D&D 5E Greyhawk, and race options for Oerth PCs

[Ringtail]

Well I wouldn't place any hard and fast restrictions, but being a new generation of D&D Player I also don't have any ties to the simpler older version of Greyhawk. Here's how I would handle it.

Fantasy Standards (Elves,Dwarves, Humans, etc.) are fine, no need to change anything here. Half-Bloods are good too, so Half-Orcs and Half-Elves get the pass, though I'm likely to include a note about the possible reception to them being oddities. IMO, Tieflings and Aasimars are kind of like Half-Bloods. While they aren't necessarily Half-Devil or Half-Angel (though they can be) they do bear some influence of these planar entities. Since both Celestials and Fiends exist in Greyhawk, I have no problems including them, but that player is likely to be the ONLY ONE. Maybe there are like. . . 5 on the whole continent. Frankly I don't think those people would have an issue being special and an Aasimar can probably pass as a human. Dragonborn are the tricky bit, like Elves or Dwarves they are a full race that presumably has a detailed culture/society and a place to live, possibly a nation. I would probably discourage them but if somebody is dying to play one I won't disallow it. Its a huge bummer to be told your favorite race "doesn't exist' and have to pick something else. If I had to squeeze them in I'd either reflavor them as Half-Dragons, which would be super rare like the Tieflings or stick an ancient empire of the boundaries of the map. I like the idea of Dragonborn China-type set up.

 

[TwoSix]

I'd do what I do in most settings with racial restrictions. I narratively restrict the races to the core races, but if someone wants to use another race's mechanics, I just reskin them as a human or half-elf or something that fits. Tieflings, genasi, aasimar all work fine as magically touched humans.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

But I find the idea that all options need to be turned on somewhat depressing. There's a certain kind of corporate blandness in the notion. It reminds me of the insistence of including Tieflings in 4e Dark Sun.

Hell, it reminds me of the insistence of including elves, dwarfs and halflings in 2e Darksun and Birthright. They weren't part of the original pitches for those settings. Darksun was going to be humans and truly alien options and Birthright was going to be humanocentric, but the higher-ups made them include those three as a sop to the Tolkein fundamentalists.

 

[billd91]

Hell, it reminds me of the insistence of including elves, dwarfs and halflings in 2e Darksun and Birthright. They weren't part of the original pitches for those settings. Darksun was going to be humans and truly alien options and Birthright was going to be humanocentric, but the higher-ups made them include those three as a sop to the Tolkein fundamentalists.

That's kind of funny since you figure a Tolkien fundamentalist would want the world to be humanocentric with the other canonical Middle Earth races limited to enclaves or otherwise in decline.

 

[Coroc]

...
Its a huge bummer to be told your favorite race "doesn't exist' and have to pick something else. ....

Why?
This is something i do not get about younger people, this "no limits, anything goes" above all other things.

I mean i get that you have no connection to older versions, but it seems to your generation that unless you have more choice than you ever need you feel restricted instead of challenged.

The real convo between DM and players should be rather like:
"i intend to run a greyhawk campaign (/darksun campaign / whatever classical setting /hpomebrew) and i want to allow following options because i got a good plot for these x being present there, but no plot for race y, and if someone insists on playing one i would have to do heavy retconning." (Insert anything you like for x or y even dragonborn)

So constructive players will take the second best choice they like then, which is hopefully present.

But it seems nowadays it is instead: "No matter what setting i do not care at all what lore i neeeeeed to play a x-race y-(multi-)class or i am out, i have absolutely no interest in everything else(/ feel insulted till the next stoneage) if i do not get exactly what i want (/to the letter)"

I exagerated a bit but that is the picture i get.

 

[Oofta]

Why?
This is something i do not get about younger people, this "no limits, anything goes" above all other things.

I mean i get that you have no connection to older versions, but it seems to your generation that unless you have more choice than you ever need you feel restricted instead of challenged.

The real convo between DM and players should be rather like:
"i intend to run a greyhawk campaign (/darksun campaign / whatever classical setting /hpomebrew) and i want to allow following options because i got a good plot for these x being present there, but no plot for race y, and if someone insists on playing one i would have to do heavy retconning." (Insert anything you like for x or y even dragonborn)

So constructive players will take the second best choice they like then, which is hopefully present.

But it seems nowadays it is instead: "No matter what setting i do not care at all what lore i neeeeeed to play a x-race y-(multi-)class or i am out, i have absolutely no interest in everything else(/ feel insulted till the next stoneage) if i do not get exactly what i want (/to the letter)"

I exagerated a bit but that is the picture i get.

Darn kids get off my lawn?

I've played with people of all ages, about the only person I ever got pushback from was an old geezer. Even older than me. But that was just because he always wanted to play 1 of 2 PCs, a halfling rogue or a female drow sorcerer. He had played the halfling rogue in my previous campaign and wanted to switch to the sorcerer.

But people have all sorts of hangups when it comes to race. For example if I ever suggested an all one-race party there will always be someone who refuses to play a dwarf. An all elf party on the other hand? No problem.

 

[Coroc]

Darn kids get off my lawn?

I've played with people of all ages, about the only person I ever got pushback from was an old geezer. Even older than me. But that was just because he always wanted to play 1 of 2 PCs, a halfling rogue or a female drow sorcerer. He had played the halfling rogue in my previous campaign and wanted to switch to the sorcerer.

But people have all sorts of hangups when it comes to race. For example if I ever suggested an all one-race party there will always be someone who refuses to play a dwarf. An all elf party on the other hand? No problem.

An all evil drow party, big challenge for the DM

 

[Oofta]

An all evil drow party, big challenge for the DM

Nah. Any group that would do that would probably all play chaotic stupid. Just put them all in the same room with weapons and some treasure. Sit back as they all kill each other because they can't cooperate and split the treasure evenly.

Next campaign!

 

[Don Durito]

Its a huge bummer to be told your favorite race "doesn't exist' and have to pick something else.

I'm sure they'll live.

 

[Fenris-77]

I'm sure they'll live.

Not only that, but they can feel free to run their own campaign where that race have a huge spotlight on it. I don't have a lot of time for player entitlement.