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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bacon Bits" data-source="post: 8485880" data-attributes="member: 6777737">I don't necessarily think they need to be named and developed factions. Sure, the Scarlet Brotherhood, the Red Wizards of Thay, and the Cult of the Dragon have lore and political intrigue and all that. But there are small factions, too.All you really need to do to eliminate a huge amount of the racist tones is describe non-humans the same way you describe humans.If a DM says, "Orcs attack, roll initiative!" it sounds kinda normal. Kinda like, "Zombies attack, roll initiative!" But nobody says, "Humans attack, roll initiative!" Like that sounds weird, right? They say, "Bandits attack!" or marauders, or brigands, or pirates, or mercenaries, or slavers, or cultists, or thieves, or whatever. Instead of just describing what species they are, you describe what group they're in, even in rough and uncertain terms.The only other element is... don't make every orc a bandit, marauder, brigand, etc.  Sure, maybe the human perception is that all orcs are raiders. But the elves and forest gnomes have peaceful relations with the orcs. They seldom see orcish attacks because its only the humans who keep chopping down the forests where the orcs hunt and building even more farmland. Indeed, the forest gnomes will sing all sorts of praised for game from orcish hunters. Orc-made jerky can get you through a very long winter.That said, I think it's probably a smart idea to come up with a few symbols or names, just like it's smart to have names for NPCs prepared. It's pretty boring to be attacked by "orc savages" on a journey across a desert. It's much more interesting for the Red Tooth Pirates to be waylaying travelers in the middle of the desert. Were they led by Captain Red Tooth herself, infamous for her oversize red jade tooth? If not, what were they doing there? What ARE they known for? Searching for treasure? Avoiding capture by some island kingdom's navy? Marooned? Working side gigs as mercenaries? It takes a really tiny amount of development to completely blossom into a hook. When your players know that these orcs aren't just "being orcs" when they attack, the question of "why?" is instantly more interesting.</blockquote>

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