I wrote a few words about the topic of Race as Class and my answer to it - Cultural Classes. Rather seeing classes as biologically determined, I look at classes as being formed by different cultures and societies. I put down some concept classes and general thoughts on the ideas behind them. Also a few words on why I find unrestricted classes a bit unsatisfying.
I don’t think I invented something groundbreaking and new, so if you know of other classes and systems that work along similar lines, I will be happy for the references. Or your general thoughts and views on the subject. Thanks:)
i’ve been on the counter currents on this one. I feel like this whole “ancestry” thing has kinda opened up more cans of worms than it is worth, swinging from “just humans in different outfits with different face prosthetics” to “just as problematic as before, but maybe worse, because now we are REALLY reading into things (like those 19th century mexican orcs)”.
so instead I am really leaning into race as “different kinds of aliens”-- so different that they have different base mechanics. that the outward appearances are say, a fantasy equivalent to convergent evolution, that the human body shape is kinda CRAB. elves are basically octopus people, smart but with completely different brain structures. dwarves are literally made of rock. that kinda stuff.
of course, I say this as a person that would MUCH RATHER get rid of it all, and just have PCs that are human, but player demands… player demands…
this is a really cool article, I like it as a thought experiment and a way of looking at game concepts.. thanks for sharing.
I do kinda run some like this - the Orc is a social construct and not a “species” or monster. The term “Orc” is kinda used like Romans / Greeks used the term “Barbarian”. And there are people who left civilization to live off grid, who use it as a badge of honor. Outside their communities they also wear Iron masks, giving them a “monster” appearance and they kinda lean into the whole thing while in facts a mix of all kids of people.
I see why you or someone would be uneasy about it. In the end it is a lot about how people run games and build worlds. People do and will bring their biases to the table, be it consciously or unconciosly.
The world I build is one with contrasting differences between the industry, “technology”, (proto-)capitalism, socially conservative society and other forms of organizing societies, magical or other. In this sense it kinda felt unsatisfactory to have like totally differently functioning societies, but in the end fighter would just be a white-bonk-person vs a green-bonk-person. If you catch my drift.
I do like the idea of different kin being totally different creatures it really sounds cool and builds into the fantastic. I really like Elves in Forbidden Lands which are just bodies build around literal sentient crystals.
I’ve mostly been running games with primarily human characters, but they slowly are moving towards lands where non-humans are way more common and I like to have it that way. I know somewhere I have a city or society that is basically anthropomorphic animals - BoJack Horseman style.
In the end run the game you want to run in the worlds you feel like running.
@IwarTheHomeless Reading your blog post: “I never liked or understood race as class.“ And I was like: Oh, boy. Here we go again.
It made me super happy to read you got the awesome implications behind it and saw the problem with all races having the same classes.
I think race as class can also indicate that the people have less differentiation of labor. Nomads, hunter-gatherers and basically all rural people learn how things are done where they live. If you don’t have a lot of people you can’t specialize. That is why I use “race as class” for Amazons and Chiruu (nomadic antilope people).
I agree with you. The idea that all of the dwarf or elf adventurers would have essentially the same class/role struck me as odd, so I never played any of the race-as-class stuff.
Now, with that siad, I also wasn’t happy with an elf or swarf being just another fighter or MU or thief in the same mold as a generic human. The problem with making specific elf fighter classes, for example, is that of when eliminating the human-in-funny-suit phenonmon, wandering too far afield would make the class too difficult for players to fully engage with. (This is also the challenge with creating non-human species in general – avoiding the humans-with-stat-alterations feel.) What I’ve found usable is simply classes specific to the non-human societies without relying on much outside human experience so the players can readily relate.
Writing up the non-humans for my settings is tricky, with avoiding the humans-in-funny-suits trap. I decided to drop stat alterations entirely and rely on a single notable ability that is occasionally useful outside the home society and can lead to differences in character portrayal on the roleplaying front.