Build-A-Setting #1: Orcs, Dwarves, and Elves in the 21st Century

[FF_Ninja]

Greetings and salutations to the grognardiest of communities! I'm in the process of developing a new setting for a GURPS campaign I'm planning, and I would like to ask for creative and theoretical input. I'm attempting to cast as wide a net as possible, so no observation or idea is too far-fetched or bizarre, and no presumption or creative liberty is out of line. Ask questions, but feel free to explore possibilities. I'll eventually use everything that's submitted for fuel and inspiration as I continue to flesh out the setting.


The Goal: Obtain a comprehensive, creative, multi-faceted understanding of the topic. Explore possible side-effects, far-reaching effects, conflicts and contrasts, and innumerable "what-ifs."


Setting Summary: A modern fantasy environment modeled after the real-life 21st century, but where fantasy elements like magic, monsters, and numerous classic fantastic races have always existed.


Today's Topic: What would the presence of Orcs, Dwarves, and Elves look like in the 21st century?


I look forward to exploring this topic with all of you! Tomorrow's Build-A-Setting topic will expand the topic further with additional races beyond the standard "big three".

[Shuckster]

I suppose that depends pretty heavily on which orcs, dwarves, elves (or meta-humans in general) you want to include. After all Tolkien, D&D, Warhammer Fantasy, Shadowrun and a lot of other source materials all have pretty different versions of fantasy races, all of which have very distinct qualities and attributes. For example Orcs in Warhammer are feral, absurdly durable morons who basically just exist to wage war on everything in all directions at once and reproduce by fungal spores whereas Tolkien's orcs are a corrupted race of Elves and Orcs in shadowrun are just kind of larger, brawnier humans with very few differences.

As for pre-established templates, check out GURPS Fantasy, the statistics and traits for a dwarf can be found on page 107, Elves on 108 and Orcs on 110.

[Phantasm]

Are you looking for mythic races like the Celtic fae, Norse Alfar/Dokkalfar/Svartalfar (light, dark, and black elves) and Dvergr (Dwarves), Greek centaurs and satyrs, Persian Girtabi, and Arabic djinn, or more like the Dungeon Fantasy races? This will affect how the "big three" of Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs are handled.

[David Johnston2]

The interesting thing about orcs as Tolkien conceived of them, is that they are extremely well adapted for living in polluted environments. It goes along with Tolkien's contempt for industrialization. Instead of disposable mook soldiers they could instead live in toxic waste dumps churning out manufactured goods for sale to to the rest of the world.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

I was tempted to go too political and America-centric here and say something along the lines of, "If you think bias aligned with skin color is a thing, wait'll you get a load of this," here, but I am totally digging David Johnston2's take on it and would like it if we ran with that.

[FF_Ninja]

I think I default mentally to the stereotypes I observed in the movie Bright. Orcs, very tribalistic and ritualistic even in urban culture, incredibly strong, and typically almost second-class citizens on basis of their predispositions; Elves, incredibly socially affluent, prideful, almost an "ivory tower" feel to how they typically rise above everyone else.

I thought the movie an interesting take on the topic, but obviously there wasn't a whole lot of lore shown off in a two-hour cinema.

I can't imagine an environment that includes such radically different species without some very significant tensions, actual segregation, xenophobia, etc. You have culture clash with existing ethnicities in RL, but fantasy species don't even have the "we're all human" card to play.

[(E)]

You could play around with when the various races came into contact with each other historically.

Assuming a human centered world.

Say for example the Roman empire (or local equivalent) pushed elves out of the "known world" and later the catholic church (or local equivalent) finished the job. The Elves however "Went to the west" and ended up colonizing the America's. Leading to a 17th century "meeting" of the Humans and Elves.

[thrash]

Originally Posted by FF_Ninja

Setting Summary: A modern fantasy environment modeled after the real-life 21st century, but where fantasy elements like magic, monsters, and numerous classic fantastic races have always existed.

Today's Topic: What would the presence of Orcs, Dwarves, and Elves look like in the 21st century?

San Diego Comic Con.

Seriously.

If magic, monsters, and fantasy races have always existed but the setting looks like our 21st century anyway, that means any influence they could have had on events is already baked into our history. We may never be able to untangle the threads.

On the other hand, one could posit a wainscot society of non-humans, split between Naturals, living in the uninhabited (by humans) margins of the world, and Pretenders, using illusion and charms to pass as humans. For most of history, there could be a balance between the two: Naturals form a reservoir of traditional knowledge and powers; Pretenders keep tabs on human society and bring back the best parts to trade.

In the last hundred years or so, however, rising populations and increasing technology have virtually eliminated the places where Naturals can hide their existence (satellite imagery, seismic monitoring, etc.) and put most Pretender tricks at risk (surveillance cameras, photo ID, etc.). The time is rapidly approaching when both groups will be forced out into the open. So, what do they do?

What if the mainstreaming of fantasy and science fiction over the last, say, 40-50 years was the result of a conspiracy by Pretenders to "soften the landing," by getting the human population to at least consider living alongside non-humans? Star Trek, Star Wars, cosplay, Buffy, World of Warcraft, big-budget Tolkien movies, all of it. Pretenders used their mind-magic to ensure that these projects got made, and helped their success.

The result is that some Pretenders can drop the masquerade and mingle with humans in their original form -- but, so far, only at sf&f conventions and the like. The next step might be mainstreaming cosplay, to make odd appearances commonplace. How often do we see blue or green hair these days and not react? In that sense, mask mandates would be a lucky break.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by thrash

S

The result is that some Pretenders can drop the masquerade and mingle with humans in their original form -- but, so far, only at sf&f conventions and the like. .

Does this mean Orcs look like Klingons?

The link between Elves and Vulcans has been noted before. Back in High school I was making jokes about "double-duty pointed ears" as Halloween makeup.

Put halloween in there too. First it's expansion as a major holliday for children and then having adults dress up for it too.

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

It's not like there isn't a popular manga/anime that deals with non-humans revealing themselves and trying to integrate into human society. (Albeit, being fanservice-fueled and not too realistic.)