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What is the purpose of race/heritage?
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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 8688484" data-attributes="member: 467"><p>The half-orc and halfling threads -- particularly some specific responses in those threads -- have me thinking about what the purpose of having a menageries of PC races or heritages is in the game. Why 3 (elf, dwarf, halfling) or 6 (elf, dwarf, halfling, half-elf, half-orc, gnome) or 30 (I think that's the current number, if you include MotM)?</p><p></p><p>Is it having vibrant diversity among the player characters? Is it to have a diverse list of special abilities available to the players? Is it for story/fiction? Or is it for the "game stuff"? And how do those answers relate to the proliferation of races (that every edition has seen, btw)?</p><p></p><p>In my experience as a GM, it is (unsurprisingly) a mix of reasons. Not just either or, but sometimes both. I know some "power gamers" that pick a race based on the mechanical benefits, but then use that mechanical choice to create a compelling character with a cool personal story.</p><p></p><p>What do you think? Why do you like -- or not -- a variety of choices?</p><p></p><p>NOTE: I am not really talking about "culture" in this post, though some people will consider culture and race/heritage interchangeable. I think that is better left to a different discussion, so as not to muddy the waters.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 8688484, member: 467"] The half-orc and halfling threads -- particularly some specific responses in those threads -- have me thinking about what the purpose of having a menageries of PC races or heritages is in the game. Why 3 (elf, dwarf, halfling) or 6 (elf, dwarf, halfling, half-elf, half-orc, gnome) or 30 (I think that's the current number, if you include MotM)? Is it having vibrant diversity among the player characters? Is it to have a diverse list of special abilities available to the players? Is it for story/fiction? Or is it for the "game stuff"? And how do those answers relate to the proliferation of races (that every edition has seen, btw)? In my experience as a GM, it is (unsurprisingly) a mix of reasons. Not just either or, but sometimes both. I know some "power gamers" that pick a race based on the mechanical benefits, but then use that mechanical choice to create a compelling character with a cool personal story. What do you think? Why do you like -- or not -- a variety of choices? NOTE: I am not really talking about "culture" in this post, though some people will consider culture and race/heritage interchangeable. I think that is better left to a different discussion, so as not to muddy the waters. [/QUOTE]
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