D&D 5E What Races for the 5E PHB

[Stormonu]

I cannot believe I left half-elf and dwarf off the list; well...half-elf I can understand (haven't had a half-elf player since I tried to run Dragonlance), but dwarf - they're my favorite race, with half-orc being a close second.

Oddly, though Dragonborn was late to the party, I've been wanting an "official" draconic race way back when I first started this game nearly 30 years ago.

I'd like to see half-races and plane-touched done as perhaps some sort of racial modification "feats". Something that adds a bit of flavor but not something that'd bea min-maxxer's tool. Like genasi as "half-elementals", aasimar as "half-celestials", teifling as "half-demons", the ability to make "half-dwarves", "half-elves", etc. - maybe even something like a half-dwarf, half-orc - y'know, a Dork.

 

[KesselZero]

I think the PHB really just needs the "classic" races, human, dwarf, elf, and halfling. I'm a big half-elf fan, always have been, but that's just me. Half-orc as well.

What I'd most like to see is a build-your-own-race module, with options for half-everything (why are the half-X races always other-half-human?) and even quarter-everything. So I could build a PC whose mother was half-elf-half-human and whose father was half-orc-half-dwarf (eww).

Speaking of modules, somebody said in one of the DDXP seminars that the tactical combat module will be in the PHB, so we know there'll be optional stuff in the core books. My guess is that the core books will end up being a small core system with a lot of space devoted to optional mods that cover the basic styles of play of various editions (a social interactions mod, a tactical combat mod, a skill challenge mod, and lots and lots of PC options mods).

 

[dmccoy1693]

I'm going to go controversial and say Human, Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling. Let everything else be optional. Few would argue that these are not a must. All others can be argued for or against but few will make any kind of argument against these.

Having said that, I think one of their first supplements should be a vast array of races including almost all of the above.

EDIT: And here I was thinking I was going to be alone. Glad to see others in agreement.

 

[MoonSong]

The Build-Your-race mod seems like a good idea, but I feel it isn't a substitute for races propper. I would like to see the PHB (yes just one PHB) havign the following races

the sacred cows (Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling)
the other races from 3e (Gnome, Half-Orc, Half-Elf)
The other races from 4e (Dragonborn, Eladrin, Tiefling)
One or two races new to the core (perhaps Kobold, Warforged or Drow)

 

[Sunseeker]

I'm going to go controversial and say Human, Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling. Let everything else be optional. Few would argue that these are not a must. All others can be argued for or against but few will make any kind of argument against these.

Having said that, I think one of their first supplements should be a vast array of races including almost all of the above.

EDIT: And here I was thinking I was going to be alone. Glad to see others in agreement.

I hate halflings and I hate dwarves. Why? Because halflings are almost never played as anything more than the "spunky sidekick" or the "joker" character who does nothing more than be silly and goofy and abuse the fact that they're short. Why do I hate dwarves? Because I've never met a player who didn't want to be the drunkest, smelliest, most Irish-parody dwarf in existence. While I enjoy some off-color humor, I despise racial and cultural stereotypes being used as a source of personal entertainment.

 

[Daztur]

I'd rather have core be a small boxed set than three books, so I just want the core four. I don't think I'll get my wish though and I'm OK with that

 

[MoxieFu]

I hate halflings and I hate dwarves. Why? Because halflings are almost never played as anything more than the "spunky sidekick" or the "joker" character who does nothing more than be silly and goofy and abuse the fact that they're short. Why do I hate dwarves? Because I've never met a player who didn't want to be the drunkest, smelliest, most Irish-parody dwarf in existence. While I enjoy some off-color humor, I despise racial and cultural stereotypes being used as a source of personal entertainment.

You know, there's just the off-chance that everybody else doesn't play that way.

 

[Hassassin]

You know, there's just the off-chance that everybody else doesn't play that way.

And that some others like to play that way.

 

[MoonSong]

And that some others like to play that way.

That's why having many options is important.

 

[Mokona]

Chris Perkins published some good poll results about races choices after he asked the question in his blog: Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (The Circus Is In Town)

Hey DMs: In your current campaign, do you impose any restrictions on what races a player can choose to play?
No - 1447 - 57.6%
Yes - 1066 - 42.4%
Total - 2513 - 100.0%

In your humble opinion, how many PC race options does the D&D game really need?
Hard to say. It depends on the campaign. - 941 - 35.0%
10 or less - 709 - 26.4%
No limit... the more, the merrier! - 566 - 21.0%
5 or less - 208 - 7.7%
15 or less - 197 - 7.3%
20 or less - 69 - 2.6%
Total - 2690 - 100.0%

Most DMs will let the player pick any race and, I suppose, the DM will adjust the campaign to accommodate. Or maybe PCs just get to live with the pain of their race choices if the race doesn't fit very well into the campaign world.

Given the popularity of "10 races" and "no limit" and "hard to say", I suspect we'll see all ten PHB races from throughout history in the 5e PHB. This would also match the poll results attached to this thread.

In alphabetical order:

Dragonborn lizard people
Dwarf
Eladrin
Elf
Gnome
Half-elf
Half-orc
Halfling
Human
Tiefling (a la Planescape)

A runner up vote from the attached poll goes to Catfolk. A race that didn't quite get as many votes as any of the above choices but was closest.