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

[Maxperson]

Goliaths are 7-8 ft tall and weigh between 280-340 lbs.

Which is borderline for what a human could be*. They're also humanoid. Navigating stairs might be difficult, but less so than a horse that weighs twice as much.

On the other hand, as one example one of the PCs in CR plays a firbolg (same size) and there are times when their size becomes an issue.

*EDIT: The guy who played "The Mountain" on Game of Thrones is 6'9" and weighs 450 lbs.

Andre the Giant. 7'4" and weighed 520 pounds. I don't recall him ever falling down lots of stairs. The difference as you note is shape. Humanoids are different than horses.

 

[Scott Christian]

My own experience with running D&D groups at the library for kids suggest to me that you have more influence than you realize, or there are conversations happening that you aren’t seeing.

Or, perhaps there are enough short campaigns that no one feels any loss at playing something they’re not that interested in.

But when I observe kids play D&D, they are much more collaborative, much more into their OCs, much more willing to compromise and play a campaign conceived of by the group in a conversation, than most adults I’ve seen.

And less willing to accept what they see as bad calls by the DM.

Kudos. I hope you find it as fun as I do. There are times I am itching to jump in their games, but refrain. From my experience, the game really grows on youth when it is a youth activity, not an adult led activity. But it is still fun to watch. (And occasionally laugh at their shenanigan's.)

My influence is I sit there and listen to them play. Smile. And when they ask about a rule, generally like falling or jumping, I explain it to them. I have also handed them the books, including some APs. That's it.

Are they collaborative? Yes. More so than adults? I haven't seen it. They play exactly like I have seen all starting players play: they make characters. Anything goes. Until the DM comes up with an idea - and anything doesn't go. My example was specific and truly showed how they play. The DM wanted to run a war torn world and the players would be half-orc military captives that start on a boat. None of the players needed to be something different. They accepted the DM would take them on a ride, and they were willing to board.

As far as bad calls, they accept them so much that even I have a hard time not looking up with a questioning face. They, look at the DM like they do a teacher, because that is what they are exposed to 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I don't reinforce this as you implied. They do it because I have them read the first few pages of the PHB.

 

[Scott Christian]

This is what confused me about the "people just want the mechanics and power" lines you hear.

Monster races have a history of just sucking so hard and being literally one trick ponies.

To clarify, what was said is that there are some players that only want the mechanical benefits. Have you not seen this player? I have. Like a thousand times. Nothing wrong with it. In fact there is an entire thread, maybe 60 pages long on ASIs that demonstrates for many, it is the mechanics they are looking for.
To clarify, another thing said was that some players desired the culture and history of the race. Nothing wrong with that either. If it is not on the list, perhaps there is a comparable culture? If there isn't, would you consider playing a different culture? Is there a way to put that character concept and save it for another time?

 

[Scott Christian]

You realize difficult terrain just requires 2 ft of move per 1 ft moved in 5e, right? By that standard, a centaur slowly up a flight of stairs seems fair. Making them will to fall/stumble/injure or break things is designed to embarrass and humiliate the player for picking that race, and it's punitive and mean-spirited.

Mmm, I have been avoiding the centaur battle. But this seems like rules here. Difficult terrain can be both: movement reduction and a skill challenge. Think of ice. The DM can declare a DC check (I think 10 in the DMG) and make it difficult terrain. The two are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Scott Christian]

Oh, I totally get what you're trying to do and I appreciate that thought process. And if these checks appear to be equitably distributed and adjudicated, (and used sparingly) maybe that's all right.

That said, there is a number of barstool or stair-related checks, beyond which I'd likely invite you to screw yourself.

And this is actually one of the reasons someone gave for saying no to a centaur in their campaign. Because of fact that the centaur would, at times, be making these rules all the time. Certain DMs like to have a specific pacing because their players like a specific pace. Having a centaur always dealing with space issues can slow a game down.
The disagreement for the centaur was one side stating the DM can just hand wave all of it. Therefore, no pacing issue. The other side said that it would break their "fantasy realism."

 

[Scott Christian]

Ranged attacks aren't remotely equal, unless a centaur can buy a tool that gives him free mobility. (Hmm, I'm starting to think that combat wheelchair IS a good idea...)

I thought of the mobile feat for our pretend centaur here when we discussed difficult terrain.

 

[Remathilis]

That's among the stupidest things that I have ever heard.

Which I guess is to note that the fact that the rules say it, doesn't mean it is a good idea to be accepted blindly.

This was good old 2e; rules were all over the place and that was the OFFICIAL stats, courtesy of the Complete Book of Humanoids (and later reprinted in Skills & Powers). Let me give you a few gems from that era...

Aarakroca, to balance their flight, are claustrophobic and suffer a -3 to attack rolls when in an enclosed (building or dungeon) area.
Bugbears, Centaurs, Firbolg, Gnolls, Minotaurs, Ogres and Half-ogres all take damage as large creatures. This meant that some weapons (longswords) did more damage, but others (daggers) did less.
Bullywugs must wet themselves THREE times per day (a waterskin's worth) or lose 2 Con points, cumulative per day missed. 0 = death.
Centaurs (and I quote) " They have difficulty negotiating underground settings." Nothing else said. They are large, as previously mentioned above.
Firbolg, in addition to being large, cannot wear armor/shields, need double XP to gain a level, half 15% magic resistance that can't be turned off for beneficial spells, and don't apply Str bonus when using human-sized weapons. (For what its' worth, they were huge creatures that could use giant weapons [x3 damage] and had lots of spell like abilities)
Goblins, Kobolds, and Orcs, have -1 to attack rolls in bright light
Hobgoblins get off easy, dwarves and gnomes get a +1 to hit them (thanks to those races racial traits) which isn't inherent to the race but the enemy race's traits.
Lizard men, like bullywugs, must wet themselves (only 1 day) or loose 3 Con points. They also start with less proficiencies in weapons and must make Wisdom checks if food or treasure is nearby to keep focus. Yesh...
Half-orcs have no innate penalty. They just got shunted here after they were kicked out of the PHB. Everything you know about 1e half-orcs apply.
Satyrs are prone to distraction around females with Cha 15+ or alcohol, may require Wis checks to keep focus.

There were other races in there, but I cherry-picked some of the more common ones or those who made it to 5e in some form or format. I guess if a DM is looking for a balancing factor, feel free to bring back those 2e penalties to the exotic humanoid races. 2e versions of aasimar, tortle, genasi, tiefling etc exist (as does BECMI versions of triton and most of the above humanoids) if you are interested in ideas to further limit their playability for the sake of verisimilitude.

 

[Remathilis]

I thought of the mobile feat for our pretend centaur here when we discussed difficult terrain.

Even Better!

Hell, a DM could even design a Racial Feat (Sure-Footed) with gives the centaur the goat-like hooves needed to climb!

 

[Remathilis]

Andre the Giant. 7'4" and weighed 520 pounds. I don't recall him ever falling down lots of stairs. .

If he did, it was from the vast quantities of alcohol he imbibed rather than his size. Seriously, read on the making of the Princess Bride, Andre was a beast with the drink...

 

[Scott Christian]

The races getting the callouts are specifically those newer races though. Therein lies the thing.

Numbers show that Tieflings are stupid popular and Dragonborn have their fans. Yet, those are specifically the races being called as 'the weird fantasy ones' despite the clear popularity of them

Um... the races talked about here are:
Drow - 2nd edition
Dragonborn - 4th edition (maybe 3rd edition, I really didn't play 3rd very much)
Tieflings - 4th edition (maybe 3rd?)
Centaurs - 5th?

So most of these are 20 years old. I don't think that is "new." Even in the geological timekeeping that is D&D.