D&D 5E Races/Classes - Revisiting Common/Uncommon and Rare

[Sadrik]

So this is for a typical fantasy game by my estimation. I made a couple of changes though, gnomes are 1/2lings, goblins have three subtypes, many of the odd races are humans - bred with demons (teifling), bred with dragons (dragonborn), etc. Also Death Clerics and Oathbreaker Paladins are included.

The other thing, this is typical, things can change based on location. The underdark, for instance, moves dark elves and their ilk toward more common and other races to more rare. Other than that, this is a pretty good representation from my perspective.

Common - Ubiquitous (>40%, Greater than 4 in 10)
Races: Human/Standard, Human/Variant
Monster Races: Goblin/Standard, Kobold, Orc
Classes: Cleric/Knowledge, Cleric/Life, Fighter/Battlemaster, Fighter/Champion, Rogue/Assassin, Rogue/Thief, Wizard/Illusion, Wizard/Evocation

Uncommon - A minority population (<40%, Less than 4 in 10)
Races: Dwarf/Hill, Dwarf/Mountain, Elf/High, Elf/Wood, Halfling/Gnome Forrest, Halfling/Gnome Rock, Halfling/Lightfoot, Halfling/Stout
Monster Races: Gnoll, Goblin/Bugbear, Goblin/Hobgoblin, Lizardfolk
Classes: Barbarian/Berserker, Bard/Lore, Bard/Valor, Cleric/Nature, Cleric/War, Fighter/Eldritch Knight, Paladin/Devotion, Ranger/Beast Master, Ranger/Hunter, Rogue/Arcane Trickster, Wizard/Abjuration, Wizard/Conjuration, Wizard/Divination, Wizard/Enchantment, Wizard/Necromancy, Wizard/Transmutation

Rare - "Oh wow look its a..." (<1%, Less than 1 in 100)
Races: Dwarf/Deep, Elf/Dark, Halfling/Gnome Deep, Human/Half-Elf, Human/Half-Orc
Monster Races: Aarakocra, Bullywug, Kenku, Kuo-Toa, Merfolk, Troglodyte
Classes: Barbarian/Totem Warrior, Cleric/Tempest, Cleric/Trickery, Druid/Land, Druid/Moon, Paladin/Ancients, Paladin/Vengeance

Very Rare - "What the heck are you..." (<0.001%, Less than 1 in 100,000)
Races: Elf/Eladrin, Human/Aasimar, Human/Dragonborn, Human/Teifling
Monster Races: Illithid
Classes: Cleric/Death, Monk/Four Elements, Monk/Open Hand, Monk/Shadow, Paladin/Oathbreaker, Sorcerer/Draconic, Sorcerer/Wild Magic, Warlock/Archfey,
Warlock/Fiend, Warlock/Great Old One

 

[Saeviomagy]

You must have quite a low esteem for Rangers if you equate them to trappers or "someone who knows the woods"

"Someone who is good at hunting beasts and knows forests well" basically encompasses a first level ranger's class abilities. It seems odd to me to say that PC's can't be that archetype because it is rare.

But I think the problem is probably that everybody equates Fighters to "someone who knows how to swing a sword", and then assume every guard in town or soldier in the army is of the Fighter class.

In an edition where the monsters and NPC explicitly don't follow the same rules as the PC, anybody who is not a PC doesn't have to be anything...

And therefore no PC classes are ever common, and most of this thread is moot. That's sort of my point - if common/uncommon are only applying to PC classes, there are all sorts of problems with that. If you apply them to archetypes, that's a bit more understandable, but it would seem to me that classifying rangers as uncommon under that scheme is a bit odd, unless your ranger archetype has some setting specific fluff like having to be last in the line of long lost kings or whatever.

 

[Joe Liker]

I find it's best to let the players decide what kind of world they want to adventure in. Arbitrary class/race restrictions only serve to frustrate players who want to play a certain character concept.

If all the players are on board with certain restrictions, sure, go for it. But I'd make sure to explain the situation as you invite them to the campaign. It would be unfair to have everyone meet up and then spring such significant house rules on them. Some players might feel pressured into going along with it, only to lose interest after a session or two because they are not invested in their character.

Better yet, get player input as you build the world. That way, you know what's fun for them, and you can tweak the setting to meet the needs of everyone, not just the DM.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I'll note that I presume clerics are pretty readily accessible. Monks are bloody rare. This is because asceticism is historically rare, and when it occurs, it's mostly clerical; martial-asceticism is pretty rare outside china.

It depends upon your world design presumptions - and notably Monks tend to be exceptions to many rules simply because they are obviously based upon eastern traditions rather than western medieval ones as the rest are.

In western medieval times, actual ascetic monks (who have made a vow of poverty, or whatever, and live in monasteries) are quite a lot more common than ordained priests (Clerics) - it’s just they don’t tend to practice kung fu!

It’s a leap of fantasy to have them become unarmed combatants as they are in the game - then again, everything else in the game is a leap of fantasy too!

In my world, my rational is to look at who could possibly take that path outlined in the Class. A Wizard, for example could only get that way through dedicated, intense study and a serious mind (high INT) - whereas a Warlock on the other hand merely needs to get access towards making a pact with an otherworldly source. Which is more common? Similarly, a Monk gets that way through dedicated, intense physical training and an insightful mind (High WIS), but a Cleric needs to forge a direct communion with a diety. Which is more common?

There isn’t a right answer to this, just questions to consider when creating your world.

 

[Shiroiken]

Class and Race restrictions help to keep the campaign focused on the style and theme the DM has chosen. While they can be overdone/abused, I feel that too many people overlook this useful tool because of a vocal few.

The best thing you can do is provide a Campaign Handout when you announce the game. It should provide all house-rules and variants used, as well as instruct the players as to the style and theme of the game. That way everyone knows what to expect and can build characters accordingly, should they choose to play.

 

[SirAntoine]

Ah see to me 'rarity' applies not to classes but to archetypes. The average man on the street can't tell the difference between an an NPC guard or veteran and a fighter, nor can they distinguish between a thug and a rogue or a scout and a ranger, at least without witnessing them achieving something out of the ordinary. Others here seem to be assuming that a rogue is some sort of elite thug that can be identified with ease (and the same for other archetypes)

The locals in a given area usually know all the other locals, first of all. Second in terms of their ability to identify people is how they are dressed and equipped. Most people who live in town wouldn't be armed, and even average soldiers wouldn't have expensive armor, so anyone with both sticks out and is uncommon to rare. A man who "knows the woods", like a trapper, is common, but no more so than the average "fighting man". This is because the average fighting man in D&D does not have a warrior's profession at all. The average fighting man would be a serf or peasant conscripted and maybe part of a militia. They respond when needed, but they are not professional soldiers. So someone who visibly appeared to be a trapper, is quite common, but every man of the town needs to contribute to its defense.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I want my players to play the class/race that they really want to play--if we can fit it into my campaign world, we will.

I had a player in a multi-year campaign play a half-drow wizard. She had white hair and dark skin, so she passed as a half-wood-elf, half moon-elf. She didn't fool all of the NPC's, and eventually the other players figured it out.* But it was a great character for that player. She really enjoyed trying to fool everyone, and roleplaying out "discrimination" by higher level NPC's. Of course, she was Chaotic Good, not evil. That made a big difference.

It prompted some great roleplaying, as one of the characters was an "elfy" elf from Evermeet and had a vicious hatred of all drow. The conflict, mistrust, trust-building, and eventual acceptance really added nice depth to the game.


*In 3.5E, half drow had "Detect Good," as a racial ability. So the character would occasionally "Detect Evil" when the party asked her to. It didn't work out perfectly, so after a while the other PC's noticed something was odd.