D&D 5E Races/Classes - Revisiting Common/Uncommon and Rare

[TrippyHippy]

Back in the play test days, it was mooted that the various Races and Classes would be categorised by how common they were in the D&D multiverse. This was criticised as categorising for the sake of it, as well as taking away the DMs ability to choose what they wanted themselves. There is still an element of it in the Races on offer - the common four (Dwarf, Elf, Halfling and Human) and the rest which are uncommon.

In your games, do you restrict Races and Classes in this way? What breakdown do you use and why?

For me, I like to mix things up a bit:

The only common Race is Human, with the combined communities of Dwarf, Elf and Halfling being just a fraction of the Human population. Gnomes would be about the same level as these three also.

Half Elves would be exceedingly rare (based on unlikely unions between Elves and Man). Independent Half-Orcs (that aren’t considered as just being Orc mongrels in a pack) would be relatively rare, but Orcs themselves would be common for me - so they wouldn’t be as rare as other half breeds if Orcs go on a rampage! Dragonkind would be part of a dying breed in my worlds, so rare, although I could imagine them being more plentiful in ages past. Teiflings and Aasimar (how can you allow one but not the other?) would be extremely rare - moreso than Half Elves or anything else.

For Classes, I’d consider the Common Classes to be Fighters and Rogues. Then it get’s tricky! Paladins ought to be significantly more rare than Fighters, but actually nothing like as much as the uber-rare ‘chosen ones’ of previous editions. In the current edition they are basically fighters who have undertaken a specific oath - and so a bit more common. There would also be a fair amount of Rangers in my worlds too, although again, much less than Fighters. Barbarians are particularly tricky - as they seem to be a cultural variant rather than a calling still - but I could see them as a sort of equivalent to Paladins - a champion of tribal cultures rather than civilised ones. As such, I could see them as matching the numbers of Paladins/Rangers combined, with the assumption that barbarian lands might match civilised ones for population (think of all those Orcs!).

If you are including them, Monks asceticism would be a slightly more common undertaking than Clerics direct-line-to god theism in my view, and Druids would probably be dominant solitary figures in their own territories.

I feel Warlocks (although frequently living in shadows) would actually be of the same numbers as scholarly Wizards - it’s an easier path than study! - but Wizards’ numbers are more transparent and registered. Depending on how you look at Bard Colleges, I think these could be more frequent as a folkish oral magical tradition. I would make innately magical Sorcerers exceptionally rare however, and indeed might just restrict them as Dragonborn only (for Draconic sorcerers at least).

In order:

Fighters/Rogues - Common
Barbarians/Rangers/Paladins - Uncommon
Bards/Wizards/Warlocks/Monks/Clerics/Druids - Rare
Sorcerers - Very rare

How does it break down for you?

 

[Paraxis]

I think it would vary by campaign world to campaign world.

Some people me included don't like to use player classes for npc's if it can be helped, most members of barbaric tribes, elven infantry, and town guards are just generic warriors without any class abilities to worry about.

What is the goal beyond having a good idea of the numbers of these races/classes in your campaign world, which you should already know for the most part? Is there some limit on the players choices of race/class, are you thinking about only allowing X number of rare classes or Y number of uncommon races?

 

[LabyrinthLord718]

I will be running I3 soon using 5e. For classes, I allow anything available. For races, though, I did a common/uncommon divide and players are only allowed common races: no dragonborn, no tiefling, no gnomes, no half races.

 

[Cernor]

I will be running I3 soon using 5e. For classes, I allow anything available. For races, though, I did a common/uncommon divide and players are only allowed common races: no dragonborn, no tiefling, no gnomes, no half races.

Before you go limiting races, you need to ask yourself "what does this add to the game (or world)?" It seems to me like you're limiting options just for the sake of it... Unless you have more reasons to limit races than their rarity in your world?

 

[Shiroiken]

I set things based on the region of the world and the setup of the campaign. Common Races/Classes/Subclasses are unlimited, Uncommon are Restricted to 1 of each per group, and a max of 1 Rare is allowed per Group. I also have a Banned category, plus the Campaign Handout gives the players the area's opinion of each Race/Class/Sub-class/Background. This keeps the group fairly consistent to the area's norm, while allowing someone to make an oddity (while being well aware of the consequences for doing so).

 

[SirAntoine]

You allow whatever races and classes you wish, including with level limits and alignment restrictions. It pays to stay true to campaign settings, and to talk these things over first with your players. In a general sense, all of the races and classes in the books, now and to come, are the players' choices. The rarity of the race or class shouldn't make a difference for a player's choice. Their characters can always be the exception.

 

[the Jester]

How does it break down for you?

The races:

Here's the demographic breakdown of the city- the only remaining city- in the setting I'm using for my 5e campaign:

58% human
11% tieflings
9% halflings
6% dwarf
5% half-elf
4% half-orc
3% elf
3% eladrin
total of 1% between gnome, warforged, dragonborn and goliath (and a very few others, such as imprisoned humanoids, a clan of doppelgangers, etc).

So I'd say:

Common- human, tieflings, halflings, dwarves (since there is a dwarven community not far away).

Uncommon- Half-elf, half-orc, elf, eladrin.

Rare- All the rest (excluding Drow, who are monsters, not pcs, in my game).

For classes:

Common- fighter, rogue, ranger, bard

Uncommon- cleric, druid, paladin, barbarian, monk

Rare- sorcerer, wizard, warlock

 

[steeldragons]

Obviously it varies from world to world. That would be the point of a thread asking the general community what they do/how they do it.

For my campaign world, the parameters are fairly straight forward, though there is (also obviously) variations from region to region/place to place within the game world. So, as they say, "location, location, location." It's important.

First, we need to lay down some parameters. What do any of these terms actually mean? Is "Common" 1 in 10 beings? "Rare" 1 in a million? Are those your only options or are the gradations of "Common" and "Uncommon" with "Rare" being jaw-droppingly unusual? This all needs to be defined (or at least understood enough by the DM to be able to share it with their table) before you can start slapping things into places and groupings into things.

1) Assuming a simple 3-tiered structure of Common-Uncommon-Rare scale, conceivably adding in Very Rare-Unique if we want to tease it out to a categorical system of 5.

For my purposes, they go a little something like this:
Common: Your "everyday" person sees this everyday or nearly so. They know/hear all about them. Some familiarity (perhaps mistaken or folkloric, but "common knowledge") with their culture. Their existence can not be questioned by any reasonable/sane person. Just about everyone encountered on a daily basis is one of these things. If someone looks at one of these twice, it's because there is something unusual about the character or they are actively trying to get attention: loud/unusually colorful clothing, unconventional or disruptive behavior, notable handicap or deformity, something deliberately unusual about their demeanor or appearance (walking into town with a tiger in tow, for example or riding in on a pegasus).

Uncommon: Everyone has heard of these things. You don't see them every day, certainly, but they may pass through every once in a while. They exist in stories, songs, and histories. Trade might be conducted with them. They have a known realm/region where they "come from" even if your everyday person will never actually get there or see them or might believe it to be a fabled/magical place. The Uncommon walking into the everyday village/town, will attract a second look. There will be talk around the well, market and at the tavern about "Did you see/hear there's <an Uncommon> about?" It might not amount to anything. But it will be noticed unless steps are taken to hide/disguise its true nature.

Rare: Some folks have heard of these. Some haven't. Depends on where you are and how near this region is to your point of origin. It might be taken as fact that you exist, but never dreamed of ever seeing one! Or it might be you are a fable-made-flesh. You will attract a LOT of attention and, more than likely, elicit strong emotional reactions (fear, panic, anger/defense, love, awe) unless steps are taken to hide/disguise your true nature.

[Optional] Very Rare: Few have heard of you, most haven't. Some believe you exist. Many don't. ALL will consider you a fable-in-the-flesh, a real living myth! Or perhaps something that existed, once upon a time, but has long been "known"/thought to be gone from the world and/or extinct. You will elicit strong emotional reactions if you are found out...not necessarily favorable.

[Optional] Unique: You are the only one of your kind anyone has ever seen. Knowledge of your kind [if there is one and you are not actually an individual single creature] is either highly specialized/rare knowledge or completely non-existent. Alternately, you are one of a single small community of your kind. A single secluded tribe of fewer than, like, 50 members...in the known world. Perhaps the last of a dying/slain/leaving the world race. Perhaps you just have a very slow reproductive rate and long life cycle that sustains but never grows your numbers beyond a certain (again, small) range. You will be a walking myth, if anyone has every heard of you at all. You will elicit extreme emotional reaction (whether wondering awe and love to fearful anger or panic), often with the threat of violence or imprisonment (to prove to others you actually exist). You do attract fearful/awesome notice and attention of a disruptive/distracting amount if you are found out for what you are.

2) Assuming a standard "Human-centric nation/region/kingdom" as a point of origin.
3) Assuming a standard small town point of origin for your "everyday person." Opinions/views in Larger or smaller communities will vary, of course. And for large cities/cosmopolitan centers, I would say everything gets bumped up 1 category of commonality: "Very Rare" becomes "Rare." Uncommon will be viewed as Common, etc... Common is still Common, but dismissively so. For more rural/smaller villages, everyone except the same species and ethnicity (humans, for the purposes of this example) shifts one category more Unique. So, for my world as detailed below, Dwarves, Elves and Halflings become Uncommon, and everyone else moves "down" one.

Important #4) Variations happen and things need to be adjusted to make sense for where the party is. A Half-elf in a region abutting an Elf kingdom would/should be shifted one category more common, for example. A city on a lake beneath the slopes of a great dwarven stronghold might see Humans and Dwarves as Common and everyone else stays the same. A single Half-Orc NPC in a village where, otherwise, they would be "Very Rare", might be viewed as only Uncommon, because the Half-Orc the locals know is a respected productive member of the community. So, all of these categories are painted with fuzzy mutable lines.

OK. So now, a World of Orea "average" mid-sized town in a human region/kingdom PC races:
Common: Humans [of the west and south].
Uncommon: Humans of the Tankuun United Island Kingdoms. Humans of the Thelitian Desert. Humans the Gorunduun Tribes [Barbarians]. PC Elves, Dwarves, Halflings. Satyrs. Centaurs.
Rare: Humans of the Principalities of R'Hath. Half-Elves. Gnomes. Jerali (Orean feline humanoids). Sprites..
Very Rare: Humans of the Selurian Empire. Zephari (Orean winged humanoids). Half-Orcs, if someone wanted to play one, would go here.*

* I would be inclined to allow it just based on tradition/legacy, not any great love for the species. While their creation might not be as rare as (or even en par with the rarity of) Half-elves, a Half-Orc adventuring would-be hero [i.e. a PC] would be very rare when taken among other half-orcs or, as in this specific case, your typical human town.

As for the remaining "in the PHB" classes: Dragonborn and Tieflings (or Aasimar) do not exist in this world. They were never added/retconned in. I could, conceivably, introduce one for single characters as Unique individuals. But we'd need a damn good story to make that happen and the character's mere existence would be a focal/huge/recurring plot point everywhere they go. For this reason, I nearly universally decline a proposed PC of these races.

Drow elves are simply forbidden for PCs. They are evil. We play a heroic fantasy game. Evil PCs are not permitted...or to put it in a way that might not be pounced upon as being a "dictatorial/badwrongfun DM", Evil PCs are "outside the accepted assumptions/consensus of the table." Drow are, by their mythology and creation in the world, beings of inherent and irretrievable Evil. And, yes, I also/in addition to/on top of that am not a Drizzt fanboy. End of story.

Classes are another matter...and another post as I need I get muself some lunch.
Happy Sunday all.

 

[LabyrinthLord718]

Before you go limiting races, you need to ask yourself "what does this add to the game (or world)?" It seems to me like you're limiting options just for the sake of it... Unless you have more reasons to limit races than their rarity in your world?

I probably could have explained more.

 

[IchneumonWasp]

My campaign setting is set on the northern polar regions of the fantasy world and I've only mapped a part of that region and have decided which races are common in the area and which races are rare and not native to the area.
The same goes for classes:

Humans, dwarves and gnomes are common. Elves and halflings are uncommon. The other races are rare and mostly not seen in that part of the world.

What the magic classes concerns: Divine spell-casters are uncommon (most acolytes aren't clerics, just simple warriors). Bards and sorcerers are common and wizards are uncommon. Warlocks are rare (as they are actively hunted down and feared for making pacts with unholy and otherworldly beings).

I'm not restricting race and class choices for players though and I have intentionally left parts of the world vague and not fleshed out, so I can make sure there is an 'in game' place and explanations for the races and classes they want to play, even if it wouldn't fit in the area where the adventures are taking place.

In general, I don't see much reason to restrict players in character creation. The main aim of the game, in my view, is to have fun, so in the end it is more important that the players can play the characters they want to play than whether I as a DM like 'my story' or 'my world' better with or without a certain race. If I restrict character options, it is mainly for balance or to keep the game as simple/complex as desired by everyone.