D&D General Do you like LOTS of races/ancestries/whatever? If so, why?

[Faolyn]

68 races. Each has to be large enough to be well known so people don't confuse them a high elf with a wood elf with astral elf. Each has to be distinct enough to stand out not just in the visual department but in the cultural department. And saying Drake Dragonborn is one off from the nineth dimension does not cut it, unless you are living near the New Waterdeep Space Interdimensional Citadel.

And can you give me why 68 races could work on an Earth Size planet?

First, who says that the world is Earth-sized? My world is a big cube, I'll have you know.

Secondly...

 

[doctorbadwolf]

68 races. Each has to be large enough to be well known so people don't confuse them a high elf with a wood elf with astral elf. Each has to be distinct enough to stand out not just in the visual department but in the cultural department. And saying Drake Dragonborn is one off from the nineth dimension does not cut it, unless you are living near the New Waterdeep Space Interdimensional Citadel.

And can you give me why 68 races could work on an Earth Size planet?

Easily.

Cooperative tool use and excess food supply.

Like go check out how many species of apex predators exist IRL.

 

[Oofta]

I would and do use the terms Mos Eisley or Kitchen Sink as positive descriptors, but in their most frequent use, they are overwhelmingly surrounded by text that colors its intention as dismissive, usually in the sense that it's thoughtless, lazy, or indiscriminate and therefore boring. Barring an explicitly positive note, or even just lacking other context, it's a fair guess to take that it is not being meant as praise.

I honestly appreciate the folks who are offering the consideration that that is a fine feeling in a Star Wars/Star Trek/Planescape/etc. setting, just not in Forgotten Realms/their personal setting, because that's more than term usually gets.

I think a lot of times people ascribe negative motivation to people who disagree with them. I don't remember anyone calling kitchen sink campaigns as dismissive or lazy, I think you're reading things into them that aren't there. People care about different aspects of the campaign worlds that they design and play in, someone else may have amazing intrigue and complex plot lines that suck in their players but don't give a hoot about what races they choose and nobody cares. Another person may enjoy figuring out how the bigger picture works and how different races fit and interact with each other even if it has little or no direct impact on their games.

It's not one is better than the other, it's just different approaches and different emphasis.

 

[Xamnam]

Each has to be large enough to be well known so people don't confuse them a high elf with a wood elf with astral elf. Each has to be distinct enough to stand out not just in the visual department but in the cultural department.

I don't think these are requirements.

 

[jasper]

Easily.

Cooperative tool use and excess food supply.

Like go check out how many species of apex predators exist IRL.

How many of them speak common? Have the possibilities of rubbing some manure together with their fingers and grenading my Thanksgiving Dinner?

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I think a lot of times people ascribe negative motivation to people who disagree with them.

If people didn't use such openly dismissive terms, I might be able to agree with you. But it is almost always extremely clear that these terms are intended to be derogatory.

I don't remember anyone calling kitchen sink campaigns as dismissive or lazy, I think you're reading things into them that aren't there.

Strange. I've seen people say exactly that, numerous times, on this very forum.

People care about different aspects of the campaign worlds that they design and play in, someone else may have amazing intrigue and complex plot lines that suck in their players but don't give a hoot about what races they choose and nobody cares. Another person may enjoy figuring out how the bigger picture works and how different races fit and interact with each other even if it has little or no direct impact on their games.

It's not one is better than the other, it's just different approaches and different emphasis.

Then it would be nice if people actually said that instead of resorting to tired, mocking cliches.

Not to mention most of them would have the full range of human physical features on top of that. Where do they all come from?

The vast majority of the sapient races in most D&D worlds are direct creations of the gods, and that is explicit in their origins. Like...I genuinely don't understand why you would need to ask the question. This is almost always answered explicitly with either "god(s) did it," "wizards did it," or "mad science did it." Proper, ordinary evolution is almost never the actual root of fantasy world races.

How many of them speak common? Have the possibilities of rubbing some manure together with their fingers and grenading my Thanksgiving Dinner?

The point was that there are numerous apex predator species on Earth, many of which actually share territory by focusing on different kinds of hunting. E.g. cheetahs and lions live in the same general area, wolves and cougars and bears are all found all over North America, sharks and orcas may share the same waters, etc. The existence of multiple sapient species doesn't seem any more far-fetched...especially since that was actually true even of human beings for quite a bit longer than recorded human history.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Between this and the constant drive to make magic rare and the constant chant of 'verisimilitude', it seems to me that a lot of fans of this Fantasy game don't really like Fantasy. It's more like they want Historical Fiction but with a handful of wizards.

 

[Scribe]

The point was that there are numerous apex predator species on Earth, many of which actually share territory by focusing on different kinds of hunting. E.g. cheetahs and lions live in the same general area, wolves and cougars and bears are all found all over North America, sharks and orcas may share the same waters, etc.

Right, but they still compete, and in the face of the real apex organism on the planet (that would be us), they either move along, or are removed with prejudice aka: Extinction.

No other intelligent organism, has the capacity to increase its range, force out the rest of the natural competition, and when the natural world is subjugated, turn its attention on the last remaining competition, itself.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I mean, at the moment we have flying apex predators (in at least 15 colour-coded varieties for simplicity) who somehow all manage to function alongside the humans, and that's before we even get to the various dragon-ish species. How do the 3 species of desert dragons manage to get enough food again?

Regardless though, they work on an Earth sized planet due to niche partioning.

What different niches do humans and orcs fill?

 

[Older Beholder]

I like a lot of race options, I’ve been playing D&D for a few decades and I like to be able to still try different things. I've rarely played the same race or class twice.

I like to draw sketches of my characters, so different races makes that more fun for me.
I like to take inspiration for characters from a wide variety of books, films and media.
I sometimes like a race that's not bound to a previous popular culture stereotype that I can completely make my own.