D&D General No More "Humans in Funny Hats": Racial Mechanics Should Determine Racial Cultures

[Helpful NPC Thom]

For some reason, "kitchen sink" is looked down on and "carefully curated" is highly praised as peak DMing. Thus, every option must justify it's inclusion into the walled garden or into the rubbish bin it goes.

yeschad.meme

I dislike kitchen sink settings because they're disjointed, like a meandering stroll through an amusement park of gonzo. Step right up and see yer elven cowboys! Experience the thrill of halfling dinosaur riders! Dare you to gaze upon the cybernetic dwarf stronghold?

There is a common saying; that if something looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. The same applies to an extent for fantasy races in D&D, especially with the recent removal of racial ability score modifiers and cultural proficiencies in racial stats. If it looks and acts more or less like a human, it may as well be a human.

This is largely unavoidable with the Tolkien races as a whole because they are written to be analogues of humans. Burning Wheel does a fair job of portraying them with its emotional attributes, as does Torchbearer's Nature. If I wanted to impress upon the players the importance of their differing psychologies, I would use a simplified version of Pendragon's virtues and flaws system.

Each race gets one cultural virtue and one cultural flaw. Both are opposed and in tension with one another. Stereotypically, elves might have Haughtiness and Benevolence. These are expressed as a number from 1-20, so for instance, a Haughtiness/Benevolence might be 9 to begin. In dramatic situations, the player must roll 1d20. If he rolls under or equal to the score, he acts in accordance with his flaw; if he rolls above it, he acts in accordance with his virtue. In this example, let us say the elf player comes across a filthy human beggar asking for bread. If he rolls his Haughtiness, he will act arrogant, cruel, contemptuous, sneering at the beggar and maybe even kicking or shoving him aside. If he rolls his Benevolence, he is moved by a compassionate impulse to comfort the short-lived wretch before him.

These scores would change over the course of the game representing shifts in personality and perspective.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I have to say, whenever I see you write something like this, it makes me want to create an elf character.

Some people watch Jaws and root for the shark.

...but this is more like hearing about bubonic plague, and rooting for the fleas.

 

[Remathilis]

I dislike kitchen sink settings because they're disjointed, like a meandering stroll through an amusement park of gonzo. Step right up and see yer elven cowboys! Experience the thrill of halfling dinosaur riders! Dare you to gaze upon the cybernetic dwarf stronghold?

"When consistency gets in the way of samurai gunslingers riding on dinosaurs, it's time for consistency to take a day off." - Barsoomcore.

 

[Helpful NPC Thom]

"When consistency gets in the way of samurai gunslingers riding on dinosaurs, it's time for consistency to take a day off." - Barsoomcore.

To some extent, the "rule of cool" eases the functioning of the game with versatility and entertainment, but an overabundance of it transforms the game into Scooby-Do shenanigans hour.

 

[Steampunkette]

"When consistency gets in the way of samurai gunslingers riding on dinosaurs, it's time for consistency to take a day off." - Barsoomcore.

"When you add elements to a setting without consideration for the story you wish to tell, the story you wind up telling will be drastically different."
-Steampunkette-

What a profound quote! And the person quoted, so stylish, wise, and dedicated!

More seriously: Some people have a story they want to tell. A story that they think a setting should carry. So adding everything there is to the setting isn't conducive to that. Fortunately you can make your "Kitchen Sink" setting while I make my carefully curated setting, and we can both take inspiration from the other for various ideas and situations while maintaining what we, personally, want from the game.

 

[Professor Murder]

In 5th, I find the arguments against decoupling ability score bonuses from race/lineage ultimately pointless. Any PC can, given enough levels, get a 20, the highest possible baseline score, in any ability. The bonuses just determine how quickly that happens. Decoupling ability scores just removes system based punishments for people making otherwise suboptimal class/race combinations. Just give everyone a +2 and a +1 or three +1s and call it a day. (I'm looking at you Mountain Dwarves...)

Or... Don't. I'm even more tired of grognards pulling at their neckbeards and bemoaning how they are aggrieved. Work out how you run your game with your group.

 

[Stalker0]

I don’t think racial stats are a needed area of differentiation, but just as a good accent can make an npc memorable to players, I think some solid racial abilities can help give players hooks to aid with their role playing.

In my game i gave dwarfs a simple mechanical benefit…they sleep standing up. It made sense with their prone resistance, but it was mainly a ribbon.

i gave my dwarf player license to tell us of their homeland, and they went to town with this feature. Dwarf rooms were really small with no beds, in favor of large communal spaces. They called humans “short sleepers” in dwarven. In some areas dwarves would use sleeping dwarves as support pillars for great machines run at night…just lots of fun stuff.

i find just a few mechanics can really shape the imagination

 

[Bolares]

Why can't something just be cool and fun mechanics with a nice name on top and a little fluff?!

I really enjoy doing this with classes. Whenever possible I detach the class from the worlds lore, so my players can reskin anything however they want.

 

[CleverNickName]

Or... Don't. I'm even more tired of grognards pulling at their neckbeards and bemoaning how they are aggrieved. Work out how you run your game with your group.

Absolutely. The worst part is the groaning.

I think this is how I'm gonna "work it out" with my game group, the next time I launch a new campaign.

• First, determine your ability scores and distribute them however you like. Let's say you ended up with Str 15, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 10, and Cha 8.
• Each ability score is now capped at 10 + the starting total you distributed. Your character's Strength is now capped at 25, your Dex is capped at 24, your Charisma is capped at 18.
• Now, choose your Ancestry. Your Ancestry (or Race, if you must) will give you a +1 bonus to a certain ability score. Dwarves, +1 to Con. Elves, +1 to Dex, Humans +1 to any score you like, and so on. Subraces, if any, don't grant ASIs.
• Next, choose your Background. Your choice will give you another +1 bonus to an ability score. Soldier, +1 Str. Adept, +1 Wis. Sage, +1 Int. You get the idea.
• Finally, choose your Class. Your choice will give you a third (and final) ASI to a specific score. Barbarian, +1 Str or Con. Bard, +1 Dex or Cha. Cleric, +1 Wis or Cha. Et cetera.
• Buy equipment and start your adventure.

It's a bit more fiddly than most DMs would like, but I think my gaming group will love it. Every character starts with a total +3 ASI, and they get to control where they go and how high they can grow. Right up our alley.

 

[Bolares]

I will admit I will never understand the argument that getting rid of racial modifiers waters down the races into the same thing. The game is much more than any stat. Flavor and fluff matter, because it literally tells you the differences between the races. Anyone who says getting rid of the ability modifiers for an elf just makes them no different than any other race is completely ignoring this, which absolutely is unique from humans or other races:

I want to prin this and put it up in my wall in a nice frame