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Message: <blockquote data-quote="aramis erak" data-source="post: 9041575" data-attributes="member: 6779310">Goblins in some settings have enough about them to treat them the same way historical cultures can be. That they aren't real is a problem for you, but I know about as much about Tolkien's Orcs/Goblins (which are in fact the same "race" under Tolkien's writings), and John Wick's Orcs than I do about Homo naledi, and I enjoy watching the presentations about H. naledi. I've seen 6 hours of content just this last week alone. From where I sit, there's actually more "authoritative" information about Tolkien's orcs than there is about H. naledi. The only behaviors we can establish as very probable for H. naledi are that they used fire, buried their dead inside deep caves (hence the recent rush of vids), and used fire (as there are hearths in those caves and ceiling carbon deposits). We know from the bones they walked upright, that they survived some serious wounds, and would stand out in any modern context - both for short stature, and very different facial structure.Meanwhile, we have for Tolkien, characters in Tolkien's stories, which we can use to extrapolate many more behavioral cues for, and better knowledge of their gross anatomy than that of H. naledi. We don't, however, know from the volumes I've read (and they're non-exhaustive) if Tolkien's orcs bury their dead.  We do know, however, they have a martial prowess based hierachy, and a lack of full free will, but not if it's magical or biostructural/biochemical... but they are "born evil."It's easier for me to run simulationist mode on Tolkien's orcs than on H. naledi. And Homo naledi were real humans of a different species than us. Simply because there's much more data about orcs.It's also worth noting that there are different treatments of Orcs, and they're not all clones of Tolkien. Games Workshop's Orcs are rather different. John Wick's are really derivative of GW's, but significantly different, too. The orcs and goblins of D&D are not nearly as well defined as Tolkien's, GW's, nor John Wick's.... and in fact is different in the different eras by edition. If one's looking at D&D alone, sure, the material's not there to be more than superficially simulationist based upon them being conformal to Hominini and (in many editions) born evil. But in WFRP/WFB/WH40K/40KRPGs, there is enough to examine and make a cogent cultural sketch... and to simulate that.</blockquote>

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