It's great to have videos on well known monsters, because AJ has some wonderful insights even on things that can be pretty overdone and cliched, but it's even more of a treat when we get something like this.
When the Yakkity Yak, in fact, talks back: "I'm 'bout to end this *song* 's whole career!" Edit: Also, I would LOVE to see an interaction between these guys and Illithids. So much neutral evil in one place...
I really like the Yak Folk. It sounds like a silly concept at first but when you find out about their horrific powers and their dealings with wicked genies it puts them in a whole new light.I like the contrast between their evil natures and the beauty and serenity of their cities> Badguys don't always have to have spikes & skulls all over their strongholds. They would also well outside of the D&D setting.The would fit in quite nicely with the dark/weird fiction of Clark Ashton Smith or maybe even the Conan stories
Hey AJ, Brav-O AJ Bravo! Simply Amazing, I had completely forgot about the Yakfolk. Didn't even know they are in 5e. And just like the broken record that I am, those pic's AJ are monstrously epic. Thanks AJ & have a great day.
So in the way they are a more civilized version of a minnotaur? Ik m suprised such a race exists! Like I learn new things every week with you. I love the village structure, gives me a idea for a boss
I think I much prefer the old possession lore. Give a much more "invasion of the bodysnatchers" type vibe where there is a constant concern for an invisible and invasive enemy who can sneak away if you manage to kill the body they have snatched. The Yakman gets to escape back to it's body on a mountain top leaving the PCs hungering for revenge against an enemy who lives in a dangerous and impossible to reach location. And that enemy could comeback in the guise of anyone to have another shot at the party.
I’d appreciate more on Zakhara, as I prefer to play there over Fearune. I got a lot of the books from 2e and would love some videos on the creatures, people, and places there.
I always wanted to know more about this race. They just look like fluffy Minotaurs and maybe a cool race to play. Then you learn they are just as bad as any other evil race or worse
i thought yakfolk were humans who cant hold the alcohol. great vid as always,looking forward to the second half of the dwarf video. are derro a dwarf subspecies or are they a unique thing?? are pech related?
In my campaigns, I use homebrews of "cousins" to other monsters that are offended when compared to their similar species. Yakfolk is perfect as a Minotaur hated cousin. Lots of my monsters (and some plots) were inspired by computer and consul games. I have "Rhinotaurs" from the NES FF3. They are chaotic solitary hunters with command over lightning that are related to Minotaurs, both races hate being compared to each other. Rhinotaurs look like bipedal Rhinosauraces and they are more beast in behavior than Minotaur. All bovine semi-Minotaurs are Minotaurs in my campaigns. I have a LOT of sub-sets. Yakfolk would fit in perfectly in any world in Loom of Magus. They would be more Earth advantaged than Never Lost. All Minotaurs in my campaigns can, at any crossroad, as the DM what path is the best (not fastest, not easiest, the best) path to take and the DM gives the direction. That is why all Minotaurs are immune to the Maze spell. They simply walk through the maze, knowing the exact path. That makes them vanish and re-appear instantly. They take hours in the Maze spell, the brightest people take months, most take years. Time is different in Astral Plane existence. I can see a lot of roleplay of Minotaur-Yakfolk going sour (fun). The players hire the Yakfolk (thinking he was some kind of Minotaur for hire) to lead them somewhere only to have the Yakfolk do it as a slave trap. The players have a PC or NPC Minotaur and they encounter a Yakfolk and ask "What flavor of Minotaur is this?" The party's Minotaur says "This abomination is no Minotaur." and the Yakfolk says "Minotaurs are weak navigators, Yakfolk have the strength of Earth." Declare actions. Roll for initiative.
Another entry that introduced me to a new creature! That's 2 in a row and not exactly easy to do since I've been playing the game for 20 years. I'll have to check this video out later tonight when I have some time but if you're willing to do an entry on the yakfolk, maybe you'd also like to delve in to the Goatfolk/Ibixian? I love that particular race. One of my all-time favorite characters (and undoubtedly my favorite monk) was a Goatfolk "drunken master" re-flavored as a beer-swilling bare-knuckle boxer. I know it might be too similar to something like the yakfolk... but maybe not?
The Goatfolk monk I played was also a runt. That way I could play him as a medium character and also give him a "small dog" complex even when he was still larger than the majority of his companions.
I was going to say that I think the name "Shaitan" was being used already, but after research, turns out I was thinking of the Abishai - The part Devil, part Dragon servants of Tiamat. Might be an idea for video, there!
I suspect it had a lot to do with obnoxious gamers saying something like "Is he going to Shaitan all over the place, he he he...". Always avoid monster names that could sound like defecation.
Kudos to you for a video well done (I like my steak rare)!!! Am I misteaken that Zakhara sounds like a land from Magic the Gathering? Not offense but at first I thought these were Oriental minotaurs, since yaks are from that region. I wonder if there's a race of minotaurs living in the plains called Buffataurs or Buffalofolk? I'm surprised, since they're evil in alignment, that the Yakfolk didn't worship the Minotaur Demon? Or at least he might have some sort of minor influence from the Yakfolk. I guest the Yakfolk Warriors are so "don't want to get too dirty in combat" that they don't have a gore attack; or is it they don't want their horns dirtied with the blood of lesser beings. I bet they're so snobby that they can see through their nostrils (because their noses are turned up to others). At least they don't smell bad... on the outside. Can you make pink ice cream from their milk??? Do they talk a lot? Oh, well (how deep?), keep up the great work you do for this channel!!!!
5:11 Zebu, that is awesome. their slave empire seems pretty unfeasible. they need so many more slaves than themselves, if there are 5k yakfolk in a city to sacrifice 20k people daily, even trading with nearby empires. the yakfolk at once appear different from the slaves they use, dwarves and men and others, which would aid uniting the slaves against them. but with the power of their god, their slaves would be more likely to view their visage as godly rather than monstrous, an image aided by their fine clothing. and with their genies and sorcerers and more they'd have quite some firepower to back it up. so it seems more feasible. reminds me of vampires ruling a kingdom as its' 'elite' nobility, except the equivalent would be that the vampires are giant werebats. edit: I just did some quick maths, and each city of 5k yakfolk need ~300million population of slaves, minus slaves they trade for, so if 90% of sacrificial slaves are bought, they need ~30million population of slaves (then they are affecting the lives of 270million people from neighboring empires). that doesnt seem feasible. /edit I love bovine humanoids, yakfolk, minotaur. Are there others? I feel the writers have them live in villages, cities, and build empires because they are based on herd animals, to make them more yak-like, in a way that werewolves are wolf-like. But I feel that as species in dnd they are still missing some part of being a 'cow'. I would love more information on Toril.
So I have a question. Are yakfolk innately evil, kinda like the gnoll? Or can they be good on occasion like Orcs. Like say if they were somehow raised outside their culture and or yakaria; could they have some other alignment? Or could they even gain a different alignment through a series of, well "adventurous" events.
In all honesty it depends on the DM. Remember that Faerun's most famous character is from an "innately evil" Race. In the novels by R.A. Salvatore it often talks about good individuals from evil races. It's kind of a theme in them.
They can learn to emulate empathy and kindness, as they understand that this is how they are expected to act, however, they will never feel those sort of emotions. Many humans are like that as well, they don't feel empathy, but they can certainly emulate it. When the society that they have been raised in breaks down though, they can not be expected to continue behaving in a good and lawful fashion, as they have no more reason to do so. In other words, yes, they can be raised to be good, but they have to remain in that influence or they will tend to revert to purely selfish behavior.
AJ Pickett So they're essentially like Yuan Ti, not good, but can somewhat trusted to be an ally as long as the arrangement continues to be beneficial to them.
@@AJPickett It's not hard to think of reasons why you might kill someone without being evil. But I can't think of any legitimate reason to enslave a sapient being. I guess a neogi could say, "this is a natural ability. Would I deny you the use of your hands or your eyes?" Then the only real counter-argument is that they take more than they need to defend their wimpy selves. When the motive is profit, then the act is entirely evil. I can see why most groups of sapient beings would kill aberrations on sight. The ones tending towards good you can count on one hand. XD
Nice to see some Zakharan stuff definitely. I’ve just recently finished running a couple campaigns in the region and it’s a very good setting in general. The yakfolk have only come up sparsely in my games, though I have ideas to feature them prominently in a future one with their enslavement of the dao being a major focus.
I love that that one of the known Evil with a big E jerk empires in the world, is ruled by Yaks. Who the hell thought, "Y'know what's super evil? A big smelly fur-cow, known for pink milk, and weird cheese."? Someone must have had a bad experience with a Yak, or more likely a cow. What's even stranger is that they don't share any behaviors with the Yak. Like the whole no family bonds thing is just weird for a mammal, and especially something like a bovine. All this sounds way more like an evil empire of fiends. I'm always leery of the whole "no family loyalty, just follow god" idea. It just doesn't make sense to me unless the society is something like the borg. Like how do they have any factions, how did they get this far? For a creature with complex social groups it seems hard to sustain that level of indifference. As an example, even Drow, Neogi, and Yuanti have a perverse kind of loyalty to their family group, even if it is ultimately an adversarial and evil one. Basically what holds them together as a people? I suppose just their God. This is the part I always find tricky about gods in Forgotten realms, and other fantasy lands, they really are part of the eco system in a weird way. So is this an innate thing (like with a shark, or a Roper, notably both solitary predators), or a thing developed because of the generations of worship and indoctrination of the faceless? Or, because the god has been ever present in their existence and they and their existence are directly tied up with the workings and influence of the Faceless God, is that question moot? In other words, is worship of the Faceless One innate to the Yak folk? That would be interesting, and explain the weirdness of their society. They wouldn't need to develop social bonds the same way, if all of them are innately on brand so to speak. And internal conflict would only be a problem if it interfered with the plans of the Faceless God. Basically a slave race for a deity. Interesting stuff. Some critters really aren't divorced from their alignment, that's just how that creature is put together. I wonder about the Yikaria, are they innately evil servants of a mysterious and powerful god, or have they been slaves so long they have been brainwashed for generations? At this point I'm leaning towards created to serve the Faceless God, and just born bad. But why Yaks, Faceless God, why Yaks?
Yeah, I think part of the fun aspect of this is that the players, unfamiliar with the Yakfolk, may make assumptions about them and then suddenly find themselves in a terrible situation.
@@AJPickett Totally true. I know my players would just think hairy Minotaur. Then somebody gets possessed and they'd be scrambling. Just the organized nature of them would be a shock, we don't see many big shaggy beast like races, that are functioning as a well oiled machine. It's always big barbarians and such.
@@AJPickett have to disagree. it has no theme to it. its literally just even more eivl minotaurs that are given a power that has nothing to do with minotaurs at all. and their society is just 'for the evulz' ignoring the fact that it makes no fuckin sense that they could sustain a level of society without familial bonds. 90% of all evil actions humanity has ever done to each other was done while that soldiers stabbing another soldier to death was screaming in his head 'for my family'. these guys seem more like demons than anyhting. but no, they are somehow a fucntioning society that doesn't implode in on itself within a single generation. with a power that has nothing to do with yaks.
@AJPicket Thanks für the Video, it was very good. I have just one Question. Do the Yaks have no Relationship at all, to the Minotaurs ? That seems odd.
@@AJPickett Good Point. It just look for me, as if the Yaks have, what the Minotaurs lost. A mighty Civilisation and significant Intelligence. Like fallen Cousins.
This is pretty interesting actually. I would have never thought to make an entirely new race out of this. I'd have just assumed they were still Minotaur but yak species instead of a steer or cow. Like if the person had the head of a water buffalo, bison, or wildebeest, they'd all be Minotaur in my book. . . Is that racist?😳 17:30 Questioned answered. . .
I bet you could make some great steaks and roasts out of these lads... Actually, that raises an interesting point. Since d&d operates on objective morality, is it evil to eat sentient creatures if those creatures are evil? I mean... If you're already going to kill them for being evil, it seems pointless to waste good meat. 🤔
Is it evil to eat Whale meat, dolphin, cat, dog, horse, etc. We are culturally biased as humans who live on a world without other sapient humanoids.. who knows? Maybe some folks on Toril are like "NO, never" and others are like "My culture has been eating them for hundreds of years, who are you to tell us how to live".
In arabic theology, djinn are a sentient race similar to humans, all other names are descriptions of djinn. Efreet and Mared are djinn with special feats or actions iirc, but what I know is that shaitan doesn't mean evil spirit. It means an evil individual who usually actively works to undermine religion and what's good, and lead the faithful astray...it doesn't matter wether this individual is human or djinn. There are texts where it is mentioned that a "Shaitan from the djinn"..meaning shaitans aren't all djinn. THE shaitan usually refers to lucifer, or satan..saitan..shaitan..heh
Tad Dad The Qunari are cooler than most horned fantasy cultures. Their a mix of Minotaurs, Dragonborn, Polynesians, Native Americans, and Communism. It’s a pretty unique mix.
One Dao made evil Earth Genies go from underestimated to the by-proxy creator of an evil imperial race akin to Aztecs in sacrifices in his ascension to godhood while simultaneously re-naming the Dao in the process. D^mn.
Powerful elemental magic aside, I always found yak-folk hard to take seriously. I mean, do the females have udders? I would think they'd look pretty ridiculous if they did.
AJ Pickett “Tastes like cheese” is a pretty broad description though. Especially since cheese from particular animals does tend to have specific taste associated with it. Anywho, I wasn’t actually serious about the comment, but now I feel as though I need to look into “people cheese” reviews to see what was said about it. Also, that’s a pretty fuckin weird thing to be selling.
There’s a problem with go into the water , it has down tune guitars I tried to tune it in standard but it has issues like almost unplayable positions . Do you have any other preference?
How do you spell the name of the jackal-human-bird hybrid you mentioned at the end of the video? I've never heard of them and can't find them online or in any of my source books
Damn. This sounds so much like the race I made up a few months ago. I threw together a race of "Orokar" or "Horned / Chromatic Orcs", a race of large horned orcs that established a desert empire by binding Djinnis, the empire went from deserts on the north coast and faded into a steep sheer mountain range where they had more of a jungle and then on the mountain peaks you had sky born cities, great rivers winding through the mountain lands and feeding a Nile-like river. Four biomes for the four types of djinni. The orcs were a noble race that thinks highly of themselves, essentially to normal orcs what high elves are to drow or certain interpretations of wood elves. The idea is that they've interbred over time and you have the orks split in lineages that trace back to djinis, hence the "Chromatic" aspect; The orcs are colored based on their heritage and the strength of their bloodline effecting the vibrancy of their color. They were also heavily a slave trading race and are known for an imperial harem of a thousand wives. The current emperor I called a Khar has ruled for over 70 years (they're long lived like elves) and has been a particularly and uncharacteristically open and accepting Khar, opening up the empire more to trade and giving more rights to slaves; as he has a fascination with foreign cultures and foreign beauty- including, well, the foreign beauties and collects women of other races he finds interesting to add to the imperial harem. But many are not happy with this, causing civil unrest and political tension. With this information of Yakfolk, I think I'll have Yakfolk be a competing empire and limit the Orokar to Marids while Yakfolk have the Dao / earth vs water. There could still be bloodlines of each djinni type but only the Marid could still have an active relationship with the race in the present day. Who knows...
From the Lore of the Djinn: when God breathed Life into the universe the Light gave birth to Angels, the red clay of the Earth gave birth to Man (Humans), and the smokeless Fire gave birthright the Djinn. Eons after creation the King of the Djinn known as Iblis was seduced by the Dark One, El Shaytan (The Devil). Because of this King Iblis and those loyal to him became the Shayatin, the Dark Djinn.
Minotaur: "Who are you?"
YakFolk: "I'm You, but stronger"
JoaoG R “I’m You, but fluffier.”
After this video im must say, "I am you, but better in every way"
Day-um... These guys make the Drow seem cute and cuddly.
Which is hilarious, because they're the cute, fluffy cows.
It's great to have videos on well known monsters, because AJ has some wonderful insights even on things that can be pretty overdone and cliched, but it's even more of a treat when we get something like this.
Interesting, always fun getting an in-depth look at the lesser known races!
When the Yakkity Yak, in fact, talks back:
"I'm 'bout to end this *song* 's whole career!"
Edit: Also, I would LOVE to see an interaction between these guys and Illithids. So much neutral evil in one place...
I really like the Yak Folk. It sounds like a silly concept at first but when you find out about their horrific powers and their dealings with wicked genies it puts them in a whole new light.I like the contrast between their evil natures and the beauty and serenity of their cities> Badguys don't always have to have spikes & skulls all over their strongholds. They would also well outside of the D&D setting.The would fit in quite nicely with the dark/weird fiction of Clark Ashton Smith or maybe even the Conan stories
This sounds like the seed for amazing campaigns, yet I've never even heard of Yikaria before...
Hey AJ, Brav-O AJ Bravo! Simply Amazing, I had completely forgot about the Yakfolk. Didn't even know they are in 5e. And just like the broken record that I am, those pic's AJ are monstrously epic.
Thanks AJ & have a great day.
I would enjoy hearing more about the wider world of Torel. Thank you for another grand video.
Love it! Def writing them into my homebrew! Gonna need a video on these Marashi now tho! *invokes the power of the Patron Request*
You got it!
I'd love to see bits on the various other settings in Toril such as Maztica and Kara Tur, how they fit into the rest.
Yakfolk are really cool.
So in the way they are a more civilized version of a minnotaur? Ik m suprised such a race exists! Like I learn new things every week with you. I love the village structure, gives me a idea for a boss
Great job as always AJ!
Keep it up!
Love your content. I live for it.
Yackety-yack don’t talk back
Clickity Clack Axe in the Back.
AJ Pickett yeah
I want more information on the wider world of Toriel.
Right? Was thinking the same thing
How am I only hearing of these guys now ? Time to kick back & take notes
Thanks for the vid sir.
I think I much prefer the old possession lore.
Give a much more "invasion of the bodysnatchers" type vibe where there is a constant concern for an invisible and invasive enemy who can sneak away if you manage to kill the body they have snatched.
The Yakman gets to escape back to it's body on a mountain top leaving the PCs hungering for revenge against an enemy who lives in a dangerous and impossible to reach location. And that enemy could comeback in the guise of anyone to have another shot at the party.
Agreed
I’d appreciate more on Zakhara, as I prefer to play there over Fearune. I got a lot of the books from 2e and would love some videos on the creatures, people, and places there.
Its new to me, and i like it!
I portray there evilness as being countless generations of ingrained entitlement.
Oh, yes, that's on point
Damn! Thats some cool lore! Totally gonna use Yakfolk in my campagin! Awesome video
I always wanted to know more about this race. They just look like fluffy Minotaurs and maybe a cool race to play. Then you learn they are just as bad as any other evil race or worse
info on the wider world of Toril? yes please
I am genuinely supersized, I figured this would be another throwaway monster like the gnoles.
i thought yakfolk were humans who cant hold the alcohol. great vid as always,looking forward to the second half of the dwarf video. are derro a dwarf subspecies or are they a unique thing?? are pech related?
Pech are totally unrelated, Derro might be related to Dwarves, could just be folklore. We could call them Cousins.
Super cool video, very entertaining, Informative and fun! :)
AJ, you mentioned the Derro a short while ago, could you make something about them? I can’t find very much myself. Thanks!
Derro are great little foot lickers
Yakkity yak dont talk back unless you want to be sacrificed in gruesome ways
Sounds better in yak-inese
Great group of antagonists and they super tough
Me new to dnd: Yak people? so there probably like minotaurs right? ok (watches video) OH DEAR GOD
In my campaigns, I use homebrews of "cousins" to other monsters that are offended when compared to their similar species. Yakfolk is perfect as a Minotaur hated cousin. Lots of my monsters (and some plots) were inspired by computer and consul games. I have "Rhinotaurs" from the NES FF3. They are chaotic solitary hunters with command over lightning that are related to Minotaurs, both races hate being compared to each other. Rhinotaurs look like bipedal Rhinosauraces and they are more beast in behavior than Minotaur. All bovine semi-Minotaurs are Minotaurs in my campaigns. I have a LOT of sub-sets. Yakfolk would fit in perfectly in any world in Loom of Magus. They would be more Earth advantaged than Never Lost. All Minotaurs in my campaigns can, at any crossroad, as the DM what path is the best (not fastest, not easiest, the best) path to take and the DM gives the direction. That is why all Minotaurs are immune to the Maze spell. They simply walk through the maze, knowing the exact path. That makes them vanish and re-appear instantly. They take hours in the Maze spell, the brightest people take months, most take years. Time is different in Astral Plane existence.
I can see a lot of roleplay of Minotaur-Yakfolk going sour (fun). The players hire the Yakfolk (thinking he was some kind of Minotaur for hire) to lead them somewhere only to have the Yakfolk do it as a slave trap. The players have a PC or NPC Minotaur and they encounter a Yakfolk and ask "What flavor of Minotaur is this?" The party's Minotaur says "This abomination is no Minotaur." and the Yakfolk says "Minotaurs are weak navigators, Yakfolk have the strength of Earth."
Declare actions. Roll for initiative.
Yak, yak, yak...that’s all you ever do, AJ! 😉
LOL, true.
What would a 5E homebrew race be like for them?
As player characters?
I love these guys. They are going in the most epic peaks in my homebrew world
Another entry that introduced me to a new creature! That's 2 in a row and not exactly easy to do since I've been playing the game for 20 years. I'll have to check this video out later tonight when I have some time but if you're willing to do an entry on the yakfolk, maybe you'd also like to delve in to the Goatfolk/Ibixian? I love that particular race. One of my all-time favorite characters (and undoubtedly my favorite monk) was a Goatfolk "drunken master" re-flavored as a beer-swilling bare-knuckle boxer. I know it might be too similar to something like the yakfolk... but maybe not?
The Goatfolk monk I played was also a runt. That way I could play him as a medium character and also give him a "small dog" complex even when he was still larger than the majority of his companions.
@@jacobnavarro3675 I will be making a video about the plane travelling race of goat centaurs from Ysgard. I will look into the Ibixians.
I was going to say that I think the name "Shaitan" was being used already, but after research, turns out I was thinking of the Abishai - The part Devil, part Dragon servants of Tiamat. Might be an idea for video, there!
I suspect it had a lot to do with obnoxious gamers saying something like "Is he going to Shaitan all over the place, he he he...".
Always avoid monster names that could sound like defecation.
“the faceless god”
*war flashbacks to juiblex*
Now, wouldn't that be a plot twist.
That was awesome. I didnt know this race existed. Great ecology video AJ!
So Evil Tibet/Airbenders?
*sits on top of a rock*
"The yakfolk uset to ride this baby's for miles"
Kudos to you for a video well done (I like my steak rare)!!! Am I misteaken that Zakhara sounds like a land from Magic the Gathering? Not offense but at first I thought these were Oriental minotaurs, since yaks are from that region. I wonder if there's a race of minotaurs living in the plains called Buffataurs or Buffalofolk? I'm surprised, since they're evil in alignment, that the Yakfolk didn't worship the Minotaur Demon? Or at least he might have some sort of minor influence from the Yakfolk. I guest the Yakfolk Warriors are so "don't want to get too dirty in combat" that they don't have a gore attack; or is it they don't want their horns dirtied with the blood of lesser beings. I bet they're so snobby that they can see through their nostrils (because their noses are turned up to others). At least they don't smell bad... on the outside. Can you make pink ice cream from their milk??? Do they talk a lot? Oh, well (how deep?), keep up the great work you do for this channel!!!!
5:11 Zebu, that is awesome.
their slave empire seems pretty unfeasible. they need so many more slaves than themselves, if there are 5k yakfolk in a city to sacrifice 20k people daily, even trading with nearby empires. the yakfolk at once appear different from the slaves they use, dwarves and men and others, which would aid uniting the slaves against them. but with the power of their god, their slaves would be more likely to view their visage as godly rather than monstrous, an image aided by their fine clothing. and with their genies and sorcerers and more they'd have quite some firepower to back it up. so it seems more feasible. reminds me of vampires ruling a kingdom as its' 'elite' nobility, except the equivalent would be that the vampires are giant werebats.
edit: I just did some quick maths, and each city of 5k yakfolk need ~300million population of slaves, minus slaves they trade for, so if 90% of sacrificial slaves are bought, they need ~30million population of slaves (then they are affecting the lives of 270million people from neighboring empires). that doesnt seem feasible. /edit
I love bovine humanoids, yakfolk, minotaur. Are there others? I feel the writers have them live in villages, cities, and build empires because they are based on herd animals, to make them more yak-like, in a way that werewolves are wolf-like. But I feel that as species in dnd they are still missing some part of being a 'cow'.
I would love more information on Toril.
They don't EACH sacrifice four slaves a day, they attend a religious ceremony as a community, where the priests sacrifice the slaves.
oooh that makes much more sense, thank you for clearing that up
So I have a question. Are yakfolk innately evil, kinda like the gnoll? Or can they be good on occasion like Orcs. Like say if they were somehow raised outside their culture and or yakaria; could they have some other alignment? Or could they even gain a different alignment through a series of, well "adventurous" events.
In all honesty it depends on the DM. Remember that Faerun's most famous character is from an "innately evil" Race. In the novels by R.A. Salvatore it often talks about good individuals from evil races. It's kind of a theme in them.
They can learn to emulate empathy and kindness, as they understand that this is how they are expected to act, however, they will never feel those sort of emotions. Many humans are like that as well, they don't feel empathy, but they can certainly emulate it. When the society that they have been raised in breaks down though, they can not be expected to continue behaving in a good and lawful fashion, as they have no more reason to do so. In other words, yes, they can be raised to be good, but they have to remain in that influence or they will tend to revert to purely selfish behavior.
@@AJPickett This was quite helpful thank you A.j
AJ Pickett So they're essentially like Yuan Ti, not good, but can somewhat trusted to be an ally as long as the arrangement continues to be beneficial to them.
This sounds like a good Warhammer Race
Yakfolk, neogi, aboleth alliance? Who doesn't love fighting slavers. XD
Yep, its like "Here we have the bad guys, go at it and cause mayhem my friends"
@@AJPickett It's not hard to think of reasons why you might kill someone without being evil. But I can't think of any legitimate reason to enslave a sapient being.
I guess a neogi could say, "this is a natural ability. Would I deny you the use of your hands or your eyes?" Then the only real counter-argument is that they take more than they need to defend their wimpy selves. When the motive is profit, then the act is entirely evil.
I can see why most groups of sapient beings would kill aberrations on sight. The ones tending towards good you can count on one hand. XD
@@jgr7487 Well they are each different CRs, so perhaps the natural pecking order would cement the alliance. :3
wonder how often they are confused with minotaurs by travelers
Only once.
if your setting is a less divine one, both can have a common origin; but the Yakarian is the civilized one, while Minotaurs are barbarians.
I am running STK so again thanks for getting me what I need
With creatures such as these Yak folk around I can imagine that a lot of people would be very slow to trust outsiders in a DND world.
Who ever saw a yak and said "yup. Definitely super evil" 😂
Wraith Reaper22 ever meet a yak? Cattle are notoriously tricky in trying to get you close enough to head butt people
Maybe I missed it but, could someone be kind enough to tell me what book to find them in, please?
Evil Yak people?! Surely this is the gods punishing me for my love of steaks and cheeseburgers 🥩 🍔.
Nice to see some Zakharan stuff definitely. I’ve just recently finished running a couple campaigns in the region and it’s a very good setting in general. The yakfolk have only come up sparsely in my games, though I have ideas to feature them prominently in a future one with their enslavement of the dao being a major focus.
HOLY COW!
I love that that one of the known Evil with a big E jerk empires in the world, is ruled by Yaks. Who the hell thought, "Y'know what's super evil? A big smelly fur-cow, known for pink milk, and weird cheese."? Someone must have had a bad experience with a Yak, or more likely a cow.
What's even stranger is that they don't share any behaviors with the Yak. Like the whole no family bonds thing is just weird for a mammal, and especially something like a bovine. All this sounds way more like an evil empire of fiends. I'm always leery of the whole "no family loyalty, just follow god" idea. It just doesn't make sense to me unless the society is something like the borg. Like how do they have any factions, how did they get this far? For a creature with complex social groups it seems hard to sustain that level of indifference. As an example, even Drow, Neogi, and Yuanti have a perverse kind of loyalty to their family group, even if it is ultimately an adversarial and evil one. Basically what holds them together as a people? I suppose just their God. This is the part I always find tricky about gods in Forgotten realms, and other fantasy lands, they really are part of the eco system in a weird way.
So is this an innate thing (like with a shark, or a Roper, notably both solitary predators), or a thing developed because of the generations of worship and indoctrination of the faceless? Or, because the god has been ever present in their existence and they and their existence are directly tied up with the workings and influence of the Faceless God, is that question moot? In other words, is worship of the Faceless One innate to the Yak folk? That would be interesting, and explain the weirdness of their society. They wouldn't need to develop social bonds the same way, if all of them are innately on brand so to speak. And internal conflict would only be a problem if it interfered with the plans of the Faceless God. Basically a slave race for a deity. Interesting stuff.
Some critters really aren't divorced from their alignment, that's just how that creature is put together. I wonder about the Yikaria, are they innately evil servants of a mysterious and powerful god, or have they been slaves so long they have been brainwashed for generations? At this point I'm leaning towards created to serve the Faceless God, and just born bad. But why Yaks, Faceless God, why Yaks?
Yeah, I think part of the fun aspect of this is that the players, unfamiliar with the Yakfolk, may make assumptions about them and then suddenly find themselves in a terrible situation.
@@AJPickett Totally true. I know my players would just think hairy Minotaur. Then somebody gets possessed and they'd be scrambling.
Just the organized nature of them would be a shock, we don't see many big shaggy beast like races, that are functioning as a well oiled machine. It's always big barbarians and such.
@@AJPickett have to disagree. it has no theme to it. its literally just even more eivl minotaurs that are given a power that has nothing to do with minotaurs at all. and their society is just 'for the evulz' ignoring the fact that it makes no fuckin sense that they could sustain a level of society without familial bonds.
90% of all evil actions humanity has ever done to each other was done while that soldiers stabbing another soldier to death was screaming in his head 'for my family'.
these guys seem more like demons than anyhting. but no, they are somehow a fucntioning society that doesn't implode in on itself within a single generation. with a power that has nothing to do with yaks.
can you do more zakhara setting videos?
So it's Evil Tibet?
With an Evil Dalai Yak?
Haven’t watched the video yet, but I already need to play one
Great race to do a lore video on! They might make an interesting PC race, too.
@AJPicket Thanks für the Video, it was very good. I have just one Question. Do the Yaks have no Relationship at all, to the Minotaurs ? That seems odd.
Minotaurs probably say exactly the same things about Humans, Elves and Dwarves when you think about it.
@@AJPickett Good Point. It just look for me, as if the Yaks have, what the Minotaurs lost. A mighty Civilisation and significant Intelligence. Like fallen Cousins.
I think d&d 6e will add on lore of a war between the yakfolk and faerun
This is pretty interesting actually. I would have never thought to make an entirely new race out of this. I'd have just assumed they were still Minotaur but yak species instead of a steer or cow. Like if the person had the head of a water buffalo, bison, or wildebeest, they'd all be Minotaur in my book. . . Is that racist?😳
17:30 Questioned answered. . .
The Minotaurs of China
Skyler Maves I’m going ancient Mesopotamian bull god worshipers with these guys
@@twilightgardenspresentatio6384 Yeah that's more accurate but they have a very Chinese feel to them as well.
I wondered how they interact with Minotaurs?
Watch out errbody.
This looks like Yakfolk country...
So Warhammer beastmen meets Arabian nights.
Unfortunately, they are WAAAY more dangerous than any beastman... Imagine an army of minotaurs where every one is a sorcerer of Araby,,
Here wuz Seamus!
I bet you could make some great steaks and roasts out of these lads... Actually, that raises an interesting point. Since d&d operates on objective morality, is it evil to eat sentient creatures if those creatures are evil? I mean... If you're already going to kill them for being evil, it seems pointless to waste good meat. 🤔
Is it evil to eat Whale meat, dolphin, cat, dog, horse, etc. We are culturally biased as humans who live on a world without other sapient humanoids.. who knows? Maybe some folks on Toril are like "NO, never" and others are like "My culture has been eating them for hundreds of years, who are you to tell us how to live".
@@AJPickett I mean if you gonna genocide them for being evil is it really any worse to eat them afterwards?
All I can say is WoW!.
Psyberklown ... ... ...
Brilliant
Wider world of toril series!
In arabic theology, djinn are a sentient race similar to humans, all other names are descriptions of djinn. Efreet and Mared are djinn with special feats or actions iirc, but what I know is that shaitan doesn't mean evil spirit. It means an evil individual who usually actively works to undermine religion and what's good, and lead the faithful astray...it doesn't matter wether this individual is human or djinn. There are texts where it is mentioned that a "Shaitan from the djinn"..meaning shaitans aren't all djinn.
THE shaitan usually refers to lucifer, or satan..saitan..shaitan..heh
Thanks for the info! That's rly damn interesting
These guys are like D&D’s Qunari.
qunari are better tahn these guys.
but yea the qunari culture is just a pressure pot of doom. waiting to boil over.
Tad Dad The Qunari are cooler than most horned fantasy cultures. Their a mix of Minotaurs, Dragonborn, Polynesians, Native Americans, and Communism.
It’s a pretty unique mix.
One Dao made evil Earth Genies go from underestimated to the by-proxy creator of an evil imperial race akin to Aztecs in sacrifices in his ascension to godhood while simultaneously re-naming the Dao in the process. D^mn.
That80sGuy1972 yup.
Good video a little hisss
Powerful elemental magic aside, I always found yak-folk hard to take seriously. I mean, do the females have udders? I would think they'd look pretty ridiculous if they did.
They look almost exactly like the males.
Brian Corvello four tiny boobies. Useless. Their young probably just beg cud from any nearby adult until they can handle rough silage.
Needs more cowbell
Well these beings are on my Kill On Sight list.
But what does Yakfolk cheese taste like??
In 2011 there was a pop up store in New York city that was selling human cheese, so, it would taste like cheese.
AJ Pickett “Tastes like cheese” is a pretty broad description though. Especially since cheese from particular animals does tend to have specific taste associated with it.
Anywho, I wasn’t actually serious about the comment, but now I feel as though I need to look into “people cheese” reviews to see what was said about it.
Also, that’s a pretty fuckin weird thing to be selling.
Yet another race of villains
Do more of Zakharra or Ravenloft =)
I CONCUR!
Pls more!
good video AJ
Yakety yak don't talk back!
My FAVORITES
@AJPicket do you know where you found the pic at 4:08 mark??
Maybe here? fairytailfanon.fandom.com/wiki/Zodiac_Minor:Taurus_(Taur)
Aj you should do a video on the elemental evil princes.
Indeed I should!
The skin crawling should have been becoming a magical ring in their nose. Why being touched by a yak is mind control I don’t get
Isn't the phrase "Giant Rocs" a bit redundant?
Yes.
Daniel Nevill ha!
There’s a problem with go into the water , it has down tune guitars I tried to tune it in standard but it has issues like almost unplayable positions .
Do you have any other preference?
The theme song to Terrahawks ruclips.net/video/GB1XLbiISm0/видео.html
AJ Pickett sorry to disappoint but it can’t be played at guitar 😢
Would you like into the water but not acoustic?
@@somekindofdude1130 Whatever you like
How do you spell the name of the jackal-human-bird hybrid you mentioned at the end of the video? I've never heard of them and can't find them online or in any of my source books
Marrashi, MM2 3.5
"YAAAK SONG! YAAAAK SONG! NOT VERY LONG! SING AGAIN!"
Paizo calls them Shaitan in their Pathfinder books
Which boxed set gives the most info on Zakkaria?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qadim
Damn. This sounds so much like the race I made up a few months ago. I threw together a race of "Orokar" or "Horned / Chromatic Orcs", a race of large horned orcs that established a desert empire by binding Djinnis, the empire went from deserts on the north coast and faded into a steep sheer mountain range where they had more of a jungle and then on the mountain peaks you had sky born cities, great rivers winding through the mountain lands and feeding a Nile-like river. Four biomes for the four types of djinni.
The orcs were a noble race that thinks highly of themselves, essentially to normal orcs what high elves are to drow or certain interpretations of wood elves. The idea is that they've interbred over time and you have the orks split in lineages that trace back to djinis, hence the "Chromatic" aspect; The orcs are colored based on their heritage and the strength of their bloodline effecting the vibrancy of their color.
They were also heavily a slave trading race and are known for an imperial harem of a thousand wives. The current emperor I called a Khar has ruled for over 70 years (they're long lived like elves) and has been a particularly and uncharacteristically open and accepting Khar, opening up the empire more to trade and giving more rights to slaves; as he has a fascination with foreign cultures and foreign beauty- including, well, the foreign beauties and collects women of other races he finds interesting to add to the imperial harem.
But many are not happy with this, causing civil unrest and political tension.
With this information of Yakfolk, I think I'll have Yakfolk be a competing empire and limit the Orokar to Marids while Yakfolk have the Dao / earth vs water. There could still be bloodlines of each djinni type but only the Marid could still have an active relationship with the race in the present day. Who knows...
Do the Yakfolk tend to sacrifice older/weaker slaves or would that be an affront to their shaitan deity?
They do.
From the Lore of the Djinn: when God breathed Life into the universe the Light gave birth to Angels, the red clay of the Earth gave birth to Man (Humans), and the smokeless Fire gave birthright the Djinn. Eons after creation the King of the Djinn known as Iblis was seduced by the Dark One, El Shaytan (The Devil). Because of this King Iblis and those loyal to him became the Shayatin, the Dark Djinn.
Yep that ambush got us good