Favorite Race?

[Jodah]

Inspired by Vilpich's other thread about favorite classes. I am curious what races the playground likes. I think I will stick with his idea of top 10 in no particular order.

Mine

Tibbit: I like tibbits. I like being able to become a cat without bothering to think twice. I like the idea of being an awesome spy. I hate the kids trying to catch me and bring me home.
Changeling: Similar to above. The shapeshifter idea intrigues me, and these ones especially. I like the roleplaying aspect. Am I going to be as many people as possible, getting the best of all the worlds; or am I going to be only one, trying desperately to avoid letting other people know what I am?
Human: I like the mechanical side. It's hard to beat.
Adu'ja: Plant people are awesome. A race that predates elves by millennia is beyond cool. I especially like the fact that they have so many more ways to communicate than just speech.
Xvart: The -2 LA is cool, but the race is just hilarious. Halfway between kobold and goblin is a race of little blue men that are so terrible they need templates to make them on par with other races.
Kenku: These guys are awesome. They are innately good at teamwork and rogue-ery, which seems to make a pair of them perfect for the nightsong classes. Plus I like bird people that don't fly. Don't know why, just do.
Elan: this is one of the more intriguing classes. They are people that decided to become alien to what humanity can know (aberrations). The society is also pretty cool. Basically the fluff is really cool. I also like crunch where they are effectively living on their own psionic energy.
Githyanki: I just don't know what to say to all those abilities. It makes me a very happy man to see that. I enjoy the fact that they are already pretty gish before class levels, allowing focus more on the melee side.
Hadozee: These guys are really fun. A boistrous character that is naturally suited to being a pirate, awesome. I like the idea that one can whoop and holler, crack jokes, and just monkey around - and have be all in character.
Grippli: They make me happy. I would never play one, but even the idea of a treefrog as a character is amusing. Don't know what else to say there.

[sonofzeal]

Poison Dusk Lizardfolk, Gnolls, Dwarves, and Strongheart Halflings. In roughly that order.

[Empedocles]

Since I inspired this... :smallbiggrin:

Drow. I only use the LA 0 version (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040213a) though.

Dvati. From the Dragon Magazine Compendium. Although I feel like it probably doesn't work at all...the concept is amazing.

The Umbragen alternative drow is super freakingly awesome. It's from some Dragon magazine, but I can't remember the number off the top of my head.

Shifter. From Eberron. It's just too awesome.

Is it horrible to say that I'm a huge fan of my own voldur and half-orc redux homebrews? Probably. Sorry. But they're some of my favorites.

EDIT: Also, I really like dusklings.

[Zaq]

Illumians, hands down. Great fluff (MADE OF WORDS), great crunch, customizable, and just plain fun. I love 'em.

After that, in no particular order, I'm fond of dwarves (the more stereotypically dwarfy, the better), killoren (I like customizable races, and they're great mechanically), raptorans (easy-mode flight), neraphim (LA 0 outsiders, plus GIANT FROG), warforged (c'mon, warforged!), and gnomes.

Of course, humans are the best at damn near everything, and as such I play them quite often, but that doesn't make them my favorite.

[Darth Stabber]

My top 10 in no particular order.

Humans: mechanically awesome, good at whatever, plus you get the whole "normal guy" in a weird world angle. Azurins are fine if you care more about incarnum, and karsites allow humans to take advantage of LA buyoff.

Dwarf: bonus to the stat everyone cares about, penalty to the stat that no one cares about (unless they are focused on it), and a grab bag of useful abilities.

Elan: couple free pp is nice. No food or sleep is cool (but of arguable utility). Spending PP in place of HP is awesome, as is the save bonus. Abberation typing is just gravy. Penalty to CHA? Would some one please give me a hand with all the cares I don't give.

Nezumi: I swear I am not just picking the negative cha races! If you port over the fluff about their memory from L5R, it's hilarious. Speed and natural weapons are fun, and scent is cool (not great but cool), even if it costs a feat slot. If your game is using taint rules from OA, HoH, or UA, this is even better since you are immune. As always constitution is a welcome benefit.

Skarn: str for dex is a reasonable trade, and natural weapons are fantastic. Add in a cool racial PRC, and that neat übermench mentality, and you have something here. Whereas their rilkin cousins are just terrible (and I normally prefer chaotic versions, just not this time).

Lupin: I just want to scratch them behind their ears and give them a treat. Neat fluff, no penalties (though no bonus), and some interesting abilities (like ride always being a class skill, and mini scent). Not sure it's all worth no feat and no bonus skills, but maybe.

Tibbit: a favorite of many people, and it's not very hard to see why. In fact when I bought Dragon compendium halfling stopped existing for me.

Pixie(gestalt only): WAY too much LA for me to want to use out side of gestalt, but unless I am playing a non-druid, non-finesse meleer this is my race choice in gestalt. It gives you almost anything you could ever want, including flight (60ft good), permanent greater invisibility, -4+8dex+6int+4wis+6cha, free arrows(which don't do damage but force saves against sleep or memory loss), DR (10/cold iron, how many NPCs are going to have cold iron weapons), SR(is 15+class levels enough for you?), fey typing (immunity to all those Xperson spells), small size (which is usually better for things that are avoiding melee), +2 to spot listen and search, lowlight vision, free weapon finesse (since your strength is going to suck), free dodge (which can either be chaos shuffled, or just used a prereq), and a useful smattering of SLAs (including all 4 detect alignments, detect thoughts, dispell magic, dancing lights, entangle, and permanent image, all 1/day). Unless you plan on using strength, there isn't much pixies aren't great at.

Ogre(gestalt only):+10 strength +4 constitution, are cool, racial hit dice aren't great, but since I am not going to take it outside of gestalt, it evens out. Really good at things that don't involve too much thinking (though it doesn't have a wisdom penalty). and since it's big you gain access to warhulk, which is INSANE in gestalt. Also note the natural armor of 5, which more than compensates for the size penalty and dex penalty. The only thing they lack that I would want is a natural weapon, which can be resolved by totemist2 or IUS(kinda).

Half Giant: 1LA isn't so bad, and boy does this guy rock it. Goliaths may be slightly mechanically better, but points for originality and being in the SRD (and not looking stupid, goliaths just look awful to my eye). Free PP is nice, I kinda want to make a diamond mind focused warblade with one just to utilize psionic focus to take 15 on concentration checks, since having PP is the only requirement for having a psionic focus. Stomp is cool. Poweful build is obviously the big draw (pardon the pun).

[Shadowknight12]

Thanks to oslecamo's invaluable work, I can now safely call "race" what I used to call "monster."

1) Aasimar. I cannot resist this race. I end up playing it way more often than I really should. Purely out of aesthetic reasons, most of the time, since they offer exactly what I want in a race. The ability bonuses are amazing, too.

2) Half-Celestial/(Astral/Movanic/Monadic) Deva. Take everything that was awesome about the aasimar, kick it up several notches, then add wings. Freaking wings. Gah, too good to be true. The LA is unbearable, but the appeal of the race(s) is incredibly strong.

3) Satyr. Yeah, I will make no excuses here, I love these walking embodiments of Fanservice. They are frankly quite unappealing to play, mechanically speaking (what with RHD and awful LA), but the fey flavour and the look... yeah. I don't mind. At all.

4) Snow/Arctic Elf. The only flavour of elf I like above the rest, I usually refluff the entire race to be big burly elves, because D&D doesn't have that kind of elves and wood/wild aren't burly enough.

5) Vampire/Half-Vampire. I am not really a vampire fan (used to be, before the current deluge of the bloody things), but D&D doesn't have many aesthetically appealing undead and vampires are the best there are at that.

6) Wraith/Spectre/Ghost. I like incorporeal undead. They're mysterious and quite powerful, and aren't encumbered by the whole "rotting body" thing so many undead suffer from. I like giving each type of undead a specific kind of death, so it scratches my specialisation itch.

7) Necropolitan/Wight. Because hey, they're good enough, as far as undead go. They aren't as stunning as the previous two, but they do well enough when it comes to making low-powered undead that are still better preserved than a lich or zombie.

8) Half-Fey/Feytouched. Because yeah, again, see satyr above. I hate butterfly/insect wings, so I always refluff them to feathers. Other than that, the LA is awful but the bonuses are nice, and I usually do it purely for the flavour. For characters who are meant to be feyish but not purely fey, there really isn't anywhere else to go.

9) Verdant Prince. I had to create my own version of a racial class for it (with oslecamo's greatly esteemed help), but it was totally worth it. Only got to play it once and it was incredibly awesome. Powerful, regal, versatile, handsome, mired in folklore and flavour, what's not to like about this race?

10) Male versions of traditionally female-only races. I know it's incredibly specific, but I really like me some gender equality, so I like to refluff some races into having equal gender ratios, rather than being all female (I do the same for all-male races, but they're far rarer, so they barely even count). Therefore, I enjoy playing male versions of medusae, harpies, banshees, nymphs, dryads and so on.

[Suddo]

Humans, Dwarfs, Warforged, Elan, Dvati and Winged (its a template but its pretty sweet).

Humans: Humans are always good, I try my hardest to not play them but in the end I often do.
Dwarfs: I'm a big DF fan so Dwarfs will always have a nice place in my heart.
Warforged: I'll never let my players play one because I find them to be terribly broken but they are pretty sweet and I'll probably play one if I get the chance.
Elan: The lack of sleep is something that makes warforged so broken so I always liked it. I often take Kalastars over them but if I'm feeling like flavor over crunch I'll go for Elan.
Dvati: In a random dragon magazine this was printed. I've never played one and probably never will but its a pretty cool concept. For those not in the know its a 1 LA class that lets you play as two characters for melee purposes. Pretty sweet.
Winged: Yes its not a race but its currently my favorite cheap template (2 or less for buy off) I mean wings are sooooo useful.

[Gavinfoxx]

I dont think Xvarts actually have the -2 LA. I think thats just a Crystalkeep misprint.

[Jodah]

I dont think Xvarts actually have the -2 LA. I think thats just a Crystalkeep misprint.

Sure enough, I checked it in Dragon 339 and they have +0. This is perplexing because I could have sworn I had seen it printed elsewhere (from Crystal Keep) as -2. That also is an exceedingly odd typo to make. Ah well, they are still hilarious.

[Jeff the Green]

In no particular order:

(Lesser) Planetouched: The fluff is cool, but the mechanics are really nice. +2 Wis +2 Cha or +2 Dex +2 Int -2 Cha? Yes please!

Illumians: I like theurges, so the Krau sigil with the Improved Sigil feat is awesome: no need for practiced caster, early entry with one less feat than normal, and if I'm using Archivist, using Urrkrau to dump Wisdom without using 3rd party feats.

Warforged: Because being a construct is awesome, and being a construct that can cast alter self is even more awesome.

Dragonborn Mongrelfolk: Sure, they've got -2 Dex, -2 Int, -4 Cha. They've also got +6 Con. Pair that with, say, cleric or crusader, and you've got a tank that will. not. die.

[unundindur]

Drow. They look cool and they are resistant to pesky magic.

Moon elves. They also look cool, and they value the high society I enjoy.

[ILM]

I'd have to go with whisper gnomes, illumians, humans and tibbits.

[willpell]

Nearly every entry on my list comes out looking ambivalent; I may revise it later if I remember some creatures I enjoy more wholeheartedly, but off the top of my head these are my picks.

1. Lizardmen, especially the Blackscale version. I've always loved them just because they're cool. Reptiles in general do it for me, but I like these better than most of the other versions I've seen, such as Yuan-Ti and kobolds.

2. Humans. Extra feats and skill points are just too useful to pass up, so I don't feel at all bad about making more human characters than all other races put together. Besides, half the other races out there are variants of us. Obviously we know what we're doing.

3. Elves. All varieties, pretty much, though the default High/Moon elf is admittedly rather boring. I'm not the biggest fanboy of them and I'm not into a lot of their enforced flavor, but there's just so much you can do with them. One of my favorite homebrew creations is a race inspired by the Blood Elves in WOW, who figure the other elves have betrayed them and let their home be destroyed, so now they're a Githyanki-esque militant empire on a quest for vengeance, and they utterly refuse to admit that they're Evil.

3.5 (ha!). Drow. They get more love than they deserve IMO, but Ari Marmell does write some very nice fluff for them.

4. Centaurs. I wish there was a version of them with fewer HD and less LA that would be easier to play, but ultimately they're awesome enough to be worth it. Always have been one of my two favorite races in fantasy along with lizardmen, but they're too hard to play to rank equally high.

5. Goliath. I've only started reading about these guys, but they have a pretty good attitude and some interesting mechanics, although I despise the simplictic conlang and three-part names the authors gave them.

6. Warforged. Definitely a very cool concept, especially when you blend them with Incarnum fluff (remember the Soulforged Construct template? quite a coincidence there). I haven't read Eberron so I know them only by reputation, but there's a lot about them which I like.

7. Tieflings. Not really the way they're portrayed in the books I've read - the 4E portrayal might be more my speed, but I can always work around the mechanics if I enjoy the fluff enough, which I very much do.

8. Minotaurs. Have the same problem as centaurs only more so, and I'm even more averse to dealing with HD in their case, since with my MTG background I think of minotaurs as being humanoids rather than giants, and want to be able to play them at ECL 3 or so. I'm told there's something along these lines in Dragonlance, and have debated picking it up to check them out.

9. Hobgoblins. They're not very interesting mechanically, but I really enjoy playing with their flavor and getting into the mentality of a naturally Lawful Evil race, with a militaristic culture and presumably very different aesthetic standards.

10. Dragonborn. I'm not a fan of the enforced tie to Bahamut or the idea that they're formed out of other races. But they're dragons; that alone is enough to capture my interest.

Honorable mention: Rilkans. I love the idea of a race which uses racial memory to know a little bit about everything, I love the fluff about how they like to live a life of high adventure - they are one of the few portrayals of Chaos which leans toward the positive. I want to like them so bad, but they're just so ugly with scales on the throat below an otherwise human face. I just can't stand it, and it's tragic because it's basically the only thing I don't like about them (apart from the name which is a little silly and random, but far from the worst in that vein which D&D is capable of)

[Gnorman]

1. Tieflings

2. Orcs

3. Warforged

4. Gnomes

5. Changelings

6. Dwarves

7. Lizardfolk

8. Goblins

9. Goliaths

10. Gnolls

I like monstrous races, what can I say? Elves, halflings, and fey can go die in fires.

[Golden Ladybug]

1) Drow...for reasons I can't really share and keep this post PG-13 :smallwink:

2) Changelings, who are only a hair away from being my favourite. Shapeshifting would be the coolest thing ever (except maybe superspeed), and being able to do that is so much fun. Also, their natural forms are really cool.

3) Dvarti; three fingered people "twins" (but really they're just one person who has two bodies) that finish each other's sentences, can communicate telepathically and have stark white skin...apparently I have a thing for monochromatic races?

4) Warforged. Who doesn't like Warforged? They are mechanically awesome, have the most woobie-ish fluff and are great.

5) Pixies. I would play the hell out of Pixies, even if I have to eat all that LA. They're awesome and have gossamer wings.

6) Elans, but only if the Council Elans is evil and plotting. They're making holes in the universe, which look like people but they're not! My personal canon is that Elans are behind everything. Everything.

7) Goblins (particularly Air Goblins, who are really cool). They might be poor choices mechanically, but they're awesome nonetheless. Eberron is my favourite setting, and before the humans game and rolled everyone, they were in charge. They don't even care about that net -2 Ability mod!

I also found a Common to Goblin translator (http://eclipsegaming.pbworks.com/f/goblin_translator.html), which has made them even more fun. Being able to make weird guttural noises that I can give evidence is actually a language (kinda) is fun.

8) Catfolk. They're basically Catgirls, and...no comment.

9) Kobolds. They're better [anything]s than [anyone]

10) Half-Orcs, because of how amazingly they can be portrayed. Glon and Jone (at least before she went batsh*t and tried to kill everyone) from yafgc and Therkla for OotS both made me give Half-Orcs a second glance, and I think they can pretty cool. Absolutely horrible mechanically though.

[FMArthur]

I really like all of these races and the fantasy race archetypes they embody: Elan - eerie human-like
Goliath - quintessential noble brute race (orcs can all go die in a big fire)
Warforged - AI; lots of interesting character concepts only this race may explore
Diopsid - silly beetle people; unique melee style

[Soranar]

1 Humans

Roleplay wise it really simplifies things, and mechanically they're fairly good

2 Strongheart halfling

same as above for nearly the same reasons

3 Tibbit

cat people, enough said

4 Elan

Great racial abilities

5 Warforged

Because they make the best paladins (seriously) and being a Lawful Good robot makes sense roleplay wise

6 Half-Ogre

when drooling becomes roleplay

7 Kobolds (not the dragonwrought kind)

natural attacks are just fun

Thats it for me, rarely play any other races than these

[Inferno]

In no Particular order:

Goblins: (and Blues) Small, weak, often abused, enslaved and otherwise mistreated. Great roleplay opportunities, too bad they get so little support...and that thing about the Blues LA...

Warforged: Tons of support, Racial feats and Prc's, definately some of the best racial flavor in the game.

Halflings: I'm not really sure what I like about Halflings, I'm a fan of throwing weapons, I guess. and the save bonus.

Thri-Kreen: 4 arms, Totally exotic mindset, they throw crystal wedges, and jump really high, what's not to like?

Edit:

Dromites! I can't believe I almost forgot about Dromites, more bug people:smallsmile: Secret underground cities, no gender and little use for clothing, Chitin and Psionics. Fun all around.

And Changeling, cool Rogues. Can make any class a viable spy.

[Harry]

Phaerimm hatchling:my favorite because class levels = sorcerer levels and cast spells as SLA's

Human:well I am one:smallsmile:

Elan:there badass and maybe the best race for psionic characters

Strongheart halfling: there like ...small humans

Warforged:the immunities and LOOK MA IM A ROBOT

Kobold:there badass and the second best race for a sorcerer

Dwarf: two reasons it was my first race EVER and the race of my first gish

Aasimar:FOR I HAVE THE POWER OF THE HEAVENS IN MY VEINS

Lumi:it is packed full of immunities and is hard to kill even as a dm

Grey elf: a good wizard race

Great wyrm prismatic dragon:IT'S A FRECKIN GREAT WYRM PRISMATIC DRAGON!!!

[Malachei]

For PCs...
Humans, because they have less stereotypes
Tiefling, because one of your parents was badass
Illumian, because you are made from words, and what could be more awesome?
Goliath, because size matters
Elf, because we all love Tolkien, don't we?
Gnomes, because you can be funny and serious
Whisper Gnomes, because you are too good for +0 LA
Shadowswyft, because you are from the bleakest place
Changeling, because you can be anyone you want to be
Shifter, because being wolverine

[Ballista]

5) Drow for their sheer maliciousness and non PG-13 elements
4) Poisondusk Lizardfolk since it's the closest thing to kobolds after my DM banned then for the obvious reasons plus they're lizard men!
3) Hellbred due to their awesome flavor- "Hi, I have the forces of good and evil warring for my soul."
2) Warforged, well they're robots? MECHAS IN A FANTASY SETTING
1) Thri-Kreen (non psionic version) you get four arms and deflect arrows? Sign me up! Plus I get all nostalgic over A Bug's Life whenever I play one.

[docnessuno]

Marrowlurk
Dwarf
Gnome
Kender
Warforged
Goliath
Changeling
Blue
Petal
Human

[Kuulvheysoon]

In no particular order...

[1] Warforged
[2] Shifters
[3] Lizardfolk
[4] Wemic
[5] Gnoll (blame RotW)
[6] Duergar
[7] Frostblood Half Orc
[8] Killoren
[9] Elf (more for fluff reasons, admittedly)
[10] Couatl. Only played one once in a gestalt, but come on - you're a giant, winged telepathic snake.

Also, docnessuno - Marrulurks?

[AslanCross]

1. Warforged
2. Human
3. Kalashtar
4. Elf
5. Dwarf
6. Halfling
7. Shifter
8. Hobgoblin
9. Aasimar
10. Changeling

[Emperor Tippy]

Grey Elves and Elans, everything else is mostly dependent upon what I feel like doing at the time.

[Tief]

In no particular order...

1. Tibbits
I loved playing a Tibbit rogue who just caused mischief.

2. Tieflings
How could you not love Tieflings?

3. Cansin
From one of the Dragon Magazines, they are essentially Tieflings but for Chaos.

4. Changelings
Shapeshifting fun.

Not really sure on other races...

[Totally Guy]

Humans by a long way.

Most of my favourite characters from fiction are humans. The characters from Lost, Indiana Jones, Batman, the Princess Bride, Sherlock Holmes, the characters from Lord of the Flies, the Steppenwolf, Lupin, etc etc.

Plus loads of people who did awesome things in the real world were human too. David Attenborough, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Albert Einstein, Princess Diana, Banksy (presumably), Florence Nightingale, Buzz Aldrin, Lauren Faust, etc etc.

I'm more interested in humans than any other race.

[Acidic]

In some particular order:

Whisper Gnomes
Elans
Changelings
Azurin
Silverbrow Humans
Strongheart Halflings
Skarn
Shifter
Humans
Lesser Tiefling

[hex0]

Only one other person has Neraphim as a favorite? Who doesn't want to play a Battletoad?

Probably my favorite race because of the synergy with Spellthief (which is one of my favorite classes). Auto-steal spells 1/enemy/encounter! +5 jump and a few other goodies make it one of better LA 0 Outsiders around.

Even though the LA is massive for little benefit, I'll always have a soft spot for Half-Dragons. Played a half-gold dragon dwarven fighter in my second campaign ever in 3.0.

I like Dromites too but I think the +1 LA is at the low end give the -2 net stats compared to other +1 LA races. Nice with Sonic damage ray. :smalltongue:

[White_Drake]

Strongheart Halflings: I love thieves, my first character was a halfling, stronghearts are even better.

Tibbits: What can I say? Great rogues, and they're cats!

Tiefling: I play lesser, so that I don't have to deal with LA; my favorite Tieflings are descended from Rakshasas (go cats).

I don't really have anymore absolute favorites, although I like Wild Elves.

[Roguenewb]

Humans: I get to play as someone basically similar to me and react to all the crazy magic stuff.

Drow and Gray Elves: The ancient knowledge beings with secretive agendas, I like very much. Plus you get to wonder why *so* many of the supposedly reclusive gray elves are out adventuring.

Elan: See above, but with good instead of weak.

Lesser Feytouched: Either by applying the lesser planetouched template (nice DM), or through the savage progression (anyone else). I make a ton of Dex-y CHA casters, and this race is all for them.

Warforged: The RP options are great, Adamantine or Mithral body at low levels smashes any armor anybody else has got. I like them from 1-7, and hate them after 15.

And my total fav: Changelings. You can be anyone, do anything, and it isn't detectable. I love changeling chameleons so bad it hurts. My favorite build in the whole world is Swash 3/Factotum 3/Chameleon 10.

[Menteith]

Warforged. They are delicious with Dragonborn of Bahamut, are mechanically strong, can be used in every role, and have a wide range of roleplaying possibilities.

[Amphetryon]

1. Hengayoki (Sparrow): Nothing says 'hilarity' like a Psionically active Sparrow Warlock.

2. Killoren: For having the fluff I wanted Elves to have, and marrying it to interesting mechanics.

3. Hadozi: Flying monkeys. 'Nuff said.

4. Wild Dwarves: Small size benefits with no STR penalty.

5. Human: I like extra feats.

6. Strongheart Halflings: See comment on #5.

7. Shifters: I wish their crunch matched the awesome of their fluff.

8. Daelkyr Half-blood: Because of Impure Prince, mostly.

9. Desert Half-Orc: 50% less painful than your regular Half-Orc.

10. Rilkan: Entirely due to Rilkan Rogue substitution levels for Fochlucan Lyrist.

[Makiru]

I have a soft spot for Flamebrothers and Neraphim, simply because they were among the first characters I ever played. As for the rest...

1. Fey'ri: poor man's succubus/incubus. To me, has much better flavor than the standard tiefling.

2. Diopsid: Poor man's thri-kreen. While not as versatile, I do like the gliding and bioluminescence. It should also go without saying that I like thri-kreen.

3. Warforged: For reasons already adequately explained in this thread.

4. Half-Ogre: For being the best (official) Large sized race out there.

5. Phaerimm Hatchling: Never played one, but the idea of a malevolent tiny windsock is quite hilarious.

6. Hellbred: Lots of roleplaying space while only just skirting the Mary Sue line.

7. Nilbog: The reverse goblin that's healed by damage and hurt by healing. +5 LA almost seems worth it for that.

8. Kobold: I liked them before the RotD love.

9. Quicklings: It seems like I like things on the two extremes of the speed chart: either a snail's pace or blindingly fast.

10. Dralsite: Giant amoebas make for more roleplaying opportunities than you would normally think. D20 Future's poor Thri-Kreen.

[Khosan]

Goblins, Kobolds and Dromites.

I have something for small, monster-like races. I prefer the Pathfinder versions of them, I miss some of the variant racial types for Kobolds and Goblins though.

[Arutema]

Pathfinder edition:

Halfling - Generally seen as sub-par, but sometimes you want that bonus to dex and cha. I also like the Golarion fluff for them.

Dwarf - My preferred race for playing medium creatures when human seems boring. They make surprisingly good druids, monks, and clerics.

Tengu - Why should core races have all the fun? Possibly the best gunslinger race.

Elf - Sometimes, you want a bonus to dex and racial proficiency with bows.

and for NPCs:

Goblin - Horse bad, dog bad, fire good!

[Black_Zawisza]

Lesser Half Giant (Complete Psionic, 149) with the Primordial Giant template (Secrets of Xendrik, 81) applied.

LA +0
Str -4, Dex -2, Int +4, Cha +4
Invisibility, Invisibility Purge, or Levitate as an at-will SLA
+2 Spellcraft, +2 UMD

Fantastic for casters, especially when you're using point buy. Example character, 32 point buy:

Str 8
Dex 12
Con 14
Int 18
Wis 12
Cha 18

[Taelas]

Depends on what my favorite character is at the time. Humans fit any role for me, so they are often my first choice. Dwarves are my second choice for warrior-types, halflings my second for rogue-types, and other than that, it depends entirely on the kind of character I want to play.

I don't like races like Warforged, Elan, or Tibbits. I also can't stand gnomes, because almost everyone insists on making them outrageously silly. I don't mind an outrageously silly session once in a while, but when it's an entire character, it becomes as grating as if they were playing a kender.

[Siosilvar]

Lizardfolk, kobolds, and naga (or I would if I could find a decent LA0 or +1 version), for the most part.

On a world-building level, I like those, Goliaths, and Dwarves that took most of the Gnomes' stuff. I also have a few variations on elves:

Reclusive gold elves à la Forgotten Realms, Evereska and all.
Their counterparts, the blue elves, are bog-standard elves (3.5 style).
The green elves are basically mutts between the two races, before the two separated for whatever reason.
Finally, there's fey that were kicked out of the Court for making deals with some denizens of the Lower Planes. They're not related to the other elves, but they're called elves-in-chains anyway.

There's also the cat-like monkey-creatures that live deep in the forest. And Humans and Halflings stick around, of course, to fill in the gaps.

[Zale]

I rather like Dromites for some reason. I've yet to play one, but I still like them.

[Seharvepernfan]

1. Elves. Specifically Moon/High elves, but also wood elves. Don't care much for grey/sun elves or aquatic elves. Love avariels, like wild/green elves. I don't care for Tolkien's elves too much. I don't like them being unjustifiably good at everything. I like them how they would actually be based on their 3.5 stats - rebellious, nomadic, forest-dwelling libertarian guerillas. Or Bosmer.

2. Humans. If I don't play an elf, I play a human. I don't like how humans are automatically the rulers of whichever fantasy world, I think they should be in-betweeners - meaning that they live and act in the areas that other races don't. They might occasionally rule, but never as broadly and deeply as they are often depicted. Kinda like 4E's setting.

3. Dwarves.

4. Gnomes.

5. Goblins.

6. Kobolds.

7. Hobgoblins.

8. Chinese people. Kidding. (Well, I like them, but you know what I mean.)

9. Orcs.

10. Gnolls.

11. Illithids.

Really, I take what I like about the races, drop what I don't like, then warp them to fit how I think they should be depicted. I keep something like 75% of the original, adding 25% custom material.

I could write pages about how I depict the races, if you actually want to hear it, PM me.

[whibla]

I feel sure there must be an erratum* for this somewhere, but fortunately I haven't seen it!

Rakshasa.

Native Outsider Type (with a 40' Base Speed)
+2 Str, +4 Dex, +6 Con, +2 Int, +2 Wis, +6 Chr.
7 Racial Hit Dice (with accompanying BAB +7 and +5 for all saves)
Bite and 2 Claws Natural Weapons
Darkvision 60'
Detect thoughts at will
Change shape (humanoid forms) at will
3 racial feats. 8 skill points per HD
+9 Natural Armour
DR: 15/Good and Piercing
SR: 27 (+ class levels)
Casts spells as a 7th level sorcerer - stacks with any future sorceror class levels!

And all for a +7 LA (essentially the same as if you'd actually taken those 7 levels of sorcerer, just with a heck of a lot more toys in the box)

I won't say it's my favourite race, simply cos I daren't ask a DM if I can play one...I'm allergic to pain.

*If there is an erratum I do not want to know about it! Allow me to keep my illusions.

[Mirakk]

Go Dwarf or go home!!


Seriously though, when I'm not playing a Dwarf, I've enjoyed Aasimar, Illumian, Kenku, and Sun Elf.

[Eldan]

I feel sure there must be an erratum* for this somewhere, but fortunately I haven't seen it!

Rakshasa.

Native Outsider Type (with a 40' Base Speed)
+2 Str, +4 Dex, +6 Con, +2 Int, +2 Wis, +6 Chr.
7 Racial Hit Dice (with accompanying BAB +7 and +5 for all saves)
Bite and 2 Claws Natural Weapons
Darkvision 60'
Detect thoughts at will
Change shape (humanoid forms) at will
3 racial feats. 8 skill points per HD
+9 Natural Armour
DR: 15/Good and Piercing
SR: 27 (+ class levels)
Casts spells as a 7th level sorcerer - stacks with any future sorceror class levels!

And all for a +7 LA (essentially the same as if you'd actually taken those 7 levels of sorcerer, just with a heck of a lot more toys in the box)

I won't say it's my favourite race, simply cos I daren't ask a DM if I can play one...I'm allergic to pain.

*If there is an erratum I do not want to know about it! Allow me to keep my illusions.



Actually... you forgot the seven racial HD. A rakshasa with one class level counts as a level 15 character. Putting it seven levels behind a real sorcerer. Yeah, it's a shame, they would be so cool with less LA.

[molten_dragon]

My favorites in no particular order are:

Humans
Strongheart Halflings
Whisper Gnomes
Dwarves
Warforged
Kobold

That's pretty much it. I've played a few other races over the years, but those are my favorites.

[whibla]

Actually... you forgot the seven racial HD. A rakshasa with one class level counts as a level 15 character. Putting it seven levels behind a real sorcerer. Yeah, it's a shame, they would be so cool with less LA.

I stand corrected. For some reason I was counting ECL as Character Level + LA, and totally forgot that Savage Species defines it as Character Level + HD + LA.

Curse you! :smallwink:

[QuickLyRaiNbow]

Whisper Gnome, an Orcish subrace or two, hengeyokai and a few various elves are my non-human favorites. Generally I prefer Human + templates.

[Dragonborn]

In general, anything long lived, shapeshifting, or weird interests me. Out of the races I'm familiar with:

1.Changeling: Love the shapeshifting

2.Elan: Immortality sustained by their own psionic power, with astral seed basically the psionic version of a lich

3.Grey Elf: I like wizards and elves

4.Warforged: Pretty much everything that's already been mentioned, but especially not needing sleep

5.Shifter: Shapeshifting again

6.Catfolk: Cats :3

7.Star Elf: Elves again, with a more otherworldly feel to them

8.Silver Dragon: Really anything draconic, but silver always stood out to me for some reason

9.Succubus: :smallredface:

10.Petal: Cool as Pixies are, they aren't as small as I'd like

Tibbits and Illumians sound interesting as well but I haven't really read up on them yet. About the only race that doesn't interest me at all are dwarves and humans.

[Zale]

10.Petal: Cool as Pixies are, they aren't as small as I'd like


Yay Petals!

Make everyone fail their Cuteness Proximity Saves!

[Scarlet-Devil]

I'm a very big fan of Tieflings and Aasimar, especially in Pathfinder, where they have no LA. The alternate racial traits they got recently are especially cool (things like swapping darkness 1/day for claws, skill bonuses for a prehensile tail that can retrieve items for you, and so on). I think of them, especially Tiefling, as a way to play pretty much anything; the enormous abundance of fiends out there, and the existence of unique demons and devils, means that you can make a tiefling with basically whatever weird physical features you want (slapped onto a humanoid form).

I'm also a fan of draconic things, Gillmen (aboleths are one of my favorite monsters, so it's cool to have a playable race associated with them), and dhampirs.

[Morithias]

Warforged: Make awesome tanks, and there's nothing sexier than a robot with rocket powered fists.

Tiefling: Make awesome wizards (even better than the racist grey elves), and their fluff doesn't make me want to create another holocaust (unlike the racist elves). Plus there's nothing sexier than a girl with a tail and horns.

Aasimar: Make awesome clerics, and Paladins of Tyranny, and it's awesome to play a blackguard who is an aasimar, cause if there's one thing that's more scary than a blackguard, it's a blackguard with angelic blood. Plus there's nothing sexier than a corrupted angel who is on the path of evil.

Changeling: Make awesome rogues and spies, and there's nothing sexier than a girl who can be any girl she wants to be before she stabs you in the neck and robs you.

Humans: Push come to shove, when you want power and munchkin, you go human. They are the ultimate race, that bonus feat can be used to great potential, and their fluff, being created as "the perfect race" by Zairus a Lawful Evil god is interesting. You have to wonder why most of the fluff paint the elves as racist and superior minded when their god is CG, when the human's creator deity is Lawful Evil, yet they're clearly more open minded.

Plus there's nothing sexier than a race that can breed with virtually anything.

Honorable mentions: Succubus, Harvester Devil, Legion Devil, and Drow. (Anyone sensing a pattern with my favoured races?)

[Dragonborn]

Tiefling: Make awesome wizards (even better than the racist grey elves), and their fluff doesn't make me want to create another holocaust (unlike the racist elves). Plus there's nothing sexier than a girl with a tail and horns.


Would have made my list if it weren't for the random Charisma penalty.

[oldkingkoal]

KOBOLD:
Funnest race for me by far. Just for the shear flavor of the race, I find them easy to RP and it just clicks with me.
KENKU:
Love the birds they are based on, not in emo gothy way of course, they are brilliant creatures. Kenku also fit my play style, favoring rogues. One of my favorite characters Ive ever played was a neurotic Kenku Rogue. Ahh, fun times.
GNOLL:
In my opinion the best race to really get your savage on.
POISON DUSK LIZARD FOLK:
They are just awesome when you take advantage of their poison use ability.
LIZARD FOLK:
Same reason as gnoll except the lore behind them makes them alot more mellow than Gnoll.

[Amidus Drexel]

In no particular order -

Humans

Elans

Drow

Dwarves

Halflings

Orcs

Were-octopi anything :smallbiggrin:

[LadyLexi]

When Dm's aren't being all "NO" at me, my absolute favorite is the Petal. +2 LA but it says cohort after it which is the source of many of the no.

Petal shugenja(water), a little bit of cleric, bit of wizard, bit of random new stuff and with a ring of reduction, even tinier.

I'm also a fan of the half-nymph for a bard.

Lesser Air Gensai is pretty cool, I like them mostly for looks though.

Lastly,
Bear rogue/spymaster. With basketweaving.

[ima donkey]

1. Gnoll (in my group we drop the RHD to make it playable) because they are so different to role play and make very good martial types which I prefer to play plus hyenas are pretty cool.

2.Aasimar, they are good enough said.

3. Goliath they are better than gnolls for the most part but I like my dex.

4.Poison dusk lizardfolk, really good with ninja.

5. Human because you can't really go wrong with them.

[Lictor of Thrax]

Drow and Gray Elves: The ancient knowledge beings with secretive agendas, I like very much. Plus you get to wonder why *so* many of the supposedly reclusive gray elves are out adventuring.


In my attempt to find any sort of actual lore or history on grey elves I came across an old dragon magazine that has them involved in a Greyhawk story from 2e.

One thing I thought was sort of fitting, even though it was a total accident, is that even though grey elves are known for their magic, in this story they also formed dueling societies that became a lot light martial arts schools and often skirmished and fought to show who had the superior styles.

Works out surprisingly well with swashbucklers.

[DoughGuy]

Humans, Tieflings and Aasimar. Humans are just great for the feat and skill points. The other 2 just fit so well into many of my character concepts. I also have a soft spot for Half Dragons Orcsa since my first character was one and was really good.

[Thurbane]

Off the top of my head, all for cool factor rather than mechanical benefits:

Karsite
Catfolk
Zenythri
1/2 Ogre
Lumi
Equiceph
Scaled Stalker
Mechanatrix
Poison Dusk Lizardfolk

[Featherman]

I like the iconic D&D races the most: Kobolds, Drow, Aasimar and Tiefling are some of my favorites. I think the Githyanki are also very cool but for some reason they seem to fly under the radar. Vampires and Mind Flayers are cool but hard to play while Gnolls aren't very exciting. Humans and Azurins are mechanically my favorites and they fit almost any character too. It's good that they didn't "screw up" humans like they did for some other races in core. I almost never get to play however so I haven't really connected with any race in particular.

In my games the most popular races are humans, dwarves, kobolds and drow in that order. I have this one regular player who loves these simple beatstick characters and dwarves are clearly his favorite race. In fact you could think that he was a dwarf in a previous life or something as he sort of lives like one. A reliable friend who has a huge beard, works hard and drinks harder. Another regular of mine makes these weird creatures with Thri-kreen, Lizardfolk (both normal and Poison Dusk) and kobold probably being his favorites but he never really sticks to one type of character though they are often psionic, assassin or use unusual tactics. The rest of the people I have played with generally make a human for the simpleness & versatility and because my campaigns often require everyone to be human. For other types of "adventures" drows seem popular.