Men and Monsters (PDF)

Mousefolk never think small; it is in their nature to imagine a huge world. Too often, the races which populate fantasy worlds are pulled whole-cloth from a Tolkienesque template, leaving little room for interpretation. Elves are intelligent and long-lived, but otherwise look like humans with pointy ears, dwarves are stoic and industrious, but otherwise look like squat, bearded humans. Halflings are lethargic and friendly, but otherwise look like very short humans. In absence of other works, these character archetypes are truly inspired, but with the march of fiction, they’ve simply become tired staples of the genre. But by their definition, fantastic worlds can play host to a much broader family of races, which provoke the reader’s (or in this case, the player’s) imagination, bringing them deeper into the world through its astonishing residents. This book, Men and Monsters, seeks to provide some new races to populate fantasy worlds, each of which defies conventional fantasy tropes in