D&D General Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings of Color

[toucanbuzz]

I never played in Dark Sun, but just assumed that demi humans there were ethnic due to the climate. A quick google search reveals that's not the case, and they're almost all white. That's....disappointing and a miss from the TSR team when creating Dark Sun, and WoTC when continuing it.

I did and still do. The 1990s art was simply a reflection of expectation of what sold to a typical D&D gamer at the time, even though the setting itself was neutral on whether it could be inspired by European, African, Asian, or some other real-life area. And, at the time, it sold big. You'd have to search a bit to find non-white European art in D&D at any point prior much less any artistic depictions of females who weren't big-breasted, athletic, and scantily clad. So, I wouldn't label it a Dark Sun miss. The books didn't say one way or another, even if the artists did. A generation later, target audiences have diversified, and I expect if released again the art would catch up.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

In terms of skin color, most fantasy races are non-white, or have non-white sub-races. Gnomes are described as "tan or walnut brown" skinned. Dwarves range from "deep brown to a paler hue tinged with red," more commonly "tones of earth" and the gray-skinned duergar. Elves are "the normal human range" as well as "copper, bronze, and bluish white" and then, of course, the drow. Halfings are "tan to pale with a ruddy cast."

That said, the art doesn't seem to reflect the text, and most depictions of all four races--on memory--are more pale/white.

(Emphasis mine.)

There’s that annoying disconnect. That‘s definitely a failure of art direction and editing.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

In my opinion, there's a difference between what you allow players to do, and the worldbuilding that goes with it.

If a player wants to play an Elf, an Orc, a Halfing, etc. of any ethnicity, real or fictional, there's really no reason to say no. You simply go for it, no questions asked.

That being said, explaining where the player character comes from may require a little more work. The GM could determine where some of the major ethnicities mostly come from, which could add a little local color to the campaign setting. An American-style, all-diversity, all the time melting pot may work in major cities, but it's not necessarily the best option in smaller towns or rural areas. In other words, there may be towns full of brown-skinned Gnomes out there, and some areas where they're seldom seen. Heterogeneity makes fictional world more interesting.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

You know that's not meant to show Drow having bluish skin, right?
That's a combination of a light source from the pictures left+ the fact that it's very hard to do solid black (& have it look good). Especially on dark backgrounds.
It's why you often see black things depicted with blue highlights.

I'm aware that's a trick artists use, but Pathfinder 1E drow from what I've seen are nearly universally depicted with a blue skin tone, and the Pathfinder 2E art makes them look light blue. Its ubiquity leads me to believe Pathfinder's art direction wants to avoid depicting black drow, perhaps especially because in the Lost Omens setting elves can transform into drow if they are evil enough.

Bluish drow illustrations are nearly non-existent in D&D.

BTW blue is also my favorite color so I don't mind blue drow one bit.

 

[KentDT]

Of course, the man who invented Hobbits (. . . I mean Halflings) described the "by far most numerous . . . and representative variety," the Harfoots, as being brown of skin. This description is found in the prologue to the Lord of the Rings. In the book itself, he described Sam's "brown hands". He also noted how other types were fairer, which implies both skin tone and hair color (this probably applied to both Pippin and Merry as representatives of the Took and Brandybuck families, respectively).
So, despite what the racists in Hollywood and elsewhere have shown us, there is plenty of reason to follow Tolkien's lead and make Halflings, at least, with a diversity of skin tones, with brown being the most common.

 

[jasper]

.......

That said, the art doesn't seem to reflect the text, and most depictions of all four races--on memory--are more pale/white.

Hard to do skin tones well when most of the art was black ink on white paper.

 

[ChaosOS]

I'll also note that Eberron canonically doesn't correlate Khorvaire nationality with skin tone - all humans are fairly recent immigrants to the continent, so there hasn't been time for that evolutionary shift. But yes, as a setting it's done a much better job of trying to grab that diversity, and I think that Rising from the Last War: Chapter 1 did a good job.

 

[Haldrik]

I'll also note that Eberron canonically doesn't correlate Khorvaire nationality with skin tone - all humans are fairly recent immigrants to the continent, so there hasn't been time for that evolutionary shift. But yes, as a setting it's done a much better job of trying to grab that diversity, and I think that Rising from the Last War: Chapter 1 did a good job.

Is it still canon in 5e Eberron, to use any Elf stats (Drow, High, Wood) for any Eberron Elf?

 

[Reynard]

Most fantasy worlds have fantastically long histories. That is plenty of time for populations to shift by everything from conquest to peaceful migration to magical displacement. Ethnic diversity even among a relatively insular population ("Little SHire" on the outskirts of the city, or whatever) would not be especially surprising. New the end, Egypt was an extremely old civilization and had plenty of ethnic diversity, just as a real world analogue.

There is no downside to art direction and editorial guidance that support and encourage diversity. As a form of entertainment, RPGs should be as inclusive and welcoming as possible, and a wall of muscle bound white dudes and hawt white chicks in itty bitty chainmail bikinis creates an unwelcoming environment. (By the way, I am not against a little cheese and beefcake art, but it shouldn't be the only style of character art; some people like to be sexy and others don't).

All that said, I think it is best if D&D and secondary world RPGs in general avoid analog cultures, whether it's Scots dwarfs or Native American Elves. Not only do those cultures tend to get a stereotypical treatment, but it's boring an uncreative. I love Howard, too, but he admits in his own writing that he did the cultural stereotype mash out of sheer laziness. We don't need another Known World or Maztica. There's more creativity in the gaming industry than all of Hollywood combined. We can make up some pretty cool stuff without resorting to not-Japan and the like.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

Hard to do skin tones well when most of the art was black ink on white paper.

Even 5E does this, though.

Most fantasy worlds have fantastically long histories. That is plenty of time for populations to shift by everything from conquest to peaceful migration to magical displacement. Ethnic diversity even among a relatively insular population ("Little SHire" on the outskirts of the city, or whatever) would not be especially surprising. New the end, Egypt was an extremely old civilization and had plenty of ethnic diversity, just as a real world analogue.

The 5E PHB describes human characters as possibly displaying certain traits that indicate elf or orc ancestors. I thought that was a neat detail.

Plus over in the Exandria setting its apparently possible for elves and dwarves to have children, though the child is always either an elf or a dwarf with very minor signs of the other race (the dwarves and elves of Tal'Dorei hate each other and come from prejudiced societies, but over in Wildemount there's a society of elves and dwarves living together). It could be that most races in Exandria can have children with one another and that half-elves and half-orcs are anomalies in expressing traits from both parents equally.