D&D 5E Player's Handbook Races

[Remathilis]

Hmm.. needs a better name than that. "Mongrels" has a pretty negative connotation attached to it. I would go with "The Tainted" or something of that sort, myself.

I kinda came up with it off the top of my head, while "Hellborn" really were a race in 2nd edition (see Guide to Hell)

 

[Shemeska]

This is where I feel the subrace thing will work out.

One subrace of tiefling has a clear lineage: the Hellborn. They are descended from an ancient pact made with devils by an evil empire long ago. Such tieflings have a uniform appearance and characteristics (befitting ones made of LE stock).

While another subrace has a less known origin, the mongrels. Their bloodline is muted with a mix of fiendish and humanoid stock, and while the majority appear mostly human, a small fiendish feature betrays their ancestry. These tieflings lack a uniform characteristic in appearance (and perhaps even in powers) and lack the common cultures the hellborn tieflings have.

So one subrace is for 4e tieflings, the other for 2e/3e ones.

And I'd be fine with that actually.

It's the chance that they reserve the name "tiefling" in 5e to refer exclusively to the outlier (the 4e version) and rename the 2e/3e tiefling to something else that worries me as a gigantic fan of the race.

 

[Quickleaf]

My condolences to the gnome-haters out there.

May this somber but uplifting message help you thru this difficult transition :

[sblock=somber message for gnome-haters]

How can you hate these cheeks? You hardly GNOME! [/sblock]

 

[GreenTengu]

I can totally understand the inclusion of Tiefling over Aasimar. Demons and devils are wide, diverse and have a lot of interesting traits and powers. A person with demonic or devilish blood is immediately apparent.

But angels? Oh, so hopelessly dull. Just removed for inappropriate reference vision of perfect humanity with wings in most depictions. And a halo. And maybe a harp.... and if one is angel-blooded, then they just lose the wings and thus look like removed for inappropriate reference And what are they going to gain from it? A healing spell or some such?....

Seriously-- if they were going to do people with celestial blood, I would want it to be some interesting looking celestial beings! Give them blue skin, black hair that prematurely silvers and whitens (or, better yet, give them feathers for hair!), they can have the big dove wings but also give them a third eye. And when people have their blood, it ought to be just as instantly recognizable as Tieflings are.

But then.... would it still be an Aasimar?

And Dragonborn are in need of a major redesign. The look of Dragonborn screamed that they were designed based on the stats they were willing to give them. Previous D&D editions have had Dragon-humanoids. Dragonlance had Draconians, Faerun had Dragonkin... the Dragonborn ought to have simply united such concepts under a single racial model.

If they are Dragons, less inarguably so than Kobolds, then give them wings! Give them a bit thick tail. It is perfectly find to say that their wings aren't quite powerful enough to carry them and the tails hinder them as much as help them. And they should come in all the varieties of dragon colors. It would then be up to individual campaign settings to make more of the colors or not.

But, really... if one is saying "dragon people" then the image that pops into one's head isn't muddy brown tailless lizard-people with boobs who can belch an almost harmless cloud of flame or ice or whatever once a day. Such a design could only have come about by thinking about how their 4E stats would function first and foremost.

Also, what's with them being super friendly and cuddly with everyone? Being super aligned to being good and faithful and noble and serving humans like puppy dogs? They are the descendants and armies of the biggest, baddest, most powerful creatures in all the land-- and not worthless slaves like the Kobolds. By all rights they should be declaring themselves the masters of the world, forming up armies to expand the area of influence of their masters-- collecting as much treasure as they can and putting down threats before they come anywhere near the dragons. They should be every bit as off-putting and aggressive as any Hobgoblin or Githyanki. Which shouldn't disclude the possibility that one in a hundred might end up becoming a mercenary perfectly happy to work with other races.

But, still-- their alignment and intentions and position in the world was silly. How is a 8' tall, reptillian warrior not going to be arrogant, self-centered, dismissive of "lesser" races and working to build up empires for their own kind? The very word "draconian" both means "dragon-like" and "cold, brutal and oppressive". They would be a hundred fold better with those obvious tweaks.

 

[Charles Wright]

The only reason Angels are dull is because they haven't been written up properly.

It's the short-sightedness of the writers who don't use the suggestions from your third paragraph that supports the common misconceptions you mention you second paragraph.

And yes, they would still be Aasimar, dagnabbit!

 

[Melkor]

I very much liked the Eladrin vs Elf instead of High Elf vs Wood Elf, sad to see it gone. But hey Tieflings so.. !

I had the exact opposite feeling. I was never a fan of the Eladrin.

 

[Shemeska]

I can totally understand the inclusion of Tiefling over Aasimar. Demons and devils are wide, diverse and have a lot of interesting traits and powers. A person with demonic or devilish blood is immediately apparent.

But angels? Oh, so hopelessly dull. Just Nazi Germany's vision of perfect humanity with wings in most depictions. And a halo. And maybe a harp.... and if one is angel-blooded, then they just lose the wings and thus look like an "genetically pure" SS soldier. And what are they going to gain from it? A healing spell or some such?....

Seriously-- if they were going to do people with celestial blood, I would want it to be some interesting looking celestial beings! Give them blue skin, black hair that prematurely silvers and whitens (or, better yet, give them feathers for hair!), they can have the big dove wings but also give them a third eye. And when people have their blood, it ought to be just as instantly recognizable as Tieflings are.

But then.... would it still be an Aasimar?

Aasimars don't have to be descended from angels. There are other celestials, some with less human features than others. Some archons are less human, all of the guardinals have animal features, and the eladrin are more fey than humanoid in appearance. There's a lot of diversity to pick from for aasimars, but in artwork they've often been shown as boringly perfect humans with golden skin, halo, etc.

And there have indeed been aasimars with for instance brilliant green skin and no hair, planetar descended, like Qaida from Planescape (an evil aasimar as well)

 

[Charles Wright]

*nods head at everything Todd is saying*

 

[Kaodi]

Has there ever been a great adventure where aasimar were the main enemy? A cult of aasimar devoted to one of the archdevils who is a fallen celestial would be cool I think.

 

[Charles Wright]

It would! And there should be one like that. Aasimar are no more tied to being Good than Tieflings are tied to being Evil.