How do you prefer to use subraces in your campaign?

[DSC-EricPrice]

We're not opposed to any subraces really, as long as a good story and reason can be dreamed up by the player and DM. Bad subrace choices can be very paralyzing in our group though (as we RP the enimity out, or whatever) so more often than not we stick with what is in the PHB.

 

[Crothian]

IMC all the races are modified to fit my game. I do have what can be called sub races, although in reality they are just similar races. I do use the elf and dwarf names, but more often they have their own names which helps to make them not seem like sub races.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Were I running a game in a homebrew world - as opposed to, say, Eberron, where the default is "PCs use Player's Handbook stats" and there are very few subraces in any case - I think I would always design my setting to include only the Player's Handbook versions of each race. I would perhaps use some of the Monster Manual subraces, but if I did they would lean towards the svirfneblin/drow/et cetera model of "significantly different", rather than the boring grey/wood/wild/gold/moon/star elves of the Forgotten Realms.

 

[MonsterMash]

I use a mixture of standard and setting specific subraces, but one major thing is no drow.

 

[diaglo]

there are PCs and then there are monsters.

only way you can be a monster is to be the referee.

of course, that means any race is possible as a PC. but you have to make it work for a group setting. the game is played as a group.

i as the referee kill off any PC who tries to adventure alone.

 

[Felon]

Elves get picked on a lot for all their subraces, but the fact is the PHB elf just sucks for just about any build. Might do an arcane trickster with it, but not much else.

Now, the MM elves are more viable. The gray elf gets a bonus to Int instead of Dex, giving them an actual edge in their favored class of wizard.

The wood elf's ability score bonuses are wonky, but they do make for a good archery-based ranger.

Dwarves, OTOH, don't seem to need another subrace. I mean, who chooses to lose Dex instead of Cha?

Gnomes? Those guys are just a mess. Too many stupid little racial traits to keep up with. Desperately need streamlining.

I allow not only subraces, I allow monstrous races. I've had a rakshasa, a minotaur, a thri-kreen, a frost giant, a desmodu, couple of catmen....some worked out better than others.

 

[Li Shenron]

I don't have a general rule about subraces when I am the DM. Subraces from the MM are usually fine, and so are subraces from setting books, but they must make sense with the settings we're playing.

I still enforce the fact that the party should be solid together, so if you want to play a drow it should be ok as long as there are no problems among the PCs.