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Uzumakuko
You could always just use humans than give them different shades of skin or physical traits depending on the region. There is no sin in describing a character dark skinned in a story or anything.
...Well, obviously. stare I'm not sure how to respond to this one.

The most interesting <i>original</i> human description I read was in a book by Sharon Shinn, about an offshoot of humans in the far future. Their skin was pure black (not brown like African-Americans), they had blue eyes, and had red hair (even their pubic hair eek ).
Inventing one is great, but it would be so hard. I've created races, non-human, but I've created them. It get's so complicated. People find it easier to use an already known race than explain them.

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I'm currently working on a series with two races of humans (one more inclined towards magic, non-elven) and three races that are based on cats, lizards, and a sort of alien. Nothing like twisting what we've got here on earth (and what we don't have).

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Make a race then.

I have several races, the main ones I am working on are what I call Acherians and Va'larians. I'll use these as examples.

Acherians have sort of tribal markings on their skin, their eyes glow faintly(not noticable in daylight). Their legends say they used to have wings, but their god was angered and took them away. They are cruel and superior-minded, yet have a love for sculpture and artistry.

The Va'larians are a dark-skinned race with dark hair and light eyes that have no pupils. They are a sea-faring, warrior-like race with no written language of their own.

See? Not that hard to create a race. You just have to think of their appearance, culture, general mindset, etc.
Silverchan
Moror
dwarves, elves, humans, demons, imps, wizards, wyverns, dark angels, goblins, centaurs, to find mor you might want to see Fantastic beasts and where to find them


No, no, no, god, NO.

First of all -- that's a supplementary book to Harry Potter. The beast descriptions are sketchy, and often incorrect in terms of the creature it's referring to...they've been changed to suit the world of the book.

THAT stifles creativity.


In addition, please don't take any ideas from a Harry Potter book, or ANY book at that. Try to create your own race from a mix of two, or one entirely original. Creativity isn't using someone else's ideas.

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Seijaku_Ishida
Make a race then.

I have several races, the main ones I am working on are what I call Acherians and Va'larians. I'll use these as examples.

Acherians have sort of tribal markings on their skin, their eyes glow faintly(not noticable in daylight). Their legends say they used to have wings, but their god was angered and took them away. They are cruel and superior-minded, yet have a love for sculpture and artistry.

The Va'larians are a dark-skinned race with dark hair and light eyes that have no pupils. They are a sea-faring, warrior-like race with no written language of their own.

See? Not that hard to create a race. You just have to think of their appearance, culture, general mindset, etc.
Kewl. 3nodding I think making up the culture and history of a people is just as fun--if not more so--as making up a new race entirely.

One of my human cultures is very loosely based on Mongol nomads. In the Mongol culture, women could be warriors just like the men, and so it is in my culture. The people are called Kehri nomads, and are divided into twelve clans according to the animals of the zodiac (each animal has a year like the Chinese zodiac). Each clan tends to specialize in a certain area: the Horse tribe raises horses, and the Bull tribe raises cattle. The Dragon, Wolf, Hawk, and Leopard tribes tend to be the most war-like, but also raise herd animals. The Carp and the Swan tribe have semi-permanent holdings near a mountain range, and are farmers during the spring and summer. The Owl tribe is the smallest and most mystical tribe, and trains healers, magic users, and scribes. The Fox tribe tends to be mercantile, and the Starling tribe is made up of outcasts and miscreants. The Gazelle tribe raises herd animals and farms. Each tribe is also divided into North, South, East, and Western sects.

And that's just how the people are divided. 3nodding

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Silver Falcon
Kewl. 3nodding I think making up the culture and history of a people is just as fun--if not more so--as making up a new race entirely.

Agreed. My other two fantasy stories(currently taking a backseat to the story I'm working on now) are predominantly human cultures I was having fun playing with. whee

Oh, and your culture sound really neat!
You can find all sorts of races in many diferent books. One of my favorite places to search for races and creatures is in the Dungeons & Dragons books. If anyone whats an overall good idea of many creatures, you should get the Monster Manual. The pictures are pretty good too.

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So, I said to Rowen the other day, I said, "Humans are so cliche." That rhymed...

Yeah...A friend and I have been casually working on a story for the past few years. We have the backgrounds of the different races and cultures and so forth down nearly-pat, but hardly any plot to work with. sweatdrop Most races began as men or Elves and then were shaped accordingly by the Gods during a war, or according to the race's actions. (Kind of like in mythology.)

There are the Chameleons, who as humans defiled a temple and killed the priestesses, and thus were made hideous by one of the goddesses, but granted the power to change their appearance by the God of War.

The Changelings were like centaurs, but hunted as animals despite their higher knowledge. The Goddess of Wisdom gave the creatures a new form at the expense of their voices, and some minor shape-shifting powers if I recall correctly.

The Chimeras were Elves, but because of their tendency to fight beside whichever army was winning the war at the time, the Gods cursed them so that the women would be forever drawn to the sea and the men to the desert. There is a city in-between the women's port city and the men's desert fortress that is the only place a couple of that race can be together. In most respects the males and females are almost like two different species.

And then there are the Winglings, Ariens, Leoshinelles, Dracoshiens, and Geminians, as well as humans and a talking ferret. Man, I'm long-winded.

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Seijaku_Ishida
Silver Falcon
Kewl. 3nodding I think making up the culture and history of a people is just as fun--if not more so--as making up a new race entirely.

Agreed. My other two fantasy stories(currently taking a backseat to the story I'm working on now) are predominantly human cultures I was having fun playing with. whee

Oh, and your culture sound really neat!
Thanks. Sadly, it only features in a spin-off story of two supporting characters, so I don't think I'll be able to get to it in the main story arc. (I have a bad habit of creating waaaay too much hidden backstory for minor characters. This is bad because I'll rarely ever get to use it in the actual story! crying )

And right now I have 2 pseudo-characters...I say "pseudo" because I just started thinking about them a few days ago while playing an Everquest spinoff game. I thought: "How fun would it be to have a snooty dark elf and have him unwillingly attached to a human female somehow?" whee And now I have Feidrin and the currently-unnamed female human sorceress...Sigh...I really shouldn't try to make a whole new culture and storyline, because I REALLY need to work on one of my pre-existing stories.

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Guenivere

Try the website: Faerie Names It offers info on various faerie breeds.


I seriously got completely sidetracked by that website. eek
You should make up a race..it's loads of fun! *huggles her Ords, Gobis, and Fey-Irinn*

Sprites are another not-so-used race...though maybe they fall under fairies..hmm. Ooh, I know! Were-squirrels! xd
I think I'll give you death on this one... That, or mashed potatoes. But no races will come from me, no siree.

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Silver Falcon
Thanks. Sadly, it only features in a spin-off story of two supporting characters, so I don't think I'll be able to get to it in the main story arc. (I have a bad habit of creating waaaay too much hidden backstory for minor characters. This is bad because I'll rarely ever get to use it in the actual story! crying )

And right now I have 2 pseudo-characters...I say "pseudo" because I just started thinking about them a few days ago while playing an Everquest spinoff game. I thought: "How fun would it be to have a snooty dark elf and have him unwillingly attached to a human female somehow?" whee And now I have Feidrin and the currently-unnamed female human sorceress...Sigh...I really shouldn't try to make a whole new culture and storyline, because I REALLY need to work on one of my pre-existing stories.

*pats* It's better to have a well-developed world and not use all the information in the story than to have a poorly developed world that uses all of what little information they have in the story.
So, let me get this straight. You want to be generic, yet you want to be original? So you turn to other people to make up things for you that you can use even though their original inventors could probably do better since they're more familiar with their own ideas? Originality is lacking. Where did all the good writers go?!

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