Suggest some species!

[Cheomesh]

For those who have been following my posts on my setting have undoubtedly realized, Væl is a human nation.  It is about 80 miles across from West to East, and about 40 miles from North to South.  Bounded by mountains, it is easily defended from land invasions.  Across the sea to the north, Hobgoblins (LN type) and Orcs wage a perpetual war on their own continent.  Væl itself has its own enemies; while the Republic is peaceful still, the mountains to the east are inhabited by a variety of tribes of Trogs, which use kobolds as underlings (I was told you just HAD to have Kobolds) in their "society".  To the south, I intended to have some other sentient mountainous species threatening, but have not yet decided.  Past the southern mountain range is supposed to be Plog, which is a Republican settlement, and to the east is a not-yet decided nation of some given race.  In the north sea, Tritons and Merefolk live, and Væl keeps a good relationship with them.

So I ask you all here to help me flesh it out a bit.  Since my more vocal players say it's a good idea to have more than one player race, I've decided I should probably have at least 3 or 4.  The Hobgoblin nation is on good terms with Væl, who they consider to be respectable fighters if a little agrarian for their tastes.  Thusly, Hobgoblin's will probably be a playable species for my group.  However, I have yet to decide what terrible foe should haunt the mountainous region to the south, and who should live in the land across the mountains in the east.  I want to avoid elves, gnomes and halflings, and dwarfs are probably "done" enough as well.  As you guys probably have more exposure to different sort of creatures than I do, it would be great if you could help.  The only requirement is sentience.  

I'm wary of using stuff from another setting, as I an seriously considering hosting my finial work up as a community done setting for everyone to use, and don't want to feel the wrath of "You stole my X".

Thanks,
M.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

1) I don't mind if you steal ideas from my setting (http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?58879).

2) I recommend checking out published supplements on races.  I don't mean you have to buy them, most of the really good ideas are presented right on the product descriptions page.  Here's rpgnow's Race section: http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?filters=0_2133_0

3) Are there any sort of rules as to what form you want the races to take?  Ex: Should they be humans with funny ears/foreheads (ala elves)?  Can they have animal features (ala gnolls)?  Do you want to draw only from Earth myths of a certain area such as Europe?

[Llum]

Goliaths are a mountain-y race. I think there sentient stone people.

For a playable race, escaped Kobolds could be used.

Animal people are a staple, so Fox/Bear/Elk/Weasel people are all options (any animal would work really).

For something really strange you could have Foam people (people made from foam) Lattice people (people made in a lattice like shape) or Goo people (you guessed it, people made from goo)

For playable races again you could just have different flavors of humans.

[Superfluous Crow]

You could consider checking out the Frostburn 3.5 D&D supplement which focuses on arctic environs (i guess mountains could fall under that category).
Also, calling Goliaths sentient stone people is a little unfair to them. They are one of the few races that possess the powerful build trait and can use large weapons. It goes without saying that they are big and strong; something that you might also have gathered from their name. And they also have tough hides. Their (official) incarnation is as somewhat peaceful nomadic hunter-gatheres.

[Stargate525]

And as far as player 'races' are concerned, don't be afraid to make regions of humans their own 'race.' Elves could be the weak, imperialistic cityfolk, half-orcs could be the fifth generation hicks, and halflings could be products of the slums.

Just because you call them a race doesn't mean they have to have pointy ears, green skin, or big noses, you know.

[Llum]

Ah, my bad Crow. I though Goliaths were actually made of stone.

I think there's a Water/Ocean/Sea and Desert equivalents to the Frostburn book to check out as well.

Also, what about a part-elemental race like the Genasi? (I think thats what the D&D ones are called).

[Cheomesh]

Truly interesting races would be nice.  Hominids would be preferable, due to ease of play.  I checked out your link and there appears to be a PDF based on "alternate" humans I might have to check out, though 4 bucks for a PDF is ludicrous.

The down side to animal races is that it's hard for me to believe that most can speak human languages.  I was going to add Gnoll's originally, but knowing a few things about canine philology ruled that one out.

M.

[Ghostman]

Here's an original race I just cooked up. Use it or discard it as you please.
[spoiler=Dhors]

Dhors

Bipedal humanoids with two heads and two tails. They are tall and gaunt, towering 2-3 head-lengths above a man. Their jawbones are large and bulky, accommodated for their strong teeth and boar-like tusks. The tails are long and flexible, semi-prehensile and taper to hardened whip-like ends. They are entirely hairless, but have very thick, tough skin that ranges in color from deep brown to ash-grey. Their large green eyes are sharp but their ears are just tiny holes at the sides of the head, so they lack much in hearing compared to humans. The most distinguishing feature of Dhors is the pair of heads, which share one mind but display different parts of it: one of them is for the rational part, the other one for the emotional part. It is possible for the heads to actually start arguing over matters, but in most Dhors one head is dominant over the other.[/spoiler]

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

I checked out your link and there appears to be a PDF based on "alternate" humans I might have to check out, though 4 bucks for a PDF is ludicrous.

Like I said before: don't buy them, just learn as much as you can about them for free and make up the rest. :D

[Ninja D!]

Truly interesting races would be nice.  Hominids would be preferable, due to ease of play.  I checked out your link and there appears to be a PDF based on "alternate" humans I might have to check out, though 4 bucks for a PDF is ludicrous.

No...no, it's really not at all. Not if the content is good.

[Lmns Crn]

Indulge me for a moment while I play Devil's Advocate.

Are you sure you actually need multiple playable races? Some worlds work really well with a proliferation of bear-people, cat-people, giant-people, lizard-people, midget-people, and whatnot, and that's fine. In other settings, such things strike me as unnecessary distractions, or things that were added in just because someone felt obligated to include them.

I feel like a lot of people, especially those of us who got our start in gaming by playing D&D, tend to imitate the tropes of D&D without really thinking about it consciously, and without considering that there are other options, other possible ways to craft a setting. Are you sure this isn't what your players are doing when they insist that your world ought to have some playable nonhumans? Are you sure this isn't what you are doing yourself by making this thread? And if it turns out that you are actually subconsciously imitating vanilla D&D, does it bother you? (Hint: It doesn't necessarily have to bother you one bit.)

Pleasing players is a noble goal, and providing lots of juicy character creation options and flexibility is a great way to accomplish it. But as many other posters have already pointed out in this very thread, there are many other ways to arrange your game mechanics to provide such options besides a wide array of playable race choices.

[Superfluous Crow]

@Lium: maybe you are thinking of stonechildren? I think they are from the same book.
and yes, there are also Maelstrom (i think that's what the sea-one is called) and sandstorm. Although it didn't sound like you had a desert. What is the land to the east like?
Small ideas you could use: eyeless humanoids (with other senses), telepaths/psychics, or winged creatures.

[Wensleydale]

So basically you want a mountainous race and some other race (probably one of the playable ones) to live eastways. Right?

Righto.

I agree with previous suggestions of the Goliath for the southern race, but you'd really have to modify them if it's vicious you're going for. If not the Goliaths, I wouldn't give up on gnolls just yet. They don't necessarily have to be just like the gnolls in DnD, or indeed, be called gnolls. They could be canine in general appearance, but they don't have to have dog mouths, or whatever.

As for the eastern race... maybe some kind of sentient undead, even? A society somewhat like Karrnak or whatever it's called in Eberron, or just genuine full on undead. Or you could have dwarves (done either stereotypically or differently) or a different type of human.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

......there are many other ways to arrange your game mechanics to provide such options besides a wide array of playable race choices.

Unless the desire needed to be filled is not playing a human.

I think it's a legitimate desire to want to act as a creature that isn't just another one of the teeming mass people have to be every day.

[Xeviat]

Choosing the races for this setting depends mostly on your needs. I have four suggestions:

1) Let your players choose the races they want to play, and then include those. This is a good option if you don't have anything in mind right now, because letting your players play what they want is typically best.
2) Create races to cover the majority of classes. I'm operating under the assumption you're playing D&D, so generally you want a race that makes good fighters, one that makes good clerics, one that makes good rogues, and one that makes good wizards, plus humans.
3) Stargate's suggestion of treating different types of people as different races is a potentially very good solution. Oriental Adventures, for instance, makes this suggestion for their Japanese-esque setting.
4) Do what many are suggesting and just make races that fit the region, without worrying about their role in game mechanics.

I believe my first idea is ultimately your best, unless you already have ideas for the rest of your setting (if elves don't fit, for instance, then don't have them).

And Silvercat is right; many players don't want to play humans because they're humans in real life.