Racial Epithets

[lord_banus]

Just a side note, for those who care, the epithet 'digger' is about as offensive to many Native American cultures as a word can get, up there with 'redskins' and the like. Obviously a fantasy game doesn't have to be connected to reality in any way, but consider the reaction you'd have if someone in your gaming group decided that dwarves should be called 'chinks' because the typical dwarf is greedy for metals and likes the sound of coins knocking together, or that drow elves should be called 'darkies' because they prefer to avoid the light. If your reaction is 'Hey, that's a good one. Zing!', then more power to you. If you say 'Hmm, I don't like that idea,' then going with 'muckers' or 'barrels' is probably a better choice.

For an additional side note, "Digger" in australia has quite good conotations. It was the name for Aus and New Zealand soldiers (ANZACS) from the world wars and are representational of mateship and comraderie.

 

[WayneLigon]

Dwarf and Dwarf-related
Mudgrubber, a human who likes dwarves better than his own kind. Also, Tubthumper.
Geode (Khekit, literally 'Rock with air inside'): dwarf on the outside, human on the inside
'Beardless', from a human, is a deadly insult. Hurke (hurk-ee): 'Your chin shows'
Shirker, Stump, or verhik (closest thing is 'couch potato'): comparing a dwarf to something that does not work is telling him he has no reason for living.
Sunlover or toolbreaker are playground-level insults.

Elf and Efl-related
Treehugger, a human who likes elves better than humans. Alternately, Grasseater, Leaflicker and Berryboy (for the berry dye elves use to pait their faces with).
Sullier, for an elf that breeds with a human. Also, kinslayer and childlover.
Shesho, 'He mocks time' is a mild insult, saying that the elf is unappreciative. Sienshi, 'he bows to time' is worse, meaning that the elf is too focused on the here and now.
The absolute worst thing to call an elf? Oathbreaker, or Foresworn.

Gnome and Gnome-related
Mud-dauber, or Mudboy, for a human that sympathizes with gnomes to the detriment of his own kind. Also, Rootsucker.

Half-elves have tons of more normal-sounding insults for them. Fairyboy, wood baby, and half-a-man are among the mildest.

 

[Testament]

Elf: Peg (Pointy Eared Git), Fairy, Bish (short for Bishonen, Japanese for "beautiful boy"), Dancer, Tree-hugger, Grass-Eater. The Scrubs method is always great as well, as suggested by Voadam.

Dwarf: Barrel, Beardy, Santa (Ok, too RW, but its still good!), Rock-boy, Minor (good for graffiti), Goldies

Halfling: Peck (don't know why, but its great!) Shorty, Leg (how tall is a halfling compared to a human?). What flavour Halfling are you using, 3rd Ed or Hobbits? That could be important. For hobbits, Fatty or Woolies is always a good one.

Gnome: Gardeners, Duck, Flighter, Tink, Noser

Half-breed: Mule, Slope (Half-Orc), Booze-baby, Hermy (Half-Elf, short for hermaphrodite), Screwup, Hateborn (be careful with this one, especially with female players!)

Human: Nothing, Shortlife, Luster, Dill (as in dilletante), Breeder

 

[Dark Jezter]

this may not help much but there are some joke posts somwhere that have some good racial jokes that could be very usefull to you. maybe someone can find a like for you because i cant remember where they are here.

Q: Know why the elves have convinced themselves that they're superior to other races?

A: Because trees don't argue.

This joke and more in this archived joke thread.

 

[Destan]

The Valus CS has a chart of racial epithets. One of the ones for elves is pointers (for their ears I guess) and diggers for dwarves (mining).

Hiya from GenCon, folks!

Just a quick note: While Valus does contain a pretty extensive chart of racial epithets, it also contains a little, ah, "disclaimer" saying they should only be used after careful consideration - by the DM and by his/her players.

1. I didn't realize "digger" was a slur for Native Amercians.

2. I did know a little bit about "digger" and the Aus-NZ military relationship (I thought it came about at Gallipoli, tho?)

3. Mostly, however, this is a moot point because "digger" isn't one of the epithets in the Valus. If you're keeping score at home, hill dwarves are "(dirt) stumps" or "beards" and stone (mountain) dwarves are "(rock) stumps" "hairfaces" or "beards".

Finally, these epithets are not necessarily negative within the Valus (though they are in bad taste). The speaker's inflection, use, and relationship with the "target creature" is much more important. For example, the stone dwarf Baden is affectionately called "stump" by the other players in my campaign - it's a mark of trusted and long companionship more than anything.

The Big, Fat, and Somewhat Hungover D

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Elf: Peg (Pointy Eared Git), Fairy, Bish (short for Bishonen, Japanese for "beautiful boy"), Dancer, Tree-hugger, Grass-Eater. The Scrubs method is always great as well, as suggested by Voadam.

Dandelion Eaters!

Brad

 

[Deadguy]

I will add that something similar to this has cropped up my current campaign. The Elves have traditionally seen themselves as superior, so they unthinkingly slur other races. Most have already been suggested, but I have liked the use of Monkey or Monkeyboy to describe Humans!

 

[Arrgh! Mark!]

Destan:

The ANZACS on Gallipoli were indeed the originators of the Gallipolli "Diggers", due to all the digging they had to do to avoid being gunned down. Regardless, 'Digger' is used to denote someone who does it tough, regardless of whether he was at Gallipoli or not. WW2 created more diggers, for instance.

A bit on Australian white culture for you all

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Dwarves: Grit-suckers, dirt-eaters, shorties, bearded goblins (cast protection spells *before* saying that one), hairy stinker, bathhater, meat shield, clumsy...
Elves: Treehuggers, daisy-eater (or whatever plant you prefer), pointy-eared wuss, vegetable, sissy, fairy princess.

Funny enough, none of the other player races usually provoke enough hate to collect a lot of colourful epithets...

 

[Sidereal Knight]

I know that in alot of SciFi humans are refered to as Breeders, it seems that that would work well for a multi-species fantasy setting as well.

Just as an FYI, the term "breeder" is also used by gay folks as a derogatory term for heterosexuals.