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

[Older Beholder]

Let's say that a GM decides to run her favorite setting: Dark Sun. She runs player driven improv based games with an eyes always toward the PCs being the protagonists. One player says "I want to play a Warforged," and the GM says , "No, I want to keep this one by the book. Pick a Dark Sun race, please." Suddenly the GM is one of the worst thing for the hobby?

You don't see how utterly ridiculous that sounds?

I'm currently running a game where the characters were teleported to (my version of*) Dark Sun.
One of the characters is a Warforged, so I've added them in, with a simple explination that they're said to come from a distant land to the north. NPC's might refer to the player as 'A child of the ore' or some such terminology. So this is a basic example of world building as a plot hook rather than a restriction. I've found they fit in really well from a mad max vibe, which Dark Suns does pretty well.

*I've been really inspired by the recent Spelljammer set to do a Dark Sun/Jammer mash up setting, with the idea that there was an age of falling stars when a bunch of Spelljammer ships crashed on Athas. The premise makes it very easy to add anything to the setting and lets me have fun world building to suit my players.

 

[Xamnam]

Choosing your imaginary friends as being more important than real people is a very, very bad idea.

But then wouldn't the player also being doing that with their character?

 

[Scribe]

But then wouldn't the player also being doing that with their character?

I have to imagine someone who would make such a choice, is looking at their character as more than just a character, but as a representation of their expression of self, which may be why this is a topic of such emotion.

 

[Reynard]

I'm currently running a game where the characters were teleported to (my version of*) Dark Sun.
One of the characters is a Warforged, so I've added them in, with a simple explination that they're said to come from a distant land to the north. NPC's might refer to the player as 'A child of the ore' or some such terminology. So this is a basic example of world building as a plot hook rather than a restriction. I've found they fit in really well from a mad max vibe, which Dark Suns does pretty well.

*I've been really inspired by the recent Spelljammer set to do a Dark Sun/Jammer mash up setting, with the idea that there was an age of falling stars when a bunch of Spelljammer ships crashed on Athas. The premise makes it very easy to add anything to the setting and lets me have fun world building to suit my players.

So what you are saying is because you don't mind altering the setting, no one should?

I'm honestly, truly surprised that the idea of setting fidelity is controversial. I guess that is something that happened in the play culture along the way that I missed. Which is weird since I run regularly at cons and have a player pool numbered in the dozens.

Or, possibly, it's not a representative opinion at all and 2 or 3 people in this thread are trying to sell something that no one else actually ascribes to. Hmm...

 

[Reynard]

But then wouldn't the player also being doing that with their character?

No, you see,only GMs can be bad.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Why? Note, you've now changed your example from a restaurant to home cooking

Only if you assume that I'm not the cook at the restaurant. Which I am in this case.

for friends, which does change the dynamic. But, why is it rude? Maybe I don't like bulgogi. Maybe I'm allergic to gochujang. Maybe what you've cooked is really, really spicy (which Korean food often is) and my stomach just can't take it. But, I'd like to hang around with my friends. Maybe I just really, really like hotdogs.

Wow. You've really stretched that one, didn't you?

Ok. Yeah. If playing an elf instead of a warforged would endanger your health, I'd let you play one. LOL.

Again, you're insisting that your "what I said I'd serve" is more important than the real person sitting at your table.

Because it is. Why? Because the others who showed up at my table are expecting what I said I'd serve. Gee, maybe I should actually deliver what I promised?

In addition, if we except your premise that all players are equal to include the DM, then that player is being a bit rude by insisting on imposing his will on me and our (myself and the other players) game. Or is it only possible for the DM to be rude in this manner?

And the hotdog analogy doesn't really work because it's not just one person eating the hotdog. It's one person saying: I wanna put a little hotdog in the kimchee so everyone has to taste a bit of it.

EDIT: Removed unneed hostility.

 

[Older Beholder]

So what you are saying is because you don't mind altering the setting, no one should?

No, not at all. I'm just giving an example of why having lots of races gives me inspiration for world building
I thought this thread was asking why people like lots of races, I was just trying to answer that question.

You were saying it was ridiculous to play a Warforged in Dark Sun, when it's actually a pretty good fit.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

No, not at all. I'm just giving an example of why having lots of races gives me inspiration for world building
I thought this thread was asking why people like lots of races, I was just trying to answer that question.

You were saying it was ridiculous to play a Warforged in Dark Sun, when it's actually a pretty good fit.

Yeah, I think that it's quite possible to play in settings with lots of different races. I once ran a campaign that took place on a Nexus World where lots of races from lots of different worlds came together. Kind of a Well of Souls type deal. It was a blast.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

That's why I was referring KB. I don't think he can be suspected of being a bad setting builder, and yet he doesn't want "kitchen sink" either. It's not because he was doing a ME clone. Sure, as it was designed to sell he had to shoehorn a few things in over the time, but "in his Eberron" there is a few significant deviations from the published Eberron. I was answering to dismiss the idea that "having a curated list of what is appropriate in a campaign (be it races, classes, background choices...)" is "being an unimaginative, copycat setting fanboy". Sometimes one just want to run a campaign around a specific theme or universe, and I don't think it's fair to imply some sort of inferiority in them.

I’ve spent a lot of time reading his blog and listening to manifest.zone podcast, and he has come around on Tieflings in Eberron, at least in the sense that he has all kinds of ideas for them and for the Venomous Demense.

I think the much more salient Bakerism is his constant advice that you brought up upthread.

Ask why the player wants to play that race. If it’s just for the mechanics, fine, let them, and reskin it as an existing Eberron race. If there is a story or dynamic they want to explore, then it’s a conversation.

The group. Collectively. As should always be the case when a group of people come together to engage in a social activity.

Who gets to decide what is a valid reason for bowing out of game night? Who gets to decide what is an acceptable dish to bring to Thanksgiving? Who gets to decide what words are English and what words are gibberish?

We do. Collectively. No single person has that power. The gaming group, the family, the Anglosphere. Whatever the relevant community is, that is who decides.

QFT.

Swimming WAAAY upthread, because I'm still catching up, but this, this highlighted bit? This is the most toxic thing I've seen in a while. This is the kind of DM that poisons the game, IME. By imagining that just because the DM happens to be sitting in the big daddy chair, they can make any decision they like and the players can either take it or leave it is just the absolute opposite of a healthy social interaction.

To be fair, I think you have taken that post out of the context in which it was posted.

But even so, I’d agree that it’s not great.

 

[Reynard]

No, not at all. I'm just giving an example of why having lots of races gives me inspiration for world building
I thought this thread was asking why people like lots of races, I was just trying to answer that question.

You were saying it was ridiculous to play a Warforged in Dark Sun, when it's actually a pretty good fit.

Whether a person can come up with a good explanation for a particular race in a particular setting is besides the point. The issue is that there are parameters (whatever they may be, for whatever reason) for a setting and the GM chooses to hold those limits. Given that, prospective players have a couple choices: play something within the boundaries, or don't play. "Force the GM to change the setting" is not one of the options. That's all.

There are lots of games out there. Players can find one they want to play -- or, failing that, run the game they want. Goodness knows we can usr more GMs.