How Diverse?

[haakon1]

As a follow-up to the class poll, how about racial diversity? In campaigns you were involved in, what percentage of PC's were from non-core races? Do your friends sit in basements playing elves, or awakened dire weasel half-dragons?

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Does it count if we take core-race mechanics but refluffed into non-core races. Cause if that is the case then alllll the time, in fact the majority of the time it is like that.

 

[Starglim]

I said <25% for 4e, but we're playing in Eberron with a warforged and (formerly) a shifter, so I could just as easily count that as 100% core.

 

[Shemeska]

3.x almost all non-core races. Of course, it was a Planescape campaign, so they weren't all that out of the standard for that (meta)setting. The most normal PC was an elf, but by the latter half of the campaign he was shooting lightning bolts from his eyes.

Still, he was more normal than the 1/2 guardinal yugoloth sorceress or the fey touched half-drow pact bound to the ancient baatorians of Hell.

 

[jdrakeh]

There was usually a monstrous humanoid of some type or another tagging along with us in AD&D 1e and 2e. Usually a hobgoblin or a grimlock. I think I only saw core races in 3x (but I admittedly spent more time playing older editions of D&D or other games during 3x's peak years). Oddlly, I have only seen somebody play a Gnome once (in 3.0, FWIW) — and then, only because they were allowed to be Gnome Barbarian

 

[S'mon]

3e: 100% core

1e: Lots of UA Drow & Duergar, voted 50% non-core

 

[Rechan]

Universally any group I sit down with, almost always want to play humans. I don't get it.

 

[Mark]

As a follow-up to the class poll, how about racial diversity?

I'll lay odds that an in-game poll on the subject will be less lopsided than a meta-game poll.

 

[El Mahdi]

In 2E, we probably had at least 50% or more as non-core PHB races, specifically Drow, Firbolg, and "Complete..." books sub-races (Forrest Gnomes, Elven subraces, etc.).

In 3E it was probably 25% or less. There was the occasional Drow (the FR version), and an occasional Kender (non standard in a FR game), but mostly core races straight from the PHB.

 

[drothgery]

Universally any group I sit down with, almost always want to play humans. I don't get it.

What's there to get? If you're playing 3.x, humans are usually the best choice mechanically speaking; it's very rare that any race's benefits help more than a feat an a skill point per level would. If you've got experienced 3.x players playing 4e, then humans aren't a bad choice most of the time, and you're kind of stuck in the 'default to human' habit.

In my group's case, pretty much every non-core race we ran into has been somewhat setting-specific. Warforged, changelings, shifters, and Kalashtar in Eberron; thri-kreen in Dark Sun. But we usually play in Eberron, and usually at least on PC is an Eberron race.