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<blockquote data-quote="Thunderfoot" data-source="post: 5541495" data-attributes="member: 34175">I think I'm going to go the esoteric route on this and ask, &quot;What IS a monster?&quot;&nbsp; In 1st ed AD&amp;D and OD&amp;D all the player races were also listed in the monster listings.&nbsp; Drow were strictly monsters until Drizzt came along, then everyone wanted to play one and now drow are considered &quot;standard&quot; in most campaigns.Technically Dragons are monsters and there is no way I would ever let anyone play a dragon as a PC.&nbsp; But goblins, orcs, even ogres have all been PCs in campaigns I've ran over the years.&nbsp; I would caution their use willy nilly and before you do so, I would ask these questions of yourself as DM:How is the race viewed on the whole by society?&nbsp; If goblins are evil greedy baby eaters, then even the PC is going to be viewed that way until they can prove otherwise.&nbsp; If goblins are respected members of society, then no biggie.Why would the monster race in question suddenly decide to go adventuring?&nbsp; If they are members of society, it makes sense, adventurer is just another job description, if they aren't is the PC an outcast ala Drizzt or are they orphaned and raised by &quot;normal&quot; folks.&nbsp; If this is the case their home town would be more accepting (but only slightly so) of the character than other towns.What is their primary disability.&nbsp; Not stats, &quot;real&quot; world.&nbsp; Taking the example of the baby-eating goblin, if the PC walks into town, how soon until the PC is hung by the neck until dead or just outright killed in the street by a mob for the &quot;good of the community&quot;.&nbsp; If the race is accepted, there is no real disability in &quot;normal&quot; society.&nbsp; If they are just viewed with suspicion this could be a disability as equipment could cost more, services are refused and lodging is suddenly &quot;full to capacity&quot;.&nbsp; I hate to say it but the race laws of the 60s are probably a&nbsp; really good source of material as to what could await the poor monster PC.Players love new challenges and abilities to play with, I get it.&nbsp; But make sure that you are prepared to deal with the real possibility of pissing them off if you play &quot;against&quot; them correctly in a non-appreciative society.&nbsp; I would highly recommend using a brand new world where PC monster races are accepted as normal by society at large if you plan to do this, or else make sure you have extra friends to take the place of the ones you are probably going to offend in the near future. (assuming they aren't thick skinned or looking forward to the sociological/psychological challenges ahead of them.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Thunderfoot, post: 5541495, member: 34175"] I think I'm going to go the esoteric route on this and ask, "What IS a monster?" In 1st ed AD&D and OD&D all the player races were also listed in the monster listings. Drow were strictly monsters until Drizzt came along, then everyone wanted to play one and now drow are considered "standard" in most campaigns. Technically Dragons are monsters and there is no way I would ever let anyone play a dragon as a PC. But goblins, orcs, even ogres have all been PCs in campaigns I've ran over the years. I would caution their use willy nilly and before you do so, I would ask these questions of yourself as DM: How is the race viewed on the whole by society? If goblins are evil greedy baby eaters, then even the PC is going to be viewed that way until they can prove otherwise. If goblins are respected members of society, then no biggie. Why would the monster race in question suddenly decide to go adventuring? If they are members of society, it makes sense, adventurer is just another job description, if they aren't is the PC an outcast ala Drizzt or are they orphaned and raised by "normal" folks. If this is the case their home town would be more accepting (but only slightly so) of the character than other towns. What is their primary disability. Not stats, "real" world. Taking the example of the baby-eating goblin, if the PC walks into town, how soon until the PC is hung by the neck until dead or just outright killed in the street by a mob for the "good of the community". If the race is accepted, there is no real disability in "normal" society. If they are just viewed with suspicion this could be a disability as equipment could cost more, services are refused and lodging is suddenly "full to capacity". I hate to say it but the race laws of the 60s are probably a really good source of material as to what could await the poor monster PC. Players love new challenges and abilities to play with, I get it. But make sure that you are prepared to deal with the real possibility of pissing them off if you play "against" them correctly in a non-appreciative society. I would [U]highly [/U]recommend using a brand new world where PC monster races are accepted as normal by society at large if you plan to do this, or else make sure you have extra friends to take the place of the ones you are probably going to offend in the near future. (assuming they aren't thick skinned or looking forward to the sociological/psychological challenges ahead of them.) [/QUOTE]

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