D&D 5E How do you decide which Races to disallow (and/or Classes)?

[JWO]

As a player, I'll generally decide if I'm interested in joining a campaign based on whatever introductory information the DM puts forward, and then I'll pretty much accept whatever restrictions the DM decides on and then work from there. I'm never single-minded enough about a character concept that I've been unwilling to change in order to fit the campaign world. If it's totally ridiculous I might raise some questions but then I'll either go along with it or just quit and try to find someone else to play with.

As I see it, the DM is putting 99% of the effort in so they should have the final say in things like that. I had that opinion before I ever had a go at DMing.

I know it's not a totally fair comparison because D&D is a collaborative enterprise, but I see it as being kind of like starting to watch a TV show and then getting annoyed that it's a show about zombies when you want to watch a show about superheroes. Your options are to carry on watching the show and try to see the positives in it, or stop watching it and switch over to The Flash, or produce your own TV show, but you can't change the content of The Walking Dead...

 

[aramis erak]

Hi, guys. I've returned to D&D after something like 20 years away. So glad to have found this forum to help hash things out, too. I've been reading diligently, but I'm wondering how different DM's decide whether or not to allow a certain race and/or class?

In our initial start-up adventures, I said anything in the PHB is fair game. Now with the new Elemental Evil new races, it has me thinking a little more critically about it. Do I really want Tieflings or Dragonborn or Warlocks in my revived Greyhawk campaign, for example?

I'm not looking for a "allow this" or "disallow that", but more a general idea of the thought process that DM's put into making such overarching decisions.

Maybe this isn't easy to answer, but you guys don't seem to shy away from the difficult stuff. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

For my home game, which is set on my homebrewed world, it's all about what can I make work, and what works with the pantheon.

I disallowed drow, as they don't exist on the game world. Shadow Elves do, ala Mystara. Same niche, so no need. All the other subraces got allowed... And gnomes are well known on Tellus, so that bit of fluff is changed.

Tieflings and Dragonborn I allowed, because they make sense in the scope of the history. I just advanced the timeline and used yet another wave of imports bringing them in.

Each campaign's been on a different region, so it's not that big a deal.

As for classes, I allow all the classes in the core rules.

In looking at the new races, I won't include the Aaracocra - they don't fit with the various "immigration grabs". Which are, Dragons & kin, Elves & giants, More Elves and Færies, Dwarves and Gnomes, Humans and Halflings, Goblinoids and Orkoids, Several other evil races, and most recently, Dragonkin and Tieflings. Svirfneblin have existed on the world since the 1990's... so they're in long ago. Plus, they fit with the Dwarf & Gnome grab. The other new race I don't see much need for - they don't have a niche to fill, but their arrival might be a fun adventure seed.

The giants are few on my gameworld, so the demigiants are just not a good fit.

The Genasi are too rare to be PC's. The Djinn aren't a monster I've ever used on Tellus, so demi-djinn just don't feel like a good fit.
The Aaracocra I reject because I don't want flying PC's.