D&D 5E What race for Druid?

[Sacrosanct]

I have to say, I disagree. The fluff can be made to fit any combination (IMO its even more fun to try to make a back-story for a miss-matched race/class/background). But you can't make a optimized character design fit all race/class/background combos.

I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with. I said that if he's putting the primary focus on min/maxing rather than fluff, I can't help because I don't play that way. I didn't say he couldn't have fluff, just that the priority is on the numbers rather than the role-playing part of it. Your statement of "fluff can me made to fit...." doesn't contradict that.

However, that being said, when I think about it, I think that in some circumstances you can't force the fluff to fit with the most min/maxed version. So maybe you preemptively disagreed?

For example, if I want to play a PC who is a half orc, a lone child survivor from a raid and grew up to be a druid of the land in the wilds, that cannot be forced into any of the optimized builds you just posted. In fact, a common response to that would be, "why would you want a half orc? The don't get the stat bonuses for your class and you're not gonna be a front line fighter so you're wasting the half orc abilities."

 

[Zaruthustran]

Actually, Sacrosanct, Half Orc is a pretty solid Druid build. Relentless Endurance is an amazing combo with Wild Shape.

More to the point, though: I think what he disagreed with was the OP asked for an effective build, and your initial comment kind of pooh-poohed min/maxing by painting a false dichotomy of min/max vs flavor. They're not mutually exclusive.

And, again, the OP asked for advice on efficacy so it's kind of a record-scratch to diss efficacy.

 

[Snapdragyn]

I'm currently working up a druid build as well, so I can share what I've got going.

I initially wanted to go tiefling. I loved the contrast between 'stereotypical druid' & 'stereotypical tiefling'. However, the more I looked at it, the more I worried about what I would be missing out on that way. Starting WIS of 15 - vs. 16 for human, wood elf, or hill dwarf. No starting feat (human variant). Racial abilities not that great for a druid (other than darkvision - but plenty of races offer that).

I finally went with human, & took the variant. For starting feat I had initially thought Resilient (Constitution) to help with maintaining concentration while wildshaped (I plan to go Circle of the Moon). However, I've since read about the advantages of Magic Initiate, and selecting Mage Armor as the 1/day first level spell. That's AC 13 + Dex for 8 hours, no concentration, & it remains through wildshaping! Although I can't wear armor in human form without dropping the spell, I can use a shield - so my 'human form' AC actually ends up 1 point higher than it would've with armor anyway. Score! Resilient will still be a great feat for later, but definitely starting with this one.

Finally, for background I looked to what would help me get the 'must have' skills I wanted: Nature, Survival, Perception, & Religion. Three of those I can get through class + human, so I only needed a background that provided any 1 of the 4 - plus a nice bit of flavor. Outlander would be a good fit for my 'wild man of the frozen wastes' concept, but I don't care for the musical instrument thing - seems a wasted proficiency slot. Acolyte - meh, not quite how I picture the character (but a good effective choice). Hermit - for a home game, I probably would, depending on what the DM would do for a 'hermit secret'; for Adventurer's League play that I'm building the character for, that feature seems pointless. I finally settled on Folk Hero - with the idea that he's a bit of a spoiled sort, with the whole 'hero of the tribe' thing going to his head.

So - Hrath Winter's Chosen, favored of Auril. Winter is coming - with his help.

 

[GreenTengu]

If you are a powergamer, then human. Always human. Unless your game is going to be taking place underground and will involve stealth then always, always human.

If you aren't a power gamer?

Well then, consider what flavor mixes well with Druids.

Wood Elf is an obvious choice. They are already thematically about living in the forests and being in tune with nature.
High Elves and Drow are generally bad choices because High Elves are thematically about being clean, snooty and generally aloof. While it isn't inconceivable for one to become a Druid, it wouldn't fit quite so neatly and you'd probably end up just playing him like a Wood Elf anyway. Drow are all about living in underground cities within giant lifeless caverns. While that might technically be a place of nature, it really isn't much of a place of life and so, again, you'd probably just end up seeming like a purple-skinned Wood Elf that no one likes.

Forest Gnome is the #2 most likely Druid candidate. Again, they already have the hook of empathy with forest animals. They are a perfect fit for Druid.
Rock Gnomes are a particularly poor choice, particularly now that the race's only offering in terms of flavor if offering you techno gadgets and that couldn't be more opposed to Druid.

Half-Orcs would be a great choice. In this case the "Druid" class is a stand-in for Shaman. One could easily imagine a Half-Orc born among Orcs who is deeply in-tune with the spirits and becomes the tribal Shaman.

Hill Dwarfs are obviously more suitable than Mountain Dwarfs, however Druids being at peace with nature and living in the present massively conflicts with pretty much every basic character concept offered by Dwarfs. No matter how often you describe your character as a Dwarf, you'll have a hell of a time selling it.

Halflings... well... either one will do, really. The Halfing subtypes are horrible indistinct. One is thinner, one is bulkier. Since they are generally stand-ins for the common folk, it isn't difficult to imagine Halflings adopting a pagan-like nature/spirit faith that probably starts with herbalism and ends up blossoming into Druidic arts. There could certainly then be Halfling hamlets where Druidism is the main faith or maybe in others the Druid is the weird witch who lives on the edge of town and sometimes people consult her when they have problems.

Half-Elves can obviously be whatever you want because they are the "blah... whatever" race.
Tieflings and Dragonborn? Look... legally you can connect them, but one would have a hell of a time causing the race and class concepts to coexist in a single character.

Forest Goblins, Orcs of any sort and Gnolls are obviously great Druid races as well, though there are no official stats for them yet.