D&D General Thoughts On How To Get a New Race Over

[Blue]

2. One of a few probably added in a setting or PHB. Up to 3 new races seems to be the magic number. Planescae let you play Tieflings,Darksun added Kreen and Half Giants. Less is more. 50 odd in Monster of the Multiverse means most won't care and nothing stands out.

Just as a point of order, the races in MP:MotM had all been introduced previously, in small quantities as you said. MotM didn't introduce them, so that many were updated in one book shouldn't mean anything about their popularity from when they were introduced.

 

[Zardnaar]

Just as a point of order, the races in MP:MotM had all been introduced previously, in small quantities as you said. MotM didn't introduce them, so that many were updated in one book shouldn't mean anything about their popularity from when they were introduced.

True but point still stands. Sone of those races have been kicking around for decades and they're still not that popular even as non phb options.

 

[Blue]

I don't know if BG3's data can be entirely trusted here. I suspect there are a lot of people, myself included, who selected their character's species based on what a game guide said about how it synergized with a particular class.

Agreed, by BG3 racial picks vary quite a bit from my D&D table top picks, especially around ways I want to play a CRPG vs. a TTRPG. And this specific CRPG. For instance there's a lot of interesting dialog as Gith in BG3, but I haven't had that meta-push to play them at a table.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Just as a point of order, the races in MP:MotM had all been introduced previously, in small quantities as you said. MotM didn't introduce them, so that many were updated in one book shouldn't mean anything about their popularity from when they were introduced.

I appreciated the consolidation that MotM offered. Buying a book for 3 pp of player-facing material is just not something I will do.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Deva - very similar, but not exactly, to Aasimar. Close enough to be a wash.

Agreed.

And with Aasimar in play (as it were) the fan base was not going to accept the celestial-theamed beast-people that were the Ardlings. One celestial race, as a counterpoint to Tiefling, is fine. I happen not to like the Aasimar because flight feels gimmicky to me, but I know that's just a matter of taste.

Had the Ardlings not been celestial (but tied more to the natural world with a primal cantrip or whatever) I think they would have been given a pass, possibly even incorporating Tabaxi.

Goliath - while Goliaths have been around before 4e, IIRC the way they look currently was defined in that edition. They're getting an upgrade in 5.24 when it comes to how closely their lore crosses over with giants, so they might look different, too. We'll have to see. They're certainly successful!

What we've seen in the playtest is really encouraging to me. They were revised in "Clerics and Species", so that the previous 5e Goliaths were one strain of six. With five new options, I think they're just going to grow (though everyone's going to pick Hill Giant, right?).

Gnoll - 5e for some reason decided to make ALL gnolls loathsome fiends, so they never made them playable. I'm fine with that, I guess, but shouldn't there ought to be playable dog-folk? Not that we don't have a ton of choices for a funny animal game.

100% A Gnoll, or a jackal-/fox-/dog-/wolf-person race is a big omission. This have been covered with Ardlings. There's so much space to explore here, that they just haven't touched. It could overlap with the shifter, I guess. There's a lot of possibilites, and they've really pursued none of them.

Shifter - I think these exist in 5e, but they had a much higher profile in 4e, IIRC. Werewolf-lite. Probably need to be MORE Werewolf to really catch on.

I like the implementation we currently have in 5e It hasn't caught on, for some of the reasons in the OP, I guess.

Wilden - Here I've come to a race that I think is actually missing in 5e. I wouldn't implement them exactly like they were in 4e, but I think there's a place for Fey Treefolk (perhaps relating them to Dryads would make them more popular).

yay for plantfolk.

Am I missing anything?

As has been said, either goblins or kobolds would be a great addition for mainstreaming. I know there is resistance to small races, but as has been pointed out, it's a fun part to play in a party -- something I chose even when it gave me -4 STR and sunlight sensitivity in 3.5. Choosing to start weak and to build out of that can be fun for those who want it. This is somehting where I tink the playing field does not need to start level, mechanically as long as it offers something unique or distinctive.