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

[Zardnaar]

All I can say is that for me, the stories I and my group matter more than the system as long as the system does an adequate job. The fact that it supports many different styles is a strength, not a weakness. YMMV and as for the rest ... millions of people who have started playing since 5E was released seem to disagree.

But hey, what do I know. Other than that D&D is more popular than ever. Must be because we have such a crap edition.

Remember 5E was sold as a D&D for everyone chose how you play?

Hence why everything isn't core.

 

[Jack Daniel]

English major

Hey, don't mess with English majors, or we'll happily deconstruct your ass… with postmodern prejudice.

I see it as a toolkit, which can be played out of the box if that's so desired. Often, I find myself entertained by the standard game. I guess you could say it's a tool kit where I engage with most of it fluidly.
As is, I don't see how having a default race would really change things for the better- I think it's best to leave it as is.

Fair enough. As I said, I don't think D&D will ever change that aspect of itself in any future edition.

 

[Jack Daniel]

One thing I don't get is why 99% of DMs default to humans. Making humans everyman tends to dilute their culture as they need to be generic to be everyman. Therefore only barbaric, "exotic", or evil humans get any culture.

Literally what halflings were made for! (And hence why in the campaign I'm running right now that I mentioned scores of pages ago, the two playable races in it are humans and halflings.)

The common counter is "Yes, but he GM has to put in more work, and gets to have more say in the results".

I think the commoner counter is that "If the GM takes their ball and goes home, that ends the campaign, whereas if any one player quits, the game can still continue."

 

[Jack Daniel]

D&D's sacred cows are entirely incidental to its market dominance. It's status as the 800 lb gorilla is more about having Hasbro money, name recognition, and celebrity connections. Other RPG designers and studios don't have access to those resources and social clout. Doesn't stop them from making games that are superior in mechanical design to D&D.

You know, I've heard this argument many times before, and I'm not sure I can buy it. Sure, D&D achieved some name recognition for being the "first" RPG, but it wasn't the only game in town for very long at all. Not by a longshot. Why is Dungeons & Dragons huge when Tunnels & Trolls is barely remembered? Because D&D captured lightning in a bottle with its particular mix of tropes and sacred cows. I think it endures because of its cruft and oddities.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I think the commoner counter is that "If the GM takes their ball and goes home, that ends the campaign, whereas if any one player quits, the game can still continue."

I've continued 4 different campaigns when a DM left. Twice because we kicked them from the table, twice because someone moved or got a new job.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Let's go to rural Kentucky and ask around.

I lived in Kentucky in 1986 and was 13 years old.

At the time I knew what Halley's Comet was. I also knew what a rakshasa was, as well as a weretiger, as well as an ankylosaurus.

Ancient cultures that didn't have writing or public education had storytelling as a fundamental aspect of life. If you lived in a world where things just randomly can show up and eat your face off you would be taught the things to avoid at an early age through myths and stories. You wouldn't just be scared of every thing that you ever encountered in your life.

 

[Gammadoodler]

If that means I'm not the right DM for you because I want my races to have depth, culture and a place in the history of the campaign world world I maintain then so be it.

Lol, you just can't resist can you. "Clearly my game world isn't for you because it has depth and culture."

I just can't even.

 

[TwoSix]

You know, that bolded line made me think of something.

If these races have so little value, why do player options exist for them?

Why have we made playable versions of all of these races time and time and time and time again, if they are something that most people don't need?

I'm pretty sure races, particularly the aesthetics and imagery of the races, is pretty darn important to a lot of people. That's why their inclusion or exclusion is so divisive. I'd argue they're probably the single most important element for flavoring a setting to a specific taste, even more so than classes or other optional rules.

It's impossible to introduce a single member of a race into a campaign without also granting the race as a whole a place in the campaign world (barring reskinning or a backstory of the character as a singular entity.) And since that will flavor the whole campaign world, this is a case where I think the tie has to go to the DM, since establishing setting flavor is one of their primary duties (outside of cooperative, no-myth setting generation).

 

[Micah Sweet]

I've continued 4 different campaigns when a DM left. Twice because we kicked them from the table, twice because someone moved or got a new job.

Did you play the same story? Or start a new one with the same players? If the same, did the old DM hand over his notes (along with his ceremonial DM key, assumedly)? If they didn't, how did you continue the campaign? Was it a published adventure?

 

[zarionofarabel]

And this sort of selfish attitude is why this thread is 87 pages long. Because as long as you (general you for the DM) are having fun, no one elses fun matters. And that's fine, until a player comes with that same attitude, and then they are a problem.

My players fun does matter, just not at the expense of my own. I'm not sure why you have a hard time understanding that. As DM I don't want rubber forehead aliens in my game, the player wants to play a rubber forehead alien. What am I supposed to do other than tell them to go find a DM that wants rubber forehead aliens in their game? Please tell me, I am genuinely curious as to what your solution is!

The only thing changing is whether you are a DM or a player, not the attitude, and you go from being kicked out of tables to being praised.

What do you mean here? You say that everyone's fun is supposed to matter. Again, if the DMs fun is being reduced by a players demands, what is the DM supposed to do? What other option does the DM have other than telling the player to find a game where they will be able to do what they want?