D&D 5E What races do you expect to see in the core books?

[ppaladin123]

Why would we need to wait for an FR book for genasi? Genasi originated in Planescape in the Planewalker's Handbook, and didn't show up in FR till 2001's 'Monsters of Faerun'. I'm not sure why they showed up in that book though to be honest versus something more thematically appropriate like the 3e MotP, but they did.

I'm thinking we'll get a FR book first given the sundering/dragon campaign they decided to launch with 5e. That is also where they were introduced in 4e.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

Any polls that were ever conducted on forums, that I saw, never had dragonborn and tieflings from 4th edition to be popular at all.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

If draconians aren't going to be playable, I agree Frankly the most interesting part of most old school draconians was their death throes, not exactly something useful for most PCs.



No, they don't do that kind of thing. The flavor split between eladrin and "wild" elves will probably never go away (that went back to Tolkien) but the rules can markedly vary among editions.

The draconians in the 3rd edition Dragonlance book were fantastic.

 

[the Jester]

Near the end of 4e, draconians became playable dragonborn subtypes.

In effect, now draconians are Dragonlance's version of the dragonborn. As DL was never officially published for 4e, they became a bit unmoored from their previous flavor.

Whoa, I stand corrected!

That seems just... silly to me, though. Draconians are quite specific and their coolest ability doesn't trigger until they die! This sounds like one of those ill-conceived shoehornings we sometimes see.

Do 5E Gray Elves teleport? Despite having been playing 5E for a little while now, I haven't read much of the material in depth.

No, but it sounds like a perfectly valid race-specific feat to me.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Whoa, I stand corrected!

That seems just... silly to me, though. Draconians are quite specific and their coolest ability doesn't trigger until they die! This sounds like one of those ill-conceived shoehornings we sometimes see.

Each draconian subrace had three or so abilities, which you traded on a 1 to 1 basis. For instance, a dragonborn fire sorcerer in my game took the bozak subrace to increase his arcane damage, but doesn't explode into a poisonous cloud (or is it just bones?) when he drops.

I guess I'm saying I felt like 4e just stole the names. I would be quite happy to see 4e draconian monsters (I've built a few) but don't see any need for them to be playable, not even in my current evil campaign.

No, but it sounds like a perfectly valid race-specific feat to me.

I like the idea of a teleporting feat too. The original "all eladrins can teleport" thing didn't strike me as very flavorful (although it's certainly very tactical).

 

[the Jester]

Each draconian subrace had three or so abilities, which you traded on a 1 to 1 basis. For instance, a dragonborn fire sorcerer in my game took the bozak subrace to increase his arcane damage, but doesn't explode into a poisonous cloud (or is it just bones?) when he drops.

I guess I'm saying I felt like 4e just stole the names. I would be quite happy to see 4e draconian monsters (I've built a few) but don't see any need for them to be playable, not even in my current evil campaign.

Absolutely, and IIRC the draconians appear (as monsters, not playable races- though I might be misremembering) in Draconomicon 2.

I like the idea of a teleporting feat too. The original "all eladrins can teleport" thing didn't strike me as very flavorful (although it's certainly very tactical).

I always thought of it (based on the name "fey step") as them taking a step through the Feywild, so I always liked the flavor.

 

[Ichneumon]

I only get cranky for important stuff, like a bar not having my favorite beer on tap. So I'll accept whatever race set ends up in the PHB graciously. That's said, here's my predictions.

The four core, two half-races, gnome and tiefling are a given. For the tiefling, they could do worse than provide 'diabolic' and 'demonic' tiefling subraces. While it may be a little untraditional for some tastes, I believe the tiefling has to be there: denying new players the Tiefling Warlock is unforgivable.

Dragonborn are very likely to join the core and make it nine. When I played 4e, dragonborn were one thing: popular as hell. They fill the spot of big, hefty race very nicely. Dragonlance deserve to have a separate draconian race done for them, which substitutes for the dragonborn much as the kender will substitute for the halfling.

What about drow? There's a chance they may be reserved for the Forgotten Realms, but I say go on, put them in the PHB. They're a very popular race and lots of players will love their inclusion. DMs and groups who feel they should be villain-only can omit them as a PC choice.

 

[The Human Target]

I only get cranky for important stuff, like a bar not having my favorite beer on tap. So I'll accept whatever race set ends up in the PHB graciously. That's said, here's my predictions.

The four core, two half-races, gnome and tiefling are a given. For the tiefling, they could do worse than provide 'diabolic' and 'demonic' tiefling subraces. While it may be a little untraditional for some tastes, I believe the tiefling has to be there: denying new players the Tiefling Warlock is unforgivable.

Dragonborn are very likely to join the core and make it nine. When I played 4e, dragonborn were one thing: popular as hell. They fill the spot of big, hefty race very nicely. Dragonlance deserve to have a separate draconian race done for them, which substitutes for the dragonborn much as the kender will substitute for the halfling.

What about drow? There's a chance they may be reserved for the Forgotten Realms, but I say go on, put them in the PHB. They're a very popular race and lots of players will love their inclusion. DMs and groups who feel they should be villain-only can omit them as a PC choice.

See you're not doing it right.

What people other than you want shouldn't matter, and everything from 4e was terrible.

 

[Ichneumon]

See you're not doing it right.

What people other than you want shouldn't matter, and everything from 4e was terrible.

I never do it right - forgot the deal breakers as well!

 

[Mistwell]

Anyone who gets cranky because they included a race that person doesn't like, is probably someone I don't want to game with. Or at least, someone who needs to chill.

I'd prefer they simply over-include, if possible. Label things advanced, or setting-specific, or whatever, but give people enough races to convert from any edition's core races.