Fanaelialae
Legend
I don't tend to rely much on tropes in my games.
Dwarves and elves get along about as well as anyone else does.
Elves and drow don't particularly get along, but they have their reasons. The elves are children of the great World Trees. The home world of the World Trees was devoured by the progenitor of the drow, a powerful spore-based World Eater. The surviving World Trees fled to the Prime World, and the World Eater sent a piece of herself after them, intending to finish the job. Unfortunately for her, the Prime World's climate proved inhospitable, and she was forced to retreat to the depths below. Long story short, the World Trees eat a number of the indigenous humanoid life forms that they encounter and use this essence as inspiration for the elves. The World Eater eventually encounters some elves, eats them, and decides to create its own race from this template. So the World Trees and the World Eater fight a proxy war, but it's primarily a cold war.
While the elves and drow who live near their progenitors tend to be fairly prejudiced against each other, those who leave their communities tend to be more free minded, and soon discover that much like themselves, their counterparts tend to have little interest in the war of their progenitors.
As for halflings, they're reasonably close to the PHB version (which is to say, not particularly Hobbit like). The short version is that the god of rogues tricked the god of paladins into cutting off his pinky finger, and the first halflings sprung from that finger when it struck the ground. As such, halflings have the cleverness of the Trickster and the courage of the Champion. According to legend, at any rate.
Half orcs tend to originate from nomadic tribes who intermingled with orcs. This was seen as a benefit to both, as the resulting progeny were both strong and clever. As such, half orcs are highly respected among nomadic cultures, though they sometimes meet with prejudice in "civilized" lands, owing to the false notion that all half orcs are uncivilized barbarians.
Tieflings are very different. While some do gain their appearance through devilish bargains, they are the exception rather than the rule. There are Hellholes in my world from which demons and devils crawl up out of the ground (borrowed from 13th Age). These Hellholes became fortified locations, to protect the region from fiendish hordes. The warriors who fought the fiends were exposed to their blood, and over several generations became Tieflings. As such, Tieflings are respected by many; it's a badge of honor.
Monsters are rarely kill on sight in my games, particularly if they are with non-monsters. Of course, that only applies if they behave themselves and don't threaten the community.
In a previous campaign, which was essentially a PoL setting, I had a young adult bronze dragon who was making his fortune by flying between towns and functioning as a trader. He was most welcome in town. Of course, the only killing he did was in the mercantile business.
A big part of why I generally aim for something different with my games is that one of my groups has been gaming together for two decades. As such, while they don't mind Tolkien-esque fantasy, they prefer something new and different, when possible.
Dwarves and elves get along about as well as anyone else does.
Elves and drow don't particularly get along, but they have their reasons. The elves are children of the great World Trees. The home world of the World Trees was devoured by the progenitor of the drow, a powerful spore-based World Eater. The surviving World Trees fled to the Prime World, and the World Eater sent a piece of herself after them, intending to finish the job. Unfortunately for her, the Prime World's climate proved inhospitable, and she was forced to retreat to the depths below. Long story short, the World Trees eat a number of the indigenous humanoid life forms that they encounter and use this essence as inspiration for the elves. The World Eater eventually encounters some elves, eats them, and decides to create its own race from this template. So the World Trees and the World Eater fight a proxy war, but it's primarily a cold war.
While the elves and drow who live near their progenitors tend to be fairly prejudiced against each other, those who leave their communities tend to be more free minded, and soon discover that much like themselves, their counterparts tend to have little interest in the war of their progenitors.
As for halflings, they're reasonably close to the PHB version (which is to say, not particularly Hobbit like). The short version is that the god of rogues tricked the god of paladins into cutting off his pinky finger, and the first halflings sprung from that finger when it struck the ground. As such, halflings have the cleverness of the Trickster and the courage of the Champion. According to legend, at any rate.
Half orcs tend to originate from nomadic tribes who intermingled with orcs. This was seen as a benefit to both, as the resulting progeny were both strong and clever. As such, half orcs are highly respected among nomadic cultures, though they sometimes meet with prejudice in "civilized" lands, owing to the false notion that all half orcs are uncivilized barbarians.
Tieflings are very different. While some do gain their appearance through devilish bargains, they are the exception rather than the rule. There are Hellholes in my world from which demons and devils crawl up out of the ground (borrowed from 13th Age). These Hellholes became fortified locations, to protect the region from fiendish hordes. The warriors who fought the fiends were exposed to their blood, and over several generations became Tieflings. As such, Tieflings are respected by many; it's a badge of honor.
Monsters are rarely kill on sight in my games, particularly if they are with non-monsters. Of course, that only applies if they behave themselves and don't threaten the community.
In a previous campaign, which was essentially a PoL setting, I had a young adult bronze dragon who was making his fortune by flying between towns and functioning as a trader. He was most welcome in town. Of course, the only killing he did was in the mercantile business.
A big part of why I generally aim for something different with my games is that one of my groups has been gaming together for two decades. As such, while they don't mind Tolkien-esque fantasy, they prefer something new and different, when possible.
