What is the most despised race?

[Pants]

If you think Eberron made them interesting you should check out Iron Kingdoms by Privateer Press. They eliminated gnomes and halflings and sort of replaced them with a form of goblin with much more flavor. The elves are definitely changed, much more grim and hard-edged and with good reason, their gods are dying and dead and without them the race is doomed.

Feydras

Eh, not really. They're still the 'doomed race' common in D&D, it's just that it's handled in IK in a much more interesting way. To me, the Eberron approach is much more unique.

Though, just to prove that I'm not a total fanboy, the Eberron dwarves are really, really boring.

That said, I really hate, hate the Dragonlance races. Tinker Gnomes, Gully Dwarves, Kender. I loathe them all.

One of the guys I play with is a big Halfling hater and pretty much killed them all off in his campaign world. Before they were killed off, they were vile, nasty slavers.

 

[reanjr]

I find it heartening to see that one of my favorite races (kreen) currently has the least votes.

 

[reanjr]

Where's the option for Kinder?

It would have to be Drow.

However, on the subject of gnomes, it's not that they're dispised as much as just never played. I don't think I've ever seen somebody even play one or run across one as an NPC.

I have one gnome in my group and the party comes up to gnomes about as often as they come to dwarves. Elves and halflings are both more common, though.

 

[Zweischneid]

Let's face it. There are going to be humans that are jealous of someone else's popularity (real or fictional) and the adoration and attention it was give. The Trekkies hate those Darth Wannabes with their toy lightsabers showing up at The Phantom Menace opening. The SW fans hate the LOTR fans in costume during the opening of The Two Towers. And Ben Affleck fans hate J-Lo and his scrawny husband, Marc Anthony.

These days, we gauge popularity by how many people resent them.

I think you miss the fact that popularity always comes with a certain amount of polarisation. As I already mentioned above somewhere.. if you'd run the poll with the inverse question (whats your favorite race?), I am sure that elves, drow and gnomes would likewise recieve a lot of votes, while those underrated guys like Kreen or Half-Orcs would fall through once again.

In these TV shows where people get voted out, based on how unpopular they are, it's never the most popular guy who wins, but the most bland and inconspicious who draws neither bad or good votes.

The Poll above IMO is as much a popularity vote as it is one for unpopularity.

 

[Samuel Leming]

I am sure that elves, drow and gnomes would likewise recieve a lot of votes, while those underrated guys like Kreen or Half-Orcs would fall through once again.

If the poll would ask "What would I play if the DM let me get away with it", I believe the kreen and the flumph would make a respectable showing.

You're probably right about the half-orc though.

Sam

 

[Samuel Leming]

Let's face it. There are going to be humans that are jealous of someone else's popularity (real or fictional) and the adoration and attention it was give. The Trekkies hate those Darth Wannabes with their toy lightsabers showing up at The Phantom Menace opening. The SW fans hate the LOTR fans in costume during the opening of The Two Towers.

I think consistent and almost continous annoyance rather than jealousy is the source of drow hate.

The AD&D Unearthed Arcana was published in 1985 and introduced us to the dual-weapon wielding drow. Drow that could fight with two weapons and no penalties. Yep, that's where the idea of Drizzt came from and I'd seen at least a dozen two-weapon drow before I ever heard of Drizzt. After Salvatore we then had to put up with these drow acting like angsty teenagers also.

Where can I buy a hat with a dead drizit on it?

Sam

 

[Orius]

Let's face it. There are going to be humans that are jealous of someone else's popularity (real or fictional) and the adoration and attention it was give.

The drow hate is more than a mere function of theri popularity, though. A lot of people hate the Drizzt clones for the rule busting they engage in, particularly the dual-wielded scimitars.

 

[Acid_crash]

The drow hate is more than a mere function of theri popularity, though. A lot of people hate the Drizzt clones for the rule busting they engage in, particularly the dual-wielded scimitars.

Well, considering that the dual-wielding aspect of the male drow is part of their cultural upbringing and instructional teaching, what do you expect from most of them? To turn their backs and start wielding single handed maces or flails when they are taught from a very young age to fight a certain style.

Someone should put up the 'what is your favorite race?' thread... and yes, my vote would go to drow because I think the race itself, their ways of living and how their society is, is what draws me to it. Not just because of their dual-wielding ways.

 

[Imret]

Well, considering that the dual-wielding aspect of the male drow is part of their cultural upbringing and instructional teaching, what do you expect from most of them?

It's been a handful of years since I read the Dark Elf trilogy, but it's always stuck in my brain that dual-wielding wasn't that much more common in drow society than anywhere else. I may be wrong of course and I'm fully accepting of that, especially since I turned my copies over to a friend interested in this grand ol' hobby of ours, but I seem to recall Drizzt's choice of twin scimitars to be considered a little unusual in the books. But now, ever since Toril's most famous angst generator got out there, it's become huge.

Anybody got a copy of Homeland nearby and can either back me up or refute me?

/hijack

 

[Frilf]

This line gives me an idea for this sort of extreme sports gnome, completely confident in everything he does and all "you can do it!", with the Chuck Norris thumbs up just before he lowers the goggles and leaps off a cliff to go "surfing" on a passing dragon..."wow, what a rush."

X-Gnome - Know No Limit. Yeah.

LOL!

Good stuff, mate! The gnomes IMC are all X-Gnomes!