Races (template)
From Tearsofblood
<This is an editable template for Race write-ups. It is suggested that all such write-ups are written using this formatting and guidelines. Additionally, this template should be referenced and adhered to for edits to existing pages.>
<To use this template, click edit and copy/paste the entire contents of this page into your new page. Delete all the text in angled brackets (<>) or replace them with appropriate text. They will contain guidelines, however, which should be adhered to.>
<While writing any page, remember to enforce the tone and feel of Ursoule through use of language. This is not an encyclopaedia. While pages should be factually accurate, it's suggested that write-ups contain appropriate drama and dark tone to the best of your writing ability, as well as plot hooks thrown in wherever it's not too obvious.>
<Where the length of sections is given in lines, this refers to the number of lines taken up in the edit form, including paragraph breaks.>
<This template is currently under revision. Changes will be made by the community as discussions continue.>
<Please delete the following page break before publishing your page:>
<Welcome to the Races Template. You'll find this template is almost exactly the same as the race entries in the Player's Handbook. To open your write-up, include two or more paragraphs introducing the race in question. This should be a catchy, engaging piece, highlighting only things that might make players interested in the race, and providing a concise overview (which must, at the same time, be all you need to read to know what the race is "about").>
<An appropriate length for this piece should be a total of about 20 lines.>
Contents |
Personality
<About 10 lines should be given to this subject.>
Physical Description
<Between 15 and 20 lines should be used to describe how each race looks. However, as certain races are more or less complicated to descibe than others, some discression should be used here. This could also cover how members of the races generally dress, if appropriate.
Relations
<Anywhere between 10 and 20 pages might be appropriate for this section, although this number should be refined by community discussions.>
Alignment
<Only about 5 lines should be needed for this section. Bear in mind this should only hint at trends and the basic reasons why, and not rigidly define the alignments of the entire race.>
Lands
<This section could include up to 25 lines outlining some fair important details of the domains of the race in question. Important sites and settlements, noteworthy border conflicts and so forth should also be included where appropriate.>
Culture
<Likewise, 25 lines should be enough. Details of cultures will be explained elsewhere, but this should give a basic idea of what the race believes and values beyond the opening paragraphs. It should explain outside cultural influences, any pertinent historical influences, and so on.>
Religion
<A tricky one, since certain races find religion very important, and others very unimportant. 20 lines should be sufficient for very religious folk, while 10 should be a bottom limit for the unfaithful. Remember that details will be given in pantheon and religion write-ups later.
Plague Casualties
<Between 10 and 15 lines depending on how severely the Weeping affected the race.>
Language
<We only need around 10 lines. We're not Tolkein and languages should be kept vaguely defined for nothing more than the ease of naming.>
Names
<Note that making this a level 3 header is important for keeping Names as a subset of Languages. Some 10 to 15 lines should be devoted to discussing the basic structure and meaning of the race's naming convention.>
<This may be exceptionally difficult with the write-up on Humans. In fact, this may have to be defered to the cultural write-ups instead.>
Male Names: <Around 15 (give or take one or two) names should be listed in order. If translations are important to note for cultural reasons, they should be put in brackets () after the name. Seperate names with commas, and end the list with a full stop.>
Female Names: <This should be done in the same way as the male names above. Please ensure that the number of female names matches the number of male names.>
<Surnames, earned names, private names, or whatever may or may not follow this, but they should be represented with the same format. However, if a race has a large number of additional names, try to limit the numbers given in each list to save space.>
Adventurers
<Now about 10 lines should be devoted to explaining why any members of this race might become adventurers. Plot hooks should be used liberally, but should be vague enough to encompass large numbers of potential adventurers.>
Racial Traits
<Finally come the racial traits. This should be done in a bulleted list. To do this, simply add an asterisk (*) to the start of each line. Where traits exist already for PHB races, the text should be formatted exactly as seen in that book.>
- +X Attribute, - X Attribute: ... are ..., but ... . <Firstly, include any attribute modifications. Always use the full name of the attribute, and not just its three-letter abbreviation. Bonuses should always go before penalties. After this should follow a short sentance saying it in layman's terms. "The race is good in this way, but bad in this way". See the PHB for examples.>
- Size: Text. <Again, check the PHB for details on how to do the "text".>
- ...'s Base Land Speed is ...ft.
- <Now should be listed all the additional bonuses and penalties the race recieves. Where the trait is represented initially by a name (e.g. "Low-Light Vision: ..."), the name should be made bold, and appropriately capitalised).
- <Ordinarily, automatic and bonus languages would follow here. However, I think we may have a more effective system already in place. as discussed on the Names and Languages thread.>
- Favoured Class: ... .
- <"Optional Favoured Class:" may follow here if approrpiate.>
<This brings us to the end of this template.>
