What are your core races?

[Zardnaar]

In a vacuum human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling but I would add Gnome, Half Elf, and Half Orc to that list- basically the 1st ed and 3rd ed PHBs.

 

[RedGalaxy00]

For me... The choices are simple. It depends on the campaign world I'm playing in, and since I make my own campaign worlds, it has varied greatly. However, my most common choices are...

Human: Simple, and easy to incorporate 99% of the time.

Elf: Also simple, as well as classic. Plus, I have half-decent player who won't play any other race... period. (Should change that... kill his current character, and have him resurrected as a Gnome, or a Dwarf. speaking of...)

Dwarf: Never used by players, but always featured heavily in the over-arching adventure some how.

Halfling: Usually used by some player, usually as a fighter, cleric, or monk (surprisingly never a rogue, though).

Gnomes: My personal favorite race, and like Dwarves, hardly ever chosen by a player, but featured often in my main adventure somehow.

Orc: Never big evil dumb brutes, but more traveling nomads, who don't have a place to call home. (I blame elder scrolls for this... rather, I thank elder scrolls for this.) Though, I do homebrew away the -2 wis that they they have naturally.

HobGoblins/Goblins: Though never chosen, I leave the choice open, because I always hear my players talking about interesting ideas that they want to do with a character of these races, and I'm hoping that one day they will.

Half-Races: Half-Elf and Half-Orc are just the top of this list. I've created a Half-Dwarf, a Half-Halflings (called Quarterlings by the group), and a Half-Gnome (which are actually pretty neat, if I do say so myself.) Now, I'm sure someone else has created half races before, but they were some of the first things I ever homebrewed, and they have changed a bit over time, so they fit more in line with the other races.

 

[RHGreen]

CORE

Dwarf
Elf
Human
Halfling

*(Sub-races should not be actual races. They should be racial options. Like feats. This would mean you could easily create an Elf that is Half Wood Elf and Half Drow. These options should be open to Half-Elves as well meaning you would have Half-Drow, Half-Wood Elf, Half-High Elf, etc. Isn't Bilbo half Baggins and half Took?)

SECONDARY

Half-Elf
Half-Orc

TERTIARY

Kender
Dragonborn/Draconian
Half-Ogre
Tiefling
Gnome
Warforged

 

[Lalato]

I think pc races are very heavy influenced by the campaign setting, but if I were king for a day and could write the race section of the PHB...

First, I would rewrite the origins of Orcs. They would still be the big, brutish guys, but I wouldn't make them "evil". They would just be another race to contend with. I would actually make them as ancient as Elves. Basically they would be two sides of a coin. The two oldest races... that are now in decline as the younger races make their mark on the world stage.

Human, it's the most boring race, but the one most will gravitate towards.
Elf, as noted above
Orc, as noted above
Dwarf, if you think about it... they're basically pygmy Orcs... maybe they're even descended from Orcs
Gnome, if you think about it... they're basically pygmy Elves... maybe they're even descended from Elves

Half-races... This is tricky... but here's my take on half-races. Allow them, but if you allow one, you should allow them all... Half-Elf (Human/Elf), Mul (Human/Dwarf), Halfling (Human/Gnome), Half-Orc (Human/Orc).

The other stuff would be optional... tiefling, planetouched, dragonborn/draconians, etc.

 

[RHGreen]

While we are on the topic of races I would just like to say something about humans I'm sure I've posted in the past. Can we please make humans in such a way that they are not the boring middle race.

Human Benefits:

Tall, well built, curious, inventive, ambitious and expansive.

Longbows - Only Humans and Half-elves are big enough to use Longbows and we invented them. One of the reasons we are a power in the world. (Elves can use hunting bows and shortbows, halfings and dwarves can use shortbows.)

Crossbows - Humans invented the crossbow, are the greatest Artillators and are the only race tall and strong enough to lug around and use the Arbalest. Another reason we are a power in the world.

Ships - Humans are the greatest ship builders. Elves have beautiful swan ships and halflings like their barges and river boats, but humans excel at warships and long distance trade and world exploration. Dwarves dislike the whole subject.

Full Suit Armour - Humans are the greatest at creating articulated full plate armour. Dwarves have tradition perfectly created piece armour, but have become stale in its development. Human's tall and relatively thin frames, yet bulk strength are the best of all the races for wearing articulated full plate armour. Yet another reason for our upcoming dominance.

Warhorses and Chivalry - Humans dominate when it comes to breeding and riding the heavy warhorse.

 

[John Quixote]

Well, thematically, they were always standing on each others toes... and the gnome had shoes. Call it natural selection.

IMC "halfling" is just a nickname for young, beardless, adventuring gnomes who haven't found a hobby yet (be it magic, tinkering, gem-cutting, cooking, gardening...), finding a hobby being an important part of gnome culture. I suggested giving the title of "Hobbied" to those who had (yes, I'm hilarious like that) but it didn't stick for some reason. Thievery not counting as an acceptable vocation, even older rogue gnomes are often still called halflings.

That is awesome and I'm totally nicking that idea for my next campaign.

 

[saskganesh]

I'm Old School, so my default is the classics. But I am totally open to Other as a Core as well.

We'll sit down and talk about it. We can make something up that should work.

My current game is mostly Human. This may sound bland but there's several different, strongly defined cultures. It's very diverse. There's also been a Half Elf, a Dwarf and currently, an Elf.

 

[NewJeffCT]

I was just kind of wondering the same thing when I saw the Kender thread. My core list would be:

Human
Elf
Dwarf
Half-elf
Half-orc
Halfling

That list is only if I were going to bother defining a core list of races. I'm more a fan of the Savage Species outlook - if a player wants to play a character of any race, why shouldn't they? I think if the game were designed with that view from the ground up, you'd find consistency across creatures and a mechanism for designing appropriately powered versions of very powerful creatures that would still be more or less balanced with the rest of the group. While obviously the DM would limit options based on the campaign, I'd be psyched to see a SS-type take on race incorporated into the core rules.

Those would be my core races as well. Gnomes, Dragonborn, Tiefling, Kender, Grumpy Cats, Goliaths, Shifters, etc can be optional races for down the road in PHB2 and PHB3.

 

[Dungeoneer]

Those would be my core races as well. Gnomes, Dragonborn, Tiefling, Kender, Grumpy Cats, Goliaths, Shifters, etc can be optional races for down the road in PHB2 and PHB3.

If I get to play a Grumpy Cat Cleric I will endorse you as lead designer for 6e!

 

[Dungeoneer]

Dragonborn: How did it take four editions for this to happen?! The game is called Dungeons and Dragons!

Word.