Having wandered into a few dozen text-only 5e pickup games over the course of the past few years via r/lfg and r/pbp, I can safely say that the bulk of players still gravitate towards vanilla humans, half-elves, and elves. Tieflings and other exotic species do not seem to be particularly common, and these are Reddit pick-up games we are talking about here.
That said, I have also observed a trend towards edginess in characters. It is just that it usually winds up being some edgy human, half-elf, or elf, frequently with a backstory of "from some generic village that got destroyed by [insert stereotypically savage species here]."
Is the idea that the majority of 5e players push for exotic species unfounded?
Also, female characters? Shockingly, shockingly rare. It is surprising how many people want to play what amounts to a generic isekai MC, minus the actual isekai.
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Vocal minority.
Freakshit players are very vocal about it.
And then there are the optimisers, that go for exotic races in the name of stats, an other annoying vocal minority
>And then there are the optimisers, that go for exotic races in the name of stats, an other annoying vocal minority
I have often heard about 5e DMs banning variant humans, but I have seldom actually seen a DM do it. (On the other hand, I have often observed 5e DMs ban innate flyers.) The optimizers wind up making variant humans anyway. Even when Tasha's is allowed, if someone picks the custom lineage option, it often winds up being human regardless.
Never underestimate the sheer amount of players who yearn to create a human character that radiates "edgy isekai MC" energy.
Vuman aren't broken, their racials are pretty mid. People only uses them because of the free feat which makes builds kickstart earlier, but doesn't elevate them too much.
Most people I've seen that ban them also give everyone a free feat.
Vocal here meaning they dare post pictures of their party online so their friends can see, but that makes this anon angry.
Fpbp
Freakshit players have a lot of crossover with lgbtq and furry communities, which have a culture of attention whoring.
By a lot you mean practically overlapped in their entirety.
he's right you know
Tieflings on roll20 are the sixth most common race, at least for the years that I can still find, I think that on roll20 it was 3rd place one year. However dragonborn are more common in all of the data that I have found.
>/lfg and r/pbp
>Reddit pick-up games
I would like to point out that in pick-up games less effort is put in and r/lfg is a VERY different place from the other common places to find games. Low effort plus low effort is how I read it. The people trying to be "special" in most other places will not try as such there. They will just phone it in for their character. I know that I do when playing in with people from those places.
Why is it lower effort than Roll20?
Having done both I would say that it is the attitude of the people running that goes into the people playing after sometime. A lot of the people that run via public games do try even if they focus on the wrong things to help the game along with. IE tokens with sound effects that they make. Even if the story is just bad and the combat is lacking the DM is trying and the players that do not leave inside 2 sessions are trying to most of the time.
r/lfg has DMs that know their shit a lot better but put in a lot less effort because they know what is needed to make a functional game (not to say a good game). They do a lot of by the numbers games. I find that a good number of them wish they had a fixed stable of players and that the games they post via r/lfg are talent scouting for players. I have playied with a couple DM that I found via r/lfg in later games they DID NOT POST ON r/lfg thru direct invite. They run things very differently in invite only games.
Then why so many isekai MC tier male human fighters in r/lfg?
I literally only see and hear "freakshit" because nogames on /tg/ like to b***h about it so much. To see those vocal players you actually need to go to the places where they can be vocal. So where is it you go that they bother you so much? Reddit? Furaffinity?
Judging from OP not even Reddit has those.
>Having wandered into a few dozen text-only 5e pickup games
Lmao.
Rofl.
These 5e pick-up games crash and burn very quickly, and usually culminate in the GM ghosting: deleting the server, and sometimes their entire account, without a word. I have found a few games that lasted for much longer, but absolutely none of them were 5e; for example, the Pathfinder 2e campaign I am a player in has been going since June of last year.
Playing the same kind(s) of characters over and over is a red flag that the player is un-creative. Good & imaginative players will play a variety of characters for the sake of variety, depending on the setting and game. If you're able to notice "trends" in your group, then they're probably not that interested in ACTUALLY play-
Oopsies! Saw that a coming from a mile away.
>100% of shit-eaters surveyed reported that they eat shit
Setting aside the fact that I know this survey is worthless because it only includes D&D5e players on D&D Beyond, I would tell you this survey is worthless because I personally don't remember ever being surveyed.
You don't need to be survey, they just take the info from characters done in the site.
So it's not even a real survey but rather questionably-sourced metadata? But that's dumb- if it works like any other character database then there are probably tons of character sheets that people filled out but never used. I don't use Beyond because there's literally no reason for anyone to use it, but I do have plenty of backup character sheets on Mythweavers and google docs that I've filled out and left to sit.
Even with that you end up with a majority of human fighters and elf Rangers (the Aragorn and the Legolas).
You're getting Kirito, not Aragorn.
>play a variety of characters for the sake of variety
the sheer homosexualry is unfathomable...
>Playing the same kind(s) of characters over and over is a red flag that the player is un-creative.
I'll cop to it.
I've found the types of characters I want to play. I went through my phase of playing all different kinds of monsters in middle school. I had a weeaboo phase too, although honestly part of it was a katana legitimately having mechanically superior stats to western weapons.
I think it would just be a disservice to play a transmasc polysexual wemic sorcerer/thief who identifies as a high elf for the sake of variety.
From the groups I've been and I am
There always seems to be a single human (mostly me though in my current 5e game I'm a dhampir)
Then there're a few elves/halfelves/dwarvers/halforcs the usual traditional fantasy
Then there're 1 or even 2 out of the traditional fatasy races with a majority of them being as weird as possible rather than being a tienfling/Aasimar
And then there's my PF group:
Kitsune, Ratfolk, Vanara and Me (human)
I can't speak for the broader rpg community since I've only played with 4 different groups in the past 10 years (and only 2 5e campaigns over that time) but generally my experience tallies with yours. Unless the campaign was intended from the very beginning to be, for want of a better word, freakshit (e.g. we're playing Bunnies and Burrows or an Eberron campaign specifically about a party of Droaam commandos) must people pick classic fantasy races. Generally >50% white humans with the rest generally elves, dwarves or ethnic minorities.
Female characters haven't been uncommon but that's probably just a reflection of player demographics, of my current groups one is 3/6 female and the other 2/5.
This stuff is regularly surveyed, you can just google it. Really i dont know why you would even entertain the derranged conspiracies of outrage baiters or their perpetual victim complex audience in the first place
I knew DnD players were moronic, but Fighter as the most played class? REALLY?! Frick oh dear, talk about shit taste. How is the class with NO OPTIONS the most popular one? Playing a Martial in DnD is like going to a buffet and then only eating white bread.
The average d&d player doesn't want options. Look how much 4e, the edition that actually gave martials cool shit to do, is hated.
Like I said, I knew DnD players were moronic, but I didn't think they were THAT moronic. Hot damn.
Is the basic hero template, that's why morons here cream themselves over human fighters.
>WAAAAHHHH!!!! I NEED THE RULES TO GIVE ME SPELLS IN ORDER TO HAVE "OPTIONS" I HAVE NO CREATIVITY
Shut up moron.
In a good game, no.
In DnDogshit, yes, literally that. You xant even heal someone with a Healers Kit without a FEAT for it, and then its only once per day. Meanwhile castergays can shit out as many heals as they have spell slots.
Unironically take a look at the game you're defending, how moronic you sound shilling for it, and let the shame be motivation to be less of a DnDumbass in the future.
DM fiat.
Ah yes, the second davorite argument of moron DnDrones. Yea, DM fiat exists, and Skyrim is a good game if you just mod it so heavily that it's not Skyrim.
Remember what I said about trying to listen to how moronic you sound? Do that next time before hitting the post button. Save yourself some embarrassment.
>AAAHHH I CAN ONLY PLAY HUMAN FIGHTERS, I FEEL SO COOL
Here, have it, you can cum in your pants now.
Anything a martial can do with creativity, a caster can do more easily, and without having to suck the DM's dick.
But he'll still suck the dm's dick because all dnd players are homosexuals, especially caster gays. In fact they'll double suck that dick.
I can attest to male human fighters being terribly, terribly common in the dozens of text-only 5e pickup games I have joined through Reddit.
However, here is the catch. Only seldom have I seen them portrayed as the archetypal "Western fantasy hero." Instead, they frequently wind up being an edgy mashup of Kirito, the Goblin Slayer MC, and generic isekai protagonists, even if dressed up in a westernized package: some mid/late-teens or early 20s, handsome lad with a dark clothing, a brooding attitude, an edgy outlook, and some super-secret sword art picked up despite living in some backwater village (which has since been pillaged by savages).
Be careful what you wish for when you want to see some "male human fighters" in your game, I suppose.
I've had a ahuman male fighter in only one of the campaigns I ran, and he was the most engaged with the setting and the most creative when it came to problem solving. Literally carried the party interaction on his back.
And that wasn't because the player, not, it was because he was playing a human fighter, because clearly if he was playing anything else he would fumble.
No, but that type of player is drawn to that type of class more than others. The truth is that problem players are drawn more to problem races and classes. Obviously those options arent always a problem, but they frequently are.
Frequently according to whom? I have never seen this fable problem and usually people play human fighter, but then if the die or they start a new campaign they play something different for the sake of variety, why does this board assume everyone is stuck playing the same race/class combo forever.
In the many Reddit pickup games I have wandered into, I have personally seen no correlation whatsoever between player behavior and more "unusual" species and character options. Unsurprisingly, even when someone goes for something like a centaur warlock, they wind up being portrayed as a vanilla human with a funny background gimmick.
Reality tends to gravitate towards the unremarkable, even when superficially packaged in exoticism.
My experience with the bulk of these faux-isekai MC male human fighters is that they fall into the "brood and do little of note outside of combat, itch for an actual fight" mold, though that may be because they are new to tabletop altogether.
Or maybe its because you're a weeb who associates with weebs.
I have personally found that players who are openly weeaboo wind up gravitating towards vanilla species even more so than other players. This means humans, elves, and, if the game allows it, some sort of beastly race presented as a run-of-the-mill kemonomimi (i.e. animal ears and animal tails).
Also, I cannot remember the last time I wandered into a text-only 5e pickup game via Reddit wherein someone played a furry character. At least in this particular space, openly furry players are rare.
Isn't the Goblin Slayer MC pretty much the archetypical western TTRPG fighter PC? He's a generic dude with plate armor and sword whose whole identity revolves around going into dungeons and killing goblins.
Goblin Slayer MC is 100x edgier.
>monk played more than bard, sorcerer and druid
I have a hard time believing this, specially on 5e where monks are arguably the worst class, if not tied with ranger
>not wanting too run around beating people up with your mystical martial arts like a Baki character
you can't beat shit up with a monk in 5e, they're the worst damage dealer of the martials, and even some full casters (bard and bladelock) outperform them at that
also
>not wanting
I do though, that's why I'm playing a battlerager barb with unarmed fighting style that in fact deals more damage and is more resilient in combat than monks
I do, in systems that actually make that a viable concept that can contribute on equal footing with other characters.
Yeah. I dont trust the data, doesnt reflect any campaign I've run, where there is always a bard or druid and only once a monk
Who the frick are they surveying? People stupid enough to pay for DnDBeyond? Because that would explain alot...
I like that you can see the spread of race/class mechanical advantages in this graph.
>Elf druid
>race/class synergy
Bullshit.
Wood elf gets dex and wis, what's not to like?
The Dex is useless unless you're not starting fight in wild shape.
You're not starting every fight in wild shape, and helps with AC
>AC
>Initiative
>Saving throws
Dexterity is one of the best stats in the game, though
There are druids aside from Moon
>IT'S NOT A PERFECT MATCH REEEEEEEEE
There shouldn't be any numbers greater than zero outside of the human fighter cell.
why is there no magus?
That graph is nearly a decade old.
This one is from a month ago.
Almost tempted to download their spreadsheet so I can look at all the data myself. I'm not surprised to see the most popular races, but it's a bit jarring how few characters there are for say, warforged or centaur. Had to google Loxodon, thought it was a shark. I can see why no one would want to play as Babar.
>Text games
Stopped reading right here. Your are severely under-qualified to comment on this topic. Almost as bad as the nogames posters.
Why?
Why not, bot-kun?
My current party is a dwarf, a high elf, a wood elf, an autognome, and a half-orc. What do you think of that?
0/10 party. That you haven't booted the gn*me player means you're all garbage beyond salvaging and should feel ashamed.
Exotic species are most popular among new players who want to push the boundaries and the mentally ill. Always have been, always will be.
>That said, I have also observed a trend towards edginess in characters
Guilty as charged. I just think a bit of edginess is kino. Whether they strive against the darkness in the world or embrace it, edgy characters are fun to play have more depth.
>It is surprising how many people want to play what amounts to a generic isekai MC, minus the actual isekai
There's a reason isekai sells.
i only play characters i can coom too
My group hasn't played D&D in several years.
We are doing Cyberpunk but post apoc...shit is dark.
Why is "fighter" a class? Every class fights.
I play as a cobbler kobold
I mostly play humans, dwarves, and halflings. I once played a tiny, flying fey that mostly had healing spells but it was pretty broken.
>5e game I play in
All human, except for one Dwarf. All male characters, except for one female, played by the one female player.
>PF game I DM
Mostly human, one Elf, one Gnome. And one of the human characters is a skeleton, but I did that to him. All male.
Of course, I play with friends in real life. I'm convinced a lot of /tg/ "wisdom" comes from people who don't play and just browse tabletop spaces online.
WotC has also for several years published survey results where they asked players which race and class they played, and human fighter has always been the top by a fair margin (can't tell if it's specifically white male human fighter since the survey didn't ask for character gender and skin color, but judging by the most common character names being some generic English male first name like John and Bob that seems likely). In fact the top 10 was mostly humans and a few elves and and dwarves. I think tiefling warlock was a decently popular combination, though I don't recall if it was at number 10 or just outside the top 10. None of the other "freakshit", or even half-orcs which have been a core race for ages, really got much play at all, and even tieflings were only semi-popular with a few specific classes (mostly warlock, which I guess makes thematic sense).
The whole idea that the hobby is ruined because it's overrun by people who only play non-traditional races like tieflings and firbolgs instead of the good old human male fighter is purely a bogeyman invented by a certain subset of players who for some reason get very angry at the idea that there are people out there who might actually want to use the more exotic options for PC races instead of only ever playing humans, elves, and dwarves.
>Is the idea that the majority of 5e players push for exotic species unfounded?
Yes, it’s all bizarre shit posting a “subtle” race baiting, what do you actually think people who scream about this shit actually play ttrpgs?
Right now
>Elf Male (PF, game finished)
>Warforged Male (5E, effectively an animated statue, not le robutt)
>Grippli Male (PF frogfolk)
>Betazoid Female (Star Trek telepathic aliens that look like humans)
>Kenku Male (5E)
>Dark Elf Male (PF)
>Shifter Male (5E, effectively human)
Previously, and in one-shots
>Firbolg Male (5E)
>Shoony Aasimar Male (PF goodest boy dogfolk)
>Medusa Female (5E homebrew-ish)
>Aasimar Male (5E)
>Aasimar Female (PF)
>Dwarf Male (5E)
>Human Males & Females (5E)
>Tiefling Female (PF)
>Misc others I can't recall
Looking to play in an upcoming game, as options
>Nymph Dryad Female (PF)
>Human Half-Elf Male (PF)
>Hobgoblin Ganzi Male (PF)
>Human Female (PF)
>Human Aasimar Male (PF)
I don't really think I have a type.
Yes I gravitate towards male characters, but I really cater the race/ancestry and gender to the concept.
The female Aasimar female was a midwife, the Elf Male was a butler, and the Betazoid was a counselor loosely based on Deanna Troi from ST TNG.
in dnd i've usually played either dwarfs or halflings or occasionally goblins. usually a short race (despite that im 6' tall in person). i do have a recurring tiefling character who's a bit of a shitposter that tends to tank campaigns but i have retired him
back in highschool i had a thing for ninjas, naruto was really popular at the time (2005 or so) so i was running a ninja out of the oriental adventures handbook for 3.0 that i got from a physical brick and mortar wizards of the coast store in the mall back when those were a thing