Races to Roleplay (all editions)

[lotusblossom13]

Since I started playing D&d three years ago, I have played a human cleric, a human fighter, and a human wizard (I think you may sense a pattern here). I really want to branch out during character creation and select a unique race to play and roleplay.

I would love for people to use this thread to share which race they feel is most fun to roleplay. Share character stories, discuss the benefits of choosing of a particular race, and gush about your favorites.

Also, if you feel like sharing a particularly interesting or apt Class/Race combo, feel free to share if you believe it would lead to a fun game.

Happy writing

[Righteous Doggy]

I've played alot of different and races, but... oddly enough I like humans the best. For a half a dozen reasons too. I always feel like people tend to try and act like whatever race they are, and forget people are incredibly versatile or different. An orc is always gruff and big, or stupid. Gnomes and halflings have funny little voices or something when people play them. Human I'm just a person and can be anything(not that anyone can't do that with anything else mind you). Also, in a world full of hyper intellegent gnomes and elves, and super powered orcs and giants. It feels great to show them up and gives me a much greater feeling that I conquered something.

[Morithias]

Changeling Chameleon

Best combo ever. You can play any race you want, and with some nice Chameleon you can play any class you want.

You're literally everything under the sun.

[Vitruviansquid]

It all really depends on how willing the DM is to work with you to make your character concept work. For instance, my DM shot down (for very understandable and blameless reasons) my suggestion that he incorporate into his setting the Crap Elves on Crap Mountain, a lazy, incompetent, and altogether worthless subrace of elves who nevertheless act infuriatingly smug and superior, lording their "ancient wisdom" and long lifespans over the other, objectively better races.

But my point is, every DM is going to interpret every race a little bit differently, and it'd be weird to roleplay a stereotypical raping and pillaging kind of orc when the DM filled his entire world with stereotypical nature-worshipping, peace-loving orcs. So, perhaps what you're looking for isn't interesting races, but interesting takes on races.

For instance, I played a wood elf under the idea that wood elven society existed totally within natural law, as in whatever someone could take by force was his by right. In civilized societies, wood elves acknowledged that their abilities to take things by force was limited by the other societies' laws, but only on the basis of their coercive power (guards, prisons, and such).

[Masaioh]

Half-breeds of any kind. However, this depends partially on whether or not you are comfortable with certain *sensitive topics* in your games.

Does your group play in a specific setting? That is going to have a big impact on what races are suggested in this thread.

[Oracle_Hunter]

I would love for people to use this thread to share which race they feel is most fun to roleplay. Share character stories, discuss the benefits of choosing of a particular race, and gush about your favorites.

I've had the most race-related fun in settings where racial cultures matter. For example, my 4e Half-Elf Barbarian (Aeriyana) would have been nothing special if she hadn't been in Eberron and her Elven heritage was Valenar

Her father was a human Cyrean Trader and her mother was a war leader amongst the Valenar. Aside from not being told her Ancestor by the Keepers of the Past she further stood out by not cottoning to blade-dancing and horse riding. The last straw was when the tougher-and-prettier Aeriyana (+CON, +CHA) took up the great axe; her mother was pressed into returning Aeriyana to her father after her clan was passed over for honor several times as a result.

So Aeriyana was outcast from her mother and society and raised by her negligent-but-loving devil-may-care father -- that is to say, she spent her late teens hanging out with caravan guards. All in all, she probably would have turned out OK if The Day of Mourning hadn't separated her from her father... and if a Mark of Storm hadn't manifested on herself the same day.

She ended up feeling an outcast from both societies while tied to some Draconic Prophecy that she couldn't help but feel was tied into her Ancestor. Part of the fun was acting the part of a Valenar Warrior while still having the instincts of a caravan guard.

[lotusblossom13]

The game I am currently playing in is actually an original campaign setting. Pretty much every race is allowed, I believe.

[Marlowe]

For instance, my DM shot down (for very understandable and blameless reasons) my suggestion that he incorporate into his setting the Crap Elves on Crap Mountain, a lazy, incompetent, and altogether worthless subrace of elves who nevertheless act infuriatingly smug and superior, lording their "ancient wisdom" and long lifespans over the other, objectively better races.

Yeah, I can see why it didn't fly. We already have Drow.

If I wasn't addicted to playing Human, I keep thinking Goblin would be nice to try. They'd make excellent Rogues.

[Techsmart]

My favorite race to roleplay was a custom race I created that was essentially anthropomorphic (I think i got the spelling right) rabbits. This created a large series of awkward situations where my character had to talk with guards, town leaders, and other random strangers that no, he wasn't a wizard trying to play tricks on him, and no, he wasn't the one that was causing problems around town. He was a neutral good druid, and ended up being a lot of fun to roleplay (No leadership feat, and my character had a following bigger than the rest of the party due to situations where I completely threw DM off).

[The Glyphstone]

I personally find Goliaths to be great fun to play, in addition to being excellent melee characters. Their whole societal focus on competition and exuberance can make for a very fun play on the 'boistrous bruiser' archtype, even before you start deviating from the stereotype to explain why they're out of the mountains.

[DigoDragon]

My favorite race to roleplay was a custom race I created that was essentially anthropomorphic (I think i got the spelling right) rabbits.

I think you did get the spelling right.
Nice RP opportunity with your character! I do enjoy playing unusual creatures trying to fit in with the "norms".

My personal campaign world has a race of cat-like beings that are very technical savvy, but terrible with magic. They get slight bonuses to things like locating mechanical traps and craft checks, but they do poorly trying to work with magic (Inspired by D&D 2e's dwarves who seem to have a chance to fumble when operating magic items). Some of my players pointed out that they could make good wizards if they weren't so incompetant with the arcane theory.
If anything, it was a nice chage to have a cat-like race that had nothing to do with speed, strength, or feralness.

[Jay R]

My favorite race to roleplay was a custom race I created that was essentially anthropomorphic (I think i got the spelling right) rabbits.

One of the very first role-playing games, published in 1976, was Bunnies and Burrows, role-playing as rabbits.

Really.

[eggs]

Blue Planet lets you play a dolphin that people schlepped along with them in their space explorations. It's sweet. It's also not the standard "Human, but..." paradigm, where that phrase is ended with "Scottisher" for D&D dwarfs, or "Gothicer" for WoD vampires.

[Aidan305]

Half orcs of the Thog variety can be great fun. Especially when you take them seriously (while still staying within a humorous context).

[navar100]

With two exceptions* I only play humans and purposely so. This started because of 2E where humans suck. No racial abilities, can't multiclass, dual-classing is garbage, and no level limit is meaningless because either the game ends before it applies or level limits were ignored. I only played humans out of protest.

3E improved humans. The extra skill points and bonus feat proved quite valuable. I'm so used to it now I'm hooked. I count on that bonus feat for my build. Pathfinder made playing humans easier because now they finally get an ability score adjustment like everyone else. It's only one +2 vs others' two +2's and a -2, but you can choose to put it anywhere which helps a lot.

*Both exceptions were in 2E. One character was a halfling for an intended all halfling campaign, but it never got past the first adventure. The other character was an undead. Had it been 3E it would have been a deathless. It was a fun experiment until the campaign ended in a TPK.

[kieza]

Dresden Files-inspired Ghoul. Not undead, but a carnivorous, shapeshifting human offshoot with highly developed predatory instincts.

He was a ranger, who had previously been a hunter and trapper in order to disguise (and indulge) his eating habits and bloodlust.

[Jay R]

I enjoyed playing an OD&D hobbit (not halfling) thief. I gave him the well-documented hobbit name of Robin Banks, and assumed that his name was how he was inspired to become a thief. The rules gave hobbits a significant advantage over other races as thieves, and he was easy to role-play, since I knew everything known about hobbits then.

When The Dragon #3 came out, an article on dwarves changed the rules for them and suddenly playing a dwarf was cool. I had one that worked his way to to ninth level (the highest level - king).

I'm currently enjoying playing a 2E elf mage/thief. He's really off the beaten path, because he grew up in an orphanage, and never knew he was an elf until third level, although he certainly knew that he could see in the dark better than others. He also didn't know that the funny things he could do were magic until 3rd level. He's trying to learn what it means to be an elf.

[Knaight]

Generally speaking, I play humans. With that said, within D&D I am fond of the truly alien races on occasion. Thri-keen and Warforged are the best examples of these, though I'd only use them if they were featured centrally. In a game that focuses on what it means to be a person, the role of machines, what intelligence and emotion mean to personhood, etc. Warforged are perfect (though I'd be inclined to go with a science fiction setting and proper AI) for this purpose. Say there is a story that mirrors first contact, between Humans, a physically human like race, and a mentally human like race. In that case Thri-keen are perfect (or, you can just borrow the rest of the Founding of the Commonwealth that I blatantly stole that from and use Thranx, but whatever).

Also, if I were to use a fantasy version of The Iron Fist of New Atlantis, my favorite of the games I made, and stick it in D&D, I'd probably go with some sort of small lizard person race.

[UserClone]

In my 3.5 days, I was nigh-addicted to strange races. A favorite was my short-lived Anthropomorphic Baleen Whale Barbarian. Poor bastard failed a Fort save. His first Fort save. Ever. Stupid natural 2! Curse you! Somehow it's even more embarrassing than flubbing the roll on a natural 1.

Anywho, I would echo the suggestion of Changeling, but I would go with whatever type of class you are most into (and certainly check out Races of Eberron to see if your chosen class has substitution levels or a likely Prestige Class). That way you don't have to choose, you can be them all! If you have a good enough Disguise check, you could even disguise your voice and **** with your fellow PCs, pretending to be different people of varying races, sexes, etc. It certainly lends itself well to being diplomatic, since you have the opportunity to literally see what life is like in someone else's shoes if you want to. Also, spying and thievery become really frackin' easy.

[Craft (Cheese)]

I've played alot of different and races, but... oddly enough I like humans the best. For a half a dozen reasons too. I always feel like people tend to try and act like whatever race they are, and forget people are incredibly versatile or different. An orc is always gruff and big, or stupid. Gnomes and halflings have funny little voices or something when people play them. Human I'm just a person and can be anything(not that anyone can't do that with anything else mind you). Also, in a world full of hyper intellegent gnomes and elves, and super powered orcs and giants. It feels great to show them up and gives me a much greater feeling that I conquered something.

The best piece of advice I've seen to deal with this problem is this: When you create a character of a certain race, factor absolutely nothing* about that race into the character's personality and mannerisms, except how that individual reacts and deals with the various stereotypes that their society assigns to them. Maybe this particular Orc embraces his race's stereotype of being tough and mean to get free drinks, even though in an actual fight he's kindof a wimp. Maybe this other Orc is actually a devoted historian of Galifar's early reign, and is frustrated with his findings being laughed at in universities and rejected out of hand, simply because "Orcs are dumb," just wanting someone to take his hard work seriously.

However, applying this to roleplaying games can be tricky. The above advice only works if all characters of a race are designed this way. Try to play the Orc Historian at a table where every other orc in the entire world fits the stereotype to the letter, and you'll just come off as having a major case of special snowflake syndrome. All the players, including the DM, has to be in on this deeper portrayal of orcs or the creation of a single deeper orc character won't work.


* Exceptions to this rule can be made for races who are radically different from humans. By "radically different" I don't mean elves or gnomes, I mean "Gelatinous Cube" different.

Personality traits inherent to biology should not be done without extremely good reason, and even then it should never be something vague and normal like "curious" or "loyal" or "hot-blooded" or "arrogant" or even "evil" or "dumb." Down that path is where the stereotypes come from. Make it really specific things that fall way outside of the spectrum of normal human behavior, like "becomes sexually aroused at the smell of rotten meat." Give these really out-there behaviors explicit biological causes that are obvious as soon as they're explained, to go with the rotten meat example, that the character is part of a species that can only reproduce by laying its eggs inside a decomposing animal carcass.

[Dumbledore lives]

I love playing a kobold, because they have great racial stats, and can work very well as a trickster, or a leader of some sort with their lawful focus.

[motoko's ghost]

I love playing a kobold, because they have great racial stats, and can work very well as a trickster, or a leader of some sort with their lawful focus.

+1 to this and to changlings or warforged, they have some serious nice fluff and crunch and...I just love those guys

[Shadowknight12]

I have never played an unmodified human. Never. Hate the lot of them. If I absolutely HAVE to play a human, I template the hell out of it.

My personal favourites to play are Fey (Satyr, Verdant Prince, Half-Fey, Feytouched) and Celestial (the various Devas, Aasimar, Half-Celestial, Sword Archon, most Eladrin), though I do play Elves and Orcs occassionally, also templated fairly often.

[Milo v3]

I generally play Elves, probably because my favourite character was a rogue elf on the run from every other elf in the world. He was very fun to play.

[Beowulf DW]

In a 3.5 game, I once played an elan swordsage. Probably not very good from an optimization standpoint, but I roleplayed him as envious of the elves' longevity. He was raised and trained by an elf swordsage, and although he didn't fear death, he was jealous that his master would get to spend centuries studying the Sublime Way. So he went out to become an elan so that he could keep on studying and training with his master.

[Sajach]

I play as humans because well I don't really know why I do it, just for the convenience of having a go to race I guess.

[Othesemo]

I'll second Goliaths. I've always enjoyed roleplaying them and their culture.

[Urpriest]

The others have all provided fun and creative suggestions. Allow me to go in the other direction:

If you've only played humans, you might want to ease your way into playing nonhumans by playing races with simple archetypes that are straightforward to make up lines for and at the same time will get you out of your human comfort zone. Dwarves are ideal for this. They're not the sort of character you'd usually play as a human, but everyone knows how a Dwarf behaves, so it's easy to do improv as one. Plus doing a "dwarf accent" will be good for getting you to act as someone other than yourself.

[willpell]

I have a passion for centaurs and lizardmen, I always have. Sucks having to have all those monster hit dice and a level adjustment with no class levels, but I'll suffer it once in a while. None of the "playable" races are even close for me; I mostly play humans just because it's too hard to give up that bonus feat.

PS: Random thought of the day...has anyone thought of revamping dwarves into Small creatures with the Powerful Build ability of goliaths and half-giants? It seems like a fitting take on their "human-sized but shorter" bit and more interesting than just making them Medium but slow-moving.

[Skaven]

I'm fond of Lizardfolk and Kobolds.

Just something about them appeals to me strongly.

Of course, as you might tell by my avatar and name, I love the chance to play a sneaky Skaven in Warhammer.