Explaining the races: Influence.

[PhoenixPhyre]

D&D has a lot of races (especially if you include non-playable monster races), by default. Which means that when making a consciously-kitchen sink setting, there's lots of explaining to do. This is my current, incomplete attempt for my own setting.

A word about names: Both for reasons of setting-consonance and also avoiding any trademarked/IP names in my work, I've given many of the races different names. Those that match existing 1st-party-published races to a reasonable degree (such that you can get away by using a published stat block if you want) are indicated by a number in [square brackets]; the table at the bottom in the spoiler matches the name to the "stock" stat block. The lore, origins, and personalities of these races have, by and large, significantly changed. But the mechanics haven't changed radically, for the most part. Technically the various elven races are different races, each with their own name. They can interbreed, but not perfectly. But here I'm not concerned at that level. Plus there's too darn many of them.

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"Thinking" races can be categorized by their origins.

Eldest races (dwarves, the various elves, jazuu[1], and goblinoids) trace their lineage back to one of the progenitor races, created to serve the Primordial Princes before the dawn of creation. These tend to be found everywhere in varying numbers.

Elves in all their varieties descend from the lightborn, from which the lucians (residents of the Astral, commonly called angels and devils) descend as well.

Dwarves and jazuu are both ofshoots of the titans, as are giant-kin. True giants are "evolved" jazuu, forcibly created by infusing large amounts of runic magic into a jazuu and reprogramming them. Giant-kin (ogres, trolls, etc) are what happens when the "evolution" fails for one reason or another. As a cosmic joke, they're true-breeding while true giants are sterile.

Goblinoids are one race in three forms (which they transition between via conscious effort at the tribal level), the descendants of the fallen proteans, cursed to a lowly state for taking the part of the Nameless in the Dawn War.

Dragons are one species, descended from wyrm. Most of the other dragon-type creatures are artificial or influenced.

Artificial races were created by other thinking peoples via magic. This is the dominant branch of the racial family tree, with the vast majority being of the form "goblinoid + X" and having been created by elves. In general, artificial races are regionally-distributed. For instance, humans are only very rarely seen on Oelfra, as that continent split off before they were created and only limited contact has occurred since. A few notable ones:
Humans and orcs were created at nearly the same time by different factions of elves in an attempt to "breed a better hobgoblin". Whether they succeeded or failed is a matter of much debate.

Dragonborn were created about 1000 years ago by a human empire that forcibly melded fragments of draconic souls with unborn, rape-conceived human children in an attempt to create a race of super-soldiers. The fact that they breed true is a miracle. Very few in number, limited really to one small country where they are not the majority.

The various anthropomorphic animal races (including lizardmen, the various cat and bird folk, etc) were created from humans (mostly, although sometimes from hobgoblins or goblins) by one particular empire of elves. That was kinda their thing. Limited almost exclusively to the continent where that empire exists.

Ika Ika[2], it is believed, were created by Leviathan (an ancient being who is one mind in many bodies, having existed since before the Dawn War, basically being all the "large" sea creatures) from goblins. A similar origin (except starting from humans) is attributed to the kalassa[13]

Sena'ka and chaukeedar[12] were created as a subordinate race by elves. They lost control of many of them, although many still serve that empire.

Accidental races were created by random acts of magic or by means not understood. They tend to be very concentrated.
Halflings were created out of goblins due to the magical, soul-twisting magics of a particular war about 800 years ago. They're limited to one small area of one continent and get mistaken for goblins anywhere else.

Soul-forged[3] started awakening from mechanical construct bodies about 50 years ago. No one knows why or how.

Cross-breeds are generally human + X (or rarely goblin + X). For a number of reasons, humans can interbreed with most of the other artificial races as well as elves, producing children who show varying degrees of "other"ness. This isn't binary, nor is it purely deterministic. Most "half"-X people don't have 1 human and 1 "X" parent--some have parents who are both "human" (but have some X heritage); others the reverse. These generally breed somewhat true. There are other "breeds", but they're quite rare and generally not fertile.

Influenced "races" are where most of the variety happens. When a child is born under the influence of a strong power, whether by parentage, environmental effects, or rituals, that child has some chance of being born "touched" by that power. Most of these do not breed true and are rare enough that they don't form their own cultures. Oddly enough, only humans, orcs, and goblinoids generally show these effects, although there are exceptions.

Godborn[4] are those that are touched by strong astral power. Areas of extreme devotion to divinity, literal astral parentage, or being born near the seat of an Ascendant are known to cause this.

Fiendborn[5] are those touched by strong devilish or demonic power. Generally, this either requires a literal fiend in the family tree, an area heavily devoted to fiend summoning (devil summoning being much more tolerable than demon summoning), or having a devil/demon contractor for a parent. This means that children of fiend-pact warlocks tend to be more frequently fiendborn than most.

Elementborn[6], as their name suggests, were touched by strong elemental influence. One particular offshoot:
** Barbegazi are goblins touched by elemental cold. They breed true.

Dragon-touched are kinda "knockoff dragonborn". When a strong dragon lives in and among a group of people for long enough, children start to be born with limited draconic features. They are often called "half-dragons" despite not literally having dragon blood. When diluted, this is often an origin of a draconic sorcerer's power. One special form:
** Mangkar[7] are dragon-touched goblins. They generally breed true. Only found where dragons are common (with the exception of one artificially-created population), and generally tribal.

Fey-touched take a few forms, some of which breed true enough to have their own "race" names:
** Gnomes are fey-touched goblins. Different forms of gnomes are related to the various fey courts. Gnomes in Noefra (the main continent) are believed to be extinct, but that isn't true. They're just in isolated pockets.
** Tymoroesi[8] are fey-touched elves. They rarely breed true, but are respected by their elven cousins.
** Jashil[9] are fey-touched jazuu. Very very rare in Noefra. Much more common in Oelfra.

Shadow-touched are the result of the influence of the interstitial plane, Shadow, on people, often as a result of exposure to significant concentrations of undead. Two major, named, true-breeding groups:
** Kharan[10] are shadow-touched dwarves.
** Cysgoroesi[11] are shadow-touched elves. They became such intentionally (or their ancestors did), by bargaining with the personification of death for a place in Shadow. A dying race.

Most of the "monstrous" races are either artificial (giant-kin especially) or "influenced". Wyverns, for instance, are a true-breeding group of dragon-touched large birds, first formed centuries ago. Gryphons are a true-breeding artificial chimera of horses and birds of prey. Owlbears are the fault of one particular elven prince, long ago. The fool.

Spoiler: closest equivalent to "stock" races

Show

Index	Quartan name	Rough "Stock" equivalent
1	jazuu	goliaths
2	ika ika	kuo-toa
3	soul-forged	warforged
4	godborn	aasimar
5	fiendborn	tieflings
7	mangkar	kobolds
8	Tymoroesi	eladrin (5e)
9	jashil	firbolg
10	kharan	duergar
11	cysgoroesi	shadar-kai
12	sena'ka and chaukeedar	githyanki and githzerai
13	kalassa	tritons

[OldCouch]

Baseline D&D is kinda a mess in the race department. It makes quite the challenge if you don't jettison some races. Here is some observations from your setting.

Elves are doing a LOT. Of the five eldest races the elves are miles ahead in creating new races. This begs the question "Why are the elves creating so many races when the rest aren't?" Dwarves and Jazuu each created one. What are they up to with all their free time? Perhaps elves don't like metal based technology while dwarves do? It would help explain the whole elves living in trees/nature magic trope. Dwarf "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Elf: "when all you have is a polymorph spell everything looks like a Chimera."

Why do elves create so many new races? It sounds like when there is a problem, Elves create a new species rather than solve it with an existing race. That's likely an oversimplification but there seems to be some core of it in your setting. Elves seem to prefer something new rather than repurposing something old.

Who is the dominant race in your setting? You mention that humans are rare (though you might have meant only on one continent Oelfra.) It sounds like the elves are the dominant ones. Note I said dominant not most numerous. I am sensing various elvish tribe/races creating races in proxie contests with each other. Drow using fiendborn vs high elf Element born.

Orcs and goblins. There isn't a connection between Orcs and goblins in this setting. Traditional D&D has them working together frequently. Maybe a event in the past? Orcs rebelled against elvish masters and were taken in by goblins creating a bond that still exists today.

Goblin child races. There seem to be a number of races decended from goblins but you don't mention it as deliberate attempts at creating another race. Is there something special about goblins that allow for this mutability? From your comments on Ika Ika and Kalassa, both goblins and humans gave birth to undersea races in a similar way. Maybe humans were created by elves in attempt to mirror the goblins mutability?


FYI: In this setting I would hang out with the goblins, the elves sound like monsters. ;)

[PhoenixPhyre]

Baseline D&D is kinda a mess in the race department. It makes quite the challenge if you don't jettison some races. Here is some observations from your setting.

Elves are doing a LOT. Of the five eldest races the elves are miles ahead in creating new races. This begs the question "Why are the elves creating so many races when the rest aren't?" Dwarves and Jazuu each created one. What are they up to with all their free time? Perhaps elves don't like metal based technology while dwarves do? It would help explain the whole elves living in trees/nature magic trope. Dwarf "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Elf: "when all you have is a polymorph spell everything looks like a Chimera."

Why do elves create so many new races? It sounds like when there is a problem, Elves create a new species rather than solve it with an existing race. That's likely an oversimplification but there seems to be some core of it in your setting. Elves seem to prefer something new rather than repurposing something old.

Who is the dominant race in your setting? You mention that humans are rare (though you might have meant only on one continent Oelfra.) It sounds like the elves are the dominant ones. Note I said dominant not most numerous. I am sensing various elvish tribe/races creating races in proxie contests with each other. Drow using fiendborn vs high elf Element born.

Orcs and goblins. There isn't a connection between Orcs and goblins in this setting. Traditional D&D has them working together frequently. Maybe a event in the past? Orcs rebelled against elvish masters and were taken in by goblins creating a bond that still exists today.

Goblin child races. There seem to be a number of races decended from goblins but you don't mention it as deliberate attempts at creating another race. Is there something special about goblins that allow for this mutability? From your comments on Ika Ika and Kalassa, both goblins and humans gave birth to undersea races in a similar way. Maybe humans were created by elves in attempt to mirror the goblins mutability?


FYI: In this setting I would hang out with the goblins, the elves sound like monsters. ;)

Elves have the victory in this race for a couple reasons. First, yes, elven thought (at least during the 2nd age, roughly 15k years ago) ran toward the biological wizardry. They'd rather reshape a species to deal with things (it's part of why there are so many different elven races--they applied this same attitude toward themselves). For the aelvar (the old high elves before things got messy), anything other than wizardry was beneath them. They learned this attitude from the titans, who had enslaved them for millennia during the 1st age. Second, they've just had more time than anyone but the dwarves and jazuu, neither of whose mindsets lean that way at all. Jazuu tend to believe in doing it themselves, while dwarves are conservative and tradition-bound at the root level. There are exceptions, but the elves were shaped by being the overseers of other slaves of the titans. So they have this mindset of "we get other people to do it for them" and "because we can". Many of the animalistic races were done more or less as art projects by one particular elven mage (who happens to have lived way longer than he should have, plus is the "Eternal Emperor" of most of a continent). Showing off arcane mastery by bending and twisting lower life was a way of life. And there are still some who have that belief. They do it to themselves as well--several factions are explicitly conducting organized breeding for more arcane power at any cost.

Currently, the "dominant" race depends on the continent:
* Noefra (the main continent) has a wide mix, although humans are relatively most common. Elves, especially high elves (the more arcane-focused types), are in retreat, their best centuries well in the past. Orcs are only found here, as are dragonborn, halflings, and quite a few other of the "core" races.
* Soefra (the southern continent with that one elven empire) is split in two. The northern part is a jungle where all the escaped slaves fled. The south is dominated by a high-elven mage empire (the ones that made all those races in the past). They're decadent now, haven't done anything huge in a couple centuries. There are client states on the fringes that are more dynamic. Humans are only found in the north, where elves are hunted as enemies to all thinking beings (grudges run deep).
* Oelfra has very few elves--dragons dominate the north (along with goblins and goblin-descended races as clients), jazuu/giants/dwarves the south.
* Perdatos has a mix of psychic, zerg-like goblins and cannibal, winged elves. But we don't talk about them much....
* Aenimos has basically no humanoids, other than a few races unique to it, caused by proximity to the Great Beasts who were imprisoned there since the dawn of time.
* The oceans belong to the ika ika, kalasaa, and Leviathan. Plus a few other weird things.

Drow basically don't exist--there's a tiny group of them hidden under some really nasty terrain in Noefra and under a gigantic mountain range in Soefra. But they're not at war with the surface elves--the surface has forgotten they existed. Doesn't help that they went away for 12k years due to some timey-wimey wibbly-wobbly stuff.

The only legacy connection is that goblins can be bullied by orcs. Back near the creation of the orcish race, there was a war where a demon-tainted orc went all "drown the world in blood" and gathered all the races he could. Which included a lot of goblins. Currently, there's a nation of dragonborn, orcs, and goblins that work together quite well. But that's about it. As I said, much of the original lore is just gone.

Goblins are descended from the proteans. This race was designed to serve the Primordial Prince of Change, so they were the arch-shapeshifters. Entirely fluid in nature (note--modern dopplegangers and mimics also stem from that same root, just elementally-touched way back when). Once Change was cast into the Abyss during the Dawn War for rebellion, his servants, the proteans, were cursed to become the ancestors of modern goblins. So yes, goblins are suited for this transformation because they're "more fluid" than most. Dwarves and jazuu are very not-fluid, stubborn at the basic makeup level except for a few elemental connections via their runes. Hence their relatively few offspring species.

Edit: humans were created from goblins to limit the goblin mutability and produce something more stable. Because goblins don't make a very good servant race as such--goblins are intrinsically tribal. A solo goblin without a tribe is basically a human-intellect cat without much object permanence. Only by being part of a tribe do they gain long-term memory; this they do by sharing their memory with each other in a mystical "common space." Which makes goblins rather not very individualistic--they think at the tribe level. So individuals can get sacrificed as long as the rest of the tribe can learn from it. And they're small and very easily distracted by <squirrel>. So when they need organization and thinking, they pool their energy and turn one or more of them into hobgoblins. These aren't tied to the communal memory as much and are much more stable. But sterile while transformed. Bugbears are a combat form. And both those transformations are temporary--once the tribe doesn't need that function, they withdraw their energy and the hobgoblin reverts to a goblin. So humans (and orcs) were attempts to stabilize the "smart" hobgoblin form into a self-sustaining race.

And yes, elves (especially in the past) were kinda jerks. They've paid for that, and most of them aren't so bad now. The ihmisi (wood elves) are well integrated in some societies (and tribal in others) and the gwerin (high elves) have lost most of their ultra-long life and other reasons to be so standoffish.