D&D 5E Dragonborn and Tieflings, post-Sundering.

[Sunseeker]

Or they could be leaving it up to the DM to decide if XYZ race exists in their home games.

IMHO, the PHB was not designed with the home-game in mind. Its setting is clearly set. It's lore is prominent and pervasive. The "uncommon" tag was added, again IMHO, to address the fact that the lore that is so interwoven with the traditional races (and pretty much all of 5E) doesn't address the existence of dragonborn, tieflings or other uncommon races well, or at all.

The DM can ALWAYS control what races are, or are not in their games. The book doesn't need to tell you that X race is common, Y race is uncommon and Z race is rare. It's a home game! By the nature of it being a home game, NONE of those things apply. How common any given race is is entirely at the discretion of the DM. Just as whether or not the race in question is playable.

Adding the "uncommon" tag doesn't affect the level of DM control over their own games. It affects the perception of players. Honestly I dislike when the book says "consult your DM about this, that or whatever." I feel like it drifts into the realms of turning a cooperative gaming experience into a directed gaming experience.

 

[Steely Dan]

I find it best to ignore such shenanigans as The Time of Troubles/Spellplague, Age of Mortals, Unhuman War II, Grand conjunction, Prism Pentad, Faction War, etc, and just stick with the original book/boxed set for the campaign setting in question (when the idea was pure, before pollution form busybody writers).

 

[Zardnaar]

IMHO, the PHB was not designed with the home-game in mind. Its setting is clearly set. It's lore is prominent and pervasive. The "uncommon" tag was added, again IMHO, to address the fact that the lore that is so interwoven with the traditional races (and pretty much all of 5E) doesn't address the existence of dragonborn, tieflings or other uncommon races well, or at all.

The DM can ALWAYS control what races are, or are not in their games. The book doesn't need to tell you that X race is common, Y race is uncommon and Z race is rare. It's a home game! By the nature of it being a home game, NONE of those things apply. How common any given race is is entirely at the discretion of the DM. Just as whether or not the race in question is playable.

Adding the "uncommon" tag doesn't affect the level of DM control over their own games. It affects the perception of players. Honestly I dislike when the book says "consult your DM about this, that or whatever." I feel like it drifts into the realms of turning a cooperative gaming experience into a directed gaming experience.

Na 4E and to some extent 3.5 went as far as shoehorning races into the settings and core. 4E with Dragonborn, Tieflings etc 3.0 with Drow, Genasis, Planetouched on FR. It creates the expectation you can have those races without the DM having to houserule against them. If they are in a splat book the DM can say yes or no if it is a core book (unless labelled otherwise) it creates the perception and expectation you can have it.

If you play 3.0 FR the races are in unless the DM houserules against it (ergo going against RAW). Drow were only in with the DMs explicit permission in 2E Realms and easily ignored.

3rd and 4E were a lot more RAW in effect than 2E and 5E in that regard.

 

[Sunseeker]

It creates the expectation you can have those races without the DM having to houserule against them.

Yes, exactly.

So houserule against them.

I'm not very tolerant of the idea that D&D should be a game of "mother may I" and cater to DMs too lilly-livered to put their foot down.

 

[Zardnaar]

Yes, exactly.

So houserule against them.

I'm not very tolerant of the idea that D&D should be a game of "mother may I" and cater to DMs too lilly-livered to put their foot down.

Problem with that approach is that is what they done for 4E and that tanked hard. Its purely about sales and they hacve to add up does adding an option increase those sales or be more likely to drive people off? The People who like 4E can use those races, the people who like another edition and do not mind those races can use them while those who do not do not feel like they have to include them.

I am not a big fan of allowing races outside the AD&D PHB unless I am doing a setting for example. This means no warforged outside Eberron, no Dragonborn outside Nerath etc although on occasion I will use a race for a specific reason in homebrew. For example Dragonbiorn exist on my world but they are followers of Tiamat. Even iif you had a renegade Dragonborn the rest of the world would just kill him on sight and/or torture him to death so it is not suitable for a PC race and would create problems for the rest of the party even if they were happy to adventure with one. The DB are a monster, it would be like trying to claim a fiend is socially acceptable.

 

[Sunseeker]

Problem with that approach is that is what they done for 4E and that tanked hard. Its purely about sales and they hacve to add up does adding an option increase those sales or be more likely to drive people off? The People who like 4E can use those races, the people who like another edition and do not mind those races can use them while those who do not do not feel like they have to include them.

I am not a big fan of allowing races outside the AD&D PHB unless I am doing a setting for example. This means no warforged outside Eberron, no Dragonborn outside Nerath etc although on occasion I will use a race for a specific reason in homebrew. For example Dragonbiorn exist on my world but they are followers of Tiamat. Even iif you had a renegade Dragonborn the rest of the world would just kill him on sight and/or torture him to death so it is not suitable for a PC race and would create problems for the rest of the party even if they were happy to adventure with one. The DB are a monster, it would be like trying to claim a fiend is socially acceptable.

You clearly have your edition of choice. Why do you give a hoot what anything outside of it does?

 

[Zardnaar]

You clearly have your edition of choice. Why do you give a hoot what anything outside of it does?

I like most editions of D&D and still play AD&D on occasion, I do not have a favorite edition. After 3rd and 4E though the word "NO" started to get used a lot especially with splat book material. We are currently using 5E just no monks/Dragonborn/Tieflings allowed.