I love goblins and lizardmen. Goblins because deranged little dudes running around is always a blast. Lizardmen because alligator people with melee weapons are the way I wish dinosaurs evolved instead of being birds.
I need to put a vote in here for owlbears and owlcats, if only because of how excited they make my partner when encountered.
Goblins, there’s an inner goblin in us all.
Werewolves and dragons are close aswell.
Direwolves or similar sentient beasts that otherwise exist in our world (owls and foxes are common tropes for this too)
The idea of something that is basically what we know from our world but with increased stats and communication is really cool
Trollkin from Iron Kingdoms. They are what the name says: kin to trolls. About the same relationship as humans have to gorillas.
They retain a lot of the regenerative powers, so they’re very willing to settle things with violence, because hey, what’s regrowing an arm or two between friends?
They’re big, loud, rambunctious, deeply respectful of nature, and are basically Big Dwarves. Also orcs? They don’t really have an analogue, which is why I like them so much.
They also adapt to whatever environment so you get alot of troll subspecies and eat almost anything. I used to collect them, loved the dude on the polar bear and the beer kegs.
Parshendi, if they can be called a monster race.
Having completely different forms they take for specialization depending on task is fascinating. And I love the way rhythm is baked into their being so innately, how every Parshendi can hear the same rhythms and attune them to express or mask emotion.
I’ve always loved dragons in fantasy genres, specially intelligent talking ones that are on the mcs side.
Also like slimes and love when fantasy worlds play around with different types of them
I have a tiny little idea bumping around my head for a setting where dragons are not only intelligent but are the apex species. I think it’d be cool to base them off solitary predators like bears, jaguars, etc, as it means they would hate cooperating but would grudgingly do so if necesaary.
I am very grateful to my DM for allowing me to play as a gelatinous cube that had absorbed a headband of intellect. Such a fun character to play!
I just have a soft spot for Warcraft-style orcs. Something about their seemingly brutish nature and deep sense of honor. I also just like their visual style, be it the race, their fashion or architecture.
Elves. They’re basically a cross between the 1% and the most insufferable celebritity influencers imaginable. Having a murder-hobo license to burn down their superiority complex is the best solution imaginable.
Are you a Pratchett fan? I think you’d like his take on elves, I think the first Discworld they’re in is Lords and Ladies.
The PCs. The party are the real monsters in any campaign. That old woman hoodwinked is out of 2gp. KILL HER.
“It turns out it’s man.” -Futurama
Absolutely a legitimate answer.
Do biblically accurate angels count?
Sure.
Beholders and Mind Flayers are probably my favorites. As a bonus, whenever someone says “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” I can’t help but ask “but which eye? They have so many!”
Probably dwarves - they’re not that exotic but I really vibe with them… for something more out there I’m a big fan of Yuan-Ti, they have spectacular lore and it’s always tickled me that their most human-like form is basically considered low-born while the pure bloods are full on snakes.
Dwarves definitely take the cake for me though, big beards, stout, egalitarian, sometimes greedy - but always devout craftsfolk. As a big gender non-conforming man with a bigger beard and an intense love of my craftwork, I really vibe with them.
… I am a dwarf, and I’m digging a hole Diggy diggy hole, diggy diggy hole
Interesting use of terms. In Discworld Dwarven society, being lowborn would be a good thing and while being high born is only one step below surface dweller. The dwarves are ruled by the Low King (or Queen). The lower you are, the deeper you are in the mine, and the more rich and important you must be.
I love the classic elves and dwarves as fantasy races. They don’t give a shit about our human centric concepts of gender roles. Dwarf women have large beautiful beards and elf men wear long flowy clothing with their long scented hair.
I love dwarves too. If I had to pick another race it would be the Nac Mac Feegle from Discworld.
I couldn’t even understand the text I was reading at first when they talked, but once I figured out the accent I loved reading them. Plus the only thing they’re afraid of is lawyers.
their most human-like form is basically considered low-born while the pure bloods are full on snakes
Wait, what ?
Snake people is a decent answer, but dwarves are not typically considered monstrous.
Sphinxes or lamia. The cruel intelligence of man with the refined predatory abilities of felids/snakes. What a match!
I love Goblins as well so I always make mine Pathfinder inspired so they will be green with a big head who love fire and general chaos instead of orange like dnd goblins. They are always fun since they like to straddle the lines between disgusting, cute, destructive and helpless. I know my players always will befriend them so I like to put a lot of them in there.
I also like to treat them like cockroaches or fruit flies who breed very fast and can adopt to any conditions. So there will be strange variations based on where they live. Mud goblins, fire goblins, moss goblins who just have small physical adaptations to better fit their habitat.
Tieflings. The “alignment” section of the 5e PHB (before they decided describing alignments was racist and removed it) read:
Tieflings might not have an innate tendency toward evil, but many of them end up there.
Which is such a powerful storytelling device. It does what sci-fi and fantasy are so often great at: comment on real-world social issues with a step of indirection that makes the story feel less on the nose. Their internal innate selves are indistinguishable from humans, but because they have horns, a devil’s tail, and often reddish skin, people assume they’re evil and treat them accordingly.
It’s an element that is handled so excellently by Erin M. Evans in her Brimstone Angels series:
A woman stood in the doorway opposite the bench, watching Farideh with a wary eye, no subtlety in her distaste. Farideh shifted uncomfortably.
“You waiting for someone?” the woman said after an interminable time.
“My friend,” Farideh said. “He won’t be long.”
“Buying spices from another devilborn.” She sniffed. “Your kind do like to stick together.”
Farideh’s tail flicked nervously. She pulled it closer to lie along her thigh. “My friend’s human, many thanks.”
“Is he now?” Farideh met the woman’s skeptical gaze. Without the ring of white humans were used to, Farideh’s eyes were unreadable. Emotionless. Inhuman. The shopkeeper could stare as long as she liked and Farideh knew she wouldn’t see anything there, not without practice.
“Do you want me to have him show you?” Farideh said. “Or do you want to say what it is you’re getting at?”
Farideh knew perfectly well what the shopkeeper was getting at: she didn’t belong here. Whatever clientele the shopkeeper was used to dealing with, a seventeen-year-old tiefling trying to rein in the tendrils of shadow that curled and coiled around the edges of her frame was not a part of it
Longer excerpt available on author’s blog. (It’s book 3 of the series, but no significant spoilers here.)
Of course that’s only one small part of the characters, but it’s done so well. They’re well-rounded full people who, like any real human, have to deal with getting through life (in their case, fantasy action adventures) while other people react to them.
I believe getting rid of innate alignments was the right choice. The racism might have been why, but the issue I always took with it was the alignments being too broad and ill-defined.
In general I don’t mind getting rid of alignment. I just think that D&D did a really clumsy job of it. Look at the Pathfinder 2e remaster for a much better way to go about it. Paizo removed alignment in a way that actually improved the flavour and variety of the game.
But with the 5e tieflings in particular, removing that one paragraph from their statblock completely takes out a lot of really evocative ideas. It was also accompanied by the removal of most of the sidebar flavour text for tieflings, which previously read:
Mutual Mistrust
People tend to be suspicious of tieflings, assuming that their infernal heritage has left its mark on their personality and morality, not just their appearance. Shopkeepers keep a close eye on their goods when tieflings enter their stores, the town watch might follow a tiefling around for a while, and demagogues blame tieflings for strange happenings. The reality, though, is that a tiefling’s bloodline doesn’t affect his or her personality to any great degree. Years of dealing with mistrust does leave its mark on most tieflings, and they respond to it in different ways. Some choose to live up to the wicked stereotype, but others are virtuous. Most are simply very aware of how people respond to them. After dealing with this mistrust throughout youth, a tiefling often develops the ability to overcome prejudice through charm or intimidation.
That got cut down to the far more brand-safe but dead boring:
Met With Mistrust
Ignorant people tend to be suspicious of tieflings, assuming that their infernal heritage has left its mark on their personality and morality, not just their appearance. The reality is that a tiefling’s bloodline doesn’t affect their personality. They are gifted with magic from the infernal realms but chart their own course in life.
Because tieflings were my absolute favourite race in D&D (thanks in no small part to Ms Evans’ excellent writing), I was really, really disappointed by the changes. Those changes, as well as all the others that came out around the same time (removing whole pages of content that had already been purchased without any recourse), played no small part in my decision to switch over to Pathfinder
