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Message: <blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 8538619" data-attributes="member: 85870">Despite the horrid, condescending rhetoric of the blog referenced in the OP, there is a small grain of truth hidden within. Despite feeling an urge to punch the author in the face, he is not wrong in saying race+class+abilities are not the only way of expressing uniqueness in a character concept.In my current Star Wars game,  racial heritage choice has had no effect on how the players engage with the game world. Which isn't surprising, since it's largely impossible to mentally conceive how being a rodian, or a gran, or an ithorian would actually inform the character's worldview (galacticview?).In my experience, 98% off the time the heritage options available in a game are only there to present fidelity to the assumed setting and to create some modicum of statistical differentiation (trandoshans and wookies are strong, twi'leks are agile, bothans are cunning, etc. etc.). Rarely does heritage choice impact characterization beyond the most basic stereotypes. And in the case of FFG Star Wars, even the statistical elements are bare bones. On an actual character differentiation level, choice of heritage isn't much more than a basic appearance descriptor and a bump to a single base stat.And again, despite the horrible vitriol with which the message is delivered, I can't help but recognize that I too have a bias against players who feel compelled to try and come up with some "totally special" combination of heritage+traits, as if being a half-tiefling, half-mindflayer bard/ranger/warlock is the only way they can express their uniqueness, as if being a basic human fighter or elf ranger is beneath them.I don't care in the least if someone chooses suboptimal options for a character if the intention isn't to subvert the underlying zeitgeist of the campaign. In my experience, players who insist on special snowflake characters are more disruptive than players who make sub optimal character builds.Now obviously, this isn't mutually exclusive. One can be disruptive across both axes (overly/underly optimized | lacking campaign fidelity). But for the most part, the intent and application matters more than the numbers on the character sheet.</blockquote>

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