D&D General Why do you play non-human races?

[ad_hoc]

I would say the situation suffers from a lack of a clearly defined standard of measurement. Back when I lived in Austin I had a lot of players from UT who said the exact thing you do; they swore that their depiction of another race was consequential, insightful, and thought-provoking.

I'm sure in their imagination they were making a brilliant performance, but to an outsider they were just overly dramatic wankers. We tolerated it because their stunning performance was just a few minutes of IC quips in the course of a session, and the game continued.

It's like PC backstories: people always think they have come up with something amazing, and you read them, smile, and nod encouragingly. It contains the same plot points as every other PC background, but you smile and wave them to the table because none of it will matter once the game begins and the usual RPG tropes take over.

I'm sorry that you've had consistently bad experiences playing the game.

Even though it has been happening since 1979, that doesn't mean it is like that for everyone. Note that even if you continue to condescend you're not going to convince people that they've been playing all wrong this entire time.

The fact of the matter is that you just don't know that many people from very many cultures. Humans are vastly different and they approach things differently and have different outlooks. I get that you have been playing the way you've been playing since 1979. And you probably think that you've played the game with many people - but, you haven't. There are many millions of D&D players from many cultures and sub-cultures and you simply have not played with them all.

 

[Kurotowa]

What's the difference to you between Fantasy races and Sci-Fi races? (Answer can of course be "none".) I ask because I personally get a different vibe but haven't put my finger on it yet.

Fantasy races are typically more closely related than SF ones. For starters, aside from the extra-planar types they're all from the same planet. That really narrows down the range. You're not going to get the really alien aliens like the ones adapted for high gravity or methane atmospheres or gas giants. For another, there's often an assumption of a high incidence of reproductive cross-comparability. Either because the pantheon of creator gods were working off the same template or because DNA isn't a thing so of course it should work that way, mixed race offspring are a staple. Finally, well, it's not uncommon for SF authors to get really invested in exploring the ins and outs of alien psychology. There's lots of novels where the core story is about humans and aliens struggling to understand each other. That can be a theme in fantasy novels too, but it's a much less common one compared to the Tolkienian "get a grab bag of people together and go on an adventure" model.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

I Don't play demi-humans very often. When I do, everyone at the table gets a good dose of the way I believe a demi-human would respond and act. They would have no excuse to not know that I am playing a demi-human.

I Don't care about the mechanical differences and my default character portrayal is human, so I find it easier to play humans unless I have strong desire to play something that makes me think outside of the human box. Which is fun for me, but not all the time.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The fact of the matter is that you just don't know that many people from very many cultures. Humans are vastly different and they approach things differently and have different outlooks. I get that you have been playing the way you've been playing since 1979. And you probably think that you've played the game with many people - but, you haven't. There are many millions of D&D players from many cultures and sub-cultures and you simply have not played with them all.

Bingo.

Since 1977, I’ve played RPGs in 5 cities in 3 states, with gamers from 3 continents. I’ve seen a lot of different playstyles. And yet, in my time in ENWorld, I’m consistently exposed to table tales that seem completely alien to me.

A classic example is the “15 minute workday”. I’ve never seen it in a game I’ve played in, but other ENWorlders have expressed incredulity over that claim just shy of outright calling me a liar.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I think meaningful consequences from racial makeup besides Human is one of those things like encumbrance and morale and tracking individual ammo counts. Some groups embrace them and see them as fundamental shapers of their game experience, other groups ignore them so completely they can't imagine how they could have any place in the game at all. It's one of those things that varies immensely from group to group.

I said as much myself.

 

[ad_hoc]

Bingo.

Since 1977, I’ve played RPGs in 5 cities in 3 states, with gamers from 3 continents. I’ve seen a lot of different playstyles. And yet, in my time in ENWorld, I’m consistently exposed to table tales that seem completely alien to me.

A classic example is the “15 minute workday”. I’ve never seen it in a game I’ve played in, but other ENWorlders have expressed incredulity over that claim just shy of outright calling me a liar.

I've never seen that in actual play either.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Interestingly, I have seen it in game. And I have tried to do it. It's usually not blatant but more... "I've spent all my spells in the first fight today, let's try to find some rest!" "But! it's 9am and we just woke up and walked A SINGLE MILE" "well... In the next fight, I'll only cast "Protection against Evil" and cure you with CLW" "OK, <sigh> let's find shelter". The GM usually makes sure we're on SOME time constraint to avoid that.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I'm sorry that you've had consistently bad experiences playing the game.

Bad experiences?

Quite the opposite.

 

[cmad1977]

I've never seen that in actual play either.

I agree. The 15 minute work day isn’t a problem.

 

[Fenris-77]

So, just to clarify. Players, because they're human, lack the context or PoV or whatever to roleplay demihumans properly. However, they do have the context or PoV or whatever to roleplay a 20th level Wizard who can alter the cosmos at the snap of their fingers? I don't really get the distinction. Part of the fun of RPGs is trying to put yourself in a different pair of shoes for a while, and I'd argue that it's the attempt rather than the success there that actually matters. Just my two cents.