D&D General How To Reconcile the Settings

[Oofta]

I dunno...maybe 5% of us ARE immortal.

Can't say if I'm immortal or not. I haven't died yet so as far as I know, maybe?

 

[Tonguez]

I dunno...maybe 5% of us ARE immortal.

But there can be only one ...

 

[uzirath]

That's a LOT of empty space. A lot of space for prey and predator animals. I'm not sure that it's all that far fetched that we have these fantasy settings where you have multiple sentient races and whatnot. There's just SO much more space back then.

It's less of a stretch for me to imagine multiple sentient races than the numerous carnivores we typically see in a D&D wilderness. Large carnivores. Large carnivores who eagerly attack noisy, well-armed and armored bands of fire-wielding sentient humanoids.

I have, at times, tied myself into knots coming up with rationalizations. Now I tend to simply admit that I enjoy the conceit and move on.

 

[Oofta]

It's less of a stretch for me to imagine multiple sentient races than the numerous carnivores we typically see in a D&D wilderness. Large carnivores. Large carnivores who eagerly attack noisy, well-armed and armored bands of fire-wielding sentient humanoids.

I have, at times, tied myself into knots coming up with rationalizations. Now I tend to simply admit that I enjoy the conceit and move on.

Yeah, depending on the campaign you can't go to the corner market without being attacked by something. My campaign isn't quite that bad but there are still plenty of dangers. My rational has always been that magic increases the life expectancy dramatically, especially for young children. With magical healing, curing disease, more productive crops you have a healthier populace.

But it's still a struggle, which is one of several reasons why I limit competition from other sentient creatures.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

Just did a quick bit of Googling. According to the site I found (take it for what it's worth), the world population in 1200 AD was somewhere around 360 million. That's it. Never mind a Thanos snap, that means that 95% of the people in the world today didn't exist at all at that time. You could fit the entire population of the world in the United States.

That's a LOT of empty space. A lot of space for prey and predator animals. I'm not sure that it's all that far fetched that we have these fantasy settings where you have multiple sentient races and whatnot. There's just SO much more space back then.

No. It is unrealistic at the number of races in d&d. Also humanoids dont just stay nearly packed in their little cubby holes. They compete. They traverse vast regions.

And do you have any clue how big the USA is? Sure. There are larger countries. Barely. Just a few.

ITS FREAKING HUGE

And functionally, for human habitation, its actually the biggest one due to the way resources are positioned and due to its unrivaled crop production. Congratulations. You picked the single worst example. Russia is biggest by space sure. In every effective/functional way though its the USA (which is a good bit smaller than russia and china by land area)

 

[PsyzhranV2]

No. It is unrealistic at the number of races in d&d. Also humanoids dont just stay nearly packed in their little cubby holes. They compete. They traverse vast regions.

And do you have any clue how big the USA is? Sure. There are larger countries. Barely. Just a few.

ITS FREAKING HUGE

And functionally, for human habitation, its actually the biggest one due to the way resources are positioned and due to its unrivaled crop production. Congratulations. You picked the single worst example. Russia is biggest by space sure. In every effective/functional way though its the USA (which is a good bit smaller than russia and china by land area)

D&D continents are also freaking huge tho.

Plus, you know the typical planet has more than one continent...? As well as habitable islands of varying sizes?

Furthermore, you're assuming that all humanoid species and cultures are inherently expansionist, or dare I say imperialistic or colonialist. You say they "don't just stay nearly packed in their little cubby holes." What if there are geographic or climatic barriers to expansion? Certain species may restrict themselves to biomes they can thrive in. If they dwell in a forest basin and are adapted to that environment, but past the mountains there is only desert and grassland, they might not want to leave the forests. Biological deterrents? Maybe they're slow breeders. Maybe their food supply only grows/lives in certain regions. What about cultural and political deterrents to expansion? Maybe their culture and/or religion centres around a resource that can only be found in their homeland, so they stay put. Maybe they are charged to protect certain holy sites in their region and don't see the point of leaving. Maybe they would expand but are currently tied up in a war with horrors from beneath the earth. Maybe they don't like to just go to war and rape, pillage, and burn everybody else they come across; any migrants among their kind are tourists and diplomats, not conquerors.

 

[uzirath]

Maybe they are charged to protect certain holy sites in their region and don't see the point of leaving.

Perhaps each sentient species has a shrine at the site of their birth. A campaign premise could even be that the patron deities for different sentient races conjured territories for each people when they were first created. This could even be an ongoing, dynamic process where the map literally changes over time.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

D&D continents are also freaking huge tho.

Plus, you know the typical planet has more than one continent...? As well as habitable islands of varying sizes?

Furthermore, you're assuming that all humanoid species and cultures are inherently expansionist, or dare I say imperialistic or colonialist. You say they "don't just stay nearly packed in their little cubby holes." What if there are geographic or climatic barriers to expansion? Certain species may restrict themselves to biomes they can thrive in. If they dwell in a forest basin and are adapted to that environment, but past the mountains there is only desert and grassland, they might not want to leave the forests. Biological deterrents? Maybe they're slow breeders. Maybe their food supply only grows/lives in certain regions. What about cultural and political deterrents to expansion? Maybe their culture and/or religion centres around a resource that can only be found in their homeland, so they stay put. Maybe they are charged to protect certain holy sites in their region and don't see the point of leaving. Maybe they would expand but are currently tied up in a war with horrors from beneath the earth. Maybe they don't like to just go to war and rape, pillage, and burn everybody else they come across; any migrants among their kind are tourists and diplomats, not conquerors.

The number of humanoids is also huge.

Also the size of the continent matters very little comparitively to the number of land masses above a critical size and how frought with natural impediments they are. If unimpeded humans will fight and kill eachother off highly efficiently on flat ground.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

D&D continents are also freaking huge tho.

Plus, you know the typical planet has more than one continent...? As well as habitable islands of varying sizes?

Furthermore, you're assuming that all humanoid species and cultures are inherently expansionist, or dare I say imperialistic or colonialist. You say they "don't just stay nearly packed in their little cubby holes." What if there are geographic or climatic barriers to expansion? Certain species may restrict themselves to biomes they can thrive in. If they dwell in a forest basin and are adapted to that environment, but past the mountains there is only desert and grassland, they might not want to leave the forests. Biological deterrents? Maybe they're slow breeders. Maybe their food supply only grows/lives in certain regions. What about cultural and political deterrents to expansion? Maybe their culture and/or religion centres around a resource that can only be found in their homeland, so they stay put. Maybe they are charged to protect certain holy sites in their region and don't see the point of leaving. Maybe they would expand but are currently tied up in a war with horrors from beneath the earth. Maybe they don't like to just go to war and rape, pillage, and burn everybody else they come across; any migrants among their kind are tourists and diplomats, not conquerors.

also, all hominids that had close to human intelligence are extremely competitively expansionist. Thats the best thing we got for comparison against "huminoid species" since those two are basically the same thing in many (thought not all) ways.

 

[PsyzhranV2]

The number of humanoids is also huge.

Also the size of the continent matters very little comparitively to the number of land masses above a critical size and how frought with natural impediments they are. If unimpeded humans will fight and kill eachother off highly efficiently on flat ground.

That each race has ridiculous population numbers that add up to a total population that is environmentally unsustainable is an assumption that only you are making. It would be easier to take @Hussar's 360 million and say that is the total population on the continent period and subdivide population numbers for each race from there.

To reference some of the published settings: Faerun as of 1372 DR had a rough population of 68 million sapients, though I would probably multiply that be at least 1.5 to account for monstrous humanoids, so 102 million sapients. Khorvaire in 998 YK had a population of 15 million; even if we assume that number should be 10 times as much due to 3e jank creating a population density equivalent to Siberia which is frankly bogus, that would still only take us to 150 million. Even accounting for a larger population prior to the Last War, it would take a lot to crack Hussar's 360 million.

Meanwhile from the way you're arguing, I'm assuming you're assuming at least a 1 billion population in an area of 1 or 2 continents that are resource deprived? If that's what you're assuming, I don't know where that's coming from.

Also, note of trivia: scholars today theorize that the population of the Americas prior to Columbian contact was 50 million.

also, all hominids that had close to human intelligence are extremely competitively expansionist. Thats the best thing we got for comparison against "huminoid species" since those two are basically the same thing in many (thought not all) ways.

That all humanoids=hominids is not a safe assumption to make, especially in settings where certain races were created in their current form rather than evolving naturally. Again, there could be biological, psychological, or cultural reasons unique to each race that justify why they are generally restricted to a certain area. Maybe a species is over-adapted to a certain biome and can't thrive outside that climate. Maybe a species is culturally tied to certain sacred relics and/or sites and don't have a strong cultural impetus to migrate. Maybe they have conflicts at home that are interfering with their ability to push outward. Maybe they have made contact with the outside world but relations as of now are peaceful.

Plus, there is always planar shenanigans to consider. Perhaps a certain race has more of its population in the Feywild or in the Elemental Planes than on the Material, no matter their origins.