anyone use completely different backgrounds than the norm for their races in game.
Examples:
>halflings are monuntain dwelling folk, their lithe frames being perfect for getting around.
>Gnomes are the underground dwellers, their love for ancient magics and treasures pushing them ever deeper into the underdark.
>dwarves are semi-nomadic, their crafting/construction abilites heralded across the lands. Clans still exist and hold powerful city-states across the plains
>elves are mainly sea fairing/costal folks, being perfectly suited for sailing and fishing.
>orcs are woodland dwelling creatures, mostly peaceful, but protective of their forests, their strength of arms creating a monoply on mass lumber prodction.
>humans are an ancient desert folk slowly expanding into the other realms with powerful armies, however they remain peaceful with a large reserve of magical might.
>pic unrelated but still great.
Yes.
Halfings are a small people considered vermin by many, but always less. Even their name, Halfling, denotes that they aren't a whole thing and they are always lesser. Halflings are found in the lowest runs of society chiefly in Hill Dwarf and Human settlements.
>>46650395
Yes.
>Elves are a Loose Confederation of various states, dwelling in the taiga forests to the north, each with their own culture and religion, but united mostly in their hated of the formerly space faring faction of humans who forged an Empire to the south of them. Except for the Trading City Estan, which are are human fuckers according to Elven stereotype.
>Halflings are Nordic Vikings, excellent at sailing and buff as shit, basically shorter, angrier stereotypical dwarves with a nautical fetish.
>Orcs used to be the dominant race in the setting due to their drastic lead in arcane magic, till a faction of humans crashed a colony ship in their backyard and overthrew them with laser guns and powered armor till the Elves got sick of that shit and cast a giant tech bane ward. Now they're mostly three large cities in a dense jungle region to the far east of the main continent, raging about the good old days.
>Dwarves are basically Edo Period Japanese.
>Humans come in two flavors, Landers and Natives. Landers crashed a colony ship and took over about half the setting before their tech stopped working, but managed to forge a functional empire after they stole the twin sun and moon deities from the Elves (At least thats how the Elves tell that story). Natives are in a bunch of different flavors, from Magical BEST KOREA, to Drake Riding Knights, to Woad Barbarians, to the Fantasy Genoa to Estan's Fantasy Venice.
>anyone use completely different backgrounds than the norm for their races in game.
No, because if I wanted something different I wouldn't bother with the classic fantasy races at all and just make an all-humans setting.
>>46650395
Gnomes being underground dwellers is pretty typical, really. In some mythological interpretations they're considered elemental beings of earth.
>Elves prefer to live in cities that they create with magic
>Dwarves have turned to worshipping death when their country became surronded by grey mists that bring back their ancestors as undead. Necromancers and death clerics are highly sought after jobs. High lord is a lich.
>Tieflings invented magical guns and use them to tame their Weird West region.
>Gnomes invented everything else and live in a flying island city.
>Dragonborn adhere to their bushido code and live the wuxia life.
>Warforged are rocking a cold war with demon worshipping cults.
>Genasi are a mutation that was created after elemental spirits were exposed to magical radiation in the last war.
>Orcs live in islands and have turned to seafaring and piracy.
>Humans have been infected by a sentient magical plague down to the genetic level that turned them full evil. They rape and pillage without needing to pretend they are "Chaotic neutral".
>>46650937
This, literally why not replace all those races with several flavors of humans?
>>46650937
Why not that and original fantasy races with multiple cultures too?
>>46650395
>Haha guys look, i shuffled the ecology of the races
>Guys its totally original
>Guys
>>46652822
What do you need all those races for? How are you going to squeeze them all into the game? That's fine if you're writing a novel, but probably not for roleplaying
>>46650395
>that image
kek
Took me a second to realize it was Europe
>>46652916
Elder Scrolls almost did it. They cheated with elves but they did a decent job with that too. IIRC that setting was literally someone's homebrew for D&D.
>>46653057
Yes, but most of the TES fluff wasn't made until the latter games, and a lot of the most interesting lore was made to patch up holes e.g the variants of Khajit to justify them changing appearance every game or the Warp in the West because they really, really, really didn't want to make a canon statement of Daggerfall's ending.
>>46650395
In my previous campaign gnomes were hillbillies and dragon cultists, elves were nomads. They basically took the place of orcs and goblinoids.
In my current game there just aren't any demihumans. Just monsters, monstrous humanoids, and humans. So I guess elves take the extremely traditional role of not existing.
>>46650395
>Dwarfs are tall, long-lived forest folk who live at one with nature and excel at archery and majycks
>Elves are short and stocky mountain folk who are known for their beards, strength, alcoholism, and love of mining
>Humans are actually a chaotic evil race that are a twisted, corrupted form of other races and wander around in hordes
>Orcs are the most widespread race and are the "neutral" race, jack of all trades
What should I do with halflings?
>>46654568
They're gigantic.
Rolled 5, 3, 8, 7, 3, 7, 6 = 39 (7d8)
Don't mind me.
Rolled 10 (1d10)
>>46655055
Rolled 5 (1d8)
>>46655070
>>46655055
>>46655070
>>46655096
How can I make this work?
>>46650395
>everything's the same but slightly different
What's the point? The reason you're using those races is because everyone is familiar with them and they can jump right into the setting without a guide book or stopping the game so the GM can tell them what's what. Use them as they are or don't use them.
Rolled 3, 5, 6, 1, 3, 3, 5 = 26 (7d8)
>>46655055
Also, OP, you're dumb. What's the whole point of changing the races? I think it would be better if you mix up the cultures like Chinese Dwarves, Spanish Orcs, or Italian Elves.
Elves evolved from Eladrin who came to Earth from the feywild. The different magics of Earth fucked them up.
Goblins were created by an Eladrin when she rubbed mud in her pussy to prove a point.
Dwarves and Orcs evolved from the same creature.
Humans were created on an island by Pelor for fun. They were 10 to 12 feet tall until some stuff happened, and now they're mostly normal (real life) size.
>>46655215
>monoculture races
>>46655301
>Mixed "Cultures"
Liberals, please go away.
>>46655285
>Goblins were created by an Eladrin when she rubbed mud in her pussy to prove a point.
what the fuck? That's just, like, the most stupidly childish bit of fluff I've heard all day.
>>46656028
That because it's boiled down to the most simple explanation and presented in way that I found crass and amusing.
>>46655939
He means all elves being of the same Elven culture, not all elves being "muh inclusivity" multiculturalists.
Jesus, you lot are easier to trigger than tumblrfags sometimes.
>>46655939
>lazy worldbuilders grasping at excuses
>>46650395
Yeah. I divorced race and culture, so an Elf and a Human from [Country A] have more in common than two humans from two very different nations.
>>46656028
You haven't read much actual mythology have you?
