Quote from: Nerzenjäger;1046357There's only one place for crazy stuff like that: RIFTS. And there you can play a Dragon proper. THAT's a kid's wet dream.

haw haw... That's very true! I remember a lad in our group playing a young dragon (it was rather annoying).

Quote from: antiochcow;1046358orcs really bug me (not as a monster, but as a playable race).

I get that... One of the things I get very sick of is when players play a monster as they would as a slightly grumpy human. For me, Orcs are pretty alien emotionally compared to humans at any rate. So the only way to do the role any justice is to try to get into that monstrous mindset.

Quote from: Daztur;1046346Dwarf: Warhammer "drunken Scotsmen" dwarves get really fucking old after a while as that's less a race than a one-note personality type.

Very true

Quote from: Daztur;1046346Halfling: OK, as long as you don't try to turn them into badasses in a really forced and annoying way. Halflings aren't supposed to be badasses.

Elves: good as long as you make them properly fey, not a bunch of ren faire dorks.

Seconded.

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

Yes, they are.

Quote from: Psikerlord;1046351Dislike gnomes. I dont get them, I guess they're mini elves?

The way that gnomes work for me is to play them surface according to the stereotypes--mostly cheerful, good-natured little people.  Then make them slightly sinister due to (insert appropriate campaign reason here that is unknown to the players).  That's why I use them sparingly in only some campaigns.  If a player gets a gnome, they are an outcast that doesn't know campaign secret, either, but might have some clues about it in their background.

Quote from: Skarg;1046320He stepped sideways, and my Exalted Horse found itself unable to decelerate in time to avoid crashing into the arena wall behind the foe, knocking itself unconscious, bringing my experience with Exalted Horses to a slapstick and mercifully quick halt! (So, I played an Exalted Horse for about two seconds of game time.)

Ha! Great mental image. At least it was over quick. My brother had a similar experience playing a dragon in an arena match we ran for experimental purposes, except he flew into a heavy parapet which knocked him unconscious while trying to strafe a line of bowmen with his flame breath, then fell around 200 feet into a moat below and drowned before he came to his senses (p.s. if you're wondering about the layout of the castle, no, it was not at all plausible or realistic; it was just a big playground arena designed to take up our entire playmat!)

I was always under the impression that the "Exalted Horses" as they're called were supposed to be imitations of Shadowfax and other 'intelligent/noble' horses along those lines; I'll have to go back and take another look at the entry. I've never used them at all, personally, and regardless of the intent behind them I'm hardpressed to imagine a scenario where they would fit into any of my campaigns.

As far as the thread topic goes, early Warhammer Fantasy nurtured a fondness in me for different varieties of lizardmen. I don't usually scatter them all around though as I prefer them to be more generally secluded when not living primarily inside their own enclaves (their biology and eating/speaking restrictions making them somewhat alien to more 'mundane' character races). In the settings I run racial monocultures don't exist, so each geographic region where lizardmen are present tends to have traditions, behaviors and mannerisms distinct from the others. I'll sometimes throw one into role as a smith or potter if they're found at all in cooler climates, where a hot kiln or etc. consistently firing in their home is itself a form of comfort.

I don't really hate any fantasy character races, but unless I can find a place where they actually fit into the setting and plausibly occupy their own niche then I usually cut them or alter them drastically enough to make them a more interesting/plausible fit. I tend towards "less is more" and only add what I think will be interesting and distinct enough to be worth wasting words and playtime on.

I will say that I hate the "pastiche effect" where there are 12 different variants each of 18 different races, where the lines between and conceptual boundaries blur to the point of meaninglessness. Why not just have, say, 4 to 8 extremely distinct fantasy character races with very interesting histories, places in the world and well-fleshed interactions between them?

I'd really like to see something a little different in the fantasy genre... I really wonder why people just keep regurgitating the same old material.

It seems every time I log into Drivthru there's a new fantasy game with the obligatory tagline: New fantastic quick and easy system! Better then anything you've seen before. Now you can play as a Human, Elf, Dwarf or Hobbit. Help Save the kingdom from DRAAAGONS!

At least Dark Sun was doing something different.

Sigh...

These types of games have already been done really well especially in OSR. It seems most people are trying to reinvent the wheel but as far as I'm concerned it already exists. So why not do something a little different like Symbaroum, etc.?

Well it's a setting-conceit thing for me. If we're talking Spelljammer or Planescape anything goes for me.

But races I think are dumb and/or redundant in modern D&D:

Half-orcs. Never liked them.
Dragon-anything. Stupid.
Tieflings/Aasimar - INCREDIBLY overplayed. Conceptually I kinda get it. But they're the super-snowflakes that no one plays remotely consistent with their conceits. Anyone that wants to play one in my game is in for a ride...
Eladrin - They're called Elves. Pick a sub-race and stfu.

Quote from: The Exploited.;1046408I'd really like to see something a little different in the fantasy genre... I really wonder why people just keep regurgitating the same old material.

You should make a thread called "Pitch me a one-page Fantasy setting".

Quote from: tenbones;1046480Well it's a setting-conceit thing for me. If we're talking Spelljammer or Planescape anything goes for me.

Yeah, this is fair. If I'm playing Rifts or Gamma World I'd fully expect everything and more to be thrown in the gumbo pot. Part of the appeal and all.

Quote from: The Exploited.;1046386I get that... One of the things I get very sick of is when players play a monster as they would as a slightly grumpy human. For me, Orcs are pretty alien emotionally compared to humans at any rate. So the only way to do the role any justice is to try to get into that monstrous mindset.

Yeeep. It bugs me even more when they're portrayed as simply misunderstood, as if they're just basically humans but with grey or green skin.

Quote from: The Exploited.;1046408I'd really like to see something a little different in the fantasy genre... I really wonder why people just keep regurgitating the same old material.

"You can only be avant-garde so long before you become garde."  (Not sure who said it.)  That's because it's all people making a character that is going to be played by a person, and there is nothing new under the sun.  The more "different" that people try to be, the less material is there to rebel against.

I've a particular love of what used to be the Core Race. Humans, Halflings, Dwarves and Elves. Gnomes IMO are just a type of Halfling, and Orcs...I'm neutral.

Dragonborn can fuck right off. Teiflings were ok when they looked like humans just...off. Now that both races have gone full freak show, I can't stand them. And I like monstrous races like Lizardmen and Hobgoblins.

Quote from: Warboss Squee;1046536Dragonborn can fuck right off. Teiflings were ok when they looked like humans just...off. Now that both races have gone full freak show, I can't stand them.

Compare: A Tiefling from Shadows over Amn with the latest Tiefling art

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Quote from: Mike the Mage;1046547Compare: A Tiefling from Shadows over Amn with the latest Tiefling art

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I'm assuming the left one is a Tiefling, but he looks like a scarred half-elf...  Not very interesting.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;1046559I'm assuming the left one is a Tiefling, but he looks like a scarred half-elf...  Not very interesting.

Old school Tieflings had small tells, like claws, glowing eyes or a faint oder of brimstone. They could pass for normal if they tried, but were generally reviled for their otherworldly ancestry.

NuTieflings are freak show snowflakes that should have been drowned at birth.