Experience by race

[Rictras Shard]

G'day, all! I'll soon be starting my first Pathfinder campaign as a DM. My players are a creative, interesting bunch, but I've noticed most of them have a tendancy to pick non-standard races.

Most of the campaigns I've been in with them have no human PCs, unless I'm playing one. The group usually consists of dwarves, elves and then the more exotic races.

In my campaign, I'm going to try to encourage at least some of the players to choose traditional races, and perhaps even have some humans. My solution is with the experience chart. Humans will use the fast track, other core races will use the medium, and non-standard races will use the slow one.

In your opinion, would this be unfair for the races outside the core book?

[Zahir ibn Mahmoud ibn Jothan]

Yes, I believe that would be incredibly unfair.

You're effectively giving the Humans 1 extra level over the other core races and 2 levels over the others.

When the human has 15k xp he makes 6th level. The dwarf makes 5th at 15k, and the Tengu makes 4th at 14k.

[Indagare]

Limit the campaign to only traditional races or make the traditional races more appealing by giving them something extra?

[DM_aka_Dudemeister]

In my games the Core 7 races can choose two traits. All other races only get one. Does the job.

[Bearded Ben]

Another option would be to restrict which races can use the alternate racial traits from the APG and ARG.

[Orthos]

It'd be unfair to the non-human races IN the core book. As Zahir said, it's a free level to human, two compared to non-core.

Frankly I don't see why "no humans" is a bad thing. I'd kill to, just once, have an entire party without a single human.

[Vestrial]

Rictras Shard wrote:

G'day, all! I'll soon be starting my first Pathfinder campaign as a DM. My players are a creative, interesting bunch, but I've noticed most of them have a tendancy to pick non-standard races.

Most of the campaigns I've been in with them have no human PCs, unless I'm playing one. The group usually consists of dwarves, elves and then the more exotic races.

In my campaign, I'm going to try to encourage at least some of the players to choose traditional races, and perhaps even have some humans. My solution is with the experience chart. Humans will use the fast track, other core races will use the medium, and non-standard races will use the slow one.

In your opinion, would this be unfair for the races outside the core book?

Your players enjoy playing races other than human. Why not let them have fun instead of punishing them for doing so?

[Bearded Ben]

I'd talk to them and see why they pick non-human races.
"It gives me mechanical advantages" -> tweak mechanics
"Other races get cool archetypes/feats" -> let humans get them too
"I see too many humans at my job and want to get as far away from them as this fantasy game will let me" -> ?

While you're at it, ask if they'd mind if the campaign starts with an all-human party.

[Andrew R]

Non human is one thing, barely humanoid is another. If the mixed nuts are a bit too far out they need to be reined in

[Big Lemon]

Just tell them that your campaign world is mostly humans and non humans have to deal with stereotyping and discrimination.

If you really dont want them to be playing non humans at all, tell them they have to be human. This experience track thing makes no logical sense (humans learn better than races with higher int?) and is in no way renotely balanced. You may as well forbid other races outright, because it will have the same effect.