Well, as usual, Nerd Immersion is quick on the draw, bringing us some leaks from the upcoming Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse. This book seems designed to take the place of Volo's Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, packaged with Xanathar's and Tasha's in the Rules Expansion Box Set. I believe MotM is going to be released on its own for those of us who have Xanathar's and Tasha's, but its purpose is not to introduce new monsters and playable races to 5th Edition, but rather to refine and redesign them.
What we got in the leak was partially a list of the playable races that are being presented in the book, but also some previews of how they're being redesigned.
The list is extensive. It looks like we're getting everything from Volo's and Mordenkainen's, including the so-called monstrous races out of the former. Additionally, we're getting a few races from specific settings. Centaurs and Satyrs, Fairies and Harrengon, Shifters and Changelings, are all making it into the book (I'm somewhat devastated that Warforged are not - I'd love to see them become a more setting-agnostic race). Also, Genasi are in as well, likewise the Tortle. All in all, there are 33 playable races in the book.
Now, a note: one thing that inflates this number slightly is that sub-races are now being presented as their own playable races. I think in part it's because, before we get the 5.5/6E PHB, as written Elves, for instance, still have their specific bonus to Dexterity, etc. All these races have you pick either +2/+1 or +1/+1/+1 to ability scores of your choice. I'm curious if this means they'll be kind of doing away with the idea of sub-race, at least from a mechanical perspective, or if this is just to deal with that awkwardness. Notably, however, when describing creature types, Deep Gnomes are Humanoid but also have a tag to count them as gnomes, and likewise Duergar specifically count as dwarves, so there is still a connection there for any items or creatures that affect specific races (an Eladrin should still be immune to a ghoul's paralyzing bite).
The redesign here has been fairly extensive - while there are certainly some familiar traits, we've seen some significant redesigns.
Genasi, for example, are now I think a much more appealing choice (which is great as I've always loved their flavor). All four genasi types now have darkvision, as opposed to just fire. And each has a set of innate spells including a cantrip. These all work the same way (Earth is slightly different) in that you get a cantrip and then spells at 3rd and 5th level, which you can cast once for free per day but also spend spell slots on them, and you get to choose what mental stat is used for spellcasting (rather than Constitution, as was the old Genasi). Air, Fire, and Water genasi each also have a damage resistance. Air gets Lightning resistance and Water gets Acid resistance (Fire remains the same). Earth Genasi don't get an innate resistance, but the cantrip they get is Blade Ward, and they get the additional bonus that they can cast this cantrip as a bonus action a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest. So... it's not quite getting resistance to physical damage as a blanket, but it does mean that if you're not a bonus action-heavy class, you can use this to sometimes get some resistance while still doing your thing. One nice buff Earth Genasi get is that they can ignore all difficult terrain while walking (so not while swimming or flying,) rather than only that created by natural terrain.
One exciting buff for underground races is that Sunlight Sensitivity seems to be gone - Duergar and Kobolds can now operate normally even in the day (notably, the monster stat blocks still have this penalty).
Kobolds no longer have Pack Tactics, though the lack of Sunlight Sensitivity might make this less of a problem. Indeed, Kobolds have gotten one of the more extensive redesign, including a choice of draconic empowerments - one gives you a Sorcerer cantrip (Green Flame Blade for any martial character would be a good choice, I think) while another gives advantage on saves against fear effects, and another gives bonus proficiencies. Kobolds also all get an ability to give their allies advantage on various rolls for a round, which they can do a number of times equal to their PB.
It does appear there has been some streamlining of racial traits, though. For instance, in the PHB Dwarves get things like Stonecunning and some weapon and armor proficiencies, as well as a bonus that heavy armor won't slow them down (making Dwarf Clerics a strong option as you won't need to worry about getting 15 Strength to walk around normally in Plate armor). The new Duergar doesn't get these, though.
However, on the plus side, it seems that dwarves and small races are no longer getting a penalty to their speed. Duergar and Kobolds are now given a 30-foot movement speed, rather than 25 as they had previously.
I'm eager to get my hands on a copy of this book - I don't know when they're planning to release the book independent of the box set, but I intend to pick it up when they do.
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