How do ya'll make races other then humans feel different from humans.

[Sir cryosin]

I just started a new campaign and I doing a custom world. I was thinking about elf's in my world and I feel elf's have lost that exotic feel. There just long lived super beautiful humans. So the high elf's in my world are all females. If a player wants to play a male high elf they can but other high elf's will not look at them speak to them or have anything thing to do with them. When a high elf enters into there mating state they seek out a male that they believe will be able to produce offspring easily and mate with him be him human or wood elf. After the mother finds out she is pregnant she will start singing a magical song called "the child birth" this magical song changes all non high elf DNA to high elf and make sure it's born a female. And high elf that's gives birth to a male is either asked to get rid of the baby or be banished from all dealings with high elf's. Wood elf's are gender less untel they are sexually excited. Then they will produce the appropriate genitals opposite of their partner. All wood elf's look alike as kids. But when they start puberty they start growing features to look like there ideal selfs with keeping elven features.

I'm still working on other core races. So I was wondering what ya'll do in ya'll campaigns. Hoping I can find a bit of inspiration. And just to talk about if ya'll feel other races feel more human then they should.

[Nifft]

Just get some non-human players.

[Beelzebubba]

I'm not so blunt, but playing an Elf, I think of the way someone my age is about the stuff someone half my age is into. It looks like a silly distraction. They haven't lived long enough to know what's important. So shallow. But, I see the innocence. I see myself in that, who I was, and I feel compassion.

Then exaggerate that even more. A LOT more. Like, a 125-year old 1st level Elf could have watched three generations of humans come into being before they venture out.

I'm wondering why any elves give a damn about anything at all.

[Unoriginal]

I just started a new campaign and I doing a custom world. I was thinking about elf's in my world and I feel elf's have lost that exotic feel. There just long lived super beautiful humans. So the high elf's in my world are all females. If a player wants to play a male high elf they can but other high elf's will not look at them speak to them or have anything thing to do with them. When a high elf enters into there mating state they seek out a male that they believe will be able to produce offspring easily and mate with him be him human or wood elf. After the mother finds out she is pregnant she will start singing a magical song called "the child birth" this magical song changes all non high elf DNA to high elf and make sure it's born a female. And high elf that's gives birth to a male is either asked to get rid of the baby or be banished from all dealings with high elf's. Wood elf's are gender less untel they are sexually excited. Then they will produce the appropriate genitals opposite of their partner. All wood elf's look alike as kids. But when they start puberty they start growing features to look like there ideal selfs with keeping elven features.

I'm still working on other core races. So I was wondering what ya'll do in ya'll campaigns. Hoping I can find a bit of inspiration. And just to talk about if ya'll feel other races feel more human then they should.

I don't want to be insulting or sound mean, but a piece of advice: if you want to make a species more interesting, coming up with something that would cause your players to wonder why you're talking about porn if you try to explore it.



That aside, the problem with what you have here is that you're not making the elves different, you're just giving them some some biological quirks and saying "look, here are the funny aliens who have X quirks". It won't make them feel alien to your audience.

You say that elves have "lost that exotic feel". How where they exotic before? You say that elves are now just "beautiful humans". But what makes you think that? D&D elves do not look like humans. They are humanoids, sure, but they are willowy in a way no humans could match, just like dwarves aren't just short humans.

Now, the thing with making non-human feel different from humans is that you have to *allow* them to not be humans. Too many authors just make them "like humans but with some traits or quirks".

For exemple, take what D&D says of elves and what you could imagine from it. Elves are chaotic and long-lived. They see the world's constant changes, and how it stays the same, as the years pass, in a way humans cannot. This makes them nonchalant about life and whimsical in how they spend their times, jumping from one activity to the next, unless they hyperfocus on one particular thing and dedicate themselves to it until they get bored with it, hours or days or years later. High Elves see magic as something you meet every day, constantly, Wood Elves have a relationship with nature that allows them to blend in the landscape, and Drow think that being constantly on the lookout for backstabbers while trying to backstab everyone is perfectly normal, and all of them spend time learning how to fight, no matter their background.

This is already enough to set them aside from humans.

[Sigreid]

For elves I try to have them think about things in different time scale terms. From there perspective, tomorrow is practically right now. They think of next year in the same way a human might think of next week etc.

[Tanarii]

I'm not so blunt, but playing an Elf, I think of the way someone my age is about the stuff someone half my age is into. It looks like a silly distraction. They haven't lived long enough to know what's important. So shallow. But, I see the innocence. I see myself in that, who I was, and I feel compassion.

Then exaggerate that even more. A LOT more. Like, a 125-year old 1st level Elf could have watched three generations of humans come into being before they venture out.

I'm wondering why any elves give a damn about anything at all.
Conversely if you're a 20 y.o. 1st level Elf, you're as physically and mentally mature as a human 18 y.o., but socially not considered an adult. And wont be for 80 years, until you're in you're human physical equivalent of your 30s. IIRC it's not explicit what that means, but IMO at the minimum it's the way 30-40 year old humans think of teenagers.

I emphasize that to players of Elves, whom I give the option to start as an 'adult' (100+), but strongly encourage to start in their 20s, same as any other race. Especially if they're not already middle aged IRL.

[smcmike]

It's "Elves," or, if you are talking about Santa's helpers, maybe "elfs." Not "Elf's".

[90sMusic]

The problem is people have a hard time thinking what it would be like to be another species and can only think of it in human terms. That is why humans in games are always the most diverse group and the most versatile, while all the other races are just stereotypes and caricatures of aspects of humanity.

Sure some DMs will give them a little variance here or there, but the bottom line is there is nothing truly unique about any of their cultures. They are all based on human cultures and while you can potentially see huge differences between one group of humans and another, just as you can in the real world, the fantasy races usually stay within their lane.

You don't often see things like truly evil dwarves for instance. Instead, if you plan on using something to fill that role, you are more likely to use duergar. Likewise with elves. If you want evil elves, they're pretty rare to run across, usually when dealing with evil "elves" you end up dealing with drow instead.

All the stereotypes stay within their lanes and only oddballs fall outside the norm.

If you want your races to be really unique, i'd say you should make up your own races instead of using the same tired, old fantasy trope races that are in virtually every work of fantasy fiction.

In my campaign, I treat all the other races like minorities. There is a very large empire made up primarily of humans that conquered most of the world and enslaved the other races to one degree or another. Over time the slavery was eventually abolished and now they're free to more or less do what they want, but they are still treated as second class citizens, looked upon with suspicion, always assumed to be responsible for crimes they may be involved in, and so on. Also as a result of living as slaves to this human empire for so long, their own cultures have practically disappeared, having been replaced by the culture of the empire. It has made them far more diverse and you never know what to expect when you meet one because they aren't beholden to the tropes and stereotypes to any degree at all.

There are some groups who want to desperately go back to their ancestral ways and splinter off into their own, isolated communities and try to relearn how their people once lived and the values they once had, but their knowledge of such things is fragmented and incomplete. They often go on little adventures themselves to ancient sites of old cities or ruins belonging to their kin to try to find any clues to the past.

But anyway, i'd say just make up your own races and make them be whatever you want them to be. But don't be surprised if they end up just being caricatures. All human fantasy is often the best fantasy IMO.

[Tetrasodium]

I just started a new campaign and I doing a custom world. I was thinking about elf's in my world and I feel elf's have lost that exotic feel. There just long lived super beautiful humans. So the high elf's in my world are all females. If a player wants to play a male high elf they can but other high elf's will not look at them speak to them or have anything thing to do with them. When a high elf enters into there mating state they seek out a male that they believe will be able to produce offspring easily and mate with him be him human or wood elf. After the mother finds out she is pregnant she will start singing a magical song called "the child birth" this magical song changes all non high elf DNA to high elf and make sure it's born a female. And high elf that's gives birth to a male is either asked to get rid of the baby or be banished from all dealings with high elf's. Wood elf's are gender less untel they are sexually excited. Then they will produce the appropriate genitals opposite of their partner. All wood elf's look alike as kids. But when they start puberty they start growing features to look like there ideal selfs with keeping elven features.

I'm still working on other core races. So I was wondering what ya'll do in ya'll campaigns. Hoping I can find a bit of inspiration. And just to talk about if ya'll feel other races feel more human then they should.

Uhh... unless your game takes place following the FLR night at the local dungeon, which seems doubtful, I suggest something a little less inspired by grade B Ecchi/Harem/Yaoi/Hentai/etc anime.

I'd suggest stepping away from the trap of most writers are human (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MostWritersAreHuman), & more importantly the obvious influences of most writers are male (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MostWritersAreMale) Keith Baker, The creator of eberron, has some (http://keith-baker.com/dragonmark-926-what-makes-a-monster/) really (http://keith-baker.com/dragonmarks-goblins/) great (http://keith-baker.com/dragonmarks-orcs-and-the-ghaashkala/) stuff (http://www.wizards.com/files/367_Playing_Gnolls.pdf) on (http://keith-baker.com/worldbuilding_taverns/) that (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20041004a) [url="http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20050530a"]kinda (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20041011a) stuff (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20050613a) if you look around. I suggest doing so as it might help

[Sir cryosin]

I don't want to be insulting or sound mean, but a piece of advice: if you want to make a species more interesting, coming up with something that would cause your players to wonder why you're talking about porn if you try to explore it.



That aside, the problem with what you have here is that you're not making the elves different, you're just giving them some some biological quirks and saying "look, here are the funny aliens who have X quirks". It won't make them feel alien to your audience.

You say that elves have "lost that exotic feel". How where they exotic before? You say that elves are now just "beautiful humans". But what makes you think that? D&D elves do not look like humans. They are humanoids, sure, but they are willowy in a way no humans could match, just like dwarves aren't just short humans.

Now, the thing with making non-human feel different from humans is that you have to *allow* them to not be humans. Too many authors just make them "like humans but with some traits or quirks".

For exemple, take what D&D says of elves and what you could imagine from it. Elves are chaotic and long-lived. They see the world's constant changes, and how it stays the same, as the years pass, in a way humans cannot. This makes them nonchalant about life and whimsical in how they spend their times, jumping from one activity to the next, unless they hyperfocus on one particular thing and dedicate themselves to it until they get bored with it, hours or days or years later. High Elves see magic as something you meet every day, constantly, Wood Elves have a relationship with nature that allows them to blend in the landscape, and Drow think that being constantly on the lookout for backstabbers while trying to backstab everyone is perfectly normal, and all of them spend time learning how to fight, no matter their background.

This is already enough to set them aside from humans.

When I was thinking about elfs in my setting. My train of thought was as followed. A high elf is know as the fair folk, masters of magic and long lived. I stared thinking how at session 0 my ask my players questions about the country they will be playing in for the most part. One of the things is elf's are ruled by a queen and women are in higher stature. So I took that concept and said there are no males in Elven Society and to ensure this they use magic to ensure the baby is female and fully elven. One of my players asked me how that was so I explained. We are adults you can talk about the species reproduction with out it turning into a fantasy porn grow up it nature.

The idea for the wood elf's are as followed. Wood elf's are in tuned with natural. Animals beside from humans and dolphins don't have sexually for fun or pleasure. So let's make them feel weird and Wild. Wood elf don't need a gender only when they need to reproduce. So they are genderless but sent they are genderless they need a why to identify themselves individually. So as they go through puberty they might grow horns and hoofs for feet because they find a bull a respectful creature and wish to in body its strengths and characteristics. Or one might grow beautiful feathers from the back of there shoulders to give them a crown of peacock features. Because they wish to be as beautiful as a peacock. Again this is not about the act of sexually or description of said Act.

[mephnick]

I've always wondered why Elves adventure at all. Like, the baron's daughter got kidnapped. So what? She'll be dead in a paltry 60 years anyway. Might as well weave a basket.

[Findulidas]

I've always wondered why Elves adventure at all. Like, the baron's daughter got kidnapped. So what? She'll be dead in a paltry 60 years anyway. Might as well weave a basket.

Compassion? Feeling that they should do the right thing? Upholding the law? For the rewards? Because they liked her or the baron? Its an adventure?

I can go on.

[Hrugner]

I've always wondered why Elves adventure at all. Like, the baron's daughter got kidnapped. So what? She'll be dead in a paltry 60 years anyway. Might as well weave a basket.

Novelty.

As to the original thread question.
-Elves I make novelty seeking and forgetful. Their age combined with their lack of comparative knowledge requires some sort of explanation for the difference. They get the "I think I've been here before, but it was different then." feel.
-Dwarves I give no natural ethical or moral boundaries. If they haven't been in a philosophical situation before, anything involving that situation is novel. As such they either give themselves strict moral codes to follow so that they don't blunder into evil due to ignorance, or they embrace the chaos of the unknown and expect a certain amount of evil in all things purely due to ignorance.
-Halflings are gangsters. They have a strong appreciation and respect for home and family, but are very cut throat when it comes to defending these things.
-Gnomes are outcasts. Their curiosity is dangerous and unfamiliar and they are pushed to the outskirts of civilization where they are more comfortable anyway. Most don't realize they are pariahs and will become insulted at the insinuation.

I don't do too much with the others.

[Logosloki]

I've always wondered why Elves adventure at all. Like, the baron's daughter got kidnapped. So what? She'll be dead in a paltry 60 years anyway. Might as well weave a basket.

For the same reasons anyone else might step up. Just as anyone could also choose this to be the time to work on their basket weaving. Elves are long lived and understand the pains and joys of life as any intelligent being might.

[Nifft]

On-topic, one Elf idea...

- All Elves are female (per the OP).

- All Dwarves are male (just ask the beards).

- They are one species with extreme sexual dimorphism.

- The reason the party's elf and dwarf always bicker is because they are married.

[MadBear]

Compassion? Feeling that they should do the right thing? Upholding the law? For the rewards? Because they liked her or the baron? Its an adventure?

I can go on.

Sure, but if we're trying to figure out a good way to deviate humans from non-humans, think of it this way.

If the average human lives 60 years and the average elf lives 900 years, that's roughly 1/15 of the lifespan of an elf. It's kinda like how a small mammal might only live 3-4 years compared to us.

I'm not saying that the elf, shouldn't care at all, but their perspective on it could be vastly different, especially if the missions dangerous. For example, I might risk my life to run into a burning building to save a small child, I might put myself in some risk to save a cat or dog, but I'm fairly certain, I wouldn't risk my life to save my bearded dragon (and I really like the little guy).

[Tanarii]

I've always wondered why Elves adventure at all. Like, the baron's daughter got kidnapped. So what? She'll be dead in a paltry 60 years anyway. Might as well weave a basket.
That's exactly why I encourage players to start their elves at 20ish rather than 100ish. They're still young, their still rambunctious, and by the standards of their culture they're not expected to settle down and be 'mature' yet. In the extreme, it's rather like kids going Punk or Goth.

My interpretation on some of the aspects of what it means to be completely physically and mentally mature at 20, but still not be considered an adult for another 80 years. YMMV in a big way. :smallbiggrin:

[Unoriginal]

Sure, but if we're trying to figure out a good way to deviate humans from non-humans, think of it this way.

If the average human lives 60 years and the average elf lives 900 years, that's roughly 1/15 of the lifespan of an elf. It's kinda like how a small mammal might only live 3-4 years compared to us.

I'm not saying that the elf, shouldn't care at all, but their perspective on it could be vastly different, especially if the missions dangerous. For example, I might risk my life to run into a burning building to save a small child, I might put myself in some risk to save a cat or dog, but I'm fairly certain, I wouldn't risk my life to save my bearded dragon (and I really like the little guy).

Would you risk your life for a man on only has 2 years left to live because of a disease?

Elves probably see it worthwhile to not make a short life even shorter if they can help it.


Something I will put in my campaign when my players reach that point is them arriving in an Elven city, only to find it completely filled with an enormous and joyous party. Why are the elves partying? Because their King is dying of old ages and has only a few days left at best, so they want to party to commemorate the occasion and to share memories of all what the King did with him while he's still alive. Elves in my campaign sees dying of old age as something both awesome and joy-worth, because it means you've been so good at staying alive only nature could kill you, and it's not a common thing for elves to manages (since they have to avoid death by accident, disease or conflict for centuries). This part of the campaign might include the Elf King helping the party by going on one last hunt after the bad guys by transforming into a magical giant boar.

[Herobizkit]

Lemme borrow from an MMO: Guild Wars 2.

They went out of their way to make their races different than Human, Dwarf, Elf, Other Elf, Other Other Elf.

One race, the Sylvari, are basically elves... but in actuality, they're sentient plants. They have green to brown-colored skin (made of vines and foliage), thrive on water and sunlight, and some have literal flowers growing out of their heads. They're not 'born' - they just 'show up' and awaken fully grown under their Great Tree.

Right away, this puts questions forward about gender and sexuality, their purpose in the world and how they perceive other races. They don't think and act like 'humans'... more like curious toddlers, maybe. They don't necessarily strive for progress; nature and the Great Tree provides for them. This means that there's no struggle for resources between them.

However, they can also have 'evil' in their make-up as some of them explore their darker personality aspects before they're... uh... sprouted, so you have the Seelie/Unseelie connection as well.

On the flip side, you have the Charr, which in D&D terms is "if Gnolls were like Hobgoblins, but also maybe cats". War-like, industrious, bent on creating war machines and driven to conquer and rule. They live in volcanic regions where lava and ash are plentiful. What kind of people come out of a life like that? Sure, Humans can be war-like and industrious, but these guys LIVE and BREATHE superiority, but also know their place in a hierarchy.

Anyhow, making a race not-Human means making a society that doesn't do traditionally human things. The Bosmer (Wood Elves) from Elder Scrolls have a Green Pact that states that they can not kill, injure, or eat plants in exchange for their forest spirit's protection. I mean, this is technically the flip of an extremist vegan, but the details come out in the role-playing when confronted by, say, a jungle that the party must cut through to advance.

I got rambly, but long story short, in order to make the difference in races apparent, you (as the DM) have to show the players HOW they're different by how the NPC's act and speak about their society and culture. If players are willing to buy-in and help present your race in a different light, more's the better.

[Beelzebubba]

Conversely if you're a 20 y.o. 1st level Elf, you're as physically and mentally mature as a human 18 y.o., but socially not considered an adult. And wont be for 80 years, until you're in you're human physical equivalent of your 30s. IIRC it's not explicit what that means, but IMO at the minimum it's the way 30-40 year old humans think of teenagers.

I emphasize that to players of Elves, whom I give the option to start as an 'adult' (100+), but strongly encourage to start in their 20s, same as any other race. Especially if they're not already middle aged IRL.

I guess that's why I'm having so much fun with my 125-year old Elf. I'm the oldest at the table by a decade, so the bemusement is coming naturally.

But, part of the fun of role playing is to take on different personas. Would you dissuade anyone at your table from playing as a 65-year old human? Or just the ones that don't have the mental flexibility to play the role well? One of our 25-something players does that, and he's hilariously befuddled and grouchy.


I've always wondered why Elves adventure at all. Like, the baron's daughter got kidnapped. So what? She'll be dead in a paltry 60 years anyway. Might as well weave a basket.

It does require a good reason. IMO that's why a good meta-plot that threatens their delicately balanced home land is so useful. Or some background hook that involves a quest of some kind. Boredom only goes so far.

[JackPhoenix]

On-topic, one Elf idea...

- All Elves are female (per the OP).

- All Dwarves are male (just ask the beards).

- They are one species with extreme sexual dimorphism.

- The reason the party's elf and dwarf always bicker is because they are married.

I once did this, except with orcs, but eventually scrapped it as it sounded too magic realm-y.

As far as elven reproduction is concerned, elves in (one of) my setting(s) don't reproduce at all. They are immortal fey, but they can still be killed and when they need to replenish their numbers, they steal human children and slowly turn them into another elf. They are *not* popular amongst humans, but they have glamour ability to disguise themselves (basically Disguise Self at will). They are also sensitive to iron to the point they can't use iron and steel equipment without disadvantages on relevant checks, wearing iron armor will slowly kill them and contact with iron will disrupt their magic.

In another setting, dwarves are made from living stone. They are elementals, not humanoids. They are immortal, genderless (but they look masculline), have no beards or hair, don't drink alcohol and consume certain minerals instead of normal food. They are still underground-living master stone- and metalcrafters, and they are dying race thanks to the war with elven-equivalent leading to the death of those who knew how to awaken/create more dwarves. They absolutely hate elves as a result (in fact, "elf" is dwarven insult that caught up amongst humans) and they taught humans how to make iron weapons just so they could fight elves more effectively (elves in that settings are different, but they still have the iron sensitivity, except in this case, it's caused by a dwarven curse upon their race).

[BW022]

Sir cryosin,

I'll agree with others... making weird things doesn't make things feel exotic... it just makes them weird.

If you want to make something unique and interesting, you need to spend the time, effort, and imagination on little things. Whether races, or countries, or ethnic backgrounds, or religions, etc. making it "weird" doesn't make it interesting... in fact it often gets the opposite effect.

If you want elves (or anything else) interesting, you'll need to spend the time writing meaningful encounters which specifically craft the feel you want. You need to spend the time working in little things -- speech patterns, what the houses look like, what the political structure, clothing styles, weather, etc. You may need pages of notes and spell each encounter out with specific descriptions, possibly pictures, and pre-planned reactions, etc. You may have to write for the specific party and plan reactions and descriptions from their (limited) points of view and knowledge. If you take the time, you can make mundane things unique and interesting.

Players are generally familiar with elves. That is good. It provides a basic foundation and this brings in a level of suspension of disbelief which making them "weird" usually ruins. You only need to work in small details they wouldn't know and you can build a sense of wonder around small differences of what is a logical result of things players (but possibly not their characters) would know.

Write specific, small scale encounters. Include insane amounts of detail -- clothing, hairstyles, manors, food, they way they relate to each other, and only 'hint' at things which players might know but seem revealing to their characters.

[KorvinStarmast]

So the high elf's in my world are all females. If a player wants to play a male high elf they can but other high elf's will not look at them speak to them or have anything thing to do with them. When a high elf enters into there mating state they seek out a male that they believe will be able to produce offspring easily and mate with him be him human or wood elf. After the mother finds out she is pregnant she will start singing a magical song called "the child birth" this magical song changes all non high elf DNA to high elf and make sure it's born a female. And high elf that's gives birth to a male is either asked to get rid of the baby or be banished from all dealings with high elf's. Wood elf's are gender less untel they are sexually excited. Then they will produce the appropriate genitals opposite of their partner. All wood elf's look alike as kids. But when they start puberty they start growing features to look like there ideal selfs with keeping elven features.
Did you borrow this idea from Ursula K LeGuin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Left_Hand_of_Darkness)?

[Sir cryosin]

Did you borrow this idea from Ursula K LeGuin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Left_Hand_of_Darkness)?

Never heard of him thanks for the link.

[Tanarii]

I guess that's why I'm having so much fun with my 125-year old Elf. I'm the oldest at the table by a decade, so the bemusement is coming naturally. Sounds perfect then.


But, part of the fun of role playing is to take on different personas. Would you dissuade anyone at your table from playing as a 65-year old human? Or just the ones that don't have the mental flexibility to play the role well? One of our 25-something players does that, and he's hilariously befuddled and grouchy.Nope. I encourage players to play what fits the campaign setting's tone best. Followed by things that might fit their personality well, if I know them well enough. I try not to actively dissuade things that are not barred. Although that's a fine line when I'm encouraging the opposite, and can easily be viewed the other way. IMO this is one of the times when intent counts. :smallwink:

[Beelzebubba]

Never heard of him thanks for the link.

Her.

Ursula is a her.

[KorvinStarmast]

Never heard of him thanks for the link. The book's not very long, I read it within the last five years (finally) and is one of the better SF treatments of androgyny I've ever read. No wonder she won an award for the book. If you want to do that thing with wood elves, you could do a lot worse than read her book and see how she folded that characteristic into the interactions with a human, to whom this was a very strange thing. Might give you some ideas.

(And it's a pretty good story all around in any case: she's a good writer).

[AttilatheYeon]

A little kneeding, maybe add scales for textural differences. 😉

[MadBear]

Would you risk your life for a man on only has 2 years left to live because of a disease?

Elves probably see it worthwhile to not make a short life even shorter if they can help it.

Im not communicating my point well, let me try again.

You answer your question sure if be happy to help another human even if he had only 2 years left. But the point is, he's still human. I can relate to him in a way that I can't with a gerbil.

The whole idea is to find a way to differentiate elves so they're less human with pointy ears.

I think them being a bit more detached to short lived things helps with that. Now, your average adventurer elf might be different, but the normal elf probably isn't.

That's not to say they don't care at all. Just they probably arent likely to put themselves in danger for it.

Ex. A horde of orcs is ravaging the human country side. The king goes to the elves to seeks an alliance to not only push the orcs back, but kill the leader once and for all. He even promises gold and plunder.

The even king scoffs, orcs have been in these lands as long as the world is old. All speciess wax and wane, as the world changes. It's not worth the loss of precious even lives to stop this threat. It's not that he hates the humans are loves the orcs, but both are just party of an ever shifting realm, which only long lived creatures like elves can appreciate.

( I mean would you risk your life to stop a war between gerbils and rats? One is definitely more preferable them the other but it's not worth a loss of a single human life.)

He rebukes the kings alliance, but will happily sell him weapons since it won't put his men in danger.

[Justin Sane]

Relevant: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?258370-So-You-Want-To-Play-An-Elf-(3-5-Fluff)

[MadBear]

Relevant: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?258370-So-You-Want-To-Play-An-Elf-(3-5-Fluff)

I've never read that, thanks for the share, it was a great read.

[CaptainSarathai]

In my campaign, I went back to the source material for my Elves. In my campaign, Elves are 'Fey' and all other "elves" have diluted their blood somehow. Once you have more human than Elf blood, you are considered a Half Elf.
Their language is different, I describe it to my players by saying that Fey is to Elvish as Latin is to Italian. They might understand each other as having a common root, but that's all.
The Fey in my world (pureblood elves) are seasonal. They are divided into Courts and their powers wax and wane with the seasons. They are at their most deadly during the Solstice, when the 'Good' and 'Evil' courts overlap. Sometimes, this manifests as a Wild Hunt, when the Fey burst forth like a force of nature, sweeping across the land like a bunch of murderous college kids on spring break. They kill or ravage whatever they like, take whatever they want, drink and eat what they choose, basically treat the world beyond their borders like a cheap rental car. Anyone with even a drop of Elf blood in their veins feels the pull to join in these events (most disastrously for Half Elves, who's predominantly human physique often can't keep pace, and they will party themselves to death). Elves and Half Elves in my setting will occasionally chain themselves to the wall, or lock themselves in towers to prevent being swept up by the call of the hunt.
Even elves who venture into the Fey realm feel inexplicably at home, more and more content to stay for ever, and never leave.
The elves and Fey in my setting can deal with steel and iron, but "cold iron" does them in. Iron shaped without heating or tempering can lock down their magic and sap their vitality. Interestingly, denizens of the fey realm who are not Fey/Elves themselves, will wear cold iron charms as a way to equalize themselves with the dominant elves.
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Dwarfs in the setting are equally divided between "playable dwarfs" and an elitist NPC race of "true dwarfs."
A cataclysmic event drove the dwarfs from their ancestral home. The thought is that none returned, and they have lived as wanderers ever since. Still, the days of dwarfish past still call to them, and bid them to return to their abandoned halls beneath the mountains.
Here live the "true dwarfs," that you might call Duergar. They're not truly evil, so much as they are sociopathic. They lack empathy, or even morality, and are so wholly overcome by greed that they see all things as a transaction. Dwarf lives are the most valuable commodity behind only unspeakable wealth. Then gold and gems and treasure, then everyone else. This makes them natural slavers, as they will send legions of slaves into deadly tunnels to extract whatever ore they can, heedless of toxic fumes or impending cave-ins.
They are vain, petty, and selfish, playing out schemes in long-form. Only their strict Lawful bent, with harsh financial punishments (they have a price on dwarven life, and it's a high one) keep them from murdering their rivals. That said, the wealthiest dwarfs, who can afford to pay restitution for a slain kinsman, will gladly stoop to assassination and murder to suit their ends.
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Basically, don't make any race "a slightly more X,Y,Z human." Rather, send them so far down that path that it boggles the mind, and players find them unrelatable or reprehensible.
The first time a player thought he'd use Detect Evil to find the true-dwarfs and discover their intent, it fizzled. The dwarf turned his head and fixed him in a steely gaze;
"Do not dare to trifle me with your probing, Cleric. Good. Evil. We live beyond such irrational concepts - we leave them to the lesser races, the weak, crying out for some validation of their own stupidity.
No, we dwarfs are practical. All lives have value. Would you like to know what yours is worth?"

[smcmike]

Basically, don't make any race "a slightly more X,Y,Z human." Rather, send them so far down that path that it boggles the mind, and players find them unrelatable or reprehensible.
The first time a player thought he'd use Detect Evil to find the true-dwarfs and discover their intent, it fizzled. The dwarf turned his head and fixed him in a steely gaze;
"Do not dare to trifle me with your probing, Cleric. Good. Evil. We live beyond such irrational concepts - we leave them to the lesser races, the weak, crying out for some validation of their own stupidity.
No, we dwarfs are practical. All lives have value. Would you like to know what yours is worth?"

This is good stuff, and also highlights an issue with messing with the playable races: our common conceptions of the races allows players and DMs to create shared fiction. If you go messing around with the races unilaterally, you are going to be hurting player agency. I like CaptainSarathai's idea to keep the actual playable members of the races closer to "normal."

[Tessman the 2nd]

I made them different by making them rare, the party hasn't encountered a non-human in their "starting town"
Non-humans will have a different outlook and perspective past that of their upbringing(nature vs nurture)
A big part of making them feel different is making them consistent within their race(ironically the same)- a factor which all of the race exhibits
Or else they are just humans with ears or short stubby humans.
sometime stereotypes are really good and makes for role play really well,
when the players expect something from a certain race and it is true it is more engrossing,
defying this expectation should be done but not often.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Interesting problem.

My current character is a young elf. I added the young part at the end to let her be chaotic enough to be interesting. To stand out as non human:

She is slightly biased (racist?) against humans especially males.

Occasionally she blurts things out when the party is digging through an "ancient" crypt that is several hundred years old. Like, "how do you let things decay so quickly?"

Or that elves can't sleep around because doing so could stick you with a dependant for "hundreds of years".

I am waiting for the DM to throw some more typical calm and rational elf elders into the npc mix.

[Unoriginal]

Basically, don't make any race "a slightly more X,Y,Z human." Rather, send them so far down that path that it boggles the mind, and players find them unrelatable or reprehensible.
The first time a player thought he'd use Detect Evil to find the true-dwarfs and discover their intent, it fizzled. The dwarf turned his head and fixed him in a steely gaze;
"Do not dare to trifle me with your probing, Cleric. Good. Evil. We live beyond such irrational concepts - we leave them to the lesser races, the weak, crying out for some validation of their own stupidity.
No, we dwarfs are practical. All lives have value. Would you like to know what yours is worth?"

What edition did you use, out of curiosity? 'Cause in 5e the spell wouldn't have worked to do this even with regular dwarves from standard D&D


Interesting problem.

My current character is a young elf. I added the young part at the end to let her be chaotic enough to be interesting. To stand out as non human:

She is slightly biased (racist?) against humans especially males.

Occasionally she blurts things out when the party is digging through an "ancient" crypt that is several hundred years old. Like, "how do you let things decay so quickly?"

Or that elves can't sleep around because doing so could stick you with a dependant for "hundreds of years".

I am waiting for the DM to throw some more typical calm and rational elf elders into the npc mix.

Actually D&D elves are nearly always that kind of chaotic. "Calm and rational" is not something even the old elves have any reason to be.

Wonder if the idea that elves are calm and rational comes from the LotR movies' version of elves. In Tolkien's books, they are more the kind to troll their guests, laugh, party and get incredibly pissed for irrational things than anything. Though the elves of Lothlorian were kind of melancholic (which could be simply because Gandalf died just before).