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View Full Version : Your favourite reconfiguration of racial fluff?



Toliudar
2011-06-10, 04:24 PM
Inspired by NinethePuma's (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=202467) gnomes thread, I thought it would be interesting to explore the different ways that homebrew worlds have competely reshaped well established races.

So, I'm looking for stories of imaginative re-renderings that either play with or entirely obliterate the existing fluff, without mucking extensively with the crunch of a race. Who has shifters as a race of Circe-created animal-men? Halflings as the cruel elder race who bred the other species bigger so as to be more efficient servants? Dwarves as a seafaring race who travel around in submarines in constant need of repair?

Gnoman
2011-06-10, 04:29 PM
Do nymphomaniac omnisexual extreme omnivore Elves count?

Seb Wiers
2011-06-10, 04:32 PM
I played in a table top campaign based on the Morrwowind / Elder Scrolls game. I had an Argonian character. In most settings, lizard people are portrayed as a threat to humanity- they are dangerous raiders at best, and D&D goes so far as portraying them as slavers who eat humanoid flesh.

Not so in Morrowind, where they are a civilized (if "third world") race. However, they are an oppressed minority, subject to both discrimination and legalized slavery.
Like any oppressed minority, a fair number of them ARE criminals, out of necessity. And they do hold a national territory that wages an undeclared war with the nation that enslaves them. So while the tropes hold (to some extent) they are fully justified, and even reversed.

Its a nice change from the typical "dangerous beasty" lizardman, without going overboard and turning them into proud relatives of dragonkind.

Honest Tiefling
2011-06-10, 04:34 PM
I have yet to play Eberron, but I like their gnomes, or the 3 foot tall mafia. Definitely superior to the tinker gnome in my opinion.

Toliudar
2011-06-10, 04:37 PM
Do nymphomaniac omnisexual extreme omnivore Elves count?

Um. Yes! Care to share details.

FatJose
2011-06-10, 04:57 PM
Kobolds are a canine race that were brought into servitude by more advanced race. Because of their receptiveness to suggestion, they were domesticated forcebred to make a myriad of breeds that resemble RL dog breeds and acted as a servant cast to the advanced race. Recently they've won a fair amount of freedom but they still mostly serve lower ranks in society with a few exceptions. The wild kobolds, though, act more or less like normal kobolds but look like coyotes.

Angry Bob
2011-06-10, 07:11 PM
I decided to make use of all of the different elves kicking around and organized them into a single race with a caste system, based on their origins in my world as fey creatures that acclimatized to the prime material.

General notes: The higher up on the hierarchy, the more magical talent and the more prone to violent outbursts and uncontrollable fits of pique you get. Generally, elves higher on the hierarchy predictably take the hierarchy more seriously. The quick way to tell an elf's caste, for a non-elf, is by eye color, thought that can be easily disguised if the elf has access to any magic at all.


The hierarchy proceeds as such, from low to high.

Half-elves of any sort, including elemental variants and excluding fey’ri and draegloth. To humans, half-elves look like elves, and to elves, half-elves look like humans. However, to elves, the fact that they are part elf makes them superior to any human, if inferior to any elf, regardless of the caste of their elf parent. Each of a half-elf's eyes will usually be a different color from the other.

Wood elves, as well as arctic, jungle, and desert elves. These elves are by no mistake found in the least hospitable areas. According to their tradition, they were charged as keepers of the wild places. In practice, while they are the most stable of the elf castes, those that take the system seriously are also obligated to serve and obey those of a higher caste, despite actually living separate from the rest of elf culture. Wood elves' eyes are shades of brown.

Wild, painted, and snow elves. Their position is usually as the local leaders of wood elves and their equivalents. A clan of wood elves may have a few families of wild elves that compete for leadership on the death of the old leader, who is something of a combination of mayor and chieftain. Wild elf eyes are shades of green.

Sea and aquatic elves. Seagoing elves are the explorers, traders, and businessmen of the elven noble houses. Sea elf eyes are degrees of blue-green.

High elves, as well as moon elves and sun elves. High elves and their equivalents are regional variants with roughly the same position in elven culture, as minor nobles and barons. They are unlikely to actually rule other elves directly, though. Instead, they rule settlements of other races. They may keep a clan of lowblood elves in their land as trusted servants or warriors, but this practice is rare. In general, leadership of the lower castes is relegated to wild elves and their equivalents. High elf eyes are shades of blue.

Grey elves, star elves. Grey elves and star elves are the rulers of the High elves and their equivalents, usually ruling over the high elves in their area. Grey elf eyes are purple.

Avariels and fey’ri. These are the result of elves breeding with outsiders, celestials and fiends respectively. They and other elves place them above most other elves in the caste hierarchy, and they are much more given to fits of pique and violence than even grey elves. Their red eyes only reinforce this view. They fill the role of rulers of the entire elven race.

Drow, and by extension, Draegloth and Driders. Drow as a race are dangerously insane and unpredictable, to the point of being officially ostracized by elven society in general. Unofficially, many elven noble houses maintain ties of service with drow matrons and their houses. Draegloth are drow with a fiendish parent. Such creatures are considered gifts from Lolth and treated accordingly. Draegloths themselves are held in positions of honor just below matron mothers and their immediate entourage. Driders are drow transformed into spider hybrids by Lolth’s power in return for extreme devotion and continue to serve as shock troops and bodyguards for important matrons and priestesses. Breaking the spectrum, Drow lack pupils, and their eyes are simply white.

LeShay are an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in world-shaking magical prowess. Other elves, even those that profess not to follow the caste system, worship them as godlike beings. In a break from the standard progression, LeShay are not randomly violent and chaotic. Instead, they are disturbingly calm and preoccupied with codes of etiquette and decorum, with serious repercussions for those that break them. They fill no official position in elven society, but an order from one is never refused. Like the drow, they lack pupils, but their eyes are solid black.

Gensh
2011-06-10, 07:22 PM
In some of my settings, elves were created twice, making them actually the youngest race, even younger than humans, though they continue to believe themselves the oldest, as usual. Basically, it boils down to the first group of elves realizing how petty Corellon was and ceasing all worship of him. He turns them into drow as punishment, but they just continue to ignore him and have just enough time to build the pyramids before he annihilates them and makes a new race of elves with a fabricated racial memory. Of course, when some elves stop worshiping him for a second time, he turns them into drow again because, let's face it, if he was lazy enough to make his race's defining feature pointy ears, he's not going to invent a new curse. Any ancient underground ruins the players find are usually constructions of the first race of elves.

LansXero
2011-06-10, 07:28 PM
In my Eberron campaign the Leviathann is sleeping below the world; from him spawned Aboleths, more or less around when Eberrron was forming. The Aboleths created sahuagin to serve as slaves, but foresaw them rebelling, so programmed their genes to eventually become unsuited to live beneath the ocean. Sahuagins mistook the visions and hallucinations caused by the leviathan as words of their god, and combined worship turned the drams of the Leviathan into the entity known as the Devourer. Which allowed them to escape both the Aboleth rule and their inevitable genetic transformation, staying "pure". But some sahuagin did evolve, into merfolk. And others, finding it more and more increasingly to breath water, rose out of the depths and colonized Sarlona. And eventually Khorvaire. And are now called humans. O_O

Also, since Aboleths came from the leviathan, and in a way did humans and sahuagin, they are outside the purview of the draconic prophecy. Which is why they are so puzzling to dragons, Id guess.

Cespenar
2011-06-11, 01:46 AM
I had a setting idea once that put the human race as the descendants of the orcs, and the humans are slowly evolving to elves, thanks to the increasing integration of magic into the society.

Yora
2011-06-11, 04:09 AM
I use lizardfolk as the first civilized humanoid race. There are of course also lizardfolk barbarians deep in the jungles and on tropical islands, but they also have a number of very advanced kingdoms that are very old. The architectionic and armor design is something entirely else, but think (movie adaptation of) Ancient Egypt.

Elves are not that unsimilar to other settings, but in my setting, there's no pretending that they are pacifistic philosophers who can do everything better than anyone else. Elves are the oldest and most advanced non-reptilian civilization, but their history is full of constant wars against each other with fighting against other races only occuring in isolated cases along the outer borders of elven lands. When they are smug, it's the same basic racism that all the races have. Many believe they are great, but that's their personal delusions. From an outside view of the setting and the perspective of most other races, elves may be the Number 1, but that's because of their advanced civilization, not because of racial superiority. They do have the most complex and sophisticated tradition of training and cooperation of spellcasters, but that's the only thing they are really the best in. With up to 300 years, they live long, but not that long, and though they are politically and militarily dominant, they are not unified in any way, so they could hardly be called the primary race. While the equipment and lifestyle is more "Wood Elves", their political organization would be a bit like Ancient Greece. A number of competing city states that are quite powerful, but actually only cover a small fraction of the world.

Humans are just one race of many and they are not a Generalist race. The homeland of the humans are wide open plains and steppes where they live as nomadic hunters. The Mongols or the Aborigines would come to mind as a compairison. Human mercenaries have been recruited by some elven kingdoms to fight in their war and have later settled with the entire tribes in the lands of the major civilization, but they have no great cities or kingdoms yet. One could think of them as the germanic tribes in Roman times, but much smaller in number. The most important role of humans is their nomadic lifestyle in the plains that separate the focus region of the setting from the rest of the world. Those nomads have a lot of connections and trade exotic goods over very long distances. The settled humans still have good contacts to the plains nomads and are not as deeply involved in the very old rivalries between the local people, so a major part of all trade is at least at some point done by humans. Humans are the sailors who travel between the major ports, and run the important trade companies, but since they lack any major center of power, they are politically rather insignificant.

Solaris
2011-06-11, 04:32 AM
I'm in the process of refluffing halflings into badger-squirrels that everyone thinks are just pets. The halflings let them think so because that means they get food and shelter, and can pretty much do whatever they want in the meantime.

bansidhe
2011-06-11, 05:25 AM
What happened too the Orcs are Elves gone bad/cursed idea that i used too pick up on in the 70,s?...always thought that was way cooler than Drow.

Mind you i detest Drow,Goth/emo elves,wearing black all the time,too much eyeliner and cheap garish siver jewellery,probably stinking of patcholi oil and writing deep meaningful poetry[if you are about 12],and having issues with their parents,school,society at large etc.and doing their hair.

Yora
2011-06-11, 05:52 AM
Speaking of drow: I love Eberron drow!

Seb Wiers
2011-06-11, 07:12 AM
What happened too the Orcs are Elves gone bad/cursed idea that i used too pick up on in the 70,s?...always thought that was way cooler than Drow.

Probably what happened was people put some distance between themselves and Tolkien.

However, the Elder Scrolls series also makes use of this trope- in that series, orcs are one of several elf races. Their ancestor-god was defeated by a rival god and deformed in the process, and the group of elves that remained faithful to him suffered the same fate.

Serpentine
2011-06-11, 09:54 AM
What happened too the Orcs are Elves gone bad/cursed idea that i used too pick up on in the 70,s?...always thought that was way cooler than Drow.I think that came straight from Tolkien, didn't it?

Well. Lets see now, in my world...

Humans Pretty much the usual. Different regions are roughly based on different real civilisations: in the Highlands are more or less Vikings and Scots. Not sure what's going on in their part of the world mostly, although it's literally on the edge of the world - as the continent is heading over the edge, it's actually partly literally off the world - and it's freezing cold. Inland, there's one of the major cities in the world, called Cliffton. Mostly humans, but there's other races as well, especially gnomes.
The Eas, the region of which the Highlands are a part, is pretty much standard medieval Europe. It's going through a period somewhat similar to Charlemagne's time, where mostly independent petty kingdoms are starting to get forced into a bigger unified empire by a strong king. This king's about a third of the way through now. Man, it's been ages since I thought about this, I had the king's personality started out and now I barely remember any of it... Ah well. There's smaller, sporadically warring countries surrounding it, too.
Further to the east there's the Peninsulai. They're basically Greco-Roman, with pretty much everything that goes with that. If I recall correctly, I made them a major trading civilisation.
They're at near-constant war with Qu'rin, in the Qu'rai region. That area's based on Africa, with Qu'rin itself approximating Egypt, Arabia, and similar civilisations. I was thinking they'd be mostly human, but now I'm having second thoughts. Not sure what dominant species (singular or plural) to have there instead, though.
At one point in the history of their long-running war, the Peninsulai sent their best general with an army to sneak around the other side of Qu'rin to take the country out in a double-pronged attack. Instead, the army was decimated* blood-sucking demons, man-beasts and other fun things. Now, many centuries later, the general is a powerful vampire lord, ruling his own kingdom in those sinister mountains. He's one of the most benign forces in that region, taking his duty to protect and administer his people very seriously, treating them as subjects, not cattle, unlike most of his counterparts. In this area, almost all humans are "owned" by some supernatural group or other, mostly vampires. The the most stereotypical rendition of Transylvania you can imagine, and that's pretty much Niskvania.

These are all on the continent... Gensia, I think I called it. This continent is mostly dominated by humans - at least, there are probably more humans than there are any other race. On the nearest other continent, Handia, which is based on the Americas, they're a minority. They're pretty much all shipwrecks and lost explorers of one kind or another, of some generation or another. Those of recent generations tend to form communities clinging to their Europeanish cultures. Those who have been there long enough that stories of where their ancestors originally came from are just foggy legends are tribal peoples, like the peoples of the Amazon, the native Americans of the plains, and to a lesser degree like Australian aborigines, depending on where they live.
Gnomes:Came up in the inspiring thread...
First of all, all gnomes love ginger. All of them. Any that don't are considered really, really weird.

The homeland of the gnomes is the Goblin Isles. Some people think they're named after the gnomes, in a case of mistaken identity (or unkind nicknames). Others maintain that they're named after their original inhabitants, goblins and other goblinoids, but that the gnomes came from elsewhere and wiped most of them out. It is true that after gnomes, goblinoids are the next greatest "native" population.
Geologically, the Goblin Isles are similar to a colder Caribbean. Culturally, they also bear some similarities to the Caribbean in the height of the age of piracy, and also a bit of medieval Italy. It's stuffed full of sem-, wannabe- or actually-independent island-states in a constant flux of war and peace with one another.
It is war that drives Goblin Isles gnomes' technological superiority. They're constantly competing with each other in an ever-escalating arms race. Their cultural familiarity, and willingness to experiment, with maritime magitech means that gnomes are always welcome on any ship in this world - at least, any whose captain is willing to invest in good fire prevention and plenty of lifeboats.
Some Goblin Isle gnomes, the stay-at-home ones, are working on inventing the warforged - not as soldiers, but as domestic and agricultural slaves, and a nearly-last line of defense for the homeland.
Gnomes in general build down as far as they build up. The exemplory of this is the biggest city in the Goblin Isles, Dobendeglock. Above ground, delicate-looking pale spires pierce the sky far overhead. They're connected by a varied mishmash of bridges and walkways, and decorated with hanging gardens. These skyscrapers plunge just as far into the ground below, forming a honeycomb through the island. Thus the bit of land into which the city is built can hold a far greater population than it would otherwise be able.

Some gnomes decide they want a more peaceful life. In recent years, many have been travelling to the Highlands, especially Cliffton. Here they've taken over many of the largely abandoned underlayers of the city - even many of the other residents would probably be surprised at just how many gnomes there are living underneath them. They tinker away here at more mundane magics and gizmos and performing whatever experiments they fancy. They form a tight but friendly community, welcoming yet wary of outsiders.

(My housemate, also my resident expert (as their main player) on the gnomes in mine and my ex's shared world, says these last and the next gnomes are the same bunch. Pft, whatevs.)

Gnomes have been moving to other parts of Gensia for many centuries. These are roughly equivalent to the Jews in Medieval Europe: they're the bankers, moneylenders and businessmen, mistrusted by other peoples as greedy and crooked, but essential to their economies.

Dwarves:The dwarven homeland, Hock Barrok, is pretty much your stereotype dwarf country ramped up to eleven. The land is all under a large mountain range, with cavernous halls and massive doors all over the place. The people are ultraconservative, xenophobic, tradition-obsessed, ale-loving blacksmiths. About a century or two ago they received a massive commission to arm an entire army by one of their various warring neighbours. Absolute secrecy and exclusivity was one of the conditions of their employ, so they shut themselves into their caverns, with (theoretically, at least) no contact with the outside world until the commission was complete. Unfortunately for them, the nation that hired them was wiped out within a few years of the agreement. So, sometime soon, a dwarf civilisation will emerge from underground with hundreds of thousands of magical items, and no buyer.

Not all the dwarves live in Hock Barrok, though. Dubbed "hill dwarves" (somewhat disparagingly by Hock Barrok dwarves), these dwarves still tend to be fond of their ale, close to their families and keen on their traditions, but are far more laid back about it all. Most dwarven adventurers are likely to be hill dwarves, by birth or by choice.
Elves:Like the dwarves, the elves have a homeland: Arbour, a great forest sheltered by a mountain range. Arbour elves are the tallest of the elves, slender and elegant. They have a reputation for being aloof and arrogant (even by elven standards). They usually have pale hair, often of silver or gold, and often have gold, amber, violet, bright blue, piercing green or similar type eyes. They prefer regal, elegant clothing of white, silver, yellow, or gold, with cloaks of deep blue or purple. They're pretty much your typical Tolkeinesque elves. And, typically, they have a long-running feud - sometimes all-out war - with the Hock Barrok dwarves.

At some point in the past, this feud with the dwarves caused a schism among the elves. I had it all worked out but I can't remember it now... But basically, two groups of elves left Arbour for new lands. One group, the most furious about the cause of the schism, went deep into the Bog, a massive swamp in the middle of the Eas. These elves are barbaric and tribal. Bog elves’ hair color ranges from black to light brown, lightening to silvery white with age, and their eyes are usually of earthy colours such as brown, hazel or green. They dress in simple clothing of animal skins and basic plant weaves. They're quite xenophobic and secretive, and guard their swamplands jealously.

The other group were less angry and more just fed up. They spread into wild lands all over Gensia, particularly the Highlands, and plunged into the lighter parts of nature - something they believe their Arbour relatives have neglected in their old age. Small and fine-featured, these Sylvan elves are flighty and mischevous, and have an affinity for fey and the joys of life and nature. Their hair and eyes range widely in colour, but usually dark hair and natural-coloured eyes such as blue and green, though other colours such as especially bright ones, amber, and metallic hues are not uncommon. They prefer light, unrestraining clothing of natural textiles in bright shades. Of all elves, these are the ones most likely to go adventuring or otherwise roaming the world.
Halflings:Spanish gypsies.
Misc.:Lizardfolk are one of the main races on the Handia (Americanish) continents, particularly the southern one. They're more or less based on the Aztecs and other South and Middle American peoples.

On the northern Handia landmass, centaurs are another main race. They're based on native Americans, particularly plains peoples. Horses are a very new thing in their lands, and they have plans to claim them for their own. Unfortunately, most of the horses are in a single herd, which is guarded by a powerful Druid...
There are centaurs in Gensia, as well, but they're more standard tribal forest-types.
Annnd that pretty much covers most of the main races in my gameworld, at least the ones that we've come across or I've otherwise thought about in any meaningful way.

*okay, so that's improper use of the word. Whatever!

Jay R
2011-06-11, 10:14 AM
I once had a universe that was completely identical to our own until 1054, when the light from the Crab nebula supernova hit Earth. It brought mana to the world, and suddenly there was raw magic. It took awhile before anyone noticed, but belief shapes mana, so the first thing that happened was that kids started seeing the bogey-man they'd been told to be afraid of. Over the next few decades, the world grew darker and more dangerous, because if enough people worry about dragons, then dragons appear.

Eventually, all legends come true, and creatures are what people believe them to be.

The only oases of calm were around local rulers with powerful will, who could hold people's faith. These became the first Heroes, and all PC classes are what people think great heroes can be. (Hero in the sense of person larger than life, not necessarily good. The Old Man of the Mountain is a hero in this sense, since all the other assassins believed in him.)

Any race that believes in living within nature, rather than imposing one's will on nature (specifically the Orientals and Americans) will be relatively unaffected, which was why most monsters came from a European tradition.

Therefore all races had to exist within some set of earth legends, and in any conflict between the rules and the legend, the legend would win out, if the PCs believed in it. Hobbits were gone, as were ents and balrogs.

Among other things, this means elves can be indistinguishable from humans (as in the Faerie Queen), that kobolds are miners first, and that dwarves do not by choice go up to the surface. It also means that PC use of legend will almost always work. This affected a couple of encounters, but no PC ever knew this.

Europe was a shambles, and many of the early heroes had sailed away to find a new life. The game was set in the Sangre de Cristo mountains in New Mexico (simply because I know the wilderness there quite well, and because it provided a magical time nexus to allow anything I wanted to bring in).

Gnoman
2011-06-11, 10:26 AM
Um. Yes! Care to share details.

Let me explain the intelligent races in my campaign world.

General
The defining feature of the history of my world is the First Battle, in which a coalition of humans, elves, and orcs deposed and killed an evil god and her armies, 10,000 years before the current game is set. 90% of the global population (except dwarves) perished in that one battle.

Humans
The second most numerous race, with nearly 30,000 surviving the First Battle. The are currently divided into four "nations," three empires and a loose alliance of Free Cities. Each has it's own general culture, which I can explain later if you wish.

Dwarves
By far the most numerous race, because when the call to arms was sent out before the last battle, they hid underground. The other races have treated them as pariahs and cowards ever since, and they have been struggling with a racial inferiority complex since. Because of this, they tend toward an almost suicidal recklessness, with some of their projects wipinig out entire fortresses due to lack of planning.

Gnomes
A subspecies of dwarf considered crazy even by other dwarves. Descended from dwarves that survived normally unsurvivable mishaps.

Elves
The least numerous race by a huge margin. Only 300 survived the First Battle, and they were forced to resort to extreme measures to keep their population up. Because offspring of two half-elves is always an elf, regardless of the other half of either parent, the elves set out to make as many half-elves as possible. Indeed, for about 300 years elves were technically extinct. When lands were divided up after the battle, the elves were too few to gain any significant tracts of land, so they were stuck living in the underbelly of orc and human cities, living off whatever they could find. In these latter days, when the elf population exceeds 11000, suchh measures are largely unneccessary, but long measures of time have engraved it into their race and culture. An elf will eat anything to avoid wasting potential food, even another elf. At elven funerals, the guest of honor is also the buffet. Elves also have an extremely overactive libido.

Orcs
Less numerous than humans, but still plentiful. Orcs have a small nation of their own, and are welcome in most human societies. Orcs even ruled one of the human empires for a few centuries.

Goblins
Goblins are the descendants of orcs that fled the field in the First Battle before the victorious alliance. While the fallen god's Elves and Humans were utterly wiped out, many of her orcs survived. Goblins are a hated and hunted race, with no rights in most lands, and often hunted for sport. One of the empires has a sizable goblins rights group, and is working to change this.