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The main thing I have against Tieflings or part-Demons or whatever, along with Dragonborn/half-Dragons, Drow-as-PCs, and all the rest of those "monster" races being baked into the game as PC-playable is that those sort of creatures are supposed to be what the PCs go out and fight! I don't mind an occasional rare exception for RP reasons or whatever, but when I see a party lineup consisting racially of a couple of Tieflings, a Dragonborn and a Goliath my first response is "why is everyone playing monsters?".
Heh. Yeah, if someone wants to play a tiefling but then complains about their character being presumed evil, that's when you start making... pointed critiques of their choices and tastes.More than once, I've had people tell me that they don't want tieflings because then people would freak out about them being devil people. I'm all like, "sure, that's great. I'm all for it." And they look at me blankly, not getting I -like- that part of the rp.
....Can't really comment, tbh. Never played in Eberron and frankly just don't hear that much discussion of Warforged, Shifters, Changelings, or the like. Dragonborn are the hot topic, and it seems like their detractors literally can't stop talking, not just about how much they dislike them, but how justified they are FOR disliking them.
Orcs have a culture and a history. So do Hobgoblins (and in my game their history goes back way farther than anyone else's). Both are basically Human-ish variants, no more so than are D'born or Tieflings or Elves.That's what 4th edition tried to address with their changes to the origins of dragonborn and tieflings though. By giving them a culture, and a history in the world, they cease to be "monsters" while still being marked as "other". Human villagers don't have to *like* dragonborn or tieflings, but with the 4th and 5th edition origin stories, those villagers all have a context for their existence.
The main thing I have against Tieflings or part-Demons or whatever, along with Dragonborn/half-Dragons, Drow-as-PCs, and all the rest of those "monster" races being baked into the game as PC-playable is that those sort of creatures are supposed to be what the PCs go out and fight! I don't mind an occasional rare exception for RP reasons or whatever, but when I see a party lineup consisting racially of a couple of Tieflings, a Dragonborn and a Goliath my first response is "why is everyone playing monsters?".
Lanefan
Orcs have a culture and a history. So do Hobgoblins (and in my game their history goes back way farther than anyone else's). Both are basically Human-ish variants, no more so than are D'born or Tieflings or Elves.
Doesn't make 'em PC-playable races.
I can only refer to my Human Ranger's reaction in a 3e campaign when a half-Dragon PC came into the party: "I've spent most of my adult life learning how to kill things like this and now I'm expected to run with one and trust it with my life? You're kidding, right?"
Of course, it didn't help that our alignments were almost diametrically opposed...
Lanefan
Heh. Yeah, if someone wants to play a tiefling but then complains about their character being presumed evil, that's when you start making... pointed critiques of their choices and tastes.
While its true that tieflings aren't assumed to be evil, it is also true that the official details of the race have always included "distrusted by many." Tieflings are, and always have been, the target of fantasy racism. They're forced to the fringes of society, where they have to pick up favored occupation Rogue and learn to lie really well (bluff bonus), which in turn increases distrust... its a vicious cycle, but one humans have engendered throughout real world history. Half-orcs tend to face a similar prejudice from humans, though ironically not from the orc tribes.See, I don't even necessarily think this is correct either. Tieflings aren't assumed to be evil in Planescape, as I understand it--no more than Aasimar are assumed to be good. Because Planescape is intentionally a cosmopolitan world (in several meanings of the term!). I can certainly grant that "I physically look like a demon, a creature known to be Pure, Living Evil," is going to mean that *many* settings will produce exactly this kind of knee-jerk distrust. At the same time, assuming that 100% of all worlds that anyone could ever imagine WILL have that feature? How small the sandbox we choose to play in, when given all the beaches the mind might summon!
Its pretty much an old argument at this point. Some people are "purists" for lack of a better term, and have a strong dislike of anything that varies from human / pointy eared human / short human / stout human / crazy human. Others see this as a fantasy world and like engaging in all the various fantasy elements. Its like the Survivor Volo Races thread - the Tabaxi had a lot of love and a lot of insults / hate in equal measure in no amount because it was so different from human.
I'm not going to pretend to understand why the difference, but its clear that everyone has their own comfort zone while playing. I personally find it a bit annoying to be banned from a race I like because a GM wants to call it a monster and something to kill. That reeks of forcing what they want to play on others. If you don't like to play the race, then... don't. Banning others, if they're not disruptive, is kind of heavy handed in my mind.
I don't think you do.So maybe that does make me a "purist" by your definition