I currently have 17 religions:
Church of the Divine Trinity, a Christian inspired religion, focused on faith and forgiveness.
Temple of the Sun, A new religion focusing on 7 sun gods and their joint decisions.
Church of Zeus, followers of the sky god Zeus.
Temples of Poseidon, followers of the god of the sea.
The Prometheus Movement, a religion begun by machines seeking independence.
Temples of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, a religion of psychics and outcasts.
Cult of Ares, a religion that focuses on starting and maintaining wars.
The Order of Hephestis, an engineer's religion, followed mostly by dwarves.
Temples of Dionysus, a religion centered around celebration and self discovery.
Church of Hermes, another machine religion, that focuses on improving their reputation.
The Temples of Ra, a church opposed to the destructive god Set.
Cult of Loki, a rebellious machine religion that supports radical change.
The Clan of Artemis, A hunter's religion, blending murder and honor.
The Temples of Set, a demon dominated religion, very focused on destruction.
Church of Odin, a religion of warriors and knowledge seekers, opposes Loki
Church of Atlas, a religion of Sheen and earth mages, focuses on upholding the law.
Cult of Hades, a religion of jailers and bounty hunters, also the religion favored by Orcs
I also currently have 25 races divided among 4 categories.
The first category is Energy Based Beings known as “Ebbs.” It is suspected that these beings evolved prior to the formation of matter in the universe. Known types of energy based beings are as follows:
Spirit, a self replicating energy structure with intelligence and limited ability to interact with the physical world.
Elemental, a spirit which has increased its ability to interact with the physical world through a synchronization with a specific element, emotion, or other abstract concept.
Angel, a self replicating energy structure supposedly created by the Trinity, its energies are synchronized with the Trinity.
Demon, any energy based being which has synchronized with forces of chaos, evil or other abstract concepts.
Phoenix, energy based beings which are synchronized with solar energies. They possess an unique system of replication which involves the terminations of energies followed by an unexplained reoccurrence of energies.
Deity, an energy based being which gains some or all of its power by absorbing mental energies. Usually the source these mental energies is mortal worshipers however Hades gains energy from other energy based beings trapped in Tartarus, while the Trinity seems to gains it’s energy from the Angels.
Another category of life is Creationist Life. These are races created by Ebbs or by mortals using magic. And they include Elves, Dwarves, Fairies, Orcs, Vampires, Dragons, and Titans.
Evolutionist life is a category which consists of races which evolved naturally once the heavier elements necessary for live developed in the mature universe.
Baktron Domicilate, a race of bacterial symbiotes which bond with their hosts and share their strength.
Baktron Imbibe, a race of bacterial parasites which enslave with their hosts and consume them.
Venery, a race which evolved on a world which lacked plant life. Hunting and protection became essential causing the males to become obsessive hunters, while the females vicious protectors.
Hiemal, a race that evolved on a frigid world, their “blood” is liquefied oxygen. They are most comfortable at around –200 degrees Celsius.
Trifle, a race that evolved on a low gravity world, though powerful in space and low gravity, they cannot tolerate gravities stronger than those on most moons.
Febrile, a high temperature race with Boron for “blood.” They are most comfortable at 3000 degrees Celsius.
Tine, a race with pack intelligence, a single member of the species possess only animal intelligence but packs of 4-6 can demonstrate comparable and even advanced intelligences. (note that this is the only race which is technically still under copyright as it appears in Vernor Vinge’s novel, A Fire Upon the Deep. They are such a unique race however I consider them a tribute rather than an outright copy.)
There is heated debate about Humans and which category they belong in. Most mages believe that humans were created by Ebbs, and similar races like the Dwarves and Elves are the result of magical manipulation of human breeding stock. More technological societies accept that Dwarves and Elves could not have evolved naturally in the early universe with out Ebbs creating the necessary elemental building blocks but they bereave humans evolved naturally and imposed their existence upon a magical history that they were not a part of.
Artificial life is the final category of life in the universe. It is defined as any intelligence, organic, mechanical, or cybernetic, which although functional and self replicating, could not have had genesis without intelligent design.
Cyborgs, including intelligences with various mixes of machines with organic components and organics with machine components.
Oppugn, a mass of cellular cyborgs capable of replicating through both organic and non-organic mediums. They differ from general cyborgs in that they appear to have a collective consciousness and share a unified goal.
Hermes Hunter, a class of intelligent machine which serves it’s organic masters, and actively hunts threats to their masters.
Prometheus Machine, a class of intelligent machine that opposes the use of any machinery lacking intelligence, preferring to employ intelligent machines capable of performing the same task through various transformations.
Loki Machine, Derived from the term Loco-machine, technically any machine which does not fit into the category of Prometheus machine or Hermes Hunter. More commonly associated with machines capable of not only defying their organic masters but seeking to harm or concur them. As their name implies they are commonly associated with the Cult of Loki.
The descriptions are intentionally vague, since as I said, this is a relatively recent re-write. Although I am trying to get through some other sources of literary aliens for ideas, I would love to have your input. Finally please note that some of these races were inspired by other works. If their representation here is too close to the source, I would like to hear it. The Baktron for example were inspired by the alien Symbiote Venom. That having been said, I intend to make the race very unique and a work in and of themselves rather than a cheap rip off of a marvel character. That’s why I need your help. Post your thoughts here or PM me. Thanks
