Elder-Basilisk
First Post
Observing what's happened in my area in the RPGA's Living Campaigns, I think they're probably right. At the moment, in campaigns that allow grey elves, it's my experience that a disproportionate precentage of wizards are grey elves--even with the con penalty (which hurts a wizard a LOT). Without a con penalty, I'm pretty sure they'd be dramatically more dominant. Arcanis campaigns provide another comparison point. Even with the -2 con and a very limited deity selection, I saw a LOT of Ardakene clerics running around.
Interestingly, though I can't get a more detailed breakdown than this, these are the percentages of Living Greyhawk PCs registered on the Nyrond website by race:
Human 855 (50.47%)
Elf 175 (10.33%)
Dwarf 170 (10.04%)
Halfling 128 (7.56%)
Half-Orc 108 (6.38%)
Gray-Elf 106 (6.26%)
Gnome 76 (4.49%)
Half-Elf 73 (4.31%)
Other (certed) 3 (0.18%)
From a thread I posted on the main discussion list, this seems to be fairly typical for D&D campaigns.
The interesting thing I note about it is that, half-orc and gray-elf, both of which are mechanically races that can boost their offense higher than anyone else, though at significant cost, figure in at approximately the same percentage, suggesting that they may actually be used in a similar manner by players. (And, indeed, I suspect they are. I have seen very few half-orcs with a strength lower than 18 and very few gray elves with an intelligence lower than 18). FWIW, I think this strongly suggests that Plane Sailing's analysis of races being selected for classes where their ability bonus is useful and their penalties don't matter is largely accurate. That means that the total package is more important than the individual number of bonusses. (Of course, normal elves leading the demi-human pack needs to be explained somewhat, but I think it can be at least partially explained by the fact that: A. It may include wood-elves since there are a lot of wood elf PCs in Living Greyhawk and they're not listed separately and B. Elven bonusses are quite advantageous for archers (and perhaps a majority of the elf PCs I'm aware of are, in fact, archers).
Interestingly, though I can't get a more detailed breakdown than this, these are the percentages of Living Greyhawk PCs registered on the Nyrond website by race:
Human 855 (50.47%)
Elf 175 (10.33%)
Dwarf 170 (10.04%)
Halfling 128 (7.56%)
Half-Orc 108 (6.38%)
Gray-Elf 106 (6.26%)
Gnome 76 (4.49%)
Half-Elf 73 (4.31%)
Other (certed) 3 (0.18%)
From a thread I posted on the main discussion list, this seems to be fairly typical for D&D campaigns.
The interesting thing I note about it is that, half-orc and gray-elf, both of which are mechanically races that can boost their offense higher than anyone else, though at significant cost, figure in at approximately the same percentage, suggesting that they may actually be used in a similar manner by players. (And, indeed, I suspect they are. I have seen very few half-orcs with a strength lower than 18 and very few gray elves with an intelligence lower than 18). FWIW, I think this strongly suggests that Plane Sailing's analysis of races being selected for classes where their ability bonus is useful and their penalties don't matter is largely accurate. That means that the total package is more important than the individual number of bonusses. (Of course, normal elves leading the demi-human pack needs to be explained somewhat, but I think it can be at least partially explained by the fact that: A. It may include wood-elves since there are a lot of wood elf PCs in Living Greyhawk and they're not listed separately and B. Elven bonusses are quite advantageous for archers (and perhaps a majority of the elf PCs I'm aware of are, in fact, archers).
Felon said:
