Far from being combat monsters, most of them were _terrible_ in combat. I recall the griffin, centaur, unicorn and (two) minotaur PCs being shot full of missiles because they couldn't buy armor (too unusual/pricey), and the windkid was useless because of the fear of it. Other critters may have enough of the tough stuff to kick butt (like Tarantulor!) but get duffed by not having hands, or have limited roleplay abilities which can matter in combat (e.g., when our party surrendered -- and the Minotaur was cut down out of hand, because it _couldn't_ surrender at that point), or look like Big Scary Monsters so they become the prime target for the bad guys (trust me, it's pretty hard to make a 12 foot tarantula look inconspicuous). Or are just awkward -- people have mentioned trying to get a centaur into a building. Try getting a unicorn to the temple for healing/resurrection: you often can't, 'coz it's too freakin' big to carry. Seemed like only the "most" human races, like elves, dwarves and trolls, really worked well.
Just my two cents -- my experience has always been that the exotic, scary PC races are incredible for the first battle or two, and then die horribly from one of their flaws.
But it's also been my experience that nonhumans can be a heck of a lot of fun to roleplay! :) "Spider hungry. Eat PC companion now..."
James Frusetta
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #328
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