What races are left for D&D to do?

[Tallifer]

I think any race that was playable in 4E should be easily workable in 5E: Pixies, Thrikreen, Satyrs, Wilden (which are 4E Plant Men), Shardminds (please, a better name however), Hengyokai (furries), Hamadryads, Revenants. All interesting concepts and with interesting mechanics in 4E.

 

[Coroc]

My homebrew take on the Thrikreen is :

Dex +2 Wis +1

Natural Armor 13+Dex Mod (Cannot wear armor)

Natural weapons 1d4

Action: Bite 2d6 poison, paralyses till end of next turn, Save Constitution, DC: 8+Con Mod of the Thrikreen + Proficiency of the Thrikreen Once per short or long rest.

Base speed 40, Jumps 3x normal height or distance, advantage on athletic or acrobatic checks concerning jumps

Disadvantages:

Disadvantage on charisma skills versus humanoids

Cannibalistic (This is not a disadvantage in some situations but may disgust humanoids)

Cannot swim at all, drowns instantly

Appropriate classes (for Old school DS) Fighter Gladiator Mystic Cleric (Druid?) Fire Earth Air

Can create Chitin bladed weapons

Catchka 1d6, Boomerang Dex DC 10 to catch a return reach 45/90

Gythka 2d4 reach (Polearm master applies if you allow feats)

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't think there is much point in doing thri-kreen unless you come up with mechanics to tackle the four arms.

 

[Yunru]

That's easy.
You give them four arms.
No special rules or mechanics needed.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

That's easy.
You give them four arms.
No special rules or mechanics needed.

I have four arms, ergo I can cast a spell with one, use a shield with another, stab you with my shortsword with the third an use my bonus action to stab you with a dagger with the fourth.


Whether or not you choose to allow it, the rules have to address it.

 

[Yunru]

I have four arms, ergo I can cast a spell with one, use a shield with another, stab you with my shortsword with the third an use my bonus action to stab you with a dagger with the fourth.


Whether or not you choose to allow it, the rules have to address it.

... I don't see how that's a problem?

You can cast a spell with the Cast a Spell action, you could attack with the Attack action, you could even Action Surge to do both and have it play out exactly as you describe. All without any mechanical changes.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

... I don't see how that's a problem?

You can cast a spell with the Cast a Spell action, you could attack with the Attack action, you could even Action Surge to do both and have it play out exactly as you describe. All without any mechanical changes.

For a two armed being a feat is required to cast a spell whilst you have a weapon and shield (or 2H or off hand weapon) equipped. If you are going to give out the equivalent of free feats, you should at least mention it in the rules.

And duel wielding whilst benefiting from a shield?

Using a two handed weapon whilst benefitting from a shield?

If you want to allow it, you need to mention it. If you want to disallow it you still need to mention it. The rules as written are for two-armed characters.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Playable undead (or semi-undead, more likely), definitely. I thought the recent vampire race from the one MtG PDF did a good job at capturing the feel without being ridiculously unbalanced.

But in all honesty, I don’t feel a burning need for more races. By the end, both 3e and 4e’s adventuring parties felt more like menageries than anything else.

I'd say some kind of Vryloka/Dhampir style race would make the most sense.

 

[delericho]

Not a big fan of races, so the only thing I'm looking for is the various setting-specific races - which I'm sure will be added as and when they do something with those settings.

 

[Yunru]

The rules as written are for two-armed characters.

No, there's not. The rules as written apply to any number of arms, even one. That's why they only ever talk of "free hand".

A feat? Hardly. The bit you mention is only half the feat, for a start. Second, the only new cases opened are while TWF or using a sword and shield. Third, that's still covered by the rules, you only need a free hand. Having four hands just makes that more likely.

Duel wielding requires you wield two light weapons. Nothing new needed there, regardless of what your other hands have in them.

Using a two handed weapon... requires two hands. Nothing new needed there, regardless of what your other hands have in them.