D&D 5E Ravenloft NPC reactions to the various PC races

[Z. H. Darkstar]

I guess that I should have been a little clearer. I only DM for AL games, so I have no control over race restrictions.

Thanks for all of the input thus far. Please keep it up, as I know that I'm not the only one this thread will help.

 

[CapnZapp]

Thanks for clarifying.

All too often, threads like yours are started with the mindset "any race not logically present must be discriminated against" if not outright banned.

Glad this wasn't one of them [emoji3]

 

[Jabborwacky]

I have a different interpretation: I'd say that when you already have a vampire liege and a bunch of gypsies running around, the last thing you want is some horned/scaled freak bringing attention to your neighborhood.

In 3e, WotC decided that roleplaying disadvantages could not be balanced against mechanical advantages, and that was a good thing, in my opinion. The next thing, though, was outright removing roleplaying related disadvantages from the game, and I believe that was a wrong move. A game where a dragonborn is treated as a human with scales is easier to adjudicate, probably, but it's not very interesting, in my view.

I think it really came down to how social disadvantages were being modeled in 3rd edition. I'd probably advise a more qualitative approach as opposed to quantifying prejudice and racism as a penalty. There would be a severity level (low, medium, high) that can be reduced with diplomacy and good deeds. I got the idea from my studies of qualitative and quantitative risk assessment for computer security. Since the risks of racism are vast and varied, it makes sense to assess the penalties posed by it in a qualitative manner. Low would indicate a variety of minor inconveniences set by the GM appropriate to the given community, medium would probably involve various restrictions (stay on this side of town or risk getting beaten), and high risk indicates its dangerous to set foot in the town without a good party face and some armed backup.

 

[Z. H. Darkstar]

5e is my first foray into both being a DM and using the published adventures. Therefore, my lore knowledge is next to nil. That's why I came to the community for advice on how to proceed in a plane that I have zero experience with.

For the record, I'm okay with people posting about their own games where races are restricted. I see this thread as being something that can help all DMs who are new to Ravenloft, be they AL or otherwise. Having multiple perspectives can only help those who look to this thread for assistance.

 

[Bawylie]

I usually don't restrict races for games. (Sometimes by geography within a game).

But if I do run CoS, I will likely restrict player races to dwarf, human, Halfling, half Orc, & half elf.

 

[NotActuallyTim]

The Domains of Dread have a tendency to drag PCs and villains (and entire geographic regions! See: Barovia) in from anywhere in any DnD setting. So as far as I know, any and all creatures can be found in the realm of the Dark Powers.

How people react to each other is of course, totally different. Any Dark Power napped populations will probably retain their previous attitudes from wherever it is they were grabbed from. So the village of Barovia in the valley ruled by Strahd will have whatever crazy ideas the adventure provides or the DM decides.

 

[thorgrit]

It'll be interesting how I decide to play this out myself. Unless the book says otherwise, I'll be assuming the more human-looking and common a race, the less likely natives of Barovia will bat an eye, at least in regards to race. Dwarves, elves, halflings, etc will probably be fine, just extra attention (good or bad) paid to them. Tieflings and dragonborn will likely solicit a fear/hostile reaction. ... my own players have decided they want to all be minotaurs. I don't want to say no, but I told them up front, depending on how Curse of Strahd is worded, they may have a bad time. (That was their second idea, their first idea was to be a halfling/gnome/goblin all-bard troupe.)

 

[CapnZapp]

If your dungeonmastering means the players' choice will lessen their enjoyment of the module, better to say no outright.

(Even better, of course, is to change your dungeonmastering so their choices doesn't lessen their enjoyment of the module!)

 

[Z. H. Darkstar]

If your dungeonmastering means the players' choice will lessen their enjoyment of the module, better to say no outright.

(Even better, of course, is to change your dungeonmastering so their choices doesn't lessen their enjoyment of the module!)

I disagree to a degree. If the party are okay with all of them playing a race that may backfire on them, I say let the chips fall as they may. Sometimes it's facing overwhelming odds that makes a gameplay experience memorable. Hard mode can be just as enjoyable as Easy.

Considering that their first choice was all-Bard, it sounds like they may enjoy the challenge.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*