Deciding your PC race.

[Jacob Marley]

I tend to play Humans and Halflings. In fact, in the twenty or so years I have been playing D&D I can count on one hand the number of non-Human, non-Halfling characters I have played - I wouldn't be holding up more than three fingers. I guess that I have just never found the appeal of other races.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Something about a black bird in a trenchcoat making his way through a fantasy world with nothing but 2 pistols and a gift for vocal imitation speaks to me.
In fact I just named him - braCK.

Dude! I love everything about that except the name. (Sounds too Presidential, y'know?)

 

[Aeolius]

My next PC will be a Spellstitched Swarm-Shifter Dread Necromancer Emancipated Spawn Half-Scrag Sea Kin Lacedon with Aboleth Grafts... other than that I'm not overly picky.

 

[On Puget Sound]

I try to choose a race that is at least not horrible at the job the party will expect me to do, but not necessarily the "ideal race" for the class. Fitting into the setting plays a big part... in Eberron I made a halfling ranger, because I needed a dinosaur pet, even though the beastmaster ranger build (4e) uses Strength a lot. I just pumped the STR as high as I could despite the racial penalty, took some ranged attacks and a boomerang to use them with, and chose feats and gear to make up for the lack of accuracy.

 

[Graybeard]

It depends on the game I will be playing in. If it's a long term campaign, I choose the race based on character concept. If it will be a short term game, a one shot or module, then I choose the race for optimization based on class.

 

[Pentius]

Edit:
in 4e Optimizing race has some effect on my decisions. For me to consider it the race has to have at least 1 ability bonus used by the class. A Goliath Psion is right out.

B-But, they can get Wisdom! Telekinetic Psions use that!

Sometime, though, I'd like to play a comedic game with all the races chosen at odds with their stereotypes. Halfling Fighter. Orc Wizard. Goliath Rogue. Drow Pacifist Cleric(of Corellon, naturally).

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

When you make a PC, do you choose his/her race based off of a character concept, or do you choose it based on optimization towards the class it will be?

Unless I'm playing a one-off game, I always have an eye on synergy. Not that all of my wizards are gray elves, but you won't see me playing a goliath wizard either.

Since 3e, I find myself caring too much about what I lose out on if the race doesn't benefit the class. So often I choose a race that will improve the class that I want to play. I kind of regret doing this, but when the moment comes around, I still seem to do it most of the time.

It's weird, right? I know the lack of a stat boost isn't going to make or break my PC, but it's hard to go without it all the same. It's a psychological thing, and it's why I don't believe in racial ability mods anymore.

When 3e introduced Level Adjustments, I thought it was a good way to balance things. Unfortunately, what it actually did was just give players another reason not to play a certain race. I allow 30+ races in my Planescape game, and most of them are never chosen mostly because of LA, or because it won't provide a stat bonus that improves their class. I just introduced the LA variant rule from Unearthed Arcana that allows players to buy off LAs. It seems to help a bit.

I don't touch LA races with a 10' pole. The whole mechanic is a mess; if the DM doesn't allow the buy-off, LA flat out sucks. Especially for casters. If the DM does allow the buy-off...well, it probably works out better, but not great. I remember a mid-level game where the DM used the buy-off rule; just about everybody chose LA races...because why not? It was free cheese!

My own approach as a DM with 'monster' races is to PC-ify it. For example, a player wanted to play a lizardman, so I knocked off the racial HD and the LA. (There might have been other minor nerfs.) A balanced 1st level lizardman, boom, done! Well, except that he was also a druid.

 

[S'mon]

I always go "concept first" - then I check if the concept is mechanically crippled, in which case I may discard it. So I think "I want to play a Human axe Fighter/Human dagger-wielding Thief/Dwarf Barbarian with giant hammer", then I look at the numbers, decide they're ok-ish, and do my reasonable best to make the concept mechanically effective.

In the Dwarf Barbarian case I failed, at least in the game the DM ran. He was 1st level when the other PCs were 2nd, he really needed to be 2nd to function the way I wanted him to, and my concept of a PC who could wade through hordes of foes was nerfed by a game where we faced (a) a complex arcane trap infinite-spawning flying minions (b) a decent fight with several fire creatures and (c) a lengthy grind-fest with a solo zombie dragon. I did great in (b), was useless in (a) and (c) which together took up about 80% of the playing time.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Halfling Fighter. Orc Wizard. Goliath Rogue. Drow Pacifist Cleric(of Corellon, naturally).

I have in my files a Halfling 2Wf claw-fighting Barbarian, an Orc Sorcerer, and Drow Cleric of Moradin.

Join me...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Js7Bzb8vK...AAABU/ld6bM3IXhWI/s1600/10118-darth_vader.jpg

 

[onedtwelve]

I guess I'm the kind of guy who reads this thread and thinks, "Why not just pick a race/class combo that you want, regardless of edition, and ask the GM if you can simply optimize the race in your case for the class, so you aren't left behind on the battlefield.

Case in point (I'm talking about 4ED&D) Make a Goliath Psion because you think it would be cool, and take the Goliath's +2 to Strength and Con and make it a +2 to Int and Wisdom or Charisma, instead.

Doesn't it make sense that your Goliath became a Psion because he was oddly suited for it? Maybe your character is the odd one out of the race or maybe you just ignore that technicality and play the game.