I'm hoping to set up a sort of fantasy RP, and try to encourage peopl to use fantasy races who are a little less used.

I don't want to cut off and not allow things like trolls and dwarves, elves, vampires, and werepeople, but I'm not trying to go for Hig fantasy or horror fantasy.

My biggest worry about these races, although it makes me a little unhappy to say, is that I don't want to catch a generic mystical elf, or most elves that pop up really. Nor do I want the sort of dark characters common with Werewolves and Vampires.

So, my dilemma is allowing them or not.

I could just monitor them, but if I get one I don't like characteristic wise what do I say? It'd be wrong to regect the character just because I didn't like it.

Or I could just keep them out altogether, though that may cause problems in it's own. I wouldn't mind having them if I got something that really hit me as interesting.

One possibility is making an outline of those races. The kinds of things you would like to see, and wouldn't like to see. That way you could set guidlines to moniter the races so things are set up like you like, and people still have the option to RP them.

I would recommend making a medium-length description, outlining physical attributes, personality traits, and other information. I find this the best way to acclimatize people to the less used races.

I agree.

On one of my sites, we deal with not only celebrities in Hollywood, but also the movie crew. We are welcome to all sorts of roles, but I knew there would be people who would start going for some oddball jobs. Thus, I make a thread where I described each job we normally accept, and gave examples of ones we did accept.

If there ones you don't want to see, then say so. It's your site, not theirs. If they don't like it, they can go. However, there will be those who won't mind! If you want a specific species, but want to eliminate others, let it be known to your members :)

Hmm interesting, your have to send me a link when your done Spoo :D

I would say allow it (otherwise you may reduce your member base dramatically. Possibly ask members to turn away from the classic character forms and do things with a twist maybe. Possibly turn the balances of good and bad upside down, making a evil the normal way of life or something lol

Huh wouldn't it be strange if like Vampires and werewolves were the norm and good people, while humans were the one's who made all the trouble and are ever so troublesome lol

You know what'd be cool? If instead of taking OOC measures, take IC measures.

Form a group dedicated to seeking out "impurities" such as Vampires/Elves and slaughtering them.

Causes conflict and discourages their creation; two birds with one stone.

But, maybe that idea sounds better on paper more than implementation. The possibility for it to grow into something larger though is there, which could be cool.

I belong to an RP group that did away with high fantasy races and replaced them with races from old Celtic mythology that most people aren't nearly so familiar with. It makes for interesting variety without everyone making the stereotypical elf or dwarf or what have you.

All of the above are really great suggestions, though I really love what GreyScale added too. Using IC plots to monitor how many kinds of certain species are most likely to appear may help with population control; though it may be a little extreme if you want to let your members go wherever they wish with their characters.

In my experience if you give members the chance to make absolutely any character they want... very few actually do go for the typical elves, werewolves, and vampires. Of course you'll have a couple members who absolutely must make their character half-elf or werewolf, but in allowing members on my site to make absolutely any race they wish we've actually ended up with mostly humans and a lot of original spin-offs of traditional races like elves, vampires, etc.

Depending on your member base you may have to take more drastic steps, but I've found that even though there may be the generic elf or vampire now and then there aren't so many that they create imbalanced issues on the board.

All I can do is give this advice. Allow a limited amount of races and if somebody has achieved a certain reputable status that allows them to be trustworthy and capable of handling an advanced race (ie. dragon), allow them. Maybe even for a price.

Some basic race suggestions could be stuff like:
Human
Dwarf
Elf(?)
Troll
RANDOM