"Species of Sundara" Takes Aim at Monolithic Fantasy Races

If you've played most mainstream fantasy RPGs for any length of time then you've likely noticed the issue where all the non-human creatures become monolithic. Flip through most books out there, and you'll find that humans get half a dozen different ethnicities and cultures, each varying wildly across the setting. Then you look at halflings, and find they're all basic copy/pastes of the Shire. You look at orcs, and they have a nearly universal culture of violence and 'might makes right.' You flip to goblins and find they're just this big, discordant wad of gnashing teeth and chaos no matter where you go. And so on, and so forth.

Some settings will change things up and give you a few different varieties of a particular creature. You see this in elves and dwarves in DND 5E, where they have sub-races for players to choose from at character creation. Even in games where there's some variety, though, we tend to fall back into tropes and stereotypes where elves are all aloof ancients of the forest, dwarves are all brash, heavy-drinking Scotsmen from the mountains, etc.

And I wanted to do something to break players and game masters alike out of that mindset. Which is why I've been working on the latest series of releases for my setting titled Species of Sundara!

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Cultures, Customs, Languages, and More!

As a designer I understand the purposes these monolithic cultures serve as a tool. It takes a lot of time, effort, and energy to develop parts of a world, and giving every single species its own set of involved customs and culture, its own history and languages, and its own unique religious beliefs can be exhausting when taken along with all the other aspects of designing a game. And that's before you come up with dozens of different languages and dialects, and try to envision what physical differences (both cosmetic and more-than-cosmetic) that exist between different iterations of the same species. Every new addition is one more thing that needs to add value to the game, and provide useful tools for players and GMs alike, and that's a tall order.

But I'm trying to do that anyway.

There's more to us than meets the eye.

That's the goal of my Species of Sundara project, which debuted recently with Elves of Sundara (which is currently available for Pathfinder Classic, as well as Dungeons and Dragons 5E). Each of these books takes a look at a player species, discuss the various languages they use and how they developed, discuss at least 5 different variations of the species, and provide broad discussions of their environments, their cultures, and their customs.

As an example, elves in Sundara are still recognizable in many ways. They have an extremely long lifespan, they are often thought of as keepers of ancient wisdom, and many times they keep themselves apart from even their proximate neighbors. However, the central theme of elves in this setting is that they are able to adapt themselves to their environments and purposes. This is often done on a deeply physical level, which means that elves you find living in the old growth forests are quite different from those who live atop the mountains, or those who have honed themselves to the singular purpose of war. This adaptability also means that elves are capable of having children with any sentient species, which leads to its own unique permutations that will be covered in a later book.

But while there are defined physical changes between different broad groups (the Rashar, for example, have developed fast-clotting blood that makes them nearly immune to bleed effects, whereas the Malisus have developed light sensitivity due to their primary adaptation being in the Underworld), a point I make clearly is that not every culture is made up solely of certain heritages and bloodlines. Cultures are fluid, and elves who may boast features and abilities inherited from one family may be adopted by, or simply raised in, a different elven culture. Some may have extended family, political alliances, or simply be neighbors with, those who are different than themselves. Additionally, intermarrying may result in traits broadly associated with one group of elves showing up in someone born to a different group. So while there are different sections in the book, there's quite a lot of bleed over that creates gray areas for players and GMs to get creative with.

Also, for those who didn't catch it, go check out my 5 Tips For Playing Better Elves over on my 5 Tips page!

Thinking Outside Defined Boxes

The goal with this series is to break down the ideas of species-based monoliths, not just by providing a larger number of more defined cultures and physical heritages, but to also make it clear that these things are fluid. There are no firm lines drawn that keep someone in a box, and players and GMs are encouraged to get creative with the specifics regarding backgrounds in their games. Because language, culture, family, religion, and experience should all come together to form a unique individual who will have influences from all these different aspects, but who should still be more than just the sum of their parts.

Mostly what I said recently in Remember That Characters Are Still Individuals.

Lastly, though I am trying to fill these splats with as much useful information as I can, there is another important point made in them; that these options are far from the only ones available in the setting. So if players or GMs want to create unique settlements and cultures with their own rules and traditions, that's to be encouraged in Sundara! Because while I can provide a sample to get one's creativity started, I don't want players to feel like they have to color within certain lines when it comes to the cultures their characters can be from, or the influences that shaped them into who and what they are.

Because if I had to choose, I'd much rather have enthusiasm to be creative and unique than to have other players or GMs arguing that because a particular species or culture tends to be one way, then a player has to fall in line with those elements.

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That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, its sequel Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

To Avoid Racial Monoliths in World Building You Need To Think Small

One of the big issues that we run into in our games is the idea of a racial monolith. The short version of this is that, most of the time, humans are going to get a wide variety of cultures and languages, ethnicities and religions... and then the non-human races are just treated as variations on a theme. We've all seen it. The orcs are just low-brow cockneys (if you're a Warhammer 40k fan), or else they universally use a kind of Hulk-speak when they communicate. The elves are all like something out of Tolkien, with the same ethereal voice and aloof bearing. The dwarves are all thickly bearded and Scottish, no matter what part of the world they're actually from.

And so on, and so forth.

Beings of light and love? You must have me confused with the Eladurin, friend.

While I talked about this back in Tear Down The Monoliths (No Race, Religion, Etc. Is Universal) over on The Literary Mercenary, and it's one of main tips I give for playing unique, interesting non-human characters in my ongoing 5 Tips series, I figured this week I'd make a recommendation that gets to the root of the problem.

If you're running a game, and you want to avoid the problem of racial monoliths (or really monoliths of any variety), then you need to start thinking small.

 

Also, if you haven't checked out Ancestry & Culture: An Alternative to Race in 5E, then you're going to want to give it a look. It's gone Mithril at time of writing, and is worth the flip through for those interested in this topic. Lastly, if you want to make sure you don't miss any future updates from yours truly, consider signing up for my newsletter, either at this link or on the form at the bottom of the page.

What Is This Community Like?

The problem comes about when we try to make broad, sweeping statements about the entirety of a race, an ethnicity, a culture, a country, or a faith. The broader a view you take, the more universal your statements are going to get, and the bigger a problem you're going to run into.

So take a moment and scrub your brain of anything beyond the physical characteristics/bonuses of a particular fantasy race. Dwarves still get a Constitution bump, elves still live for centuries, and orc physiology still grants them the ferocity ability. But all that other stuff we usually think of? From the idea of racial languages, to universal faiths, to cultural touch stones... chuck it in the bin, and don't look back.

Trust me, it's better this way.

Once you've dumped all of that baggage, take a look at a community of these creatures, and ask what they, specifically, are like.

For example, do you have a clan of mountain dwarves who've made their home in a chain of volcanic islands in the southern seas, like I mentioned in Do Dwarves Surf? Tips For Diversifying Non-Human Fantasy Races? Do they still have a caste system, or are they more of a family hierarchy? Is there a communal understanding among the island chain, or do they draw up specific agreements? Are they heavily tattooed because it's impractical to wear badges of offices and medals of accomplishment in the heat and the wet?

You can do this with any group of fantasy creatures. Do the elves of the eastern prairie country have a tribal structure? Is it matriarchal, perhaps? Do they travel in time with the moving of the seasons, coming and going through long familiarity as if by magic? Do they refuse to wear shoes, staying in contact with the earth without barriers? Do they not have a concept of personal property, merely taking from the whole as is needed for the tasks they are set to accomplish?

Are your gnomes in a particular area highly charged with magic, because they live on top of a ley line and their fey blood is sensitive to it? Are the orcs who live at the foot of the black mountain polyamorous, creating layers of complexity for tracking who holds what rank in their power structure? Do the halflings in the valley have an entire wine culture, because grapes just grow better than barley and hops, and that's what they're known for?

Bring It Down To The Local Level

The smaller you think of your communities, the easier it is to avoid big missteps. Avoiding racial languages and focusing on unique local dialects, for instance, can do a lot to make parts of your map feel organic. Asking how a particular faith plays out in a certain community, what it values, and what its unique history is can let you paint a more unique picture as well.

Then, once you have the small picture painted, you can move up to the bigger, grander image. What is the region like? In what ways is this community typical, in what ways isn't it? As you move up the chain, you can construct a nation out of these smaller, more varied bricks that let you make a varied, vibrant culture.

Most importantly, it stops you from saying, "Well your character is X, so they Y and Z." It lets you take a step back, look at the culture they grew up in, what parts of the world they've been to, and what they've seen and done to get a more nuanced take.

It's a lot of extra work, no doubt... but it's totally worth it.

Lastly, for those who haven't seen it yet, I have a newsletter going out once per week! It sums up all my new releases, projects, updates, etc., and ensures you never miss out on what's going down. If that sounds like something you'd like to check out, the first one dropped today, so give it a look. And once you've seen it, just hit that subscribe button to make sure you don't miss a thing going forward.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

De-Coupling The Idea of Race And Nation in RPGs

There is a particular trope in science fiction and fantasy that shows up a lot at our gaming tables. Chances are you've seen it, especially if you're a fan of a Tolkien-style setup. The way this trope works is that a particular culture (typically a non-human one, but human neighbors are not immune from this trope) is set up as having a particular thing that's noteworthy about them. You know, like how all Klingons (space orcs) are heavy metal tribal warriors, and how Vulcans (space elves) are aloof, logical, and tend to be generally better than humans at everything.

You know, like how ALL noblemen are inherently better than commoners.

Whatever the thing this race/culture/etc. is good at is referred to as their hat. It is immediately recognizable, completely unique, and every member of that population has it. And it's just fine for a generalized shorthand... but it sort of falls apart once you start interacting with people on an individual basis.

Things Get Better Once You Take Off The Hats

Fantasy games, especially games like Pathfinder, are loaded with hats. Having elven and orc as languages is a primary example. While we can largely blame Tolkien for it, the idea that all members of a given race inherently speak one language (except humans, of course, because humans are all different) is kind of ridiculous. Ditto the racial proficiency benefits that allow gnomes or dwarves to just naturally be good with certain weapons. Even if they come from parts of the world where those weapons would be improbable, unwieldy, or just not as useful. The biggest offenders, though, are when characters treat their race as the equivalent of a nation. Like there is only ever one culture, and one norm, and every member of that race you encounter will be aware of that culture, and those norms.

Here, I'll let Trope Talks explain the ins and outs of this one.

Got it? Lovely!

So how do you take off your character's hat? Or the NPCs' hats, if you're the DM? Well, the easiest way is to de-couple the idea of race from the idea of nation, and to introduce nuance and variety.

Adding Depth Always Helps

I hit on some of this a while back over on The Literary Mercenary with my post Tear Down The Monoliths, but that was meant more for writing than for gaming. So how do you introduce more depth and nuance into an RPG setting in order to avoid the idea that (except for PCs and the occasional important NPC) all members of a race, culture, etc. are more or less the same?

Well, the first thing you should do is de-couple the idea of race (the people) with the idea of nation (a physical location with specific borders). If you ever have an entire country that's made up strictly of only one kind of creature (the reclusive elven kingdom, the swarming orc horde, etc.) ask why? Because a small group of creatures, say a mostly nomadic tribe or even a small town, could easily remain homogeneous. Especially if they're self-sufficient, and have minimal interaction with outsiders. But in order to grow, they'll require a lot of resources. That typically means there will be trade, diplomatic relations with their neighbors (including war), and it means that people will want to come to be a part of what's being created. So the bigger a nation is, and the more land it brings together, the smaller the chances are of it being completely (or even mostly) homogeneous.

That is not to say that creatures from a given area don't share a culture. They absolutely do, even if as individuals they don't share all the same values, desires, goals, etc. But that area should influence who a character is in order to avoid playing into the excuse of the hat. For instance, you're playing a elf from Hardhome, so of course you're good with a longbow. So are many other folks there; archery is the nation's official national past time. So you're a dwarf who favors a hammer, eh? Well, yeah. When you were part of the Hilltop Guardians, you were a breacher. It was your job to batter down the door so your teammates could rush into the gap and capture criminals.

In short, make what you do about how you were raised, and where you're from, instead of using the excuse, "Well, I'm an X, so I'm just naturally good with a Y."

Another good step to take is to come up with alternatives to racial languages. It's more work on the DM's behalf, but try breaking them up into different dialects across the world. Yes, the Granite Kings popularized the characters and style of the Horrang language (snidely referred to by some as high-dwarven), but as the empire branched out, and citizens went to other parts of the world, it broke off and changed. Used mainly among scholars, and certain isolated pockets of the region, the language isn't dead, but it is rarely used in the everyday anymore. Make it clear that languages for other races are the same as for humans; they grow, they change, and they spread, becoming more or less common depending on trade, prominence of the home nation, the spread of its people, etc., etc.

This has the side benefit that skills like Linguistics, and magic like Comprehend Languages, become even more useful for those who invest in them.

Lastly, take the time to show players that given races and cultures aren't monoliths in your setting. Show NPCs as individuals, who may adhere to some of these sweeping generalizations, but not to others. Have a gnome who is calm, and difficult to excite, but who can fixate on objects of curiosity with an intensity that marks him as a genius in any field he chooses to enter. Give us a half-orc who uses his inherited strength and toughness to become a champion athlete, and who speaks out about non-violent solutions to the problems the world faces. Give us an elf who's damaged and volatile, who's seen hundreds of companions die of wounds and age, and whose unsurpassed skill on the battlefield is just as much a curse as a blessing as he forgets there is a way to live without a sword in his hand.

If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

This is, of course, assuming that having a nation or planet of hats is an issue you've had at your table. Some games work perfectly well when they lean on this trope. Especially if it's a way to make an entire group of creatures irredeemable, so no one raises the issue of whether it's morally acceptable to slaughter the bad guys wholesale. However, if you like the idea of mixing up the formula, and jettisoning hats that, while functional, can make parts of the game world feel stilted and shallow, it's often a good idea to follow that impulse.

That's all for this week's Fluff post. If you're in the market for even more gaming content from yours truly, why not check out my Gamers archive, or head over to Dungeon Keeper Radio to check out some of the episodes I have the privilege to be part of? If you want to stay up-to-date on my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, if you'd like to support Improved Initiative, head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a patron. $1 a month makes a big difference, and gets you some sweet gaming swag as a thank you!