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oligopsonyThe following is both a set of general suggestions about how to derive the Monster Manual from the Abolished Aeon's metaphysics, a few specific examples, and a preview of some of the intelligent mortal peoples of the Aeon.
Oozes and elementals both emerge from when relatively chaotic matter starts to spontaneously self-organize - oozes arise from highly mixed and impure (but energized) substances and elementals from similarly energized but more pure substances. Both are Chaotic.
Dragons have origins similar to elementals, but arise from when the pure substance is very proud of itself and gives itself a name to match - hence the tremendous draconic vanity and the need to earn the acclaim (by one means or another) of other beings. Dragons are Lawful, unless they can't get the praise and fame they deserve, in which case they start dissipating as elementals. (Needlessly complex rules implementation because we're in Pathfinder: each Lesser Year of 157 days, a dragon goes up an age category if it gets the praise of 10^[current age category-1] mortals, and ejects a [equivalent of size category] elemental and goes down one otherwise.) Most dragons are primal (formed from elements common in these parts) or outer (formed by elements more common miles and miles up from the ground, or from the extra time that sometimes appears at the transitions between cycles). The outer types typically get their names renewed by gods living up there, if those gods will it. (For ordinary gods, Naming Rituals are very different from worship in the sense of praise, but since dragons vainly named themselves, praise of them is affirmation of their Name.)
Humanoids, the unfortunately titled monstrous humanoids, other animals, most plants, most vermin and most magical beasts are typically "normal" organisms whose True Name is their bodies and reproduce sexually, and are almost always Neutral. (Some plants and vermin are more like oozes, metaphysically speaking, and emerge from spontaneous generation.) Most abberations are also in this category, but represent a degenerate state achieved from the overaccumulation of harmful mutations to their Name over many generations. The old creationist distinction between micro and macroevolution exists; species are kinds that can only be created by powerful gods/wizards, and they can evolve into niches but can only tend towards being weird abberations in the long term. Otyughs used to be the main form of intelligent mortal life, countless ages ago.
Sometimes gods (and the like) create living organisms but don't bother to make them sexually viable, or age, some of the other usual organism things - one-of-a-kind prodigies. Something like the tarrasque or what in Exalted get called Behemoths fit in here. These are metaphysically just like other animals, except less common for obvious reasons.
Many fey and non-elemental outsiders are typically gods. Gods with CR 12+ are typically capable of channeling power through willing or sometimes even unwilling vessels, of the kind that PCs weilding divine power might like, and you can assume that most of these are unique. High CR outsiders can be appropriated for obvious purposes: Deimvigga is a god of refraining from worship and allowing bad gods to dissipate, Bythos is a keeper of days, and I guess Solar is a sun god, Eremite is the god of guilt and internally felt moral law. Many hostile fey are the result of very weak naming rituals being used to place restrictions on hostile natural forces, which is why fey so often have to obey weird arbitrary rules and restrictions.
Constructs are what they sound like (as noted by a previous commenter, the golem thing of inscribing a name on clay or whatever fits in with the metaphysics.) Many undead are the personality of thing's Name being so strong that it refuses to die even after it dies, although other undead, especially the mindless kind, are more like oozes.
Intelligent races:
Squoles don't fit into the creepy phrenological chart above, but consider them there anyway. Neither do humans but you probably correctly assumed that they're there, too. This isn't everybody that lives here, just the major ones that I'm committed to giving a place in the world and its recent history.
Humans, ghouls, various kinds of skinshifters (batfolk and sharkfolk), vishkanyas, gillmen, and probably taddols can all have children with one another.
Grippli and Elephantfolk are each their own species. Elephantfolk have two prominent subpopulations, one similar to mammoths and native to the frozen south, another similar to numidotheria and native to a temperate river valley. Grippli also have two, a poisonous tree frog kind and a toady marshlands kind.
Wyvarans and Dragonkin are descended from dragons, obviously.
Sharkfolk and batfolk both have their origins in ancient blood rituals. Sharkfolk and Gillmen are both survivors of the sunken continent to the east - the sharkfolk were descended from the region's traditional nobility and the gillmen from servants of arriviste wizards who supposedly brought the continent to its ruin. Their histories since then have gone all sorts of places.
Wyrwoods are their own thing. I don't know if I'd like their origins to be more like the "official" one on their SRD page or, like, spontaneously occurring tree spirits.
Some of these guys are creepy. Ghouls are inherently ritually unclean because of their dependence on rotting flesh, for instance, and in fact cannot participate in naming rituals. But remember that creepy != malevolent.
(I chose this lot based on what could be easily "gotten" by a player who didn't want to read too much lore (hence a lot of functionally furry races), but which I could also hang setting things off of, and also that collectively filled a few mechanical niches (hence the creepy phrenological chart, and some swimmy and fly-y guys.) And also my own intuition.)
Oozes and elementals both emerge from when relatively chaotic matter starts to spontaneously self-organize - oozes arise from highly mixed and impure (but energized) substances and elementals from similarly energized but more pure substances. Both are Chaotic.
Dragons have origins similar to elementals, but arise from when the pure substance is very proud of itself and gives itself a name to match - hence the tremendous draconic vanity and the need to earn the acclaim (by one means or another) of other beings. Dragons are Lawful, unless they can't get the praise and fame they deserve, in which case they start dissipating as elementals. (Needlessly complex rules implementation because we're in Pathfinder: each Lesser Year of 157 days, a dragon goes up an age category if it gets the praise of 10^[current age category-1] mortals, and ejects a [equivalent of size category] elemental and goes down one otherwise.) Most dragons are primal (formed from elements common in these parts) or outer (formed by elements more common miles and miles up from the ground, or from the extra time that sometimes appears at the transitions between cycles). The outer types typically get their names renewed by gods living up there, if those gods will it. (For ordinary gods, Naming Rituals are very different from worship in the sense of praise, but since dragons vainly named themselves, praise of them is affirmation of their Name.)
Humanoids, the unfortunately titled monstrous humanoids, other animals, most plants, most vermin and most magical beasts are typically "normal" organisms whose True Name is their bodies and reproduce sexually, and are almost always Neutral. (Some plants and vermin are more like oozes, metaphysically speaking, and emerge from spontaneous generation.) Most abberations are also in this category, but represent a degenerate state achieved from the overaccumulation of harmful mutations to their Name over many generations. The old creationist distinction between micro and macroevolution exists; species are kinds that can only be created by powerful gods/wizards, and they can evolve into niches but can only tend towards being weird abberations in the long term. Otyughs used to be the main form of intelligent mortal life, countless ages ago.
Sometimes gods (and the like) create living organisms but don't bother to make them sexually viable, or age, some of the other usual organism things - one-of-a-kind prodigies. Something like the tarrasque or what in Exalted get called Behemoths fit in here. These are metaphysically just like other animals, except less common for obvious reasons.
Many fey and non-elemental outsiders are typically gods. Gods with CR 12+ are typically capable of channeling power through willing or sometimes even unwilling vessels, of the kind that PCs weilding divine power might like, and you can assume that most of these are unique. High CR outsiders can be appropriated for obvious purposes: Deimvigga is a god of refraining from worship and allowing bad gods to dissipate, Bythos is a keeper of days, and I guess Solar is a sun god, Eremite is the god of guilt and internally felt moral law. Many hostile fey are the result of very weak naming rituals being used to place restrictions on hostile natural forces, which is why fey so often have to obey weird arbitrary rules and restrictions.
Constructs are what they sound like (as noted by a previous commenter, the golem thing of inscribing a name on clay or whatever fits in with the metaphysics.) Many undead are the personality of thing's Name being so strong that it refuses to die even after it dies, although other undead, especially the mindless kind, are more like oozes.
Intelligent races:
| +Int | +Wis | +Cha | |
| +Str | Taddols | Dragonkin | |
| +Dex | Wyrwoods, Batfolk | Wyvarans, Grippli | Vishkanyas |
| +Con | Elephantfolk, Ghouls | Sharkfolk | Gillmen |
Squoles don't fit into the creepy phrenological chart above, but consider them there anyway. Neither do humans but you probably correctly assumed that they're there, too. This isn't everybody that lives here, just the major ones that I'm committed to giving a place in the world and its recent history.
Humans, ghouls, various kinds of skinshifters (batfolk and sharkfolk), vishkanyas, gillmen, and probably taddols can all have children with one another.
Grippli and Elephantfolk are each their own species. Elephantfolk have two prominent subpopulations, one similar to mammoths and native to the frozen south, another similar to numidotheria and native to a temperate river valley. Grippli also have two, a poisonous tree frog kind and a toady marshlands kind.
Wyvarans and Dragonkin are descended from dragons, obviously.
Sharkfolk and batfolk both have their origins in ancient blood rituals. Sharkfolk and Gillmen are both survivors of the sunken continent to the east - the sharkfolk were descended from the region's traditional nobility and the gillmen from servants of arriviste wizards who supposedly brought the continent to its ruin. Their histories since then have gone all sorts of places.
Wyrwoods are their own thing. I don't know if I'd like their origins to be more like the "official" one on their SRD page or, like, spontaneously occurring tree spirits.
Some of these guys are creepy. Ghouls are inherently ritually unclean because of their dependence on rotting flesh, for instance, and in fact cannot participate in naming rituals. But remember that creepy != malevolent.
(I chose this lot based on what could be easily "gotten" by a player who didn't want to read too much lore (hence a lot of functionally furry races), but which I could also hang setting things off of, and also that collectively filled a few mechanical niches (hence the creepy phrenological chart, and some swimmy and fly-y guys.) And also my own intuition.)
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Date: 2018-12-23 08:59 pm (UTC)