>>37586083
it would be easy to design new versions of spells that harpys could cast

although if i was a harpy that wanted to adventure i would get myself turned into a human

One can't put on a belt with hand-talons.

Really, the only reason why harpies would be intelligent is magical intervention, or magical creation. They lack the tool-using capacity that could truly evolve their intelligence naturally.

>>37586083
somatic doesn't specify the ritual, just that you need to be able to perform it.

a race that never had hands would have developed a way around them.

Aren't wings hella strong on some birds?
A swan could break your legs with a good hit, for example.

If I'm not a fucking retard and the above is true, wouldn't this be an interesting idea:

Make shields that are fit to be used by harpies likely requiring someone with arms and hands to put them on and have them have hella-strong shieldbashing capabilities?

Depending on how flexible the wing-apendage is, this could potentially work in a fantasy setting

>>37586083
A shield could never work with frail wingbones. Trying to block a heavy hit wouldn't work for shit, and the shield would have to be large to protect the wing properly; which, of course, increases its weight, which has the same problem.
Even a harpy based on an eagle or similar, with a brutish, huge set of powerful wings, wouldn't opt for a shield.

Any adventuring harpy would either need finger-like appendages somewhere on it's wings, or basically be a barbarian; do nothing, interact with nothing, hurp the durp around, and then go batshit crazy and fly around murdering everything with talons. A mage might work, but it would be the hardcore recluse 'I cant even lift my books without magic' sort. Blunt talons for page turning, wings for flying up the bookshelves, tower doesn't have stairs, etc

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What would a harpy based on a flightless bird be like? More suited for actual fighting, perhaps?

>>37586280
You'd call that an amputee, anon

>>37586185
Wing-strength is very situational. Large birds require massive amounts of lift, and so can usually thrash out insane power through their wings to achieve so, but this is mostly muscle. There are no birds afaik that have wings that can survive basically any sort of punishment; especially when you take into account feathers and the like. Fucking up a wing is easy, but getting into a position where a swan can karate chop your arm isn't.

>>37586083
You fly. You drop shit on people.
Like harpoons, lawn darts, grenades, D4s, Molotov cocktails...

>>37586083
What if harpies, while unable to develop or use textiles or technology in any meaningful way, still possessed the intelligence and drive of other humanoids, and proceeded to enslave/employ/breed other humanoid races to take care of that for them? Getting them dressed, using tools, performing labor, etc.

Also compatible with the notion of harpies being all female and capturing human males for breeding purposes.

>>37586299
I'm not sure why, but reading this post made me thing of harpies with turbofans for wings.

why not be a batgirl instead? Useful thumbs.

How about harpies that can change between hands and wings with magic?

>>37586280
Not really. They'd be tougher than regular harpies, but other races like humans already have toughness. Flight is the main advantage a harpy has, one that doesn't have this is not a useful harpy.

Really, using harpies for any combat other than bombing from high up and possibly opening castle gates is a terrible idea.

>>37586083
>Magic isn't better either, unless you forgo somatic components.
Nonsense. If somatic components had to be human hands only natural spell wouldn't require the, but natural spell still requires the druid to use somatic components appropriate to his animal form.

>You substitute various noises and gestures for the normal verbal and somatic components of a spell.

Wouldn't bard and monk make more sense? Same with sorceror. Harpies already use song a lot, and you need only your voice to sing. Sorceror doesn't need to worry about books, just the somatic aspect which could be handled with the feat designed for when you lack standard appendages, think it was in either Lords of Madness or Races of the Wild, but there is one custom made for this issue in a splatbook. Hell, maybe even Savage Species. Anyway, monk would boost their natural melee abilities and remove the item issue a bit.

>>37586410
> Harpy learns Slow Fall
> "Yay?"

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OP needs to play Katawa Shoujo.

>>37586444
A lot more situational, but if something binds your wings it would help. Or if you are in a dungeon with your party.

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What if said harpies are structured like pic related?

>>37586459
Was there ever any doubt that harpies could paint and disappoint art teachers?

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Maybe a talon-like thumb on the wing could help with everyday tasks like opening doors and shit.

But really, you need hands with your wings.

>>37586522
I always thought their solution was charming song.

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>>37586548
> Detachable wings

>>37586140
They could be as smart as crows or parrots without magic.

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I think the Pokemon series has the right idea with this one: Skarmory. It's an armored bird of prey with metal wings. It's main focus metagame wise and in accepted canon is how sturdy it is despite being one of the most frail types. Now, if we take this idea and transfer it to harpies, we have armored harpies. That's simple enough, but the armored feathers make the difference. Maybe some sort of easily consumable potion either something talons can grab at or with fantasy-approved silly straws
or magic armor can give them the sturdy yet light weighted armor they need to not be long range combat exp pinatas or a wasted hour of character creation.
They'd be relatively quick but armored to the point where in theory they could be a damage sponge for their party or even make a dangerous mad dash for the all important plot device, all without being to overpowered because their speed would still be hampered by freaking armor. The armor could be stylized to whatever regions are in the setting, the wings and talons provide multiple methods of attack, and it's a variation on the norm of "if it's a bird, make it fast".

pic for reference and up until I just wrote this shit up I never realized how derpy this thing looks holy shit

>>37586083
>It must be seriously painful, in the everyday life, having wings instead of arms.

Well then thank the gods that harpies live like birds and not like humans.

> Forget about weapons.

Their Talons are weapons and they can fly.

>Magic isn't better either, unless you forgo somatic components. Good luck casting those spells with wings.

Song magic, dance magic and harpies in greek mythology could speak bad prophecies and curses.

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Armour: anything heavy is out, any decently-sized harpy probably couldn't fly with anything heavier than padded cloth.

Foot weapons: light spears maybe? Bows, if they have the dexterity and leg strength.

"Manual" dexterity: Crows are dextrous, but they have beaks, a human face isn't so useful, and very bendy feet can only do *so* much (which could still be a lot compared to most animals)

>>37586083
>>37586364
>>37586498
There are a few birds that still have vestigial fingers/claws at the ends of their wings, weak but usable hands aren't out of the question.
(Also lets you play up the archaic aspect a bit more, why have bird-girls when you could have transitional-dinosaur girls?)

Finally: Bird torso or human torso?

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How about some harpy arms /tg/?

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>>37586578
>despite being one of the most frail types
>steel
>literally the best defensive type
>flying removes fighting/ground weakness too


OT: Why not just have WoW style harpies, pic related, with hands on the end of their wings

>>37586497
>situational
>for a creature that's airborne at least 60% of the time
If anything happens to a harpy when it's in the air it'd be completely fucked. They're super vulnerable to attacks, and other flying monsters and sudden gusts of wind. A harpy needs slow fall like a fisherman needs a life vest.

Let's talk clothing:
>>37586083
Belts for hanging things, maybe can be grabbed with feet(?). Pretty good. Not sure how she puts on the bra, or why something that flies would have such an underdeveloped chest (Hypothesis: you're a paedophile)
>>37586498
That suit is awkward, but possible with very flexible wings, probably has quite long slits down the sides for wings. Tight, low drag. Stylish. 10/10
>>37586522
I doubt this one can fly and she has thick, human arms, so whatever.
>>37586548
This is a stripper or something. "Practical" never came into it. (heh, "came into it")
>>37586974
Filename. Might also struggle to put that bra on without it twisting and it might ride up as she moves around, unless there's another strap somewhere, which might be worse as it would need to go under her wing. (Props for posting a proper harpy though)
>>37587072
Not bad, from a practical point of view. A bit tedious to get on and off, but that's the price of having a huge tail and pair of wings growing out of your back.
>>37587076
Exotic dancer. Probably can't fly anyway.

>>37587256
>exotic dancer, probably can't fly
I was just pointing out the hands on wings thing

Also, if your harpies need to look like they could definitely fly irl you're doing fantasy wrong
Bone structure and strength needed of a humanoid already defeats the "can fly" issue

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This is how I harpy, sort of. No arms, just wings. Feathers all over. Strong, dexterous talons. Fighting style involves Chun Li-tier legwork. No clothing, but you can't see anything behind several inches of feather anyway.

I've been wanting to do something interesting with harpies for a while now; I'm thinking of homebrewing a "True Harpy" for D&D 3.5, since the harpies in D&D are garbage.

>>37586974
>why have bird-girls when you could have transitional-dinosaur girls?
>>37587450
I hearby support this motion for feathers, scales and claws.

>>37587256
Tank tops and dresses would be the easiest clothes for harpies to wear.

>>37587399
>Also, if your harpies need to look like they could definitely fly irl you're doing fantasy wrong
Bone structure and strength needed of a humanoid already defeats the "can fly" issue

Sure, I'm not asking that the aerodynamics works out; but even in fantasy, you want something that looks like it could fly, to people. I don't want to have to handwave every creature as "magical".

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For some reason I was thinking the harpy in Dragon's Crown was a full female torso sticking out of where the bird's neck would be. I was wrong though so here's this.

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I really like witcher harpies. They are both vaguely humanoid and bird-like enough to look very unsettling.
The fact that they dropped dead so fast made them less scary.

>>37587529
You'd need quite wide arm openings to not interfere with your wings, that means the dresses would have to be either very tight, or risk flashing boobs.

Assuming harpies care about human standards of decency, which for this argument we'll say they do.

>>37587076
Flying type a shit, steel is just so awesome of a type that it makes up for it because they work really well together. And in response to your pic, the wings don't seem too practical as far as aerial combat goes. They look more fragile than most harpies which is saying something. Maybe if they were mages that used forests or high rooftops to get the jump on their prey that'd be cool but otherwise I'm not seeing it.

>>37586565
Wat?

It's just to illustrate the contact surface the wing has with the arm.

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Flightless humanoid birds?

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I think its pretty clear that realistically a humanoid harpy wouldn't be able to fly with such flimsy wings. That's what fantasy is for anyway.

And flight is not needed to play an interesting harpy either.

>>37587596
They could always have a wide opening that's laced and tightens with a drawstring. It'd be pretty challenging for harpies to make clothing, so what they got would probably suit someone elses sense of decency.

I tend to prefer the idea of flat chested harpies, so there'd definitely be more side peek.

The biggest issue for them would be underwear. Flashing tits is one thing, but when you've higher than people your vagina is a bigger concern.

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>>37586083
>not having harpy mages based off of peacocks or cockatoos who dance wildly with their plumage while strutting and bobbing their heads to cast spells
>not having harpy rogues based off of Birds of Paradise/Lyre Birds who can mimic not only voices perfectly, but sounds as well, such as the revving of a chainsaw or whinnying of a horse and try to use this ability in a tavern to pick up chicks
There's a lot you could do with harpies to make up for their flaws, which is why I find the idea of playing them or other monsterfolk so fun and why it's such a shame /tg/ is too obsessed with that MGE sperm drinking faggotry to ever seriously discuss them

>>37586578
Iron Wings sounds like a nifty spell to be used, actually.. Iron wings and bladed feathers to complement the talons as natural weapons.

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>>37587991
I hear you man. I hear you.

>>37587991
>Spoiler
Do not worry, this is not /jp/.

>>37586974
>>37587547
I was under the impression that these two pictures are what harpies are meant to look like, am I wrong?

http://youtu.be/04aYH6Dpv_0

Instead of a backpack I'd think harpies would wear a fannypack backward so they could reach it with their leg.

>>37588135
I wish harpy maids were real, almost all my fetishes in one package. How I wish I could stroke her smooth fluffy wings and assure her she's quite intelligent even if she's a bit of an airhead. Imagination can be its own curse.

>>37588179
Terrifying.
At any rate, I imagine birds are a bit more dexterous with their talons than a human with their feet.

>>37588152
Nope. It's worse.

Just look at those godawful smut threads.

>>37588195
They would probably travel lightly and keep their most vital tools in ankle sheathes.

Harpies are generally regarded as monster-kin in most setting. I always wonder how one would approach a group, and how hard finding acceptance would be.

>>37586548
source?

>>37587677
>flying type a shit
Flying is literally gen VI Dragon as far as abusability goes.

>>37588730
They're also usually considered dumb, treacherous thieves, so the others probably think that the harpy is either planning to backstab them eventually or it decided that adventuring is an easier way to get shinies than robbing people.

Which is pretty much the same thing as a kobold player character if look at it, just with less scaly kender bullshit going on.

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There's Lesper from Mr. Culexus' Bok the neutral

(I think you guys call him stupenduous faggot? Or something like that?)

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>>37588908

>>37588880
I think the problem is the lack of characterization on harpies. They're basically humans with wings that can fly and sing pretty well. Monstrous harpies also tend to kidnap men and eat them. That's about it for pop culture.

However we could easily construct one depending on how they're depicted. For example, natural weapons such as talons are real handy for hunting. They're also handy to climb on trees and rock. However, they are pretty terrible when it comes to walking.

As a result, one could envision the harpy culture as being a forest tribe, living off hunting and scavenging, sleeping in the safety of the trees. Then we could expand from there, keeping the inspiration from birds, and say they enjoy traveling, usually as a group. And since they're rather limited tool-wise, their natural orientation would go toward hunting, the bardic arts, diplomacy, and so on.

That's how I envision civilized harpies myself.

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>>37589997
>I think the problem is the lack of characterization on harpies
There's some clear characterization trends on harpies, which usually are just birdlike tendencies overlapped with the human psyche, leading to the aforementioned foul-mouthed, dim-witted, shiny-obsessed harpy stereotype. Harpy is something you call an annoying woman, after all.

Of course you're very much right in the fact that they tend to vary much more than a lot of standard fantasy races, from instinctual maneaters to good singers with feathery arms.

As for some harpy civilizations/cultures, I know the hawkmen in Ogre Battle 64 had a sort of Native American vibe to them, which goes very well with what you're saying and even works with various regions. You could have bald eagle harpies dwelling in tree, condor harpies hanging out in cliffside pueblos, and so on and so forth. I personally would probably steal from Tropical Freeze's World 2 concept art for one flavor of my civil harpies and make em all raven and owl inspired and dwelling in nordic pines. Of course, just making them Not!Nords is lazy and boring as fuck so it would only be a starting point rather than the end of the concept.

All that said, I still like the idea of playing a foul-mouthed and dim-witted harpy.

>>37586334
Generally to get a subservient people/class you need to be able to overpower/keep said class in line.

>>37590340
As long as the numbers were kept small enough that wouldn't be much of a problem. There might only be a few humans spread throughout the flock, being heavily overworked and abused most likely.

>>37589997
>>I think the problem is the lack of characterization on harpies
Greek harpies are horrible cunts with the worst bits of birds and the worst bits of women.

They're filthy cunts that shed feathers everywhere and shit where they eat, while shrilly hurling abuse from a safe distance.

They were created by the gods to plague people that pissed them off.

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>>37586083
Please consider the following: In a campaign, where flying is very important and / or useful, harpies can become quite useful despite the stated disadvantages. Imagine, for example, the following:

The world broke apart but the pieces are still held together by a central core. Gravity still works as before. When the gods abandoned the earth, cracks appeared and massive amounts of land were sucked to the earth's core It's just a lot of small, floating islands now. These are called disks. Between them is a bottomless fall, a Nothingness, a death by infite falling. During the cataclysm the various races had to scatter to survive.

The dwarves were hit the worst, because the closer you got to the core of the planet, the more damage you received. This hit their underground mountain lairs the worst. A few floating mountainous enclaves exist, basically encased hollow rocks with villages inside.

There are no more vast forests, only a few islands with trees, some as small as Monte Carlo, a tiny nation in europe, not even a few miles in diameter. The remaining elves live there.

Humans lost the largest percentage of people to the cataclysm but are still the most numerous race. They have a large number of disks to them. These vary from Kingdoms, to small trading outposts, to farmland disks, to outlaw outposts.

The other races either integrated with the main races or settled on the countless smaller disks or the new earth.

One of these races is the harpies.

contd. soon.

I remember in space harpies we basically came up with the idea that they had to have thumb claws... and that the males would likely be waaaay the fuck more colorful and flamboyant than female harpies.

You guys can look up the thing on 1d4chan.

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>>37586083
>>37590729
Contd.

Monte carlo link for scale:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Carlo

Magic and mages in general were blamed for the cataclysm. Nobody knows how it started or why. Also the various churches and tribes and shamans cannot contact their gods anymore. Where there was dialog, blessings and imbueing of divine power, there is only static. Even demons and Outsiders cannot use magic anymore, or return to their homes. This lead to partially hilarious and occasionally dangerous results.

Farmland and stable disks with enough space to house large numbers of people are the premium resource now. At first all sings pointed to war. But the harpies prevented that. More on that later.

Mages are regarded with fear, prejudice and superstition. But they are tolerated and seen as a necessary evil, because only they can create, maintain and nurture farmland and water sources. "Normal" growth of food and "normal" water sources are almost unheard off now. The oceans sank away to the core of the earth, and without water, nothing can grow.

Therefore, farmland and the mages to sustain it is a primo important thing. An uneasy truce hangs between the various power blocks and factions. This state is watched over and maintained by the "Central Disk Group".

The CDG's leadership and higher echelon is almost exclusively staffed by harpies. Their headquarter is on one of the biggest, and most central, disks. This disk was one of the first to be "healed" and has the only known natural water source. "Healing" requires large amounts of mana, magic and resources. It is the only way to make a disk sustainable in the long term.

The CDG determine the food and water rations eveyone else gets. At least everyone who recognizes the CDG as a neutral party and signs a contract known as "the Concord".

contd. soon

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>>37586083
>>37590729
>>37591011

All members receive a certain amount of food and water rations that are carried by floaters. Floaters are the most widespread vehicle. They are a mixture of a zeppelin and an airship, powered by magic or steam engines. Every 20 days large caravans leave the center islands toward their destinations.

This arrangement makes sure that all members of the CDG get enough food and water to scrape by. You won't have a feast, but you'll have enough food to survive. Sometimes just barely. The limited amount of food and water that can be produced is made available to all members.

This arrangement was widely accepted because none of the factions (bar two) were able to feed their own populations.

All members must refrain from any kind of hostile act towards other members and from acts that are seen as disruptive to the survival of all the races. They also have to give a certain amount of resources and manpower to the CDG so it can remain operative.

Of course the various factions aren't exactly happy about that. The "richer" ones feel like eing exploited and don't want to share, while the poorer want to maintain the arrangement because they would literally starve otherwise.

Almost every member jockeys for power, more favorable contract conditions, smaller tithes, more control, and so on. They also attempt to make their own faction able to sustain on their own by "healing" enough of their disks to produce enough food for themselves.

As you might have guessed, not everyone is a member of the CDG. Or signed the concord. There are a myriad of independant communities, merchants, bandits, harmless civilians and so on. There are also many remote or unsettled disks and many very small communities, some of them nothing more but a house or a tent upon a small patch of rock.

contd.

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>>37587256
I'm still not sure how she manages to put all this on, but I suppose with the little finger there...

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>>37586083
>>37590729
>>37591011
>>37591230

At a certain distance (measured towards the core of earth) a thick fog, or cloud cover, covers the area. Above that lie the disks, floating in tranquil distance above the cloud cover. They more or less maintain their hight. This cloud cover is seen as a point of no return, as an event horizon. Very few floaters are capable of going "under" and coming back up again.

There are many theories why that is so and what lies beneath. Anyone who falls from a disk can still be picked up and saved if he is above the barrier. Below that, no chance.

Gravity is weird. The closer you get to the barrier, the stronger its pull becomes. Reversely, falling from one of the disks at high altitude takes longer. The closer you get, the faster your fall becomes. Most floaters have a minium "safe limit" of distance towards the barrier. If they go below that, the pull becomes too strong and they go under. And that is sure death.

Disks float at different altitudes. Some of them have a highest and lowest point between which they float. Some do it evenly and slowly, others erratically and quickly. No disk has gone below the barrier. Yet.

This is a world full of desperation. Everyone is struggling to get by. Old titles mean nothing. There is a famous beggar in New Cynt. He was a king once.

There are many uninhabitated disks and many new and interesting wonders to be found. Many disks contain caves, former subterranean areas, water deposits or ancient ruins. Most of these ruins are of a formerly unknown race, with many wonders, artifacts and resources inside.

This attracts people called "Diggers". These Diggers go into those ruins and loot them. There are a myriad of useful or valuable things. Sometimes even magical ones. And of course: Inhabitable space. The tale of Bjorn is famous. Bjorn lead a Digger team into a large disk that is very close to the barrier. It was therefore hard to reach but the expedition was worth it

contd. soon

>>37586140
Harpies in general wouldn't work without magic. The bone structure and overall density of a human torso is too heavy for flight, and the musculature of the back and shoulders is insufficient for flapping wings.

>>37591624
The same can be said for dragons, giants, centaurs, driders, and literally 90% of any setting's bestiary.

>>37586083
Birds can pretty easily stand on one foot to use the other like a hand.

Mine is very fond of holding food in one foot so she doesn't risk dropping it, presumably a Harpy could do pretty much the same for most things we use our hands for (holding things, opening doors, etc).

>>37591624
>>37591675
As this guy >>37587546 seemed to be getting at, they only need to look plausible, so they don't need to be explicitly magical in the setting. Which is why >>37586974 this one's ok but >>37587076 this one needs to be magic.

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>>37591804
I think the standard harpy look like >>37586083 or >>37587991 is plausible enough, but then I don't sperg over tiny shit like how many legs dragons and wyverns have like this board loves to do. Though that said, I've never really liked harpies with arms. It doesn't bother me when they have them, I just feel like winged humans are a little boring and that there's plenty of room for both them and harpies in a setting.

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>>37591598
>>37591230
>>37591011
>>37590729
>>37586083

The nation of Nym, a former seabound merchant empire, seized the island and healed it, turning it into the second biggest settlement, and Nym into one of the only two non-CDG factions that could sustain itself. Bjorn was offered to retire and become the disk's ruler in return for swearing fealty to Nym.

Some of these disks and old ruins are dangerous. Many of them are unexplored. Any Digger group can lay claim to a disk they find. Most of them swear fealty to a faction for protection, as independant groups are not protected by the CDG. Negotiations for CDG-membership take a long time and you never know if a faction isn't just going to kill your group, dump your bodies and your flier to let it fall beneath the barrier, and call it their own.

---

In this world harpies are one of the most valued and owerful races. They can fly without special means and both speak and interact with other beings. They also have higher reasoning. They can act as messengers, mercenaries, spies, general handymans (or handywomen), and so on. Basically harpies are welcomed everywhere. They are just so damn useful!

---

The new world is called Shards. In this world there are many ways to get "rich" or die trying. Rich meaning getting enough food and water and a cushy home without much work.

You can be a Digger, exploring ancient ruins and charting unexplored lands. Either on your own, or as retainer for a faction. You could be a random civilian who woke up one day with only his house and garden standing on a tiny rock, surrounded by nothing, hovering above the clouds.

You could be a harpy, working either for the CDG or freelance. A human, dwarf or elf just trying to scrape by. Or maybe you are a mage, being valued for wizzarding bringing food to the table, but hated for being what you are, at the same time.

>Pictured: New court wizard in not-Arabia disk

>>37586185
Swans can't break human limbs

>>37587596
What about a tabard like cloth? Just a head hole and something tying it up.

>>37591926
Thanks anon, that was a good read.

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>>37586083
>Dem weird pupils
I fucking love this artist.

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>>37586083
>>37591598
>>37591230
>>37591011
>>37590729

You could be jockeying for power and influence as a ruler of a faction, as a soldier, as a simple servant. You could be triyng to find new lands and claim for yourself. Or maybe you just need to find something to earn your next meal?

Perhaps you own your own floater and ply the trade routes, dealing with the rare pirate and more common gravity anomaly, while trying to make a profit and keep your crew fed?

You could be many things in Shards. The only thing everyone shares in common is this: Hunger. And hunger can make people desperate.

> Worldbuilding ends here

Is this successfull worldbuilding? A good setting for an RPG? Would you play it?

Have some plothooks:
1) A new disk suddenly appeared. It is completely uniquie: Most of the time it is submerged beneath the barrier. Sometimes it comes up high enough to land a small group of people on a conveniently placed entrance area.

2) Political scandal! A Digger team claimed a disk but the Pandor tribe killed the diggers and stole it. The CDG isn't getting involved, but made it clear they would turn a blind eye on retaliation. They will instantly grant membership to the next faction to provide proof claiming the disk, in a legit manner, to the CDG. The race is on.

3) The horror! The disk you are currently on is sinking toward the barrier! This has never happened before and a mad, revenge seeking wizard is responsible. He turned the mana reserved for healing the disk into a gravity well. People are getting desperate, there aren't enough floaters (aka lifeboats) available to evacuate everyone and killing the wizard may not guarantee the descent to stop.

---

tl.dr:
Diggers go full "Descent" and "Megamanan Legends" on juicy ruins and unexplored floating islands in a magic post-apocalypse world.

Would play, yes, no?

>>37592268
>Is this successfull worldbuilding? A good setting for an RPG? Would you play it?
Floating islands in what basically amounts to Skyland is maybe an eight of my main setting, so yeah, i'd play it.

>>37586083
>Lets talk adventuring harpies. It must be seriously painful, in the everyday life, having wings instead of arms.
Why not both?

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>>37592371

>>37592371
>>37592406
Oh, right. My only excuse is "fucking thumbnails"
But still, elbow wings.

>>37592652
Boring as shit, that's why. Working around the wings is half the fun of playing a harpy

You might as well ask people why they play on Hard Mode when a Casual Babby Plebe Mode is available.

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>>37586083
>Without hands, you can't grasp most object.
Who says they can't have "hands"?

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>>37592268
>>37591926
>>37591598
>>37591230
>>37591011
>>37590729
>>37592268
Another idea sprang to my mind: Harpy lifeguards. As mentioned the speed of fall increases the closer to the barrier a person gets. So while he is still somewhat "high up" he can still be rescued. This is where harpy lifeguards come in. They usually take watch in a tower-like construct at the edge of the disk. There they wait. A set of signals, as well as the criies of "Man over board!" spring them to life. They just off and swoop down to save the poor soul. Working with lifeguard floaters that patrol around the disk is also possible.

Multiple ways to save a being:

Grab with legs. Can be iffy with those sharp nails. Have the poor soul grab on to you while you fly him or her back to safety. Or put floaty around their body and activate it.

A floaty is a device which works against gravity upon activation. Some models are always on, just like life saving rings. Most models only combat gravity after activation. The device is usualle worn like a belt or harness. It can be leightweight and unobtrusive or bulky, depending on make and quality. It can either operate via magic or by activating a chemical reaction in small puches inside the belt. These reactions create a small bubble of anti-gravity. These floatys can offer controllable hovering, allowing the individual to evacuate and return on their own, or they just lift the person to a certain level and hold him there for a time.

---

Now imagine baywatch on a huge floating island with harpies in tight (flight) swimsuits. Their little red life-buyoy is wrapped around a victims waist and activated to hold the person aloft. Alternatively the harpy can carry the person back to safety on her own.

I'm gonna writefag something on this, gimme a few minutes.

---

Also: One of my inspirations for this was a game called: "Project Nomads." It featured controllable islands with turrets, hangars and stuff. Really neat game.

>>37588745
Some game
It's on the last couple pages on gelbooru if you search "harpy"

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Why aren't harpy wings like pic related more often?

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>>37593395
Allright buckle up ladies and gentleman. Storytime.

The island of Rorturan was a large disk of floating rock and earth. It belonged to a large span of steppe terrain. It was so vast, you could travel for days and see nothing but steppe and the outline of the Porkrin dwarf mountains in the east among the horizon.

That had been before the cataclysm. Nobody knew how it happened. Sira didn't care much about it anyways.Those were the facts. Only facts could bring bread to your table.

It used to be an empty space of land floating alone in a vast area of unexplored nothingness between the Vlorn kingdom and the area only known as "beyond". A large group of Diggers, 30 men strong with 4 floaters among them, found and claimed the island. This was unusual, because the Digger group was independant and Rorturan had been too far away to be reached by most Digger groups.

An abandoned city made of stone houses sat in the centre of the disk, as if the gods had taken a circle with the city as measure and cut out off the rest of the world. No sentient life had been found.

Her taloned feet clattered across the old stone pavement as she walked toward her post. A large number of floaters, huge zeppelins propelled by magic engines, lumbered across the horizon.

As she climbed the stairs to the hastily erected watchtower her thoughts went back to three days ago, when she had made a choice. Harpies were always useful and could find work everywhere, but she was an exception. For some reason she just couldn't hold a job for long. She wondered why she had accepted this post. Her stomach growled in response. That was the answer.

She reached the top, huffing and puffing, with the sun blazing mercilessly from above. They hadn't installed a roof, and there was only a small umbrella to provide shade. On the other side of the platform. An eternity away.

"Out of shape, huh?" Miri gawked, casually leaning in the railing. "Could hear you from twenty laddersteps away!"

contd.

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Best harpy inbound.

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>>37594165
Miri was everything Sari wasn't: Pretty, wellbuilt and always cheerfull. Arrogant too, though she was clever enough to show it only when she was sure it wouldn't cause problems. She had wonderfull feathers, a flat, bare belly and beautifully articulated handwings. She was graceful, on the ground and in the air.

And she was most poular with the men. That was the most annoying thing. At least she held out a bottle of water to Sira, which she took. That made her slightly less annoying.

"I was worried. Thought you wouldn't be here in time." She continued while walking toward the umbrella, with perfect asscheecks swaying back and forth.

"The floaters are almost here. Look!"

Sira looked up. The floaters were magnificent. It was funny, in a way. Nature denied humans the long life of elves, the strength of dwarves and the flight of harpies. So they built machines that had all three things. The huge, ballooned behemoths silently lumbered by, and a group of men lazily sat about the railing on the closest, and smallest, floater. They waived and cheered towards their tower.

"Ahhh... new boys. They look delicious." She whispered to herself and then blew them a kiss. She bent over and gave them a good look of her cleavage as well.

Sira just rolled her eyes. She couldn't wait for her shift to end. Fortunately, the rest of the day was rather uneventful and kept quiet.

At least she wasn't too hot with only a bikini top and side-tie to cover her body. The sun traveled across the horizon. Their relief finally came.

Suza was a bit older than all the others. Her body was highly feathered and well-muscled and enduring, with a nasty scar on her left wing. She had been a temple guard, back when the gods still mattered.

But the gods were gone, just as Kozo's will to exercize. She was a bit on the chubby side and Sira knew it wouldn't take much longer for her to become too heavy to be a lifeguard.

Lifeguard. She still found that name funny.

Why don't we compile all the best aspects of the best harpy designs here into one?

I'll draw it.

>>37594666
Sari walked across the paved streets, too tired to fly. Humans. They were everywhere. The shopkeeper, the innkeeper, the new blacksmith, everyone. There was a naga in the old temple. Strange, considering that dry steppes were really not their thing.

The new port area was basically a large wooden ramp, a few hastily built cranes and a widely fenced area. The first floater, unable to make full ground contact without keeling over, hovered a few meters above the ground. The men from earlier stood around, doing nothing. Typical, Sari thought. Not typical of men, but of humans. Always lazy, and still so prosperous.

One of them noticed her and quickly alerted his mates, smiling. They made their way over to where she was. She tried to move away, but they were already close enough. One of them, feeling bold, spoke to her back:

"Hey there! You come here often!" A small chuckle could be heard.

She turned around. Their faces changed from interested to bored.

"Smooth, Derek. Told you it wasn't the cute one." One of them jeered.

"Shut up Rando!" The first one returned to his mate. All but him turned around and walked away, laughing and giggling.

"Hey, uhhh... I don't think you're ugly!" Derek spoke after a pause of thought.

"Yeah, real smooth Derek. I'm not the cute one, Derek."

"I didn't say that!" He protested.

She sighed and walked away. He didn't seem to be an asshole, but she didn't feel anything. No connection, no butterflies in the stomach. She could live with not being a sailors exotic conquest.

Everyone knew that the majority of harpies where born to a female harpy and a male human. Elves didn't bother with them and Dwarves were too busy frolicking around in their mountain holes. Only about one in 20 harpies was born male.

The fluttering of wings mader her stop and pause.

"Derek get back to the ship. Captian is giving a speech." A deep, gruff male voice sounded.

"Again? We had 3 today!" Derek protested.

"Move". The voice offered no quarter.

>>37586083
>>37595182
how's this?

Two talons and a vestigial thumb on the wings for grasping small objects. These are generally used to put things in and out of their waist bags, small items that aren't heavy. Maximum would be a medium-sized potion, and that's with both "hands". This allows them to be messengers and looters.

Thus, they can use a limited number of somatic components, but their main form of magic focuses on singing and ritual dance. This makes them more vulnerable to silence and binding effects, but some harpies learn to incorporate dancing into their ability to dodge and fight, gracefully weaving in and out of the fight while casting minor spells.

Their main form of physical combat lies in their foot talons and claws. Leaping kicks, savage rakes, and quick takedowns, although they have difficulties finishing off someone on the floor.

In-flight, physical combat is replaced by making full use of a harpy's foot dexterity, similar to how arm amputees get really, really good at using their feet to do stuff. Slinging bolas, explosives, an dust bags are all fair play.

If they like to charge or play chicken, they can carry light spears and "joust" with other targets. Actually hitting has a severe chance of leaving both parties vulnerable to another attacker, so it becomes a game of chicken to see who is willing to take that risk.

There have also been tales of harpy archers, capable of wielding bows using their feet. The taller tales have them firing five at a time before taking the long process of retrieving more arrows from wherever they store them, but the common belief is that they use magic quivers that puts an arrow in foot automatically.

>>37592268
Main problem I have is that gravity doesn't change THAT fast. Even after assuming that gravity hasn't completely been messed up due to the huge loss of mass, the first thing that would go in a sharp change of elevation is actually PRESSURE. You would get the Bends. In air. Or burst your ears.

>>37595182
No-one's going to agree on a "best" design though.

If it were up to me, it would be >>37586974 dressed like >>37586498 or >>37591528, but with wing-tip claws.

Harpies are FUCKING GREAT.
You know why?
They add a huge level of risk to any task.
A player trying to lift a cart to repair a wheel? fine.
A player trying to lift a cart to repair a wheel WHILE THERE ARE CATTY BIRD GIRLS WATCHING FROM THE TREE?
Hilarious. If they fuck up, girls are watching. Girls who will laugh at them. And they're more inclined to showboat (and thus fuck up), too.

>>37595203
She turned around to see a sulking Derek walk away. And a mess of feathers that resembled the result of a night of drunken rumping of a bear and a bird. A messy bundle of feathers.

The featerbundle took off and flew away. She couldn't clearly discern what creature or gender it was. A single feather slowly sank down infront of her.

"Huh." Three letters could not convey her surprise. The feather had a very peculiar construction. There were three characteristic triangle holes on one side. That could only mean one thing.

A male harpy. Right here, in this godforsaken shithole. The whole world was godforsaken, but still, this place had to have been their shitter. Or the time-out corner, where Nanny god send kiddy god to have a few eons of time-out after frying some other god's follows. Again. A couple thousand.

Her surprise also rooted in one thing: Harpies very rarely lost feathers infront of other people. And when they did it usually meant a marriage proposal, or at least a message of strong love.

It meant: "I'm willing to shed feathers for you. Will you be my loved one?"

Harpies almost never accidentally lost any feathers like other avians did. They just didn't. The only ones who did were kids. Or women when they gave birth. Which was another thing.

He wanted her to carry his children. Schock struck her. She couldn't believe it. Her eyes focused on the shape of the holes, which said much about a harpy. For the first time she regretted not paying more attention in harpy school.

She nervously bit her lip and dared to peak up. Would he still be there? Perhaps looking at her? Expectantly, or with worry on his face?

She gulped and looked up. Love. In a place like this. When harpies marry, they do it for life.

"Huh?" Her eyes widened. Another feather fell down, just a meter before her. Then another. She gazed up, dumbstruck.

The figure was flying away, back to the ship. It landed in the railing and she could recognize him.

>>37595523
The Scott Pilgrim manoeuvre?

>>37595752
I don't know what that means, anon.

>>37595525
He was covered in feathers and somewhat old. A small trail of falling feathers marked his flightpath. Typical.

Her flicker of curious hope changed into annoyed anger. She crumbled the feather in her hand and angrily walked away.

"Typical! And here I'm thinking this might turn into something! Pshhhh!" She strut past an elderly human couple. When they saw her they started whispering amongst each other.

"And an old one like him too. Pft. Only lones to lose feathers like that are geezers or kids. Just my luck!"

She angrily kicked a nearby bucket. It stubbornly refused to fall over. Worse, in a fit of threachery it revealed to be made of metal! With her foot hurting like crazy while a nearby child laughed and pointed at her. She cursed and shimpered with each painful step as she slowly limped back home. Stupid humans. Stupid bucket. Stupd everything!

She was too angry to notice a certain human crewman on a certain floater leaning backwards to gaze after her. Risking to slip and fall on his ass, knowing full well that the captian would have his hide for not standing at attention during his speech.

This was the first time that certain crewman defied his captian. Even as the old mans face became redder than a demonic blood tomato, furious at his crewman's stubborn refusal to turn around and at least pretend to feel guilty at being caught.

She was aware of the old couples amused gaze but failed to mention a certain kind of looking from a certain someone.

Well, there would be plenty of other days for that in the future...


---

And with this I am going to go to sleep. 1 Am here.

Was this a good read, yes, no?

Anyone interested in reading more of this on sunday?

Anyways, good night Ladies and Gentlemen.

>>37595866
Also, just noticed a bajillion typos. Please excuse, was long day.

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>>37595350
>>37595359
I'll try and find a middle ground.

>>37593395
Harpy Lifeguards would have specifically blunted talons. Only the very tips would be sharp, to poke into cloth or something to get a better grip.

That being said, they probably would have to work in pairs: One to slow the fall, and the other to either put the floaty on or spread the weight. Remember that most sentient beings are heavier than harpies.

Now, floaties: That is an incredible piece of technology if it can be mass produced. Is it like a magic-assisted parachute? Why aren't there more applications of this technology, like raising/lowering islands and extending/spreading landmasses?

>>37596270
No matter how you go about it though, I can't see Harpies as being very exceptionally good at carving, engraving, writing, or painting. They could have really good oral tradition and color aesthetics, but it would have to be showcased in different manners: clothing and dances.

Imagine a harpy using multiple pairs of gymnastic ribbons, switching them out with different colors mid-dance. That's the kind of art that is more suitable to them.

Which is a problem because it is inherently less permanent.

>>37596270
>>37595359
This is probably my least favorite harpy type, to be honest.

>>37596270
I love it.

A centaur-like harpy would solve a lot of the problems people seem to have with them. It's still got the bones and musculature of a bird on the bottom, but now it's also got human limbs on the top.

>>37597189
I don't understand what that means. Are you saying it has hollow leg and hip bones, but solid upper torso bones?

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>>37597189
Dragon's Crown does exactly that.

Either way, it doesn't matter because it's goddamn fantasy.

Harpy (hanging) fitness:
Squat ups
Superman to hollow holds
Wing rows

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>>37597303
I have carefully constructed an illustration.

You telling me these chicks
>>37587547
have arms?

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>>37598305
Nope, but rather than just a head strapped on a bird. It's a women's torso strapped on a bird. Still DC doesn't go all the way to giving them arms in addition to wings.

>>37597727
ok, that's actually a pretty good human bit.

....but seriously, the whole skeleton would have to be hollow, otherwise the solid bits would crush the hollow bits.

As for the anatomy itself, I can see that working for an ostrich harpy, or the valkyries from Odin sphere. At best, heightened jump and very fast glide.

Has anyone ever made winged humanoids with Trex arms? The wing muscles take up so much space that the arms a comparatively tiny in comparison, they would pass as vestigial if they weren't still capable of full movement.

>>37597727
Again, DC harpies are exactly this, except they also have wing arms.

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>>37599484
I thought so too, but then I checked some of the artwork and a couple videos to be sure. Not an arm to be seen.
http://youtu.be/m_7-TqeyLvY?t=5m4s

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Have a Dodo Harpy. Those adorable little dummies.

>>37600464
>Dodo Harpy
This is a very good idea.

>>37601274
They were invented a number of Harpy threads ago: adorably dumb little butterballs with poor senses of self-preservation that just love everyone they meet. The other species of Harpy view them as either little sisters that need to be protected from themselves or little annoyances who only live to pester their betters and eat themselves silly.

How I make my harpies:

Aerokinetic: They can't fly so naturally they imbue themselves with magic to aid flight.

Fast reflexes: Lighter bone structure, sensitive and a mild magic aura does that.

Can copy voices and project them: A mix between mockingbirds and Sirens, really.

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Some ideas for harpy lore:

Harpies as cursed creatures. Brides of a powerful sorcerer, they envied the freedom of the birds the saw from the palace where they were imprisoned. Furious that they did not appreciate the luxuries supplied to them, the sorcerer transformed them into miserable winged creatures barely capable of flight. Pic related.

>>37602547
Would be funny if the harpies actually became happier.

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>>37597189

Actually that doesn't solve anything, still to much woman. This here is best harpy!

>>37604117
Is it even really a harpy without some tits?

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>>37604486

Yes.

>>37602547
Birds cursed to half-humanity by a lonely wizard is much more fun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uof5loSFDTk

>>37605115
Man, fucking wizards...

>>37600464
What sort of bird is the pipe-smoking, English-sounding harpy meant to be?

>>37608713
Chav.

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>>37588172

Not necessarily.

Originally thought up by the Greeks, harpies originally were beautiful winged women who stole things from travelers. The Romans and Byzantines pulled the "ugly mostly bird woman" archetype out of their ass.

That being said, I personally prefer harpies with women's bodies, bird's legs, and bird's arms with a 3 or 4 talon fingers at the end.

>>37608723
One of the adventures of the Argonauts had them helping a guy who was cursed by harpies that stank like rotted meat and harassed him all the time.

Though my knowledge of ancient times isn't good enough to tell you whether that story was of Roman or Greek origin.

>>37608722
There's a "chaffinch" joke in there somewhere...

>>37608736
I think argonauts is roman.

More interesting, I think this is the earliest known instance of one group saying another group's monstergirls are horrible furries.

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>>37586376
Bitch, please. Musclegirl harpies.

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>>37597081
Good. More for the rest of us.

>>37586083
>Lets talk women. It must be seriously painful, in the everyday life, being sexualized instead of being treated a normal and common human being . . .

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>>37586280
Actually the Chocobo harpy is already thing.

>>37609511
>>I think argonauts is roman.
Nope, it was the Greek equivalent of the Avengers.

It's crossover fanfiction, but definitely Greek.

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>>37586083

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>>37610694
Most basic job would be as scouts for a larger army.

Though I could easily see them being given spells or special wands and it turning into Harpy Ace Combat.

>>37610694
>Wings still outspread during descent
The idea is to go FASTER, miss.

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Maybe something along these lines would work? The Rito from wind waker were pretty neat in my opinion.

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>>37610347
pls go

>>37611022
No wings? I can't remember how they worked.

(And Link has the worst taste in women, always goes for the posh blonde over the cute monster)

>>37611586
they couldn't fly until they got a scale from the wind dragon, at which point they could freely transform their arms into wings instantly. they could then take off from the ground easily. many of them became mailmen due to being the only things in the world that could move quickly across the sea (aside from that jerkbag cyclone frog guy).

>>37610772
She might not want to break her legs with every attack.

>>37610567
So fluffy. Source? Google isn't helping.

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>>37586280
The last great auk, a large, flightless water bird, was killed by a fisherman on suspicion of witchcraft. That gives us two interesting features: Hereditary magic and amphibiousness.

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>>37604117
>best harpy
I'm not seeing Papi there buddy.

>>37587256
> (Hypothesis: you're a paedophile)

>>37587991
>>37592177
>>37593325
>>37594971
>>37612536
I think that's likely.

What's wrong with huge bird hips, people?

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But I'm just posting harpies

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>>37596792

>>37610567
>not based Chocolina

>>37613494
Bravo.

>>37588924
>I'ma clean your wings!

>>37613494
excellent!

>>37613494
This is the cutest. More!

>Harpies are sometimes portrayed as slavers or raiders, and while that isn't an entirely undeserved reputation, most harpy communities have created more sustainable relationships with neighboring sentient races.

>Harpies offer training services to children of various species. They raise them as they would their own children and train them to do things harpies find difficult without the use of magic, like sculpt, paint, sew, or smith.

>Harpies are widely regarded as excellent teachers, and their prolific nature ensures most children will receive some tutoring from a harpy at one point or another.

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>>37614341
>some kid wandering in the woods
>harpy teacher out of nowhere begins lecturing him
>kid just bears with it and tries to pretend to be listening, nodding along
>Would you like to hear that again?

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>>37614341
>>37614405
10/10

Anybody ever met a harpy NPC in their game? Any interesting stories?

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>>37615698
>Anybody ever met a harpy NPC in their game? Any interesting stories?

>>37615698
Only Harpy I remember in-game got her ass kicked by a dirty foreigner monk who slammed every door he walked through.
She was bamboozled by his use of Perform(Tomfoolery)

Still reading the thread, but I just had a thought. People have been talking about how the limitations of having no opposable thumbs, combined with the impracticality of trying to use feet for detail work, especially the issues of needing to either fly to use both feet, or stand on one foot.

You do gain access to both feet while sitting, and humans with no arms can become proficient with foot usage, (No I will not post with an image of a certain cripple-fuckee) so that would enable a basic level of technological access, but a certain invention would mean far more to Harpies than it would to humans.

The chair.
Obviously it would not be set up as a chair we would use. Imagine a suspended chair, in which you can stabilize yourself with your arms similar to the way we can stabilize ourselves with our feet in our chairs. It would have a much slimmer seat, designed to give full range of motion to the feet, for productivity.

Essentially a chair where the roles of feet and arms are reversed.

Assuming that harpy feet are as dextrous as human hands, you now have easy access to productivity, and rapid progress of Harpy civilization.

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>>37614096

>>37614341

The cute writes itself.

>>37614341
>>Harpies are sometimes portrayed as slavers or raiders, and while that isn't an entirely undeserved reputation
I'm so sick of this anti-harpy bigotry. You know damned well those "slaves" stayed with harpies willingly. How could any child in their loving care not want to stay in their tender embrace?

>>37616569
>wonder_whos_behind_this_post.jpg

Can one finger and a thumb really work?

I mean, I'm surprised that I can actually grip and work a pen pretty well if I try, but if I have just one more finger I can write with my usual dexterity. And I'm not sure with just two fingers you can grip things as easily.

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>>37616931
I'm sure I don't know what you're implying.

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Did anyone bring up the idea of flightless Harpies?

I have this image in my head of giant flightless harpies kicking people with their giant taloned claws and being badass hunter monks

>>37617438
read the fucking thread

Could, or would, harpies ride on animals? I imagine it would make getting around on the ground easier for them, and they wouldn't have to put so much strain on their wings all the time if they could.

>>37617481

Anon, there is no need to be angry

>>37617569
There is always a need for anger.

bitch

>>37586573
The same way humans could only be as smart as chimpanzees or gorillas without magic, right?

>>37617569
Hes right, though.

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>>37616436
Here you go.

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>>37616569
And one for you.

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>>37617800

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>>37617847

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>>37587991
>>not having harpy mages based off of peacocks or cockatoos who dance wildly with their plumage while strutting and bobbing their heads to cast spells

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>>37598730
Because who thought DC would ever fail to put tits on a thing?

Anyway, this seems like the structure of the Russian alkonost, about which I know nothing else.

>>37617773
>featherhands
No.

>>37586083
>Lets talk adventuring harpies.
Let's. Because the thread hasn't really yet.

Wings aren't so useful in cramped dungeon conditions. So you probably can't fly until you're in a big room with (probably) a big monster. Of course this isn't an issue if your adventures are mostly above ground.

Classes: anyone can be a caster, so ignore that. As I said above, cramped environments kind of hobble harpies, so I'd imagine you'd get a lot of Rangers. Fighters would be possible, but you'd want a Dex build, for lighter weapons and unarmoured dodging. Assassin Rogues are also a good bet.

Could you see any divine classes working? I can't imagine harpies having much Con, and they tend to be tanky.

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Bumping. Finished comic gonna end up in the drawthread at this rate.

If I were to chose a method of reintroducing harpies into fantasy without the completely sacrificing the wing arms I would implement the ability for limited morphing of arms through magic, similar to how werewolves and such switch between human to wolf and back. This would also grant some premise on their ability to use magic.

>>37588172
Harpies are "meant" to look like ugly, ugly old women that are part bird. Usually covered in their own filth.

Harpies as something sexy is a pretty new thing.

>>37612678
Harpies should have wide hips and big butts, if they sit on their eggs like most birds do. Gotta keep their babies warm.

>>37622442
From what I've heard the ancient Greeks had them as beautiful winged women, and having them be ugly was more of a Roman and later thing.

>>37616160
>Harpy swing-chairs
Adorable.

>>37622276
So, those Rito dudes in Wind Waker.

>>37587991
Kenku do the sound-copy thing.
MMIII, one of the 4E monster manuals, few other places.
I always liked to work it in as a funky thing, like kenku historians learning to recite important speeches verbatim (passing the exact intonation onto the next kenku historian) or subbing in for instruments (barbershop quartet transforms into a string quartet with no trouble at all) and the like.
Also, all their names were sounds so I could do the Two Dogs Fighting joke. A noted assassin was named *the sound of a throwing knife impacting someone's flesh*. The party ended up just calling him Splutch.

A few days ago I wondered how a humanxharpy relationship would work. Since presumably they'd sleep in a roosting position.
Then I reflected on my life because these are the thoughts I have

>>37622646
Yes but in reverse as the Ritos required a scale from the wind god to gain flight.

>>37623205
Don't worry, those are perfectly normal thoughts. You just need to realize it wouldn't be much different. She would just as easily sleep on the bed and take all the covers for herself. Because harpies.

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harpies probably wouldn't have huge butts and thighs if they're really that taxed on weight. those muscles would just be really heavy, and probably could be optimized for their relations.

The way I would fluff it would be that they LOOK like they have large hips and thighs, but in reality it's just a huge puffy downy feathers. Same look, less weight. Not to mention that if they squat just right, and press their upper legs up against their chest, the downy feathers would probably squish together in such a way that makes them look more bird than human, (assuming that their dorsal part of their body is also mostly bird-esque) the downy feathers that LOOK like the chest of a normal bird. If they're legs were digitigrade, they could use the lower two joints to move around on, further making them more bird than human.

I wish I was good at art. I totally want to draw my own take on harpy anatomy to better illustrate the idea, but alas, I suck.

>>37624012
I think you dun goof posted

>>37624028
Wrong thread. Deleted.

>>37613494
I love you so much.

>>37623917
I like your take. Good combo of curves and fluffy.

Harpies probably lead lives like homeless/woodsmen. If they want to live like a human I assume they'd probably have to live like a handicap person and rely on others to groom and help them. Or become like that girl who does everything with their feet.

>>37623917
So, your saying, whenever they squat they look like mythical harpies with just the head being human, and then whenever they stand up they turn into new age harpies with a more human appearance?

>Transformers, harpies in disguise.

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>>37629742
They wouldn't be the first bird to do that sort of thing.

Harpies are almost as good a narrative explanation as wizards.
How did that sword get up on this mountain?
harpies.

Why is the king stranded out here on this weird tower?
harpies.

How did potatoes grow here when they are native to lands far, far away and we have no trans atlantic travel in this setting?
harpies.

>>37586083
Harpies can grab things with their claws, just like birds, or even better.

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>>37586083

>>37586083

How in the fuck did she put her pants on?

>>37635317
She's not wearing pants.
The better question is hot the top got on.

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>>37635401

Shit, you're right. Well I'm still rump roasted about the whole business. Harpies are basically flying disabled nudists.

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>>37618074
>bobbing their heads to cast spells

>>37622114
That's cute as fuck.

>>37586083
those aren't pants. what the fuck are the belts for?

>>37636936
Fashion accessories, presumably. They also make it look like she's wearing pants at a distance. Just like some people put rabbits on their heads.

>>37636936
To hang things from?

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>>37586376
>Really, using harpies for any combat other than bombing from high up and possibly opening castle gates is a terrible idea.

Say that to my face fucker not online and see what happens

>>37588908
Colossal Faggot, actually

How much can large real-world birds carry and still fly? I'm wondering about weapons and armour.

>>37644471
Rule of thumb is a third of their body weight.

>>37644471
If anyone references Monty Python I'll snap their neck.

>>37644674
Cool. So a bit of metal / hard leather isn't out of the question for defence.

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>>37586083
GIVE THEM GUNS

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>>37645208
GUNS FOR FEET

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where does harpy end and bird person begin?

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I absolutely love these things

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>>37646404

>>37586083
Birds manipulate things with their feet and mouths. So would harpies. There, problem solved.

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>>37646443

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>>37646486

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>>37646519
that's all I have of them but they're basically my ideal harpies or bird people or whatever

>>37586140
>>37591624

Doesn't this just make the lone harpy adventurer more lonesome? Maybe escaped from their creator, doomed to wander w/o any society or support whatsoever. Harpy adventurer would be a sad as fuck character to play.

>>37586083
How about a monk with a Savate-like fighting style? Secretary birds are known for their fast, accurate and powerful kicks already, so it's not too far fetched. That eliminates the armor problem too, and just imagine talons of that size coming straight at you at the speed of an arrow.

>>37646595
Especially if Harpies are by nature very social creatures.

>>37646595
All the more reason they sought out other adventurers.

When lonesome, the harpy will occasionally start a high-pitched until someone tells them to shut up, because in their mind that means they care about them

What if baby harpies learned common speech like parrots at first? A bunch of infant harpies saying things like "whatcha doin'" and "gimme a kiss, thank you!" multiple times throughout the day

>>37645235
>>37646480
>Three guns. One for each foot and one for the mouth. Flying sniper, lines up shots at high enough altitude that the first warning those near the target have is the target keeling over dead.

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>>37648095
the idea alone is unbearably cute.
Just imagining these >>37587547 guys bouncing around going "I luv u!"

Too much.

>>37589997
>For example, natural weapons such as talons are real handy for hunting. They're also handy to climb on trees and rock. However, they are pretty terrible when it comes to walking.
Make the sharp edges of the Talons to switch in and out whenever its needed

Also, another weapon/tool for harpies would be a Mask that has a beak that is attached to the Harpie's jaw so they can do other stuff like birds do[think in crow's dex.]. Another weapon that could help harpies would be wingblades. Sounds like a kamikaze weapon but for Hand-to-hand combat, it would make them use their wings for something

>>37650858
Wings a tremendously fragile body parts. They're strong, but if they take a hit anywhere except where it's designed to stand, you could end up dislocated or worse.

It's much more practical to use for getting distance, maybe jump assist, or just tucking it in and not using it until you need to fly.

That being said, if you has some sort of whirlwind move that keeps you in motion and prevents enemy attack, it...might...work?

>>37593593
I think that structure is better for something like mmm... Vampire-harpie halflings

>>37648257
Go full predator mode and give them shoulder cannons too

>>37650954
>That being said, if you has some sort of whirlwind move that keeps you in motion and prevents enemy attack, it...might...work?
Now you just gave me an idea
Knife feathers. Fake feathers that are attacked to a specifical part of the wings and when a harpy flips them in a very specific way[a common uppercut jab for example] throws them or flapping wings like blowing wind would make a surprise attack by blowing out dust then throwing the Knife feathers

That being said, Blade wings would be mostly to block out small attacks or for non combat duties like cutting out fruits or anything that doesn't break their wings or to SPECIFICALLY attack non armored enemies

>>37651324
Could work. Poison would be INCREDIBLY risky to apply, but any movement not normally used for flying can be the throwing motion.

Although when you consider weight efficiency, it might be prudent to use non-metal objects and rely on numbers rather than weight or force. Wood? Glass?

>>37651415
Wood is a bit impractical against armor[unless it goes full Meso-american and ties a clunk of sharpened Obsidian to the top] but would work for a frontal attack with spears
Glass sounds like a bad idea

And for poison, take in mind that the knife feathers are just tied a bit in the feathers, not the wings so there's no risk at stabbing your own wing, and besides... harpies would prefer to put people to sleep rather than poison them because they will eat them after killing them, if not backwards

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Do harpies know how to make Pasta?

>>37646163

Harpies have a human face, bird people have bird faces.
Harpies are more bird than human, bird people are more humanoid than bird.
Harpies act more like humans, bird people act more like birds.

>>37652446
What? These are non-armored units, right? Heck, Obsidian tips STILL aren't for armored units.

I suggested glass because they can be much sharper than wood while still being light. Even if they shatter, they just become clouds of very sharp dust, which is still useful against non-armored units.

And poison dripping all over your real feathers sounds kinda bad, no matter how you hide them in your wings.

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>>37654043
I'd be find with them being immune to the poison they use. Like this little fucker here, eats poison ants and beetles so that it becomes toxic to other predators even to the point where touching it causes numbness.

>>37586974
>>37644471
Why all the emphasis on hand to hand weapons? Bird people can *fly* - trying to fight hand-to-hand negates their advantage. Just grab a rock and drop it. Or dive bomb with it for more accuracy.

>>37591924
I love Ogre Battle.

>>37586376
Harpies would be great scouts, surveyors, map-makers, messengers, spies, assassins, skirmishers, couriers, medics, signalers, porters for lightweight supplies (ammunition or food delivery, for example).

Don't underestimate being literally able to get a bird's eye view of a battlefield too. Personally I think a harpy's kit would be more of the scouting/navigational variety - tools like telescopes, maps, pens and paper to draw charts or note numbers, etc. since they can always just grab a rock and drop it as a weapon.

A harpy might also carry signal flags/banners or possibly some sort of horn or other instrument to help assist in giving orders (if we're assuming intelligent harpies, then the harpy might even be command staff herself given her ability to gain perspective)

Where weapons might be more necessary would be engaging other harpies who are also attempting to scout or spot for the enemy, resulting in aerial duels. These would probably end up like the duels that birds of prey have while competing - both sides striving for a height advantage to dive down on the other with talons outstretched. Any weapons would probably fit to the talons and would be designed with that sort of combat in mind.

>>37654116
The Flying Hug Brigade?

From what I understand, producing venom takes up so much biological effort that it's hard to spec into anything else, a disadvantage for tool-using sapients. Being able to take advantage of OTHER creatures' toxins, though...maybe you're on to something.

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I like this harpy design

it fits with the greek description as well: woman's head with bird body

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Damn. This thread has been going for three days now. I'm glad it hasn't died yet, there's some nice reading and brainstorming going on here.

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>>37615698
there have been a shit ton of harpies in the one I've been playing. Then again, the DM decided to have Pazuzu be one our major demon bad guys to deal with.

Other than having to fight them off, I'm playing as a pirate captain and my first mate is a harpy. So far she's the only one we've met we haven't had to try and kill.

>>37658524
My group recently cleared out a pirate ship manned by monsters. Mostly goblins, hobgoblins, etc. Killed all except the harpy, who made her nest into the crow's nest. She refuses to directly fight or to leave the ship, and the group has no way to dislodge her. (Its a low-magic setting, so.)

The group's pretty keen on keeping the ship for themselves. All attempts at diplomacy have failed so far. She's not hostile, just very stubborn. And smart enough not to endanger herself needlessly.

>>37590340
If harpies were as big as the ones in Dragon's Crown, would it kinda work?

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I just had a thought.

If its true that harpies shouldn't be able to fly mundanely (lets disregard it), unless they're very lightweight with hollow bones, and that a bird can lift about a third of his body-weight, then by logic the average harpy can't lift and kidnap an adult male.

What if instead, they kidnapped infants, and raised them as one of their own. Those kids would in turn grow up in a harpy society and socialize, and eventually marry.

>>37658789
>>37661348
Or maybe she's just got eggs in there and will happily leave you alone once they hatch.

>>37659785
Monsters kidnapping children is a time honoured practice in myth and tales.

>>37654190
Adventurers use hands for more than just weapons. Also you can't be sure you won't have a fight in an enclosed space. Short spears seem ideal, drop 'em or stab with them.

P.S. Is this thread immortal? It's been around for three days now.

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>>37656247
Another from the same artiest. a bit more suggestive this time around though.

Has there been a harpy civ yet?

>>37664364
Nevermind. not even two seconds of googling and I found my answer.

>>37664386
Looks like it was shit too.