The 10 entries in the "People" section all have useful tables. Mercenaries have Missions. Peasants have names, appearance, odours, and items. Townsfolk have slightly fancier names and professions. Adventurers have elaborate D&D-style names, notable features, D&D-ish skills and professions, and specialty tools.
The idea, and this will be explicitly stated in the introduction, is that tables can be mixed and matched. Use one name table instead of another. Roll for random items, unusual professions in town, or strange mercenary skills. Setting-specific name tables will help.
This is especially important when it comes to "us" vs "them" and Barbarians. A Monster Manual without an entry for Barbarians would feel incomplete, but the entire core trope of D&D barbarians is stereotyped: people from Foreign Parts who do X and don't have the same nice stuff we have Around Here.
As long as everyone's still treated as people, I suspect it'll be fine. It's more interesting that way.
Odors help a lot to set the mood and cement a character in your mind. I have a gnome and a dwarf in the party so they’re always asking if they can smell gold or other metals - it reminds me to tell everyone what things smell like as we go along.
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