D&D General What are your Core races?

[Blue Orange]

From a fifties fantasy novel by an Oxford prof:

"Learn now the lore of Living Creatures!
First name the five, the free peoples:
Eldest of all, the elf-children;
Dwarf the delver, dark are his houses;
Ent the earthborn, old as mountains;
Man the mortal, master of horses;
And half-grown hobbits, the hole-dwellers."
Toss in orcs as we would nowadays and you're up to six. Only (tr)e(a)nts don't make it in, probably because they're much tougher than the others, making game balance difficult, and don't fit in houses. (Glorantha has tree-people for elves if I remember right.)

Looking at the most popular races as of 2020 (The most popular D&D races in D&D Beyond in 2020) we have human, half-elf, dragonborn, tiefling, and half-orc. So toss dragonborn and tiefling in there and you're on 8, assuming you don't count half-elves and half-orcs as separate 'races'. (They would certainly count as ancestries.)

There are, BTW, species where A can reproduce with B and B with C but not A with C, so the lack of half-elf, half-orc 'orfs' has some precedence, though I'd love to see someone stat them up.

And there's this chart someone pinched from the Book of Erotic Fantasy (chart is SFW but kind of disturbing): https://img.fireden.net/tg/image/1447/13/1447134434375.png

TVTropes has humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, and goblins as core races, with beastmen, centaurs, fairies, giants, gnomes, hobbits, lizardfolk, treants, and trolls as auxiliaries and angels, demons, dragons, elementals, and undead as monster races.

 

[Chaosmancer]

The exception to this are the cactus people (Cactacae) from the Bas-Lag books - which I have been planning to convert around the idea of Needlemen from the 1E Fiend Folio because I love both - I was just thinking I should write them up and share it with ENWorld.

Huh, those sound interesting

 

[steeldragons]

Hmm. No core/original demihumans. So, this wouldn't be my existing homebrew world because they are all there and play significant roles across the world: history, legends/myths, nations/geopolitics, those three are into everything.

Also, 9 strikes me as really a LOT for "core races." But that's what you're asking for (and, yes, 5e does), so I'll play along.

So, pure, from scratch, top of the head...

The "Civilized" species:
Humans.

Firbolg - the original giantkin celtic/irish-flavored people. Not the hippy fuzzy fae with anime ears we are beleaguered with now. So, a "Large" -essentially human- race. Yes, they can be magically inclined/talented. But they aren't an inherently "magical" people...any moreso than any human wizard or druid.

Lizardmen -not the marsh-dwelling primitives we generally get, but a sprawling (if reduced) empire of former-humans devoted to a scaly/reptilean/demon-serpent god. "Cursed" (according to Men and Firbolg, "blessed" according to themselves) into their reptilean form. Great stone cities/fortresses. Formidable warriors. Demonic conjurers. (with a druidic and/or human pantheon-worshiping "neutral/good" rebellious factions).

The Sylvan Races:
Centaur - the noble Hyrds. Knightly. Virtuous. Unparalleled warriors and defenders of wild lands and sylvan causes. Get on well with the Firbolg. Humans less so/sometimes. Lizardmen, never.

Satyr - pretty much hedonistic drunkards, as advertised. Pension for (usually) good-natured trickery, getting themselves into trouble, short-fuse temperament, and enchantment magics. Willing to party with anyone.

Sprite -Small (2-3') insect-winged fae beings. Very magical. Excellent archers. Endlessly curious.

The Stone (a.k.a. Mountain) Races:
Gnome ("Rock")- in their traditional role as "earth elemental" vs. "garden gnome/smurf." Rock-skinned small race. Deceptively strong for their size. Assumes the place of Dwarves as the supreme magical miners, masons/engineers, and metallurgists. Very serious-minded. Always looking for a trade/contract/bargain to be made for their goods and serivces.

<insert Avian race name here> - not aaracokra or anthro-birds. "Hawkmen" kind of Humans-with-feathered-wings. Very magical. Very limited in number. High-minded Intellectuals. The far-seeing knowledge keepers/chroniclers of the setting.

[What the heck, I'll throw in the last one from my homebrew]
Ossan - the original Tolkienesque anthro-bear/werebear "Skinchanger," but their true form is the more bipedal ursine. So, another Large -in their natural state- species. Deeply spiritual. Master healers. Friend and defender to the natural creatures of the world. Capable of shapeshifting into full bear or "more human, medium-sized" form. But much feared when roused to anger, especially by attempts to take advantage of their inherent kindness and peaceful nature by those of ignoble intent. Never lie to an Ossan. Just don't do it.

Huh. That's 9 already. It really doesn't take a lot, does it?

Naturally, the PC species will still need creatures to battle and overcome through their adventures. So your goblins and bugbears and trolls and orcs, and, and, and... all of that will still be wandering about causing trouble for our heroes to deal with.

 

[Scribe]

Human
Orc
Tiefling
Aasimar
Genasi
Beast People. Goats, Lions, Dogs. That kind of thing.
Undead
Gnome
Lizard/Dragonkin.

 

[Lanefan]

The 5e PHB has 9 "core" races that are assumed to be basic to D&D 5e in a general way.

For the sake of discussion, let's say that you're putting out your own homebrew campaign setting and you get to choose 9 races but CANNOT include the original 3 demihumans - elf, dwarf, halfling. Your new lineup can be from the history of canonical D&D lore or something new to the game.

What does your world's core 9 looks like?

It doesn't.

Nine is already a few too many.

Never mind that for some reason you insist Elves (and Part-Elves, I assume), Dwarves and Hobbits can't be included.

That leaves Humans, Gnomes and Part-Orcs as a Core 3; plus rare oddball things [e.g. Centaur, Leprechaun, etc.] very heavily gated behind (un)lucky dice rolling e.g. roll d%, on 00 you get into a table where you can roll again for what oddball creature you can - if you want - have as your PC.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The 5e PHB has 9 "core" races that are assumed to be basic to D&D 5e in a general way.

For the sake of discussion, let's say that you're putting out your own homebrew campaign setting and you get to choose 9 races but CANNOT include the original 3 demihumans - elf, dwarf, halfling. Your new lineup can be from the history of canonical D&D lore or something new to the game.

What does your world's core 9 looks like?

My answer: depends on which homebrew csmpaign im running. Some are very similar to D&D standard. Some have no official races besides humans. Some include races that are slightly repurposed published races, some that have been imported from compatible products, some that are massive overhauls, or are completely new.

 

[thundershot]

If a player wants to play something and it’s nothing game breaking then I let them play it. It’s OUR world, not mine, so as long as it doesn’t ruin someone else’s fun, I’m all for it. I’ll adapt the setting or have a reason for the race.

That said, it’s hard to nail down nine. My world has a high concentration of Rakasta, Lupins, and Tortles. Humans are still the dominant race. That’s four. Halflings are easy to erase as they don’t show up much in my adventures. Dwarves and Elves do, however. Aarakocra would be a good add-on and full of flavor if the player is creative (using different kinds of birds as templates… if I’m ever a player again I’m playing an Aarakocra Seagull Pirate). Dragonborn aren’t super common but more common than Halflings. So that’s six. Hobgoblins are a big part of my campaign, as they conquered the former PC’s land from Kingmaker (we started this world in 4E, moved to Pathfinder, then to 5E). They also give my work a nice militaristic race. Seven. OH! Genasi are nice and diverse and come in multiple flavors. Eight. I guess I would want a fey race to replace elf… I’ll say Satyr as a wild card.

 

[thundershot]

Everybody should play the game that is fun for them, but I have always hated the “Star Wars cantina” approach with random races just for the sake of being different.

I’m the opposite. I love the Cantina approach for the crazy diversity. Maybe that’s why I loved Spelljammer and Planescape so much…

 

[Sithlord]

I’m the opposite. I love the Cantina approach for the crazy diversity. Maybe that’s why I loved Spelljammer and Planescape so much…

I love it for those settings. But not all settings. Fits eberron too

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Dragonborn (current hegemonic race, but only recently "re-unified," so internal divisions remain)
Kobold (client culture of Dragonborn, some happy to exploit their innate skills, some grating against racism)
Satyr (magical fey representatives, both colorful artists and brooding avengers)
Wemic (civic culture but dedicated to the primal spirits, rejecting dragonborn rule)
Minotaur (stalwart and strong under-dwellers and sailors, exploring the far reaches)
Huldra (Viking plant people! also, connected to death and the dead)
mekka (warforged with the serial numbers filed off, whose creators disappeared long ago)
Changeling (tricksy infiltrators and entertainers, unsure of their place in the mortal world)
Human (hardy survivors escaping an unknown disaster in distant lands--only recently arrived in the known world)

Moderately high-fantasy setting. The faerie realms, bright and dark, are close to the mortal world, and the gods are deeply interested in the world but must act through agents and representatives to affect it. Some of the classic stereotypes live on in new forms, e.g. satyrs, huldra, and changelings cover much of the space elves did; kobolds fill some roles associated with halflings and gnomes; minotaurs fill most roles dwarves used to while going beyond those roles; etc. Humans are specifically rare and unfamiliar with the setting--this is to encourage curiosity about the setting in all players, as they can't expect things to work out exactly like they'd expect. "Human" also includes in its umbrella things like tieflings and aasimar.

Specific details of the setting might vary. If actually building a game off of this set, I'd try to gear it for East Asian tropes and myth, since my current game uses an Arabian Nights style. However, I could also see a "post-Roman Europe" vibe here, with the Dragonborn being Byzantium/Greece, the Huldra and Minotaurs being inspired by Scandinavia, Satyrs and Wemics and Changelings taking influences from the British Isles, etc.