Other GM discussion: do you make races for your players or do you let the players create their own races?

[BackSet]

The question is in the title.

I myself flip flop on this. In my superhero hosted project I let players create their own races. While most are humans I've seen some astounding aliens. In my smaller fantasy roleplay, however I created races and I've also seen some astounding characters.

 

[marshmarrow]

I prefer letting players have the freedom to make their own races, as long as they fit well into the setting and aren't outlandish with their abilities or origins. I'll specify what is allowed and what isn't.

 

[Idea]

It depends. Usually I will make the races if the roleplay has any, as often either my roleplays have much more closed-up, focused plots and thus the idea of dispersing the kinds of characters too much is problematic. Furthermore, due to my passion for worldbuilding, the idea of a world so open-ended that it can self-coexist nomatter what lives in it is baffling so rarely will I give players the freedom to create their own races.

However on the (very) rare occasion that I make a more open-ended world, usually fantasy if that ever happens, I'll give players the freedom to suggest their own races. Which they techinically can do in any of my roleplays, but these have an astronomically higher chance of accepting those suggestions.

 

[MiracleGrazer]

I have a strict humans only policy for one of my settings, but I also allow players freedom in deciding their characters’ cultural background and traditions

 

[Tremaine]

It depends. But i prefer to have a limited set of races sometimes based of what players want.

The problem is if you let people play anything they want, there is a difficulty with enemies, culture and encounters. They will never be the only one of their kind in this world, they will come from a place and a culture with people like them. Perhaps certain limits can be pushed and minor details can be changed, as i am a firm believer that rules are a guideline and should never stand in the way of having fun. But for order and fairness i'd recomend having a restriction on races, as well as for the sake of story writing.

 

[Platypus]

I prefer to make races for them. Mainly because letting players make their own makes the worldbuilding so much more needlessly complicated if not downright impossible.

 

[Umbrie]

i let players reskin or redefine a premade race for concept reasons, like calling their "Pale Drow" a "Nyxad" or "Night Nymph" or defining that their "Orc" is a "Blackhand Orc" for example, or taking the mechanics of a "Half Elf" to represent a "Charming Catgirl" or similar common concept.

i don't mind most reasonable races, and can tolerate some outlandishness when it comes to wearing clothing from another period or era. like a 21st century school uniform in a medieval setting but i like keeping the tech level appropriate to the setting unless the alterations were purely or mostly cosmetic.

 

[Generic Brooding Antihero]

As with everything, it depends on the context, but in general, I've always been a staunch believer of creative restrictions.

That's right, 'Murica. Sue me. Land of the free ain't the land for me.

Creativity is liquid. Free-flowing. Can conform to any shape. But that's the thing. In every RP, you've got players running around with their hands cupping water. As a GM, your job is to sit them down, and give them containers so liquid doesn't spill all over the place. The GM's main job (besides walking down the cat walk, and power-tripping, of course) is to provide cohesive structure. It's all establish, establish, establish for them. Establish the rules. Establish the main conflict. Establish the setting, the lore, the races.

Assuming we're talking about a RP that's open to everyone, and will be filled mostly by writers you barely know (if at all), then letting them run amok with race creation is just too risky. You could have:

1. Races that are too similar to each other. Consider this: Player X wants to play a vampire straight -- loves blood, explodes in the sun, all that fun stuff. Player Y wants to play a vampire, too, but with a twist. They create a race exactly like Player X's, except instead of exploding in the sun, they shine bright like a diamond. Oh, and also, since you asked Y to make their race more distinct, their vampires also are now canonically stronger than the X vampires, and are now called Cullenbabes.
2. Races that are just outright silly. Trust me. I was a 13-year-old edgelord once, so my mind has a repository of hybrid demon races that are perpetually trying to one-up each other. Of course, as a GM, you have the right to refuse sheets with obnoxious races anyway, but that's extra work and extra headache for you.
3. Races that are drastically different from each other. This, of course, is the best scenario, but let's be real here. First of all, most people just pirate a race from Faerun, so chances of this happening are slim at best. That said, while this may look good on paper, it's still potentially limiting to the RP, assuming more than half your players created their own race. Say goodbye to intra-racial dynamics, because everyone is their own race. Interracial dynamics might as well just be dynamics between those two characters. Can't do race-specific subplots either, because then you'll have to think of something to accommodate everyone. You're just going to end up overwhelmed, and crying in your bed.

Having said that, we have, on the opposite side of the spectrum, Interest Check-phase RPs where the GM has already posted 10,000 words of lore under 12 different tabs with topographical maps and hourly traffic reports. (You know, just like how you asked me a simple question, and I'm currently giving you a dissertation as a response.) Don't get me wrong. Whenever I see those, my heart always swells with admiration for their dedication. My heart does that for about three seconds until I close the tab and move on. I know sometimes it pays off, like when I soldiered on after the first episode of Fate/Zero, but as a general rule, info dumps scare potential players away. Too much structure can be suffocating.

But anyway, I digress. The best solution, in my opinion, is to make the races yourself, but keep the descriptions broad, and let the players work out the little details.

As an example, let's take vampires, because man, I am really feeling those Young Adult Dark Fantasy vibes today. The basics would be: Vampires need blood survive; their strengths include super strength and super sexiness, while their weaknesses include sunlight and Jesus. And then what?

• Include variations like 'some are said to burst into flames upon eating garlic, but curiously some do not possess this weakness' because it makes your players choose and customise according to their character.
• Be especially ambiguous about the social aspects, because, at least in my opinion, these are the things that will really make a character feel personal. You could briefly mention something about a vampire mafia, or an emerging group of vegan vampires, but don't expand on it. You need to trust your players to be able to do something creative with it.

Woo, boy. The shit I end up writing when I should really be off doing something else.

 

[Umbrie]

i was a thirteen year old edgelord at one point. literally made a shadow nymph who was all cheerful and purehearted despite working as an assassin because her motivations were not by themselves inherently bad. well, classic stepford smiler. not a perky sadist, just a fey with no understanding of the concept of death, who was collecting bounties on people the local governments deemed to be evil. i called her a "Nyxad" and used the Drow as a baseline.

 

[Generic Brooding Antihero]

i was a thirteen year old edgelord at one point. literally made a shadow nymph who was all cheerful and purehearted despite working as an assassin because her motivations were not by themselves inherently bad. well, classic stepford smiler. not a perky sadist, just a fey with no understanding of the concept of death, who was collecting bounties on people the local governments deemed to be evil. i called her a "Nyxad" and used the Drow as a baseline.

Drows! My lovely drows, with their obsidian black skin, silvery white hair, and amethyst eyes! They were all so misunderstood. All of them. Even the chaotic evil ones. Well, pretty much all of them were. That was around the same time I got way into Neverwinter Nights 2, and of course, Bishop, the OG edgelord, reeled me in instantly. My characters were all basically poor copies of him wearing different faces.

I'd been low-key ashamed of my edgelord phase before (got to the point where my friends and I took cringey band pics even if none of us could play any instrument), but now I've learned to embrace it. Check out this beautiful boi I made just two days ago. To be fair, though, it's a Sue satire RP. One day, I hope to be able to play an edgelord straight/unironically, and somehow manage to pull it off. Go full circle. That's the dream.

 

[BugDozer73]

It is really a fine line, and a wonderful question. I find that it is not so much the content in the middle, but rather the lines on the outside. I am not going to lie to anyone and say I am not a control freak, but there is a certain necessity
to maintain fluency with the story and plot. That also means having a control interest in the creatures/races. For me, I find a good middle ground is setting a good mix of races as playable but also letting people pitch ideas for races to you. I will never ever tell anyone that I won't listen to their Ideas, but I will always offer them a base to start off of.

 

[Umbrie]

Drows! My lovely drows, with their obsidian black skin, silvery white hair, and amethyst eyes! They were all so misunderstood. All of them. Even the chaotic evil ones. Well, pretty much all of them were. That was around the same time I got way into Neverwinter Nights 2, and of course, Bishop, the OG edgelord, reeled me in instantly. My characters were all basically poor copies of him wearing different faces.

I'd been low-key ashamed of my edgelord phase before (got to the point where my friends and I took cringey band pics even if none of us could play any instrument), but now I've learned to embrace it. Check out this beautiful boi I made just two days ago. To be fair, though, it's a Sue satire RP. One day, I hope to be able to play an edgelord straight/unironically, and somehow manage to pull it off. Go full circle. That's the dream.

i know when i run D&D i use the Scientifically Accurate Drow, which are Albino by default, but can use hair dye and contact lenses to come across as a different type of elf. the reason drow were originally given obsidian skin was quite a racist one. i instead make elves from the desert or jungle the darker skinned elves because sunlight. there were a lot of "always evil races" that were given either darker skin tones or not patriarchal societies. i do the albino treatment for all races native to the underdark. it kind of bothered me that all the good races had patriarchal monarchies or even democracies and were mostly western eurocentric.

 

[Umbrie]

i still keep drow culture messed up. but i don't keep it unanimous. there are some lower class drow that dislike the system and are treated no better than slaves themselves,in fact treated worse because they oppose the system of thier kin, and while i don't make every drow chaotic evil, there are few drow with the courage to rebel against the spider queen or buck the status quo. there might be several that hate it, but afraid to do anything about it, because drow leaders are not above oppressing even thier own kin. and well, people are afraid to challenge the high priestess.

 

[BackSet]

i know when i run D&D i use the Scientifically Accurate Drow, which are Albino by default, but can use hair dye and contact lenses to come across as a different type of elf. the reason drow were originally given obsidian skin was quite a racist one. i instead make elves from the desert or jungle the darker skinned elves because sunlight. there were a lot of "always evil races" that were given either darker skin tones or not patriarchal societies. i do the albino treatment for all races native to the underdark. it kind of bothered me that all the good races had patriarchal monarchies or even democracies and were mostly western eurocentric.

Waiting! Drow dont usually have pale skin?

 

[Umbrie]

Waiting! Drow dont usually have pale skin?

they are usually obsidian skinned in the core books if you play with default by the book lore but have an albino offshoot. but i usually change that in worlds of my design to make the drow an entirely albino species to better fit the sunless conditions of the Underdark. makes more sense to have drow be Albino because no sun in the underdark and no way to get Melanin or Vitamin D without sunlight. this also explains thier vulnerability to sunlight..

 

[BackSet]

they are usually obsidian skinned in the core books if you play with default by the book lore but have an albino offshoot. but i usually change that in worlds of my design to make the drow an entirely albino species to better fit the sunless conditions of the Underdark. makes more sense to have drow be Albino because no sun in the underdark and no way to get Melanin or Vitamin D without sunlight. this also explains thier vulnerability to sunlight..

I agree completely with this. (Also because I'm not sure the shade of black they achieve in their skin is possible in the first place,)

 

[Umbrie]

I agree completely with this. (Also because I'm not sure the shade of black they achieve in their skin is possible in the first place,)

thankies

 

[Generic Brooding Antihero]

Umbrie to be completely honest I didn't even bother reading much of the lore behind them. At the time I just thought they looked cool. XD The amount of thought you put into your version of them is really commendable though. Nuanced enough that I could see an entire RP involving just them and their politics/society. No need for the other races.

In defence of their dark skin, though, I wouldn't write off as scientifically inaccurate. Well, maybe not obsidian black, but dark skin under a sunlight-deprived environment isn't unheard of.

Melanin's ability to 'shield' us from too much UV light is crucial in regulating vitamin D and folate levels, which, yes, is why populations tend to become lighter-skinned the farther they are from the equator. Melanin production decreases, and UV absorption increases, all in an effort to compensate for the scarcity of light. But that's not the only way to solve the problem.

As an example, Norwegians and Inuits live around the similar latitudes, and thus receive similar amounts of sun exposure. Except Norwegians tend to be pale, and Inuits dark. The most common theory attributes this to the Inuits' diet -- high in vitamin D, and presumably enough to address the UV problem.

Similarly, we could apply the same line of reasoning to explain dark-skinned drows. I personally don't believe the creators had any hidden political agenda when choosing the race's common physical characteristics. And I say this as a dark-skinned racial minority.

 

[BackSet]

Nuanced enough that I could see an entire RP involving just them and their politics/society

So basically like that webcomic about drow appropriately titled drow tales but as a roleplay.

 

[Kylesar1]

I typically let people make their own races, but group them in when I need to

For example, if 2 people make a different race but both are dragon-like, but not fully dragon (a dragon halfbreed), I just lump them all together under the title of Draconian

That happens fairly often and the same with kitsune. 2 people describe what's easier to just say an already more well-known race

 

[Umbrie]

i'd just call Nyxads, Drow and similar Races "Albino Shadow Faeries." or just "Shadow Fey"

 

[Beckoncall]

I let players select their own races, because it’s the first sign of inexperienced or bad role players to want/create OP or special snowflake race concepts. I have a nation building rp with freedom to create a race — I’ve been tipped off in applications who to avoid.

 

[Umbrie]

I let players select their own races, because it’s the first sign of inexperienced or bad role players to want/create OP or special snowflake race concepts. I have a nation building rp with freedom to create a race — I’ve been tipped off in applications who to avoid.

most overpowered character i made that wasn't intended as a joke was a Shamaness who specialized in elemental magic, was a fey, had a weakness to silver instead of iron, was burned by salt, and was an extremely ancient mentor figure with eternal youth that was quite easy to overwhelm in the physical department and had to use magic to sustain her wings.

 

[Beckoncall]

most overpowered character i made that wasn't intended as a joke was a Shamaness who specialized in elemental magic, was a fey, had a weakness to silver instead of iron, was burned by salt, and was an extremely ancient mentor figure with eternal youth that was quite easy to overwhelm in the physical department and had to use magic to sustain her wings.

THIS is an example of a character concept that is NOT trash. Great power and abilities and potential, but with complexities and weaknesses. This kind of RPer could likely also bring forth a character that had it's own depth, complexities, and dimension. You are obviously not the type of RPer I'm talking about Umbrie -- powerful characters with weaknesses, flaws or foibles is what a lot of complex characters are about.

 

[Vudukudu]

As someone who likes to crank out a ton of detailed lore at the beginning of roleplays, I absolutely limit player choice. The presence of another humanoid species in any setting is literally world-changing, and carries a whole bunch of information. What's their culture? How do they feel about other races? How have they interacted with others historically? Just a few of the many important questions the invention of a species brings into play.

I've also never seen (not saying they don't exist, just that I haven't seen) a player-created race that felt meaningfully distinct in any way. Someone's "half-demon elf who struggles with being good and is also a supremely talented pyromancer, bowman, and rogue" is both overpowered and is literally just an elf with a morality problem. I've generally found that people create races, and then fail to make them unique or interesting. At the end of the day, they are Adjective Nouns who look like humans but _______ and behave exactly like humans.