A mystery race ?

[GreatLemur]

This could be said about dwarves, half-orcs and halflings and elves being played as caricatures rather than individuals.

Everyone knows that One Guy that only plays dwarves and all his dwarves are the same: Ale, axes, Scottish accent, the end.

If that's not a problem, then neither is Sheer Khan chasing dire rats.

I think that comparison's a little off. Luke's point wasn't about characters being played as stereotypical members of their own races, but as the animals their races resemble. If Sheer Khan chases dire rats, he's not being played as a stereotypical tiger man, but as a goofy cartoon cat. He'll be playing with yarn and getting high on catnip in a minute. ...All of which is definitely fine for some kinds of campaign, but the concern is that people will start doing it even where it isn't appropriate.

 

[Rechan]

I think that comparison's a little off. Luke's point wasn't about characters being played as stereotypical members of their own races, but as the animals their races resemble. ... All of which is definitely fine for some kinds of campaign, but the concern is that people will start doing it even where it isn't appropriate.

And playing a caricature of the demi-human race isn't distracting and inappropriate for a serious campaign?

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I could go with changeling or lizardfolk.

But for some reason I feel like it may be something wholly new. It's something that has become possible because of the new 4E rules.

Thri-kreen? Something else that creates design headaches based on LA and monster HD when used as a PC?

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Gerhart receives the attention of a fellow accompanying the rulers, a merchant named Aban Aldoria who hails from Littoria, far to the south.

It is clear from this that WotC has got permission from Monte Cook to use Litorians in 4E.

 

[HP Dreadnought]

If there is a mystery race in the PHB. . . it ABSOLUTELY must be the Pan-Fo!!!

(Gain +1 geek point if you got that, loose 2 skill points in "Get Laid".)

An off-the-wall idea might be that they are introducing Quicklings as a player race. It would be neat, and I do seem to recall somewhere at Gencon hearing that quicklings were going to be in 4E. (No mention of player race vs. monster manual or anthing that I remember though.)

I would like for it to be Goliaths. I think they're a very flavorful race that WotC did a great job with. It would be nice to see them step into the limelight.

Half-dragon would certainly fit the bill as "controversial." I imagine a whole bunch of people would be up in arms over that one.

 

[Winterthorn]

It's fun reading people's speculations...

...and here's mine:

Wizards still has time to tinker and if there are 8 PC races I think they'll be:
1) Human
2) Eladrin
3) Elf
4) Dwarf
5) Halfling
6) Half-Elf
7) Tiefling
8) Dragonkin (a toned down version of Half-Dragon.) Remember that playing a dragon or some kind of draconic character has been a popular wish - even back in 2nd Ed we had a whole setting product called Council of Wyrms that caused a buzz for a while. In 3rd Ed all kinds of draconic character themes sprouted (Races of the Dragon & Dragon Magic), so I would not be surprised if the 8th race is a draconic in some form. If so, it could still be a bruiser with the right class options, or a powerful caster in the hands of a clever player.

What I wish Wizards would consider:

Expand the roster of player character races with a few more choices and add the stats for some sub-races.
1) Humans (add suggestions for culturally-based modifiers to skills as an option to assist in enhancing character diversity, especially for human-dominated campaigns)
2) Tieflings (and provide the stats for their celestial counterpart whatever they may call it)
3) Elves (I really do not like the Eladrin concept, just offer High, Grey and Wood sub-types. 3 variants. Nice and simple)
4) Dwarves (providing choice of Hill, Mountain or Duergar toned-down)
5) Halfling (providing choice of Lightfoot, Tallfellow, and Deep)
6) Minotaur (Krynnish-like)
7) Lizardfolk OR Dragonkin (one scalykind race as a core PC is just enough IMO)
8) Kenku (flight available with character advancement)
9) Thri-kreen

Having a few "exotic" fur/feather/scale/bug types steers the D&D game further away from the LotR paradigm without dumping it altogther. A slightly larger choice covering a broad range should appeal to many and it would be easy for groups to trim back the choices at the gaming table if they so choose.

Just my thoughts

PS: I am concerned that a slavish devotion to market research statistics, a practice that is rife with risk and corporate delusions of granduer, will undermine brave and clever ideas. Just because Elves are "popular", do we really need both Eladrin and Elves and Half-Elves? Ugh! Isn't a more even spectrum of races, peppered with some novel ideas, a smarter and more creative move? If one wants to be the market leader then one must actually lead and not cave-in into trends and fads fueled by the transitory success of the competition (Elves and their ilk in anime, Saturday morning cartoons, WoW, etc. Can we say overkill? I see it.). The folks at Wizards should separate themselves from the likes of Hasbro IMO, then they can actually be free to take D&D to new, non-elf-centric heights. We'll see by mid-December...

 

[Sir Sebastian Hardin]

I would really enjoy seeing the Goliath become a core race. I don't have much hope for it, but it's what I'd like.

I have read about Goliaths in Races of Stone. But I don't understand what's the big deal with them. Could someone explain what's so good about them?

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

PS: I am concerned that a slavish devotion to market research statistics, a practice that is rife with risk and corporate delusions of granduer, will undermine brave and clever ideas. Just because Elves are "popular", do we really need both Eladrin and Elves and Half-Elves? Ugh! Isn't a more even spectrum of races, peppered with some novel ideas, a smarter and more creative move? If one wants to be the market leader then one must actually lead and not cave-in into trends and fads fueled by the transitory success of the competition (Elves and their ilk in anime, Saturday morning cartoons, WoW, etc. Can we say overkill? I see it.). The folks at Wizards should separate themselves from the likes of Hasbro IMO, then they can actually be free to take D&D to new, non-elf-centric heights. We'll see by mid-December...

Elves were popular in Tolkien. Elves were popular in AD&D - witness the Complete Book of Elves, for instance. Elves are popular in anime, but I would argue they were moreso in the past; most fantasy anime seems to have outgrown copying Tolkien by way of D&D. Elves have been popular in many different video games, most notably the Warcraft series (which has three races of them) and have been for at least a decade. Elves are popular in Warhammer and have been for two decades. Vulcans and Romulans, who LOOK like stereotypical elves, are popular in Star Trek.

The popularity of elves has lasted for AT LEAST three decades, arguably longer; it had outlived a massive societal upheaval, a dramatic shift in how entertainment is experienced, dozens of media, at least five editions of D&D, dozens of other tabletop RPGs, dozens of electronic games, hundreds of books, and several feature films.

Elves, we can safely say, may be many things - but a passing fad is not one of them.

 

[Sir Sebastian Hardin]

What I want and hope is that the "Mystery race" is Kobolds! They are really fun and interesting, with their inferiority complex and everything the would make a fine replacement for their not so funny gnomes.

This makes me sad. I am sure drow lovers will rejoice, but having half of the first core rulebook being elves is just bland.

I totally agree.

 

[Winterthorn]

Elves were popular in Tolkien...

The popularity of elves has lasted for AT LEAST three decades, arguably longer; it had outlived a massive societal upheaval, a dramatic shift in how entertainment is experienced, dozens of media, at least five editions of D&D, dozens of other tabletop RPGs, dozens of electronic games, hundreds of books, and several feature films.

Elves, we can safely say, may be many things - but a passing fad is not one of them.

Well looking at it in those terms I'd say you have a good point. While I'd agree elves and elf themes have been around for quite awhile, I perceive it to be particularly fadish of the last 5 years or so. I do not hate elves per se, it is the frequency of their prevalence in fantasy-genre media that turns me off. It is tedious for me now. I'm turned off because such popularity lacks originality and stifles competitive ideas. Does WotC have the courage to risk bucking this long trend of "over-the-top" elf love? It's a question of degree for me - elves in modest doses is all that I can swallow. And I think 3 of 8 core races being of elven theme, as "proposed" by WotC, is just totally overboard. That is my perception and reaction for now. How I spend my dollars on gaming will be guided by what I see and how I feel about it. If I was WotC I'd handle this differently, as my list suggests, and so elf fans would still get most of what they want, while many other players would have plenty of non-elf options in the rules they buy. IMO