Why is the traditional roster of PC races so boring?

>>54396788
Look at this picture right there and answer me why shouldn't people who play gnomes be treated as subhuman

As a general rule, humans are terrible at roleplaying things that are too far removed from the human condition.

In practice, when playing a weird race, what you'll end up with is playing a weirdly shaped human, whom the GM will occasionally have to remind of whatever limitations were dreamed up for the race.

>>54396809

Because nobody plays gnomes, so the category would be meaningless.

>>54396788
Because you've seen them before. The traditional roster is in almost every fantasy setting, so you're exposed to it a lot more than something more exotic, therefore it becomes boring.

Races ought to be diverse. When someone thinks about that race, you dont want their first thought to be the stereotype. For example when i think dwarves i think of gruff mining dudes who like to fight. Orcs are primitive warriors. Elves are haughty and know lots of magic.
Besides that, a race ought to exist in a much different way than humans, so that it isnt just a copy. Some main factor about their being must be completely different, but still allow for a level of same-ness. Recognizable.

Khajiit and Devils from K6BD are the only fantasy races i can think of off the top of my head that i like

>>54396947
How do you feel about reptilian races? E.g. lizardfolk, yuan-ti

>>54397026
Yuan-Ti are my favourite vaguely orientalist demihuman race

You get to do the Yellow Peril guilt free, because they're totally snakemen

>>54396843
This. In truth, the only way we can conceive sapiency is by looking at ourselves. This is why the cultural approach to roleplaying is more interesting than the racial approach. Say what you want about The Elder Scrolls, but I think it's really cool to make even Humans different from each other according to their region and cultural, local traits.

>>54396947
I disagree. If you're using dwarves, elves or orcs or whatever, you want to make use of the stereotypes.

When you present your world to the player, you could either go "That guy's a Ker'chak, his race are long lived, with pointy ears and they are good at magic" or you can go "That guy's an elf" and convey the same amount of information to just about anyone familiar with fantasy cliches. GMing is all about painting pictures with your words, and using shortcuts like that helps a lot by using what your player already knows. Standard races are good precisely because they allow you to convey a certain image with one word.

If you make your elves, dwarves or whatever too different, you're condemning your players to have to remind themselves each time you bring them up that "Oh right, these dvarwes are different, they breather underwater." Similarly, if you make a lot of unique races, your players will have to remember each and every one of that and what's so different about them, and that can take them out of the game.

If I'm having non-human races in a game, I usually limit unique races to 1, if at all, and I instead focus on having well defined cultures for any other races I choose to include.

In the end, I think including something just because it's unique is a recipe for disaster. Good execution matters a lot more than originality. I'll take a well done dwarf over a shitty squid-man (or whatever) any day.

>>54396788
Agreed. So have a bunch of differet humans with super distinct cultures a la Hyboria, and/or have strange races like mantis people

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>>54396788

>>54397026
well i definitely don't jump to any stereotypes, but i also don't have much experience with lizard races to begin with.

i realize i also forgot to explain what i meant by there being a main factor of the race that's different
with the examples i used earlier, i like khajiit because of their totally bonkers birth cycles thing. for k6bd devils, its the changing of colors and the concept of their masks in general.
both races you can look at and relate to. neither of them are completely alien. but they just have completely different rules to their lives than humans do.

elves WOULD be interesting if people actually played with the immortality more. (not saying it's not done, just not in any of the media i've seen)

>>54396788
half elf is sexiest

>>54396870
This - it been what 40 plus years of this set

>>54396843
>>54397123
>plebs pandering to plebs

With a lazy-ass negative attitude like that you won't be able to do it, certainly.

>>54396788
Because you can't discern complex emotions from creatures who have no human facial expressions or mannerisms.

Dumbass.

>>54397367
You won't be able to do it either. You'll certainly try and suffer for it.

I speak not from negativity, but from experience.

>>54396788
It's because everyone knows there are differences between the races in real life, but it's fallen out of vogue to talk about them, so we project it onto our fantasy games.

>>54396788
>waah I wanna play gnolls/lizardmen/dragons/birdpeople

you're all the same, the only thing you do is focus on one aspect of your chosen not!-animal race and then play some generic character.

There should be some kind of trope for these guys who just want to play beastfolk.

If I told you about a race of bug-beetle men, you'd just say they were 'humans with hard exoskeletons'.

Either they're all humans or none of them are, faggot. Stop making these shitty threads.

>>54396788

>Boring

to each his own I guess, I prefer the simple standard fantasy races.

I find PC who pick special snowflake races to be boring.

>look at me, I'm a celestial otherworld crystaline catfolk!

>>54397469
Not OP, but I would actually prefer just humans with a detailed culture/background system rather than a bunch of same-y generic races.

>>54397227
That's a terrible fucking argument from the laziest of hacks. There's examples in every single medium of entertainment that have weird non-human characters and find ways to make the audience care about them.

And fuck if games aren't the EASIEST fucking way to do it since the player has an inherent connection to the character they play.

Well ok, it does generally make looting and equipment easier when most races can share their stuff.
>>54397227
Yeah...this and other things are why I had to give up on swtor, years before it came out.

4 starting classes, and they couldn't be arsed to come up with more than two per side that weren't Jedi/sith. Then on top of that they just shoved them into caster/melee roles via their shitty EU lore.

>>54397582
>find ways to make the audience care about them.
These ways usually involve making them essentially funny looking humans. We make humans care about non-human characters by projecting human emotions and characteristics on them.

>>54397550
I'm pretty sure in rpg's its up to the players and the dm to expand on the background. If you're playing generic stuff with no depth that's entirely on you for being an unimaginative hack.

>>54397550


That's fine if it's humans. Personally I'm just sick of playing with people who insist on playing a character like

>Ok guys I'm a level 3 Dark Suli/tiefling mix demon-kin banished from the 9th plane of hell - fighter, Nice to meet you guys!

>>54396809
Gnome players should be sent to death camps. Same goes for goblins, pixies, etc.

>>54397582
This guy >>54397622 is pretty much right.

Khajiit have been mentioned a couple times in this thread as an interesting race. But really they're just the same as the elves and humans in the setting, except they come in wider variety of exotic covers. Literally.

>>54397636
What about someone playing, I dunno, an Aarakocra with a backstory they've put significant effort into?

>>54397623
Yeah, but most games dont provide mechanical bonuses for background to support that kind of creativity. I try my best to support my players, but an elf who was raised by orcs is just as elf-y on paper as one raised by elves. Its a flaw inherent in D&D. Thanks for taking the absolute worst interpretation of what I wrote and running with it.

>>54397689
What does being an Aarakocra add?

>>54397774
The ability to fly

>>54396788
>elves taller than humans
>orcs taller than humans
>gnomes taller than halflings

This is how you identify shitty art.

>>54396788
Non-human races are supposed to be like humans. They're supposed to make us think of aspects of humanity.

I suppose that's too much effort for many people.

>>54397814
To the character. What does it add to the character?

>>54396788
most of the settings I've cooked up that keep the traditional fantasy races I usually put a fair amount of effort in making the differences between Humans and the Demi-Human races very obvious, enough that it'd be almost impossible to mistake a midget human for a Dwarf or Halfling

>>54397878
It would depend on the backstory

>>54397689

If it doesn't fit the setting or campaign you can go ahead and make a new character or just go home. That's my rule.

People asking me if they can be uncommon races in a setting where they are virtually non-existent and super goddamn rare.

>>54397963
Give me an example of a story you can tell with an Aarakocra that you cant tell with a human.

>>54397987
Having the eggs of your young smashed by an evil wizard before they could hatch, making you swear vengeance and a ban on omelettes within the party

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>>54397396
>suffer for it
Worst case: non-human comes of as too human or as a cliche version of his race. Oh my god, how can we endure such unbearable suffering? Clearly we must refrain, because one more flat character would break us forever.

Seriously there is not more on the line than for any other character concept one might be inexperienced at.

>>54397748
Than make them yourself. You're just whining about your lack of creativity. Oh this elf was raised by orcs? Then you're going to have negatives applied to your charisma and intelligence because orc tribes don't care about hygiene and orcs aren't really known for their intelligence. Unless you were taken in by the clans shaman or wise orc, though you sill probably won't be a genius. You've also probably lived a pretty active lifestyle up to know so you'll get bonuses to strength and endurance. etcetera

Was that so fucking hard?

>>54398033
Surely without omelettes we shall never defeat his evil. The quest is doomed without the protein.

>>54397987
The sorrow of loosing natural flight.

>>54396788
Because diversity meme and race isn't real.

Other races aren't weird enough if they all get along and are bffs.

The ability to just casually pick Dwarfish as a language means meeting a Dwarf isn't important.

What if they were inscrutable underground dwellers, you never see their face and they refuse to look upon the surface. Randomly they will burst through a basement and just murder everyone inside for completely unknown reasons.

What if Elves hunted humans for sport because they viewed them as animals.

Basically by enabling player choice you've necessarily diluted any difference.

>>54398061
Delicious mice and other rodents shall give the party all the protein it requires!

>>54397987
Being able to see in ultraviolet? The pain of not being able to smile? Having to deal with talons and molting feathers?

>>54396788
It's a combination of a few factors.

Many of those are relatively classic (as in, Tolkein did them), so they're considered standard.

The standard race options any given game is going to have in the core book are typically going to be fairly bland, so that the basic options are covered (and if you want something really weird there's splatbooks).

They're used in a lot of stuff, so you're used to seeing them and there's no novelty factor like the less common ones have.

And, of course, lots of people play them simply as "regular humans but with some stat differences and a few stereotypes," which makes them much less interesting than they should be.

There may be a few other factors, but those seem like the big ones.

>>54396788
Picking exotic races is just a crutch for bad roleplayers.

>>54398192
So it is a crutch, but those are just humans with rubber masks that add nothing and those who play them fail at it anyway?

>>54398192
SOME OF US LIKE EXPLORING EXOTIC MINDS MR. FUNPOLICE.

>>54398192
I like playing reptilians because I too hate cold weather and don't move much in it

>>54396788
So, I'm working on a homebrew system. The palyable races are Humans, Dragons, Nephs (Dragon/non-dragon crossbreeds that are hideous abominations and crimes against nature. They have stone-like skin, few if any orifices, and few internal organs) constructs (basically magic robots) and hairless cat people that sunburn easy but have magic ears and magic tails. They're rather wrinkly too.

What do you think?

>>54398192
but how "exotic" is exotic? it feels very setting-dependent; if you're going full sword-and-sorcery then even playing an elf could seem suspect; but if you're going high-magic only the most esoteric of races could truly count as such.

>>54398316
Sounds good to me

What sort of dragons are they? Eastern? Western? Wyverns?

>>54398134
>Randomly they will burst through a basement and just murder everyone inside for completely unknown reasons.
>What if Elves hunted humans for sport because they viewed them as animals.
Jesus christ, you're the most fucking creatively bankrupt person on earth.

>>54398316
Careful with robots and golem likes, be warry of anything that removes natural needs. You sacrifice drive and roleplaying potential.

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>>54398347
Of course I was channeling obvious references.

The point is there are no functional differences between the races in say 5e.

>>54398360
I agree, a big part of my games is the players making sure their characters have enough ass-wiping material for when nature calls.

>>54398240
You are both right. Playing non-humans is a crutch 90% of the time. The best settings dont have playable non-humans.

>>54396788

>personally
>Believe that Dwarves are by far the most bullshit race because of how lazy it is - drunk muscled midgets haha lol how randumb xDD
>Elves are semi bullshit - Look like humans, but have different enough features for them to not be human because lol magic
>Half-Orcs/Orcs are needed but are also bullshit because you needed a non-specific savage race.
>Halflings and Gnomes are literally just children

>>54397622
>>54397679
So what you're saying is that we can't pick non-traditional races because they'd end up being "too human", but according to the Biodrivel in >>54397227 that you agree with things like dwarves and elves are alright because they're "too human" and thus relatable?

I really don't understand the hangups with allowing unusual races to just be "humans with hats/costumes". Just let the damn player play what they want. Not everyone starts out as some Shakespearean actor who can improve a completely foreign entity. If you're so wrapped up in needing the idiosyncrasies of these FICTIONAL races to be justified, you just turn into the type of curmudgeon who ends up making stale copypasta everyone pokes fun at like >>54398192.

>>54398329
Western, but smaller, about 7 foot at the shoulder. Most breathe fire when they reach maturity. There are several sub-breeds, just like how humans and dogs have sub-breeds, some with longer bodies, larger wings, etc.

>>54398360
The constructs require fuel. They can turn some living things into fuel but not everything. Nephs I haven't thought that through. I know they need to eat and sleep, but I have no idea what. Maybe have them use the same fuel as the constructs?

thanks!

>>54398489
D-do you have pocket dragons?

>>54398540
No ,but that sounds like a fun idea for a subspecies. I might use it. Would probably be weaker than regular dragons but with s shitload more Agility.

>>54398581
Maybe you could have doggo-sized dragons too

>>54398466
i'm this guy>>54397679

And I'm fine with exotic races, and I'm fine with them being played human like. What I'm saying is that's what happens most of the time so don't whine about elves and dwarves for being to human like and boring.

>>54396788
Because they've been done to death. Elfs and dwarfs have been a staple of folklore since forever, and the "modern" Fantasy literature image of them has been around since least the 50s.

>>54397832
That's how it is in DnD cringelord, go back to tolkien cuck

People can easily pick and believe in non-human races in scifi worlds, something about it makes it more plausible and accepted.

>>54398938
>That's how it is in DnD cringelord

Wrong. Elves have been traditionally shorter to equal height with humans in D&D.

>>54396788
you always complain about the roster but the only races made to replace them are furries.

>>54405121
That's largely because the only people who complain about the standard fantasy race roster are furries who want to get off by playing an animalperson

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>>54396809
I would happily fuck a gnome, though. Shortstacks are my fetish.

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>>54405182

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>>54396788

Because 90% of humans can't relate to something completely different than humans.

Imagine Star Wars with Luke being a Hutt. You think it would ever become popular?

Or Avatar with with intelligent giant ants instead of Navi.

>>54405497
Had a bad day, kid?

>>54396788
The traditional roster is only boring to you because you've seen it so many times. Go make something completely new and novel, instead of bitching about it.

The reason why humanoids are so popular (the human BUT) is that players (with the exception of furries, reddit users, and others of that ilk) are human themselves. It gives them something to relate to.

>>54405547
>most players are human with the exception of furries, reddit users, and others of that ilk
Kek

>>54396788
The realization aspect of portraying a traditionally recognized fantasy species is strong enough to warrant their continued inclusion in most 'mainstream' roleplay media.

There are obviously settings where outliers exist or compose the entire spectrum, but it takes a long concerted effort to shift the subconscious desire to 'belong' to some entrenched fantasy tradition.

This perception can and will change as the audience change based on their changing influences..

..so expect a Comoc-book hero-esque era in the future alongside it's counter-movement.

>>54405497
Did you read OP's post? What the hell are on about?

>>54398938
>That's how it is in DnD cringelord, go back to tolkien cuck
You actually flipped your flop, there, I think. Tolkien had elves being taller (and just generally better at absolutely everything) than humans, and orcs shorter. DND was the reverse, with bulky/strong orcs and elves being very small and slight.

>>54396788

>including half-elves and gnomes as core races

>>54396788
Because you are judging all those books by their covers.

You have humans, which are awesome. They are just like us, but us if we had to learn to survive and thrive in worlds with undead, demons and dragons.

There's near-immortal wild people who are awesome archers. Those who left the wild built crazy beautiful civilizations utilizing their long lives and really old civilizations. They have trouble relating to other races because they seem like children to the old elves, but at the same time elves are stuck in their ways and don't always see the forests for the trees.

There's the people who live in the mountains, they are small, but they are tough and heavy like boulders. They work very hard, they fight very hard, they drink very hard. They are honourable, loyal, and don't ever forget their own history, no matter how many goblins, orcs, and giants come to their doorsteps. Don't talk to a dwarf like you know the meaning of family or hard-work or adversity if you aren't one. And yet, they still survive and generally act awesomely.

There's tiny humans. Yeah, I agree these ones aren't great. They are always river gypsies, hobbit rip-offs, or basically city-slum pygmies.

...actually, on second thought, they aren't bad.

Then there's the little people with big heads who pull pranks, create amazing inventions, and love entertainment. They may not initially like you. In fact,they may initially fear you and your kind. They are a little skittish of outsiders. But if you can win them over, you have a hilarious, super-resourceful friend for the rest of your life.

Then you have the tusk-toothed, brutish people from beyond the frontiers. They are what you get when you take fearsome berzerker raiders and make them twice and strong, twice as tough, and they have monstrous, beast-like faces. And worst of all, they hate you and and see no need to keep your silly cities intact or any of your family alive.

>>54405998
>utilizing their long lives and really old _
histories*

>>54398938
>That's how it is in Pathfinder cringelord
fix'd that for you, newfriend

>>54397026
my favorite gotta be Iksar from everquest.
They are a reptillian race that isnt some dragon whatever, they are also not primitive.

they are very much evil but a civilized structured kind, i like that.

>>54397232
one mistake people make is that they think more alien equals better fantasy races.

This isnt correct, they should be relateable while not beeing human. that is the golden balance to strike in my opinion.

Playable races other than humans are dumb anyway. Will never allow that shit in any of my settings.

Just fluff them as loosely related hominids and call it a day

>>54396788
Because people like to roleplay as something that they can relate to. Most of the time, nobody wants to be a three-legged insectoid with a vagina for a mouth just because you want it to be different.

The real reason why it's like that is because the fantasy races look at human folklore, which half the time it's going to be a human with some special look. If you try too hard to make races that are completely distinct from mankind, you might just be giving yourself a sci-fi setting with magic and low-tech

>>54396788
Because the
>humans are super flexible and can do anything
-meme that makes all the other races just seem like human but X.

Were the non-human humanoid races too far off from what humans are, players would have a hard time playing them "correctly". And as far as I know, most players are not willing to study their character's racial and regional cultures just to "get it right".
To make a major distinction between the races requires information about those differences, more than just scratching the surface like for example in the 5E PHB. And even then, if the information isn't crucial rules-wise, most players wouldn't bother with it anyway.

>>54396788
Is this bait? I don't get it..

>>54396788
cus we've been doing this since the 80's

>>54396809
>not playing a gnome alchemist with mad scientist hair

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Get your races from He-man!
We got mermen, beastmenand whiplashmen! shit, we even got cyborgs, spidermen, giants and some fucker with a skull for a face!

Or what about zelda!?
We got a race of all women, a race of all kids, a race of your autistic brother and a race of Elves who are actually humans who are actually hylians who sometimes have sharp ears!?

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>>54411173
Pic somehow fell out.

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>>54396788
>"Waah, Race X is just funny-looking humans!"

Daily reminder that if you think so then you failed to give them an interesting culture. Race isn't just physiological differences, it's also upbringing, way of thinking (often caused by these differences), race memes.

>"But anon, why have dwarves when you could have short, bearded humans who naturally live in caves and grow out beards culturally?"
Why jumping through all these hoops when you can not be a turbopussy and just say "dwarves"? Nobody (except for other /tg/ turbospergs) is gonna look down on you for using fantasy races, and if someone does, chances are it's not the person you wanna play with anyway.

>>54397047
>You get to do the Yellow Peril guilt free, because they're totally snakemen
Why did I laugh so uncontrolably at this?!

Because you don't actually need any non-human races at all. Most written fiction ever didn't need them. There are no non-human races in Hyborian age, there are none in the Earthsea, there were none in the Black Company world nor in Lankhmar.
Non-human races are not appealing by the virtue of the general concept of non-humans, they are appealing case by case, individually. Quality races that appealed to the people became staple because of their individual characteristics. People don't play elves or dwarves because they want to play "some" non-human. But because they specifically want dwarf or elf, a trope that got stuck thanks to their quality roots in Tolkien's works. Without them they wouldn't need races at all.
While at the same time, making up things not out of a single inspired idea, but for the sake of making things up, "orced originality and trying to be not-mainstream at all cost rarely produces anything worth of note

>"B-but look, my original race do not steal is so original, notice me senpai!"
So what. Originality isn't a quality in itself, it also needs other qualities, that are rarely produced by tryharding into making something "new and different".

>>54411619
>There are no non-human races in Hyborian age,
>implying Picts are human

>>54397774
>What does being an Aarakocra add?
Playing Aarakocra.

Every other answer is bullshit.

>>54396788
I run human only campaigns for this reason.
There's usually nothing an "orc barbarian" can do, a human barbarian couldn't do. Most of the time my players choose a race and never look into any further than "green skin and tusks" or "pointy eared rape-bait" anyways, so everyone being a human either forces them to create a more rounded character (RP wise) or just doesn't factor at all.

>>54396788
Because aside from Tolkien/Germanic myth, there's no interesting races that anyone has thought up that aren't

>humans with special abilities
or
>human/animal hybrids

Prove me wrong

>>54412238
>I run human only campaigns for this reason.
Same. Races are almost universally mono-cultures. Just replace them with different human cultures and nothing of value is lost.

>>54412272
Goblins
Dryads
Revenants
Gnomes
Giants
Warforged
Pixies

What do I win?

>>54412272
>prove me wrong
Why would i when in your very post you implied that humans with special abilities and human/animal hybrids can be interesting?

>>54411484
Fucking this, maskerading different races as humans with this or that bundle of special qualities because of your "humans-only" autism doesn't make your setting better.

>>54412519
I forgot to add "and weren't just copped off of mythical creatures"

Since that's really what Tolkien did, but at least he had the originality to do something unique and interesting with it.

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I have a question for people who prefer reskinned humans (elves, dwarves, orcs, catfolk, dragonkin, etc)

Why not just play standard humans? Just honestly wondering.

>>54412519
>Goblins
>Gnomes
Those are humans.

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>>54412621
>Goblins
>Gnomes
>Those are humans

Elves are fine played competently. They have a lot of range in what's an acceptable portrayal of one, and the inherent mysticism and general conventions behind them lend to some characterization that humans can't cover. Play on the immortality, the fey thoughts, the god-given right to act superior.

The other standard races are really lacking though.

>>54396788
Because boring people are easily bored.

Traditional can be vibrant and exciting, if done well.

>>54396788
what is the source of that image?

>>54412621

because elf, with the high elf subrace, gives me more of the stats i want and a wizard cantrip for free.

>>54412702
I've yet so see one played well. Elves exist for players who want everyone to know that their character is attractive by default.

>>54412519
>Goblins
Short green humans
>Dryads
human/tree hybrids
>Revenants
Not really a race. Just undead people.
>Gnomes
Short pink humans
>Giants
Tall humans
>Warforged
Human/robot hybrids
>Pixies
Tiny winged humans

>>54412702
The elf archetype is a strong one in fantasy fiction generally. Lots of games make good use of it. But elves as depicted in D&D are tedious bullshit that might as well be human.

>>54412923
Well, what the fuck else could there possibly be?

>>54412895
Good elves aren't a rarity because no one plays elves well. They're a rarity because people who bother playing their race at all are uncommon.

I can count the interesting elves I've seen on one hand but I've never seen a dwarf that played far from the stereotypes that could just apply to humans. I blame the race for dwarves but the players for elves.

>>54396788
Because it's been used for a long time, when I played generally I always pick a monster, usually a Kobolds or a Gnoll

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>>54412957 >>54412923

THRIDDLES! MORE THRIDDLES!

Also Human only campaigns are the most boring and unimaginative shit possible. It just becomes Game of Thrones knockoff. I played that game way too many times to call it fun anymore.

You're in fantasy. You fucking failed if you can't do anything but Medieval Earth Simulator but with Harry Potter bullshit.

I read Black Company and it got boring as fuck when it got to Not!India. Because Indians aren't exciting. If they were aliens or some shit that's new to fight, it could have been fun than just "brown people with a caste system."

The only good parts is when the alien shit happens because it's good to confront new ideas.

Game of Thrones has its place, but don't go shitting on every other campaign idea ever.

I rather deal with faggot furries who I punch in the face than just a collection of rehashed humans because the GM can't do anything besides rip off history.

I'm not fond of elves and dwarves either, but at least it's something interesting to kill or diplomatically defeat because they could possibly have something new to say.

>>54413304
>I'm not fond of elves and dwarves either, but at least it's something interesting to kill or diplomatically defeat because they could possibly have something new to say.
Yeah, and that new and interesting thing is "ach, laddie"

The whole reason to have humans-only is so you DON'T have the stereotypical scottish-accented underground jews; and you actually have to put thought into what makes your human different.

>>54396788
>There's humans, fair enough. Some people just want to play as themselves.
>
>Then there's thin humans with pointy ears. They seem superfluous.
>
>Then there's short, heavyset humans with beards. They also seem superfluous.
>
>Then there's even shorter humans.
>
>Then there's similarly short humans with a penchant for being annoying and causing explosions.
>
>Then there's ugly humans with greenish skin.
>
>Why not have the choice be between humans and races that are more distinct?


You realise that since we have no other intelligent race to compare to, every single race we dream up is comprable to humans because humans are the only race in the real world. Orcs look humanish but with green skin and tusks.

By your logic, someone playing a vanpire is just a human cursed to drink blood and avoid the sun.

>>54397550
In my setting all of these standard fantasy "races" are just humans of slightly different genetic makeup. Gnomes/Halflings are like Indonesian Pigmies, Orcs (Who do not have green skin) are similar to Neanderthals, etc. The most drastically "fantasy-like" are Elves, who are inspired by Native American shamanism and live to about 150 years old when in good health.

Well sure, every fantasy race is basically humans. That's how it's possible to play them as characters.

But sometimes it's fun to imagine humans that have traits humans don't in real life. And sometimes a simple concept like "ugly mutants who were bred for war" or "people who live a really long time and that tends to alienate them from other people" is enough. You don't want to overcomplicate your basic premise with details about weird diet or sleep habits that don't serve any purpose.

Anyone ever play Ur-Quan Masters here? That's pretty much my standard for races in fantasy and sci-fi now.

I played my last elf as Vox.

>>54413371

I'll agree with you that people need to come up with new ideas.

But I rather adventure with Scottish Jew dwarf that can beat me in arm wrestling even though he's only 4 foot than Sir Ginger Mingekilt of Clan McDonald.

Humans are awesome and something like them should be in pretty much every game...but they are there in fantasy to provide the baseline.

It's the choice for those who are still indecisive what they want to explore and want to meet the other races first. Hell, it's fun as hell to be the fish out of water.

Imagine being the lone human who has to make a trade deal with giant sapient bees. They might not understand what's more valuable than royal jelly, but maybe you can convince them gold can be useful to upgrade the hive with outside materials!

You can't explore if you never leave the box!

>>54396788
Because you are a scrub that lacks imagination and has to have speshul races to feel interesting.

Pro tip: Those other races are not that interesting. Neither are you. Work on yourself, and the rest becomes easy.

>>54412965
>I blame the race for dwarves but the players for elves.
I definitely agree with that. I prefer dwares though, they might be generic, but they're roleplayed for both their positive and negative traits.

>>54412957
More weird and fantastic races. Tekumel, for example has some pretty weird races iirc.
>>54413304
>THRIDDLES
I don't know what a thirddle is, but I'd love to hear more.

>>54413645
They're a race of philosophers who talk with their butt nubs.

Silly as shit but I love the idea. I wanted to have a character bully one due to their pacifist nature.

They are from the Skyrealms of Jorune. It could be considered sibling of creativity with Tekumel. But it died practically due to an unwieldy system.

Same ideas in certain ways otherwise.

Here's the book archive. The system blows, but it can inspire you to do better with your own creations.

https://archive.org/details/SkyrealmsofJoruneArchive

I cooked up a fairly generic setting with Entirely Original(tm) races. No humans, no eldwarflinrcs, 5 races designed to each have a unique and fun mechanical trait specifically for tabletop.

I'm really liking the look of the whole thing atm, I feel like I'm onto something.

>>54396788
Because you fucking spergs look at anything other than default and screech
>SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE REEEEᎬEⴹEEΕΕE

>>54413878

I like the sound of that. More power to you.

Test it with some players and gauge their feelings.

I came up with a few of those myself. I had many player groups. We explored Biotech Fantasy with nothing but alien life, hellscapes, D&D, and all sorts of fun.

Oddly enough, they preferred the earthlike one with foppish newt people.

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>>54412272
>Chimera
>Dragon
>Golem
>Goat
>Flying monkeys

Intelligence, culture, and comunicative skills are part of the fantasy, so literally anything with a body capable of grabbing/manipulate things to some degree could be an interesting race to rol.

The problem is not the lack of ideas, but the human egotism.

>>54413456
>humans
>a race
ha.

>>54396788
People who have no imagination only want the classic tolkein stuff and reddit/weebs get mad when something has "furries" in it.

>>54405182
Quick question. Was shortstack a thing two or so years ago? It seems to have expanded in popularity recently since I first spotted them on /d/ all that time ago. Do you think they're more popular now because we found out calling them shortstack is more acceptable than calling them midgets?

These are the questions that keep me from going anywhere in life.

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>>54414304
>pony fucker thinks his opinion matters

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>>54414346
QED

>>54396788
Because you lack imagination, and the ability to devlop interesting characters. Requiring somebody else to make some bipedal animal race, so that you can trick yourself into thinking you're unique, and creative with your "Character creation". Whilst also I dare say, shoehorn "storytelling" garbage into some poor DM's campaign.

>>54412621
I candidly get tired of being a human the rest of the time. I expect this means I am deeply flawed on some level.

>>54413784
Thanks m8. I'll check it out if I get the chance.
>>54413878
>No humans
Your game is badwrongfun.

>>54414306
It's always been a thing, as far as I know. Some dudes just really like short chicks.

I think it's seen an upswing in populartity, because via the internet the guys with a specific fetish can now share and form communities/generate content to pull more people in.

>>54412238
>There's usually nothing an "orc barbarian" can do, a human barbarian couldn't do

Apart darkvision, bluffing that they're a part of the monstrous enemy group, utilising xenophobia in townsfolk (without explicitly dealing with real world racial issues and inviting a ton of buttmad)

>>54416018
Almost all of that could be done by a Mongol in an AD 12xx system.

>>54396788
Because you're used to it.

>>54396788
If you don't want to play anything slightly resembling humans, then you're gonna have to play something animal-like.
I don't care what, just pick something already.

>>54416182

So your fantasy games just tale place on earth?

>>54396788
If you need some kind of fantastic and/or alien race to make your character "interesting" then that's a failure on you and you alone to make an actually interesting character.

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>>54414304
I'm pretty sure the furfaggots are the ones who are the reddit immigrants my sweet summer child

>>54412621
>Why not just play standard humans? Just honestly wondering.
Because i want to play a dwarf, an elf or a catfolk.

It's that simple.

Point out the last successful piece of fiction in which the primary character was not humanoid.

For the purpose of this exercise, a humanoid character possesses a vaguely human silhouette; an upright body complete with two arms, two legs and a head.

>>54411173
autistic bro?

>>54412238
>There's usually nothing an "orc barbarian" can do, a human barbarian couldn't do.
Other than a +2 bonus to speed when charging, gaining hit points when damaged, and dealing extra damage on an attack?

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Play as sapient bugs
morality is based purely on the "needs of the many"
Most human concepts of society are abandoned i.e. family, civilization, law, redemption, honor, cruelty, taboos, etc.
Focus instead on; resource discovery, identifying and classifying threats, maximizing efficiency, blind loyalty to the hive, pragmatic use of non-hive sapients to achieve goals, pragmatic approach to violence, act confused when confronted by complex emotional topics

Basically be a power gamer