In my opinion, yes, the races in a setting do have a significant impact on the mood of the setting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Angel
In one campaign I ran back in D&D 3E, (and I might transport this idea to the world I'm building now) the elves were like Nazis. They believed in the idea that they were a superior race; as such, they felt they should conquer the world and -in some cases- exterminate certain races they viewed as being pests; there were no Gnomes in this campaign for that reason. A fairly sizeable population of humans were slaves to these Nazi Elves. These same elves were also somewhat based on ancient Egypt; the built pyramid like structures, but they were based in a relatively cold area of the world. Instead of chariots they had war-sleds and things of that nature. Also, pyramids were mainly a religious symbol, and not a tomb; these elves worshipped Set and had a thing for snakes. I suppose when I look back on it, they were a combination of Nazis, ancient Egypt, and Stygians from R. Howard's writings.
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If you like unusual takes on traditional fantasy races, you might check out the flavor and/or novels for the Magic setting Lorwyn. The Lorwyn elves are like this -- obsessed with beauty, and the conviction that non-elven races, and deformed or disfigured elves, are inferior and should generally be exterminated. They also look more like fauns than elves, having hooves and horns. Their society is a rigid caste system based on personal appearance.
Lorwyn also has its own versions of goblins, giants, merfolk, and telepathic halflings. Another recent Magic setting, Alara, also has strange, non-traditional goblins. They look like anthropomorphic rats, and they have been near the bottom of the food chain for so long that their culture revolves around the honor of being eaten by dragons.