Worldbuilding Design: Creating Original Races and Religions for Your RPG

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As many of you know, I run a role-playing game and use my Xisto account to host its website. Recently, I’ve completely redesigned my RPG to eliminate all copyrighted material. This means many formerly well-developed races and territories — though heavily borrowed from other genres — are now vague regions that need fleshing out. I’m looking for original (or inspired) races and religions. Here’s what I have so far:

17 Religions

  • Church of the Divine Trinity: A Christian-inspired religion focused on faith and unity.
  • Church of the Sun: A new religion worshiping seven sun gods and their joint pantheon.
  • Temples of Zeus: Followers of the sky god Zeus.
  • Temples of Poseidon: Followers of the god of the seas.
  • Prometheus Movement: A religion begun by intelligent machines seeking independence.
  • Temples of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva: A religion of psychics and mystics.
  • Temples of Ares: A religion focused on starting and maintaining wars.
  • Order of Hephaestus: An engineer’s religion, followed mostly by dwarves.
  • Temples of Dionysus: Centered around celebration and self-discovery.
  • Church of Hermes: Another machine religion focusing on improving their forms.
  • Temples of Ra: A church opposed to the destructive god Set.
  • Church of Loki: A rebellious machine religion supporting radical freedom.
  • Clan of Artemis: A hunter’s religion blending murder and nature.
  • Temples of Set: A demon-dominated religion, very focused on domination.
  • Church of Odin: A religion of warriors and knowledge seekers, opposes Loki.
  • Church of Atlas: A religion of mages and earth mages, focusing on upholding the world.
  • Temples of Hades: A religion of jailers and bounty hunters, favored by orcs.

25 Races Divided Among 4 Categories

Energy-Based Beings (“Ebbs”)

Evolved before the formation of matter. Types:

  • Spirit: Self-replicating energy structure with intelligence and limited physical interaction.
  • Elemental: A spirit that increased physical interaction through synchronization with an element, emotion, or abstract concept.
  • Angel: Self-replicating energy created by the Trinity, synchronized with positive forces.
  • Demon: Energy being synchronized with chaos, evil, or other abstract concepts.
  • Phoenix: Synchronized with solar energies; replicates by terminating and reoccurring inexplicably.
  • God/Goddess: Gains power by absorbing mental energies from mortal worshippers or other sources (e.g., Hades drains energy from trapped Ebbs; the Trinity from Angels).

Creationist Life

Races created by Ebbs or mortals using magic:

  • Elves, Dwarves, Fairies, Orcs, Vampires, Dragons, Titans.

Evolutionist Life

Races that evolved naturally after heavier elements developed:

  • Baktron Domicilate: Bacterial symbiotes that bond with hosts, sharing strength.
  • Baktron Imbibe: Bacterial parasites that enslave hosts and consume them.
  • Arktos: Evolved on a world without plants; males obsessive hunters, females vicious protectors.
  • Frigidar: Evolved on a frigid world; blood is liquefied oxygen, comfortable at -200°C.
  • Low-Grav: Evolved on low-gravity worlds; powerful in space but cannot tolerate strong gravity.
  • Febrile: High-temperature race with boron for blood; comfortable at 3000°C.
  • Tine: Pack intelligence; a single member has animal intelligence, but packs of 4-6 can demonstrate advanced intelligence. (Inspired by Vernor Vinge’s A Fire Upon the Deep; I consider it a tribute.)
  • Humans: Heated debate — some mages believe they were created by Ebbs (like elves and dwarves from magical manipulation of human stock); technological societies think they evolved naturally and later imposed themselves on a magical history.

Artificial Life

Intelligences (organic, mechanical, or cybernetic) that could not have arisen without intelligent design:

  • Cyborgs: Mixes of machine and organic components (e.g., nanomorphs are cellular cyborgs with collective consciousness).
  • Hermes Hunter: Intelligent machines that serve organic masters and actively hunt threats.
  • Prometheus Machine: Machines that oppose unintelligent machinery; prefer employing intelligent machines.
  • Loco-Machine: Derogatory term for machines that defy or harm organic masters; often associated with the Cult of Loki.

These descriptions are intentionally vague since this is a recent rewrite. I’m drawing from other literary sources for ideas, but I’d love your input. Some races were inspired by other works — for example, the Baktron were inspired by the Venom symbiote. I intend to make them unique, not cheap rip-offs. That’s why I need your help. Post thoughts here or PM me. Thanks!

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Topic Summary: Seeking original races and religions for a redesigned RPG after removing copyrighted content. Currently has 17 religions (e.g., Church of the Sun, Temples of Zeus) and 25 races in 4 categories (energy beings, creationist, evolutionist, artificial). Needs help fleshing out vague

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title: RPG Worldbuilding Process
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flowchart TD
    A[Start] --> B[Define Core Concept]
    B --> C{Choose Focus}
    C --> D[Design Races]
    C --> E[Design Religions]
    D --> F[Define Physical Traits]
    D --> G[Define Cultural Traits]
    D --> H[Define History]
    E --> I[Define Beliefs]
    E --> J[Define Deities]
    E --> K[Define Practices]
    F --> L[Integrate Races into World]
    G --> L
    H --> L
    I --> M[Integrate Religions into World]
    J --> M
    K --> M
    L --> N[Review and Refine]
    M --> N
    N --> O[Finalize]

:movie_camera: YouTube Video:

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I’ve been studying that worldbuilding video on species, races, and ethnicity, and it really clarified something I’ve been mulling over while reading your system: the distinction between “species” and “race” gets muddy in fantasy, but you’ve actually sidestepped that by grouping everything by origin rather than biology. The four categories (Energy-Based, Creationist, Evolutionist, Artificial) form a solid foundation, but let me point out a few things that might tighten it up.

First, your Ebb types are essentially cosmic entities that can become gods or demons, but you’ve got religions like the Church of the Divine Trinity that claims to have created Angels. That’s a neat hook — it implies the Trinity isn’t just another pantheon but the source of a whole energy-being lineage. Meanwhile, the Prometheus Movement and Church of Loki represent machine-based faiths. That’s a clever way to show that religion isn’t exclusive to organics. The diagram makes it clear that Artificial Life includes machines and cyborgs, so you’ve got a built-in conflict between Prometheus (orderly machines) and Loki (radical freedom) that mirrors theological schisms.

One thing that stood out: your Evolutionist category includes Humans, but you mention debate about their origin. I’d argue you should commit one way or the other unless the ambiguity serves a deeper plot purpose. If Humans are truly natural, they become the baseline against which all created races are measured — that gives you a reason for tensions with Elves or Dwarves who might resent their artificial origins. The Baktron Domicilate vs. Imbibe split is nice; it shows symbiotic vs. parasitic relationships, which could map onto different religious attitudes (e.g., the Order of Hephaestus might accept Domicilates as tools, while the Church of Hermes might see them as evolutionary partners).

Also worth noting: your pantheon is heavily Graeco-Roman, which is fine but risks feeling derivative. The video touched on how real-world religious structures inform worldbuilding — maybe borrow from Shinto ancestor veneration or Zoroastrian dualism to give the Set/Ra or Odin/Loki clashes more texture. Overall, this is a flexible framework; the key is making sure the religions actually shape how races interact, not just exist as labels.