Xeviat
Dungeon Mistress, she/her
HI everyone.
I'm getting back to my basics: World Building. A lot of material for D&D, such as the really good city builder resources in the DMG 3.5 and the extra content on the WotC site about building cities by districts seems heavily focused on human or human dominated but partially integrated cities. There are lots of good resources on Medieval demographics to help with making a believable nation and city in your D&D games. But, humans are just one species on the worlds of D&D. How do you imagine the other races live?
Some angles I've been thinking about, partially informed by playing a lot of the Civilizations games over the years.
What are your thoughts? Here's some of my initial feelings:
Dwarves live in the mountains and hills, which are less productive than flatlands for farming, but they have learned how to build terrace farms to make the most of the terrain. Their total population density is lower than humans. They are more urban than humans, having more cities of high populations and many towns, but considerably less rural populations. Their citadels are surrounded by farmland and trade towns.
Elves live in the forests, and would never dream of clear-cutting them to construct farms. They have learned to replace fallen trees with trees that bear fruits and nuts, as well as to encourage the population growth of game, so they are able to get more food out of the forests than mere hunter-gatherers, but not as much as stretches of farmlands. They're less mercantile and have less towns, preferring to spread out in more villages throughout the woods.
Gnomes live in woods or the hills. They have fewer settlements humans would call cities, but they are mercantile and have many towns. They live in less fertile land, but they are smaller and eat less food, so their population density nationally is close to that of humans, but less concentrated.
Halflings live in isolated valleys, away from the conflicts of other nations. Halflings live almost entirely in farming villages, lacking cities and only having a few towns. They live in fertile land, and are small and eat less food than humans, so their population density is considerably higher than humans for what land they have.
Orcs are hunter-gatherers, and raiders. Their population density is low, and they do not group together in cities or towns. Their settlements are all villages.
Goblins are more urban than orcs, especially areas dominated by hobgoblins. Their farming output is lower than that of more developed humans, so their agricultural output is lower, but that is made up for by the numerous small goblins. They are less mercantile, so they have fewer towns.
I don't imagine Tieflings, Half-Elves, or Half-Orcs having much in the way of their own nations, and otherwise I think they'd basically be humans, elves, or orcs. Earlier I asked what people thought about Dragonborn. Dragonborn demographics probably greatly depend on if they're carnivorous or omnivorous. Dragons are omnivorous, so going by that, I imagine Dragonborn have less cities and more towns, but their towns are less about mercantilism and are more like tiny cities. They wouldn't group together in large cities, since they're very tribal, but they feel like they'd be less rural than humans.
What are your thoughts?
I'm getting back to my basics: World Building. A lot of material for D&D, such as the really good city builder resources in the DMG 3.5 and the extra content on the WotC site about building cities by districts seems heavily focused on human or human dominated but partially integrated cities. There are lots of good resources on Medieval demographics to help with making a believable nation and city in your D&D games. But, humans are just one species on the worlds of D&D. How do you imagine the other races live?
Some angles I've been thinking about, partially informed by playing a lot of the Civilizations games over the years.
- Small races eat less food, so they could have higher population densities, though perhaps more of them might be farmers if their work output is lower.
- Some races feel like they'd be less mercantile than late medieval humans. Less mercantile societies have less towns, and thus more agrarian villages.
- Some races might not form as large settlements, having more smaller cities and towns.
- Some races might clump together in bigger settlements, having a more urban and a far less rural society. Food becomes an issue, though.
What are your thoughts? Here's some of my initial feelings:
Dwarves live in the mountains and hills, which are less productive than flatlands for farming, but they have learned how to build terrace farms to make the most of the terrain. Their total population density is lower than humans. They are more urban than humans, having more cities of high populations and many towns, but considerably less rural populations. Their citadels are surrounded by farmland and trade towns.
Elves live in the forests, and would never dream of clear-cutting them to construct farms. They have learned to replace fallen trees with trees that bear fruits and nuts, as well as to encourage the population growth of game, so they are able to get more food out of the forests than mere hunter-gatherers, but not as much as stretches of farmlands. They're less mercantile and have less towns, preferring to spread out in more villages throughout the woods.
Gnomes live in woods or the hills. They have fewer settlements humans would call cities, but they are mercantile and have many towns. They live in less fertile land, but they are smaller and eat less food, so their population density nationally is close to that of humans, but less concentrated.
Halflings live in isolated valleys, away from the conflicts of other nations. Halflings live almost entirely in farming villages, lacking cities and only having a few towns. They live in fertile land, and are small and eat less food than humans, so their population density is considerably higher than humans for what land they have.
Orcs are hunter-gatherers, and raiders. Their population density is low, and they do not group together in cities or towns. Their settlements are all villages.
Goblins are more urban than orcs, especially areas dominated by hobgoblins. Their farming output is lower than that of more developed humans, so their agricultural output is lower, but that is made up for by the numerous small goblins. They are less mercantile, so they have fewer towns.
I don't imagine Tieflings, Half-Elves, or Half-Orcs having much in the way of their own nations, and otherwise I think they'd basically be humans, elves, or orcs. Earlier I asked what people thought about Dragonborn. Dragonborn demographics probably greatly depend on if they're carnivorous or omnivorous. Dragons are omnivorous, so going by that, I imagine Dragonborn have less cities and more towns, but their towns are less about mercantilism and are more like tiny cities. They wouldn't group together in large cities, since they're very tribal, but they feel like they'd be less rural than humans.
What are your thoughts?