Troll Lord Games

How populous do you make the different player races relative to each other? Are elves and dwarves in your campaigns almost as populous as humans, or relatively rare? What about halflings and gnomes? Are half-elves and half-orcs incredibly rare or rather common in frontier areas?

Here's my rough guide to the numbers of the PC races (including only CnC player races), that I'd use for a 'base' CnC campaign.

Humans- 60%

Elves- 20%

Dwarves- 13%

Halflings- 4%

Gnomes- 2%

Half-Elves/Half-Orcs- 1%

I tend toward, depends on where in the world. The mountainous regions are more likely to be inhabited by dwarfs and gnomes, maybe some halflings and foul orcs and things... no elfs, unless they're naughty niggards.

In the open plains, there aren't many dwarfs.

But, as a whole of the world, maybe something like...

Human- 55%

Elf - 7%

Dwarf - 4%

Halfling - 2%

Gnome - 10%

Half-Breed - 3%

Humanoid Monster - 15%

Everything Else - 4%
_________________
If it matters, leave a message at the beep.
Serl's Corner

serleran wrote:
I tend toward, depends on where in the world. The mountainous regions are more likely to be inhabited by dwarfs and gnomes, maybe some halflings and foul orcs and things... no elfs, unless they're naughty niggards.

In the open plains, there aren't many dwarfs.

But, as a whole of the world, maybe something like...

Human- 55%

Elf - 7%

Dwarf - 4%

Halfling - 2%

Gnome - 10%

Half-Breed - 3%

Humanoid Monster - 15%

Everything Else - 4%

It's interesting how common you have gnomes being, relatively speaking. I've always seen them as a very rare race, whereas halflings are a little more common since they tend to live in agricultural villages in excellent farmland.

Of course, it does depend on the area to a huge extent. But barring extreme environments of forest or mountain, and suchlike, generally speaking, I always have humans as having a healthy plurality if not outright majority. By elven and dwarven standards, we just breed at unnaturally rapid rates.

I like gnomes. I have several different types of them in my world. The individual species are fairly rare, but they have more types than any other... sort of like faeries.
_________________
If it matters, leave a message at the beep.
Serl's Corner

The racial breakdown in my C&C campaign world (where the human nations are loosely bound together in a continent spanning Empire and the demi-humans were long ago conquered) varies widely by area. In a region that was once a center of Elfin culture (before it was overrun in ancient times by human hordes tired of being used as pets, cheap labor and expendable soldiers), the demographics look like this:

60% Human

5% Halfling

20% Elf

10% Gnome

5% Dwarf

5% Half-Elf (with many long-standing Half-Elf families that intermarry)

5% Other

In a nearby plutocratic republic, the demographics are:

65% Human

10% Halfling

10% Gnome

5% Elf

5% Dwarf

5% Mixed or Other

A vast theocracy of mostly dry steppes and wastelands, looks like:

85% Human

5% Halfling

3% Elf

2% Gnome

1% Dwarf

5% Orc

1% Mixed or Other

I also tend to make Gnomes (and Halflings) pretty numerous, reasoning they have generally adapted better to life under human domination than the arrogant and self-indulgent Elves. Also, the Gnomes of the Campaign are sages, bankers, lawyers and doctors, and are a vital part of urban life in many human cities. Yes, I'm another Gnome lover!
_________________
The Engine of Oracles: Creations For Gaming
http://engineoforacles.wordpress.com/

Again, depending on the area these numbers will vary. But looking at my homebrew setting as a whole, I'd say the breakdown is something like this:

40% Human

20% Elf

12% Various humanoid monster races

08% Dwarf

06% Halfling

05% Vagla

02% Vuul

01% Gnome

01% Jund

05% - Other

Obviously some of these races are specific to the campaign setting. I've never sat down o think hard about these numbers, but this should be close.

~O
_________________
> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

For PC races I'd go with:

Humans: 80%

Dwarves: 4%

Elves: 4%

Gnomes: 2%

Halfings: 6%

Half-Elves: 2%

Half-Orcs: 2%
_________________
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/dnd3e/cnc.htm

As others have pointed out, in my games it depends on where one samples, georaphically speaking. In a metropolitan, "free," city I would have to say that the numbers would look something like:

Humans - 50%

Halflings - 20%

Dwarves - 10%

Elves - 10%

Gnomes - 5%

Half-Elves - 3%

Half-Orcs - 2%

I like the mix of races. I like to have them all represented, if possible. I guess the half races are probably the rarest in my games, and halflings are usually a very robust folk. Dwarves and elves are sometimes hard to gauge, sometimes one race is more common than the other. One thing is that there are no doomed or dying races in my campaigns - it's interesting to read about, but I don't do it.
_________________
LD's C&C creations - the witch, a half-ogre, skill and 0-level rules

Troll Lord wrote:
Lord D: you understand where I"m coming from.

In my setting it's not how many there are, but where they are. The elves have a large sylvan woods they live in while the dwarves live deep in a mountain etc. outside their homelands the demihumans are rare.
_________________
Nightstorm: So tell me something about your elf.

Zippo: He's an elf. He lives in the woods.

Nightstorm: Did you hear that Gary? "His elf lives in the woods"

I have a home brew setting as well...

Humans 60%

Dwarves 10%

Half-Elves 7%

Halflings 7%

Elves 5%

Gnomes 4%

Half-Orcs 2%

Half-Ogres 1%

Bastini 1%

Canira 1%

Ursu 1%

Saurid 1%
_________________
The obvious will always trip you up FAR more than the obscure.

Baron Grignak Hammerhand of the Pacifica Provinces-

High Warden of the Castles & Crusades Society

I have set mine in a homebrew version of Airhde where Unklar decided to commit elven genocide so the elf populatoion is somewhat diminished even the drow. Dwarves are more numerous as they are Airhde's "first race". Gnomes, halflings half-orcs are about equal numbers (unklar let the orcs get their rape on apparently) and half elves are pretty rare.
_________________
I'll tell you what I do like though: a killer, a dyed-in-the-wool killer. Cold blooded, clean, methodical and thorough. ~Zorg

A rough demographic breakdown for the homebrewed world that I'm currently making up. This is of course, only a breakdown of races that are available to the player as a PC.

Humans- 52%

Orcs- 20%

Elves- 10%

Dwarves- 10%

Halflings- 5%

Gnomes- 3%

Orcs are a full on player race (on the frame of the half-orc), and there are no half-orcs or half-elves. The races are incapable of regular reproduction with each other (though miraculous half-breeds have been known to exist). For the most part, Elves and Dwarves live in their own distinctive territories, with Orcs living in scattered pockets throughout, and Halflings and Gnomes in more compact villages in various locations.

I guess it really depends on your world and how you want to populate it. Of all the listings I've seen so far, I think csperkins is probably closest to my tastes. But, then again, I had a good dose of Gygaxianism!
_________________
Eulaliaaa!!! Give those rapscallions blood and vinegar, wot?!

Be sure to check out Jim's artwork for sale:
http://jimhollowayart.com/id5.html

Depends on the setting I'm using. I go with its demographics.

In my homebrew, humans are the vast majority, like 95%+ range. demihumans are rare and the noble who has secured the services of something like a dwarven smith are the envy of their peers.

Deogolf wrote:
I guess it really depends on your world and how you want to populate it. Of all the listings I've seen so far, I think csperkins is probably closest to my tastes. But, then again, I had a good dose of Gygaxianism!

Sadly, I only really got into roleplaying fairly recently. Heck, I wasn't even born during the glory days of TSR, or had I done anything more than heard of the game until the days of 3.5.

DangerDwarf wrote:
Depends on the setting I'm using. I go with its demographics.

In my homebrew, humans are the vast majority, like 95%+ range. demihumans are rare and the noble who has secured the services of something like a dwarven smith are the envy of their peers.

That's an interesting way of doing it. In my world, the Four Great Races all have distinct and (at least relatively) thriving civilizations. That being said, many humans in the core of the Two Empires have seen a demihuman maybe once or twice in their entire lives and the same could probably be said of elves deep in Ravenswood or dwarves way up in the Ghilan-Khazar Plateau.

Depends on locale for me too.

Humans predominate in most areas of the world. In the more mountainous regions, there are dwarves. They are the second most dominant race. Elves are around but more scattered. Halfling and gnomes even less common.

In one part of the world humans and goblins even co-exist in relative harmony, though that is a limited area and occurs for historical reasons.

I also have a race called the Vul (interesting to see what Omote's Vuul are), who were thought to have been wiped out in the great war, but the PCs have discovered there are at least a few of them around.
_________________
"There are two kinds of people in the world: those with guns, and those who dig." - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Steerpike wrote:
I also have a race called the Vul (interesting to see what Omote's Vuul are), who were thought to have been wiped out in the great war, but the PCs have discovered there are at least a few of them around.

Wow, crazy. In my homebrew the Vuul are like a neaderthal like race that were prominant in the area a very long time ago, perhaps even predating the races of men, elves and dwaves. The Vuul peoples are a mountain people who live on the edge of the northern civilized kingdoms of men. Fifty years ago, the Vuul actually rose up and to everybodies amazement somewhat unifed to attack these fringes of the northern kingdoms. The Vuul were beaten back and forced out of the area where the kingdoms established a keep on the borderlands to stay any future Vuul encroachment. In those fifty years there have been no Vuul warbands/armies of note, but adventurers in the area are starting to uncover the truth of the past. It appears that the Vuul race indeed did predate the common races of today. In fact, it seems like the Vuul might have been the first humanoids to establish towns, families, and a society as it is thought of by today's scholars. At some distant time in the past a giant race called the Jund began settling this area. Although the learned are not sure yet, it seems that the Jund and the Vuul did not live in harmony together. In fact, the giant-like Jund may have somehow devolved the Vuul people. Eventually, even the empires and the Jund people disappeared, but the Vuul still remain.

~O
_________________
> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

Very cool, Omote. I like the idea of a neanderthal-like race. That's an interesting history you have for them.

In my homebrew, the Vul are a race of wolf-like humanoids. There were a lot more of them around a few hundred years ago, when the Great War against darkness was fought. The Vul joined the armies of Men, Elves, and Dwarves.

But, according to the current histories, it was determined that the Vul were servants of evil, acting as spies behind the lines of the good races. Elves, Men, and Dwarves turned on the Vul and essentially wiped them out. No one (but the PCs) know there are any left.

Of course, the remaining Vul tell a different story - that they always fought on the side of good and that it was treachery that led Men, Elves, and Dwarves to turn on them.
_________________
"There are two kinds of people in the world: those with guns, and those who dig." - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

No way! Very cool, steerpike. Thanks for sharing. Wolf-like people you say? Well, another similar like race in my world is called the Vagla. 7'-9' tall wolves that walk like men, and are voracious barbarians. Though their numbers are small and they are active at night, they are seen as a curse upon the land. In my game, the Vagla worship an ancient creature called, well, the Vagla. This creature is said to be a female "mother" of the race. The PCs will learn that this creature is anything but wolf-like. The Vagla mother is a 10' tall skeletal creature sheathed in a ratty black robe that has a body made of a writhing, swarming mass of black rats. The mass of rats somwhat resembles a wolf-like body sinmilar to the race. What this creature really is, and how "she" became involved with the wolf-like vagla race is not yet known to mortals.

~O
_________________
> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society