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He'd better show me the boon that allows him to play a drow character first. :)This is why flavor text is not, in any way, a mechanic, much less a balancing mechanic.Tell that to your PFS DM the next time you try to have your drow infernal sorcerer try to use diplomacy to befriend a superstitious dwarf barbarian. :)
Whoa, whoa, whoa there buddy. According to some of the guys in this thread, all that stuff about drow being rare is in the flavor text, so that doesn't count.
Also, race points are imbalanced, so they're not even any more powerful than the standard races.
Nobody should need a boon to play a drow; they're perfectly balanced and should be welcomed with open arms in every elven community in the realm!
In my game world, drow ARE welcomed in every elven community. They aren't cursed, they aren't 'evil', they aren't the enemy.
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Whoa, whoa, whoa there buddy. According to some of the guys in this thread, all that stuff about drow being rare is in the flavor text, so that doesn't count.
Also, race points are imbalanced, so they're not even any more powerful than the standard races.
First, regardless of flavor drow are not PFS legal.
Second, there are more conditions than "race points are innaccurately balanced and so totals accurately depict power levels" and "race points are unbalanced and so everything is equally balanced".
Edit: Here is a good example.
Human- The best race. The idea of a mere human becoming an epic hero is one that will always speak to me. Everyone knows how to play one
I've been told on multiple occasions I'm not that good at it...
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Grippli - The best race. There is nothing more awesome than being a 2ft tall frogman in a world of hairless apes that take themselves too seriously.
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I pretty much have similar prejudices as the OP when it comes to playing a race. I play humans almost exclusively with the odd axe-wielding dwarf or bow-toting elf. In order to contribute something other than "what I like" though, I think it's worth bearing in mind that when you're DMing you're running the game for the players. Despite my personal tastes, the group I DM for generally favor what I consider to be bizarre races. Often because of synergies/special abilities which tie in with their chosen class, but equally often due to a "cool factor".
In my view, it's more important that I run a game that suits my players' style than my own. For example, my Golarion has Dragonborn and Eladrin since I ran a 4E game and the players wanted to play those races (neither of which appeal to me, at all).
I wouldnt suggest "get another group" as a solution, but I think it's worth considering whether restrictions/limitations you impose are increasing your players' enjoyment or reducing it. Obviously there's some give-and-take (since the DM is playing for fun too) but it seems to me to be a common error to try and run a game and construct a world you'd enjoy playing in, rather than a game your players would enjoy playing in.
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Humans - they're monkeys, and monkeys are dumb. 1/10
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Frogs are cool, sir.
^ This.
My son and I just had our first RPG conversation (he's young). I told him I was gaming tomorrow night and then, of course, I had to explain Pathfinder/D&D/why Dad is a nerd/dice in half an hour or less.
His burning question?
"Can I play a were-frog?"
So yeah. Frogs are cool.
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Aasimar- Eh... I get that you need a counterpart to the tiefling but this race doesn't speak to me in any particular way. I suppose an evil aasimar trying to fight his good thoughts might be humorous. 6/10
Tiefling- I actually like tieflings. They are the right amount of unnerving and creepy, while still being human enough to be identifiable. 8/10
Drow- UGH. Just ugh. I've never seen a drow that wasn't either a complete bastard or Drizzt. No middle ground whatsoever and I hate them as player races. There might be a cool new take on them someday but it won't be at my table. 1/10
The Elemental Ones (Ifrit, Slyph, etc.)- I am pretty much neutral towards these. They are pretty okay I guess. 5/10
Tengu- People are really into these but I don't really get it. They're birds. And birds are dumb. 4/10
Kitsune- I'm not into Asian themed stuff. If that makes me an ignorant American then I wear that badge proudly. Sorry. They're foxes. And foxes are dumb. 3/10
Grippli- They're frogs. And frogs are dumb. 4/10
Even more coming soon.
Not a real fan of "that's dumb" as a reason for dismissing things. As several people have pointed out, these races are no more or less logical or valid as humans. Plus it is horribly non-descriptive of why you don't like them or why they wouldn't be good races to play.
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Humans - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Half-Elves - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Elves - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Dwarves - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Half-Orcs - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Orcs - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Gnomes - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Halflings - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Goblings - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Hobgoblins - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Tieflings - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Aasimar - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Geniekin - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Dhampir - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Vishkanya - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Nagaji - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Tengu - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Grippli - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Strix - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Harpy - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Merfolk - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Gillmen - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Kobolds - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Wayang - Depends on whether or not the individual player has them look like John Waters
Samsaran - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Ghoran - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Android - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Vercite - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Lashunta - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Ilee - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
Triaxan - Depends on what the individual player does with them.
As a GM, I'd rather keep an open mind about these things. As a player, I'd rather play with a GM that didn't pigeonhole every member of a race into a narrow stereotype, especially when it results in a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy where they dislike that race as they percieve it yet insist everyone play that race under that perception.
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As a GM, I'd rather keep an open mind about these things. As a player, I'd rather play with a GM that didn't pigeonhole every member of a race into a narrow stereotype, especially when it results in a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy where they dislike that race as they percieve it yet insist everyone play that race under that perception.
Yes, we get it. Racism is bad.
Once again, if you're going to run your entire game world like it's populated by enlightened 21st century Western progressives, accepting of all people and cultures, then yeah, there is absolutely no downside to playing an esoteric race and you should fully expect your players to min-max the system for combat optimization.
(Yes, I'm also aware that some people genuinely choose rare races based on role-playing reasons, but you're out of your mind if you honestly think they're anything but a tiny fraction compared to the power gamers who just want the juicy stats.)
But the original poster (whose question I keep trying to get back to) wondered why it seems like the core races have seemingly become rare. And that's his answer: If you want to encourage people to play those races, who are relatively weak compared to the newer, stranger races, then you have to actually enforce the flavor text that explains why they're rare, unwelcome, or otherwise negatively viewed by the more populous races.
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As a GM, I'd rather keep an open mind about these things. As a player, I'd rather play with a GM that didn't pigeonhole every member of a race into a narrow stereotype, especially when it results in a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy where they dislike that race as they percieve it yet insist everyone play that race under that perception.Yes, we get it. Racism is bad.
Once again, if you're going to run your entire game world like it's populated by enlightened 21st century Western progressives, accepting of all people and cultures, then yeah, there is absolutely no downside to playing an esoteric race and you should fully expect your players to min-max the system for combat optimization.
You're not reading the words people are actually typing.
Where did I say I'm running my game that way?
The only posts where I've mentioned anything close to how I run race reactions have mentioned that reactions aren't uniform or universal or static. Reactions are going to depend on where they are and what they do, and PCs can make the situation better or worse for themselves through their words and actions. My games aren't utopian. But they aren't misery porn-fests either. Some of us have nuance.
(Yes, I'm also aware that some people genuinely choose rare races based on role-playing reasons, but you're out of your mind if you honestly think they're anything but a tiny fraction compared to the power gamers who just want the juicy stats.)
I don't think I'm out of my mind when I listen to people telling me why they like to play a certain race rather than listening to someone telling me why someone else likes to play a certain race.
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But the original poster (whose question I keep trying to get back to) wondered why it seems like the core races have seemingly become rare. And that's his answer: If you want to encourage people to play those races, who are relatively weak compared to the newer, stranger races, then you have to actually enforce the flavor text that explains why they're rare, unwelcome, or otherwise negatively viewed by the more populous races.
Or just ban them, because you can totally do that, too.
And, really, complaining about racial stat-lineups? What next? "No, your highest stat has to be STR on your wizard, you horrible munchkin you."
And you really, really need to learn the definition of 'flavor text'.
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So you should fully expect your players to play Humans, Dwarves, and Elves for the most part. Got it.
Once again, if you're going to run your entire game world like it's populated by enlightened 21st century Western progressives, accepting of all people and cultures, then yeah, there is absolutely no downside to playing an esoteric race and you should fully expect your players to min-max the system for combat optimization.
If they want to go wherever they want and almost always be welcome? If they never want to suffer a circumstance penalty on social skills with common folk or townspeople? If they want to start off as neutral in the eyes of the local authorities instead of distrusted?
Yeah, then they should play a core race.
If they're willing to put up with the negative side of playing a rare, powerful race, then it's not a problem. This is a thread about encouraging people to want to play the core races again. Obviously, if a DM so desired, he could just limit his game to that, but nobody likes a draconian DM.
Just don't expect to play a strix and not have to deal with the fact that humans hate strix (and vice versa). Don't play a drow and think you can get off with a slap on the wrist when you're caught picking a an elf prince's pocket. Don't play a tiefling, who is literally half fiend, and expect to get free healing down at the local lawful good temple.
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If they want to go wherever they want and almost always be welcome? If they never want to suffer a circumstance penalty on social skills with common folk or townspeople? If they want to start off as neutral in the eyes of the local authorities instead of distrusted?
And if they want to be the most min-maxed munchkin characters ever too.
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Don't play a tiefling, who is literally half fiend, and expect to get free healing down at the local lawful good temple.
For starters, we are not half-fiends.
And second, they most certainly can expect healing if they are in need. Certainly if I or my sister are there. You don't save souls by turning those in need away.
We're not Abadarites here.
And I'm not sure about this....man mixing thing...
But I have had someone tell me I'm a 16 at best regarding my personality and fitness and a 10 at worst when it came to academia. I honestly have no idea what she was talking about.
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Gods...man mixing isn't what I think it is, is it?
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For starters, we are not half-fiends.Yeah, I forgot: We're totally ignoring everything except a race's combat stats now.
(I'm assuming you're aware that it literally says that tieflings are half-field in the book.)
You haven't actually read about tieflings have you?
They have never been described as half-fiends in any edition. From Planescape to Pathfinder.
That's not what they are.
Look them up on the PRD and read their actual flavor.
If they want to go wherever they want and almost always be welcome? If they never want to suffer a circumstance penalty on social skills with common folk or townspeople? If they want to start off as neutral in the eyes of the local authorities instead of distrusted?
Yeah, then they should play a core race.
If they're willing to put up with the negative side of playing a rare, powerful race, then it's not a problem. This is a thread about encouraging people to want to play the core races again. Obviously, if a DM so desired, he could just limit his game to that, but nobody likes a draconian DM.
Just don't expect to play a strix and not have to deal with the fact that humans hate strix (and vice versa). Don't play a drow and think you can get off with a slap on the wrist when you're caught picking a an elf prince's pocket. Don't play a tiefling, who is literally half fiend, and expect to get free healing down at the local lawful good temple.
In your game. Not every game deals with the races the same way. Not every portion of every game world, in fact, or every city and town, deals with every race in the same rote way.
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In your game. Not every game deals with the races the same way. Not every portion of every game world, in fact, or every city and town, deals with every race in the same rote way.
You're exactly right, which is why I suggested the original poster adopt a similar strategy if he wants to encourage his players to choose core races more often than rare ones. Does that make sense?
to any of you, whether or not you are familiar with my unique aesthetic tastes.
how many of you, would allow me to play a conversion of a Tera Online Elin in your games?
if we go by the game and it's mechanics
it's a small fey race with a pair of flexible ability bonuses without penalty (as per dual talent human), the ability to wield medium weapons and count as medium for the purpose of manuevers, darkvision 60 feet, and a 40 foot land speed, as well as a 30 foot swim speed and the ability to cast an AoE version of calm emotions centered around itself once per hour.
i need help fleshing it out, but it's one of my favorite MMO races.
I would be fine with that in one of my games. Even dressed in elegant gothic lolita fashion. :3
I have a version of castanics I made to use in my games already.
On topic: I adore odd race choices, and choices in general, so I disagree with the OP's assessment. What they want to do behind closed doors is their business though.