Poll: Do you think any race should be able to be any class?

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

i would say yes
if your group is the type that ignores lore then none would care anyway
and if they are the type that does like lore and RPing it can make for excellent character and stories for example a elven berserker could be explained through something like raised by orcs or dwarfs, or maybe hes got anger issues etc
if its something that shouldn't be possible like a mage from a race that can't use magic it can give the GM some powerful tools to craft an adventure by providing a mystery to be solved

There is in fact a sub-species of elf called Wild Elves in the elven supplement book for tabletop D&D. As a species they shun civilisation and live (as the name suggests) in the wild untamed parts of the world, living in close communities with dryads and other forest fey. Favoured classes for Wild Elves are barbarian, scout and druid. If I'm honest they're a hell of a lot cooler than the traditional 'high' elf species.

 

[MrFalconfly]

Oh I thought you meant racing.

And as much as I want to see a V8Supercar race a Corvette Racing GTE ZR1 on Infineon Raceway I don't think that'd work.

 

[SmugFrog]

No, because some racial characteristics would make certain classes impractical or impossible.

And diminish the lore/balance of the gameplay.

a 10' tall 2000lb mountain of muscle who was light on his feet and adept at climbing up trellises, squeezing though the smallest of windows who could daintily pick someone's pocket with fingers as big as you thigh and somehow sneak up on people

This sounds like a wonderful Pixar movie, and I want to see it.

 

[babinro]

Yes.

My understanding of tabletop RPGS is that the DM can simply use the rules and lore as a general guideline rather than a strict law that must be enforced. As such, anything is game. Any decision that does this should be made with the consideration of your players.

 

[Savagezion]

Yeah, I actually prefer if players do exactly that. The idea of tabletop RPGs is to create a fun tale. Personally I think a gnome barbarian is way more interesting material to work with than a half-orc barbarian. A half-orc mage is more interesting than an elven one. It helps mix things up. Every game will have players who use cookie cutter setups. The players who do weird shit is the players I like because they offer real challenge to GM'ing. I mean if someone wants to play a drawven warlock I am gonna have to look into how they will level but I tend to find that the game offsets them enough usually. I may apply some restrictions but I tend to try and keep it as restriction free as possible for the player.

I will say that I do tend to persuade new players away from such combinations as it is a very delicate balancing game for the player to be effective. However, it can be fun if an experienced player is doing it. The idea mentioned in the thread of an Ogre thief is comical all on its own. Worst thief ever! But that would be a part of the tale we are creating and that is a tale I would like to hear personally. So I am all for it.

 

[happyninja42]

It depends on the context of the class I think. If there is some thematic, in-world reason for why a particular class exists, (eg. The wood elves of this forest are able to be Druids, because they've lived in the forest for centuries and have formed a bond with the spirits there), then no, I don't think any other races should have access to the class.

However since most games don't make it that specific, and just say "Some people are able to be X just because random reasons" then sure, any race should be able to be any class.

I personally prefer to have some level of specialization to things though, because in most fantasy books, there is usually a strong distinction between the races and what they can do. Many book series have it where only one race has some special ability/power, that would basically be a class to itself, so there is precedent for it, but it seems most publishers don't want to deal with the "but I want to be a *insert race/class combination* noooooow!" complaints, so they just leave it all open.

 

[conmag9]

For the most part, yes. The only exceptions, applied sparingly, would be those who are literally physically impossible, not merely improbable. In Dragon Age, Dwarves lack the connection to the Fade required to use magic, so they can't be mages. That sort of thing is okay in small doses (with mechanical balances, hopefully). Stuff like Ogre Rogues are totally okay in my book though, even if they've got their work cut out for them.

 

[plugav]

It seems natural that they should. Do you think the gnome race would survive in a world where goblins exist if they didn't have warriors? Or that said goblins wouldn't have spies and diplomats?

That said, certain classes tend to require a specific education or ubringing, so if your fantasy world is rife with racial/national/class/religious tensions (it probably is), it seems unlikely (but not entirely impossible) that an elf would practise dwarven runecasting, or that a pious Quelashan noble would receive the same magical training as the shadowcasters from B'Hon's infamous undercity.

But that's for story reasons, not mechanical ones.

 

[Gladion]

Absolutely, if for no other reason than to send the right message. If, in the real world, you can participate in the Olympics like everyone else despite not having two functioning legs, there is absolutely no fucking reason to invent a fictional world in which certain jobs should not be possible for certain races.

Another good reason is because those characters will probably be the most interesting in your game. They have reasons for doing the job they're doing, despite all odds; unlike King Dickhead over there who inherited his job and whose most major problem is that he can't find the Hot Dog between his belly lumps or whatever.

Captcha: Crime of Passion. That's the key.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

No, I don't think they should. It's nice to have some actual role-playing in role-playing games. If someone wants to choose a particular race for its benefits/lore, they should also get the penalty. I like that different races have their own strengths and weaknesses and making everything available for everyone is to remove any "flavour" from the choice.

 

[Bruce]

I figure yes - because in real terms there needs to be a good lore reason why not.

Plus the overly restrictive race/class combinations was not fun in IWD and Baldur's Gate.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I would strongly encourage that kind of thing. I can't think of anything more hilarious than an 8-to-12ft tall Orc playing as a rouge and the thought of a Gnome Berserker is equally entertaining to me. It would make things more fun in my opinion but I realize that I you may not share that view.

 

[Doom972]

That depends on the requested combination and the system it's played on. In general, I think that if a player wants to play a race/class combination that's against the rules, that player should come up with a reasonable explanation to how come his character can be this way. In some cases, said player should have his character take a permanent penalty for choosing that combination.

For example: Let's say that a D&D 2nd Edition player wants to play a Dwarven Mage. Dwarves can't be mages due to their resistance to magic. A reasonable explanation could be that this dwarf has outsider blood running in his family, and therefore doesn't have that resistance (maybe he even has a weakness to magic). This way, one might be able to play a Dwarven Mage.

 

[Sentay]

Alright I think I've got the input I need (since the yes option is almost double what the no option is right now), thank you all for your participation, mods please lock this thread we're done here.

 

[Saika Renegade]

While I'd normally say "it depends on the context," I think it'd be all right unless something in the race's lore strictly prevents the character from being played (IE, a race that is explicitly unable to use magic can't properly be a mage without a magic pool to cast from). I don't think that pure ability scores should limit a character's class.

I once played a non-rogue melee fighter with only an 8 in strength but something like a 16 in dexterity and a couple of feats that could add a number of buffs to accuracy and direct critical hit chance and damage (not sneak attack) like no one's business. It was weird, sure, but it worked well enough up until the point where the entire party died in a golem rush.

 

[Saika Renegade]

[Didn't see the end post there, disregard.]

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

as long as it does go against very clearly stated lore that say other wise in said world I don't see why the class you choose should be limited.
If you can play as class that impractical with a certain races racial traits and stats, do so if that is what you consider to be fun. but for example if lore says it's impossible your character then something like certain race and entirely lacking the ability to use magic, will prevent you from being a mage and while playing as said race. If there is room enough room to mess lore a bit with out entirely breaking all of it and a player can come up a good justification to break said lore breaking and if it would not destroy the balance game, sure why not let them play that class.

 

[Flunk]

Yes, adventurers are generally the exception and not the rule. People who don't really fit in. Don't change things lke racial bonuses and remember that NPCs should find unusual combinations unexpected and strange. Half-Orc wizard? Nothing draws players in like a consistent behavior like human NPCs constantly assuming that the wizard is a barbarian. Playing with preconceptions can be fun. Remember, your job is to create a fun and consistent experience for the players above all. If players want to be unconventional class/race combinations just roll with it.

 

[Reed Spacer]

No. The whole point is to add a level of strategy to it: "Oh, if I'm this race, I get these abilities, but I can't play this class, which I kind of like."

It's a question of compromising. Plus, you might find you have a better character than what you thought you'd have.

 

[Nieroshai]

Well, in Pathfinder, elves are space aliens who came to Golarion through a stargate and orcs are subterranean entropy-worshipers, not to mention that there are even nanotech androids living alongside mammoth-riding primitives. So in Pathfinder, at least, no trope is beyond reimagining. In addition, a lot of settings assume while there are insular cultures, the typical races are as diverse as humans. An orc can be a wizard because he's smarter than the average orc and goes about crushing his enemies by growing to giant size and wrecking them with a flaming greatclub. An elven barbarian is a fighter who emulates the ferocity of nature rather than the refined fencing and archery of his urbanized brethren, but has no druidic talent. A tiefling cleric of Iomedae hates the foulness that spawned her and wishes to redeem her soul.