Why aren't there short, fat PC races?

[Bold or Stupid]

I dare you to Google "scaly art."

Less exciting than you thought.

As per request, no safe search

 

[Ginnel]

Interesting topic, and I think the fact of the matter is that short and fat are not seen as attractive and therefore don't sell.
There may also be a very, very, small link to not encouraging obesity by showing the characters as being a healthy weight.

I believe WotC went in this direction in 3.5 I can remember that cool picture of all the PHB races side by side male and female and everyone was definately in peak physical condition there too.

I used to play World of Warcraft (on a RP server if that makes a difference) a reasonable amount and I was amazed at the amount of people who said Yeah an Orc/Tauren/Dwarf would make a good (whatever class) but I wouldn't play one because they're too ugly, face it the majority of people like good looking characters, and what the majority wants the majority gets.

I'm not seeing the problem though if you want something in your game you invent it you want a race of short ugly people with pot bellies or something bang they're there.

If your problem is with the art style not reflecting a true slice of our society, well thats odd.

 

[exile]

Whenever I do any world-building, my halflings end up looking more like traditional hobbits, even if their backstory changes significantly.

Further, I am in the process of writing up a new 4E race. Sadly, I'm not at home at the present, so I don't have all the details in front of me, but I'll share what I can from memory.

Drudgethralls are a race, created not by the gods, but by wizards. Previously human wizards (or at least apprentice wizards) themselves, drudgethralls represent failed wizards, given new shape for those failure or some crime.
Drudgethralls are often used as minions/slaves by their wizardly masters.
They have severely hunched backs, making them appear quite a lot shorter than they once stood. They have twisted, clubbed right feet.

Ability Scores: +2 INT, +2 CON
Size: Medium
Speed: 4 Squares
Vision: Normal

Languages: Common, one other
Skill Bonuses: +2 Arcana, +2 Stealth
Muleback: Identical to the muleback harness either in AV or a Dragon magazine, allows them to carry a heavier weight than their strength woudl imply.
Alchemical Training: Gain the Alchemy feat from AV.
"Not the Master!": an encounter power very similar to the paladin level 2 power daily power "Martyr's Blessing", but works against ranged or melee attacks, allows the drudgethrall to slide the adjacent ally one square and to take its place.

Obviously it needs some work, but there's a short, ugly race for you.

Chad

 

[lutecius]

Less exciting than you thought.

As per request, no safe search

I guess your filters haven't been turned off properly because I got very different results. I'm not sure exciting is the word though
Thanks a lot

 

[Dragonbait]

It might be interesting to RP a 1st level character who starts off fat and looses weight as time progresses (what with all the running, screaming, pain, and moving obnoxiously heavy objects). Most people tend to create the one image of their character and not change it.

While we are talking about the realities of being athletic due to the adventuring life and/or if its done to make each race attractive (if possible): The races have MODERN builds. If you are going for a quasi-realistic setting the PCs would never have the musculature of the characters in the PHB. Those builds presented in the books come from a specific routine of weight lifting and cardiovascular exercise that did not exist 50 years ago let alone in ye days of old. Look at the body builders, weight lifters, and runners of the 40's compared to now (they often lack the stellar abs of modern athletes, for instance). Many of the athletic D&D characters would typically be barrel-chested with a layer of meat over most of their muscles.

I used to play World of Warcraft (on a RP server if that makes a difference) a reasonable amount and I was amazed at the amount of people who said Yeah an Orc/Tauren/Dwarf would make a good (whatever class) but I wouldn't play one because they're too ugly, face it the majority of people like good looking characters, and what the majority wants the majority gets.

If you search the interwebs about the sexual and racial dimorphism in the WoW races, you'll find that the original versions of the females of the Horde races looked much more like their male counterparts. There were so many complaints that their female Horde characters were just not sexy enough that Blizzard tried their darndest to make them more attractive and still keep them vaguely similar to the males. One can only go so far, though, and some will never be satisfied unless all characters look like elves.

 

[Ginnel]

I guess your filters haven't been turned off properly because I got very different results. I'm not sure exciting is the word though
Thanks a lot

Nope got exactly the same results as bold or stupids search when I turn off the safesearch, you sure your not adding in an extra words or letters?

 

[OchreJelly]

Did the older editions actually have you roll for your height and weight? I could be wrong but I remember that being a rule. And wasn't there also a comeliness stat at one point in UA? If anything the newer editions are more liberating by the RAW, even as the artwork reflects more "ideal" representatives of their respective races. There should be nothing to stop you from playing your character as a less than "ideal" version of your chosen race (finding a mini could be hard though).

 

[Dragonbait]

There should be nothing to stop you from playing your character as a less than "ideal" version of your chosen race (finding a mini could be hard though).

I dunno. My pre-painted plastic half-elf mini has her left eye in the middle of cheek. That's pretty far from the ideal when it comes to looks.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Clearly, WotC has to keep something back for the PHB XI.







What?

 

[1Mac]

The "shire halfling" in Ari's Advanced Player's Guide might be what you are looking for. I believe it is available as part of the free preview of that book, still available at yourgamesnow.com.

By the way, a lot of people on this thread seems to think that the obsession with buff heroes is a recent, uniquely American phenomenon. Nu-uh. Start with the Odyssey and work your way through pretty much any epic myth ever and you will find the heroes are almost all strong and good-looking, while heavy and/or ugly people/creatures are almost always villains and monsters. I'm sure some Mythology majors could point out some counter-examples, but that would not disprove the pretty obvious generalization.