History FantasticRacism / TabletopGames

** ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'': Most races are xenophobic to an extent and mistrustful of anyone other than their own kind, slavery is a way of life and cannibalism is not uncommon. The largest prejudice however is against arcane magic users and with good reason; the most common form of arcane magic is [[TheDarkArts defiling]]. Defiling saps the life out of the user’s surrounds to fuel the magic, killing plants, sterilizing the soil and draining the life-energy of nearby creatures. The reason Athas is such a CrapSackWorld is because of defiler magic. Another form of arcane magic exists called preserving, which is less potent but doesn't damage to the world itself. However few know the difference between the two and arcane magic users are almost universally abhorred with the exception of the Sorcerer-Kings, who are so powerful no one wants to risk angering them.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' the races that invented Jump drive actually call themselves ''Major Races''. Meaning, of course, that other races are minor races. Racism is theoretically a "not done by gentlemen" sort of thing, especially as the Imperium is based on a multicultural loyalty to TheEmperor(who always ends up being human, even though adoption is a recognized means of succession). Despite that, racism is as common in ''Traveller'' as it is in RealLife.

** The ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''Necropolis'' is rife with interhuman racism, particularly by the higher ups in Vervunhive, who regard the imperial guard regiments saving their asses as inferior even after displaying complete incompetence at defending themselves, they even go as far as to try and have a tank commander ''put on trial, in the middle of the war because he knocked down a couple of buildings due to a traffic jam the vVrvunhivers created'', this quote by VPHC Tarrian towards Gaunt seconds before he gets shot really seals the deal.

** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' has organizations of elves who blame their decline on either drow, humans or even all other elven subraces ("when Gold Elves ruled it was the golden age!). Humans in heartlands generally indifferent to most creatures with whom they aren't at war, though still wary of thieving halflings. Demihumans are banned from some places, such as Hillsfar -- but then, the ruler who did it and his loyal troops aren't very popular even among humans, both inside and outside the city.

*** Many deities of differing races will often have it in their dogma to hunt, kill, capture, or just dislike other races, the elven pantheon has this in spades. The elven god Shevarash is this trope 100%, although somewhat justified given that drow are supposed to be predominantly evil.

** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' has organizations of elves who blame their decline on either drow, humans or even all other elven subraces ("when Gold Elves ruled it was the GoldenAge!). Humans in heartlands generally indifferent to most creatures with whom they aren't at war, though still wary of thieving halflings. Demihumans are banned from some places, such as Hillsfar -- but then, the ruler who did it and his loyal troops aren't very popular even among humans, both inside and outside the city.

** Dracotaurs and centaurs despise each other, and dracotaurs cherish few foods as much as centaur flesh.

** On the human-to-human side, Imperials and other southern humans fear and despise the Norscans due to them being frothing Chaos-worshipping barbarians intent on slaughter and conquest. The Norscans, conversely, see all non-Norscans as weaklings and sissies who worship impotent gods barely worth thinking about. Indeed, Sigmar and Myrmidia are not even things to be hated in the unholy north, rather they are just as openly heckled and ridiculed as their worshippers. It's in fact so bad in Norsca that 'southling' is actually a fairly serious insult there. Then there's the Kurgan living right up next to the Chaos wastes directly, whom even the Norscans consider to be bastards. And then there is the Hung, whom Kurgan consider backstabbing uncouth barbarians.

*** Regular gnomes often hold this against the tinker gnomes, or "Minoi", of the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' setting, because they feel their BunglingInventor hat embarrasses all "true" gnomes. Non-minoi gnomes have even been known to form hunting parties that seek out minoi spelljammers and kill them, or at least wreck their ships so they can't spread any further through TheMultiverse. Given that the minoi "spelljammers" are often ramshackle pieces of junk that are likely to fall out of the heavens and slam with devastating force into a city, and many of their other [[RubeGoldbergDevice "inventions"]] aren't much safer, [[KickTheSonOfABitch many people don't really consider this an evil act]].

* ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest'': Dwarves hate all other races, for various reasons. [[DwarvesVersusElves They hate elves]] because the elves killed their god, and treacherously attacked them and slaughtered many dwarves during the Gods Time; this hatred is so deep that it's purely instinctive and not learned. They fear and loathe trolls because trolls compete with them for living space and also consider dwarves to be a great delicacy. They despise humans because they see humans as inconstant, treacherous, short-sighted pests who steal from them, have no vision or self-respect, and get in the way of the dwarves' attempt to fix the world's broken state.

** During the Great Crusade, the Imperium discovered one of the long-separated sects of mankind who called themselves the Quietude. They decided to combine human biology with technology to a degree [[UpToEleven even greater than the Adeptus Mechanicus.]] The Imperial fleet sent human soldiers to make contact with the Quietude and request the terms of their re-integration into the Imperium, but contact with them was lost. The Quietude responded to the main fleet by asserting that the Imperial humans were clearly genetically-engineered creatures of alien origin sent to trick them, and cited the vivisection of the missing guardsmen as evidence of this claim. As a result of this misinformation and hostility, the Imperium [[CurbStompBattle sent in the Space Wolves]].

** On the human-to-human side, Imperials and other southern humans fear and despise the Norscans due to them being frothing Chaos-worshipping barbarians intent on slaughter and conquest. The Norscans, conversely, see all non-Norscans as weaklings and sissies who worship impotent gods barely worth thinking about. Indeed, Sigmar and Myrmidia are not even things to be hated in the unholy north, rather they are just as openly heckled and ridiculed as their worshippers. It's in fact so bad in Norsca that 'southling' is actually a fairly serious insult there. Then there's the Hung, whom even the Norscans consider to be bastards.
** Even within the Empire there's a lot of prejudice. Reiklanders are all puffed-up, effete snobs. Nordlanders are all more-or-less half-Norscan, wolf-worshipping savages. Marienburgers are treacherous and greedy, penny-pinching bastards. Averlanders are... [[BestialityIsDepraved very fond]] of their sheep, and Hochlanders [[CompanionCube are the same way about their prized heirloom rifles]]. Stirlanders are inbred country bumpkins who drown cats for entertainment and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking drink their ale hot]]. The Halflings of Mootland, [[BeneathNotice when people actually acknowledge they exist]], treat them as natural thieves or argue the MadGod Ranald made them as a bizarre joke.

** SeaSerpents are clearly related to true dragons, but neither group is willing to comment on their common heritage and, anytime a sea serpent and coast-dwelling dragon's territories overlap, the result is a vicious and bloody battle.
** Rangers get fantastic racism as a class feature in the first three editions. You select a type of monster, which could be a race, like Goblins, and get a bonus to hit and damage. Similarly, dwarves receive bonuses when attacking orcs and goblins, while gnomes get an attack bonus against kobolds and goblins; curiously, although this is explained as being due to a long history of conflict, those bonuses are one way only.

** Dragons themselves tend to think they are superior to all "lesser races" (i.e almost everyone else). Even Good-aligned dragons tend to be InnocentBigot types and talk down to everyone else. [[JerkassHasAPoint To be fair, they have a lot to act superior about.]] Internally, metallic and chromatic dragons also despise each other.

** In ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' most races are xenophobic to an extent and mistrustful of anyone other than their own kind, slavery is a way of life and cannibalism is not uncommon. The largest prejudice however is against arcane magic users and with good reason; the most common form of arcane magic is [[TheDarkArts defiling]]. Defiling saps the life out of the user’s surrounds to fuel the magic, killing plants, sterilizing the soil and draining the life-energy of nearby creatures. The reason Athas is such a CrapSackWorld is because of defiler magic. Another form of arcane magic exists called preserving, which is less potent but doesn't damage to the world itself. However few know the difference between the two and arcane magic users are almost universally abhorred with the exception of the Sorcerer-Kings, who are so powerful no one wants to risk angering them.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' features some level of fantastic racism towards the player character races, but given how many leadership positions are filled by tieflings and other such folks, it tends to feel like an InformedFlaw at times. The genocidal, religious hatred between githyanki and githzerai plays it straight. However, this setting also features a genocidal, impossibly large-scale war between the Nine Hells of Baator and the Abyss, with one representing evil as tyranny and the other evil as passionate barbarism. It's [[RomanticismVersusEnlightenment Evil Romanticism Vs Evil Enlightenment]] acted out through genocide by races full of hate. The other immortal races also have tons of fantastic racism. Even the good ones have trouble understanding or liking each other, but at least they're "live and let live."
** [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragons]] are always presented as viewing themselves as superior to other species, even good dragons. Some signs of their arrogance is the unconfirmed claim in 3rd edition that all other languages, except for ones spoken by species from other planes that are likely even older than the dragons, are derived from the dragon language. The reason behind their ego, given in the ''Draconomicon'', is that dragons live for thousands of years [[StrongerWithAge growing bigger, stronger]] and [[OlderAndWiser smarter]], while virtually every other living thing they see grows old, gets weak, sick, and dies. Ultimately, even good dragons can't help but feel signs of superiority. How they act, however, depends on if the dragon is good or evil. Chromatic dragons will consider other species to be worthless and existing so that they may use them however they wish, metallic dragons look down on them more akin to viewing them like children who must be helped.
** Behirs and dragons hate each other. Even ''mentioning'' dragons around a behir [[BerserkButton can be dangerous]].
** ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'' has the familiar FantasticRacism as well as some very real-world flavored racism between the various human ethnicities. There's been a lot of intermixing in the time since the ancient wars between the Suel and Baklunish empires followed by subsequent migrations east, but of particular note are the white supremacist Scarlet Brotherhood, [[ANaziByAnyOtherName who consider themselves the heirs to the purity and power of the ancient Suloise peoples]].
** There's also a deity of Humanity known as Zarus from the 3.5 book Races of Destiny. He is the hugest, most racist prick for his HumansAreSuperior mindset, and [[SmugSuper he knows it]].
** ''TabletopGame/GrimHollow'': [[PlayingWithATrope Played With]]. In the past, the continent of Etharis was ruled by various fantastic races before the arrival of humanity, whose many warlords ruthlessly conquered and carved up the land, destroying the Elf, Dwarf, and Gnome kingdoms, and enslaving the Halfling population, setting up the modern nations of Etharis, and driving the previous inhabitants into hiding. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that this was centuries ago, and most modern humans have little to no animosity towards the re-emerging races. However, those races have much longer memories, and aren't particularly keen to forgive and forget.

** And, least we forget good, old-fashioned racism, there's examples like Linowan, which in addition to killing you for being a beastman or having too well-trained of an animal, will also kill or enslave you for having [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair entirely green hair]] and reddish-brown skin ([[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation a common occurrence in the ''Exalted'' setting]]). The nearest society with entirely green hair and reddish-brown skin spy on or respond in kind to anyone that looks like they're a Linowan -- or even feed them to TheFairFolk. Some racism is more subtle; the xenophobic Varangians consider foreigners simple-minded for not understanding the [[FantasticCasteSystem ridiculously complex caste system]].

** Dragons themselves tend to think they are superior to all "lesser races" (i.e almost everyone else), even good aligned dragons tend to be InnocentBigot types and talk down to everyone else. [[JerkassHasAPoint To be fair, they have a lot to act superior about.]]

*** Warforged, Shifters, and Changelings all suffer from racism in Eberron as well. The Warforged are an artificial race of sentient constructs built as soldiers for The Last War. When the war ended, Khorvaire found itself with a sizeable population of Warforged left over - machines that think, and feel as richly as their creators, but are now without purpose. Some regard them as freaks that should never have been built, others hate them for stealing jobs (they have no need to eat or sleep), and still others would happily enslave them all again. Shifters are the diluted descendants of Eberron's lycanthropes, and many still fear them for their bestial appearance and often savage nature, as well as memories of their predecessors (who were all nearly genocided into oblivion by the local ''LawfulGood'' CrystalDragonJesus religion, even the non-evil ones). Changelings can alter their appearance and gender at will, leading many to be paranoid of anyone they suspect to be a changeling-especially if they happen to actually know a changeling is in the area. Even one area of work changelings naturally excel at if they must, prostitution, has become a subject of racism and paranoia on suspicions that any given prostitute is actually a changeling-and quite possibly male in [[NoBiologicalSex "her" "native" form]].

** In ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'', demihumans are rare enough, and human superstition prevalent enough, that demihumans who would be tolerated in other campaign settings are objects of fear in many domains. Some domains extend this to spellcasters as well, forcing wizards to hide their powers or risk being burned alive. Even domains that don't lynch demihumans on sight usually treat them as second-class citizens. Do note that being leery of demihumans may be a rational reaction as there are an abundance of predatory monsters that look ''almost'' human in the Land of Mists.
*** The Vistani are ''Ravenloft's'' [[FantasyCounterpartCulture equivalent]] of Universal-movie "gypsies", and the targets of human-on-human racism within the game, dealing mostly with the same accusations as against RealLife UsefulNotes/{{Romani}}. Rudolph Van Richten became a HunterOfMonsters because of a run-in with a particularly unsavory tribe and thus held a low opinion of the whole people for most of his life -- until in ''Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani'' he finally had to inspect the matter in detail.

** In ''TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}}'' there's a semi-secret society of humans devoted to xenophobia. Among other major groups, elves are infamous for haughtiness at best and outright racism at worst. They tend to attack goblinoids on sight, and once [[EarthShatteringKaboom blew up a planet]] full of them. The ones aboard the eponymous ship have formed an organization dedicated to the complete genocide of all goblinoids -- with no regard to whether the goblinoid in question is a child, crippled, one of the few non-evil ones, or anything else. Yes, that's right; [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Nazi Elves]] [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]. It's kind of a weird setting.
*** Beholders ''run'' on a mix of this trope and ItsAllAboutMe. Any given beholder sees itself as the pinnacle of all creation, the perfect reflection of the Great Mother that spawned their race. Other beholders of the same breed are tolerable inferiors. Beholders of any other breed are disgusting abominations that must be destroyed on sight. Anything that's not a beholder is barely worth acknowledging -- little more than a fly to be swatted when it wanders too close, or a potential servant. For added fun, although the difference between beholder breeds is sometimes quite large, other times it can be things so minuscule that nothing that's not a beholder would even notice. The beholder with slightly bumpier skin or a different number of teeth is as much a hated inferior as the one who has flame-based powers instead of the standard beholder suite or a differing number of eyestalks. Beholders in general are like this, in ''Spelljammer'' they just get an opportunity to duke it out where everyone sees it and by whole fleets. The Great Mother enables this since she's a shapeshifter who always appears to beholders as a perfect copy of themselves.

** The masculine third gender[=/=]{{Transgender}} Tya and {{Transgender}} Dereth face unpleasant jokes even in their respective native culture, and Tya risk their lives if they're too visible in Coral. Outside of the West and the Delzahn respectively, or when dealing with foreigners, the cultural clashes can be dangerous or even deadly.

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*** There's also a Greyhawk deity of Humanity known as Zarus. He is the hugest, most racist prick for his HumansAreSuperior mindset, and [[SmugSuper he knows it]].

** There's also a Greyhawk deity of Humanity known as Zarus. He is the hugest, most racist prick for his HumansAreSuperior mindset.