Why aren't there short, fat PC races?

[Talath]

Emirikol, and other posters: I have a friend who is deeply involved with fat acceptance activism, as well as an emerging field of academics study called fat studies. I talked with her about this thread, and she wanted me to ask if it would be okay to use this thread as a point of discussion in their fat studies email list.

She also said that she finds this discussion very interesting.

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

Emirikol, and other posters: I have a friend who is deeply involved with fat acceptance activism, as well as an emerging field of academics study called fat studies. I talked with her about this thread, and she wanted me to ask if it would be okay to use this thread as a point of discussion in their fat studies email list.

She also said that she finds this discussion very interesting.

I'd be fine with that. Of course, they could just discuss it here

 

[I'm A Banana]

As far as I can tell, part of the 4e mandate is actually to depict all races as "attractive."

There is a range of attractive -- dwarves are pretty plump, for instance. But the skew is away from the pudgy phisique to either a muscular one (the half-orc or the goliath) or a svelte one (...almost everything else...).

Part of the reason for this would be that, when depicting a race, WotC wants you to WANT to be one. Most modern people don't want to be pudgy, even if they are (or, as is often the case, even if they're not, and just think they are). It's not good when you're in the "fantasy" business, in the same way that being an outcast rebel badass is good when you're in the "fantasy" business.

Often in mythopoetics, the chubbiness comes from health, youth, wealth, and power. Often, also, with joviality and friendliness. For most of human history, the big gals and the big guys were more powerful, more wealthy, and more healthy than the malnourished commoners. Plump halflings in tolkein and plump gnomes in myth represented their generally benevolent nature -- they were pranksters and workers, friends who would share their wealth with you.

In today's society, as weight becomes associated with the stereotype of "lower class," uneducated, ill-mannered, messy, and unhealthy, thinness has become an icon of wealth, health, and power. Widely available, unhealthy food has meant the denial of that food is an elite position to hold -- it's more expensive to eat a salad than it is to eat a hot dog, so people who are thin and eat salads must have more power than those who are chubby and eat hot dogs.

It's a social dynamic.

In 4e art, WotC probably smartly mirrors that dynamic, because you're going to sell more books telling people what they want to hear rather than telling them what they don't.

But even there, it's not universal -- dwarves are still solidly built, goliaths are muscular instead of thin, half-orcs too. Races that have a reputation for hardiness and strength tend to be beefier (it's hard to tell with dragonborn sometimes, but few of them are really thin). No D&D race really has a reputation for joviality, friendliness, or fun-loving hilarity, which makes some sense: WotC wants you to see all the characters as dangerous fighters and risk-takers, not as Santa Claus.

 

[TarionzCousin]

For the record, I'm 5'7" and currently 260lbs.

If only you weren't so amazingly handsome!

 

[jmucchiello]

Because your typical adventurer is going to have a relatively athletic build.

If I may put words into Emirikol's mouth, I think he wants a fantasy race for whom heavy athleticism does not mold a body into the stereotypical human athletic build. Such a race remains pudgy regardless of its presumed cardiovascular health. Lean muscle mass is always surrounded by a fat buffer and for that race, that does not affect physical performance. Maybe their fat cells have some kind regenerative/healing affect on muscle that provides the race with extreme endurance. Or perhaps the pudginess isn't caused by fat but by some other cell structure which provides some other similar benefit, such as insulation from cold temps.

I'm pretty sure the attractiveness analysis is spot on. But once you have a fantasy world, the effects of "fat" on the body need be no more realistic than the effects of "magic" on the body.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If only you weren't so amazingly handsome!

'Tis both a blessing and a curse!

I think he wants a fantasy race for whom heavy athleticism does not mold a body into the stereotypical human athletic build. Such a race remains pudgy regardless of its presumed cardiovascular health.

Hence Giff, Ogre Magi, and certain (usually pre-3Ed) depictions of Dwarves and Halflings.

For that matter, you could also include any number of Anthropomorphic Animals, great and small.

 

[Orius]

I thought nobody wanted to play hobbits halflings like that anymore.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Personally? I'll roleplay any race, any class, any gender, any size.

 

[op1983]

Well, I reckon if you want to play some one who stays the same size reguardless of the amount of physical activity they perform dragonfolks, or whatever they're called would be the way to go. I should think a dragon much like a lizard wouldn't be bigger or smaller most of the time.

 

[Nymrohd]

I don't know about attractive. Many of the characters depicted in D&D are by no means attractive. And I cannot possibly imagine anyone surviving as an adventurer without being physically fit. You have to treck for days, survive under the worst weather, keep decent reflexes and good speed during combat, survive through mortal wounds and the constant threat of infection. Plus chances to eat well are few and far between, you mainly live on rations. And let's not even talk ability scores and how those indicate a deviation from the average person.

P.S. I do wonder however about how certain very well endowed female characters of D&D actually function in combat, especially with a bow. . .