Quick poll

[Kane0]

Trying to get a feel for the races people like (for world-building purposes). Poll for anyone interested:

https://take.quiz-maker.com/poll4743523x42503748-147

[PhoenixPhyre]

Done. If a bit idiosyncratically.

[animorte]

Would it help to limit the amount selections any one person could make?

[KorvinStarmast]

Would it help to limit the amount selections any one person could make?

yes, it would.

[Kane0]

Would it help to limit the amount selections any one person could make?

For my purposes, not really. Can tick as many as you like

[Dienekes]

Did the poll.

Personal opinions: Dwarves, Hobgoblins, Orcs, Lizardfolk

Dwarves: What can be said about dwarves? They're perfect.

Hobgoblins: I love them as a means of demonstrating the horrors of war, fascism, and expansionist imperialism. You can give them that veneer of honor and nobility then scratch at the surface and see the true horror those qualities cover up. Easily my favorite of the monstrous species.

Orcs: They're great if you really emphasize the Mark of Gruumsh aspect to them. These are creatures that have an insurmountable hatred and bloody anger deep within them. There is so much you can work with that in a worldbuilding level and roleplaying level. How do such an impulse would warp their societies? How does the individual relate to that impulse? Do they try to suppress it? How would doing so affect their psyche? Do they revel in it? How do they direct themselves when the world goes red?

Lizardfolk: Really the "do not feel mammalian emotions" is doing all the heavy lifting here. They take something that could be an incredibly boring animal-person race and open up a lot of ways to explore. How does a society develop when the impulses of family bonds or protecting the old, decrepit, and weak are non-factors? When a creature truly cannot relate to the rest of the party and they cannot relate to that creature, how do they interact? Great stuff.

[animorte]

Oh, since we're throwing out some reasoning, Halflings are my number one. Why?


* I'm not allowed to play a halfling with new players at the table. I may or may not use Nimble to play croquet with everyone's legs.

Also, Lucky is pretty sweet (and I understand is primary reasoning for them being banned).

And if I'm restricted to racial ability score bonus, Dexterity is insurmountable.

[Skrum]

Also a fan of the monster races. Orcs, goblins, lizardfolk, and yuan-ti. I like hobgoblins too but I forgot to check them (for some reason the page was extremely laggy and wasn't scrolling properly...i got distracted).

I like when any of these races get to feature in a way that isn't just "disposable goon."

[Veldrenor]

Noting some absences on the list, are you not including the planetouched races in your worldbuilding or are you approaching them as more of a cosmic anomaly than a species with a culture and identity of their own?

[Kane0]

Yes the Planetouched races won't be standalone options, they'll be templates you apply on top of a regular race

[KorvinStarmast]

Yes the Planetouched races won't be standalone options, they'll be templates you apply on top of a regular race
Insert sad face here. :smallmad:
I really like Genasi. They match the core metaphysics that underwrites the basis of D&D.

[animorte]

For my purposes, not really. Can tick as many as you like
I imagine this will serve wonderfully for determining which are chosen the least, if nothing else.

I could already see a solid spread.

[Kane0]

I imagine this will serve wonderfully for determining which are chosen the least, if nothing else.

I could already see a solid spread.

Tell you what, Locathah are not feeling the love.

[Zhorn]

Tell you what, Locathah are not feeling the love.
And rightly so!
- this message was brought to you by the Grung Superiority Department

[Psyren]

Locathah and Hadozee are neck and neck for the bottom.

[Bane's Wolf]

Added my 2 cents :smallwink:
i find the results very interesting.

While there is a wide spread, the most votes (at this moment, at least) seem to favour the basic Players Guide options.

Human, elf, dwarf, halfling, orc, dragonborn - all in the top ten (RIP Gnomes)

Goblin, lizardfolk, hobgoblin, kobolt also seem to float to the top, the "bestial" humanoids


I agree with this fully, but i'm very surprised that the strange and exotic options aren't more popular (Tortle, Kenku, changeling, aarakocra)


Seems people prefer the classics, rather than the exotic? :smallbiggrin:

[nickl_2000]

I do kinda wish that Aarakocra and Owlin were separate. For some reason completely unknown to me, I've had 0 interested in Aarakocra, but love the Owlin race.

[Xervous]

Dwarves, Hobgoblins, lizard folk as my top three, among others. They’ve got attitude, they’ve got identity, you’re not likely to confuse them for anything else when the main chords are strummed.

I look at so many of the others and go “where’s the inspiration and basis for these things? Do I look to Spongebob or Disney’s The Little Mermaid for tritons?”

Changelings get special red ink for demanding a lot of world assumptions. Plentiful shapeshifters leads to the world having to account for them in mannerisms and dealings. Either you smother verisimilitude with a pillow or you’re playing another changeling paranoia setting.

And then there’s the animal sorts. If I had to pick one it would be the silly Giff, if only because there’s a clear identity and lore in place. So much of the rest feel like hastily stocked paper masks.

Oh and no Dragonborn, the fewer dragon adjacent things the better.

[Psyren]

I look at so many of the others and go “where’s the inspiration and basis for these things? Do I look to Spongebob or Disney’s The Little Mermaid for tritons?”

I look at Atlantis. Or Talocan. Or Rikuo from Darkstalkers, or Trident from Eternal Champions.


Changelings get special red ink for demanding a lot of world assumptions. Plentiful shapeshifters leads to the world having to account for them in mannerisms and dealings. Either you smother verisimilitude with a pillow or you’re playing another changeling paranoia setting.

I don't think you need that many of them. Like dopplegangers, the gene is highly dormant/recessive in human society, so they can be pretty rare in a world while explaining how they don't die out.


Oh and no Dragonborn, the fewer dragon adjacent things the better.

In Dungeons & Dragons? :smalltongue:

[Xervous]

I look at Atlantis. Or Talocan. Or Rikuo from Darkstalkers, or Trident from Eternal Champions.



I don't think you need that many of them. Like dopplegangers, the gene is highly dormant/recessive in human society, so they can be pretty rare in a world while explaining how they don't die out.



In Dungeons & Dragons? :smalltongue:

On changelings, I’ll clarify that my reactions for all these races consider the races to have noteworthy population sizes to skirt the rare special snowflake. Rare recessive power creates individual characters and experiences, setting the stage for an isolated event. That is interesting for separate yarns, but it doesn’t really offer much for setting up a world unless this rare mutation is being highlighted by prominent NPCs. In other words, I don’t find it more useful than other races if it’s just going to be a snowflake or a footnote, and making them common forces themes on the entire setting that I would rather see isolated to specific events to concentrate their impact.

On the topic of dragons, drakes, wyverns, lindwurms, lung, half dragons, dragonblooded, kobolds, etc there comes a point of over saturation that makes dragon and dragon adjacent things commonplace and boring. I am unreasonably particular about the presentation of dragons, so Dragonborn fall lower than even something like a draconic influence in the bloodline. Dragons are almost by definition going to be unique and noteworthy individuals, so the fewer large groups riding their metaphorical coattails the better.

[Corran]

On changelings, I’ll clarify that my reactions for all these races consider the races to have noteworthy population sizes to skirt the rare special snowflake. Rare recessive power creates individual characters and experiences, setting the stage for an isolated event. That is interesting for separate yarns, but it doesn’t really offer much for setting up a world unless this rare mutation is being highlighted by prominent NPCs. In other words, I don’t find it more useful than other races if it’s just going to be a snowflake or a footnote, and making them common forces themes on the entire setting that I would rather see isolated to specific events to concentrate their impact.
You can do stuff with it to make your world a little more unique than if it didn't include them. To borrow some inspiration from the spy in the silver palace, nobles could certainly hire them to be their personal impersonators. For attending their boring functions, for safety precautions, for being at two places at once at accomplishing more with a personal touch, etc*. You may find some of them in the streets trying to earn a living as performers. It's a nice tool for the pc's as well, as there may be times when they might want to hire one for helping with their shenanigans. The assassins and spies would be few, as it takes a lot of skill (and resources) to become either even for a changeling, and it's not like that would be much different to what a world would look like even without them, assuming you intend on running an intrigue heavy campaign (cause otherwise you can just push that into the unseen background).

*Plus, you dont need fancy magic or anything too elaborate to defend against ruses. Something as simple as a code phrase or even an equipment item could be used for recognition purposes between say, the king and his most trusted advisors, family members, or personal guards, to identify if that's really the king in front of them or his changeling.

[Psyren]

I just don't think Changelings are common enough to need special defenses at a culture-wide level. (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0812.html) And for particularly sensitive roles like monarch or guildmaster, you'd need to be on guard against illusions and the like too, so whatever protections they have against those should work against changelings just fine.

[TyGuy]

Seems people prefer the classics, rather than the exotic? :smallbiggrin:

The thing about popularity contests is that the classic generic options make most lists even if they're not at the top. They're adequate, but not usually the individual's favorite. There's variety in the passionate favorites, so those don't aggregate in the same way.

A poll like this showcases the "least objectionable" types of favorites moreso than the most passionately adored options.

[Oramac]

Done.

I'm very sad to see my absolute favorite race left out (Aasimar). But hey, it's your show. Seems Elf, Dwarf, and Human are tied for first as of my taking the poll. Interesting.

[JonBeowulf]

Done.

I'm very sad to see my absolute favorite race left out (Aasimar). But hey, it's your show. Seems Elf, Dwarf, and Human are tied for first as of my taking the poll. Interesting.

I was also a bit bummed about Aasimar being out. Was also looking for Tiefling.

[Kane0]

Tiefling, Aasimar and Genasi will be present in the form of other races with the planar touches added on, they just won't be a full race with culture/society unto themselves. Likely the same for Shadowfell and Feywild-touched.

I'm also going to be doing my own spin on plasmoids which will have elements of warforged incorporated into it

But that's largely unrelated. I'm tossing up whether to just use a handful of races straight from the book or go all-in on making my own analogues that roughly map to the niches the favourites fill.

[MinimanMidget]

I'm a little surprised at the preponderance of votes for the basics. Dwarf is one of my favourite races, but you asked which we find most interesting, not which are our favourites. I guess people tend to treat everything as a pure popularity contest, regardless of what was asked.

[Theodoxus]

On changelings, I’ll clarify that my reactions for all these races consider the races to have noteworthy population sizes to skirt the rare special snowflake. Rare recessive power creates individual characters and experiences, setting the stage for an isolated event. That is interesting for separate yarns, but it doesn’t really offer much for setting up a world unless this rare mutation is being highlighted by prominent NPCs. In other words, I don’t find it more useful than other races if it’s just going to be a snowflake or a footnote, and making them common forces themes on the entire setting that I would rather see isolated to specific events to concentrate their impact.

On the topic of dragons, drakes, wyverns, lindwurms, lung, half dragons, dragonblooded, kobolds, etc there comes a point of over saturation that makes dragon and dragon adjacent things commonplace and boring. I am unreasonably particular about the presentation of dragons, so Dragonborn fall lower than even something like a draconic influence in the bloodline. Dragons are almost by definition going to be unique and noteworthy individuals, so the fewer large groups riding their metaphorical coattails the better.

@OP, I picked Tabaxi solely because I had to pick something and I do <3 Tabaxi as a concept. I was sad you didn't include my actual favorite race, Custom Lineage.

@Xervous I turned my homeworld dragons into a player race option that starts as a kobold in tier 1, progresses to a dragonborn in tier 2, then a half-dragon in tier 3 and a full dragon in tier 4. The full dragon can use draconic shapechange to assume one of the previous phases indefinitely, so you never know if you're talking to a Kobold or a full dragon cosplaying as a Kobold. None of my players have opted to try it yet, as non-humans (really, a less morphic changeling that dominates the hominid spot) are looked down upon, so everyone went 'Raethling'...

[Millstone85]

Do you know what happens when somebody click on the link twice?

I wanted to consult the results again but instead I was presented with unticked boxes.

I did not resubmit my choices. Hope that didn't cancel my previous visit.

[da newt]

No Fairies (or did I skim too fast)? I'm enjoying my grumpy fairy w/ bumblebee wings who aggressively tosses glitter at folks to provide guidance ...

[Bane's Wolf]

The thing about popularity contests is that the classic generic options make most lists even if they're not at the top. They're adequate, but not usually the individual's favorite. There's variety in the passionate favorites, so those don't aggregate in the same way.

A poll like this showcases the "least objectionable" types of favorites moreso than the most passionately adored options.

You make an excellent point :smallsmile:

Now i need to re-evaluate every poll i've ever participated in :smalleek:

[firelistener]

Human is the most interesting race because all the rest could be described as being some variation of "human with animal features", "short human", "big human", or "magical himan". I don't think that makes the others "interesting" as much as I would say they're simply "novel".

[animorte]

Goblin is the superior small race. Understandable.

[Corran]

Human is the most interesting race because all the rest could be described as being some variation of "human with animal features", "short human", "big human", or "magical himan". I don't think that makes the others "interesting" as much as I would say they're simply "novel".
Humans are just tall dwarves though.

[Kane0]

Ironically, looks like my vanilla races will turn out to be 'the basic human, the bigger human and the smaller human'
The other six are going to be superficially animal-esque but im hoping to make them sufficiently different and unique that they dont end up just being humans with hats.

[Pixel_Kitsune]

Honestly, I very rarely make a character that's not getting inspiration from somewhere. Most of what I play are Elves, BUT...

Three of them are from a campaign world my wife designed based on The Legend of Zelda. So I have a 1/2 Elf High Elf and Mark of Shadow Elf because they are meant to be a Hylian who's mother was a Rito, a full Hylian and a Sheikan.

Meanwhile my only other Elf PC in 5e is an Eladrin because I was designing a Fallen Arch Fey for Wild Beyond the Witchlight and didn't want to be small as a Fairy.

Everything else is from all over the place and based on something that struck me as funny. I have a Viera (FFXIV Homebrew someone built fairly well) Because I initially was making a Satyr and the DM asked if I minded not being a Satyr but raised by them and thought I was. So I found that, it was interesting, got approval and am playing them as being convinced they're a Satyr but their horns are wrong and floppy (So she hides them). I have Halflings fairly often, but it's because I want small figures and I like their racials better than Gnomes. I have a Fire genasi, but it's purely because I had a background about being a literal young Efreeti and the DM and I sorted out that the easiest way to do that was a Fire Genasi Efreeti Genie Lock and just flavor my Patron not being an Efreeti granting me power but my father guiding me in developing my own abilities.

[Mastikator]

Ironically, looks like my vanilla races will turn out to be 'the basic human, the bigger human and the smaller human'
The other six are going to be superficially animal-esque but im hoping to make them sufficiently different and unique that they dont end up just being humans with hats.

It's up to you to breathe some creativity into them

[Pixel_Kitsune]

Ironically, looks like my vanilla races will turn out to be 'the basic human, the bigger human and the smaller human'
The other six are going to be superficially animal-esque but im hoping to make them sufficiently different and unique that they dont end up just being humans with hats.

As an aside, have you looked at the various third party books for ideas, if you're wanting your animal races to be distinct.

HumbleWood by Hit Point Press gives takes on Anthromorphic Pigeons, Owls, Crows, Hawks and Peacocks (Along with most other birds fitting in with one of those five) as well as Anthromorphic Foxes, Racoons, Hedgehogs, Mice and Deer.

The birds have an interesting glide mechanic that avoids the issues of giving Flight to PCs that's pretty interesting as well. Glide lets them propel forward and slow fall so long as they have their arms/wings free. Wingflap gives them a significant jump boost so long as they are on the ground. (So they work kind of like a WoW Demon Hunter if that makes sense)

As a quick peek my favorite two races are:

Gallus: The bird race for Pheasants, Turkeys, Chickens, other fowl.
They get +2 Wis, +1 Cha, the Glide and Wing Flap mechanics, Expertise in History, Simple Weapon Proficiency, A Tool of your choice, Proficiency in Insight, and the Guidance Cantrip. Medium Size, Speed 30.

Hedge: Hedgehogs. Look up Humblewood Hedge Bard and you'll know why I love these guys.
They get +2 Cha, +1 Wis, Regular Speed 25, Burrowing Speed 15, Size Small, Can't Wear Armor but have Natural Armor of 14+Dex, A Curl up mechanic that makes you imobile, AC 19 and deals 2d4 Piercing damage to anyone who melee attacks you, Can speak with insects and spiders.

[Kane0]

Yes i'm currently sifting through just under a dozen DMGuild and DriveThruRPG items for just races alone, some great concepts to plunder!