What Nonstandard Races do you wish would return?

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

We all know the standard races for D&D: Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, Gnomes, Half-Elves and Half-Orcs. But, over its long and storied history, D&D has picked up a huge variety of races, and although shifting editions have pushed some out of focus, that doesn't stop them from being out there and ready to share with an entirely new generation.

Now, WoTC is playing it pretty conservatively with 5th edition, pushing hardcore to go back to the "definitive" generic D&D lore established through Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms. But, as fans, it's pretty much our sacred duty to use our imaginations. :P So, I ask you all in sincere faith:

What are races from past editions that aren't members of the "standard" that you really like and would love to see WoTC bring back officially into 5th edition?

For myself... well, I'll be honest, there's a huge array of them, so I think I'll move it to the next post.

[lunaticfringe]

I scrolled through the big list of D&D PC races from every edition and nothing really jumped out. I have been disappointed with Tieflings & Aasimars post Planescape but that's easy to fix.

[DragonSorcererX]

Warforged - The one in UA is good but it is weird.

Kalashtar - A race of jedi that worships the Light Side of the Force? Count me in!

Spellscales - For no reason other than the glory of the dragonkind.

Hellbred - They are literally nice people.

Thri-kreen - They are cool! And psionic!

Celadrin - Because High Elf isn't high enough.

There is probably more, but these are the ones on my mind right now.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

Blasts from the Past:
D&D has had many different races actually be playable in the past, and as obscure as some of these are, I still want to see them return. You know, I didn't realize until actually making this list, but, most of these are beastfolk races. I guess it's because D&D's humanoids have basically amounted to sometimes interchangeable variants of the halfling, gnome, dwarf and elf, the goblinoids (who're playable now), orcs (again, playable already), or just so niche they don't catch the attention (Aventi, for example, are essentially just Tritons with fluff that makes them less jerkholes).

Lupins: Fun fact is, I came to D&D very late in the game's lifespan. Just the wrong combination of hometown, country, birth-year and being suckered into buying Warhammer Fantasy & 40K codexes instead of D&D books. So, most of what I know was born out of searching for D&D stuff online. Thus, my first exposure to Lupins was in their 3.5 unofficial reboot in Dragon Magazine #325. At the time, I read them and just went "huh, neat", and would have passed them over - I mean, giant wolf-riding Great Plains Amerindian-themed wolf-people is not really that unique. That's, like, one of the more cliche cultures you'd get in most anthro fantasy settings. Except one small sidebar (criminally missing in Dragon Annual) caught my eye. Pictures, evidently taken from old school D&D sourcebooks, introduced me to the kingdom of Renardie, and that caught my attention. Faux-French Swashbuckler-themed wolf-people? Now that is something unique! Heck, the division between Civilized, Tribal and Nomadic is practically tailormade for 5e's subrace mechanics, although as one who's tried to convert them, I must confess that I struggled with meaningful stats, given their rather lackluster mechanics in previous editions. Now, I don't know if we can legitimately have Rakasta return, what with Tabaxi already filling the "catfolk" role. But Lupins certainly have a free slot. And if they brought them back, I'd rather they went deeper than the wolf-riding Great Plains Amerindian culture of their 3.5 revival - it's interesting, but obvious - and took from their source. Bring back the Kingdom of Renardie, of lupins who are urbane and cultured, intellectual and studied with a mighty and developed civilization that spits in the eye of all those who insist that beastfolk can never be anything more than blood-drenched marauders or Stone Age tribals. Besides, are you seriously going to tell me that a jaunty, wise-cracking, devil-may-care, wine-sipping, swashbuckling wolfman paladin isn't D&D?

Aranea: My interest in the Lupins led me to investigate the Red Steel setting. Although incredibly obscure - WoTC hasn't even released it on DriveThruRPG, and they just put out Hollow World in print! - I managed to track down a copy, and they introduced me to the Aranea. For many reasons, I find this race fascinating. Not only is the basic concept - shapeshifting, sorcerously-adept spiders - unique, but most bug-races tend to be evil or at least a very hostile form of neutral. Aranea, despite this, are not evil in the slightest, and are presented as just another race, as normal and as accepted as the dwarves, elves and gnomes. This is a rare thing indeed, and truly makes me want to see them return. These were one of the rare races that defied the general D&D tendency to slap on hamfisted stereotype info and call it a day (seriously, the Wallara make me cringe, but then I'm Australian), and I would love to give them a chance to shine.

Diabolus: Despite the fact these first three races all come from Mystara, I honestly don't know all that much about the setting, and I consider myself more of a fan of the Poins of Light setting. Still, the Diaboli are an incredibly fantastic race and I'm surprised they've been allowed to go so obscure. Their entire schtick is that they're a race of extraplanar migrants fleeing after their home plane (the Realm of Dreams) was invaded by horrible monsters from yet another plane (the Realm of Nightmares), and they're struggling to survive on a new world because, despite a typical racial alignment of Chaotic Good, they look so much like stereotypical devils. I just think that these would be an excellent race to add in a new extraplanar-focused sourcebook. Like the Aranea, these guys subvert stereotypes, being a race that looks like a bog-standard devil, but who are actually Chaotic Good in nature. Plus, their fluff is awesome; a brave people who fought against the corrupting influence of the Far Realm until their world was doomed and they had no choice but to seek a new home, alien as it is to them, knowing they have no choice but to make the best of it. Plus, they come with instant plot-hooks for any campaign that wants to make use of fighting against the Far Realm - I'm sure you don't need me to elaborate - and make a nice hook for adding "foreign" elements to your setting.

Gnoll: I love gnolls, I just, can't explain it better than that. They're usually dismissed as just furrier, tougher orcs, but I think there's a lot of potential in them. 4th edition gave them wonderful fluff in "Playing Gnolls" in Dragon #367, emphasizing their nature as a race torn between the hyena's soul and the demonic influence in their veins, a race inclined towards savagery but capable of embracing the light. They're a race with so much potential... which 5e took out into the back alley and shot. I can't emphasize enough how much the Volo's Guide fluff for gnolls angers me. I want my gnolls back. They've been playable in every edition - even Basic made them playable in the sourcebook "The Orcs of Thar". I see no reason why 5e should shoot that particular sacred cow.

Phanaton: These guys are just goofy fun. Halfling-sized raccoon-monkey-flying squirrel hybrids; there's just something so charmingly silly about them. Plus, they'd make a wonderful forest-dwelling alternative to gnomes or halflings.

Saurial: If lizardfolk are cool, then what's better? How about dinosaur folk! I would heartily advocate getting rid of that dependence on ultra-high sounds and scents to communicate, though, as that's just going to make things silly. As fun as Groot might be on the silver screen, he'd quickly exhaust his co-players at the table.

Centaur: These are actually one of the more prominent "non-evil monstrous humanoids" in D&D lore, and have been important players on a couple of settings, I think. Playable centaurs would be a huge hit.

Voadkyn: These are mostly out of morbid curiosity, to see if WoTC can pull them off now they've made Firbolgs so much more druidic. Plus, it's a chance to fix that godsawful artwork that they had back in AD&D. Seriously, my eyes started to bleed whenever I looked at them.

Pixie: I really don't think they'd do this is any way beyond boosting them to Small size, but still, it's an iconic "adventurous fantasy race", so I think it deserves a shot.

Thri-Kreen: Thri-Kreen: Who can forget the most iconic of races from Dark Sun? As much as part of their appeal was due to munchkins exploiting their ability to quadwield in an edition and setting when melee masters were king (so long as high-level wizards were off the table, anyway), it must be emphasized that the core of it was how unique they are in both comparison to the standard races and in that they're a bug-people race who are neither inherently evil nor bound up in oppressively collectivist to the point of hive-minded culture.

Xixchil: Thri-kreens may be more well-known, but Xixchil are way more fun, in my opinion. Giant mantis people with a racial hat of mad scientist, excellent surgeons and flesh-crafters who consider body modification their religion and who are happy to warp and twist the bodies of others in exchange for the right funding.

Spellscale: This race would be low down on my list of preferences, but still, I'm curious what WoTC would do if they gave these guys a second shot. The basic concept, that dragon-blooded sorcerers sometimes produce a race in which that draconic nature and sorcerous talent are more strongly aligned, whether a throwback or an evolution, is interesting. The actual manifestation of these guys, though... it was bad. Awful "technicolor elf" body-style melded with clunky rules (you literally got no benefits from Blood Quickening unless you were a spellcaster), and terrible fluff that was all about being arrogant, flippant, fickle jerks.


Children of Darkness:
Here's the funny thing about D&D... it's never really tried to investigate the potential of a Dark Fantasy or Horror Fantasy setting. The closest it's come has been Ravenloft, and even, its Gothic focus has always made it, in many ways, even more grounded than conventional D&D - even when White Wolf took a shot at it under 3rd edition, it was pretty obvious that the setting was supposed to be for human players. So, most of these races I'm making up, as they've never actually appeared in D&D in any form.

Caliban: I don't know if this race can come back, but I'd certainly love to see it. Calibans were the only unique race added in Ravenloft D20, cursed and deformed unfortunates born from Gothic spiritual pollution, which made them as strong and tough as they were hideous. Admittedly, a Ravenloft fan made a better version with their "Brutes and Banshees" netbook article, whereas before Calibans were literally nothing more than reskinned half-orcs, but still, there's a lot of potential here for an awesome race.

Mortif: This race appeared in Dragon #313, and it's a wonderfully little creepy race perfect for any horror/dark fantasy game. Better known as Deathtouched, Mortifs are humans who have been literally stained by the taint of undeath, descended from distant carnal unions between the living and the undead. I admit it can go wrong in the hands of the immature, but then, so can pretty much any race.

Dhampyr: Despite being an almost iconic figure - the not-quite-vampire, torn between the dark pleasures of the night and their own humanity - the dhampyr has never appeared in D&D to my knowledge, outside of 4e's experiment with portraying it as a "feat-based race". And that's weird because dhampyrs are quite popular for horror and dark fantasy settings; even the Worlds of Darkness have given them some grudging nods.

Hagspawn: Although I'm using the name from Unapproachable East's "sons of hags who get nothing but their mother's ugliness" race, I picture this as more akin to Pathfinder's changelings.

Blaspheme: We have a (pseudo) werebeast PC option in the shifters. And dhampyrs/vrylokas fill the vampire role. So, what are we missing? A fan netbook for Ravenloft included AD&D rules for playing Dread Golems. And what's the third member of the iconic Movie Monster Mashup? That's right; Frankenstein's Monster. In a dark fantasy setting, I would love to play a man-thing assembled from corpses and brought back to life through black magic, dark alchemy or unholy rites, struggling to define myself as an individual despite my origins and not because of them.

Vryloka: I'm not exactly sure how you'd properly differentiate this from a dhampyr race, but the vrylokas are perfect fits for any dark/horror fantasy setting, and I really want to see them brought back from 4e.


Yokai:
One of my few complaints about D&D's efforts at Oriental Adventures is simple: they've ever embraced the fantasy aspects of an Oriental campaign, always focusing on the "Medieval Eastern" options. The only traditional "Oriental" races D&D has done are Korobokuru (Oriental Dwarves), Spiritfolk (Oriental Elves), and their rather clunky Hengeyokai (a clumsy collection of shapeshifting beasts stapled into one racial statblock) with the D20 version also incorporating Nezumi from the Rokugan setting. Boring! Japanese and Chinese mythology are filled with all manner of fantastic beings, and some are iconic enough that you'd think D&D could at least try to pull them off.

Kitsune: This is, without a doubt, the most famous and instantly recognizable of all yokai. Paizo leaped at the chance to make a kitsune PC race for their Oriental Adventures region, so why can't WoTC take a note from their book?

Tanuki: This member of the hengeyokai family may be more obscure than the kitsune, but at least it's more recognizable than some of the others. If 5e were to do a kitsune race, I'd love to see a tanuki come alongside of it.

Oni: The Japanese ogre/orc is a complex beast; though often a minion of evil, in many stories, they are actually redeemable and even sometimes heroic. This would fill a niche similar to (half-)orc, drow and tiefling PCs in an Oriental Adventures setting.


Planar Races:
As many issues as I may have with the Planescape setting and the Great Wheel, I won't deny that extraplanar campaigns have always fascinated me. It's a legitimate opportunity to explore the weird fantasy side of things, and it calls for a particularly eclectic array of racial options. The iconic Planetouched trinity are back, so a hypothetical "Sigil Adventurer's Guide" would need to cover that ground with other things...

Bariaur: Honestly, these are more on this list for nostalgia factor than anything. The bariaur of old never really struck any particular chord with me, but, I feel that if you're going to the trouble of doing work to support a 5e Planescape type game, you really can't hurt to try and make something out of these guys.

Bladeling: This race is mostly in this list for their depiction in 4th edition, which changed them from yet another "who cares" race of isolationistic xenophobes from the Lower Planes to rebellious/discarded super soldiers now finding an existence for themselves as something other than living weapons.

Githzerai: What needs to be said? These guys are one of the original three Sigilite races, and with the recent release of Planescape Torment EE, I figure they deserve the chance to exploit that spotlight.

Githyanki: The githzerai have long held the attraction as a PC race, but honestly, I think there's a huge amount of untapped potential in the githyanki. The only reason they aren't another "edgy" PC option like tieflings is because... well, D&D has long tied itself into knots with their fluff. Seriously, I get that the fact they've taken their obsession with liberty to hypocrisy is supposed to be their thing, but you would think a race with fluff like theirs would have a lot more defectors, simply because you would expect them to realize Vlaakith is playing them for idiots and eating their souls. I always houserule it in my settings that there are actually more "rogue githyanki" than you would probably find "rogue orcs/drow", but then, I like the idea of giving the race the possibility of redemption and revolution against their tyrannical god-queen.

Rogue Modron: It's a funny thing, really. I'm not a huge fan of a lot of Planescape lore - you'd have to pay me to use the Great Wheel over the World Axis - and I particularly dislike the trait of creating outsiders just to be alignment exemplars. And yet... modrons work. They're completely Lawful Stupid, and yet somehow they manage to be so in a way that's entertaining, in a way the Chaotic Stupid of Slaad isn't. If nothing else, they're a useful race because they generate Rogue Modrons, who have such interesting racial plothooks - why did they go rogue, how do they adjust, what do they want to do now they can distinguish themselves as the smaller, louder *one*.

Shadar-Kai: 4th edition did a lot of good for many races that were kind of dull before, and shadar-kai are a perfect example of that. From cookie-cutter anti-human arrogant fey with a self-mutilation kink to a race of human-offshoots who sought immortality, got it in a way they didn't expect, shrugged, and decided to make the most of it. Shadar-kai are really just an awesome concept, with a lot of development in Dragon Magazine and elsewhere that really highlights their potential. Plus, they're the one race who can out-dark drow and tieflings, but have fluff specifically preventing them from being wangsty emos, so give them credit for that.

Deva: In general, I must preferred 4th edition's fluff to 3rd edition's (and thus 5th edition's). Whilst the 5e Aasimar is more unique than it was, with the whole "guardian angel" bit, the Deva remains more intriguing to me. A race of non-evil Fallen Angels, beings from the Astral Sea who chose to give up their great power as immortal servitors of the gods because they felt the lives of mortals were worthy of embracing. That's a powerful and unique racial concept, in my eyes, and I'm really sad that it seems likely Devas can no longer exist with the new metaphysical fluff used in 5th edition. I get Aasimar have their fans, and the two races can actually coexist - heck, devas might actually be the primary progenitors for aasimar - but the changes to cosmological lore means I don't know if devas can still exist in 5e without bringing back the World Axis.

Shardminds: These were effectively the first race truly unique to 4th edition, and unlike the poor Deva, their connections to the Far Realm means that they can successfully be brought over into 5e. These work wonderfully for both psionics-focused settings and for extraplanar settings, and have a unique niche as literally guardians against the aberrant hordes. I mean, they're an entirely new race upon the planes, struggling for meaning in the face of having no history. What's not to love about them, really?

[Sigreid]

[U]
Gnoll: I love gnolls, I just, can't explain it better than that. They're usually dismissed as just furrier, tougher orcs, but I think there's a lot of potential in them. 4th edition gave them wonderful fluff in "Playing Gnolls" in Dragon #367, emphasizing their nature as a race torn between the hyena's soul and the demonic influence in their veins, a race inclined towards savagery but capable of embracing the light. They're a race with so much potential... which 5e took out into the back alley and shot. I can't emphasize enough how much the Volo's Guide fluff for gnolls angers me. I want my gnolls back. They've been playable in every edition - even Basic made them playable in the sourcebook "The Orcs of Thar". I see no reason why 5e should shoot that particular sacred cow.


It would be really hard for them to do a player race gnoll as the RAW stands right now. What with them basically being physical manifestations of a demon lord's crazy and all. Though also RAW if you took one and held him on the Twin Paradise plane for a while his alignment would be forced to Neutral Good...

[Falcon X]

Quick answer: Spellscales

I'm a fan of many of the races that have little business being in every setting, but are very flavorful.
A few examples:
1. Spellscales: I love this race so much. I feel like it was meant to take on some of the Kender love of impulsiveness, but adding in more common sense.
The aesthetic of the more humanlike dragon descended is lovely. The gypsy-like culture, "we are the ultimate race but we won't hold it against you"-ness, and the ability to change racial features based on what diety you worshipped that day were all very charming.
2. Grippli: A D&D classic given life by Dragon Magazine. The natural naivety of the race mixed with being a passive woodland being meant that your race was not a feared one, but one nobody ever expects to do great things.
That, and a Grippli Paladin is basically Frog from CHRONO Trigger :)
3. The Dragon Magazine Xenophilia races:
- Gruuwar: Puck-like beings from the Unseelie court that are behind-the-scenes manipulators.
- Adu-Jas: Sentient plant spiritual leaders.
- Golmoid: Robots given sentience who think they are Gnomes.
- T'Kel: My favorite Lizard race. They wear masks as a tradition. They have barbaric origins, but found inner peace and are now basically the Jedi monks of the world.

For races that are more popularly seen:
A. Giths. I love them, though it implies a planar setting
B. Mongrelfolk. They have so many different types of blood in them that it's hard for people to figure out what they are.
C. Classic Eladrin-born: Back when they were faerie angels. This would be a sub race of Aasimar.

[JackPhoenix]

Changeling: shapechanging is fun and you can cause so much trouble with that race... And as a bonus, the same reason as with:

Warforged, Kalashtar, Shifter: not that I care much about these races, but it would mean we've finally got Eberron instead of just another book about realms that should really be forgotten.

[Knaight]

I don't particularly want any to return - as far as I'm concerned including dwarves and elves to D&D way back in the 1970's was a questionable decision - but there are a few that I'd consider much less tedious than most of the defaults that I would happily see as replacements for elves, dwarves, halflings, etc. Notably:

Thrikeen
Elan
Dromites
Warforged

[TripleD]

Armand
They're small, desert dwelling Armadillo-people who also happen to be Kung-Fu masters. It's such a word-salad of a race description that I absolutely love it.

I featured them in a desert themed campaign and re-fluffed their society slightly as pseudo-Mormons. It was awesome.

[Arkhios]

Obviously I would want to see all of the non-standard Eberron races return in an official format (Changelings, Kalashtar, Shifters, and Warforged) since Eberron is by far my favorite published setting.

Dark Sun races would be a nice bonus, too, as it was the first setting I ever played in (Elan, Maenad, Mul, Pterran, Thri-Kreen; Half-Giants we basically have already: Goliaths)

Dragonlance races would be cool (Maybe alternative Dragonborn to be Draconians; and Minotaur)

[Luccan]

Blasts from the Past:

Gnoll: I love gnolls, I just, can't explain it better than that. They're usually dismissed as just furrier, tougher orcs, but I think there's a lot of potential in them. 4th edition gave them wonderful fluff in "Playing Gnolls" in Dragon #367, emphasizing their nature as a race torn between the hyena's soul and the demonic influence in their veins, a race inclined towards savagery but capable of embracing the light. They're a race with so much potential... which 5e took out into the back alley and shot. I can't emphasize enough how much the Volo's Guide fluff for gnolls angers me. I want my gnolls back. They've been playable in every edition - even Basic made them playable in the sourcebook "The Orcs of Thar". I see no reason why 5e should shoot that particular sacred cow.



Yeah, I hate what the fluff did to gnolls. Crazy as they were, there was no reason an individual gnoll couldn't be even a little different (perhaps a more disciplined one could serve a villain or something similar, even if you didn't have an outright heroic one). But much like the other fluff in Volo's guide, IMO, they're kind of all stuck acting in one specific manner. Gnolls are now way to crazy and evil to ever be PCs or helpful or even neutral NPCs. Goblinoids can be PCs though, even though their god apparently strikes them dead if they step out of line.


Blasts from the Past:

Thri-Kreen: Thri-Kreen: Who can forget the most iconic of races from Dark Sun? As much as part of their appeal was due to munchkins exploiting their ability to quadwield in an edition and setting when melee masters were king (so long as high-level wizards were off the table, anyway), it must be emphasized that the core of it was how unique they are in both comparison to the standard races and in that they're a bug-people race who are neither inherently evil nor bound up in oppressively collectivist to the point of hive-minded culture.



I'm not sure about the Dark Sun version (I'm not extremely familiar with the fluff, I just remember a bit about them eating people), but these guys have fascinated me since I learned about them. I like the buggy races, even though in real life they'd be horrific.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I'd love to see WotC make a playable pixie, if only to see how their interpretation differs from my own.

Obviously.

[JellyPooga]

I'd love to see the Killoren from 3.5s Races of the Wild return. I loved their Aspects and it was nice to have a medium sized non-elfin fey-related playable race.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

Yeah, I hate what the fluff did to gnolls. Crazy as they were, there was no reason an individual gnoll couldn't be even a little different (perhaps a more disciplined one could serve a villain or something similar, even if you didn't have an outright heroic one). But much like the other fluff in Volo's guide, IMO, they're kind of all stuck acting in one specific manner. Gnolls are now way to crazy and evil to ever be PCs or helpful or even neutral NPCs. Goblinoids can be PCs though, even though their god apparently strikes them dead if they step out of line.

Aside from the fact goblinoids, orcs and yuan-ti are all described with default fluff that should already make them all-but-unplayable in 5e - Yuan-ti in particular have all that emphasis on being cold-blooded, treacherous, cannibalistic jerks - what really grinds my gears about the gnoll's fluff in 5e is that it flies in the face of four editions worth of tradition. Gnolls have been playable in Basic (The Orcs of Thar), Advanced (Complete Book of Humanoids), 3rd (Races of the Wild, Unapproachable East, Monster Manual 1, Savage Species) and 4th (Dragon Magazine #387). There was absolutely no reason to make them over into zombie-style mindless killing machines, especially since gnolls actually have been a perfectly natural race misguided by Yeenoghu due to the absences of Gorellik since at least 2nd edition - which means gnolls are actually less inherently evil than the "created directly by an evil god" orcs & goblins.

Seriously, there's a lot of complaints I have about 5e lore, but this one particularly bugs me.

[Findulidas]

I liked shardmind. I understand Im one of the very few though.

[90sMusic]

Personally, I always liked Kitsune but for very particular reasons. I disliked the anthropomorphic animal people aspect to them, but I loved the feats you could get for them in pathfinder that actually made them interesting to play for me. There was one that gave them the ability to turn into foxes, as in actual foxes instead of furries. That was great because you were rather innocuous when people encountered you in that form and your ability to stealth went a lot higher because they were Tiny in size and pathfinder had a huge bonus to stealth based on size. If im not mistaken, they also had heightened sense of smell and hearing.

I stumbled onto this race and really started looking into it while I was trying to search for some kind of character build that could turn into animals at will without the gross limitations that druid had on durations and how often you could do it, so it was pretty neat to find kitsune.

Furthermore, I liked the idea of the tail based magic feats so you could make any class have a limited ability to cast spells just by having more tails, although it took a lot of feats to do.

If 5e made a version that changed freely between human form and fox form (normal human and normal fox, no hybrids), maybe had a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and some sort of innate magical ability, i'd be all over it I think.

[90sMusic]

Aside from the fact goblinoids, orcs and yuan-ti are all described with default fluff that should already make them all-but-unplayable in 5e - Yuan-ti in particular have all that emphasis on being cold-blooded, treacherous, cannibalistic jerks - what really grinds my gears about the gnoll's fluff in 5e is that it flies in the face of four editions worth of tradition. Gnolls have been playable in Basic (The Orcs of Thar), Advanced (Complete Book of Humanoids), 3rd (Races of the Wild, Unapproachable East, Monster Manual 1, Savage Species) and 4th (Dragon Magazine #387). There was absolutely no reason to make them over into zombie-style mindless killing machines, especially since gnolls actually have been a perfectly natural race misguided by Yeenoghu due to the absences of Gorellik since at least 2nd edition - which means gnolls are actually less inherently evil than the "created directly by an evil god" orcs & goblins.

Seriously, there's a lot of complaints I have about 5e lore, but this one particularly bugs me.

It's not like you have to use 5e lore. You could make gnoll PCs and give them a different story and lore if you want.

[NecroDancer]

Perhaps a variant teifling/Aasimar with those infamous tables from 2e.

[Balyano]

Illumian
Killoren
Deva
Mongrelfolk
Warforged
Changeling
Shifter
Raptoran (tone down the flight on the aarakocra)

[ZorroGames]

Collected PHBs from all editions and read them but stopped playing after a single game of 2nd Edition (Real Life took too much time with remarrying, taking in troubled birth child, moving halfway across continent for way better job, adopting, adopting special needs child, and all kinds of related chaos,) so I am unfamiliar with most of these. Being OD&D by DMing/playing start, I find Halfling/Hobbit and half elf acceptable but really think in balanced game mechanics terms Dwarf, Human, Elf, Gnomes, and even Half Orc good to go. Tiefling and Dragonborn look good have not seen them in play. Gnolls? Really? Well with lots of rework, no different than Goblins, kobolds, or Orcs which several DMs in the late 1970s homebrewed into games.

After that?

Well, TBH, I have no issue for any DM letting any race into his/her game but I approach all those listed with trepidation based on incomplete knowledge.

Personally I found Dark Sun totally unlkeable (blame JRRT? Nyah, I like heroic fiction) though insectoid and arachnid races as NPCs appeal so they could be worked into PCs with lots of play testing.

Right now I am still catching up after multiple decades away to want a bunch of new player races in the game in general, world specific adds I would support happily but every additional race would really require play testing IMO to not become unbalanced to added in an overall sense.

[Jamgretter]

Perhaps a variant teifling/Aasimar with those infamous tables from 2e.

I'm personally satisfied with SCAG's tieflings options. Of course the UA one is pretty neato as well.

[Aett_Thorn]

Glad that someone already mentioned Saurials. Always thought that they were a fun addition, even with some of their RPing troubles.

But the two that I'd love to see return as player options are:

Wemics - Always loved their lore and RPing options. Plus, you get to claw people to death. Tribal nomads with a noble streak.

Satyrs - Fun-loving sylvan folk with the ability to put people to sleep with music. And even more fun around alcohol.

[Corsair14]

Volos to me was a waste of material. Obscure races for the most part that really don't belong. I would rather have seen more relevant races from the past make a come back. Centaurs, satyrs, pixies, sprites, brownies. Would have made for a good fey supplement. Further maybe some races from planescape or spelljammer. In fact I would love to see a racial supplement with the various races from campaign settings past just to make it easier for DMs to convert older editions to 5th. Be fun to play a dual pistol wielding Giff mercenary with official 5e rules. And yes, I know there are plenty of homebrew conversions, Planescape 5e is beautiful and borders on the professional level of quality but others have languished. There haven't been any really successful 5e spelljammer attempts and Darksun is severely hampered by the lack of a 5e psionics book since psi is such a huge part of the setting as everyone has at least some kind of wild talent.

[Luccan]

It's not like you have to use 5e lore. You could make gnoll PCs and give them a different story and lore if you want.

The problem arises from the fact that there will probably be 1) no official gnoll player race and 2) the assumption in any campaign setting will be that gnolls are psycho cultists, unless specifically told otherwise. It isn't a massive inconvenience, necessarily, but it means you have a race that in most settings can't be interacted with except through killing. And as has been said, the fluff in Volo's seems to be focused around making the monstrous races unplayable... except apparently they can all do whatever they want (despite racial culture or even deities maiming/killing those who don't listen) except gnolls. Because gnolls are insane and will be assumed to be that way (this might also make it hard to play a gnoll in any given setting).

[Luccan]

Here are couple I'd like to add

A playable giant

Not a firbolg or a goliath. A Large creature that's actually a giant.

Hengeyokai

Shapeshifters that take a specific animal form, a humanoid form, and a hybrid form. You've already got their subraces figured out based on the animal they turn into. These were possibly the most interesting, non-setting specific thing to come out of the 3e Oriental Adventures book, but maybe that's just me. Still, bring the animal shifters back!

[ZorroGames]

Glad that someone already mentioned Saurials. Always thought that they were a fun addition, even with some of their RPing troubles.

But the two that I'd love to see return as player options are:

Wemics - Always loved their lore and RPing options. Plus, you get to claw people to death. Tribal nomads with a noble streak.

Satyrs - Fun-loving sylvan folk with the ability to put people to sleep with music. And even more fun around alcohol.

Wemics and Satyrs as PCs might work and certainly boosts the role play aspects.

[ZorroGames]

Snip

I would rather have seen more relevant races from the past make a come back. Centaurs, satyrs, pixies, sprites, brownies. Would have made for a good fey supplement.

Snip

This. So much lost potential in Volos in my view.

[ZorroGames]

Here are couple I'd like to add

A playable giant

Not a firbolg or a goliath. A Large creature that's actually a giant.

Hengeyokai

Shapeshifters that take a specific animal form, a humanoid form, and a hybrid form. You've already got their subraces figured out based on the animal they turn into. These were possibly the most interesting, non-setting specific thing to come out of the 3e Oriental Adventures book, but maybe that's just me. Still, bring the animal shifters back!

Definitely yes on the giant.

The other sounds fun too.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of the classic Hengeyokai race, simply because I feel it does a disservice. If we did get a 5e Oriental ADventures, I'd rather they sucked it up and tried to give us interesting races based on the various hengeyokai species of myth instead of a singular "animal shapeshifter" alongside Japanese Elves & Dwarves.

Seriously, screw Spirit Folk and Korobokuru; give me Kitsunes, Tanuki, Oni, Tengu, Kawauso, Kappa, maybe even more "PC friendly" version of monsters like Inugami, Bakeneko, Jorogumo... so much potential for a High Oriental Fantasy setting, but D&D has never really given it any credence.

We got monks and ninjas and samurai already, more or less. We got an Honor system in the DMG. Try giving us some uniquely Oriental races for a change.

[Findulidas]

Here are couple I'd like to add

A playable giant

Not a firbolg or a goliath. A Large creature that's actually a giant.


As I understand it large creatures are non playable because you run into balance issues with oversized weapons, grappling and stuff like that.

[ZorroGames]

As I understand it large creatures are non playable because you run into balance issues with oversized weapons, grappling and stuff like that.

Quite likely but he did say playable. No, I have not a single idea how to do that it stills sounds fun.

[GPS]

Kender - My heart broke when they weren't included in the 5e Volo's races, they're arguably the best race in earlier editions of the game.

[DragonSorcererX]

Kender - My heart broke when they weren't included in the 5e Volo's races, they're arguably the best race in earlier editions of the game.

Oh Bahamut! I sacrifice the Draconians and the whole Dragonlance Setting to not have these buggers in 5e.

[Arkhios]

Kender - My heart broke when they weren't included in the 5e Volo's races, they're arguably the best race in earlier editions of the game.

There's however a good reason why Kender were not included in Volo's Guide: Different/wrong Setting.

[Princess]

Perhaps a variant teifling/Aasimar with those infamous tables from 2e.

Pretty much the silliest idea in the 4e PHB was insisting on trying to streamline Tieflings. Tiefling genocide is terrible fluff and I'd really like more direct design support for variants of all sorts of things in the next supplement or two to come out of WotC. Though the rumor that Asmodeus changed all the Tieflings makes for an amusing hook, the idea that he literally did it makes no sense and violates the Laws of Baator.

I've always been a strong proponent of the idea that any homebrew variant that 1 - makes story sense and 2 - is neither the best nor worst option available = Totally good to go. But some guidelines in print wouldn't hurt.

[ZorroGames]

Kender - My heart broke when they weren't included in the 5e Volo's races, they're arguably the best race in earlier editions of the game.

Please, no. Pretty please no, with Goblin sauce on top.

[Sigreid]

Kender - My heart broke when they weren't included in the 5e Volo's races, they're arguably the best race in earlier editions of the game.

I think kender on one of those races on the love them or hate them list.

[zeek0]

Hello! I saw some earnest interest in the Kitsune race here, so I made up some homebrew to support it! (Here it is over on the homebrewing forums. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?525723-Kitsune-Race-(Please-offer-advice!)&p=22038689#post22038689))

Let me know if I got it right or not!

---

As for my hope for a nonstandard race, I'd like to see some kind of tree-person race. Like a medium-sized Ent, or some such thing. Perhaps subraces based on different tree species.

[Tetrasodium]

- Warforged Soldier, Scout, & relic forms.

- Changlings

- Znir Pact Gnolls

[Findulidas]

Kender - My heart broke when they weren't included in the 5e Volo's races, they're arguably the best race in earlier editions of the game.

I take it you are trolling.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

Oh Bahamut! I sacrifice the Draconians and the whole Dragonlance Setting to not have these buggers in 5e.

No, no, no: save the Draconians, the Minotaurs and the Half-Goblins, then blow up Mount Nevermind, then set the Kender on fire and use them to burn the rest of the setting to the ground.

[Honest Tiefling]

I liked shardmind. I understand Im one of the very few though.

I never got the opportunity to play one, but I'd like to see them come back. I thought the concept was strange, but given the origin of other races, quite doable for many a campaign setting, even if they are regulated to being NPCs.

I'd also like to see the Deva return, for a different take on the aasimar angle. If you don't have alignments/Great Wheel cosmology, the whole tiefling/aasimar thing breaks down very quickly.

Hagspawn were interesting, but run the issue of super special snowflakes, given how few there really can be in a given area.

Another spin on the Wilden/Killoren thing would be nice, as a fey that is quite playable and less specialized then the Pixie. I don't think there's a plant people race yet.

[DragonSorcererX]

I never got the opportunity to play one, but I'd like to see them come back. I thought the concept was strange, but given the origin of other races, quite doable for many a campaign setting, even if they are regulated to being NPCs.

I'd also like to see the Deva return, for a different take on the aasimar angle. If you don't have alignments/Great Wheel cosmology, the whole tiefling/aasimar thing breaks down very quickly.

Hagspawn were interesting, but run the issue of super special snowflakes, given how few there really can be in a given area.

Another spin on the Wilden/Killoren thing would be nice, as a fey that is quite playable and less specialized then the Pixie. I don't think there's a plant people race yet.

Yeah, Shardminds are cool, and it would be cool to have both a Shardmind and a Warforged in the party to see the weird interaction of the magical robot with the psionic robot... well, they are soo similar (construct-like, genderless...) that it would probably be like the interactions between Hulk and the Thing.

[Corsair14]

Draconians are another good one, so many different kinds with so many different abilities and penalties to dying. Like I said earlier, I think instead of volos we should have gotten a Classic Campaign Settings races book with all the iconic races of the various settings of the past, Giff, Muls, half-giants, thri-kreen, tinker gnomes, modrons, etc etc. I think Wizards is making a huge mistake barely touching on these races and settings in its insane drive to push Forgettable Realms. Is it really that hard to put out a couple campaign setting books updated for 5th in the vein of the Sword coast book?

[Sception]

Necropolitans. I mean, they were a template before, not a race, but they'd translate into a race easily enough. It would be nice to have a playable undead option not burdened by a bunch of weird special abilities that make it hard to implement or tie it too closely to weird & restrictive fluff, and the Necropolitan concept works well for that, imo.

Dromites. I loved these guys. I mean, thri-kreen are cool and all, but I prefer my bug pcs to be cute and small, and more insect race options in general would be nice.

...


...

Nope, that's all. I mean, I don't object to any of the others people have mentioned, I'd like to see more races in general, both new and old, but these are the only two that I miss in particular. Every time I make a character, I always end up wishing one or the other of these two existed in 5e.

[wilhelmdubdub]

changling, darfellan, star elf, whisper gnome, vril, hadozee, illumain, killoren, neraphim, raptoran

[Sariel Vailo]

I'd like to see wilden maybe add vampire and dampyr but yeah. Also Minotaur I'd do that so fast

[Finback]

Hengeyokai

Shapeshifters that take a specific animal form, a humanoid form, and a hybrid form. You've already got their subraces figured out based on the animal they turn into. These were possibly the most interesting, non-setting specific thing to come out of the 3e Oriental Adventures book, but maybe that's just me. Still, bring the animal shifters back!

I have made some notes on what I hope to be able to write up, at least as a prototype, for playable hengeyokai. At present, it's basically a +1 Cha, and then you get another two +1s (sometimes to one stat, sometimes to two) dependant on which particular animal you go with. Each of them itself has a set of special abilities. Likewise, they would get a version of wild shape that they can use 1+Cha-mod times a day, but they can only turn into the particular animal. This means no insane druid builds. Each animal would get some sort of inherent cantrip-like ability, to reflect their magical nature

eg Monkey would get a +2 to Dex, and perhaps their magic would be shillelegh, or something like Tenser's Disk*. A Tortoise would get +1 Str, +1 Con, and an AC boost. A Koi would get +2 Con, and waterbreathing. Fox.. Iunno, I get stuck for ideas. +1 Int, +1 Dex?

I'm also trying to limit the range of animals so it doesn't get too crazy.


As to other wanted races?

THRI-KREEN THRI-KREEN THRI-KREEN also modrons

* Yes, I am ENTIRELY thinking of the TV show, "Monkey" here.

[Falcon X]

Necropolitans. I mean, they were a template before, not a race, but they'd translate into a race easily enough. It would be nice to have a playable undead option not burdened by a bunch of weird special abilities that make it hard to implement or tie it too closely to weird & restrictive fluff, and the Necropolitan concept works well for that, imo.

Necropolitans. I forgot them, but they go to the top of my obscure race list. Tons of players would go in for this.

[Lombra]

I just want a good dragonborn race, it feels like they split it in the lizardfolk for some reasons. The PHB dragonborn gives you a couple dice of breath weapon and an elemental resistance; can't believe that's all the dragons' heritage left.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

It would be really hard for them to do a player race gnoll as the RAW stands right now. What with them basically being physical manifestations of a demon lord's crazy and all. Though also RAW if you took one and held him on the Twin Paradise plane for a while his alignment would be forced to Neutral Good...

Honestly, that's easy enough to change; either approach the DM and ask if we can instead use 4e's fluff instead of the "gnolls are basically demon-spawned zombie-style mindless murder machines" 5e fluff, or be the DM and say "screw the 5e fluff sideways with a poleaxe, I'm using the gnoll fluff from Dragon #367, so please don't bring up Volo's Guide's fluff for them and say I'm doing it wrong, k'thanks?"

[Nifft]

Warforged :redface:

Tibbit :sabine:

Elan :elan:

Dragonwrought Kobold :roach:

[Sigreid]

Honestly, that's easy enough to change; either approach the DM and ask if we can instead use 4e's fluff instead of the "gnolls are basically demon-spawned zombie-style mindless murder machines" 5e fluff, or be the DM and say "screw the 5e fluff sideways with a poleaxe, I'm using the gnoll fluff from Dragon #367, so please don't bring up Volo's Guide's fluff for them and say I'm doing it wrong, k'thanks?"

Absolutely true. However, for officially released content they are unlikely to go against the fluff they gave any time soon. Which is sad because I've always liked gnolls.

[KorvinStarmast]

Oh Bahamut! I sacrifice the Draconians and the whole Dragonlance Setting to not have these buggers in 5e. Second your motion.

I think kender on one of those races on the love them or hate them list. Understatement.

IMO, since they had to put in the Tiefling (groan) the Aasimar to balance out the dark/light bloodline makes sense.

Otherwise, I question the need for more.

For my money Volo's added humanoid races are at best bloat and in one case, Yuan Ti, utterly lacking in care during the design review phase. The EE player's companion goliath got a slight tweak, but the Genesai were left out. (I kind of liked them). The Triton/Aquaman isn't horrible, but ... will that lead to a Sahaguin PC? Kuo Toa PC?

If they are going to put in a Yuan Ti, why not a Githzeri PC?

[LemonSkye]

In addition to the aforementioned Killoren, Grippli, Diaboli, and everything from Eberron (plus the Saurian variant of the Shifter), I'd love to see Tortles, Tibbits, Adu'ja, the Para and Quasi Genasi, and Worghests updated for 5E. The Adu'ja especially were really unique --they were an ancient race of plant people.

[Smitty Wesson]

Hadozees! Orangutans with flying squirrel wings and a nautical (or spacefaring) bent are too weird and too good a concept to leave unused.

[Hairfish]

I miss half-ogres and desmodu. Fortunately, I think you can get versions that are balanced with 5e PC races by replacing some goliath traits with half-orc ones and by tweaking bugbears, respectively.

[Naanomi]

A few more of the classic monster PC races... half-ogre, bullywug, etc

Setting specific races: half-giant, thri-keen, mul

Gith with yanki and zerai as subraces

[Lombra]

Kuo-toa would be cool too

[Nifft]

I miss half-ogres and desmodu.

Someone liked desmondu?

Woah.

[Finback]

Yeah, Shardminds are cool, and it would be cool to have both a Shardmind and a Warforged in the party to see the weird interaction of the magical robot with the psionic robot... well, they are soo similar (construct-like, genderless...) that it would probably be like the interactions between Hulk and the Thing.

My immediate response is to want to see them combined in some hideous magical experiment, produce a Shardforged.

YES, I happen to like the Chmmr from Star Control 2.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

So, say we got a 5e "Complete Book of Humanoids/Races", would folks actually get it? What would you want it to try and focus on? Personally, I'd like decent, balanced versions of both classic monstrous humanoids (orcs, goblinoids, kobolds, ogres, etc) and maybe go back to old-school with some really monstrous races; remember, in Basic, we actually had playable sphinxes, centaurs, nymphs, dryads, treants and other fairies.

[TheCrowing1432]

Tibbits, give me my were kitties.

[JackPhoenix]

So, say we got a 5e "Complete Book of Humanoids/Races", would folks actually get it? What would you want it to try and focus on? Personally, I'd like decent, balanced versions of both classic monstrous humanoids (orcs, goblinoids, kobolds, ogres, etc) and maybe go back to old-school with some really monstrous races; remember, in Basic, we actually had playable sphinxes, centaurs, nymphs, dryads, treants and other fairies.

No, because main draw of something like that would be fluff, and given the current tendencies, the fluff would be based on Forgotten Realms and thus useless.

[MxKit]

My favorites are probably Dromites, Jaebrins, Ratfolk, and Tibbits! I'd love to see Grippli, Hagspawn, Pixies, and Thri-Kreen return, though... And seriously, give me playable Gnoll and Mindflayer options!


So, say we got a 5e "Complete Book of Humanoids/Races", would folks actually get it? What would you want it to try and focus on? Personally, I'd like decent, balanced versions of both classic monstrous humanoids (orcs, goblinoids, kobolds, ogres, etc) and maybe go back to old-school with some really monstrous races; remember, in Basic, we actually had playable sphinxes, centaurs, nymphs, dryads, treants and other fairies.

Absolutely, ESPECIALLY if it had any of the races I named above, or any more monstrous races you listed!

[Balyano]

And seriously, give me playable Gnoll and Mindflayer options!

Have you looked at Game Master's Toolbox Ultimate Bestiary: Revenge of the Horde? They have three different Gnoll subraces to play, and the Plains Gnoll is awesome.

[Corsair14]

If they were to do a Complete book of races I would prefer it to be split up into General fantasy races and setting specific races. This would achieve at least some kind of official nod towards those of us who use non-FR campaign settings of the past and at least acknowledge these other setting actually exist.
General: Centaurs, pixies, Sprites, goblins, ogres, fairy dragons, maybe even more fantastical stuff like Salamanders. etc.
Dragonlance: The various Draconian races(theres 10 right there), tinker gnomes(crossover with SJ), and yes...kender(ducks), minotaurs.
SpellJammer: GIFF!, Hadozee, Drakkon, and the two insect-like ones I cant remember
Planescape: The only setting where Tieflings should be, Assimar, Genasi, Rogue Modrons
Ravenloft: Half-Vistani, Damphere
Dark Sun: Thri-kreen, Mul, true Half Giants
Oriental Adventures: Korobuku, Hengyokai, River, ocean, bamboo spirits.
In the setting specific stuff maybe a brief one page(for all) of what the normal races are like in those settings and a description of the setting itself. This I think would absolutely outsell that crappy Volo's book and its wasted potential.

[Princess]

If they were to do a Complete book of races I would prefer it to be split up into General fantasy races and setting specific races. This would achieve at least some kind of official nod towards those of us who use non-FR campaign settings of the past and at least acknowledge these other setting actually exist.
General: Centaurs, pixies, Sprites, goblins, ogres, fairy dragons, maybe even more fantastical stuff like Salamanders. etc.
Dragonlance: The various Draconian races(theres 10 right there), tinker gnomes(crossover with SJ), and yes...kender(ducks), minotaurs.
SpellJammer: GIFF!, Hadozee, Drakkon, and the two insect-like ones I cant remember
Planescape: The only setting where Tieflings should be, Assimar, Genasi, Rogue Modrons
Ravenloft: Half-Vistani, Damphere
Dark Sun: Thri-kreen, Mul, true Half Giants
Oriental Adventures: Korobuku, Hengyokai, River, ocean, bamboo spirits.
In the setting specific stuff maybe a brief one page(for all) of what the normal races are like in those settings and a description of the setting itself. This I think would absolutely outsell that crappy Volo's book and its wasted potential.

"Volo's Guide to the Multiverse" would be a good excuse to provide some fluff, some character options, and some monsters from a random grab-bag of settings. But at the earliest I imagine that might happen in 2019.

[MxKit]

Have you looked at Game Master's Toolbox Ultimate Bestiary: Revenge of the Horde? They have three different Gnoll subraces to play, and the Plains Gnoll is awesome.

Ooh, no I hadn't! I might have to shell out for that one... Are its other races any good, do you think? I see that it has Trolls, too!

[Ninja-Radish]

Thri-Kreen!! Thri-Kreen!! Seriously how are they not in 5E yet? They introduced several crap races nobody asked for in Volo's, but they ignored a race which by their own admission was one of the most requested ones. I don't get it.

[Sigreid]

Thri-Kreen!! Thri-Kreen!! Seriously how are they not in 5E yet? They introduced several crap races nobody asked for in Volo's, but they ignored a race which by their own admission was one of the most requested ones. I don't get it.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I would guess they are having trouble balancing the extra set of arms.

[Ninja-Radish]

Second your motion.
Understatement.

IMO, since they had to put in the Tiefling (groan) the Aasimar to balance out the dark/light bloodline makes sense.

Otherwise, I question the need for more.

For my money Volo's added humanoid races are at best bloat and in one case, Yuan Ti, utterly lacking in care during the design review phase. The EE player's companion goliath got a slight tweak, but the Genesai were left out. (I kind of liked them). The Triton/Aquaman isn't horrible, but ... will that lead to a Sahaguin PC? Kuo Toa PC?

If they are going to put in a Yuan Ti, why not a Githzeri PC?

Triton was a good concept but they completely messed it up by not giving them Darkvision. How could they possibly be "perfectly adapted to the ocean depths" when they can't SEE down there? That makes them unplayable to me.

[Corsair14]

My question on the triton is, who the hell plays underwater campaigns? Granted I loved reading the old 1987ish? sourcebook for an underwater campaign setting but in 5e you don't really have a lot of options in this aspect. I guess maybe a one off or two but still, was really worth devoting pages to an underwater race barely anyone would use? One more reason like I said before, Volo's was wasted potential :(

[Puh Laden]

I miss the old aesthetic of tieflings: mostly human with a couple fiendish features. I really hate the thick lizard-tail look.

[Luccan]

My question on the triton is, who the hell plays underwater campaigns? Granted I loved reading the old 1987ish? sourcebook for an underwater campaign setting but in 5e you don't really have a lot of options in this aspect. I guess maybe a one off or two but still, was really worth devoting pages to an underwater race barely anyone would use? One more reason like I said before, Volo's was wasted potential :(

I thought tritons could survive on land

[Demonslayer666]

None. I really like the old core races. I do not like tieflings and dragonborn.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

I thought tritons could survive on land

They can. I think in older editions they did occasionally need to moisten themselves to survive, but they don't have that weakness in this edition. And unlike merfolk, they move with equal speed on-land and in the water, which is why they were chosen over merfolk, who are pretty much giant slugs on land.

[Shadow_in_the_Mist]

So, in the interest of reviving this thread, who remembers all of the diverse critters we've actually had that were playable in past editions?

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/List_of_D%26D_PC_Races

I mean, I certainly wasn't originally aware of N'djatwa, the race of Elf-Ogre crossbreeds, nor that Basic D&D actually had rules for playing Sphinxes and Treants.

[ZorroGames]

None. I really like the old core races. I do not like tieflings and dragonborn.

This person shows good sense.

Edit: I weaken - Oriental Adventures from AD&D/1st would be core for Asian setting...

[LemonSkye]

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I would guess they are having trouble balancing the extra set of arms.

That's probably part of it. I'll bet the other part is due to the Psionics system not being finished yet. Once that's finalized, odds are we'll finally get the Thri-Kreen, the Kalashtar, and all of the other holdouts from Dark Sun and Eberron.

[The Shadowdove]

Daemonfey

Gnolls

[Smitty Wesson]

Thread's back, and I've been digging more into 2E Planescape, so I'll chip in I'm probably one of very few people who'd like to see bariaurs come back.

[Kane0]

Thread's back, and I've been digging more into 2E Planescape, so I'll chip in I'm probably one of very few people who'd like to see bariaurs come back.

Ooh yes, Bariaurs. And Gith (with appropriate subraces).
Also Chaond. That would complete the set of planetouched that Tieflings, Aasimar and Genasi started.
Other than that, hmm what about some monstrous subraces? Things like Orog Orcs, Poison Dusk / Blackscale lizardfolk or different Yuan-ti types. Gnolls, Grimlocks, Sahuagin and Ogrillion would also be cool.

In fact, one might find it a good idea to reorganise races and subraces to be a bit more broad, perhaps for a UA. Humanoid, Goblinoid, Planetouched, Scaleykind, Bestial and Clockwork might be good categories to start with.