This is definitely going to need some adjustment.

What I’m putting forth in this post is my first crack at a way to offer more flexible ancestry for characters in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. With all this in mind, I started to think about the options I could give my players the next time we rolled up characters. What if I just want to play an elf bard with a Charisma bonus instead of Intelligence and some more skill proficiencies instead of weapon proficiencies? What if you want to play a character with one tiefling parent and one dragonborn parent? You could pick either tiefling or dragonborn and go with it, but wouldn’t it be more fun to put the two together? What if you’re a halfling raised underground by incredible masons and miners? Shouldn’t you have the Stonecunnig trait? What if you come from a place where a diverse population has existed for generations? You might have a bunch of different heritages and cool mix of genetic and cultural traits to go with it. I also get a little jealous when my friends are more effective. I’ll admit, I have a little power gamer in me as well as actor, so even when I have a great character concept in mind, I hesitate to play it if it isn’t optimized. I want to play a dwarf wizard and not be inferior to other wizards just because I didn’t get a sweet, sweet Intelligence score bonus and an extra cantrip.

There’s also a fun factor to this new system, which is subjective. The fact that D&D has ability score adjustments and many cultural traits tied to race is inherently racist. Leona put it best when she said, “D&D itself is problematic and racialised, and it is 1000% baked into the very foundations in tiny ways, even aside from the racial bonuses.” This new system addresses some, and nowhere close to all, of the mechanical aspects of this issue. That is an issue that requires a total rethink of the game, in other words an entirely a new game. I want to be upfront that I don’t think this system comes close to solving every issue of race in Dungeons & Dragons.

Haeck, who gave me great advice that inspired the variant on these rules below. Check out Leona’s website! I also want to thank James J. It would not be close to what it is without her contributions and advice. First Leona Maple consulted and did rules development for this idea. My latest DMs Guild product, The Iron Titan, is now available!īefore we dive in, I want to thank two people who gave me great feedback on this article.

Dungeons and dragons 5e playable races