Setting with humans only (that is, all races as humans)

[Cadfan]

I tend to allow reskinning. Mostly because I think its awkward for a game to have a couple dozen sentient races. It makes it harder to develop them since you're spread so thin. So certain races tend to become "one off" options for characters. Like if you wanted to make a character that's pyrokinetic, I'd recommend making a genasi and just describing it as one of the races already in the game. If there are cosmetic issues you want to keep, I say to go for it, just merge them with what already exists.

There are certain races that its just really, really easy to do that with:

Tiefling: accursed [X]
Genasi, Windsoul: [X] that can fly
Genasi, Others: [X] with elemental powers
Deva: [X] with memories of past lives, or angel born into the form of [X]
Goliath: [X] that's really huge

You get the idea.

 

[Iron Sky]

I ran a short campaign (back when only the core 3 books were out) where I required that everyone appear human. I let everyone "re-skin" anything about their character to create whatever it was they wanted to make. The restriction was that they couldn't change anything mechanically about their character: everything was Character Builder-legit, just how it appeared in game was different.

Examples:

Character 1: Mechanically a Human Tactical Warlord MC Warlock with a greatspear. In-game, a creepy human from a desolate land laced with Far Realm energies. In combat, he sprouted tentacles for attacks, blasted allies with thick protective slime for buffs, and threw healing globs of goo that coated and healed wounds for his heals.

Character 2: Mechanically a Tiefling Infernal Warlock. In-game, a dark-skinned human nomad shaman who summoned swirling walls of sand (pact-boon Temp HP/Armor of Agathys) and various summoned elements for other powers.

Character 3: A Dragonborn One-Hand Fighter. In-game, a wandering unarmed monk that was just extremely tough and durable.

Character 4: A Human Orb Wizard. In-game, a Tinker who used gadgets and explosive alchemical mixtures, caltrops, and the like.

It worked really well, especially since the players could potentially use the same power in three different combats and have it look mechanically different every time.

The monk still had to use a minor action to "get in fighting stance(draw his weapon mechanically)" and the like, they could just "reflavor" anything to make it match the theme of their character. It does require a willingness to radically divorce mechanics from in-game "reality".

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

I'm a big fan of reskinning. The only problem I've ever really noted with it is just the "momentum" some words have: for some, for example, imagining a tiefling without hooves and little horns and wing stubs may be difficult. Words like "tiefling", or "elf", or "dwarf" have strong associated images.

With that in mind, I would rename the races as well as reskin them, in order to break those associations. So "tiefling" becomes "devilborn man" or something.

 

[Andor]

The anthropologist in me is cringing, here.

Pygmies aren't really as short as a lot of people would like to believe. I don't really see the similarities between 3e halflings and pygmies at all, I'm afraid.

That being said, I like your analysis on "humanity" in D&D - technically, elves and orcs ARE humans! I love it. Makes me think of shadowrun. And that's a good thing.

I yield to your expertise, but my brief bit of web research before I posted it seemed to show overlap between the upper range of the halfing size range and the lower range of some pygmy groups. At any rate if you allow that homo floresiensis was a human then it's clear that the homininae size range allows for pretty much all the PC races.

In fact drawning in extinct homininae like Homo floresiensis and neandertalensis and you can cover pretty much any non-giant humanoid. Even some giants depending on where you come down on gigantopithecus.

 

[Holy Bovine]

I'm a big fan of reskinning. The only problem I've ever really noted with it is just the "momentum" some words have: for some, for example, imagining a tiefling without hooves and little horns and wing stubs may be difficult. Words like "tiefling", or "elf", or "dwarf" have strong associated images.

With that in mind, I would rename the races as well as reskin them, in order to break those associations. So "tiefling" becomes "devilborn man" or something.

Absolutely agree. While a few might remain the same (dwarf, shifter (they have wolf blood or some such), goliaths (these along with dwarfs are not so much racial names as racial descriptions) maybe halfling) I would go for a whole hog renaming of all the races you are using. To that end....

PHB 1
Elf - Woadman
Half-Elf -Half-Woad
Tiefling - Demane (a shortened form of Demonman)
Eladrin - Feytouched Human
Halfling - Shorties ( )

Human and Dwarf could stay the same of course. Dragonborn, given the radical differences between them and `regular`races would probably best be dropped. I can`t really think up a good reason that a human would be able to breath acid on people.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

I can`t really think up a good reason that a human would be able to breath acid on people.

Severe indigestion?

 

[Cyronax]

Dragonborn, given the radical differences between them and `regular`races would probably best be dropped. I can`t really think up a good reason that a human would be able to breath acid on people.

Well another idea would be an absolutely ironclad rule that says all Dragonborn-humans are carnie folk! I.E. fire breathers ..... sword swallowers .... bearded ladies ......

C.I.D.

 

[dangerous jack]

I've considered doing something like this myself, and I broke the races into a few groups (it's still in very rough form):

Northmen
- mechanically choose from human, goliath, half-orc, dwarf
- description is large human, bearded, tough, hardy, sometimes savage

??
- mechanically choose from human, half-elf, elf
- description is human, with an emphasis on agile, cunning, polite

Fair Folk
- mechanically eladrin, shadar kai
- description is basically like eladrin, but view humans as far beneath them

Tainted
- mechanically dragonborn, genasi, tiefling, deva
- description is somewhat hunched/feral human with occasional raw energy dancing/bubbling/seeping from their skin ("dragonborn" don't breath energy, but can fling it about)

Each race would lose its Fey/Shadow/Immortal Origin, but keep everything else.

 

[Wik]

I yield to your expertise, but my brief bit of web research before I posted it seemed to show overlap between the upper range of the halfing size range and the lower range of some pygmy groups. At any rate if you allow that homo floresiensis was a human then it's clear that the homininae size range allows for pretty much all the PC races.

In fact drawning in extinct homininae like Homo floresiensis and neandertalensis and you can cover pretty much any non-giant humanoid. Even some giants depending on where you come down on gigantopithecus.

I just finished reading The Forest People, which is about pygmies. It mentions the size myth, in fact - while they are a short people, they are not as short as D&D halfligns, which is what got my feathers all ruffled up.

As for floresiensis, one of the problems with this particular field of anthropology is that everytime someone makes a new discovery, he tries to label it as a new species of hominid. Which is what floresiensis is - during my time in classes (about three years ago, now? Maybe a year more), it wasn't even considered a homonid by mainstream anthropologists for this reason. Looking on the web, I see that opinion is changing, for a variety of reasons.

But, if you look a bit closely, you'll see that chimps are also members of the hominid group. In other words, I wouldn't read much into it. So, I wouldn't allow it as a "human" anymore than I'd say a chimp was a "human" (and that's not insulting chimps, by the way... I love those little guys!)

Gigantopithecus is AWESOME, by the way, but it's not a species of hominid, and wasn't ever considered to be. From what I've read (and I could be wrong, it's been a while), it probably had the intellect of a dumb gorilla. But, damn, it's a cool species!

As a sidenote, that's only sort of related: Neanderthals are an interesting case, because a lot of anthropologists (and myself) believe that they are really just a variant homo sapiens, and that they didn't "Disappear" or go extinct, but instead interbred with mainstream homo sapiens. There are a few pieces of evidence to support this - here's my favourite.

Feel the back of your head, where the neck meets the skull. Some people (primarily those of northern european descent) have a small protrusion there, a sort of "bump" (I have one). Archaic homo sapiens (those skeletons found that first show all the signs of homo sapiens... but they look super weird) do not have these. Neanderthals do. They say having one is evidence that there's a neanderthal somewhere in your family tree.

I always thought that was neat.

***

Anyways, that's the science of the situation. But, I'll be the first to say "to hell with science" in a fantasy game. There is no reason why you can't have three-foot tall humans in a fantasy game. Obviously. While I may not believe it's ever happened on Earth, I could be wrong - anthropology is a changing field.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One way to get around this is reduce certain racial features to cultural ones, like dwarven stonecunning or some races' proficiency with certain weapons.

In line with Cyronax's "carnie" idea, the acid-spitting "Drachen" could be a tribe of people who have developed a secret alchemical weapon- a kind of "binary acid"- and a new way of delivering it...spitting. Learning how to produce, store and attack with this breath weapon would be a cultural secret and a rite of passage into adulthood.

In the alternative, that spit could be the result of a mystical pact between that culture and a powerful outsider, evidenced by each member having a "draconic" birthmark somewhere on their person.

The "Devilborn" could have a totemic belief system that includes displaying their faith with external signs- like horned helmets or devilish facial tattoos.