Making Race Matter

[Satyrn]

Oh, and the previews for the new book suggest that every race is gonna get a writeup with personality traits to choose from. If you're using those to hand out inspiration, that should really help distingush a PC's race.

Like, maybe give every PC one trait/bond/flaw/ideal from their background and one of each from their race.

 

[Eltab]

Race matters to the extent somebody brings it up. In most campaigns, the unspoken presumption is that all races, and most members thereof, work together in the face of an overwhelming threat. In extraordinary cases, the classic races will even work with 'monsters' such as Goblins &c.

Read the 5e Tiefling text to the group (the paragraphs near 'shopkeepers subtly move the merchandise') and ask if they want to get into that: elves and dwarves are in one-up-man-ship contests, orcs attack Good races on sight, &c. If they decide No, then in your campaign Race Doesn't Matter.

 

[Riley37]

Have other members of that race be around. Have them react poorly to the characters when they don't behave properly.

I DMed for a group with a tiefling warlock PC. The previous DM had done the "you all walk into a tavern, NPCs are hostile to the tiefling" scene. I decided that the campaign city had a small tiefling population, and that the most prominent tiefling in town would take an interest in learning about the New Tiefling in Town, the one with powerful magic. So I wrote out that NPC, and decided he had a daughter, and might be interested in finding a worthy husband for his daughter - after all, he wants grand children, some day - and that the 5th level ability to cast Darkness was his litmus test for "worthy". He invited the PC over for dinner, and over time he became one of the most influential NPCs in the story.

The PCs apparently never gave a moment's thought about what his class levels might be... not until they found out he was the high priest of Asmodeus for the city. Well, he owned a combination sauna - tavern - casino - brothel, of COURSE he was the local leader of the cult of Vice. He became the most effective ally in locating and eradicating the cult of Tiamat. (City ruler was a Bane worshipper; he was more live-and-let-live with Tiamat.)