my fairies society-less and my demons chockfull of petty kingdoms, titles and such.

Kobolds are related to dragons, they are scaly. Orcs are tusked, and don't have much of a nose.

So in your setting, eventhough demons are magical creature, they still live on the mortal plane? They don't have a hell? Are there angels as well?

No, sans one or two exceptions they live in hell.

Angels, I haven't though too much about. An idea I've been toying with is the difference between a demon and a fallen angel, basically a fallen angel is any angel that, well, falls.

Demons, on the other hand, are native beings from hell. The first demons are the spawn of the first fallen angels, or maybe even the very first one.

Maybe their powers come from the angels, but the actual shape (horns & stuff) is a consequence of the influence of hell. That would make demons a race, but their physical attributes not inheritable (eg: A cross of demonXhuman produces an offpring with demonic powers, but looks just like any other human. Even a demonXdemon child would look like an angel, if it was conceived outside hell)

Races in my setting are split into groups:
Humanity: Halflings, Humans, and Goliath
Elvenkind: Wood/High/Dark elves and technically fey
Old tribes: Dragonborn, Lamia, Tiefling, Harpy, and Merfolk
Stonekin: Dwarves, Orcs, and Goblins

All 3 humans variations can be born from any human mother and beyond size they look like normal humans.
Elves are essentially all the same just where they're born determines the type (wood elves are wood elves because they come from a tribe traditionally from the woods, high elves live in the mountains, etc.)
All five old tribe races descend from a pact a chimera-like demon made with ancient mortals to help preserve themselves as a last-ditch effort against a twisted god fucking over the world.
Stonekin are born of the earth and are rocky skinned people that rarely leave for the surface and orcs and dwarves have bad blood between them while goblins are an offshoot of orcs that live closer to the surface.

Hey, OP here, I feel like people didn't quite get the point of my thread. I enjoy reading how you classify the races in your setting and you can keep doing that, it's cool. But my intent was to ask If you use synonyms and interchangeable names like "Gremlin and Goblin" as two different creatures. Like for example
>In my setting daemons are beastial demons and devils are humanoid demons, demon is the generic term

Colloquialisms, gotcha.

>"The Races of Men".
Can be used to describe any of the following species: Prometheans (giants), Amazonians, Humans, Centaurs, Gnomes, and Dwarves. All of these species are closely related, physically resemble one another, and out of context are not usually addressed as separate entities and are usually just referred to as "Men" by other races ignorant of their culture, etc with priority given towards the first Race of Men they've encountered, I.E: An Elf who's never seen a Dwarf before but knows about Humans & Centaurs will assume the Dwarf is a weird looking Human or play it safe and just call it a "Man".

>"Non-Doppler".
Changelings are basically "the people"; they're everywhere, they're most of everyone, and they're the overwhelming majority humanoid in the world making up as much as 65% of the world's population, so the term "Non-Doppler" is basically their catch-all species-centric term for any other humanoid that isn't a Changeling, typically: Orcs, Humans & Centaurs, Dwarves, and Gnomes. This term is considered mildly offensive and ignorant, but is still commonly used in Changeling communities and even shows up on tax documents and censuses in areas where they make up the vast majority.

>"Giant".
Any being taller than or equal to 8ft tall can and will be called a 'Giant'; especially if the people calling them as such are unfamiliar with their race. Prometheans, Amazonians, Minotaurs, Trolls, Ogres, Ettins, Cyclopes, and even the towering Bronze Colossus are all vaguely labeled as Giants by normal folks.

>"Dragon".
In a similar case of ignorance, so too will you find people screaming about "Dragons" whenever they have a run in or survive an encounter with any sort of sufficiently large and intimidating Reptile or Dinosaur. T-Rexes, Allosaurus, Wyrms, Wyverns, Drakes, Cockatrices, Basilisk, even particularly large Crocodiles or Monitor Lizards will get people excited, regardless of the number of limbs or the presence of wings.

I like keeping everyone essentially human, honestly.

I roll trolls and Giants together, anything with scales or a carapace is descended from The Horizon Beast Ngolgagr and are therefore technically dragons. kobolds are a generic term for any sort of imp or goblin.

>"Animal People" or "Beast Men"
Animal People are loosely defined as any being with the head of an animal and an inability to harness the "power of fire", meaning any species as of yet incapable of independently forging metal tools themselves. There are dozens, hundreds, of different Animal Person species spawned from Mammals, Reptiles, Birds, Fish, even Insects, so it would be futile to list them all.

>"Outsider(s)"
The world's word for "Alien" or extraterrestrial, basically any organism both sapient or otherwise who's origin is from beyond the stars is refereed to as an 'Outsider'. Elves, Rabbits, and a particular species of huge, eight-legged, blue, 'Horse', are all refereed to as Outsiders... Though, it's considered quite rude and discouraging by Elves who've made great attempts at assimilating into the terrestrial cultures, ethics, and norms to be called Outsiders by the locals.

That's pretty much it, or at the very least whats come up so far or what I've had to use in practice.

>How do you sort the inhabitants of your setting Veeky Forums? Do you differentiate... How so?
>>Fairys, Pixies and Sprites?
Elemental nature spirits.
Sprites = Wind spirits
Fairies = Plant spirits
Pixies = Light spirits

>>Gremlins and Goblins?
Goblins=Shaved chimps
Gremlins=Undead goblins who feed on poluted water.

>>Zombies and Ghouls?
Zombies=Corpses possesed by souls that can't move on.
Ghouls=Corpses possesed by malovelent souls.
Vampires=Corpses of powerful mages that rose from the dead.
(all of them can evolve up to being Vampires if they are evil enough)

>>Demons, Devils and Daemons?
Demons = Chaotic Evil shitbags created from the darkest corners of the universe.
Devils = Lawfull evil beings of the afterlife that trick mortals into making deals to eat their souls.

>>Merfolk and Nagas?
Merfolk = subrace of Humans with webbed feet and waterbreathing. No fish tail bullshit.

Nagas = Chimeric beings created by a curse of a snake god.

>Do you relate...
>>Yokai and Fey?
Yes.

>>Cyclopses, Ogres, Onis and Ettins?
All of them are Ginat subraces (Onis are fey tho)

>Do you prefer...
>>Pig or green tusked man Orcs?
Pig Orcs beat Nigger orcs any day.

>>Canine or reptilian Kobolds?
A mix of both. Dog face, lizardman-midget body.

>Feel free to add more questions as long as they're related to fantasy creatures

>Elves and dwarves as subraces of Humans or sepparate species?

>6 limbed or 4 limbed dragons?

>Shapeshifting sapient or basically sky-killer-whale beasts?

>TES levels of High Magic or spells that barely do anything outside of rituals and magic gear?

>Werebeasts being a curse or separate races of beast-men?

>Coloquialism
Yeah, coloquialism is a possible answer to my thread but not the only answer, you get? In my example
>Demon - Coloquialism, the catch-all term for the Nether beings
>Daemon - Beastial demons, animalike, mutants(lets say a human head with 8 human hands like a spider) or straight up monsters
>Devils, humanoid demons with minor irregularities like horns, wings or goat feet

>kobolds are a generic term for any sort of imp or goblin
So kobolds mean small mischievous creatures? So they could be hellish like imps, animalike or like the average goblin? I like this idea

This guy got the thread spot on

>Elves and dwarves as subraces of Humans or sepparate species?
I like elves having fey ancestry(so not particularly fey) being a counterpart for humans. Gnomes being the dwarf counterpart


>6 limbed or 4 limbed dragons?
Dragons are their own phylum, Sharingan It with wyverns, wyrms and whatever

I don't get these two


>Werebeasts being a curse or separate races of beast-men?
There are two types of beastmen: Taurians(centaur, lamia, fish-tailed merfolk, minotaur) that are half animal half human. And actual beastmen, that are antropomorphic animals like lizardmen. Werecreatures are a Cursed being

Yeah. Too often fantasy creatures are classified via an absolute taxonomy rather than a relative one like actual antique bestiaries. An account of a goblin, an imp, or a redcap will all seem identical to a scholar in some dusty library thousands of miles away.

>Do you differentiate... How so?
Mortals: which have souls, can die and have a next life.
Soul-bearers: related but a greater range. Creatures which somehow contribute to Creation. Includes the planet and gods.
Everything else: monsters, cosmic parasites (devils), non-pranic based creatures (demons), mana-based entities (fey and crystalorigamic lunar beings).

>Do you relate...
>Yokai and Fey?
Didn't define yokai yet, but not likely.

>Cyclopses, Ogres, Onis and Ettins?
Cyclopses count as a degenerate type of giant.
Big orcs replace ogres.
Onis are a hobgoblin tribe which uses parasitic snails whose shells are horn-like.
Ettins weeren't used or put into the homebrew so far.

>Pig or green tusked man Orcs?
Ape-like, scars made of bone, bone reinforced with iron. Not a playable race.
Hobgoblins are the green/red/black/brown tusked "orcs"

You're right. I think i'll steal It but change Kobolds for Gremlin because I just like the sound of kobold better

>can die and have a next life.
They reincarnate or they spend their next life in another plane?

>Living planet world
Have you ever thought of making nature spirits act as the planet immunologic system? Maybe even looking like actual cells

>Ape-like, scars made of bone, bone reinforced with iron. Not a playable race.
Scars? You mean scales?

>They reincarnate or they spend their next life in another plane?
Reincarnation. For example, a possible reincarnation for kobolds are draconians, which in turn may be dragons in the next life. The greater one are in this life, the best his chances for the next. Don't have planes.

>Have you ever thought of making nature spirits act as the planet immunologic system?
Those are heroes and mostly adventurers. The existence of the god of heroes is to foster such individuals.

>Maybe even looking like actual cells
I do have spiritual microorganisms called gigelorum which drive evolution and other forces of nature.

>Scars? You mean scales?
Pic related. They eat iron, metabolized into their bones. Scar tissue is made of bone. The more they fight and get hurt, the stronger they get. They don't even know how to use tools or fire, are simply beasts driven on damaging civilization.

bump

>Fairys, Pixies and Sprites
Usually fairy/fey/fae is the general term. I often don't differentiate 'fairy' and 'pixie,' but if I do then pixies tend to be more aggressive and malicious. Both of them I like to have as elf-like things with insect wings, while sprites are more like nature spirits.

>Gremlins and Goblins
Gremlins are even smaller greenskins than goblins. The order is usually something like Ogre/Troll > Orc > Hobgoblin > Goblin > Gremlin.

>Zombies and Ghouls
Zombies are corpses reanimated by magic. Ghouls are more like vampires: they're something you become if you get bitten by one or eat their flesh. They're still you, but in an Undead state, and usually they're like fast zombies from modern horror films like 28 Days Later or I Am Legend: fast, strong, aggressive, but they need to eat people.

>Demons, Devils and Daemons
A lot of the time I don't differentiate these, but if I do then 'demon' is the general term, while a devil is a type of demon: red skinned guys with goat legs and horns.

>Merfolk and Nagas
Merfolk are people with fish tails instead of legs, nagas are people with snake tails instead of legs.

>Yokai and Fey
I don't usually relate these because I tend to keep eastern mythology out of western based settings.

>Cyclopses, Ogres, Onis and Ettins
Usually I use cyclopses as a type of giant while ogres are greenskins. I don't use onis a lot because eastern myth, but if I do then they're a type of brutish demon. Never used ettin in any of my settings yet.

>Pig or green Orc
Pig/boar orcs!

>Canine or reptilian Kobolds
Reptilians.


Questions for other people:
>How do you differentiate, if at all: dragons, drakes, wyverns and wyrms?
>Orcs, goblins, ogres and troll as related species, or are they all different things?
>Are gods, demons, angels and spirits all definitely different things, or just the same thing perceived differently by mortals?

>Elves and Dwarves as subraces of Humans or seperate species?
Dwarves as subraces of humans, Elves as something related but altogether different.

>6 limbed or 4 limbed dragons
Generally I prefer 6 limbed dragons over other types, but my settings will usually have a whole bunch: 6 limbed dragons with two wings and four legs, 4 limbed dragons, 2 limbed dragons, dragons with no limbs, etc.

>Shapeshifting sapient or basically sky-killer-whale beasts?
Monsters. They're really cunning and might be smart enough to understand some speech, but they're still monsters. They don't talk and they don't shapeshift.

>TES levels of High Magic or spells that barely do anything outside of rituals and magic gear?
Ritual magic. I wouldn't say they 'barely do anything,' as magic can have incredibly powerful effects, but it tends not to be so obvious and bombastic as laser beams and instant effects.

>Werebeasts being a curse or seperate races of beast-men?
A curse that makes you transform and lose control at night or under the full moon.

>Fairys, Pixies and Sprites?
Same shit.

>Gremlins and Goblins?
Gremlins are much smaller. They're the size of a newborn baby at most, while goblins grow to be the size of a twelve year old. Gremlins are more destructive and can be solitary or live in groups. Goblins have a disfunctional tribal organization, but that's at least something.
Also, goblins are green and gremlins are this pink grayish disgusting color.

>Zombies and Ghouls?
Ghouls have a feral quasi-intelligence. They don't use tools, but set up ambushes and can be sneaky. Zombies are vegetables at best.
Visually, zombies are much more rotten, while ghouls are usually fresh-corpse-looking.

>Demons, Devils and Daemons?
Same shit.

>Merfolk and Nagas?
Merfolk are, well... mer. They're fish people. Naga are snake people.


>Do you relate...
>Yokai and Fey?
Regional variants, but essentially the same.

>Cyclopses, Ogres, Onis and Ettins?
One big family, with regional/tribal differences. Cyclopes have sacrificed one eye for knowledge. Nobody knows what the deal is with Ettins.

>Do you prefer
>Pig or green tusked man Orcs?
Green tusked men. Orcs are the "we could be friends under different circumstances" race.

>Canine or reptilian Kobolds?
Reptilian. Canine's reserved for werewolves.

>Pig or green tusked man Orcs?
Neither.
>Canine or reptilian Kobolds?
Neither.

Wait, so orcs are swine men and are related to ogres, goblins and gremlins? Are they also swinelike?

>How do you differentiate, if at all: dragons, drakes, wyverns and wyrms?
Dragon is the generic term, wyvern and wyrm are specific terms, drake is a young or small dragon

>Orcs, goblins, ogres and troll as related species, or are they all different things?
When orcs are green tusked men they're always related to goblins. Ogres are cousins to onis but with thicker horns. Trolls are hairy horned forest men, related to yetis that are snow trolls

>Are gods, demons, angels and spirits all definitely different things, or just the same thing perceived differently by mortals?
The gods created angels and heaven as a "experiment", other more twisted gods created demons and hell. Spirits are like lesser gods, they can travel through the spirit world and mortal plane at will. They're basically more powerful fey. Djinns are an example of spirit

>Wait, so orcs are swine men and are related to ogres, goblins and gremlins? Are they also swinelike?
Not every setting I brainstorm has pig orcs, some have greenskins. Generally though yeah, either they're all pig-like or they're all green skins. Though, the setting I'm working on right now has boar orcs, with 'ogre' just being a term for larger orcs, while goblins and hobgoblins are creatures orcs create by capturing wild boar or stealing pigs from farms, training them and feeding them a special orc diet, for use as swarm troops and servants. Trolls are something seperate, being dumb cave men things with some elephantine features and a relation to giants.

Why is this nerd wearing his gambeson OVER his maille?

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