D&D General Race Has No Mechanics. What do you play?

[Reynard]

@Corinnguard I think racial mechanics are the least important subset of mechanics in the game, even if some players seem to demand their presence. If you eliminated them, you might want to buff up classes and backgrounds just to make sure PCs are on the same starting competence level, but even then I don't think the game would suffer much if you did not do that.

 

[CreamCloud0]

@Corinnguard I think racial mechanics are the least important subset of mechanics in the game, even if some players seem to demand their presence. If you eliminated them, you might want to buff up classes and backgrounds just to make sure PCs are on the same starting competence level, but even then I don't think the game would suffer much if you did not do that.

this game's first question for years of play has been 'pick your fantasy race and class', why are we so willing to throw species under the bus for backgrounds now?

 

[Corinnguard]

@Corinnguard I think racial mechanics are the least important subset of mechanics in the game, even if some players seem to demand their presence. If you eliminated them, you might want to buff up classes and backgrounds just to make sure PCs are on the same starting competence level, but even then I don't think the game would suffer much if you did not do that.

Except to some, racial mechanics are something of a cornerstone in D&D and in other RPGs where you get to role-play someone other than yourself. They help define who your character is and what their limits are. If they are the least important subset of mechanics in the game, then why has their existence persisted for so long in D&D? Why did TSR and WoTC decide to keep them around if they really aren't important to the game and/or a person's RPG experience? If they aren't important, then they should have been dropped ages ago.

Is there an RPG that doesn't use racial mechanics and has lasted as long as D&D has? Would D&D have lasted as long as it has if it didn't have racial mechanics? There must be something going for racial mechanics for it to keep going around.

 

[Reynard]

Except to some, racial mechanics are something of a cornerstone in D&D and in other RPGs where you get to role-play someone other than yourself. They help define who your character is and what their limits are. If they are the least important subset of mechanics in the game, then why has their existence persisted for so long in D&D? Why did TSR and WoTC decide to keep them around if they really aren't important to the game and/or a person's RPG experience? If they aren't important, then they should have been dropped ages ago.

Is there an RPG that doesn't use racial mechanics and has lasted as long as D&D has? Would D&D have lasted as long as it has if it didn't have racial mechanics? There must be something going for racial mechanics for it to keep going around.

I acknowledge that it has been a mainstay, and I acknowledge that for some people it is really important. But I contend it actually isn't and inertia is doing a lot of work here.

I think different races as different kinds of people creating a fantastical feeling world is important, but that isn't necessarily dependent on dwarves having darkvision or elves being able to find secret doors good.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Except to some, racial mechanics are something of a cornerstone in D&D and in other RPGs where you get to role-play someone other than yourself. They help define who your character is and what their limits are. If they are the least important subset of mechanics in the game, then why has their existence persisted for so long in D&D? Why did TSR and WoTC decide to keep them around if they really aren't important to the game and/or a person's RPG experience? If they aren't important, then they should have been dropped ages ago.

Is there an RPG that doesn't use racial mechanics and has lasted as long as D&D has? Would D&D have lasted as long as it has if it didn't have racial mechanics? There must be something going for racial mechanics for it to keep going around.

Call of Cthuhlu has been around nearly as long as DnD, and the 90's World of Darkness line didn't have an equivalent of race unless you combined lines. If we look at DnD-inspired video games, quite a few big names don't use race at all, like Ultima (after 4) and Guild Wars 1. So I don't think race is an essential mechanic for popular games.

But it does add a whole new vector to character creation, which adds a bit of gameplay depth and a lot of customization. Plus I think non-human characters allows us to include concepts like ethnicity and heritage in a way that doesn't need to get too close to real-world racism which very few people want in their game. That's why Star Trek includes nonhumans after all.

So if we're asking if OP's hypothetical is a good idea for improving the game, I'd say no. But if a dm I knew and liked suggested it, I'd absolutely go along with it because there are other ways to get at the things race offers. Race is just efficient at getting those things.

 

[Moonmover]

There are very few character concepts I'd be interested in playing that couldn't be done with a human character. If race had no mechanics, then my choice of race would have to have really interesting story/lore implications for me to bother - I might still play a Warforged in Eberron, for example, because what they are about and their place in the setting is intriguing.

Elf? Nah, I can play as a graceful and beautiful human who is good at magic.

Half-orc? Nah, I can play as a big strong ugly guy who's a human.

Dwarf? Nah, I can play a short, bearded miner who loves to drink and is a human.

Halfling? Nah, I can play an even shorter farmer who loves to eat and is human.

Gnome? Nah, I can play as a little old man who does magic and is a human.

Centaur, since there has been a lot of discussion about them? Nah. I'll just take my human and stick him on top of a horse.

 

[KYRON45]

I've never chosen a race based on mechanics. The DM gives me his elevator pitch for the campaign which usually includes race/class/etc. restrictions based on their vision for the opening story. Then we make PCs based on this premise and our backstories. With any luck we have a cohesive party that starts the game already tied to one another and the main plot.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Are you going to interrogate everyone's choice along similar lines of tangible benefits that could potentially exist for each race under certain circumstances or just mine? Could being a short halfling not also provide tangible benefits in some circumstances? Or how about being an elf? Or how about being a dwarf? I stated that my reason was simply because if you are bored that you could change your appearance. I understand that you view this as a tangible benefit. It is a tangible benefit, but IMHO there is a difference between a tangible benefit and a mechanical one. When my partner got top surgery, I doubt anyone would claim there is a "mechanical benefit" to their choice; however, there was clearly a tangible benefit.

Disguise self gives no mechanical benefits aside from the fluff in the description. The only rider on the spell is how people can see through it. A bioform that can change its appearance at will does the same thing. A warlock has to spend a an evocation to do this at will.

I think that’s why people are having hang ups with your example of a ‘race’ vs a halfling or dwarf

 

[Lanefan]

This is poppycock. If it's purely cosmetic with no mechanical benefits, then what's the big deal? I have not once argued that I would use the changeling in a way to confer a mechanical benefit. I said at the start that it would be purely cosmetic based.

You might not use it that way but I suspect that would make you a minority numbering exactly one.

"The Duke has a reputation of being a real Elf-lover - he can't resist anything they ask of him!". You're a changeling about to be involved in negotiations with said Duke and you wouldn't change to Elf form for this? Seriously?

Or "These Elves are super-isolationist; non-Elves aren't welcome inside their borders." You can make yourself look like an Elf, though, which very likely gives you a huge advantage over the other non-Elves in your party when trying to deal with these guys or sneak into their lands or whatever.

Further, even if you-as-player don't think of these benefits and-or proactively decline to use them, others in your party who are aware of your capabilities might either suggest or insist that you do.

 

[Lanefan]

Yeah, that's what the "still obviously a changeling" part makes clear.

You are trying to sidestep the restraint. Just say you don't like it and wouldn't play in such a game. There is nothing worse than a player that agrees to a premise then decides to undermine it the whole time.

What's the point of being a changeling if you can't reliably use your primary feature? And, if you're always known to be a changeling no matter what form you take, doesn't that become a species-based drawback instead?

Seriously, in an all-playable-species-work-the-same setting, changeling (or doppleganger, or similar) just isn't a viable option to allow as PC-playable.