doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
That’s certainly possible. It’s also possible that knowledge verified by direct experience creates a wholly different reaction than superstition does, but that is a choice one has to just make and trust oneself when designing a world with magic.That's actually a really good point, esp. w/r/t tribal societies. However, this isn't always a universal, and if the survival is tenuous due to (for example) humanoid raids, then there would be a strong suspicion of any non-standard humans.
In addition (and this is mere speculation, now) I think that when people have some limited knowledge of monsters, humanoids, and magic working against them, they might tend to be more on the "verify, then trust" rather than the other way around.
For me, what I enjoyed about Greyhawk (when I did enjoy it. Even more DM dependent than other settings IME), it was the same thing I enjoyed in Dark Sun. We weren’t out for ourselves, just trying to make a buck and amass power. It’s a world where the bad guys seem to be winning, and we played characters who refused to accept that, and challenged others to similarly refuse.