D&D General Do Your Human Characters Match Your Ethnicity (etc)?

[doctorbadwolf]

I don't see why it's only humans, btw.

I know in every world I play in, the elves, halflings, dwarves, gnomes, and any other human-looking humanoid have the same range of ethnic origin signifiers as humans do.

 

[the Jester]

Most of the settings I play in don't have an ethnicity that matches mine, or most people's really... so the question that serves as the title of the thread is a bit inaccurate.

This is a very good point, though it depends on the game- Warhammer Fantasy is set in an Earth-analogue, for instance, as are most non-fantasy RPGs. And even in some fantasy worlds, it's pretty clear that at least some ethnic groups are analogous to Earth ones, e.g. the Baklunish in Greyhawk are, IMO, pretty closely analogous to Arabians. Nonetheless, you're correct that I could have been more clear.

 

[Minigiant]

In video games,I usually make my first playthrough as close to me as possible.

But in D&D,I don't make humans that match my ethnicity or gender anymore. Because, except for ONE TIME, I die first when I do. I'm jinxed to invoke Black Dude Dies first.

Or maybe I play them too reckless.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

As a DM/GM, no certainly not. As a player...I rarely play humans. In games where that's the only choice, while I often play same-as-me, I do not always.

 

[Oofta]

While I play a variety of races I never play female characters, I've just never really seen the point. I do occasionally in video games but that's more because I'm curious to see if the game treats women different than men.

As far as ethnicity, I don't really do that much either. I don't see much of a reason to unless it's to stand out or blend in to the local population. I guess I just don't see the point - ethnicity has nothing to do with personality and fantasy world culture is generally not detailed enough for me to hang a RP hook based on a specific culture.

 

[Haldrik]

I am just curious about this one- obviously also inspired by the current conversations. Do your human pcs tend to look like you? Do they usually match your ethnicity, sex, gender, and sexual preference? How often do you play characters who don't? Feel free to include non-D&D human characters in your discussion.

This question is specifically about human pcs, since non-humans are a different ball of wax entirely.

Speaking for myself, I strive to have about half of my pcs be male and about half be female. I've also had one Mage character who was a transman and one D&D character who used magic to flip between male and female constantly (I guess you'd call that one genderfluid). While most of my pcs are heterosexual, I've definitely had a few that aren't, but not too many.

My only current pc (I'm almost always a DM) is a black human female (I'm a white male). The other (human) characters I have played in the last few years are the following:

From a supers game- the Human Frack, a black male
From a Savage Worlds Deadlands game- a white male and a white female
From Call of Cthulhu- a white male
From Mage- the aforementioned white transman and a white male
From 3e D&D- a black female alienist (arguably not really human anymore), a swarthy human male (southern Italian/Mediterranean level of brown)

What about you guys?

As a player, my characters tend to be my sex, gender, orientation, and ethnicity, moreorless. Even tho I have played Drow and Human dark-skinned characters, their ethnicity still tends to be my own. Different skin colors hasnt been much different from different eye colors.

But as a DM, I pretty much have to become anyone.

 

[dave2008]

I have only ever played a male character, but I have never given a thought to its ethnicity. So I guess I assume they look like me.

PS: I mostly DM

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Ethnicity doesn't really match up to anything, when dealing with non-Earth worlds. Most settings aren't Forgotten Realms or Golarion.

Most of my humans looks roughly like me, except in better shape; at least, that's how they'd appear, to all of the elves and dwarves out there.

 

[The Glen]

No my last human character was a Darokin wizard, where my largest ethnicity is mostly Welsh.

 

[Cadence]

I have trouble imagining a character like me is interesting. :-/

My most common characters are either a cleric with some plot hook and/or someone I can imagine being very angry about something in their past. Gender played is probably just over 50/50 male. Human vs. demi-humans is probably 25/75. Don't think I've ever played a human that I envisioned as a person of color (and don't think I've thought about it until now).