D&D 5E criteria for new races to be added to the PHB

[gyor]

The PHB is not getting reprinted with alterations, it's not even worth debating as it will literally never happen. A free pdf "supplementary" document is the best you'll ever get, as there is literally no benefit to the added cost of making edits to the book.

You can debate which races will be in the 6e book though.

I think we could eventual have 5.5e

 

[gyor]

Nitpick - Dragonborn are canon in Greyhawk according to Ghosts of Saltmarsh. As are Tieflings.

The idea that FR couldn't accommodate goblin PC's is, AFAIC, laughable. FR can accommodate pretty much anything, up to and including two trunked intelligent elephants. Goblins? Easy peasy.

I did not know or expect that. It makes one wonder what other races and subraces are now canon to Greyhawk? Aasimar and Genasai seem obvious as fellow planetouched. And Shadar Kai and Eladarin make sense given MTOFs. Maybe Goliaths?

 

[Parmandur]

I think we could eventual have 5.5e

We might get a 6E if some sort, but nothing called "5.5" or redoing the PHB short of an Edition change.

 

[Hussar]

I dunno. An “Expanded” phb might have appeal a few years down the road.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

I think we could eventual have 5.5e

I doubt it, at least in the near future. Business in D&D is booming right now, Wizards has every incentive to make more supplementary material instead of changing this editions bedrock.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I doubt it, at least in the near future. Business in D&D is booming right now, Wizards has every incentive to make more supplementary material instead of changing this editions bedrock.

Also Pathfinder II doesn't seem to be selling well - that suggests that the market isn't keen on new editions at the moment.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Actually, there is more than one image with dragonborn in them, so, it's not just one. And, the fact that it does say that the folks of Saltmarsh would " react to other visitors, especially tieflings and dragonborn, with a mixture of curiosity and fear" pretty much cements it as canon that Greyhawk has dragonborn. Note, they are not shocked, just cautious.

So, yeah, dragonborn are confirmed as well.

I'm really baffled by the resistance to adding dragonborn to Greyhawk. It's so easy to do, and it's not like stuff hasn't been added to GH repeatedly over the years.

I'll just say that "confirmed" is a pretty strong word, especially as Ghosts of Saltmarsh is really meant to be setting agnostic even though the default is Greyhawk. So the text could be interpreted as Dragonborn travelers from other worlds for example instead of actually being native to Greyhawk.

I'm not going to push this debate too hard as it's pretty clear that Wizards is keeping the door open for Dragonborn to be added to Greyhawk officially in the future, I just believe that until there is explicit text saying "Dragonborn exist in X part of Greyhawk," or "this Dragonborn NPC is from X region," it's not 100% canon yet.

Still plenty of far-off regions with Dragon names so it's probably going to happen if Greyhawk gets a true setting book.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I don't think how often a race has been given rules necessarily indicates much about whether it should be in the PHB.

I think a more nebulous and unprovable "popularity" is the main factor, as much as some people might prefer some sort of objective measure. That and filling an archetypes gap.

Tieflings obviously made it in that way, slowly growing in popularity since 2E, and by 4E it was totally unsurprising to see them as an official race. Aasimar are cool but have never been popular to the same degree (this is your chance to make snarky comments involving phrase "teenage edgelords"! Gogogo!).

Dragonborn do double-duty as archetype-filler, arguably triple, as the hit the "Beast race", "Big guy" and "honorable warrior race" common archetypes (and the less-common "dragonman" as a bonus). As such they make more sense than Goliath, despite the popularity of the latter, as he only hits "Big guy".

Goblins are a potential good replacement for Halflings. I don't say that out of malice. I kind of like Halflings, and I've seen more played than gnomes. But both are focused on the "small guy" and "mischievous" archetypes, and Goblins are more distinctive and have a slightly broader appeal. I've seen more Goblins since 1989 (they've been playable in AD&D since then, Taladas had rules) than Halflings and Gnomes combined. I suspect we won't see them in D&D as PF as sort of taken custody of them though, and Halflings are just barely popular enough that people would be sad if they went.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Goblins are a potential good replacement for Halflings. I don't say that out of malice. I kind of like Halflings, and I've seen more played than gnomes. But both are focused on the "small guy" and "mischievous" archetypes, and Goblins are more distinctive and have a slightly broader appeal. I've seen more Goblins since 1989 (they've been playable in AD&D since then, Taladas had rules) than Halflings and Gnomes combined. I suspect we won't see them in D&D as PF as sort of taken custody of them though, and Halflings are just barely popular enough that people would be sad if they went.

I'd be shocked if goblins replace halflings, they're pretty iconic to D&D. Sure they overlap in being small and kind of sneaky, but goblins are kind of the grittier, more neutral/evil choice for sneaky characters. Like how the half-orc is for fighters/barbarians.

 

[Quartz]

Your confusing the purpose of a Beginner Box with the PHB

A beginner box would be humans-only.