Tiefling and half-orc should not be in the PHB

[WarlockLord]

Does it actually hurt anyone if a dude plays a tiefling? No? He's going to have fun? Then just let him do it.

 

[Agamon]

Does it actually hurt anyone if a dude plays a tiefling? No? He's going to have fun? Then just let him do it.

Exactly. And if the DM decides there are no tieflings it shouldn't hurt anyone either. I don't understand the reason for this thread.

Both my first 3e and 4e campaigns, the PCs could be human only. And no one cried. Go figure.

 

[Mattachine]

My current campaign is humans only, even though some other races exist. As a DM, writing the game world and such, I am entitled to as much fun as everyone else.

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

I think that separation of biological racial features from background features would allow for variety in human types, elven types, etc. This is hopefully where themes/backgrounds come in.

 

[curupira]

I like the half orc and tiefling. There should be a race with a bonus to each of the ability score.

Half-orc easilty fits the "Strong" race. I believe any setting with a bunch of races should have a "Strong". And Half-orcs also fills the "Big idiot" role.

Fine, but why not full-blown orcs instead of half-orcs? That "serious backstory implied" is just stupid. With neutral orc tribes in the monster manual, it would be not that hard to justify.

 

[Libramarian]

A lot of bilateral symmetry is kinda cute...

Be that as it may, when it comes to RPG systems I find symmetry that feels kinda contrived and OCDish to be a turnoff.

But I think Minigiant is just looking for any justification he can get to have as many races as possible

 

[Li Shenron]

The arguments "this MUST" and "that HAS TO be in" to make 3e-ers or 4e-ers or Old Skoolers happy" is all, really, a) completely moot until we see what actually IS in the new game and b) a bunch of nonsense. If the game is going to offer your an optional module to play what you want to play, then who cares if this is "core" or that is in the "default" in the next PHB. You'll still be able to play the game you like.

...

Saying "what if they did XYZ" or "I'd like to see ABC" is all fun and cool. But arguments about what should and shouldn't be "in" are pointless at this stage of the [not yet made/published!] game.

Well but if we say these things after the game is published, isn't that too late to complain? I think a lot of people write their opinions strongly on WotC boards because they hope that the designers will in fact make some decisions based on what they perceive as common feelings and preferences. It's a sort of feedback, after all.

About the modularity, what you say is absolutely true for the mechanics, but here we're discussing the fluff. Well not exactly the fluff since races also have crunch, but what I mean is that once you have set the PHB races, you can be sure this choice will determine what will be in published settings: not all of them, but some for sure, especially all the new settings. Take a look at what happened at Forgotten Realms in 4e: since Dragonborn were in the PHB, they had to allocate them in Faerun too. FR of course has a history of ridiculous world-shattering events to reflect edition changes... But imagine what would happen now if 5e designers decide to put a new race in the PHB, something outrageously lame for the majority of gamers but for some reason the chief designers think it's cool: then you will have that race in half the settings published for 5e.

Of course you can always say "I just don't use that race", but it's not the same thing as not using a mechanic, which (if 5e does modularity properly) means you will have to ignore a bunch of feats/spells/etc per book. To eliminate a race from a setting and its adventures you'll have a harder job ahead IMHO.

 

[avin]

Fine, but why not full-blown orcs instead of half-orcs? That "serious backstory implied" is just stupid. With neutral orc tribes in the monster manual, it would be not that hard to justify.

Agreed.

Like it or not, World of Warcraft made Orcs popular.

I would change Half Orc for a full Orc in a Heartbeat, leaving the half breed for a later book.

Goliath (that can be refluffed as Half Giant) would get the spot of the big race.

 

[harlokin]

Agreed.

Like it or not, World of Warcraft made Orcs popular.

I would change Half Orc for a full Orc in a Heartbeat, leaving the half breed for a later book.

Goliath (that can be refluffed as Half Giant) would get the spot of the big race.

Or steal the Warhammer Ogre, which has far more personality than the DnD version, for the "big race".

 

[Minigiant]

But I think Minigiant is just looking for any justification he can get to have as many races as possible

Don't tell 'em my secrets. (The hlfact that my home setting is New York City as a giant city-plane with each neighborhood as their own minikingdom has noting to do with this)

I just don't want to be forced to play racial stereotypes for a year as I wait for the Race book because I am only given a small batch of shoehorned, poorly supported, similar races and the modular options are low.