The Suburban Ranger

The Identity of Rangers in D&D 5e; and What even is a Ranger?

Introduction

The ranger has been a core class in D&D since April of 1975, when they were first published in The Strategic Review Vol 1, No. 2 (Summer, 1975), and has been an archetypal character type for even longer. Many consider Aragorn to be the quintessential ranger—a skilled warrior and leader, tracker and hunter, possesses healing powers, has an almost mystical kinship with animals, and knowledge in Middle Earth history, religion, mythology, and languages… opposing Aragorn, is the 5e Ranger Class, which has sparked a lot of controversy over the years, with two general critics being their mechanically unexciting or weak gameplay when compared to the other classes, and their lack of identity, as some seem to feel the 5e ranger does not feel appropriate for the archetype. Due to making this length of this paper already, I will only be addressing the latter claim, as the former deserves its own article. Despite the 5e ranger’s problems, I don’t believe identity is an issue with the ranger—I believe the only issue depends upon what one considers to be a ranger.

So I ask, what even is a ranger?

The word ranger can mean a lot of things, though some mistakenly believe that ranger refers to their use of “range weaponry” which is one reason why rangers often have range weaponry, usually bows or rifles depending on the setting. The term ranger actually doesn’t mean ‘one who fights from range,’ but ‘one who watches over a range’ such as a Park Ranger who watch over local and national parks—this feels appropriate as outdoorsmanship is a key quality of the ranger archetype.

The thing is, survival skills can be incredibly broad, ranging from various tier levels of tracking and hunting, to trap making, herbalism, stealth, and animal cultivation or kinship. Because survivalists have the mindset of being prepared for anything I think that bleeds into their fighting tactics, usually relying on ranged weapons to ambush targets, learning how to fight with melee weapons for versatility, setting traps, tracking down targets towards those traps, and practicing scouting. I think this is why rangers are sometimes seen as specialized or elite warriors, similar to earlier D&D editions that categorized rangers as special fighters (similar to the paladin) who has more abilities at the cost of Alignment flexibility. Let’s compare the controversial 5e ranger to the 2e ranger, a good comparison as 2e was the final iteration of the “old school era” of D&D, and I think it can help highlight some of the glaring reasons why I think people hate the 5e ranger.

2e vs. 5e

In 2e, rangers had no penalty when fighting with two weapons (as long as they wore nothing heavier than leather armor)—even though no well-known real or fictional rangers did this at the time. With the help of D&D’s icon Drizzt Do’Urden, the ranger would become synonymous with two-weapon fighting.

Additionally, rangers had enhanced sneaking skills, being able to move silently and hide in shadows like (but not better than) “thiefs” (now rogues in new school D&D).

All character classes have a penalty when attempting to track, except the ranger who became associated with tracking.

My least favorite ranger ability is their “Favorite Enemy” in which they had extensive knowledge, combat and tracking skills in finding one particular enemy, gaining a +4 on all attack and damage rolls, but the drawback was the ranger becoming aggressive towards your favorite enemy in combat—the specialized knowledge towards a specific type of creature is a cool, ranger-esk ability, but the forced anger feels like rail road role-playing (although ironically, the 5e ranger did this poorly too).

Rangers were also given some magical abilities, at 8th level they could cast a handful of plant or animal-based spells. As one can see, spellcasting was a feature, but not a core feature.

Finally, rangers had Animal Friendship, where domestic animals are friendly to you, and attacking animals are likely to be your friend—again, despite many being hunters, rangers seem to have some of the most respect for animals out of any group of people (perhaps just short of druids).

In order to play a ranger, your fighter had to have an extensive ability requirement, including a Strength and Dexterity of 13, and a Constitution and Wisdom of 14; additionally, rangers had to be of good alignment, their choice of Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic. For comparison, 2e fighters had the benefit of not being restrained to a set ability score, could play any alignment including evil, could begin building fortresses and creating armies much sooner and better than the ranger or paladin, and could obtain weapon mastery over a single weapon at the expense of one or two (if a ranged weapon) weapon proficiency slots (which is essentially like if 5e had Expertise/double proficiency bonuses for weapon proficiencies)—it sounds cool, but considering how magic items were more plentiful and reliant upon in the older editions, so not having mastery wasn’t detrimental. Oftentimes, if you could play a ranger or paladin, you usually did.

5th edition really changed rangers, who went from being elite fighters to being more of their own thing.

Rangers can sometimes be classified as elite fighters, but a generalization would do many rangers and fighters a disservice—there are plenty of incredible real and fictional fighters archetypal individuals that wouldn’t be classified as rangers. Starting in 3e, rangers and fighters became their own separate classes, but rangers were still considered high damage dealing combatants. For 5e, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) wanted more distinguish fighters and rangers, this is where the infamous belief of 5e rangers being a culmination of fighters, rogues, and druids.

Like fighters, rangers have proficiency with all weapons, shield, and armor (except rangers don’t get heavy armor), similar fighting style selections, a high d10 Hitdice, and general martial combat usage.

Like rogues, rangers have great stealth capabilities, although this is differentiated as rogues have Cunning Action and often times expertise in stealth skills, whereas rangers will have magical abilities and similar rogue abilities at higher levels. What often goes unmentioned is the rangers use of Intelligence, much like a rogue. At level 1, rangers gain two abilities, their choice between Favorite Enemy and Favorite Foe, and then either Natural Explorer or Deft Explorer. Regardless of which pair of abilities are picked, rangers will have bonuses to some checks involving any of the five Intelligent skills. Despite two of their core abilities heavy use of Intelligence in their core, archetype defining abilities, this often goes unnoticed because of their reliant of Wisdom for it’s association with survival, animals, medicine… nearly everything rangers are good at, as their secondary ability to Dexterity.

Finally, rangers are more similar to druids in 5e than any previous edition. As was the case in 2e, D&D rangers have always received spellcasting of some type, picked up along the way during their travels; but now, rangers are part of the trio of half-casters (rangers, paladins, and artificer), martial classes that gain spell levels at half the rate as normal spell casters. Rangers are similar to druids as they use Wisdom, Nature-based spell casting, and the two share many spells. The ranger as “half-caster, half-martial” concept perhaps more than any other distinguishes the 5e ranger, and where most critics draw the line. Because they possess magical abilities like the druid (although, ranger magic will always be weaker than a full-caster), rangers are balanced by design to be less powerful in combat than a fighter—completely eliminating the common trope of rangers being elite soldiers.

Rangers level 1 core trait Favorite Foe functions similarly to a spell (it’s concentration but a free action to “cast”) as you mystically turn a single creature you hit with an attack that you can see into your Favorite Enemy. The 5e ranger more than most other ranger depictions emphasis the ranger as “half-spellcaster and half-martial” as their spells and abilities are interwoven between the more grounded and the fantastic. At 2nd level, rangers learn both a fighting style (emphasizing their martial warrior aspect) and learn spellcasting (emphasizing their fantastic, spellcaster side); however, a fighting style exclusive to rangers is the Druidic Fighting style which grants the ranger two Druid cantrips of their choice, again shifting the ranger towards the fantastic. Their spellcasting goes upwards to learning level 5 spells at 17th level, though the most common spells will be their strong variety of level 1 spells, such as hunter’s mark, goodberry, zephyra strike, entanglement, and absorb elements. At 3rd level, rangers gain a subclass, many of which lean towards the fantastic, such as the popular and powerful Gloom Stalker, a more fantastic version of the 2e “Stalker” kit, a subarchetype where the ranger’s survival and warrior qualities lean more towards spying, infiltration, and assassination. The 5e Gloom Stalker emphasizes 5e’s high magic setting by granting them enhanced darkvision and invisibility in shadows.

The Guardian and the Solider

Rangers became, either by design or accident, associated more in 5e as a high fantasy Forest Ranger, who I refer to as the Guardian subtype, to oppose the Solider subtype. What I call the Guardian subtype refers to rangers who are not enlisted into some form of military, agency, or even religion, such as the Rangers of the North and South, the Ranger Corps of Araluen, and The Tribe/The Children of the Watch respectively. The Guardian subtype comes from the Forest Ranger trope, who aren’t the normal uniform selves but rather a forest (and other terrains) dwelling recluse, who is a self-appointed guardian of an ancient/enchanted land; interestingly, there was a 2e ranger kit (comparatively to 5e, a subclass except it had more strict requirements) represented this archetype perfectly in its name “the Guardian.”

The Fantastic and Realism

Because there is an important distinction between the Guardian and the Solider, but also the inclusion of magic to combat more grounded depictions of rangers, I have decided to a compare how grounded in reality each ranger is by broadly measuring on a spectrum between the Fantastic and Realism. The Fantastic refers to anything dealing with magic or the supernatural, or metaphysical and physics defying stunts, whereas Realism refers to the accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary life.

In short, the Solider to Guardian scale measure the rangers role in society, whereas the Fantastic to Realism scale measures the rangers traits and abilities in regard to their settings nature.

The Ranger Subtype Scale

The ranger archetype is more broadly defined as:

1. Rangers are warriors; they are fighting for a (just) cause.
2. Rangers are survivalists; they are comfortable in the wilderness.

The ranger subtypes can be more narrowly charted between the characters role in relation to society, and the characters traits and abilities in relation to their setting.

1. Relation to Society
- Soldiers are those who are apart of the military, government agencies, or similar organized groups.
- Guardians are wilderness dwelling recluses and/or protector of a land or people.

2. Relation to the Universe
- The Fantastic refers to those who utilize magical or supernatural abilities.
- Realism refers to those whose abilities are more grounded in reality.

The ranger subtypes defined:

X-axis: Fantastic → Realism
Y-axis: Guardian ↓ Solider

5e Rangers Identity

As anyone can see, the mainly well known rangers I listed tend to follow a curved pattern towards Realism-Solider, Realism-Guardian, and Fantastic-Guardian sections of the graph, whereas the Fantastic-Solider is virtually empty. On the other hand, however, the 5e ranger was intentionally designed in a way to lean more towards the fantastic as the player levels up, and naturally that leads so much potential for the less explored Fantastic-Solider subtype to be explored.

Because rangers in 5e use so much magic, I can’t help be see why some are iterated with their identity, as it doesn’t form to the viewer’s concept of a ranger, in this case, the Realism-Solider. I have a suspicion that some view the 5e Ranger as wrongly portraying the ranger archetype, but I think it’s more so that the ranger leans towards the Fantastic. To some, a ranger should be the hunter’s mark as in, they have the abilities to find and hurt their target, as opposed to having to cast a spell. I can’t help but think that some feel like spellcasting or at least too much spellcasting takes away something from rangers, but really I think its just an unexplored territory for rangers as a literary and game design character archetype.

Conclusion

Personally, I like the 5e interpretation of the Ranger. I’ve played 5e extensively and quite a bit of 2e, and in my experience old school editions had a more “sword and sorcery” feel where death loomed around every corner, and most of your strengths as you level up become more reliant from magical items and how you use them between you and your party. 5e in particular feels like playing a high fantasy superhero, in great part due to the high fantastical setting where magic is imbued into everything. Level 1 characters remind me of My Hero Academia season 1 when Class-1A all had great potential despite being new to heroing. The half-casting ranger feels completely appropriate when you consider the high fantasy world they must adopt to, making them feel true to their defined archetype, even if they lean towards the less charted Fantastic-Solider.

In a future post I’ll explore if the 5e rangers core traits are truly too weak in terms of mechanics.

Flavor is Free; Flavoring Rogue’s Sneak Attack in D&D 5e

Sneak Attack in 5e doesn’t always feel like a sneak attack should, which I believe is linked to a common problem for less experienced players to assume when the ability activates. For all rogues, Sneak Attack occurs once per turn in one of two instances: when you hit one creature with finesse or ranged weapon attack, but only if you have advantage; or if another enemy of your target is within 5ft of it, provided the enemy isn’t incapacitated. Depending upon your subclass, you can gain the benefits of Sneak Attack from subclass-specific abilities (more on that later). Sneak Attack deals 1d6 extra damage at level 1, and scales by an additional 1d6 every two levels (PHB5e 96).

Sneak Attack seems fairly straightforward on paper, yet every table I’ve played at somehow screws it up by making assumptions for what quantifies as a “sneak attack.” Rogue’s Cunning Action ability allows them to make a Dash, Disengage, or Hide action as a bonus action, allowing creativity to their battlefield movement options; most often, I see players try to Hide before and after an attack, emphasizing the “sneak” part. I can understand the train of thought of pairing the rogues Cunning Action to Hide in order to ‘sneak attack,’ “a sudden attack made from a concealed position,” and there’s nothing in Sneak Attack’s description that suggests anything about being hidden or obscured. I think players may also try hiding as a method to gain advantage, as you do on one attack if the creature can’t see you (PHB5e 194-195).

So is the only problem with Sneak Attack human error? No, I think that’s only part of the story. Early iterations of rogues, initially called “thief,” had the Backstab ability, which multiplied their base damage by an amount depending on their level, so a level 1-4 thief had an x2 damage multiplier, and a level 5-8 rogue had an x3 multiplier, and so forth. In order to gain the benefits of Backstab, you had to attack “by surprise and from behind” in which you’ll gain a +4 to hit and negate the target’s shield and Dexterity bonuses (AD&D PHB, 40). Also, it should be noted that your target needs a clearly definable back, so Backstab doesn’t work on an ooze or slime. The point is that Sneak Attack is supposed to be a replacement or spiritual successor to Backstab but mechanically it has notable differences. You have to be sneaky in order to land a Backstab, but it’s only one possible solution for a Sneak Attack—oh the irony.

So why does this matter? Well to be honest it probably doesn’t, but I personally like to have some form of flow and symmetry between my character’s abilities. Not every rogue has the same personality and qualities that are in sync with the name “Sneak Attack,” for not all are the type who attack while sneaking; luckily for us, Sneak Attack doesn’t live up to its name because mechanically it feels less like a backstab and more like fancy footwork, like the Ali Shuffle. Boxing legend, Muhammad Ali, would use his incredibly fast speed and agility to confuse and evade, moving back and forth, and side to side, granting him an advantage over opponents by leaving them guessing (evolvedmma.com). Sneak Attack’s mechanics seem most befitting to swashbuckler sword masters, who much like Ali, use fancy footwork and repositioning, aided by their lighting quick reflexes to win fights. Most befittingly, the Swashbuckler’s rogue subclass ability, Rakish Audacity, grants the character advantage on one attack roll if no other creatures are within 5e of it (and if you don’t have disadvantage on the attack roll), further removing the ability away from being a sneak attack, and closer towards a deceitfully quick fighting tactic.

So how would I reimagine Sneak Attack for my own Swashbuckler character? “Dirty Fighting” could work, as you aren’t afraid to throw an “illegal” kick to the groin or throw pocket sand when in a pinch, you deal more “Dirty Fighting damage.” If your character is less about foul play and more graceful during combat, use the theater-inspired “Flyinning Fighting” (which would actually be terrible for IRL combat but it works hilariously well in D&D). Another subclass I considered are Scouts, which are pretty much the rogue’s subclass version of a ranger, therefore I would like to flavor my character as such—I would change Sneak Attack to something more befitting these spell-less rangers like “Guerrilla Warfare,” “Commandos Instinct,” “Hit-and-Run,” or my personal favorite “Bushwhack Attack.” For the new psionic-themed subclass, the Soulknife, I would probably go with something ridiculous like “Metaphysical Assault,” where the extra damage comes from beyond the empirical world. Finally, one of the most popular rogue subclasses is the Arcane Trickster, so something like “Wizards Apprentice” or “Trickster’s Wrath,” where your damage bonus comes the shear annoyance you cause your target through pranks and wisecracks.

OK, even if you hated my name suggestions, and realized that some of these names are technically just names and forms of a “sneak attack,” the point is to give you an example towards finding an aesthetic flair tailored specifically for your character. Do you need to do this? No. The name “Sneak Attack” works just fine, but if you’re like me and enjoy giving your character sheet a makeover, then I hope you got something out of this article for inspiring your next rogue.

How would you flavor your rogue’s Sneak Attack? Which subclass would you do it with?

Comparing Every Legacy Player Race to the new Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse – A D&D 5e Review

Introduction

Throughout the many editions of Dungeons and Dragons, the depiction of in-game race has been problematic. Some of the most common races the player character (PCs) can roleplay include humans, dwarfs, and elves. Despite this, Gary Gygax believed that fantasy stories were almost exclusively human-centric tales, which bled into D&Ds rules; on one hand, players who created their characters as humans could play as any of the games character classes, whether they choose a fighter or its ranger and paladin variants, the thief, priests or cleric, magic-user, or the monk—on the other hand, dwarfs were initially limited only to being fighters, and elves to a fighter/magic-user hybrid. Other races served as the most common type of enemies for players to kill, described by the in-game lore as evil with a few exceptions—most notably Drizzt Do’Urden the drow (dark elf) hero. D&D’s way of presenting race affects in-game social perceptions of the character in question, and the gameplay mechanics. Each race in D&D’s 5th edition (5e) has traits that grant them powers and hindrances related to their anatomy—the turtle-like tortols have a unique armor via their shells, the elemental related genasi have spellcasting abilities related to air, earth, fire, or water, and so forth. Also, each race receives a fixed increase in their ability scores—elves are considered graceful so all elves in the 5e Player Handbook (PHB) receive a +2 Dexterity increase. Some races have a small variety of subraces, such as the typically deceptive drow elf also receives a +1 Charisma score, and they have learned to adapt to their home in the Underdark with their Superior Darkvision; meanwhile, the nature loving wood elf receives a +1 Wisdom score, and they are a bit faster than normal elves.

The mechanics of the game’s system can be challenging—albeit quite fun—to figure out an ideal combination; with that said, I’m glad that this formula has finally been changed thanks to the latest 5e book, Mordenkainen’s Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse (MPMM). It should be noted that race in D&D refers to different species, rather than the real world’s version as a social construct, but even though this is a fantasy game with fictional races, D&D does leave an odd, morally questionable debate about some races being inherently evil, or being more closely related to animals and monsters rather than as people—not people as in human but rather as someone having personhood. Given the social climate changing to focus on inclusion for a broader spectrum of people, it’s difficult to ignore some of the blatant parallels of how race is represented in the real world versus the D&D world; for example, hobgoblins are depicted as cunning, ruthless leaders who become warmongers. In previous editions, hobgoblins have even been given an orientalist depiction as their clothing and armor closely resemble that of a Mongolian Empire warrior. Even dwarfs, who are usually considered one of the morally good races, were originally designed based on the anti-Semitic stereotype of the greedy Jewish bankers. These depictions have an effect on in-game social aspects as well—orcs, having been conditioned for blood-thurst by their evil god, are depicted as brutish monsters which leads to their half-human counterparts, half-orcs, to be treated as second class citizens.

How a PC’s and non-player characters (NPC) race has had a clear depiction both in terms of the social pillar of play and in the combat and adventuring aspects of play; together, these aspects result in contradicting one of 5e’s core principals—flexibility of character creation. As mentioned earlier, different races were formerly limited in what class they could play, with some classes having incredibly specific requirements in both character creation and during gameplay, and multiclassing and the outdated duel-classing were also much more strict. The design of 5e has it so any race can play any class or subclass (with two exceptions), and the only requirement to multiclass is a minimum of 13 in one or two specific ability scores. Theoretically, this sounds flexible across all player races, but the traits of some races have caused limitations.

Let’s examine the hobgoblin; these goblinoids are sturdy and clever, granting them a +2 Constitution and +1 Intelligence ability score increase, along with three other unique traits—Darkvision, Saving Face, and Martial Training. Darkvision helps them see in the dark, Saving Face grants them a one-time bonus to a saving throw, with the added value contingent upon the number of allies nearby, and Martial Training grants hobgoblins proficiency in light armor and any two martial weapons. These ability score increases and racial traits are clearly inspired by the hobgoblin’s background as militaristic and their god, Maglubiyet (or as I call him, Mag), chosen leaders of the goblinoid races. Even if the portrayal of hobgoblins is problematic, from a game design standpoint their racial traits complement their place within D&D lore, but it also goes against the principle of flexibility. The +2 Constitution goes a long way for nearly any build (every class and subclass needs hit points to stay alive) but the +1 Intelligence is hindering as Intelligence is often considered a dump stat in 5e, with many preferring Charisma for social aspects of the game, or Wisdom for awareness of one’s surroundings and because most spell saving throws are Wisdom based. Racial ability scores are often considered when building a character, but so are racial traits. Darkvision is useful for all classes and subclasses (it’s essentially a limited version of seeing in the dark), and Saving Face is fine if your allies are around, but Martial Training lacks the same flexibility. Hobgoblin’s design makes them perfect for playing a wizard, and excellent for sorcerers—wizards and sorcerers especially need hit points as they are squishy, having the lowest (d6) hit dice out of all the classes, and Constitution helps when maintaining concentration on a spell. Intelligence specifically helps wizards as that is how they cast their spells. Martial Training has value for wizards and sorcerers as they lack proficiency with any armor and most weapons. Armor can extend a PC’s life by increasing their Armor Class (AC) and martial weapons can provide more options in combat when one runs out of spells or is conserving their spells for later use; of course, spellcasters are usually inclined to simply cast a spell to make up for their lack of weapons and armor instead, which makes Martial Training less valuable. Also, if one plays a fighter, barbarian, ranger, or paladin, then Martial Training becomes useless as they all have upwards to medium armor and all weapon proficiencies. Rogues, clerics, bards, warlocks, monks, and druids may benefit from Martial Training, but even then they all have upwards to light armor and possibly some martial weapon proficiency too, and if not they either have spells or some other substitute. So the hobgoblin’s trait is often useless, or suboptimal for most builds—they have their upsides, but they also leave something to be desired.

A lot of other races face a similar issue with their traits, but all races are affected in some manner in terms of predetermined ability score increases. Wizards of the Coast (WotC) recognizes the problem of D&D’s depiction of race, and from the massive wave of popularity providing instant feedback to “good and bad game design” and power-gaming discussions, these issues have both been thoroughly addressed in MPMM.

The remainder of this article is dedicated to discussing the changes made across each race and subrace as presented in MPMM. The first section will discuss the General Changes made across character creation, regardless of the chosen race, and the second section discusses the specific changes made to each race. I will say right now that I believe the overall changes are for the better, they no longer depict the hobgoblin or the other races as one-note stereotypes—they also fix the problem of flexibility, as nearly all the changes allow more customizability regardless of the class you play. I have more to say about some changes than others, and I don’t like every single change made, but overall I find the book to be a fantastic addition to fixing two of 5e’s biggest problems.

General Changes

Ability Score Changes

Instead of a set score for each race and subrace, each player has 3 points to invest in, which they can do as either a +2 to one score and +1 to another or as +1 to three different scores (5).

This is probably the single biggest change in MPMM—technically, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything (TCoE) and the material that followed have received this update already, but MPMM is the definitive change as it is dedicated to nearly every player race outside the PHB. Of course, tables could already homebrew their own rules too—heck, one of the founding concepts of D&D was the idea that the rules as written (RAW) should be changed to better suit your group’s campaign—but these changes have their own book to update the game’s base rules

Languages

Now, each character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree upon (5).

The majority of the time your table will communicate in Common, the language you know seldom matters, but at least you’ll have more control over what you know.

Creature Type

The creature type of all player races, unless otherwise stated, is considered humanoid (6). A few races, specifically those from the Feywild, have their creature type changed to fey, this originally included the fairy and satyr, but now it also includes the centaur. In short, this simply changes how a few spells and class and subclass abilities affect or don’t affect you. For example, Circle of Land druid, Oath of the Ancients paladin, and Arcana Domain clerics all have abilities that can harm fey creatures, and ranger can choose fey and not two specific humanoid races instead. Three common spells that you’ll need to worry about are detect evil and good, protection from evil and good, and dispel evil and good. Two common spells you won’t be affected by are charm person and hold person. Whether or not this is a benefit depends on the situation.

Additionally, bugbears, goblins, and hobgoblins are all considered goblinoids for any prerequisite or effects that require you to be a goblin (8). I’m not sure how much of an effect this will have in most or any game, but at the very least it firmly reminds players of the often forgotten relationship between bugbears, goblins, and hobgoblins.

Life Span

Unless otherwise stated, each race can live for about a century max (6).

In my experience, it has always been annoying to “convert” my characters age into human years—originally, aarakokras reach maturity, aka, eighteen years old, when they reach three, and they live until they’re thirty. Tortles live upwards to 50 years—even though real-life turtles can live far longer than humans, some nearly reaching 200. Kobolds mature at about six years old and can live to be one hundred and twenty, but they rarely do so. There are always jokes at my table when questioning how a three-year-old, regardless of biological maturity, could become an adventurer without gathering many more years of experience. Overall, I’m fine with the streamlining of Life Span to solve the age/materuity conversion issue; although, I can understand how some may feel like a bit of uniqueness is lost.

Height and Weight

Now, regardless of race, character’s height and weight all fall within the same ranges as humans in the real world. Again, this only matters within the streamlining versus uniqueness debate.

There is a Random Height and Weight table found in the PHB (6).

Other Changes

These other changes are not pointed out directly within the book, but they do appear as a recurring pattern throughout it (with one or two exceptions). It is also safe to assume that some of these changes could be applied to races not included in this book.

Walking Speed

The walking speed of some stouter or shorter creatures was 25ft, as opposed to the typical 30ft; now, all creatures have a standard 30ft with the exception being a few who have an even higher score. It’s a small change, but anyone who has experienced a 25ft speed knows the struggle.

Some races have an additional type of movement including flying, swimming, and climbing, which has also been changed in their wording to make this additional movement type equal to your walking speed. For example, sea elves originally in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes (MToF) had “a swimming speed of 30ft” (62) but now they have “a swimming speed equal to your walking speed (MPMM, 30).” This means a sea elf’s walking speed is still 30ft, but it opens up so much potential now that spells and other abilities that only increase walking speed—as opposed to just speed as is the case with the longstrider and haste spells, and the Unarmored Movement and Fast Movement abilities given to the monk and barbarian respectively. Its swimming speed can now be increased by the zephyr strike spell or the Bladesinger wizard’s Bladesong. It’s not a huge difference, but it does add more versatility during play.

Unarmed Strikes

Previously, most races that had an advanced unarmed strike, whether it be talons, claws, or whatever, it delt 1d4 + your Strength modifier in damage, as opposed to the standard 1 + your Strength modifier. Now, these races get an improved 1d6 damage dice instead, which is the equivalent to a handaxe or shortsword, making these unarmed more purposeful in combat (before, I could pull out a dagger and probably be just as effective, if not more so).

This trait worked best for Strength builds, so any race with a boost to their Strength score would benefit the most.

Unarmed Strikes are probably never going to be overpowered as only monks can use a bonus action to make an unarmed attack, and at higher levels, more and more monsters become resistant or immune to nonmagical damage. Unarmed strikes are typically most useful during a prison escape, a bar fight, or when paired with another ability such as lizardfolk’s Hungry Jaws trait, or the centaur’s Hooves, both of which allow you to unarmed strike as a bonus action. Regardless, this trait is still incredibly fun and even useful at times, especially now that it’s no longer equivalent to the weakest weapons.

Spellcasting Modifier

Unless otherwise stated, assume that you can now choose between Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma as your spellcasting ability, and that the leveled spell you learn may be cast once per long rest without material components, or with a spell slot of equal level. This is a much-needed change as every race had a fixed spellcasting modifier for their racial spells, an inconvenence as the spellcasting type may not synergize with your class spellcasting ability thereby decreasing the flexibility of play. This doesn’t always have consequences, as some spells don’t need your modifier for damage or DC for saving throws, but it was still really awkward having a completely different modifier for one or two spells and something else for the rest. This is a great chance for optimization and convenience.

Size

Most of the Medium-sized creatures now have the option to be Medium or Small, including the aasimar, each of the four genasi, kenku, tabaxi, tortle, and yuan-ti.

Small and Medium creatures in 5e have a few noticeable differences. Small creatures have disadvantage when using weapons with the heavy weapon property (i.e. greatsword, long bow, heavy crossbow, etc), and the rules of grappling state that a creature cannot grapple another more than one size larger than they are, meaning that Medium creatures can grapple Large creatures, and Small creatures cannot (PHB, 195). On the other hand, when it comes to moving through a creature’s space, a creature can move one size category smaller through squeezing, meaning a Small creature can move through a Tiny creature’s space, while a Medium creature cannot (note, that these are at the DM’s discretion). Small creatures can use a Medium size creature as a mount, whereas Medium creatures need at least a Large one; this is especially useful for the Beast Master ranger and similar playstyles.

Sunlight Sensitivity

Races with Sunlight Sensitivity have a disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight when you, your target, or the thing you’re trying to see is in direct sunlight. This detriment is not as crippling as some it may seem on paper, but it is still frustrating to deal with. Now, Sunlight Sensitivity has been effectively removed from all races in this book, including kobold and duergar dwarfs.

Player Races

Aarakocra

Originally from Volo’s Guide to Monsters (VGtM)

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom

Flight – Previously, aarakokra’s had a 25ft walking speed, and a 50ft flying speed, now their walking speed equals their flying speed (30ft). . Even though this is technically a nerf, it’s far from being detrimental as aarakokra’s unlimited flying has frustrated many DM’s plans as the benefits of flying are strongly limited only by your imagination. This problem is so notorious, that official Adventure Leagues have outright banned this race from play. The nerf really doesn’t do too much except for making an overpowered ability slightly less so—I have heard of DMs limiting this ability to a number of hours (usually equal to your PB) but even then the ability is ridiculously useful. I’m not sure how WotC could have made this ability any less powerful without taking from the aarakocra’s identity, so I’m fine with it—so long as the enemies adapt to combat flying creatures with ropes, more projectiles, or even homebrewed anti-fly zone spells or something, just to make it a bit more balanced for all players at the table.

Talons – Changes from 1d4 to 1d6.

WindCaller (new ability) – Now, you can cast the 2nd level spell gust of wind. This is cool, I get Pokemon vibes as the wind fans out from your wings. The spell is a solid battlefield control spell, pushing and slowing down your opponents, dispersing gas and vapor, and extinguishing some types of fire. You may not be inclined to use this in combat depending on your build and play style as it is an action to cast, requires concentration, and requires a bonus action to change the direction of the wind—you’ll probably end up using a different ability or spell, or just straight-up attack. Regardless, this is quite a flavorful ability that has practical application.

Conclusion – Overall the aarakokra is incredibly powerful despite a slight debuff to their base flying speed, but WotC has still yet to provide more clear rules on flying for my satisfaction.

Aasimar

Originally from VGtM

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Charisma

Size – Medium or Small

Healing Hands – Initially you could heal yourself or another creature a number of Hitpoints (HP) equal to your level once per long rest, now you roll a number of d4s equal to your PB. A small change that I welcome as the maximum number of recoverable HP increases—even if it is possible to roll a low number, it’s usually more fun in most scenarios to roll dice than to just be given a flat number.

Celestial Fury – The biggest change to the aasimar’s is their Celestial Fury—rather than giving aasimar’s subraces, MPMM recategorizes the subraces as “revelations,” similar to how paladins choose an Oath to follow. I think this was always the intention as the subrace names sounded more like a title or an oath, and now that racial ability scores are irrelevant the subraces are even more unnecessary as they only depended on the +1 bonus that each offered (Wisdom to Protectors, Constitution to Scurge, Strength to Fallen). Anyways, the best change is the switch from having to use an action to now using a bonus action. Also, the extra damage from the attack is no longer your player level, but rather your PB. Dealing upwards to 20 extra damage a turn was always really cool to hypothesize, but finding a way to activate it before rolling initiative or during a surprise round is always frustrating as I never wanted to waste my action to essentially powerup—so if weakening the ability means being able to use a bonus action, so be it. I don’t know the actual numbers that demonstrate which method deals the most damage relative to your character’s level/proficiency bonus (PB), but streamlining it to a bonus action just feels nice and less intrusive to my action economy and play style.

Necrotic Shroud (Fallen Aasimar): One slight buff—your Fury no longer damages all creatures within 10ft of you, now it’s every except your allies thereby eliminating the threat of friendly fire.
Radiant Consumption (Scourge Aasimar): No other changes. The only fury of the three that didn’t need a buff, but also the most boring as each of these abilities deal damage.
Radiant Soul (Protector Aasimar): The wings go from being incorporeal to spectral (take that as you will). Changing the flying speed from its separate speed to being equal to your walking speed is a subtle change as it now provides a slightly higher chance to increase your flying speed temporarily.

Conclusion – This guide is meant to demonstrate the changes between the original race and their redesign, but I think it’s important to note that WotC kept the aasimar’s reliance on Charisma. Every other race redesign is no longer tied down by a specific spellcasting ability, yet the aasimar still is. I understand that aasimars are the racial version of paladins (devotion, healing ability, necrotic and radiant resistance, and smite-like damaging) but this goes against the new 5e mentality of the flexibility of play. If I believe my aasimar’s devotion is more closely tied to that of a druid who views themselves as an extension of natures (Wisdom based spellcasting), or in logic and numbers like a wizard may prefer (Intelligence based spellcasting), and not the paladin whose faith is through swearing and abiding by sacred vows (usually of the deity variety), than I should be able to play my character in such a manner. Again, aasimar’s were never meant (I think) to be your typical subrace, but it seems silly of WotC to go out of their way to change all the other racial spellcasting abilities and not change this one—perhaps I wouldn’t be complaining about this so much if it had no consequences at all (which it doesn’t for Radiant Consumption and Radiant Soul) but it does for Necrotic Shroud as it relies upon a DC save that uses your Charisma modifier.

Bugbear

Originally from VGtM

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength, +1 Dexterity

Fey Ancestry (new ability) – The MPMM explains that goblinoids originate from the Feywild; similar to elves, bugbears now have advantage on saving throws to avoid or end charm effects on itself. A flavorful, solid ability as some very potent spells such as charm person or suggest can be frustrating to deal with.

Sneaky – You still gain proficiency in the Stealth skill, but now MPMM grants you the ability to move through and stop in a space large enough for a Small size creature, despite bugbears being Medium. Simply being able to move past some creatures has its battlefield benefits, especially when paired with abilities that allow you to avoid opportunity attacks such as zephyr strike, the Mobile feat, rogue’s Cunning Action, or monk’s Step of the Wind. I can see some players never using this ability (probably because they forgot or were never given much of a chance to) but simply having the option adds a layer of creativity to combat movement.

Surprise Attack – The base ability would add 2d6 damage to your attack—this is a pseudo version of rogue’s Sneak Attack but with a tradeoff. Sneak Attack only works with finesse or ranged weapons, and typically requires advantage on the attack or an ally to be within 5ft of the target—on the upside, the base version of Surprise Attack does not require any of those conditions, and the ability specifies when you hit it with an attack roll, meaning it can be a weapon attack of any ability score modifier, an unarmed strike, or a spell attack, thereby giving you so much more flexibility—until you realize that it can only be used once per combat encounter, and it has to be used during a surprise round. If you don’t already know, gaining surprise is not so easy or even common—if you are capable of stealth or your opponent has poor perception, then this ability is only OK as 2d6 roughly averages out to seven DPR, an underwhelming number that doesn’t scale. MPMM changes the ability to deal an extra 2d6 damage to the creature if it hasn’t taken a turn yet in the current combat—this also pairs well with bugbear’s unchanged ability, Long Limbed, as the extended 5ft range for melee attacks makes combat less risky. This opens up so much flexibility and damage potential—damaging a different creature with each of your available attacks, or using an AOE method of damage, such as thunderwave, can have awesome effects. My only complaint is that the change is no longer in synch with the name, as it no longer requires a surprise round, but this is a moot point.

Conclusion – Overall, the bugbear received some great buffs that pair well with one another and now have the added layer of flexibility among most classes and playstyles, especially Surprise Attack.

Changeling

Originally from Eberron – Rising from the Last War (ERLW)

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Charisma, +1 one other ability score of your choice

Changeling Instincts – You now have a choice to choose 2 of 5 options: Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Performance, and the newly added Persuasion

Shapechanger – Only change is a clarification of changing your height, which is now simply between Medium and Small.

Conclusion – Changeling didn’t really need any changes, but the ones given are solid.

Deep Gnome

Originally from Elemental Evil Player’s Compendium (EEPC)

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Intelligence (race), +1 Dexterity (subrace)

Walking Speed – Previously 25ft, now 30ft.

Svirfneblin Camouflage (replaces Stone Camouflage) – Instead of advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks in rocky terrain at all times, you can now grant yourself advantage on any Stealth check a number of times equal to your PB, regaining expended uses after a long rest. This grants the deep gnome more flexibility throughout the adventure. Unless you’re playing a one shot that will take place primarily in rocky terrain, you’ll probably want the newer ability.

Gnomish Magic Resistance (replaces Gnome Cunning) – One key difference is the change from having advantage versus Intelligent, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic to now being against spells. Keep in mind that Gnome Cunning is a base race ability, so logically it follows that forest and rock gnomes would have to choose which version to take. Gnome Cunning is more powerful as magic is a general word implying any sort of ability that is magical (sometimes labeled mystical or with similar words), this includes the use of enchantments, powers, and invocations, whereas Gnomish Magic Resistance is specifically used against spells and since it doesn’t specify leveled spells, this would include cantrips as well. This is technically a nerf, but the ability is still incredibly powerful and will come in handy through just about any gaming session.

Gift of Svirfneblin (new ability) – A new ability that grants the deep gnome disguise self at 3rd level, and nondetection at 5th level (without any material components). These are great spells that stay relevant throughout most adventures through their wide range of utility, you’ll save some gold on nondetection’s 25gold cost, and it suites the race to camouflage themselves wherever they travel in the dangerous Underdark.

Conclusion – The race gains some nice buffs overall.

Duergar (Grey Dwarf)

Originally from Sword Coast Adventure’s Guide (SCAG)

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Constitution (race), +1 Strength (subrace)

Walking Speed – From 25ft to 30ft

Darkvision (replaces Superior Darkvision) – Same effect (120ft range), different name.

Psionic Fortitude (replaces Duergar Resilience) – Duergar Resilience is replaced by Psionic Fortitude. Instead of gaining advantage on saving throws against illusions, charming effects, and paralyzation, it’s now just against avoiding or ending charmed and stunned conditions on yourself.

Sunlight Sensitivity (removed)

Conclusion – Overall the changes to Duergars are fine, I think the bonus versus illusions was a lot more unique and made Duergar Resilience more powerful, but no longer being restricted by a short walking speed or Sunlight Sensitivity evens it up. As for trading advantage versus paralyzed effects for stunned, it can go either way as paralysis is more powerful but I think stunned is more common (I could be wrong though).

Elves

Originally from PHB

Original Ability Score increase: +2 Dexterity

Trance – Originally in the PHB, this trait made it so elves don’t need sleep, magic can’t put them to sleep, and a long rest is four hours if you do so in a trancelike meditation (still retaining consciousness). Now, you also gain two proficiencies that you don’t have, each one with a weapon or a tool of your choice—I think this ability is meant to replace elf subrace traits that grant weapon proficiencies such as Drow Weapon Training, and Elf Weapon Training. (note: this trait’s additional condition was borrowed from the Astral Elves from the Unearthed Arcana: Travelers of the Multiverse, and Zendikar elves from Plane Shift – Zendikar).

Eladrin

Originally from MToF

Original Ability Score Increase: +1 Charisma

Fey Step – This new ability adds to the Trance ability; whenever you finish your four-hour trance (long rest) you gain proficiencies in two weapons or tools of your choice, which you draw from shared elven memory. This additional ability is probably meant to replace the common weapon proficiency trait granted to many other elf subraces. This new feature provides more flexibility for just about any character—even if you don’t always need these proficiencies, finding creative uses for some extra proficiencies to maximize your downtown or action economy adds more fun and an extra layer of complexity to your game. Finally, it can be used a number of times equal to your PB (proficiency bonus) per long rest (replaces once per short or long rest)

Only Summer changes; instead of dealing fire damage equal to your PB instead of Charisma modifier. Instead of having to use your Charisma modifier for your abilities DC you can choose Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma.

Conclusion – Overall, the abilities were already good—enhanced misty step once per short rest along with the typical elf abilities made this colorful race at least somewhat enticing (personally, there are too many types of elves already), but now I find myself actually wanting to play an elf, which I never had a desire to do outside of half-elves. I enjoy finding as many purposes for extra tools, maximizing action economy, and misty step is an incredibly useful spell regardless of the campaign or even level of play.

Sea Elf

Originally from MToF

Original Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution

Speed – Your swimming speed now equals your walking speed.

Friend of the Sea – Clarifies that you can communicate simple ideas to beasts with a swimming speed, but that you don’t have a special way of understanding what they say back.

Sea Elf Training (replaced with updated Trance) – You gain proficiency with the spear, trident, light crossbow, and net, all useful for sea/plane of water settings but usually not much else.

Conclusion – Definitely gained some nice buffs, but being an elf already made sea elves already a strong pick—yes, they are designed for water adventures, and I suspect that’s the only time most people will play one, but as I said they’re still an elf and have a diverse range of options to make them powerful in any campaign. Who knows, maybe they’re better off in a normal campaign where they can shine when they’re truly needed and not just another member of the party who can breathe underwater (because if you’re playing an underwater campaign, everybody will have some means of doing so).

Shadar-kai

Originally from MToF

Original ability score modifier: +1 Constitution

Blessing of the Raven Queen – Only one buff but it’s fantastic—Blessing of the Raven Queen can now be used a number of times equal to your PB per long rest instead of just once per long rest.

Conclusion – Another strong elf with an advanced misty step ability; the flavor is not as cool as the Eldrain, but gaining resistance to all damage (starting at 3rd level) when you use Blessing of the Raven Queen, is probably more powerful than any similar trait—of course, the trade-off of playing the eldrin is gaining necrotic damage resistance, whereas the eldrain can change their teleportation into four different options giving the PC more variety to suit their needs.

Fairy

Originally from The Wild Beyond The Witchlight (WBtW)

Conclusion – No changes made. Flying as a trait instantly makes your character versatile, especially if you can make yourself tiny via enhance/reduce.

Firbolg

Originally from VGtM

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Wisdom, +1 Strength

Firbolg Magic – The only change for firbolgs comes from a nerf to Firbolg Magic—instead of once per short or long rest each, now you can cast detect magic and disguise yourself once per long rest, but now you can cast the spells using the appropriate level spell slot. Your spellcasting ability does not matter.

Hidden Step – Now you can use this ability a number of times equal to your PB per long rest, instead of once per short or long rest.

Conclusion – Firbolgs were always a well-rounded race as their abilities can add versatility to any class, but I always felt that they were best suited as clerics, druids, rangers, or monks, but now so many possibilities open up. Firbolg’s no longer being tied to Wisdom or Strength could make them excellent rogues or similar Infiltrator/Explorer roles—Hidden Step and disguise self provide an extra layer of concealment for Stealth, not to mention being able to carry more loot you find (or take) with Powerful Build.

Genasi

Originally from EEPC

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Constitution

Darkvision – Before, only the fire genasi gained darkvision, which was flavored as seeing everything in shades of red as opposed to shades of grey. I think this flavor was incredibly cool, and if players want to keep this change for fire genasi specifically, I don’t see the harm in doing so.

Air

Originally Ability Score Increase: +1 Dexterity

Lightning Resistance (new ability) – You have resistance to lightning damage.

Speed – Instead of the standard 30ft, Air Genasi moves like the wind with a 35ft walking speed.

Mingle with the Wind (same name, changed heavily) – Originally, you only knew the levitate spell at 1st level. Now, you learn the shocking grasp cantrip at 1st level, feather fall at 3rd level, and levitate at 5th level.

Earth

Original Ability Score Increase: +1 Strength

Earthwalk (same name, changed slightly) Originally, your movement is not imped by difficult terrain made of earth or stone, but now it’s just difficult terrain while using your walking speed, making it less niche and more practical.

Merge with Stone (same name, changed- Initially, at 1st level, you could cast pass without trace once per long rest. Now at 1st level you learn blade ward, which you can cast normally or as a bonus action a number of times equal to your PB. Then, at 5th level, you learn pass without trace.

Fire

Original Ability Score Increase: +1 Intelligence

Reach to the Blaze – At 1st level you learn the produce flame cantrip, and burning hands at 3rd level. Now, you also learn the 2nd level spell flame blade at 5th level. Flame blade is a solid fighting option for situations where you can maximize your action economy, but it’s also a dope Intimidation tactic.

Water

Original Ability Score Increase: +1 Wisdom

Speed – Your swimming speed now equals your walking speed.

Call to Wave – Before, you learn the shape water cantrip and at 3rd level the create or destroy water spell as a 2nd level spell. Now, you learn the acid splash at 1st level, create or destroy water at 3rd level, and water walk at 5th. I understand that the acid splash cantrip pairs well with

Conclusion:

All four genasi have gained so much from MPMM, but I would like to address the cantrip choices.

I always imagined that air learns the gust cantrip, earth learns mold earth, fire learns produce flame, and water learns shape water. Air learning shocking grasp does make sense as they are associated with wind and storms, and of course, storms can cause lighting and thunder; if I were DM, I would allow the PC to choose either cantrip as both are thematically appropriate and neither are overpowered.

Earth gaining an advanced version of bladeward is genius as this cantrip doesn’t normally get much use, likely due to costing a whole action; thematically, it’s brilliant as I imagine the genasi’s body becoming hard like stone. As much as I love mold earth, players may get more use out of the bonus action bladeward as it will always come in handy during combat. In contrast, mold earth is more limiting than most players initially realize as the cantrip only allows one to move “loose earth” and not just any piece of land.

I would allow my players to take either cantrip. I think fire genasi’s learning produce flame is spot on as this particular fire-based cantrip is the purist fire spell in the game—you simply produce a magical flame which you can use to fight, use as a nonhazardous torch, to cook, to ignite blackpowder—in other words, it’s fire. Allowing players the option of a different fire-based cantrip would probably be fine but the others tend to have a more specific purpose in mind, plus this may incentivize some players to simply choose the ever-popular fire bolt as it’s possibly the best damaging cantrip behind eldritch blast.

The one I don’t like is the change of water genasi gaining acid splash over shape water. Water genasi are supposed to be “suited to life underwater and carry the power of the waves inside themselves” (MPMM, 17), yet they are vulnerable to the cold depths of the ocean from lack of cold resistance, unlike tritons who have “Adapted to the frigid ocean depths” (35), or Sea Eleves who are simply known for “[exploring] the waters of many worlds” (30). From a gameplay standpoint, I understand that WotC didn’t want the three underwater races to have too similar abilities, but why did the water genasi become associated with acid? Water genasi are descendants of the water genies called marids, who originate from the Elemental Plane of Water—marids are resistant to acid, cold, and lighting damage, and similarly, water elementals are resistant to acid, and nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage (MM, 125 & 146). I suppose you can’t melt something made of water (marids, and I believe water elementals as well, simply disperse into water when they perish) but I suppose you can freeze something made of water? From a lore standpoint, it does not make sense. I suppose an upside is that acid splash will gain more use this way (except it’s an incredibly limiting spell that technically doesn’t work the way you think acid would), but shape water is far more powerful due to its utility and theme. Once again, I think players should be given a choice between acid splash and shape water, and possibly their choice in damage resistance to acid or cold damage.

Before, the genasi all seemed cool in theory, but they all felt just a little off for my taste. Now, their powers have been greatly increased and given a lot of creativity. Even though the water genasi from a thematic standpoint still feels off, all four are much more powerful and worthy of playing.

Gith

Originally from MToF

Githyanki Psionics and Githzerai Psionics – *see Spellcasting Modifier section.

Psychic Resilience – A buff added from MPMM. There aren’t a whole lot of psychic damaging creatures in the lower tiers of play, or in most settings, but creatures that do have psychic abilities are incredibly dangerous—so it really depends on how useful this is, but considering the other buffs I don’t think gaining a resistant of any sort is worth complaining about.

Conclusion – It’s a minor point, but it’s interesting that, unlike in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes (MToF), Githyanki and Githzerai are no longer classified as subraces of Gith (the same way the 4 Genasi types are subraces)—I’m not sure what this means, but I had to point it out. The major changes apply dominantly to the Githyanki (as you’ll see), but the added effect of both creatures gaining resistance to psychic damage is fascinating as it’s a rare damage type, meaning it could be either useless or vital depending on the campaign, but it makes complete thematic sense as the Gith are so heavily associated with psionics.

Githyanki

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength

Astral Knowledge (replaces Decadent Mastery & Marital Prodigy) – The base Githyanki with Dacadent Mastery learn one language, and one skill or tool proficiency of your choice, and through Martial Prodigy gain proficiency with light & medium armor, and with shortswords, longswords, & greatswords. Both abilities were combined/altered in MPMM as Astral Knowledge, which allows you to gain one skill, and one weapon or tool proficiency of your choice, and you can change your choices after every long rest. Overall this is a solid change but it could have been handled slightly better. Decadent Mastery is a solid ability that gives the player freedom to choose how they wish to play their character.

Martial Prodigy is flawed as it’s unfavorable to most martial classes as they already have proficiency in those armor and weapon options. Also, if you find yourself needing a martial weapon, odds are you only need proficiency in one of those types of swords, not all three, so even if you do find yourself playing a class that benefits from these proficiencies the most are wizards, sorcerers, and sometimes warlocks, it still may not be the optimal thing to do as these spellcasters have spells that can supplement the need for armor (i.e. mage armor, absorb elements, & shield) or weapons (any damaging cantrip or level spell). On the other hand, TCoE’s optional Proficiency Swaps table (7) would allow the PC to swap out their useless weapon and armor options in favor of whatever suits their need. Still, having a version of the race that is naturally more flexible and simplified is for the best. Choosing any skill, and a weapon or tool with a flavorful ability to change your choices though the utilization of Gith psychic connection to the Astral Plane was a good choice—two minor complaints: first, why couldn’t have given the option of a skill or language? It would have fulfilled the Decadent Mastery role even better without becoming overpowered (as you would have to choose it over a skill), plus it would still fit the seeking knowledge identity of Githyanki—again, TCoE solves this problem, but it’s still odd that they didn’t fix this minor problem. Second, I may be the only one, but I did really enjoy the armor proficiency of the base Githyanki as it could still be an incredible tool if done correctly, but it’s probably for the best that it’s gone as those builds were far too specific.

Githzerai

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Wisdom

Goblin

Originally from VGtM

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Dexterity, +1 Constitution

Fey Ancestry (new ability) – You have advantage on saving throws to avoid or end charm effects on yourself.

Fury of the Small (same name, slightly changed) – You no longer deal additional damage on a spell or attack roll equal to your player level, instead the damage equals your PB. Also, you can use this ability a number of times equal to your PB per long rest, instead of once per short or long rest. Whether or not this is an improvement depends on the number of short rests your party most often takes; by 3rd level, you’ll steadily outpace the amount of damage you add if your party takes at least two short rests per adventuring day. Doing some simple math will prove this.

Conclusion – The changes were simple and I understand that Fury of the Small helped streamline many racial traits.

Goliath

Originally from Elemental Evil Player’s Compendium (EE)

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength, +1 Constitution

Little Giant (replaces Natural Athlete & Powerful build) – Natural Athlete grants you proficiency in Athletics, while Powerful Build makes you count as one size larger when determining your carry capacity, & the weight you can push, drag, or lift. Little Giant combines these two abilities into one. That’s it—and I like it. The idea of a little giant makes me conceptualize something powerful while emphasizing the point that Goliaths are of giant decent. Saying that goliaths have a “powerful build” and that they are “natural athletes” is fitting for something that is a descendent of a giant, but simply titling them ‘little giants’ accomplishes the same goal while providing more flavor text by emphasizing goliath’s lineage.

Stone’s Endurance – MPMM now allows the PC to use this ability a number of times equal to their PB, rather than once, but now you regain uses after a long rest and no longer after a short rest. This change is annoying as it really depends on how many short rests your party tends to take. My own group averages about 1, so I would prefer the PB usage which will progress better as our PB increases, but this ability doesn’t progress well through the levels as your Consitution modifier will only increase occasionally (if you choose to). My general rule is that this ability is better the lower the level you are—perhaps if the modifier was contingent upon your level or the dice increased at some point it would be better.

Conclusion – The changes are mainly textual but overall well done. Goliaths have always been a cool race to play, and they still are.

Harengon

Originally from WBtW

Conclusion – No changes made. A fine race that can do some cool things, especially if you like the imagery of a bunny warrior.

Hobgoblin

Originally from VGtM

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Constintution, +1 Intelligence

Fey Ancestry (new ability) – *see Bugbears and Goblins

Fey Gift (new ability, replaces Marital Training) – Martial Training is limiting for hobgoblin’s class variety. It was seemingly designed perfectly for wizards and possibly sorcerers, but other classes rarely saw any use in two martial weapons and light armor proficiency. Fey Gift allows the hobgoblin to use the Help action as a bonus action a number of times equal to your PB per long rest. In addition, you can also grant one of three possible effects: Hospitality grants you and the creature you’re helping 1d6+your PB in temporary hit points (THP), Passage increases both the creature and yourself 10ft to your walking speed, and Spite which, until the start of your next turn, the first time the creature you help hits a target with an attack roll, that target has disadvantage on the next attack roll it makes within the next minute.

Fortune of the Many (replaces Saving Face) – The only change is that now you can use this ability a number of times equal to your PB per long rest, instead of once per short or long rest, and you can only gain a maximum of +3 instead of +5. This is a buff overall as well, I always felt like. Yes, 5 is a smaller number than 3 but realistically I don’t expect to be making saving throws near all my allies all the time (which is usually only 2 or 3 others at most), but I do like knowing I have a small pool of these to use at all times now.

Conclusion – The hobgoblin has one of the most changes out of any player race. Instead of being the leaders of the goblinoid trio, often portrayed as warmongers, the hobgoblin has been reimagined as those who create bonds, tying communities together. They still bring people together as their original lore states, just not exclusively as evil warlords, both building onto their lore while eliminating the problematic suggestions of evil races. The change from Martial Training to Fey Gift adds to this lore while also making the hobgoblin more flexible in play. Their initial +2 Constitution adds a lot to any race as HP is always needed, but Intelligence is usually a dump stat, plus only some wizards and sorcerer builds really benefited from light armor and two martial weapons. Still, even if it is a niche, I do like the idea of those proficiencies if need be—only a few races granted the player armor, plus Fey Gift is cool, flexible, and flavorful, but it’s not an end-all-be-all trait, just a solid one. In addition to their new Fey Ancestry and the changed Fortune of the Many, hobgoblins feel incredibly different, definitely gaining a buff for the majority of people who will play one, but the lore changes truly make this updated race shine.

*note -I love the artwork here, every official hobgoblin artwork made them look like generic, stoic monster soldiers, while this one presents a strong, melee-centric bard or something—some of the old work felt orientalist in nature, so it’s about time for a change.

Kenku

Originally from VGtM

Original Ability Scores Increase: +2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom

Size – You can now be Medium or Small, which plays well into their skillset as spies or informers—being Small helps them hide, but more so I didn’t realize until now that they were originally always Medium, I always conceptualized them as Small, hunched, little bird folk.

Expert Duplication (replaces Expert Forgery) – The only thing that changes is some of the languages used

Kenku Recall (replaces Kenku Training) – Initially you chose two proficiencies from the choice of Acrobatics, Deception, Stealth, and Sleight of Hand, but now you choose two of any skills you want.

Mimicry – You no longer make a Charisma (Deception) skill check contested by a creatures Wisdom (Insight) check, instead your ability has a DC of 8+ your PB + your Charisma modifier. This allows more flexibility of play as you don’t need Deception to maximize this ability, although no longer having the option of Expertise in Deception does nerf this ability somewhat, especially if the creature contesting you has expertise in Wisdom. You also don’t benefit from spells such as guidance or enhance ability anymore. I’m fine with the added flexibility, but the change in how you conceal your voice depends on your preference.

Languages – You’re no longer required to speak only using your Mimicry trait. Hypothetically, this trait had the most potential to be annoying during roleplay. Even though it made kenkus incredibly unique, it was hard to pull off as you could only say the words and lines you remember hearing others speak, while using their vocal likeness. Kenkus may have supernatural memory, but that doesn’t mean you or your DM do.

Conclusion – I’m fine with the overall changes as kenkus are now slightly easier to build into whatever you want them to be, but they keep their reputation as silver tongue rogues or bards… even if their Mimicry ability is nerfed. Kenku’s were always fine the way they were, as Dexterity always goes a long way (especially for their intended play style) and Wisdom is usually useful, and pretty much everyone who played them wanted their Mimicry ability for roleplay or trickery purposes, but I personally never felt the desire to play one until now.

Kobold

Originally from VGtM

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Dexterity

Sunlight Sensitivity (removed) – To help balance Sunlight Sensitivity, my DM always gives my kobolds enhanced Darkvision (120ft instead of 60ft), which also makes sense narratively as kobolds traditionally spend most, if not all, their life in caves and underground tunnels, but in short, I’m glad this trait has been removed. The specific wording is direct sunlight, meaning a bit of shade, fighting indoors, or some overcast should eliminate this problem; still, it was a common hindrance that felt tedious to get around. I also feel like it’s supposed to make kobolds and drow feel more like evil monsters who can’t be exposed to daylight, as deep gnomes and duergar dwarfs do not have to deal with this problem despite also being humanoids that dwell in the dark.

Draconic Cry (replaces Pact Tactics and Grovel, Cower, and Beg) – Pact tactics allow the PC to have advantage on all melee attacks as long as an ally is within 5ft of the creature you’re attacking. Grovel, Cower, and Beg, once per short or long rest as an action, allowed you to grant your allies advantage on attack rolls against enemies within 10ft of you that you can see. Draconic Cry, as a bonus action a number of times equal to your PB per long rest, allows you and your allies to have advantage on attack rolls against creatures within 10ft of you that can hear you. Draconic Cry allows the PC to have much more flexibility in play as you aren’t locked into melee-only builds with Pact Tactics and you won’t waste an action to give others a chance at attacking better as with Grovel, Cower, and Beg (which I’m sure has some creative use to it, but generally there is usually a better option, especially as you level up). That being said, Pack Tactics still holds a ton of potential and many (like myself) still see ourselves playing the OG kobold, even if it is more limiting in so many other ways.

Kobold Legacy (new ability) – I love this new ability as it brings kobolds closer to their draconic ancestors. You choose one of three legacy options. Craftiness grants you proficiency in your choice of Arcana, Investigation, Medicine, Sleight of Hand, or Survival. Defiance grants you advantage on saving throws to avoid or end the frightened condition on yourself—this ability is useful, but it also demonstrates that these small, dog-like dragon folk don’t have to be stereotyped as cowards. Draconic Sorcery allows you to choose one cantrip from the sorcerer spell list, and you choose Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma as your spellcasting ability for it—this allows a lot of versatility in play as your choice in cantrip can provide a lot of utility for your PC, and this trait is flavorful for kobolds as sorcerers are seen as holy figures within their society.

Conclusion – Kobolds were initially a strange race; they were tied with variant humans for having the lowest ability score improvement, except variant humans benefit from choosing two of any ability score to improve and a feat, kobolds were stuck with a strict +2 Dexterity (although I convinced my DM that they should also gain a +1 Intelligence as they are known for craftiness). They were also affected by Sunlight Sensitivity which is not nearly as detrimental as some think. Darkvision is always nice, but Grovel, Cower, and Beg is a joke ability—I’m pretty sure every kobold uses this at level one or two, gets a laugh from the table then never uses it again. The optimal, most fun reason to pick kobold is for Pact Tactics, possibly the best trait in the 5e, and part of the reason why kobolds are my favorite player. That being said, I am glad that this alternative version exists—it eliminates a negative depiction of kobolds, and enhances their flexibility of play as they are no longer restricted to Dexterity-based melee builds for maximum potential.

Lizardfolk

Originally from VGtM

Original Ability Score Increase:+2 Constitution, +1 Wisdom

Speed – You have a swimming speed equal to your walking speed.

Nature’s Intuition (replaces Hunter’s Lore) – Nearly the same thing, but Nature’s Intuition now specifics that you gain two skills due to your mystical connection to nature—a small change that emphasizes the spiritual aspect of lizardfolk and not just as primitive hunter/gatherer people. Also, the short list of skill proficiency options of Animal Handling, Nature, Perception, Stealth & Survival now includes Medicine, a small buff as now their skill selection is long, and it’s also quite befitting that having a mythical connection to nature would entail knowledge of how to use it to heal.

Hungry Jaws – Instead of gaining THP equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of 1), you gain temporary THP equal to your PB. This is generally an improvement as it naturally scales as you level up, and the minimum and maximum THP is higher than the base race—unless you consistently have a higher Constitution modifier than you do PB, this is always an improvement. On the other hand, the MPMM allows you to use this ability a number of times equal to your PB, recovering uses after a long rest, while the base version allowed one use per short rest—so again, this is a buff or nerf depending upon the number of short rests your party takes on average.

Cunning Artisan (removed) – Perhaps they felt that it made lizardfolk look too much like unruly savages, as they are using the corpses of beasts, constructs, dragons, monstrosities, or plant creatures to create specifically instruments of the hunt including shields, clubs, javelins, darts, or blowgun needles (but I doubt this as hungry jaws throws them into a feeding frenzy). The ability is not very strong, rarely will you find yourself in need of finding, let alone crafting, weapons to rely on; my own lizardfolk ranger made these weapons as gifts, or to trade & sell (a one of a kind item made from the hide of some potentially rare creature impressed a lot of people). Overall, this is more flavor than practical, it was really just meant to show off lizardfolk as hunters and warriors. There have already been enough minor buffs given to the race not to warrant a replacement ability, however it certainly would not hurt to give lizardfolk something a little more useful and less niche while still fulfilling their flavor text as those deeply attuned with nature—a choice between proficiency in cook’s utensils, leatherworker’s tools, or woodcarver’s tools would have been interesting.

Conclusion – Overall, lizardfolk benefit more from the ability score change than most other races. Constitution is universal, and Wisdom is strong, but creating a build that complements all of their traits was difficult—Dexterity for your Natural Armor, Strength for Bite and Hungry Jaws, Constitution for Hungryjaws, and Frontlining when using your Bite… lizardfolk have always been a fairly strong race with a unique identity and traits that do a pretty good job at complementing each other making them strong for whatever class you play, but never perfect for any particular one. Now, you can choose the ability scores you desire most to maximize your particular build.

Minotaur

Originally from Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica (GGtR), Mythic Odysseys of Theros (MOoT), and PlaneShift: Amonkhet

Originally Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength, +1 Constitution

Conclusion – The minotaur has been given three slightly different versions from three setting-specific books, all of which are tied into the Magic the Gathering series crossover. The Ravnica and Theros versions are the same, while the Amonkhet version is almost just a copy and paste version of the Half-Orc (having the same ability score improvements, Menacing, Relentless Endurance, and Savage Attacks). The MPMM version has the same Horns, Goring Rush, and Hammering Horns traits. Their only ‘new’ trait is Labyrinthine Recall (which originated in the Unearthed Arcana 4: Waterborne Adventures, except its ability, was simply being able to perfectly recall any path you have traveled) a cool pseudo version of the Keen Mind feat mixed in with ranger-like tracking ability… but overall this race is extremely disappointing. Three of the four traits are melee and Strength oriented—the three original reversions gave minotaur’s a +2 Strength and +1 Consitution, but this might as well have been kept the same since now their Horns rely upon Strength, your Goring Rush relies upon your Horns, and your Hammering Horns rely upon a DC Strength save that also uses your Strength modifier, AND since you’ll be head to head with your enemies you’ll need a lot of HP to stay alive. Finally, the other three versions gave you a skill, but MPMM gives you none, and Labyrinthine Recall, as cool and possibly useful as it may be, does not make up for it. This race lacks any sort of flexibility like the other race changing—the aasimar’s Charmisa requirement is barely an inconvenience short of the Necrotic Shroud option, but the minotaur forces you into playing a combat, melee Strength, and high HP-oriented build for maximizing their traits—and even if you do decide to play this way, higher-level builds are fairly weak as your horns lack magical damage which becomes necessary as more creatures begin to have damage resistances to nonmagical attacks.

Orc

Originally from VGtM

Oringal Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength, +1 Constitution

Adrenaline Rush (replaces Aggressive) – Initially, Aggressive had more in common with tabaxi’s Speed trait, allowing you to use your bonus action to use your movement speed to move towards an enemy. Now, the wording has changed to use the Dash action as a bonus action (but mechanically, it’s the same thing), you can only do this a number of times equal to your PB, but now you also gain THP equal to your PB per long rest. I think this is a buff—not being able to hypothetically use the move every turn may appear to be a nerf, but realistically your character isn’t constantly going to be moved towards the enemy (especially if you’re a non-melee character). A general Dash has far more applications and versatility (plus the THP is just a cherry on top), hence, the limited use.

Relentless Endurance (replaces Primal Intuition) – One common complaint about orcs has been their lack of “orc-like” traits, despite their half-orc cousins having more of these orc-like abilities such as Relentless Endurance and Savage Attacks. It only makes sense for orcs to gain Relentless Endurance—from a lore standpoint, half-orcs inherited orc toughness and tenacity, so it only makes sense that orcs themselves would have this powerful trait. Primal Intuition allowed orcs to gain two skill proficiencies out of Animal Handling, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, and Survival; meanwhile, Relentless Endurance allows the user to drop to 1HP if they are knocked to 0HP but not killed outright, they can use this trait once per long rest. I like having more skills, but Relentless Endurance is so cool and potentially game-saving, so I’ll take the trade any day.

Conclusion – 5e has fixed the weird orc problems that have plagued D&D (and other fantasy stories) for decades now. The new artwork of a young, feminine-looking orc arcane trickster with anime blonde hair, starkly contrasts the generic, monstrous, painfully stereotypical depiction from VGtM. The artwork and rephrasing, and slight rebuilding of the orc make the race far more viable while simultaneously removing the more problematic aspects of the race. Orcs are now treated as commendable, and unique for their toughness and tenacity, instead of having these traits reflected as some kind of uncivilized, evil brute. I loved the idea of playing an orc before MPMM, but now I love this player race.

Satyr

Originally from WBtW

Ram – Your horns now do a 1d6 instead of 1d4.

Conclusion – Being a more recently added race means not really needing any buffs. Even though the Mirthful Leaps could have benefitted from something a little more tangible (as movement tends to be counted by numerals of 5s in 5e but it’s not difficult to calculate), satyrs already get a solid boost from a 35ft walking speed, their Reveler feat, and the incredibly powerful Magic Resistance traits.

Shifter

Originally from ERLW

Original Ability Score Increase: +1 Dexterity (race), +2 Constitution (Beasthide), +2 Strength (Longtooth), +1 Dexterity & +1 Charisma (Swiftstride), +2 Wisdom & +1 Dexterity (Wildhunt)

Beastial Instincts (new ability, replaces Tough, Fierce, Graceful, Swift Stride, and Natural Tracker) –

Your bestial transformation is no longer considered a subrace that grants you a different +2 ability score increase and a skill proficiency (Athletics for Beasthide; Intimidation for Longtooth; Acrobatics for Swiftstride; Wildhunt; Survival for Wildhunt) and the extra 5ft walking speed of Swiftstride’s Swift Stride trait, instead, it’s a trait that comes with one of four permanent options when you first choose this race.

Out of the four, Beasthide, Longtooth, Swiftstride, and Wildhunt, only Swiftstride’s had any changes, instead of +5ft, you gain +10ft to your walking speed while transformed. Finally, you can now shift a number of times equal to your PB instead of once per short or long rest.

Conclusion – The shifter has always looked like a fun race to play but I was always reluctant because of the assigned ability score increases. The idea of playing something akin to a lycan is appealing, so now with these slight changes, there is a lot more flexibility in play style. I’m glad they made another Ebberon specific race into a core one.

Tabaxi

Originally from VGtM

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Dexterity, +1 Charisma

Speed – Initially, your walking speed was 30ft, and your Cat’s Claw’s ability granted you an additional +5ft to your climbing speed, bringing it to 20ft. Now, your climbing speed equals your walking speed—it’s about time too. It has always annoyed me that every other racial flying or swimming speed was at least 30ft—I suppose the developers thought that climbing may be too broken of an ability, but I don’t think it is as you have to be able to climb over a climbable surface and not just any surface.

Cat’s Claws – Besides the climbing speed change, the only change is now it deals 1d6 slashing damage instead of 1d4.

Conclusion – Tabaxi’s have always been a fun race—Feline Agility is an unlimited/fair condition speed burst that’s a free action, plus Cat’s Talent gives two commonly used skills in Perception and Stealth, Darkvision—the slightly stronger unarmed strike is good flavor and a cherry on top of this powerful, fun race. The +2 Dexterity, and +1 Charmisa made this diverse in many different builds, but now the possibilities are endless—It’ll be interesting to make a Strength build that make full use of Cat’s Claws while moving and climbing at superspeed while in plate armor.

Tortle

Originally from The Tortle Package

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Strength, +1 Wisdom

Size – You can now be Medium, or Small in size. A potential buff for tortles, having the option to be Small could bring you more cover options, stacking up your already high AC further. If you plan on using a shield, then you definitely won’t need to worry about missing out on heavy weapons. Also, being able to ride a Medium creature opens up the possibility of riding a tamed creature underwater for upwards to an hour thanks to tortols Hold Breath.

Claws – Now deal 1d6 damage instead of 1d4.

Nature’s Intuition (replaces Survival Instinct) – Tortle now shares a trait with lizardfolk through Nature’s Intuition, fitting as both are reptilian, semi-aquatic creatures with a mystical connection to nature (keep in mind that lizardfolk still get two of these skills whereas turtles still only get one—a slightly annoying difference as both wordings are otherwise identical, and it wouldn’t surprise me if some tables make this mistake). This is a flavorful addition but also a buff as they now have a choice of six fitting skills instead of having to take Survival.

Conclusion – The best change to tortols is no longer being Strength focus. Tortol’s Natural Amor of a flat 17 AC is a fantastic ability that could make any build defensive savvy—in my opinion, a Strength-based ranger was best optimized this way—however, the base tortle gave a +2 Strength, +1 Wisdom, making it difficult to justify 5e’s many builds that would prefer Dexterity over Strength. Now that we don’t have to worry about race-specific ability scores, tortols gain a huge buff simply because squishy spell casters now have a high AC. If you find yourself in a bind, Shell Defense provides even more AC, advantage on Strength saving throws, and best of all, advantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration on your spells—concentration you can maintain inside the safety of your shell. I’m probably overhyping some of these abilities, but tortols are even more fun to build now so I’m just excited.

Triton

Originally from VGtM

Original ability score increase: +1 Strength, +1 Constitiution, +1 Charmisa

Speed – Your walking speed is 30ft, and your swimming speed equals your walking speed.

Control Air and Water – The only change to this trait is gaining water walk instead of wall of water. Water walk seems most useful during a sea campaign (where you’ll most likely play a triton), but wall of water does provide some protection against ranged weapon attacks, fire damage (that passes through the wall), and cold damage (well, kind of). Neither spell is especially powerful so DMs could allow the PC to choose without consequences. I think I’d choose water walk because wall of water requires concentration.

Emissary of the Sea- Initially, you gained the ability to communicate simple ideas with beasts that can breathe water, but now you can speak to beasts, elementals, or monstrosities with a swimming speed (but you still have no special means to understand them back). This is a slight buff.

Conclusion – I have never cared to play a triton, but the changes seem solid enough.

Yuan-ti

Originally from VGtM

Original Ability Score Increase: +2 Chrisma, + 1 Intelligence.

Size – You can now be Medium or Small.

Poison Resistance (replaces Poison Immunity) – Pretty much what the names say, you are no longer immune to poison damage or the poison condition, and instead have advantage on saving throws to avoid or end the poisoned condition on yourself, and you have resistance to poison damage. It’s a nerf for sure, but still helpful.

Magic Resistance – *see the Deep Gnome for changes.

Serpentine Spellcasting (replaces Innate Spellcasting) – *see the Spellcasting Modifier section. This is a rare instance where the racial spellcasting feature actually matters as suggestion requires your spellcasting DC.

Conclusion – Despite being given two noticeable nerfs, overall this race was given a slight buff. No longer being left as the party’s Negotiator role, or worrying about dumping Intelligence, provides much more flexibility—the Yuan-Ti should fit in well for most party roles given how powerful Magic Resistance is.

Resistance is for any role (regardless of nerfs), and the change in size further reinforced this.

Final Thoughts

The biggest disappointment I have with MPMM is the lack of warforge —I’m almost sure that this is by far the most popular setting-specific player race (who doesn’t want to play a fantasy android?). I think WotC decided against warforge because they might be overpowered (a combination of +2 Constitution and +1 of any ability score modifier, Constructed Resilience, Sentry’s Rest, Integrated Protection, and Specialized Design). Still, I think this could be solved by taking away the +1 bonus to Armor Class, and Specialized design (instead, saving those for a subrace/something like a subrace similar to the Unearthed Arcana envoy, juggernaut, and skirmisher).

Though less popular than the warforge, I also dislike the lack of simic hybrid (GGtR) which was similar to the warforge in terms of being a race created by other races (made out of organic material, as opposed to the warforge’s nonliving construct build).

Overall, the changes represent the ever-changing social climate as we try to depict inclusiveness throughout all forms of media. Regarding gameplay, the vast majority of races post-PHB are far more viable and worthy of play than ever before. The original races that have been given a makeover in MPMM have been referred to as the Legacy version from D&D Beyond, so if one still wishes to play as the original iteration of each race, they can easily do so. That said, I do highly recommend trying out almost every new version from MPMM.