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

[Scribe]

Do you think all forms of entertainment would be better if the details were up for a vote?

Considering this forum? Nothing would reach print.

 

[Hussar]

Now, to backtrack my point a bit. I am presuming good faith on the part of the player. The player isn't deliberately picking stuff that doesn't fit with the campaign. They are makign the earnest attempt to make a character that is in keeping with what they understand to be the campaign.

So, yeah, the bloodthirsty character in a 4 color heroic game is simply a mismatch in understanding. Fair enough.

But, that's not what's been asked in this thread. People are making claims that this:

is too "monstrous" to play and would be killed on sight. But this:

would totally pass in any bar in any town without any problem.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Now, to backtrack my point a bit. I am presuming good faith on the part of the player. The player isn't deliberately picking stuff that doesn't fit with the campaign. They are makign the earnest attempt to make a character that is in keeping with what they understand to be the campaign.

So, yeah, the bloodthirsty character in a 4 color heroic game is simply a mismatch in understanding. Fair enough.

But, that's not what's been asked in this thread. People are making claims that this:

View attachment 268041
is too "monstrous" to play and would be killed on sight. But this:

View attachment 268042
would totally pass in any bar in any town without any problem.

I’ve been in games in which that dichotomy would be true. I’ve also been in campaigns in which the exact opposite would be the case. And still others in which neither or both beings would be killed or ignored.

Mostly, though, I’ve been in games where who was accepted vs who was who was to be hounded on sight- if at all- depended on where and when the encounter occurred in the campaign. (Which, FWIW, is kinda how I try to run things.)

 

[Clint_L]

I totally get a DM imposing limits about what sort of game they want to play. I'm not into a super chaotic evil type of play and would have no interest in DMing that sort of game, and I make that clear.

But that's about the tone of the game. That seems like a totally different thing than "I would like to play a Firbolg" (or whatever).

That said, if the DM really wants to build a particular type of world, then the players should be cool about it, too. I think the issue comes when DMs are being unreasonably controlling of the the tabletop, and not allowing room for anyone else to contribute to the story beyond their strict limitations.

I'm really, really open to player interaction in the story. The players don't get to control major elements of the game world, but when it comes to day to day interactions, they improv a lot, including world details, and I love it. It makes the game way more fun when I get to be surprised sometimes.

 

[Tonguez]

But, that's not what's been asked in this thread. People are making claims that this:

View attachment 268041
is too "monstrous" to play and would be killed on sight.

Slightly disingenouous argument though. If someone was to bring that character and say she was a Warlock of the Naga-khan, who despite being human had begun to take on serpentine features I’d go ‘cool concept -but expect some prejudice.’

If however you told me she was a spy sent to infiltrate the human kingdoms and behind her was a hidden empire of yuan-ti abominations then I‘d feel justified in saying no.

*for the record I do have an empire of yuan-ti abominations imc, including human-shapechangers, but as they are a hidden evil I dont want them to be PCs

 

[Azzy]

I asked a question, no hyperbole. If the DM doesn't make the final call, who does?

The gaming group as a whole. The focus of enjoyment should revolve around the group rather than petty dictators—whether they fall on the DM's or the players' side.

 

[Hussar]

Slightly disingenouous argument though. If someone was to bring that character and say she was a Warlock of the Naga-khan, who despite being human had begun to take on serpentine features I’d go ‘cool concept -but expect some prejudice.’

If however you told me she was a spy sent to infiltrate the human kingdoms and behind her was a hidden empire of yuan-ti abominations then I‘d feel justified in saying no.

*for the record I do have an empire of yuan-ti abominations imc, including human-shapechangers, but as they are a hidden evil I dont want them to be PCs

But, that's not disallowing the race particularly though. That's more about tone of the campaign which I agree is something that the DM probably should have more say in since it's going to cause the DM all sorts of headaches if the character doesn't fit.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Going farther back (to further your point), the old WEG D6 SW RPG (which still has a large fanbase) had stats for most of the species that existed in the movies and novels that existed at the time (and several original ones).

I really need to play that someday.

 

[Aldarc]

You folks have really different experiences from me. The fastest way for me to get five characters from a curated list would be to ban those races. Any time I say “no X” that’s all anyone wants to play.

That may partly be an issue of positive/negative framing of the "pitch."

If a GM "bans" an ancestry, then it feels like the GM is taking your toy away and now you want to play with the toy that was sitting there. The GM has highlighted the absence of the toy in their pitch. It's framing based on what ancestries are not permitted.

However, if the GM says that they have a special curated list for which ancestries are in the setting (for whatever reasons), then this is framing based on what ancestries are permitted.

IME, I have seen players have less of a problem with the latter than the former, even if the former excludes less ancestries overall.

 

[MGibster]

Going farther back (to further your point), the old WEG D6 SW RPG (which still has a large fanbase) had stats for most of the species that existed in the movies and novels that existed at the time (and several original ones).

And Star Wars would be a prime example of a setting where species doens't matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. I just bought Jedi Fallen Order, and it really doesn't matter much what species the pilot or the Inquisitors are. Maybe I need to look at D&D more like I look at Star Wars. Does it really matter how the fantasy race fits into the setting? Probably not. That's not what we're focused on anyway. We're focused on adventure.