D&D General Let us share our Elves and Orcs

RhaezDaevan

Explorer
A thought occurred to me while reading through this thread about elves, orcs, and their mixed heritage descendants, that we all have varying views on how we want to represent them. So this thread is meant to be a place to share the versions of elves and orcs in your homebrew worlds. I'm hoping we avoid critiques of each others choices, but questions for further discussion is fine.

To get things started, I'll describe mine first in this "show and tell" style thread. (Anyone else hate presenting? I'm getting sweaty pits just thinking about it) Any-who, here we go.

Elves

Where some have made elves more and more human-like in their settings, elves in my home setting wen the opposite route and I made them more not-human. Their origins are in the Dream Lands as the custodians of that realm. They were natural shape-shifters there, but when beings they felt were invaders started appearing and making changes, some got very upset and tried to oust them. Those invaders were sleeping humans, who didn't (and mostly still don't) know that they're dreams are having a real effect on another parallel realm. Some of those shapeshifting beings felt that it was natural for these people to be there, so saw them more as tourists, not invaders. The two groups came to blows with each other over this difference of opinions and so a civil war broke out. This war was enough to wake up Those Who Sleep (the real creators of the universe), who sent both groups to live in the waking world (mortal realm). In order to survive, they took on permanent forms and lost their shapeshifting (at least the natural kind). One of the exiled groups became the elves, while the other became goblins. Neither will admit if they were the pro-human or anti-human group in the civil war.

The elves initially followed a strict caste system they learned from observing early human civilizations. A later revolt from the lower castes resulted in the groups dividing and becoming three distinct peoples, each with their own appearance, traditions and beliefs.

The formerly highest caste are the high elves. In appearance, they are the tallest ranging from 6 to 7 feet tall, with elongated features by human standards. Their hair, eye, and skin colours are the most varied, and resemble elements of nature. For example, hair could look like soft powder snow, or like billowing flame. Skin could look like a starry night sky, or like chiseled marble. Eyes could look like carved diamond, or polished pearl. As personality goes, they are the most arrogant and see themselves as above all other creatures (including other elves). As such, they make their homes in high places, like on mountain tops, or even in the clouds. They are the most innately magical, and so practice it regularly, and are most welcoming to other spellcasters.

The elves that found the natural world the most pleasing became the wild elves. They are the smallest of elf kind, standing around 5 feet tall. They have a wild, almost predatory look to them, as their shaggy hair almost look like fur, though some also have feathers in their hair too. Their eyes are like predator animals like wolves, hawks, big cats, etc. Their skin colours are natural and earthy, so browns, greys, and greens, but coastal wild elves may be found with blue-ish skin and shark-like eyes. They have the most pronounced canine teeth, but despite that are more friendly to non-elves than high elves are, so long as those people share respect for nature like they do. They don't hate hunters, as they hunt for food themselves, but over-hunting, or hunting for sport is very much a berserk button for wild elves. Wild elves are the most spiritual of elves, and taken on some religious beliefs from human tribes as well as gnome neighbours who share a lot of their values. (Note: gnomes are nature spirits here, and are linked to massive trees)

The elves that most closely resemble the elves form standard D&D, are the iron elves. They are the most industrial of elf-kind and live in city-sized fortresses. Despite being fond of combat and tactics, they are an honourable people that only attack those who attack them first. They are very disciplined, and train regularly, as if preparing for a world-wide war that has yet to occur. They mostly find human-style conquest distasteful, so pride themselves on being efficient with the land they have instead of craving more. In appearance, they are of average human height, with slender but muscular build. Black, blonde and silver are the most common hair colours, while skin colour is typically a light shade of pink or brown. Blue, green and amber eyes are the most common. Though not starting many wars themselves, they do join in on human warfare if they feel the fight is just, but will bow out if underhanded tactics like poison are used by the side they're fighting on. Iron elves that are caught being willfully dishonorable are branded on the forheard and exiled into the outside world. Those individuals are commonly found as mercenaries for humans, and sometimes even goblins!

Note: my setting has no need for drow, as high elves can already come in dark colours, and goblins fill the role of "evil elves" in the setting. If people ask, I can detail goblins too as an extention of the elf descriptions above.

Half-Elves

Elves in this setting mostly keep to themselves and rarely go adventuring, but have over the years had romantic relations with their human neighbours. Half elves of high elf or wild elf descent look mostly human in shape, but will have skin, eyes and/or hair that match their elf ancestors. These children are generally welcomed in both elf and human society, and often act as diplomats and mediators between cultures. Those of iron elf ancestry are often confused for pure human or iron elf, and some go most of their life without anyone being the wiser of any difference, until the age difference becomes noticeable. These human-elf mixes can have children with elves (and result in mostly elf children), with humans (and have mostly human children), as well as each other which creates more half elves.

Elves of different varieties having children together end up with children that are purely one or the other, though no one has quite figured out why. The magical way they linked themselves to the natural world once exiled from the dream lands may have something to do with it.

Elves can also have children with goblin-kind, but generally choose not too because of their troubled past. These half-elves are not as well received by any community, so live more solitary lives, however some groups of rangers welcome them as they too feel like outsiders.

The term half-elf is sometimes used in the setting, but outside those of iron elf descent they see themselves as a distinct people so usually go by Eldry amongst humans and by Elem with elves. The terms "elf" is actually what humans call the grouping of creatures I've detailed above, and "high elf", "wild elf", and "iron elf" are the human names for the subgroups. They each have their own names for themselves in their language. They're typically fine with humans using these terms though, as they themselves don't use the word human when talking in their own language either.

Orcs

Orcs are a very early offshoot from the same family tree as humans, where some of the ape-like creatures both descended from moved to living underground for unknown reasons. They've adapted well to living underground full time, and as such they've mostly lost their ability to live on the surface. Sunlight burns them quickly, like some real life humans do (sun allergies and such), so they only come to the surface during the night as moonlight only itches instead of burns. Most are around human height, with very sharp teeth, and black eyes. Green, grey and milky white skin tones are all common. Hair is typically black or dark brown. Some mutant orcs exist that are shorter and completely blind and hairless (think crawlers from The Descent), which mainly eat other orcs, but are even more scared of light as even torch light can burn them. Female orcs are rarely encountered as they rule over the tribes and send their lessers (the males) to do the dirty work of hunting prey and bringing food back, but the few that have been encountered show they are a bit larger, but bulkier with shorter legs, so not as well suited to hunting.

They are fully carnivorous by nature, but mostly ate moles, worms and other burrowing creatures for food. That is, until they had initial encounters with their distant relatives the humans who were mining at the time and delved too deep. Orcs always eat what they kill, so got a taste for human flesh which is now one of their favourite foods. After centuries apart, neither saw the other as people, so they fought for years. Eventually the orcs realized the humans were too much trouble as a food source, so went back deep underground.

Unfortunately for everyone, dark gods once worshiped by humans latched onto orcs as their new followers of choice and forcefully changed several of them into an army that they then sent to the surface to wage war against the humans. These upgraded orcs had some resistance to sunlight and were stronger and more disciplined. War orcs was the term humans used for them and the orc side would have won that war had it not been for the human's creating their own elite fighting unites that could fight better at night, and even follow orcs back into their tunnel homes if needed.

The humans did win that war, as well as another centuries later, but the orcs never fully die out. Some of the war orcs bred with the standard tribal orcs to create stronger, smarter orcs that have become a lot more bold in living nearer to the surface, and have even taken over the lower floors of catacombs and other below ground structures. Orcs have their own mage-priests called shadow-speakers, that use their own form of magic not found on the surface. This magic was granted by the dark gods they now worship.

Though orcs originally fought with weapons made or rock and bone, they've since taken weapons and armour from their fallen foes and learned to craft their own. In general, the closer to the surface they live, the better the orc equipment becomes, as there are still orcs deeper down that prefer the more primitive weapons and lifestyle they had before they ever encountered their human enemies.

Half-Orcs

As detailed above, the humans were losing their war with the orcs, and badly. A group of human mages came up with the idea of making their own orcs, but loyal to their side. Orcs were captured alive and magic rituals performed to create new life that were then magically implanted in human women. These brave women gave birth to the first human-orc mixes. These rituals quickly became expressly forbidden by all spellcasters, but they were created out of desperation.

Ornak was the name given to them (though some human commoners sometimes use the term half-orc). Ornak means "orc-blight" and they lived up to their name and turned the tide in that war. They and orcs now have a deep hate for one another. In appearance, they look like tall, strong humans, but with a slight green or grey tint to their skin and their eyes are dark similar to orcs. Some have more pronounced teeth, though they're never as sharp as orc teeth. Though the first Ornak were all male, some human women took a liking to them after the war so when they were given some land for their service, the women helped settle that land. All children were also Ornak, so their numbers grew over the years.

After that initial war, no orcs were seen for some time, so some of the human nobles decided the Ornak may no longer have a use, so decided to drive them off their lands. Human and Ornak alike that disagreed with this poor treatment were silenced and driven out. They settled in many other places, where they are found even in modern times. This bit the nobles in the rear when later on a new orc war broke out and without the elite soldiers their ancestors had, they were quickly consumed by the hordes. Many nations fell before the Ornak and their human allies were convinced to come back and turn the tide of the war yet again. Since then, the idea of not having Ornak as part of each human nation is considered dangerous and a prestigious unite of Ornak, the night guard, are part of every human military. Not all Ornak are warriors though, in the intervening years between orc wars, they adapted pretty well to farm life and many still feel that's more their calling over killing orcs.

During the second orc war, the orc shadow-speakers created their own orc-human mixes. These looked like humans, but had a natural fear of sunlight, which was the only way to tell them from regular humans. They acted as spies and assassins for the orcs during the war, but once their weakness was discovered they were found and dispatched. Some think there may be more out there though, living amongst the human population, which has created some paranoia during times of trouble. Harak (human-blight) was what this variety were called.

Note: If this goes well enough and doesn't turn into another toxic thread, we could go onto other common races/species/origins like dwarves and gnomes.
 

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I've done them lots of different ways. But this is one way in a setting we ended up publishing:

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The orc cultural entries go into more detail than the race entry. This is the first page of one (it is a number of pages long but the first should give an idea of the kind of details):

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And this is the first page of a different orc culture:

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Stormonu

Legend
For my Amberos campaign:

The elves were formed in the Dreamlands of Aurora from the daydreams of the idle gods, as companions, hosts, servants and offspring. When the gods stirred from their daydreams, several of these elves were brought to the Material world where they became flesh and blood. An elf does not die of old age, and if their mortal form dies or an elf tires of it, their spirit returns to Aurora, where most stay for a time before possibly returning to the mortal realm.

The goblinoids, conversely, were born of the ill dreams and nightmares of the gods. When the elves passed through to the mortal realm, the goblins followed as well. Where elves revelled in the joys their mortal frames could bring, the goblinoids sought to control and enslave. To this end, the goblinoids turned some of the mortal giants to become soul-bound mercenaries that transformed into ogres and trolls. When giantkind became reluctant to work with the goblinoids, the goblins created their own warrior race, the orcs. Later, when the goblins were cursed by Ziga when she failed to usurp the orcs from goblin’s control to her own, the goblins lost their immortality and long lifespans. Unlike the elves, when goblins die they return to their nightmarish realms in Aurora and to the suffering and pain awaiting them there. They can only hope to escape that misery to less torturous land of the living. Orcs, as “enhanced” goblinoids, share the same fate as their former goblin masters, if not granted the bliss of oblivion upon their death.

Dark elves/Drow therefore are those elves whose nature has shifted them from being attuned to the pleasant dreamlands to the dark nightmarish corners of Aurora. If they cannot realign their soul with the bright areas of Aurora, upon their death they are cast into the nightmare realms to suffer. Perhaps luckily for them, their lifespans are not shortened like the goblinoids, so as long as they do not die to violence, they will not die of old age in the Mortal realm.
 
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RhaezDaevan

Explorer
For my Amberos campaign:

The elves were formed in the Dreamlands of Aurora from the daydreams of the idle gods, as companions, hosts, servants and offspring. When the gods stirred from their daydreams, several of these elves were brought to the Material world where they became flesh and blood. An elf does not die of old age, and if their mortal form dies or an elf tires of it, their spirit returns to Aurora, where most stay for a time before possibly returning to the mortal realm.

The goblinoids, conversely, were born of the ill dreams and nightmares of the gods. When the elves passed through to the mortal realm, the goblins followed as well. Where elves revelled in the joys their mortal frames could bring, the goblinoids sought to control and enslave. To this end, the goblinoids turned some of the mortal giants to become soul-bound mercenaries that transformed into ogres and trolls. When giantkind became reluctant to work with the goblinoids, the goblins created their own warrior race, the orcs. Later, when the goblins were cursed by Ziga when she failed to usurp the orcs from goblin’s control to her own, the goblins lost their immortality and long lifespans. Unlike the elves, when goblins die they return to their nightmarish realms in Aurora and to the suffering and pain awaiting them there. They can only hope to escape that misery to less torturous land of the living. Orcs, as “enhanced” goblinoids, share the same fate as their former goblin masters, if not granted the bliss of oblivion upon their death.

Dark elves/Drow therefore are those elves whose nature has shifted them from being attuned to the pleasant dreamlands to the dark nightmarish corners of Aurora. If they cannot realign their soul with the bright areas of Aurora, upon their death they are cast into the nightmare realms to suffer. Perhaps luckily for them, their lifespans are not shortened like the goblinoids, so as long as they do not die to violence, they will not die of old age in the Mortal realm.
Weird how we both thought of elves and goblins coming from a world of dreams. Were you inspired by something else? Mine came from a dream oddly enough.
 

RhaezDaevan

Explorer
I've done them lots of different ways. But this is one way in a setting we ended up publishing:

View attachment 283027


View attachment 283029

View attachment 283030

The orc cultural entries go into more detail than the race entry. This is the first page of one (it is a number of pages long but the first should give an idea of the kind of details):

View attachment 283031

And this is the first page of a different orc culture:

View attachment 283032
So you're a game designer? What product is this from?
 


Stormonu

Legend
Weird how we both thought of elves and goblins coming from a world of dreams. Were you inspired by something else? Mine came from a dream oddly enough.
Sorta stole it from Legend of Zelda (A Link to the Past), since one of my players decided to run an elvin fighter/magic-user named Link way back in the day. It’s morphed a lot since then, but the inspiration was the mirror world in that game.
 

Tonguez

A suffusion of yellow
Mist Elf
Elves are creatures of mist and phantasm, existing on the edges of reality (the Border Ethereal). Where the borders are thin Elves can sometimes be seen as shapes in the mist or seen in visions and dreams, where the come to seduce, beguile or inspire mortals in return for a kiss. But elves are not to be trusted, for in truth Elves are not satisfied with holding only the shadows of things, they are hungry to drain the very substance of the living. Those who are taken by the elves will find themselves being drained not only of life but of their very forms until they become mere shadows in the mist and the Elf takes for itself a physical body with which to infiltrate the real world. Still Elfs will eventually fade back into the mists from which it came unless it feeds again upon the living substance of a mortal.
  • When an elf is killed it returns to the mists as a Banshee driven mad by its loss of form
  • Some believe that the Tween is the remnant of those whose forms have been stolen by Elves and left to wonder the Ethereal realms

Half-Fae (use Half-Elf stats)
Sometimes a child born of the mortal races is touched by the Fae, some with sublime beauty and grace and some with a bilious pall. Those who survive to adulthood usually find themselves bound to some fate or scheme of the fae. Many mortals consider such children to be changeling offspring of the Elfs however, and are willing to blame them for any ill that affects their mortal lives.

O’Punga (use Half-Orcs)
OPunga are born to humans but are considered to be blessed by the Beast gods. These children are larger, stronger and more fierce than others, but may also carry bestial traits like tusks, claws, scales or fur. There is also often fear that O’Punga will be more prone to madness and savagery

Beastmen (includes Orcs)
Amongst the horrors of the northern waste come the Beastmen, including the horn-headed Taurs, the Hyena-headed Sephiri (Gnolls) and the boar-headed Tuskers (Orcs). Primitive and savage spawn of the Beast gods, they range the great mountains and its forests, sending occasional raids into civilised lands.

Goblins
small, nimble, cowardly scavengers, goblins were originally an amphibious swamp dwelling race that soon found easy pickings raiding the midden heaps, dumps and sewers of other races. They can often be found close to settlements, hiding in the swamps, thick forest or caves and even living in the sewers of larger cities.
Goblins seem to be very resistant to both infection and poison, and as a result can eat almost anything no matter how vile or decayed it seems. Because of this trait however goblins are reputed to be plaguebearers, with diseases rife in their thick toxic saliva.
Being small, goblins depend on mob behaviour for survival. They are also a clever and adaptable species, taking the cast offs and rubbish of others and repurposing it for their needs. Goblins lay clusters of eggs in boggy areas and the tadpole like toadlings hatch out and begin devouring what they can. They mature quickly eventually sprouting limbs to emerge as fullgrown goblins.
 
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Lanefan

Victoria Rules
Without going into the depth of detail in some posts prior, for my games:

Elves - hew fairly close to Tolkein for the most part, though they aren't quite as tall as JRRT would have them. Five types, two common and three rare: common are High and Wood Elves (a la Tolkein, more or less), rare are Fair Elves (more like Tolkein's Eldarin), Arctic Elves (much shorter and with bigger ears and eyes, largely ripped from Elfquest), and Drow which pretty much no longer exist in my current setting (last any PCs heard, there were probably fewer than 50 left on the planet). Generally smarter and more dextrous than Humans, but physically weaker.

Part-Elves - can be anywhere between 1/8 and 7/8 Elf (with the rest Human) with gradated mechanics for each 8th. These can freely interbreed with Humans, Elves, and other Part-Elves. Some are accepted into the usually-very-isolationist Elvish society, most have to make do in the Human realms.

Part-Orcs - can be anywhere between 1/8 and 7/8 Orc (with the rest Human) with gradated mechanics for each 8th. These can freely interbreed with Humans, Orcs, other Part-Orcs, and some other things. The more Orcish ones are often (if tough enough) accepted in Orcish societies, the more Human ones often operate on the fringes of Human societies.

Orcs - are classed as monsters and not normally available as PCs. Generally much stronger and tougher than Humans but also much less intelligent and less charismatic. The average Orc is about 10% taller and 25% heavier than the average Human, but their appearance otherwise varies widely. Their societies often consist of "might makes right", strongly encouraged by Gruumsh who is pretty much their only deity. They can - and sometimes will - interbreed with any number of other species, including Human.
 

EzekielRaiden

Follower of the Way
Name-givers of the Tarrakhuna

Being a land driven heavily by regional and international trade, but also one defined primarily by Arabian Nights tropes, several races have been re-interpreted or given a new light. I've also taken great pains to show that any being that isn't outright and unavoidably monstrous can be part of society--meaning, stuff like mindflayers and zombies are out, but many traditionally-"always evil" races are perfectly acceptable members of society, discriminated against more for their social class than their physiology or ancestry. The following are just ones that have gotten more spotlight, so we know more about them.

Orcs
Probably the second-most-populous individual race, after humans. They're more common among the Nomad Tribes, where humans and orcs are roughly equal proportions of the population (say, about a third each.) Orcs are hardy, tolerate desert conditions well, and physically strong--it takes them less effort to gain and maintain physical fitness. Moreso than humans, orcs lean heavily on family ties, for good and for ill. An influential clan leader can be a major force for change, or ensure that the status quo is preserved, as the clan will often follow their lead. Unlike other worlds, Tarrakhunan orcs are not specially associated with violence or rage; their natural strength and toughness do mean that many Nomads do mercenary work to gain resources for their tribes, but no one bats an eye at one joining the Waziri order or being a clerk for the Safiqi priesthood.

The party has learned that many current-day orcish clan chiefs are directly descended from the legendary First Sultan through one of his three wives. (Implicitly, this also means that orcs and humans intermingle a lot, so it's entirely possible for "humans" to have orcish blood and vice-versa without being "half" anything.)

Elves
Though they have long-ish lifespans (perhaps 200 years at the most), their low numbers and the difficulty of surviving in the Tarrakhuna means they don't have as much hegemonic control as one might think. Elves are seen as, if not "mysterious" proper, at least a little bit distant from the physical world. This does not always work in their favor, as sometimes they are compared to genies, who are associated with slavery and thinking they're superior to mortal-kind. To the south, where the temperatures are cooler and there is more rainfall, there are enough elves that the general name for that region is the "Elf Forest," but they keep mostly to themselves, being live-with-the-land types. Though there has never been any proof given for the alleged "curse" that affects the Elf Forest, it is known that expeditions to the south tend to fail, at rates worse than those going into the deep desert.

Why this happens is not widely known, but the party has learned: the Elves of today are not what they once were. Long ago, before the world was "changed" (the same event that inspired the Genie-Rajahs to abandon the mortal world in favor of Jinnistan), there was a civilization in what is now called the Elf-Forest, who called themselves the "El-Adrin." They had far more powerful magic, indeed their whole society was built around it, and the "change" of the world would have ended their society. So they pulled the whole damn thing out to a pocket plane to wait out the "change" (whatever that was), and placed a curse on their old lands that would prevent anyone from settling them--as a kindness, because anyone caught in that territory when their cities returned could be killed or horribly maimed by the process.

What, exactly, the El-Adrin were like isn't precisely known. It is known that all currently-living "elves" are the descendants of those El-Adrin who stayed in the mortal world so that they could facilitate the return of their people later. So they weren't radically different from "elves," but they weren't precisely the same, either.

Dwarves
Dwarven populations in this world are native mostly to the eastern mountains, or the high, cool steppe on the far side of said mountains. Mountain-clans tend to be sedentary and make their living by resource-extraction and trade-crafts, while steppe-clans tend to be pastoral herders and tribal warriors. The latter are sometimes called "barbarians" by the people of the Tarrakhuna--note, it is considered a serious insult to call anyone of the Nomad Tribes a "barbarian," as that is taken to mean you don't think they're part of Tarrakhuna society. Not much is known about the details of dwarven clans, though their clan ties make them at least passingly similar to orcs. They do tend to be hardier in terms of what they can eat and how long they can go between eating, rather than endurance and strength per se.

Dragonborn
A minority in the Tarrakhuna, but somewhat more common in the Elf Forest. Their homeland is faraway Yuxia, the "Jade Home," where other fantastical beasts (like the "dragons," who seem to have some kind of connection to dragonborn) are known to live. Dragonborn are seen as exotic and difficult to read, since their facial expressions don't always line up neatly with those of the more homininian physiology, which can give them an air of mystery. But the people themselves tend to be more direct and earnest, complicating their "mystique"; most dragonborn fully dedicate themselves to whatever it is they choose to do, so a dragonborn Safiqi will be absolutely devoted to the faith, a dragonborn druid will deeply immerse himself in the world of spirit and beast, a dragonborn Waziri will dedicate herself to the highest achievements in some branch of study, etc. Because they are on the rarer side, it tends to be noteworthy when one shows up.

The party has since learned that it is possible for mortal-kind (specifically humans, possibly others) to produce offspring with dragons, who are slightly different from "dragonborn" proper. It is also possible for dragons to use some form of alchemy to transform regular humans into half-dragons, but the process takes time and repeated doses of (effectively) alchemical dragon-blood steroid potions. The process changes both the physiology and the mind of the person transformed, and seems to keep the transformed very loyal to their dragon patron, probably a form of indoctrination rather than mind control per se. Half-dragons have more pronounced snouts and larger overall body size than dragonborn--what the exact relationship is between half-dragons and dragonborn has not been established yet.

Tieflings
Though relations with demonic and/or devilish powers are uncommon in the Tarrakhuna, because the Safiqi priesthood rather frowns upon that sort of thing, such unions do occur and some tiefling bloodlines are old enough to predate the founding of the priesthood entirely. There isn't much real stigma associated with being a tiefling, as tieflings were part of the armies of the First Sultan who helped overthrow the Genie-Rajahs. There have even been Safiqi saints who were tieflings, and no one bats an eye about that. That doesn't mean there aren't crappy jokes or people occasionally being crappy to someone solely because they're a tiefling, but that can be said of any race or group.

The party has learned that tieflings can also be "created" (in a way similar to, but distinct from, the half-dragon example above) via magically infusing someone with fiendish blood, and such infusion can be changed later on. They in fact did this, and as part of doing so, they "took away" the devilish blood of some tieflings whose fiendish "sire" was the same as the devil in the Bard's father's family line. This allowed the Bard to essentially act as a sponge, wicking away the fiendish power attached to these other tieflings, which the party replaced with a connection to a powerful and good-natured spirit they were working with, creating the region's first aasimar. (As a result of this and receiving his great-grandmother's succubus powers, the Bard is now effectively "half-devil, half-demon, half-human," even though that breaks math.)

Numerous other species have appeared, but not in sufficient numbers to make broad statements. These include minotaurs, ogres, gnomes, owlkin (believe it or not, predating 5e owlin! These are based on burrowing owls), and half-genies (mortals with manifest genie ancestry.) Other types of sapient creatures might be found elsewhere!
 

Ondath

Hero
I admittedly didn't think about the Orcs of my setting much, but they're part of the "races" that were deemed as "uncivilised" in the Imperial Age (when most of the known world was under a human-centric theocratic empire), and were treated as second-class citizens. That oppression also meant they were one of the leading forces against the Empire (alongside the Goblinkind and a few other heritages). Following the collapse of the Empire, the heritage is spread across the empire as they were often hired for unskilled labour. I completely decoupled culture from heritage (since I'm planning to run this setting using Level Up), so there is no one Orcish culture, but there might be some Orcish-led polities that try to revitalise what they perceive to be "authentic Orcish culture".

As a heritage, I play D&D's orcish tropes straight. Great might, though it has no effect on an individual's ability scores.

As for the Elves, they had a more priviliged position within the Empire, seen as esteemed allies and part of the "civilised races", so most people see people of Elven heritage as upper-class pricks with a superiority complex. Revivalist movements that attempt to recreate the Seldarine (which had been integrated into the Imperial Pantheon, which is basically 4E's pantheon) are stronger among elves as they try to remember what they had before human hegemony (which lasted for 3-4 Elven lifetimes and even that led to considerable loss of cultural memory).

The Elvish heritage is where I added my own unique twist. Elves living 700 years with no apparent worldbuilding conclusions never sat right with me, so I wanted to modify their long lifespan in a way that explains why they either (1) aren't an overpowering force comprised of perfected individuals or (2) aren't a gerontocratic nightmare. The answer was Doctor Who-like regeneration. Every hundred years or so, an Elf experiences what they call a rebirth, where their body and identity radically changes. Their physical appearance, gender, personality etc. can all change radically, and elves often look back to experiences they had before a rebirth like stories told by someone else. This radical change often causes an elf to change interests as well, an Archmage might abandon the study of the arcane and decide to take up archery as their new calling, for instance. An elf can attempt to rely upon their knowledge from earlier lives, but doing so heavily is quite traumatic and might end up dramatically shortening the elf's lifespan (e.g. if you want your level 5 fighter to rely on their time as an archmage in their backstory in the climactic fight, your elf probably won't make it out alive). Elves typically have 5-6 rebirths, which explains the 600-700 year lifespan. One difference from Doctor Who-style regeneration is that a rebirth is not triggered due to grievious injury: You get to have a rebirth only if you naturally reached the end of a lifespan.

I quite like this change, and it allows one player's character to be running around for the next couple of centuries, but that character does not have to dominate the entire campaign setting and might wear quite different faces over time. It also makes aging spells and effects (like the sphinx's attacks) scarier for an elven PC, because they are susceptible to losing their character to aging as much as a human PC. The character might survive aging dramatically, but the PC's concept won't.
 

RhaezDaevan

Explorer
I admittedly didn't think about the Orcs of my setting much, but they're part of the "races" that were deemed as "uncivilised" in the Imperial Age (when most of the known world was under a human-centric theocratic empire), and were treated as second-class citizens. That oppression also meant they were one of the leading forces against the Empire (alongside the Goblinkind and a few other heritages). Following the collapse of the Empire, the heritage is spread across the empire as they were often hired for unskilled labour. I completely decoupled culture from heritage (since I'm planning to run this setting using Level Up), so there is no one Orcish culture, but there might be some Orcish-led polities that try to revitalise what they perceive to be "authentic Orcish culture".

As a heritage, I play D&D's orcish tropes straight. Great might, though it has no effect on an individual's ability scores.

As for the Elves, they had a more priviliged position within the Empire, seen as esteemed allies and part of the "civilised races", so most people see people of Elven heritage as upper-class pricks with a superiority complex. Revivalist movements that attempt to recreate the Seldarine (which had been integrated into the Imperial Pantheon, which is basically 4E's pantheon) are stronger among elves as they try to remember what they had before human hegemony (which lasted for 3-4 Elven lifetimes and even that led to considerable loss of cultural memory).

The Elvish heritage is where I added my own unique twist. Elves living 700 years with no apparent worldbuilding conclusions never sat right with me, so I wanted to modify their long lifespan in a way that explains why they either (1) aren't an overpowering force comprised of perfected individuals or (2) aren't a gerontocratic nightmare. The answer was Doctor Who-like regeneration. Every hundred years or so, an Elf experiences what they call a rebirth, where their body and identity radically changes. Their physical appearance, gender, personality etc. can all change radically, and elves often look back to experiences they had before a rebirth like stories told by someone else. This radical change often causes an elf to change interests as well, an Archmage might abandon the study of the arcane and decide to take up archery as their new calling, for instance. An elf can attempt to rely upon their knowledge from earlier lives, but doing so heavily is quite traumatic and might end up dramatically shortening the elf's lifespan (e.g. if you want your level 5 fighter to rely on their time as an archmage in their backstory in the climactic fight, your elf probably won't make it out alive). Elves typically have 5-6 rebirths, which explains the 600-700 year lifespan. One difference from Doctor Who-style regeneration is that a rebirth is not triggered due to grievious injury: You get to have a rebirth only if you naturally reached the end of a lifespan.

I quite like this change, and it allows one player's character to be running around for the next couple of centuries, but that character does not have to dominate the entire campaign setting and might wear quite different faces over time. It also makes aging spells and effects (like the sphinx's attacks) scarier for an elven PC, because they are susceptible to losing their character to aging as much as a human PC. The character might survive aging dramatically, but the PC's concept won't.
Elvish rebirth is definitely a cool idea. I had a similar idea for a group of humans that were instantly reborn upon death, kind of like a phoenix. I eventually abandoned it though.

I also had an idea for elves where they age at a similar rate as humans, it's just that there homelands have time move slower than normal, but abandoned that too as it made adventuring elves not really work.
 

el-remmen

Moderator Emeritus
My homebrew setting has no elf PCs. Elves are a mysterious, ancient and fey people from between worlds whose places in this world are mostly abandoned and often haunted. While the occasional elf is encountered in lonely places, where they have gone and why remains unknown.

In place of elves and half-elves my game has the "Fey-Touched"
The Fey-Touched (sometimes called “Half-Elves”) are usually born to human families, but Fey-Touched halflings, gnomes, and even dwarves all exist (though are even rarer). They may belong to a family with a strong tradition of the Fey-Touched among then, but other times, like Orc-Born, they are born of families with no remembered connection to the Fey—a price paid for a forgotten promise, the result of trysts with elves or satyrs, the trickery of pixies, the revenge of hags, or baby-snatching sprites, all occurring generations earlier. Most have family stories meant to explain this fey-influence on the family tree.

Regardless, the Fey-Touched are uncommon enough that most people go their entire lives without meeting any, and in some places of the world they might be considered an old wives’ tale, like the Orc-Born.

Of Two Worlds
Walking in two worlds but truly belonging to neither, the Fey-Touched combine what some say are the qualities of their human and fey heritages: human curiosity, inventiveness, and ambition tempered by the impulsiveness, love of nature, and fickle hearts of the fey. Frequently feeling distanced from their mortal peers, and never able to fully embrace the twilight world without leaving mortal connections behind, many of the Fey-touched, unable to fit into either society, choose lives of solitary wandering or join with other misfits and outcasts in the adventuring life.

That Look
The Fey-touched are often described as “elfin” by humans, tending towards slender frames, androgynous features, and pointed ears. The men often struggle to grow facial hair, if they are capable of it at all. Speaking of hair, it might have a blue or green highlight, their eyes might have flecks of gold. In color they range from nearly translucently pale to nut brown. Sometimes they have even more obvious signs of their fey heritage, like cloven feet, a kid’s small horns, or under-sized vestigial wings.

Fey-Touched in Makrinos
Rare throughout the world, the Fey-Touched are even less common in Makrinos, where there was once a strong tradition of abandoning such children out in the woods to be taken by the Fey. These days, however, open Fey-Touched people work as diplomats, advisors, and entertainers, along with various government positions in the Makrinos Republic, and strain of Fey-origins is looked at as more of a curiosity than an evil.

Fey-Touched Names
The Fey-Touched use names appropriate to whatever culture they are raised in, but many adopt appellations that denote their Fey heritage, such as the names of birds or places of natural beauty.

Fey-Touched Traits
Your Fey-Touched character has certain traits deriving from their human and fey ancestries.

  • Ability Score Increase. Your character may increase any one stat by +2 and any other stat by +1 or any three different stats by +1 each. Typically, the stats are Charisma and Dexterity (and Intelligence), but are not limited to these.
  • Age. The Fey-Touched age at the same rate as humans through adolescence, but live much longer and remain much hardier than humans. Many of them abandon mortal life to join the fey between the ages of 100 and 200.
  • Size. The Fey-Touched are more or less the same size as humans, ranging from 4 to 6 feet tall. Your size is typically Medium but you can choose to be Small instead.
  • Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet, unless you choose to be Small in size, in which case your walking speed is 25 feet.
  • Low-Light Vision. You can see better in dimly lit conditions. The range of light sources are doubled for you. Thus, for example, with a common torch you can see as if the torch shed bright light in a 40 foot radius and dim light for an additional 40 feet. You can see in moonlight as if bright light. You are still blinded in absolute darkness.
  • Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.
  • Favors the Father.(Choose One)
    • Faerie Light. You know the dancing lights cantrip. When you reach 2nd level, you can cast the faerie fire spell as a 1st-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
    • Skill Versality. You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice.
  • Languages. You can read, speak, and write Common, Elven, and one other language of your choice.

Orcs, on the other hand, are the victims of a genocide about 10,000 years ago and still historical victims of the propaganda of the so-called "Free Peoples," since tales of their evil and monstrous nature are still used to justify the "good act" of killing them all. Of course, reality is a lot more complicated and there are still humans who are born with orcish traits (seemingly at random).

This lineage replaces “Half-Orc” in the 5E Player’s Handbook.

No one has seen an actual orc in several millennia, and according to legend they were exterminated in wars against the so-called “Free Peoples.” According to these legends, orcs were a savage and evil people who relished in the destruction of everything good, sought to destroy civilization, were easily enlisted in the schemes of evil wizards, and whose penchant for murdering even each other, was part of their own undoing. The institutional weight of these beliefs along with the eons of time since there were any orcish communities means that there are few to argue against them.

However, there is also ample evidence that orcs and humans once lived and thrived so closely that marriages for love or alliances led to a substantial mixing of these peoples, and that these stories of “savage orcs” are the by-product of a successful political effort to use orcs and their descendants as scapegoats and ennoble the potentially monstrous acts of the “Free Peoples.”

To this day, those referred to as “Orc-Born” are born to human families, the strong strain of orcishness receding and emerging across the generations. In some families, this strain is strong enough to be notable in most members, in others an “orc-born” child can be born to a family with no hint of it in living memory. In some places it might be considered a blessing, in others, a curse.

Notably Different
The pigmentation of the orc-born varies more widely than humans’. Some also develop a dark green or dull yellow pallor, or are so pale as to be bone white or even gray in color. They tend to have pronounced brows, large eyes, pointed ears, and jutting jaws. They lean towards hirsute. They have the same range in height and girth as humans. Many descendants of orcs have a raised scarred ridge that runs along their spines. Some have black fingernails and/or teeth.

All that said, many who are orc-born can pass for human, depending on their features and the cultural context they are born into.

Found Family
Despite having been mostly gone for so long, there is a still a lingering fear and hatred of the orc-born among other peoples, including humans. As such, it is not uncommon for those who cannot or will not pass as human to be disowned from their families. This has created a strong belief in the concept of found family among them, supporting each other, or seeking the support of those who will accept them. For orc-born adventurers, their adventuring party often serves as their family. Other human families (some who have an orcish strain and some who don’t) take in those abandoned orc-born, giving them parental care or support. On the other hand, other less scrupulous organizations or people exploit the orc-born who have been abandoned in this way for nefarious goals.

Of course, some are also lone wolves, who eschew human cultures altogether.

Orc-Born in Makrinos
While rare throughout the world, the Orc-Born are slightly more common in Makrinos due to its more progressive view of different peoples and no concerted effort by the “Free Peoples” to hunt them down. Furthermore, there are whispered rumors of a subterranean city of the Orc-Born accessible from somewhere on the island. All that said, generally speaking, the Orc-Born are driven to the margins of many Makrinod human communities.

Orc-Born Names
The Orc-Born typically have names appropriate to the human culture they were born into. However, in the rare communities that work towards re-creating what they can of original orcish cultures, ancient or distinct names are granted or adopted. Such names are usually not gendered.
Names: Azhug, Emen, Grazob, Gularzub, Henk, Holg, Jolagh, Imsh, Keth, Kansif, Oghash, Ovak, Ranno, Robgut, Shazgob, Volen, Woab, Wurthru

Orc-Born Traits
Your orc-born character has certain traits deriving from their human and orc ancestries.

  • Ability Score Increase. Your character may increase any one stat by +2 and any other stat by +1 or any three different stats by +1 each. Typically, the stats are Strength and Constitution (and Wisdom), but are not limited to these.
  • Age. The orc-born mature at about the same rate as humans but tend to not live quite as long.
  • Size. While tending towards being larger and bulkier than the average human, they still have the same basic range in terms of height and weight. Your size is Medium.
  • Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet (6 boxes).
  • Low-Light Vision. You have inherited the ability to see better in dimly lit conditions. The range of light sources are doubled for you. Thus, for example, with a common torch you can see as if the torch shed bright light in a 40 foot radius and dim light for an additional 40 feet. You can see in moonlight as if bright light. You are still blinded in absolute darkness.
  • Menacing. You have proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
  • Relentless Endurance. When you are reduced to 0 Hit Points you are not automatically Dying. You can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a Long Rest.
  • Tireless. You can ignore a level of exhaustion you suffer for any reason. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a Long Rest.
  • Language. You can speak, read and write Common. You may also know Orcish, a dead tongue, or can replace it with Goblin.
 

RhaezDaevan

Explorer
My homebrew setting has no elf PCs. Elves are a mysterious, ancient and fey people from between worlds whose places in this world are mostly abandoned and often haunted. While the occasional elf is encountered in lonely places, where they have gone and why remains unknown.

In place of elves and half-elves my game has the "Fey-Touched"


Orcs, on the other hand, are the victims of a genocide about 10,000 years ago and still historical victims of the propaganda of the so-called "Free Peoples," since tales of their evil and monstrous nature are still used to justify the "good act" of killing them all. Of course, reality is a lot more complicated and there are still humans who are born with orcish traits (seemingly at random).
I tried saying the word Orc-born over and over again out loud and then began speaking like Swedish Chef from the Muppets for good minute after. I don't know why, it's not even a tongue twister.
 




doctorbadwolf

Heretic of The Seventh Circle
Crossroads/Chevar/The Nine Realms

The Alfar

Vidalfar -
The name means Wood Elf, essentially, but forest elf is perhaps more apt. They are descended from vaetr or spirits of the land associated with trees, plants, the sun, and growing things.

They can speak to such spirits still, and are very magical, and tend toward expressions of beauty and lively revelry, but can be quite dangerous at need. Vidalfar tend to speak a form of Sylvan that is related to the ancient Norse and Germanic languages structurally, but whose vocabulary is more musical and meandering.

The lord of a group of Vidalfar is called Freyr, after the ancient deity who took them under his protection millennia ago and became the first Lord of the Alfar, before the Alfar split in two.

The Myrkalfar - literally translates to murk elf, what it really means is more like “hidden night elf”. These elves are descended from spirits of the hunt, hunting creatures, the moon, and the night. Myrkalfar are athletic, competitive, nocturnal, and tend toward matrilineal geneology and social politics. They are more direct and practical than their cousins, and tend toward physical pursuits.

Both groups are hospitable and welcoming, and deeply social, meaning they rely on eachother and think in terms of the group.



The world has no orcs.
 

RhaezDaevan

Explorer
Crossroads/Chevar/The Nine Realms

The Alfar

Vidalfar -
The name means Wood Elf, essentially, but forest elf is perhaps more apt. They are descended from vaetr or spirits of the land associated with trees, plants, the sun, and growing things.

They can speak to such spirits still, and are very magical, and tend toward expressions of beauty and lively revelry, but can be quite dangerous at need. Vidalfar tend to speak a form of Sylvan that is related to the ancient Norse and Germanic languages structurally, but whose vocabulary is more musical and meandering.

The lord of a group of Vidalfar is called Freyr, after the ancient deity who took them under his protection millennia ago and became the first Lord of the Alfar, before the Alfar split in two.

The Myrkalfar - literally translates to murk elf, what it really means is more like “hidden night elf”. These elves are descended from spirits of the hunt, hunting creatures, the moon, and the night. Myrkalfar are athletic, competitive, nocturnal, and tend toward matrilineal geneology and social politics. They are more direct and practical than their cousins, and tend toward physical pursuits.

Both groups are hospitable and welcoming, and deeply social, meaning they rely on eachother and think in terms of the group.



The world has no orcs.
Are some type of Jotun a common villain like in Norse myths? Or maybe trolls would be better suited for that.
 

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