D&D 5E What is the appeal of the weird fantasy races?

[Charlaquin]

The problem with works of fiction that examine what it is like to be immortal is that we have no idea if that examination is in any way even remotely accurate. Those works were also written by Human minds that are themselves, not immortal. All fiction is filtered through the Human experience, as all fiction is written by Humans.

That isn’t a problem at all, because accurately portraying whatever inhuman qualities we attribute to such characters isn’t the point. It doesn’t matter if it’s accurate, and as you point out, we would have no way of knowing if it was or not. What matters is what the exercise reveals about ourselves, both as humans and as individuals.

I loved the Highlander TV show!

Empathy is possible because you are a Human mind imagining the experience of another Human mind. I believe that imagining a Non-Human mind might be impossible. If we ever encounter Non-Human minds that can effectively communicate such complicated ideas, I hope we ask!

Even imagining another human mind is impossible. Again, the best we can hope for is “my own mind, but...” Whether that but is “but immortal” or “but from a preindustrial society” or even “but I had ham instead of turkey in my sandwich,” they’re all equally impossible to truly experience. The point is to try to get as close as you can, and to learn something from what you thought would be different as a result of the but.

What I don’t understand is why you’re fine with roleplaying exceptions to draw the line at exceptions to one’s personal experiences but draw the line at exceptions to the base human experience. Both are equally speculative, and both have the potential to reveal interesting insights.

 

[zarionofarabel]

That isn’t a problem at all, because accurately portraying whatever inhuman qualities we attribute to such characters isn’t the point. It doesn’t matter if it’s accurate, and as you point out, we would have no way of knowing if it was or not. What matters is what the exercise reveals about ourselves, both as humans and as individuals.

Even imagining another human mind is impossible. Again, the best we can hope for is “my own mind, but...” Whether that but is “but immortal” or “but from a preindustrial society” or even “but I had ham instead of turkey in my sandwich,” they’re all equally impossible to truly experience. The point is to try to get as close as you can, and to learn something from what you thought would be different as a result of the but.

What I don’t understand is why you’re fine with roleplaying exceptions to draw the line at exceptions to one’s personal experiences but draw the line at exceptions to the base human experience. Both are equally speculative, and both have the potential to reveal interesting insights.

Both are NOT equally speculative. A Human mind is a Human mind. A Non-Human mind is NOT a Human mind.

 

[FrozenNorth]

This isn’t entirely true. Tolkien’s elves are what I’d call “human, but.” To be specific, they’re “human, but with limitless lifespans.” That’s the main thing that Tolkien used elves to explore - the implications of immortality. What would a person (and here we can read “human person” since we have no other persons to compare to) who could not die of old age be like? What would a whole culture of such people be like? How would they feel about mortality as a concept? It’s a sort of speculative fiction. Obviously he can’t have truly known how that kind of longevity would affect a person’s psyche, but he could make some educated guesses based on imagining them as “human but.” And more than anything the thought exercise tells us about Tolkien himself, what he thought of mortality, and how he imagined it impacted his own experience.

I absolutely agree with this. My latest character is a dwarf that explores what it is like to grow up chaotic in a strongly lawful (good) society that believes “the nail that sticks up must be hammered down”.

Imagining a person and a society like that isn’t impossible by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[FrozenNorth]

Case in point!

Also, my belief that eliminating silly hat PCs is based on nothing more than anecdotal evidence and my personal experience. That is why I prefaced that part with "I personally have found" and then explained my position. I'm not worried if others agree with my position.

Fortunately several other posters have provided examples of races chosen to explore the concept of that race. I strongly encourage other posters to do so.

After all, the best answer to the original post is examples of why we choose to play non-human races.

 

[zarionofarabel]

Fortunately several other posters have provided examples of races chosen to explore the concept of that race. I strongly encourage other posters to do so.

After all, the best answer to the original post is examples of why we choose to play non-human races.

As long as they acknowledge they are just playing humans not so cleverly disguised with funny hats, I'm fine with players playing Non-Human PCs. I eluded to that fact in everything I posted.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Both are NOT equally speculative. A Human mind is a Human mind. A Non-Human mind is NOT a Human mind.

But your human mind is just your human mind.

 

[zarionofarabel]

But your human mind is just your human mind.

Agreed. However, when speculating on what a Non-Human mind might be thinking I have absolutely no frame of reference. When speculating on what a different Human mind might be thinking I have all of human history and literature and academia to inform my frame of reference.

The point of all my posts is that I have no problem with people playing characters that are not human, as long as they acknowledge that what they are actually doing is playing humans disguised with funny hats. What they are not doing is playing Non-Human minds.

 

[Older Beholder]

Variety is the spice of life.

I once played a Kenku dragon blood sorcerer because I liked the idea that at level 14 he’d gain the ability to grow wings (thus breaking part of the curse of his kind of not being able to fly)

I went with a focus on acid damage, not the strongest build but good enough to get by and a lot of fun to play.

 

[Charlaquin]

Both are NOT equally speculative. A Human mind is a Human mind. A Non-Human mind is NOT a Human mind.

You are correct that a non-human mind is not a human mind. But equally, a human mind from Bolivia is not a human mind from France. A human mind from a medieval society is not a human mind from an Information Age society. And a human mind that had a ham sandwich for lunch is not a human mind that had a turkey sandwich for lunch. Imagining how you would think if an exception was made to your experience is always speculative, whether that exception be to your special or temporal location, your culture, or even your species.

 

[zarionofarabel]

You are correct that a non-human mind is not a human mind. But equally, a human mind from Bolivia is not a human mind from France. A human mind from a medieval society is not a human mind from an Information Age society. And a human mind that had a ham sandwich for lunch is not a human mind that had a turkey sandwich for lunch. Imagining how you would think if an exception was made to your experience is always speculative, whether that exception be to your special or temporal location, your culture, or even your species.

Again...

Agreed. However, when speculating on what a Non-Human mind might be thinking I have absolutely no frame of reference. When speculating on what a different Human mind might be thinking I have all of human history and literature and academia to inform my frame of reference.

Ad Infinitum apparently...