Most fantasy worlds include more than one sentient race - the common examples including humans, dwarves, several kinds of elves, and often gnomes and halflings. Other common examples include orcs, goblins, trolls, ogres, and a thousand other examples. Rarely is much thought given to the evolutionary steps that were taken to create so many diverse races on a single world, and less thought is devoted to the considerations of cross-breeding between races. Here, we are going to explore the problems brought up these by races as well as possible solutions.

A Point on Nomenclature

"Races" is technically an incorrect term. It's nonscientific nature has led it to be dropped from biology to the point that it now only applies to humans with different genetic markers, traditionally associated with a specific geographic area.

A more proper term would be "species," which would apply to the groupings of humans, elves, dwarves and the like. Different types of elves and dwarves would likely be divided into subspecies, which would include variations such as High Elves, Grey Elves, and Dark Elves/Drow. For two groups to be subspecies of the same species, they need to share a common biological ancestor from which they both descended. If the evolutionary drift is enough, these subgroupings could be ruled as separate species entirely, though for simplicity sake I will refer to them here as subspecies.

A Note on Crossbreeding

From an scientific, evolutionary standpoint, crossbreeding between different species is simply impossible. For example, recent scientific studies have found that chimpanzees share between 98.5% and 95% of the genetic material of humans, making chimpanzees one of the closest, if not the closest, related species to humans. Despite this extreme closeness and apparent compatibility of genes, it is impossible to create viable offspring by breeding a human and ape. This is hardly surprising when you consider that the genetic difference between two random humans is only 0.1%, making all humans roughly 99.9% genetically identical.

Where Do They All Keep Coming From?

If these species did not evolve and yet live together in a relatively small area (i.e. a single planet), where did they all come from?

Theory One: The Gods Did It

One of the most popular and boring example theories is that the following the world's creation, several deities found it and created different sparks of life to cover the planet. This provides an easy tie between different races and gods, as well as repulsions, all of which can be used to push stories forward, either on a small or grand scale.

The Good:

It's simple, easy to understand, and immune to almost all questions and attempts to break. It can also be applied to almost any fantasy setting with little trouble or adjustment of external lore. Many settings, like Dragonlance, use this as at least part of their origin of species story.

The Bad:

As one of the most common origin stories, it can be become boring and feel like any stories tied into it are dull repeats or rehashes of games played elsewhere, even if it was a different game, setting, and group.

Overall:

A good choice for new players or game masters, or those with little time to invest in the historical side of world building.

Theory Two: The Proto-Species

Some time ago, the world was a single species achieved some dominance over the world and established itself. It is unknown whether this species still exists or is long forgotten by even the most dusty history tomes, but what is known is that they encountered a powerful magic of unknown origin. Some claim they came across a god, or a powerful artifact. Some say they encoutnered a rift in the fabric of magic, spewing out magical energies and altering the fabric of reality around them.

Whatever the source of this magic, it changed the creatures it encountered, and rarely in the same way. When a camp of of this species came across these magical energies, they were touched by magic so deeply that it became a part of some of them, changing their very essence. It is theorized that this source of magic enhanced whatever inner qualities were possessed by those touched. More species were mutated, and some corrupted by their own inner natures, becoming some of the more feared creatures recognized today.

The Good:

A lot of lore can easily be brought into play with this origin, giving players a lot to explore with different rewards for each of them, ranging from power to knowledge to roleplaying encoutners. The source of the magic can be brought back into the campaign either as a story hook or a method of causing great change when required by the story or accompanying a change in rule structure/system.

The Bad:

The story can be a little complicated, and take some players sometime to learn. Additionally, the additional world building and history creation can be a strain on the game master, and eats up additional time.

Overall:

I have never had a bad experience with this history, and I highly recommend it if the time and energy is available to properly create and enjoy this part of the world.

Theory Three: Through the Rifts

At some point in the world's history, perhaps this era is even well documented or remembered by some, unstable dimensions and planes led to rifts opening up between different places across the cosmos. For one reason or another, many of these rifts opened up an anchored end near the now occupied world, while the other end roamed the cosmos and occasionally making contact with matter which would be transported to the other end.

These rifts account for the abundant resources found on this world, as many were most likely transported here during the creation of the world. Most of the species now occupying the world were also transported there from their own planets, leaving behind everything they knew as they were thrown in amongst new and unknown creatures on an untamed world.

The Good:

A lot of roleplaying encounters and differing motivations are easily presentable given this history, which can easily be fleshed out to be a campaign in and of itself.

The Bad:

This background can require more world building than the previous two examples, and thus a larger amount of time and creative energy will be eaten up while preparing for a campaign.

Overall:

If you have the time and energy, and your players are likely to enjoy and explore the history or implications of these events, I highly recommend this background, as it is my personal favorite.

Daniel Burnet updates with regular gaming content on the Game On blog. Stop by and subscribe today!

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