D&D General Humanoids...and world demographics
- Thread starter Mercurius
- Start date
ezo
Hero
True, but I don't know of many people who used them...
EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
Jewel of the Desert is an intentionally highly cosmopolitan world--intended to reflect the ethnic diversity found in the Muslim world during the "Islamic Golden Age" and High Medieval period.
The Tarrakhuna itself has a population of around 1-2 million people. Slightly less than half of that (about 40%) live in Al-Rakkah, the single largest and most powerful city of the region. A few mid-size cities and many smaller towns exist scattered through the desert, though most are near bodies of water (ocean, rivers, oases, underground water systems, etc.)
Humans are only the plurality group, there is no single race that has a majority. If you consider elves, half-elves, humans, half-orcs, and orcs to form one single "ring species", then collectively they would probably be the majority, but not a massive one (maybe 60% total). Dragonborn and elves are less common than other races, as they tend to come from the temperate "Elf Forests" to the south (that's the name for that region in the Tarrakhuna's common tongue, which is the trade language of this continent.) Dwarves are slightly more common, but not much, as they mostly live in the western mountains or the steppe beyond. Small but extant populations of ogres, minotaurs, goblins, gnomes, and other races also exist. Many humanoids in this land have some amount of genie blood in them, as a result of being descended from mortal slaves kept by the ancient Genie-Rajahs.
Orcs and half-orcs are much more common than in other settings, but many of them are nomad tribe people rather than city-folk, so in the cities they're not as common as they might be elsewhere. The only major exceptions are Al-Rakkah itself (where it has been established that at least one formerly-nomadic tribe has chosen to buy property and transition to city-living) and Kafer-Naum, the Temple-City, which is the religious capital of the region and thus draws residents of all races and backgrounds.
The Tarrakhuna itself has a population of around 1-2 million people. Slightly less than half of that (about 40%) live in Al-Rakkah, the single largest and most powerful city of the region. A few mid-size cities and many smaller towns exist scattered through the desert, though most are near bodies of water (ocean, rivers, oases, underground water systems, etc.)
Humans are only the plurality group, there is no single race that has a majority. If you consider elves, half-elves, humans, half-orcs, and orcs to form one single "ring species", then collectively they would probably be the majority, but not a massive one (maybe 60% total). Dragonborn and elves are less common than other races, as they tend to come from the temperate "Elf Forests" to the south (that's the name for that region in the Tarrakhuna's common tongue, which is the trade language of this continent.) Dwarves are slightly more common, but not much, as they mostly live in the western mountains or the steppe beyond. Small but extant populations of ogres, minotaurs, goblins, gnomes, and other races also exist. Many humanoids in this land have some amount of genie blood in them, as a result of being descended from mortal slaves kept by the ancient Genie-Rajahs.
Orcs and half-orcs are much more common than in other settings, but many of them are nomad tribe people rather than city-folk, so in the cities they're not as common as they might be elsewhere. The only major exceptions are Al-Rakkah itself (where it has been established that at least one formerly-nomadic tribe has chosen to buy property and transition to city-living) and Kafer-Naum, the Temple-City, which is the religious capital of the region and thus draws residents of all races and backgrounds.
EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
Which, frankly, just goes to show how badly Gygax misjudged what players were keen to do.
It seems he truly believed us homo sapiens were the cream of the crop and destined to rise higher than any other species. That clashes rather demonstrably with what the average player is interested in. Humans remain the plurality in most games, even online, but near-human is often more popular than bog-standard human. Elves are often near the top, and in WoW where you couldn't play a human to start with, the Horde was still quite populous and had plenty of orcs.
Chaltab
Legend
I feel like he didn't misjudge what players were keen to do, he just didn't like the fact. He wanted the game to center on humans and since the other lineages got more default features, he gave humans the better advancement to balance them. If I recall the received wisdom, he generally preferred sword and sorcery stuff to high fantasy like Tolkien.
EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
I mean, "People don't share my preferences but they should so I'm going to force it to happen" sounds like a form of misjudgment to me. But perhaps this is semantics.
delericho
Legend
I don't have solid numbers, but I tend to be around either the "Early Medieval" or "Renaissance" bands - so somewhere between 200 and 500 million humans. And then about the same again divided between the other humanoid species.
I can't recall the last time I've seen a player create a human character - maybe as long as a decade ago? I've seen them played more recently, but only if the player was given a pre-gen.
ezo
Hero
LOL, as I said, I didn't know many... now I know N + 1.
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