Subraces - why so many?

[Psion]

I think the real real question is why don't humans have subraces.

Don't those exist in Book of Vile Darkness and Oriental Adventures/Rokugan (which hands out clan specific feats for the human feat)?

 

[jester47]

The core subraces of the non-human PC races (per the MM):

Star Elf (Avariel)

Avariel are winged elves, Star Elves are a completely different version of elf.

What was the reason to differentiate between hill dwarves and mountain dwarves? High elves and gray elves? Rock gnomes and forest gnomes? Lightfoot halflings and tallfellow halflings?

I think this is to largely fill the different tropes associated with fairy tales and such. There are the elves that live in the woods and hide, and then there are the uber-culture elves. It repeats for the different general races that Tolkien fleshed out.

Why do the evil humanoids not have subraces? Bugbears, goblins, and hobgoblins are all goblinoids, so I guess that makes them all subraces of each other. But there are no subraces for gnolls, kobolds, lizardfolk, and orcs.

They do. Originally I think Kobolds were supposed to be a subrace of gnoll, as were flinds. Orcs have the Mountian Orc, Grey Orc, and the Orog (deep orc). Also the Neo-Orog.

However, there is one common motif: if you want your clan to gain lots of cool powers the best thing in the world to happen to you is to get banished underground. The second your people get banished underground they immediately get spell resistance and lots of other goodies. Seriously, it's like the only food in the Underdark is those large Pac-Man pills.

Too true. There is the deep Imaskari who are humans who have been underground for a very long time. So thats a human subrace.
Well, a shroom, when viewed from above does sort of look like a pac-man pill.

Aaron.

 

[Remathilis]

Dwarves
Hill Dwarf
Deep Dwarf
Gray Dwarf (Duergar)
Mountain Dwarf
Gold Dwarves
Wild Dwarves
Arctic Dwarves
Urdunni
Derro (previous editions)
More in Races of Stone

Elves
High Elf/Moon
Aquatic Elf
Dark Elf (Drow)
Gray Elf/Gold
Wild Elf
Wood Elf/Copper
Star Elf
Avariel
Shadow Elf
Rockseer Elf
Valley Elf
Black Lore Elf
Moon Elf
Lythari

Gnomes
Rock Gnome
Deep Gnome (Svirfneblin)
Forest Gnome
Arcane Gnomes (Dragon)
River Gnomes (Dragon)
Tinker Gnomes (Shudder)
More in Races of Stone

Halflings
Lightfoot Halfling/Hairfeet
Tallfellow Halfling
Deep Halfling
Strongheart
Ghostwise
Jerrin/Cannibal Halflings (BoVD, no relation to Athasian)

Orc
Common
Mountain
Grey Orc
Orog
Orgallion
Half-Orc

Both Faerun and Greyhawk have cultural templates available.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

ELF
- High - your generic elf from Tolkien
- Gray - the great elves of Noldor lineage
- Drow - inspired by Norse Mythology
- Half-Elf - like Elrond
- Aquatic - no idea where these come from
- Wood - the lesser races of elves from Tolkien, who never made it to Valinor. Legolas is one, iirc.

Not quite.

There are no high elves on Middle Earth. Not a one. The last High Elf stepped on Middle Earth at the end of the First Age and left. They were apparently ridiculously powerful but it doesn't matter since they're not there.

Noldor: there were three named Noldor on Middle Earth at the end of the First Age: Galadriel, Gil-galad and Maglor (or maybe it was Maedhros). Of the three, Galadriel is a queen, Gil-galad is dead and the last is either insane or dead. Glorfindel may be a Noldor as well... Tolkien accidentally reincarnated him (you have to be a real Tolkien nerd to know about that). The vast majority of the rest of the Noldor went back to Valinor. The rest of the Noldor were slain in battle with Sauron during the early Second Age or interbred with the Sindar and vanished as a race and culture.

All other elves on Middle Earth are Teleri who haven't been to Valinor. (Thingol Greycloak was the exception, but he died during the First Age.) The Teleri are divided into cultural groups - several groups of "wild elves" (often called Nandor - they became uncivilized when their king died during the First Age and they refused to take another) and "grey" elves (named after Thingol Greycloak). Legolas is descended from both groups, but in game terms this means precisely nothing.

If you were to run a D20 Middle Earth game, all elven PCs would be Sindar. Period. No exceptions.

Elrond's ancestry is ... complicated. Both of his parents are half-elves. One was half-Noldor, one was half-Sindar. I think.

 

[Hanuman]

Why so many you ask?
Because Gamers love to find out new "facts" about their favorite races.
Aaaand hey it sells books.
So everybody wins (sarcastic contented sigh).


If you can see what others can't find are you mad?
Or are they blind?
-Me-

 

[yoippari]

I'm still new to this but isn't the regional section of the Players Guide to Fearun a big list of sub races? I understand the difference between a subrace and a culture but aren't they close enough in dnd to just call a thayan human a different subrace than a halluran(sp?) human?

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

The cynic in me thinks that it is a case of choosing a race that gives the right bonus to the class the player wants.

That is not the whole deal but it definitely colours some players thinking.

 

[Gez]

What was the reason to differentiate between hill dwarves and mountain dwarves? High elves and gray elves? Rock gnomes and forest gnomes? Lightfoot halflings and tallfellow halflings?

Because that's the simplest way to reconcile many different conceptions of what a <race-of-critter> is. "Elves are tiny, mischevious air spirits!" "No, elves are the Sidhe from Irish folklore!" "No, they are house faeries that help doing mundane chores!" "OK, stop fighting, there are a lot of elven subraces, one is the air spiritfolk, one is the noble sidhe, one is the humble worker, just do your subraces and everything'll be fine."

Same thing for dwarves, gnomes, halflings, etc.

Why do the evil humanoids not have subraces? Bugbears, goblins, and hobgoblins are all goblinoids, so I guess that makes them all subraces of each other. But there are no subraces for gnolls, kobolds, lizardfolk, and orcs.

Because they're basically all subraces of one main big race: Swordfodder.

 

[Gez]

And just for fun, can someone list the entire list of elf subraces, from any and all publications?

There.

Forgotten Realms:

• Aquatic elf (two cultures: Great Sea and Sea of Fallen Stars)
• Avariel (aka winged elves, see 'Races of Faerun')
• Drow (aka dark elves, same as in MM)
• Lythari (elven werewolves)
• Marels (evil aquatic elves found in the Moonsea; from 'The Moonsea', AD&D2E)
• Moon elf (aka silver elf, the 'high elves' of Toril)
• Poscadar elf (Native American-style elves from Anchorome, the continent north of Maztica; from 'The City of Gold')
• Star elf (aka mithral elf, mysterious elves from a demiplane in the Ethereal, from 'Unapproachable East')
• Sun elf (aka gold elf, the 'gray elves' of Toril)
• Wild elf (aka green elf)
• Wood elf (aka copper elf, descended from a mix of moon, sun, and wild elves)
• Zakharan elf (from the Al-Qadim campaign setting; fully integrated into 'enlightened' Zakharan society)

World of Greyhawk:

• Avariel (winged elf)
• Drow (see MM)
• Gray elf (see MM)
• Grugach (wild elves from MM)
• High elf (see MM)
• Snow elf (tall, reclusive elves from the arctic; from Dragon Magazine 155)
• Valley elf (human-sized gray elf offshoot)
• Wood elf (see MM)

Dragonlance:

• Armachnesti (Silvanesti offshoot found on Taladas, the northern continent)
• Cha'asii (primitive jungle-dwelling elves from Taladas)
• Dargonesti (aka Quoowahb among themselves; aquatic elves who can turn into dolphins)
• Dimernesti (aquatic elves who can turn into sea otters)
• Drow (the demoness Jialuthi from Krynn once posed as Lolth to convince many drow from different worlds to come to Krynn; she was killed and the drow were driven back to their own worlds. From 'Wild Elves')
• Elf of the Host (I only know the name. Apparently from some novel? 'Riverwind the Plainsman'? tell me if I'm wrong)
• Hulderfolk (reclusive 'wild elves' from Taladas)
• Kagonesti (the 'wild elves' of the southern continent, Ansalon)
• Lucanesti (I know virtually nothing about these elves except that they were introduced in 'Dark Queen of Krynn', a computer game?)
• Mahkwahb (evil aquatic elves who turn into sharks)
• Qualinesti (the 'high elves' of Ansalon)
• Silvanesti (the 'gray elves' of Ansalon)
• Tamirnesti (aka Hosk'i Imou Merkitsa; savage elves from Taladas)

Mystara:

• Aquarendi (aquatic elves, probably from 'The Sea Peoples')
• Blacklore elf (magic-users whose culture I believe died out in ancient Blackmoor; placed in the Hollow World by the Immortals to preserve their culture)
• Blackmoor elf (from Dave Arneson's Blackmoor setting; extinct, forerunners of the Blacklore elves)
• Ee'ar (same as the avariel of other worlds)
• Eldar (mentioned in a novel?)
• Eusdrian elf (from the Viking kingdom of Eusdria on the Savage Coast)
• Forest elf (the most common subrace; essentially the equivalent of high elves)
• Gentle folk (primitive elves found in the Hollow World)
• Grunland elf (probably extinct; from the old elven homeland, destroyed in Blackmoor's fall)
• Icevale elf (primitive elves found in the Hollow World)
• Savage Coast elf (native to the western lands of the Savage Coast, fully integrated into human society)
• Proto-elf (ancestor of the modern elves. Connection to yuan-ti?)
• Robrenn elf (from the Celtic kingdom of Robrenn on the Savage Coast)
• Schattenalfen (evil shadow elf offshoot, found closer to the Hollow World than the outer surface)
• Shadow elf (pale-skinned subterranean elves with a strong aversion to sunlight; recently conquered the forest elf kingdom of Alfheim; not really evil but very xenophobic)
• Southern elf (of Glantri; migrated to the Known World from Davania)
• Sylvan Realm elf (not sure if the Sylvan Realm still exists...)
• Water elf (pale-skinned, seafaring elves with a mercantile streak; primary inhabitants of the Minthorad Guilds)

Birthright:

• Sidhelien (immortal Tolkienesque elves)

Dark Sun:

• Athasian elf (7-foot-tall desert nomads)

Spelljammer:

• Avarien (no connection to avariel; native only to the Astromundi Cluster)
• Faeriespace elf (elves from Faeriespace, a strange star system that resembles a huge tree, where all its inhabitants live in harmony; from 'Crystal Spheres')
• Kule drow (with kuo-toa and illithids, one of only three sentient species on Oerth's inner moon)
• Mratzal drow (evil drow from Faeriespace, but not as aggressive as other drow because no gods are worshiped in Faeriespace, hence no Lolth (which begs the question of how they got there); from 'Crystal Spheres')
• Perianth elf (elves from the Pyre system, in 'Shadow of the Spider Moon')
• Spider Moon drow (from 'Shadow of the Spider Moon')
• Wildspace elf (any elf who's taken to life in space; usually members or affiliates of the Imperial Elven Navy)

Planescape:

• Alabaster elf (apparently extinct; what product are they mentioned in?)
• Elf einheriar (from Asgard, on Ysgard's first layer)
• Planar elf (any elf who was born on the Outer Planes)
• Svartalfar (good drow native to Ysgard's lowest layer)

Ravenloft:

• Darkon elf (the 'native' elves of Ravenloft; same as high elves elsewhere)
• Shadow elf (in early 2E described as Lolth-worshipping drow; now apparently Fey type creatures called 'Sidhe' in late 2E and 3E. No connection to Mystara's shadow elves)
• • Alf (small, winged elves)
  • Brag (wild-eyed craftsfolk)
  • Fir (tinkers and engineers)
  • Muryan (aka Dancing Men; violent and aggressive warriors)
  • Portune (sobre and silent healers)
  • Powrie (aka Redcaps; evil and sinister assassins)
  • Shee (elves of Maeve's Seelie Court)
  • Sith (dark elves fascinated with death)
  • Teg (feral and wild)
• Sithicus elf (descended from the qualinesti of Krynn drawn into Ravenloft when Lord Soth Laren was imprisoned)

Elves from Earth's Dark Ages (from Dragon 257):

• Alf (wizardly light elves from Scandinavia, no connection to the cat-eating alien)
• Dockalf (illusionist dark elves from Scandinavia; similar to drow)
• Fey (reclusive elves from the British Isles)
  (note that these elves are probably best treated as Fey rather than Humanoids)
  I think that Eastern European elves may be mentioned in the 3E issue that dealt with a Slavic campaign. I'll check later today.

Warcraft (now an official D&D setting)

• Quel'dorei (Warcraft High Elf, smarter than MM High Elves, and with a real affinity to magic)
• Kaldorei (A.K.A. Night Elf, affinity with shadows, unable to practice arcane magic, wise but not smart)

Elves from no particular setting:

• Ghost elf (mysterious elves from the Ethereal Plane, from Dragon 313)
• Leshay (powerful elf-like fey; see 'Epic Level Handbook')
• Rockseer elf (tall subterranean elves, from 'The Night Below')
• Sidhe (Irish elves, from 'The Celts', historical reference sourcebook)
• Sidhe (Seelie (celestial) and Unseelie (fiendish) fey from the Realm of Faerie, mentioned in 3E 'Manual of the Planes')
  The Dragon #1 had a short article about Tolkien's
• Noldor (deep elves (ie, deep in regards to wisdom), second of the three races of high elves),
• Sindar (grey elves, descendents of the Teleri (sea elves), third race of the high elves; for those of you who are curious, the first are the Vanyar (fair elves)), and
• silvan elves (aka wood elves; descendents of both Nandor and Avari, the equivalents of wood and wild elves respectively) as PCs for 0E D&D.
• I think it was Dragon 286 that presented ideas from Terry Brooks' 'Shannara' series for D&D. I'm sure they must have mentioned the Westland elf, his 'basic' elf race.

Elven crossbreeds:

• Draegloth (drow/glabrezu half-fiends)
• Dwelf (dwarf/elf crossbreeds, from Dwarves Deep)
• Elfling (half-elf/half-halfling; one appeared as the protagonist in a Dark Sun novel)
• Fey'ri (demonic elven planetouched)
• Fainil (another kind of demonic elven planetouched, appears as bat-winged drow; from Dragon 244)
• Half-elf (normal type from the PH)
• Half-aquatic elf (see 'Races of Faerun')
• Half-drow (also 'Races of Faerun')
• Half-snow elf (unusual half-elves from various sources)
• Half-surface elf/half-aquatic elf (from Dragon Magazine somewhere)
• Half-elf/half-kender (mentioned in some Dragonlance book, I don't know which)
• N'djadtwa (elf-ogre crossbreeds from Dragon Magazine; encountered by Prince Haldemar of Haaken on his Voyage of the Princess Ark)
• Nevae (half-drow, half-elf)
• Xakhun (half-drow/half-wood elf, from Dragon 144)

Other Settings:

• Drendari (Scarred Lands dark elf, different culture than drow)
• Forsaken Elf (Scarred Lands, Creature Collection 1)
• Kalamaran Dark Elf (Kingdoms of Kalamar, stats and culture differs from MM Dark Elf)
• Kalamaran Gray Elf (Kingdoms of Kalamar, stats and culture differs from MM Gray Elf)

 

[rounser]

There.

Wow.

(Although it's not complete; they left out the Llewyrr from the Forgotten Realms, specific to the Moonshae Isles.)

too many humanoids

I suggest taking the Dragonlance approach, by banning one or two "streams" of humanoid.

Gnolls and Flinds are probably my favourites (they make for truly savage armies), and I've run campaigns where they're the humanoid de jour....but I can imagine worlds with just orc-kind (orcs, ogres, ogrillons, norkers), or just goblinkind (goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, perhaps extending to jermlaine, gibberlings and meenlocks) or even a Tucker's Kobolds world with just kobolds (kobold, extending possibly to xvart, urd) or just lizardfolk (and their kings, perhaps sahuagin, tasloi, thanoi and kuo-toa too) or just trolls (too many to list)....