Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How To Reconcile the Settings
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Nellisir" data-source="post: 7866708" data-attributes="member: 70"><p>This is where it's often very hard to put science aside. People generally think in terms of the world they know now, and that includes evolution and a skewed sense of distance. There were literally THOUSANDS of years when our species was a) not the only sentient human species (I think we're at 4-5 and counting, if you go back about 80K years); and b) not the dominant predator species. Now, those were stone age times, and most campaigns aren't stone age, but there's a precedent. Also, you don't necessarily need a large population, or a lot of space. Languages fracture amazingly fast, and if evolution worked faster, so would speciation.</p><p></p><p>Evolution is another bugaboo. The Shadowend region isn't large, but it has its share of monstrosities. How? Spontaneous generation. A chicken hatches a cocktrice. A bad magic region spawns perytons and manticores. Jotunar, or giant-blooded, are born to people who might have a trace of giant blood back a half-century, or might just live near giants, or a giant passed by the night the character was conceived. Several deities (particularly Kajalla) and the Typhos in general (titan-like monstrosities, born of the divinities but lacking in divine power themselves) actively twist small populations of existing races into new forms. Lamarkian genetics are the standard here, if you really need something to scientific to hang onto.</p><p></p><p>That's all my campaign, naturally - not hard rules that everyone should follow. But neither is "science".</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nellisir, post: 7866708, member: 70"] This is where it's often very hard to put science aside. People generally think in terms of the world they know now, and that includes evolution and a skewed sense of distance. There were literally THOUSANDS of years when our species was a) not the only sentient human species (I think we're at 4-5 and counting, if you go back about 80K years); and b) not the dominant predator species. Now, those were stone age times, and most campaigns aren't stone age, but there's a precedent. Also, you don't necessarily need a large population, or a lot of space. Languages fracture amazingly fast, and if evolution worked faster, so would speciation. Evolution is another bugaboo. The Shadowend region isn't large, but it has its share of monstrosities. How? Spontaneous generation. A chicken hatches a cocktrice. A bad magic region spawns perytons and manticores. Jotunar, or giant-blooded, are born to people who might have a trace of giant blood back a half-century, or might just live near giants, or a giant passed by the night the character was conceived. Several deities (particularly Kajalla) and the Typhos in general (titan-like monstrosities, born of the divinities but lacking in divine power themselves) actively twist small populations of existing races into new forms. Lamarkian genetics are the standard here, if you really need something to scientific to hang onto. That's all my campaign, naturally - not hard rules that everyone should follow. But neither is "science". [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How To Reconcile the Settings
Top