Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Rise of the Lycans Meets D&D

Okay, so I just finished watching the film "Rise of the Lycans" on television in between handing out treats to the trick-or-treaters.  I've watched it before but it made for good casual viewing a second time.  I was struck again by how "elvish" the vampire armor looked.  I think it's a combination of the helm plumes and the long coat-tail look.  That got me thinking about a game where all the Elves live forever because they are vampires.  That seemed pretty cool, although I seem to recall that idea cropping up somewhere else, so perhaps it's not an original thought.  But then what about the Lycans?  And Humans?

So how about this:
  • Elves = vampires; the dominant culture, civilized yet decadent with a streak of evil; they live either in fortresses in rural areas or citadels in cities; their nocturnal lifestyle means they are always out of sync with their Human serfs.
  • Dwarves = lycans; the barbarians of the wilderness and deep places, but with quite a few in service to the Elves for historical reasons; the clans are stronger overall than the Elves but always fatally divided by feuding and pride
  • Humans = slaves, serfs, chattel; a life of fear and servitude under the Elves; from time to time a hero arises to lead revolt
  • Gnomes = reskinned as Goblins; sneaky, magicky, trying to survive in the cracks between and amongst the Elves and Dwarves; sometimes useful, always untrustworthy
  • Half-Orc = a type of artificial life created by the Elves in an attempt to make a superior race of soldiers and overseers to keep the Humans under control and conquer the Dwarves; part Frankenstein's monster, part Uruk-Hai; they have no past and no future
  • Dhampir = the inevitable outcome of Elves and Humans living in constant proximity; treated as second-class Elves; useful for dealing with the daylight races; stuck in a social-racial niche
  • Wildlings = the shapechanger offspring of Dwarf and Human; tolerated by some Dwarf clans, driven out by others to form tribes or slink back into Human society--until the moon grows full.

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