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View Full Version : DM Help How would you pitch a humans only campaign to your group?



MonkeySage
2017-12-06, 11:45 PM
In anticipation for a campaign I plan to run sometime next year, I'm wondering how best to pitch it to my players. Non human sapients exist in the setting, but the scenario I have prepared is extremely human-centric and non-human pcs would be incredibly unlikely.

Nifft
2017-12-07, 12:04 AM
"Hey peeps, I've got an idea for a (long|short) game. It's an all-human D&D thing. Here's more detail: ________________________. Interested?"

VoxRationis
2017-12-07, 01:50 AM
My DM pitched his human-only game based on the premise first and worked the human-only part into the tail end of it.

BlizzardSucks80
2017-12-07, 02:53 AM
Anime-style games tend to be human-only, at least for the PCs.
Many see humans as the "boring" race. But, if you're just starting out with a new game, whether it be designing the system or creating the world, sometimes it is best just to start with humans as the only playable race. Simpler that way.
And a human-only setting can still be interesting. Look at Game of Thrones, for example.
You could make humans-only more interesting too if you make different ethnicities of humans, for example, a desert-dwelling type of human tribe would be different than a mountain-dwelling human tribe to the north.
A human-only game sometimes is the only thing that works in certain settings/genres. Survival Horror, for instance. You don't want a bunch of non-human races running around in Survival Horror. That would kinda mess things up for me.

Glorthindel
2017-12-07, 05:02 AM
Just up and tell them - if they want to play a game, they will (In real life, people are far more amenable to starting restrictions than most forums would lead you to believe), and if it is a major deal-breaker, they wont. If they bitch and complain about how you want to run the game you want to run, you are better off without them.

BWR
2017-12-07, 05:45 AM
The same way the elf-only and dwarf-only human-only games I've played were pitched: "Hey guys. I'm going to run this all [race] game with [background and concept] as the setting and motivation."

If you have decent and reasonable players, all you have to do is give them a good reason to stick to a single race and they will in all probability be happy to go along with it. The way you explained it to us is a good start.

Incorrect
2017-12-07, 06:04 AM
Perhaps you have humans from different regions?
You are limiting their choices (not that I would mind), but give them some other options in stead.

"like game of thrones its humans only, but where you come from makes a difference"

RossN
2017-12-07, 06:21 AM
I think it depends on what system you use - I'm going to assume D&D for the moment because your tone makes it sound like non-humans are a normal option for this setting.

Some players will be disappointed because they are really into playing the cultural aspects of elves (or dwarves or whoever), while some more focused on the mechanical aspects will have to seriously rethink a default or favoured combo ('but I've always played a Half-Orc barbarian!').

Now for most players these sort of restrictions won't be dealbreakers but some might find it a harder adjustment. Maybe work with them to bring them on board.

Mechalich
2017-12-07, 06:44 AM
Well, the easiest answer is also the nasty one: prejudice. If the humans are hostile to non-humans and your campaign is set in human lands then you can make the case that characters playing non-humans would make the scenario functionally impossible.

Incorrect
2017-12-07, 08:31 AM
prejudice
Others might view that as an excellent reason to play non-human.

MonkeySage
2017-12-07, 10:21 AM
It's a Starfinder game- the human home planet in this particular setting(not using the default setting) is an exclusively human planet, and they've only very recently made contact with other races, let alone set up diplomatic relations with them.

Since the players are coming from a human Academy, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to have them to play as non humans.

Nifft
2017-12-07, 10:24 AM
Since the players are coming from a human Academy, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to have them to play as non humans.

If you allowed non-humans, then you might get characters like Spock, Wharf, and Data in Starfleet.

MonkeySage
2017-12-07, 10:33 AM
My concern is that I'll end up with an entirely non-human party, instead of one that has just a single non human- my friends very rarely play human, and most of our campaigns don't even have one.

And the trouble is, the academy itself is less than a couple decades old- its cause was to advance humanity's footprint. To find a new home.

First contact was just a few years ago, too.

Nifft
2017-12-07, 10:47 AM
My concern is that I'll end up with an entirely non-human party, instead of one that has just a single non human- my friends very rarely play human, and most of our campaigns don't even have one.

And the trouble is, the academy itself is less than a couple decades old- its cause was to advance humanity's footprint. To find a new home.

First contact was just a few years ago, too. Hmm.

It kinda sounds like the actual conflict is that you want them to play humans, and they don't want to play humans, so you're creating a scenario to compel them to all play humans.

You could modify your scenario to be all-Zerbrexian, for example, and have everyone play a Zerbrexian looking for a new home.

That's a functionally identical scenario that would meet your needs and the player's desires.

Knaight
2017-12-07, 12:26 PM
I generally just introduce whatever restrictions there are during character creation and move on from there - the general game has been pitched, people are on board, there's a pretty good chance that it's tailored to player consensus for what they want to play anyways and so people are generally happy to have a group template to work with.

Felhammer
2017-12-07, 12:34 PM
Pretty sure most people would be fine with humans only.

LibraryOgre
2017-12-07, 01:39 PM
For most groups I've been with, "Guys, we're all going to be humans for this campaign" would be sufficient. Alternatively, allow non-humans, but at a big cost.

"Ok, we're all going to be humans in this game. If you absolutely have to play a non-human, you're going to have X penalty for Y setting reason."

FreddyNoNose
2017-12-07, 02:52 PM
In anticipation for a campaign I plan to run sometime next year, I'm wondering how best to pitch it to my players. Non human sapients exist in the setting, but the scenario I have prepared is extremely human-centric and non-human pcs would be incredibly unlikely.

I am going to run a humans only campaign.

Guizonde
2017-12-07, 03:02 PM
"alright, i've got a story i want to tell. i've got a system that (i think) is brain-dead easy to learn. here's the pitch:

you are part of a guild. the scavengers guild, to be exact. your team is sent into perilous situations to deal with the problem. the survivors are paid handsomely. you want more info? that'll be session 1.

the catch: only humans are playable, there are no oddball races, just humans inside a giant warehouse that you guys call the atrium.

are you in? welcome to the guild, scav'."

that was the message i sent to my friends. after 3 year-long campaigns where the players liked the setting and the tone so much they designed their own campaigns, i think that "playing human" was the least of all the worries they had. it's such a massive success for something that was half-improvised on the fly that one of my players is currently making a graphic novel of the setting to hedge his bets (and test the market) before filming a webserie.

pitch it like that (replacing "the guild" with your university), and your players won't mind playing humans one bit.

Calthropstu
2017-12-07, 05:40 PM
Another way is to use point buy, playing any race other than human costs 5 points, exotic races (those not phb or crb if pf) cost 10 points. Also create great human only gear.

Mr Beer
2017-12-07, 09:09 PM
"I am running a campaign, this is the background - so human characters only."

You could take a leaf out of the old Stormbringer game and assign different "races" of humans ability adjustments or other unique features. So the strong barbarians of the north have ST+1 and IQ-1, or whatever. This brings flavour to the game and also satisfies people who have a compulsive need to min/max or just generally be different.

icefractal
2017-12-07, 09:12 PM
Well presumably you think being all-human will have some benefit in terms of the theme / plot, so introduce it on those grounds. "This is a game where humans have only recently made contact with aliens, and you may be the ones meeting some species for the first time," sounds like a pretty good reason to me.

I think most players only have a problem when the GM makes things human-only "just because", with no reason why that's desirable.

Metahuman1
2017-12-15, 03:37 AM
I was going to say "hither came Conan," as the pitch, but if your running Sci-fi, that might now work.

Ashtagon
2017-12-15, 06:35 AM
The d20 system babyLon 5 rpg had humans as a playable race with multiple options in the earth splat book . Humans from each major culture group had different starting options.

D20 conan did the same for fantasy.

FabulousFizban
2017-12-15, 06:41 AM
I allow them to use the mechanical features of whichever race they want, but tell them that flavorwise all beings are human. Then they pick dragonborn and play humans who breathe fire...

Bulhakov
2017-12-15, 06:42 AM
I don't think it needs a special pitch. I've played plenty games where my character creation was somehow limited by the GM or where I limited the choices to my players. I always see it as a cooperation process for preparing the campaign. Players never get to come with a ready-made PC as the character needs to fit the party and the story.
Some other limitations I've used:
- my veteran players had to choose fighter/melee builds with a military background, newbies in the group were the most powerful casters (but needed a lot of guidance from the experienced players)
- every PC had to be somehow related to another PC (either through blood or shared background)
- no "always/usually evil" races/classes

I did allow some various +1/-1 tweaks to human races (just from a body-type perspective).

EldritchWeaver
2017-12-15, 07:32 AM
If you allowed non-humans, then you might get characters like Spock, Wharf, and Data in Starfleet.

I must have missed the series, where Wharf (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wharf) was playing. But I'm sure, a gazebo would have been easier to work with.

PopeLinus1
2017-12-15, 07:48 AM
Hey guys, lrts do something different, yet still fairly party balanced, and capable of providing interesting theological discussions while we eviscarate our opponents!

PopeLinus1
2017-12-15, 08:19 AM
Hey guys, lrts do something different, yet still fairly party balanced, and capable of providing interesting theological discussions while we eviscarate our opponents!

Jay R
2017-12-15, 06:53 PM
When I did this in a 2e game, I sent out a four-page description of the game, including a list of specific rules. The first one was:

1. All characters are human. If you want an exception, talk to me. We have to find a way for the non-human to fit into my plans for the start of the campaign, which I will not tell you. (For instance, you don’t know what races exist.) To reduce the negative impact of this rule, if your real goal is to multi-class, your human character may do so.

Calthropstu
2017-12-15, 07:21 PM
I would write "Humans only" on a baseball and instruct my players to pick up a bat. Then I will have pitched a humans only campaign.

Nifft
2017-12-15, 08:48 PM
I would write "Humans only" on a baseball and instruct my players to pick up a bat. Then I will have pitched a humans only campaign.

Point of order: campaigns aren't balls.

Citation: I have three campaigns.

Jay R
2017-12-15, 09:09 PM
I think the crucial point is that I wouldn't bother selling it. As a DM, I'm a known quantity. People who want to play in my game will pay a human-only game, and people who don't want to play in my game won't.

And in both cases, I am in complete agreement.

Esprit15
2017-12-15, 11:06 PM
“Hey guys, I have a campaign idea. Premise requires everyone be humans. Who is in?”

Not every game needs non-human characters. I don’t see the conflict.

Douche
2017-12-18, 10:01 AM
I'd either remove racial bonuses completely, or allow you to have any racial bonus you want with a human "model" That is to say, if you want the Goliath racial bonuses, you can have them for gameplay purposes - but in terms of roleplaying & story, everyone is human. This doesn't really matter if you're playing a game without racial bonuses though.

Aside from that, I don't think it's a huge deal. You could discuss the philosophical implications, how people use their race as a substitute for making a character that is actually unique. How race in fantasy & sci-fi is really just fluff when everyone is a humanoid anyway. Why aren't there any sentient swarms of space insects in Star Wars? That'd be the most powerful jedi. He'd just consume his enemies and striking him with a lightsaber wouldn't even do any significant damage.

Anyway I feel like your thread title carries the stigma that a human only campaign is a bad thing, and that your players will be averse to it... but I don't think you really need to "pitch" it. It'll be easier than you think