D&D 5E (2024) Which races would YOU put into the 50th anniversary Players Handbook?

[Elodan]

Human

Dwarf
Elf
Halfling

Aasimar
Tiefling
Genasi

Dragonborn
Warforged
Gnome

Subraces as cultures of the different races.

 

[Hriston]

1. Human

2. High Elf
3. Hill Dwarf
4. Lightfoot Halfling

5. Goblin
6. Orc
7. Sprite

8. Grey Elf
9. Pixie
10. Rock Gnome

11. Hobgoblin
12. Kobold
13. Orog

 

[FitzTheRuke]

All of them that weren't in Monsters of the Multiverse.

 

[SteveC]

Whatever Alf is.

I just wanted to say that I've had a very serious day and you just let me wash off all of that. In other words: bravo and thanks for making my day a better one.

 

[Corinnguard]

Human
Dwarf
Elf
Gnome
Halfling
Orc

This is the standard line-up for Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition. The only heritage missing from your list is Planetouched.

 

[RuinousPowers]

Human
Genasi (air, earth, fire, water)
Gnome (deep, rock, forest)

Loxodon
Tabaxi
Dragonborn (chromatic, metallic, gem)

Changeling
Warforged
Autognome

Elf (high, wood, drow)
Dwarf (hill, mountain, gray)
Plasmoid

Honestly, I feel compelled to add elves and dwarves out of nostalgia/compliance with the Forgotten Realms, even though I think of them as evolutionary dead-ends, and would like to see the future of the game veer away from Ye Olde Faux Middle Age Britain and into more fantastical settings.

 

[delericho]

The removal of ability score improvements plus the addition of background feats, obsoletes the subraces.

Still the elf does better with two saliently different races:

• elf (astral-ish, teleport, spell-per-day, proficiency swaps, any cantrip)
• elf (wood-ish, elven accuracy, darkvision, speed, any cantrip)

The astral-ish elf covers: astral, eladrin, aevendrow, lorendrow, shadar-kai, pale.

The wood-ish elf covers: wood, high, udadrow, grugach, 3e wild, sea elf (waterbreating cantrip).

I have no real doubt that the PHB we actually get will contain multiple elves. I'd rather it didn't, but the designers' ongoing fetish for elf-love remains strong.

However, one thing I am sure of is that the split between aevendrow, lorendrow and udadrow must be a matter of culture, and not one of subrace - it's problematic to have an all-evil subrace of elves, and splitting that subrace into three doesn't actually fix anything if one of them remains all-evil.

(Actually, I'd like the split between aevendrow, lorendrow and udadrow consigned to the fire, never to be seen again. And whoever came up with those awful names should be banned from using language ever again, as a lesson to others. But that's a whole other rant.)

 

[Horwath]

1; Core
Human
Elf/Eladrin
Dwarf
Orc

2; various half species of humans;
Half-elf
Half-orc
Mul
Aasimar
Tiefling
Dhampir

3; uncommon, not a priority
Dragonborn
Warforged
Shifter
Changeling
Genasi

4; monstrous races;
Goblins
hobgoblins
bugbears
yuan-ti
minoraur
etc...

5; small races, don't really need them
Halfling
gnome

 

[EzekielRaiden]

There are 12 classes, so 12 ancestries makes sense to me.

Human (2 variants)
Elf (3 variants)
Half-Elf
Dragonborn (3 variants)
Tiefling (2 or 3 variants)
Half-orc
Halfling (4 variants: absorbs Gnome)
Dwarf (3 variants)
Genasi (4 variants)
Goliath
Aasimar (possibly 2-3 variants?)
Changeling

Those are the most popular options, with all "subrace" variants combined together, in more-or-less order of popularity on D&D Beyond. It's the data-based approach.

If I had my druthers, we'd probably drop Goliath and put in Minotaur instead, and maybe have Satyr instead of Changeling. But I like more "thematic" options and I find Goliaths and Changelings a bit bland in terms of theme.

Edit: Ah, "subrace" is being elevated, rather than considered to be just a variant. In which case, I guess I have to cut some from the above.

Human (Standard, Variant) [2 total options]
Elf (High, Wood, Drow) [3 total options]
Half-elf
Dragonborn (Metallic, Chromatic, Gem) [3 total options]
Tiefling
Half-Orc
Halfling (Forest/Lightfoot, Plains/Stoutheart, Crags/Defthand, Deep/Ghostwise) [4 total options]
Dwarf (Mountain, Hill, Duergar) [3 total options]
Genasi (Air, Fire, Earth, Water) [4 total options]

That's 22: 2+3+1+3+1 up through Tiefling is 10, and from Half-Orc to Genasi is 1+4+3+4 = 12. Only had to drop Goliath, Changeling, and Tiefling variants. Could reclaim Goliath by dropping Duergar, if necessary.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

3; uncommon, not a priority
Dragonborn

Might be unwise, considering dragonborn are the 4th most popular race in the game as of 2019, after humans collectively, elves collectively, and half-elves. They might not be a priority for you, but they've become a staple race and wildly popular among modern fans. (And, just to be clear, this is not just me being a dragonborn fanatic. I'm legit as surprised as the next person that dragonborn are so popular now. Excluding them would genuinely upset a significant chunk of fans.)