What race can you not bring yourself to play?
- Thread starter der_kluge
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tetsujin28
First Post
Dwarves or gnomes.
Samuel Leming
First Post
I will not play a tinker gnome, gully dwarf, or kender. Not even as NPC's when running a game, since I never use those races in my games.
Sam
Sam
Last edited:
Dr. Strangemonkey
First Post
Elves.
I have played all of the standards at one time or another.
As far as not often I don't play Elves (incl. the 1/2 variety). I find that I have trouble achieving the perspective of a race that longed lived and why they would be involved in most adventuring situations.
Oh and rarely halflings, I ususally go gnome in a similar role.
I do agree that in a game that has now made many humanoid races playable the half-orc is a bit superfluous.
As far as not often I don't play Elves (incl. the 1/2 variety). I find that I have trouble achieving the perspective of a race that longed lived and why they would be involved in most adventuring situations.
Oh and rarely halflings, I ususally go gnome in a similar role.
I do agree that in a game that has now made many humanoid races playable the half-orc is a bit superfluous.
Perun
Mushroom
I've trouble playing elves. Not that I dislike them, I'm just not compatible with the elven "mindset". An occasional elf (I've played maybe two or three in 11 years I've been playing D&D) is okay, if it's a sort of comic-relief character. Oddly enough, I'm okay with drow, as long as they're not evil (that's another thing I was never able to play successfully).
Come to think of it, a vast majority of my characters are of the comic-relief sort.
All other races are okay, but my favourites (of the core races) are dwarves and gnomes. Non-core, tieflings. I've loved them ever since TSR introduced them in Planescape.
And, the vast majority (I'd say over 90%) are true neutral. I've played a couple of NG and LN characters. Other non-evil alignemts don't really attract me, and (like I said above) I can't play evil.
Come to think of it, a vast majority of my characters are of the comic-relief sort.
All other races are okay, but my favourites (of the core races) are dwarves and gnomes. Non-core, tieflings. I've loved them ever since TSR introduced them in Planescape.
And, the vast majority (I'd say over 90%) are true neutral. I've played a couple of NG and LN characters. Other non-evil alignemts don't really attract me, and (like I said above) I can't play evil.
Gez
First Post
My D&D PCs, for now, counting PbPs and one-shots, have been gnomes (four of them), humans (five+one), half-orc (one), halfling (one, but now reincarnated as a human), and warforged (one).
I gleefully ignore halfbreed races (which don't even exist IMC, the half-orc I played in a one-shot was pregenerated). And I dislike elves.
But not as much as I dislike Dragonlance versions of D&D races.
I gleefully ignore halfbreed races (which don't even exist IMC, the half-orc I played in a one-shot was pregenerated). And I dislike elves.
But not as much as I dislike Dragonlance versions of D&D races.
I play humans. I might play an elf and if I was absolutely convinced that the party was going to be slow anyway because someone was wearing heavy armour, I might play a dwarf. Anything beyond those three doesn't do it for me.
Halflings: Either be a hobbit or not; like the ranger class, something that starts out for the purpose of representing LOTR, does it badly and then gets changed repeatedly to deal with the fact that it is prohibited by law from referencing LOTR and now needs to find a new niche is just unpleasant. And slow, did I mention slow?
Gnomes: Yeah... technology and practical jokes... that's what I play D&D for. And slow, did I mention slow?
Half-Elves: Hey! You have a chance to play a human but without the extra feat and skill points. Woo hoo!
Half-Orcs: I'm here to fight monsters not play them.
Halflings: Either be a hobbit or not; like the ranger class, something that starts out for the purpose of representing LOTR, does it badly and then gets changed repeatedly to deal with the fact that it is prohibited by law from referencing LOTR and now needs to find a new niche is just unpleasant. And slow, did I mention slow?
Gnomes: Yeah... technology and practical jokes... that's what I play D&D for. And slow, did I mention slow?
Half-Elves: Hey! You have a chance to play a human but without the extra feat and skill points. Woo hoo!
Half-Orcs: I'm here to fight monsters not play them.
Gez
First Post
fusangite said:
The "technology" thing is part of that godsforsaken abomination that they call Dragonlance. Like a venereal disease, it infected the most promiscuous campaign settings (like Forgotten Realms), but any setting with a bit of dignity will stay untainted from tinkeritis.
The way I see gnomes is more "wisdom and arcane power" than "Mad Professor Nutty McKaboom". Like Yoda, to cite a well-known example, but you can find other examples if you search a bit, it's an archetype.
Aeric
Explorer
My hat for gnomes now no limit.
I loathe Gnomes. It's not just that I would never want to play a gnome. I despise them as a playable race at all. IMHO, they belong in the Monster Manual, not the PHB. The only kind of gnome I can accept as one of the major races of the world is the tinker gnome from Dragonlance. This is because the standard gnome in 3.X is like a fifth wheel; it serves no purpose in the world. Elves are wizards, halflings are rogues, dwarves are fighters, and half-orcs are barbarians. Making gnomes illusionists went along with the whole fey angle, but as a mechanic to balance them with the other races, it sucked. And I absolutely, positively REFUSE to accept the idea that the most charismatic, musically-talented race in the world is the gnomish race. In my Eberron campaign, I made Artificier the gnomes' favored class, since Artificier is the equivalent of the tinker in that setting.
As if all of this wasn't enough to drive me away from ever playing a gnome, the final straw was the look of the gnome in 3.X. They look like miniature humans now, devoid of anything interesting in appearance. Why did they see the need to pretty up the gnome race? Half-orcs are still ugly brutes, and dwarves aren't exactly lookers, either. So why the facelift? As far as I'm concerned, gnomes will always look like this to me:
I loathe Gnomes. It's not just that I would never want to play a gnome. I despise them as a playable race at all. IMHO, they belong in the Monster Manual, not the PHB. The only kind of gnome I can accept as one of the major races of the world is the tinker gnome from Dragonlance. This is because the standard gnome in 3.X is like a fifth wheel; it serves no purpose in the world. Elves are wizards, halflings are rogues, dwarves are fighters, and half-orcs are barbarians. Making gnomes illusionists went along with the whole fey angle, but as a mechanic to balance them with the other races, it sucked. And I absolutely, positively REFUSE to accept the idea that the most charismatic, musically-talented race in the world is the gnomish race. In my Eberron campaign, I made Artificier the gnomes' favored class, since Artificier is the equivalent of the tinker in that setting.
As if all of this wasn't enough to drive me away from ever playing a gnome, the final straw was the look of the gnome in 3.X. They look like miniature humans now, devoid of anything interesting in appearance. Why did they see the need to pretty up the gnome race? Half-orcs are still ugly brutes, and dwarves aren't exactly lookers, either. So why the facelift? As far as I'm concerned, gnomes will always look like this to me:
