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D&D 5E Nonstandard Races You Love And Want Back
- Thread starter QuietBrowser
- Start date
Jester David
Hero
Looking at "the list" of D&D races on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_character_races_in_Dungeons_&_Dragons) and then cutting out the ones from the 3e Monster Manual, we're left with a staggering list of 97 races. Yikes! And it still doesn't include races from Dragon Magazine.
Just copying the ones I know (or can guess) and giving thoughts. I tend to be harder on races from the "mortal" world as cramming a few million individuals into an established campaign setting is hard. Especially with so many existing races already fighting for space.
Very different looking races are also tricky, as you can't easily find miniatures. My wife is playing a grippli in my homegame, and that proved tricky.
Rating things on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being "ASAP" and 1 being "oh gods no."
Bladeling Definitely an "evilish" one. Could be interesting in a planar supplement for a native race to extraplanar realms. And doesn't crown the world. 4/5
Blue (Goblin) A variant goblin is easy to add, fits the world, and is a simple mini repaint. And can be handled by replacing existing features, being a subclass. 4/5 (when psionics are done)
Bullywug These are a little too evil and corruptive. Rather have official grippli. 1/5
Centaur Tricky to make work in a dungeon, and potentially Large. But the race is doable in some campaigns, and they skirt the issue of Large weapons and upper body armour. 3/5
Changeling Yes. Interesting power, fun and unique role, and ties to existing creatures in the game. And as a hybrid race they're easier to work in as individuals rather than a full sustainable race with its own civilization. 5/5
Chitine Spider-folk. Ick. There's a lot of these with ettercaps and drow. Not averse and I tend to have a soft spot for classical critters that have been in the game for many editions (rather than ones you're taking on). But there's a lot of cooler stuff. 3/5
Deva I think there's room for both the deva and the aasimar. The idea of a fallen angelic race is cool, and I love the reincarnation angle. I disliked deva being the replacement for aasimar in 4e though, because the lore just didn't mesh with the idea of people descended from angels. They weren't the counterpart of tieflings. But there is less of a need for this race. Might be fun to make them more spiritual and less angelic, perhaps slightly more Eastern/Hindi in origin. 4/5
Doppelganger Give us the PC variant with the changeling. No.1/5
Draconian I love Dragonlance. Deeply. But I think the dragonborn does the half-dragon PC race better. Plus, the iconic racial ability of the dragonborn doesn't involve dying. 1/5, but a 3/5 if a Dragonlance book is being done.
Duskling Between this, and the shadar-kai and dark ones/darklings there's a lot of shadowy races in D&D. I think we really only need one PC shadow race. I think darklings would be the way to go, being more classical, and having some variants through dark ones and dark creepers. 1/5
Elan Generic tacked-on psionic race is generic. I bet you could overlap this race with the kalashtar as well, so using that would be a better alternative. 1/2
Githyanki Lots of space in the planes, and a pretty iconic race. I'd like to see this as a subrace of a Gith race. 4/5
Githzerai See above. 4/5
Gnoll I love me gnolls. And they're a big part of my campaign setting. But Volo's Guide to Monsters would have been the place for this race, so it's not happening. Thankfully, Kobold Press has me covered. -/5
Grimlock A classic evil Underdark race, and also overlaps with the morlock tropes. I like it, but the blindness aspect would make them super awkward to play with. They'd be immune to a lot, and a lot of ally powers wouldn't trigger. So some fine tuning would be required. 3/5
Hagspawn Pathfinder did this with their "changeling" and I dug it. I like my Ravenloft, and hags are cool. And, again, this is a race you can work into existing worlds. But this is a pretty niche race, so while I'd love it, I'm not sure it's high on the list. -/5
(But it'd be interesting to try and do this as an alternative to the variant human. I might try and do a DMsGuild product with hagspawn...)
Half-Giant Goliaths killed them and took their stuff.Just reflavour. 0/5
Hamadryad D&D does need a "plant" race, but the hamadryad is hindered by the female-only lore. I dislike changing that and going against continuity and mythology, so it's easier to just not-update.
Illumian These are funky. I know there were some fans back in the 3e day, but I'm uncertain how much interest they have now. Like the hagspawn, this isn't so much a race as specialized human variant. Could be fun, but could equally work as a feat or prestige class. 1/5
Kalashtar Odd and another human variant more than a full race. This race is also super tied to Eberron, and doesn't work as well in other settings, losing its lore, identity, and purpose. 2/5 (Unless Eberron is being updated in which case it becomes a 4/5)
Kender Reflavoured halflings. Next.
Killoren/ Wilden I hate these guys. Rather than building on stories and lore established by over three decades of D&D and 5,000 years of human mythology, the writers were just creating something themselves. Likely over a long weekend while on a deadline... I think my dislike for these guys stems from the fact they're unrelated to the myriad other sentient plants in D&D. They're the definition of tacked-on. 0/5
Kuo-toa A little to aberrant and twisted to make a good race. I suppose an Underdark supplement could make use of these guys (and grimlocks and others), but apart from such a book I don't see the need. 2/5
Lycanthrope These are weird, as they're basically cursed humans. It's humans with entirely different powers. Plus, it's hard to reconcile the differences in power between the MM versions and a PC version. Better as a prestige class or just being applied to a character. 1/5
Maenad Another psychic race that exists to pad out the Psionic Handbook and make it look like psionics isn't just patched onto campaign settings. Very, very, very loosely tied to Mythology. Not sure it's enough to justify the race. Instead, this should just become a kalashatar sub-race. 2/5
Minotaur The Large version is awkward, but I like the Medium-sized variant found in Dragonlance. And 4e. Another option that could work in an Underdark book! And the race is both iconic and easily found as minis (albeit big ones). 4/5
Modron, Rogue Not sure how the balance for this would work, and finding a mini that isn't a die with arms and legs glued to it would be hard. But it's another good option for a Planar book. 3/5
Mongrelfolk Funky and a monsterous race, better served as opponents. If you need to play one just reflavour a different race. Would have been good in VGtM or Curse of Strahd but too late now. 2/5
Mul Essential for Dark Sun. Could also just be a dwarf or human subrace. Not sure if "half-dwarves" are required for other settings. 2/5
Neanderthal Could be interesting but feels like a variant human more than a full race. And there's some weirdness in having a primitive version of humanity in fantasy worlds where evolution isn't generally a thing as intelligent design is very literally what happened. 2/5
Pixie It's tricky to reconcile this as a player race when the existing monster is so potent. It's weird when the PC version can't do nearly as much as the monster. It ends up feeling like a "pixie" in name only. And you end up having to justify flight and work around armour/gear 2/5
Pterran There's room for dino-people in the game. I think I'd rather see this as a variant of suarials (which aren't on the list somehow). 1/5 for pterrans and 3/5 for saurials, as dino-men are cool and part of the Realms.
Revenant I like how Uneathed Arcana did it. But very funky.
Satyr The male-only race also rubbed some people the wrong way. People don't like being told what they can't do. And like the pixie there's certain abilities expected by the creature, that are just hard to present as a player option.
Shade Yet another shadow person option. Might be good as a variant human, or as part of a Realms campaign setting - they're really tied to that world. But otherwise "meh". 2/5
Shadar-kai As mentioned above, I think we have room for *one* shadow humanoid race, and darklings have the better legacy. Shadar-kai are cool but they have this cliche '90s comic book, edgelord thing going on that is rather cheesy now. They're and gothy and grimdark and feel like they should be walking around a misty Seacouver of the World of Darkness with a black trench coat and wielding a katana. 2/5
Shardmind Ugh. So much "meh". I dislike sharminds because they're just forced into the setting. Their whole backstory and origin and lore was invented to make them a thing. They seem to exist solely because someone wanted another living construct. And there's some weirdness in a having a creature made fragments of crystal that's affected by poison, cold, arrows, and the like. Especially when it can fly apart and reform. Shardminds really feel like a race from someone's homebrew world that they tried to make "a thing". 1/5
Shifter A much better way of doing a PC lycanthrope. It works as the offspring of a lychan or someone injured but not fully infected by lycanthrope. Plus there's a good place for them in other settings, like Ravenloft. Bring them back, sooner rather than later. 5/5
Skulk A chameleon race. Okay, but more of a lame version of the changeling. They're a pretty classic creature though… But the power is just lackluster and there's little special going on. 2/5
Stonechild Goliath redux. Next.
Taer Overlaps a little with the neanderthal. Nothing amazing here. I think this archetype of a primitive furry person might work better with a quaggoth race done for an Underdark book. 2/5
Thri-Kreen While Dark Sun put these bugs on the map, they predated that setting. They are the D&D insectoid race. They're neat and have a lot of material written about them and their culture/ mindset. 4/5
Vampire Way more of a class or prestige class than a race. 1/5
Vryloka These were weird in 4e. We'd already had a couple vampire options, such as the dhampire. Which is much more interesting. With their bright red hair and desire to be a "real" race, these guys felt forced. 1/5
Warforged There is very much room for a golem race in D&D. They're a great addition. 5/5
Xeph The third fairly generic psionic race that exists to pad the pagecount of the Expanded Psionic Handbook. Again, I think the kalashatar uses this as inspiration for a subrace. 2/5
Looking at the above, I think a big planar book with races seems like a good idea at this point. Something that's a mix of Manual of the Planes, Planescape, and Fiend Folio. And a big dungeon/ Underdark book with assorted subterranean races would also be neat.
The latter might be harder as it overlaps with both the 3e and 4e Underdark books and 1e's Dungeoneer's Survival Guide.
Just copying the ones I know (or can guess) and giving thoughts. I tend to be harder on races from the "mortal" world as cramming a few million individuals into an established campaign setting is hard. Especially with so many existing races already fighting for space.
Very different looking races are also tricky, as you can't easily find miniatures. My wife is playing a grippli in my homegame, and that proved tricky.
Rating things on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being "ASAP" and 1 being "oh gods no."
Bladeling Definitely an "evilish" one. Could be interesting in a planar supplement for a native race to extraplanar realms. And doesn't crown the world. 4/5
Blue (Goblin) A variant goblin is easy to add, fits the world, and is a simple mini repaint. And can be handled by replacing existing features, being a subclass. 4/5 (when psionics are done)
Bullywug These are a little too evil and corruptive. Rather have official grippli. 1/5
Centaur Tricky to make work in a dungeon, and potentially Large. But the race is doable in some campaigns, and they skirt the issue of Large weapons and upper body armour. 3/5
Changeling Yes. Interesting power, fun and unique role, and ties to existing creatures in the game. And as a hybrid race they're easier to work in as individuals rather than a full sustainable race with its own civilization. 5/5
Chitine Spider-folk. Ick. There's a lot of these with ettercaps and drow. Not averse and I tend to have a soft spot for classical critters that have been in the game for many editions (rather than ones you're taking on). But there's a lot of cooler stuff. 3/5
Deva I think there's room for both the deva and the aasimar. The idea of a fallen angelic race is cool, and I love the reincarnation angle. I disliked deva being the replacement for aasimar in 4e though, because the lore just didn't mesh with the idea of people descended from angels. They weren't the counterpart of tieflings. But there is less of a need for this race. Might be fun to make them more spiritual and less angelic, perhaps slightly more Eastern/Hindi in origin. 4/5
Doppelganger Give us the PC variant with the changeling. No.1/5
Draconian I love Dragonlance. Deeply. But I think the dragonborn does the half-dragon PC race better. Plus, the iconic racial ability of the dragonborn doesn't involve dying. 1/5, but a 3/5 if a Dragonlance book is being done.
Duskling Between this, and the shadar-kai and dark ones/darklings there's a lot of shadowy races in D&D. I think we really only need one PC shadow race. I think darklings would be the way to go, being more classical, and having some variants through dark ones and dark creepers. 1/5
Elan Generic tacked-on psionic race is generic. I bet you could overlap this race with the kalashtar as well, so using that would be a better alternative. 1/2
Githyanki Lots of space in the planes, and a pretty iconic race. I'd like to see this as a subrace of a Gith race. 4/5
Githzerai See above. 4/5
Gnoll I love me gnolls. And they're a big part of my campaign setting. But Volo's Guide to Monsters would have been the place for this race, so it's not happening. Thankfully, Kobold Press has me covered. -/5
Grimlock A classic evil Underdark race, and also overlaps with the morlock tropes. I like it, but the blindness aspect would make them super awkward to play with. They'd be immune to a lot, and a lot of ally powers wouldn't trigger. So some fine tuning would be required. 3/5
Hagspawn Pathfinder did this with their "changeling" and I dug it. I like my Ravenloft, and hags are cool. And, again, this is a race you can work into existing worlds. But this is a pretty niche race, so while I'd love it, I'm not sure it's high on the list. -/5
(But it'd be interesting to try and do this as an alternative to the variant human. I might try and do a DMsGuild product with hagspawn...)
Half-Giant Goliaths killed them and took their stuff.Just reflavour. 0/5
Hamadryad D&D does need a "plant" race, but the hamadryad is hindered by the female-only lore. I dislike changing that and going against continuity and mythology, so it's easier to just not-update.
Illumian These are funky. I know there were some fans back in the 3e day, but I'm uncertain how much interest they have now. Like the hagspawn, this isn't so much a race as specialized human variant. Could be fun, but could equally work as a feat or prestige class. 1/5
Kalashtar Odd and another human variant more than a full race. This race is also super tied to Eberron, and doesn't work as well in other settings, losing its lore, identity, and purpose. 2/5 (Unless Eberron is being updated in which case it becomes a 4/5)
Kender Reflavoured halflings. Next.
Killoren/ Wilden I hate these guys. Rather than building on stories and lore established by over three decades of D&D and 5,000 years of human mythology, the writers were just creating something themselves. Likely over a long weekend while on a deadline... I think my dislike for these guys stems from the fact they're unrelated to the myriad other sentient plants in D&D. They're the definition of tacked-on. 0/5
Kuo-toa A little to aberrant and twisted to make a good race. I suppose an Underdark supplement could make use of these guys (and grimlocks and others), but apart from such a book I don't see the need. 2/5
Lycanthrope These are weird, as they're basically cursed humans. It's humans with entirely different powers. Plus, it's hard to reconcile the differences in power between the MM versions and a PC version. Better as a prestige class or just being applied to a character. 1/5
Maenad Another psychic race that exists to pad out the Psionic Handbook and make it look like psionics isn't just patched onto campaign settings. Very, very, very loosely tied to Mythology. Not sure it's enough to justify the race. Instead, this should just become a kalashatar sub-race. 2/5
Minotaur The Large version is awkward, but I like the Medium-sized variant found in Dragonlance. And 4e. Another option that could work in an Underdark book! And the race is both iconic and easily found as minis (albeit big ones). 4/5
Modron, Rogue Not sure how the balance for this would work, and finding a mini that isn't a die with arms and legs glued to it would be hard. But it's another good option for a Planar book. 3/5
Mongrelfolk Funky and a monsterous race, better served as opponents. If you need to play one just reflavour a different race. Would have been good in VGtM or Curse of Strahd but too late now. 2/5
Mul Essential for Dark Sun. Could also just be a dwarf or human subrace. Not sure if "half-dwarves" are required for other settings. 2/5
Neanderthal Could be interesting but feels like a variant human more than a full race. And there's some weirdness in having a primitive version of humanity in fantasy worlds where evolution isn't generally a thing as intelligent design is very literally what happened. 2/5
Pixie It's tricky to reconcile this as a player race when the existing monster is so potent. It's weird when the PC version can't do nearly as much as the monster. It ends up feeling like a "pixie" in name only. And you end up having to justify flight and work around armour/gear 2/5
Pterran There's room for dino-people in the game. I think I'd rather see this as a variant of suarials (which aren't on the list somehow). 1/5 for pterrans and 3/5 for saurials, as dino-men are cool and part of the Realms.
Revenant I like how Uneathed Arcana did it. But very funky.
Satyr The male-only race also rubbed some people the wrong way. People don't like being told what they can't do. And like the pixie there's certain abilities expected by the creature, that are just hard to present as a player option.
Shade Yet another shadow person option. Might be good as a variant human, or as part of a Realms campaign setting - they're really tied to that world. But otherwise "meh". 2/5
Shadar-kai As mentioned above, I think we have room for *one* shadow humanoid race, and darklings have the better legacy. Shadar-kai are cool but they have this cliche '90s comic book, edgelord thing going on that is rather cheesy now. They're and gothy and grimdark and feel like they should be walking around a misty Seacouver of the World of Darkness with a black trench coat and wielding a katana. 2/5
Shardmind Ugh. So much "meh". I dislike sharminds because they're just forced into the setting. Their whole backstory and origin and lore was invented to make them a thing. They seem to exist solely because someone wanted another living construct. And there's some weirdness in a having a creature made fragments of crystal that's affected by poison, cold, arrows, and the like. Especially when it can fly apart and reform. Shardminds really feel like a race from someone's homebrew world that they tried to make "a thing". 1/5
Shifter A much better way of doing a PC lycanthrope. It works as the offspring of a lychan or someone injured but not fully infected by lycanthrope. Plus there's a good place for them in other settings, like Ravenloft. Bring them back, sooner rather than later. 5/5
Skulk A chameleon race. Okay, but more of a lame version of the changeling. They're a pretty classic creature though… But the power is just lackluster and there's little special going on. 2/5
Stonechild Goliath redux. Next.
Taer Overlaps a little with the neanderthal. Nothing amazing here. I think this archetype of a primitive furry person might work better with a quaggoth race done for an Underdark book. 2/5
Thri-Kreen While Dark Sun put these bugs on the map, they predated that setting. They are the D&D insectoid race. They're neat and have a lot of material written about them and their culture/ mindset. 4/5
Vampire Way more of a class or prestige class than a race. 1/5
Vryloka These were weird in 4e. We'd already had a couple vampire options, such as the dhampire. Which is much more interesting. With their bright red hair and desire to be a "real" race, these guys felt forced. 1/5
Warforged There is very much room for a golem race in D&D. They're a great addition. 5/5
Xeph The third fairly generic psionic race that exists to pad the pagecount of the Expanded Psionic Handbook. Again, I think the kalashatar uses this as inspiration for a subrace. 2/5
Looking at the above, I think a big planar book with races seems like a good idea at this point. Something that's a mix of Manual of the Planes, Planescape, and Fiend Folio. And a big dungeon/ Underdark book with assorted subterranean races would also be neat.
The latter might be harder as it overlaps with both the 3e and 4e Underdark books and 1e's Dungeoneer's Survival Guide.
Jester David
Hero
And two sets of nipples.I don't think I saw anyone mention saurials yet. Not saying I'm craving them particularly. Just adding it to the collective.
On a different note, ever since I saw this meme, I can't take centaurs "seriously" anymore...
Although, stallions don't have nipples. So would male centaurs have nipples or not? And where would the babies feed: up top or down low?
MechaPilot
Explorer
I'm usually not greedy, but in this case I'm going to have to say I want them all. I certainly won't use them all, but humans, elves, dwarves, etc. bore the everliving stuffing out of me, and I always ask if I can play a non-standard race (when I do get to play) or inject them into games I'm running (where I DM).
As far as specifics go, I think merfolk, centaurs, Xixchil, wemics, lamias, ghosts, vampires, werecreatures, and fiends fill out the top ranks of my list.
As far as specifics go, I think merfolk, centaurs, Xixchil, wemics, lamias, ghosts, vampires, werecreatures, and fiends fill out the top ranks of my list.
MechaTarrasque
Hero
If they were to bring in the deva, I would prefer it to be more like this. I would be impressed if the deva's biggest racial power was "pick a second background."
Hussar
Legend
I've never understood the idea of Draconian as PC race. Draconians are evil. They are created evil. They aren't even a race, really, they're a magical construct created by warping good dragon eggs in a monstrously evil ritual. They're very similar to undead in that you can kill these things to your hearts content and not worry about any niggling moral issues.
How would you make these a PC race?
On a practical level as well - you have a race that cannot ever be raised. You die, you turn to stone/puddle of acid/explode/become your killer. That's a pretty large drawback for a PC race.
But, for me, at the end of the day, I just can't see an unredeemably evil race as a PC race. It's not like they become evil because they choose it - they're like demons. They're created evil.
And if you remove that element - created by evil - they aren't draconians anymore. Might as well just use dragon born.
How would you make these a PC race?
On a practical level as well - you have a race that cannot ever be raised. You die, you turn to stone/puddle of acid/explode/become your killer. That's a pretty large drawback for a PC race.
But, for me, at the end of the day, I just can't see an unredeemably evil race as a PC race. It's not like they become evil because they choose it - they're like demons. They're created evil.
And if you remove that element - created by evil - they aren't draconians anymore. Might as well just use dragon born.
QuietBrowser
First Post
Pretty easily, actually. Draconians have actually been stated to be an inherently neutral race, just forced into evil by their creators, since... ooh, the Age of Mortals? Saga Edition? Whenever the hell the post-War of the Lance material came out. I only know Dragonlance from its 3.5 update and I've never bothered to chase after the older material. Setting doesn't interest me too much... too much of the original creators thought processes in it, to its detriment.
As for abilities... well, that's problematic, but not quite the way you think it is. Draconians have a wide variety of skills. Baaz are pretty much orcs of a different color, yeah, but then there's the shapeshifting Sivaks, the incredibly magical Auraks, even the thief-like Bozaaks and warrior-wizard Kapaaks have things to recommend them.
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
Draconians aren't like demons or undead at all, actually. They seem that way during the War, but later it is shown that they are just as possessed of free will as anyone else, and begin he long road toward trying to find a place in a world that despises them, beginning with finding a way to reproduce naturally, which they eventually do.
