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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Brother MacLaren" data-source="post: 1532416" data-attributes="member: 15999">I understand your point.  However, I particularly dislike half-species because it suggests (to me, with my 21st Century viewpoint) that all the humanoids really are just funny-looking humans with a few neat abilities.  I had the same problem with Star Trek.  I'd much rather have some species that do not reproduce sexually and so cannot interbreed with humans.  This, in turn, makes them feel more alien, more non-human.For example: dwarves that are crafted from stone and then infused with the breath of life; gnomes that spring out of holes in the ground fully grown; hobgoblin larvae that arise from the corpses of dead hobgoblins.  Likewise for half-races: perhaps half-trolls are the result of humans infected with trollish blood in a battle, and the trollish blood is slowly taking over.  Perhaps half-orcs are humans who have experimented once too often with rage-inducing magic (think Jekyll and Hyde) and after a period of time they become full orcs.  Maybe half-fiends are humans corrupted by demonic influence.  Half-elves could be humans altered by the Realm of Faerie.My problem with your normal half-species is that they aren't fantastical enough.  All of them are assumed to be the result of breeding, and there are so many more ways you could explain their presence.Myths and fantastical stories are an excellent way of establishing a setting.  It gets even better if you give different PCs different stories that they "know to be the truth."  "The source of arcane magic is the Weave, a near-infinite pool of mystical energy all around us."  "Arcane magic comes from and strengthens gods and demons; every Fireball spell brings Surtur one step closer to the world."  "Arcane magic draws upon the life force of future generations."  "All magic - arcane, divine, and psionic - in truth comes from the power of the human mind to change reality through the strength of belief."Excellent advice.  Make a few changes, then the logical secondary changes that would be a consequence of that.</blockquote>

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