Samloyal23
Adventurer
Sounds like the plotline in Nodwick where they found out Dwarves, Gnomes, and Halfling were secretly the same race and were going for bigger market share in RPG publications by splitting up...
What are you leaving out?
- Thread starter Samloyal23
- Start date
Sounds like the plotline in Nodwick where they found out Dwarves, Gnomes, and Halfling were secretly the same race and were going for bigger market share in RPG publications by splitting up...
In my game, there are humans and larger proto-races that encompass the D&D races as well as some others. The larger racial groupings have no mechanical benefits, but just organizes them in my world.
All non-human PC races were once human but were altered by sorcery in the distant past. There are western and non-western analogues of each race.
My game's PC races are:
Human
Beastmen (tieflings, minotaurs, satyrs)
Spiritkin (elves, hengeyokai)
Serpentkin (yuan-ti, dragonborn)
Smallfolk (halflings, gnomes)
Stoneborn (dwarves, half-orcs)
All non-human PC races were once human but were altered by sorcery in the distant past. There are western and non-western analogues of each race.
My game's PC races are:
Human
Beastmen (tieflings, minotaurs, satyrs)
Spiritkin (elves, hengeyokai)
Serpentkin (yuan-ti, dragonborn)
Smallfolk (halflings, gnomes)
Stoneborn (dwarves, half-orcs)
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GreenTengu
Adventurer
I find it a bit "interesting" that people have trouble telling the difference between Orcs and Hobgoblins, but they haven't any trouble telling the difference between 4 kinds of Elves, Gnomes, and Halflings. In all cases there it all boils down to "small, graceful, magical folk".
Orcs are human-sized giants whose appearance has a few boar-like features but are otherwise inspired by neanderthals, they have green skin, can hardily survive any environment, disdain technology of any sort, have shamanistic religions involving spirits of natural forces and of the dead, they have terrible tempers and fly into a blinding rage quite easily, they have massive overwhelming strength and once they get going they can crash through anything. On the other hand, they are superstitious and fearful of the unknown and if you can cause fear before anger, you can scatter them. They are generally wild and enjoy freedom, they don't respect anyone who isn't stronger, fiercer or a purer warrior than themselves and will be quick to challenge anyone they suspect of weakness. They don't take well to long or complicated tasks and will become lazy or just abandon jobs if not kept in check.
Hobgoblins are generally distant cousins of elves (just how distant depends on the setting), they have tiger and gorilla-like features, reddish or yellowish skin, stand tall and are all-around athletic. They are intelligent, but very traditional, practical and conservative, so they rarely embrace new innovations and generally don't spend any time researching mystical arts. They are orderly, strict and cruel. They tend to keep their emotions bottled and do their best not to act on anger or fear. They see their lives very much as preparation for a war that will take place afterwards, but otherwise generally dismiss the finer points of religion. Their biggest weakness is their arrogance and their ability to turn all against them. They also need civilization of some sort to thrive unlike Orcs or Goblins, this means they are easier for humans to work with without having to put them in chains. In fact, once a hobgoblin gives you his word he will accomplish a mission, he will complete it-- though you might not care for the way in which he completes it.
Goblins are smaller cousins of Hobgoblins who are all but a slave race. They can be much more attune to nature and be better at training beasts. They are also much sneakier and far more devious. They have strong survival instincts and can figure out how to thrive just about anywhere without changing the environment much. They share the spiritual view of the world and are superstitious like Orcs, but they are not prone to rage or thoughtless aggression. They are highly adaptable to any situation, but at the same time they live very short lives and are easily bored. They tend to be rude, base, immature and perverted and have very short attention spans.
Bugbears and Kobolds are also distinctly different from these three, but surely you can begin to see the idea. Aside from being ugly, Orcs and Hobgoblins are practically exact opposites in every single way across the board. It is like comparing Vikings and Spartans or Mongols and Samurai. Goblins are small and a bit of a mix of the two, but with their own unique twists as masters of stealth, deception and adaptability.
Very interesting! My world also parallels yours in some ways.
In my game orcs are also boarlike. One of the religions in my world teaches that the orcs were created when the sun god cast a legion of demons out of a savage barbarian king and into a herd of pigs. All of the demon-pigs were slaughtered, except for one (because of the weakness and disobedience of one man), and became the progenitor of the orc race. Because of their demonic ancestry, the crusaders of the religion have no qualms with slaughtering all orcs they see. The orcs themselves don't teach that. They believe they were born from drops of the blood of their god, mingled with the stone and earth. From the stone they gain their strength and from blood they gain their ferocity.
In my game, goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears are dangerous fey creatures that dwell beneath the earth or in dark forests near human villages. They are as fickle as elves, greedy as dwarves, mischievous as gnomes, and malicious as imps. They are thieves and tricksters. They can create amazing works of art, but often anything they sell to humans in their wandering goblin markets turns to fool's gold, rots away, or carries a curse of some kind. They of course steal babies which they turn into goblins (like in Labyrinth). Goblins will raid commoners and merchants, but are cowardly and devious; they will attempt to bargain with adventurers that obviously outclass them. Or sneak away and murder them in their sleep.
The hobgoblins are the goblin nobles and knights. They are less beautiful than dark elves or shadow fey, but they have the otherworldy presence of the dark fey. They are very cunning and devious, but arrogant and extremely territorial. They once belonged to the courts of the shadow elves in ancient days, but they were exiled long, long ago for their ugliness and lack of grace. The hobgoblins enslave the goblins just as the elves rule over the gnomes. The bugbears are large, dumb brutes used to keep the lesser goblins in line. Lesser goblins are not allowed to own anything, and a hobgoblin can take anything from a goblin at any time. This is why goblins always steal from each other and from humans, attempting to hoard as much as they can and hide it where the hobgoblin nobles won't find it.
In my game orcs are also boarlike. One of the religions in my world teaches that the orcs were created when the sun god cast a legion of demons out of a savage barbarian king and into a herd of pigs. All of the demon-pigs were slaughtered, except for one (because of the weakness and disobedience of one man), and became the progenitor of the orc race. Because of their demonic ancestry, the crusaders of the religion have no qualms with slaughtering all orcs they see. The orcs themselves don't teach that. They believe they were born from drops of the blood of their god, mingled with the stone and earth. From the stone they gain their strength and from blood they gain their ferocity.
In my game, goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears are dangerous fey creatures that dwell beneath the earth or in dark forests near human villages. They are as fickle as elves, greedy as dwarves, mischievous as gnomes, and malicious as imps. They are thieves and tricksters. They can create amazing works of art, but often anything they sell to humans in their wandering goblin markets turns to fool's gold, rots away, or carries a curse of some kind. They of course steal babies which they turn into goblins (like in Labyrinth). Goblins will raid commoners and merchants, but are cowardly and devious; they will attempt to bargain with adventurers that obviously outclass them. Or sneak away and murder them in their sleep.
The hobgoblins are the goblin nobles and knights. They are less beautiful than dark elves or shadow fey, but they have the otherworldy presence of the dark fey. They are very cunning and devious, but arrogant and extremely territorial. They once belonged to the courts of the shadow elves in ancient days, but they were exiled long, long ago for their ugliness and lack of grace. The hobgoblins enslave the goblins just as the elves rule over the gnomes. The bugbears are large, dumb brutes used to keep the lesser goblins in line. Lesser goblins are not allowed to own anything, and a hobgoblin can take anything from a goblin at any time. This is why goblins always steal from each other and from humans, attempting to hoard as much as they can and hide it where the hobgoblin nobles won't find it.
Celebrim
Legend
Given that gnomes and halflings seem to be on a lot of peoples chopping blocks, I'm not sure that we can draw the inference you are drawing here.
In my game, halflings were the original humans, but humans with their ambition outgrew them, built cities and cathedrals, and forgot the hidden folk in their quiet valleys. Halfling PCs grow an inch every year they adventure.
Gnomes, on the other hand, are solitary magical fey creatures that live in the tangled roots of ancient trees, or in crystalline caverns beneath the earth. They are subjects of the elf princes, and are sought after for their vast, but often indecipherable knowledge and skills in alchemy, technology, and other arcane skills.
Samloyal23
Adventurer
I like the idea of Humans or other races being descended from a race like Halflings. In the Dark Sun setting all races were descended from Halflings who had once possessed an advanced civilization but were later reduced to barbarism...
GMMichael
Guide of Modos
Tieflings: a PC race that includes both demonic appearance and heritage makes for an almost incomprehensibly cosmopolitan society. I won't have it!
Dragonborn: see above.
Warlocks: c'mon! These led almost directly to fourth edition!
I'm also with Samloyal on leaving out most monsters. The world's not big enough for 37 apex predators. It is, however, big enough for sterile, legendary, or endangered species.
BigVanVader
First Post
I gotta admit, I love Tieflings just because I love making Hellboy ripoffs.
Erik42
First Post
I'm jumping from AD&D 1E to 5E, and I tend to allow most of the original races and classes. I don't even mind gnomes, which seems to make me a minority. I am not allowing Dragonborn in my newest campaign. I'm on the fence about Tieflings; at best, they will be very rare. I'm thinking about getting rid of alignment for anything not from the Outer Planes. I'm not a big fan of the Warlock class. Some of the class abilities seem pretty imbalanced, like the Colossus Slayer and Bear Totem damage reduction.
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