D&D 5E why has none of the wisdom races caught on?

[Mind of tempest]

Funnily, in the Icewind Dale game I'm in, I'm playing a firbolg (warlock) and another player is a githzerai (cleric). No disappointments here.

they do feel a bit disconnected from the more mundane aspects of the settings.

Ideas left for what? Edgy races, new races, or races-that-should-be-in-the-PHB?

yes to all the above.

 

[Mind of tempest]

And note that some people sti

Dinosaur folk that don't communicate via farts?

okay what was made before I was born and how do I fix history as that sounds like some fool make dinosaurs that fart to communicate?

 

[Vaalingrade]

okay what was made before I was born and how do I fix history as that sounds like some fool make dinosaurs that fart to communicate?

Technically, they communicate through pheromones', but the practical upshot to non-saurials is that they stink to let their feelings be known.

I never felt so cheated out of $2.50 at the hospital auxiliary thrift shop so much as buying the book one showed up in, Azure Bonds. Until I purchased non-D&D nuclear trainwreck, Ghost Ocean.

 

[Faolyn]

they do feel a bit disconnected from the more mundane aspects of the settings.

Really depends on the character and the setting, of course.

yes to all the above.

Inherently edgy races? I dunno. I'm not that good with edginess anymore; I think I'm too old now. But a race literally spawned from dreams and nightmares, perhaps. More like the way beholders are spawned (but humanoid in form) rather than the quori/kalashtar blend. This would also be a new race.

...I think I'll have to work on a Level Up version of this.

Other new races: a dog-folk and a rat-folk. As much as I am a cat-lover, I am shocked that neither dogs nor rats have been a common PC race. (Yes, I know about the lupin in Mystara and the nezumi in the 3e Oriental Adventures, but those aren't common and they haven't been updated for 5e.)

Races that should be in the PHB? Goblinoids. At least one of the three types.

 

[Kobold Stew]

One of the big steps forward on this question was raised in Tasha's, cemented in MotM, and apparently will be standard by 2024: now EVERY RACE can be a Wisdom race. That's good, because it makes for more diverse cleric, druid, monk, and ranger builds than were authorized in the PHB.

Wisdom is, I think, seen as a "passive" ability by many -- you don't do things with it, but it gives you defensive survival opportunities. Even when you compare attack cantrips, INT and CHA cantrips require a to hit roll; most WIS cantrips require a save. That's a hard-baked design choice that hasn't really been challenged much yet, despite the other new design elements.

With Magic Stone and Shillelagh, it's possible to build WIS-favoring rogues and rangers, but it's not straightforward.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Technically, they communicate through pheromones', but the practical upshot to non-saurials is that they stink to let their feelings be known.

I never felt so cheated out of $2.50 at the hospital auxiliary thrift shop so much as buying the book one showed up in, Azure Bonds. Until I purchased non-D&D nuclear trainwreck, Ghost Ocean.

how did they not know dinosaurs mostly communicate through infrasound, massive of pheromones are Mammal or arthropod things.
is azure bonds a FR thing as I do not read the setting fiction only manuals?

Really depends on the character and the setting, of course.


Inherently edgy races? I dunno. I'm not that good with edginess anymore; I think I'm too old now. But a race literally spawned from dreams and nightmares, perhaps. More like the way beholders are spawned (but humanoid in form) rather than the quori/kalashtar blend. This would also be a new race.

...I think I'll have to work on a Level Up version of this.

Other new races: a dog-folk and a rat-folk. As much as I am a cat-lover, I am shocked that neither dogs nor rats have been a common PC race. (Yes, I know about the lupin in Mystara and the nezumi in the 3e Oriental Adventures, but those aren't common and they haven't been updated for 5e.)

Races that should be in the PHB? Goblinoids. At least one of the three types.

I do find the lack of dog folk disturbing.

One of the big steps forward on this question was raised in Tasha's, cemented in MotM, and apparently will be standard by 2024: now EVERY RACE can be a Wisdom race. That's good, because it makes for more diverse cleric, druid, monk, and ranger builds than were authorized in the PHB.

that is true and a good thing but sometimes you would like a race that really digs in the wisdom classes in the way elves do wizards and rangers.

 

[cbwjm]

in one of my other threads, the topic of primarily wisdom races came up and it honestly bugs me as we do not even have one of them in the players handbook?
by wisdom races, I mean at least in 5e a plus two to the wisdom attribute so these guys:

• Githzerai
• Firbolg
• Wildhunt Shifters
• Kalashtar

I am not counting hill dwarves as no one has been able to explain to me how they differ from mountain dwarves.
Has anyone got any thoughts, knowledge of past wisdom races or theories as to why none of them has quite caught on?

Shifters and kalashtar are from eberron so perhaps don't get played as much outside it. Gith are a weird couple of races from the astral that I think many players won't really know all that much about and, much like the firbolg, aren't all that integrated in the lore. It might also be that they just aren't as inspiring for a character concept for most players.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Other new races: a dog-folk and a rat-folk. As much as I am a cat-lover, I am shocked that neither dogs nor rats have been a common PC race. (Yes, I know about the lupin in Mystara and the nezumi in the 3e Oriental Adventures, but those aren't common and they haven't been updated for 5e.)

Agreed. A wolf/fox/dog/jackal race (so canidae) would be great. It's easy to do now RAW with the Custom lineage in Tasha's
(S or M, +2/+1 to any, dkvision, feat* -- done). But a better option would be great.

* particularly appropriate feats might include a choice between Alert, Mobile, Observant, Feytouched/Shadowtouched, but one could easily justify Telekinetic, Sentinel, Athlete, etc.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

In 4e elves (as in wild elves, not high elves) can be Dex/Wis. Between being close to nature and having sharper senses than humans, this makes sense. I once played an elf rogue whose second stat was Wisdom, which was real fun. It was a one-shot. In 5e the wood elf subrace gets +1 Wisdom, echoing the 4e (sub)race. I would rather play a wood elf than another subrace, but I have yet to play a 5e elf.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Shifters and kalashtar are from eberron so perhaps don't get played as much outside it. Gith are a weird couple of races from the astral that I think many players won't really know all that much about and, much like the firbolg, aren't all that integrated in the lore. It might also be that they just aren't as inspiring for a character concept for most players.

what does make something inspiring for character when it comes to dnd fantasy races?

In 4e elves (as in wild elves, not high elves) can be Dex/Wis. Between being close to nature and having sharper senses than humans, this makes sense. I once played an elf rogue whose second stat was Wisdom, which was real fun. It was a one-shot. In 5e the wood elf subrace gets +1 Wisdom, echoing the 4e (sub)race. I would rather play a wood elf than another subrace, but I have yet to play a 5e elf.

wood elves are more or less ranger the race.
who is the cleric, druid or monk the race?