D&D 5E Favorite Unusual Races/Lineages

[EzekielRaiden]

For my part, in no particular order, probably Minotaur, Eladrin, Satyr, Aasimar (or rather the Deva from 4e), Changelings, and Genasi.

Edit: oh, wemic are also cool. A proto-setting idea I have includes them.

 

[overgeeked]

Lizardfolk. Bullywugs. Minotaurs. Orcs. Goblins. Yuan-Ti. Thri-kreen. Dryads. Satyrs. Treants. Fairy Dragons.

Because they're unusual. Uncommon. Mostly monstrous and depicted as the baddies or they're just interesting.

 

[Azzy]

Of the non-PHB races, in no particular order:

Aasimar
Genasi
Yuan-Ti
Changeling
Kobold

 

[Lyxen]

And for those saying that Tasha did not implement power creep and that Floating ASIs are not a powergamer option: "1) Tortle - Mechanically robust (17 AC to start is excellent for spellcasters)..." But at least, it's clear and assumed.

As for me, I have not often seen an unusual race being roleplayed very unusually. These day, we have a fantastic lizardfolk called "hunts-the-monkey" in our Avernus campaign, whose personality is almost opaque to every member of the group and whose cultural gestures (painting scales, clacking his teeth) are almost always misunderstood. We have a great Medusa from Odyssey of the Dragonlords, but it's the effect of a curse, not really a racial thing, and she's more an amazon at heart. And I played a Yuan-ti bard to great effect, but the campaign was extremely unusual.

Finally:

3) Warforged - I have been playing since the 1980 box sets and remember survival games

I thought Eberron came out in 2004 ?...

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I thought Eberron came out in 2004 ?...

You might want to read the next sentence in that part of their post . . .

 

[Lyxen]

You might want to read the next sentence in that part of their post . . .

Which does not ring any bell that is close to what warforged actually are in tems in particular of culture.

 

[Older Beholder]

From play experience (not really in order):
Tortle - Maybe it’s just the TMNT influence, but this is some of the most fun I’ve had playing D&D

Yuan-ti - You get to talk like thisssss

Genasi - Elementals are easy to understand thematically and give a strong foundation for building character concepts. In the past couple of years I’ve had the chance to do a trilogy of Genasi characters: fire, air and earth

Kenku - A cursed flightless bird that mimics sounds? What’s not to like?

Githyanki - Classic D&D race, also psionics are cool

I really want to try:
Warforged - does this one even need an explanation?
Tabaxi - I’m a cat person, but I want to be a cat-person
Minotaur - I played an albino Minotaur back in 2E, would like to reboot that character idea someday in 5E
Githzerai - See Githyanki

There are plenty of others, but they’re the first things that come to mind.

 

[Mind of tempest]

thri kreen four arms, cool bug look, mind powers they are nearly perfect for me.
shardmind mind power, no need to eat, turns into a razor swarm cool.
struggling from here my you guys likely get what I want a diet aberration at this point like what Dragonborn are to dragons.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Big fan of larger goblinoids, I dont know why.
Orcs and Half-orcs are pretty cool too.

From 4e, I'm an uber fan of Shardmind, Deva and Wilden.

Fauns/Satyr (especially my ''tiefling-esque'' take on them) and pixies are pretty cool when I'm on a fey trip.

 

[Arilyn]

Some of my favourites are:

Firbolg: I really like the aesthetic of these guys.

Changeling: Had a lot of fun with my Changeling in Eberron. They had three distinct forms and personalities they took on from their rogue class: a writer of pulp fiction, a detective and a "new age" healer type.

Tortle: Haven't played one or had one in my game but I like them a lot.

Eladrin: I really like the seasonal aspects.

Kalashtar: Interesting with a lot of role play potential.