My perfect mixes of races for inclusion in a OSR/5e game would include the following:
Human - The standard race that provides a touchstone of reality.
Elves - Leave them open as to being big Nordic/Tolkien elves vs. smaller playful elves.
Dwarfs - Because they are cool.
Halflings - Kind of a standard thanks to Tolkien.
Shifters - Maybe have them be straight up animal hybrids, but the general idea is really good.
Tiefling/Cambion - Human/demon hybrids are just cool.
Aasimar/Nephilim - Human/angle hybrids are also really cool.
Lizardmen/Dragonborn - I'm not a huge lizard fan, but many are. They do provide a great resource for those designing new worlds.
Warforged - This might not work for every fantasy setting, but it's great if you want a steampunk vibe. Though if any would be removed from the core, it would be this one.
4 comments:
You are much less conservative than I would have been for core races. I'd have left it at Human, Elf, Dwarf and Halfling; everything else can be added later. I like your reasoning though.
Too many OSR types get offended if anyone suggests something different from how it was done 25 or more years ago (not saying you are like this). I'm not one of them. I think more options from the get-go is a good thing. Doesn't mean the rest of the game has to be made more complicated.
I actually almost decided to leave Halflings off the list, but decided they had too much history to not be core. I just think that fewer options at the start means that it's easier to start, I don't have a problem with adding lots of diversity later on, even if it is races that came in with 3rd or 4th edition. 1/2 Elves, 1/2 Orcs and Gnomes only made it in with 1st edition AD&D after all :)
I'm going with Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, and Half-elves for Three Moon Forest. Some kind of animal man may show up later on, dwelling deeper in the woods. Gnomes would seem logical to include, but I've never been happy with the entire "mischievous large-nosed wood dwarves" archetype.
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