In the two games I am currently playing the mix is as follows:
E6 homebrew:
tiefling, changeling, gnome, 3 humans
Converted 3.5 adventure of Slaughtergaurd
Wayang, Half orc, Shadar Kai, 2 Drow, 3 humans,
Hrm.
Game I Currently Run: 2 Humans, 2 Half-Elves (Kill Count: 1 Tiefling)
Last Game I Ran: 1 Elf, 2 Drow, 1 Human, 1 Halfling (basically an evil party)
Games I'm In: 1 Kitsune, 1 Elf; 3 humans, 1 elf
I don't think Human is mechanically the strongest race. Elves are better Int Spellcasters, for example. But that bonus feat can really help to bring a build together a level or two earlier and more skill points is always nice; some people see it as an excuse to tank Int (you can go up to Int 8 while having the skills of an Int 10 character) while others just like having skill points.
My most recent characters I have played:
Human witch
Halfling bard
Custom race (dryad/elf hybrid) druid
human ranger
half-orc ranger
Custom race (gnome/pixie hybrid in 3.5) spellthief
gnome rogue
I am currently in two active games, here is the makeup of those:
Game 1 (Carrion Crown)
- halfling bard (me)
- human wizard
- half-orc cleric
- half-orc barbarian
- gnome inquisitor
Game 2 (homebrew)
- human witch (me)
- half orc cleric
- human ranger
- gnome sorcerer
I am also running a game with the following party makeup
- gnome summoner
- gnome sorcerer
- human bard
- human paladin
- human rogue
Until I put this list together I didn't even realize that the majority of my PCs in the game I am running is human. In fact I'm somewhat surprised to realize that.
If I have any preference in the game it is to play custom races.
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Out of curiosity, I recently went through our pre-registered signups for our very active PFS game day to see what races were most common. Humans make up anywhere from 1/2 to 2/3 of PCs in any given week, in a group with 4-7 tables every week.
Of my own 13 PFS characters, I have 6 humans, 2 halflings, 2 gnomes, a nagaji, a kitsune, and a half orc.
In my Forgotten Realms campaign we have three humans and two rock gnomes. The PCs that have already met a sticky end were a raptoran, a lightfoot halfling and a moon elf.
In PbP Golarion campaign we have a two humans, two half-orcs and a dwarf who just departed.
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I'm a human.
When I play I try to be un-me.
My RotR game:
2 Humans
1 Dwarf
1 Elf
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My RotRL game that I play in:
Elf (me)
Halfling
Drow
Aasimar
Human
Human
My Skull & Shackles game that I GM:
Vanara
Tiefling
Human
Human
Human
Human
Also, virtually all of my PFS characters are Human
I almost always play humans.
I am dull that way.
Demihumans are more interesting to me when they are more developed, and not just the typical parts of human culture transplanted to things that are almost human. Essentialised and simplified, that is no fun.
As dm, when I take the time to make demihumans interesting, then I am enthused.
I have two current games. In both, I happen to be playing humans. The reason is that I'm playing front-line melee characters in both. (I lean toward spellcasters, but in both cases the party needed battlebots.) With occasional exceptions, playing the party's front liner means you'll be playing a strength based character, and no race gets a bonus to strength. (None were available at the time these campaigns started, anyway.) So the obvious choices for any strength based character are Human, Half Elf, Half Orc.
Add to that the increased need for feats among martial characters. A cleric or wizard can really do just fine without feats, but a martial character depends on them heavily. So, between the three "strong" races, the obvious choice will be the one with a bonus feat.
Kingmaker:
- Human
- Human
- Half Orc
- Elf
Serpent Skull:
- Human
- Half Elf
- Half Elf
- Elf
How is this for a strange party:
Human
Cat man
Chicken headed woman.
Catfish humanoid.
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Last games I ran(Crimson Throne):
3 humans
1 elf
1 half-elf
1 gnome
(plus 1 dwarf that switched characters later on)
Atah-Ouahe homebrew:
2 humans
1 gnoll
1 tengu
Last few games I was in/currently in:
Kingmaker:
4 humans
2 tieflings
1 gnome
(plus 1 elf who died)
Carrion Crown:
3 humans (plus 1 that switched characters later)
1 dhampir
1 elf
Skull and Shackles:
3 humans
1 elf
1 tengu
(plus two humans who died)
Jade Regent:
1 dwarf
1 elf
1 halfling
1 half-orc
(plus 1 human that had to drop for time)
Huh... IME, adventuring parties usually have more humans than non-humans, actually...
But right now, the game I'm GMing includes:
- Human Paladin
- Human Gunslinger
- Warforged Cleric
- Catfolk Ninja (Fluffed as a Rogue)
- Half-Elf Summoner (but the player only shows up once every blue moon)
And the one I was playing but entered hiatus.. :(
- Human Druid
- Half Elf Ranger
- Half Orc Inquisitor
- Something else... I can't remember because this player only played once in this campaign -.-'.
My current group has 3 Humans, 1 Elf, and 1 Sylph.
In the last campaign, we had only 1 Human (and 3 native Outsiders).
The last four PCs I played: human cleric (pre-gen), dhampir inquisitor, dhampir cleric (one-shot), ratfolk rogue.
The PCs in my Ustalav campaign:
sylph cleric of Pharasma (regular player, indicates switching characters next session)
kitsune "specialist" [ninja without the flavor] (regular player)
beastbrood [rakshasa tiefling] sorcerer (former regular player, missed last 3 sessions)
human alchemist (regular player, but out of state for the summer)
human fighter (new player, been to last two sessions)
half-elf bard (new player, was at last session but seemed eager to continue)
[unknown race] summoner (new player, involved romantically with sylph cleric's player. I can't remember the summoner's race. I remember what the eidolon looked like.)
ifrit barbarian (played two sessions)
dhampir wizard (played single session)
half-orc barbarian (played by player of human alchemist's player last session when he happened to be in-town, so his alchemist didn't pop up and vanish again)
human witch (played a single session, a friend who previously played in my 3.5e home FR game)
dwarf cavalier (played a single session, sometimes sticks around and keeps the store open for our game, also played in my 3.5e home FR game)
dwarf fighter (played a single session)
kitsune oracle (played a single session, had issues with another player, may have been banned from the store?)
tiefling fighter (played a single session, friend of sylph cleric's player, who indicates player wasn't into RP or something)
half-elf rogue (played two sessions)
So, yeah, current party: human fighter, half-elf bard, [unknown race] summoner (if she comes back), and sylph's player is presently saying he's going to play a human or halfling.
I run my game in the local game store, so while it looks like I have a high turn-over rate, I actually just have people that are interested in trying the game when they see us playing.
I have a small but diverse party (very un-optimized)
our three characters are
A catfolk druid
A Dhampir rogue
and I'm playing a Gippli Monk (temporarily, I am sort of rotating DMPCs to fit whatever role my players don't want play, right now I am mostly a defensive wall)
To be fair, My players are doing a freak-show campaign. However they have been asking for something along those lines for forever. Human's are boring, they will always be be boring. yes you might get that feat chain completed 1 level earlier, yes you can keep an extra skill maxed out without sacrificing some admittedly good favored class bonus'. But in the end these are not "essential" for playing a character. I used to always play humans, thinking that I really needed the benefits to make the characters worthwhile. In the end though, sometimes taking a hit to "pure optimization" helps with having more fun playing. After all having fun is the whole point, isn't it.
I personally DESPISE humans. Such a weak and pathetic race, obviously inferior to all others.
Now while playing Pathfinder I prefer a mix. Human tends to be the default option, but I really enjoy playing the other races out there.
I agree whole-heartedly. Shame that Golarion is very humanocentric, but thankfully the players don't have to be the same way.
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I have a small but diverse party (very un-optimized)
I love un-optimized parties. My current party I GM is a bit more optimized than I like, but they stumble around in the dark enough to satisfy me most of the time.
Human's are boring, they will always be be boring. yes you might get that feat chain completed 1 level earlier, yes you can keep an extra skill maxed out without sacrificing some admittedly good favored class bonus'. But in the end these are not "essential" for playing a character. I used to always play humans, thinking that I really needed the benefits to make the characters worthwhile. In the end though, sometimes taking a hit to "pure optimization" helps with having more fun playing. After all having fun is the whole point, isn't it.
I would prefer it every player in my campaign played human or half-human (half-elf, half-orc, tiefling, aasimar, dhampir, changeling, fetchling, etc), or halfling (which are just shorter humans really), or at least seriously considered it. It's not about optimization so much as it is about humans being the core assumption. We're all human, so saying humans are boring is kind of dismissing reality and most fantasy fiction. Aside from D&D fiction (and Pathfinder fiction by extension), even high fantasy usually casts humans as the central protagonists. Pathfinder and other campaigns usually provide a wealth of information about playing various human ethnicities and human backgrounds, and playing human allows for a character that can marvel at the world beyond his doorstep, while playing more exotic creatures like elves, dwarves, samsaran, wayang, gnomes, goblins or orcs means you are playing the creature beyond the doorstep, thus deflating it of its mystery and majesty.
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All of the races in Pathfinder are just thinly disguised humans anyway.
Almost everyone in my group plays non-humans.
The reason stated is vision. No one one to be 'that guy' that keeps anyone from sneaking because he has to have a glowing lantern to not trip over his feet. Now if someone else is playing a race with lousy 'normal' vision, then they will consider it. But usually not.
I am not saying it is a valid reason. Especially at higher levels where magic can help with vision related issues. But that is what they all say.
For myself, I rarely play humans but that is simply because I want to play something really different from myself. I are a human, why would I want to pretend I am one?
Most players I've had don't play humans as "it's boring". I agree to an extent. Part of the appeal of the game is the ability to be something you never could in real life. Not to say I haven't played humans before, and in fact in my upcoming campaign I will be playing a human.
Anyways, my current group for Rise of the Runelords:
Tiefling Paladin with oracle flavor (it's a little complicated)
Gnome Synthesist Summoner
Half-Elf Black Blade Magus (who constantly disguises himself as human)
Human (Varisian) Rogue/Shadowdancer
My upcoming group for a homebrew gestalt campaign:
Human Gunslinger/Sorcerer
"Vampire" Ninja/Summoner (Mechanically human. Again, complicated.)
Warforged Paladin/Inquisitor
Goblin Alchemist/Urban Ranger
my current weekday group tries to be wierd with the classes instead of the races
human puppeteer with 3 marionette minions (homebrew)
1 half fire elemental human samurai 2/fighter 2/monk 2 who intends to go drunken master and build a charging DPR build putting a new spin on the ubercharger
1 human gadgeteer w/ a base 24 intelligence
1 human ranger with several prosthetic modifications and a cyborg dog
1 plushie bard with a sawtooth sabre in it's left hand and a hatred of gnomes that runs so deep, she would literally burn down a gnomish orphanage, just to watch the gnomes scream in horror as she laughs like Rena Ryugyuu.
Current game:
Two Ratfolk
One Kitsune
One Elf
One Gnome
One Human (who only picked human because she couldn't find a race she liked that went with the class she wanted)
As one player says, "If I wanted to be a human, I'd go outside."
"Zipper Kill Gnome! Gnome gonna die!" *Crazy Higurashi Rena Ryugyuu Laugh*Current game:
Two Ratfolk
One Kitsune
One Elf
One Gnome
One Human (who only picked human because she couldn't find a race she liked that went with the class she wanted)As one player says, "If I wanted to be a human, I'd go outside."
"Ummmm....... Zipper, now is not the time. you want your jelly beans?"
"Ummmm....... Zipper, now is not the time. you want your jelly beans?""Zipper Kill Gnome! Gnome gonna die!" *Crazy Higurashi Rena Ryugyuu Laugh*Current game:
Two Ratfolk
One Kitsune
One Elf
One Gnome
One Human (who only picked human because she couldn't find a race she liked that went with the class she wanted)As one player says, "If I wanted to be a human, I'd go outside."
Frankly, if he wants to, I won't mind. The gnome is a druid and refuses to attack anything*, so we're really not sure why she's there.
*I think she's thinking 'animals eat what they kill, so I have to eat anything I kill'.
"Ummmm....... Zipper, now is not the time. you want your jelly beans?""Zipper Kill Gnome! Gnome gonna die!" *Crazy Higurashi Rena Ryugyuu Laugh*Current game:
Two Ratfolk
One Kitsune
One Elf
One Gnome
One Human (who only picked human because she couldn't find a race she liked that went with the class she wanted)As one player says, "If I wanted to be a human, I'd go outside."
Frankly, if he wants to, I won't mind. The gnome is a druid and refuses to attack anything*, so we're really not sure why she's there.
*I think she's thinking 'animals eat what they kill, so I have to eat anything I kill'.
if you want to convince your DM include Zipper as an NPC for killing the gnome. all you need to know is small sized plushie with a cute animesque angelic appearance (think Flonne or Collette Brunel), animated by a chaotic evil angelic spirit and dervish dancing with a sawtooth sabre (or reskinned scimitar if allowed to be a chaotic evil dawnflower dervish bard)
Considering that the DM is the druid's wife, I doubt that's gonna fly ... and I have no idea what a Flonne or a Collette Brunel is.
It seems worth noting that the more 'non-core races' the GM permits, the more players will avail themselves of that privilege. Everybody likes to run something exotic (some almost exclusively; others as a change now and then.) Playable races in Bestiaries and books like the Advanced Race Guide don't 'force' anybody to play a human less often, but they do encourage an osmosis-like drift away from a human-oriented player party.
I consider this a good thing, but other people disagree with me, I'm sure.
Considering that the DM is the druid's wife, I doubt that's gonna fly ... and I have no idea what a Flonne or a Collette Brunel is.
It seems worth noting that the more 'non-core races' the GM permits, the more players will avail themselves of that privilege. Everybody likes to run something exotic (some almost exclusively; others as a change now and then.) Playable races in Bestiaries and books like the Advanced Race Guide don't 'force' anybody to play a human less often, but they do encourage an osmosis-like drift away from a human-oriented player party.I consider this a good thing, but other people disagree with me, I'm sure.
i consider it a good thing too. much like a DM allowing 3.5 stuff in pathfinder such as the warblade, the binder, the shadowcraft mage, the unseen seer, and the drunken master.
Human seems to be a favorite in our Group.
RotRL
Human - Ulfen
Human - Ulfen
Human - Azlanti
Half-Elf - Chelaxian
Elf - Forlorn
Elf - Kyonin
LoF
Human - Gurandi
Human - Gurandi
Human - Gurandi
Human - Gurandi
Human - Varisian
Human - Tian
Elf - Kyonin
Gnome
Serpant Skull
Human - Keleshite
Human - Chelaxian
Human - Chelaxian
Elf - Kyonin
Gnome
Carrion Crown
Human - Taldan
Human - Ulfen
Human - Varisian
Human - Varisian
Ely - Kyonin
It's not inherently good or bad (barring the GM having some particular theme for a campaign in mind): I'm just saying it's a natural drift. At least in PF the human's advantages/drawbacks make it a stable option with no huge drawbacks... aside from being one of only three species* in the universe with bad night vision.
*No, seriously. Feel free to check; I'd be happy to be proven wrong. Humans; halflings; lizardfolk. That's it.
well, some half orcs can give up their darkvision for more skills. but i don't think that counts because they can gain it back by trading away orc ferocity.
My group dislikes the small races. No one will play one.
My groups haven't been very human-y. I play in 2 and run 1, and the characters are:
CotCT
human summoner
dwarf ranged fighter (me, retired)
dwarf melee fighter
half-orc fighter (retired)
human rogue (dead)
halfling rogue (formerly half-orc fighter)
gnome sorcerer
human cleric (quit)
half-drow oracle
dwarf cleric (quit)
elf wizard (removed)
elf wizard (me)
human cavalier
aasimar magus (quit)
Second Darkness
half-orc alchemist (me, retired)
dwarf cleric (quit, same as from CotCT)
aasimar cleric (me, replaced the dwarf)
elf druid
sylph sorcerer
half-orc barbarian
Kingmaker (me as DM)
human rogue
human bard
aasimar fighter
fox person magus (custom race from failed homebrew game, which I ended as the characters had no back story to go off of, and I couldn't figure out an overall storyline)
oread cleric
Surprising how few humans there are in the games I am a part of. I personally find the core races to be boring, and humans even more so. Really hate when someone restricts to core races only. I did make a tiefling paladin (looks like a gnoll) as I had anticipated my wizard dying due to poison. Although, looking up the spell "Lesser Restoration", my wizard should be dead, since the cast time is 3 rounds, though the oracle managed to do it as a standard action (no one bothered to look up the spell, as we all assumed it was standard action like so many spells).
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One game in which I broadened the available pc races right out, we had a boggard, a wood woad (plant fighter that can teleport through trees), and a juvenile otyugh tagging along with a human barbarian and a centaur knight.
I would recommend it to one and all. More monster pcs!
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I would prefer it every player in my campaign played human or half-human (half-elf, half-orc, tiefling, aasimar, dhampir, changeling, fetchling, etc), or halfling (which are just shorter humans really), or at least seriously considered it. It's not about optimization so much as it is about humans being the core assumption. We're all human, so saying humans are boring is kind of dismissing reality and most fantasy fiction. Aside from D&D fiction (and Pathfinder fiction by extension), even high fantasy usually casts humans as the central protagonists. Pathfinder and other campaigns usually provide a wealth of information about playing various human ethnicities and human backgrounds, and playing human allows for a character that can marvel at the world beyond his doorstep, while playing more exotic creatures like elves, dwarves, samsaran, wayang, gnomes, goblins or orcs means you are playing the creature beyond the doorstep, thus deflating it of its mystery and majesty.
I don't know... For many of us, it's not so much dismissing as outright rejection of frustrating limitations that hold the potential of fantasy back.
One of the things a lot of folks want out of fantasy is to step outside themselves into someone else's shoes. And sometimes those shoes are pretty fantastic and exotic.
Forcing humanocentricism as a rule feels more like an artificial limitation to me. Keeping races like orcs and elves and those that are even more fantastic out of reach feels more like keeping them as part of the scenery in a tour rather than preserving their fantastic nature.
Also really not a fan of reserving cultural diversity within races to humans. Monoculture by race has long been one of my biggest pet-peeves with a lot of fantasy settings. Personally, that diminishes those races more than anything else.
Different strokes and all that. I'd just prefer more Kaer Maga's over Bree's. And I know some will say, "Well it's the uniqueness of Kaer Maga that makes it special", but I really don't feel it is. It's how all the moving parts come together there, from the wyrmfolk to the troll augurs to unusual structure of the city itself to how society somehow manages to work that makes it special to me, not it's status as an exception to any sort of rules.
Someone might just want to get into the head of a naga or a ghoran. Someone else might just love the visual possibilities of a strix or harpy knight. Someone might want to explore themes through different angles like android paladins. And another might have a race that just sings to them, representing a form of escapism that they can't really get anywhere else.
I don't know. After going to other systems such as Eclipse Phase for a while the diversity of races that exist within pathfinder seems limiting in the comparison.
In short, I echo AD's statement. All of the races in Pathfinder just look like some variation of Human to me.