Alternative appearances to races

[SeasideDruid]

If you think about it, there are a lot of different interpretations of different races, the biggest examples being elves, dwarves/gnomes, and especially goblins/kobolds. A lot of these have fallen under the category of fairy or sprite and cover a lot of different depictions and tales without a single defined appearance save for a few key details (dwarfs/gnomes=beards, goblins/kobolds=ugly, etc.).

I'd like to think that there is a plethora of different appearances and variations a race can have while still remain in their respective species.

An example would be of a goblin. Certain folklore talk about goblins that live in caves and are covered in hair. Maybe these goblins can have bat-like features and fur with little animal-like claws and fingers.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EDn88YlWkAEE7J6?format=jpg&name=900x900

Norse texts talk of dark elves and dwarves being one and the same. Maybe certain deep gnomes are beardless and live near dwarves.

I wanna know what other people think of this. I've seen other takes on what an alternative look to a race might be but I want other ideas.

[Corsair14]

Much more simplistic, I have always played and ran elves as being tall and willowy, Tolkien elves. Sometimes with players new to me they play midget elves and in game are shocked by all my 6'-6'6" elves. Never understood where DnD got the whole midget elf concept from.

[SeasideDruid]

Much more simplistic, I have always played and ran elves as being tall and willowy, Tolkien elves. Sometimes with players new to me they play midget elves and in game are shocked by all my 6'-6'6" elves. Never understood where DnD got the whole midget elf concept from.

In European mythologies they are often associates with gnomes, hobgoblins, and fairies, so that might have something to do with it. Also in some media they are depicted as short like in Elf Quest or Ralph Bakshi's movie "Wizards" (which i highly recommend) as well as more modern films like Harry Potter, Disenchantment, and most Christmas movies.

[cajbaj]

In my current setting there's not significant difference between "races" of a type. E.G. Elves, gnomes, picked, etc. are all the same species (Fey), just different races, like humans of different nationality.

The species of the setting are basically
Beast
Fey
Giant
Dragon
Fiend
Celestial
Elemental
Abberation

The species is determined by what planet the creature originates on. Dwarves and Goliaths are from Jötunnheim, for instance.

[jjordan]

Go for it. In my game orcs and elves look different (as do dragonborn) and there are reasons for this that play into the lore of the world.

[Magicspook]

Maybe not entirely within the bounds of this thread (as they are not reskinned races from official modules), but my setting, which is inspired by celtic mythology, has:

-pech: little goblins from scottisch mythology, I imagined these guys as mole-like in appearance, with bad eyesight and tremorsense. They fill the niche that dwarves do in the FR.
-Hobs: essentially house-elves from HP meets amish culture. Some hobs live in human communities and are called brownies. They help their host family around the house or with their trade. Others live a nomadic life in wheeled houses in tight-knit communities, trading with human settlements. They mostly resemble halflings.
-Fomorians: never mind the ugly giants from the MM. These goat-headed humanoids ruled a great empire once, opressing humans when they came to the continent. A human rebellion and subsequent wars with the fey finally brought their empire low, driving the survivors into the forests.
-mossmen: although actually from germanic folklore rather than celtic, these guys were too good to pass up. They resemble homanoids made up of twisted roots and sport mossy beards. They mostly keep to themselves so they are only known from myth by most people.

[Comaward]

Well . . . In my homebrew setting, Orcs are a subrace of halflings.
Yes, they have green skin and black hair like normal, but their average height is 3 foot 6 inches.

At least, it would be, if they also didn’t walk on all fours.

[EggKookoo]

Go for it. In my game orcs and elves look different (as do dragonborn) and there are reasons for this that play into the lore of the world.

Same. In my current setting, demihuman PC races tend to be somewhat animalistic. Elves are vaguely fawn-like, with spot patterns on their faces (some very subtle) and gentle tufts on the tips of their ears. Tieflings lean more toward the bestial than the hellish (antlers instead of horns, and some have feathers). Half-orcs are essentially upright gorillas, maybe with a tad less fur and slightly more human faces. But I've also altered the lore behind all these guys, so the change is more than skin deep.

[Particle_Man]

Well it says in core that halflings could be reinterpreted as anthropomorphic mice without changing stats, so there is that. Maybe elves could be anthropomorphic cats.

[Urukubarr]

I almost always let my players reflavor races if they want (up to a point) as long as its understood that (A) race bonuses do not change, and (B) the world still knows and reacts to them appropriate to the race, IE if your a gorgeous half orc that looks nothing like the traditional half orc, a group of people that hate half orcs still recognize you as one and hate you. so far everyone has been perfectly fine with this.

[unusualsuspect]

Orc and Gnome's Mild Adventures, a webcomic that's relatively easy to find, has a unique take on several races and their cultures, perhaps most notably on kobolds (https://ogmacomic.com/journal/3).