Could Transgenic Humanity fit in Lamordia?

[Hell_Born]

Among the many 3rd party settings released for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition was a "Screampunk" (Gothic Horror/Steampunk genre mashup) called Etherscape, which revolved around the Victorian Era British Empire discovering a lost, magic-based form of supertechnology left behind by a precursor civilization (a human subspecies and the ancestral memories for fey) and reawakening it, effectively letting the Victorians leap forward generations in terms of technology... without changing their cultural mores. It was set several centuries after this discovery, and had shades of impending apocalypse (said magitek basically taps into Hell for its reality-warping powers, and the denizens of Hell are getting very ticked off about people trampling around in their collective living rooms). More importantly, the fact that "mad science overlords" of the setting had access to gene-editing technology whilst eugenics hadn't been discredited as a social philosophy had led to four distinct human subspecies in the modern world; "Alpha Humanity", possessed of superior physical and mental capabilities through gene-modding and selective breeding, and the races of "Transgenic Humanity"; slave races created by hybridizing humans and animals - the rat-based Gammas, the dog-based Deltas, and the horse-based Epsilons - in an attempt to replenish the worker class of the Victorian empire, which had been largely massacred in brutal reprisals for worker's rights uprisings.

Now, Lamordia does technically have its own Screampunk roots. In particularly, there's canonically a lot of mad scientists in Lamordia experimenting in engineering life and modifying existent life - this is where most of Lamordia's native monsters are supposed to come from. So, with this in mind... would it be possible to incorporate Transgenic Humanity, and perhaps even Alpha Humanity, into Lamordia? What do you guys think?

[Speedwagon]

First, I appreciate the name-dropping of a new 3rd party setting----I always like trying to collect and sift through old stuff like that so thanks!

Second, I think that it's possible to incorporate this into Lamordia. I'd point to NeoTiamat's Nations of Progress in QtR 22 as a well-beloved example of people modifying Lamordia to have a bit more screampunk to it, with NeoTiamat going the automaton/pseudo-Warforged-from-Eberron route. So I think it's worth pursuing if you want to spice things up in Lamordia. The in-universe justification and lore for it can be explained as groups like the Syndicate of Enlightened Citizens financing scientists who are willing to fund such studies into the "lineage factors" present in all beings (yes I shamelessly stole that term from One Piece as that's what they call DNA in their setting but it's a cool term ok) and perhaps even being more sympathetic to Falkovnian ideas of eugenics and what not (Vjorn Horstmann's Primal Serum might have been shared with a few Lamordian scientists for improvement and they decided to give their own spin?).

Odds are, given that this is Ravenloft, that either the initial prototypes for such creatures would end up living very unfortunate lives (whether due to the pain caused by their artificially-constructed anatomies and physiologies or by asshole-peasant-syndrome) or that the final product would be flawed in some way. The creation of such Transgenic Humanity may also give links to Dr. Markov and Markovia, given its Island of Dr. Moreau roots and Lamordian attempts to colonize the island. Perhaps that's what's missing to create the ideal Transgenic Humanity? Not just modifying the Primal Serum but also getting samples of the Broken Ones on the island and bringing them back to Lamordia? You could also add another material component/reagent/ingredient with the special soil & water from Darkon's Boglands. I'd also leave Alpha Humanity as either flawed in some manner (being not just a test-tube baby in a more literal sense than IRL but also being raised in a lab doesn't always lead to a very stable personality----see Homelander from The Boys) or the formula being highly difficult to reproduce. That and while the Syndicate of Enlightened Citizens would want for such eugenics, other good folks wouldn't, and bad folks would also have a bone to pick with this: for the species that prey on humans, having them get stronger is detrimental to their modus operandi.

[alhoon]

While Transgenic Humanity could apply to Lamordia, I would like to say that the Fraternity of Shadows is also working with something that could be considered a way to transcend humanity. Azalin was doing a lot of effort to transcend lichdom.
My point is: This is not just Lamordia; there are other such concepts in the game.

[Hell_Born]

Firstly, I want to amend that the setting I'm talking about is called Etherscope, not Etherscape. That's a fumble on my part, and I'm sorry about it.

Secondly, if anyone's curious, these are the mechanics for Transgenic and Alpha Humanity. All of these have the Human racial trait, which means that in addition to the stats listed here, they start play with the bonus feat and skill points standard to a Human in D&D 3.5.

Alpha Human:
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution
Increased Resilience: +2 to Fortitude saves against Disease and Poison.
Social Standing: Alpha Humans may not begin the game with a Working Class social template.
Increased Influence: Alpha Humans start the game with 4 bonus Influence points and receive 1 bonus Influence point at each level.
Level Restriction: In the Etherscope version of the Level Adjustment, Alpha Humans start the game with an EXP deficit of -1,000 experience points, requiring them to adventure longer before they can begin gaining levels.

Gamma Human:
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -2 Strength
Small
Immunities: +4 on saves against Disease.

Delta Human:
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
Scent
Reduced Spirit: Delta Humans receive only 1 Excellence Point at 1st level.

Epsilon Human:
Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, -4 Charisma
Improved Lifting: An Epsilon Human treats its Strength as +2 points higher for purposes of carrying weight.
Reduced Spirit: Epsilon Humans receive only 1 Excellence Point at 1st level.

[Mistmaster]

In my Lamordia I made it the Divinity of Mankind birthplace, and this would be the kind of thing they would totally endorse.

[Jeremy16]

Among the many 3rd party settings released for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition was a "Screampunk" (Gothic Horror/Steampunk genre mashup) called Etherscape, which revolved around the Victorian Era British Empire discovering a lost, magic-based form of supertechnology left behind by a precursor civilization (a human subspecies and the ancestral memories for fey) and reawakening it, effectively letting the Victorians leap forward generations in terms of technology... without changing their cultural mores. It was set several centuries after this discovery, and had shades of impending apocalypse (said magitek basically taps into Hell for its reality-warping powers, and the denizens of Hell are getting very ticked off about people trampling around in their collective living rooms). More importantly, the fact that "mad science overlords" of the setting had access to gene-editing technology whilst eugenics hadn't been discredited as a social philosophy had led to four distinct human subspecies in the modern world; "Alpha Humanity", possessed of superior physical and mental capabilities through gene-modding and selective breeding, and the races of "Transgenic Humanity"; slave races created by hybridizing humans and animals - the rat-based Gammas, the dog-based Deltas, and the horse-based Epsilons - in an attempt to replenish the worker class of the Victorian empire, which had been largely massacred in brutal reprisals for worker's rights uprisings.

Initially, when I read this idea, I thought this concept was stepping on the toes of Markov and his Broken Ones.

But, it really all depends on how these different races are presented. If we're talking full-blown human/horse hybrids, with the body of a human and the head of a horse, then I would say there's a domain for that kind of stuff already. But, if we're talking about is gene-splicing a horse and a human, so you have a human with the speed and stamina of a horse, well, that's (almost literrally) a horse of a different color.

Still, I don't think Lamordia as written would be a good fit for such a concept. The idea of "slave races" fits more with the neighboring domain of Falkovnia. In fact, if you want to play around with the Core timeline and have a more direct and longstanding "cultural exchange" between these two domains so Falkovnia's racial superiority theories infiltrate Lamordian society and Lamordia's technological advancements infiltrate Falkovnian society, then it could definitely work!

Given enough time, this seems like a natural enough evolution of their current relationship. I mean, just imagine the powerhouse that could be created by pairing Lamordia's scientific futurism with Falkovnia's military expansionism. Talk about aTime of Unparalleled Darkness! (Heck, you could even add an alliance with Markov and create a true Axis of Evil type of situation.)