Dwarven Rogues and Halfling Paladins: Remixing Fantasy Races

When it comes to the classic Dungeons and Dragons settings, the fantastical races that populate the realms can all trace their roots back to the works of JRR Tolkien. The quintessential volume The Lord of the Rings laid the foundation for the most common depictions of race in a high fantasy setting (dwarves, elves, hobbits, etc.)

And yet the way these racial distinctions were handled for decades afterward could be described as archaic in their execution. Racial bonuses and penalties rigidly defined what archetypes each group was suited for and, perhaps more annoyingly, what they weren't suited for. While there is nothing inherently offensive about these limitations, they do represent a simplistic view of races and cultures. We now know that phenotypical differences in our own world don't define our strengths and weaknesses as much as we thought, so why not reflect that in our fiction? More recent settings like Dark Sun and Eberron have shown a willingness to change up established conventions, and so should any dungeon master who wants to stretch their creative muscles.

Keep in mind the physical attributes of the races. Each racial group will have a range of size and proportion, quality of eyesight, and so forth. These are the only aspects that will limit a race, and should be kept in mind when building characters and cultures. Besides that, the sky's the limit. What should be considered foremost is what kind of societies and factions exist in the setting, and the possibility that no single race is comprised of a unified front. There could be five different goblin nations, each with their own traditions and attitudes toward the world around them.

The next thing to keep in mind is that the cultural make-up of any group is going to be the primary factor determining what the majority of its individual members are good at. Here is where you can really have some fun and mix things up. A group of elves who are always at war might be more savage and militant, a bunch of halflings who worship the gods of knowledge might be predominantly wizards. The thing to remember is that you don't have to define your own setting based conventional stereotypes of magical races.

Image from Wizards of the Coast

The most common change-up I make in my own games is to do away with the concept of orcs or other "savage" races as exclusively evil. Introducing various factions with their own strengths and ideologies prevents anyone from getting the impression that sentient races can be categorized on sight. Additionally, every culture may have its own outsiders that deviate from the norm, so this allows even more diversity in terms of allies and enemies. Evil halflings and good bugbears just serve to make things more imaginative.

Another way to shake things up is to change the real-world cultural inspirations for a group. For instance, dwarves are often given cultural templates based on Nordic or Celtic societies, but there's nothing to say that they couldn't be based off a Meso-American theme or wielding scimitars like the Saracen empire.

The intention is not to trick the players or shock them with these changes. Nor is it to make the changes just for the sake of being different. The idea is to challenge convention in order to open up the possibility for more unique and interesting story-telling opportunities. It also allows the players to think about the game as a living world filled with unique characters rather than conventional tropes.

When it comes to established classical settings, this method can be implemented without damaging its core elements. You don't need to drastically alter the dwarves and elves to be less conventional, but you should remember to treat individual characters as more than just a product of their environment. A dwarf doesn't have to be brash and drunk like all his peers, and not every goblin is born a killer. Keep all that in mind and you'll avoid the most common pitfall of racial classification in RPGs. Play around and remix these humanoids, let them develop into something new and unexpected, and you will have a rich world filled with characters that are sure to be memorable.

Happy ventures!