Limiting humanoid availability

[Desdichado]

Partly because of the poll going on right now, and remembering mmadsen's old thread on the "monster pallette" I'm curious what folks would do about limiting humanoids.

In general, I think there's way too many humanoids for all but the whackiest of games, if you get right down to it. So here's my idea: If you had to limit humanoid races to 6 (or so), including PC races but still sticking with a more or less standard-type fantasy, which would they be?

Here's what I'd pick:

1. Humans -- the basic character archetype.
2. Elves -- also very traditional for fantasy, and much beloved by players.
3. Dwarves -- most campaigns that have elves also need dwarves -- they go hand in hand.
4. Hobgoblins -- I love the way these folks are handled by Kalamar -- a civilized tyrannical empire of these babies is what it's all about.
5. Goblins -- as a lower caste within hobgoblin society, most likely.
6. Skaven/Slitheren -- I love this idea, I've gotta find a way to use them.

 

[DMScott]

In the Arcana Unearthed world I'm working on, I'm sticking with just the PC races for humanoids - Giants, Humans, Faen, Litorians, Sibeccai, Mojh. With no alignment I don't really need a specifically "evil" humanoid race, and the AU races cover a nice range of sizes and abilities.

In D&D, I'd probably go with:

Humans, Elves, Dwarves - the classics
Orcs - the tough bad guys
Kobolds - the sneaky little bad guys
Gnolls - a rival to keep the orcs from running out of control

 

[Crothian]

Here's what I use in my world:

Humans, elves, dwarves, Fortanear (basically high orcs), gnomes and halflings, THey are the most numerious. The other races exist though to a much more limited degree.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

Partly because of the poll going on right now, and remembering mmadsen's old thread on the "monster pallette" I'm curious what folks would do about limiting humanoids.

In general, I think there's way too many humanoids for all but the whackiest of games, if you get right down to it. So here's my idea: If you had to limit humanoid races to 6 (or so), including PC races but still sticking with a more or less standard-type fantasy, which would they be?

Yay! My post has an effect on people!

Very good question, IMHO. Very tough one, as well. Some of the choices are quite easy, but in other cases, it becomes difficult (esp. when it's a human/animal themed humanoid).

My picks would be:

* Humans--core race
* Elves--standard D&D variety. No subraces at all--the appearance may vary, but the elf stays the same.
* Dwarves--this would cover both dwarves & gnomes (sorry, gnome-lovers!). Besides, until recently, gnomes seemed to depict the traditional mythic/folk tale variety of dwarf (the mischievous magic-using kind), while dwarves reflected Tolkien's version (the stern warrior-smith folk).
* Orcs--this would be closer to the bigger, meaner goblinoids, as well as orcs. Sort of like the Uruk-Hai instead of the goblin-like "orcs" of LotR.
* Goblins--the weaker, smaller, sneakier cousins of the orcs. "Hobgoblin" and "kobold" would more or less be terms for certain goblins (perhaps "kobold" refers to a bluish-skinned variety of goblin, while "hobgoblin" is much more magic-oriented, and "bugbear" is more of feral variety). Despite the different names, the stats remain the same.
* Halflings--I've always had a soft spot for hobbits. This could cover the halflings, hobbits, and kender "ideals," but also brownies and other larger wingless "fairy folk."

However, this doesn't even touch on half-races (half-elves and half-orcs only, really), nor does it cover some old favorites, like the lizardfolk, trolls/ogres (one category instead of 2), mind flayers, yuan-ti, skaven/nezumi/ratmen, sahuagin, & some others. But OTOH, by keeping some of these, I'd eliminate others (like locathah, troglodytes, etc.). There'd still be a decent variety, but not to the ridiculously high amount that exists now.

 

[Silveras]

A long time ago

I trimmed the number of species in my world a long time ago.

However, it is important to remember that these are fantasy worlds; the rules of evolution do not necessarily apply, and it is kind of necessary to have at least a few races in an area. There are Good and Evil gods running around creating followers for themselves all over the place.

On a side note, that also means spells which rely on science are highly suspect in most fantasy worlds. Specifically, the 2nd Edition AD&D Chronomancer supplement had a couple of spells that worked by regressing a creature to a less-evolved version. Excuse me ? Evolution ? The less-evolved Orc is the same as the current version; just as the Orcish gods made them.

The key for me was to employ distance. In short, I have about 5-6 major races in any large area (4800 miles x 7200 miles), 1 of which is usually human. Gradually, as you move across adjacent swaths, the makeup changes. One land has Humans, Vanara, Hobgoblins, and Yuan-Ti ... another has Humans, Hobgoblins, Yak Folk, Dwarves, and Goblins... a third has Humans, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, Kobolds, and Gnomes. Gnolls come from a tropical region of a different continent than the main campaign. They are sometimes found as mercenaries, but never as stable populations.

 

[Desdichado]

Good post, Silveras. I think another thing that adds a lot to the idea is not to make humanoids have one, single, monolithic culture. Make them as varied as human cultures, with multiple nations, but do so without splitting them into subraces! To me, that adds a great deal of verissimilitude.

 

[Pants]

1. Humans - Gotta have the humans
2. Elves
3. Dwarves
4. Halflings
5. Goblins
6. Orcs

 

[d4]

my last world had humans, dwarves, and goblinoids as the only humanoid races. humans were by far the most populous, the goblinoids were fairly common, and the dwarves existed only in three isolated pockets and were virtually unknown in the world-at-large.

it also had a limited number of minotaurs and a few other "beastmen" type monstrous humanoids, but these were never numerous enough to have their own cultures or civilizations.

i am also a big fan of limited monster palettes.

 

[Particle_Man]

Well I have an idea bouncing around where I cut down the greyhawk pantheon down to 9 gods, and each god has its own created race.

Moradin LG Dwarves
Corellas Latherean CG Sylvan Ones (Wood elves)
Pelor NG Humans (Humans have since been corrupted a lot, so their average alignment is N)
Wee Jas LN (no name yet) (Grey Elves)
Obad-Hai N Halflings
Olidamnera CN Gnomes (who have since drifted towards NG)
Hextor LE Kobolds
Nerull NE Goblins (grave robbers)
Erythnul CE Orcs

Note that many of these gods have multiple names, and their worshippers might not know their god's true nature (so orcs still worship "Grummsh").

There are no half-races.

And enough time has passed that no member of a race has to have its racial alignment, so cities might have the occasional orc, goblin or kobold within it. And PC's can be any of the nine races.

Anyhow, just an idea at present.

 

[Omand]

Partly because of the poll going on right now, and remembering mmadsen's old thread on the "monster pallette" I'm curious what folks would do about limiting humanoids.

In general, I think there's way too many humanoids for all but the whackiest of games, if you get right down to it. So here's my idea: If you had to limit humanoid races to 6 (or so), including PC races but still sticking with a more or less standard-type fantasy, which would they be?

I don't know if I have anything much to add here, aside from the fact that this is an issue I have struggled with in my own homebrewed world.

My solution for at least part of the plethora of races was to combine all orcs and goblinoids into one "race" much like Tolkien. Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears and Orcs are all simply varieties of Orc in my world. I just use the general term Orc and whichever stats I think fit the encounter. I tweak descriptions so that all of the four groups generally look similar. I use the term goblin in game as slang to describe small orcs which use the goblin stats from the MM.

Like others, I have also divided up my humanoid species on different continents. Gnolls, for example, exist on a southern landmass closer to the equator (strange symmetry here with what others have posted).

I still have not decided if I will use Yuan-Ti or not on another southern tropical landmass. I will likely use Lizardfolk instead, and cut down on numbers.

In terms of my top six list:

Humans
Elves
Dwarves
Orcs
Halflings
Giants (Ogres, Trolls, MM Giants)

I do currently use gnomes, but am always wrestling with the idea of just getting rid of them. After all, how realistic can it be to have so many pint-sized humans running around between Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings?

Also like others I limit sub-races in my campaign. Any differences between types of humans, dwarves and elves are culture-based, not stat based.

I don't know if I have said anything new, but there it is for what it's worth