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[Craftling]

Goblins are everything Dwarves despise. Goblins are greedy, Goblins are absolutely fanatical about death and killing, which to an extent is similar to Dwarves except Dwarves consider death sacred and kill either to defend themselves or because they're mildly unhappy, whereas Goblins treat it as a sort of pre-tv entertainment. Goblins, more importantly, worship demons, which Dwarves cannot abide. Therefore, due to extreme cultural differences, both Dwarves and Goblins are doomed to wage eternal war. Should they put aside their differences and ally, it will never last for long. It can't.

That makes the Goblins sound like Demons.

[Mike Mayday]

Elves consider all life sacred, so cutting down trees is like murder to them. This is especially valid since they have the ability of expansion (buildings and tools) without cutting down trees.
They would share this ability with the other races BUT, seeing as they are all filthy murderers, the other races can't be trusted with that ability- they would probably just exploit it for their own needs instead of living in harmony with nature (which is probably right). That is why they bring wood (obtained in the harmless way, they probably ask trees to produce some logs?) to other races (GAME NOTE: THEY BRING FAR TOO LITTLE OF IT).
So I agree that the elves are not guided by a feeling of superiority, it's just their morals to protect all life.

[Vester]

Not so much a need to protect life as a need to preserve the natural order, maybe?

That would make eating your slain enemies make perfect sense.

[Neonivek]

Anyhow I would like to interject that Kobolds arn't Children but rather they are throwbacks to earlier civilisations who had no concept of ownership so to speak, it belonged to everyone.

Though Kobolds do seem to have some sort of odd obsession to take things from others.

As for Elves. They arn't filthy murders so much as they are in fact the closest of the five staples to animals themselves. They attempt to live peacefully with the surroundings and will protect the sanctity of life to an extent, but cross an Elf and you will see bloody rage.

Though out of the five staple the Elves are the most mysterious in the sense that they are the hardest to pin down without simple defaulting to "They are just evil insane creatures who breed like rabits and eat people whole!".

[Armok]

I think the races can almost be ordered in a scale; elf-human-dwarf-goblin-kobold

Elves: tall, fair, blond, imortal, what does this remind you of? Elves? what abaut Ubermechk? THe elves are basicaly at "the evolutionary level above humans" (I know very well evulution dosnt work that way, but this is fantasy, and it's a comon way for peaple to think), they are physicaly, emotionaly, and moraly "superior". They also have this hivemind thing going; they are the brain of Gaia, the thing many peaple taking abaut the Gaia theory said humans were suposed to be. Elves are more individual than for example bees or 4chaners, but they are still first and formost a part of Gaia not an individual elf. They are extremly rational, atleast thats what they like to think, but in reality they are more prone to "vulcan logic", and fail to fully comprehend the individual-based social structures of other races. There is still deviant elves mind you, and most elves have some grain of selfishness, but their brains are wired withoute any apreciation for comfort or plesure, so selfish acts are usualy abaut things like academic pursuits or art. Also remember elvves are only one part of this organism, the beasts and trees of the forest are also a part, and so are the animal men, and even the earth itself, All these contain fragments of a single being; a nature-spirit.
Elves cut of from their spirit will become disoriented, like an ant that has lost contact wth it's colony, and might end up trying to integrate in the hive mind of a human or goblin civ.

Humans: You have probably meet them IRL, the DF cultures of humans are usualy greedy and individualistic. Great cultural variation. Humans tend to be emotional, but work on long term emotional goals like wealth or love or revenge, rather than immediate gratification.

Dwarves:
Basicaly like the first post of this topic described them really.

Goblins: Basicaly the superiority-worshiping, racism-less socit described above. I would also like to ad that goblins tend to think very short term, if they are angry they kill, hungry they eat, if they are sad they cry openly, if they are afraid they run. This acts agains socity in many cases, but also makes it easy to play on their emotions on order to controle them. They live for imediate gratification, and when they are not fighting they f**k.

Kobolds:
I see them as sort of cute, but not the infantile way of cutebols really. And they are childlike in a way, but more in a cultural way than individualy.
The kobolds I see as a race just on the brink of sapience: they can use tools, and form social structures, but not talk or really form a culture as such.
Really, kobolds are abaut as intelegent as a chimp on almost all kinds of intelegence, they just have a bit more of a knack for tool use, and a magpie-like way of collecting nice-looking items and mimic the ways their makers used them, including wearing of clothing and using weapons etc. Many might consider my version of kobolds more like animals then sapients, but I'm of the Great Ape Prodject school of thought and consider chimps peaple.

[Neonivek]

Alright I guess I was confused. I thought this was a thread about consolidating the information we currently know about the races to get an accurate picture of what they are.

[Ironhand]

I'm pretty sure it's a thread about making friendly and speculative debate in an effort to amuse ourselves.

EDIT:
And in response to Armok, I wholeheartedly disagree with your ordering.
I don't think elves are superior in any way to humans. And certainly not in terms of evolution.
I actually prefer Neonivik's take on it: that elves are simply animalistic.

Feral > ... > Civilized
Elves > Kobolds > Goblins > Dwarves > Humans

[Vester]

I'd put goblins on par with dwarves in terms of sheer bloody-mindedness and persistence. Don't forget that goblins are immortal, and it's beginning to look as though this isn't a mere oversight. They're capricious where dwarves are methodical, cruel where dwarves are grim, but not xenophobic at all.

Also, Armok: I'd think twice before comparing kobolds to chimps. Chimps are intelligent, violent, very strong, very successful hunters. Kobolds are... well, kobolds. They could probably get themselves killed hunting rats.

[cerapa]

What if kobold society was based around all the stuff they steal. They dont steal from each other simply because the an instinct tells them that they would both die and lose all their stuff. This would not activate upon any other races, and so they steal stuff from everyone else. They however are intelligent enough to know that others are a threat.

They would be extremely greedy and would not consider other races as someone to speak to. They are cowards due to of fear of losing their stuff.

[Slogo]

The elf description doesn't really account for their habit of caging creatures and selling them. (Side note it's the only useful thing they do, well that and bring you sunshine).

I also always imagined the wood related junk that elves bring to be made of collected sticks and branches rather than logs from the base of a tree. So basically they prune their forests for logs rather than chopping down trees.

Goblins aren't greedy, they never steal anything besides babies.

I like the idea of Kobolds being kleptomaniacs. They steal but they never really make use of the trinkets they steal. They simply hoard items because they can rather than out of some specific greed or malice.

[Mike Mayday]

I'm pretty sure it's a thread about making friendly and speculative debate in an effort to amuse ourselves.

Yeah, more like it
I'm interested in how you all see the races, even if it' subjective and not backed up by any in-game facts.

[Kelbin]

I wouldn't say kobolds never can speak just because of the raws. Lizardmen that lived in caves their entire lives can speak the language Dwarves Humans Elves and Goblins always speak.

Dwarves: Much like they are ingame forge weapons for the Gods and Moria like caves

Elves: Like Armok says I'd say its possible for them to get banished by the spirit that they angered.

Humans: I prefer cultures to be based off religion and personality of their leaders make them as random as possible. As far as Individuals go the raws don't put any limits to how their personality can be unlike Dwarves, Elves and Goblins.

Goblins: Nothing much to say here. Just evil bastards who kill for fun and worship demons.

Also...

Why does Armok like Kobolds for being cute more then the fact that they can fight and can produce red blood?

[Rashilul]

Kobolds:
I see them as sort of rodents, but not rodent-looking way of rats really. And they are primitive in a way, but more in a cultural way than individually.
The kobolds I see as a race just on the brink of sapience: they can use tools, and form social structures, but not talk or really form a culture as such.
Really, a kobold is about as intelligent as a chimp on almost all kinds of intelligence, they just have a bit more of a knack for tool use, and a magpie-like way of collecting nice-looking items and mimic the ways their makers used them, including wearing of clothing and using weapons etc. Many might consider my version of a kobold to be more like an animal than a sapient creature, but I'm of the Great Ape Project school of thought and consider chimps people.

This. (With some small improvements.)

[Armok]

I didn't mean that elves WERE actually superior or more highly evolved, just that they appear to be so at first glance, because if you place their appearance and that of chimps on a scale, humans end up between them. Mentally, they are more animalistic in some ways, they have a great understanding of ecology and philosophy and elf-to-elf social interaction, and their inherent selflessness as individuals also makes them *seem* morally superior, but they have a hard time grasping tools more complicated than a bow and arrows, or social structures of other races.

 The chimp-likness of kobolds was only mental, and tool use and general IQ and abstract thought is more comparable to a slightly dull human, they also have a kind of language, based on some random vocalizations and hand gestures, but their real handicap is their lack of any grammar, and they have no ability to refer to objects not present in  their language, beyond simple names for individual items or people or places. This means they cant past their skills or culture on to later generations, and that useful inventions cant spread.

[Granite26]

Required Reading/Viewing:
Labyrinth:  Admitted inspiration for some of the Goblin traits
Changling: The Dreaming:  Specifically the Nockers, Bogguns, Sidhe and Redcaps
Norse Myth: Duh, but take some of the earlier stuff for better dwarf and goblin inspiration
Celtic Myth: Sidhe, Fae  (Good for the snatcher goblins)
Terry Pratchett: Source of humour about the dwarven culture, attempts to make it realistic.  Also, consider his gnolls
Tolkien: Duh
D&D: bo-oring, but kobolds seem to be bleeding from kender a bit in ya'll's minds


Any other inspiration points?