What 3E Core Races have you used and LIKED?

[Mark]

Used and liked all as a DM, so too as a player but much less frequently.

 

[Odhanan]

I feel I must precise: I love Gnomes. Used them a lot while DMing.

I've never had a chance to actually play one, though. That's why I didn't include them in my vote.

Half-Orc, Half-Elf though... meh. Half Orc should become "Orc", and a Half-Elf can be a later option for a supplement to the game.

 

[Rafilar]

I almost always DM these days (and when I don't, I play elves or halflings), but my players have used everything but half-orcs over the last couple years.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I've had success with humans, and to a lesser extent dwarves and halflings. The human skill points and feat are so useful that it is the default for almost any character concept (which is as it should be). You only play something else if you have enough skill points already (which almost never happens) and aren't terribly dependent on a certain feat or feat chain. I've played and seen many humans, obviously, including one in my current game.

Dwarves make great tanks-fighters and barbarians-and decent clerics, wizards, or rogues. The crafting and appraise bonuses are useless in most campaigns but their overall toughness is great. They're good at what they should stereotypically be good at for the most part. I've seen/played a few. Got a dwarf PC in my current game-going very well.

Halflings are great rogues or casters, but their foot speed is a pain and they can draw some flak from players of bigger characters. I've played some but my PCs never seem inclined.



Gnomes are good clerics or illusionists, but it's hard to take them seriously despite their reasonable mechanical attributes. I wish I'd used them more. Had a decent gnome cleric PC once.

Elves are good at being scouts but not at anything else (saving some cleric builds I suppose). The weapon profs are worthless for 95% of characters, who either have the prof anyway (fighter/ranger/etc.) or will never be good with bows anyway (wizards). I can't remember the last elf PC I saw (actually, I can-it was when 3.0 first came out. Combat rogue, really powerful).

Half-elves are by far the weakest race, with no real strengths or weaknesses they're like pathetic humans. Never had one of those to my recollection, despite my efforted fixes.

Half-orcs are decent fighters or barbarians, but people who want strength usually go for small-ECL monster races. They need a few more bonuses to make them worthwhile. I think I played one briefly a long time ago.


My players would rather play humans or monster races then mess around with the core ones. The UA paragon classes strengthened this-humans are now great for caster multiclasses, anyone who needs feats or skill points, or anyone who can't suck up the other races' various penalties.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Oh, I likey likey some monster races too!

I played minotaurs & drow back in 1Ed/2Ed. In 3.X, I've played at least one githzerai (the race unchosen for that particular PC was an Anthro Ape).

I'd have played more- I have ideas for bugbears, Half-Ogres, and others, but there is a problem. The problem isn't my preferences or game mechanics, but my DMs' dislike of any PC races but the PHB ones. Of the guys in the group who run campaigns, only 2 allow non-PHB races...and I'm one of them.

 

[heirodule]

I clicked half-elf, but I never would have until last month where I statted up some House Lyrandar sailors for my XE Dm's Mark. They rocked on toast.

 

[Jeysie]

I love Gnomes. My current D&D PC is a Gnome, and she's by far the most fun PC I've played up to this point. The other players think she's adorable, too.

Sure, you can't really take 'em seriously, but then, my group doesn't play serious campaigns. I have fun trying to come up with a new frivolous yet still fluffily useful application for Prestidigitation every in-game day.

Other than that, I've mainly played Humans. I played an Elf once, but she turned out to be a rather dull character. I'm playing a Dwarf (for the first time) Rogue (also for the first time) in an upcoming campaign; we'll see how that goes.

Peace & Luv, Liz

 

[Clavis]

It seems there's some Gnome love around after all...

Of course there's the awful specter of Tieflings as a core race coming...

It seems 4th Ed. will assume there's an awful lot of women with ripped-up naughty bits from giving birth to kids with horns and tails! Maybe good clerics cast Cure Light Wounds on them right afterwards, and forget to kill the obvious spawn of evil they've just brought forth.

 

[Pants]

It seems there's some Gnome love around after all...

Of course there's the awful specter of Tieflings as a core race coming...

It seems 4th Ed. will assume there's an awful lot of women with ripped-up naughty bits from giving birth to kids with horns and tails! Maybe good clerics cast Cure Light Wounds on them right afterwards, and forget to kill the obvious spawn of evil they've just brought forth.

Technically, that's half-fiends, not tieflings that (generally) do that.

 

[Baron Opal]

It seems 4th Ed. will assume there's an awful lot of women with ripped-up naughty bits from giving birth to kids with horns and tails! Maybe good clerics cast Cure Light Wounds on them right afterwards, and forget to kill the obvious spawn of evil they've just brought forth.

Well, tails don't impede birthing at all. And the horns don't begin to grow until puberty, anyway.

Personally, I play humans and dwarves. Once in a while I play a half-orc monk or wizard when the fancy strikes me.