5e Races You're Likely To Play?
GenderNihilismGirdle
Member Posts: 1,353
This is a companion poll to the classes one, I'm curious as to what races 5e has presented us with so far all of us are most interested in playing! All are Player's Handbook races unless otherwise indicated, DMG is Dungeon Master's Guide and EEPC is the Elemental Evil Player's Companion (gonna squish those all in to one option, so make sure to comment with which one if one of those has your vote).
Oh, and mention a subrace if that's a thing for you (i.e. if you want to play a drow or svirfneblin, pick the race and let us know in the thread that you have a specific Underdark subrace in mind) and also yes before any smartypants wanna school me: I know there's a subrace in the EEPC (svirfneblin) and the DMG (eladrin), but that's covered under the race in question!
Oh, and mention a subrace if that's a thing for you (i.e. if you want to play a drow or svirfneblin, pick the race and let us know in the thread that you have a specific Underdark subrace in mind) and also yes before any smartypants wanna school me: I know there's a subrace in the EEPC (svirfneblin) and the DMG (eladrin), but that's covered under the race in question!
- 5e Races You're Likely To Play?33 votes
- Dwarf15.15%
- Elf6.06%
- Halfling3.03%
- Human15.15%
- Dragonborn9.09%
- Gnome9.09%
- Half-Elf15.15%
- Half-Orc9.09%
- Aasimar (DMG), Tiefling12.12%
- Aarakocra (EEPC), Genasi (EEPC), Goliath (EEPC)6.06%
1
Comments
I'm tossin' my weight behind Genasi, as I've always had a fondness for 'em ever since I played a Calimport native fire genasi wizard back in 3e (not 3.5 mind you, this is before those days), but I'm not particularly interested in Goliath and would probably never play an Aarakocra (or take a long time to get around to an Aarakocra playthrough anyway).
My 2nd choice would probably be a human just because I know I play them a lot and so I'm pretty likely to play one at some point...or maybe half-orc or tiefling since I'd be interested to see if Beamdog has NPCs react to that choice! But I know if Genasi makes it into the options I can choose from, I'm probably going to want to pick that and do an air genasi archer of some kind on my first playthrough.
I don't like it that the 5e Aarakocra got their winged arms split into two separat limbs. The previous editions had it right.
I'd also play elves. Or genasi.
But if I had to choose 1, Half-elf would get my vote due to the versatility of the race. Two ability skills to increase by 1 and two skills of your choice to be proficient in. Add a free language after common and elvish, you can create almost any type of character within the handbook rules.
I guess there aren't a huge number of 5th edition splatbooks out yet, which makes the selection of additional races a bit skewed.
I can't see any of those making it into a new BG game though. SCL couldn't even get in all the core races.
Anyway, I'd post anything but Dragonborn or the awful and boring 4th edition tieflings.
And maybe Arraaoocokra. But that's mostly because they have such a dumb sounding name. Makes me think more of a parrot or the idiot pelican from that Disney movie with the mice in Australia than it makes me think of mighty bird-of-prey-men or clever crow-people or any other cool kind of bird.
About genasis though, I haven't read that supplement. Die they return them to their original concept or did they keep the 4th edition ones?
I agree a poll option with a "select a top [x number] out of 10" or "select all you'd want" would be a cool thing for the forum to have! Any one in particular you lean to more than others for this format tho?
I looked up the Genasi and it definitely looks like the went back towards their classic depictions, which I really like. If I absolutely had to choose, though, I'd probably go with human or halfling. Those are the races I play the most, after all, so it would probably be fitting.
(When in doubt, always go halfling)
Since not all tieflings are of the blood of Asmodeus, some have traits that differ from those in the Player's Handbook. The Dungeon Master may permit the following variants for your tiefling character, although Devil's Tongue, Hellfire, and Winged are mutually exclusive.
Appearance. Your tiefling might not look like other tieflings. Rather than having the physical characteristics described in the Player's Handbook, choose 1d4+1 of the following features: small horns; fangs or sharp teeth; a forked tongue; catlike eyes; six fingers on each hand; goat-like legs; cloven hoofs; a forked tail; leathery or scaly skin; red or dark blue skin; cast no shadow or reflection; exude a smell of brimstone.
Feral. Your Intelligence score increases by 1, and your Dexterity score increases by 2. This trait replaces the Ability Score Increase trait.
Devil's Tongue. You know the vicious mockery cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the charm person spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the enthrall spell once with this trait. You must finish a long rest to cast these spells once again with this trait. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for them. This trait replaces the Infernal Legacy trait.
Hellfire. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the burning hands spell once per day as a 2nd-level spell. This trait replaces the hellish rebuke spell of the Infernal Legacy trait.
Winged. You have bat-like wings sprouting from your shoulder blades. You have a flying speed of 30 feet. This trait replaces the Infernal Legacy trait.
It's worth noting that the DMG does outline how to create replacement traits like this for any race, so it wouldn't be that hard to cook up additional house-ruled Yugoloth or Tanar'ri flavoured replacements for Infernal Legacy in the same vein as these.
However, I personally much regret that post Valen Shadowbreath and Neeska - Neverwinternights universe really - we have not enjoyed any tiefling character of note in RPGS. And I really liked them both, a lot!
Unless I have happily missed some!
I know I'll end up playing a Dwarven Cleric of Moradin or Dwarven Fighter if they include a Dwarven Defender style companion in the next game that's romanceable...but I'll probably end up playing a Genasi, Tiefling, Half-Orc and Half-Elf before I get there just 'cause I've got some definite concepts in mind to play already that demand to be played first.