What are your favourite races to play in games?

Kae

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Simple question, simply what it says on the title but do keep in mind that I'm more curious about Tabletop Role-playing games than anything and why you like to play those races, be it the mechanics they have in the game, the aesthetics or the lore, there's always a reason and it might be interesting to hear some people's opinions.

I, personally love playing Tieflings [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiefling], Halflings [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halfling_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)] and Samsaran [http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/advancedRaceGuide/uncommonRaces/samsarans.html].

Tieflings I like because I honestly enjoy it a great deal to have the whole world act racist against me, it's just great fun to have the Paladin check my alignment every time I say anything remotely morally questionable not to mention that they have the perfect connection to be Warlocks with being able to read and speak demonic, besides that they feel amazing to play as cunning masters of deceit but also as paragons of everything that is good, and a Tiefling paladin is pretty much the best paladin, they feel great, like you are not only doing it for your God you are doing it to prove that your people can be good, I don't know I just love their lore quite a bit and it's a pretty great bonus my DM allows Tieflings to automatically pass a lot of will saves due to their demonic connections, then again I like playing Warlocks.

Halflings, on the other hand, have pretty shitty and lame lore, really they probably have the least interesting lore out of all the main races of D&D and Pathfinder, however mechanically speaking I love playing them in game, you can do lots of wacky stuff like still having your mount inside the dungeon or sliding between the legs of the enemy to jam a dagger straight into the back of their knees, besides it's always hilarious when you do a successful intimidation roll against an Ork or an Ogre, in any case, they are just fun and perfect for both Rogues and Bards.

And then there's the Samsaran which are exclusive to Pathfinder and very mysterious because they have very interesting lore but it's pretty ill-defined and unclear because there's just not much material on them, however mechanically speaking they are fantastic, absolutely perfect for Wizards, Witches, Oracles and Healing Clerics, and their ability to have spells of a different class[footnote]The class has to be related, for example, a Witch can have Wizard spells but not Druid or Paladin spells.[/footnote] is just fucking beautiful, besides that the whole reincarnation thing they have going on can make for some pretty interesting role-playing since each re-incarnation has a different personality but possesses some memories of their other lives, which depending on how you want to play it can make for a character with some cool quirks like telling stories of how things were in x region a few hundred years ago or having some strange sexual preferences due to having been a man and a woman several times in their past, in any case they are fun to play and having the ability to play the same character from level one in the next campaign if it takes place enough time after is a pretty cool bonus.
 

Danbo Jambo

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Always go for half-elf or elf, a lot of human traits but better looking, more talented, live longer, at one with nature and pretty much all the things I wish I could make real in my own life :)
 

Zhukov

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Either something big, brutish and dumb or something small, smart and finesse oriented.

Middle ground is for pussies. As is magic.
 

balladbird

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I'm that one unimaginative guy that every D&D party has one of.

90% of the time I just play human, and generally try to set up a character who's as bad at combat as possible in favor of having general skills that a battle party may not have.
 

FluffehFoxEM

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Anything that doesnt resemble a Human all too much, usually something that can be considered anamalistic, like when I played Pathfinder last year I made a Kitsune that was eventually able to almost one hit most of the parties enemies. Definitely good times. Ended up killing myself due to low attention span, plus I just really got bored with how our DM kept story progression very minamilized and slow.
 

Sonmi

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If we're going by classic DnD races, then I pretty much always pick either Dwarf or Human, and pretty much always make my character a divine spellcaster. (Mostly Cleric, sometimes Druid)
 

Maximum Bert

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Hmm for DnD I would probably say Dark elf although I always like to put my own spin on it which the DM does not always allow or allows but then seems determined to kill me off pretty quick lol. I dont mind playing most races tbh although I dont like going halfling.

Must admit though I dont play much DND finding even a few hours a week spare is extremely difficult for me to do on a regular basis and as such I am unable to commit to a game. Technically we are still playing one but its been over 18 month since we last managed to all sit down and play lol.
 

baddude1337

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I always end up going for a boring human male warrior. Lately I go more for the big two handed sword variety, but still a human warrior. I just finished a play through of Baldurs Gate Reloaded as one, I imagine I'll be the same when they finish remaking 2, and all other future RPGs for that matter.
 

Kae

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balladbird said:
I'm that one unimaginative guy that every D&D party has one of.

90% of the time I just play human, and generally try to set up a character who's as bad at combat as possible in favor of having general skills that a battle party may not have.
Those kinds of players are essential as every party should have at least one human, they are the most common Race in both D&D and Pathfinder and I just don't like playing them, don't get me wrong skill and stat wise they are very good but I like playing wacky shit, I was going to play a Mermaid Wizard on Pathfinder before my party persuaded me not to play the race that can only walk 5ft, also almost no one wants to play the skill monkey.

Maximum Bert said:
Hmm for DnD I would probably say Dark elf although I always like to put my own spin on it which the DM does not always allow or allows but then seems determined to kill me off pretty quick lol. I dont mind playing most races tbh although I dont like going halfling.

Must admit though I dont play much DND finding even a few hours a week spare is extremely difficult for me to do on a regular basis and as such I am unable to commit to a game. Technically we are still playing one but its been over 18 month since we last managed to all sit down and play lol.
Happens, DM's love killing wacky characters it's like their bread and butter, well at least the DM's I know but I will eventually have my revenge as a permanently invisible Pixie[footnote]Probably Bard, Wizard or Cleric.[/footnote] that hides in the hat of whichever is tankiest party member that is not at the front of the battle, you can't kill what you cannot see silly DM and if you can see me you are more likely to hit the other character.

But yeah, unfortunately, that happens sometimes, we have plenty of players that have never even met each other because their schedules never match, it's particularly sad when the ones that rarely play are playing some of the most likeable and cool characters, though if the whole party showed up it would be a bit much since we are like 16, but there's only like 5 of us that show up every session, normally it's like 7 or 8 playing, with 9 it's already a bit much to handle and things tend to get rushed because you have to scream to get the DM to listen to you among all the noise.
 

Drathnoxis

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I always really liked the Royal Raceway. I used to go and explore the hidden castle for minutes and lose the actual race when I was a kid.
 

hermes

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In terms of D&D, I like playing half breeds, like Half-Orc or Half-Elf.
Gives me the chance to play a role as something other than human, without some of the most restrictive penalties.
 

Oroboros

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Elves usually. Even in RL there is just so much going on, so many different cultures and locations and occupations that I think would be fascinating to explore-but human lifetimes are far too short to experience them all. So the expanded lifetimes of long lived species like elves is rather appealing to me, and I feel it fits the occupation of 'adventurer' rather well.

I'm fond of rogues and wizards/sorcerers as well, for which elves tend to be well suited which makes them even more appealing for me.

When I play evil characters I either go with dark elves or humans. Sure, there's stuff like duergar and hobgoblins, but for better or worse (worse) they tend not to get the sort of narrative focus that drow get in rpg settings (i'm looking at you, D&D) so the end result is that there's comparatively more material to work with for making a a dark elf character than other species. Humans on the other hand tend to have better access to a lot of evil organizations like (in the Forgotten Realms) the Zhentarum and the Red Wizards of Thay. And furthermore tend not to get driven out of town (or worse) on sight in 'civilized' areas like an Orc or Drow would, which makes humans work better than 'monster' races in many parties.
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

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Space Wolves or Black Templars. Love me some 40k d100, and I love playing a character who is straigh forward(as in hit it with an axe in the face) and gives me the opportunity to role-play by charging headlong into danger, regardless of the rest of the Kill-Team, and always coming out on top.

Except that one time Roneth BloodTalon jump-packed into a 80+ horde of Ork Boyz and rolled critical failures on his plasma pistol and blew himself up.
 

FalloutJack

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Oh, the stranger ones, most definiely. I'll give you examples.

Joe Slayer - Ork - Shadowrun

Sado "Demon" Renkin - Troll - Shadowrun

Lazarus - Amnesiac Leopard Shapeshifter - Shadowrun

Gary Blight! - Goblin - Forgotten Realms, Age of Wonders, Etc.

Rattigan Von Krauser - Draconian - Age of Wonders

TAO-809 - Combat Droid - Star Wars

Tarak Vul'Han - Zabrak - Star Wars

Walker J. Phineas - Tempter/Saboteur - Demon: The Fallen

Trent Massarino - Gravewight - Changeling: The Lost

I play humans, as well, but this would be in cases where I did not want to play the other races for various reasons.

This list may be incomplete, and does not include characters in freeform RPs, even if they are based upon actual games.