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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8372606" data-attributes="member: 22779">I have three thoughts on this.1.&nbsp; The differentiation issue has a lot to do with the fact that being different from humans is never rewarded.&nbsp; It's barely punished either.&nbsp; So, while on paper, you have these various playable races, nothing in the game actually references them.&nbsp; If I play my elf as a human that sees in the dark, the game does not care one whit.&nbsp; So, for years, all I saw were people playing elves because elves were better mechanically than humans, that in no way, shape or form were different from humans.&nbsp; You have this race that lives for centuries (possibly millennia depending on edition), innately magical, and very alien in their point of view, that are just as venal, money grubbing and focused on the short term as the most lackluster murder hobo human character.If you want to see differentiation between races in the game, you need to make the game have mechanics that reward this.&nbsp; Otherwise, most people simply won't bother.2.&nbsp; If the only way you can differentiate between two races is alignment, then you've failed to present an interesting race.&nbsp; Full stop.&nbsp; If a race is only different because it is &quot;good&quot; or &quot;evil&quot;, then this is truly just a human in a funny mask.&nbsp; Alignment is probably the least interesting differentiation between game elements.&nbsp; There's a reason that alignment has largely fallen out of the game over the years.&nbsp; It's boring, crude, causes far too many table problems, and does virtually nothing to add anything of interest to the game.3.&nbsp; The notion that you need massive differences to differentiate races is a false one.&nbsp; Look at Vulcans.&nbsp; Physically nearly identical to humans.&nbsp; Certainly could pass for human easily.&nbsp; Yet, does anyone think Vulcans are just humans?&nbsp; Or Time Lords.&nbsp; There's a perfect archetype for elf players to aspire to.&nbsp; The Doctor is very much what an elf could be depicted as.&nbsp; Frenetic, manic, with this huge history behind them, gender fluid and remembers past lives perfectly.&nbsp; Only real problem is that how do you do that with a 1st level bard elf?&nbsp; It's not easy.&nbsp; But, no one said it should be easy.&nbsp; I don't have a great answer for this, but, I do know that if you're looking for an example of what an elf should play like, Doctor Who is a great place to start.&nbsp; Actually, thinking about it, I'd say that any Trans-Humanist SF is also a good place.&nbsp; The Netflix show Altered Carbon makes for a great example of an Elven civilization.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 8372606, member: 22779"] I have three thoughts on this. 1. The differentiation issue has a lot to do with the fact that being different from humans is never rewarded. It's barely punished either. So, while on paper, you have these various playable races, nothing in the game actually references them. If I play my elf as a human that sees in the dark, the game does not care one whit. So, for years, all I saw were people playing elves because elves were better mechanically than humans, that in no way, shape or form were different from humans. You have this race that lives for centuries (possibly millennia depending on edition), innately magical, and very alien in their point of view, that are just as venal, money grubbing and focused on the short term as the most lackluster murder hobo human character. If you want to see differentiation between races in the game, you need to make the game have mechanics that reward this. Otherwise, most people simply won't bother. 2. If the only way you can differentiate between two races is alignment, then you've failed to present an interesting race. Full stop. If a race is only different because it is "good" or "evil", then this is truly just a human in a funny mask. Alignment is probably the least interesting differentiation between game elements. There's a reason that alignment has largely fallen out of the game over the years. It's boring, crude, causes far too many table problems, and does virtually nothing to add anything of interest to the game. 3. The notion that you need massive differences to differentiate races is a false one. Look at Vulcans. Physically nearly identical to humans. Certainly could pass for human easily. Yet, does anyone think Vulcans are just humans? Or Time Lords. There's a perfect archetype for elf players to aspire to. The Doctor is very much what an elf could be depicted as. Frenetic, manic, with this huge history behind them, gender fluid and remembers past lives perfectly. Only real problem is that how do you do that with a 1st level bard elf? It's not easy. But, no one said it should be easy. I don't have a great answer for this, but, I do know that if you're looking for an example of what an elf should play like, Doctor Who is a great place to start. Actually, thinking about it, I'd say that any Trans-Humanist SF is also a good place. The Netflix show Altered Carbon makes for a great example of an Elven civilization. [/QUOTE]

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