PHB2 Races = Mos Eisley Cantina

[Scribe Ineti]

As for all of the other races: Keep them out of PHBs. Put them in Dragon or campaign Books, but not in PHBs. We don't need to give the perception that Goliaths, Tieflings and Dragonborn are core races.

And bring back THAC0! And Elf as a class! And kits! And bend bar/lift gates percentiles with Strength!

Besides, PHB2 says right there on the cover "Roleplaying Game Core Rules." PHB2 is as core as PHB1. Imagine the PHB is a 550-page tome split into two parts for ease of use. (With more on the way.)

 

[Kask]

You haven't looked in the Monster Manual, have you? D&D has far more wacky monsters and alien-looking stuff than the 15 races offered up as PC races.

Yes, but not really relevant. When was the last time you saw an African gorilla in your local bar?

 

[Mallus]

When was the last time you saw an African gorilla in your local bar?

Do you set all your adventures in local bars?

(it's Charles Bukowski:d20!)

 

[Kask]

Do you set all your adventures in local bars?

(it's Charles Bukowski:d20!)

As much as you misunderstand all analogies...

 

[twilsemail]

Yes, but not really relevant. When was the last time you saw an African gorilla in your local bar?

When's the last time you saw a Pygmy in your local bar? Or a Maori? Or... Well, any type of person taht might not be local to your area. If you don't want something in your game. That's awesome. Keep it out. Tell people they don't exist. Tell them they were wiped out in a holocaust 2000 years ago. It doesn't matter.

When it's your game, you can make it as inflexible as you like. However, don't rain on the parades of other who like variety in their games.

 

[Mallus]

As much as you misunderstand all analogies...

There's a difference between not understanding an analogy and simply thinking it's not apt. Give a little credit, eh?

 

[Obryn]

Yes, but not really relevant. When was the last time you saw an African gorilla in your local bar?

What is it you're getting at?

Are you just stating your preference, as in "I prefer games which have the same races as 1e and no others"?

Or are you stating that games with only the 1e races are somehow inherently better and more sensible than the variety found in 3e?

-O

 

[Mallus]

Are you just stating your preference, as in "I prefer games which have the same races as 1e and no others"?

He's basically stating 'D&D is characterized by PC races, but not by monster races'. So Dragonborn leave an indelible stain on D&D, while Gelatinous Cubes do not. Because, you know, one is a PC race and the other is a monster race. Clear as a cloudless sky, no?

This of course flies in the face of the common, accepted notion of iconic D&D monsters. Like the rust monster visible in one scene in that Futurama episodes. Or the monsters that WotC refused to put in the 3e SRD because they were protected brand IP.

 

[Nivenus]

The gorilla in the bar analogy doesn't work for two reasons.

First, being exotic doesn't mean the race doesn't exist.

Secondly, gorillas wouldn't be a PC race. The current scientific consensus seems to be that they aren't conscious in the same way as humans. Therefore, they couldn't be a PC race anymore than a zombie or a flesh golem.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Basically, they said that they weren't quite sure what to do with the race to make them different (subtext: different form halfling I'm guessing). They chose to wait until the PHB 2 to get more of a feel for what they should do, and what they came up with is that they should always be a little sneaky, regardless of class.

So this way, if you have Gnome Rogue, he can turn invisible. If it's a Gnome Wizard, he can turn invisible, etc... I'm guessing that some of the racial feats for them in the power books will augment that power, just as many of the other races have had their racial abilities augmented in power books.

If Trench ever gets the story hour going again for the campaign I'm in (Ptolus: The Tenth), you'll see that a lot of us have always thought gnomes were this way. (My group may well string my gnome up for extreme sneakiness, but hey, at least we get the bad guys!)