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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 8659470" data-attributes="member: 4937">Yes, but probably not in the way that you think.&nbsp; The problem with race in D&amp;D and most game systems is that it usually means very little.&nbsp; Race only lightly distinguishes characters.&nbsp; And in RPGs, things that are lightly distinguished generally only have a little rules text and little power.&nbsp;&nbsp; Dwarves, elves, humans, goblins, etc. generally only have slight differences in play over the course of a campaign, with racial abilities rarely coming up and rarely being important except as a flavor.And then you get to the trap of the plane-touched races, and all of this starts breaking down.&nbsp; Because typically the idea then is that in that case race has a powerful and pervasive impact on the character and represents often real super-human ability and not just minor advantages or cultural differences that humans with their flexible natures can often nearly emulate anyway. When these races were first introduced, it was recognized that there was basically no way to balance them with normal races because they had so much more rules baggage associated with the concept.&nbsp; The more rules baggage, the more powerful they are.&nbsp; They were to the editions that they were introduced to what elves were to 1e - so many expectations equals a much longer description equals more power.&nbsp;&nbsp; It took a long time to rebalance the concept of races to make elves fair, and the kludges in 1e that tried where just that - kludgy.And that's basically what planetouched are now - the new &quot;elves&quot;.&nbsp; They are what every player that would have played an elf back in the day plays now to be &quot;cool&quot;.&nbsp; They should have never been introduced as a PC race.&nbsp; Like elves before them, there popularity is a sign of basically poor game mechanics and their ubiquity is bad for the game.&nbsp; Everyone in the 90's wanted to be a Drow; everyone now wants to be a tiefling.&nbsp; It's so tiring.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 8659470, member: 4937"] Yes, but probably not in the way that you think. The problem with race in D&D and most game systems is that it usually means very little. Race only lightly distinguishes characters. And in RPGs, things that are lightly distinguished generally only have a little rules text and little power. Dwarves, elves, humans, goblins, etc. generally only have slight differences in play over the course of a campaign, with racial abilities rarely coming up and rarely being important except as a flavor. And then you get to the trap of the plane-touched races, and all of this starts breaking down. Because typically the idea then is that in that case race has a powerful and pervasive impact on the character and represents often real super-human ability and not just minor advantages or cultural differences that humans with their flexible natures can often nearly emulate anyway. When these races were first introduced, it was recognized that there was basically no way to balance them with normal races because they had so much more rules baggage associated with the concept. The more rules baggage, the more powerful they are. They were to the editions that they were introduced to what elves were to 1e - so many expectations equals a much longer description equals more power. It took a long time to rebalance the concept of races to make elves fair, and the kludges in 1e that tried where just that - kludgy. And that's basically what planetouched are now - the new "elves". They are what every player that would have played an elf back in the day plays now to be "cool". They should have never been introduced as a PC race. Like elves before them, there popularity is a sign of basically poor game mechanics and their ubiquity is bad for the game. Everyone in the 90's wanted to be a Drow; everyone now wants to be a tiefling. It's so tiring. [/QUOTE]

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