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

[Zardnaar]

I mean, regardless of quibbling over whether or not the "weird people" should be included-- this is how grownups handle it.

I have been known to run a race-limited game from time to time myself, though I don't normally say "PHB YES ALL OTHERS NO"... it's actually based on a specific game-type or specific world.

But I think there's a reason that most people who say "anything outside the PHB is powergaming" don't do this. It's because they don't feel confident laying out their vision for the game-- they need an external authority to validate their restrictions.




Might surprise you, but I hate like Hell that they shoehorned tieflings into the FR and DS the way they did. I am 100% A-OK with dragonborn in the FR, and warforged in Eberron, and say mul or half-giants in DS but I'd never mix them up. I see no problem with changelings or shifters in any world that doesn't specifically preclude them, like DS or... a theoretical moonless world.

Thri-kreen are a different story, because they were canonically in GH and FR before they were made playable in DS and they're one of my favorite races.



If there's enough interest, maybe beef them up? In Shroompunk, I combined them with tortles.

Not really a 5e fan, so I don't know the current meta but I like taking the OGC races on d20PFSRD and smushing them together to see what I get-- or nixing all of the planetouched races to make them human subraces.

In my experience the anything goes games don't last long because the DM often doesn't have any vision for the gameworld and hasn't worked on anything.

Or even worse has designed a world and then all the players pick weird stuff because saying no didn't occur to them.

You can look at the old game world's or even Eberron and a large part of what makes them interesting is the new races you can play.

 

[Ace]

I seem to be the only local DM who can hold a group together longer than a year or so.

Another group has potential but it seems to skew older with some parents plus kid playing.

Next game probably no flyers, and nothing underdark. Mainly because there is no underdark and what's down below is super secret (it's a spaceship).

Good luck. I love being a DM but it can be a chore to do it for long periods of time.

 

[Scott Christian]

Why is Saltmarsh 90% human? I assume a place with that kind of name is not far from water, why not have a decent ammount of Triton? Or a Triton trading outpost nearby? You're the DM, just change the population.

I understand that is an option. I was not the DM, I was a player. But there are many that will run the book as is. And it still doesn't change anything if you make it 50% triton and 50% human. Having a drow and an angel and a cat walking around is still odd. I mean, we live in a world of jet travel, cultural acceptance, internet seeing and many still stare if you have Shaq next to a Kenyan bushman next to someone from the Mongolian plains next to someone of Scandinavian descent next to someone of Dravidian heritage. Watch them walk into a restaurant and see how many people stare. Now actually have them try to represent their culture through clothing, language, food, etc. and you will see everyone getting out their phones and filming.

And yes, you can make it where all of them are accepted. All are equal. So those people all walk into a bar and all the patrons don't really even look up from their drinks. But that doesn't right either.

 

[MGibster]

It is useful to have that common touchstone, for sure. That’s why it’s good that D&D has both the familiar and the more outlandish as options.

And the common touchstones are expanding. Dragonborn and tieflings certainly weren't common touchstone races when I bought 2nd edition.

 

[SiCK_Boy]

And somehow, always, it falls back to the ideal solution-- if you can't just ban these people entirely from their games-- of having human civilization utterly spurn these characters, refuse to do business with them, and even suddenly transform from helpless commoners into high-level lynch mobs to drive these characters out of the adventuring party they're trying to ask for help. Despite what the monster description says about their trade relations, despite what the setting says about the community's position.

Part of it stems from the player’s handbook itself. The way half-orcs and tieflings are presented, there are explicit examples of innkeepers getting ready for a barroom fight to explode when an half-orc enters, while shopkeepers will lock their door or hide their ware if a tiefling walks the street or enter their store.

If the game did a better job of integrating some of those races into their settings, maybe it would make more sense for more DMs to actively support them rather than just tolerate them as one player’s fancy.

Heh, I rarely see that kind of background depth out of humans, I dunno why Dragonborn would need to do more than that.

True. I’m not claiming human players are better than exotic race players in that regard. However, a lot of adventures are centered on human lands and thus, the question of why a human knight would venture forth in service of the human king is rarely relevant, while a triton doing the same would certainly raise questions within the setting.

In an all elf setting, the opposite would be true for a human.

But in the end, it rarely even matters to the stories we tell, hence my view that races are just a mechanical suit in the vast majority of cases.

 

[Minigiant]

But I think there's a reason that most people who say "anything outside the PHB is powergaming" don't do this. It's because they don't feel confident laying out their vision for the game-- they need an external authority to validate their restrictions.

I think is a big rarely spoken aspect.

Most people aren't good at selling their worlds. And if your world is very similiar to ones that havebeen done a thousand times by novels, video games, board game, tv shows, movies, plays, etc... it become harder to sell it. And the level of confidence to attempt to becomes highers. So leaning on someone else or something else to sell it for you becomes more tempting.

However people who have thought heavily about their worlds can describe how their worlds are different and have aeasier time selling it.

 

[Charlaquin]

Also sometimes I think a D&D rules podcast you could play on the phone or in the car might help learn the system. Today on the podcast we explain Attack of Opportunity or whatever.

That is a really good idea.

 

[D1Tremere]

I think some of this just has to do with preferences. The OP has some obvious biases about non-traditional fantasy races that make it aperient they prefer a very low fantasy game. There isn't anything wrong with that, but there isn't anything inherently more "pure D&D" about that either. You could have a fantasy game where races mingle like a Star Wars cantina scene and every player has a pet pseudo-dragon powered airship, or a bunch of humans who vary only in rough size and body hair amount that think an ever-burning torch is an artifact. So long as your players have fun that is all that matters, but lets not yuck each other's yums!

 

[MGibster]

I'm also going to defend a player for choosing a race strictly for mechanical reasons. There are many, many ways to approach character generation. A lot of players have a particular concept for what type of character they want to play and select the race that best helps them achieve that goal. If I want to be a big burly fighter or barbarian then the Goliath might be an excellent choice. But if I wanted to play against type I might select a cute little halfling to be my fighter instead.

 

[Ace]

That is a really good idea.

Thanks for the compliment.