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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/30514
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In my fantasy world there are other other sentient races besides humans. Some of them are "original", or at least not as common in mainstream stories. On the other hand, I have also included more traditional races like elves. I'm going to continue using elves for my example. Obviously, I have tried to put a personal spin on the elves and not just copy-paste them from Tolkien or anywhere else.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that I could change them to be any other race I like while maintaining a lot of their current characteristics. Most importantly, I could maintain their part in the story of the world without these changes affecting them.

My problem is this: should I keep using more common traditional fantasy races (in addition to my "new" ones) or change all of them to "new" ones?

On one hand, whenever I come across a fantasy world with the usual races, I am often intrigued to see what this show, book, etc. does with them. I already feel involved in them, and it gives me a familiar piece of the world to connect easily to. If there is a complete lack of familiar races, I feel less involved with the world from the start. By the end of the story, I may be completely in love with the new world, but the start was still a bit rough.

Is the use of traditional fantasy races wrong and something to be avoided because it limits and hinders the quality of my story, or something that readers will appreciate and that makes the story more appealing?

(I feel it is important to include that from a narrative stand point, the themes of the story will also be changed because some of the protagonists belong to those races. Whether the changes will be better or more original I can't say, but they will certainly be a bit different.

Original score: 18