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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 9476977" data-attributes="member: 7023840">I wrote (SHOCKER) at length on this previously, where I went more into the roleplaying aspects-[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.enworld.org/threads/oh-the-humanity-exotic-races-anthropocentrism-stereotypes-roleplaying-in-d-d.676750/[/URL]Here are some of the central paragraphs-Finally, there is the central idea; in terms of understanding our own humanity, non-human races allow for advanced exploration of certain topics. This is the area where I want to tread lightly, because it can be referred to (dismissively) as "funny hats" or "crinkly forehead" (from Star Trek). However, the basic concept behind those terms is correct. It is a banal observation to say that science fiction is really about the present. In much the same way, the roleplaying of non-humans at the highest level really tells us about our humanity. The reason for this is simple- when we take a trait of a non-human (such as the elves' extraordinary life-span) and attempt to roleplay it, what we are really doing is attempting to extrapolate what it would mean for us to have such a long life-span. The "funny hat" or "crinkly forehead" is the long life-span. This is common in fiction, where (to the extent it is examined) the existence of the alien and the non-human serves to illustrate points about our humanity..This isn't a bad thing; I can remember a time when, for some people, it was popular to play elves because of the whole Corellon and gender issues. Given that RPGs and D&D were very much male-dominated and heterosexual, it was not uncommon to see people find a safe way to explore their own gender and attraction issues through roleplaying as an elf. Even though this could be done as a human, it was easier to do as an elf- after all, no one would question you for roleplaying an elf correctly.And it goes this way, all the way down the races. Even the most alien of the non-human races, such as Kenku and Lizardfolk, force you to consider your humanity while roleplaying them, if you are trying to roleplay them correctly. A race that explicitly states, "Doesn't think like a human," because you are a human, forces you to think about how not to act as a person would act, and therefore causes you think about ... well, how you think.So after all that, why do so many people (including, sometimes, me) hate on non-human races? Well, in addition to the game reasons listed below, there tends to two reasons- the crutch, and the caricature. Let us ignore, for a second, the idea that most (some, all?) personality types and concepts could be played by the diversity that is humanity. The very strengths listed above for roleplaying non-humans can also be their two greatest weaknesses.The first is the crutch. Roleplaying guidelines can be great. The give you a starting point. To mangle this analogy, they are the push to start you walking. But if you keep using them, over and over again, they are just a crutch. "I'm a tabaxi, so I'm like a cat, so my personality traits are that I am impulsive and cough up hairballs." Great! And .... It becomes easy, too easy, when provided a specific set of personality traits to simply lean into that for all occasions. You have the same character and personality at level 1 as you do at level 20, because you're playing your tabaxi. You don't grow, and you don't change, because you are always playing to your guidelines. Your race is straitjacket, and you remain bound to it in all circumstances. And a lot of the time, the choice to roleplay a race as a trait or two for twenty levels that never changes can be really really annoying to other players. That impulse to run into battle which is great & funny for a session can be really tiring after several months. Which leads to ....Caricature. A dwarf with a Scottish accent. Annoying kender. The trouble with non-human races and caricatures is both micro- and macro. On the individual level, I have seen white players approximate a Miss Cleo accent (if you're young, think dubious Jamaican patois) to play a bullywug. I once knew a player that prefers to play his dwarf with an Irish accent ... because he drank a lot more than the average dwarf. There are a lot of players who will do things with "non-human" races that are ... well, let's just say questionable .... if they were to do it with a human character. And that leads to the macro level. For all of the complaints that led to the change in Tasha's regarding ability scores, there is at least some logical sense behind why ability scores were different, at least for a game (halflings would likely be less strong than a goliath). But what was not addressed is, well, culture. We have long taken for granted that humans throughout game worlds exist in infinite diversity (as do we), but non-humans, while they might be different from game world to game world (Eberron Orcs, Greyhawk Orcs), they are largely the same within a game setting. Which is both wild and crazy when you think about it. That is the essence of caricature and racial essentialism....In the end, I am equivocal on the issue. I prefer playing humans, now, in almost all cases, but will occasionally play a non-human when there is some roleplaying concept I really want to explore. But I am interested in the conversation. For the most part, I think the fault lines tend to go down the usual sides- it's the whole "DM sets the rules and strictures for the campaign" v. "Player Agency, you don't tell ME what to do" arguments that get repeated, just with a new coat. I have been somewhat mystified that the focus on non-human races has been on the ability scores as opposed to the racial essentialism that is baked into them for roleplaying purposes.</blockquote>

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