s/LaSH
First Post
OK, there are a few things that more or less have to be true for these races to be a part of our world, from a vaguely scientific point of view.
Less niche overlap. Humans are very, very good at taking things that they have any possible use for. Humanoids are probably pretty good at it too. So niches are important.
They can be the same species, if they live apart in those aforementioned ecological niches. There'll be some mingling, half-elves etc will be possible, but the populations just won't interact much, so interbreeding won't occur and physical distinction will remain. In later centuries, communication techology and crowding will force convergence, and the races will start to homogenise...
So with that in mind, I propose the following (which will probably require rule tweaking). These are from a medieval perspective, but I'll provide notes on modernisation.
Humans are plainsfolk - good and adaptable, though, and capable of living anywhere. Anywhere? Well, that's not quite true...
Elves are treefolk. They don't live in forests - they live in trees. They move like Tarzan. They are very, very good at forest life - they can sense prey or predators with their keen eyes and ears, and move with great dexterity through the treetops. Interestingly, they are unable to run - they can only walk. Their mastery of magic has kept their forests the way they want them - thick, three-dimensional mazes that only elves can safely navigate. Elves are the magic-workers of the world; these strange powers are what keep people away from the valuable wood resources of the elflands. Of course, when you want magic, you know where to go... The world of the elves is precipitous, split-second, and magical.
Game changes: They can't run at x4 speed, and hustling is a full round action. However, they can brachiate, and can probably pick up a feat to use runx4 while brachiating.
Around the world: Trees are a constant in nearly every land. Some small Pacific islands (very small) are more human-friendly, and the Sahara is not an elfland. But cities near forests often discover that their roofs and walls are being used for pedestrian antics; the elves are not completely insular, and humans have created such wonderful new jungles...
Modern: National parks and forest reserves are important to the elves. They guard them rather jealously. They're also a magical culture, so people who want magic must court the insular elves. Rebel elves tend to run the rooftops of builtup urban areas; they're a source of minor urban magics.
Dwarves are cavefolk. Humans can't live in caves - they need light, not only to see, but for parts of their metabolism. And there's precious little food down there. Dwarves originated from human exiles on the shores of a sunless sea; they're evolving shorter and stronger. They cultivate and eat something they call deepgrass; it's actually related to deepsea vent creatures, and is in fact a kind of animal - its weird physiology is poisonous, but the dwarves don't mind it. They grow it near subterranean geysers and lava flows. The world of the dwarves is deep and dark and toxic.
No rule changes.
Around the world: There are caves all over the world. Thus, there are dwarves all over the world. Most of them are like most humans - tribal, mistrustful of strangers, and not too great with the technology. Their ability to operate faultlessly at night makes them great boogeymen. In some regions, however, the dwarves have capitalised on their proximity to metal ores and become master crafters. They still enjoy surface food, and trading goods for grain or meat is just fine for them.
Modern: Dwarves travelled all over the world with colonising humans, simply because they were great at locating, extracting, and using the minerals that led men around. They're an odd sort, living in used-up mine complexes and basement apartments, but they like humans and aren't really all that different. Native dwarves tended to get disenfranchised just like the native humans, of course - the modern dwarf is European more often than not.
Halflings are burrowers. They tend to crop up in fertile terrain, with deep soil and few roots. They compete with humans, who like to cultivate this terrain, and elves, who like to put trees into it. Thus, halflings either become viciously insular and eventually get wiped out, or become extremely gregarious and helpful, especially with humans - which explains why they share so much culture with humans. (High Halfling culture is very, very different. Nowadays, it's largely found in marshland, which is soft and not too attractive to humans. Vicious pygmies might be a good description, but pygmies aren't usually found in Holland.) They tend to operate around the edges of society; they won't be lords, they'll be servants or scavengers. Such tiny people with such vicious relatives aren't always accepted, so they tend to stay out of human sight even when they're best friends with an employer - very sneaky. Halflings live in burrows or little nookish cottages, where they can hide things away from others.
No rule changes.
Around the World: Halflings are found everywhere, just like humans. They are often marginalised and extremely rural, so city folk tend to only half-believe in their existance; in primitive areas, they can maintain their own villages completely out of touch with humans. Explorers and military officers, so often of noble blood, sometimes have one or two halflings along to tend to their household matters.
Modern: Stereotyped as rural peripherals long ago, nevertheless more halflings live in cities than in the country. They're still a great minority. They take the unseen jobs - janitors, sewer workers, night shift workers. A good number operate as petty criminals. But they still maintain a tight culture, while integrating themselves with human culture.
Half-halflings: It doesn't work too often - the physiological incompatibilities are pretty staggering. If the mother doesn't die, the child tends to.
Gnomes are just dwarves who went all geeky in their early years.
Orcs are an ancient competitor with humans. They were largely eradicated - big and tough isn't as good as smart and versatile. However, they do have some advantages; they are hairy and blubbery, so they can survive bitter conditions and go without water for a longer time. So orcs survived in the deep wilderness; some tribes rode with the Mongols, others occupied small islands in the Atlantic (and got butchered by Spaniards). Today, a few tribes are rumoured to exist in the Siberian wastes, but surviving orcs are very insular and live in urban ghettoes. The bad kind. Orcish mercenaries are in great demand - they may not be smart, but they sure are violent.
Half-orcs are pretty common, to the point where nobody's quite sure how pure any orc's blood is - they've been working with humans for a very long time. However, modern orc culture movements hold that orcs should breed only with other orcs. Halforcs tend to show up in violent areas. Best not to dwell on that.
So there's my idea.
Less niche overlap. Humans are very, very good at taking things that they have any possible use for. Humanoids are probably pretty good at it too. So niches are important.
They can be the same species, if they live apart in those aforementioned ecological niches. There'll be some mingling, half-elves etc will be possible, but the populations just won't interact much, so interbreeding won't occur and physical distinction will remain. In later centuries, communication techology and crowding will force convergence, and the races will start to homogenise...
So with that in mind, I propose the following (which will probably require rule tweaking). These are from a medieval perspective, but I'll provide notes on modernisation.
Humans are plainsfolk - good and adaptable, though, and capable of living anywhere. Anywhere? Well, that's not quite true...
Elves are treefolk. They don't live in forests - they live in trees. They move like Tarzan. They are very, very good at forest life - they can sense prey or predators with their keen eyes and ears, and move with great dexterity through the treetops. Interestingly, they are unable to run - they can only walk. Their mastery of magic has kept their forests the way they want them - thick, three-dimensional mazes that only elves can safely navigate. Elves are the magic-workers of the world; these strange powers are what keep people away from the valuable wood resources of the elflands. Of course, when you want magic, you know where to go... The world of the elves is precipitous, split-second, and magical.
Game changes: They can't run at x4 speed, and hustling is a full round action. However, they can brachiate, and can probably pick up a feat to use runx4 while brachiating.
Around the world: Trees are a constant in nearly every land. Some small Pacific islands (very small) are more human-friendly, and the Sahara is not an elfland. But cities near forests often discover that their roofs and walls are being used for pedestrian antics; the elves are not completely insular, and humans have created such wonderful new jungles...
Modern: National parks and forest reserves are important to the elves. They guard them rather jealously. They're also a magical culture, so people who want magic must court the insular elves. Rebel elves tend to run the rooftops of builtup urban areas; they're a source of minor urban magics.
Dwarves are cavefolk. Humans can't live in caves - they need light, not only to see, but for parts of their metabolism. And there's precious little food down there. Dwarves originated from human exiles on the shores of a sunless sea; they're evolving shorter and stronger. They cultivate and eat something they call deepgrass; it's actually related to deepsea vent creatures, and is in fact a kind of animal - its weird physiology is poisonous, but the dwarves don't mind it. They grow it near subterranean geysers and lava flows. The world of the dwarves is deep and dark and toxic.
No rule changes.
Around the world: There are caves all over the world. Thus, there are dwarves all over the world. Most of them are like most humans - tribal, mistrustful of strangers, and not too great with the technology. Their ability to operate faultlessly at night makes them great boogeymen. In some regions, however, the dwarves have capitalised on their proximity to metal ores and become master crafters. They still enjoy surface food, and trading goods for grain or meat is just fine for them.
Modern: Dwarves travelled all over the world with colonising humans, simply because they were great at locating, extracting, and using the minerals that led men around. They're an odd sort, living in used-up mine complexes and basement apartments, but they like humans and aren't really all that different. Native dwarves tended to get disenfranchised just like the native humans, of course - the modern dwarf is European more often than not.
Halflings are burrowers. They tend to crop up in fertile terrain, with deep soil and few roots. They compete with humans, who like to cultivate this terrain, and elves, who like to put trees into it. Thus, halflings either become viciously insular and eventually get wiped out, or become extremely gregarious and helpful, especially with humans - which explains why they share so much culture with humans. (High Halfling culture is very, very different. Nowadays, it's largely found in marshland, which is soft and not too attractive to humans. Vicious pygmies might be a good description, but pygmies aren't usually found in Holland.) They tend to operate around the edges of society; they won't be lords, they'll be servants or scavengers. Such tiny people with such vicious relatives aren't always accepted, so they tend to stay out of human sight even when they're best friends with an employer - very sneaky. Halflings live in burrows or little nookish cottages, where they can hide things away from others.
No rule changes.
Around the World: Halflings are found everywhere, just like humans. They are often marginalised and extremely rural, so city folk tend to only half-believe in their existance; in primitive areas, they can maintain their own villages completely out of touch with humans. Explorers and military officers, so often of noble blood, sometimes have one or two halflings along to tend to their household matters.
Modern: Stereotyped as rural peripherals long ago, nevertheless more halflings live in cities than in the country. They're still a great minority. They take the unseen jobs - janitors, sewer workers, night shift workers. A good number operate as petty criminals. But they still maintain a tight culture, while integrating themselves with human culture.
Half-halflings: It doesn't work too often - the physiological incompatibilities are pretty staggering. If the mother doesn't die, the child tends to.
Gnomes are just dwarves who went all geeky in their early years.
Orcs are an ancient competitor with humans. They were largely eradicated - big and tough isn't as good as smart and versatile. However, they do have some advantages; they are hairy and blubbery, so they can survive bitter conditions and go without water for a longer time. So orcs survived in the deep wilderness; some tribes rode with the Mongols, others occupied small islands in the Atlantic (and got butchered by Spaniards). Today, a few tribes are rumoured to exist in the Siberian wastes, but surviving orcs are very insular and live in urban ghettoes. The bad kind. Orcish mercenaries are in great demand - they may not be smart, but they sure are violent.
Half-orcs are pretty common, to the point where nobody's quite sure how pure any orc's blood is - they've been working with humans for a very long time. However, modern orc culture movements hold that orcs should breed only with other orcs. Halforcs tend to show up in violent areas. Best not to dwell on that.
So there's my idea.
