D&D General Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings of Color

[Blue Orange]

Wood Elves in recent 5e art seem to be brown skinned more often than "white"/pale skinned. Like in this amazing art from Tasha's:
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I think it's interesting how Wood Elves in recent 5e art typically have darker skin than drow. Like this Drow from TCoE:
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I'm assuming that this directional change is to make a typically evil race less tied to the connotations of "dark skin" making you be evil, as Wood Elves are typically a "good race" (or at least "not typically evil race"), and they're now more dark skinned than drow, and are more typical human-shades of skin tone than Drow previously were.

Pale drow actually make more sense as underground creatures tend to lose pigment.

 

[Tonguez]

Now I'm going to have to come up with a dwarven martial arts tradition that takes all the goofiest aspects of the WWF and lucha libre and somehow makes them work. Duergar are typecasted as heels. Should be interesting when players decide to play a dwarf monk.

I always thought ram-man from MotU as being a dwarf wrestler, using a dwarven style flying headbut

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Y’know…

Mesoamerican dwarves with luchadors, big mustaches, peppers, and step pyramids…it’s actually semi-coherent.

I especially like the idea that they built their pyramids to echo the mountains of their homelands. And all those stone carvings? That is the kind of craftsmanship Dwarves would do.

I wonder if @Mallus is still around to elaborate on his pantheon that included Joseirus, the Egyptian God of Mexican Wrestling, as mentioned here: Small Gods: Myriad Puntheons

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Non-humans of course should have diverse skin tones too, and everyone being white is super outdated. The main area of my current setting is very warm (the two suns take care of that) so darker skin tones are the norm for humans and non-humans alike. (Well, orcs are green, teal, ochre or orangeish.) Though I don't think non-humans necessarily need to directly correspond to human ethnicities, they can have their own features and their own ethnic groups. In fact not even humans need to. There have been all sort of human ethic groups in prehistory that no longer exist, but in a fantasy world they can, as can invented ones.

 

[jayoungr]

Mesoamerican dwarves with luchadors, big mustaches, peppers, and step pyramids…it’s actually semi-coherent.

Are peppers associated with dwarves? I feel like I'm missing something.

 

[MGibster]

Are peppers associated with dwarves? I feel like I'm missing something.

Peppers are associated with Central and South America. So if we're talking Meso America we're talking peppers!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hmmmm…Samuel Michelangelo Rosenbaum, a.k.a. ”Yosemite Sam” could be a caricature of our Mesoamerican dwarves.

Make his 10 gallon hat into a metal, broad rimmed miners helmet, and swap his guns for repeating crossbows…

 

[Casimir Liber]

Peppers are associated with Central and South America. So if we're talking Meso America we're talking peppers!

and sacred hallucinogenic mushrooms....and hallucinogenic cacti...and chocolate....and llamas they can ride I guess....

 

[slobster]

Y’know…

Mesoamerican dwarves with luchadors, big mustaches, peppers, and step pyramids…it’s actually semi-coherent.

I have a Mexican friend who always laughs that fantasy cultures (or characters in general) based on Mexican tropes somehow seem to constantly be given dinosaurs as one of their "things". See: King of Fighters, Magic the Gathering, and there must be others but none are coming to mind right now...It's just one of those things that Mexico has apparently been associated with, despite a surprising dearth of dinosaurs in modern or historical Mexico.

In his honor, I propose that these dwarftecs traditionally adorn their luchador finery with the feathers of dinosaurs that they have personally wrestled into submission, as a display of their prowess.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

and sacred hallucinogenic mushrooms....and hallucinogenic cacti...and chocolate....and llamas they can ride I guess....

I have a Mexican friend who always laughs that fantasy cultures (or characters in general) based on Mexican tropes somehow seem to constantly be given dinosaurs as one of their "things". See: King of Fighters, Magic the Gathering, and there must be others but none are coming to mind right now...It's just one of those things that Mexico has apparently been associated with, despite a surprising dearth of dinosaurs in modern or historical Mexico.

In his honor, I propose that these dwarftecs traditionally adorn their luchador finery with the feathers of dinosaurs that they have personally wrestled into submission, as a display of their prowess.

I don’t see Dwarves so much as riders as using chariots. With that in mind, either war-llamas (because alpacas are too cute, nice and small) OR moas/axebeaks of some kind as their chosen chariot-pullers.

But I had forgotten the magic mushrooms! What would that do to Dwarven minds? Minds used to order and practicality. To duty.

Perhaps that’s the secret to their berserker fury…or enhancing it,