D&D General Which published TTRPG settings do each D&D ancestry best?

[Shiroiken]

I really like the Birthright Elves. They're immortal, just like in Tolkien lore. They don't have gods, so they have no clerics, just druids. As for the other ancestries... I'm not a specific fan of them enough to have a favorite setting for them.

I think they got PF2 on the mind.

Or, like me, they prefer the term to "species."

 

[Gradine]

You know, out of all Eberron things, I dont really know anything about the goblins. Hobgoblins, sure, I know plenty about them, but not much on the gobo front itself.

I mean, talking goblinoids in general. They essentially ruled most of Khorvaire thousands of years in the past, but then the Daelkyr started showing up, and it was bad. Eventually the goblins won, with the help of the Gatekeeper Orcs (Eberron definitely has best orcs too, incidentally), but it was a pyrrhic victory; their civilizations basically all collapsed and they were far in decline by the time humans showed up.

Sharn is specifically called out as being built on top of goblin ruins, for instance.


Now, if we're opening things up to wider range of fiction, then the best Dwarves, far and away the best, are from Dragon Age. They did the Dwarf thing (ie, they're still recognizably fantasy Dwarves), while also making them incredibly interesting and different from other dwarves. How their history is tied into the lore of the series too is handled excellently. The things you learn about them in Veilguard alone is wild stuff. Great stuff, too.

 

[Distracted DM]

Let me put the premise of this thread in terms that you will better understand: Which TTRPG setting has the best or your favorite gnomes?

Pathfinder, for me. I like the Fading aspect. But I definitely took a lot of inspiration for gnomes for my setting from the video game Barony. They're not a PC option.

Otherwise I gotta say Eberron and Elder Scrolls inspired a lot of my settings ancestries, with a touch of LOTR, Elric/Moorcock, and Matt Colville. Oh, and oddly enough ... EverQuest for my cat people.

 

[Aldarc]

Now, if we're opening things up to wider range of fiction, then the best Dwarves, far and away the best, are from Dragon Age. They did the Dwarf thing (ie, they're still recognizably fantasy Dwarves), while also making them incredibly interesting and different from other dwarves. How their history is tied into the lore of the series too is handled excellently. The things you learn about them in Veilguard alone is wild stuff. Great stuff, too.

Technically there is a published Dragon Age RPG by Green Ronin - won ENNies for best interior art and best game - which became the basis for their Fantasy and Modern AGE systems. I think that it even got a reprint last year.

 

[Corinnguard]

The Goblinoids or Goblinkin of Exandria. I like their origin story from that setting because it explains how all three kinds of goblinoids came about. Three species, one source.

Goblinkin

Goblinkin, also called goblinoids, is the term for goblins, bugbears, and hobgoblins, the three races created by Bane, the Strife Emperor, evil god of war and conquest, to serve him during the Calamity. During the Calamity, Bane revealed himself to the dranassar, a strong, cunning, multitudinous...

criticalrole.fandom.com

I like Dragonborn mechanically and as a concept, but I haven’t really found a version of lore that makes me really like them. Every version that I’ve seen just seems like they’re missing something. Eventually I’ll make a homebrew version in line with my preferences. I think it has potential, just I can’t think of a setting that has done them really well.

Agreed. What do you think is missing from the Dragonborn lore in the Forgotten Realms setting? When I was creating my first 5e character, a male Bronze Dragonborn Fighter, I looked at the lore on the Forgotten Realms Wiki to develop his history. Gave him a hometown (Ruinspoke) and mentioned his time among the Lance Defenders and latter among the Lance Scouts.

 

[Bitbrain]

Human - Greyhawk

Dragonborn - Nentir Vale (I like the Empire of Arkhosia concept)

Dwarf - Dragonlance (the different dwarf-clans actually feel like different cultures and subspecies)

Elf - Dark Sun

Gnome - Mystara (sky gnomes of Top Ballista for the win!)

Goblin - Pathfinder (pyromaniac lunatics the lot of ‘em)

Halfling - Dark Sun

Orc - Eberron

Thri-Kreen - Dark Sun

 

[Corinnguard]

Hadozee, Plasmoid and Thri-Kreen due to their connection to the races in the Star Frontiers RPG and d20 Future.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Agreed. What do you think is missing from the Dragonborn lore in the Forgotten Realms setting? When I was creating my first 5e character, a male Bronze Dragonborn Fighter, I looked at the lore on the Forgotten Realms Wiki to develop his history. Gave him a hometown (Ruinspoke) and mentioned his time among the Lance Defenders and latter among the Lance Scouts.

My criticisms of the Dragonborn lore in the Forgotten Realms is 1) it’s tied to the Spellplague and whole Abeir-Toril continent switching shenanigans and 2) they’re just boring. They’re a stoic, proud, righteous warrior race. Basically Paladins, the species. And there should be more to them than just another stoic warrior race, we have two others of those in the Tritions and Goliaths, and they’re boring too. There are interesting concepts in their backstory, like having formerly being enslaved by dragons and since breaking free, and the whole “stranger in a strange land” trope is nice too. However, they come from an alternate universe without gods where they violently rebelled against their former masters that had ruled over them for thousands of years. They should be a bit more culturally alien and probably more anti-theistic and anti-authoritarian, instead of mainly anti-dragon. The Faerunian Dragonborn should have a culture of “no gods, no masters,” and see the Monarchs in Faerun in a similar view to their old tyrannical Dragonlords. Like, why is Tymanthar a monarchy? Why does it have secret police? Why do the Dragonborn have clans? Why are they tolerant of Tieflings and other marginalized races when their tyrannical government is a controlled by an authoritarian warlord? It just doesn’t make sense to me. I guess that’s criticism #3. Their culture doesn’t make sense given their history.

There should be lore on how Dragonborn of different ancestries are treated and used by Dragonborn society. Gold and Red Dragonborn are more likely to be bakers and blacksmiths, White and Silver Dragonborn invented ice cream, Blue and Bronze Dragonborn discovered artifice and electricity, and so on. Maybe as a way of distancing themselves from their former masters or as a symbol of rebellion, the Dragonborn of certain ancestries reject the stereotypes tied to their scale color. Red Dragonborn try to be charitable and cool-headed, Green Dragonborn try to be honest and forthcoming, Copper Dragonborn despise humor of all kinds, especially pranks. They still define themselves in relation to the Dragons, but now with opposition to the Dragons having a major effect on their culture. If a Dragonborn laughs a lot, another Dragonborn might say something along the lines of “feeling a bit copper, are you?”

Additionally, new Dragonborn lore should have some connection to the First World. Maybe Dragonborn were the first humanoid race to be created and also have echoes in different worlds of the Material Plane. Dragonborn might have superstitions related to this (DID is seen as the personalities of the Dragonborn’s echoes temporarily taking over their body, schizophrenia is viewed as seeing/hearing things from different worlds through the eyes and ears of your echoes, etc). Echo Knights might form a prestigious ancient Dragonborn order of knights, possibly in their rebellions against their Dragonlords. Maybe Eberron Dragonborn of the Blood of Vol believe that unlocking the Divinity Within requires gaining Dragonsight, possibly also thinking only Dragonborn can accomplish this. Dragonborn Warlocks might enter into pacts with Greatwyrm Dragons as a way of learning how to get Echo magic.

 

[Corinnguard]

My criticisms of the Dragonborn lore in the Forgotten Realms is 1) it’s tied to the Spellplague and whole Abeir-Toril continent switching shenanigans and 2) they’re just boring. They’re a stoic, proud, righteous warrior race. Basically Paladins, the species. And there should be more to them than just another stoic warrior race, we have two others of those in the Tritions and Goliaths, and they’re boring too. There are interesting concepts in their backstory, like having formerly being enslaved by dragons and since breaking free, and the whole “stranger in a strange land” trope is nice too. However, they come from an alternate universe without gods where they violently rebelled their former masters that had ruled over them for thousands of years. They should be a bit more culturally alien and probably more anti-theistic and anti-authoritarian, instead of mainly anti-dragon. The Faerunian Dragonborn should have a culture of “no gods, no masters,” and see the Monarchs in Faerun in a similar view to their old tyrannical Dragonlords. Like, why is Tymanthar a monarchy? Why does it have secret police? Why do the Dragonborn have clans? Why are they tolerant of Tieflings and other marginalized races when their tyrannical government is a controlled by an authoritarian warlord? It just doesn’t make sense to me. I guess that’s criticism #3. Their culture doesn’t make sense given their history.

There should be lore on how Dragonborn of different ancestries are treated and used by Dragonborn society. Gold and Red Dragonborn are more likely to be bakers and blacksmiths, White and Silver Dragonborn invented ice cream, Blue and Bronze Dragonborn so on. Maybe as a way of distancing themselves from their former masters or as a symbol of rebellion, the Dragonborn of certain ancestries reject the stereotypes tied to their scale color. Red Dragonborn try to be charitable and cool-headed, Green Dragonborn try to be honest and forthcoming, Copper Dragonborn despise humor of all kinds, especially pranks. They still define themselves in relation to the Dragons, but now with opposition to the Dragons having a major effect on their culture. If a Dragonborn laughs a lot, another Dragonborn might say something along the lines of “feeling a bit copper, are you?”

Additionally, new Dragonborn lore should have some connection to the First World. Maybe Dragonborn were the first humanoid race to be created and also have echoes in different worlds of the Material Plane. Dragonborn might have superstitions related to this (DID is seen as the personalities of the Dragonborn’s echoes temporarily taking over their body, schizophrenia is viewed as seeing/hearing things from different worlds through the eyes and ears of your echoes, etc). Echo Knights might form a prestigious ancient Dragonborn order of knights, possibly in their rebellions against their Dragonlords. Maybe Eberron Dragonborn of the Blood of Vol believe that unlocking the Divinity Within requires gaining Dragonsight, possibly also thinking only Dragonborn can accomplish this. Dragonborn Warlocks might enter into pacts with Greatwyrm Dragons as a way of learning how to get Echo magic.

This is a sidebar on Draconic Nations from Level Up's Adventurers' Guide:

Dragons die. They may claim immortality and endless strength but time and circumstance can wear down even the mightiest creatures. Many are killed by rivals or the efforts of heroes and armies, and some simply retreat to parts unknown, leaving behind leaderless dragonborn clans. These “orphan clans” are viewed with a mixture of derision and pity. With no progenitor to lead them many simply disperse, made exiles and scattering to the winds. Others rally around and adopt their progenitor’s goals, though they rarely hold true to those ideals and their interpretation becomes ever more distorted as generations pass.
A few rare orphaned clans build a future for themselves as a new nation, learning concepts like independence and pride as they dream of prosperity and happiness for future generations. These humble nations begin as city-states but some grow into world-class empires. Usually based around where their dragon once roosted, trap-filled caverns are slowly replaced with storerooms and housing, mountaintop lairs growing to jostle with draconic spires and battlements.
Life within draconic nations is similar to life in most populous cities, albeit with more fire breathing and scales. Commerce, agriculture, and especially metalwork flourish, aided by workers’ natural resistances and internal bellows. Once a draconic nation is founded it is deluged with draconic exiles and entire orphaned clans seeking refuge, and within a few generations the old customs and ideals of their progenitors fade.
The resulting melting pot contains a multitude of draconic bloodlines, their devotion to progenitors shifted rather than erased. Draconic nationals tend to regard their nation as they once had the dragons that led them. No longer an orphaned clan, but a people with a cause and a clear direction! Draconic nations are often filled with patriots and martyrs, loyal soldiers and earnest politicians who discover they’ll need this zeal—well placed or not—to defend themselves from other great dragons seeking to “retake these lost clans” back under a greater wing.

After reading this for the umpteenth time, the nation of Tymanther would have looked better if it went in this direction.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I mean, talking goblinoids in general. They essentially ruled most of Khorvaire thousands of years in the past, but then the Daelkyr started showing up, and it was bad. Eventually the goblins won, with the help of the Gatekeeper Orcs (Eberron definitely has best orcs too, incidentally), but it was a pyrrhic victory; their civilizations basically all collapsed and they were far in decline by the time humans showed up.

Sharn is specifically called out as being built on top of goblin ruins, for instance.


Now, if we're opening things up to wider range of fiction, then the best Dwarves, far and away the best, are from Dragon Age. They did the Dwarf thing (ie, they're still recognizably fantasy Dwarves), while also making them incredibly interesting and different from other dwarves. How their history is tied into the lore of the series too is handled excellently. The things you learn about them in Veilguard alone is wild stuff. Great stuff, too.

the best way to do dwarves is to make each major dwarven hold like a different setting dwarves you would have some functional diversity to them in a relatively short time, just need to make them look cooler or at least less human.