D&D (2024) Lawful, Chaotic, and Neutral touched species.

[Minigiant]

There is a lot more talk about class, monster, and DMings right now due to the current playtest packets


But I want to swing back to races err.. specieses.. ugh.

Part of the rejection of Aardlings was that there was already a good aligned race, Aasimar.

But 5e doesn't have a chaos tinted species. Nor a lawful shaded species. Nor one in the middle. Law and Chaos is barely explored in the physical form.

Would you want one or more of these officially?
How should their racial work?
One race with subraces or 2-3 races?

 

[DevL]

All things alignment is best relegated to the scrap heap as far as I’m concerned.

 

[Yaarel]

For playable core species, I want:

• one species from the Celestial "Good" planes, including creatures from LGL, LG, GLG, TG, GCG, CG, CCG
• one species from the Fiend "Evil" planes, including creatures from LEL, LE, ELE, TE, ECE, CE, CCE

plus

• one species from the [...] "Neutral" planes, including creatures from LN, TN, CN

Note, the plane itself is aligned, but the individual characters from there might be any alignment.

 

[Yaarel]

To me, the Neutral planes, including LN, TN, and CN, feel Elemental in flavor.

Perhaps the N-planes can be "proto-elemental", mainly the thought "concept" − the platonic ideal − of material elements, even while lacking matter per se.

From the clash between LN and CN the material elements come into existence.

 

[Corinnguard]

Back in 3e D&D, you had the Axani (Lawful) and the Cansin (Chaotic). If you wanted something neutral, there are the Chaonds (CN) and the Mechanatrixes (LN) from 3e.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Ideally I'd like a species for good (aasimar), evil (tieflings), law, and chaos. Then with eldarin and shadar-kai representing the feywild and shadowfell. And then genasi representing the elemental planes.

It's a shame that law and chaos sides of the alignment basically no longer exist in 5e.

 

[delericho]

I'd rather there not be alignment-touched species, but would rather have plane-touched species (where some of those planes are themselves aligned). I have no particular view on the number of such species - there could be one per plane, one per group of planes, multiple species per plane/group, gaps somewhere in the set, or any combination of the above. I don't see a problem with having both Aasimar and Ardlings, for instance.

That said, I'm now very much of the opinion that species should be a purely cosmetic descriptor for the character, with as much mechanical weight as their ethnicity, sex, gender, or handedness. (Players should instead choose a number of traits for their character, and can choose to justify those however they wish.)

 

[Dausuul]

I don't want anything put in just to fill a box. If they come up with a compelling concept for such a species, by all means include it. If not, not.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

I'd rather there not be alignment-touched species, but would rather have plane-touched species (where some of those planes are themselves aligned). I have no particular view on the number of such species - there could be one per plane, one per group of planes, multiple species per plane/group, gaps somewhere in the set, or any combination of the above. I don't see a problem with having both Aasimar and Ardlings, for instance.

That said, I'm now very much of the opinion that species should be a purely cosmetic descriptor for the character, with as much mechanical weight as their ethnicity, sex, gender, or handedness. (Players should instead choose a number of traits for their character, and can choose to justify those however they wish.)

I mean that's what aasimar and tieflings are now. Neither is forced to be good or evil, and has complete free will. But they are touched by the influence of their respective planes, which is what shapes their appearance and abilities.

 

[CreamCloud0]

while i enjoy the concept of alignment it is one of the things i believe that ought to remain displaced from species on any mechanical level, the aasimar is genetically connected to Good entities, but there's no real mechanical restrictions for your character to have the trappings of the alignment,

i have no issue with a potential lawful or chaotic or neutral species but i'm wary of their existence, just look at how hated the kender are because of their no concept of ownership 'not actually a kleptomaniac' description is a free ticket to justify stealing whatever you come across, a lawful or chaotic decended species could have similarly problematic suggestions in their descriptions.