D&D General What 3 Races Would You Spotlight in a New Campaign?

[Tonguez]

Great question. I would probably go with the top five, rather than the top three. Five is more dynamic and probably more suitable for diverse world. Three is more focused, and tends to be directionless and comedic.

For the 5e 2024 default, the top five are: Elf, Human, Tiefling, Dwarf, and Dragonborn − in this order.

Since the Elf species is present in this postapocalypse, the default five are probably good enough. Fey Elf, Fiend Tiefling, and perhaps Elemental Dwarf, suggest the cause of the apocalypse is the planar levels of being went awry. Humans and Dragonborns would be the natives of the Material Plane. Perhaps bad behavior among Humans and Dragonborns is what wrecked the planes, causing thoughts, dreams, and reality to bleed into each other.

I'm curious (especially given you have four Human-like races) why you would make Dragonborn native to the material plane alongside humans?

 

[GrimCo]

Humans. Cause like Agent Smith said, we are like virus.

Orcs - short lived, brutal, similar to humans, they procreate and mature very fast, compatible with human

Halflings- small, self reliant and mostly agricultural, close knit communities, large families, live under ground

My pick is on races that could reproduce fast enough to replace population lost in whatever apocalyptical event hit their world. Races like dwarfs and elves, even gnomes, live too long and take too long to reach maturity.

Asimar, dragonborn, tieflings are more or less just mutated humans.

 

[Bitbrain]

I messed up my OP I meant non phb races derp. Nevermibd I'll roll with it thanks for ideas so far.

Edit. Fallout/Darksun inspired.

And here I was doing everything I could to AVOID jumping straight to Dark Sun.

Ah, well. It’s all good.

 

[Mind of tempest]

look I am killing gnomes halflings and elves
I want dragon-born, goliaths and something really different.
maybe see what I can do with dwarves and changelings but I might swap them for other things if they would work better.

 

[CreamCloud0]

the OP seems a little unclear on what exactly they're asking for but:

halflings. goblins/hobs and warforged.

halflings and goblinoids are both small and sneaky and can find cover more easily, halflings had their natural luck to help them pull through while goblins were already used to existing in harsh conditions and hobs helped them pull together to survive as a unit, warforged survived due to their artificial nature thriving in a resource scarse environment.

if i were adding a fourth i think i might add the harengon, being based on a prey species specialised in perception and mobility seems like something apt to survive.

 

[Shardstone]

Aasimar, Shadar-Kai, Yuan-Ti. It'd be so stylish.

 

[Yaarel]

I'm curious (especially given you have four Human-like races) why you would make Dragonborn native to the material plane alongside humans?

I consider Dragons to be native to the Material Plane.

Dragons psychologically personify every kind instinctive fear.
• Fear of snakes
• Fear of fire
• Fear of poison
• Fear of predators, lion, wolf
• Fear of birds of prey, eagles, fear of heights, cliffs
• Fear of the night, bat
• Fear of the deep water, fish, seaserpent

And more.

• Even weirdly fear of spiders could make sense as part of a Dragon amalgam.


To me this instinctive fear feels inherent to nature and the physical world. It has an animistic vibe.

Huh. The Dragon is "primal fears", and literally uses the Primal power source. It is a kind of soul, a self.


Recently, 5e has been leaning into both the Dragon and the Giant as being part of the origins of the Material Plane. This works.

I also view the Giants as Primal. I see them as animistic ghost-like manifestations of the souls of mountains, lakes, and other features of nature. If one talks to particular mountain, its soul is paying attention, and can manifest as a Giant.

 

[Aldarc]

Probably dwarves with their mountain strongholds as impenetrable underground bunkers / fallout shelters and resistance to (nuclear) poisoning. Not sure about the other two ancestries.

Following Dark Sun, I would make humans the mutants, possibly an off-branch of halflings. Likewise, elves are probably prone to mutation given the sheer number of elf varieties out there.

 

[Yaarel]

Aasimar, Shadar-Kai, Yuan-Ti. It'd be so stylish.

Add the cybernetic Warforged and the foursome somehow has a Matrix vibe.

 

[Tonguez]

if i were adding a fourth i think i might add the harengon, being based on a prey species specialised in perception and mobility seems like something apt to survive.

I'm kinda suprised no ones nominated the obligatory Thr-kreen Cockroach survivor