Limiting humanoid availability

[Nightfall]

Obviously since I'm not a homebrewer like all you, I don't worry about limiting humaniods. Since basically unless the campaign allows it, I only use D&D PHB race type humaniods. The rest...well they might be humaniod, doesn't mean however they will work with/for the party.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Human, elves, dwarves and gnomes make up the good races.

Orcs, hobgoblins, and dreggs (from Monsternomicon) are the most common evil races. To me orcs and hobs are of the same race, just one is wild and tribal, the other ordered and clanish, bit smarter.

Drow, Skaven (from Warhammer), and mindflayers make up the hidden limited races (small numbers but powerful).

Undead are common.

Skaven are followers of the horned rat which is an evil, corruption & plague lesser god trying to climb up a notch.

 

[Silveras]

Obviously since I'm not a homebrewer like all you, I don't worry about limiting humaniods. Since basically unless the campaign allows it, I only use D&D PHB race type humaniods. The rest...well they might be humaniod, doesn't mean however they will work with/for the party.

As far as I know, nobody's talking about what races are allowed as PCs. We're just talking about what races exist at all in the world.

 

[Blue Sky]

Let's see what I can come up with here...

1. Human... looks to be the default #1 answer, here.

2. Orcs. Much like Ormand and others, I lump all goblinoids into this group.

3. Fey. They made my bedtime stories fantastic when I was a kid. Can't have D&D without the fairies, nymphs, and brownies, IMO.

4. Halflings. Basically gypsies IMC, gotta have something to cover the "I wanna play a kender!" players.

5. Lizardmen or Draconians. I like the idea of not all the PC races being mammalian, and dig the relationship with dragons.

6. Giant. Anything from ogres to titans, depending on the campaign.

Of course, I have a lot more races IMC, but then, I'm a pushover when it comes to adding whatever a player wants to play.

 

[Ace]

Partly because of the poll going on right now, and remembering mmadsen's old thread on the "monster pallette" I'm curious what folks would do about limiting humanoids.

In general, I think there's way too many humanoids for all but the whackiest of games, if you get right down to it. So here's my idea: If you had to limit humanoid races to 6 (or so), including PC races but still sticking with a more or less standard-type fantasy, which would they be?

Here's what I'd pick:

1. Humans -- the basic character archetype.
2. Elves -- also very traditional for fantasy, and much beloved by players.
3. Dwarves -- most campaigns that have elves also need dwarves -- they go hand in hand.
4. Hobgoblins -- I love the way these folks are handled by Kalamar -- a civilized tyrannical empire of these babies is what it's all about.
5. Goblins -- as a lower caste within hobgoblin society, most likely.
6. Skaven/Slitheren -- I love this idea, I've gotta find a way to use them.

I really don't use many humanoids IMC but if I were to pick 6 I guess I would go with

Human
Sidhe
Dwarves
misc Fae including Goblins


I think that would be sufficient --

 

[Dark Jezter]

Here are my picks...

Humans
Dwarves (but no elves. Elves suck )
Halflings or Gnomes (Either one is fine with me)
Githyanki (because they're cool )
Orc (but they would have to be like Warcraft orcs)
Lizardfolk

 

[Tonguez]

My current Campaign has

Humans - standard
Half-elf (actually half-fae)
Half-orc (tainted humans considered to be descended from the 'god of ugly things' (eg Sharks, Lizads, Oozes and abberations)
Gnomes - I love gnomes
Goblins - the pest that infests every island (and are sometimes even tolerated scavenging from the village midden heaps)

(so No Dwarfs, No Orcs, Elves at 'Sidhe' (fae), as are Halflings)

NPC/Monster races include
Giants (intelligent, peaceful and 10 ft tall)
Ogres
Sahuagin (the main enemy race)
Lizardfolk and Gnolls are occasionally encountered

Other races might be used along with a template and made into 'Spirits' (eg the twin gods of Sickness and Insanity are Half-Fiend, Bloodstained, Plaguebearing, quickened Troll Scorcerer-Barbarians)

*******

I also once started (but never finished) a campaign in the slums of a 17th Century Europe-like setting in which the races were Human, Half-Elf (again half-fae) and Goblin (depraved humans). Ghouls were the common 'bad guy' (eg In this campaign Jack the Ripper-like "Ripper Jack" was a Ghoul Psychic Warrior) and NOT undead. Various Fae made up the NPC races (including Sidhe, 'stone trolls', gnomes (Peta Pumkineater), a Leshye and pixies)

 

[Profane Deicide]

I have always loved this idea and this is how I handle it in my homebrewed world.

As a side note, in Human mythology dogs and other canines are considered bad luck and even evil, while felines are adored and considered protectors from evil spirits.

PC-Races

O- Humans: Divided into sevreal sub-cultures based on where they live. Hardy men from the North, Cosmopoltion city dwellers, etc,etc. Main PC race

O- Litorians: Straight from AU, these are the plains dwellers. They are highly respected by Humans and Gnomes alike and are welcomed whever ever they go within Human lands.

O- Gnomes: Riverfolk, they are last decendents of the "fey" races that didn't leave during a great Exodus. They have an affinity with nature magic and I give them Animal compainions too.



Humanoid-Races

O- Gnolls/Flinds: Large Canine race and represent the evil hordes. I keep them factious, with an intricate clan system that keeps them fractured and waring with themselves. I also slightly modify the Gnoll depending on which climate they are from, so Gnolls from Northen wastes are a bit huskier while Gnolls from a Sea Coast tend to be more Intillgent,etc,etc. Pound for pound, they are the same creatures.

O- Kobolds: A smaller canine race that happens to be the misfortunate little brothers of the savage Gnolls. They lack physical size and strength, so they are easy targets for Gnoll bullying, but they have a great talent for Arcane Magic. I keep them limited to a specific region, so there isn't various kinds of kobold, but you'll find them slaveing away or serveing Gnolls/Flinds all over the world.

O- Vven: a near mythic race that truly inspires fear into mankind, even Gnolls refuse to work with them. They are a race half-worg/Half-Man that can shift into a hideous 6 legged gaint worg. They operate in tight packs, much like wolves do and keep every living creature in their terrotory in complete fear.

 

[fusangite]

My typical campaign includes elves, dwarves and humans. Beyond that, it's pretty campaign specific as to which evil humanoids you end up going with. For instance, in my quasi-African campaign, the main evil humanoid races are Gnolls and Bugbears (which are called Greater Gnolls).

In my ice age campaign, I have humans, goblins; now that people have reached a part of the sea that's not frozen, I've added Kuo Toa and I'm just now developing a race I cannot believe has not been properly included in D&D, the most common demi-human race in medieval encyclopedias, literature and other tracts: the cynocephali -- the dog-headed men.

As an aside, Saint Christopher, in all of the legends and hagiography covering him from his first appearance in the late classical/early medieval period right through to the early modern period was a cynocephalos -- a 12 foot tall dog-headed man who could not speak and live for approximately 300 years.

 

[S'mon]

If I was going to limit races I'd go for an REH approach with non-humans as degenerate remnants of elder ages, so there might be eg:

1. Humans
2. Sub-human Beastmen (similar to orcs or half-orcs)
3. Serpent Men (sorcerers with a +ECL)

Or I might go the Moorcock route, and have humans and an elf-like elder race such as the Melniboneans, Vadhagh or Eldren. IMC Eldren (different from Moorcock's) are the ancestors of the elves and, indirectly, of most humanoid races.

One thing I'd like to do someday is have a far-future post-apocalypse gameworld like the 'Clicking Sands' setting in 'Sword & Sorcerer', with humans, mutant species (some possibly of nonhuman ancestry) and possibly an android or other mechanical race (the Mekka?) descended from self-replicating robots.