Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
Guys, this thread is three and a half years old...
D&D 5E What's wrong with a human-centric fantasy world?
Still relevant, though. The tension between human-centric and kitchen-sink is as old as D&D.
(That said, there probably isn't much point addressing replies to the OP at this date.)
dave2008
Legend
The world/multiverse of KSBD would definitely make an interesting campaign world!
Inchoroi
Adventurer
As long as you set the expectation that the world is Human-only, there's no problem with it.
However, to address your points in the first post: What makes, at least in my games, PCs different from one another is there is a history to each race, which is detailed far more than the players will probably ever discover. This comes into play during the campaign, as well; I provide a basic idea of how the society the race comes from acts, and the expectation is that the character will act in at least a similar manner. If, on the other hand, the player chooses to play his or her character against the grain, the society will react accordingly, depending on their own morays and folkways.
For example, I have half-dwarves in my world. Depending on which dwarven clan you come from, as a half-dwarf, you will get treated differently; the dwarves of the valley wouldn't treat you any differently than anybody else. The insular mountain dwarves, on the other hand, might kill you once they learn what you are (these mountain dwarves have a shared cultural history with humanity, i.e. lots of wars, which are partially the dwarves fault and partially the human empire at the time, as well as several other factors).
In other words, what makes PC races different isn't their statistics—its their culture.
However, to address your points in the first post: What makes, at least in my games, PCs different from one another is there is a history to each race, which is detailed far more than the players will probably ever discover. This comes into play during the campaign, as well; I provide a basic idea of how the society the race comes from acts, and the expectation is that the character will act in at least a similar manner. If, on the other hand, the player chooses to play his or her character against the grain, the society will react accordingly, depending on their own morays and folkways.
For example, I have half-dwarves in my world. Depending on which dwarven clan you come from, as a half-dwarf, you will get treated differently; the dwarves of the valley wouldn't treat you any differently than anybody else. The insular mountain dwarves, on the other hand, might kill you once they learn what you are (these mountain dwarves have a shared cultural history with humanity, i.e. lots of wars, which are partially the dwarves fault and partially the human empire at the time, as well as several other factors).
In other words, what makes PC races different isn't their statistics—its their culture.
Inchoroi
Adventurer
Oh, god, I didn't even notice!
billd91
Not your screen monkey (he/him)
Don't sweat it too much. Some people really get their undies in a bundle about it, others don't.
BookBarbarian
Expert Long Rester
I think it's fun to point out, but interesting conversation is always fun, no matter how old.
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You should try Chronicles of Darkness, most "splats" think races, start out or emulate being human, but they don't FEEL human, or like each other. A Beasts need to feed on fear, to terrorize people or starve their horror, which will torment people in their dreams if it is not regularly fed. A werewolf, the ultimate predator, they slogan is a wolf has got to hunt. Extreme Pack Creates, their packs have totems, some of whom hate or betray their pack.
The Bound, you died and came back thanks to a special kind of powerful ghost called a geist that now shares your body, which it's not freaking out and trashing the place. Oh it's very difficult for death to stick when one kills one of the bound, their Geist brings them back to life after they've died, unless special circumstances are met. Oh and the Underworld is predatory, it likes to devours ghosts.
Changelings were human once, but we're kidnapped and tortured by a God like Fae Being called a True Far, twisted into a fae creatures. Changeling are always extremely paranoid, because it's just matter of time before the True Fae or the Huntsmen try and hunt these Changelings down.
Mummies we're first created back thousands and thousands of years ago in a city called Irem, in the nameless empire. They we're made to serve the judges. They spend most of their time dead, but at certain times the judges send them back to inhabit their corpse, which is granted a more human appears using solidified life magic. Most other splats facing a mummy are advised to run away, WotC does not worry about balance between splats.
dave2008
Legend
Wow - I had no idea. Thank you for letting me know!
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