Demihumans and humanoids all around the world?

[CruelSummerLord]

This a question for all the world-builders out there:

Do you put dwarves, elves, orcs and other non-human races around the world, just as you do with humans?

I personally do, because not only does it reinforce the vitally important Tolkienesque stereotype, but also because I simply think D&D wouldn't be D&D without elves, orcs and dragons.

I personally think it's not so hard to imagine how the demihumans might vary around the world, just as do humans-if you look at certain elements of human nature (organizing into states and countries, a need for companionship, a tendency to want to compete in many aspects of life, etc.) and juxtapose them with certain demihuman or humanoid tendencies (halfling skill with agriculture, dwarven skill at metalsmithing and living underground, hobgoblin militarism, etc.) I think some of the combinations that you could come up with would be rather surprising.

Who's to say, for instance, that dwarves couldn't flourish in societies that place a strong emphasis on social standing and honor, like Japan or China? Suirely elves could interact well with societies that have animistic outlooks and religions, like some parts of Africa or the First Nations of North America? Gnomes might prosper in a society that places strong emphasis on intellectualism or scientific research, like the medieval Arab countries, China, or the Mayan Empire, with its own mathematical and astronomical discoveries?

The human cultures would, of course, be modified accordingly: all societies have access to metalsmithing and/or metal weapons, which they acquire either as knowledge or finished goods from their dwarf and gnome neighbors, although they might refuse to wear heavy metal armor for cultural or practical reasons. A nomad might gather enough oil to keep his swords and arrowheads in excellent condition, but heavy armor is a heavy load on his horse, makes too much noise when hunting, or is simply murderously hot in the weather the nomad is accustomed to living in, for example.

Thoughts?

 

[Nyeshet]

Yes and No

Elves can only be found in one area in the sub-tropics and another area in the warm temperate region - both of which use Hill Elves that have significant cultural differences from each other. Otherwise all elves - cavern, hill, and forest - are almost exclusively found in the cool temperate regions (with some very few and very small wandering tribes in the sub-arctic).

Dwarves can be found in 3 mountain ranges and living on arid plains in the warm temperate region. Each mountain range is in a different region (one in the tropics, one in the warm temperate west just north of the arid plains, one in the cool temperate west just to the south of the arid plains across a very narrow and shallow sea). Those in the tropics almost never leave their underground homes, while those in the warm temperate region eventually had a few clans leave and settle the surface. Those in the cool temperate mountains have not left, but that is mostly due to their conflicts with the hill elves in the southern half of those mountains. Some would view leaving as retreat, and also there is the fact that if they did leave the elves might eventually overwhelm them in numbers. Some cavern dwarves wander the deeper cave systems, acting as sparse and rare caravans between the 3 major mountain dwarf regions.

Halflings and Goblins have been replaced with a single semi-vegetative equivalent that lives exclusively in the warm temperate to tropical regions. They in fact so fill the northern jungles that few human tribes can be found in their depths, let alone elves or dwarves (even if either wished to live in the jungles).

Humans have spread over most of the regions, but they are hemmed in where they meet other races. The jungles thus are mostly the province of the halfling / goblin replacement, while the more mountainous and hilly regions are mostly held by the dwarves and elves. The humans exist from sub-tropical to cool temperate, but the elves hold the majority of the boreal forests and the colder lands south of them. (Another race tends to hold the sub-arctic regions along with the sub-arctic elves, a sort of cold resistant neanderthal-like race that can hibernate / "die" in the extreme cold to rise again unharmed when the ice thaws in the spring.)

Humans thus are semi-contained (There are still lots of areas where they can expand their frontier.), but they are also affected by these races. A northwestern human race / culture similar to the far eastern humans of this world view their elven neighbors as a sort of celestial court upon the prime due to their long lives, grace, crystalline cities, etc. The humans are, in fact, rules by their elven neighbors - in the sense that the human imperial capital pays tribute to the elven capital and the elven ruler has 'ambassadors' / 'advisers' in the human court to help 'guide' the human imperial family / court in how they rule their empire.

On the other hand, the warm temperate hill elves in the central west live in two hilly regions and are viewed with extreme suspicion and envy by their human neighbors (a sort of ancient persian / ancient babylon style culture). The elves occasionally raid their human neighbors (and, in more distant raids, sometimes even the plains dwarves) for uncommon supplies, animals, and sometimes even slaves. Those elves in the boreal forests to the south, on the other hand, tend to keep to themselves, rarely thinking of or interacting with their human neighbors. Those few tribes that live nearest the human settlements may trade with them from time to time and even work with them to deal with threats to both their lands, but such is uncommon. There are simply so many differences in how they think, how long they live, and so froth that they have trouble understanding humans beyond the most basic level.

The dwarves live only a few centuries (compared to the 1.5k to 2k years an elf typically lives), and their stony nature means they have less need for water, food, and to a point even air, thus allowing them to live more readily in the more arid lands humans have little interest in holding. Due to the fact that the majority of dwarves live most or all of their lives in their mountain holds, few humans have seen any dwarves except those that live in the central west on the arid plains (borderline desert, actually). Those dwarves are gruff but ready and willing to trade for an honest profit. They can be hostile if they found they have been cheated, but due to the value of the rare metals, glasses, pottery, stonework, and crystals, few human traders would be willing to risk such as it would lose them one of the few sources of such exquisite finished works and rare raw materials (such as iron, gems, etc) known to exist.


Thus, the races tend to mostly keep apart, but there are a few regions where they might mix a bit - the northwest (where humans, hill elves, and the goblin / halfling replacement exists), the east central (where humans, elves, and dwarves exist), and the south central (where humans, elves, and some rare instances of three other minor races exist). Where races border each other they tend to influence each other - from majorly (as with the hill elves that 'guide' the northeast human empire) to minorly (as with the occasional interactions between forest elves and humans in the south, or human traders and plains dwarves in the east).

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Generally, my worlds have one or two large Elven forests surrounded by water and mountains. High mountains are where the Dwarves live (in them), and Gnomes live in the foothills of the Dwarven mountains. Orcs, Goblins, etc. usually live in hilly, out of the way places. Humans, of course, can be found just about anywhere. (No Haflings or such in my worlds, thank you very much.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I put the demihuman races only in specified regions. Part of what makes humans special is that they colonize every available space, given enough time.

 

[Huw]

No, but then I don't put humans everywhere either. Humans occupy half of one continent and also a sub continent. All the surrounding lands are peopled by non-human sentient life, like lizard men and gnolls.

The demihumans live near the humans; dwarves underground and elves in a sort of spirit world which connects to the human world in a standard fantasy manner (through faerie mounds, ancient woods, those sort of places).

 

[Raven Crowking]

No.