D&D 4E Yuan-Ti should be a PC race in 4e.

[Wolfspider]

Too similar to the dragonborn? Naw...I don't think so. Scales in this case are irrelevent. You might as well complain that elves and dwarves are too similar because they both have skin.

Too similiar to the reimagining of the tiefling? Now I can see that. Both are creatures twisted because of past pacts with otherworldly evil.

 

[Mad Mac]

Also, I think Doug McCrae is correct in saying that Yuan-ti is too similar to the dragonborn.

More like a cross between Tiefling and Dragonborn, I'd say. I think they're a great race to have a monster as PC write-up, but I wouldn't put them high up as a player race. Making a race PC friendly suggests making it something that could fit into towns and such, and the last thing I want to see is a cuddly Yuan-ti.

 

[Nahat Anoj]

I think the yuan-ti would make a great PC race. Some of their racial talents could be gaining more snake-like traits, mesmerism, etc.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

playable yuan-ti´s would be fine.

IIRC there are some nearly human forms of yuan-ti´s that would easily make a nicely playable race. Maybe racial feats could evolve them into real yuan-tis.

And they surely would not be too similar to dragonborn. They have usually been wizards/sorcerers.

 

[Jack99]

Don't get me wrong, while I wouldn't play one myself (not that I get to be player much) and I doubt my players would ask to play one, I don't mind the Yuan-ti getting some spotlight in a book at some point. I just don't see it happening.

A MM or DDI is my guess, or maybe a setting-specific book.

As to their similarity, I was speaking in the broadest of terms, which is how most normal players will view them - two walking and talking "lizard" races

Cheers,

 

[DandD]

However, Yuan-Ti's are a race of evil serpent men united in their goal to conquer the world in the name of their nefarious snake god. And they have magical potions that turn humans into slaves/cultists permanently, so they're a tad more evilish than the new Tieflings seem to become. Not that I approve of the Tiefling too, as horned freaks who are the descendants of evil devil-pact-dealing humans don't seem that much more heroic to me, especially then when the game developers say they want the Tieflings to be "evil-curious", whatever that may mean... It does sound quite negatively for me, at least...

But if one would be to play an evil campaign, they would actually be fun, I guess...

 

[Tewligan]

However, Yuan-Ti's are a race of evil serpent men united in their goal to conquer the world in the name of their nefarious snake god. And they have magical potions that turn humans into slaves/cultists permanently, so they're a tad more evilish than the new Tieflings seem to become. Not that I approve of the Tiefling too, as horned freaks who are the descendants of evil devil-pact-dealing humans don't seem that much more heroic to me, especially then when the game developers say they want the Tieflings to be "evil-curious", whatever that may mean... It does sound quite negatively for me, at least...

I agree with this. Yuan-ti are a little TOO evil to be a PC race. Plus, they'd fit even less with an S&S campaign - S&S is about fighting mysterious ancient evils, not being a mysterious ancient evil who shoulders his backpack and goes on a quest with a few of his adventurer buddies.

 

[arscott]

Er, aren't serpent men usually prevalent in Sword&Sorcery as the Bad Guys? I mean, Yuan-ti are cool and all, but that coolness comes largely from the same thing that makes them unsuitable as a PC race.

(Of course, the same could probably be said for Drow, and it's not like anybody plays them as PCs...)

 

[Sitara]

Their pc write up could come handy in many ways. For instance, a party of adventurers goes of treasure hunting, unbeknowing that one of them is secretly not all that she seems......*cue spooky, slithery music*

And hey, who doesn't like the idea of that scantily clad lady turning into a slithering horror!

 

[Incenjucar]

Honestly, yuan-ti deserve their own book along the lines of I, Tyrant, etc. They're an extremely versatile racial concept which shows up in one form or another in many different media, from horror movies to He-Man. In such a... Serpenomicon or whatever, would be a good place to insert PC stats for them, for different levels of snakiness -- the scaly human and bipedal serpent types are distinct enough to get their own adjustments.