As we all should know by now, I love orks. While they have certain physical advantages they somehow remain underdogs in society. I have always had a soft spot for the underdogs (my favourite hockey team is the Canucks, who's been underdogs since their existance began). Gary Cline of Horizon and Yuri whatsisname from Evo are heroes!

Trolls are -my- favorite. I like to give these hulking powerhouses of muscle a little bit of a sense of humor.

In one of my games a troll named Gridlock armed himself with a giant iron cross to fight vampires. When a vampire declared "You idiot, crosses don't work!" and charged at him, he swung the cross and sent her promptly through the apartment's wall, shrugged, and stated, "Works fine."

W00t!

Heh!

I like humans. Whilst I have no problems with Shadowruns fanasy influences, I am in it for the cyberpunk and transhumanism.

Humans are also really flexible, with that free point of edge and no variation in their maximums.

Elf Elf Baby!

Other. Depending on the whim, 'Other' may be metavariant, SURGE, or extremely other. (I have speculated at the entertainment value of a wolf-shifter who SURGEd some spikes and a trollification. Big pointy dog with regeneration. Possibly also a pacifist vegitarian or something, depending on the crowd and game.)

Human. The only other race I will play is Elf, and that rarely. This is in any game with races other than human. I have a single character concept that I am tempted to go Ork with Human Looking, for the attributes, but...

On a side note, I do not consider "vampire" and similar as a race, but as a template added to a race. Not that I would play as any template other than vampire anyways.

The tour de france. It's the only race I can really get into. I love bikes, you see, and the idea of combining the fitness of man with the engineering of machine in one single perfect expression of motion....

Oh. OH. Yeah, well, we call those metatypes, not races. Races has.... implications that are both inaccurate and inappropriate.

And Orks, of course.

Although "Race" is technically incorrect, as it is a variation within a species, not a seperate species, it can be and often is used interchangeably with "Species" in common usage. As such, in Shadowrun it can and is used interchangeably with Metatype. In fact, Race is probably closer to Metatype than it is to Species, as the various metatypes are still technically human.

And the context determines the definition being used. So your little thing about the Tour de France is both inaccurate & inappropriate.

Bah. I didn't say the usage was inappropriate, I said the implications were. Specifially, I meant it sounded all DnD-ish.

What, you didn't think I was offended because of some Pollitically correct bull-drek, did you? I only get offended by MY PCs.

I get annoyed when people talk about races of humans, because there really aren't any. It's like a talking about races of Rottweiler. But the way Orks and Elves have children which are either Ork or Elf and not a blend between makes referring to the difference as "racial" actually fairly appropriate.

-Frank

Just calling them "elves" and "orks" sounds D&D-ish. You just have to fix that by giving them a cyberarm and a BTL addiction. It was called "Race" in the old Priority System (and everywhere else in the rules, I think). I think it's a valid term.

I voted for Orks in part to my focus on the Ork Underground, and yes the racial advantages are good also.

If a second vote/choice I would have also voted SURGED.

WMS

Trolls . . the bigger, the better . . the meaner the . . badder i think *g*
someone has to be the power-house . . and i like playing cyber/bio-combat-monsters ^^
i like to give them int 4+ and play them as if they were int 1 to the other players . .
big dumb good natured troggy on the front . . and on the back machiavellian intelligence mixed with a sadistic sense of humor and an ego and sarcasm that fit to the body too . .
close second: dwarves . . they ain't small, they are compact!
compact little party machines *g*
third places goes to orks, because i like me some waaaaaaagh!
4th place is humans . . kinda squishy, but OK people mostly . .
and elves are last . . don't get me wrong, i don't have anything against elves . . i think there should be one hung on every tree out there . . there's many elves in my life . . and i only have an Savalette Guardian! *g*

Aaaand Orks and Humans are neck and neck with Trolls trailing on the outside, followed by Dwarves and trailing the pack from far, far away are the lowly elves. Notice that there is no capitol E for the lowly elves.

I like them all. Although I've never had much of an urge to play a troll, or even an ork, as of yet. It's not that I don't like orks and trolls, I think they're great, but I've never played a combat-focused character, and the penalties can be pretty prohibitive.

I don't dislike metahumans but trying to role-play one in a way that I felt was appropriate and multi-layered has always been difficult for me (as is attempting to appropriately role-play a character of the opposite gender). So I usually play a human male by default.

I used to do that. I modelled my first character upon myself as a thin and sarcastic extrovert. So I was a male elf.

But I got over that, currently I'm playing something I resemble in no way; a vegan virgin czech corporate researcher turned hacker and street doc. Did I mention that she is a dwarf?

I can't really say which I like the most, save that they all have their place, and some that love to break it.

But, I gotta go with Orks. At the very least, you know you have a big family to support you.

Where's the option for drop bear???

This may not be something you can answer but how does one role-play/act as a character of the opposite gender and not fall into the trap of either a) playing a woman who is a male in all definitions except biologically or b) playing a gender stereotype? I ask because this is something I struggle with myself. I also GM for a group that is 60% female and I try really hard to avoid offending when role-playing female NPCs.

Man, this is too deep for Monday morning.

For me, it depends what edition we're talking.

1st edition, I was all about playing humans because they didn't get gimped by requiring Priority A for Race and those potentially crippling (and mandatory) allergies.

2nd edition, I was still mostly a human player, though I tinkered a bit with ork street samurai and dwarf mages.

3rd edition seemed like trolls were the thing to be unless you wanted to play a gun bunny, face, or astral asskicker, in which case you took elf.

And now in 4th edition, I'm on the fence.

• Orks are damn cheap and really, really hard to pass up for all the bonuses they get.
• I'm loving trolls again because they don't have to pay out extra for mental attributes and they get fantastic starting Body and Strength.
• Elves are kind of bleh. Great if you want to kick ass on the astral (without casting spells), play a Cha-based tradition, or just want to exceed the BP cap for attributes.
• I don't care for dwarves in this edition because they're carrying over the tech orientation stereotype from 3rd. I don't mind that they happen to be good at tech stuff, but I really preferred dwarf mages.
• Humans are a good go-to metatype if you figure you'll be short on points.

All that said, I voted for trolls because my long-time desire to play a Troll Face is finally within reach!

-paws

Very true!

/yes

exactly my feeling... While I have no qualms about others playing elves, dwarves, orks and trolls... in my 19 years of Shadowrun, I have only and always made humans

...Humans. It's all about the BPs baby (I like lots o' skills), and that extra point of Edge. Oh, and yes, Humans are still the largest percentage of the population unless you are in one of those pixie enclaves like the old TT or the Nog.

I thought the Bubblegum Rally was going to be on the list.

I create a lot more characters than I play, and the ones I create are any race that seems to fit the concept...
But when it comes time to play, I usually go for elves (of elf like) in most RPGs, hell, I even play elves when orks are mathematically very superior and cheaper (like in SR)...

Maybe it's just because I'm tall, slender, graceful and really good looking...

My goodness... the things people on Dumpshock find to bitch about.

That said though I tend to gravitate towards humans on account of their versatility. I also like using cyberlimbs so the idea of paying twice for the same enhancement bugs me. That said though my favorite PC was a Troll so they come in close second.

I'm kind of in between humans and elves.

From a gameplay standpoint, they are both versatile. They can basically be anything-from powerful mages to staggeringly good melee guys(Elves get the Agility bonus, and having the Charisma bonus sorta lets you play with more BPs in the other stats, minmaxy, but yeah, it works. ) They fit in well most places; it's easy to go human-looking with an elf if you want. In the game world, they both suffer a little less stigma than the rest(normally.)

From a fluff standpoint, I dunno. I guess I'm going to be completely shallow here and say I like my martial-artist prettyboys.

To be fair, though, I have played, and enjoyed, all races at some point or another. So when I have my humans and elves up front, the others aren't that far behind for me, at all.

And I notice now the poor dwarves are in the back. I kinda figured they would be, not many folks like playin' the little guy. I do find 'em fun now and again. I more or less play with ''Ok, I have this concept...what race would be cool?''

And for the record, I find myself playing less-combat oriented orks and trolls much of the time; the combat guys I tend more toward the human/elf. I guess I've seen too many stereotypical wussy elves and big, hit-stuff trolls that I like subverting it as much as I can.

I like Orks; I think that they're cool. That, and the Gunslinger Adept picture is sexxxy!

...excellent question.

I voted Human, because I always seem to encounter people who only play elves, or only play orks or trolls, because of the advantages or the way elves are viewed as superior. It's nice to show that the baseline can still be just as good.

i have to say that I've played all the races listed here, and enjoyed them all. That said, it depends on what the character is supposed to do. Are they supposed to be a tough guy, I usually go with the racist stereotype..troll, orc, dwarf. are they supposed to be a smooth talker.. elf. versatile, human etc etc.

Orks are my favorite.
Elves, my most hated.

You may want to reconsider your pic then.

Ok, I gotta ask. Not trying to derail here.

But...why the Elf hatred? Is it because they have their own nation(s)? Or is the the IE thing?

Do you think, if, say...Dwarves had two nations and were immortal, they would be the hated race? If it were Trolls, or even Orks?

Is it because attractive races are automatically hated by most? I mean, remember in Shadowrun, people can take on many looks-it's not like the fantasy game. There are, I'm sure plenty of ugly elves, just like I've seen pictures of orks and trolls that are actually pretty attractive by human standards. (Hell, ive seen some canon elf pictures that don't look any better or worse than anyone else-some look damn scary, in fact. I tease about my trenchcoat prettyboys above, I know if I wanted to I could make a really attractive ork or play and elf that fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch.)

Was it the IEs that left the bad taste in folks mouths? I'd blame whoever decided to invent them, not the poor elves.

I'm just curious, to be honest. Not trying to start flame wars or anything; again, while I like humans and elves, I dig all the races, in the end.

They're all just jealous!

For me, the Tir hype in the earlier editions, as well as the whole IE stuff just sounded far too much like D&D's "Complete book of elves".

Shadowrun: Our Orks are Cuter.

i hate elves because they get boni without mali . . and they get the whole good looking thing and more or less eternal youth . . even the non immortal elves . . and nobody really holds it against them that they are out and out racist pigs but as soon as orks and trolls or dwarves start something like that the whole world is in uproar immediately . . that and elves have the whole better than thou gig going . . i really don't deal well with arrogant people . . let alone a whole race . . even if they are only imaginary . .

As I said before, I usually go for elves, in most RPGs, and the Tir-hype and IE bugs the hell out of me, not only does the time line not make sense (as to the founding of the Tir nations), but it just makes it seem like elves are superior...
It is indeed just too D&D...
In SR4, if anything, orks are superior, strong and tough (cheap on BPs), breed like rabits, it's them who should have the manpower to make their own nations...

They get overpriced boni, compared to the other races...
And I have yet to play an arrogant elf...
But yeah, that's the problem, the fluff makes elves seem like charmed ones who can do anything and get away with it...

Except for the issue that those social traits are only found in the Tir's. You get an Elf from, say, Texas or New York, you know how they'll act?

Like a Texan or New Yorker of the same age group. That's. It.

There hasn't been multiple generations of Elves to even let them know how long they'll live! They know they'll live longer than Orks, but, damn, some Goldfish live longer than Orks. Trolls, too, have a shorter lifetime, but Trolls that were born are just starting to hit their "Old Age" bit now.

Remember, by 2070, it's been less than 50-years since the Goblinization. And less than 60-years for the Elves and Dwarves started being born (Aside from the rare Spike Baby).

That's not even a human lifetime. Yes, changes happen in a lifetime, but a culture of arrogance at being "Immortally young"? Not yet.

For me it's orks lately. Great bonuses for cheap, yeah, but mostly they are dirty and rough, as opposed to prissy and effete (yes, I am stereotyping, but since these "races" don't exist, hopefully they won't come for me during America's upcoming Cultural Revolution). Also, they got a huge boost role-playing-wise from the whole Or'zet/orxploitation thing.

Of course I could play trolls, but I have a pet peeve about them generally getting off easy in play - I mean, most GMs (including me, I fear) don't really make enough of the fact that the 3-meter behemoths shouldn't be able to fit into a lot of vehicles and some older buildings. They are a tiny percentage of the populace, and mostly disenfranchised - I don't see all buildings being made to have an extra meter of headroom on every floor...What's the penalty for always having to fight hunched over?

As long as I am rambling aimlessly - people rag on elves, but I see them played pretty constantly. Almost every forum or table-top game I am in has at least one in the group, usually several.

But dwarves - been playing 14 years and met ONE dwarf PC. That's probably a BIT below average, but no one can tell me they are not the least played. I just don't think anyone wants to fantasize about being short.

"i ain't short! i am compact damn it!"

My only issue with elves is that I've had players who are ALWAYS elves...no matter what system they play, if they can be an elf, they are an elf.

In the games I run, I limit the number of Elf NPC's, to the point where they seem as rare as Trolls. That way when a player decides to make an Elf character, I'm not sick of them anymore

Forget that in D&D, I always ALWAYS played a half-elf bard or rogue... always.

I don't have a favourite, although I don't tend to play Trolls, as I don't normally go for the big hard hitter.

Dwarves are seriously under-rated, which is a shame, and Orcs are an amazing deal in terms of BPs for Attributes. Elves I quite like, despite the poor deal they get in SR4. It's pretty much swapping 1 Edge for low light vision, and a higher charisma and agility cap, which pales compared to the free points of strength and body the other metatypes get for their BP investment. It does, at least, limit occasions where half the team are elves. Now they'll just all be orcs with uncouth, "'cos if my charisma sucks I may as well get all the BPs I can, and sink 'em into combat". Well, that only happens sometimes.

But I wouldn't go as far as to say I have a favourite...

...nice one. I'll have to borrow that line for Kat Markova sometime.

Trolls baby, what else?

I love the dichotomy you can create with these huge guys and breaking down the prejudice barriers with them. It's for this reason that I tend to go for the most brutish appearance with them possible, with no 3rd edition plus smoothing of the skin, give me my trolls lumpy and ...trollish.


Isshia

In most games I've played, I've needed gunbunnies who can sneak and talk their way out of things... they don't need to be able to tank for the most part because the enemies weren't as accurate... so elves have been my favorite.

However, humans and trolls come a close second and third respectively, simply because the buildpoints and extra edge are nice, but there're just some times when you need to build something that can take a shotgun blast to the chest and laugh.

Fixed.

I usually play humans or elves. One of the funnest groups I ever played with had three elf PCs: my guy (a former Catholic paramilitary from Tir Na Nog), an orthodox Jew from Israel, and a Tir Na Nog path mage. It created an interesting group dynamic.