The Species of Pontifex

In this post I will not be covering Wretches, which are more analogous to being "monsters" in the setting, like Orcs and Goblins. Wretches and the Old Dead Gods will be detailed in another post.

In Pontifex, the only playable race is Human. My reasoning:

One

The traditional demi-humans (Dwarf, Elf, Halfing/Hobbit) and all their variations (Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Gnome, etc.) cater to a much more high fantasy world. Pontifex strives for something a bit grittier. In other words, Dwarves and Elves may exist, but not as organized, intelligible societies comparable to that of mankind. Dwarves and Elves are the stuff of fairytales, not complete self-aware societies with the ability to communicate and intermingle with Humans. To call them demi-humans at all is fairly innacurate. "Creatures" or even "monsters" works better. The other demi-humans (Hobbits and the aforementioned variations of demi-humans) do not exist at all for similar reasons.

Two

In many fantasy settings, Humans are often depicted as the fill-in-the-blank or jack-of-all-trades species. That is to say, many times only very distinct cultural norms are assigned to demi-human cultures, but not to Humans. I hope to, in this setting, introduce multiple cultures and ethnicities of Humanity that all have at least somewhat distinct traditions and cultures, without relying on the advent of another sentient species.

Hopefully, these reasons will help explain my thinking behind the world of Pontifex, and give players more options for creativity within the scope of the setting.