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Message: <blockquote data-quote="med stud" data-source="post: 4145902" data-attributes="member: 1211">Looking at the stats for a human guard compared to a young black dragon, you can see that low level humans have a pretty good ability to defend themselves. Guards are usually not the best of the best, so you could assume that a mounted knight, trained from 4 years of age to do battle would be much more capable. Switch the mounted knight to a legionaire or hoplit or what you want, according to taste.In 3e, a young black dragon could eradicate lvl 2-3 warriors at will. Practically speaking, they couldn't hurt the dragon. Now, a sufficient force of lvl 2-3 human soldier-type creatures could give the dragon a run for it's money.Therefore, I would say that there are creatures like gnolls and young dragons that make the country side dangerous, they destroy small sized farms and may become a threat to small communities. Those monsters are common and set the tone.Then you have the rare, extremely strong creatures that can level towns on their own, like ancient dragons, demon lords and the like. Those creatures are force majeurs, when they feel like it they cut streaks through civilization before they stop or are stopped. These creatures aren't common enough to threaten all of human kind but signs of their progress are there to be seen almost everywhere.The third cathegory is the Genghis Khan- types, the one that unite the usually infighting and disorganized creatures of the wilderness into huge hordes that threaten civilization at large. They can be from the second cathegory, like a pit fiend taking command of hobgoblin tribes, or they may be from the species itself, like a hobgoblin warlord. These hordes are a threat to civilization, if they win they may establish a new civilization, with the old one going to the wilderness.A setting history may go like this:Recorded history starts with the elf/eladrin ruling. Due to the split between their gods and therefore the Elvish races, their strength fades and human barbarians overrun their former empire, forcing eladrin to the Feywild, the elves to the woods and drow to the Underdark. The humans become the ruling species, striking deals with devils, becoming the tieflings in the process. From across The Great Desert, a reptilian, war like species comes migrating under the command of the high prophet of Bahamut, striking the decadent tiefling empire. A war breaks out, first hot, then cold, then hot again. in the process, both species weaken and different other species tries to fill the power vaacum. The winners are humanity, once again. Humanity builds an empire with tieflings living as subsumed citizens and the dragonborn living as nomads and mercenaries. Now, humanity weakens again due to the onslaught of other humanoids, all the while the stars are aligning in the Demon's Head position, a position that is assumed every 120000 years, opening the gates to the Abyss for a year and a day. Humanity's position is looking very dire...Oh, to answer the question: Hamlets and villages get overrun all the time. Towns and cities are often too strong to be overrun, but it happens. Sometimes entire kingdoms and empires get overrun and the ruling species get replaced. It happens seldom, though.</blockquote>

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