D&D General What is the appeal of Tolkien fantasy races?

[Mallus]

I think that the core races of d&d with perhaps the exception of Dragonborn, tieflings and half Orcs are well established cultures in fiction, film and legend. They are familiar in such a way as you instantly conjure an idea of what they are like and probably an idea of a few traits they may have. This basic cultural awareness shouldn’t be underestimated.

Tieflings are kinda Melnibonéans. Equally they're a species descended from a bunch of Fausts. I'd say there's a storied traditional there.

Reptile-people are also pretty iconic, at least in my generation. We grew up watching the Kirk fighting the Gorn and Enik the Sleestak giving bulbous side-eye to Rick Marshall over his matrix table skills.

On the other hand, species resembling kappa or tanuki or nine-tail foxes are also pretty familiar, with rich cultural heritage. Just not a Western one. But now there's more cultural awareness here of these others myth systems & folklores -- yes, in part through that dread vector, anime -- so it's not surprising they (or at least decidedly not-Middle Earthian species) and increasingly popular in Western RPGs.

The way I see it, the original core races were the most Tolkien part of D&D. They're so familiar because so much fantasy was derivative of Tolkien; his influence was that large for that long. But D&D always drew from a wider pool of influences. The deviations from a Tolkien-esque 'norm' were occurring right alongside of that norm being established (see, Glorantha, Tekumel). And after 40 or so years of massive changes in media culture & availability, it shouldn't come as a surprise to see the baselines shift.

 

[Minigiant]

The implication that roleplaying a human, dwarf, or elf is somehow "easymode" compared to, say, a lizardfolk is flat-out wrong. It's just a different focus.

You have the logic statement backwards.

Elves and dwarves aren't easy mode.

People who want easy mode choose elves and dwarves.

 

[jayoungr]

People who want easy mode choose elves and dwarves.

I don't see how that is substantively different, but okay.

However, I still disagree. As mentioned, I've definitely seen people who aren't going for deep characterization choose "exotic" PC species too. Usually for mechanical reasons.

 

[Democratus]

The original question is akin to asking what the appeal of Jedi is in Star Wars games.

There are things that are iconic to fantasy RPGs. Elves and Dwarves are among them.

 

[Minigiant]

I don't see how that is substantively different, but okay.

However, I still disagree. As mentioned, I've definitely seen people who aren't going for deep characterization choose "exotic" PC species too. Usually for mechanical reasons.

Of course you'll see that. Power gamers who barely roleplay or use easy tropes are all over on races.

However

1) It is easier to portray tropes of well known archetypes.
2) D&D has a history of providing tons of broken additions and variants to it's traditional races.

1 & 2 mean there are more and a higher percentage of lazy dwarves than lazy tieflings.

 

[Dausuul]

Fair enough, music preference are intensely personal! I would say that Zeppelin AND Sabbath both had a lot to do with the fantasy feedback loop.

Sorry to hear about Pink Floyd. I caught them in concert (post Waters, not quite that old) and they were still amazing. Or .. um ... I was in the mood for them to be amazing. Six of one, etc.

Off topic to the off topic... One of my other hobbies is ballroom dance. I have had great fun introducing dance teachers to Pink Floyd's song "Money" and asking what dance fits the song. They all say "tango," and then you ask them to try to dance it and watch them wonder why they keep losing the beat.

("Money" sounds like tango at a casual listen, but in fact it has large chunks that are in 7/8 time, which is a weird funky time signature that matches absolutely no form of ballroom dance ever.)

 

[FrozenNorth]

People aren't very creative. 99% of fictional races are just humans with bumpy heads.

I agree that people aren’t very creative. Most human characters are simply murderous goblins with better PR.

 

[Minigiant]

I agree that people aren’t very creative. Most human characters are simply murderous goblins with better PR.

Murderous hobgoblins with better PR and makeup department

 

[TheSword]

Tieflings are kinda Melnibonéans. Equally they're a species descended from a bunch of Fausts. I'd say there's a storied traditional there.

Reptile-people are also pretty iconic, at least in my generation. We grew up watching the Kirk fighting the Gorn and Enik the Sleestak giving bulbous side-eye to Rick Marshall over his matrix table skills.

On the other hand, species resembling kappa or tanuki or nine-tail foxes are also pretty familiar, with rich cultural heritage. Just not a Western one. But now there's more cultural awareness here of these others myth systems & folklores -- yes, in part through that dread vector, anime -- so it's not surprising they (or at least decidedly not-Middle Earthian species) and increasingly popular in Western RPGs.

The way I see it, the original core races were the most Tolkien part of D&D. They're so familiar because so much fantasy was derivative of Tolkien; his influence was that large for that long. But D&D always drew from a wider pool of influences. The deviations from a Tolkien-esque 'norm' were occurring right alongside of that norm being established (see, Glorantha, Tekumel). And after 40 or so years of massive changes in media culture & availability, it shouldn't come as a surprise to see the baselines shift.

I’m really sorry but an enemy in one book series, or a couple of Star Trek enemies does not make a race ubiquitous or indeed imprint it on the social consciousness unless that series is huge. I don’t believe even Tolkein did that without the support of other writers picking up where he left off.

I totally agree that western sensibilities may be ignoring eastern races and myths, but I’ll also say that many of those like Kappa were not seen as heroic races in the same way that elves, dwarves or halflings were.

If you’re arguing that the literary tradition and the awareness about what elves, dwarves etc is irrelevant because other fantasy races also literary tradition then I’m afraid you’re off by several orders of magnitude.

 

[Argyle King]

I believe part of the appeal is that they come with pre-built and pre-understood tropes, cliches, and notions concerning what they are. (Similarly, this is why it's easier to sit down and play a generic kitchen sink fantasy game with minimal prep than it is to sit down and play a similar style of game in other genres.)

Barring some setting-specific* departure of what those races are, the average person has some idea of what an elf or a dwarf is. Even when a departure is made, it usually starts from a place of common ground as a point of definition and then defines itself as a contrast against the default notions of what the creatures are.

For a fantasy game overall, I believe this is helpful because it creates a few familiar tent poles, upon which to stretch the tent of imagination. Fantasy is already asking a person to suspend what they know of the real world and imagine something different; giving a few points of reference (i.e. dwarf, elf, hobbit, dragon, vampire, etc) which are culturally familiar make transitioning into that mental headspace of imagination easier.

(*In my usual home game, I use different versions of elves and dwarves.)


edit: Personally, I'm a big fan of lizardfolk and have a good mental image of what they are, but my guess is that's because I grew up with different fantasy inspirations than the average D&D player. I played a lot of Golden Axe while younger.