D&D 5E Favorite Unusual Races/Lineages

[Weiley31]

Its like playing a dragon puppy!

That's related, distantly or intensely depending on which flavor you prefer, to big bad dragons.

 

[Weiley31]

I have not seen them on D&D Beyond, and I own everything there.

They and the Hybsil are still absent from 5e (though a Leonin and Satyr probably get you rather close).

Complete book of Humanoids, 2E. I don't think I've seen them as PCs in any edition since then, but it shouldn't be hard to stat them up.

A quick hot take:

Ability Score Increase. You increase your Strength by 2 and your Dexterity by 1.

Age. Wemics generally live harsh, somewhat brutal lives. They mature at age 13 and usually live around 40 years, though there are those who have lived 80 years or more.

Size. Wemics grow to 10 feet long, reaching heights of six to seven feet when standing erect. They easily weigh over 400 lbs. Your size is Large, but you use medium-sized weapons and armor.*

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Leap. Wemics triple the distance they can cover when jumping.

Claws. As a bonus action, you can use your front claws to make a melee weapon attack, using strength or dexterity to hit. On a hit, you deal 2d4 slashing damage.

Natural Hide. When unarmored, your base AC is 14.

Languages. You speak the Wemic language, which consists of gruff growls, posturing, and rumbling words. Most wemic traditions are oral, though they do on occasion make permanent records with pictographs and/or carved beads. You can also speak, read, and write Common.

* Alternately, treat the Wemic as Medium-sized, but treat it as large for calculating carrying capacity and the weight they can push or drag.

Alternatively Alternately: If one doesn't mind refluffing, the Centaur could be refluffed into the Wemic as well.

 

[Baron Opal II]

kobolds seem to be commonly liked I wonder why as I do not see the appeal?

Here's the thing - I have no use for gnomes at all. I have trouble seeing their niche. They're like the love child of dwarves and halflings with a pinch of elf to taste.

Kobolds have, through the convoluted history of D&D's editions, expert trapmaking and gadgetry, are small, and significantly different being lizards. (Ignoring dragonborn for the moment) While perhaps not true, they feel like the first non-mammals you could play. Or, at least the first non-mammal I was interested in.

So, in a way, with kobolds you have a race of small people who have crazy tinkering skills who are interestingly different from dwarves and halflings.

In my mind, anyway. Plus, you can have kobolds with goggles flying hanggliders / ornithopters! And that's just cool.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Here's the thing - I have no use for gnomes at all. I have trouble seeing their niche. They're like the love child of dwarves and halflings with a pinch of elf to taste.

 

[Kobold Stew]

kobolds seem to be commonly liked I wonder why as I do not see the appeal?

A lot of it stems, directly or indirectly, from an article from the 80s, "Tucker's Kobolds", Dragon 127. In which a higher-level campaign is continually frustrated by the clever tactics of ordinary kobolds.

The appeal is that expectations are low, and underwhelming stats can lead to a fun character.

 

[Kobold Stew]

1. Gnolls. Gnolls are my favorite non-traditional race/lineage. They (pre-5e) have been fun for thinking through the implications of developing characters that work against that grain (I had a LG gnoll cleric in 3.5 in one campaign that I was always partial to). The insistance in 5e that they would not be playable for PCs, and the re-writing of backstory to ensure that, never made sense to me.

2. Lizardfolk. I've a copy of Jeff Dee's Lizardman on my desk at work, and there was a line of lead minis from Ral Partha in the early 80s that fired my imagination then. Also the NA means that one can ignore the rule about metal for druids, which I've never liked (yes, I know I can ignore it anyways, but I prefer to find a way around it.)

3. Kobolds or Goblins. It's flipped between these over the years/editions. A race of little guys that struggle to fit into society that have fun abilities that can lead to interesting characters. In 5e it's goblins whose Nimble Escape means that they should never be rougues, but are always roguelike.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Its like playing a dragon puppy!

that sounds exhausting to play or deal with.

A lot of it stems, directly or indirectly, from an article from the 80s, "Tucker's Kobolds", Dragon 127. In which a higher-level campaign is continually frustrated by the clever tactics of ordinary kobolds.

The appeal is that expectations are low, and underwhelming stats can lead to a fun character.

but is that not just a small guy sapient trait? what makes them different from say goblins?

 

[BookTenTiger]

that sounds exhausting to play or deal with.

Hey, don't yuck my yum!

 

[Kobold Stew]

but is that not just a small guy sapient trait? what makes them different from say goblins?

Sure, but when the editorial came out, it was a new idea, and the idea that a high level party fighting dragons would turn and run when they heard the skittering of kobolds was fun and new.

wizards.com has reformatted the article, I now see, here.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Tortles all the way down.