Okay, who’s played an odd race or adventure archetype?

[Bill the barbarian]

Quote

Define a playable race.

In the days of RQ 2 all races were playable (wink wink) though chaos and Dragonewt were not recommended. In the days of RQ 3, chaos and few other truly evil races were offically moved to being frowned on and not recommended as "Player Races" to the NPC ghettos, but this was the 80s and satanic panics were in all the papers in (gasp) even your hometown.  I have yet to see an official ruling that says "Thou Mayest Not" and many other signs about MFG and YGMV... Of course some races will require a fair amount of work and others will make some queasy (remember to always check with what passes at your table). 
That said, I seem to recall many tales of odd races being played in the goo ol' daze!

Posted this in response to a question on Discord about whether Wind Children are playable and it dawned on me, what odd... ducks or baboons (once played a great film noire inspired baboon detective! "Names Monk, no, just Monk. What’s that? A similarity, no, never noticed... are ya trying to be funny?") or runners... or even odder have you played back in the cool ol’ daze? Anyone play a Maidstone Archer level weird beastie?

Edited November 2, 2021 by Bill the barbarian

[Rodney Dangerduck]

I had great fun playing minotaurs in RQ2, but their lifespans were short.

Edited November 2, 2021 by Rodney Dangerduck

[g33k]

n.b. I presume the NPC / "GM-PC" characters (part of the setting, for the PC's to interact with) don't really count, for these purposes...

===

Mostly humans, myself.  A baboon once.  A newtling once.  A trollkin & Dark-Troll once each.  All those (except the humans) were short-term or one-shot, no extended campaigns.

Have come close to playing in a "Beastman Campaign" (Beast Valley -- all minotaurs & centaurs & satyrs & elurae & such), but it never happened.

I've got a Lunur-Durulz concept brewing, un-played.

We had a dragonnewt in the party, once.  In addition to the player intentionally doing random & off-the-wall stuff, he (and the GM) had produced a table-of-randomness that the player & GM each would occasionally demand a roll from.

[Bill the barbarian]

53 minutes ago, Rodney Dangerduck said:

I had great fun playing minotaurs in RQ2, but their lifespans were short.

Anything you want to share?

23 minutes ago, g33k said:

Mostly humans, myself.  A baboon once.  A newtling once.  A trollkin & Dark-Troll once each.  All those (except the humans) were short-term or one-shot, no extended campaigns.

Humans, ducks and baboons for myself. Would have loved to play a troll or a trollkin and just heard someone (@Eff?) mention a troll Babeestor Gori (truly scary!) Seeing as I was playing in the 80s, I figure a sorcerer back then would qualify as odd... it would be a few years before the first Gloranthan playable sorcerers were mounted in Strangers in Prax (was this the last module?).

 

23 minutes ago, g33k said:

Have come close to playing in a "Beastman Campaign" (Beast Valley -- all minotaurs & centaurs & satyrs & elurae & such), but it never happened.

cool!

23 minutes ago, g33k said:

I've got a Lunur-Durulz concept brewing, un-played.

An odd duck!

23 minutes ago, g33k said:

We had a dragonnewt in the party, once.  In addition to the player intentionally doing random & off-the-wall stuff, he (and the GM) had produced a table-of-randomness that the player & GM each would occasionally demand a roll from.

Think I read this a while back.

Edited November 2, 2021 by Bill the barbarian

[ffilz]

I've not played any RQ, but PCs in my campaigns have been Ducks (one or two), Baboons (several), Elf (one - allowing this was a mistake on my part), Pixie (one), Dwarf (one), Newtling (one).

That's pretty much the run of what I typically allow. I would consider Troll PCs, but I've not run any campaigns where it made sense to allow them.

[Rodney Dangerduck]

1 hour ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Anything you want to share?

Their "schtick" was to cast Fanaticism on the opponent, then hit first with a pole-axe (low SR).  When they eventually took damage, they themselves go fanatic.  This made them extremely effective at taking out opponents.  But mediocre armor and not being able to parry always ended up badly.  At the end of most battles they had taken out three+ opponents, but were dead or maimed.

In RQ:G, with Shield readily available to initiates, they might fare better.

[Darius West]

I have played a rootless elf thanatari called Thrakis who started an underground temple complex in the Hidden Greens and was eventually wiped out by Yelmalios.

A stormbull minotaur called Launch who died in Balazaar after discovering that he had no means of hurting a gorp while berserk.

A hunter baboon called Tarki who became chief through rat cunning, as he had terrible stats and was actually a pretty bad hunter.

A vivamorti duck called Orluck, who was mainly a joke character and was only played for 3 sessions.

A zola fel newtling called Taddy, who was a friend to the children of New Pavis.

A trollkin of the black eater who had no name but eventually converted to Chalana Arroy and adopted the name Nun. 

I have also played a Yanafal Ta'arnils ogre called Furius Rumpus, who resisted the urge to eat people (repeatedly) and rose through the ranks of the Tarsh Provinical Army into the Lunar military proper as an officer, and died at the Dragon Rise.  

[Ian Absentia]

I've mentioned them before.  My best friend and I played Alecks and Oddo Gruntfart, the Great Troll twins, which, technically, classified them as trollkin.  Heroically stupid and yet independently minded.  Alecks favored wielding an oaken door as a combination bludgeon and shield; Oddo would just grab the nearest opponent by the ankles and use them as a club.  The party tended to follow them because of the gaping path of least resistance that opened in their wake.

I lobbied to play a panda hsunchen once, but was rebuffed. 😒

!i!

[Austin]

I haven't had too many unusual non-human species played in my campaigns, yet.

I've had one player play a trollkin, twice. The first time I let him pick his caste, and he chose to be a food trollkin (he liked the idea that food trollkin would be "no specialness" mode). After that one died, he rolled up another, and I told him he had to roll his caste—food again. Both of these characters were among my favorites because the trollkin were just awful little gremlins that screwed everything up. Also, the first had like 5 CON, and max SIZ, so we declared that it had been being fattened, like veal. And that was morbidly funny when the players bumped into trolls in the Big Rubble for the first time...

An important point to remember for making trollkins fit into a group of human adventurers is that their lot is almost always better with humans than with trolls. After all, most humans aren't too keen on eating a scrawny, foul-smelling little monster. This "No, I won't eat you" promise can earn you the trollkin's loyalty for the rest of its (short) life.

We also had a morokanth, once. He was entertaining because the player decided that his Hate (newtlings) Passion was fixated on how tasty they are. So he was smacking his lips alot, and kept teasing the trollkin about being dinner.

[French Desperate WindChild]

I did not but I would like to play a windchild, without wings (for some sad background I have in my head)

A desperate one, who cannot support any roof, but cannot support to see any flying thing

One day maybe, but no time, and no french table for the moment

 

Edit:

And now it is clear, seeing my name, that stormspeech (the divine language) is french, and theyalan (the poor mortal languages) are english variations 😛

 

Edited November 2, 2021 by French Desperate WindChild

[Kloster]

I was not the player, but in RQ3 time, we had a Maidstone Archer and a Centaur (by the same player). He stopped playing the Archer because he fount it unfun and created the Centaur, who died when falling from a stair that climbed down a cliff. Before that episode, he was a formidable opponent with his lance and bow. Ah, and we also had a duck sorceror, with quite high martial arts and damage-enhanced fists (Master of Quack Fu), that was a fantastic seductor.

[Paid a bod yn dwp]

You can’t go wrong with Baboons and Ducks. 
I was put off playing dwarfs and elves by the old Avalon hill supplement Elder Secrets. It still hurts.

 

Played a centaur once, that was fun, but was excluded from public buildings due to high grade  manure..some people don’t know they’re luck.

Edited November 2, 2021 by Paid a bod yn dwp

[Bill the barbarian]

So a few of you posted having these incredible critters, but did not mention what shenanigans they got up to. Pixies

5 hours ago, Rodney Dangerduck said:

In RQ:G, with Shield readily available to initiates, they might fare better.

This spell is not uncommon, granted, but is it not a Common Rune Spell. So I am not sure I follow, is it more common than any other Rune Spell which, I must say, I find quite common these RQG daze? Not so much in daze of yore when Rune Spells cost initiates dearly!

6 hours ago, ffilz said:

Elf (one - allowing this was a mistake on my part), Pixie (one), Dwarf (one), Newtling (one).

Come on, dish! What happened, man?

4 hours ago, Darius West said:

I have played
<snip>
I have also played a Yanafal Ta'arnils ogre called Furius Rumpus, who resisted the urge to eat people (repeatedly) and rose through the ranks of the Tarsh Provinical Army into the Lunar military proper as an officer, and died at the Dragon Rise.  

Ye gods and goddesses man, Have you ever played a normal character?
🙂

3 hours ago, Crel said:

An important point to remember for making trollkins fit into a group of human adventurers is that their lot is almost always better with humans than with trolls. After all, most humans aren't too keen on eating a scrawny, foul-smelling little monster. This "No, I won't eat you" promise can earn you the trollkin's loyalty for the rest of its (short) life.

 

You raise some good points, so let’s just single this out and say, yep!

3 hours ago, Crel said:

We also had a morokanth, once. He was entertaining because the player decided that his Hate (newtlings) Passion was fixated on how tasty they are. So he was smacking his lips alot, and kept teasing the trollkin about being dinner.

I was waiting to hear about a Morakanth. The least odd of the odd ducks!

1 hour ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

I did not but I would like to play a windchild, without wings (for some sad background I have in my head)

 

C'est trop triste mon viuex!
😞

1 hour ago, Kloster said:

I was not the player, but in RQ3 time, we had a Maidstone Archer and a Centaur

There we go, now we got to some Maidtone madness. This is one beast that would be as much fun as playing a trebuchet! Had the centaur for a touch of hellenic class on top of the Glorantha madness?

1 hour ago, Paid a bod yn dwp said:

I was put off playing dwarfs and elves by the old Avalon hill supplement Elder Secrets. It still hurts.

 

I feel your pain!

4 hours ago, Ian Absentia said:

Great Troll twins, which, technically, classified them as trollkin.

I have pulled this one myself, but I wonder if I got it from you or Austin?

I am doing a few cameo one shots these days and am truly enjoying playing Vishi, an odd duck of another feather. I was thinking playing his boon companion, Cousin Monkey could be fun. He is a unrepentant coward who says nothing of import according to VIshi.

[David Scott]

We played a troll group using RQ3, and played through Snakepipe Hollow

We had a

• Annilla / Jakaleel shaman
• Zong hunter 
• Zorak Zoran Death Lord
• I played a Mistress race Kyger Kitor shaman priestess sorcerer

most were members of two cults.

IIRC It was a TPK.

 

[Kloster]

1 hour ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Had the centaur for a touch of hellenic class on top of the Glorantha madness?

No. The player was a good munchkin with not much historic madness.

[Austin]

3 hours ago, Bill the barbarian said:

I have pulled this one myself, but I wonder if I got it from you or Austin?

I may have made this same joke before, but the idea wasn't mine.

[Bill the barbarian]

Never said it, nor I, were originals!

 

[Darius West]

4 hours ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Ye gods and goddesses man, Have you ever played a normal character?
🙂

We played a lot of RQ back in the day.  I doubt I played any of the characters for more than 20 sessions at the absolute max, with the exception of Furius Rumpus, who came in and out of retirement a few times.

Edited November 2, 2021 by Darius West

[soltakss]

I had great fun with Shergar Sunhoof, Centaur Extraordinaire, a Yelmalian Centaur Rune Lord. He ended up with five legs (Due to Jake's Amulet, diddle-iddle-iddle-um), which gave him an extra free attack, and a Spider Mask that meant he could turn his head into that of a giant spider, so he was a veritable windmill who would rip apart crowds of NPCs, leaving the other PCs to attack the major beasties. His failing was being really bad at climbing, so he carried a block & tackle in case he had to be pulled up a cliff.

[ffilz]

The elf mistake...

The mistake was partly forgetting that I had dropped elves as PCs for previous campaigns due to their uniquely high INT which, especially in RQ1/2 is an uber stat, impacting almost everything. Then combine with how I utilized the RQ1 previous experience by adding ability bonus to the skills that came out of it with near perfect rolls on the players part (STR 14, CON 14, SIZ 11, INT 21, POW 17, DEX 25, CHA 21? no that must be modified...) and rolling Rich Noble. The result was that all he had to do was make one POW gain roll and he qualified for Rune Priest (because previous experience +40% knowledge bonus gave him read/write Aldryami at 90%). And recently he qualified for Rune Lord also... AND then combine that with a young (college kid who just graduated) player who was always bragging about his abilities. I had one player rage quit early on (though that player based on previous history would have eventually rage quit) and a couple more players who were close to quitting because of the uber-elf. Fortunately for us, the player post graduation became super flaky and I asked him to leave because it wasn't fair to the others for him to be taking up a seat that he was rarely in, combined with just vanishing from a couple sessions (he was also time zone disadvantaged, which was probably fine while a student, not so great with a real life job to go to in the morning). Oh, and the player seemed to have no interest in actually engaging the setting. So here was this uber-elf priest slum murder hobo adventuring with humans and baboons with no obvious reason why the Aldryami would give two hoots about what was going on.

[PhilHibbs]

I played am agoraphobic duck sorcerer who tapped his own SIZ and lived in his familiar's backpack.

A friend of mine has played a wind child and a trollkin.

Edited November 2, 2021 by PhilHibbs

[Alex]

1 hour ago, PhilHibbs said:

I played am agoraphobic duck sorcerer who tapped his own SIZ and lived in his familiar's backpack.

Enquiring minds want to know...  what type of critter was the backpack-wielding familiar?

Edited November 2, 2021 by Alex

[PhilHibbs]

12 hours ago, Alex said:

Enquiring minds want to know...  what type of critter was the backpack-wielding familiar?

Gorilla. The first version I created was a dolphin shapechanged into a giant, but that was a bit silly.

Edited November 3, 2021 by PhilHibbs

[AndreJarosch]

My wife is currently playing a Green Elf from the Elder Wilds on a mission to search for remaining seeds of the burnt Rist forest. 
She teamed up with the human (and one uz) player group, because she was all alone, and this group told her that they wanted to go to Pavis (fleeing stress with the Lunar Empire in Sartar). They got her attention with the word "half-elf" and that in Pavis there is an ancient group of elves (in the Rubble). 

She is a very strange character, among all these humans. 
She is lucky that the Uz is also just an oddball travelling with the humans (because there is a troll population in the Rubble, and he can fight for food). 
A lot of jokes about tasty aldryami and threads about elven arrows spicking uz bellys. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by AndreJarosch

[Baron Wulfraed]

RQ2... Aldryami...

Who had to earn enough money to afford to have at least one stat, if not two, trained up a point! This was an elf that could not use a bow as generated. Had to train the stats to use a mere "self-bow" since it would take some time more to get to the point of growing an elf-bow.