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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AFGNCAAP" data-source="post: 1963306" data-attributes="member: 871">Two answers to this one...Well, I took 2 different approaches to this idea: one's mainly for the fantasy world of my fiction works, & the other is made w/ D&D in mind.For the setting in which my writing is based, I took a long look at all of the things that influenced me, the things that have come before in 1 form or another, & "the spin," so to say, that I wanted my stuff to have.  I wound up amalgamating a lot of different mythic beings into a few different races.  So far, in addition to humans, I just have elves, dwarves, giants, and trolls.  Faerie is a synonym for elf; gnome a synonym for dwarf; ogre a term for large trolls, and goblin/kobold a term for short trolls; titan is a synonym for giant.  Giants & dwarves are genetic offshoots of humans (rather than only being humans with specific/special hereditary conditions), and thus breed easily with humans.  Elves & trolls can't interbreed, & they have difficulty breeding with humans--in fact, they can only breed with humans, and not dwarves or giants (the genetic traits which grant them their unusual height inhibits any genetic bonds that could be formed)--only members of each race, with near-perfect health & no history of inherited/familial illness, have a slight chance of successfully conceiving a child (e.g., half-elves & half-trolls are extremely rare, and half-dwarves & half-giants are merely another kind of human).For my D&D games, I pretty much stick with the standard races, but change the flavor text.  Gnomes are a race of half-dwarf halflings (w/ a lifespan inbetween those of the 2 parent races), kinda like how half-elves are half-elf humans (gnomes IMC have the Dwarf Blood racial ability).  Hobgoblins are goblinoids with some orc & human blood; bugbears are hobgoblins with a bit of ogre/half-ogre blood; mongrelfolk are the by-product of the breeding programs used to create the hobgoblin & bugbear races.  Ogre magi are a mix of ogre, half-ogre, half-orc, & troll stock.For my D&D game, the existence of these races (as well as the existence of half-&-half kinds of creatures like gnolls, hippogriffs, owlbears, & the like, as well as some abominations) are a major historical note/plot point for the game.  And I think, IMHO, it works well to explain a lot.</blockquote>

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