Non-Human PC Races

Previously, I wrote about non-human fantasy races, although my main point there was that many, if not most, of the fantasy races we think of as “non-human” are really just variant humans in disguise.

Bur whether they are really non-human or human variants, the question to ask is: When should a fantasy race become a player character race? When should a fantasy race remain exclusively for NPCs?

I have some thoughts.

Races Relevant to the Story

Let’s ignore the trivial case of unique monsters or NPCs that aren’t “races” at all (for now) and focus instead on the obvious cases where a fantasy race should not be available to players.

• Mystery Races: Unknown or nearly unknown races that players can choose to investigate. The Pnume from Jack Vance’s Planet of Adventure series would be one example.
• Villain Races: Mystery races that are secretly behind multiple evil schemes. The Drow, Dero, and Mind Flayers were probably all originally used this way.
• Secret Ally Races: Mystery races that are either currently helping the PCs secretly or could be asked for help. The Arisians from Doc Smith’s Lensman series and the priest-kings from the Gor series would count here.

The common theme here is that these races are somehow tied to the goal of a potential adventure. They have information, artifacts, or raw power that the players want. Naturally, if a player were allowed to begin the game as one of these races, it would short circuit the mystery.

Mentors or MacGuffins

That trivial case I mentioned where a monster or NPC is unique, perhaps the last (or first) of its kind, or the sole current visitor from an inaccessible world or dimension, is pretty much disqualified for the same reasons. You as GM may have notes on an NPC’s innate talents or skills, knowledge, and technology available to their race, but the race itself technically does not exist. These unique beings typically exist as story or plot elements, in much the same way as the mystery villain/ally races.

If the PCs contact the last known Atlantean, who becomes their mentor, they may gain a significant advantage. But the GM may want to supply information or assistance when needed, rather than grant them unlimited access. It’s hard to justify why a PC Atlantean wouldn’t have access to the same secrets as their mentor, so it may be better to simply not allow Atlanteans as a PC race.

Overpowered Fantasy Races

Related to the villain and ally fantasy races mentioned above are high-powered fantasy races in general. It’s not completely out of the question for a player to have an angel character, or a djinn, or a godling of some sort, depending on the intended beginning power level of the game. But if other players have all created standard human warriors, dwarves, and elves, one player demanding that they be allowed to play Q from Star Trek is generally considered to be a warning sign. There shouldn’t be an enormous disparity between character power levels.

A PC that begins as a member of a standard race who is later polymorphed into a member of another race, even one not normally allowed as a beginning PC race, is not subject to the same restrictions, for two reasons:

1. Polymorph spells don’t alter the PC’s skills or cultural knowledge. It’s basically just a really good disguise.
2. The PC may not be able to use that race’s innate abilities at first, especially abilities the player has not yet seen used. The PC may have to train for a while before achieving the full power of that race.

Surprise! It’s a Fantasy Race!

Other fantasy races may be added as minor mysteries to solve. Not full-blown plot devices, but more like little surprises to keep exploration exciting. Such a fantasy race would be unavailable as PC races at first, but once they have been encountered and their culture or other unique features have been discovered, there’s no harm in allowing players to make new characters from that race.

A slightly similar idea is a reasonably-balanced fantasy race made up by a player, or borrowed from a fantasy novel the GM has no intention to adapt in full. I feel that this kind of custom fantasy race fits in with that well-known section on “Other Character Types” in the original booklets:

There is no reason that players cannot be allowed to play as virtually anything, provided they begin relatively weak and work up to the top, i.e., a player wishing to be a Dragon would have to begin as let us say, a “young” one and progress upwards in the usual manner, steps being predetermined by the campaign referee.

OD&D VOL. I (Men & Magic), p. 8

If the race is player-created, especially if the race’s culture and history are being improvised during play, that player should have the same kind of control over whether other players are allowed to play characters from that race.

In Summary

I think all of the above could be boiled down to just a few rules:

1. Keep fantasy races NPC-only if finding out more about the race is the whole point.
2. Unique monsters or NPCs are “races” in name only.
3. Otherwise, if there’s no longer any surprise factor and the race is reasonably balanced compared to other beginning PC race, go for it. There’s no real harm.

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