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

[steeldragons]

D&D has a loooo(...)oooong history with cat races. Starting with the tabaxi, in the 1e Fiend Folio, then the rakasta in Mystara and the Red Steel settings, then the catfolk (a renamed tabaxi) in Races of the Wild, up to the razorclaw shifter in Eberron and 4e (which can be described as cat-faced if desired).

Not to split hairballs, but I believe the Rakasta made their first appearance in the Isle of Dread in the D&D Expert set (blue box), some time before Fiend Folio brought in the tabaxi. Though exact years of release are not held in my brain-catalogue.

Neither here nor there, just sayin'. Booyah for felinoid races!

THUNDERCATS HOOO! ...oh, wait...wrong game...

 

[Klaus]

Not to split hairballs, but I believe the Rakasta made their first appearance in the Isle of Dread in the D&D Expert set (blue box), some time before Fiend Folio brought in the tabaxi. Though exact years of release are not held in my brain-catalogue.

Neither here nor there, just sayin'. Booyah for felinoid races!

THUNDERCATS HOOO! ...oh, wait...wrong game...

Oddly enough, they both came out in 1981!

 

[steeldragons]

Oddly enough, they both came out in 1981!

No kiddin'? Hm. Well, there ya go.

...and knowing is half the battle.

 

[Grimmjow]

no need to worry about dwarf elf and human they'll be in there

 

[thewok]

D&D has a loooo(...)oooong history with cat races. Starting with the tabaxi, in the 1e Fiend Folio, then the rakasta in Mystara and the Red Steel settings, then the catfolk (a renamed tabaxi) in Races of the Wild, up to the razorclaw shifter in Eberron and 4e (which can be described as cat-faced if desired).

Oh, I know there are a number of various different kinds of races out there. There are a number of humanoid cats (shifters exist in my word, and one of my players is even currently playing a razorclaw).

The point was that I'd hardly consider rakshasas (i.e. "kitties") "cute and inoffensive." They're like the other races I mentioned: monsters. They certainly should be options for player characters at some point, but I don't believe they should be in the first PHB.

 

[Sunseeker]

Kitties are cute and inoffensive, while the other races you named are thought of as 4e-isms, and lots of people have kneejerk reactions against anything to do with 4e.

I actually see it the other way around. Catfolk are a dangerous slope into enticing players of games like Ironclaw(Ironclaw - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

I've played with people who prefer those sorts of games to D&D, and I can honestly say it's not a fandom I want to indulge.

 

[Kynn]

The point was that I'd hardly consider rakshasas (i.e. "kitties") "cute and inoffensive." They're like the other races I mentioned: monsters. They certainly should be options for player characters at some point, but I don't believe they should be in the first PHB.

False! Rakshasas are cute cuddly wuddly purry wurry puddy tats.

With their paws on backwards.

 

[Kynn]

I actually see it the other way around. Catfolk are a dangerous slope into enticing players of games like Ironclaw(Ironclaw - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

I've played with people who prefer those sorts of games to D&D, and I can honestly say it's not a fandom I want to indulge.

Nothing wrong with furry fans wanting to play D&D. Lord knows that every edition has had plenty of anthro animals in it.

If 5e is an edition for everyone, that probably includes folks who are into Ironclaw and other spin-off games which are just specialized heartbreakers.

 

[Hussar]

Wow, not a lot of warforged love. That's a surprise. I have to admit, I've seen quite a few warforged characters since they got released. Far more than, say, gnomes (66%? I'm smelling something here).

 

[thewok]

Wow, not a lot of warforged love. That's a surprise. I have to admit, I've seen quite a few warforged characters since they got released. Far more than, say, gnomes (66%? I'm smelling something here).

I'm firmly on the side of the aisle that dislikes warforged. I just don't like the entire idea behind them. They were worse in 3E because they required special spells that were pretty much created to support them (Repair Wounds, etc.). That 4E got rid of that and made them "living constructs" is somewhat better, but I still dislike the flavor of the race. I had to reflavor them to be more palatable to me for my campaign world, but, unless I have a player that really wants to play them, I won't ever bring them up.

I view warforged in the same vein as goblins, orcs, gnolls, and the rest of the monster races. They should be there for the people who want to play them, but they should never be considered "core" to the game. I understand that, before 4E, people thought the same about tieflings and dragonborn. And, yes, I understand that it's kind of a double standard, and, yes, I am comfortable with that.

Warforged were a major reason why I didn't play DDO. They're a major reason why I've never been interested in playing an Eberron campaign.

Gnomes, however, are the master race. And any campaign without at least one gnome as a PC or major NPC is a wasted opportunity for awesome.