In sci-fi and fantasy games, players are offered the choice of playing various sapient species. For these games, it’s rare for players to play as a human (or their equivalent). When choosing between settings for games, lack of PC species options can be a deal-breaker. I’ve been thinking about why that may be.
I even ran a simple poll on twitter asking how important it was for players to have alien options in a harder sci-fi ttrpg setting. The consensus (of less than 25 votes) was very pro-alien with some comments expressing they could play “humans only,” but would want the lore to fit. Though the sample size was small, it fit with my overall tabletop experiences.
Only about 1 in 50 of my D&D, Star Wars, Star Trek, Shadowrun, or any ttrpg game where I have non-human options are human. When I was going to run a custom sci-fi space game in 2013 and let the players help shape the world, they unanimously voted on having aliens be varied and prevalent as options for PCs (we eventually played Bulldogs! in the Fate Classic). It’s exceedingly rare in these games for the player characters to be predominantly human, and almost never all humans, even if the lore states they’re the dominant sapient life form.
Aesthetics are probably part of it. I love playing cat people, green-skinned people, and demon people because they look cool. Bonuses and stats can affect this as well. Even if, in later versions of D&D, humans are provided with some inherent advantages (while earlier editions simply meant they could be any class and were provided with no core disadvantages), other species have unique and potentially powerful traits. These traits are often not only functional but add to the look (or “cool factor”) of being non-human.
Core books have limited room to express world-building alongside all the various rules, equipment, and other options. Some of the themes and lore are part of the overall style of layout and flavor, but when it comes to cultures, humans are presented as the default culture and often become homogenized. Other species or sub-species, by their very nature of being non-dominant or unusual are more nuanced and potentially more intriguing to play.
As I’ve been working on my own space fantasy setting, I’ve waffled a lot regarding the inclusion of other species or a human-only player character setting. There’s no singular right answer overall for every game, but for my own creation I’ve decided to have humans as the only sapient species available to players. The galaxy may be vast and varied, but it’s also very old. Alien species may have existed but are now extinct while other aliens are animals or at such early stages of evolution that they could not become part of “galactic civilization.”
Instead of multiple species, I’m taking the idea that with thousands of planets with different needs and environments humans will adapt to suit those environments. With the aid of magic and technology across countless individual cultures, there’s no real need in this setting for additional sapient species.
There’s no single answer to “should I include more than one ‘race’ in my world?” But I’d like to see more role-playing games approach human cultures and options with the variety and nuance we often give other species. Even if (and partially because) I probably will play something besides a human if that option is offered.
Taking my twitter question and broadening it here for the Discus chat below: When you’re presented with multiple world options, how important is it for you to have non-human choices? And why?
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