D&D 5E PC races that a DM has specifically excluded from their campaign and why

[CleverNickName]

Here's how I like to do it.

The default races in my game world are Human, Halfling, Dwarf, and Elf. These are the races that are always found in every kingdom and every town, and are always viable races for player characters.

Then, if someone at the rolling party ("session zero") decides to roll up a different race (say, Tabaxi or Dragonborn or Dryashi), that race also gets added to the default list.

After the rolling party, all other races are removed from the campaign.

 

[Charlaquin]

Weren't Gnomes extinct in 4E too?

No, they just weren’t a PC race in the first PHB. They were in the first monster manual though, and they were added as a PC race in the second PHB.

 

[Puddles]

Here's how I like to do it.

The default races in my game world are Human, Halfling, Dwarf, and Elf. These are the races that are always found in every kingdom and every town, and are always viable races for player characters.

Then, if someone at the rolling party ("session zero") decides to roll up a different race (say, Tabaxi or Dragonborn or Dryashi), that race also gets added to the default list.

After the rolling party, all other races are removed from the campaign.

That's very similar to my approach. I make a starting town with the races I want in the campaign, (this time around, Humans, Dwarves and Gnomes), the PCs can choose any race they want - and the wider campaign world gets built up by their choices. The party is currently exploring the ancient ruins of a long wiped out Tiefling civilization precisely because one of the players chose to be a Tiefling druid.

As a player I never mind curated PC lists and restrictions, and can find them a lot of fun if they build a strong theme, but generally speaking I think DMs should avoid limiting options for campaigns involving new players just because one of the big excitements to a new player can be that freedom of character choice.

 

[Yora]

I always use whitelists when making a setting.

There's gonna be four or five types of peoples you can pick for PCs. Take it or leave it. I never had dwarves, halflings, and dragonborn on that list.

A good setting has focus. It's not improved by having 30 different peoples inhabiting it. (Unless it's something like Planescape or Star Wars.)

 

[Fox Lee]

Here's how I like to do it.

The default races in my game world are Human, Halfling, Dwarf, and Elf. These are the races that are always found in every kingdom and every town, and are always viable races for player characters.

Then, if someone at the rolling party ("session zero") decides to roll up a different race (say, Tabaxi or Dragonborn or Dryashi), that race also gets added to the default list.

After the rolling party, all other races are removed from the campaign.

I really like this idea! Well, not those specific "always" races, but the idea of basing "normal" for the setting on what the players want to bring into it. Good stuff that.

 

[turnip_farmer]

In principle, I like to limit races to very few options, and those the most vanilla. The reason is to enable the game to have a sense of the fantastic. One the characters set out on their grand adventures they can uncover the strange and mysterious wonders of the world. That doesn't work if the characters themselves start off as strange, mysterious wonders.

In practice the people I play with usually really want to be something furry or scaly or whatever, so I end up having to compromise and never really get to run the kind of game I want to.

 

[Li Shenron]

Apropos of other threads (with all the halfling-bashing ), a question for all DMs out there - are there any races that people have excluded from their campaign for any reason - too boring/duplicative/don't fulfil a storyline - or have they radically changed them to fit the campaign.

If I am running a vanilla setting-neutral game, I often write off all PHB races that aren't chosen by the players, except humans. So if the PCs are Dwarf+Elf+Gnome+Halforc then no Halflings, Halfelves, Tiefling and Dragonborn in the known world. But I don't have issues introducing them back if needed.

 

[reelo]

I always use whitelists when making a setting.

A good setting has focus. It's not improved by having 30 different peoples inhabiting it. (Unless it's something like Planescape or Star Wars.)

This. I usually have humans, dwarves, gnomes and elves available to players, them being the dominant populations of plains, mountains, hills, and forests, respectively.
I really don't like sertings with dozens of sentient, culture-bearing races, be they furry or monstrous.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Weren't Gnomes extinct in 4E too?

Nope. They just weren't in the PHB 1. Instead 4e made them more magical and moved them to the Feywild. This had the effect of actually giving them a niche rather than turning them into small dwarfs or halflings for people who were embarrassed to play halflings and made them far more popular.

And to chime in with other people I ban kender. I've never had someone try to play a kenku but might ban them. And might ban the various flying species.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Weren't Gnomes extinct in 4E too?

If you mean in the 4e version of Dark Sun, then yes, they're just as extinct there as they are in the original version.

If you mean Gnomes as a playable race in general in 4e, then no, they were a playable race starting with the PHB2. People just blew it out of proportion that gnomes were present in MM1 but not in PHB1, even though PHB2 was out a mere 9 months later.

Apologies for the accidental dogpile, looks like I was sniped due to wiki-walking on completely unrelated subjects!