Carcosa Rehab I

So, there's a lot about Carcosa I find boring, silly, or unfun.  A challenge has been put to me to show how I would "correct" Carcosa to be interesting, engaging, and fun.  Never on to shirk a challenge made in good faith, I'm going to be doing a series of posts I'm calling "Carcosa Rehab."  Each one will be my particular spin on something I think could be better about Carcosa.

First up, the races of Carcosa.  In the book all we've got is a bunch of Crayola color-coded barbaric humans.  We're given no sense of their culture, customs, or foibles.  This makes them boring to me.

We can fix that, but at the same time I don't think we need to swing to the other side of the pendulum and craft hyper-detailed Glorantha-style cultures.  All we need here is a handful of details that give us a sense of the setting and we can fill the rest in during actual play.

Here's what I'd use instead of the M&M people:

The Garuush

• the garuush are roach-men who value survival above all else
• the garuush are adept at repairing advanced technology
• the garuush accept books as legal tender
  

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  The Omtrek
  • the omtrek favor missile weapons such as spears, slings, and boomerangs
  • the omtrek worship animal-headed pleasure gods
  • an omtrek must pay his debts in order to enter the afterlife
    
    
    
    The Bassangeer
    • the basangeer are blue-skinned, three-eyed men addicted to mysticism
    • the basangeer are driven into a frenzy by thunder
    • the basangeer are adept at riding dinosaurs
  
  
  
  
  Since there are 13 races in the Carcosa book, I'll do 13 races for Carcosa Rehab.  More next time.
  
  

  

  The Voidanate
  

  • the voidanate are duckmen who believe that all deities are just alien entities in disguise
  • the voidanate tell jokes before battle
  • the voidanate believe that a global apocalypse is coming
    
    
    
    
    
    The Karlbarg
    • the karlbarg are gaunt, mutant scavengers and nomads
    • all karlbarg possess at least a small degree of sorcerous potential
    • the karlbarg tend to worship a being they call He Who Sifts the Wastelands