D&D 5E Halflings are the 7th most popular 5e race

[MoriSpumae]

Did the math the total for Goliaths between all classes was 43,105.

For Aasimar 43,755 making Aasimar more popular then Goliaths. Aasimar should be in the RD&D PHB.

Hi, I created the dataset and I am realizing that I really should have had a "total" column for the classes/races so you wouldn't have to do the maths.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

What evidence is that? It’s exactly what we saw years ago. Halflings are the second least played race after gnomes.

In what way are they “popular “?

In the top ten of all official races has always equaled popular, no matter how you try to spin it.

I dont even know that this is the most critical path of the argument.

Most, Least, Kinda, Not?

They are popular enough, with enough people who would miss them.

Why would we consider removing them at all, when Wizards has already done as much as they can to limit the amount of unique space needed to 'define' a <object formally called a race here>?

Let Halflings exist. There is quite honestly negligible space being used.

Yeah they've always been pretty easy to fit in small spaces. You could walk right through a town and not even notice!

 

[MoriSpumae]

Yes. But this person isn't official D&D Beyond. They used python to gather the data from DDB themselves, which may have simply included existence of the characters. We don't know if they have access to the "active use" data that DDB uses when they officially report such stuff.

Hi, I created the dataset. I did not have any info on the "active status" (if they even have such a thing). There is a "date_modified" but it doesn't tell you more than that.

 

[MoriSpumae]

I wonder how this data is tracking the Custom Lineage in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Or if it even can. I've used that variant a lot... not as much as the PHB races, sure, but a lot more than I've used tortles and kenku.

Hi, I created the dataset. I don't think custom lineage is represented well at all. "Lineage" is there as a race but I also filtered out any class with less than 5 occurrences since people use homebrew ones as well. I'm not sure if custom lineage is simply not used much (at least in my sample data) or if it is saved in a way that makes it not appear.

 

[Hussar]

/snip>?

Let Halflings exist. There is quite honestly negligible space being used.

But that’s not quite true. Because they are in the phb, they need to be accounted for in every single setting and publication, even if it’s to say “no halflings here”.

Which means less space for other ideas. You must have halfling towns, but never kobold ones. You must have halfling npcs but not others. You must have halfling dieties and pantheons. So on and so forth.

And despite having that in virtually every single book/supplement, they’re still at the bottom of the barrel.

Is it so wrong to want something new in the phb?

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Hi, I'm the creator of the dataset. I think you are absolutely correct that people create characters without playing them. I'm not sure how much of an impact this has since free accounts only get a limited number of slots. I'm not sure how to filter them out though.
Levels don't work because you can just create characters at higher levels. I will think about it some more. Do you have any ideas?

Firstly, props for having the gonad gumption to respond to criticism on a random forum you didn't have to join. That's worthy of respect.

Unfortunately I don't really have a good answer for your question. It's not likely that there will be any easy way to track which entries are changing, especially since many characters change very slowly, and even that may not be enough to say with confidence--a character might simply go several months without getting updated.

More or less, I just think we should take any conclusions from this data with a grain of salt. It's useful data, more specific and much easier to update than the (if we're lucky) yearly updates from DDB. But it's also limited in ways that are hard to manage/control. E.g., I'm a bit skeptical about that less-than-100 Custom Lineage characters thing, simply because of how prevalent it is elsewhere, but...lacking more specific data, there's no real way to know. Perhaps the DDB people will give us more specific data like they did in 2019, so we can make more precise comparisons.

 

[Hussar]

Isn’t it better to look at this more holistically? Do the various data points line up or are they contradictory? It appears that they all line up fairly closely. Certainly within tolerances.

There don’t seem to be any wild variations over the years.

 

[Scribe]

Is it so wrong to want something new in the phb?

At the cost of things which are popular enough? Yes.

And despite having that in virtually every single book/supplement, they’re still at the bottom of the barrel.

Bottom of the PHB, but not bottom of the list of options, not remotely.

But that’s not quite true. Because they are in the phb, they need to be accounted for in every single setting and publication, even if it’s to say “no halflings here”.

Which means less space for other ideas. You must have halfling towns, but never kobold ones. You must have halfling npcs but not others. You must have halfling dieties and pantheons. So on and so forth.

Lets be real. Wizards 'accounting' for them in a setting, in the year of our lord 2023, is either 'they are not here' or 'welcome to the multiverse baby, everything is everywhere and can take any stat increase! ya!'

Its nothing. Its less than nothing. They are not in the business of defining settings anymore.

 

[Hussar]

At the cost of things which are popular enough? Yes.


.

Well there’s the rub isn’t it? I don’t think that something that has never gained any real traction in the game despite 50 years of trying qualifies as “popular enough”.

Obviously opinions differ.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Hi, I created the dataset and I am realizing that I really should have had a "total" column for the classes/races so you wouldn't have to do the maths.

No problem hindsight is 20/20.