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

[Don Durito]

Isn't so much of this about outsiders?

I've got some notes I made for a campaign based around the barbarian nation of Albadia in the Scarred Lands. Since that campaign would deal with some of the internal politics of that nation I would want most pcs to be from that nation. This means humans with maybe one half-elf or half orc. It's not about the world - there's plenty of non-humans in the scarred lands - it's about a particular location and avoiding outsiders who have no stake in the kind of events and issues I would like to run the game around. This also means certain classes wouldn't really fit (eg wizards). In fact I would probably use Pathfinder 1e for this game as it has a lot more class options that would fit (Skalds, Bloodragers, Witches etc).

I wouldn't necessarily rule out at least one outsider in such a game (outsiders bring interesting perspective) so long as the player can tie their character closely to one of the other pcs, but I'd want some characters more closely tied to the premise first.

Ultimately, I know from experience, that if I want to run a game with a particular theme, and the players don't work with me during character creation (or I don't communicate clearly enough my goals) then the game simply won't last long - I will lose interest.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

And if the DM makes the world stale and shallow... the lever of characterization importance shifts to race and class.

If the DM makes the world stale and shallow find a different DM, because adding in a bunch of people with funny skin colours and odd cranial protrusions isn't going to make it any less boring.

 

[Oofta]

And if the DM makes the world stale and shallow... the lever of characterization importance shifts to race and class.

Breathing life into the world is the responsibility of the DM.

Breathing life into the character is the responsibility of the player. I can do that whether or not I can play an anthropomorphic turtle. Or if anthropomorphic turtles are the only option and the only class allowed is ninja.

 

[Minigiant]

If the DM makes the world stale and shallow find a different DM, because adding in a bunch of people with funny skin colours and odd cranial protrusions isn't going to make it any less boring.

You can have fun in a boring shallow world. Many stories, games, and shows have stale, shallow, and untouched areas.

Again this is about the DM saying part of your character doesn't exist be it a race, class, social class, occupation, location, or station.

A world can be narrow in more than race and class. A DM can cut out anything.

 

[Minigiant]

Breathing life into the world is the responsibility of the DM.

Breathing life into the character is the responsibility of the player. I can do that whether or not I can play an anthropomorphic turtle. Or if anthropomorphic turtles are the only option and the only class allowed is ninja.

Only if the DM allows the ninja turtle to have that personality.

If the DM says all tortles are super serious, have no party dudes, and are never rude, you can't be Michelangelo or Raphael.

 

[Oofta]

Only if the DM allows the ninja turtle to have that personality.

If the DM says all tortles are super serious, have no party dudes, and are never rude, you can't be Michelangelo or Raphael.

And again the association of bad DMing (telling people how to run their characters) with limiting races which have nothing to do with each other. The same kind of behavior could happen in a kitchen sink campaign.

I get it. Bad DMs are bad. Has nothing to do with whether or not the DM limits races or classes.

 

[Minigiant]

And again the association of bad DMing (telling people how to run their characters) with limiting races which have nothing to do with each other. The same kind of behavior could happen in a kitchen sink campaign.

I get it. Bad DMs are bad. Has nothing to do with whether or not the DM limits races or classes.

Actually, I think most shallow worlds and areas come from kitchen sinks. There is too much in the world and the DM lacks te time, drive, skill, or care to fill in the details.

In kitchen sinks, a bad DM give players too few details to build on for their character.
In theme worlds, a bad DM give players too little freedom to place a character they are willing to play into it.

The discussion leans to BM DMing in theme worlds being of the topic question.

Theissue is the DMing is poorly taught. Most learn on their own or copy what they see without any actual instruction or teaching. And with D&D expanding, good GMing is even harder. Good gamesettings are coming from good luck to find matching pairing or DMs being forged in the fires of disaster and grief.

 

[Oofta]

Actually, I think most shallow worlds and areas come from kitchen sinks. There is too much in the world and the DM lacks te time, drive, skill, or care to fill in the details.

In kitchen sinks, a bad DM give players too few details to build on for their character.
In theme worlds, a bad DM give players too little freedom to place a character they are willing to play into it.

The discussion leans to BM DMing in theme worlds being of the topic question.

Theissue is the DMing is poorly taught. Most learn on their own or copy what they see without any actual instruction or teaching. And with D&D expanding, good GMing is even harder. Good gamesettings are coming from good luck to find matching pairing or DMs being forged in the fires of disaster and grief.

Well, the topic is "weird" fantasy races. So ... if you want to talk about bad DMing practices and how to fix them it would make more sense to start a separate thread.

 

[Maxperson]

Only if the DM allows the ninja turtle to have that personality.

If the DM says all tortles are super serious, have no party dudes, and are never rude, you can't be Michelangelo or Raphael.

But you could be a zillion other interesting, but serious characters. The DM really can't prevent you from making an interesting character that will be fun to play. He can make gameplay itself boring, though, but that's outside of the character.

 

[FrozenNorth]

If they come up with a good answer, they get to be a dwarf.

If they come up with an animal that already has a god and beastfolk, too bad.

If they can't come up with a good dwarf animal, the world stays dwarfless.

See, I like this. Lots of scope to try out my badgerfolk (refluffed dwarf) artificer.