What races are good with ships and the sea in a traditional fantasy setting?

[Myth27]

What’s the stereotypical seafaring race in fantasy? I cannot think of one. I am referring to air breathing land people not tritons and similar.

[Lapak]

What’s the stereotypical seafaring race in fantasy? I cannot think of one. I am referring to air breathing land people not tritons and similar.

Humans. Seriously.

In settings modeling Tolkien really closely, elves, but otherwise in stereotypical fantasy settings humans tend to be the major seafarers.

[Mutazoia]

Sea Elves.

Technically any "Aquatic" race (that can breath above water).

[LordEntrails]

Elves, Humans and Minotaurs.
Not Dwarves or Gnomes.

[Mutazoia]

Elves, Humans and Minotaurs.
Not Dwarves or Gnomes.

Hey now....Dwarves make great anchors.....

[Thrudd]

There is no such thing as a "traditional fantasy setting". In default D&D, I'd say it's humans more than any other. I wouldn't consider Aquatic races as sea-farers.

[Celestia]

Humans and elves seem to be the most common. It's weird, though, you'd think gnomes would be more common with their whole technology angle. I can see gnomes making magitech ironclads being a thing. Why isn't that a thing?

[Greymane]

Humans and elves seem to be the most common. It's weird, though, you'd think gnomes would be more common with their whole technology angle. I can see gnomes making magitech ironclads being a thing. Why isn't that a thing?

Obviously, we have to make it a thing. I'm brewing up a little setting where the dwarves have a vast trading empire much akin to Victorian England. Guess which race just became the engineers behind their floating fortress battle barges?

[Xuc Xac]

Humans and elves seem to be the most common. It's weird, though, you'd think gnomes would be more common with their whole technology angle. I can see gnomes making magitech ironclads being a thing. Why isn't that a thing?

There's a reason you never see gnomes at sea.

Submarines.

[redwizard007]

Humans and elves seem to be the most common. It's weird, though, you'd think gnomes would be more common with their whole technology angle. I can see gnomes making magitech ironclads being a thing. Why isn't that a thing?

I really feel like that IS a thing, but I can't think of a single example outside homebrew. Now, airships are a different matter all together.

[Nifft]

Dwarves wearing stone-forged full plate, except the stone is pumice.

[awa]

now I've seen minotaur as sailors in dragon lance but are their any other examples of this being the case.

Otherwise yhea humans and elves

[Celestia]

There's a reason you never see gnomes at sea.

Submarines.

I feel like gnomes would be the kind of people who'd put a screen door on a sub and then never figure out why it doesn't work.

[BeerMug Paladin]

I always thought that lizardfolk would make good sailors in D&D. A race that is naturally adapted to live in swamps and marshes and have bonuses to reflect that. Seems like it should translate to sailing being their thing, but settings don't seem to take that route. Then again, most non-pc races tend to be flavored to exist within one narrow environment and never leave that particular domain. Although you could always refluff the monster entry as turtlefolk. Let's be clear, though. They're pirates!

I think it's most typical to have humans be the predominant sailors. I think it's because of the establishment of hats for the various races, rather than humans being particularly sea-oriented. Dwarves live in mountains/underground, elves live in the forests/jungles, gnomes invent things and live in big cities, halflings exist at the margins of society and don't make waves (ha-ha) and orcs are barbarians who live where no other race lives. Humans do everything else. So humans get to do all the stuff that isn't narrowly focused.

I feel like gnomes would be the kind of people who'd put a screen door on a sub and then never figure out why it doesn't work.

I love this.

[NorthernPhoenix]

As others have mentioned, humans are surprisingly the best at this in most fantasy settings.

[1of3]

In traditional fantasy there is nothing but humans for protagonists.

Otherwise.. Catpeople. Obivously.

[Satinavian]

As already mentioned often enough : Elves.

All other races i have only seen in one setting each as particularly adept with ships, if we exclude those that live in the water.

Amd yes, that includes humans. Wlile there are quite a lot of costal human dominated maritime civilisations in diction, i can't remember an instance where this is bound to the humans as race.

[Knaight]

On humans being the best with ships, and this repeatedly being referred to as surprising - look at just how many people live on coasts. Massive port cities are a historical norm, where their precise size has varied highly but the tendency towards port cities to be much bigger is near constant. Meanwhile most of the cities that aren't port cities follow rivers, which are often more than big enough to see boats and even ships. One of the major pieces of infrastructure developed by several different civilizations all over the world is canal systems, to transport goods and people by boat.

That this ends up as a common thing in "generic" fantasy settings is hardly surprising.

[hamishspence]

Humans and elves seem to be the most common. It's weird, though, you'd think gnomes would be more common with their whole technology angle. I can see gnomes making magitech ironclads being a thing. Why isn't that a thing?

Dwarven ironclads is a thing in Warhammer. For that matter, it's a thing in D&D - the Arms & Equipment Guide has "Ironclad" (developed and rowed by dwarves) as one of the sample ships.

[LibraryOgre]

now I've seen minotaur as sailors in dragon lance but are their any other examples of this being the case.

On the other hand, how many settings have minotaurs as a major race? Dragonlance is really the only one I can think of.

What keeps popping to mind for me is Joel Rosenberg's "The Road to Ehvenhor", where the dwarf Ahira Bandylegs is knocked off the boat. Since dwarves are pretty much all muscle, he sinks like a stone... and climbs up the anchor chain to kill the bad guys.

[NorthernPhoenix]

On humans being the best with ships, and this repeatedly being referred to as surprising - look at just how many people live on coasts. Massive port cities are a historical norm, where their precise size has varied highly but the tendency towards port cities to be much bigger is near constant. Meanwhile most of the cities that aren't port cities follow rivers, which are often more than big enough to see boats and even ships. One of the major pieces of infrastructure developed by several different civilizations all over the world is canal systems, to transport goods and people by boat.

That this ends up as a common thing in "generic" fantasy settings is hardly surprising.

Not that I mind, but it is amusing that Humans generally pull ahead also in settings with actual aquatic/amphibious races, who are usually assumed to just swim everywhere. Obviously boats are hard for mer-people, but races like sea elves and Triton should probably get on that, to use a DnD example. Same with the Naga in Warcraft and so on.

[Spore]

If you consider Magic's plane of Ixalan, then vampires. I mean who doesn't remind themselves of conquistador vampires when you imagine a sail ship?

But yes, seafaring is often tied to humans because we are usually the least traditionalistic race around, innovating all around. Shorter-lived races often have a good navy too, like orcs or goblins. That is if their culture is organised enough to plan large voyages. On the flipside, often a plethora of exotic monstrous races stand for the indigenous tribes that also have something resembling a navy.

[hamishspence]

Not that I mind, but it is amusing that Humans generally pull ahead also in settings with actual aquatic/amphibious races, who are usually assumed to just swim everywhere. Obviously boats are hard for mer-people, but races like sea elves and Triton should probably get on that, to use a DnD example.

In Douglas Niles's The Coral Kingdom, Sahaugin have their own underwater boats - "mantas" - which are rowed.

[The Jack]

The problem with ironclads is that they're so above and beyond wooden ships that you'd have to ask yourself why the humans didn't adopt them but the gnomes/dwarves did.
Humans are the only race known for vast trading networks, so they're going to be the most invested in ship technology.
I think hobbits would be great on ships though: they take up little room, meaning more cargo, more guns, and they could build their ships in ways that make the big folks struggle with (tiny hallways)

The best would be Hobgoblins. They're organized and Disciplined, and they don't lack craftsmen. They aren't as mercantile, but might make it up in martial bent. They've got several advantages over humans: a strong lean towards Lawful alignment, dark-vision, and they're good to supplement their crews with slaves, other goblinoids, monsters and mercenaries. Bugbears and goblins would make great night raiders and the later are a great way to save space on a ship.

[hamishspence]

The problem with ironclads is that they're so above and beyond wooden ships that you'd have to ask yourself why the humans didn't adopt them but the gnomes/dwarves did.

D&D ones sound more like iron has just been attached to a more regular ship chassis. They're rowed by oars, for one thing.

[redwizard007]

Not that I mind, but it is amusing that Humans generally pull ahead also in settings with actual aquatic/amphibious races, who are usually assumed to just swim everywhere. Obviously boats are hard for mer-people, but races like sea elves and Triton should probably get on that, to use a DnD example. Same with the Naga in Warcraft and so on.

Also related to the Lizardfolk in another post.

If one looks at the development of ship building, the why of aquatic races not excelling becomes fairly obvious. When your natural movement greatly surpasses the capability of primitive seacraft it is quite unlikely that you stick with a suboptimal option long enough to develop better technology. Why use logs to improve buoyancy when you don't need to fear being dragged under the waves? Why craft dugouts when you can carry your gear in a net? Why develop canoes to travel in a small group when you can just swim alongside one another.

Now, this doesn't preclude aquatic races from adopting alien tech, or being integrated into alien shipping culture on some level or the possibility of developing watercraft for long journeys or as recreation, but there we get into campaign specifics.

[DeTess]

If you consider Magic's plane of Ixalan, then vampires. I mean who doesn't remind themselves of conquistador vampires when you imagine a sail ship?

Given the fact that hey repeatedly got their undead asses kicked by a dorky gorgon and a human amnesiac, I wouldn't consider them to be good with ships :P

When I think 'generic fantasy sailors', I'd imagine humans, 'low' elves and/or some kind of monkey-like humanoid (like the Hadozee race in Stormwrack(3.5e supplement)).

[Spore]

Given the fact that hey repeatedly got their undead asses kicked by a dorky gorgon and a human amnesiac, I wouldn't consider them to be good with ships :P

I think you forgot the part about them being master assassin and infiltrator and archmage respectively.

[LordEntrails]

Hey now....Dwarves make great anchors.....

And gnomes make great bobbers, for fishing. But neither one is very good for actually sailing :)

I like the lizardman idea, it makes sense to me, but never seen it.

Vampires? Yea, no. Doesn't running water kill vampires? Don't most vampire myths put vampires and water about as far apart as possible? I mean it's not like they show a vampire taking a cruise ship to North America, rather they go as luggage or in a shipping container.

[stack]

Golarion has halfling be fairly common on ships, if I recall. They take up less space and eat less food. Tolkein's hobbits are rather disinclined to sail, generally.