Deciding your PC race.

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Unless I somehow start playing D&D for money, I couldn't give a crap about optimization. Playing a boring character that will somehow let me "win" the game more easily holds no appeal for me. Playing a character that's interesting and fun is all I care about. Race is typically part of what makes a character fun and is one of the first decisions made when coming up with a character.

 

[Pentius]

I used to be pretty big on picking my race for RP first, and not budging on it. These days I tend to finalize my race much later in the creation process. Some of it is optimizing, yes, but more and more it's that I am choosing character concepts that simply don't hinge on me playing one specific race. When I get to the stage of picking a race, I'll go through and consider the ramifications, possibly tweak his character toward it. But when I get to that stage, I don't feel bad picking a race based on stats, because race isn't what I'm hanging my RP on anyway.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I mostly play D&D, and each edition form 2E onwards makes it harder to ignore the race choice when choosing a character, for mechanical reasons.

I would like to see stats and stat bonuses less important. I really would. I think it would open up the game a lot more.

Yes, even though it is only a +2 to the ability and an associated +1 to hit and damage, it matters to me.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

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?

It depends. Sometimes I'm looking for something quirky & memorable, sometimes I'm looking for a relatively optimized design. Sometimes, those impulses resonate.

 

[AeroDm]

The system has a large influence. In 2e it was almost all character concept. In 3e it was mostly character concept, but I'd tweak my choice maybe a bit. In 4e, optimization plays a big role in the decision. I think this is because of what the system validates as "cool." In 2e, the system really got out of your way because there wasn't enough substance to get *in* your way, so you made yourself "cool" by what you chose to do. Third edition put more substance into the system, but the character customization process was still a composite of a dozen or more little systems of which race was just one (minor) piece. By 4e, the system had a lot more to say because more events happened within the confines of the system, and, as a result, the system mattered more. The vast majority of my decision with regards to race in 4e has to do with stat mods, because stats in 4e matter so much.

 

[Greylock]

I usually start with a concept, but the first thing I do is ask the DM what races are available. I've found that most DMs already have an idea of what they think appropriate for the when/why of my character joining the party, and I roll with that. I honestly can't think of a single time since 1st Edition I picked a race simply for it's bonuses or attributes, unless I was specifically going for a pointy-eared freak or a giant bundle of muscles already as part of the concept.

 

[malcolypse]

Depends entirely on my mood at the time.

I like to think that I favor concept over bonuses more often than not, but I don't have access to actual numbers, just my hopes for myself.

 

[Stormonu]

Unless I somehow start playing D&D for money, I couldn't give a crap about optimization. Playing a boring character that will somehow let me "win" the game more easily holds no appeal for me. Playing a character that's interesting and fun is all I care about. Race is typically part of what makes a character fun and is one of the first decisions made when coming up with a character.

I care more for the fun too, but I've been stuck a couple of times with a combo that wasn't any to play because the mechanics got in the way.

 

[Pentius]

The system has a large influence.

I've noticed this, too, but for me it doesn't matter so much what system it is as it does how familiar I am with it. The more I know the rules, the more likely I am to consider the ramifications of racial choice in a mechanical light.

 

[Evilhalfling]

My next character is going to be a tengu(ie kenku) gunslinger. (pathfinder)
sure its optimized-ish cause gunslingers can use the dex and wis bonuses.

but really, gunslingers suck. tengu are flightless humanoid birds from a Bestiary. IE no feat support, and mediocre racial abilities.

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.

Generally I pick a concept and then try to optimize it, making the best choices that still fit the character. If the character is going to end up crippled, like a 4e character with 2 attack stats. I simply rethink it.

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.