This month's RPG Blog Carnival is hosted by Tower of the Archmage, and the theme is animals in RPGs. What better time to talk about the Beastfolk of the Dark Golden Age from bySwarm. In the Dark Golden Age, magic failed just a few years ago and has finally become a shadow of what it once was. Prior to the Collapse, magic was very prevalent: golems were utilized in massive construction projects, animate objects tended to household chores, and fantastic creatures were enslaved through powerful enchantments. The Beastfolk are among the creatures that were created and enslaved before the Collapse.

When we thought of Beastfolk in the Dark Golden Age, we thought of how humans would want to create races of creatures that would put the best of animal traits into human form and why. Because of this point, the Beastfolk races often have perceived traits of their animal kin plus additional traits to help them in their intended roles. Even though they have animal traits, they are still bipedal and appear as perhaps monstrous humans. Here are a few examples.

Houndings - Dogfolk
The Houndings are excellent trackers and known for their loyalty. Because of humanity's close relationship with domesticated dogs, the houndings tended to have the easiest time being among humans. 

Galadines - Mongoosefolk
The Galadines are a race of Beastfolk created to root out spies and thieves. They have excellent reflexes and are very flexible. Because of their created role, they have a hard time lying.

Testudo - Turtlefolk
The Testudo are one of the few Beastfolk races that varies significantly in appearance from humans. The Turtlefolk actually have a carapace, although not one strong as an actual turtle's. They were created to serve as manual labor.

We have several other Beastfolk races that were are developing, and some of them are more "traditional" Beastfolk such as Bearfolk, Catfolk, and Lupines. Check out the Beastfolk section of our web site for more information.