Category: Dungeons & Descent (with modification)

In this post I’ll be discussing a group of monstrous humanoids that seem to comprise a taxon of some sort: the goblinoids. The goblinoids consist of the following members: goblins (obviously), hobgoblins, and bugbears. I’ll be considering the likely relationship between these creatures and what sorts of selective pressures might have produced the mixture of […]

In this post I want to cover half-elves and half-orcs, because I think they showcase an important question in biology. Namely, “what is a species?”. The existence of both races implies that successful interbreeding between humans and orcs and humans and elves is possible. What is less clear is whether half-orcs and half-elves are themselves […]

In an earlier post I described what I think is a plausible scenario for the evolution of bipedalism in the dragonborn lineage. In that post I argued the locomotor similarities between dragonborn and humans is likely a results of a process called convergent evolution. To briefly reiterate, convergent evolution produces similar structures and adaptations to […]

The D&D race that I’ll be covering in this post is the dragonborn. These bizarre humanoids are a blending of reptile and human traits. Among other things, they are covered in scales instead of skin or hair, they have large jaws full of sharp conical teeth, and clawed hands and feet. Alternately, they are cultural […]

I’ve written a few posts on elves to-date, but a subject I haven’t yet touched is their strangely long life-spans. While the average human might expect to live around 80 years, elves can live to be nearly 1000 years old with little deterioration to their physical or mental states. A perfectly valid question in both […]

In this post I will be returning to the topic of elves. I noted in my first post that they are freakin’ weird – a statement that I stand by. One feature that makes them freakin’ weird is their lack of a need for sleep. D&D lore states that elves don’t sleep, per se, but […]

The race that I will be analyzing in this article is the elves. I’ve done a lot of thinking about elves, and the conclusion that I’ve come to is that they are freakin’ weird! Let’s consider a few elven traits. One, they have a very unusual life history. They can live for nearly a thousand […]

The D&D race that I will be looking at in this article is halflings. Halflings are small in stature – roughly the size of a human child. And unlike dwarves, halflings are not only shorter than humans, but considerably lighter as well. They live mostly in small tightly-knit agricultural communities. While most halflings tend to […]

The fantasy race that I will be exploring in this post is the dwarves. Dwarves are a short, hardy, and (usually) heavily bearded people. They are resistant to toxins, including alcohol, of which they seem to be very fond, and can see exceptionally well in the dark. They have large projecting faces with robust features […]

The fantasy race that want to tackle in this article is orcs.  Orcs are a perennial bane of low-level adventuring parties. They are immensely strong and physically tough. Culturally, they are brutish and cruel. Their social systems are flexible complex and often involve briefly forming into large bands under a strong leader. The eventual failure […]