Question on races

[CakeFace]

Hi guys I have a couple of questions as I'm new to D&D
1:Are races from older editions such as 3rd or 4th usable in 5e?
2: Are races such as the ratmen or revenant from other sourcebooks official? Thanks!

[JumboWheat01]

Unless they've been officially "translated" from a previous edition to this one, no, they aren't usable in official settings, like Adventure's League. I've seen a few attempts to bring older races up to standards, but they're definitely homebrew. As long as you're not doing something like Adventure's League or your DM allows it, you can use one of these homebrews.

[Belac93]

A list of races so far is this.
Elf (high, wood, drow, eladrin*)
Dwarf (hill, mountain, duergar**)
Human
Halfling (stout, lightfoot, ghostwise**)
Dragonborn
Gnome (rock, forest, deep**/***)
Half-elf
Half-Orc
Tiefling
Aasimar*/**
Goliath***
Aarakocra***
Gensai*** (air, water, earth, fire)

*DMG
**Sword coast adventurers guide
***elemental evil players guide

And the UA (which is pretty much homebrew released by wizards)
Changelings*
Shifters*
Warforged*
Minotaur**

*Ebberon
**Waterborn adventures

[Ninja_Prawn]

A list of races so far is this.
Elf (high, wood, drow, eladrin*)
Dwarf (hill, mountain, duergar**)
Human
Halfling (stout, lightfoot, ghostwise**)
Dragonborn
Gnome (rock, forest, deep**/***)
Half-elf
Half-Orc
Tiefling
Aasimar*/**
Goliath***
Aarakocra***
Gensai*** (air, water, earth, fire)

*DMG
**Sword coast adventurers guide
***elemental evil players guide

And the UA (which is pretty much homebrew released by wizards)
Changelings*
Shifters*
Warforged*
Minotaur**

*Ebberon
**Waterborn adventures

Looks complete to me.

Really, I don't see how you could possibly use races designed for old editions in 5e. The rules and balance are so different that half of them would be complete nonsense, and the other half crazily unbalanced. Homebrewing races is easy though. You could head here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?396519-D-amp-D-5e-Homebrew-Compendium) for a decent selection.

[Regitnui]

There's a conversion guide around here somewhere *starts digging*

[Seruvius]

As those above me have said, there is a limited list of currently available playable races. Heck Belac93 even provided a lovely summary. If you really want to play something from 3.x/4e/some other system for fluff rather than mechanical reasons then one simple way to include said race other than by homebrew is to just use the stats of an existing race. Say if you want to play ratmen, use the lightfoot halfling rules. Want to play a half-giant? Goliath is pretty similar. etc. This is of course always down to the DM, but I would imagine most DM's would be quite fine with a "counts as" exchange, unless they have a very particular world lore in mind and your race would break it somehow.

[lebefrei]

Make sure to check with your DM before making a character... A lot of us won't allow converted races (and even some official races) if they don't fit the campaign or have power we don't want (at will flight)

[harbison32]

The best thing to do is to homebrew them by re-skinning one of existing races and changing some of it's features. There are also some conversion guides on here somewhere as well as on Enworld. I come from the school of thinking that if WOTC hasn't put it out and you want to play it, then make it. Of course I don't play in any organized play where it has to be WOTC issued.