How do you portray evil Humanoids?

[Methinkus]

quirks

We usually give humanoid races some quirk to make sure they stand out as interesting to the PCs. For example, a party of adventurers once overheard two orcs arguing over who’s wife had a bigger penis, almost all halflings are cannibals, and dwarfs don’t count their age; instead they keep track of how many battles they have been in. That is just what I remember off the top of my head.

It is always fun and we rationalize the ideas every time, although there are VERY few half orc players for some reason . . .. .

 

[arwink]

I still use my copy of the World-builders guidebook to distinguish between humanoids. They each get one or two different cultural archetypes and technology levels, and their culture tends to build from there.

A favorite for both me and the players was the country full of ancestor worshiping holy warrior hobgoblins, waging war on the nearby human kingdom with longswords, plate-mail and hand-guns.

 

[AmerginLiath]

Tonguez -- good to see another anthro guy on board (I'm an anthro major, myself)...

I tend to play orcs much like the neanderthal concept, albeit much more violent than evidence shows the real deal to have been in general. Their stock is in being able understand human and demihuman societies and find ways to undermine those tactics.

Gnolls are wild, more animalistic in instinct than other humanoids. Their stock is in being like pack animals with human intelligence and rationality, making them perfect hunting machines.

Goblionoids live in a culture ruled by hobgoblins, with bugbears as shock troops and the standard goblionard as the common citizen and infantry. Their culture is like the Mongols, with a touch of Star Trek's Klingon government and honor. Their stock is in being the most dangerous of humanoids in many ways -- their military minds are focused only on war, and their armies are a solid force (oficers bound by law and honor, soldiers bound by fear and propoganda).

 

[Deadguy]

I toss all of the goblinoid races together with orcs, called either orcs or goblins (as per J.R.R. Tolkien) and use the stat blocks to represent the varied races/tribes of orcs within the species.

For other humanoid races, I play it by ear with a default to using what's in the MM (or wherever) to best effect.

Interesting to see someone else who's made the same choices I have. I did away with most non-human intelligent races for my Shattered World campaign, and created new variants of Goblin and Orc who are the other races to dominate alongside mankind.

Orcs, typified by the Brown Orc, are usually rather primitive, existing in Clans dominated by the strongest males, assisted by the female Adepts. Some of them are more sophisticated, and are noted as miners, weaponsmiths and armourers. The Clans are more structured, and more dangerous to Humans. However, it is clear that Orcs are capable of much more - there are ruins which indicate that they were once great builders, and their language is sophisticated and subtle. And those Orcs which have grown up in Human society have been able to adapt and fit in with the more organised elements of that society.

Goblins, normally operating in Tribes, are very much more interdependent. They are either primitives, existing as basic hunter-gatherers, and often living with Great Goblins (aka Ogres). But if they work with the magically sophisticated Hobgoblins, then their Tribes are much more organised and very dangerous. Supporting their Hobs as footsoldiers they can present a serious threat to Human cities, and are fond of looting magical items.

By limiting the number of different types of humanoid species, I can work on the ones that remain and formulate far more detailed societies that can then vary from location to location. I also allow these supposedly babarous peoples a chance to live in Human cities, which shows a different side of their nature. Likewise, in those places where the orcs and Hobgoblns have banded together to build their own cities, I do place Humans.

Essentially I go for a cultural model of humanoid behavior, rather than assuming that alignment is hardwired into them. Orcs suffer from violent tempers, but can learn to control them, and Goblins are inherently suspicious of others, but they can learn to trust.

 

[mmadsen]

As a DM, how do you go about distinguishing between the hordes of humanoid monsters out there (Orcs, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Kobolds, Bugbears, Gnolls, etc.). The MM sure doesn't give you alot of background info.

One of my gripes with old-school D&D was: "Oh, look, we finished off the orc room. Now we're in the Gnoll room!" Things aren't that bad these days, but the legacy's still there; most of those monsters exist to fill a certain hit-die niche. I mean, is there much qualitative difference between those humanoids, or do some just have better stats?

I'm with Corinth and Deadguy; limit the number of humanoid species, and if you have to use multiple monster races, just treat them as different tribes of the same basic species (e.g. Goblins of Moria, Uruk-Hai, etc.).