How would you describe these "hew-mons?"

[BiggusGeekus]

<- rather likes humans.


You could also have the humans come from a rather alien world, perhaps with big giant bugs or something. The humans clothing and -- especially -- armor might mimic that insectoid style. Since they are tough, adaptable, and able to live everywhere this might earn them the nickname of "roaches".

Incidentally, I would personally think an anti-human campaign would be kind of a gaming buzzkill.

 

[Hand of Evil]

You would also have to have stories and short phases that show the horror of the hee-mons (they cloth their females). They would have to go against a prime belief of each race, for elves it would be something against nature, like they drink the water they polute, for dwarves it would be something like they forget their forefathers. It just has to be a taboo.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

I think that sounds like it could be a really interesting game.

To make it a somewhat positive experience I'd make the human leadership the 'evil ones'. The rest of the race is mostly misguided...

Given they have sorcerous powers, perhaps some sort of draconic link could fit. Possibly the sorceror kings from dark sun?

A possible twist is that the humans have had dealings with similar looking races before. Perhaps the drow or some vicious plane hopping orcs? They just assumed these new races were the same? Maybe the colonsists were the few remaining survivors of a world trashed by such travelers? Do unto others as they do unto you and that sort of thing?

 

[Driddle]

I would personally think an anti-human campaign would be kind of a gaming buzzkill.

??? ???

What meanest thou?

 

[BiggusGeekus]

What meanest thou?

For me (a guy who is not playing in your game) it would be kind of a downer to talk about how terrible humans are all the time. However, that's just me.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

??? ???

What meanest thou?

I'm with BiggusGeekus!

I know at least one of my players would end up pretty bummed out, if all humans in the game were some sort of horrible plane hopping space Nazis.

That's why I'd go for the
leaders = bad
people = mislead or oblivious
setup...

 

[Driddle]

I thought it might be a nice change to look at humanity's foibles and shortfalls from an outsider's perspective. By taking ourselves outside the usual paradigm, we're allowed more extensive self-exploration.

 

[Farganger]

Sounds *really* interesting for a short campaign though . . .

 

[The_Universe]

I thought it might be a nice change to look at humanity's foibles and shortfalls from an outsider's perspective. By taking ourselves outside the usual paradigm, we're allowed more extensive self-exploration.

That may be. But it's certainly understandable that a lot of people, in an adventure-based escapist fantasy, wouldn't want to extensively self-explore the darker reaches of the human capacity for cruelty.

I mean, to a degree, that's what the other races in D&D are for. Orcs are humanity's chaotic, cruel, warlike tendencies taken to the exteme, while dwarves present the orderly counterpart to such violent tendencies. Elves are humanity's primal, natural reflection--those old and wise enough to live in harmony and peace with all around them.

Now, none of this is to say that the campaign wouldn't be fun for a bit, but I'm surprised *anybody* is surprised that not everyone gets a charge from characterizing one's own species as destructive, warlike rapists (of the land, and more) with a nonexistent moral code.

That being said, you can soften the blow a bit by noting that not *all* the humans are so cruel. After all, even in a country of slaveowners, there have to be abolitionists.

 

[Carpe DM]

Oddly, I've ended up in two campaigns that have gone this route.

The first was a campaign in which we attempted to play the distant past of a fairly stock D&D world. We started with the Elven Kingdom (as such things tend to be called) intact, and were supposed to preside over the tragic fall of the Elves in genocidal war against the Goblins, were supposed to witness the grim decline of the Dwarves in their battles with the Orcs and Elves, and were supposed to witness the Rise of Humanity. (feel free to inject sarcasm to all capitalized terms).

Needless to say, things didn't go that way. Mostly because the players -- experienced all -- didn't have much vested interest in creating yet another stock D&D world.

So...we changed history a tad. We didn't war with the Dark Elves, we allied with them and used their brutality to gorgeous advantage. We didn't fight a losing war of attrition with the Goblin races, we eradicated them.

And humans...well, those humans that didn't directly serve the Elder Empire (yes, the name changed) were dominated, charmed, shapechanged, or...you get the point.

Now, I've made this all sound fairly Rambo-esque. It wasn't, it was more of a psychodrama. The idea was that when the existence of the Elven race is at stake, some sub-section of the society develops a psychological aberration: the willingness to risk life, limb, and sanity for the preservation of the whole, by any means necessary. Our characters were actually quarantined to preserve the Elven way of life even as we defended it.

At the end of the campaign, the black flag and silver stars of the Elder Hegemony (yes, the name changed again) flew over the entire continent.

Much, much fun.

On a related note, I played a Forgotten Realms character that was very much in the vein of the original poster, above. He was the fore-runner of The Return. Or had you thought that the Elder Races had left the continent forever? To an immortal, it had just been a weekend trip to the Island.

cheers,

Carpe