D&D General Why do you play non-human races?

[Jd Smith1]

What’s your point? The whole game is superficial make believe. If the end result is other than you’d expect from a party of humans, and it meaningfully impacts the campaign, then the difference is- by definition- consequential.

I've been gaming since 1979, and I've never seen a PC's race have a result that was other than I would expect from a party of humans, or have it meaningfully impact the campaign.

So no, I do not believe it has any potential for consequence.

I have seen a lot of pointless and often annoying efforts to role-play races. Especially Elves.

 

[Kurotowa]

What’s your point? The whole game is superficial make believe. If the end result is other than you’d expect from a party of humans, and it meaningfully impacts the campaign, then the difference is- by definition- consequential.

I think meaningful consequences from racial makeup besides Human is one of those things like encumbrance and morale and tracking individual ammo counts. Some groups embrace them and see them as fundamental shapers of their game experience, other groups ignore them so completely they can't imagine how they could have any place in the game at all. It's one of those things that varies immensely from group to group.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think meaningful consequences from racial makeup besides Human is one of those things like encumbrance and morale and tracking individual ammo counts. Some groups embrace them and see them as fundamental shapers of their game experience, other groups ignore them so completely they can't imagine how they could have any place in the game at all. It's one of those things that varies immensely from group to group.

i wholeheartedly agree. I’d actually suggest it varies from player to player.

Further, I’d even assert it varies from campaign to campaign for individual players. I know from my personal experiences that I engaged some campaigns more like wargames, and my PCs were mere pawns.

Others, OTOH, have play notes associated with them to remind me of the psychological or cultural quirks the character has so I make decisions from their POV.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I've been gaming since 1979, and I've never seen a PC's race have a result that was other than I would expect from a party of humans, or have it meaningfully impact the campaign.

So no, I do not believe it has any potential for consequence.

I have seen a lot of pointless and often annoying efforts to role-play races. Especially Elves.

I’ve been gaming since 1977, and I’ve seen it AND done it personally.

Your experiences- like my experiences- are personal, not universal.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I’ve been gaming since 1977, and I’ve seen it AND done it personally.

Your experiences- like my experiences- are personal, not universal.

I would say the situation suffers from a lack of a clearly defined standard of measurement. Back when I lived in Austin I had a lot of players from UT who said the exact thing you do; they swore that their depiction of another race was consequential, insightful, and thought-provoking.

I'm sure in their imagination they were making a brilliant performance, but to an outsider they were just overly dramatic wankers. We tolerated it because their stunning performance was just a few minutes of IC quips in the course of a session, and the game continued.

It's like PC backstories: people always think they have come up with something amazing, and you read them, smile, and nod encouragingly. It contains the same plot points as every other PC background, but you smile and wave them to the table because none of it will matter once the game begins and the usual RPG tropes take over.

 

[clearstream]

I would like to gather opinions on why folks like to pick a demihuman (non-human) race. I'm not even going to suggest a possibility or color folks' answers with my intention for asking; I just want to learn peoples' raw thoughts.

Frankly, my choice is usually about having the ability bumps to optimise for the way I hope to play my chosen class.

Where there is a choice with no mechanical consequence, I avoid gnomes.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

From a human standpoint, which of the playable races in D&D has an alien perspective? And how is this reflected in game play?

Most of them, as I described in my first post.

Also, to address something else upthread, human cultures who practice cannibalism have an alien perspective from other cultures.

But even elves and dwarves can have a completely different point of view on friendship, obligation, time (even just whether being on time matters in any way), etc, and they’ve the closest to human.


As for how it’s reflected in gameplay, what could that possibly matter? Why would anyone want that reflected in anything other than how players that want that different POV play their characters?

 

[MGibster]

[QUOTE="doctorbadwolf]

But even elves and dwarves can have a completely different point of view on friendship, obligation, time (even just whether being on time matters in any way), etc, and they’ve the closest to human.

And I think this is where I have a disconnect because other human cultures past and present can have radically different views on friendship, obligation, time, etc., etc. from what I was acculturated into. I have yet to see an elf in any permutation of D&D that wasn't basically a human. And, again, this is a plus in my opinion. The drama that arises from stories involving very alien creatures typically comes from how humans are interacting with them.

 

[Big J Money]

To be something inherently "more" than human.

Can you elaborate? I think I get the vibe of what you mean, but I'm curious what you hope to accomplish, if that's not too personal of a question.

 

[Big J Money]

I'm going to throw a bonus question in here, if anyone bites:

What's the difference to you between Fantasy races and Sci-Fi races? (Answer can of course be "none".) I ask because I personally get a different vibe but haven't put my finger on it yet.