Face

Faces could easily work through the trait system as well, with 10+ points meaning you access the options. Every 1/4 of ancestry could add +5 to that bloodline's set of faces, and players are given the ability to choose between more than one face model/texture.

For example, if a character is 50% Tindremene (+5 Tindremic Face +5 Tindremic Face) and 50% Kallard (+5 Kallardian Face +5 Kallardian Face), then they would be able to choose both Tindremene or Kallard face models (because of the Eye Color distinction of Kallards, however, they might not be able to have Kallardian eyes). This straightforward and to-the-point system would allow players (and SV, when creating NPCs) a greater amount of expression and control for characters of mixed ancestries.

This way, if a player is 50% Veela and 50% Sheevra, then they can choose if their character has more Veela or more Sheevra facial characteristics.

This works for every single clade... Except for humans.

Every other clade must be at least 50% something, but humans can be 1/4 of 5 visually distinct races. To solve this, a 'racially ambiguous human' set could be added:

New "Ambiguous" Human Face

This face (one for male, one for female) is meant to exist perfectly between the three major appearance categories of:

  • Sarducaan/Tindremene/Kallard

  • Khurite

  • Sidoian

Essentially, it should be a face where coloration and hairstyle alone can give the impression of any of the human ancestries.

There are three ways this set could be implemented:

  • Easiest:

    • Available to all human races.

  • Medium:

    • Available to all human races that are less than full-blooded in an ancestry, meaning all human characters that are anything below 3/4 of a bloodline gain access to this face set.

  • Most Difficult:

    • Enabled when combining specific bloodlines.

      • My suggestion, if this were to be done, is to group Kallards, Sarducaans, and Tindremenes together in this system as 'Western'. (So being 1/2 Kallard and 1/2 Tindremene won't unlock it.) Then have Sidoians as 'Southern' and Khurites as 'Eastern'.

        • (Note: Players would not see this grouping, it's just for the purpose of simplifying the options.)

      • After this is done, make it so that if one has any ancestry from two of these categories then the 'ambiguous' face is unlocked. So if one is 1/4 Kallard, 1/4 Tindremene, and 1/2 Khurite—they would unlock this face.

      • This way a character could be 3/4 Tindremene and 1/4 Khurite and choose a face that has some Khurite facial characteristics—without having the most extreme Khurite facial characteristics available to them.

Sidoian Example

Tindremene Example

Khurite Example

Additional Faces

Not only would the system that allows players to choose multiple faces grant players of mixed bloodlines the ability to represent their character more accurately, but the system can also be applied to give more variety to even full-blooded characters by adding more faces to choose from for each bloodline. Multiple faces that have differences in things that players can't change due to technical limitations (such as textures, subtle model changes) would add a lot to customization, and allow the races to maintain an intended appearance while also allowing more variety and distinction from character-to-character.

This would also allow the addition of 'old' faces for characters above a certain age.