How many people find themselves playing only humans and half-elves all the time?

[Gastronomie]

So, I was just browsing through this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?528493-Standard-Races-you-have-no-desire-to-play).
Asking myself "what standard race do I never want to play?" I actually came to the answer that I almost never play anything except humans and half-elves.

No, this is not because Variant Human and Half-Elf are considered the strongest races in the PHB. That is NOT the reason.
The reason is that, the races besides these are...inhuman in some way or another.
I know. It's obvious. They're a non-human race in the first place, that's the whole point. What the hell are you talking about? And oh wait, half-elves are inhuman too! They're half-ELVES FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!!!1111oneoneone IN YOUR FACE
Well, let me explain.

Most of the time, when I create a character to play, I first think up a personality and a motivation. One that’s easy to understand, and even more easier to role-play (this is much more important than optimization IMO). Then I later go fill in the gaps on the character sheet, and thus, the class is actually decided at around the middle point of character creation. The race is chosen at the very end.
Since I create my characters to be easy to role-play, I tend to find myself creating characters that are very human-like. Which is not very surprising, since I’m human myself. It’s easier to sympathize with a human than with a tree trunk or a pair of socks, you know. My characters are created under the assumption that he’s a human.
And since the personality is very human, when I go choose the character's race, I tend to choose... you know, human.
Or half-elf. Half-Elves are pretty similar to humans, although not exactly the same thing. Perhaps my tendency to play half-elves may have to do with how I feel a certain sympathy for them, since I’ve grown up in-between two cultures (Japanese and American) myself.

Well, you know, after creating a very human-like personality for my character, I don’t feel like giving him the weird head of this fire-breathing reptile. No, it’s actually pretty fine to have the head of a fire-breathing reptile; but if my character had the head of a fire-breathing reptile, I’d reckon he’d have a rather different mindset than a normal human. I’d reckon he’d have the mindset of a guy who has the head of a fire-breathing reptile, and not the mindset I originally planned for the character I’m gonna play.
I don’t feel like making my character three feet tall. I don’t feel like viewing the world from the eyes of someone who is three feet tall. I find myself much more comfortable viewing the world from someone who is five to six feet tall, especially since I created this guy’s personality under the assumption he’s around five to six feet tall.
And don’t get me started on Dwarves and Elves, because no, I don’t feel like making my character five hundred years old. I mean, c’mon, how crazy is that? I really despise the very idea that humanoid races could ever live that long. And not some very rare race that’s normally unheard of, or a race that everyone thinks is a myth or a race that’s gone long extinct or anything, I mean, they’re all over the place! The hell!! Oh no, never. In my games, I specifically state that the elves and dwarves in my world can live to be only around 120 years old at maximum.
What was I talking about? Oh yes, long-living races. See, when I create my character’s personality and motivation, it’s under the assumption he will have the average life span of a human being (or something much shorter than that, since it’s generally a world without much science or medical knowledge). If he thinks he will live to be a thousand years old, he will most definitely have a much different view of the world, and a much different personality. It’s hard to get into the shoes of a five-hundred-year-old man when you’re not even fifty.
And let’s get honest, I haven’t seen many people who have done a good job with it either.
So what, you're a dwarf? And oh, yeah, you're proud of your beard. You like alcohol. You're from Scotland. Oh, good for you, there's plenty of people like that out there. What's the part about you being five hundred years old? See, looking back at my own life, I feel I've grown up much compared to ten years ago, or even five. Five years of life is enough to encounter various experiences that will affect your personality and view of life, and... just how wise will a five-hundred-year-old guy be? How many people can role-play that sort of guy and be believable about it?
Sadly, not many Dwarves I've encountered seem to really care about that part. In which case, I really feel, you should have just played a Human. A Human who has a beard, and likes alcohol, and is from Scotland.
tl;dr:
-Races too far from humans are difficult to symphasize with
-I play characters I can easily symphasize with
-Thus, I don’t like playing races too far away from humans

How about you?

[Findulidas]

I think its safe to assume that people think diffrently about creating characters. That also goes for to what races they think they can sympathize and understand. I personally have been all over the place except I have yet to pick a human. Thats primarily because I have yet to be interested in picking one. That said I dont think I could play kenku being both bird and having only mimicry. Next character will most likely be either human or lizardfolk. I have some character ideas I want to try out.

[Basement Cat]

At last! I'm not alone! I've felt so very, very alone...

Seriously, I haven't played a non human character in years and years. And while I only have the core books I've seen the variant human stuff and wasn't interested.

Others love to play demihumans for various reasons but I just haven't much interest in playing them anymore. The only recent time I considered playing one was as a clanless dwarf who was orphaned as a baby and reared by humans and thus had none of the standard dwarven background cultural traits thus rendering him a "non dwarf" in the view of most dwarfs.

Mostly I just roleplay humans because burned out on playing everything except humans for a long time.

Besides, it gets boring to have adventuring parties composed entirely of demihumans after a while. Especially when they are all too often played as humans with beards or humans with pointy ears, etc. All too often people roleplay their characters as "elven" or whatnot for a few sessions then they're back to being humans with pointy ears, etc. Too much effort for some and too much focusing on combat for others.

My current group is all about fluff and roleplaying so it's not a problem now but previous groups...yeah, real bad at being anything but "humans in demihuman bodies".

[Millstone85]

What about aasimar, tieflings and genasi?

They are basically humans with a touch of the Upper, Lower or Inner Planes. As with half-elves, you might hint once in a blue moon that your mind isn't fully human either, and that's it.

[Basement Cat]

What about aasimar, tieflings and genasi?

They are basically humans with a touch of the Upper, Lower or Inner Planes. As with half-elves, you might hint once in a blue moon that your mind isn't fully human either, and that's it.

NO! Humans and half elves only! :smallfurious:

The Force of Xenophobia is strong in this thread! :smalltongue:

[EvilAnagram]

I regularly play a variety of


What about aasimar, tieflings and genasi?

They are basically humans with a touch of the Upper, Lower or Inner Planes. As with half-elves, you might hint once in a blue moon that your mind isn't fully human either, and that's it.
Aren't genasi explicitly extraplanar nowadays?

But this is a good point. A tiefling is a humam who has likely been ostracized for being born with fiendish traits. An aasimar is a human that has likely been celebrated for being born with celestial traits.

I'd go further and say that halfling are basically small humans. Hell, Tolkien used them to represent the average Joe.

Personally, I almost exclusively play non-humans. I like exploring the world from an alien point of view.

[Gastronomie]

I think its safe to assume that people think diffrently about creating characters. That also goes for to what races they think they can sympathize and understand.Well, of course, I can perfectly understand this. Whereas I may sympathize with half-elves, others may sympathize with other races. Please don't think it's not like, I'm telling everyone to never play demi-humans or anything.


At last! I'm not alone! I've felt so very, very alone...

Seriously, I haven't played a non human character in years and years. And while I only have the core books I've seen the variant human stuff and wasn't interested.

Others love to play demihumans for various reasons but I just haven't much interest in playing them anymore. The only recent time I considered playing one was as a clanless dwarf who was orphaned as a baby and reared by humans and thus had none of the standard dwarven background cultural traits thus rendering him a "non dwarf" in the view of most dwarfs.

Mostly I just roleplay humans because burned out on playing everything except humans for a long time.

Besides, it gets boring to have adventuring parties composed entirely of demihumans after a while. Especially when they are all too often played as humans with beards or humans with pointy ears, etc. All too often people roleplay their characters as "elven" or whatnot for a few sessions then they're back to being humans with pointy ears, etc. Too much effort for some and too much focusing on combat for others.

My current group is all about fluff and roleplaying so it's not a problem now but previous groups...yeah, real bad at being anything but "humans in demihuman bodies".Pretty much what I feel too.

What about aasimar, tieflings and genasi?

They are basically humans with a touch of the Upper, Lower or Inner Planes. As with half-elves, you might hint once in a blue moon that your mind isn't fully human either, and that's it.You do have a very good point, because indeed I have played Aasimar(s? What's the plural term?) and Tieflings before, and I have enjoyed them. Haven't got a chance to play Genasi, but that's mainly because I'm not very interested in their fluff.
I've played a Tiefling before, I think twice. They were pretty fun to RP, if not a bit emo. An Aasimar, once, but that was mostly for plot reasons (the mini-campaign was mainly about a war between the servants of a god and a demonic cult). He was rather the type who couldn't really believe himself that he's Percy Jackson the descendant of a god, so yeah, pretty much he was all human.
The reason I have played them only a few times (despite enjoying the experiences) is because I choose a non-human race only when I feel it fits him/her better as a character. The Tieflings I played became Tieflings because one was a former street child discriminated in his home city (EMO!!! but really, he was a brat, and his story was mainly how he got over it), and the other a warlock (I really liked the image of this guy who calls his contract demon his "Grandpa"). The Aasimar, I've already explained above.
The Half-Elves I play are Half-Elves not because I randomly decided they will have pointy ears, but because their backstory involves growing up in different cultures.

[Millstone85]

I have played Aasimar(s? What's the plural term?)According to the PHB, EEPC and VGtM:
* a tiefling, several tieflings.
* a genasi, several genasi.
* an aasimar, several aasimar.

Only tieflings get dat s.

Also, there is no need to capitalize.


Aren't genasi explicitly extraplanar nowadays?As in residents of other planes? That's not the impression I got.

EEPC gives the following possible causes for your character's genasiness:
* "The powerful genies [...] adapt well to the mingled elements of the Material Plane, and they sometimes visit [...] During these visits, a mortal might catch a genie’s eye. Friendship forms, romance blooms, and sometimes children result". Interestingly, that's an explanation from which this edition shied away with aasimar and tieflings.
* "Some genasi [...] have two genasi as parents". So you can have a community of them.
* "a rare few have a genie further up their family tree, manifesting an elemental heritage that’s lain dormant for generations". Draconic sorcerer style.
* "Occasionally, genasi result from exposure to a surge of elemental power, through phenomena such as an eruption from the Inner Planes or a planar convergence". Wild magic sorcerer style.

[Leon]

I'm over 6ft tall, i play Dwarves and Halflings a lot.

[dejarnjc]

I feel like a lot of people always want to place a lot of gravitas on the long lived races as though their many years of life should make them have a behavior/personality that is basically alien to what we as humans could understand. I think this viewpoint is silly, not-realistic, and mostly reinforced by bad fiction.

Most humans' personalities stop changing drastically after the age of 30, though they still do change it's usually a slower process and is more actively/consciously done. Elves/dwarves would be much the same after 100 or so I imagine.

The major difference, IMO, would be the memory functions of the longer lived races. Brains generally have a finite memory capacity so an extremely large degree of a dwarf or elf's experiences would blur together, and only the routine and the extreme would really stand out. Deja vu would be routinely experienced. Names and faces would always sound and look familiar but even this would be such a recognized fact among elven and dwarven society that I sincerely doubt it would heavily affect their personalities, i.e. it'd just be brushed off.

[JAL_1138]

Ever since I got banned from playing Tinker Gnomes for excessive shenaniganry.

I do play dwarves occasionally, because pint-sized angry drunken Scotsmen are fun to play and Hill Dwarves make fantastic Clerics, although occasionally I play them as extremely literal-minded Discword dwarfs* (and occasionally a dwarfish** rogue or bard as a blatant expy of Casanunda). I used to play them as Dwarf Fortress dorfs, until those got reclassified as a subspecies of tinker gnome and subsequently banned.

So generally these days I stick to half-elves and Vhumans, partly because of stats and partly because I often play characters that just make more sense as humans or half-elves, aside from the occasional dorf dwarf cleric.

*(Discworld doesn't use the "dwarves" spelling.)
**(Consequently, it doesn't use "dwarven" either.)

[Anonymouswizard]

I have a GM who decided to limit the lifespan of elves and dwarves to the mid hundreds (I think most elves died at 150), then specified how there were legends of them living longer but the wild differences made most scholars assume it's distortion and exaggeration from them living about twice as long as most humans.

I personally tend to play races with a lifespan within about 10% of a human's, with the exception of dwarves (where I usually dodge the age argument with 'they are fully adults at some point in their twenties and most live assuming they're going to die in battle before they live to 100'), but that's due to just not liking how most long lived races are presented. I've also tried to play humans with an age of about 200 in science fiction settings, but few of my GMs will allow that (and the one that would doesn't run games with the required technology). So it tends to be humans, dwarves, and occasionally stuff like Dragonborn or Gnomes (until I'm banned for engineering) for me.

[CaptainSarathai]

I tend to play standard VHumans for 2 reasons.

1. Mechanically, they're awesome. They get my build on faster, make up for lost ASIs, etc.

2. I'm a human, and I'm past the point in life where I want to be anything else. Initially, I started shifting away from "edge lord" stuff and "Mary Sue" character builds and classes. So Tieflings, Drow, they're all gone. Dragonborn, various Elves, they went next.
I used to play Spellscales back in 3.5 because for some reason, bedazzled gypsy dragons appealed to me. Nope. No more that.
Even elves and half elves are getting kinda cringey. The sparkly vampires of fantasy races.

[BestPlayer]

Like the OP I primarily play humans and occasionally a half elf or full elf, but that's as far as I usually go. I design my characters with complex backgrounds and motivations and I find that difficult to do for an alien race that I don't understand very well.

[Lombra]

I actually try to use the least human-like races because I like different aesthetics and I like the different social implications that may have (depending on the setting). I don't make complex and deep backgrounds for my characters so maybe that's why I can adapt to any race, I try to keep it simple, specially if I'm starting at low levels (I don't find a meaning in having a whole adventure at my back only to start as a level 1 adventurer). Humans just don't give me the exotic feel that I look for most of my character ideas, probably it's because I see a lot of humans around IRL :P

I like not-human PCs because you can be weird and still coherent with the character, while since we, as humans, know humans very well it's hard to make intreasting, funny and unexpected characters to roleplay.

[CantigThimble]

I like not-human PCs because you can be weird and still coherent with the character, while since we, as humans, know humans very well it's hard to make interesting, funny and unexpected characters to roleplay.

Wait, we understand humans and they're predicable now? When did this happen? Someone call the psychologists and authors! :smalltongue:

I don't play exclusively Humans and Half-Elves (only mostly) but my demi-humans are often on the more human end of the spectrum (Dwarf trader who works mostly in human lands, Half-Orc raised by humans etc.) to minimize the cultural differences I need to account for.

Ultimately, every race is going to be roleplayed as a human some tweaks just because we can't conceive of a really inhuman mind. The question is how much can you tweak things while still being able to roleplay well? I mean, a different length of lifespan alone is a crazy complicated change to work into a culture.

[Anonymouswizard]

My dwarf trader's backstory included him being unusually fond of being outside, and so being apprenticed to a trader rather than being a smith. He was regarded like he was a bit weird by his family and friends, but not in any serious way. He had a tendency to try and flog axes to people with no need for them, but had a decent trade carting dwarven ale to human festivals. Essentially very humanlike for a dwarf, but the only reason there wasn't interparty conflict in that game was because I wasn't around long enough for him to discover the thief in the party. He was meant to have one arm, but that was banned by the GM.

[EvilAnagram]

Wait, we understand humans and they're predicable now? When did this happen? Someone call the psychologists and authors! :smalltongue:

I don't play exclusively Humans and Half-Elves (only mostly) but my demi-humans are often on the more human end of the spectrum (Dwarf trader who works mostly in human lands, Half-Orc raised by humans etc.) to minimize the cultural differences I need to account for.

Ultimately, every race is going to be roleplayed as a human some tweaks just because we can't conceive of a really inhuman mind. The question is how much can you tweak things while still being able to roleplay well? I mean, a different length of lifespan alone is a crazy complicated change to work into a culture.

I actually tend to exaggerate cultural differences. My dwarf was convinced the clean-shaven PCs were women because that's the only way he knew to tell. My half-orc was a brutally efficient killer in part because he couldn't quite wrap his head around death being permanent. My warforged fighter thought he was a druid because he beat people to death with a small tree. I like when my characters feel slightly alien.

[Pex]

With few exceptions I would only play a human because of 2E. In 2E humans sucked. They couldn't multiclass. Dual-classing rules were punishing. They had no racial benefits just for existing. Their only benefit, no level limit, never mattered because either the campaign ended before it would affect the demihumans or the DM waived the limits so the campaign can continue with the same characters. I played humans out of protest. Two exceptions were a halfling when the entire party were halflings, but that campaign never went anywhere, and an undead skeleton that was an experiment.

3E improved the human lot, but I stuck with them out of habit by now. Besides, the bonus feat at 1st level is really juicy. In 5E my paladin is a mountain dwarf, but only because he started as a pre-made character to get the campaign going at a public Meet-Up. I was allowed to tweak the character when the game became official, and I decided to keep him a dwarf so as not to tweak too much. I once was going to play a half-elf warlock as an on purpose non-human just for a change, but I quit that game due to reasons not related to thread. Mainly even in 5E I stay with human out of habit.

[Lombra]

Wait, we understand humans and they're predicable now? When did this happen? Someone call the psychologists and authors! :smalltongue:


I'm pretty sure that I did not say that, but if it's not understandable I meant that we have already seen many human adventurers through many media, and rediscovering and reinterpreting them through the eyes of different, unearthly cultures makes it much more appealing to me.

[KorvinStarmast]

tl;dr:
-Races too far from humans are difficult to symphasize with
-I play characters I can easily symphasize with
-Thus, I don’t like playing races too far away from humans

How about you?
Played a lot of hobbits over the years, and some halflings too. (I like to eat, I can "grok" hobbit).
My last five characters are:
Human cleric (Life)
Human Cleric (Tempest -- so far my fave 5e char)
Half Elf Warlock (archfey) Has potential but the campaign is on hold.
Half Orc fighter (who favors his moms'/human side) Lovin' me some down and dirty fighter action.
Wood Elf Monk (So far, interesting, but we rarely get to play) I Play her to her low charisma: aloof and not very personable. (The kind of elf humans perceive as those "darned arrogant elves!")
Back up char is a human Ranger (bounty Hunter) and a vhuman life cleric.

Why? Got tired of all the other stuff, mostly. I've got a hill dwarf druid as a back up in case my nephew starts running his campaign again. None of us has played a 5e druid yet, and I played my first druid ever out of Eldritch Wizardry in an OD&D campaign.

[lunaticfringe]

I'm over 6ft tall, i play Dwarves and Halflings a lot.

Yup, me too. Lightfoot & Hill Dwarf are my favorite subraces so far.

[FreddyNoNose]

NO! Humans and half elves only! :smallfurious:

The Force of Xenophobia is strong in this thread! :smalltongue:

Obviously you aren't excluding kender, gnomes or other cute races?

[Findulidas]

Obviously you aren't excluding kender

Im not sure if people are trying to bait when they write stuff like this. I know some people like kenders, they must be out there, but I cant fathom why.

[Coidzor]

In the eyes of my Hobgoblin Knight, there's humans, horny red humans, pointy-ear humans, tusky humans, short humans. Only gnomes, dragonborn, dorfs, and elfs are recognized as outside the human family of the standard races.

I've got only one human character so far and I'm making my second though he may be a half-elf instead. For 5e anyway, was human all the way in 3.5 and 4e. PF I mostly went humie, but branched out to lizardman the last time I played that system.

The others, in order, have been a half-orc(20th generation), a halfling, hobgoblin knight, human, hobgoblin stalker of the aforementioned hobgoblin knight, orangutan man, and now the one I'm currently working on.

I may end up playing a proper gobbo or dragonborn before the human I'm making right now, though, for a one-shot.

[CantigThimble]

I'm pretty sure that I did not say that, but if it's not understandable I meant that we have already seen many human adventurers through many media, and rediscovering and reinterpreting them through the eyes of different, unearthly cultures makes it much more appealing to me.

Well, 'hard to be unexpected' and 'predictable' are effectively synonyms.

I was just saying that if you can't find a surprising personality for a human then you aren't looking very hard. If you prefer the unearthly side of things then thats fine, I just think there's plenty of interesting earthly stuff left.

[Pikkle]

Currently playing my first 5th Ed human in a campaign. The only reason for this is it fit the idea I had for the character.

[Basement Cat]

Obviously you aren't excluding kender, gnomes or other cute races?

I'm writing some fantasy fiction and one of the main protagonists is an addled 21 inch tall 23 year old mortal born Halfling Demigoddess. She's cute, polite, well intentioned, mad, bad, and deadly dangerous to know. Best we keep her out of this thread. <_<

Never liked gnomes. Moreover after Dragonlance stereotyped them I became gnome-phobic.

All kender must die!

[FreddyNoNose]

I'm writing some fantasy fiction and one of the main protagonists is an addled 21 inch tall 23 year old mortal born Halfling Demigoddess. She's cute, polite, well intentioned, mad, bad, and deadly dangerous to know. Best we keep her out of this thread. <_<

Never liked gnomes. Moreover after Dragonlance stereotyped them I became gnome-phobic.

All kender must die!

If all Kender must die it is because all Kender have lived!

[JAL_1138]

If all Kender must die it is because all Kender never should have lived!

Fixed that for you :smalltongue:

[Nifft]

These days, I like 3 kinds of races:

- Humans -- an everyman in fantasy land.

- "I never asked for this." -- manufactured or created races like Warforged who are explicitly not natural, and need to define who they are.

- "I totally asked for this." -- deliberately transformed races like Elan from XPH, Spryte & Mojh from Arcana Evolved, the 3.5e version of Dragonborn, and that Prestige Race article from Dragon Magazine.


If the only options are Human / Dwarf / Elf / Gnome / Halfling, then I'm probably going to be Human (again).

[Waterdeep Merch]

Toss in half-orcs and it's what I've been playing most of my gaming career. I just don't like the pigeonholed behavior of most fantasy races. It's so ingrained that most characters are either exactly like them or a direct response to them.

For all the hate elves get, I feel dwarves are the worst here. I can't even count the number of terrible Scottish accents I've heard in my time, and they always boil down to a few specific traits- they're stubborn, they love drinking, they love fighting, they hate elves, and they're obsessed with tradition. Even when I make worlds expressly to break these things, my players default to these behaviors.

I see more variation in drow players.

[JBPuffin]

Considering I basically play the same character in every game, race hasn't mattered much. I've recently played dwarves and humans more than anything else, but that's not for any particular reason.

[Anonymouswizard]

they're stubborn, they love drinking, they love fighting, they hate elves, and they're obsessed with tradition.

Sounds like one of the last humans I played :smalleek:

[FabulousChester]

While I play a **** ton of half-elves (I also play elves and dwarves) I seem to have an unplaceable aversion to playing humans. Like, I'll weigh almost every race choice before I ever consider human.

The reason I play half-elves are myriad. Whether it's to emulate being the D&D equivalent of the Dunedain/Numenoreans, to have that elven 'flavor' but not feel too strange when it comes to human-centric plots and cultures (played an elf once who was always always accused of being a spy because I meddled in the affairs of men, left an impact I guess), or just because I wanted to be an elf with a beard. Because beards are fun, and apply equally to magic-ing and (holy) warrior-ing.

I also like to play Aasimar too. Just can't ever seem to bring myself to play humans.

[2D8HP]

Half-Elf for the "mechanics" (and it gives me an excuse to play my IRL age, but have a fantasy fit PC). Human because role-playing a relatively mundane person exploring a fantastic world is the "trope" I like. Third place goes to Woof Elf for the mecanics, and I've had some fun making up some cultural antropology with that, but if another PC is a Wood Elf we have to reconcile the visions (or if the DM says no).

I played a High Elf once in 5e to take advantage of some rolled stats, and in 1e AD&D I had a Half-Orc Cleric/Fighter.
I don't play casters, short folk (dwarves, gnomes, halflings), and obviously non-humans (Dragonborn, Tieflings).

So I play Elves, Half-elves, Half-orcs, and Humans.

And I wouldn't even play Elves but for the mechanical advantages.

[ZorroGames]

... Mainly even in 5E I stay with human out of habit.

Replace Human with Mountain Dwarf and that is me. Plan on Hill Dwarf and Forest Gnome in future games.

I do not do accents, especially Scots ones, but my dwarf characters tend to be individuals with personality quirks. Like being able to laugh at themself, accept Elves as long lived humanoids with potentially useful "nerdlock" memory who just freaking talk to trees, or (my monk) have no desire to accumulate large sums of money (that is why human peasants were created - charity.)

Common is spoken at an educated level (paid attention in young dwarf school) because it pays to be understood by short life forms like humans.

[ZorroGames]

With few exceptions I would only play a human because of 2E. In 2E humans sucked. They couldn't multiclass. Dual-classing rules were punishing. They had no racial benefits just for existing. Their only benefit, no level limit, never mattered because either the campaign ended before it would affect the demihumans or the DM waived the limits...

In pre-2ed I played humans initially (white box) then Dwarf gradually became my go to race. We enforced the limit level in campaigns but they (TSR) kept creating ways to bypass it - OD&D suplements kept upping the level limits and then there was unlimited levels as a thief... by AD&D 1st I just played old converted characters (mid teens Patriarch and Wizard) or went Dwarf. Skipped 2, 3, 3.5, and 4th and have stuck with Mt. Dwf. for current games because everybody seems to want to be a spell slinger, rogue, or dex-fighter - no one seems to be a melee type except a rare paladin here and there. Sometimes you just need some muscle and shield guy or gal.

[coolAlias]

no one seems to be a melee type except a rare paladin here and there. Sometimes you just need some muscle and shield guy or gal.
Humans are definitely my go-to race for most character concepts I come up with, but recently I've been toying with the super-original idea (ha) of a half-orc mercenary (Str-based champion fighter), or perhaps a half-orc frenzy barbarian based loosely on Karsa Orlong from the Malazan series.

There's something extremely gratifying about smashing skulls all up close and personal like. ;)

[ZorroGames]

Humans are definitely my go-to race for most character concepts I come up with, but recently I've been toying with the super-original idea (ha) of a half-orc mercenary (Str-based champion fighter), or perhaps a half-orc frenzy barbarian based loosely on Karsa Orlong from the Malazan series.

There's something extremely gratifying about smashing skulls all up close and personal like. ;)

So true! So very true!

[GlenSmash!]

This is exactly me.

I play D&d to pretend to be like the heroes I've seen in fantasy. Aragorn, Tanis-Halfelven etc. So i almost always play a Human or Half-Elf.

I have tossed in the occasional Half-Orc (Tough Human) and Goliath (Big Human) but I've never strayed beyond that.

[Mongobear]

I'm over 6ft tall, i play Dwarves and Halflings a lot.

Weird, I'm nearly 7 ft tall and can only play/relate to races similarly large. Half-Orc, Goliath, Firbolg, etc

[GlenSmash!]

Weird, I'm nearly 7 ft tall and can only play/relate to races similarly large. Half-Orc, Goliath, Firbolg, etc

They say that's why Travis Willingham chose Goliath for his character Grog in the game that eventually became Critical Role. Being 6'4" he related to being the guy that would stand out due to his size. And being having struggles with math he related to having the low Int score.

What resulted is one of the most entertaining characters on the show.

[Mongobear]

They say that's why Travis Willingham chose Goliath for his character Grog in the game that eventually became Critical Role. Being 6'4" he related to being the guy that would stand out due to his size. And being having struggles with math he related to having the low Int score.

What resulted is one of the most entertaining characters on the show.

I'm basically a lot less interesting version of him, from the sounds of it.

Although one quirk I do tend to have trouble avoiding is making the similarly huge character be a spellcaster or at the very least a Gish of some sort. EK, Bladelock, War/Tempest Cleric, etc

[Hooligan]

Without LotR, the hobbit, & the silmarilion I doubt that I'd have ever played D&D. I suppose a draw on those books to a greater or lesser extent when I make a character & having read them all many times I empathize with the races portrayed within (including orcs).
Let's see, in 5e I've played:
Human
Mountain Dwarf
Wood elf
Rock Gnome
Half Orc
Mountain Dwarf
Wood elf
Light foot Halfling
Half Orc
Wood Elf
Half Orc
Variant Human
Wood Elf
Forest Gnome
Mountain Dwarf

[Selvarin]

TBH, I've seen choice of race as a means to an end. I'm not an actor, don't want to be one, nor would I wish to punish anyone with an attempt, so I find all this "Playing race x would be too alien for me" to be...meh. So I roll up a character I like who looks the way I like. But I do have preferences in the following order:

1) Elf
2) Dwarf
3) Half-elf

Humans do have advantages but perhaps the one thing I'll concede as a definite 'plus' is freedom from the perceived baggage that comes with being a specific race. (Yeah, I said I didn't care but I am nonetheless aware of certain perceptions.)


~Selvarin~

[CantigThimble]

TBH, I've seen choice of race as a means to an end. I'm not an actor, don't want to be one, nor would I wish to punish anyone with an attempt, so I find all this "Playing race x would be too alien for me" to be...meh. So I roll up a character I like who looks the way I like. But I do have preferences in the following order:

1) Elf
2) Dwarf
3) Half-elf

Humans do have advantages but perhaps the one thing I'll concede as a definite 'plus' is freedom from the perceived baggage that comes with being a specific race. (Yeah, I said I didn't care but I am nonetheless aware of certain perceptions.)


~Selvarin~

Well, for me at least it's less a matter of acting and more a matter of psychology. If you've read Ender's Game (or even better, Speaker for the Dead) you'll have some idea what I'm talking about. Conceptualizing a mind other than your own and figuring out how it would react to a situation is where RP gets really interesting IMO, even if that doesn't involve accents or speeches, you can do it even with silent characters. But I understand that particular flavor isn't for everyone.

[Sirdar]

Half-Elf for the "mechanics" (and it gives me an excuse to play my IRL age, but have a fantasy fit PC).

Best reason so far! :-)

[Anonymouswizard]

They say that's why Travis Willingham chose Goliath for his character Grog in the game that eventually became Critical Role. Being 6'4" he related to being the guy that would stand out due to his size. And being having struggles with math he related to having the low Int score.

What resulted is one of the most entertaining characters on the show.

I'm the opposite, I'm shortish (5'7'', so not enough to stand out) and good at maths, so I feel a kinship with small engineer races, especially dwarves and gnomes (not halflings weirdly, because I'm more city middle class English than country middle class English). I tend to refuse to play a character who doesn't have an above average intelligence, I can do impulsive but I can't do stupid and like playing characters wealthy in knowledge but poor in common sense.

[Knaight]

I tend to stick to humans - as far as I'm concerned elves, dwarves, etc. do not belong in most of the settings they're shoehorned into, and I prefer to ignore those aspects of the settings as much as possible. As a player, that means picking human almost all the time. As a GM, that means not shoehorning elves, dwarves, etc. into the setting at all.

[ZorroGames]

I tend to stick to humans - as far as I'm concerned elves, dwarves, etc. do not belong in most of the settings they're shoehorned into, and I prefer to ignore those aspects of the settings as much as possible. As a player, that means picking human almost all the time. As a GM, that means not shoehorning elves, dwarves, etc. into the setting at all.

Interesting word, "shoehorning."

Since Elves and Dwarfs have been around long before Poul Andrson, Tolkien/LOTR, Richard Adams, Lord Dunsany, George McDonad, and others we read in our lifetime - indeed before the Arabian Nights or European romances of chivalry - I see no reason to blanket condemn them from games except as a personal quirk/choice.

[Theodoxus]

I'm the opposite... I tend to refuse to play a character who doesn't have an above average intelligence, I can do impulsive but I can't do stupid and like playing characters wealthy in knowledge but poor in common sense.

Hehe, and I'm the opposite of that... I can give or take intelligence (I prefer it if I'm a skill monkey (especially knowledges)) but it's not something I require in my characters. But I hate being low wisdom. It seems I default to "lack of impulse control" more than "lack of common sense." Like, I literally rebuilt my 3rd level HOrc Barbarian 2/Rogue 1 from a 12 Wis/8 Chr to 8 Wis/12 Chr (for a swashbuckler subclass I finally decided on) and went from being fairly cautious if confident in his abilities, to a murderhobo the next game session.

We're playing LMoP and had a run-in with the Townmaster who basically got in my face and told me I was wasting everyone's time and he'd lock me up for impersonating a redbrand. I just snapped, and then snapped his neck... which terrified Sildar and Gundren - and the DM concluded that the party (the rest of which were complicit) had turned Chaotic Evil and would either need to embrace or atone... we play again tomorrow - and there's been no discussion regarding which way we're going to go, outside of my being contrite and acquiescing to the parties desires...

But the point is, had I kept my 12 Wis, I wouldn't have been so compulsive in my dealings, and would have tried to find a diplomatic solution... I can't be trusted with an 8 Wis... but it's going to be fun trying :smallcool:

[Anonymouswizard]

Hehe, and I'm the opposite of that... I can give or take intelligence (I prefer it if I'm a skill monkey (especially knowledges)) but it's not something I require in my characters. But I hate being low wisdom. It seems I default to "lack of impulse control" more than "lack of common sense." Like, I literally rebuilt my 3rd level HOrc Barbarian 2/Rogue 1 from a 12 Wis/8 Chr to 8 Wis/12 Chr (for a swashbuckler subclass I finally decided on) and went from being fairly cautious if confident in his abilities, to a murderhobo the next game session.

We're playing LMoP and had a run-in with the Townmaster who basically got in my face and told me I was wasting everyone's time and he'd lock me up for impersonating a redbrand. I just snapped, and then snapped his neck... which terrified Sildar and Gundren - and the DM concluded that the party (the rest of which were complicit) had turned Chaotic Evil and would either need to embrace or atone... we play again tomorrow - and there's been no discussion regarding which way we're going to go, outside of my being contrite and acquiescing to the parties desires...

But the point is, had I kept my 12 Wis, I wouldn't have been so compulsive in my dealings, and would have tried to find a diplomatic solution... I can't be trusted with an 8 Wis... but it's going to be fun trying :smallcool:

No matter what my WIS or equivalent I tend to be either impulsive or lacking in common sense with how I play my characters, generally the latter because I like planning at least a couple of in-game days in advance.

I also play STEM characters when possible (as my sig says I prefer science fiction when it's available), and Intelligence is a requirement for making them decent.

[Knaight]

Interesting word, "shoehorning."

Since Elves and Dwarfs have been around long before Poul Andrson, Tolkien/LOTR, Richard Adams, Lord Dunsany, George McDonad, and others we read in our lifetime - indeed before the Arabian Nights or European romances of chivalry - I see no reason to blanket condemn them from games except as a personal quirk/choice.

If the elves and dwarves in question had a tendency to show up in a way that suggested they were there because of a conscious decision to include them specifically, and in a way that suggested that the setting designer was deliberately pulling from myth and legend that would be one thing. As is, they have a tendency to show up in the settings because they're listed in the PHB, and usually show up as discount-Tolkien versions. It's not a blanket condemnation - the word "most" was used for a reason.

[Hooligan]

If the elves and dwarves in question had a tendency to show up in a way that suggested they were there because of a conscious decision to include them specifically, and in a way that suggested that the setting designer was deliberately pulling from myth and legend that would be one thing. As is, they have a tendency to show up in the settings because they're listed in the PHB, and usually show up as discount-Tolkien versions. It's not a blanket condemnation - the word "most" was used for a reason.

What? here I was thinking that to have a proper fantasy setting a ton of stunted (terribly voiced) Scotsmen were always required.

[2D8HP]

What? here I was thinking that to have a proper fantasy setting a ton of stunted (terribly voiced) Scotsmen were always required.


Multiple Mike Meyers's?

[90sMusic]

I typically play a difference race for each class...
Bard = Half-Elf
Barbarian = Half-Orc
Fighter = Half-Orc
Warlock = Tiefling
Wizard = Forest Gnome
Rogue = Tabaxi *** Favorite race/class combo of all time
Ranger = Wood Elf
Druid = Wood Elf
Paladin = Dragonborn
Sorcerer = Tiefling or Dragonborn (Or Yuan-ti Pureblood if that is an option)

So the only races I never really play are dwarves, halflings, and human.
Halflings are just thematically and mechanically not something i'm terribly interested in.
Humans are boring. Variant is ok, non-variant is garbage as well so no loss in my lack of interest.
Dwarves I just don't find to be very interesting to play.

I just enjoy a sneaky tabaxi rogue or a tiefling who wants to get in touch with her infernal side. I enjoy a gold dragonborn of bahamut that can breath a cone of fire when facing numerous enemies close together. Etc.

I think if you could just choose what bonus ability scores you had at the start instead of having it tied to your race, I might try different combinations.

I do also miss the alternate racial features pathfinder had. Like 30 additional options specific to each race where you could swap one feature for another to really customize your character more. I enjoyed that a lot. You'd see a lot more variation.

[Beelzebubba]

I'm playing an Elf for the first time in a while, maybe ever

The whole thing about living 700 years, as a Druid possibly 7,000 is already changing my behavior.

DGAF is creeping into everything. Like, 'humans are like dogs, I'll know a bunch of them in my life, they'll come and go, enjoy them but from a bit of a distance.'

Doesn't make for super 'loud' role play, but I throw in a few zings that hint at that attitude, and it's raised a few eyebrows. It's pretty fun.

[mr-mercer]

I've only ever made one human character, but I can appreciate them for their capabilities of really embracing the badass normal trope: I tend to play pure martials and like the idea of being the guy with a sword who keeps up with/surpasses a team of reality warpers, and as humans are so inherently mundane they add to that nicely.

However, I tend to go for characters on one basic principle: raw, unrelenting power. To that end, I more often than not play half-orcs, minotaurs and similar characters, taking a martial class and a two-handed weapon for maximum obliteration. It's interesting to see people's opinions on what makes characters enjoyable, but in the end strength rules all.

[Samayu]

I come up with a personality/concept, then determine what race and class I would most like to fit it to. Any of my concepts would work as human, but most of them would work with any race - I might just angle them a certain direction. So my dwarf aristocrat might not sound as effete as the elven one, but he could still be effete for a dwarf. So I find it odd when people feel races force them to play a certain type of character.

OK, you're not going to have a gnome knight. Sure, I get that. But why not an elf?

I get a bit annoyed by the stereotypes, like when all members of a certain race act a certain way. Not all Klingons are warriors, for example. You think there are no banks on Kronos?

Elf: Don't hate me because I'm beautiful... or I will pull your eyes out and eat them.

[Mjolnirbear]

I *never* play a human. I play a human every day. I'm playing a fantasy game because it's more interesting than *every day*. I'm playing casters who can warp reality or warriors performing feats of incredible strength or explorers dealing with all the surprises of a world with few rules and more excitement.

And I enjoy the challenge of trying to think like something else. When I play a halfling, they are the hin, the wanderers, the curious, the fortunate. When I play a kobold, it is a survivalist in the extreme, a paranoid creature who knows without a doubt that he is smaller and weaker and must play to his strengths. When I play a dragonborn, it is proud and honourable, of the blood of the most powerful and legendary creatures in all the realms, with a strong warrior tradition. Then I take that stereotype, and run with it--I warp it, or change it, or do something in spite of it or because of it.

Obviously, all that is through the lens of being a human. It's what I am, after all.

[Mitth'raw'nuruo]

Your age point is well made. Which is why I've almost never seen a long lived race played as anything older than 30s.

[Mortheim]

I overplayed humans in World of Darkness, so in DnD i play mostly non-human races. And, well, i'm all about gnomes.
Paladin? Gnome.
Ranger? Gnome.
Wizard? Gnome.
Aritifcier? Gnome.
Sorcerer? HA! GOT YOU! WOOD ELF!
I think this is tied to my love towards one particular character from "Memory, Sorrow, Thorn" - Binabik (Binbiniqegabenik is full name). He is not gnome per se, but his character has a lot in common with this race.

But, tbh, most of my friends play humans or their close variants. As current party they have 3 humans, half-elf and tiefling (4 humans if we count those halves).

[coolAlias]

Your age point is well made. Which is why I've almost never seen a long lived race played as anything older than 30s.
Or the rough "human-equivalent" thereof. ;)

Even for humans, it can be a tough sell to play an older character for the sole point that how did you get that old without accruing massive amounts of experience??? For humans, I might be able to come up with something like "spent my whole life so far in a hermitage", but for a 400+ year old dwarf or elf... surely you'd have done something worthy of XP in all that time.

[Naez]

I'd have to agree on the long lived races part from both the player and the DM side if the table. Having someone who lives the better part of a millennium really throws a wrench in the storytelling. '500 years ago the king mysteriously vanished now you must find the truth.' 'Oh yeah I remember that. Wasn't his advisor an elf? let's look him up and see what happened.' The amount of time necessary between an event and important details being lost to time is astronomical. Also major changes to society normally occur when the ruler changes. Since most DND settings use monarchs this usually means when they die. So things would change at an extremely slow rate since, barring assassination, you'd only have a regime change twice a millennium if you're lucky.

[EvilAnagram]

I'd have to agree on the long lived races part from both the player and the DM side if the table. Having someone who lives the better part of a millennium really throws a wrench in the storytelling. '500 years ago the king mysteriously vanished now you must find the truth.' 'Oh yeah I remember that. Wasn't his advisor an elf? let's look him up and see what happened.' The amount of time necessary between an event and important details being lost to time is astronomical. Also major changes to society normally occur when the ruler changes. Since most DND settings use monarchs this usually means when they die. So things would change at an extremely slow rate since, barring assassination, you'd only have a regime change twice a millennium if you're lucky.
I've solved that in my campaign through societal segregation. Most of the long-lived species do not integrate much into human society, and those individuals that do rarely permeate far. The elves in particular have only recently finished a civil war that has lasted centuries, so their society had been very inwardly focused.