Hello...

I'm just curious... What races do you like or hate as PCs? Or do you think seeing the same old options in fantasy games is getting a little tired? Just to note: I'm not a big D&D player except when it comes to the OSR side so I don't know much about the newer editions.

Ever since playing WFRP 1e I really got into human-centric games so that's generally my preference nowadays. But I did like Dwarfs the psychos they were. And maybe it's also because I'm more into lower fantasy now as well.

But I've really gone off elves (just too cool for school!).

I did like playing Ocs in MERP we played an entire campaign, it was a lot of fun (although we were not popular with humans).

I'm also getting a little tired of the various 'new' fantasy games being released with rejigging same material over and over again... That's one of the reasons I like Sybaroum. Sure, the races are in there but in name only. They've really tried to do something original. Like Elves, who are damn scary as they get older and pretty unrecognisable.

Do you think new game's designers should try to do something a little different with the usual fantasy races? Or are you happy enough with he status quo. Personally I'd like to see some of the tropes freshened up a bit, but that's just me.

Thoughts?

Ta'.

Tieflings and Dragonborn are awful.

The only race I'm aware of that I actively hate are DRAGONLANCE's gully dwarves. Tinker gnomes and kender can work if you dial down the self-parody quite a bit, but gully dwarves ... sorry, not feeling it.

Like:  Humans, a narrow slice of elves (roughly, either the 5E high elves or wood elves as a concept), dwarves, halflings.  It's rare for me to have a campaign without them, though the players don't always pick certain ones.

Dislike:  Tielflings, half anything including half elves, most "monsters as races", exotic sub races.

OK in small doses (not every campaign, rare player character):  Dragonborn (called something else, repurposed), gnomes (when not a monster or evil race), very occasionally one monster race as a people that is player character option--maybe goblin this campaign, orc or lizard man 2 or 3 campaigns later.  That kind of thing.

Elves.

Quote from: Nerzenjäger;1046215Tieflings and Dragonborn are awful.

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;1046220Like:  Humans, a narrow slice of elves (roughly, either the 5E high elves or wood elves as a concept), dwarves, halflings.  It's rare for me to have a campaign without them, though the players don't always pick certain ones.

Dislike:  Tielflings, half anything including half elves, most "monsters as races", exotic sub races.

OK in small doses (not every campaign, rare player character):  Dragonborn (called something else, repurposed), gnomes (when not a monster or evil race), very occasionally one monster race as a people that is player character option--maybe goblin this campaign, orc or lizard man 2 or 3 campaigns later.  That kind of thing.

Tieflings are awesome you potion of cure serious wounds factory line rejects.

I don't like Dragonborn much.  Though, I tell people it's the males that have breasts because, like seahorses, they have pouches to carry the eggs.

Tieflings are a bit annoying.

I don't hate elves but I tend to make them self centered assholes with a real dark side.

I hate halflings. Whether the traditional pseudo-hobbit pseudo-short English country gentlemen or WotC's later attempt at reinterpreting them to be some kind of diminutive ninjas, I just don't care for them. Neither fits into the kinds of worlds I want to play in (or run).

I don't like any of the other half races either (half-elf, half-orc). I don't think they should be separate races. Instead, it should be some kind of feat or trait you can take at character creation that modifies your character from the standard version of the race. I think HARP's implementation is fairly elegant.

Quote from: Nerzenjäger;1046215Tieflings and Dragonborn are awful.

Oh man... Ugh! They sound like every kid's wet dream to play. Very cheesy in my opinion and wouldn't suit my games at all. But each to their own and all.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1046216The only race I'm aware of that I actively hate are DRAGONLANCE's gully dwarves. Tinker gnomes and kender can work if you dial down the self-parody quite a bit, but gully dwarves ... sorry, not feeling it.

Not ever heard of them so I had to look at a wiki. Um... Yeah, they sound utterly pointless. Might be a bit of fun just chopping them to bits but other than that.

Quote from: David Johansen;1046224II don't hate elves but I tend to make them self centered assholes with a real dark side.

I could probably live with that alright.

So far nothing has really stood out as a hard "NO" for me. It is all about how someone plays the character.

Quote from: Nerzenjäger;1046215Tieflings and Dragonborn are awful.

I had to deal with my first Tiefling Edgelord in 1995. I also had my first Drizzt clone in 1995. I'll toss elves onto the list. There's a reason most of my games are Modern or Sci-Fi.

Quote from: Omega;1046237So far nothing has really stood out as a hard "NO" for me. It is all about how someone plays the character.

If I run D&D, I don't bar anything. I may not like stuff but I'm not going to bar core races because they annoy me.

For playable character races:

Likes: Humans, dwarves, elves, and orcs

Dislikes: Halflings, gnomes, goblins, 'half-races'

Hates: Dragonborn (stupid idea), Tiefling (more stupid idea), and anything weird (most stupid idea; Aarakocra, Kuo-toa, Satyr, etc.)

In my fantasy game, for player races, there are 3 'types' of humans ('standard', 'elite' (think 'high elf' version), and 'mutated' w/lizard blood, looks human, but with slightly reptilian 'features' like finely scaled skin, slightly 'hooded' eyes, and better able to heal), a dwarf race, 2 orc races (less savage looking and slightly more civilized than normal orcs), and a race I made that's essentially an amalgamation of goblin, halfling, and wild elf (forest/jungle dwelling in trees and earthen mounds; a bit feral; about the height of a dwarf, but not nearly as stocky). Elves are evil in my world and not a playable race. Apart from goblins and satyrs, my 'dislikes' and 'hates' from above don't even exist in my world.

I have no problem with the Freak Factory idea of lots of races in a game. My old 80's campaign was full of wierdo race characters, long before there were Dragonborn and Tieflings.


One race that does rub me the wrong way is the Kender. For one specific reason. They have the racial advantage of being immune to fear, but Death Knights override that because the setting's darling, Lord Soth should be scary to everyone.
*rolleyes*

Generally, I agree with Omega. It's how the character is played.