1. Non-humans treated as a monoculture. All elves love nature. All dwarves have beards. Racial attribute bonuses bug me the most. All gnomes are smart and all elves are nimble. If you're going to allow non-humans as PCs, make those non-humans as diverse as humans. Some are strong, some are weak, some are wise, some are naive, etc. In gameplay terms, bonuses give players a non-choice during character creation: either your archer is an elf for that sweet +2 DEX, or you made the wrong choice. Lame.
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| Fantascience (art by Todd Lockwood) |
2. The word race has inescapable connotations that hearken back to ugly 19th century faux-science used to excuse inequality and mistreatment. I like the taxonomic approach (used by Mausritter for its rodents and other mammals). If you add non-humans to your game, treat them as different species of the genus Homo, as different from Homo sapiens as Homo neanderthalensis.
Still, I like the idea of fantastic humanoids in my fantasy games. Deep mines aren't the same without abandoned dwarven halls.
I'd like to try to differentiate each species with a single trait - something useful that isn't purely a stat bonus. This includes humans. I've had enough of the tired trope that humans are unique because they can do anything.
- DWARVES can see in the dark with infravision.
- ELVES do not require sleep or rations.
- HALFLINGS reroll all 1s, but must keep the second roll.
- HILLFOLK roll again when they roll max damage.
- HUMANS can sense the presence of magic.
Infravision! How could I? More on that later ...
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