D&D 5E How do you decide which Races to disallow (and/or Classes)?

[SubDude]

Hi, guys. I've returned to D&D after something like 20 years away. So glad to have found this forum to help hash things out, too. I've been reading diligently, but I'm wondering how different DM's decide whether or not to allow a certain race and/or class?

In our initial start-up adventures, I said anything in the PHB is fair game. Now with the new Elemental Evil new races, it has me thinking a little more critically about it. Do I really want Tieflings or Dragonborn or Warlocks in my revived Greyhawk campaign, for example?

I'm not looking for a "allow this" or "disallow that", but more a general idea of the thought process that DM's put into making such overarching decisions.

Maybe this isn't easy to answer, but you guys don't seem to shy away from the difficult stuff. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

[Paraxis]

I wouldn't disallow things just because they were not in an older edition player's handbook. There were plenty of variant classes and races that popped up in dragon magazines and supplements to all those old settings.

What you want to do is decide what kind of story do you want to tell. In the past I have disallowed things because they didn't exist in my campaign world, or if they did I wanted to use that race as the major antagonist for the plot, and so on.

I do recommend talking to your players though because as much as a DM might not like the idea of monks, tieflings, aarakocra, warlocks or wild magic sorcerers doesn't mean one of your players has a great idea for incorporating one into your campaign.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

By the time I've gone through the whole process of world-creation, I usually have a pretty good idea of what races fit in. If I didn't build a place for Genasi, then there are no Genasi.

It's less clear when it comes to classes, since it's easier to find somewhere that you could shoehorn a few members of a class. Even if you didn't think out a spot for Warlocks, as you were building the world, it's simple enough to just hide a couple of cultists off in a the sewers somewhere.

The two classes that really stick out as potentially inappropriate are Barbarian and Monk, since those ones depend on having a relevant culture for them to really make sense.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My rule is that whatever I include has to fit.

So, if I were doing something low-magic and close to Camelot, most of the exotic races would be out. OTOH, if I'm running something like Planescape, the more stuff, the merrier.

In DarkSun-like setting, the rarity of metal would make a typical Warforged not only rare, but hunted by all who saw it as a walking "gold"mine.

 

[SirAntoine]

This is a great question. I suspect people will fall into two camps as they reply. First, there will be people who say it's just up to you in that it's one of the questions the DM gets to answer as he or she makes the setting and the campaign. Then there will be people who feel let down if the races they want aren't included, and included is a better term than allowed. The thing is, even if someone agrees with the first point, they may be disappointed personally. I'd say maybe 10% of the time someone will look for another group because of this, so it's pretty important to people in general.

This is also an example of where the published content affects us all, even though we are all encouraged to make any adjustments we want to our home games, including which races and classes to include. Just because these new races and classes are out there, their fans will expect them as part of D&D and they may seriously miss them if they are not included. Worse yet, some people have the impression that a DM's choice of what races and classes to include is biased or unjustly narrow if they narrow it down. The community as a whole has lost sight of why someone would narrow it down, but still run the game well.

The real answer for what is the positive basis for picking and choosing which races and classes to include, is if you would enjoy that more. The DM is playing the game, too, and he or she needs to understand and like the story and adventure content they make. If you more enjoy traditional race and class choices, it's because you really more enjoy them that you should consider including them and not others. That is a simplification, too, but it covers a set of common favorites. In Greyhawk in particular, there are many DM's who feel that dragonborn wouldn't be right. Many may also feel that paladins should only be LG, and all rangers of a good alignment such as in the Gnarley Forest where the rangers leave their marks and work together to root out evil. A woodsman or a tracker or hunter in the same forest isn't the same thing as one of these rangers.

It's just a question of how things can be portrayed, as to whether there are too many different versions to permit the same flavor and focus in your writing.

All I can do is encourage people to be open to the DM's choices, to encourage them to choose what they want and be okay with that.

 

[Zardnaar]

Completely arbitrary. I don't like it it is out. Probably will not be allowing many of the races from EE players companion. Probably allow the Goliath, Genasi maybe.

 

[Shiroiken]

I allow what I feel fits the general theme of my world. The plane-touched (teiflings, assamar, genasi) are very high fantasy, IMO, along with Dragonborn. Half-orc and Drow (and probably Goliath) are usually limited socially, so they work best in outsider type games.

I would suggest figuring out what you think works best for YOUR vision of Greyhawk.

 

[delericho]

I've been reading diligently, but I'm wondering how different DM's decide whether or not to allow a certain race and/or class?

The last campaign I ran (3.5e Eberron) I allowed any race or class from the PHB and Eberron campaign setting book, and nothing else.

Going forward, I expect to restrict races based on what I think fits in the world (and tending towards a smaller group, perhaps as restrictive as the 7 races from that same 3.5e PHB), but being much more open with regard to classes.

 

[77IM]

As SirAntoine points out, disallowing things can impact players greatly, so check with them first in case anyone has strong feelings about it. If you are still looking for players, make sure it's clear up front that this game has race/class restrictions, so no one feels let down.

One of my DMing guidelines is "Let the players play what they really want to play." The DM has control over the entire universe, and the players only control their PC, so the less influence the DM has over player decisions, the better. One good compromise might be to alter a race or class back story to make it more rare in the setting: like, maybe every tiefling and genasi is unique, and people don't know what to make of them because most commoners have never seen someone so exotic.

 

[Uchawi]

You are going to have to review new content whenever it is released, and most likely your current players have already chosen a race and class. Therefore, discuss expectations for allowing new content at the table. So far 5E has not released anything new in regards to races or classes, so you should be able to determine what makes sense for your game long term.