My world, with different cultures.

[Belac93]

Here are the races of a world I made. I recently started the 'Our ______s are different' thread, and decided to put that into practice by sharing my world. This is mostly cultural stuff that would have almost no effect on mechanics.

Humans are fast breeding, adaptable, and short lived. This all shows in their culture, which is very adventure focused. All humans feel the need to explore, set down roots, and travel. They ingrain themselves into every culture, every race, every land. It is not unusual to see humans hunting with a drow, or trading with dragonborn, or even farming with hill dwarves.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. None.
High elves are a proud, warlike race. Such long lives give them great power, but also incite boredom. As they regard the hunting practices of their kin and savage and primitive, they hunt other humanoids. They worship gods of war, conquest, and magic. A marital skill is woven into their culture, and they form vast armies to fight mainly humans, half-orcs, gnomes, and dragonborn. They are Usually LE, with a minority being LN or NE.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +2 Dexterity, +1 Strength.
Wood elves live on the great plains, using their lessened need to sleep and great speed to chase down and tire out larger animals, finally using their bows to make the final kill. A life shared in the plains makes them often come into conflict with the Aarockra. They will never stop chasing a prey once they have caught them. It is everyone's fear to be chased by a wood elf. They are faster, need to sleep only a sixth of their lives (as opposed to one-third for other creatures), and they will outlive you. They are most often TN, with a minority being LN or CN.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +2 Dexterity, +1 Constitution.
Drow live in thick-canopied jungles. They use their magical talents and darkvision to see and hunt prey, sometimes simply hiding in a tree, and then sleeping the day through on lookout. They are patient hunters, able to wait for weeks for a meal, and worship the stars and moon as their gods. They are usually NG, with a minority being TN and LG.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom.
Moving, unmovable, impossible to dislodge, eaters of flesh. These are all traits that describe the Stout Halflings. Known for setting up their homes in impossible places, these tiny beings will withstand any disaster. They have been known to burrow into a mountain and eat fungus, just to wait out a blizzard. Their tiny size makes them able to live anywhere, if coupled with their amazing agility and toughness. An large resistance to poisons, along with a stubborn 'I will live here.' mentality has made them able to resort to cannibalism many times. It is regarded as an honor to be eaten. They are most likely to be LN, with a minority being LE or LG.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +2 Dexterity, +1 Strength
Lightfoot halflings live as nomads. They ride giant ibexes, and use them to nearly fly through the huge mountains and valley cliff that they call home. They often fight goliaths, disagreeing with the larger races mercenary ways, as well as competing with them for resources. The halflings rarely come out as winners in these conflicts, but also almost never suffer significant losses, as they can escape up the cliffs that goliaths have trouble climbing quickly. They are most often LN, with a minority being LE or LG.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom
These are the poor remnants of a halfling soul having been brought back too many times. A lack of afterlife for halflings means that they will be reincarnated over and over and over again, and sometimes, the soul just... breaks. When this happens, one of these are created. They have a preternatural awareness and knowledge of people, lending them a wise image to most other creatures. As they have less soul than other halflings, they can communicate with the subconscious parts of a creatures brain. This is a very unpleasant experience, akin to treading over someone's grave or touching a ghost. They are most likely to be CN, with a minority being CE or TN.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +2 Dexterity, +1 Intelligence.
Hill dwarves are farmers, through and through. No matter the place, be it seaside seaweed farms, plains wheat fields, or underground mushroom cultures, hill dwarves will be there. They are a mostly peaceful race, sometimes offering sanctuary to Stout halflings or dragonborn traders. A saying among the other races, that the hill dwarves take pride in, is; 'If a hillfolk offers you sanctuary, fear no treachery. If you bring treachery to their door, run. It is the only way you can win.’ Hill dwarves will endure no threat to their crops. They will only destroy the threat. They are most often NG, with a minority being LG or TN.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +2 Wisdom, +1 Constitution.
Mountain dwarves are, in some ways, the polar opposites of Hill dwarves. They travel, and they fight, and they travel, and they fight. They often work with goliaths, employing them to help in their raids. They often rage when fighting, throwing themselves at enemies, frothing and swinging their dreaded axes. They will rarely war with other dwarves, but when they do, the conflict is a long, drawn out bleeding of both sides. They are most often CE, with a minority being NE or CN.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. None, no adjustments make sense.
Duergar is the name of a certain breed of hill dwarves. Often, a hill dwarf will make a deal with a god of some sort, asking for protection, from attackers, most often mountain dwarves. The result is a child being born who is shadow touched, gifting it powers suiting it to fight whatever enemies. They mature faster than other dwarves, reaching physical maturity at 12 instead of the normal 18. They are just as friendly as hill dwarves, but slightly hardened by a life of fighting. They are usually LG, with a minority being NG or LN.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +1 Constitution, +1 Charisma, +1 Strength.

[Belac93]

Rock gnomes are artisans, working closely with the trader races as the races suppliers. They work to give them new inventions and remakes of old ones, using their long lives and racial knowledge to make an invention, and when the original maker dies, show the invention again as the ‘newest revolution to make life easier.’ They are most often NG, with a minority being LG or CG.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +2 Intelligence, +1 Charisma.
Forest gnomes are raiders. They are referred to as ‘savage barbarians’ by most other races, using their great intellect and magical talent to attack settlements near the forests they call home. They burrow up from the ground with magic and giant badgers, concealing their entrance with illusions. They are most often CN, with a minority being CE or TN.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +1 Wisdom, +1 Dexterity, +1 Constitution.
Svirfneblin are warriors, dedicated to the eradication of magic. After they were almost wiped out by high elves and forest gnomes, they now fight to wipe magic from the world. They understand that it can be useful, but believe that the world would be better off without it. Even if they do not want to destroy magic, they will usually try to regulate its use to prevent destruction. They are usually LG, with a minority being LN or NG.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +2 Wisdom, +1 Dexterity.
These races are collectively known as the ‘trader races’ or the ‘new races.’ They travel together in caravans, build trading outposts, and account for much of the commerce in the world. Half elves are now their own true breeding race, dragonborn are the results of experiments on kobolds centuries ago, and tieflings are a race that was created by devils around the same time as dragonborn. They are all new, and many believe that they were created as a sign from the gods to move into a more peaceful time. They work together, more as one race that three. But despite the rumours of a more peaceful time, they love wars. Nothing else makes them as much money as a good battle, especially if they can take their weapons back from the corpses afterward and sell them again at a discount. Dragonborn are mostly LN, Tieflings are usually TN, and Half-elves are usually CN.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. (Half-elf) None
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. (Dragonborn) +2 Charisma, +1 Strength.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. (Teifling) See SCAG.
Half-orcs and true orcs long ago ceased being different. They usually travel from valley to valley, raiding, trading, or even setting down roots as the mood takes them. They are renown as horse warriors, often riding into battle with their spears in a line, and mowing down entire armies with their javelins. They usually come into conflict with hill dwarves and stout halflings, but rarely kill them all. They are most often LN, with a minority being TN or CN.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +1 Constitution, +1 Strength, +1 Wisdom.

[Belac93]

Aasimar are a joke.
Their entire existence came into being because of a prank. A group of humans, ever adventurous, tricked angels into mating with them. The children from that union were Aasimar. The Aasimar refuse to believe that they were created by accident, disregarding all the evidence possible. As tieflings look as much like devils as Aasimar do like angels, they believe that they must kill all tieflings. Tieflings fear this, but also look upon the Aasimar with barely concealed amusement. They are most often CG, with a minority being CN or TN.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +2 Charisma, +1 Strength.
Gensai are a very reclusive, rare race. So much so that many do not even believe they exist. They act much like humans, raising the question if they simply are humans, warped by chaos magic. They are just as varied in their alignment as humans.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. Subrace ability score increases, +1 to two ability scores of choice.
Aarakocra are carrion eaters. They look much like vultures, and often hunt wood elves, just as wood elves hunt them. They live usually in groups of no more than 5, and will most often try to scare larger predators away from their kills. But, if they are desperate, they are more than willing to hunt, even other humanoids. They are most often NE, with a minority being TN or CE.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +2 Dexterity, +1 Constitution.
Goliaths are known as mercenaries. They had their own culture, but it was overwhelmed by a love of coin. They end up working for anyone, as long as they get paid the right price. They take everything as a challenge, and once they are set on a goal of their own, they will do anything to accomplish it. They are most often TN, with a minority being LN or NE.
Suggested Alternate Ability Scores. +2 Strength, +1 Intelligence.

[DreamingGod05]

Your drow are a lot like mine, except the drow have a civilization in the jungle. Great stone buildings, and powerful houses. So far, I'm going for a psuedo-India vibe for them.

[Belac93]

Added alternate ability scores that can be optionally used in this world. They help show the races cultures better, I think. Wood elves as plains runners getting a boots to Con, and High elves getting Strength.
In case anyone wonders, this setting uses 5e rules most of the time, and the score increases are for 5e.