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Decline Worst playable fantasy race?

Which race do you like the least? (not gameplay related)

  • Human

  • Black Human

  • Elf

  • Half Elf

  • Gnome

  • Halfling

  • Dwarf

  • Half Orc


Results are only viewable after voting.

mondblut

Arcane
Joined
Aug 10, 2005
Messages
22,205
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Ingrija
World building should be internally consistent and believable but let's be honest, RPGs & fantasy have also always been wish fulfillment and make-believe and I have no trouble whatsoever to suspend my disbelief for female warriors. I find it a bit strange that of all the things these games usually pull, it should be the female warriors of all things that break peoples immersion because muh realism.

I don't mind female warriors. I do mind 5", 80lbs female warriors. If games are so fucking sophisticated now, they are ought to reflect character stats on their models (Kenshi is one example that does). You want to play a 18str woman, prepare to look like a 'roid-filled, shaved dickless Hulk Hogan. You want to look like a supermodel, kindly stick to activities that do not involve any physical exertion beyond an hour of jogging a day. Choice and consequences, bitch.
 

Darkwind

Liturgist
Patron
Joined
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Messages
513
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is.
In 100 years humans will be fantasy race

Wrong. I'll fix it for ya- "In 100 years white humans will be fantasy race" Or maybe that (white + human) is a redundant statement?

The scifi trope of the unfathomable and long bygone Ancients who have built all those majestic ruins currently inhabited by spear-chucking savages? Yeah, sort of.

GxTWTsS.jpg


http://metrocosm.com/us-immigration-history-map.html
 

Morpheus Kitami

Liturgist
Joined
May 14, 2020
Messages
2,476
Humans are the best.

If you include non-human races in your game, please be at least a little bit creative instead of just copypasting the common elf/dwarf/orc/gnome/halfling races. It's overdone and boring. Even something utterly retarded like China Mieville's cactus people and people with a scarab for a head would be an improvement at this point, cause at least they'd be fresh and interesting.

Having elf/dwarf/orc/gnome/halfling in your world is a good sign that the world is probably an uninspired copypasta of overused fantasy tropes.

The problem with that line of thinking is that those races* have became a part of players expectations. So when they boot a new game, they want to play as an elf, not as a cactus person who lives in a forest. They are expected to be there just like wizards are expected to be there. So if devs are making a typical fantasy RPG there is no reason to exclude them.
If the selectable PC races are too weird there might be a problem with people just defaulting back to humans, and nobody adds several races to chose from for people to ignore them.
*Except gnomes, I don't think most people notice when they get excluded.

The solution for that is not to make a typical fantasy RPG because typical fantasy has become trite and stale too.

I never understood why we don't see more ancient/mythological settings for RPGs. It's perfect for lazy writers, there is so much they can rip off.
Because lazy writers don't want to make something new, they want to turn their DnD campaign or fanfic into an video game. Besides, you've got a good chunk of the various mythological settings ground up into the generic German-inspired fantasy everyone already uses. You've got Greek, (harpies, medusa, minotaur) Egyptian, (sphinxes) British (banshees, fairies) and Middle-Eastern. (ghouls/zombies, genies, good chunk of demons) Doesn't that satisfy you? What, you want to fight something you can't pronounce the name of and have never seen before, in a land that isn't a generic forest? Pfft, what's next, fun?
 

Lurker47

Savant
Joined
Jul 30, 2017
Messages
721
Location
Texas
Any variation of elves. Elves are always smug, have the worst opinions (hippies), and tend to be overpowered.

Halflings and gnomes tend to run together and really need some sort of end-all, be-all thing to distinguish them. Dwarves are based though.
 

Aemar

Arcane
Joined
Aug 18, 2018
Messages
6,055
Gnomes as a standard fantasy race are basically just quirky not-halflings that nobody ever bothers to make interesting. Even compared to other races, they have one distinct personality. We never see the gnome homeland.
Gnomes are the jews of the fantasy settings, a cunning race that excels at creating illusions meant to deceive those around them, caring mainly about their trinkets and gems, among other things; no wonder people don't like them.
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2018
Messages
50,754
Codex Year of the Donut
Gnomes as a standard fantasy race are basically just quirky not-halflings that nobody ever bothers to make interesting. Even compared to other races, they have one distinct personality. We never see the gnome homeland.
Gnomes are the jews of the fantasy settings, a cunning race that excels at creating illusions meant to deceive those around them, among other things; no wonder people don't like them.
But which race is the one that hoards gold and run trade empires
 
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
4,189
RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In
Humans are the best.

If you include non-human races in your game, please be at least a little bit creative instead of just copypasting the common elf/dwarf/orc/gnome/halfling races. It's overdone and boring. Even something utterly retarded like China Mieville's cactus people and people with a scarab for a head would be an improvement at this point, cause at least they'd be fresh and interesting.

Having elf/dwarf/orc/gnome/halfling in your world is a good sign that the world is probably an uninspired copypasta of overused fantasy tropes.

The problem with that line of thinking is that those races* have became a part of players expectations. So when they boot a new game, they want to play as an elf, not as a cactus person who lives in a forest. They are expected to be there just like wizards are expected to be there. So if devs are making a typical fantasy RPG there is no reason to exclude them.
If the selectable PC races are too weird there might be a problem with people just defaulting back to humans, and nobody adds several races to chose from for people to ignore them.
*Except gnomes, I don't think most people notice when they get excluded.

The solution for that is not to make a typical fantasy RPG because typical fantasy has become trite and stale too.

It's not really a solution. The reason why "typical fantasy RPGs" get made is because the genre itself has it's fans. People who don't want to play an RPG, or an adventure with some magic but specifically western fantasy adventure. If you make a game that doesn't appeal to that audience you lose it.
Which is OK, there are other audiences, but these are fans of other genres with it's own set of cliches.
Sure fantasy can be generic, but there are still interesting things to be done with it. I think the old Wizardry 8 solved the issue especially well. Your part consists of typical fantasy lot + furries + the mook, an original race for people who want something new. Then the game starts on the planet populated by somewhat more original inhabitans. It preserves the spirit o classic fantasy, but still shows player something new.
It's the same approach Star Trek used. The crew is pretty normal and consists of your typical sci-fi set: humans, warrior dudes, space elves and robots. At least one crew member is an outsider weirdo, sometimes he will be of an exotic species. There are no limits for the species they encounter in separate episodes.
 
Unwanted

Kalin

Unwanted
Dumbfuck Zionist Agent
Joined
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1,868,264
Location
Al Scandiya
This thread suddenly reminded me of my plan to play IWD1 with MANLET MILITIA party using snazzy portraits of Todd Howard, Tom Cruise and other alpha manlet bros.

Think I'm gonna do that now, thanks.
 

Dwarvophile

Liturgist
Joined
Dec 1, 2015
Messages
1,431
Humans are the best.

If you include non-human races in your game, please be at least a little bit creative instead of just copypasting the common elf/dwarf/orc/gnome/halfling races. It's overdone and boring. Even something utterly retarded like China Mieville's cactus people and people with a scarab for a head would be an improvement at this point, cause at least they'd be fresh and interesting.

Having elf/dwarf/orc/gnome/halfling in your world is a good sign that the world is probably an uninspired copypasta of overused fantasy tropes.

Don't know if any of you remembers Skyrealms of Jorune the p&p but the non human races were rather exotic.
 

CappenVarra

phase-based phantasmist
Patron
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
2,912
Location
Ardamai
This thread suddenly reminded me of my plan to play IWD1 with MANLET MILITIA party using snazzy portraits of Todd Howard, Tom Cruise and other alpha manlet bros.

Think I'm gonna do that now, thanks.
probably not news but: max CON, get significant save bonus
 

mondblut

Arcane
Joined
Aug 10, 2005
Messages
22,205
Location
Ingrija
the non human races were rather exotic.

Don't know if any of you remembers Skyrealms of Jorune

Coincidence?

The majority of people aren't terribly thrilled by the prospect of fighting xssragh'xssth among the groves of Agabazzgsvjdeh trees. They like shit that's familiar to them. So at best, you'll get elves and orcs by any other name (and say "stop being a pretentious snowflake, retard, and just name them what they are"). At worst, have fun playing a lovecraftian monstrosity in the seventeenth dimension.
 

Scarlet Lilith

Learned
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Messages
116
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❤️Hell❤️
The majority of people aren't terribly thrilled by the prospect of fighting xssragh'xssth among the groves of Agabazzgsvjdeh trees. They like shit that's familiar to them. So at best, you'll get elves and orcs by any other name (and say "stop being a pretentious snowflake, retard, and just name them what they are"). At worst, have fun playing a lovecraftian monstrosity in the seventeenth dimension.
There is a fourth way, if the devs don't want to use the generic races, don't want to rebrand them and don't have the creativity to come up with something new then there's always furries and scalies. It used to be more popular before the cringy and smelly fetishists made their kinks mainstream knowledge and thus sullied their image, but nevertheless they are an option. Because everyone knows what a cat is like, so when you make a cat-person then that's not super weird or anything, you know what they must be like and they aren't your usual orc-elf-dwarf-human thingy. These have long been archetypes in the human collective mind, basically since forever. Like if I were to make you a character in an RPG I'd probably make you an humanoid alligator or something haha.
 

Rat King

Educated
Joined
May 10, 2020
Messages
154
Location
Netherlands
The majority of people aren't terribly thrilled by the prospect of fighting xssragh'xssth among the groves of Agabazzgsvjdeh trees. They like shit that's familiar to them. So at best, you'll get elves and orcs by any other name (and say "stop being a pretentious snowflake, retard, and just name them what they are"). At worst, have fun playing a lovecraftian monstrosity in the seventeenth dimension.
There is a fourth way, if the devs don't want to use the generic races, don't want to rebrand them and don't have the creativity to come up with something new then there's always furries and scalies. It used to be more popular before the cringy and smelly fetishists made their kinks mainstream knowledge and thus sullied their image, but nevertheless they are an option. Because everyone knows what a cat is like, so when you make a cat-person then that's not super weird or anything, you know what they must be like and they aren't your usual orc-elf-dwarf-human thingy. These have long been archetypes in the human collective mind, basically since forever. Like if I were to make you a character in an RPG I'd probably make you an humanoid alligator or something haha.
My apologies, furry propaganda is not allowed on this thread. Please refrain from advocating for that degenerate filth.
 
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
4,189
RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In
The majority of people aren't terribly thrilled by the prospect of fighting xssragh'xssth among the groves of Agabazzgsvjdeh trees. They like shit that's familiar to them. So at best, you'll get elves and orcs by any other name (and say "stop being a pretentious snowflake, retard, and just name them what they are"). At worst, have fun playing a lovecraftian monstrosity in the seventeenth dimension.
There is a fourth way, if the devs don't want to use the generic races, don't want to rebrand them and don't have the creativity to come up with something new then there's always furries and scalies. It used to be more popular before the cringy and smelly fetishists made their kinks mainstream knowledge and thus sullied their image, but nevertheless they are an option. Because everyone knows what a cat is like, so when you make a cat-person then that's not super weird or anything, you know what they must be like and they aren't your usual orc-elf-dwarf-human thingy. These have long been archetypes in the human collective mind, basically since forever. Like if I were to make you a character in an RPG I'd probably make you an humanoid alligator or something haha.
There is one another way. The DnD/general fantasy bestiaries have tons of monsters players had been fighting for decades. Many of those are humanoids. Making some of those into PC results in a choice that is familiar but feels fresh. AFAIK every time it had been done the response was good. Lizardmen in various RPGs, Undead in Original Sin 2, Tri-Kreen in Darksun, all kinds of monsters in M&M8, horde in WoW.
 

Scarlet Lilith

Learned
Joined
Apr 5, 2020
Messages
116
Location
❤️Hell❤️
My apologies, furry propaganda is not allowed on this thread. Please refrain from advocating for that degenerate filth.
Hypocrite, if you don't like furry creatures you should show yourself out the door first. Me? I think rats are pretty cool, Skaven is a good example of how to use them. Notice how they aren't just not-orcs, or not-elves or not-dwarves, yet they don't need to be explained much, we all know what rats are like.
 

Scarlet Lilith

Learned
Joined
Apr 5, 2020
Messages
116
Location
❤️Hell❤️
There is one another way. The DnD/general fantasy bestiaries have tons of monsters players had been fighting for decades. Many of those are humanoids. Making some of those into PC results in a choice that is familiar but feels fresh. AFAIK every time it had been done the response was good. Lizardmen in various RPGs, Undead in Original Sin 2, Tri-Kreen in Darksun, all kinds of monsters in M&M8, horde in WoW.
The Horde is how not to do it, Blizzard watered down the evil factions and races way back in WC3 and it only got worse in WoW. I do like how Larian have handled the undead though, they're something unique. The thing you should aim with when introducing a new race is to make sure it is an unique archetype that can stand on its own two legs. Otherwise there's little point to it. Which makes a lot of the usual enemy roster redundant when it comes to making them playable. Like how much difference is there really between a gnome and a goblin?
 

Rat King

Educated
Joined
May 10, 2020
Messages
154
Location
Netherlands
My apologies, furry propaganda is not allowed on this thread. Please refrain from advocating for that degenerate filth.
Hypocrite, if you don't like furry creatures you should show yourself out the door first. Me? I think rats are pretty cool, Skaven is a good example of how to use them. Notice how they aren't just not-orcs, or not-elves or not-dwarves, yet they don't need to be explained much, we all know what rats are like.
Anthropomorphic animals are degeneracy, not just 'furry creatures' as you say. The rat race is allowed though because they're just big ass rats instead of cats with humanoid bodies for example.
Also you're saying all rats are the same?! Take those words back or be crusified, you degenerate heathen!
 

DalekFlay

Arcane
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Joined
Oct 5, 2010
Messages
14,118
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New Vegas
There is one another way. The DnD/general fantasy bestiaries have tons of monsters players had been fighting for decades. Many of those are humanoids. Making some of those into PC results in a choice that is familiar but feels fresh. AFAIK every time it had been done the response was good. Lizardmen in various RPGs, Undead in Original Sin 2, Tri-Kreen in Darksun, all kinds of monsters in M&M8, horde in WoW.

D&D bestiary books aren't aiming for mainstream dollars. I don't know how accurate it is, but the perception is absolutely that the "weirder" you make sci-fi/fantasy, the less people buy it. Todd Howard said this very bluntly during the Skyrim PR phase, that they wanted to be less traditional than Oblivion but couldn't get too weird like Morrowind or they'd lose sales. Pretty sure Sawyer said something like that about Pillars as well. Lots of movie commentaries have directors talking about similar things with films.

I've also seen plenty of Codex posts over the years complaining about "too weird/silly" of settings or concepts when something isn't Tolkien enough.
 

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