I know what the thread will devolve into, but I still wish to ask.
How do you worldbuild for centaurs?
And I don't mean how many lungs or hearts you give to these horsefolks, but rather their:
>Culture
>Architecture
>Beliefs
>Traditions
>Agriculture
Or just use this thread to discuss horses with arms, I guess.
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>How do you worldbuild for centaurs?
No stairs.
This is actually an interesting point - since their anatomy might find it difficult to deal with ladders and stairs, what kind of buildings would they live in?
Making wide buildings instead of tall ones would be the obvious solution, but what about the roofs? I suppose tents would be a better fit for them, since they're easier to build.
They wouldn't make buildings, they'd primarily live in mobile tents. The labor necessary for a centaur to make fine detailed brickwork is too great. They would either form a warlike culture and mongol-raid themselves into being a ruling class for some humanoid group, or they'd be nomadic herdsmen forever.
Why would the labor necessary to make bricks any more arduous than for humans?
not that anon but i guess because it would be ridiculously awkward for a centaur to work with his hands that close to the ground
a man can kneel down, reach for something behind him, squat down, get up, change directions and positions effortlessly, a centaur not so much
anyway, i don't like how most suggestions here keep them at the same level as humans, with their power and intelligence they would be major players not a band of moronic dirt farmers
Anon failed high school biology classes or just can't imagine horses kneeling or lying down.
It isn't any more strenuous on them than it is on humans, so I don't understand why "bricklaying" would be an issue. Climbing? Sure, but not making walls.
>buildings
Yurt stables
The book series Animorphs has a centaur-like alien species that specifically constructs buildings with domed roofs so as to give the interior a more "open sky" feeling.
Ramps are easy to make.
Someone needs to read up on Mongols, the only empire in history with a nomad ruler.
The Mongols!: Crash Course World History #17
Cumans
Scythians
Tartars
Etc
I argue that those were never a empire. At best, they held their own lands.
This does not refute my point about stairs
GOD DAMN MONGORIANS!
Horses and other quadrupeds irl can go up and down stairs just fine as long as they're wide enough to support their hooves. Ibexes are hilarious. Centaurs would be more able to go up and down stairs since they're a) sapient, and b) able to shift their weight with their upper halves to keep their balance. In towns they'd probably prefer ramps, but would also carve stairs into mountain sides for better climbing. Even ladders are doable, you just need to think of how a centaur would climb them instead of being a moron and thinking they'd just use their upper arms and front legs like a human and letting their back half dangle uselessly. Make them flexible at the waist and they'd have six points of contact, making for more balance and stability while climbing.
I want to make some ibex centaurs now.
>Make them flexible at the waist
Which they sensibly would be, since it's just more neck.
A centaur would probably be more front-heavy than a horse, and leaning back might not be enough to offset their center of gravity
>Even ladders are doable, you just need to think of how a centaur would climb them instead of being a moron and thinking they'd just use their upper arms and front legs like a human and letting their back half dangle uselessly. Make them flexible at the waist and they'd have six points of contact, making for more balance and stability while climbing.
Until the ladder breaks. A horse weighs 2000 pounds.
>2k pounds
Maybe super fat horses weigh that much. Average weight is half that number.
Horses vary by breed, draught horses bread for strength like Breton or Percheron are easily in the 2000 pounds range, at least for stallions. Horses bred for speed or parade horses will be lighter.
Either a race of dirty smelly naturally occurring mongols or forest centaur greek myth types
Straightaway
>agriculture
No, just no. Agriculture is product of civilization -artificial. hunter gatherers and primitives don't do that shit. You put that in and your fantasy setting becomes reddit
One thing i would like to propose that I have not seen anyone mention in previous thread is how the local human kingdoms would actually take interest in employing the centaur as messengers and such. They could be offered speed related jobs by humans and in return receive prestigious treatment and rewards
>Agriculture
I get your notion, but why leave centaurs as hunter-gatherers? And I don't mean to try and redefine established fantasy tropes, it's just curiosity.
>Local human kingdoms
That much is true, but I'm sure they'd be interested in centaurs due to other reasons. They have the strength and size of a horse, but also the arms and intelligence of a human. They'd be an incredible work force, especially for agricultural needs.
On the other hand, maybe humans have a reason for not employing them: they could prove to be too temperamental or prideful, or maybe the human religion or beliefs could prevent them from doing so.
>Agriculture is product of civilization -artificial
>what are ants
>six limbs
They're clearly insects so I'd model them after turks
Steppe nomad centaurs are the most overdone kind of steppe nomads, even more than the regular variant.
It might be overdone, but it's overdone because it works. Horseback nomad culture transfers really well to a race that is effectively always on horseback.
It's not overdone, it's normal. Breathing is normal.
How would you do stairs?
>Ramps
>Lifts
>Medieval escalators
>Buildings without upper floors
I wouldn't.
Worldbuilding for worldbuilding's sake is moronic. Worldbuilding shit that doesn't matter is even worse.
t. have a PC that's a centaur in the current group
>Worldbuilding shit that doesn't matter is even worse
It matters to me.
Proud knights.
And in modern times american gladiators
>centaurs with elf ears
considering the biology (literally) behind this, I am going to assume that's what happens when elven rangers get bored
It's cute
That centaur is reasonably proportioned. Great for mobility but I'd never think of trying to ride one.
Yeah. Yeah it is.
Its there a name for this late 90's early 2000s fantasy anime aesthetic?
Is that armor or are they partially mechanical? I honestly can’t tell.
Finish your apology video, Vaush.
I'll ask the really important question: which part of the centaur gets pregnant?
before that happens we'll have to go through several other steps, like
horse dick and vag, or human dick and vag and once we figured that out- where are those parts? on the horse or the human part?
the womb
You know which one.
It depends which one
goes with. For max magical realm you have tribes and castle systems based on how you reproduce.
Pic is my preferred solution.
>I personally lean towards farmers, as they were known to be heavy drinkers in mythology and its hard to make booze on the move
Alternatively, the reason why centaurs have a reputation for being heavy drinkers is because they don't make their own booze so they tend to drink a lot when given a chance. Not drinking on the regular would probably also lead them to overestimate their tolerance for alcohol and getting shitfaced, giving them a reputation of drunken hooliganism.
All centaurs are male and they reproduce by kidnapping Amazon tribeswomen for reproduction.
>All centaurs are male and they reproduce by kidnapping amazon tribeswomen for reproduction
Broke
>All centaurs are female and they reproduce by kidnapping merchants and wizard apprentices for reproduction
Woke
Both at different points. Starts in the human half, then part way through, the fetus migrates to the horse half
Is it good manners to want to ride on the back of a cute centaur waifu laughing happily as you frollic through the open plains as the wind brushes through your hair while she tells you to hold her tighter before picking up speed for a jump that makes you feel as if you're flying and your heart has never felt so pure? ... asking for a friend.
If you're human-sized, it's only polite if the cute centaur waifu is horse-sized or larger. If she's pony-sized, you'd better be a hobbit.
>you'd better be a hobbit.
I'm Canadian. Does that count?
More than good manners. When I do centaurs, they're always VERY touchy about the horse thing. Imagine if someone kept calling you a monkey, offered you bananas and expected you to say 'ook' a lot. Same principle.
In that context, if you're at the point where you've been offered to 'jump up and hold on' purely for fun (rather than "shit, we need to GTFO", though even that is rare); then brother, you'd best be reacting like you've been entrusted with someone's soul - because you have.
Guardbro did a lot of work on his centaurs and staglings, he broke the society into 3 "hands" where certain sub cultures take care of certain aspects
He also discussed their privacy garments, hygiene issues and how they got around them, their war games, etc
Is it written down anywhere? Asking for a friend.
He has blurbs in his game book, but we're all pressuring him to make larger lore blurbs on the races and cultures.
Who the frick is guardbro, and where can I find him?
Also how is it that no one has mentioned Stinz yet?
hes a writer on youtube, has a discord. look up guardbrosfielddesk
showed him the thread so he made a poll, looks like he is tired of getting yelled at lol, but harpys are currently winning
I'd make Centaurs a lot smaller than most media depicts them as. Domesticated horses have been bred for size and strength for thousands of years, so unless the creation of Centaurs is recent they would be comparable to a human in height. They'd value the ability to roam around so they'd lean towards a pastoral life, being either farmers or nomadic hunter gatherers. I personally lean towards farmers, as they were known to be heavy drinkers in mythology and its hard to make booze on the move. Dwellings would be mostly single story affairs, with the few multi story building needing sturdy ramps for ascending/descending.
>It's hard to make booze on the move
Can I introduce you to airag and Isgelen tarag?
How would centaurs view (or rather interact with) horses?
And I don't mean any YJK memery, I mean their actual views on the animals. Would they hold them as sacred? As beings to protect? As animals to use? Anon already mentioned airag , but would they even attempt to drink milk or eat meat from horses? Would male centaurs be attracted to rear ends of horses?
>spoiler
Yes
Well frick, I stand corrected
That's kinda disappointing imo. I like it when settings emphasize the height disparity between centaurs and other species.
I like the idea of (a tribe of centaurs) viewing horses in high regard, believing the horse's ancestors blessed the centaur's ancestors with their form
Also, fun fact, it is very hard for IRL horses to get drunk
I know in the game Banner Saga the centaurs killed all the horses out of embarrassment.
How did they manage that? I can’t imagine that the other races would let them just wipe out an animal as useful as a horse. If anything else they’d try and keep any horses they can safely in towns.
>Domesticated horses have been bred for size and strength for thousands of years,
I don't think it would be far fetched for centaurs to go through their own breeding programs at the same time humans were beefing up horses, ultimately ending up at similar sizes. Maybe they have a religion/culture that emphasizes physical prowess. Maybe they see what the nearby humans are doing with horses and copy them to stay competitive, or the other way around. Or just have an empire conquer and breed them as intelligent livestock.
Hell, do all of those and you've got a nice bundle of subraces.
>destrier-like Spartantaurs
>racehorse-like plains hunters
>XBOX HUGE ex-slaves
>smaller original centaurs from more isolated areas that never had to adapt
The idea of a race willingly altering themselves is kind of unnerving. It's almost like that character trope of the mad scientist who has a goal to bring about the next evolution of the species or something like that. Or shooting yourself up with drugs for a competitive edge, but more permanent
Would centaurs play kokpar/buzkashi?
It's essentially polo with a dead goat instead of a ball
I can outrun a centaur!
>fast
>can carry a lot of weight
>strong
>smart?
They would most likely hold a nearly absolute monopoly on land trade, they would be extremely rich and their influence would spread wide across the land.
Originally they could live in tents, and also while traveling, but they would have enough money to hire builders. I imagine luxury for them would be 90% gardens, streams and woods 10% actual house though, as opposed to typical castles
They could live in enclaves in large cities, but I imagine they would build annexes outside the main walls since city life would feel quite claustrophobic.
The most important takeaway is that if you do give centaurs a high intellect, barring some Muslim tier fanaticism that prevents them from doing commerce, or Harry Potter tier stupidity, they would be a powerhouse of trade and political influence.
At a glance without much forethought
>Culture
In a low-tech setting they're nomadic, not a lot of buildings that can't be easily assembled and re-assembled. They would probably train horses, donkeys, or something analogous as beasts of burden to help them carry heavier parts and items, as well as to haul long-term food supplies. Trading with two-legged folks for seasonings and spices to preserve meat from kills is pretty common, either in return for safe passage along with the caravans (might evolve as a natural caravan society between major towns to benefit from them even if they're not common on the streets, though longer-lived societies probably have wider streets and some amenities specifically for centaur folks). Major hunter-gatherer vibes on their faiths and ideals, with some extremists specifically eschewing civilizations and its trappings as falling from grace with their predatory traditions (likely facilitating banditry and ritual hunting of sentient folk to vindicate their superiority to themselves). Civil centaur folk tend to body such tribes when they meet them due to better equipment, allied aid, and an easier time handling hardships. While their civilized folk can be amiable, relying on them in a bad situation isn't so great unless it's for passage with them; if they figure food's going to get scarce, or that a drought is coming, or a major war-band of any sort is on the way, they have the means, skills, and know-how to bug-out at a moment's notice, and a centaur that sticks around to protect someone, someplace, or something, is going to be a damn dedicated soul to not have bailed with the rest of the herd. Centaur agriculture seems an oxymoron, but they do actually tend to seasonal and regional farms that they'll plant and then migrate to in rotation for a new harvest/planting at different times of year, sometimes having double or triple loop patterns that they'll get back to only every few years in sequence as geography demands.
Centaurs, while deadly cavalrymen, are far less effective when heavy armor is deployed against them or when the terrain becomes rough. Additionally, centaurs eat more per person so then land can sustain far fewer of them than other races.
I've always thought that centaurs make more sense as highly mobile archers and artillery than cavalry.
What kind of gender roles do your centaurs have, and why? I tend to make it so that they don’t really care as long as you can do what needs to be done for example.
If it helps you, mares are used in polo instead of male horses because they have some beneficial traits
>calmer, less prone to outbursts
>more focus, they don't get distracted as easily (especially from noises and movement)
>way more willing to work in a team, can learn their role very well and won't start doing what other horses are doing
>more agile
Then again, centaurs are basically human so maybe they wouldn't have those characteristics.
matriarchal, like with horses
> led by strong females together with a strong stallion who rules with an iron hoof, disciplines when necessary, and protects his family from others.
So could a human and a centaur produce offspring?
Only if they're married, anon.
Clippity-cloppity, women are property.
That's a terrible thing to say. You should be ashamed. Property has value.
I've been smitten with the idea of centaur women, and maybe even the men, wearing skirt-like clothing to cover the "saddle area". Having that exposed is taboo, and pulling away the "skirt" is basically like a skirt lift or pantsing
Also, they have a beef with elves for reasons I haven't figured out yet
>Also, they have a beef with elves for reasons I haven't figured out yet
Elves called them gay
I see Guardmid is posting on /tg/ still. Get the frick out of here, you're not welcome here you moronic furry pedo.
How about how they get along with other races in your setting? In mind they’re polite but aloof, preferring to keep the themselves.
Given how more than one anon has posted an image of a centaur in full armor, let’s talk armor, weapons, and warfare tactics for centaurs, how would their body shape affect things? Would they put less armor on the horse part due to logistical difficulties getting it on and/or wanting to avoid overburdening themselves, or would they go full plate like those images I mentioned? As for weapons, it seems like everyone thinks that they should use bows, but would that really be effective for them? Not to mention how those horse lower bodies would make transportation of warfare supplies more efficient without needing to also bring along beasts of burden.
I think they would absolutely armor themselves. Who the frick wants to get stabbed if they can help it? Granted there would be cases where they either cant afford armor or where speed is a greater advantage than protection.
In previous centaur threads its been pointed out that lances wouldnt be used by Centaurs as it just doesnt mechanically work compared to a mounted human due to the spinal column, so versus heavy human cavalry they'd lose in a head in charge against each other.
Flails. Where humans can use the saddle to help absorb the impact of a spear or lance, centaurs don't have that advantage. Centaurs benefit from the chain/rope to absorb the impact of a full centaur-weight flail drive-by.
Possibly throwing spear/javelin if centaur biology allows for enough hip action to throw things properly.
They would absolutely armor themselves since shields are practically worthless for protecting such a large body. As for weapons, bows or javelins wouldn't be good choices. The javelin requires a bit more twisting motion at the hip than a centaur would really be able to do. And fully drawing a bow turns one's body sideways, which for a centaur would expose a larger target for the enemy. Therefore, I think throwing hatchets would be the ranged weapon of choice. Throwing with two hands over the head wouldn't require the twisting motion and would have even more power than what a human could do since the centaur could partially rear up on their hind legs and put the weight of a horse behind the attack. For melee weapons, either a mace/flail for the good ol' driveby uppercut or a spear held in reverse grip to stab downward, taking advantage of the height advantage.
Given that yesterday was Valentine's Day, how do your centaurs approach romance and courtship, do they lean more towards human or horse behaviors, or sit somewhere in the middle? I prefer to have their courtships be primarily human-like, but with a focus on the males offering to help groom the females like with horses.
have a nice day
How do the males offer to help? Are they stupid?
To out it bluntly, the centaur guys are basically saying "if you go on a date with me I'll help you brush your horse torso's coat and mane". I'd imagine that they would enjoy that, due to a combination of the human desire for cleanliness and the horse part enjoying the grooming itself.
Yeah but could you elaborate on that
Except for feral survivors beyond the far side of the Great Steppe, all of the Centaurs who had lived in the Olde Kingdomes were enslaved for heavy labor and worked to death over the last forty years by the Bugbear Empire; the most common form of punishment (or retirement) was exploiting them to propel the great Bugbear City Subways, just like how millions of horses died of exhaustion in the years leading up to New York City's eventual mechanization of the Subway System.
I didn’t know that about the subway, but how did the empire conquer the centaurs to begin with?
What do you mean?
I'm surprised that no one has talked about how their centaurs view magic yet. I keep it simple for mine, just some druids, with maybe a few sorcerers and clerics. They don't hate magic, but they prefer to work without it whenever possible.
I’m surprised no one has talked about how centaurs view their gods yet. I keep mine simple, just a few pantheons with maybe a few deities. They don’t hate gods, but prefer not to rely on them whenever possible.
Most of the problems centaurs have would be solved if you replaced the horse part with a feline one.
Most big cats already have an unfair amount of advantages in the wilds, so imagine what would happen if you gave them human intellect and arms.
Horse pussy