Re: Unhuman War

In my campaign, the humanoids actually got their start by overrunning a
civilization which did know of spelljamming.  On countless worlds, every
generation or two a tide of humanoids comes pouring out of <fill in
mountain range here> and attempts to kill everything in its path. 
Fortunately (for the sake of TSR's  campaign worlds) they're always pushed
back.  In this case, they weren't.

After a while, a few spelljammers made it into space under humanoid crews.
They found piracy came naturally to them. Yes, some failed miserably, but
others didn't. The most valuable item one can grab from a ship is the
helm. (takes up little space, goes for quite a bit, even on the
black-market, and can be used to build a fleet around) Somewhere down the
line, the humanoids began to do what comes naturally.  They took what they
wanted when they wanted it.  Even a kobold can repair a ship (you'll never
get the smell out, but...).  If the ship comes with a helm, all the
better.

As the humanoids began to over-populate their world (without the other
races to keep them in check, this was a serious problem) more and more
began to go into space to pillage, burn, settle, whatever.  There was
now a growing (albeit slowly) army of space-faring humanoids.  It's wasn't
long before they run afoul of other spacefarers, including the elves.

The elves, in their infinite wisdom began a debate over what they should
do about the humanoids.  While the admirals argued, the humanoids
continued to grow in strength. At this point there was still no
organization like the force of the scro, but small fleets under this or
than warlord or pirate-king still caused problems.  

Finally, by the time the elves decided the humanoids were a serious
threat, they actually were. With the humanoids having gained a significant
hold in space, the elves actually had to work to remove them, resulting in
heavy casualties for all involved. The humanoids, presented with the power
of the elves, quickly (well, quickly for humanoids) pulled together to
face the threat, and the first signs of a unifed humanoid fleet emerged.
Then, the spheres saw the emergence of Bionoids, Witchlight Marauders, and
other goodies. 
 
I think a large point that needs to be made is that all humanoids are not
drop-dead stupid.  Ogre magi, orcs, hobgoblins, and, yes,even goblins
and kobolds can be extremely intelligent.

Humanoids have the added bonus of being incredibly hardy, savage, and they
reproduce like bunnies.  They have an advantage in numbers, shear
blood-thirst, and as the first Unhuman War approached its end, desperation
to make up for their technical short-comings.

-m.r.