A dwarf controlled world

[Storyteller01]

If Dwarves ruled they'd have big people tossing contests.

Do they throw like kabers??

 

[DMH]

A consolidation of information:

Dwarves are protecting a gate to the abyss from elves that gain magic from demons.
Dwarves are the only source of gold and other valuable metals. They keep the iron for themselves and produce the best bronze weapons and armor for their mercenaries.
With such metals, they have hired humans and halflings for their armies.
They have gnome allies that provide technology and alchemy.
The gnomes have manipulated the halflings (via alchemy) into bloodthirsty savages (which are used as shock troops).
The elves have created aberrations for their armies and fiendish animals and plants for the forests they dwell in.
Orcs, goblinoids and humans that have rejected dwarven rule have been forced into marginal areas because of the war. All are primitive and are sometimes hired as sword fodder by both sides.
Most underdark races do not exist. Kobolds are retained as pests to the dwarven nations.

There, a blueprint for a setting that turns some of the races upside down in terms of personality and society.

 

[frankthedm]

Dwarves DID rule the world. Who do you think BUILT those dungeons you are raiding?

The Dwarf empire stretched across the world, with dwarven subterranean strongholds in strategic locations to supervise humans farming brew able crops in exchange for “protection” from giant and dragon attacks. Time passed and the dwarves, having had no difficulty with the humans in the past, reduced many of those Underholds to skeleton crews to devote more dwarf-power to a war in the Underdark. The Elves, seeing the dwarves’ actions as exploitative, seized this opportunity and began to teach certain eccentric humans the secrets of summoning and creature-mutating magics and whispered dreams of ruling from subterranean strongholds.

Overt time, these mentally bent humans had conquered many of the dwarven Underholds. The dwarves, while capable combatants, were often unable to cope with reckless spellcasters with unending hordes of monsters. Most Underholds were given up as unnecessary due to a greatly reduced Dwarven population, thanks to the Underdark conflicts.

 

[Felix]

They might have their virtues, but if only the dwarves can mine it, only the dwarves are going to consider it valuable.

Nonsense. More likely that those without gold and silver will consider it more valuable, as long as they know about it at all. Even if it is only for ornamentation, which gold and silver are very good at, there will be demand for it. A certain amount will be necessary to consider using it for coinage, but it will always have value.

Just because a civilization cannot by themselves produce a thing does not necessitate they don't value that thing; sub-saharan Africa would not have produced genetically engineered rice and corn, but starving folks value that they are hardier crops better able to feed them.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Well for starters, doorways would only be 4 ft tall...

Dad-blast it! I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Falkus]

Just because a civilization cannot by themselves produce a thing does not necessitate they don't value that thing; sub-saharan Africa would not have produced genetically engineered rice and corn, but starving folks value that they are hardier crops better able to feed them.

Genetically engineered corn and rice have a utility value. Gold doesn't. Any human societies developing in this world would use other materials for currency as they advance beyond a barter system.

 

[DMH]

One more change- halflings were humans that the gnomes alchemically changed to make better soldiers. The size change is unfortunate and they continue to attempt to rectify the issue.

 

[Nyaricus]

Any human[oid] societies developing in this world would use other materials for currency as they advance beyond a barter system.

Again, take Darksun. Tiny pieces of flat, cicular pottery with ten indents (think a pizza with 10 pieces) is a gold piece equiv. Break off these pieces and you have 10 silver pieces equiv.

When you think about how rare water is and how hard clay would be to find, this starts to make more sense.

Just an example

 

[woodelf]

Genetically engineered corn and rice have a utility value. Gold doesn't. Any human societies developing in this world would use other materials for currency as they advance beyond a barter system.

Actually, it is arguable that precious metals became the dominant currency in so many places and for so long precisely because they didn't have much (or any) utility value. You can't do anything else with your gold, so you may as well trade it. Something that has intrinsic value, you have to decide whether to use it, or trade it. Similarly, more sophisticated currencies (such as traditional chinese money), as well as all modern currencies, are divorced from direct utility, in part so that they have no non-monetary value to contend with. The other big virtue of gold & silver is that they are not merely non-biodegradable, but essentially inert. If you have an ounce of gold today, you still have an ounce of gold in a hundred years, unless you try really hard. The same cannot be said of most other currencies or possible currencies.

Oh, and of course, don't underestimate the rarity value of precious metals. Another impetus to them becoming first de-facto currencies, and then actual currencies was precisely the fact that there wasn't enough to go around.

 

[Falkus]

Actually, it is arguable that precious metals became the dominant currency in so many places and for so long precisely because they didn't have much (or any) utility value. You can't do anything else with your gold, so you may as well trade it.

Except that in the case we're talking about, only the dwarves have any precious metals. Why would the humans adopt them as valuable?