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

[MGibster]

I really need to play that someday.

It's still the best Star Wars game ever made.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

How is a prospective DM/player recognizing that what a table is looking for is fundamentally a terrible match for their sensibilities and walking away a horror story?

Why? Isn't the GM entitled to "no thank you"? Why can't the players say "no thank you" and start their own game. With blackguards and hoophaks? If players demand a kind of game, they're welcome to it, but one of them needs to step up and get behind the screen.

They're refusing to participate (as a DM or player) because of the inclusion of a single member of a single race they don't like. I don't like Kender or Kenku, but I wouldn't refuse to play the game because someone else wants to play one.

Maybe it's way easier for you guys to form D&D groups than it is for me, but in my experience, doing something like that would pretty much guarantee that I don't get to play D&D for quite a while. And I'd rather play with a race that I'm not fond of than not play at all.

 

[Reynard]

They're refusing to participate (as a DM or player) because of the inclusion of a single member of a single race they don't like. I don't like Kender or Kenku, but I wouldn't refuse to play the game because someone else wants to play one.

Maybe it's way easier for you guys to form D&D groups than it is for me, but in my experience, doing something like that would pretty much guarantee that I don't get to play D&D for quite a while. And I'd rather play with a race that I'm not fond of than not play at all.

I think you are off the point of that exchange a little. It was specifically about forcing a GM to alter their crafted setting to accommodate an element the players want included, and the GM having the right to refuse. It wasn't about the group cooperatively developing the world and one participant threatening to take his ball and go home if he didn't get his way.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Since this comparison has been brought up, let's look at the lore behind things, as well as appearance:

A Yuan-Ti cannot pass for human, and close scrutiny is going to happen if the Yuan-Ti is walking among other societies, or they will be attempting to hide these hints, which will likely be suspicious.

And then, if the Yuan-Ti is a known race in a world, the whole second part about infiltration and kidnapping/ sacrificing others would probably lean towards an open hostility by those others.

So, yeah, a Yuan-Ti PC in my game world will be treated with suspicion if not open hostility if discovered. Which is why I would tell the player, go ahead, but your PC will have the same issues among most civilized lands as a Drow elf would. I've had players accept the "Drow" challenge and embrace it, and I would hope if the player really wanted to be a Yuan-Ti that badly, they would accept it as well. If not, they are always free to play something else or join a different group.

I am not going to change the lore of Yuan-Ti in my world (which they are, just not PC playable unless the player accepts that challenge) to make the experience "easy" simply because a player wants to play one when there are many other choices. The same goes for other "monstrous humanoid" races (goblins, orcs, etc.), which are generally at odds (at the very least) with the playable races in the game.

Now, to be clear, players can encounter individuals who struggle against the norm of their species/culture (such as Finn the ex-stormtrooper in the newer SW movies), or even entire groups (such as the other ex-stormtroopers Finn and the others meet on Endor's moon). But that is the players' choice to engage/accept such individuals or groups, and sometimes I have more "accepting" NPCs when players do play Drow, but they understand that will not generally be the case.

Now, for the other side:

Are all elves universally accepted? Of course not! If a player has an elf PC (especially one with a strong personality, i.e. high Charisma) sometimes they are treated by others with caution as their "haunting" beauty makes that NPC uneasy. Elves are often treated coldly due to their own haughty nature. There is always the general distrust of strangers when an elf enters an area with those living their have rarely (if ever) encountered an elf.

I like using "reaction rolls" to determine most often how NPCs will react, and that can be bad or good, depending on the interaction. But by-and-large, elf culture and people (other than Drow, of course) are known of as being kind, willing to negotiate, and peaceful--even if high-minded and lofty.

At any rate, if that is contrary to others' sensibilities, I'm sorry for that, but I have just as much right to run my game world as I think works best, including my reasons for restricting playable races or races even existent in the game, as others who want to run a more communal world and let players do more or less as they want.

 

[Oofta]

If enjoyment is ruined because my friend, a first-time D&D player, asks what races are available and goes "Oh hey, Tabaxi, they remind me of Khajit in exceedingly popular RPG franchise Elder Scrolls, I would like to play one", I got significant questions


D&D is a group setting. If the group all decides that they want to make the next campaign Mr Toad the Bullywug and Mr Frog the Grippli and they're all excited for that, then if the DM is against it, the DM will very quickly find themselves not a DM any more because the group will just, leave and find another one

When I invite people to the game I let them know what restrictions and expectations there are along with what type of game I run. One of those restrictions is a limitation on races. I'll work with people, try to figure out why they want to play a specific race and see if we can work something out such as a custom feature to an existing race or a backstory hook.

But no, I don't want to run a bullywug campaign. It wouldn't fit with the existing themes and narrative of my campaign world. The campaign world and themes have to make sense to me and inspire me in order for me to be a good DM. Why on earth would I agree to run a campaign when I know I'm not going to be able to do a good job of it?

 

[CreamCloud0]

I think you are off the point of that exchange a little. It was specifically about forcing a GM to alter their crafted setting to accommodate an element the players want included, and the GM having the right to refuse. It wasn't about the group cooperatively developing the world and one participant threatening to take his ball and go home if he didn't get his way.

Basically it’s something like:
Players: we want to take a break from our usual campaign to be in a silly looney toons-esc world of animal people for a while.
DM: sure, but that’s a campaign I absolutely want no part in playing or running, i wish you luck running or finding a DM to run that for you, call me when it’s all wrapping up and you want to pick back up our classic middle earth style campaign okay?
Players: will do, see you then!

 

[DND_Reborn]

And I'd rather play with a race that I'm not fond of than not play at all.

That's cool if you are happy with it, but if the DM was running an "all-orc" (or whatever) game, I would rather step out of the game while they play it than play a race I don't want to play. Just the same if the DM said "We are playing in Ebboran (?) for the next campaign!" I would tell them to let me know when they are done and I would see them later.

I don't have to play DND, I have other things I enjoy as well. When I find a group (or form one) I can play with, then I will play and enjoy it more.

 

[Aldarc]

Since this comparison has been brought up, let's look at the lore behind things, as well as appearance:

As if the lore when matters one iota when we are constantly reminded that it's the GM's game to change as they please, including what the lore of yuan-ti entails.

 

[Reynard]

Basically it’s something like:
Players: we want to take a break from our usual campaign to be in a silly looney toons-esc world of animal people for a while.
DM: sure, but that’s a campaign I absolutely want no part in playing or running, i wish you luck running or finding a DM to run that for you, call me when it’s all wrapping up and you want to pick back up our classic middle earth style campaign okay?
Players: will do, see you then!

People play for different reasons and find different things fun. GMs too.

Granted, I think it can be good for a GM to take breaks to avoid burnout and a short campaign of a starkly different one than usual as a player is a great way to recharge your batteries.

 

[Reynard]

As if the lore when matters one iota when we are constantly reminded that it's the GM's game to change as they please, including what the lore of yuan-ti entails.

Players that don't like the inequities of the traditional RPG structure should find games -- either literal game systems, or just "game groups" -- that explicitly redistribute that authority. It's certainly likely to be more effective than demanding the GM cater to them specifically.