Soulthieves: probably only humans.
I can't figure out how to work a variety of playable races into the context of the Lands of Heavens' Hand. The way I'm building up the world doesn't accommodate them. I may just wipe all the races except humans.
I hope that doesn't sound too genocidal. This is a fictional, fantastical universe, anyway. Elves and dwarves don't really exist.
In the feudal context particularly, having so many races doesn't work. In the old Soulthieves world of The Island, there was more room for separation and thus for race conflict. Since this world is so compact in comparison and there will be little to no separation (homogenous villages and the like), it kind of eliminates the whole point of the races in that sense.
I'm working out the playable classes more based on their social roles throughout the Uplands, the feudal lands and the Free Borough. They're not easy to delineate on a race basis either, nor does it strike me as a good idea to try to do so.
Removing other races creates new balance issues. Character variation will be entirely dependent on class. This might not always be easy to manage; there would have to be a higher degree of randomization than I had ever intended before. Also, it makes the three-pantheon religion system arguably awkward, because I'd have to work out a more arbitrary means of selecting deities. If I end up with a very large number of classes or class variations, on the other hand, these challenges may not be such a big deal.
Maybe I don't necessarily have to wipe all the races, just most of them. But which ones do I retain? An alternative I've been considering is to wipe all the races except the drako race. That would give some additional importance to the elemental attributes. Another possibility might be to make the drakos or some other race a guardian race of sorts; instead of being a playable race, they might be the race of the sages and other key NPCs.
I suppose another alternative is to have five races: humans, and one strongly associated with each element. But that might take too much bite out of the element reticle.
The final alternative would be to rethink the feudalism of the Lowlands. If I went back to a less monolithic model of regions and villages, it would be easier to accommodate the races and their conflicts. But I don't want this world to be as cynically convoluted or hostile as The Island. I also must remember that I have to add a considerable number of dungeons.
I should also remember that starting characteristics are just that: characteristics to start. As the adventure develops, so does the character. So I may be overthinking the balance problems.
For now, I'm still working on the new classes. I guess I can really come to the decision afterward.
On the plus side, removing races would liberate the world in some ways. I could focus on just developing enemy beings. It would be humans versus the evil without qualification. That would be quite a shift from The Island, but it might be just fine.
I hope that doesn't sound too genocidal. This is a fictional, fantastical universe, anyway. Elves and dwarves don't really exist.
In the feudal context particularly, having so many races doesn't work. In the old Soulthieves world of The Island, there was more room for separation and thus for race conflict. Since this world is so compact in comparison and there will be little to no separation (homogenous villages and the like), it kind of eliminates the whole point of the races in that sense.
I'm working out the playable classes more based on their social roles throughout the Uplands, the feudal lands and the Free Borough. They're not easy to delineate on a race basis either, nor does it strike me as a good idea to try to do so.
Removing other races creates new balance issues. Character variation will be entirely dependent on class. This might not always be easy to manage; there would have to be a higher degree of randomization than I had ever intended before. Also, it makes the three-pantheon religion system arguably awkward, because I'd have to work out a more arbitrary means of selecting deities. If I end up with a very large number of classes or class variations, on the other hand, these challenges may not be such a big deal.
Maybe I don't necessarily have to wipe all the races, just most of them. But which ones do I retain? An alternative I've been considering is to wipe all the races except the drako race. That would give some additional importance to the elemental attributes. Another possibility might be to make the drakos or some other race a guardian race of sorts; instead of being a playable race, they might be the race of the sages and other key NPCs.
I suppose another alternative is to have five races: humans, and one strongly associated with each element. But that might take too much bite out of the element reticle.
The final alternative would be to rethink the feudalism of the Lowlands. If I went back to a less monolithic model of regions and villages, it would be easier to accommodate the races and their conflicts. But I don't want this world to be as cynically convoluted or hostile as The Island. I also must remember that I have to add a considerable number of dungeons.
I should also remember that starting characteristics are just that: characteristics to start. As the adventure develops, so does the character. So I may be overthinking the balance problems.
For now, I'm still working on the new classes. I guess I can really come to the decision afterward.
On the plus side, removing races would liberate the world in some ways. I could focus on just developing enemy beings. It would be humans versus the evil without qualification. That would be quite a shift from The Island, but it might be just fine.