- The Dragonborn, upgraded to first tier class, came from Races of the Dragon and, indeed their fluff was pretty cool in my opinion. The same book focused on the new playable race of Spellscales, Super Sorcerers who were very charismatic and the fan favourite Kobolds (another race I think people would like.) It makes sense that headstrong Dragonborn would be chosed, especially of WotC explicitly wanting more of a connection to the first D in D&D.
- Next came the Goliaths from Races of Stone, another race that, while not for me, had some extremely detailed and fun fluff. Boisterous, slightly thick, and highly competitive alpine folk, strong, bald, and slightly rock-like. I'm frankly surprised it wasn't just outright said they're made from Rock. That book had a lot on gnomes and drarfs, who are playable.
The two other books in the Races of _____ series were Races of Destiny and Races of the Wild.
- In Races of Destiny there were Humans, Half-Humans, and the Illumians, a race who had glyphs permenantly associated with them and... to be honest they bored me so I didn't particularly read them
. They were also quite complicated with their glyphs representing meanings and certain combinations pertaining to certain abilities. I don't know anyone who played one. What else was in that book under "Other Races" that is now in 4E are the Aasimar and the quite popular Tieflings. Basically Half Humans with Angels and Demons... now playable as the Devas and... Tieflings. So it can be said that Races of Destiny is covered.
That leaves Races of the Wild.
- Races of the Wild included Elves, now split into two races, and Hobbits Halflings in their featured races portion. Their "Other Races" portion included catfolk, centaurs, and gnolls under a heavy level penalty to play. Lesser known were the Killoren who evolved into the Wilden in 4E, a race I'm interested in play testing with. What was the Featured Race that debuted in the book? The Flying Raptoran! A Race of people who had wings!
This is why I believe PHB4 will include Raptorans as their new playable races.
But Wait! There's more!
- The Raptorans gained their wings from their ancestors looong ago making a pact with the Wind Gods/Spirits/Anima. This would fit into the Elemental Power Source people believe to be coming up.
So yes. I've ranted out my 15 dollars (inflation). Hope everyone enjoyed it!
I'd be for a race with a flight encounter racial power then a variety of feats and a paragon path to expand the ability.
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I'd be for a race with a flight encounter racial power then a variety of feats and a paragon path to expand the ability.
Windsoul Genasi already have an racial flight encounter power.
You seem to have missed that the Wilden are renamed Killoren from Races of the Wild
You seem to have missed that he didn't miss that. =P
Lesser known were the Killoren who evolved into the Wilden in 4E, a race I'm interested in play testing with.
We most likely won't see the Raptorian in 4th edition.
That said, I think there's a good chance of a revamped Raptoran race in the future. Possibly fused with the Aarokocra.
Seriously, the devs put whatever race in the book that they think is interesting and that is in demand. If you want Raptorans, why don't you just say so?
You seem to have missed that the Wilden are renamed Killoren from Races of the Wild
You seem to have missed that he didn't miss that. =PLesser known were the Killoren who evolved into the Wilden in 4E, a race I'm interested in play testing with.
Thank you, thank you
OP seems to think this game is Dragons & Dungeons, not Dungeons & Dragons.
That said, I think there's a good chance of a revamped Raptoran race in the future. Possibly fused with the Aarokocra.
Whoops! Mah bad.
Unless the theme for PH4 is -Races That Nobody Knows Exist.-
I mean, PH1 was -Common Races,- PH2 was -Uncommon Races,- PH3 was -Rare Races;- the natural conclusion of this is PH4 -Nonexistant Races.-
Except that the mention was that the Illumians completely vanished. I don't think they'd make them a PC race if they were doing that.
Unless the theme for PH4 is -Races That Nobody Knows Exist.-
I mean, PH1 was -Common Races,- PH2 was -Uncommon Races,- PH3 was -Rare Races;- the natural conclusion of this is PH4 -Nonexistant Races.-
Shouldn't PH4 be -Mythic Races-, and then PH5 be -Nonexistant Races-?
Eh, things which are gone are rarely truly gone. Or they could have passed on their legacy. Perhaps someone finds the original ritual that the Illumians used, allowing their knowledge to be passed down. And by my comment, I mean that something like that just seems like a plot hook for an adventure. Plenty of ways they could come back, especially since it's speculation.
I just hope they do a better job on the races for PHB4 than in PHB3. The only race that was D&Dish was the minatour the rest were to say the least exotic and not very interesting or well done. While most of the book was well done the section on races just plain stunk.
..... What? Githzerai have been a part of DnD only a few years less than Minotaurs, and have existed as a playable race as long as Tieflings and Dragonborn(in the Half-dragon sense) have, Wilden are simply a new take on Treants and Dryads, who have also been a part of DnD since the beginning, and Shardminds, or at least the idea of crystal beings, are another fantasy trope that's been around since the 70s.
While you can dislike the way they're done, which I disagree with but whatever floats your boat, saying that they're not DnDish is flat out wrong. I mean, the kind of wrong you have to make an effort at to achieve.
My point is Mar is that they are not standard fantasy which D&D is for the most part, you can call me a traditionalist but I have seen this edition start off great but now it has started to slide into the realm of silly and just plain stupid. A walking talking crystal, a talking plant. That could not be the best they could have come up with and if it is I fear the direction the game is heading in.
Like I said, you couldn't be more wrong if you tried. All of those things have existed since 1e DnD. Maybe not as playable races, but they existed, and they have been a part of DnD style Fantasy for nearly 30 years now.
Wilden are the PC version of Treants in my game. No reason for them not to be. And Treants are just as "out-of-Tolkien" as Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Balors, and Orcs are.
Githzerai and Githyanki are iconic D&D races. It's only natural that we get to play as one of the heroes of them. In fact, Githzerai have more of a record of doing good than Minotaurs do. Minotaurs really were only good in Dragonlance in the past. Of course, WoW fever could easily have convinced WotC to put them in. I'm not complaining – I like them. But Githzerai are just as, if not more, iconic than Minotaurs as a PC Race.
Shardminds are new, but an interesting direction. They're tied directly into the story of 4e: into the story of the Dawn War and the invasion of the Far Realm. That's more than most races can say. And if I'm hazzarding my guess correctly, into the Blood War too – I have more than just as feeling that the "nameless deity" is Tharizdun, that the Living Gate was Ruby Crystalled (like Shardminds), and that the fragment of pure evil that Tharizdun took to turn the heart of the Elemental Chaos into the Abyss, and a fragment of said fragment that became Asmodeus' Ruby Wand, was from the Living Gate.
Shardminds are directly tied to much of the Points of Light story. This is awesome, and should be seen as exemplars for future races that need to establish themselves within 4e.
I'd like to make Wilden into a more Dryad/Plant-like race, but I just don't see what's very plant-like about them. Their defining feature; their ability to take on different aspects with an extended rest, really doesn't scream verdant/flora/vegetation to me.
And what sort of power would scream that? Photosynthesis?
While the gith and minatours have been around for some time now the other 2 are completely new and just plain stupid a walking plant that according to the writen fluff has no connection to Ents or Treants. The shardmind is just an excuse to have a race that is naturally psionic and they could have come up with something much better, third edition had several races that were psionic in nature why not reuse one of them. They are very poor ideas for PC races. I really don't care for warforged either why does D&D need robots and before anyone says it I know they are akin to golems. The races that were in PHB1 and 2 were of a higher quality than the ones that have been published since. I for one would like to see the Duergar and Tri-Kreen as a PC races. I know that grey dwarves are an evil race but no more than the Drow were in the past but most likely not make it as a PC race in 4th due to the no evil races thing wizards has said, but I think we will see Tri kreen in the darksun setting.
Hey now, Shardminds are one of the coolest race that Wizards has put out this edition. Frankly I think they are in the running for my favorite 4ed race(although the Genasi will probably always hold that spot). They have wonderful fluff and decent mechanics. Really there isn't much else that a race needs.
That's not a problem. Magical Robots jive with D&D. As do Crystal Shard people who broke off from the Sentinel Door holding back the Far Realm.
As do Treant-like people emerging in the Feywild as an antivenin against the Far Realm – they're like the Faerie Realm's version of the Psionic thing in Nature.
Raptorans. Ick. I'm not opposed to a race of bird-people in the PHB but I'd much rather see a race tied to the game or features in existing worlds, like the aarakocra. It's be easy to tie them to the raptoran ideas and cultures.
I'm like, "Raptorans? Ah, cool, velociraptor-type beings? That'd be pretty cool... what's all this about flight? Oh maybe some pterodactyl-esque beings are also included under the overall domain of 'raptorans.'"
D'oh!
I think that would be pretty cool, though. Bring back saurials!
I'd like to make Wilden into a more Dryad/Plant-like race, but I just don't see what's very plant-like about them. Their defining feature; their ability to take on different aspects with an extended rest, really doesn't scream verdant/flora/vegetation to me.
And what sort of power would scream that? Photosynthesis?
Actually, the ability to survive without having to eat (merely drinking water)- vaguely suggestive of photosynthesis- isn't a bad idea at all. No sleeping could have helped.
But a power that dealt with difficult terrain involving plants, or a racial power that involved regenetion (thus tied with verdancy and lushness), vines, thorns, and/or spores, rather than ones that grants bonuses to speed and damage would seem more evocative of a plant character.
Warforged are robots. We need to stop beating around the bush. They're robots.
No more (and often less so) than Golems and Shield Gaurdians.
If the issue is with Warforged having a personality and actually thinking, I'm even more confused. A playable character without a personality that is controlled by a wizard isn't a playable character, it's a puppet. They need to be able to think for themselves, and make their own decisions. This doesn't mean they fit the metallic golem trope any less (and really, everything about them works well from a fluff sense). If it's really that much of an issue, they could simply be made of magically infused clay, as I doubt there is anything that wouldn't work unless the feat/power is based primarily on metal, and even that could be refluffed.
Not at all iron and stone golems are mindless and need a wizard to control them and can only follow orders not think for themselves. That is a major difference and not foolish at all.
Even if you were right, which I'm reasonably sure you're not, so what? Warforged, Golems, Robots, are all the same thing, and Warforged fit into DnD just as much as every other golem type does. Saying otherwise is definitely foolish. Delusional even. Definitely sticking your head in the sand.
They're essentially the intelligent, free-willed version of Golems.
@ Mutt, Mar also posted that golems are mindless in D&D so just how Delusional am I. I have been playing this game for almost 30 years and I for one don't like the direction the races seem to be going as of late and the last time I checked I was entitled to think whatever I like. That is not sticking my head in the sand that is saying what I think. I love this game which has provided me with so much enjoyment for so many years because I see some of the other failures of earlier editions starting to poke up in the current edition and that does not sit well with me at all.
I mean, Golems may be mindless, but Warforged are not. They were monsters in the first MM too, so it's not like they are a newcomer to the core setting now that they appeared as a race in Eberron.
It was always planned for them to be in the core setting. Just -how- is the question.
It really frustrates me that WotC has yet to give established core fluff for Kalashtar and Warforged. Warforged at least got some in the MM, but nothing like, "they were built in the waning days of Nerath for the war against the Gnolls" or something. Kalashtar have been given a Dragon article that suggested variations in non-Eberron settings, but all of these felt much like they were a ported race, representing a single individual, rather than an entire race.
The same thing with Genasi and Eberron. There was that article, Warforged in the Realms and Genesi in Eberron or whatever it was, but both felt like "we're the only ones of our kind." This shouldn't have been, because FR should use all the monsters in MM1 at the very least – and Warforged were in there, so Warforged should be a part of the Forgotten Realms.
What WotC has to do is up the anty on how they tie races, especially Campaign Setting races, to the core, mutable fluff and other settings so that they can appear in every setting.
The only place that Warforged have is in eberron not in mainstream D&D, if they were restricted to that world that would be much better as that world is semi steam punk anyway. As far as the standard POL and FR are concerned they should be kept out. \
As someone who's played D&D for 30 years, you should be well accustomed to strange new races introduced in alternate campaign settings becoming more popular and setting neutral.
Warforged is ancient mythology. It has little to do with modern 'Steam Punk'.
According to ancient Mideast traditions (including the Bible), humans originated as clay statues brought to life.
Greek traditions have the famous story about the artist Pygmalion who brought a marble statue to life, but there are other statue-to-creature myths as well.
According to Norse traditions, humans originated as carved wood statues brought to life - apparently to serve as warriors for Ragnarok. The wooden Warforged most closely resembles the Norse tradition.
Etcetera.
Turning statues into sentient creatures is a standard trope of premodern legends.
It really frustrates me that WotC has yet to give established core fluff for Kalashtar and Warforged. Warforged at least got some in the MM, but nothing like, "they were built in the waning days of Nerath for the war against the Gnolls" or something. Kalashtar have been given a Dragon article that suggested variations in non-Eberron settings, but all of these felt much like they were a ported race, representing a single individual, rather than an entire race.
The same thing with Genasi and Eberron. There was that article, Warforged in the Realms and Genesi in Eberron or whatever it was, but both felt like "we're the only ones of our kind." This shouldn't have been, because FR should use all the monsters in MM1 at the very least – and Warforged were in there, so Warforged should be a part of the Forgotten Realms.
What WotC has to do is up the anty on how they tie races, especially Campaign Setting races, to the core, mutable fluff and other settings so that they can appear in every setting.
There is actually core fluff for the warforged, its on pages 30-31 of the "Playing Warforged" article in Dragon 364. In short, Nerath built them prior to its fall.
Still, Kalashtar have yet to get established fluff.
That said, Playing Warforged establishes the point that they fit fine in the fantasy setting that is Points of Light.
Mar also posted that golems are mindless in D&D so just how Delusional am I.
Artificers can create golems.
Artificers can create intelligent weapons.
Ergo, artificers can create intelligent golems, called warforged?
Logic!
No but they fit best in that setting. It might be a good idea to put the older style restriction back and limit what classes can be played in what settings.
Where's the fun in that?!
Those restriction have no basis in game balance, as such its up to the players and DMs to decide if a class or race doesn't fit the fluff of their game... don't impose your style on others.
(Of course, a dungeon master can homebrew his own world and rules, but players can expect a normal game to include everything from the compendium.)
General consensus seems to be that their ability to fly would be limited at the heroic tier (either to an encounter power or some sort of gliding ability). Racial feats might improve these options, giving them overland flight at the paragon tier and at-will flight at late paragon/epic tier.
Raptorans (or a similar winged race) may be a possibility for a Player's Option: Elemental Heroes book down the road (along with an aquatic race and other creatures with an elemental bent).
General consensus seems to be that their ability to fly would be limited at the heroic tier (either to an encounter power or some sort of gliding ability). Racial feats might improve these options, giving them overland flight at the paragon tier and at-will flight at late paragon/epic tier.
Hmm, that's interesting to know! I'd love to play a Raptoran, and even in 3.5 they didn't gain the flight ablities until far into their development. So Heroic Tier Flight makes sense.
Now that you mention an Aquatic Race, I'd love to see some sort of Drafellen or something similar. Whale Inuits were pretty cool.