what makes a d&d sub race stick?

[Anonymouswizard]

When you tell somebody about D&D for the first time, after three sentences, nobody says, “I want to play a half-aasimar,” or “Can I be a tiefling?”

But people do say, “I want to play a hobbit like Bilbo,” or “Can I play a dwarf like Gimli?

My experience has pretty much been the opposite. Nobody wants to play a boring dwarf, they all want to be the hot devil lady (or elf).

In fact I'd say hotness is a big factor in race selection for the modern player, with only animal people rivalling them.

The problem with Kenders isn't that they're chaotic, it's that they're annoying, have a compulsion to do something that is considered a no-no for many players, and the authors pretended they were Perfect(TM) in spite of that. They were presented as unable to stop themselves from stealing from everyone, but it was supposed to be ok because they were Innocent and Quirky.

Kenders are fine (not great, but bearable) if they're stealing interesting but worthless trinkets or just being a gladly. I haven't read the Dragonlance novels, but my understanding is that Tas worked because he never stole anything too important and gave back anything actually important to it's owner (sometimes before being asked to).

The issue is when that jerk steals the Paladin's sword and hides behind 'it's in character'. Steal their wedding ring to have a look at it and give it back when called out