Worlds & Monsters: humans are boring??

[Frostmarrow]

A human-populated empire that resembles ancient Egypt, but with mummies in control, is less interesting than a realm ruled by salamanders, lizardfolk, or even dwarves.

...from a bunch of wandering human adventurers point of view.

If you leave your safe hammlet and travel into the dark unkown it might be more interesting to find salamanders in charge of a pyramid rather than yet more humans.

But I don't know - the example given is lacking since mummies are cooler than lizardfolk, salamanders and dwarves combined.

 

[LoneWolf23]

Hmmm... I see your point, though I think the benefits of less human-centric setting outweigh the downside of not having a baseline.

Personally, I've always thought that walking into a DnD Tavern should be like walking into the Cantina on Tatooine. Dwarf mercenaries plotting over ale in a dark corner under the stairs. A comely Tifling rogue grafting a rich merchant by the bar. An Orc barbarian glaring at passers by daring them to give him an excuse. A Drow noble accompanied by Hobgoblin bodyguards drowning her sorrows. And, hey, why not a Beholder looking to purchase some slaves?

Hmm.. I like your ideas, and would like to subscribe to your journal.

I'm kinda mixed on the subject myself. On one hand, I agree that a human baseline really helps (and the Mummy-run pseudo-Egyptian empire sounds really cool), but on the other hand, I love non-human races as well, especially since I'm a furry, so a more racially cosmopolitan setting does work for me.

Your Star Wars reference does suggest a good compromise, however: a racially diverse setting where humans have a strong presence, but without forcing non-humans out into the outskirts of civilisation. A world where human traders are more or less openly welcome in Elven Forest Cities as well as Goblinoid trading camps.

 

[Ahglock]

If they had dropped the mummy part i could agree. A race any race being controlled and ruled by a different race is more interesting in that it adds a lot of inherent story elements. But humans ruled by mummies vs dwarves. Mummies win hands down.

 

[Wepwawet]

Personally I love this change. Brings and end to that medieval anthopocentric thinking (the one that made Galileus renounce his work, and sent many to the inquisition dungeons ) that is present in dungeons&dragons fantasy...

One thing I never understood in D&D worlds is this: in a world with thousands of strange creatures, mostly all of them more powerful than humans, why would humans be dominant? Even with the advantages humans have, there are too many monsters present in the world to allow such a thing.

It's fantasy. And yeah, it has to be alien to ourselves

 

[howandwhy99]

Good stuff OP. I wish I had written that. It's nice to have a human standard for us to differentiate against rather than non-ingame pseudo-physics. The human condition is far more complex, understood, and easily roleplayed, than a mechanic-centered game design. D&D mechanics were designed around the human-baseline for just that reason. Now, not so much.

The necessity of humans in a fantasy world isn't really a necessity IMO though. I've always wanted to play a dwarf-only group, but c'est la vie. You still gotta start defining "what is a dwarf" with the only sentient, cultured lifeform we know. And then tell everyone before play what those differences are, even if it's simply broad strokes. But no human games and worlds are certainly playable.

EDIT: But, I'd hasten to add, only inspiring in relation to what it means to us humans.

 

[maggot]

I stumbled over this too. It is so amazingly stupid of a statement that I didn't bother to read the rest of the previews. Perhaps some day when my mind has cleared from the induced numbness, I'll finish reading the previews.

 

[EATherrian]

The funny thing is that, since we're humans creating it, all of the races have the human baseline. All the other races are just amalgams of human concepts. I think that's why I like antrocentric fantasy, because I can see where it feels right or wrong. We don't really know how an elf, dwarf, or sentient lizard would build their society since they aren't human. They would think so differently from us, there's a good chance there'd be little to no actual commonality. So we make "alien" cultures that are just pieces of human culture or thought. I find it easier and more intellectually pure just to leave humans in an important role there since I feel I could never give other races a true world view or culture. If someone can, I'd love to hear how they did it. I mean dwarves speaking Scotish and drinking beer probably wouldn't be how an actual dwarven people developed. At least I hope not.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

I think the OP is taking that quote way out of context. The point wasn't that humans are "less cool" than other races, but rather than fantasy civilizations based on real-world cultures with the serial numbers filed off aren't as interesting as organically complete fantasy civilizations.

 

[DaveMage]

I stumbled over this too. It is so amazingly stupid of a statement that I didn't bother to read the rest of the previews. Perhaps some day when my mind has cleared from the induced numbness, I'll finish reading the previews.

Bah! I've been playing with salamanders, lizardfolk, and even dwarves as the big bosses in my campaign for years!

I'm glad WotC has finally realized my vision for the game!









...What?

 

[Dayen]

I think it depends on you. I'm already writing the setting for my PoL campaign, a formerly dwarven clanhold called Goldbarrow because, surprise, it sits on an enormous gold vein.

It also has a relatively unique location, with a large weald to the south, a mountain range on the east separating it from the rest of the peninsula it's on, a moor to the north and a large swampland/river delta along the river to the west. The "point of light" is the city itself, obviously, but the entire half the peninsula that's separated by the mountain range could be considered "illuminated." Because of the mountains there haven't been the hordes of goblinoids, the trouble with dragons and other invading dangers.

The problems arise, literally, from the mines beneath the city which connect to an underdark that traverses the mountains to the east.

I'm shooting for seven major power groups, one of which is the "source of evil" in the city. The entire heroic campaign will, with any luck, take place in the immediate city. The paragon campaign will take place in the surrounding countryside as the taint of evil begins to seep out of the city, while the epic campaign will delve into the tunnels below the mines.

Most of the significant NPCs are just barely into the Paragon range, and are by and large far too busy to assist the heroes beyond dispensing advice about their next move should they get stumped along the way. Obviously once the heroes reach the Paragon tier they should be beyond the need for their notables' assistance, but again, if they get stuck those individuals may be able to supply them with a clue.

While the setting is a dwarven clanhold, the "civilization" in this point of light has no real "power" species; each of the six specie have notable individuals occupying positions of power, from Wardens (mayors of the districts, basically) to leaders of the Transportation, Merchant, Artisan and Miner's guilds, the Goldbarrow Guard and in the Temple Ward's churches.

Pretty ambitious, I know, but as much as I like the changes coming down the pipe for Forgotten Realms, my current group prefers homebrew settings, so PoL will suffice.