Absolutely vital core races in D&D

[Hellzon]

So, I've wondered. There has been some banter about the "Mos Eisley Cantina" factor of... most any D&D setting that's not Greyhawk, and there's no secret that some people don't approve of the Tieflings and Dragonborn in 4E. And the response tended to be that gnomes don't really have a niche in earlier editions, "my setting doesn't have elves" and whatnot.

So I figured I'd put up a poll. What races absolutely have to be in the core rulebook for you to consider it a worthy PHB for whatever edition of D&D.

(You'll not that I put all races from the 3E and 4E PHB1:s in the poll. If Thri-Kreen are vital for your D&D experience, check "other". )

 

[Aus_Snow]

I voted (Wood) Elf, in the hope that that means *Elf*, per D&D. I also voted for Human, Dwarf and Halfling.

And that's it. The basic four.

 

[Remathilis]

Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling.

Everything else is just tasty sides and gravy!

 

[AFGNCAAP]

Human, (wood) elf, dwarf, half-elf, halfling, half-orc, orc, and changeling.

"Variant" races, such as eladrin (a.k.a. high elf), drow, duergar, and the like could be saved for later releases. Same with more "exotic" species as tiefling, dragonborn, deva, shifter, warforged, and the like.

 

[Nifft]

Human.

Cheers, -- N

 

[garyh]

Human, (wood) elf, dwarf, halfling. Gotta go with the big four, as much as I love some of the others.

 

[scruffygrognard]

I voted for High Elves as one of my choices because they were the default elven race until 4th edition... when they became eladrin for some reason.

 

[billd91]

I didn't vote for either elf option since neither seems to fit - the eladrinesque high elf fits the gray elf more than the AD&D high elf and the wood elf is the wood elf. So I voted other to include the AD&D bog standard elf.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling.

Everything else is just tasty sides and gravy!

Same here. (I voted "wood elf" as elf as I don't see a need for two cultural groups to require different races.)

I think it's no surprise these four races all made it into Dark Sun.

 

[Dykstrav]

Human, elf, and dwarf are the big three as far as I'm concerned. I personally see elves as more magical fey creatures, so I put the actual vote in for eladrin.

Alot of people are voting for halflings, but I just don't think that they are absolutely vital to every fantasy setting. They always remind me of Tolkien, but I could see how they have become iconic because they have been around so long.