D&D General Pick your PHB (Ancestries)

[Tigris]

• Humans as the typical flexible race since that is good to have and it is typical D&D
  • No subraces. Only one flexible Human (like in 4e)
  • But Humans can crossbread with everyone somehow. No other race can (or maybe they can and just dont ) Its part of their adaptability. Half -X can only have children with human X or other half X. Also humans are seen as "bland" and half X are more X (human have weak genes) so other races dont care too much about crossbreads and accept them.
• DwarfesHere I love your idea with the giants you mentioned. So I woule make the dwarfs actually cursed giants. All dwarfs would get (similar to swirfneblin) the ability to turn big.
  • Hill, fire etc. Giant subraces
• Eladrinas Fey Elves with teleport per encounter as their defining feature.
  • Subraces as Seasons, and maybe additional ones based on parts of the day (dawn, dusk, midnight, midday)
• Genasias elemental touched race mostly defined by subrace. They are connected with the element but not made out of it (even if powerfull genasi may look like that)
  • Subraces as in 4e including the "corrupted" ones but more flavoured as bright dark side (day/night) and no negative connotation. (I love the acid one)
• Tieflingslike in 4e to have a "strange" race. Horns, tail, different colour. Punishing feature for people attacking them. Also bonus to attacking bloodied enemies.
  • Subraces for circle of hell/demons (so ice etc.) Which can change the pubishing feature and defensive feature (resistance or similar (adapted to thst hell))
• Dragonborn like in 4e as a strange race. Minor action dtrong fragon attack as main feature.
  • Subraces are different elements which might give them small different 2ndary feature and maybe 2ndary stat
• Shifter to have a 2nd "Human" Race. They look like humans regularily but can shift into their mixed animal form which grants them temporary bonuses (and maybe also in pure animal form)
  • "Subraces" as different animals being less "Were" and more just mix. Cat, Wolf, Bear, maybe more. Animal is not heriditary its more like "your spirit animal"
• Orc as the "big" race being massive. Hard to kill and offensive.
  • Subraces as different tribes. Lets them learn different rituals (maybe some rituals are permanent tatoos and enhance their body slightly)
• Pixie as a tiny race like in 4e with flight as a feature and some pixie trickery
  • Subraces as different flowers not sure what they do. One for sure should give the 4e let someone else fly fairy dust
• Halfling because some people like short races. I would make them not too short though and not childlike. (Dont want human crossbreading to be too gross). Lucky race, and because of that brave.
  • Subraces as from where they are. They are big in having different customs.
• Elves, nature Loving, because we still have space. Not inherent magical just well adapted to nature and may know rituals etc. Good senses and perceptive, fast and elegant.
  • Subraces as different forms of trees. (Like which tree is holy where they come from).
• Aasimar, but a bit more like 4e deva (but aasimar name is better known). Also quite humanlike to have a 3rd human looking race.
  • Subraces as Different celestial objects. Void, star, moon, planet (but not the one they are on)

 

[Arakhor]

If I wanted to be really ecumenical, I'd go for:

Human (various cultures, including half-elves and psionic humans)
Elf ((urban, forest, deep, sea, maybe avian)
Dwarf (something a bit different, maybe arctic and volcanic versions)
Halfling/Gnome (only one smallfolk analogue, but multiple varieties)
Goblin/Hobgoblin (I always liked Birthright's use of them as variants of the same species)
Orc/Troll (the large species, with proud tribal roots and no icky half-breed stuff)
Shifter (whether beastfolk, lycans or Eberron-style mixed-form shifters)
Planestouched (aasimar, tieflings, genasi, fey etc.)
Scalyfolk (whether that's kobolds, dragonborn, lizard-people or half-dragons)
Undead (as a more off-the-wall option, Necropolitan, free-willed ghoul or escaped servitor)

 

[greymist]

Human
- Tiefling
Dwarf
- Mountain
- Hill
Elf
- High
- Sylvan
Gnome
- Rock
- Forest
Halfling
- Stout
- Lightfoot

 

[Minigiant]

Ok

1. Dragonborn
   1. Chromatic
   2. Metallic
2. Dwarf
   1. Hill
   2. Mountain
   3. Volcano
   4. Underdark
3. Elf
   1. City (Half Elf)
   2. High
   3. Wood
   4. Drow
4. Halfling
5. Human
6. Goblin
7. Goliath
8. Gnome
   1. Forest
   2. Rock
   3. Deep
9. Orc
   1. Green
   2. Grey
   3. Brown (Half Orc)
10. Aascent
    1. Aasimar
    2. Tiefling
    3. Aardling
    4. Genasi
    5. Ysgardian
11. Shaper
    1. Changeling
    2. Shifter
    3. Transformer

 

[Remathilis]

Human (base)
Elf (high, wood, drow)
Dwarf
Gnome (rock, forest, river)
Halfling
Orc
Dragonborn (scaley representative)
Goliath (large size rep)
Tabaxi (furry rep)
Fairy (flying and fey rep)
Triton (water based rep)
Planetouched (aasimar, tiefling and genasi subtypes)
In addition, a "custom" option with a menu of options currated from the above (plus a few extra) to use to create half-species with.

 

[sevenbastard]

Human
Elf
Dwarf
Halfling

 

[AlViking]

That's easy

1. Human
2. Elf
   1. High
   2. Wood
3. Dwarf
4. Gnome
5. Halfling
6. Half-Elf (use Khoravar)
7. Half-Orc

A note about Half-Orcs, we use the orc traits for now. They aren't full blooded orcs for lore, consistency, origin and thematic reasons. Orcs are similar to Storm Troopers after order 66 (and before they became whatever the heck they are in the more recent movies). They're infantry troops that are effectively manufactured.

Being a Half-Elf or Half-Orc is like a recessive gene, any human or elf can have a child of a mixed species while having other children that are not. In addition there are communities of Half-Elf and Half-Orc although they are rare. I did this because it gives people the option to really lean into the "I don't belong anywhere" option. One of my players is a half-orc child of elven parents.

I kept the other species as is because of tradition and preference, I'd rather not run a kitchen sink campaign and my players have never really pushed for more species.

 

[Stormonu]

1. Human
2. Dwarf
3. Elf
4. Tiefling
5. Dragonborn
6. Halfling
7. Gnome
8. Goblin
9. Kobolds
10. Golilath
11. Warforged (maybe: Soulforged)

Subraces don't exist directly as an ancestral choice, but every race might have sub-feature, some that you choose at first level and some you choose at some points during the first 10 levels.
So, Goblin(oids) might be or become Goblins, Hobgoblins or Bugbears, Aasimar, Tieflings and Dragonborn might choose to grow wings eventually, Elves get more attuned with the Feywild (Eladin/High Elves), the Natural World (Wood Elves), the Sea (Sea ELves) or the Underdark (Drow), Dwarves might focus more on the Underdark (Duergar), the Mountains (Mountain Dwarves) or the City (Hill Dwarves). Humans might choose to be "Half-Humans", accessing features from another ancestry, while Warforged might develop traits from their creator's ancestries or Warforged specific ones.

Subraces can really do a lot of work, and having feats/traits that kick in at 3rd & 5th is also an option that keeps species interesting and relevant. I've often been bothered by the fact that all advancement is tied to class, but past 1st level race rarely evolves, changes or has much of a mechanical impact on a character.

 

[Scribe]

Human (Tiefling, Aasimar, Half-Elf, Half-Orc)
Elf (Astral, Wood, Drow)
Dwarf (Mountain, Hill, Duergar)
Halfling

Goliath (Giant Sub Types)
Genasi (Earth, Fire, Wind, Water)

Orc
Lizardmen

Goblin
Gnome (Forest, Rock, Deep)

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Subraces can really do a lot of work, and having feats/traits that kick in at 3rd & 5th is also an option that keeps species interesting and relevant. I've often been bothered by the fact that all advancement is tied to class, but past 1st level race rarely evolves, changes or has much of a mechanical impact on a character.

A notion I somewhat like for species/subspecies design is to have some part which is a common baseline, something distinctive, and then another part which is flexible on the basis of subspecies.

So, to use Dragonborn as an example, the obvious baseline features definitely need to include Dragon Breath. I personally don't care for the elemental resistance (it basically never comes up IME...), so I'd prefer bringing back some of what 4e did: "surge value" in 4e has no meaning in 5e because 5e jettisoned anything actually functioning like surges, but we can get a weak replacement in the form of hit dice. "When you roll hit dice to regain HP, you add your Con modifier twice, rather than once as is normal." Between those two, and a common core stat (Charisma is the obvious choice), you've got plenty to make the core package work. (I'll also include my favorite race/species rule from 13A, that you get +2 to some stat from your class, and then separately +2 from your species, with both classes and species offering two choices each--so long as the two +2s are different.)

From there, my subspecies would do something like...

Imperial: Your choice of one skill from History, Persuasion, or Insight; if you would also gain Proficiency in the chosen skill from your class or background, you instead have Expertise with it. At 5th level, whenever you roll a skill check with any of these skills in a context of political intrigue or high society norms, you have advantage. You may choose to increase Intelligence instead of Charisma, so long as that differs from your class ability bonus.

Badlands: Your choice of one skill from Athletics, Endurance, or Survival; if you would also gain Proficiency in the chosen skill from your class or background, you instead have Expertise with it. At 5th level, your uncanny survival instincts mean that you can survive on half as much food, water, and sleep as normal (so four hours is a long rest, but you can still only take one each day), and any damage dealt to you which is less than your Constitution modifier does not actually affect you. You may choose to increase Constitution instead of Charisma, so long as that differs from your class ability bonus.

Etc.

Thematic bonuses which communicate the context you came from, and which do grow, at least a little, after you started out. I'm imagining Badlands Dragonborn as resembling thorny devils, having minor adaptations to help them survive in the harsh environments of the desert.