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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Orc in the Playground
     
    SolithKnightGuy

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    Default The very worst of humans

    Hey guys,

    I'm currently running a new campaign with a nice small crew. They've started in a small elven village - as a team of fully fledged elves. They are rather new players and I always like to go along "show, don't tell" method, when presenting the setting. I'm playing elven NPCs as usual characters with their flaws and virtues, sincer elven kin would seem to elves as "normal" or "standard" behaviour. I've always liked to play elves as rather Tolkien-esque - the ubermensch, virtous, competent, wise.

    Now, eventually, PCs will travel to relams of men.

    At this point I'd really like to announciate the cultural difference between elegant, clean and sensible elves and - humans. As for humans I'd like to go for Hobbs' "Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" life. I'd like for everything human to reflect human corruption at all levels. I have qute a few ideas, but playground is always a good place to upgrade my idea sketches which turn out rich end engaging for my players.

    One more last disclaimer, before I go into it: If humans are this bad - how to make goblins, orcs, Illithids worse? One thing I will hold back on with regard to humans is evil or, to be more precise, intentional evil. Goblins will be genocidal warcriminals from Bosnia and Rwanda, while humans will be more like poor, dirty, violent and lacking most moral restraints.

    Here is what I have:

    - mud. All minor human settlements are muddy, there is a lot of mud and dirt
    - all structures are poorly (AND crudely) built
    - homesteads stink. They stink of old pants, piss, heck, even farts
    - humans stink. They have sort of sweetly stink, a mixture of piss and two weeks old socks
    - violence: there are lots of fistfights, violence among themselves and toward their weaker members
    - elves are all seen (males included) as very attractive and humans will be presented as very lustful. There will be a lot of uncouth hitting-on on male and female members of elven party
    - health: bad teeth, old skin, gouts, rashes (I could really do with more ideas here)
    - violent treatment of animals
    - "deformed" animals - pigs, cows, dogs - animals, breed for work and exploatation with sort of, if not broken, then their spirits, moulded in to something, for the elves "unnatural"
    - large use of addictive substances: alcohol and a single other drug - even for children

    ... this is what I have so far. I've taken my inspiration from series Deadwood, for an example.

    I'd really appreciate any other ideas. Nothing too convoluted, just "show, don't tell" things i can give them and they tell a lot. I'd also not gor too far with child sex trafficking or alike - small, everyday things that reflect humans as, well, subhumans, they are in comparison to elves.

    Thanks!

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    Ken Murikumo's Avatar

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    Jul 2014
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    Default Re: The very worst of humans

    Humans use foul language. Like even just to say something simple they'd use nasty phrases or curse words. The Witcher games were big on having peasants and other lower caste people using the word "plough" (plow) as like an "f-word". Some of them used both in the same sentence.

    You said muddy ground? It's not just mud, it's also animal waste. That crap (pun intended) gets stuck to your boots and the smell lingers long after you leave the settlements.

    Humans are fearful of things they don't understand. Also very close minded to boot.

    Humans only look out for themselves or their immediate family. They would sell out their neighbors to the witch hunters (or whatever your setting has) just reduce the risk of their family getting caught in that mess. Even if it's a false accusation.

    On the other hand, they reproduce like rabbits and sometimes can't take care of all those children. They would sell there children off to nobles or bandits just to reduce the strain. Witcher 3 has a great random conversation you can happen upon where a peasant woman is talking about how her 2 youngest went mushroom picking in the woods. The other person comments on how the woods are a death sentence because of the werewolves moved in recently. The woman then, very callously, says "That was 3 days ago. Now i have less mouths to feed"

    Corruption (specifically of wealth and power) is visible even on the surface. Poor distribution of wealth creates extremely unbalanced social castes. This in turn means the wealthy are powerful. Everyone knows it. everyone can see it. Even the players.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Troll in the Playground
     
    Flumph

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    Oct 2007

    Default Re: The very worst of humans

    You see, this is why people say Elves are stuck-up. 😝

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Orc in the Playground
     
    SolithKnightGuy

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    Default Re: The very worst of humans

    :D Their first encounter with humans will be a dirty lumperjack taking a dump out of his hairy ass under a tree. I'm sure this will be a good starter.

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Halfling in the Playground
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    Default Re: The very worst of humans

    The best way of drawing a line between humans and orcs/illithids is to not have the humans do anything morally *wrong* by modern standards.

    A lumberjack crapping under a tree? Nothing morally wrong with that.
    Ugly, dirty buildings? Bad teeth and rashes? Goodhearted but clumsy attempts at seducing elves in a tavern (which stop *immediately* when the elf says they aren't interested?). Nothing morally wrong with that.
    Foul language? Domesticated animals? High(er) reproduction rates? Use of alcohol? Fistfights between willing participants (which don't go to the point of lasting injury)?
    Hey, many of those could be seen as positives.

    The idea here is that the *players* could understand that the human towns and villages they are visiting aren't actually that bad. However they get to see the outside view of humanity, and can roleplay with that.

    Then your illithids sneak in under cover of night to eat brains, and your party understands the real evil.
    Last edited by kalkyrie; 2020-10-27 at 05:40 AM.

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    Beholder

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    Default Re: The very worst of humans

    Quote Originally Posted by icefractal View Post
    You see, this is why people say Elves are stuck-up. 😝
    I like this. The Elves honestly believe what the DM tells them, but it's all coloured through their own (less obvious, perhaps subconscious) xenophobia.

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Titan in the Playground
     
    ElfRangerGuy

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    Default Re: The very worst of humans

    You've got a great start here, but I want to suggest some ways to show contrasting views of human behavior:

    • The local shopkeeper sees some elves walk in, and immediately breaks out his highly overpriced goods, which are only marginally fancier than his normal crap.
    • A few commoners who are enamored by anyone who is cleaner and wealthier go above and beyond acting overly polite and helpful. Some do it sarcastically, while others are looking for some kind of handout.
    • Many of the people will be suspicious of outsiders, especially non-humans. Doubly so if elves are a rare sight.
    • Most of them don't understand what elves can do. A woman approaches and asks them to give her baby a blessing. A beggar hounds them, pleading for them to use their "fey magic" to cure his disease.
    • On the corner, a priest preaches to all passersby and to anyone else who will listen. He's trying to shame the sinful crowds and sway them to his faith, because only his church can save their unworthy souls, and he has a collections bin prominently displayed to one side. Or perhaps he's proclaiming the end times, shouting nothing but doom and gloom.
    • A group of human children playing in the streets crowd around the elves, asking child-like questions about the forest and the elves. "Do you live in trees? How far away can you hear? Do baby elves grow in the garden?" This could be a chance for the party to make an impression on future human generations.
    • Don't forget to describe the food. It's either bland, over salted, or much too spicy. The vegetables aren't fresh enough to feed to elven pets. Their wine, if there is any, is crude and sour and even the best ones aren't even aged a decade, much less a century or two like proper elvish wine.
    • The environment is not just ugly and dirty, but also crowded and noisy. VERY noisy, with humans all shouting and talking over each other while music plays or people laugh and sing in the background and, somewhere, there are farm animals causing a ruckus and several dogs barking.
    "Nothing you can't spell will ever work." - Will Rogers

    Watch me draw and swear at video games.

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Orc in the Playground
     
    SolithKnightGuy

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    Default Re: The very worst of humans

    Quote Originally Posted by KillianHawkeye View Post
    You've got a great start here, but I want to suggest some ways to show contrasting views of human behavior:

    • The local shopkeeper sees some elves walk in, and immediately breaks out his highly overpriced goods, which are only marginally fancier than his normal crap.
    • A few commoners who are enamored by anyone who is cleaner and wealthier go above and beyond acting overly polite and helpful. Some do it sarcastically, while others are looking for some kind of handout.
    • Many of the people will be suspicious of outsiders, especially non-humans. Doubly so if elves are a rare sight.
    • Most of them don't understand what elves can do. A woman approaches and asks them to give her baby a blessing. A beggar hounds them, pleading for them to use their "fey magic" to cure his disease.
    • On the corner, a priest preaches to all passersby and to anyone else who will listen. He's trying to shame the sinful crowds and sway them to his faith, because only his church can save their unworthy souls, and he has a collections bin prominently displayed to one side. Or perhaps he's proclaiming the end times, shouting nothing but doom and gloom.
    • A group of human children playing in the streets crowd around the elves, asking child-like questions about the forest and the elves. "Do you live in trees? How far away can you hear? Do baby elves grow in the garden?" This could be a chance for the party to make an impression on future human generations.
    • Don't forget to describe the food. It's either bland, over salted, or much too spicy. The vegetables aren't fresh enough to feed to elven pets. Their wine, if there is any, is crude and sour and even the best ones aren't even aged a decade, much less a century or two like proper elvish wine.
    • The environment is not just ugly and dirty, but also crowded and noisy. VERY noisy, with humans all shouting and talking over each other while music plays or people laugh and sing in the background and, somewhere, there are farm animals causing a ruckus and several dogs barking.
    Splendid ideas! Thanks Killian! This all goes in my notes.

  9. - Top - End - #9
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Devil

    Join Date
    Jun 2005

    Default Don't forget the other end of the scale.

    Obviously this is just the common folk, of course. The leaders enjoy a high standard of living that they maintain by extracting approximately as much tribute as they sustainably can* from the masses through threat of violence (which explains why their lives are so wretched). Not personally, at the highest levels, mind you. The ruling families have people to intimidate the populace and collect taxes for them.

    Some nobles might be quite interested in receiving a visiting company of elves. Human nobles can actually be quite pleasant, with the notable exception of their opinions on certain topics.

    *Sometimes they overestimate and the peasants' productivity suffers. Sometimes the peasants starve. Whoopsy daisy!

    Adventure Seed: The People Are Revolting (And How!)
    It seems that the ruling class of one area got so greedy that the danger involved in overthrowing them became less than the danger involved in not doing that. Well, that's great news! Free of these social parasites, the people will surely prosper, right? ... Wait, they're not prospering? What's going on?

    So it turns out that a lifetime of having to struggle for everything doesn't prepare people to live together cooperatively in peace and harmony. There was no point at which any large number of the poor bastards switched gears from grabbing everything they could get, and with no central authority imposing order, hierarchical exploitation has simply been replaced by conflicts between individuals. Crime is rampant. Various groups are trying to set up some sort of government, and it seems that whoever can marshal enough force will simply become the new aristocracy. Is it inevitable, or can the people be shown a better way?
    Last edited by Devils_Advocate; 2020-11-11 at 06:15 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by icefractal View Post
    Abstract positioning, either fully "position doesn't matter" or "zones" or whatever, is fine. If the rules reflect that. Exact positioning, with a visual representation, is fine. But "exact positioning theoretically exists, and the rules interact with it, but it only exists in the GM's head and is communicated to the players a bit at a time" sucks for anything even a little complex. And I say this from a GM POV.

  10. - Top - End - #10
    Bugbear in the Playground
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    Default Re: The very worst of humans

    Add a beggar (or more, depending on how big is the village), even more dirty than the other villagers, and crippled, missing limb(s)/eye(s)/disfiguring scars and people going around basically ignoring him and his pleas for ailms.

    And if they try to help him, he'll pickpocket them.
    Last edited by Sebastian; 2020-11-11 at 08:08 AM.
    I don't make the crazy rules, I just twist them to my purpose

    "...the Perilious Path of Crushing Doom"
    " Please, tell me it is actually filled with cute, fuzzy bunnies and they just named it that to be ironic."

    Note to Self:
    If you ever happen to doubt the Giant again remember the "Ghost-martyrs of the Sapphire guard

  11. - Top - End - #11
    Bugbear in the Playground
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    Nov 2016

    Default Re: The very worst of humans

    Look for ways humans are different which elves would perceive as bad.

    The Players Handbook makes mentions of lasting institutions and humans. Set the sensibly Chaotic elves up to be amazed how far humans will go to save a business for the sake of a business. Or how obediant humans are.

    Focus on elf things also. A 45 year old elf is still an adolescent but she's in love with a 20 year old human who will probably be dead in 65 years when she's allowed to marry!

    Book elves seem more chaotic than we play them. Perhaps as long as there are more woods left, the wood elves don't get excited by the encroaching city until they are pushed to the other side of the river?

    This fey wild stuff eludes me but I imagine elves doing the greek thing and plotting the course of stars at night and knowing which ones orbit differently (planets) while the humans are more intent with getting home from work and sleeping.

  12. - Top - End - #12
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Nov 2005
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    Worcestershire, UK

    Default Re: The very worst of humans

    Watch Terry Gilliam's Jabberwocky - all the worst tropes of horrible humans are in there.

  13. - Top - End - #13
    Titan in the Playground
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    Default Re: The very worst of humans

    Just remember that you are turning humans into a race very different from the race described in D&D, or the race as it actually was during the Middle Ages, or the race as we all experience it every day.

    I don't know why you want to use "Humans" as the name for this inferior race, but that's your decision. Just understand that, for a while at least, your players will be making false assumptions because they think they are talking about humans.

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