Okay so as you all know im working on a little sumtin' sumtin' and im trying to wrap my brain around the races and what I should do with whom and why I should do it.

So the question is, for each Race in DnD What do you personally like about them, and one thing you dislike about them. If you could work at WoTC and change something about that race, what would you do? Is it mechanical, or is it fluff? Any ways, heres the list (Im using 3.5 list)

Elves
Dwarves
Halflings
Gnomes
Humans
Half Orcs
Half Elfs

Id like the forum people to do the list or pick one really lothsome race in that list and tear it apart with good things and the utter bad things about it.
No mercy.

What Im trying to do here is an experiment, to see what races is broken and which ones are good, but could use some improvement in the mind of the public. Using that information, I can better judge on where I should be moving with my own rces when I start crafting them and giving them specail skills and such, and hopefully avoiding what makes them not work, and instead adding to what makes them work, with the help of the forum goes here. Thanks.

I'm approaching this with a strictly pre-WOTC eye, and only looking at fluff:

Elves - Lots of varieties of elf have been done over the days. Tolkien elves, slightly-smaller-and-flightier almost-Tolkien elves, drow, various types of savage and wild elves from an assortment of climates, space travelling Imperial elves, etc. etc. etc.. This is both a boon (plenty of flavours and options to pick from for your world), and a bane (whatever it is you've just come up with on your own, someone has done it already). Personally, if I were to design some "new kind of elf" for my game, I'd strongly push for the whole Fay thing: the Sidhe, the Seelie and Unseelie courts, hell, throw in the Wild Hunt and the Headless Horseman on the way. Make them strange, alien and dangerous. And with the above in mind, probably an NPC-only race.

Dwarves - Similar as above, but with lesser variety, mainly ranging from Highlander Scots to Tolkien dwarves. I personally would also do pretty much the same to them as to elves, pushing them towards the original Norse Svartalfar.

Halflings - I love Tolkien and I love the wee fellows because, well, I can sympathise with a passion for comfy homes and great meals, but let's face it, they've been way overdone in D&D. I'd either let them go, or fold them into elves, halflings representing the sunnier, friendlier, more humanlike aspect of the Fay.

Gnomes - I could never figure out what they were meant to be, and I think neither could any D&D designers, ever. I mean, sometimes they're supposed to be "dwarves, but for forests", sometimes they're "dwarves, but even more so in unsubstantiated ways", and sometimes "humorous sidekicks with zany contraptions", which is one of the reasons I'll never touch Dragonlance with a 10' polearm.
They just don't really have a niche. "Foresty dwarves" is what elves should be, and "deeper dwarves" is what dwarves should be.

Humans - Yeah, they're baseline humans, with all the possibilities and possible missteps that entails. Either I live it at that, or write a 10 page essay.

Half Orcs - They're numerous enough to be considered a whole separate race. A whole separate race that's largely sustained by rape, because let's face it, who would do it with an orc willingly? It's just not thought out very well. If you want to play sinister humans who are largely considered evil, then just grow some balls and say that "in my game this and this human ethnicity is widely considered sinister and largely evil", and fuck political correctness. I mean, it's not like Tolkien shirked from doing the same with Southrons and Easterlings, is it?

Half Elfs - "I want to have the mechanical bonuses of elves but largely retain the free class selection of humans." They should go away.



In general, one of my biggest picks with all demihuman races is that I've never, EVER seen a demihuman PC who actually was demihuman. They're always either carbon copy humans with different bonuses and facial features, or they're overdone one-dimensional stereotypes. And not only because players are lazy/crappy roleplayers, but also because they don't have anything to go on when roleplaying demis. I mean, they either follow the one-dimensional stereotypes given by the official books, or they look at the rich tapestry of the DM's homebrew world, read up on what elves, dwarves or whatever are supposed to be like in that particular world, and play along... but who am I kidding? That much detail only exists in the DM's head, and they never write it down, certainly not in enough detail for the players to base credible characters on it.
My solution to that would be rather simple: players play human PCs, since that's what they can relate to. Demis are NPC only, since only the DM has a coherent enough vision of what they should be like.

Elves: I love how they're always involved with a setting's craziest and biggest stuff - fingers in every pot. I hate that people don't get into the mindset that would develop from from such a ludicrously long life.

Dwarves: They're just plain badass and (nearly) always have been. Unfortunately, they probably have the farthest to go to escape from their monocultured archetype for similar reasons.

Halflings: Their versatility in terms of archetypes - childlike mirrors of ourselves, perfect urban dwellers, etc makes them instantly likeable but also untrustworthy, as they are most like humans out of all these races...on the other hand, they've been sullied by kenders...

Gnomes: I wish we could move beyond Gnomes as comic relief. They're underrated little info-junkies with big plans behind those big grins/noses.

Humans: We get them instantly. However, too many settings use that as an excuse to make human cultures too obviously like historical ones, which suspends disbelief at the best of times and comes off as an offensive caricature at the worst.

Half Orcs: Instant roleplaying hooks! Easy to play! Not worth the stat penalties! Arg!

Half Elfs: see half-orcs, but with a prettier smile.

In my fantasy, I like to advance the time line a bit. Give it some extra tech and stuff. Like low-powered steampunk with the swords and sorcery still intact.

Elves: I see them as hedonists in the extreme. Elves in the wild are into the bacchanalian revelry and such. They've got a good thing going for them. Elves in the city, on the other hand, tend to go overboard on what the city has to offer them. They dress to the nines, drink and party all the time, and are usually bled dry by the lifestyle, only to be found wasting away in the opium dens in their shortened old-age. Mechanically, I see elves as being perceptive, but weak-willed. Elf magic would probably be the sort of thing that had to do either with nature, spirits (they'd be better in touch with fey and ghosts and such), or illusion/enchantment/divination type things. Elf warfare... isn't. Elves learn fencing and archery, but more as an "art" than in any practical fashion. Elf tech is likewise more about the artsy aspect of it. I suppose they'd move around a lot.


Dwarves: Dwarves would be the hard workers and practical thinkers. While the elves are the artists and the gnomes are the tinkerers, I think dwarves would be the industrialists, able to churn out lower quality goods at a better pace and with greater reliability. Gruffness is a must, but I'd nix the exclusively lawful bit. I don't know... it always bugged me. Dwarven warriors would probably be all about the guns or the axes. Dwarf magic would be all about the earth and the artifacts and things.


Halflings: I'd get rid of them. I mean... they're small. Do they have an identity beyond that?


Gnomes: Gnomes are the geeks of the fantasy world. They aren't exclusively techies. They can be illusionists or diviners or atificers or tinkerers or what have you, but whatever they do they do it with a more obsessive and occasionally innovative bent. I'll say gnomes also have a tradition of studying abroad, and sometimes never return to the gnomish homeland except to marry or be buried. Which would explain why you always see an isolated gnome family that's set up shop in the middle of a human, elven, or dwarven city. Gnome tech is all about the otherwise impossible machines. Gnome magic is all  about controlling information. Gnome combat isn't. If a gnome takes down a massive enemy, it's more likely by way of his wits.


Humans: Are humans. They aren't the majority or ubiquitous or anything, but there are numerous "homelands" spread around, as humans tend to migrate along the path of least resistance (where other races often find themselves in a singular, if impassable homeland... mountains for orcs and dwarves... the forests for elves... the desert for gnomes).


Half Orcs:Just make them orcs already. Enough of these half-something quarter-something planetouched dragonblooded things. Just let the orc be an orc. Anyway, I think we can all agree on what an orc is (except that I'd nix any daylight vulnerabilities so people could actually play as one).


Half Elfs: Just get rid of them. They don't add anything of interest.


All that said, my ideal race mix looks more like...

human
dwarf
elf
gnome
goblin
ogre
robot

Men: They're the standard against which all others are measured, exhibiting the greatness inherent in Man.

Elves: They play the role of the lowest order of angels.

Dwarves: They play the role of the link between creation and creator.

Halflings:  The common man, i.e. Hobbits- not midget gypsies.  They aren't always available.

Gnomes:  Superfluous and redundant with Hobbits, and thus not used.

Half-Breeds:  Superfluous now that Feats can handle the necessary mechanics, as noted above.