Realms Population & Society

Last 3 Edits

13th Nov, 2019. Finally returned. I have sorted out all the race/species pages so people can roll random now & I can add more easily due to the way they are done. (See links in Race/Species Group table below).
21st July, 2018. Page created and Started. Up to relationship to ruler. (Also need to do the race/species pages).


Use this page and the Race & Species Tables to determine intelligent beings for your realms.

1. RACES/SPECIES

In this section you will determine intelligent beings that occupy each realm. Such creatures are capable of being part of a society; be it as rulers, common folk or slaves.

Number of Major and Minor Races

Major races make up at least 20% of the population (2d4 x 10% split between the major races).
Minor races make up small pockets of the population. Minor races take up less than 20% of the population (typically between 1% and 10% each).
It is a good idea to leave leave 1-3% for races found in nearby regions and unique individuals or members of races from distant lands or planes.

Major or Minor Race Realm Level 1st - 6th Realm Level 7th - 12th Realm Level 13th - 17th Realm Level 18th - 20th
Major races 1d2 1d2 1d3 1d4
Minor races 1d6+2 1d8+2 2d6+2 2d10+2
Race%20Line-up.jpg

Specific Race Generation

Below are some massive charts including all intelligent races and creatures that could play a part in a society.

Use the Civilised column for areas where kingdoms, settlements or organisations are set up that are likely to contain more than one race. If a race has communities that are always isolated then they are represented by the Wilderness column, as are actual areas of wilderness.

If the same race comes up, do not disregard the roll. Following the population tables is a ‘Racial Variations’ table where you roll to see how the second group rolled differs from the first. (You may even apply a 10% chance to roll for variations for a singular race).

Major race might have an influence on a Realm’s modifiers. If for example, a highly magical race is rolled, you may wish to add +2 Arcane Attunement.

Roll on this table to generate the general type of race – then roll on the corresponding specific table. The groupings and corresponding tables are done by theme. The races listed first in a group's table are the more common members of that group, whilst the last ones are rare and or powerful individuals that are present mainly for the purposes of determining rules, not general populace. You may wish to select major races from the tables.

Race/Species Group

Civilized d100 Wilderness d100 Aquatic d100 Underground d100 Race/Species/Monster
01-03 01-03 01-03 01-05 Aberrations & Monstrosities
04-07 04-09 04-69 06-10 Amphibian & Aquatic
08-14 10-21 70 11-16 Anthropomorphs & Furries
15-18 22-25 71 17-18 Avians & Feathered
19-24 26 72 19 Celestial - upper plane connection
25-29 27-29 73 20-25 Constructs & Undead
30-37 30-39 74-76 26-35 Draconic & Reptilian
38-49 40-45 77 36-45 Dwarves & Small Folk
50-54 46-51 78-80 46-51 Elementals & Plants
55-64 52-61 81-86 52-61 Elves & Fey
65-70 62-64 87-88 62-66 Fiendish - lower plane connection
71-88 65-70 89-93 67-68 Humans & Near Humans
89-90 71-76 94-96 69-71 Giants & Big Folk
91-96 77-92 97-99 72-91 Goblinoids, Orcs & Evil Humanoids
97 93-97 - 92-97 Insectoids
98-00 98-00 00 98-00 Other Humanoids & Aliens

Race/Species Variants

If the same race appears twice in the above charts, roll on this table to see what the differences are between the two groups. (Can also roll for singular races 10% of the time or to distinguish groups, such as goblin tribes).

Make a note of these differences under the ‘Appearance’ and ‘Outlook’ sections of the Racial entries. (If there are no variations and appearance and outlook are standard – remove these headings).

d100 Racial Variance Descriptions/Ideas
01-03 Ability/Trait scores Non-humans have different racial adjustments than normal. If human, maybe they have racial adjustments like other races.
04-10 Absent 'power' source The race has no connection at all to a random power source (other than martial). Egs: Divine magic, arcane writings, primal connection.
11-13 Alignment/Outlook This group have a very different outlook to others of their kind. Turn one of their key racial outlooks on its head or even a trait like rolling a random alignment. (See ‘Citizen Alignment’ in the ‘At A Glance’ document).
14-15 Altered The race has been physically or mentally modified by magical experiments or from living in close proximity to another, undesired or exotic race, such as having undead grafts, fiendish bloodlines, or aberrant mutations.
16-19 Appearance Hair, eye and/or skin colour is different. This could be normal, such as dark skin living alongside pale skinned humans or as radical as having green-skinned elves.
20-22 Connections A strong connection with animals or beasts native to the realm. They may train them for mounts, guards, companions, familiars, pack animals or they may have unusual domesticated animals such as giant lizards or spiders.
23-27 Cultural Completely different culture, such as a tribal American Indian group living in a realm of knights and wizards. They are likely to speak their own language too. (Use real world cultures for ideas or use a non-standard culture for the non-humans – see ‘At A Glance’ charts). May use a subrace to highlight this cultural difference or role a completely new race and use it for the culture only (so you may get goblins behaving like honorable dwarves for example).
28-29 Elemental connection Has a connection to all or one of the elements or shows demonic traits. Could use a planetouched subrace or roll a random elemental race from above and combine as a bloodline.
30-31 Astral/Outer Planes connection Race has a strong link with an immortal race. Could use a planetouched subrace or roll a random immortal race from above and combine as a type of bloodline.
32-38 Favoured 'power' source These people have a strong connection to, or place great importance upon a particular power source, such as arcane magic, primal magic, psionics etc.
39-40 Flawed Race has a flaw/weakness. Could be a vulnerability, a lowered defense, or a random one from our All Drawbacks page.
41-46 Habitat Race prefers and has adapted to a different habitat to normal members of this race.
47-48 Planar Race is actually from another plane. They may have gated in recently or arrived generations ago.
49-53 Religion Race favours a different set of deities or may even follow a completely different belief system such as primal spirits, ancestor worship, philosophies, a monotheistic religion, non-religious, etc.
54-58 Subrace members of the race have essentially become a new subrace.
59-60 Technologically advanced Access to items and manufacturing methods beyond the standard for their race or the standard setting.
61-62 Technologically behind Race is more primitive than usual. Most likely a savage stone age culture.
63-79 Template Modify the secondary group by applying a random template to them. (Templates have been used in several editions of D&D for example to change a creature).
80-95 Theme or alternate trait Apply a theme (as used in 4E D&D), or alternative trait features as presented in many books.
96-00 Travelers This group travelled from a distant realm and settled here long ago. Choose another realm and use that as a guide.

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Race/Species Relationship to Ruler/Dominant Race

Roll on the table below for each race/species to determine their relationship with the dominant race or ruler of the realm.

Modifiers

  • Same alignment as the dominant race: -10
  • Race is evil alignment: +20
  • Race is chaotic evil alignment: +30
  • Alignment opposite on the good/evil axis to the dominant race: +30

d100 Relationship Description
-30-01 Reverence This minority is actually looked up to by the dominant race. Other races aspire to be as good as this race in whatever it is they are known for. Clearly, the realm as a whole must value what this secondary race is known for.
02-40 Intermixed This is often see as the default or standard set up. This race maintains its own cultural traditions and are considered equal members of the same society, though they may live apart, such as elves settling in the forest of a pastoral human realm.
41-55 Clients This secondary race has its own rulers, but has sworn allegiance to the ruling realm. This situation is similar to a feudal set up where one swears loyalty to another further up the chain. The two cultures remain distinct, but still intermix to a degree.
56-60 Assimilation This race has all but lost its traditions and customs. It shares the culture of the dominant race. (Some racial abilities that rely upon training and cultural exposure should be changed to reflect this).
61-70 Underclass This group may have been conquered by the dominant race, could be refugees, or even freed slaves. In any case, there are laws and customs forbidding them to advance far in the society. Quite often, the underclass is looked down upon and they themselves may be a self-pitying group.
71-75 Ghetto Members of this race are often confined to a particular neighbourhood, reservation or encampment. They may be allowed to come and go, have curfews, or be totally restricted in their movements. There is little interaction with the dominant race, allowing cultural traditions to remain strong and the word of racial leaders within the ghetto holds more influence than that of the ruling government. Often relations are strained between the ghetto race and the major race(s) of the realm, but this is not always the case.
76-80 Enslaved This race has been taken as slaves by the dominant race. This could have happened through conquest or the relationships within a realm may have changed. Long-time enslavement may have changed the culture of the enslaved race. In any case, many of its traditions may have to be practiced in secret.
81-90 Autonomous Whilst this race lives within the boundaries of the realm, they do not consider themselves part of it. This race gathers in pockets and resists the rule of the other race(s). The dominant race most likely does not recognize these pockets as separate from their realm, though sometimes treaties are signed to allow a minority to remain completely independent – in which case a separate realm could be created.
91-95 Persecution Members of this race are openly persecuted and deliberately targeted. There may even be rewards for this. Perhaps this race was an enemy of the dominant race(s) and is now conquered, or they are the scapegoats for a curse or recent failing of the realm.
96+ Enemies This race is the enemy of the ruling race(s), but the rulers have not yet been able to defeat them. They are often on the move or hide in the unwanted regions of the realm. They are too proud to leave their lands and fight the oppressors at any given chance.

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Location (Settlement Patterns) of Each Racial Group

Roll to see where each race is mainly located within a realm. The dominant race typically lives throughout the region (though you can still roll to determine their main settlement pattern).

Modifiers - based upon relationship to dominant race

  • Intermixed: -10%
  • Assimilated: -20%
  • Underclass: -10%
  • Enslaved: -20%
  • Autonomous: +20%
  • Persecution: +20%
  • Enemies: +20%

d100 Settlement Location
01-10 Found throughout the realm alongside the dominant populace.
11-20 Found throughout the region with one exception: (roll again, ignoring results of 30 or less).
21-25 Centrally located within the region.
26-30 Mostly found in the north.
31-35 Mostly found in the northwest.
36-40 Mostly found in the northeast.
41-45 Mostly found in the south.
46-50 Mostly found in the southwest.
51-55 Mostly found in the southeast.
56-60 Mostly found in the west.
61-65 Mostly found in the east.
66-75 Roll twice and combine the locations. If you roll this again, add a third location.
76-95 Located mostly within the terrain that suits the race. Egs: Dwarves - mountains & hills; Elves - forests.
96+ Located in many isolated pockets throughout the region. These pockets are usually cut off from each other, so there may not be racial unity with this group.

Names

Does the realm have any naming conventions, such as using nicknames or a model culture? Write some example names and use this convention for naming NPCs or even places.

You may have already rolled a model culture previously for the realm. Otherwise choose one of the following as a guide. Below is a list of resources for names. (Of course there are many on the Internet too, and in time I plan to add links to good ones. I am putting these here so my books get some use ;)).

Naming Convention/Culture Resource
African - east AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p364
African - Egyptian AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p365
African - south AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p373
African - west AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p375
American - first people AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p370
American - Aztec AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p362
Asian - Chinese AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p363
Asian - Indian AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p368
Asian - Japanese AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p368
Asian - Korean AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p369
Arabia - Arabic AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p361
Arabia - Herbrew AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p367
Arabia - Persian AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p371
Celestial / Angelic AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p382
Dwarven AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p380
Elven AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p381
European - east - Bulgarian AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p362
European - east - Romanian AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p371
European - east - Russian AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p372
European - east - Turkish AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p374
European - east - Ukranian AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p374
European - north - Dutch AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p364
European - north - Finnish AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p365
European - north - Germanic AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p366
European - north - Norse AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p370
European - north - Saxon AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p361
European - south - Greek AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p367
European - south - Itallian AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p368
European - south - Latin AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p369
European - west - Basque AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p362
European - west - French AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p365
European - west - Gaelic AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p366
European - west - Scottish AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p372
European - west - Spanish AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p373
European - west - Welsh AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p374
Fey / Sylvan AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p381
Fiendish / Infernal AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p382
Human - Traditional Fantasy AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p376
Human - Tribal Fantasy AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p381

Languages

State the dominant language of the realm.
List other languages that are commonly known. This makes it easy for players to choose languages for their characters.
Also list any secret or rare languages and what groups of people they are known to.


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