Mongrelfolk -- is there a better word?

[Malimar]

So my setting has a huge population of mongrelfolk -- what you get when you put every race/species/ancestry together and shake well -- the mongrelfolk population is large because nobody had a distinct homeland for 500 years, so it's like those optimistic sci-fi futures where everybody's kind of a nonspecific beigey brown. They're called mongrelfolk because in D&D3.5e, when I first started this setting, that's what they were called. (5e doesn't have them as a specific race, but it does have the Tasha's rules for Custom Lineage, so I just point that at anybody who wants to play one.)

But I don't love the name "mongrelfolk". Honestly, it smells kind of slur-ish, which I don't love, even if it's not a slur that's ever been used for any actual humans in history (I don't think it is, but if it is, multiply that complaint by a thousand). And it has confused at least a couple players into thinking it means dog-people.

Are there any better names out there, or words with which we might be able to concoct a replacement name?

"Muttfolk" has the same "oh, dog-people?" problem, but more so. Most of the other candidates I can think of are, or have historically been used as, slurs, which I want to stay at least an extendable 11-foot pole length away from.

[Reversefigure4]

Well, it -is- slurr-ish, because it's a name predicated off their bloodline. Anything like it is going to be a slur. Mudbloods, half-breeds, mutts, mongrelfolk... These are all going to be names that at least -started- as slurs from their enemies. Even applied to actual dogs, mongrel is a term to describe their lack of pure breeding.

Even a more neutral name like the Mixed, Combos, Blended, Melting Pots or Amalgams has the same air, but gets away from the dogpeople thing.

Alternatively, try something related to their many places of origin as opposed to their blood. The Manygrounds, the Omnis (omnipresent), the Homeblurred, etc.

[Anonymouswizard]

'Humans' :smalltongue:

[Vahnavoi]

Heteromorph or polymorph, if they happen to vary greatly in characteristics. Alternatively, if it's them who are all kinda the same, they could be homomorphs or monomorphs, while less mixed lineages are heteromorphs. Depends on who forms the majority or baseline for comparison.

If they are the overwhelming majority, they could just be people or folk.

[ciopo]

Find a nice nonsense word that flows nicely, like, I don't know, Lorelei.

When your player asks about it, say it just means people in fantasylanguage #4726

Nouns needs not be descriptive :)

[Pauly]

‘Mongrelfolk’ is what people of ‘pure blood’ would call them. Which makes sense in a 3.5 world where they would be a minority.

However the question you are asking is “what would they call themselves?”
The most common answer would be they would call themselves after:
- the political entity they belong to;
- the area they are in;
- the religion they follow.
Whatever it is that unifies them in the absence of ethnicity as a unifying social force.
Fantasy is full of such peoples calling themselves something like the lost or the folorn, but I see that as dramatic license and I can’t recall an historical precedent for such a self naming.

[Luccan]

Conceptually I find them fascinating but yeah, it'd absolutely be considered a slur and nothing that identifies them as mixed won't sound that way. Especially when applied to an entire population.


‘Mongrelfolk’ is what people of ‘pure blood’ would call them. Which makes sense in a 3.5 world where they would be a minority.

However the question you are asking is “what would they call themselves?”
The most common answer would be they would call themselves after:
- the political entity they belong to;
- the area they are in;
- the religion they follow.
Whatever it is that unifies them in the absence of ethnicity as a unifying social force.
Fantasy is full of such peoples calling themselves something like the lost or the folorn, but I see that as dramatic license and I can’t recall an historical precedent for such a self naming.

Follow up to this, do they even have something that unifies them? Or is the large population simply an end result of everyone being able to procreate with each other? Because it's distinctly possible that if the concept of "being an elf" still exists, you'd get any folk living in an elven kingdom with elven ancestry identifying as such. Like: "Sure, we share a lot ancestrally with those other guys from Dwarfheim, but they're dwarves and we're elves."

Edit: Guess that's not helpful to explaining the concept, but the thing is explaining the concept is going to be better than giving them an indicative name anyway. Doesn't matter what you call them, you'll still have to explain that in this setting it means that you've got ancestry from everyone and that it isn't that weird to be that way and that it means you use Custom Ancestry rules for character building

[Millstone85]

I like the word "eclectic". It means heterogeneous but with the idea of taking the best of everything.

They could call themselves that or something made-up from it, like "eclectians".

[Cactus]

I suggest hybrid.

[KorvinStarmast]

but it does have the Tasha's rules for Custom Lineage, so I just point that at anybody who wants to play one.) Muttfolk is fine, and it's simple to say. Or you could use "Mixies"

However the question you are asking is “what would they call themselves?” But do they actually self identify as the same group?
Mixies still works. Plus it fits with the fairly absurd fantasy worlds that tend to be what D&D is played in.

For Ciopo: Lorelei is not a nonsense word. It comes from German folks stories/mythology. (It's also a great song by the band Styx (https://youtu.be/srEP-vvhTvY)).

Lorelei...German legend of a beautiful maiden who threw herself into the Rhine River in despair over a faithless lover and was transformed into a siren who lured fishermen to destruction. The myth is associated with a large rock named Lorelei, which stands on the bank of the Rhine River near Sankt Goarshausen, Germany, and is known for producing an echo. The essentials of the legend were created by German writer Clemens Brentano in his ballad “Zu Bacharach am Rheine” (“To Bacharach on the Rhine”), which first appeared in his novel Godwi (1800–02). Lorelei became the subject of a number of literary works and songs; the poem “Die Loreley” (1824) by Heinrich Heine was set to music by more than 25 composers.

[Psyren]

Amalgants
Combles/Comples
Hodges/Podges
Kaleidons
Accretons
Cumulates

[Metastachydium]

I'm not sure "incredibly transparent, etymologically speaking, but possibly with a random affix thrown in" is the way I'd go. But then, sound salad is not neccessarily that much better in most respects if you ask me. How about some manner of middle ground?

You are a DUCKY (I like birds) and live in a pond! I'll assume so do your players. Maybe they are duckies too. Duckies are nice (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1037.html). Why don't you pick a language that sounds cool to you but isn't commonly spoken by duckies in your pond and borrow a word from it that denotes some vaguely related concept, isn't offensive and sounds good to you?

I'll make a bold assumption: say, your pond has few if any native speakers of Chuvash. If so, you can, say, pick something like Urata. Urata is a transliteration of the Chuvash word for 'threshhold'. It fits, because it describes something (literally) liminal, where two something-somethings meet and open into each other. And it sounds just like a fantasy word for a fantasy being to any uninitiated Western ear.

[Willie the Duck]

Find a nice nonsense word that flows nicely, like, I don't know, Lorelei.

When your player asks about it, say it just means people in fantasylanguage #4726

Nouns needs not be descriptive :)

Definitely. Or, if this species is thematically supposed to in-game face some prejudice, go the Muggles/Mudblood route and have a nonsense name and a vaguely weird-sounding deliberate slur. Such as maybe 'Lorelei' and 'beige-folk.'

[Grim Portent]

The Edge Chronicles books called their version of a many-heritage race Fourthlings,* as they came from all four corners of the world. For this particular premise it might work.


*They basically just look like humans with pointy ears, but most other races in those books look like they're made of potatoes.

[KorvinStarmast]

*They basically just look like humans with pointy ears, but most other races in those books look like they're made of potatoes. Elves Takes fewer letters and fewer syllables to express. :smallyuk:

[Ionathus]

If they are the overwhelming majority, they could just be people or folk.

This is my thought. If they’re the majority in your setting, just establish that and run with it - they would just be “people” and everyone else who ISN’T fully melting-pot would be given funky maybe-derogatory epithets.

[KorvinStarmast]

This is my thought. If they’re the majority in your setting, just establish that and run with it - they would just be “people” and everyone else who ISN’T fully melting-pot would be given funky maybe-derogatory epithets. Like "Pointers" for elves. :smallyuk:

[Luccan]

Like "Pointers" for elves. :smallyuk:

I feel like fantasy writers have produced enough slurs for elves. I'd like it if they stopped

[Grim Portent]

Elves Takes fewer letters and fewer syllables to express. :smallyuk:

Eh, other than the ears they really don't have any elf-like visual traits once they stop being basically kids. They look more like humans with goblin features in them.* Older ones have things like floppy ear-tips, bulbous craniums, high foreheards and so on.

*Which is basically what they are, the vast bulk of the races in the setting are goblins, troggs, trolls and other such things. How it all averages out to make humans when they interbreed for enough generations is beyond me tbh. The artist who worked on the books loved his weird lumpy bumpy creatures.

[Telok]

Mutie or CHUD. But then I'm a traditionalist who remembers mongrelfolk from AD&D. Where they looked like the two right most images here: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mongrelfolk

[Pauly]

For Ciopo: Lorelei is not a nonsense word. It comes from German folks stories/mythology. (It's also a great song by the band Styx (https://youtu.be/srEP-vvhTvY)).

An even better song is the Gershwin song of the same name as sung by Ella Fitzgerald

[Maat Mons]

I really like that “mixies” idea. You could also try something like “neofolk.”

From a realism perspective, the races that had low population and low birth rate going into this melting pot aren’t going to wind up as a significant part of the gene pie. I would predict the result would be primarily a mix of human, goblin, and kobold. And maybe nezumi if they’re in the setting.

Well, okay, reptiles hybridizing with mammals may be a bit farfetched. Probably kobolds would continue to be their own thing. But they’d be going plenty strong. Those guys reach adulthood at age 6 and don’t become middle aged until 60. That’s a lot of time spent in the prime of life for very little initial investment.

[KorvinStarmast]

An even better song is the Gershwin song of the same name as sung by Ella Fitzgerald Ooh. Thank you! Nice one. :smallsmile:

At Maat Mons: Glad someone liked it.
I think the neofolk very usable as well.


Eh, other than the ears they really don't have any elf-like visual traits once they stop being basically kids. They look more like humans with goblin features in them.* Older ones have things like floppy ear-tips, bulbous craniums, high foreheards and so on. Vulcan elves. :smallyuk:

[mucat]

If they are the overwhelming majority, they could just be people or folk.
I agree; if most people have mixed ancestry, then they would be called "people". The ones who stand out, and thus would have specific terms, would be the OG dwarves, elves, humans, etc (who might be called this, or something completely new.) Those with mixed blood but noticeable dwarven (for example) traits might be called 'stoutfolk', but still thought of as different from (and possibly more 'normal' than) those reclusive purebred dwarves up in the high mountains.

Just as we do on Earth, specific subpopulations would call themselves and one other all sorts of overlapping names, based on their home city or nation, their religion, their profession or way of life, their favorite sports team, or whatever else caught their imagination.

Some scientists and historians might be aware that the familiar mixed-ancestry people are actually a fairly recent development, geologically speaking, and that there was a time when nearly everyone was distinctly human, gnomish, elvish, etc. So there might be a scholarly term for the new population, but like homo sapiens in our world, it would rarely be heard in day-to-day conversation.

[ciopo]

reminds me of when I was playing some cooperative action rpg videogame (deathtrap) with a serbian friend of mine, and she had a massive fit of giggles when presented with a hordeish mob/monster, called Rusalka

Rusalka apparently means blondie in serbian/slavic, and according ot her it's slightly slurry, slighty in the same way that some culture associate blondie with ditzy.

to me Rusalka was a nonsense noun

[Millstone85]

The ones who stand out, and thus would have specific terms, would be the OG dwarves, elves, humans, etc (who might be called this, or something completely new.)Some races could easily end up lumped under another:

"goblins", without "oid", include bugbears and hobgoblins.
"humans" include dwarves, elves, gnomes and halflings.
"lizardfolk" include dragonborn, kobolds, tortles and yuan-ti.
"tieflings" include aasimar, genasi and other planetouched.

[Vahnavoi]

reminds me of when I was playing some cooperative action rpg videogame (deathtrap) with a serbian friend of mine, and she had a massive fit of giggles when presented with a hordeish mob/monster, called Rusalka

Rusalka apparently means blondie in serbian/slavic, and according ot her it's slightly slurry, slighty in the same way that some culture associate blondie with ditzy.

to me Rusalka was a nonsense noun

"Rusalka" also happens to be a Slavic term for a water spirit, derived from Latin "Rosalia". There may be some etymological connection to Serbian use, it is common for related languages to have different meanings for words that share a root. It also occasionally happens that unrelated languages have similar-shaped or sounding words that mean wildly different things.

This also means some words that are slurs or otherwise obscene in one language, can be entirely innocent in another. Which is why I don't personally worry about my invented words being offensive to someone somewhere.

[Pauly]

I agree; if most people have mixed ancestry, then they would be called "people". .

That’s very common iIRL. Lots of cultures refer to themselves as ‘the people’ or something similar and then have names for different outside groups. Similarly a lot of cultures word for ‘foreigner’ is best transcribed into English as ‘not one of us’.

[Vahnavoi]

In quite a few languages, the word for "foreigner" is a compound word similar to "outsider" or "outlander". A dictionary informs me "outlandish" was used for this purpose in English before being replaced by other words; the fact that "outlandish" these days means "odd" or "bizarre" tells everything you need to know about how English viewed the outlandish. :smallamused:

[Beelzebub1111]

I suppose they'd call themselves whatever their country is called. If they formed the "Nation of Blarg" they would call themselves "Blargites" or "Blarglanders", probably insisting that others would call them that as well.

[Metastachydium]

Some races could easily end up lumped under another:

"goblins", without "oid", include bugbears and hobgoblins.
"humans" include dwarves, elves, gnomes and halflings.
"lizardfolk" include dragonborn, kobolds, tortles and yuan-ti.
"tieflings" include aasimar, genasi and other planetouched.


(In a setting I'm working on, Elves, Orcs and Goblinoids are all considered species of Elves; Bugbears don't exist as such, but the word is used as a slur against Quaggoths. Quaggoths are not amused.)

[KorvinStarmast]

Some races could easily end up lumped under another:

"goblins", without "oid", include bugbears and hobgoblins.
"humans" include dwarves, elves, gnomes and halflings.
"lizardfolk" include dragonborn, kobolds, tortles and yuan-ti.
"tieflings" include aasimar, genasi and other planetouched.

I think your last line is not quite apt, but I generally like the point you made there.
I think it would have scanned better something like this.

"planetouched" include Tiefling, aasimar, genasi, and others of outsider lineage.

"Rusalka" also happens to be a Slavic term for a water spirit, derived from Latin "Rosalia". There may be some etymological connection to Serbian use, it is common for related languages to have different meanings for words that share a root. I suspect that it was ported in via the Croation branch of the Serbo-Croatian language, given the influence of Latin on the heavy influence of the Roman church in Croatia and the heavy influence of the Greek church among Serbs ... but that's a guess.

Lots of cultures refer to themselves as ‘the people’ or something similar and then have names for different outside groups. IIRC, that's where the Greek root of the term Barbarian comes from.

Similarly a lot of cultures word for ‘foreigner’ is best transcribed into English as ‘not one of us’. In Italy, I recall stranieri being the term for foreigners like me, and it sounded a lot to my ear like "stranger". And there's a Scots term that got tossed about in the Outlander miniseries (senachem?) that my wife and I enjoyed one season of.

I suppose they'd call themselves whatever their country is called. If they formed the "Nation of Blarg" they would call themselves "Blargites" or "Blarglanders", probably insisting that others would call them that as well. Presuming that nations are a thing in that setting. (The nation state is a comparatively recent phenomenon, but city states are certainly a great model for most FRPGs...such as the City State of the Invincible Overlord, Judges Guild, which I need to get a D&D 5e version of).

Quaggoths are not amused.) I never had in my head the idea that a Quaggoth had a sense of humor, but thanks to your post, I am going to change that head canon. Of cours a Quaggoth can appreciate a joke, what was I thinking?

[Metastachydium]

I think your last line is not quite apt, but I generally like the point you made there.
I think it would have scanned better something like this.

"planetouched" include Tiefling, aasimar, genasi, and others of outsider lineage.

Not really, no. Tortles are lizardfolk to the same degree that genasi are tieflings. The group at large is named after a lazily picked cohyponym in all other examples Millstone gave. Why does it only bother you here?

[Maat Mons]

Okay, I looked up the demographics of the Forgotten Realms. In that setting, if you threw all the surface-dwelling (i.e., non-underdark) folks into a big melting pot, everybody would average out to be 80% human, 5% dwarf, 5% elf, 5% halfling, 2% orc, 1% gnoll, 0.5% gnome, and 0.5% goblin. Apparently, the creators of Faerun aren’t fond of kobolds.

[Metastachydium]

Okay, I looked up the demographics of the Forgotten Realms. In that setting, if you threw all the surface-dwelling (i.e., non-underdark) folks into a big melting pot, everybody would average out to be 80% human, 5% dwarf, 5% elf, 5% halfling, 2% orc, 1% gnoll, 0.5% gnome, and 0.5% goblin. Apparently, the creators of Faerun aren’t fond of kobolds.

From what I can tell, most published official settings (but especially Realms and Greyhawk) aren't terribly fond of anybody other than Humans.

[Millstone85]

I think your last line is not quite apt, but I generally like the point you made there.
I think it would have scanned better something like this.

"planetouched" include Tiefling, aasimar, genasi, and others of outsider lineage.To clarify, the layman would only know of goblins, humans, lizardfolk and tieflings. They wouldn't know that a tall goblin is actually a hobgoblin, which is one of three types of goblinoid. Planetouched would likewise be a very academical term.

[KorvinStarmast]

Not really, no. Tortles are lizardfolk to the same degree that genasi are tieflings. The group at large is named after a lazily picked cohyponym in all other examples Millstone gave. Why does it only bother you here? General to specific is what I was looking at. Tiefling and aasimar are two related lineages with bloodlines from differing planes. An aasimar is not a subset of tiefling, nor is a genasi. But all of them are plane touched (be it inner or outer) in one way or another.

[Metastachydium]

General to specific is what I was looking at. Tiefling and aasimar are two related lineages with bloodlines from differing planes. An aasimar is not a subset of tiefling, nor is a genasi. But all of them are plane touched (be it inner or outer) in one way or another.

That's exactly what I said. Cohyponyms. Just as a turtle and a lizard are cohyponyms as specific, but not interchangeable categories within reptile. It's exactly the same pattern in all examples.

[KorvinStarmast]

Okay, I looked up the demographics of the Forgotten Realms. In that setting, if you threw all the surface-dwelling (i.e., non-underdark) folks into a big melting pot, everybody would average out to be 80% human, 5% dwarf, 5% elf, 5% halfling, 2% orc, 1% gnoll, 0.5% gnome, and 0.5% goblin. Apparently, the creators of Faerun aren’t fond of kobolds.

From what I can tell, most published official settings (but especially Realms and Greyhawk) aren't terribly fond of anybody other than Humans. FWIW, all players are human, and a humano centric world is the easiest to get into (conceptually). (Humans with hats discussion begins here, I guess).

To clarify, the layman would only know of goblins, humans, lizardfolk and tieflings. They wouldn't know that a tall goblin is actually a hobgoblin, which is one of three types of goblinoid. Planetouched would likewise be a very academical term. Perhaps I was looking at it a bit more taxonomically?

[Metastachydium]

FWIW, all players are human, and a humano centric world is the easiest to get into (conceptually). (Humans with hats discussion begins here, I guess).

Most likely, yes. (I don't love it, though.)


Perhaps I was looking at it a bit more taxonomically?

Again, the other examples follow the same pattern, and taxonomically, a turtle is less a lizard than a half-human is another half-human.

[Millstone85]

Perhaps I was looking at it a bit more taxonomically?We are in the opposite dynamic, where all the branches are now getting tangled. So even if someone has a recognizably scaly look, chances are they are still descended from a mix of scaly races instead of one. This might lead to many people forgetting what a dragonborn was and even being unable to recognize the difference when they meet one.

Edit: But I see now that, realistic or not, "Everyone uses that word wrong" is too annoying to be good worldbuilding.

[KorvinStarmast]

Edit: But I see now that, realistic or not, "Everyone uses that word wrong" is too annoying to be good worldbuilding. Mixies is still worth a ponder.

[Metastachydium]

Mixies is still worth a ponder.

It either sounds silly, or like the name of a yet undiscovered kind of Sprite, though. (Probably the cucumber one. (I'll show myself out.))

[KorvinStarmast]

It either sounds silly, or like the name of a yet undiscovered kind of Sprite, though. (Probably the cucumber one. (I'll show myself out.)) Wait a sec, they made a cucumber flavor of Sprite? :smalleek:

[Telwar]

How about Melange?

(Bonus points if there's a really common spice for them...)

[Metastachydium]

Wait a sec, they made a cucumber flavor of Sprite? :smalleek:

You didn't know? Lucky man! Of a blissful life!

[Cluedrew]

The Edge Chronicles books called their version of a many-heritage race Fourthlings,* as they came from all four corners of the world. For this particular premise it might work.That one hopped to mind for me too. That stayed with me, even though I found the Edge Chronicles to be a bit all over the place.

For instance, the world in the Edge Chronicles distinctly has three corners, not four, so the name doesn't actually work in universe. (OK, smaller rectangular maps still exist, I mean after all, the expression is originally from a world with zero corners.)

[Deepbluediver]

Find a nice nonsense word that flows nicely, like, I don't know, Lorelei.

When your player asks about it, say it just means people in fantasylanguage #4726

Nouns needs not be descriptive :)

Make up a word in any language other than common like Elvish or Dwarfish that you like the sound of, and then translate it any way you prefer. Like, claim it's halflingese for "people with many grandparents" or whatever nonsense floats your boat.

[Mechalich]

It's highly probable, in this situation that the 'mongrelfolk' would simply continue to use the name of whatever the dominant constituent species sourced their genetic material originally was. In most D&D-related cases that's going to be humans. As mentioned, a setting like FR is upwards of 80% human, and therefore mixing in a whole lot of dwarf, elf, gnome, and other species genetics is going to lead to a much more diverse population of human-hybrids who have bits and pieces of genes inherited from other species, just as modern Homo sapiens have bit and pieces of genetic material from Neanderthals and Denisovans. This is a fantasy situation, so the level of physiological variability may be quite high, but that's likely to be considered normal in-universe.

As such, these people will probably still call themselves humans. Instead, it will be the relict populations of non-hybridized humans who will find themselves obligated to adopt a different name.

[Witty Username]

I have this quote from Dr. Who cropping up in my mind:


Oh you have humanoids, demi-humans, even humanish,but you know what I call them, mongrels.

Drawing from that, human is a fair call, although you may have a radical faction that regects that notion - but anything from that line of thinking will sound slurry

Humanish, or near-human (term from the Star Wars d20 RPG for aliens that are mechanically human) would be ones to use, or in sci-fi's people will tend to identify with groups they have strong feelings for, which could get you the normal race stuff as identifiers.

I like metals and have been playing Elden Ring lately, so Mercurials could be something if you just want a word, quicksilver being associated with having a fluid nature.

[Tanarii]

'Humans' :smalltongue:
I've been reading the Taltos series recently, where elves are called 'Humans' and humans are called Easterners, at least in elven lands.

I kinda like the idea that the dominant species calls itself 'humans', especially when they're arrogant and think they're superior. :smallamused:

[Grim Portent]

That one hopped to mind for me too. That stayed with me, even though I found the Edge Chronicles to be a bit all over the place.

For instance, the world in the Edge Chronicles distinctly has three corners, not four, so the name doesn't actually work in universe. (OK, smaller rectangular maps still exist, I mean after all, the expression is originally from a world with zero corners.)

I think the idea is that originally everyone lived in the Deepwoods, which does have four corners, and the guy who came up with the name had only ever lived in the woods and to him and his people it was the entire world. IIRC it was sometime after the Fourthlings first arose from a multi-racial society in the woods that they then spread out past the Twilight Woods and eventually settled on the Edge itself. It is a recurrant theme that the various mono-culture groups in the woods are generally content to live in their villages and not travel much, but Fourthlings wander a lot.

Of the 'huh?' parts of worldbuilding it's actually not an unreasonable one. I still have no idea how the mire hasn't become a plain of rock and rivers, I'm pretty sure the map has it constantly falling off the edge, and there's nowhere for new mud to be coming from.


Another option would be a familiarised form of Mongrelfolk, assuming they were ever called it by the other races to introduce the term, in a similar fashion to various slurs that have been adopted as terms of familiarity, kinship or even endearment in some real world minority groups. Not going to give examples for obvious reasons, but I'm sure we can all think of a few.

I can't think of any ways to do it with Mongrelfolk specifically mind you, a lot of what comes to my mind veers awfully close to things that aren't appropriate for a number of reasons.

[DammitVictor]

Old School Essentials uses "mutoid" and changes their background to magical/random mutation instead of... yeah.

[KorvinStarmast]

Old School Essentials uses "mutoid" and changes their background to magical/random mutation instead of... yeah.While that's a good descriptive, I wonder if a group would self-identify as such.
I like mixies better, and have decided to tuck that away for future use. I thank to OP for asking this question as it got me to arrive at that pseudo-neologism.

[Psyren]

Of the ones I proposed I'm most partial to Amalgant, Cumulate and Kaleidon.

"Mixie" sounds like a slang term, possibly even a slur that other species would use for them I think. (Which isn't a bad thing to have in-universe, but a bit too simplistic/pithy for them to use with themselves, imo.)

[Prime32]

Old School Essentials uses "mutoid" and changes their background to magical/random mutation instead of... yeah.
So, 3e Fiend Folio describes them as "hideous creatures descended from generations of crossbreeding among the worst examples of many species", and then Races of Destiny says that those ones are the exception and most are just incredibly nondescript, open-minded people who live everywhere.

But according to the Forgotten Realms wiki (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mongrelfolk), they originally weren't the result of crossbreeding at all, and are instead the offspring of doppelganger-like beings (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mongrelman_infiltrator) whose bodies are stuck midway between multiple forms. More like the Chimera Ants from Hunter X Hunter than anything.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/0/0f/Mongrelman-1e.jpg

[KorvinStarmast]

... they originally weren't the result of crossbreeding at all, and are instead the offspring of doppelganger-like beings whose bodies are stuck midway between multiple forms.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/0/0f/Mongrelman-1e.jpg Looks like something that would come from a doppelganger trying to mate with a mimic.

[Grim Portent]

So, 3e Fiend Folio describes them as "hideous creatures descended from generations of crossbreeding among the worst examples of many species", and then Races of Destiny says that those ones are the exception and most are just incredibly nondescript, open-minded people who live everywhere.

But according to the Forgotten Realms wiki (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mongrelfolk), they originally weren't the result of crossbreeding at all, and are instead the offspring of doppelganger-like beings (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Mongrelman_infiltrator) whose bodies are stuck midway between multiple forms. More like the Chimera Ants from Hunter X Hunter than anything.

The latter explanation makes more sense imo, given that most of the myriad monstrous races that would contribute to the mongrelfolk's appearance are generally also the ones that aren't meant to hybridise in the first place. A kuo-toa, troglodyte and minotaur presumably cannot breed with one another for example, even should they be in the extremely weird situation that one or both prospective partners want to in the first place.

Them being the tragic byproduct of evil magic sidesteps the issue of 'why would their ancestors reproduce in the first place?' by making their ancestors shapeshifting spies with messed up genetics inherited from all their previous victims. Still doesn't really explain them having so many different traits, unless their progenitors were on a massive kill streak across multiple species, but at least you don't have to think about a goat-man and a fish-monster getting it on in the distant past.


I think if I were to use them they'd be a byproduct of magical experimentation, but in the sense of being made of the scraps of bodies harvested for research, alchemy and dark magic, which were then dumped in middens along with magical refuse. The random medley of magic caused the pieces to grow together and come back to a new, unbidden, life. No one wanted the mongrelfolk, they just happened because wizards wanted to test the alchemical properties of kobold eyes, minotaur spleens, kuo-toa bones and so on, and dumped the excess matter, which is to say dismembered corpses, away without thought or care for the dignity of their victims.


Looks like something that would come from a doppelganger trying to mate with a mimic.

To me the 1e art looks like the lovechild of Ben Grimm (The Thing) and a hippocampus wearing a damaged wolf mask.

2e is just the same art but slightly different.

3e is a really ugly goblin. Least interesting design by far.

5e looks like a badger-man with a duck foot.

[DammitVictor]

Looks like something that would come from a doppelganger trying to mate with a mimic.

You scoff, but when you're down in the dungeon... at least they are a great chest.

[Pauly]

Looks like something that would come from a doppelganger trying to mate with a mimic.

Who said doppelgängers can't be bards?

[Metastachydium]

a hippocampus

The hunched posture and pincer gave me Chuul vibes, honestly.

[LibraryOgre]

I've been reading the Taltos series recently, where elves are called 'Humans' and humans are called Easterners, at least in elven lands.

I kinda like the idea that the dominant species calls itself 'humans', especially when they're arrogant and think they're superior. :smallamused:

I've been reading Taltos, too; I'm up to Phoenix, in a release order.

I'll note that Easterners ALSO call themselves humans, and Dragaerans are "elves" to humans from the Old Country.

But, ad res, I think going with "humans" is a good option, and draw from Gamma World for "Pure Strain Humans" or the like... a term for humans without the wide ancestry.

[Prime32]

I've been reading Taltos, too; I'm up to Phoenix, in a release order.

I'll note that Easterners ALSO call themselves humans, and Dragaerans are "elves" to humans from the Old Country.

But, ad res, I think going with "humans" is a good option, and draw from Gamma World for "Pure Strain Humans" or the like... a term for humans without the wide ancestry.
Dungeon Meshi does something similar, where "human" is a category including a bunch of fantasy races, and the people who resemble Earthlings are called "tallmen". Then some travellers from not-Japan mention that back home they only have "humans" and "oni", and got confused when they first met not-Europeans calling them "tallmen" and "ogres" and lumping both under human. It's not that they look down on oni per se, more that they can't figure out where the line between human and demihuman is (no one calls orcs and kobolds human, even though kobolds live in human cities).

No one's really able to give a good explanation for the distinction when asked, though it's implied later on that the real reason is because humans were originally a single species and only diverged into the modern races relatively recently (and that not-Japan first encountered ogres as immigrants rather than them evolving locally).

Also there's a scene where a tallman finds out that the "trolls" from half-foot stories are just a racist caricature of tallmen, and gets disappointed (not because of the racism, he just really wanted to meet a troll).

[Millstone85]

Also there's a scene where a tallman finds out that the "trolls" from half-foot stories are just a racist caricature of tallmen, and gets disappointed (not because of the racism, he just really wanted to meet a troll).Okay, that's very good. :smallbiggrin:

[Malimar]

I like "mixies" (aside from sounding like "pixies"); and going on somebody's suggestions about rocks I tried to figure out what's the most "mix some rocks together to make another rock" rock, so: "conglomeratefolk"; and then I was like "what's stuff mixed together, like, in, general" so I was like "compoundfolk"; and I think I like "alloyfolk" best but I've got a race of Dwarves+Gnomes called Engineers that that would fit way better; I also like "melangefolk" though I don't know for sure how to pronounce it, and "muttfolk" fills out the list... For now, I'm throwing them all into a "these guys are known by all these words, plus Mongrelfolk (and Engineers are also known as Alloyfolk, just to be confusing)" without picking one to be the official main one.

I'm hesitant to use "humans" (or "humanoids"), because stepping on the toes of official game terms (I'm working in D&D 5e, though this setting has also been played in D&D 3.5e and PF 1e -- all three of which use both of those as official game terms for something) begs for dangerous OOC confusion, which is less fun than purely IC confusion. If I were writing a story or designing my own system, I'd probably like this option best.

[LibraryOgre]

I like "mixies" (aside from sounding like "pixies");

My objection to "mixies" (https://amzn.to/3RGKafn) comes entirely from being a parent.

[KorvinStarmast]

My objection to "mixies" (https://amzn.to/3RGKafn) comes entirely from being a parent.
Oh dear. I had no idea that those abominations existed. Blech.

[Vizzerdrix]

Hodges/Podges

I second this option. It sounds cute.

I'll toss in Amalgaloids.

[El Dorado]

You could something like Ogier (Wheel of Time). For mongrelfolk, maybe the M'grel (muh-GREL) Take the original word, break it up, add an apostrophe, a dash...make it fancy.

[ChudoJogurt]

I would suggest by picking some word that means "the people" or "community". It seems to be a convergent ethnonym for groups that are wider than ethnicity but not quite a race.
E.g. la raza, desi, ummah, etc.

[RustyArcana]

Crosses/Crossies
Far Cries
Gnarlies

I also like the idea of the Mongrelfolk calling themselves the Nameless, since every other race believes the mongrelfolk to be misshapen members of other races, their race thus has no name.

[Morphic tide]

You could use "gemongfolk", shifting back to the Old English word the root "mong" came form that apparently translates to "mingling" (which fits perfectly with the backstory) while stripping the French-originating diminutive suffix "-rel" that denoted the pejorative. Or comb over French words for various sorts of mixture and apply a non-pejorative English diminutive suffix to flip the etymology with something like "tisserrock".