I think the Drow subdivisions are not a mechanical/rule ones, but a backstory/origin ones. They allow you to differentiate between Underdark Lolth-worshipping classic drows and "surface" drows because there´s no specific background for that.
That would be a good move, surface drow are far more interesting at this point than another one of the countless evil lolth drow.
I think the Drow subdivisions are not a mechanical/rule ones, but a backstory/origin ones. They allow you to differentiate between Underdark Lolth-worshipping classic drows and "surface" drows because there´s no specific background for that.
Yeah I get that. I just assumed if it's mentioned, it'll matter at least at some point in the game, likely when meeting a drow faction. But at that point I'm thinking how would they know if you're one or the other, but through your own roleplay?
I feel like announcing yourself a worshipper of Elistraee to be a VERY bad move around "normal" Drow.
I was unaware of those Tiefling sub-"races", and while I find the concept interesting I'm dissapointed all of them are Devil bloodlines, and high-profile ones at that.
Also unsure why the split between Drow was necessary.
But good to see that line-up! Looking forward to seeing more down the line.
The Tiefling sub-race is lifted pretty much directly from one of the more recent source books. I want to say Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes or something like that.
Basically - Tieflings got a set of expanded subraces, a variant for the ruler from each level of the 9 Hells.
The Zariel one is a bit noteworthy because, unless I'm misremembering - she is actually a fallen angel (Solar? Something) that is now a ruler of Avernus. So I guess Tieflings that have her subrace heritage are... quasi celestial? I'm not really sure on how that works : P
I was unaware of those Tiefling sub-"races", and while I find the concept interesting I'm dissapointed all of them are Devil bloodlines, and high-profile ones at that.
Also unsure why the split between Drow was necessary.
But good to see that line-up! Looking forward to seeing more down the line.
Yeah I was a bit surprised they added wood elf ahead of moon elf (or whatever its 5e equivalent is) for elf subraces. But overall, character creation does look pretty great.
No monks, no Half Orcs, no druids? Oof. I know it's early access, so they will probably be added later. At least, I hope so.
Sure, I do hope so as well. But the nature of the update is probably why we haven't seen Dragonborn or Half-Orcs yet. They scanned real faces, so obviously, the "human" / aka the kith, or the civilized races (PoE style) races would be easier to create and animate for cutscenes. Half-Orcs have big teeth, so facial animations might struggle a bit with clipping and such. Dragonborn. Where can they find a Dragonborn for a shot?
I think the Drow subdivisions are not a mechanical/rule ones, but a backstory/origin ones. They allow you to differentiate between Underdark Lolth-worshipping classic drows and "surface" drows because there´s no specific background for that.
Yeah I get that. I just assumed if it's mentioned, it'll matter at least at some point in the game, likely when meeting a drow faction. But at that point I'm thinking how would they know if you're one or the other, but through your own roleplay?
Good point. Simply because of your accent and/or your clothes? At least that´s what I do.
ED: Also in the BG3´s lands lolth-sworn drows have red eyes instead of the pale, weird-coloured standard ones.
"Lolth-Sworn Drow
Raised by Lolth’s cult in the city of Menzoberranzan, these drow extol the virtues of their corrupt and merciless goddess. Lolth marks her followers with bright red eyes so the Underdark will learn to fear drow on sight"
I was unaware of those Tiefling sub-"races", and while I find the concept interesting I'm dissapointed all of them are Devil bloodlines, and high-profile ones at that.
Also unsure why the split between Drow was necessary.
But good to see that line-up! Looking forward to seeing more down the line.
Yeah I was a bit surprised they added wood elf ahead of moon elf (or whatever its 5e equivalent is) for elf subraces. But overall, character creation does look pretty great.
Moon/Sun elves are merged and the´re mechanically High elves in 5e so technically they´re already included in the game.
I was unaware of those Tiefling sub-"races", and while I find the concept interesting I'm dissapointed all of them are Devil bloodlines, and high-profile ones at that.
Also unsure why the split between Drow was necessary.
But good to see that line-up! Looking forward to seeing more down the line.
Yeah I was a bit surprised they added wood elf ahead of moon elf (or whatever its 5e equivalent is) for elf subraces. But overall, character creation does look pretty great.
Moon/Sun elves are merged and the´re mechanically High elves in 5e so technically they´re already included in the game.
Wow. That is quite shocking. What happens to the TONS of lore from before where the differences between the two were significant and historically meaningful, and even featured in and fundamental to numerous stories? All of that just dismissed with the wave of a hand in 5e?
I was unaware of those Tiefling sub-"races", and while I find the concept interesting I'm dissapointed all of them are Devil bloodlines, and high-profile ones at that.
Also unsure why the split between Drow was necessary.
But good to see that line-up! Looking forward to seeing more down the line.
Yeah I was a bit surprised they added wood elf ahead of moon elf (or whatever its 5e equivalent is) for elf subraces. But overall, character creation does look pretty great.
Moon/Sun elves are merged and the´re mechanically High elves in 5e so technically they´re already included in the game.
Wow. That is quite shocking. What happens to the TONS of lore from before where the differences between the two were significant and historically meaningful, and even featured in and fundamental to numerous stories? All of that just dismissed with the wave of a hand in 5e?
Yeah, it's exactly those things made me lost interest in FR lore with the coming of 4e...
If you choose a class with access to magic, you’ll be able to select from a number of Cantrips
Rangers in 5E have access to magic but don't normally get cantrips (this might change in Tasha's). So I wonder if this also applies to them? If so its definitely a boost to the class.
Is there no feature tweaking in BG3? Like I can't make a custom character that looks like me?
150 faces may seem like a lot, but it is only roughly 12 faces per sex and race (and that's putting elves & drow together).
If there is no feature tweaking, it really is a giant step back for 3d RPGs
"PROCESS
Our character creation features photorealistic fantasy races, based on 3D scans of actors and models (blemishes and all), selected because their features roughly resembled the direction for each race in the game, as well of course for diversity and variety in the human-like races. Our team spent much of pre-production carefully selecting, scanning, and moulding these scans, to become the base heads for character creation. Launched into Early Access is a total of 150 heads to pick from, across the 16 races & subcraces."
The wording isnt clear (at all). Calling them "Base heads for character creation" does make me think there will be feature tweaking... but that's a naked guess. it is an industry norm, and I would be shocked (and disappointed) if they didnt include it for some reason.
Is there no feature tweaking in BG3? Like I can't make a custom character that looks like me?
150 faces may seem like a lot, but it is only roughly 12 faces per sex and race (and that's putting elves & drow together).
If there is no feature tweaking, it really is a giant step back for 3d RPGs
"PROCESS
Our character creation features photorealistic fantasy races, based on 3D scans of actors and models (blemishes and all), selected because their features roughly resembled the direction for each race in the game, as well of course for diversity and variety in the human-like races. Our team spent much of pre-production carefully selecting, scanning, and moulding these scans, to become the base heads for character creation. Launched into Early Access is a total of 150 heads to pick from, across the 16 races & subcraces."
The wording isnt clear (at all). Calling them "Base heads for character creation" does make me think there will be feature tweaking... but that's a naked guess. it is an industry norm, and I would be shocked (and disappointed) if they didnt include it for some reason.
Well I am guessing you'll still be able to choose hairstyle/colour and maybe facial hair and maybe eye colour. That's what I am thinking 'base' means.
And I missed the ethnicity part as well. With the 12 faces per, you're dividing that up between different skin tones you're basically left with 2 or 3 per group (Caucasian, Asian, African, Hispanic, Middle-Eastern or the the 6 on the Fitzpatrick Scale).
But this is no different than having a group of portraits to choose from, except slightly worse as you can't import a face that fits who you picture your character to be better.
I was unaware of those Tiefling sub-"races", and while I find the concept interesting I'm dissapointed all of them are Devil bloodlines, and high-profile ones at that.
Also unsure why the split between Drow was necessary.
But good to see that line-up! Looking forward to seeing more down the line.
The Tiefling sub-race is lifted pretty much directly from one of the more recent source books. I want to say Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes or something like that.
Basically - Tieflings got a set of expanded subraces, a variant for the ruler from each level of the 9 Hells.
The Zariel one is a bit noteworthy because, unless I'm misremembering - she is actually a fallen angel (Solar? Something) that is now a ruler of Avernus. So I guess Tieflings that have her subrace heritage are... quasi celestial? I'm not really sure on how that works : P
Indeed Zariel used to be a Solar, but has been an archdevil for who knows how long now and I doubt anything pure and holy remains of her, mechanically. My point was mainly about all 3 Tiefling bloodlines being devils, since it was my understanding that the Tieflings ancestor didn't have to be a devil specifically. Demons, Yugoloths, any of the fiends would do.
I was unaware of those Tiefling sub-"races", and while I find the concept interesting I'm dissapointed all of them are Devil bloodlines, and high-profile ones at that.
Also unsure why the split between Drow was necessary.
But good to see that line-up! Looking forward to seeing more down the line.
Yeah I was a bit surprised they added wood elf ahead of moon elf (or whatever its 5e equivalent is) for elf subraces. But overall, character creation does look pretty great.
Moon/Sun elves are merged and the´re mechanically High elves in 5e so technically they´re already included in the game.
Moon elves and Sun elves are most definitely still a thing, at least in the Forgotten Realms.
I was unaware of those Tiefling sub-"races", and while I find the concept interesting I'm dissapointed all of them are Devil bloodlines, and high-profile ones at that.
Also unsure why the split between Drow was necessary.
But good to see that line-up! Looking forward to seeing more down the line.
Yeah I was a bit surprised they added wood elf ahead of moon elf (or whatever its 5e equivalent is) for elf subraces. But overall, character creation does look pretty great.
Moon/Sun elves are merged and the´re mechanically High elves in 5e so technically they´re already included in the game.
Moon elves and Sun elves are most definitely still a thing, at least in the Forgotten Realms.
Oh I do hope so. Moon/silver elf is my most favored race to play as in D&D. More than 50% of my PCs over more 25 years have been that race.
I was unaware of those Tiefling sub-"races", and while I find the concept interesting I'm dissapointed all of them are Devil bloodlines, and high-profile ones at that.
Also unsure why the split between Drow was necessary.
But good to see that line-up! Looking forward to seeing more down the line.
Yeah I was a bit surprised they added wood elf ahead of moon elf (or whatever its 5e equivalent is) for elf subraces. But overall, character creation does look pretty great.
Moon/Sun elves are merged and the´re mechanically High elves in 5e so technically they´re already included in the game.
Moon elves and Sun elves are most definitely still a thing, at least in the Forgotten Realms.
Oh I do hope so. Moon/silver elf is my most favored race to play as in D&D. More than 50% of my PCs over more 25 years have been that race.
TBF, them being a thing in the Realms doesn't necessarily guarantee them being in BG3, though imo it wouldn't make sense to not have them, and I'd be as disappointed as you.
I was unaware of those Tiefling sub-"races", and while I find the concept interesting I'm dissapointed all of them are Devil bloodlines, and high-profile ones at that.
Also unsure why the split between Drow was necessary.
But good to see that line-up! Looking forward to seeing more down the line.
Yeah I was a bit surprised they added wood elf ahead of moon elf (or whatever its 5e equivalent is) for elf subraces. But overall, character creation does look pretty great.
Moon/Sun elves are merged and the´re mechanically High elves in 5e so technically they´re already included in the game.
Moon elves and Sun elves are most definitely still a thing, at least in the Forgotten Realms.
Oh, they are a thing, but they all have the label "high elves" in your character sheet, the same as a blonde caucasian savage from the Spine of the world and a dark-skinned jungle huntress of Chult are labelled as "human" mechanically in the game. Same stats.
I was unaware of those Tiefling sub-"races", and while I find the concept interesting I'm dissapointed all of them are Devil bloodlines, and high-profile ones at that.
Also unsure why the split between Drow was necessary.
But good to see that line-up! Looking forward to seeing more down the line.
The Tiefling sub-race is lifted pretty much directly from one of the more recent source books. I want to say Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes or something like that.
Basically - Tieflings got a set of expanded subraces, a variant for the ruler from each level of the 9 Hells.
The Zariel one is a bit noteworthy because, unless I'm misremembering - she is actually a fallen angel (Solar? Something) that is now a ruler of Avernus. So I guess Tieflings that have her subrace heritage are... quasi celestial? I'm not really sure on how that works : P
Indeed Zariel used to be a Solar, but has been an archdevil for who knows how long now and I doubt anything pure and holy remains of her, mechanically. My point was mainly about all 3 Tiefling bloodlines being devils, since it was my understanding that the Tieflings ancestor didn't have to be a devil specifically. Demons, Yugoloths, any of the fiends would do.
Per the 5E Players Handbook, tieflings in 5e have an infernal bloodline (aka from the Nine Hells). This is a change from earlier editions (that allowed more flexibility).
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes has Zariel tieflings that players can use. I imagine that is where they drew their inspiration.
Zariel was once in control of the Nine Hells and then Bel took over. Then Zariel took back control. So she's had at least centuries to uhh ... do what is necessary for tieflings to appear.
Is there no feature tweaking in BG3? Like I can't make a custom character that looks like me?
150 faces may seem like a lot, but it is only roughly 12 faces per sex and race (and that's putting elves & drow together).
If there is no feature tweaking, it really is a giant step back for 3d RPGs
"PROCESS
Our character creation features photorealistic fantasy races, based on 3D scans of actors and models (blemishes and all), selected because their features roughly resembled the direction for each race in the game, as well of course for diversity and variety in the human-like races. Our team spent much of pre-production carefully selecting, scanning, and moulding these scans, to become the base heads for character creation. Launched into Early Access is a total of 150 heads to pick from, across the 16 races & subcraces."
The wording isnt clear (at all). Calling them "Base heads for character creation" does make me think there will be feature tweaking... but that's a naked guess. it is an industry norm, and I would be shocked (and disappointed) if they didnt include it for some reason.
Well I am guessing you'll still be able to choose hairstyle/colour and maybe facial hair and maybe eye colour. That's what I am thinking 'base' means.
And I missed the ethnicity part as well. With the 12 faces per, you're dividing that up between different skin tones you're basically left with 2 or 3 per group (Caucasian, Asian, African, Hispanic, Middle-Eastern or the the 6 on the Fitzpatrick Scale).
But this is no different than having a group of portraits to choose from, except slightly worse as you can't import a face that fits who you picture your character to be better.
This is very possible. I still tend to believe they'll have some feature tweaking, but you may be right about how much is there.
As a side note - I booted up the very first gameplay reveal livestream Sven did back in February because I remembered a brief moment of character building. It was pretty quick, and we know it is feature incomplete - but I did not see anything that led me to believe you could adjust the length of your character's nose or other head features.
The Zariel one is a bit noteworthy because, unless I'm misremembering - she is actually a fallen angel (Solar? Something) that is now a ruler of Avernus. So I guess Tieflings that have her subrace heritage are... quasi celestial? I'm not really sure on how that works : P
Lots of the Archdevils are fallen angels, actually. Asmodeus, Mephistopheles, Belial and Dispater are part of the original cadre of fallen angels that became the first Baatezu. (I think Geryon and Mammon may have been part of the group too, but I'm not sure.) Baalzebul is more recent (although not as recent as Zariel), and Mephistopheles, Belial and Dispater still consider him an "interloper".
I was a bit disappointed to see that classes like Druid, Barbarian and Paladin aren't there, but I suppose they'll be there for the official release. I thought the introduction of the Seldarine drow was quite an interesting change, but welcome. I'm also disappointed that tieflings must all be of a devilish heritage; I prefer the old system where tieflings could be of any fiendish heritage. More flexibility for character backstory and roleplaying that way.
I was unaware of those Tiefling sub-"races", and while I find the concept interesting I'm dissapointed all of them are Devil bloodlines, and high-profile ones at that.
Also unsure why the split between Drow was necessary.
But good to see that line-up! Looking forward to seeing more down the line.
Yeah I was a bit surprised they added wood elf ahead of moon elf (or whatever its 5e equivalent is) for elf subraces. But overall, character creation does look pretty great.
Moon/Sun elves are merged and the´re mechanically High elves in 5e so technically they´re already included in the game.
Moon elves and Sun elves are most definitely still a thing, at least in the Forgotten Realms.
Oh I do hope so. Moon/silver elf is my most favored race to play as in D&D. More than 50% of my PCs over more 25 years have been that race.
TBF, them being a thing in the Realms doesn't necessarily guarantee them being in BG3, though imo it wouldn't make sense to not have them, and I'd be as disappointed as you.
Yeah having looked into this further, sun and moon elf subraces still exist but only for story/roleplaying. As @PsicoVic said, mechanically they are the same and as such have been lumped in together under the label of "high" elf in the 5e FRAG. Still, it would be nice if we could specify "sun" or "moon" under "high," specifically for roleplaying purposes.
Gotta say some of these pictures look phenomenal. Loving the female drow and the detail on her hair is great ?
Those are stunningly gorgeous. Considering the cinematic feel of the conversations in the game, it's nice knowing that the character models look this good.
And not just the Origin characters, but player made ones at that.
I'm also disappointed that tieflings must all be of a devilish heritage; I prefer the old system where tieflings could be of any fiendish heritage. More flexibility for character backstory and roleplaying that way.
Another consequence of 4th Edition, unfortunately. They made all tieflings descended from Asmodeus then. 5th edition has at least added back some variety in descendancy with that one book mentioned but it's still not the same. I believe they're also still all they're own race of people now and not just humans/other races with a bit of bad blood surfacing. Ie tieflings will always have tiefling children rather than go back to being humans in the next generation.
Gotta say some of these pictures look phenomenal. Loving the female drow and the detail on her hair is great ?
They really do look great. I'm pretty sure making black characters actually look like black people is vidya game illegal though
I'm mostly okay with just picking faces, though it of course will limit the looks available significantly (and it probably won't hit the races equally, humans for example are likely to have more appearances alloted to them than less popular races like halflings and gnomes), as long as hair and beard remain selectable (no reason to assume they wouldn't be, at least for hair, but I want to draw the line). Preferably also cosmetics like tattoos, make-up, scars and grimases if such are available. It's always awful when a game has like one decent face because all the rest is covered in awful tattoos or face paint, edgy scarring, or stupid scowls.
The origin characters are all such clichés. They're over-the-top fantasty tropes cranked up to 150%. While Baldur's Gate had some companions that were a little cartoonish, most of them were grounded and believable members of Faerûn's society. They had their quirks and oddities but were not wildly unusual individuals as a whole. You had your arrogant red wizard, your violent dwarf, your grizzled paladin working for his church, your young noblewoman seeking to reclaim her family's castle and then make her own way in the world, and so on. They weren't absurd characters, they weren't total clichés. Most of them were realistic people. Moreover, some of the ones that are now considered stereotypes were invented by BG.
But then we have BG3. True to Larian's form, every part of the game must seemingly be the most extreme thing they can think of. Everything's a hamfisted stereotype. Everything reads like the coolest and most dramatic thing that a teenage boy could think of.
Astarion: A centuries-old foppish vampire who dresses like King Henry VIII. Is there a more tired trope than the suave, elegant vampire who smirks roguishly at you? It's just so... generic. A cookie-cutter Cool Vampire Dude Who Must Be Eligible For Romance (TM). If he doesn't have at least a dozen lines of dialog that are puns on blood, I'll eat my mousepad.
Shadowheart: Even the name itself--it's the kind of thing thirteen year old boys call their characters in World of Warcraft. Shar's dark disciple who was sent on a sUiCiDe MiSsIoN, and to make it extra stereotypical, she of course has "a long-buried secret to uncover." Why, I can scarcely sleep from sheer anticipation of discovering your secret, Shadie. Is it herpes?
Gale: The token wizard who, of course, "has one ambition: to become the greatest wizard Faerûn has ever known." Because when it comes to Larian, nothing less will do. It must be some grand absolute. He can't just be a wizard who aspires for greatness, he must be THE GREATEST EVER KNOWN! I'm calling him Trump from now on.
Lae'zel: A playable Gith. Uh huh. And, whaddayaknow, she's "ferocious even by the standards of the Githyanki race." No bucket of clichés is complete without an uncivilized, semi-monstrous race from the astral plane inexplicably strolling around the local town, browsing the shops, resting in the tavern. Really believable. Might as well have a playable gnoll.
Wyll: Imagine my total lack of surprise when the last of the five origin characters is a nobleman (and a famous hero at that, with a nom-de-guerre as cringeworthy as 'Blade of Frontiers') who... ah, yes, why not: who "keeps his pact with a devil well-hidden." Yep, the token Faust of the litter. At this point I'm certain the gentlemen at Larian have tvtropes.org bookmarked on all of their devices. It seems to be their Bible.
Bonus predictions for the good-aligned characters:
The kawaii big-eyed purple-haired gnome or halfling female with a squeaky voice
The high-strung, slightly nervous blond paladin of ambiguous sexual orientation
The elderly bearded wizard who constantly offers fatherly advice, but is secretly a demon
The violent but honorable, gruff-voiced female barbarian clad in two tiny bits of fur
The cynical middle-aged cleric who has secretly begun to question his faith, and is a half-god
@Dunski I agree with a good chunk of what you just said, buuuuuuut...
"Might as well have a playable gnoll."
This would honestly double my esteem for the game. I know, not a high bar, but give me some unusual races to play for once! Everything playable is always vaguely mammalian and human shaped. Give me Gnolls, Kobolds, those sweet mantis dudes. ANYTHING.
Comments
That would be a good move, surface drow are far more interesting at this point than another one of the countless evil lolth drow.
I feel like announcing yourself a worshipper of Elistraee to be a VERY bad move around "normal" Drow.
The Tiefling sub-race is lifted pretty much directly from one of the more recent source books. I want to say Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes or something like that.
Basically - Tieflings got a set of expanded subraces, a variant for the ruler from each level of the 9 Hells.
The Zariel one is a bit noteworthy because, unless I'm misremembering - she is actually a fallen angel (Solar? Something) that is now a ruler of Avernus. So I guess Tieflings that have her subrace heritage are... quasi celestial? I'm not really sure on how that works : P
Sure, I do hope so as well. But the nature of the update is probably why we haven't seen Dragonborn or Half-Orcs yet. They scanned real faces, so obviously, the "human" / aka the kith, or the civilized races (PoE style) races would be easier to create and animate for cutscenes. Half-Orcs have big teeth, so facial animations might struggle a bit with clipping and such. Dragonborn. Where can they find a Dragonborn for a shot?
Good point. Simply because of your accent and/or your clothes? At least that´s what I do.
ED: Also in the BG3´s lands lolth-sworn drows have red eyes instead of the pale, weird-coloured standard ones.
"Lolth-Sworn Drow
Raised by Lolth’s cult in the city of Menzoberranzan, these drow extol the virtues of their corrupt and merciless goddess. Lolth marks her followers with bright red eyes so the Underdark will learn to fear drow on sight"
Moon/Sun elves are merged and the´re mechanically High elves in 5e so technically they´re already included in the game.
Yeah, it's exactly those things made me lost interest in FR lore with the coming of 4e...
Rangers in 5E have access to magic but don't normally get cantrips (this might change in Tasha's). So I wonder if this also applies to them? If so its definitely a boost to the class.
Is there no feature tweaking in BG3? Like I can't make a custom character that looks like me?
150 faces may seem like a lot, but it is only roughly 12 faces per sex and race (and that's putting elves & drow together).
If there is no feature tweaking, it really is a giant step back for 3d RPGs
"PROCESS
Our character creation features photorealistic fantasy races, based on 3D scans of actors and models (blemishes and all), selected because their features roughly resembled the direction for each race in the game, as well of course for diversity and variety in the human-like races. Our team spent much of pre-production carefully selecting, scanning, and moulding these scans, to become the base heads for character creation. Launched into Early Access is a total of 150 heads to pick from, across the 16 races & subcraces."
The wording isnt clear (at all). Calling them "Base heads for character creation" does make me think there will be feature tweaking... but that's a naked guess. it is an industry norm, and I would be shocked (and disappointed) if they didnt include it for some reason.
Well I am guessing you'll still be able to choose hairstyle/colour and maybe facial hair and maybe eye colour. That's what I am thinking 'base' means.
And I missed the ethnicity part as well. With the 12 faces per, you're dividing that up between different skin tones you're basically left with 2 or 3 per group (Caucasian, Asian, African, Hispanic, Middle-Eastern or the the 6 on the Fitzpatrick Scale).
But this is no different than having a group of portraits to choose from, except slightly worse as you can't import a face that fits who you picture your character to be better.
Indeed Zariel used to be a Solar, but has been an archdevil for who knows how long now and I doubt anything pure and holy remains of her, mechanically. My point was mainly about all 3 Tiefling bloodlines being devils, since it was my understanding that the Tieflings ancestor didn't have to be a devil specifically. Demons, Yugoloths, any of the fiends would do.
Moon elves and Sun elves are most definitely still a thing, at least in the Forgotten Realms.
Oh I do hope so. Moon/silver elf is my most favored race to play as in D&D. More than 50% of my PCs over more 25 years have been that race.
TBF, them being a thing in the Realms doesn't necessarily guarantee them being in BG3, though imo it wouldn't make sense to not have them, and I'd be as disappointed as you.
Oh, they are a thing, but they all have the label "high elves" in your character sheet, the same as a blonde caucasian savage from the Spine of the world and a dark-skinned jungle huntress of Chult are labelled as "human" mechanically in the game. Same stats.
Per the 5E Players Handbook, tieflings in 5e have an infernal bloodline (aka from the Nine Hells). This is a change from earlier editions (that allowed more flexibility).
Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes has Zariel tieflings that players can use. I imagine that is where they drew their inspiration.
Zariel was once in control of the Nine Hells and then Bel took over. Then Zariel took back control. So she's had at least centuries to uhh ... do what is necessary for tieflings to appear.
This is very possible. I still tend to believe they'll have some feature tweaking, but you may be right about how much is there.
As a side note - I booted up the very first gameplay reveal livestream Sven did back in February because I remembered a brief moment of character building. It was pretty quick, and we know it is feature incomplete - but I did not see anything that led me to believe you could adjust the length of your character's nose or other head features.
Lots of the Archdevils are fallen angels, actually. Asmodeus, Mephistopheles, Belial and Dispater are part of the original cadre of fallen angels that became the first Baatezu. (I think Geryon and Mammon may have been part of the group too, but I'm not sure.) Baalzebul is more recent (although not as recent as Zariel), and Mephistopheles, Belial and Dispater still consider him an "interloper".
I was a bit disappointed to see that classes like Druid, Barbarian and Paladin aren't there, but I suppose they'll be there for the official release. I thought the introduction of the Seldarine drow was quite an interesting change, but welcome. I'm also disappointed that tieflings must all be of a devilish heritage; I prefer the old system where tieflings could be of any fiendish heritage. More flexibility for character backstory and roleplaying that way.
Those are stunningly gorgeous. Considering the cinematic feel of the conversations in the game, it's nice knowing that the character models look this good.
And not just the Origin characters, but player made ones at that.
Another consequence of 4th Edition, unfortunately. They made all tieflings descended from Asmodeus then. 5th edition has at least added back some variety in descendancy with that one book mentioned but it's still not the same. I believe they're also still all they're own race of people now and not just humans/other races with a bit of bad blood surfacing. Ie tieflings will always have tiefling children rather than go back to being humans in the next generation.
They really do look great. I'm pretty sure making black characters actually look like black people is vidya game illegal though
I'm mostly okay with just picking faces, though it of course will limit the looks available significantly (and it probably won't hit the races equally, humans for example are likely to have more appearances alloted to them than less popular races like halflings and gnomes), as long as hair and beard remain selectable (no reason to assume they wouldn't be, at least for hair, but I want to draw the line). Preferably also cosmetics like tattoos, make-up, scars and grimases if such are available. It's always awful when a game has like one decent face because all the rest is covered in awful tattoos or face paint, edgy scarring, or stupid scowls.
Honestly, if this one is generated, it'll be the first one I've ever seen to look even remotely apppropriate. Either that or I suck at sliders.
But then we have BG3. True to Larian's form, every part of the game must seemingly be the most extreme thing they can think of. Everything's a hamfisted stereotype. Everything reads like the coolest and most dramatic thing that a teenage boy could think of.
Astarion: A centuries-old foppish vampire who dresses like King Henry VIII. Is there a more tired trope than the suave, elegant vampire who smirks roguishly at you? It's just so... generic. A cookie-cutter Cool Vampire Dude Who Must Be Eligible For Romance (TM). If he doesn't have at least a dozen lines of dialog that are puns on blood, I'll eat my mousepad.
Shadowheart: Even the name itself--it's the kind of thing thirteen year old boys call their characters in World of Warcraft. Shar's dark disciple who was sent on a sUiCiDe MiSsIoN, and to make it extra stereotypical, she of course has "a long-buried secret to uncover." Why, I can scarcely sleep from sheer anticipation of discovering your secret, Shadie. Is it herpes?
Gale: The token wizard who, of course, "has one ambition: to become the greatest wizard Faerûn has ever known." Because when it comes to Larian, nothing less will do. It must be some grand absolute. He can't just be a wizard who aspires for greatness, he must be THE GREATEST EVER KNOWN! I'm calling him Trump from now on.
Lae'zel: A playable Gith. Uh huh. And, whaddayaknow, she's "ferocious even by the standards of the Githyanki race." No bucket of clichés is complete without an uncivilized, semi-monstrous race from the astral plane inexplicably strolling around the local town, browsing the shops, resting in the tavern. Really believable. Might as well have a playable gnoll.
Wyll: Imagine my total lack of surprise when the last of the five origin characters is a nobleman (and a famous hero at that, with a nom-de-guerre as cringeworthy as 'Blade of Frontiers') who... ah, yes, why not: who "keeps his pact with a devil well-hidden." Yep, the token Faust of the litter. At this point I'm certain the gentlemen at Larian have tvtropes.org bookmarked on all of their devices. It seems to be their Bible.
Bonus predictions for the good-aligned characters:
The kawaii big-eyed purple-haired gnome or halfling female with a squeaky voice
The high-strung, slightly nervous blond paladin of ambiguous sexual orientation
The elderly bearded wizard who constantly offers fatherly advice, but is secretly a demon
The violent but honorable, gruff-voiced female barbarian clad in two tiny bits of fur
The cynical middle-aged cleric who has secretly begun to question his faith, and is a half-god
"Might as well have a playable gnoll."
This would honestly double my esteem for the game. I know, not a high bar, but give me some unusual races to play for once! Everything playable is always vaguely mammalian and human shaped. Give me Gnolls, Kobolds, those sweet mantis dudes. ANYTHING.
Also still hoping for the other planetouched though (Genasi, Aasimar...)