Sexual Dimorphism in Humanoids?

[Loonook]

First off, just in case there are those who are going to be confused or not aware of what I'm going for in the title... Here is what we'll be discussing.

I've noticed that most player race seems to be based on the classic human morphology, with the additional of the occasional fin or feather. Looking at a basic view of dimorphism in primates:

The current D&D dimorphism seems to be somewhere between types A and B (Gibbon and Chimp).

Of course we no longer have gender specific stats in D&D for most humanoids... But why not change the way that occasional humanoids are portrayed?

What if Goblin males were Orcs? A male 'goblin' may practice a pride-like existence, dispatching weaker males to have a coterie of females and goblin whelps. To take it further the male's pheremones may produce infertile neuters for protection of the pride, in the form of Ogres or Orogs.

The dimorphism could continue through the races. The female drow of old controlled a matriarchal spiderlike society... Perhaps their males are treated in the same way as certain spider species, being used for reproduction, having shorter lifespans, and lacking the lifespan of their matriarchs, being reduced to the lifespan of a human.

Dark elf males are sent out in sorties, easily replaced and constantly trained to the art of arms and spellcraft but lacking in the overall mystic strength and clerical powers.

Of course you can always choose this for your own races, and you could really go wild. What about an entire society of fertile humanoids of an ancient tree, the tree being a source of reproduction through its pollen or fruits. Mating displays through coloration, plumage/hair, and other features could vary between. 50/50 sexual societies may be a norm, but the idea of a society of infertile Dragonborn produced from the 'teeth' of a dragon (small unfertilized enamel deposits that still reproduce a humanoid but not a dragon).

As has been discussed with dwarves coming from stones, spontaneous generation is another option.

So what are your ideas on dimorphism in D&D and options of reproductive modes within the common and homebrewed races in your setting?

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[Zireael]

The idea of drow females being stronger, bigger and smarter than drow males has cropped up in AD&D "Drow of the Underdark" and also in the novels (even though in 3e and later it is not supported by the mechanics).

So we could say they are the male chimps

 

[Loonook]

The idea of drow females being stronger, bigger and smarter than drow males has cropped up in AD&D "Drow of the Underdark" and also in the novels (even though in 3e and later it is not supported by the mechanics).

So we could say they are the male chimps

Which I honestly have no problem with. The female drow are given a lot of advantages in the Lolth-based societies (better education [at least in Menzoberranzan], better nutrition as the average male drow is considered somewhere between cattle and a useful bedmate).

For my tree example I could see male Dryads who guard an enormous Mother Tree that produces other male Dryads for example. I really believe that the humanoids of D&D and creatures overall are not very 'unique' if their entire life cycle is defined by a human norm .

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[Tonguez]

What if Goblin males were Orcs? A male 'goblin' may practice a pride-like existence, dispatching weaker males to have a coterie of females and goblin whelps. To take it further the male's pheremones may produce infertile neuters for protection of the pride, in the form of Ogres or Orogs.

Orcs and goblins
In one setting I set it up that it was the males who were the goblins and the females were twice the size of the males. Females lived together in nomadic hunting bands trailing the herds. At the age of eight male whelps were ritually forced out into the wilderness where they formed unruly mobs surviving on the fringes by trailing the bands or stealing/raiding from other races. Males only got to mate if they could abduct and subdue a lone female (there was some ritual to this)

Gnomes
IMC gnomes are both hermaphrodites and eusocial burrowers similar to the Naked Mole rats. Gnomes mature in three stages begining as asexual furry juveniles. They then develop into an adult stage characterised by loss of hair and development of a genital protusion but no external genetalia (most however are consider of male gender). Only in the mature stage (which is determined by environment rather than age) will one gnome develop female characterisitcs and up to five develop male traits (including beards),. The female produces pheromones that means that the other members of the clan do not reach this mature stage and so remain as 'adults. Only these mature gnomes can breed. A gnome clan averages at around 100 members most of whom are the offspring of the single breeding matriarch and her mates.

Hags & Trolls
Trolls are the male counterpart of Hags

Elfs
I've only used the 'monster' once but I have posited that elfs are formless beings comprised of mist who must steal the physical substance of mortals inorder to construct bodies for themselves (think baobhan sith).

 

[Loonook]

Elfs
I've only used the 'monster' once but I have posited that elfs are formless beings comprised of mist who must steal the physical substance of mortals inorder to construct bodies for themselves (think baobhan sith).

I think I am going to be stealing this one for something I am working on for another setting I keep putting off producing. Basically a sort of Brigadoon-esque planar phasing effect that causes the individuals to be out-of-phase incorporeal entities that, once fed and gathered in a sufficient number, can gather and rephase their homeland.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[Plane Sailing]

IMC gnomes are both hermaphrodites and eusocial burrowers similar to the Naked Mole rats.

Gnomes as naked mole rats.

That's an image I'm not going to get out of mind quickly. Damn you, Tonguez!

 

[NewJeffCT]

While I think the default should be that both sexes have equal stats, I think having certain humanoid races or even human sub-races having different stats is a cool idea, assuming there is a good back story to justify the difference (i.e., the Drow)

 

[Aeolius]

Trolls are the male counterpart of Hags

Inspired by "Ecology of the Greenhag" (Nigel Findley, Dragon #125) I took it a bit further. Night hags have daughters by human, elven, or outsider fathers, producing such offspring as greenhags, succubi, erinyes, and more. When a night hag mates with another night hag by means of shape-changing magics, the offspring is a "male hag" known as a krampus.

Greenhags have daughters by troll or ogre fathers:

I also made the reef hag, who is parthenogenetic. Add to that my take on the locathah, which I made hermaphroditic.