... And the Rest

 This series of posts started as an exercise in expressing the Baseline D&D world I carry around in my head.  Since I tend to skew old school, it centers on the "Big 4" character races.  Since I don't stick to any one edition of the game, I also need to think about all the other races prevalent in the game.

Gnomes:  Aka 'Wood Dwarves", I treat them explicitly as members of the Dwarf family, skewing towards "David the Gnome" (in personality, not height).  I don't go full fey, but they have an implied connection to the magic of the woods, like a typical Dwarf's connection to stone. 

Half-Elves:  If it is an old school rule system, you will likely be playing an Elf with "bulkier" features.  "Half" Elves can actually be a few generations removed from their Elven or Human parent, and there will often be small enclaves within a larger community of extended Half Elf families.

Half-Orcs (Orcs): Pretty close to bog standard 3e Half Orcs. My Orcs are corrupted humanoids and not a race as such. So by extension Half Orcs are also not a race in the same sense and would just be seen a "More Orcs"

Goblinoids: Like Orcs, they are not a race, but more "gremlin" like beings that spring full grown into being in the dark, wet, scary places. Over time they grow bigger and meaner, into Hobgoblins, and Bugbears (Deep Goblins).

Ogres: Cribbing from The Hobbit, they turn to stone in sunlight.

Tieflings: Fall under the category of "Humans with a weird family tree", they can be spontaneously born to otherwise normal parents.

Dragonborn: Created by Dragons as a vassal race in ages past, they tend to stay among other dragons.

Misc: Lots of other races would also get tossed in the "Humans with weird family history" pile, or stranger from a strange place, or descended from being created by the gods during the last god war.

Closing thoughts: I don't like my worlds choked full of large amounts of sentient species.  Mostly out of a desire to keep things simple at the start for easy play.  For that same ease of play, I have made your typical low level foes (Goblins/Orcs) unnatural creatures.  Depending on the setting, rules, and experiences of the players, all of these guidelines are subject to change. 

Much like making a stew, you take the ingredients you  have, mix together what you want, to end up with something folks will enjoy.