All right, I'm not going to get bogged down in explaining the format of this post. Take a look at the previous one to see how these will work.
Without further ado, let's look at the next few reprinted races.
Deep Gnome:
This is the first reprint of a subrace, though because we won't be getting the updated general Gnome race until 2024, the Deep Gnome/Svirfneblin is going to have to stand on its own (wait... are Smurfs a bastardization of Svirfneblin? According to Wikipedia... no, not at all). So, some of the "changes" here are just integrating the base Gnome traits into the Deep Gnome.
The big buff here, which applies to all races that previously had a speed of 25 feet, is that you now have a speed of 30 feet!
You are still officially a Gnome, in addition to being a Humanoid.
Gnome Cunning has been renamed Gnomish Magic Resistance, but works the same.
Svirfneblin Camouflage works differently now. Rather than just always getting advantage on Stealth checks in stony environments, you can now give yourself advantage on any Dexterity (Stealth) check, but you can only do so a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.
Deep Gnomes now get a brand-new trait: Gift of the Svirfneblin. This lets you cast Disguise Self at 3rd level and Nondetection at 5th level, each without requiring material components. You can do this once for free for each spell per long rest, but you can also spend appropriate spell slots on them to cast them again.
So, I think the only way this is a nerf is if you've got a campaign that takes place primarily in rocky environments. Even still, the buffs here might outweigh that change, and being able to get advantage in other situations is pretty great.
Duergar:
Like Deep Gnomes, this subrace is portrayed here as its own race, but given a trait that officially makes them count as Dwarves.
Again, races that had a 25 ft. movement speed now get 30.
Duergar Magic still gives you Enlarge/Reduce and Invisibility (both self only), but like a lot of these racial spellcasting abilities, you can now choose between Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma as the spellcasting ability and you can also spend spell slots on them after you've used your free casting of each per long rest. Notably, Enlarge/Reduce now requires you to be level 3 to use.
Duergar Resilience has been separated into two features; Dwarven Resilience (which handles the whole poison side of it) and Psionic Fortitude. The latter now affects Charmed and Stunned conditions, no longer affecting the Paralyzed condition or illusions.
Gone are Dwarven Combat Training (which gives some weapon proficiencies,) Tool Proficiency (which gives a choice of tool proficiencies,) Stonecunning, and the Dwarven feature of not getting your speed reduced if you're wearing heavy armor without meeting its strength requirement.
However, you also lose Sunlight Sensitivity, meaning you no longer get disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you're in direct sunlight.
Hoo boy, this one's a bit tougher to evaluate. Getting rid of Sunlight Sensitivity is a huge deal - it makes playing this race as any attack-roll-based class possible in a campaign that isn't entirely indoors or underground. But boy do you lose a lot. In particular, losing the ability to wear heavy armor without high strength is a big nerf to Duergar Clerics the world around. Really, it seems like the design here was about noticing that Dwarves (and a lot of the PHB races with subraces) were really loaded up on a lot of racial features. This brings it closer in line with other playable races. So while I'd say that we're looking at a mixed bag of nerfs and buffs, the race is still perfectly viable.
Eladrin:
Man, aren't we just in the subraces-to-races pipeline here?
Again, because this is a subrace whose broader race hasn't seen a reprint yet, we're looking at a mix of subrace and racial features. But how does it all come together?
In this case, though, there are very few changes. First off, Fey Ancestry's sleep provisions have been moved into the description for Trance.
Trance has also received some clarification and a buff. The clarification is that yes, you can complete a long rest in 4 hours if you spend it trancing, and you also remain conscious while in your trance. The buff is that you can temporarily gain proficiency with one weapon and one tool of your choice until your next long rest (it does specify weapons from the PHB, so I guess you can't learn to use Laser Rifles).
The other changes come to Fey Step. First off, rather than getting to use it once per short rest, you now get to use it PB times per long rest (which will likely be a buff). You can also choose whether the saving throw DCs for the seasonal effects of the Fey Step are based on your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma, rather than just Charisma. The damage of the Summer effect is also now based on your Proficiency Bonus rather than your Charisma modifier.
So, this one I think is a pretty straight-up buff. Worst case scenario, if you're a Charisma-based class your Summer Fey Step ability is going to do slightly less damage. But the benefits far outweigh that minor inconvenience. (On my Eladrin Sorcerer, I don't think I was ever in Summer).
Fairies:
Given how recent Fairies were made a playable race, it should come as no surprise that this has received no changes whatsoever! But it's no longer just in an adventure book.
Firbolgs:
Ah, the giant-related goat-people - or cow people? But they're not Satyrs or Minotaurs. Irish Mythology, rather than Greek. You get it.
Firbolg Magic has gotten the broad treatment all racial magic has, so you can pick a spellcasting ability or it (Int, Wis, or Cha) and you can spend spell slots to use them more than once per day. Plus, you still have that buffed Disguise Self (being able to appear 3 feet taller or shorter).
Hidden Step can now be used a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest, rather than once per short rest, which I think is usually a buff.
So, Firbolgs got some small buffs with no nerfs. Count it as a win.
*Genasi (Air, Earth, Fire, Water):
I went into pretty exhaustive detail about these in an earlier post, so I'm not going to revisit them. Click here to check it out.
To summarize: Genasi got a lot of changes, and in almost all cases, it's a big buff. I've always loved the concept of Genasi (and the general idea of playable genies, which this gets close to) so I'm happy to see them looking more viable as choices.
Githyanki:
The Gith, despite appearing whole-cloth in this book, are counted as separate races. Interestingly, they don't get the same "creature type" rider that Deep Gnomes and Duergar get, despite, as I understand it, their differences being purely cultural rather than physiological.
Githyanki Psionics works more or less the same with the usual changes to spellcasting for racial magic. They also get the standard psionic benefit of requiring no components, and your Mage Hand is still invisible. But the usual change to allowing you to pick Int, Wis, or Cha to cast the spells and being able to spend spell slots to use them again is here too.
Githyanki now get resistance to Psychic damage, which is pretty nice (great for a Bear Totem Barbarian!)
Martial Prodigy and Decadent Mastery are gone. Instead, you get Astral Knowledge. This lets you gain one skill proficiency and one tool or weapon of your choice each time you finish a long rest, lasting until your next long rest.
So... I could potentially imagine scenarios in which this is a nerf, but the flexibility of Astral Knowledge (and the Psychic Resistance) probably makes up for the fact that you aren't getting as many proficiencies as you do with Martial Prodigy and Decadent Mastery. I could imagine that where this hurts is if you wanted to play a Wizard who gets to wear Medium Armor, or something like that. Overall, though, I think the broader racial changes will wind up making the overall revision a buff - Githyanki previously had stats that were only likely good for an Eldritch Knight. Weird, though, that there's no "You are a Gith" rider.
Githzerai:
The other half of the Gith people have gotten fewer changes, but that's likely because the Mordenkainen's version of them was so thin.
Again, Githzerai Psionics gets the same racial spellcasting changes as everyone else.
And, like the Githyanki, you get resistance to psychic damage.
In this case, I think we're looking at an unambiguous buff here.
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