Poll: How do you feel about new PC races?

Qik · Apr 28, 2012

For those of you who have not been following, the discussion in this thread has led a more general consideration of approving new races for play in LPF, which is especially relevant in light of the impending release of the Advanced Races Guide. It'd be very helpful to get better idea of peoples' opinion on this matter, so feel free to chime in on the discussion if you're the chatty type, but even a vote would be very welcome.

IronWolf · Apr 28, 2012

Note: I am answering this from the player perspective, my judge hat is off for this comment.

I am fairly conservative in my view of mainstream races. I cringe when I see races expand much beyond the typical races included in the core rulebook. It starts to break down my idea of a fantasy world when PCs have these races as options.

I am fine with these races as NPCs and such, but less fond of unusual player class races. I have played in other parties in various games with "unusual" races and it just doesn't "feel" right to me.

With that said I am not really looking forward to the Advanced Races Guide.

This is of course a subjective opinion and I realize I am part of a larger group by participating in LPF. But I hope we do not see a rapid increase of playable races.

IronWolf · Apr 28, 2012

Note: This is my comment on this subject with my judge hat on.

I have made my opinion as a player of LPF known in the above post. With that said, with the judge hat on I am willing to vote on race approvals with the inclination of the group as a whole in mind. So if the results of this discussion seem to favor including more races I will keep that in mind in future proposals for additions of new races to LPF.

While I have personal preferences on many issues, as a judge I try to consider the opinion of the group as a whole when it comes to voting.

Satin Knights · Apr 28, 2012

I like the option of the new races.

A) I get tired of the elven wizard, dwarf fighter, halfling rogue, gnome summoner, human everything pigeon holes that people slip into because they are the best optimizations for the given race.

B) The synthesist kind of blows the doors open, as we then get all sort of unique creatures wandering town. It is a shame that the overwhelming best optimization for the synthesist is the half-elf.

C) Players and GMs should play the xenophobic nature of NPCs up a little bit. Arianna hides under her custom cloak as she walks around town. She always assumes she is going to be met with dislike or hostility when moving about town unless she reverts back to the mermaid. They're so cute, nobody could harm a mermaid.

D) The diversity of non-standard races also ups the difficulty of identifying your enemy. If you see a gnome in a party of five and an weird looking creature, you know to focus fire on the gnome or the half-elf. It is not so cut and dry with advanced races.

That is why I like the Wayangs. "What's the fuss? It's a burgundy gnome instead of a lilac gnome." Well, not exactly.

E) Judges will need to approve the advanced races and weed out the ones that are 100% cherry picked for just their skills. But, we have 2 people already looking over new characters as it is. Right now, we are doing the reverse a bit in "Are you sure? That option would hamstring you quite a bit, try this instead." advice. And if someone builds a new race, well then they will have to put up a bit of history and fluff into the wiki to give the race a background.

F) Of the latest characters built, 4 humans, 2 dwarfs, 2 half elf (synthesists), 2 tieflings, 1 elf (wizard). This time next year, I predict humans will still dominate. :yawn:

Systole · Apr 29, 2012

I'm against new races for the most part. I could be persuaded otherwise were the right race to come along, but with ~10 races, ~15 classes, and a whole living world of background to choose from, I find it hard to see what a new race brings to the table.

^^Just my subjective opinion.

jbear · Apr 29, 2012

I'm pretty neutral.

I don't tend to like playing weird races. But I'm quite happy for others who do to do so.

GlassEye · Apr 29, 2012

While I don't want to have a huge selection of races I wouldn't mind adding races on a limited basis. And when adding races I prefer them to be substantially different. I don't like a multitude of off-shoots or sub-races of the main races; high elf, gray elf, wild elf don't fit what you want then you can play a wood elf! Early in LPF history someone proposed an elf sub-race and we rejected it. I would prefer we not open the 'same race, minor differences' box.

sunshadow21 · Apr 30, 2012

I think the key to me is that expanding the races can help flesh out the world if added properly. Things like making lizard folk playable would be a good way to add depth to the Great Delta, for example. If there is a place for them, and they go through a vetting process, it shouldn't be that much of an issue. For those races that are only slightly different, but still thematically appropriate, we might consider additional alternate racial features to account for them as another option. That being said, we need to be willing to ask ourselves if the addition is being made because it genuinely fits, or if it's because the race just sounds cool. If it's the latter, we need to think long and hard about it. As for the upcoming races book, I would say we need to read through it carefully before we approve any of it, but we need to do so with an open mind.

Qik · Apr 30, 2012

I think sunshadow makes a good point about how adding new races may potentially encourage/facilitate the development of corresponding fluff that might not otherwise be developed. My little write up on the Wayang was intended to be a first step in that process, which I believe could lead to some interesting results.

IronWolf · Apr 30, 2012

Qik said:
I think sunshadow makes a good point about how adding new races may potentially encourage/facilitate the development of corresponding fluff that might not otherwise be developed. My little write up on the Wayang was intended to be a first step in that process, which I believe could lead to some interesting results.

I think there is plenty of room to write "ecology of" articles for the wiki to build up fluff for races without the requirement to make them a playable race to justify writing fluff for them.

I don't think adding more PC races in order to encourage the writing of fluff is a good justification for a large amount of races.