A Fantasy world without elves...

[DungeonmasterCal]

...or dwarves or halflings or gnomes or orcs or...you get the idea.

I may never ever get to run games in a setting like this, but I'm always thinking. Always. So I was wondering today about a setting where the traditional fantasy races didn't exist, only humans. The "elder races" have all disappeared or died out (the reason doesn't matter at this stage).

But to keep things interesting and to offer some variety, I was thinking about that maxim that nature abhors a vacuum. So in the absence of the other races, humanity evolved into different branches. My Latin is almost non existent, so please no one step up and whack my knuckles with a ruler.

I imagine 4 distinct types of humans:

Homo sapiens sapiens (us)...no changes to the rules.

Homo sapiens arcanus--a race shaped by magicthat gets the extra feat at first level as per the rules, but it must be chosen from a list featuring feats like those in Complete Arcane that allow 1x use of 3 cantrips per day.

Homo sapiens ??--a race shaped by psionics, similar to the elan found in the XPH, but without some of the bells and whistles. Begins play with 2 psionic points but without the extra feat granted to "base humans".

Homo sapiens ??--a race I based upon the fossils of an extinct hominid precursor from the real world, Homo heidelbergensis. Some fossils indicate individuals reached nearly 7 feet tall and had over 50% more muscle mass than modern humans. Possibly based on the half-orc pattern, but without the lowlight vision and beginning with a feat like Sturdy from Arcana Unearthed or some other feat that makes a character tougher than normal.

Now just because each of these races seem to have evolved to fill a particular niche, that doesn't mean that all Homo arcanis are sorcerers and wizards, etc. You'll find every class in every culture, but individuals might have "something extra".

Anyway... I was just "typing outloud" and wondering how this idea would look written out. Feel free to ignore or comment upon at will.

 

[Tonguez]

I'd go more for a Antediluvean Earth type feel and have humans, giants (Homo Sapiens Robustus? (based on the Homo heidelbergensis giants you mentioned)) and maybe even Neanderthals

Amongst the Humans I'd have a branch of 'High Men' (Atlantean if you like) who are biologically homo sapiens sapiens but who have acquired advanced crystal-tech. These High Men are decadent and oppress the primitive humans and giants

I'd probably through in an evil serpent race just for fun

 

[Nifft]

I'm a proponent of a small number of "base" races, and then Transformational / Paragon classes which allow for customization & variety. For example, I really like Monte Cook's Faen (from Arcana Evolved / Unearthed).


Now, for an all-Human setting, I'd suggest using / stealing the following:

Humans: *the* base race. Everyone starts as one of us.

Elan from XPH: make the transformation a Feat which also costs the PC -2 Charisma. Available at any level when you'd get a Feat.

Giants from Monte Cook's AE/AU: Again, a transformation that starts with a Feat, for which you trade +2 Str / -2 Dex. Then, allow the "Racial Levels" for Giants, so they can eventually be Large.

For Homo Sapient Arcanist, perhaps a short (3-4 level) Dragon flavored paragon class that allows / grants use of some of those sweet [Draconic] feats found in Complete Arcane. Some Wuxia potential there, especially with Elans taking [Psionic] feats.

-- N

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Thanks for the input. The idea of the psionic humans taking psionic feats was the first thing that occurred to me (being a big wuxia fan).

 

[Spatzimaus]

I guess the real question is, how different do you want the other "races" to be? Nifft's idea is good, in that everyone's still more or less "human" but has distinct stats and abilities. But, this involves starting as a normal human and taking Feats to go from there. If your only real objection to the PHB-like systems is that you don't want truly separate races, then you can still do something closer to the old way: just make up half a dozen new Human subraces, each similar to the old PHB races, and call them the offshoots of humanity.

For instance, you could have Arboreals, who have +DEX, -CON, Climb and Jump bonuses, some perception stuff... basically, Elves with a few tweaks. A subterranean or mountain-dwelling subrace might be more like a Dwarf. And so on. It's sort of a cop-out, since you're not actually doing anything truly different, but if what you want are subraces that are inherently different (not just something you took a Feat to change), it's a possibility.

IMC, we did something like this: there are six basic elemental planes, and the various intelligent races are just the offshoots of a common protohuman ancestor, adapted to conditions on each plane. So, a Dwarf is what you get when a humanoid has had a few million years to adjust to life on the Plane of Earth, especially where magic is involved. But, since they're all part of the same species, you can get half-breeds in any combination.