D&D 5E What is the appeal of the weird fantasy races?

[Voadam]

If you can have over a hundred races and it makes sense to you, great. I'm not sure how that works, but if you and your group have fun with it you're doing it right.

Check out Oathbound a fantastic

Spoiler

Cantina

multi species D&D world.

I am a fan of the setting and have enjoyed running games there with multiple weird PC concepts.

 

[Oofta]

Check out Oathbound a fantastic

Spoiler

Cantina

multi species D&D world.

If I did it, it would either be a world that has had some sort of wild magic plague (or similar) but the problem with that is that there wouldn't be a distinct culture. You'd just have race X that used to be race Y. A better option for me would be a crossroads type world, maybe leaning into a SpellJammer style game with multiple origin planets like sci-fi stories do it. Maybe a ringworld?

In any case, I could see how it could be done, I just haven't had any real demand for it nor do I have a particular desire to do so. I'd rather focus my DMing prep time on other things.

 

[Mind of tempest]

is everyone here condemed to argue endlessly about proper world building or dm-player interaction? it seems to be the only thing you seem to want to talk about.

 

[Azzy]

I agree with your idea, but unfortunately cannot contribute with respect to halflings, as that is one of the races that consistantly baffles me as to why someone would want to play it. That, and every halfling I’ve seen played is just “human, but shorter”.

I think it depnds on the setting—I've never wanted to play a halfling until I got into Eberron. Now I want to play a dino-riding halfling druid that can also turn into a dinosaur.

 

[Azzy]

At this point, the discussion is going a bit in circles, but it bears repeating...

The DM has control over the entire universe. Even if he spent 100+ hours on his world-building, because he has control over so many aspects of the world, the onus is on him/her to be flexible.

Since we're going round-and-round I'll keep it simple. I disagree. There is no requirement for a DM to be flexible, the only "requirement" is that they run the best game they can in the hopes that they and their players have fun.

I disagree with both blanket statements. I think it's the game group that decides how this is approached and how much say that they give the DM and numerous other factors.

 

[Azzy]

No matter what you say, I don't think that there'd be that many humanoid species in the galaxy, much less ones who are equally dispersed around the galaxy.

I don't think that Star Wars, as much as I love it, ever gave a passing nod to realism in any capacity.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I think it depnds on the setting—I've never wanted to play a halfling until I got into Eberron. Now I want to play a dino-riding halfling druid that can also turn into a dinosaur.

I think the dinos make any consept better on just a fundimental level like if you put genghis khan on a sabertoothed polar t-rex it is both dumb but cool.

I know of basic concepts you could be used for plotline featering hobbetish thing but they are really not something I am used to using especially the tolkien like just want to sit at home with the family sort.

 

[Accaris]

When it comes to non-human races just being humans in funny hats, isn't that always going to be true? I mean people assign human attributes to pets, much less humanoid races. It happens in fantasy and sci-fi all the time. It's very difficult for us to really understand how different species think and process the world.

Everyone has a frame of reference, we can only get out of that a little bit. So most cultures mimic human cultures, most races just represent some aspect of human nature.

I think Chewbacca is one of the best mainstream examples of how to make a non-human race interesting and not just a regular person in a funny hat.

Chewie is the only wookie we ever see, and he doesn't look like a human at all. He has a simple anthropoid frame that most of us are familiar with--he's basically Bigfoot. He doesn't speak English at all, but somehow everyone understands him perfectly. You might say he acts like a big, brutish human... but not really. It's very clear that there's something animal-like about his behavior. His strong sense of smell is referenced a few times; he roars like a beast occasionally; he has unrestrained fits of rage, in fact he doesn't seem to be in control of his own emotions; and his strength is clearly super-human (does a regular person rip someone's arms out of their sockets when they lose?) At other times, he has an almost dog-like skittishness complete with wimpering. But we, the audience, are never confused by his intentions or emotions, and we sympathize and relate with him.

I'm not saying elves and dwarves should be this way--those races fit a different role, that of exaggerrated human personality archetypes. But certainly beast-like or totally inhuman races could take a lot from Star Wars.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I think Chewbacca is one of the best mainstream examples of how to make a non-human race interesting and not just a regular person in a funny hat.

Chewie is the only wookie we ever see, and he doesn't look like a human at all. He has a simple anthropoid frame that most of us are familiar with--he's basically Bigfoot. He doesn't speak English at all, but somehow everyone understands him perfectly. You might say he acts like a big, brutish human... but not really. It's very clear that there's something animal-like about his behavior. His strong sense of smell is referenced a few times; he roars like a beast occasionally; he has unrestrained fits of rage, in fact he doesn't seem to be in control of his own emotions; and his strength is clearly super-human (does a regular person rip someone's arms out of their sockets when they lose?) At other times, he has an almost dog-like skittishness complete with wimpering. But we, the audience, are never confused by his intentions or emotions, and we sympathize and relate with him.

I'm not saying elves and dwarves should be this way--those races fit a different role, that of exaggerrated human personality archetypes. But certainly beast-like or totally inhuman races could take a lot from Star Wars.

the better do uncome D&D races are like that the 2e book on the mantis folk whose name I can't spell helps you to play a sufficiently alien character.

 

[Scribe]

Chewie is the only wookie we ever see, and he doesn't look like a human at all. He has a simple anthropoid frame that most of us are familiar with--he's basically Bigfoot. He doesn't speak English at all, but somehow everyone understands him perfectly. You might say he acts like a big, brutish human... but not really. It's very clear that there's something animal-like about his behavior. His strong sense of smell is referenced a few times; he roars like a beast occasionally; he has unrestrained fits of rage, in fact he doesn't seem to be in control of his own emotions; and his strength is clearly super-human (does a regular person rip someone's arms out of their sockets when they lose?) At other times, he has an almost dog-like skittishness complete with wimpering. But we, the audience, are never confused by his intentions or emotions, and we sympathize and relate with him.

Absolutely agree.