This keeps happening, why? No, really... why?

[SpiralBound]

I find that more often than one would expect, whenever someone posts their new/unique/cool/etc race, they fall into one of three different stereotyped "racial genres":

1) Cat people
2) Elven subtype
3) Half-Draconic Race

Now rather than discuss opinions on these three racial types, (personally, I've seen so many minute variations of them that I now run screaming from any posts which feature them), I'm more interested in the root cause. Just why are there so many instances of gamers recreating these three more so than others? What makes them so special that people keep making them again and again and again?

I mean, let's be fair. There are so many examples of these that it would actually be a challenge to come up with something new that hasn't been created already in one style or another 2-3 times before. And it's not like they're not hard to find. I'm fairly confident that given an evenings-worth of searching that I can easily find 20-30 examples of all three types. So, why this apparent obsession amongst certain circles of the gaming community.

Is there some major childhood influence that I somehow accidentally avoided which compells people to make these types over others? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were fantastically popular in the eighties, there could be all kinds of shell-based fighting styles and feats for them, yet I don't recall ever seeing a "turtle people" race. Care Bears were similarly popular, yet I've never seen bear-like, gnome-sized races - sickly-cute or otherwise. Dogs are statistically almost as popular a pet as cats, yet "Dog People" are grossly under-represented by comparison. Dwarven, Orcish, Gnomish, etc subtypes are very uncommon. (I know that there are some, but they're extremely scarce in comparison to the teaming masses of Elven subtype) Dragons are cool monsters, but they're not the only cool monster. So, why do these three receive such attention? Why keep making the the same ideas repeatedly?

This has always puzzled me. Does anyone have any theories.

 

[Storyteller01]

probably more to do with the anime popular at the time (how many sets of cat ears have yoy seen on screen?)

 

[Bront]

The 2Ed Red Steel campaign setting (I though it was cool, never got a chance to use it though) had turtle people, dog people, and cat people.

There have been steriotipicaly a large variety of elves, even in fiction, so people use that as a stepping stone for the subraces. Personaly, I like how Eberron treats them (other than drow, they are socialy different so different favored weapons, but no other differences)

As far as a cat race, don't know what to tell you other than there appears to be a high demand for them. There aren't a lot of official WOTC ones I've seen that are easy to deal with. That might fix that a bit.

As for dragons, maybe that's why the game is called D&D . Dragons are mysticised and made to be grand and powerful creatures. Can't blame a player for wanting to emulate that in some way.

 

[Storyteller01]

And let's not forget the spider people in Red Steel...

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

The 2Ed Red Steel campaign setting (I though it was cool, never got a chance to use it though) had turtle people, dog people, and cat people.

And chameleon people, and spider people, and scorpion people.

I was going to say they had only one elf type, but you almost have to count the winged elf dudes.

 

[Hammerhead]

Yeah, it does seem like there are a huge variety of "cat people" that are created. I blame that crazy anime stuff.

One area that seems woefully underdeveloped is different kinds of half-celestials and half-fiends. It seems to be that a Baatezu and a Yugoloth would spawn very different progeny, or even the difference between a Half-Succubus and a Half-Glabrezu.

 

[Storyteller01]

Yeah, it does seem like there are a huge variety of "cat people" that are created. I blame that crazy anime stuff.

One area that seems woefully underdeveloped is different kinds of half-celestials and half-fiends. It seems to be that a Baatezu and a Yugoloth would spawn very different progeny, or even the difference between a Half-Succubus and a Half-Glabrezu.

Green Rornin ran a book on half breeds just for this. Don't know how good it is though...

 

[Angcuru]

Because it's so much easier to take already existing material, tweak it, and call it your own.

I am also sick to death of the whole "One race, one culture." thing.

 

[SubMensa]

Whether or not we realize it, RPGs are an extension of our subconscious desires. As amateur game designers we want to create things that we find desirable. Things we either aspire to be, or look up to.

1) Cat people

I think I would have to blame this one on the inherently more seductive nature of felines. Dogs and reptiles just dont cut it here.

2) Elven subtype

I don't see why there are so many of these out there. There are more than enough superior, snobbish, "I'm an elder race so I'm better than you" races out there for my tastes as it is.

3) Half-Draconic Race

I'm just going to throw out a couple of ideas here:
Raw power, pure elemental energy. An unparalleled connection to ancient secrets long forgotten.

 

[SpiralBound]

Because it's so much easier to take already existing material, tweak it, and call it your own.

Well, that'll explain the multitude of Elven subtypes, but still leaves we wondering why there's no Dwarven, Orcish, et al subtypes. As for the cat peoples, sometimes there's a lot of work put into them, although I do sse your point... Take one of the many already existing cat races, tweak it and call it your own. So, we should blame the first cat people creator for not branching out into other animals!

I am also sick to death of the whole "One race, one culture." thing.

Me too, see also: "one race, one unified opinion on who our enemies are, and they're a whole other race, not just nations"... Basically, in most DnD settings race does not equal species in how they are used, instead they equal nationality. This is why you'll have ALL Elves speaking a certain language, sharing a culture, and having the same opinion of ALL Dwarves. Sure, there's the occasional setting that steps outside of the monothematic races, but it's not exactly overly common...