Here are some notes on the standard D&Dish races (focused on the "how our [x] are different," as you do) for a world I've been blogging about recently, a world which I'm now calling Elden Urd (inspired by Tad Williams' Osten Ard in his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy).
Dwarves
Warrior mercenary companies, distilled spirits, artisans in metal and gems. They mostly dwell above ground though not entirely. The dwarven throne has been empty for ages; they are ruled by a republic.
Elves
Descendants of fey trapped in the Cosmos when it was made. To this day they care little for the gods. Extremely long lived and slow to reproduce so they are a dwindling people.
Gnomes
Preservers of some of the knowledge of the Age of Wizard-Kings. Artificers and makers of mechanisms.
Halflings
The people of the plains and meadows, sometimes called "grass runners." Some are settled in sod house villages, work farms and tend flocks, others are itinerant traders and entertainers.
Tieflings
Descendants of Fiends, the fallen Titans. They sometimes face prejudice from the common folk, but among the sorts of people that consort with adventurers their ancestry hardly merits notice.
Dwarven republic, eh? I imagine there's some folks that would be very unhappy if some theoretically legit heir to the old throne were to appear - and maybe some others who want a monarchy back for their own reasons. Could be some adventuring opportunities there.
ReplyDeleteI'm still fond of the take on Dwarves from WotC's Chainmail minis game, where they were pretty much a revolutionary socialist collective who recently overthrew a horribly cruel and dictatorial royal dynasty and want nothing to do kings ever again. They also had close connections to the elemental planes and a bunch of experimental weaponry using bound elemental energies to make firebombs, one-shot muskets of a sort, electrically-charged scourges, etc. Gave them a pretty unique flavor overall.
Adventuring opportunities, indeed!
ReplyDeleteThat Chainmail take sounds interesting. I should check that out.
The best online description of the People's Republic of Mordengard is over on this Greyhawk wiki (the game technically having been set in a previously unmentioned part of that setting, which I'm not sure is still canon):
ReplyDeletehttps://greyhawkonline.com/greyhawkwiki/Mordengard
If you've never see them, all the factions and the overall background of the 2001 Chainmail edition are kind of interesting, although the Dwarves were the most memorable to me. You can see the others through links here:
https://greyhawkonline.com/greyhawkwiki/Chainmail_Miniatures_Game
The "Godwar" setting fluff is one of the better attempts I've seen for justifying why the dinky little fights in a skirmish minis game matter and larger army battles just don't happen. In this case the regional god of war is dead and his dying curse means no one can organize on a strategic level and attempts to form armies just devolve into chaos. It's almost as clever as ICE's Bladestorm game was, where any large body of troops attracts the attention of ancient magical defenses in the form of a tornado made of weapons from previous victims, which is predictably lethal.
https://greyhawkonline.com/greyhawkwiki/Godwar
Not a bad idea mine, all that stuff. And it's old enough and short-lived enough that most people won't recognize if you crib from it. :)