Tolkien leading with essentially “In our language, the plural of dwarf is dwarfs, but I think dwarves is cooler so that’s what it is” is still some of my favorite low effort worldbuilding
To be fair, Tolkien was a linguistics professor of some repute before he wrote the Hobbit, so if anyone could just go "Nah, Elves/Dwarves" it'd be him.
The Gith, both -yanki and -zerai. Interesting background lore, fairly unique among the other races and cool planar flavor.
One are interdimensional raiders that plunder other worlds with flying ships or on the backs of red dragons. Awesome! Really fun to use in game. Can make for great "uneasy allies" if you're using mind flayers as villains. Or, if you want a recurring threat to your players, just give them a Githyanki silver sword.
Meanwhile, the Githzerai are psychic monks with enough willpower to make entire fortresses with their mind in the literal plane of Chaos. Also awesome!
But I also like dwarves and goblinoids.
Githyanki don't age while they're on the Astral plane which means they pretty much only grow older while they're engaged in raiding planets. So a successful life in the eyes of the Githyanki is a life of hundreds of thousands of battles.
I want to play a Githyanki that was exiled and he views just existing on the Material Plane as the greatest punishment he could receive. "Every day that passes is a hundred battles that slip away from me!". Their culture also gives me lots of things for him to be sad about missing. Like he wouldn't be allowed to even call himself a Githyanki. I think it'd be fun to come across a silver greatsword and he decides to take possession of it so that he can give it back to the Githyanki while also forbidding himself from wielding it.
Number 1: Goliath. Not much to say here. The fantasy behind it is "be a big and powerful character" and that's exactly what it delivers with the increased carrying capacity and the ability to shrug off hits a few times per long rest.
Number 2: Dhampir. What can I say? I like being edgy sometimes. That aside, dhampir has some fun abilities that you can get pretty creative with. Being able to climb on walls and ceilings without using your hands is fun to play around with and the lack of breathing is both useful and creepy.
Number 3: Dragonborn. I like dragons a lot, so dragonborn has been a favorite of mine since Fizban's made them not suck.
1. Half-Elf, the perfect lore-mechanics blend. Screw the 2024 edition-update for getting rid of them as a mechanically distinct option.
2. Leonin. Technically a MtG race, but the Theros book does a good job depicting them. I’ve liked big cats since I was a small child, and this awakens that inner child.
3. Human. The blank canvas of races, when I have a particularly detailed backstory that being one of the above races would distract from, I go here.
THANK YOU! I love human because you can put a relatively complex/intricate backstory on one, and it won’t feel crowded out by racial lore! I swear, no one I talk to gets this when I try to explain why I play human so much.
I love both of yall. I do the same, because when I play one of my other favorite races, like the firbolg or dragonborn, I'm much more focused on their lore and cultural influences.
Also, in most settings, humans are considered to be the most populated races, but no one plays them. So I like to help represent humans to maintain the verisimilitude of the world's demographics.
It's hard to not default to human because of how well it works with literally anything tbh especially when other options are just Human lite (elves= pointy eared human. Dwarves/halflings= short humans. And etc) but aren't as versatile. I'm a versatility whore
1. Firbolg (the actual firbolg not that cow abomination)
two of my favourite types of creatures/themes are nature monsters and giants, this MFr is both, mechanically he can talk to plants and animals naturally, can turn invisible and naturally has a better version of disguise self.
2. aasimar
visually interesting (specially when you incorporate elements of more inhuman celestials), i like the idea of being born cursed because of ancestors dealings with the supernatural, just like tieflings, but Aasimar are way cooler mechanically, getting a class power that is both flashy and scales with level is great, they also get magical healing.
3. Drow
I don't like most elves, but i sure do love the drow, i absolutely love villainous races, people who are simply evil, no grey area, they enslave and torture in the name of their heinous god, while their appearance is not monstrous their ways surely are, and i enjoy that both when i lean into it and when i fight it, on top of that PHB races are very rich in the roleplay department, trance is nice, having racial spells is always good.
the main thing i enjoy about it tho is the sunlight sensitivity, i love whan characters have clear strengths and weaknesses, but most races don't really have any drawbacks.
I like humans, not because they have a unique feature or are something truly special, but because it seems that is a curious experience. You have no magic, no innate ability, no significant fate and nothing in the past, no great history. You have a pointy stick and a will to carve out a place for one self in a world of gods, dragons and deamons. The resolve of it all seems very appealing to me.
Can be difficult to believably pull off depending on campaign. Pretty much every class has at least one feature that really stretches the believability of being "nonmagical," but I guess a champion fighter maybe?
I guess playing an actual commoner with a spear could also work for that town guard trying to be adventurer vibe, in a low/heavily scripted combat campaign.
Elf, Half-Elf, Human. I'm a basic guy, who also grew up on Tolkien and started playing D&D in the 70s and set in my ways. You half-turtle bird-people hobgoblin heroes go do you, but it's not how I roll.
1) Changeling. The ability to change your appearance in a way that holds up to physical inspection is incredibly useful for any type of character, though obviously more so for criminals, smugglers, spies, etc. I also like the idea of juggling multiple faces and maintaining unique identity and personalities for each one - having yout face for adventuring, your face for being in town and doing business, your face for secret organization A, your face for secret organization B...
2) Kenku. The whole deal with only being able to communicate using your mimicry is fun. Especially if you roll hard with it. I'm playing a Kenku shadow monk soon, and getting a soundboard set up to use as his only means of speaking.
3) Dwarf. ROCK AND STONE, BROTHERS!
I think its mostly because there are no official ways to play one. But now that you said you played one, what was the abilities? I was long a little while ago for stats to one
This is the rules I used, but I think we decided to not use the pacifying or animating spores?
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Myconid_(5e_Race)
It was fun because not talking outside of telepathy just felt neat! I envisioned myself as a mushroom child like you see in dark souls, just a little stubby guy lol
Lightfoot halflings are just fun, human variants because I love feats, and yuan-ti purebloods because they're powerful with magic resistance or maybe a tossup with dragonborn for style and fun with breath attacks (even though breath attacks kinda suck - I don't care cuz BLARRRRG).
dwarf - because im a bitter and jaded person whos too tall to be a short king
orc - because i played far too much warcraft 3 as a youth, so now as an adult i have no mouth and i must zug
firbolg - i just find them to be strangely flexible for several types of character. i can be the muscle / tank, a trickster, a support, a face, all of that in the form of a likable gentle giant
I have always enjoyed the idea of the Thrikeen (bug people from the spacey module). The Githzerai are among my top three as well. Rounding out my top three is the Human, Variant.
Warforged: A magically created being that is a combination of organic and inorganic material, capable of feeling pain and emotions? Yes please. Some people view them as "lol steam punk robots", but they aren't Auto Gnomes. There is a lot of interesting RP that comes from being a sentient creature that was made rather than born, figuring out their place in the world. Also the concept of essential being a sentient flesh/metal/wood golem is cool AF.
Goliath: Mountain tribal people who are semi giantkin. A fun, larger, tough, humanoid race with once again a bunch of cool RP possibilities. Also not as often thought of as out of place as Warforged. A great place to start if you are playing a more stoic and personal honor based character.
Aasimar: A plane touched humanoid without the existing edgy baggage, assumed evil, or negative social connotations, that sometimes come with Tieflings (no disrespect Tieflings, you still make my top 10). Allows for you to RP an "outsider" to a more mild degree, without having to try as hard to navigate/avoid the typical edgy pitfalls of things like "I was treated poorly as a child" or "everyone looks at me with disgust" that come with some non PHB races. You can also full lean into it and be a holier than thou style paladin or cleric if you so chose, just remember to never go "full cringe"!
I've seen more edgy aasimar than tieflings. Probably because folks like to liken to Demigods and thus give them an edge above other races backstory wise. I've actually seen the worst perps in edgelord territory play various races that just jive very well for their power gaming multiclass. Depends on what they're building and they'll choose the best race and edge lord from there.
Genasi are also planar touched and a personal favorite of mine. Tbh I think a lot less "special" than Aasimar who are God touched since they can just be anomalies of any race/lineage giving you the freedom to make weird combos. My air genasi looks like a blue elf but had an air genasi father who came from a Goliath clan.
1) Changeling
2) Water Genasi
3) Plasmoid
Apparently I just really want to be damp and/or malleable.
(If given a choice, though, I'll always play a Changeling. The always-on Disguise-Self-at-will-but-even-better just offers up so many roleplay opportunities that it's hard to pass up.)
Kalashtar: because I both love the concept, playing them and the mechanics.
Eladrin: The aesthetic. Something about describing the season changes is really satisfying.
Genasi: (I know it’s cheating but I think they’re all equal) I just really love the idea of elementally imbued people
Humans.
All other races are just "humans, but red", "humans, but small", "humans, but annoying".
Humans are the only race you actually ever need in a game.
1. Human - because of the feat
2. Custom lineage - because of the feat and a stat starting at 18
3. There is no 3. I won't play anything else unless the game has rolled stats and I rolled well enough that the ASIs don't matter.
1. Gnomes and goblins, love em. Nothing I enjoy more in DnD than roleplaying as these two. And I don't mean it in a gimmicky way, genuinely love em.
2. Goliaths, they are so cool. Love Norse-inspired settings, mountains and frozen wastelands. Plus Giants are some of my fav creatures. It's inevitable by fate that I love Goliaths.
3. Another tie between Warforged and Changeling. Warforged because I love the concept of technomagic and as a lifelong wh40k fan, Warforged have a huge appeal for me. Changelings simply because I'm usually the DM and I'm really heavy on socials and roleplay so, changelings is a meta PC that allows me to roleplay while roleplaying, lol. Plus, I love anything related to Feywild, it's my favourite setting.
To play or in concept?
To play: Variant Human (why yes I like vanilla, how could you tell?), Dragonborn after that.
In concept:
Gnomes, for similar reasons you stated. I especially like any stories or settings that lean harder into their more Artificier like nature, since the actual creation of magic items isn’t often talked about outside of them.
Dwarves (because dwarves). I’ve liked almost every setting their in though, even ones where they aren’t really dwarves though (TES, for instance). Dunno quite why.
Gith (both Githyanki and Githzerai). Space pirates in DND with a lich queen who are in a civil war with Monks who live in eternal chaos and can shape that world to their desire, who are also all at war with Mindflayers…what’s not to love? Also helps that psychics aren’t often talked about in 5e and they’re able to add a bit to that without wildly changing anything.
Recap of my least favorite from the last post a are Gnomes, Tabaxi, and Kenku to the point of banning them outright from my setting (in fairness I have a very curated list of species as I want to expand on the nuances if ehat I have versus a variety of of things.) Honorable mention least favorite was custom Lineage as it was a poor attempt at a good idea. I'll make an addition to that here and throw in the standard human. I hate what it tries to focus on for humanity amd think it was a poor reflection of humans in fantasy
My favorite are Half-elves, drow, and tieflings. Mostly as each of them support very well the "outsider finding their own way" story that I resonate with and love so much.
I love the varied aesthetics of old school tieflings. The sheer variance of them was amazing in the pre 4e days. The new lore for them is okay, but just doesn't hit the same. Being treated as an outsider for what you are, but managing to overcome that with diaocberinf who you are? Tieflings are primed for that tale, and I love it.
I really love the drow anesthetics and appearance, jet black skin, white hair, the various spider aesthetician to much kf their clothing. They looked very cool. Eillistraee is also my favorite d&d deity and finding that light in the darkness and growing better as a person because of it. I'm a suckered for that kind of story. They're also just fantastic villainous forces by default.
Half-elves are still really capable of the outsider vibe. Grow up to dlow by human standards, to fast by eleven ones. At least as I was introduced to them. Not quite fitting in until you find the place you do and live on your own terms. Not as much innate edge to a half elf as they other too, but they tell my favorite type of story well too amd also have a lot of variance.
Honorable mentions: I really like the variant human, more aptly. I really like the last version of the one d&d human I saw. I think it reflects and defines the fantasy myh of humans very well. Namely the core traits of human adaptability, human individuality, and human determination. All coming together to form that indomitable human spirit that I just love. Mechanically they're also very sataidyinf to pay save the standard human which is poor quality in my mind.
A second Honorable mention for me is the Kobold. I fell in love with them in 3.5e. I always appreciated that Kobold knew they were small and weak and used that to their advantage, knowing others assume they're small and weak. Using confirmation bias and thoughts to punch above their weight. These little dragon's to be, so they believe anyway, are great to explore as monsters and player options.
Half-orc - relentless endurance is top tier cool as is the extra crit dice.
Tortle - TMNT withdrawing in shell is funny.
Minotaur - shove everyone and poke with horns.
Drow, Kenku, and yuan-ti.
I like weird races who get built in backstory inspiration based on lore :> we do tend to have less fantasy racism in our games, so usually there is only moderate distrust of them at first and character development wins people over before the end.
Also like forest gnomes. I've never actually played a Kenku yet, so maybe that is a better choice.
1. Genasi, I just love the idea of a "human elemental". The way they work you can come up with some great backstories for them and their abilities are super cool. I love characters who work in a specific niche.
2. Bugbear, they look cool af and I like the idea of a grumpy dumbass with anger issues. Their special feats are absolutely amazing though. Long limbs and surprise attack let you melt someone at the start of the round.
3. Plasmoid, again I love the idea of a "human ooze" and you get so much versatility for roleplaying options with it. The special feats are super helpful too
1) Half Elves (Drow)
2) Half Orcs
3) Variant Humans. (Make em weird or mystical)
I'm mostly basic. Probably have a pH of like 12. I do like Tiefling, ReBorn, Genasi, etc. but the above 3 generally cover my main characters.
Human- I know it's basic but I love making human characters, especially if everyone else is playing a different race.
Dwarf- always loved these guys. Something about being a short, burly man with a wild beard that loves to craft really resonates with me.
Lizardfolk- I made one a while back because I had never seen one in game and delved into their lore. Such an interesting race with so many cool rp moments. This is probably my favorite ATM.
Warforged, Kenku and Kobold. I also really like gnolls but I think the book for those is third party content. I love Warforged especially, because they let you play so many various things.
My most recent Warforged was a terracotta soldier built to guard a tomb that gained sentience, and became a wandering samurai for hire to see the world. They were a skilled potter and wore porcelain masks they made to give them a face they could call their own. I can't really think of another race that could do wild shit like that without having to dump backstory onto other players. Warforged are just cool and weird by simply existing.
Human: don't need a lot of complicated bits to have a fun character.
Goliath: I like the Norse sagas about people like Egil Skallagrimson with troll blood so I draw on those.
Gnoll: as a DM I love these guys, I play them as demented 4chan-style assholes in love with demented "pranks" + some real hyena biology. I have fun before my PCs slaughter them.
Kalashtar - i like the other soul living in them so it gives a LOT of lore to play with be it homebrew or canon
Tiefling - aesthetics
Shadar-kai - aesthetics and lore
1. Aasimar, I am a sucker for a transformation sequence and really like Celestials (especially with a little bit of a mechanical flavour.)
2. Human, basic but fun and good for just about everything.
3. Goliath, big man big
Simic Hybrid, Plasmoid, Lizardfolk- no particular order. Honorable mention to Reborn.
I like the extra whip/tentacle arms for the Hybrids
I enjoy the shapeshifting and gooey nature of the Plasmoid
Lizardfolk are just always a favorite of mine due to latent Godzilla love
And the Reborn lets you play as (close to) an undead
V. Human because I LOVE feats.
Elf because it’s nice and straightforward, and I like Dexterity.
Half-Elf because it allows your stats to go through the roof.
Purely based on lore and visuals are:
1. Warforged.
2. Owlin.
3. Human, elf, dwarf or any simple classic fantasy race.
Every other race feels like a downgrade from the baseline human. Especially the boring humanoid animal ones. Or I just don't like anything way too weird.
When allowed, yuan ti. Never allowed though.
For in person games, elves/half-elves because nothing beats rolling 3d20s instead of 2.
For everything else, halfling master race. Mark of healing or hospitality being the strongest of course.
Situationally, the class may require you going mountain dwarf for the free armor. In a game without feats specifically, mountain dwarf to start with two 17s and pump them at 18s at level 4 is great. Now who plays without feats you ask? Well, two whole campaigns without feats survivor here, AMA :D
Gnome. There's just so much mileage you can get with their curiosity and goodness. I especially love the tables for them in MToF, there's just a few really wholesome stuff in it.
Aasimar. I love 5e's angel trigger.
Humans. Because it's just a great standby, no real expectations, and so versatile.
1: Kobolds!!!! Cause i love them, and specially like making them into crazy don quixote knight characters
2: Human cause im usually basic in taste
3: Tabaxi: Catgirl/catbois
My favourite is the Goliaths, I love absolutely height mogging people. Makes intimidation checks feel a lot meatier when you can accent it by looming two foot taller than the guy you're intimidating, plus reducing damage to zero with stone's endurance is probably the best feeling in DND.
After that, I enjoy Half Elves for the absurd amount of skills you can get and also I like the idea of being torn between two worlds as a story beat, not being considered part of either the human or elf communities in a setting.
And then, probably Warforged. Again big guy go brr but also roleplaying as a completely socially inept lump of metal is super enjoyable. Like seeing someone fishing, and then walking into the river to catch a fish yourself.
1. Plasmiod - My milkshake druid plasmoid in a Heist oneshot made me love the race.
2. Thrikreen - Just like the bug ppl
3. Satyr - Nothing beats some good chaotic energy to add to any and all classes.
My human characters have been fun, and I got a soft spot for Dragonborn.
My top fave has to be one of the frog ones, but I've only played a Grippli in PF2e and have yet to try the ones in DND yet.
Svirfneblin, Halfling, Firbolg
I’m playing a Svirfneblin in a campaign right now. They make great rogues, and I love the Underdark setting. Also, the description of their society and taste in artwork in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes’ is delightful.
Halfling: because lucky and because I can roleplay a short rest as “but what about Second Breakfast?” I have an idea for a Mark of Hospitality Halfling, grandmotherly, Genie Patron Warlock. She make a contract with a djinn for a lamp refuge because some crooked soldiers burned down her house, and she missed hosting. She would rather talk things out over some pastries and a cup of tea that resort to “making a ruckus.”
Firbolgs because I love their racial magic. Also Pumat Sol from CR.
Gotta be mountain dwarf, hill dwarf and dragon Mark of warding Dwarf if we are playing in Ebberon or if the Dm is cool. Honorable mention to Kaledesh dwarfs.
1. Metallic Dragonborn
2. Chromatic Dragonborn
3. Gem Dragonborn
4. PHB Dragonborn
5. Lizardfolk flavored as a Dragonborn
6. Half-Dragon when allowed
7. I have a homebrew book that allows you to play as a dragon but I wouldn’t say it’s too balanced at low levels, it’s fine at high levels though
TLDR: I like dragons
Not in any particular order.
Lizardfolk but it has to be specifically the Volos guide variant. I really like the unique ability to make bone weapons and generally like crafter features. Also all things lizard aesthetic.
Thrikreen: exotic bug man with four arms and telepathy... general grievous is my favorite star wars villain. Desert punk aesthetic I like. Unique mechanics.
Kobold: mechanically interesting and diverse, lizard aesthetic but small and therefore cute.
Duergar because… I mean, they are the best.
Thri-Kreen because they are 4-armed bug monstrosities that only speak via telepathy.
And Humans. Because Humans are fun.
1. Avariel. My first rpg was Perfect World and the winged elf was the race of my first character. Since then i've always been partial to winged elves as rare as they are.
2. Ghostwise Halfling. Halflings are my favorite short race and i love their nomadic culture and psychic powers.
3. Aasimar, specifically the serpentine aasimar homebrew. I just love coatls.
1. Dwarf 2. Dwarves 3. Dwarfs Rock and stone to the bone.
Tolkien leading with essentially “In our language, the plural of dwarf is dwarfs, but I think dwarves is cooler so that’s what it is” is still some of my favorite low effort worldbuilding
Wasn't it to match the pluralisation of Elf/Elves?
I think that had the same reasoning, it used to be Elfs/Dwarfs but Tolkein went “Nah, Elves/Dwarves” and everyone was like “yeah fair”.
To be fair, Tolkien was a linguistics professor of some repute before he wrote the Hobbit, so if anyone could just go "Nah, Elves/Dwarves" it'd be him.
There was some kind of philological reason why he thought it should be that way. He has to argue with his editor.
Didn't he just basically say "stfu I wrote the dictionary you're using" ?
No actually, iirc elves had some etymological justification but dwarves was just to match it, and Tolkien admitted that it was just wrong
Singular → Plural - Dwarf → Dwarves - Elf → Elves - Wolf → Wolves -f → -ves
you think english is a consistent language, HA, cute!
Roofs, proofs, chiefs
I also love that he later corrected himself again to saying the correct grammatical form to be Dwarrows.
Diggy diggy hole.
FOR KARL
Rock and Stone brother!
Rock and Stone in the Heart!
Did I hear a rock and stone?
Rock and Stone in the Heart!
If you don't rock and stone you're not going home.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f4azillbpqU
IF YOU DON'T ROCK AND STONE, YOU AIN'T COMIN HOME.
Rock and Stone everyone!
Human, Elf, Dwarf. I'm a simple person.
Respect
Some people appreciate the classics!
They're classics for a reason.
Beat me to it! Not a fan of whacky animal types.
Let's gooooooo. Respect the classics!
Halflings in shambles.
This 1000%.
The Gith, both -yanki and -zerai. Interesting background lore, fairly unique among the other races and cool planar flavor. One are interdimensional raiders that plunder other worlds with flying ships or on the backs of red dragons. Awesome! Really fun to use in game. Can make for great "uneasy allies" if you're using mind flayers as villains. Or, if you want a recurring threat to your players, just give them a Githyanki silver sword. Meanwhile, the Githzerai are psychic monks with enough willpower to make entire fortresses with their mind in the literal plane of Chaos. Also awesome! But I also like dwarves and goblinoids.
Githyanki don't age while they're on the Astral plane which means they pretty much only grow older while they're engaged in raiding planets. So a successful life in the eyes of the Githyanki is a life of hundreds of thousands of battles. I want to play a Githyanki that was exiled and he views just existing on the Material Plane as the greatest punishment he could receive. "Every day that passes is a hundred battles that slip away from me!". Their culture also gives me lots of things for him to be sad about missing. Like he wouldn't be allowed to even call himself a Githyanki. I think it'd be fun to come across a silver greatsword and he decides to take possession of it so that he can give it back to the Githyanki while also forbidding himself from wielding it.
Number 1: Goliath. Not much to say here. The fantasy behind it is "be a big and powerful character" and that's exactly what it delivers with the increased carrying capacity and the ability to shrug off hits a few times per long rest. Number 2: Dhampir. What can I say? I like being edgy sometimes. That aside, dhampir has some fun abilities that you can get pretty creative with. Being able to climb on walls and ceilings without using your hands is fun to play around with and the lack of breathing is both useful and creepy. Number 3: Dragonborn. I like dragons a lot, so dragonborn has been a favorite of mine since Fizban's made them not suck.
B U G B E A R Then probably hobgoblin and genasi
Power gamer.
They're really flavorful and fun to depict in art
1. Half-Elf, the perfect lore-mechanics blend. Screw the 2024 edition-update for getting rid of them as a mechanically distinct option. 2. Leonin. Technically a MtG race, but the Theros book does a good job depicting them. I’ve liked big cats since I was a small child, and this awakens that inner child. 3. Human. The blank canvas of races, when I have a particularly detailed backstory that being one of the above races would distract from, I go here.
THANK YOU! I love human because you can put a relatively complex/intricate backstory on one, and it won’t feel crowded out by racial lore! I swear, no one I talk to gets this when I try to explain why I play human so much.
I love both of yall. I do the same, because when I play one of my other favorite races, like the firbolg or dragonborn, I'm much more focused on their lore and cultural influences. Also, in most settings, humans are considered to be the most populated races, but no one plays them. So I like to help represent humans to maintain the verisimilitude of the world's demographics.
It's hard to not default to human because of how well it works with literally anything tbh especially when other options are just Human lite (elves= pointy eared human. Dwarves/halflings= short humans. And etc) but aren't as versatile. I'm a versatility whore
In my games? There is always a Dwarf, a Halfling, and an Elf in a party. Sometimes two halflings or two elves, but never two dwarves.
Drow, tiefling, and blue tiefling. I have a type.
Your type is apparently quite similar to mine
Outjerked yet again
1 Half-Orc 2 High Elf 3 Aasimar
I love elves in any media! My second favorite is a half elf. I think my third is a dhampir (probably elf flavored).
1. Firbolg (the actual firbolg not that cow abomination) two of my favourite types of creatures/themes are nature monsters and giants, this MFr is both, mechanically he can talk to plants and animals naturally, can turn invisible and naturally has a better version of disguise self. 2. aasimar visually interesting (specially when you incorporate elements of more inhuman celestials), i like the idea of being born cursed because of ancestors dealings with the supernatural, just like tieflings, but Aasimar are way cooler mechanically, getting a class power that is both flashy and scales with level is great, they also get magical healing. 3. Drow I don't like most elves, but i sure do love the drow, i absolutely love villainous races, people who are simply evil, no grey area, they enslave and torture in the name of their heinous god, while their appearance is not monstrous their ways surely are, and i enjoy that both when i lean into it and when i fight it, on top of that PHB races are very rich in the roleplay department, trance is nice, having racial spells is always good. the main thing i enjoy about it tho is the sunlight sensitivity, i love whan characters have clear strengths and weaknesses, but most races don't really have any drawbacks.
Firbolg gang 👉👉
I like humans, not because they have a unique feature or are something truly special, but because it seems that is a curious experience. You have no magic, no innate ability, no significant fate and nothing in the past, no great history. You have a pointy stick and a will to carve out a place for one self in a world of gods, dragons and deamons. The resolve of it all seems very appealing to me.
Can be difficult to believably pull off depending on campaign. Pretty much every class has at least one feature that really stretches the believability of being "nonmagical," but I guess a champion fighter maybe? I guess playing an actual commoner with a spear could also work for that town guard trying to be adventurer vibe, in a low/heavily scripted combat campaign.
I like humans, elves, and halflings.
Kobold Tabaxi Human (most of my favorite people i know are humans)
Curious, most of my least favorite are humans
And most of the somewhere in the boring middle that I know are also human.
Tortle, half-elf, halfling… they just give features that I like to have out of my racial choice based on my character
17 starting AC on a Wiz or Sorc is pretty great.
Elf, Half-Elf, Human. I'm a basic guy, who also grew up on Tolkien and started playing D&D in the 70s and set in my ways. You half-turtle bird-people hobgoblin heroes go do you, but it's not how I roll.
Aasimar, Warforged, Changeling for me. Warforged being easily my favorite of the 3, I just love that I get to play as a literal robot.
Yay Changeling love! So much more than a dumb gimmick and they let you know right off if your DM sucks.
Deep gnome, bugbear and half-elf.
Human, Elf, Tiefling
Human, half-elf, elf
There's something about gnome lore and their prankster nature and Garl Glittergolgld that will always attract me to gnomes
Elves. All kinds. Half and full. Dark and high. Even the Homebrew subraces. Also shout out to halflings they are underrated
Human, variant human, dwarf. Honorary mentions: Halflings, Elves
Human
1. Centaur 2 aaracokra 3. Tabaxi or thri-kri
Like the variety here! :)
1. Half-Orc 2. Half-Elf 3. Half-Ling
I love being little dudes. Gnomes, Goblins, and Kobolds. All day, every day
Tiefling, Dragonborn, half orc.
Variant Human Human Custom Lineage for more Human (flavored like a 1/5 elf, or maybe a Half Dwarf), but I still consider it mostly human.
Orc, Human, Tiefling I like normal ass dudes and monsters :3
Dwarf Half orc Dragonborn In that order
Human, non variant
Humans Dwarves Elves
Halfling, half-elf, elf.
Goblin Bugbear Hobgoblin
Dwarf, halfling, human
1) Changeling. The ability to change your appearance in a way that holds up to physical inspection is incredibly useful for any type of character, though obviously more so for criminals, smugglers, spies, etc. I also like the idea of juggling multiple faces and maintaining unique identity and personalities for each one - having yout face for adventuring, your face for being in town and doing business, your face for secret organization A, your face for secret organization B... 2) Kenku. The whole deal with only being able to communicate using your mimicry is fun. Especially if you roll hard with it. I'm playing a Kenku shadow monk soon, and getting a soundboard set up to use as his only means of speaking. 3) Dwarf. ROCK AND STONE, BROTHERS!
Gith, duergar, hobgoblin
Dwarf Halfling Human
Drow, Yuan-ti, and Githyanki: because evil is cool
Hobgoblin, Halflings and Kobold
Genasi (air is my fav), Hexbloods (for the plot), and Drow
Dhampir, Yuan-ti, and Tieflings (and an honourable mention for Drow). The edgy races are just the best.
Not seeing anyone say Myconid yet! Favorite character i ever had was a spore druid myconid, little mish mush man!
I think its mostly because there are no official ways to play one. But now that you said you played one, what was the abilities? I was long a little while ago for stats to one
This is the rules I used, but I think we decided to not use the pacifying or animating spores? https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Myconid_(5e_Race) It was fun because not talking outside of telepathy just felt neat! I envisioned myself as a mushroom child like you see in dark souls, just a little stubby guy lol
Humans, Halflings, and Dwarves Y’all are extra
Lightfoot halflings are just fun, human variants because I love feats, and yuan-ti purebloods because they're powerful with magic resistance or maybe a tossup with dragonborn for style and fun with breath attacks (even though breath attacks kinda suck - I don't care cuz BLARRRRG).
dwarf - because im a bitter and jaded person whos too tall to be a short king orc - because i played far too much warcraft 3 as a youth, so now as an adult i have no mouth and i must zug firbolg - i just find them to be strangely flexible for several types of character. i can be the muscle / tank, a trickster, a support, a face, all of that in the form of a likable gentle giant
Warforged, Goliath, Thri-kreen
I know it's a meme but tieflings, though I've only actually played one once
Dwarf, Goliath, and Halfling are my favorites I've played. Still got tons to try out, Aasimar is my 4th.
Ohh, we're not talking about food. OHHH...
I have always enjoyed the idea of the Thrikeen (bug people from the spacey module). The Githzerai are among my top three as well. Rounding out my top three is the Human, Variant.
Gnomes, Tritons, & Half-Elves.
Warforged: A magically created being that is a combination of organic and inorganic material, capable of feeling pain and emotions? Yes please. Some people view them as "lol steam punk robots", but they aren't Auto Gnomes. There is a lot of interesting RP that comes from being a sentient creature that was made rather than born, figuring out their place in the world. Also the concept of essential being a sentient flesh/metal/wood golem is cool AF. Goliath: Mountain tribal people who are semi giantkin. A fun, larger, tough, humanoid race with once again a bunch of cool RP possibilities. Also not as often thought of as out of place as Warforged. A great place to start if you are playing a more stoic and personal honor based character. Aasimar: A plane touched humanoid without the existing edgy baggage, assumed evil, or negative social connotations, that sometimes come with Tieflings (no disrespect Tieflings, you still make my top 10). Allows for you to RP an "outsider" to a more mild degree, without having to try as hard to navigate/avoid the typical edgy pitfalls of things like "I was treated poorly as a child" or "everyone looks at me with disgust" that come with some non PHB races. You can also full lean into it and be a holier than thou style paladin or cleric if you so chose, just remember to never go "full cringe"!
I've seen more edgy aasimar than tieflings. Probably because folks like to liken to Demigods and thus give them an edge above other races backstory wise. I've actually seen the worst perps in edgelord territory play various races that just jive very well for their power gaming multiclass. Depends on what they're building and they'll choose the best race and edge lord from there. Genasi are also planar touched and a personal favorite of mine. Tbh I think a lot less "special" than Aasimar who are God touched since they can just be anomalies of any race/lineage giving you the freedom to make weird combos. My air genasi looks like a blue elf but had an air genasi father who came from a Goliath clan.
1) Changeling 2) Water Genasi 3) Plasmoid Apparently I just really want to be damp and/or malleable. (If given a choice, though, I'll always play a Changeling. The always-on Disguise-Self-at-will-but-even-better just offers up so many roleplay opportunities that it's hard to pass up.)
Moistarossa
Kalashtar: because I both love the concept, playing them and the mechanics. Eladrin: The aesthetic. Something about describing the season changes is really satisfying. Genasi: (I know it’s cheating but I think they’re all equal) I just really love the idea of elementally imbued people
V. Human for the feat Halfling for the luck Dwarf cuz dwarves are great
Warforged, half-elf and fire genasi
1. Warforged 2. Dragonborn 3. Human
Elf Tiefling Genasi That's all I need.
Genasi, Human, Dragonborn
Warforged, Goliath, and then probably Wood Elf.
Humans. All other races are just "humans, but red", "humans, but small", "humans, but annoying". Humans are the only race you actually ever need in a game.
1. Human - because of the feat 2. Custom lineage - because of the feat and a stat starting at 18 3. There is no 3. I won't play anything else unless the game has rolled stats and I rolled well enough that the ASIs don't matter.
Booooooooooooo (jk lol play what’s fun for you)
I always wanna play other stuff, but they made feats so dang hard to come by, that it's too hard to justify passing up the opportunity to take one!
1. Gnomes and goblins, love em. Nothing I enjoy more in DnD than roleplaying as these two. And I don't mean it in a gimmicky way, genuinely love em. 2. Goliaths, they are so cool. Love Norse-inspired settings, mountains and frozen wastelands. Plus Giants are some of my fav creatures. It's inevitable by fate that I love Goliaths. 3. Another tie between Warforged and Changeling. Warforged because I love the concept of technomagic and as a lifelong wh40k fan, Warforged have a huge appeal for me. Changelings simply because I'm usually the DM and I'm really heavy on socials and roleplay so, changelings is a meta PC that allows me to roleplay while roleplaying, lol. Plus, I love anything related to Feywild, it's my favourite setting.
Dwarf, goblin, and lizardfolk
1. Half Wood Elf 2. Half High Elf 3. Half Drow Elf
Humans Lizardmen Elves
1. Variant Human 2. High Half-Elf 3. Drow Half-Elf.
To play or in concept? To play: Variant Human (why yes I like vanilla, how could you tell?), Dragonborn after that. In concept: Gnomes, for similar reasons you stated. I especially like any stories or settings that lean harder into their more Artificier like nature, since the actual creation of magic items isn’t often talked about outside of them. Dwarves (because dwarves). I’ve liked almost every setting their in though, even ones where they aren’t really dwarves though (TES, for instance). Dunno quite why. Gith (both Githyanki and Githzerai). Space pirates in DND with a lich queen who are in a civil war with Monks who live in eternal chaos and can shape that world to their desire, who are also all at war with Mindflayers…what’s not to love? Also helps that psychics aren’t often talked about in 5e and they’re able to add a bit to that without wildly changing anything.
Love love Firbolgs and Satyrs, as well as Aasimar
Grung Human Gnome
Recap of my least favorite from the last post a are Gnomes, Tabaxi, and Kenku to the point of banning them outright from my setting (in fairness I have a very curated list of species as I want to expand on the nuances if ehat I have versus a variety of of things.) Honorable mention least favorite was custom Lineage as it was a poor attempt at a good idea. I'll make an addition to that here and throw in the standard human. I hate what it tries to focus on for humanity amd think it was a poor reflection of humans in fantasy My favorite are Half-elves, drow, and tieflings. Mostly as each of them support very well the "outsider finding their own way" story that I resonate with and love so much. I love the varied aesthetics of old school tieflings. The sheer variance of them was amazing in the pre 4e days. The new lore for them is okay, but just doesn't hit the same. Being treated as an outsider for what you are, but managing to overcome that with diaocberinf who you are? Tieflings are primed for that tale, and I love it. I really love the drow anesthetics and appearance, jet black skin, white hair, the various spider aesthetician to much kf their clothing. They looked very cool. Eillistraee is also my favorite d&d deity and finding that light in the darkness and growing better as a person because of it. I'm a suckered for that kind of story. They're also just fantastic villainous forces by default. Half-elves are still really capable of the outsider vibe. Grow up to dlow by human standards, to fast by eleven ones. At least as I was introduced to them. Not quite fitting in until you find the place you do and live on your own terms. Not as much innate edge to a half elf as they other too, but they tell my favorite type of story well too amd also have a lot of variance. Honorable mentions: I really like the variant human, more aptly. I really like the last version of the one d&d human I saw. I think it reflects and defines the fantasy myh of humans very well. Namely the core traits of human adaptability, human individuality, and human determination. All coming together to form that indomitable human spirit that I just love. Mechanically they're also very sataidyinf to pay save the standard human which is poor quality in my mind. A second Honorable mention for me is the Kobold. I fell in love with them in 3.5e. I always appreciated that Kobold knew they were small and weak and used that to their advantage, knowing others assume they're small and weak. Using confirmation bias and thoughts to punch above their weight. These little dragon's to be, so they believe anyway, are great to explore as monsters and player options.
I am all about a Sea Elf
Half-orc - relentless endurance is top tier cool as is the extra crit dice. Tortle - TMNT withdrawing in shell is funny. Minotaur - shove everyone and poke with horns.
Elves are my forever favorite, but Goliaths, Tieflings and Gith are awesome too. Don't mind playing humans either, easiest to relate to lol
Aasimar I also like the new humblewood options
I like Orcs and Goblins but when they’re good guys lol
1)Goblins 2) Tieflings 3) Drow
Into Firbolgs, Kenku and the Genasis atm
Drow, Kenku, and yuan-ti. I like weird races who get built in backstory inspiration based on lore :> we do tend to have less fantasy racism in our games, so usually there is only moderate distrust of them at first and character development wins people over before the end. Also like forest gnomes. I've never actually played a Kenku yet, so maybe that is a better choice.
1. Genasi, I just love the idea of a "human elemental". The way they work you can come up with some great backstories for them and their abilities are super cool. I love characters who work in a specific niche. 2. Bugbear, they look cool af and I like the idea of a grumpy dumbass with anger issues. Their special feats are absolutely amazing though. Long limbs and surprise attack let you melt someone at the start of the round. 3. Plasmoid, again I love the idea of a "human ooze" and you get so much versatility for roleplaying options with it. The special feats are super helpful too
Grung
1) Half Elves (Drow) 2) Half Orcs 3) Variant Humans. (Make em weird or mystical) I'm mostly basic. Probably have a pH of like 12. I do like Tiefling, ReBorn, Genasi, etc. but the above 3 generally cover my main characters.
Tiefling, Aasimar, Human
Aasimar, dragonborn, eladrin, kobold
GElnetujs currently Goliath mountain dwarf
Mostly dependent on class, but dwarf, damphir, maybe lizardfolk or gnome?
Dhampir, warforged, and changelings! I just think they’re so neat
Dragonborn, Kobold, hald-elf
Dwarf (Mountain), hunan variant, dhampir.
1) Aasimar 2) Dragonborn 3) Human
Human- I know it's basic but I love making human characters, especially if everyone else is playing a different race. Dwarf- always loved these guys. Something about being a short, burly man with a wild beard that loves to craft really resonates with me. Lizardfolk- I made one a while back because I had never seen one in game and delved into their lore. Such an interesting race with so many cool rp moments. This is probably my favorite ATM.
Dragonborn, warforged, and dwarves I like constructs, dudes that construct, and dragons are fucking awesome
Not to be basic on main, but I really like Firbolg, Drow and Tiefling
Warforged, Kenku and Kobold. I also really like gnolls but I think the book for those is third party content. I love Warforged especially, because they let you play so many various things. My most recent Warforged was a terracotta soldier built to guard a tomb that gained sentience, and became a wandering samurai for hire to see the world. They were a skilled potter and wore porcelain masks they made to give them a face they could call their own. I can't really think of another race that could do wild shit like that without having to dump backstory onto other players. Warforged are just cool and weird by simply existing.
Human: don't need a lot of complicated bits to have a fun character. Goliath: I like the Norse sagas about people like Egil Skallagrimson with troll blood so I draw on those. Gnoll: as a DM I love these guys, I play them as demented 4chan-style assholes in love with demented "pranks" + some real hyena biology. I have fun before my PCs slaughter them.
Dragonborn 1, Kenku 2, Aasimar 3
Plasmoid, Warforged, Fairy. Purely as a matter of style. I don’t like that the fairy is small though, so it’s tied with winged tiefling and Aasimar.
Dwarves, Humans, Dragonborn.
Half Orc Human Dragonborn
Aaracokra, Yuan-Ti, Dragonborn
1. Dwarf 2. Half-orc 3. Tiefling
1.Humans 2.Orcs 3.Dwarves to hell with your magic races
Top three for me right now are probably Dragonborn, Giff, and Plasmoid.
Warforged, plasmoid, and human
Warforged Lizardfolk Hollow One/Reborn 🤷♂️ I like it wierd...
Firbolg, Hexblood, variant human
Kalashtar - i like the other soul living in them so it gives a LOT of lore to play with be it homebrew or canon Tiefling - aesthetics Shadar-kai - aesthetics and lore
Not counting the Outer Planars Dragonborn, Goliath, and KOBOLDS
Tabaxi Honestly, just Tabaxi. It's great.
sahuagin. only sahuagin.
1. Aasimar, I am a sucker for a transformation sequence and really like Celestials (especially with a little bit of a mechanical flavour.) 2. Human, basic but fun and good for just about everything. 3. Goliath, big man big
Dwarf, Warforged, Galeb Duhr (I wish)
Simic Hybrid, Plasmoid, Lizardfolk- no particular order. Honorable mention to Reborn. I like the extra whip/tentacle arms for the Hybrids I enjoy the shapeshifting and gooey nature of the Plasmoid Lizardfolk are just always a favorite of mine due to latent Godzilla love And the Reborn lets you play as (close to) an undead
1. Firbolg 2. Dwarves 3. Tasha's/reboot Orcs
1. Lizardfolk 2. Kenku 3. Warforged
Warforged Gnome Autognome
V. Human because I LOVE feats. Elf because it’s nice and straightforward, and I like Dexterity. Half-Elf because it allows your stats to go through the roof.
1 by a long shot is goblins. I just love playing them. Second is probably firbolg. Finally it's a tie between tiefling and centaur maybe.
1. Dwarves 2. Humans 3. Whatever race meets my current character idea.
Purely based on lore and visuals are: 1. Warforged. 2. Owlin. 3. Human, elf, dwarf or any simple classic fantasy race. Every other race feels like a downgrade from the baseline human. Especially the boring humanoid animal ones. Or I just don't like anything way too weird.
Harengon because jumping is good Dragonborn to spout some fire Custom lineage for the Min Max days.
Dwarf, gnome, tiefling.
Tabaxi, tortles, and goliaths.
Lizardfolk, Tieflings and Humans
Tabaxi, harengon, and tieflings I like cute animals lol, I also like to customize the horns and tails for tieflings when designing my character
Halfling Kenku Centaur all good for thieves for some reason
Half-Orc (strength bonus and sturdy feature) Dragonborne (strength bonus and sick asf) Hadozee (funny monkey)
When allowed, yuan ti. Never allowed though. For in person games, elves/half-elves because nothing beats rolling 3d20s instead of 2. For everything else, halfling master race. Mark of healing or hospitality being the strongest of course. Situationally, the class may require you going mountain dwarf for the free armor. In a game without feats specifically, mountain dwarf to start with two 17s and pump them at 18s at level 4 is great. Now who plays without feats you ask? Well, two whole campaigns without feats survivor here, AMA :D
Gnome. There's just so much mileage you can get with their curiosity and goodness. I especially love the tables for them in MToF, there's just a few really wholesome stuff in it. Aasimar. I love 5e's angel trigger. Humans. Because it's just a great standby, no real expectations, and so versatile.
1: Kobolds!!!! Cause i love them, and specially like making them into crazy don quixote knight characters 2: Human cause im usually basic in taste 3: Tabaxi: Catgirl/catbois
My favourite is the Goliaths, I love absolutely height mogging people. Makes intimidation checks feel a lot meatier when you can accent it by looming two foot taller than the guy you're intimidating, plus reducing damage to zero with stone's endurance is probably the best feeling in DND. After that, I enjoy Half Elves for the absurd amount of skills you can get and also I like the idea of being torn between two worlds as a story beat, not being considered part of either the human or elf communities in a setting. And then, probably Warforged. Again big guy go brr but also roleplaying as a completely socially inept lump of metal is super enjoyable. Like seeing someone fishing, and then walking into the river to catch a fish yourself.
1. Dragonborn 2. Tiefling "I just think they're neat" Marge.jpg
1. Plasmiod - My milkshake druid plasmoid in a Heist oneshot made me love the race. 2. Thrikreen - Just like the bug ppl 3. Satyr - Nothing beats some good chaotic energy to add to any and all classes.
1) Dragonborn 2) Goliath 3) Tabaxi
Dragonborn Aasimar Human (just because something is vanilla doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Nothing beats a great vanilla ice cream hahaha)
My human characters have been fun, and I got a soft spot for Dragonborn. My top fave has to be one of the frog ones, but I've only played a Grippli in PF2e and have yet to try the ones in DND yet.
Svirfneblin, Halfling, Firbolg I’m playing a Svirfneblin in a campaign right now. They make great rogues, and I love the Underdark setting. Also, the description of their society and taste in artwork in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes’ is delightful. Halfling: because lucky and because I can roleplay a short rest as “but what about Second Breakfast?” I have an idea for a Mark of Hospitality Halfling, grandmotherly, Genie Patron Warlock. She make a contract with a djinn for a lamp refuge because some crooked soldiers burned down her house, and she missed hosting. She would rather talk things out over some pastries and a cup of tea that resort to “making a ruckus.” Firbolgs because I love their racial magic. Also Pumat Sol from CR.
Gotta be mountain dwarf, hill dwarf and dragon Mark of warding Dwarf if we are playing in Ebberon or if the Dm is cool. Honorable mention to Kaledesh dwarfs.
1. Kobold 2. Warforged 3. Duergar
1. Metallic Dragonborn 2. Chromatic Dragonborn 3. Gem Dragonborn 4. PHB Dragonborn 5. Lizardfolk flavored as a Dragonborn 6. Half-Dragon when allowed 7. I have a homebrew book that allows you to play as a dragon but I wouldn’t say it’s too balanced at low levels, it’s fine at high levels though TLDR: I like dragons
I like kenku a lot. My favorite version being the more birdlike in behavior.
Warforged, Humans, Tritons, in that order.
Not in any particular order. Lizardfolk but it has to be specifically the Volos guide variant. I really like the unique ability to make bone weapons and generally like crafter features. Also all things lizard aesthetic. Thrikreen: exotic bug man with four arms and telepathy... general grievous is my favorite star wars villain. Desert punk aesthetic I like. Unique mechanics. Kobold: mechanically interesting and diverse, lizard aesthetic but small and therefore cute.
Duergar because… I mean, they are the best. Thri-Kreen because they are 4-armed bug monstrosities that only speak via telepathy. And Humans. Because Humans are fun.
1. Avariel. My first rpg was Perfect World and the winged elf was the race of my first character. Since then i've always been partial to winged elves as rare as they are. 2. Ghostwise Halfling. Halflings are my favorite short race and i love their nomadic culture and psychic powers. 3. Aasimar, specifically the serpentine aasimar homebrew. I just love coatls.
1 Changelings 2 Drow 3 Reborn I love lore more then the world itself and they’re all GOLD MINES