Which race do you HATE to play?

[Neo]

I would have to say the Rodent races... i.e Halflings/Kender.. I detest the way they have been depicted.. yeah they're cute and funny...but thats pretyt much it they're comedy value races and in the case of Halflings they werent always that way.. in 1st ed when they were like Hobbits and not like Kender I had a respect for them but now they're just the toon race in my mind..you know "but...er... but...er... but thats all folks" is about all there is to the race.

Hats of to the likes of Eberron, Brithright and Darksun that tried to do something interesting with these races and take them away from the cutesy comedy value angle.

 

[eris404]

This is going to sound so cheesy-politically-correct, but I don't hate any race, just the stereotypes of those races that are in so many campaigns and campaign settings. I'm writing a new campaign setting and in the beginning, I found myself wanting to throw out so many of the races because they just seemed so tired. After some thought, I decided not to throw out the baby with the bathwater, as the saying goes, and just make the races different and interesting again. And as a player, I can still come up with some concepts for each race that I think would be fun to play.

So my choice would be "none of the above."

 

[ivocaliban]

Without a doubt it is the half-orc which I dislike most as player characters. In my experience as a DM I find that those who take half-orcs do so only with the intent of creating the stupidest barbarian to walk the face of the Oerth. Perhaps it's more a lack of creativity and invention on the part of the players, but half-orcs just seem very limited. Limited not only by stats in that they are generally barbarians or fighters, but in their backgrounds.

Again, I'm certain they could be used more interestingly or given more depth, but I've seen people chose them just so they won't have to play a character with depth. They're often characters that epitomize Hack 'n' Slash gaming. Unfortunately, this even happens with experienced, story-oriented players. I'm the sort of DM that praises and rewards creativity and everytime I hear "Half-orc" come up during character generation I know what's coming. I wouldn't dislike half-orcs nearly so much if people would occaisionally play against type. I've yet to be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Gez]

I hate gnomes.
Every time I read about them the image of steam-punk and steam-tech comes to mind. I don't mind dwarves, because they have culture, a meaningful existence and something to give to the world besides bad air and bright explosions.

I just can't get past Mount Nevermind.

Heh. I saw the topic and just knew gnomes were going to be the most hated. Hardly anyone wants their PC to be a gnome. And the people who do want to play a gnome, well...they tend to be a little odd in other ways, too. And their descriptions of their gnome characters don't really sell the race to anyone else, either.


...and which race did I vote against, you ask?

The gnomes, of course.

I think those two posts are fine example of why I answered "Anything from Dragonlance". This setting ruined the dwarves (which have been depicted as loud, rude, and dirty since the DL Gully Dwarves destroyed their previous image), the halflings (which have been depicted as witless kleptomaniac pests since the DL Kenders destroyed their previous image), and the Gnomes (which have been depicted as insane mechanists since the DL Tinker Gnomes destroyed their previous image).

In addition to single-handedly stupidifying the three short races even more ruthlessly than Jarjar Binks could hope of stupidifying his whole race just by appearing; Dragonlance also introduced concepts like "ogres are actually blue elves".


Me, I love to play gnomes, halflings, or dwarves; and I'll have none of this DL nonsense. I hope Eberron will be a large success, because it makes a better portrayal of the various races. It could be the long-awaited cure for the DL ailment.

 

[Monsoon28]

I never cared for Elves much, but that comes from reading the Hobbit as a small child and seeing how they treated the Dwarves and Bilbo, it kinda stuck with me over the years, even Legolas or Tanis Half-Elven haven't been able to make me play one in a game.

In second place would be Gnomes, really they are better suited to guarding a garden then exploring a dungeon!

 

[Frilf]

Any race with silent letters. Gnomes, Ghumans, Gdwarves ...

LOL!!

As a gnome myself, though, I find a lot of this gnome-bashing to be quite disturbing! Gnomes rule, baby!!

I'll have to try a ghuman character sometime, though. Sounds intriguing...

 

[ivocaliban]

I have to give the Gnomes a bit of a push here, as well. I find them one of the most interesting races available if folks look past the various stereotypes. I recently ran a campaign which featured a Gnome Ranger who, after great tragedy, made it his goal to hunt down and slay every last kobold on Oerth. Sure, it was an unrealistic goal and one that didn't lend itself truly to epic campaigns (unless he eventually decided to go after Kurtulmak himself), but it was nice to see a gnome who wasn't merely an illusionist or bard.

And I have to say that the Races of Stone from WotC does a great job of portraying dwarves and gnomes as more than their stereotypes (though I'm not so keen on Goliaths who will probably now become the new half-orc for those players who want to smash things). It's probably the best WotC book I've bought since the Draconomicon.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Elf-basher reporting for duty, and ready to bash elves some more.

I picked elves (of course). They're the only race that I flat-out refuse to play; they've been permanently ruined for me after witnessing disasters like The Complete Book of Elves and Elves of Evermeet, not to mention that the obnoxiousness of a high number of elf fans makes it so that I wouldn't want to be mistakenly associated with them. No flaky-artistic, tree hugging, holier-than-thou pointy-eared effetes for me.

Ah, Forrester, where are you when we need you?

 

[Neo]

Elf-basher reporting for duty, and ready to bash elves some more.

I picked elves (of course). They're the only race that I flat-out refuse to play; they've been permanently ruined for me after witnessing disasters like The Complete Book of Elves and Elves of Evermeet, not to mention that the obnoxiousness of a high number of elf fans makes it so that I wouldn't want to be mistakenly associated with them. No flaky-artistic, tree hugging, holier-than-thou pointy-eared effetes for me.

Ah, Forrester, where are you when we need you?

hehe you sound like half my group... while the other half fortunately have more taste and like Elves LOL

 

[Kalendraf]

In the current 3.5 game, I'd have to vote for gnome.

IMHO, they seem to be some kind of strange cross between dwarves (mining, underground, CON bonus), elves (affinity to magic, low-light vision), and halflings (small-size, STR penalty) that lacks a truely unique identity. I strongly believe that 3.5ed changing their favored class to bard was a mistake.