D&D General How many Races it too much?

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Why can't you all just let the other races exist in peace!

I let most of them exist in peace, but I don't want to make a place for all of the races in 5e in my world. If a player wants to play a Loxodon in my world, they have to explain it, not me.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Major or minor races?

I mean I tend to cap out at about half a dozen major races in the part of the setting I'm using. But if you want to play a warforged, shardmind, or wilden result of a magical experiment, sure. If you want to be a dragonborn either from over the sea or as a result of a blessing/curse, sure. If you want to be a tiefling as a result of a demonic pact made by you or your ancestors, sure. If you want to be a gith that fell through a portal from the Astral Sea we might not be going back there, but sure. If you want to be a member of a small tribe of halflings when most of them live on the far side of the world, sure. This applies whether or not I wrote them in.

Does this mean my world has shardminds if no one plays one? Probably not.

The real world is much stranger and with many more subcultures than I can imagine. I have never seen a reason why D&D with strong magic should be that restricted.

So how many races do I think is about right? Half a dozen plus one for each PC at the table if they want it. (And possibly one for each fallen former PC).

And for @AcererakTriple6 I'll make space for whatever's wanted. It's called one of the blank bits of the map.

 

[Randomthoughts]

How many races is too many for you DM's out there? (Let's leave sub-races out of it for now.)
<snip>
So how many races are we looking at for everyone else and their worlds?

(Didn't read the entire thread) So, I voted for 11-12. I like having a limited mix b/c I wanted to delve into the culture of each race, which requires some time and effort to world build in my homebrew. My approach is slightly different too. The player choices of race highly impact which ones exist in the setting. For example, no player chose to be a Dragonborn, so at this point, they don't exist (and aren't part of the dozen or so races that are the main population of the setting).

I initially limited races to the traditional ones* but excluded Volo's. So, out of the 7 available, some players chose Elf (Wood), Gnome, Halfling and Human. Then one player asked if she could be a drow, and though it would come from an authorized source, I did have to think about it. And another player asked to be a Genasi, which again, I didn't rule out but didn't really anticipate it. I eventually said yes to both and am glad I did, b/c they brought a whole new dimension to the campaign.

That dimension solidified as the group composition changed. The player playing the human PC dropped, leaving the entire party as demi-humans. In fact, the new player asked if he could be an orc (though he was fine with being a half-orc). So, I said, "why not?" and went for it.

My conception of the world was the typical human-centric setting, but player choices (which I allowed) dramatically changed that. Now we're excited to explore this "other side".

* Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Halfling, Human.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

And for @AcererakTriple6 I'll make space for whatever's wanted. It's called one of the blank bits of the map.

There's space for them in my worlds, but they have to explain how they are that unique/strange race, not me.

 

[Minigiant]

Personally, I think roughly one "good" race plus 1-2 major "antagonist" races per habitat is enough.
Plains/Clear: humans
Forests: elves
Hills: gnomes
Mountains: dwarves

The "antagonist" races can be other humans, orcs, goblinkind, giants, ogres,...

That's typically how I go but not in the good and evil route and with subraces.

Basically the more an area can support, the more "nations" are there.

The pains, steppes, and savannas have 5-7 subraces each. The desert 1 or 2.

 

[Laurefindel]

I prefer to play around 10 race choices per campaign not per world/setting.

with that being said, I also like thighter settings with a restricted (6-7) number of race/culture options.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Thinking about it more, in a given campaign, I like to focus on an area that has a dozen or so cultures, but mono-lineage cultures are uncommon.

Races are an open door, and I will swap out one race for another pretty easily if it makes iteasieyr to mqke the PCs.

 

[Zardnaar]

I don't think it is a matter of denying the PCs any choice. They have aplenty in Oofta's game.
1) There are such things as PC races and NPC races. They can be as mutually inclusive or exclusive as the campaign needs it to be.
2) There is nothing wrong in not allowing a race or restrict the race's choice for PC. It is not because it is there, that it is good campaign wise. There are such things as consistency in story building.
3) I am one of those DM that restricts players' choices up to a certain point. I often go on a case by case basis and your concept better be unique and interesting before I allow you a normally non player race. And even there, I am not the Mosesley Cantina type of DM. Be ready to be ostracized up to a certain point.
4) Although almost any races can be found in my campaigns, they will appear on a need to be there basis. Evil gods (or good ones) might port some from other dimensions and these either die at the hand of PC or will simply wink out of existence when their need to be there no longer suits the god's need as the god will port these to their respective dimension. This help out a lot in making the world believable. Where are all those giants comming from? When did this X tribe came into existence? The answer is either they were there all along or one god ported them in for some purpose known to him/her only.

This also explains why evil god are also worshipped. To placate them and appease their anger. A pantheon might declare war on an other pantheon and their war will reflect back on the prime material plane where monsters will appear to plague the worshippers of the other pantheons. The Norse Pantheon might declare war on the Greek one and the worshippers of Zeus might see themselves besieged by trolls and various giants while the worshippers of the Norse will see Titans, Satyres, Harpies and Centaurs attack them. And in the meanwhile Ades and Hel might sent undead in the nights to attack worshippers of both sides just for fun of it.

Mono pantheon worlds can be so boring compared to a multi pantheon one...

I just threw in most of the PHB pantheons.

Generic one is Greyhawk this area uses the Greek/Roman one, another area uses Egypt etc.

 

[Helldritch]

I just threw in most if the PHB pantheons.

Generic on is Greyhawk this area uses the Greek/Ronan one, another area uses Egypt etc.

Yep, and we should not forget that there are in-pantheons squabbles and fights too. Iuz and Incabulos are notorious never do well that seeks to destroy worshippers of other deities. They can bring a lot of stuff if they want to. So are CN gods and the reverse is true, good monsters can come from an other dimension to besiege the evil countries too. Even evil lords and ladies need adventurers to solve some of their problems.

 

[CleverNickName]

I just rarely see DMs tie their OWN hands as often as they tie their PCs' hands...

And you usually won't, either, if the DM has built a detailed and fully-developed campaign setting. All of those restrictions will have been done quietly and carefully in the background before the players show up for Session Zero. Eventually the world (and story) are fully developed to the point where adding more stuff no longer contributes anything meaningful, and might be distracting. (There are no unicorns in Dark Souls and no ninjas in Skyrim, and it would be really weird if there were.)

If you like the idea of having dozens of options for race alone, a sandbox game is probably going to be a better fit for you than a detailed game setting.

And two cents' worth of advice for DMs: If you're planning on running a detailed homebrew game setting with tons of restrictions, it's a good idea to get input and feedback from your players from the beginning. Find out what they are looking forward to the most before it ends up on the cutting room floor.