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

[Shadowdweller00]

Sure. Orcs, for example, are usually depicted as being aggressive raiders.

Hic Svnt Leones.

Yeah, but I guess that makes it more of a "can't be arsed to completely kill each other off"; which I suppose is still a form of coexistence

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Yeah, but I guess that makes it more of a "can't be arsed to completely kill each other off completely"; which I suppose is still a form of coexistence

Well yeah. True extermination of any species, but especially a sapient one, is actually rather a lot of work. It doesn't necessarily have to be intentional work (consider the species we've almost certainly driven to extinction by accident IRL), but it is work nonetheless.

And then you have things like those pesky gods acting as boosters for their chosen peoples, and (ugh) diplomats and all their peaceful overtures and proselytizing the value of cooperation, and the actual demonstrable benefits that come from trade (especially between at least semi-industrialized nations)...what's a genocidal madman to do?!

 

[Shadowdweller00]

And then you have things like those pesky gods acting as boosters for their chosen peoples, and (ugh) diplomats and all their peaceful overtures and proselytizing the value of cooperation, and the actual demonstrable benefits that come from trade (especially between at least semi-industrialized nations)...what's a genocidal madman to do?!

Nobody ever appreciates us

 

[Minigiant]

I cannot stress how incredibly difficult a skill writing xenofiction is. It takes years of practice and study and MOST OF IT STILL SUCKS.

I must be weird as I find xenofiction easy to write. It just takes longer as you can't have predisposed automatic reactions to characters and populations

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I'm not quite sure what three or four human species exiting simultaneously is supposed to demonstrate. I think most people who want more limited palette are fine with having four species, it is more than sixty we have a problem with.

 

[FrozenNorth]

The corebooks are never entirely lore-free. Something has to go in the book under the heading, "orc".

You’re changing your argument here. You went from “the different ecological niches of humans and orcs should be included in the PHB” to “the core books are not entirely lore-free”.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I'm fine with having as many as 10 or so, but prefer a few less in general.

I don't have any issue with having 60 or more in the game, I just find it silly to think that many sentient humanoid PC races managing to not only survive, but thrive and have histories, culture, etc. all in the same fantasy world. (Unless you want to play in some "everyone loves everyone and we all get along just fine, thank you" sort of fantasy world...)

My preference is not for a carnival-like menagerie of a world, where using a multitude of races is needed to represent what otherwise should be different cultures of the same races. By and large most players play their PCs like themselves (which is understandable)--- which is human.

---

Anyway, I think a big factor is also the focus of the game: are you focused on the adventure or your character?

Even when I am playing, I am focused on the adventure and the story that unfolds. My character, who they are, where they came from, what they are like, is all secondary to me.

 

[FrozenNorth]

And where are they now? Yes, there are a few % of their DNA within the species still in some populations, but...gone. And consider the tech level, the population level, of those earlier hominid's. Their ability to project power, to grow their populations, to wage war.

Now, instead, imagine its pseudo-medieval, and we have magic, and opposing gods. Look at the sad history of our world, and the various cultures within, when there is a power disparity.

In actual human history, yes, when the triumph our our species ancestors was to be slightly beyond the reach of the beasts of the world, separate groups may or may not have lived near eachother, and may or may not, have wiped eachother out.

Not exactly comparable to the various races of our Fantasy worlds, to me.

Yes, let’s imagine that we have magic and opposing gods, and a wide variety of monsters that can challenge adventurers. The result isn’t Faerun, it’s Armaggeddon.

You’re being selective about your “realism” to exclude the possibility of many races.

 

[CreamCloud0]

As have others already said before me in the thread, I like lots of options to choose from but the options curated appropriately for the specific setting, picked with intent for their place in and impact on said setting.

That does not mean I don’t want or like kitchen sink settings but they need to be in the appropriate framing, such as star wars galaxy-sized setting or a crossroad world between the worlds.

Something was said to the effect earlier of ‘i don’t want my entire party to be composed of every 1-in-million-stranger-from-over-the-horizon on the continent, i want them to be part of the world they’re playing in’ and I absolutely agree

 

[Tonguez]

I'm not quite sure what three or four human species exiting simultaneously is supposed to demonstrate. I think most people who want more limited palette are fine with having four species, it is more than sixty we have a problem with.

Yeh very much this, especially as they are all variant humans. Frankly if a Neanderthal was walking down the street in a suit, its not as if anyone would be able to notice they weren’t homo sapiens.