Coexisting sentient species that don't interract in any way

[Turanil]

Well, I was thinking about this:

Most of the time, be it fantasy or sci-fi, different intelligent species will either compete for the same resources (terrain, food, whatever), or will intelligently cooperate and live peacefully together.

Now I was wondering of having two intelligent species that live in the same place, but never interract with each other as they pose no threat to each other, and then are incomprehensible to each other so interraction is invariably meaningless if at all possible.

Would that make an interesting twist to a campaign setting? What useful plot devices may result out of it? What species would qualify for this?

 

[Lalato]

Trying to wrap my head around this... If one group is humanoid, needing food, shelter, water, air to breathe, etc... what if the other group doesn't need these things? Is this what you're trying to get at?

So in our sample setting, we have a control group that is pretty much humanoid as we understand it. The other group may need resources that are not obvious to the humanoid group. Or the other group may have a symbiotic relationship with the humanoid group. Another possibility is that other group exists, but cannot affect the material plane... perhaps they're ethereal in some way.

I don't know... still trying to understand the concept.

--sam

 

[Turanil]

A supposition:

This is a fantasy world plagued by demons, undead, and what not. Humanoids survived because in the vicinity of some very antique towers, those evil creatures dare not approach. In these towers "live" the remnants of an ancient race who reached a higher stage of existence. This race have now turned themselves into some sort of immortal undead linked to the positive plane (as were AD&D 1e mummies), or constructs. In any case, they rarely deign to move or act (physically), rather spending their time with their spirit wandering the ethereal plane. They feed on magic, and have no interest on material things and creatures. They are not hostile to humanoids but don't care for them either.

Now adventurers begin to develop magical powers (spellcasting) and collect some magical items. They are likely to attract the attention of these antique strange beings. Besides, these beings may be a source of useful knowledge for the PCs in their fight against demons, undead, what not, that plague the world.

This is but one possibility that crosses my mind. There could be many others. I hope to see some ideas in this thread.

 

[Tessarael]

Real world example: humans and dolphins. Fishermen and dolphins do compete for a resource (fish), and the fishermen may hunt the dolphins, but generally they don't interact much.