>>96843709
cuz people are used to the same things in fantasy so their mind goes to the same old stuff. most of the old stuff works hence why it became established but it doesn't mean you have to make dragons breathe fire every time or that elves must be assholes to everyone else but maybe you should keep dwarves with beards and underground, yknow? be creative but not stupid.
if you setting allows for undead sentience then sure, they wouldn't all be killers sitting in dungeons. they could even be normal and carve out a piece of the world for themselves.
personally I'm writing out a personalized version of the warcraft rpg where I just write over parts I dont like. I don't care for things being thousands of years old since they never get written to act like they are, so some races act different and others have a shitload of retconning and new characters for ancient events rather than the same old 10,000 year old elf who acts the same as an irrational mortal. also the old gods are real eldritch gods while titan stuff is scaled back a bit.
tons of changes, really making it into something I personally enjoy and I recommend everyone else to do the same for settings they like but not LOVE