So, what is your Favorite "Villain" race these days?

[MGibster]

Just wondering what villain race GMs are throwing at their players these days. Is it the classics of humans, orcs and goblins or something else?

For the most part, humans. In large part this is driven by my lack of interest in running any sort of fantasy game. I am perfectly fine making an entire fantasy race into bad guys for the purpose of having the PCs fight someone. But the group of people I typically game with won't attack orcs, goblins, or anyone else save undead on sight. They need some sort of evidence of provocation before their characters bash someone's skull in.

I am under the impression that many games/worlds/whatever with this mentality have adopted some form of cultist as a default bad guy to replace old-fashioned "evil" races.

For many years Nazis and zombies were the default enemies you could mow down guilt free. I'm not sure how long it'll be okay to designate cultist as the default bad guys. Ruthana Emrys' Roots certainly turns the Lovecraft's cult the Esoteric Order of Dagon on its ear by presenting them as just regular folk. To me at least, designating a cultist as the default bad guys is just as lazy if not quite as problematic. We have a long history of othering people for belonging to different groups after all.

 

[Bagpuss]

Favourite is humans, can't beat them.

 

[GreyLord]

Wolves make pretty good villains and historically could be a BIG threat to travellers and others. Same with certain types of bears (and still are in some areas, Polar Bears for example are NO LAUGHING MATTER to those who are targetted by them).

I know, there are those out there that think everything should be friendly and loving and every creature should be naturally able to choose good or evil (despite that traditionally animals are more neutral, even neutral can be a villain depending on what they are doing...like needing to eat and not caring WHAT they eat).

Even animals that would eat you should have the option to be "good" and maybe even PLAYABLE!!!

Those people never lived in the middle of Polar Bear country or saw someone attacked by a Moose.

 

[ART!]

I'm moving away from villainous races, as I find the concept problematic, and trying to create antagonists for my game that don't rely on race. Although, I do feel that undead still make pretty good automatic antagonists.

This is definitely where I'm at, too.

I focus on individual villains or rulers, and ruling classes that lord it over their subjects. Their subjects might be assumed to be baddies, too, but they could range from frothing fanatic, blindly obedient types, all the way to resistance fighters and refugees.

 

[MGibster]

Favourite is humans, can't beat them.

Those guys are jerks!

 

[uzirath]

My last BBEG was a gnome. I allow PCs of just about any race, so there aren't really any "monsters only" races, though many any species may face social stigma in different communities based on stereotypes or cultural/historical factors.

I do occasionally depend on demons and and some fae as generic "irredeemable" bad guys.

Edit: These are for fantasy games. For other genres, Nazis and cultists are the easy baddies. Otherwise, usually a more complex storyline with regular people (of whatever ancestry) with motivations at odds with the PCs.

 

[Tonguez]

Humans (cultist, slavers, fleshgrafters, nazis), Fey Lords and Sentient Undead as main villains.

Pixies, goblins, Sahuagin, Ophidians and Beastmen* as main antagonistic races (not necessarily evil)

* beastmen includes goatmen, minotaur, gnolls and orcs.

 

[mamba]

Sahuagin, Kua-Toa, Yuan-Ti, undead, cultists, ‘the horde’ (mix of goblin, hobgoblin, ogres - mostly), DL draconians (not a DL game, just imported), depending on where in the world you are. Usually two or three of them pop up in any given region

 

[Fifinjir]

I’ve basically kludged together different sources to make a new demonology for my world.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Favourite is humans, can't beat them.

Sure you can. You just wait until they're looking the other way, which also gives you advantage for a sneak attack.