We got a ton of mileage out of the Humanoid Handbook for 2e, but you have to understand that we pretty much bought into AD&D2e full bore. I don't remember anything being really wonky, but then, I don't remember caring too much about "balance" before I found RPG communities on the internet.

I never had "monsters as characters" - mostly because my players never were interested. I had, however, a girl playing the familiar of her boyfriend (he was a Druid, she was a Celestial Owl) and we had great fun.

IMHO, the best way to play with monsters as characters is to create a game world where this is feasible and "normal", by tweaking a bit the cultural background of various races/monsters. Hmmm... Now that I think about it, you can already do it with Planescape.

Quote from: Reckall;566379I never had "monsters as characters" - mostly because my players never were interested. I had, however, a girl playing the familiar of her boyfriend (he was a Druid, she was a Celestial Owl) and we had great fun.
.

When my oldest son was too young to play but old enough to feel left out, we did this same thing. He was a tiny dragon of some sort, and his lack of game knowledge made playing in character very easy...    

I've never read the AD&D 2e CBH (though my interest was definitely piqued back in the day!), but I think I'd be disinclined to do it with D&D when it seems simpler to do in several other systems I'm facile with.

In Rifts this is almost the assumed way to play; at some tables you get odd looks if you're not a natural MDC creature.

"Orcs of Thar" is the only fantasy campaign I've run that lasted more than a few sessions. It was very funny game, filled feeble characters with useless equipment, beetle races, the behind the scenes machinations of an blind dragon and mostly trying to avoid the bear that lived in the cave that was the main exit to the surface. Admittedly by the time I was done with it my campaign didn't resemble  the source book very much at all, but isn't that the way it's meant to be?

Quote from: Libertad;565490How do you handle the idea of monster PCs?

By playing RuneQuest. Which has allowed you to play monstrous PCs since 1978.

Play a 4e Gnome.  Instant monster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UqFPujRZWo

You even get a lair.

Quote from: Philotomy Jurament;566654Play a 4e Gnome.  Instant monster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UqFPujRZWo

You even get a lair.

You bastard. You couldn't leave it alone, could you?

Quote from: Benoist;566657You bastard. You couldn't leave it alone, could you?

Failed my saving throw.

Played a hobgoblin using the 2e Complete Humanoids book, and thoroughly enjoyed it. When Eberron came out for 3E, my friends had a hard time selling me on it, until I found out about the hobgoblins. They were remnants of an ancient empire that ruled the whole continent? And now they wanted it back? Okay, I'm in! That was fun.

(Ignore this next bit if you're one of those "Please stop telling me about your character" types.)

Spoiler

My lawful neutral hobgoblin rogue traveled all over the world with our merry band of adventurers; at every single port, he'd go to the slave market and find out if any goblins/hobgoblins from his tribe were in captivity. He spent all his money buying them, freeing them, and equipping them for their journey home... to deliver his latest reports on the party's activities to the tribal leaders, of course. The party didn't know about that last part; they were all convinced he was some kind of philanthropist, but he was building a fanatically loyal spy network. They got quite a shock when we reached a high enough level to start gaining followers...best scam I ever pulled off.

One of the things I've enjoyed about 4E is the interesting selection of "monstrous" races. Tiefling is my usual choice (horns and a tail!), but Shadar-Kai and Revenants have also been fun. Haven't tried a Shifter or a Minotaur yet; they both seem a bit too close to "furry" territory for me. And why do Dragonborn females have... oh never mind.

This is a tradition that hearkens back to Dave Hargrave's Arduin Grimoire. I remember fondly having to roll up the race of my characters using the crazy tables found in the lbb's.

My personal favorite for this is Savage Species, not only does it have prepared tables for a wide variety of monster races, it has a toolbox in it for creating racial level templates for any creature.

Quote from: Philotomy Jurament;566654Play a 4e Gnome.  Instant monster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UqFPujRZWo

You even get a lair.

GNOME!!!

Also, I would reiterate the support for Orcs of Thar.  It is THE "play a humanoid" sourcebook par excellence.

RPGPundit

Fantasy Craft also has monstrous PC choices in core.

GNOME!!!