Seriously. Wherefore Elves?

The more I think about it, the monster races are so much more keen than the ye standards. I'd rather have a party of kobolds, kenku, lizardmen, half giants, and, of course, the walking dead than yet another enigmatic elven archer or a halfling burglar.   Or kender. Man, #$%^ a kender.

Think about it. You're a member of a race that has, since time immemorial, engaged in raids and counter raids with each other and other humanoids( I'm going with a Dungeoncraft-like assumption of fantasy being similar to the Grecian classical age, here. ). Not only that, but your defenses are routinely toppled not by armies, but by teams of five people. After a while, it might seem like a good idea to integrate with polite society. Society evolves, after all.

I think it'd be more interesting to integrate "monstrous" humanoids into the cosmopolitan society of the Prime Material Plane along with, even instead of, the standard races. Kobold families running combination donut shop and security kiosks. Minotaur bouncers. Gnoll woodsmen earning an honest living for once. Or maybe dishonest . . . just like everyone else.

Worked for Iron Kingdoms. Worked well, too. Sure, they kept elves and dwarves (and made them very rare on the mainland, might I add), but added goblins and their own versions of trolls and ogres. These guys face heavy prejudice and are often relegated to ghettos and specific job types. Interesting stuff. Could see integrating that into a game for other monsters. May give it a shot, soon.