Demihumans, Cities and Guilds

The entries above describe demihumans who were raised among their own kind, and have picked up most of their race's cultural trappings. Some demihumans, however, are found in other settings, such as human cities. Most such demihumans still originally lived among their own people, but some campaigns may include second- or even third-generation displaced demihumans. This particularly happens in large cities, where there may be ghettoes of demihumans, or where thieves' guilds have purposely raised demihumans in their midst to take advantage of their races' special abilities and benefits, while suppressing natural and cultural inclinations (dwarven honor, halfling peacefulness, half-elven wanderlust, and so on).

Ghetto-born demihumans undoubtedly still exhibit some stamp of their "homeland," but the tendencies are weaker. In fact, a guild-raised demihuman's personality might hardly be recognized for what it is, if the conditioning was done well. (There could even be such oddities as a claustrophobic dwarf or a repressed elf.)

Interesting role-playing could arise from an alienated, city-born demihuman thief breaking away from the guild that was the only parent he knew, and trying to find himself in the unfamiliar lands of his ancestors.

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