Sure, Dragonborn are cool, but what if you could be a psionic rock person? Here’s five species from older editions we’d love to see in 5.5E.
D&D 5.5E has many things—more powerful character classes, new weapon options for Fighters and their ilk to play with. It even has a system for crafting things. It’s not great, but it has it. But you know what it doesn’t have? Enough weird little guys to be. D&D 5.5E’s playable species list is, in short, too small.
And now that we have to wait four months for the new Eberron Book to introduce more options, that list is going to stay small. But hey, we can dream, right? D&D’s history is full of playable species that were varying degrees of weird, little, and/or guys. So let’s look back at the older editions for some ideas that could use a fresh coat of paint.
Shardmind
Everyone loves the idea of playing a rock person. Which is why it’s so weird that there haven’t been any in D&D since 4th Edition. Goliaths are decidedly giants now. The closest we really get is the Earth Genasi. But even then, it’s not the same.
Meawhile, in 4th Edition, in the Player’s Handbook 3, they were making rock people into crystalline entities of psionic power. I’m talking about the Shardmind. Shardminds are “fragments of pure thought given life and substance.” They take the form of crystalline shards that latice together into humanoid form by pure psionic energy.
And that’s extremely cool. Sure, Warforged are kind of in the same niche as a “living construct” but these are weird and could lean into the idea of having psychic powers (which probably means being able to cast Misty Step or Mage Hand, somehow).
Lupins
Of all the various ___ people of D&D, there’s one that is conspicuously absent. There’s bird people, lizard people, turtle people, other bird people, evil fey, good fey, monkey people, hyena people, cat people, fish people, fish elves, elephant people, lion people, frog people, diferent frog people, and bugbears. But what’s missing? Dog people. Or heck, even just wolf people.
It’s a noticeable omission from the list. And you’d think it’d be one of the first things there. Man’s best friend and all. And yet, nowhere is there even a hint of it. The closes you get is maybe Shifter. Which is why WotC should bring back the Lupin.
Out of the Dragon Compendium (not to be confused with the Draconomicon or Dragon Companion), Lupins are wolf people (tied closely to werewolves). They are great at smelling, great at hunting, and would be a shoe-in for new favorite character on any actual play.
Killoren
There are no plant people in D&D. That’s something sorely lacking. The closest are warforged—and they’re only partially made out of wood. But in Races of the Wild, WotC introduced the Killoren, plant-based Fey who are “manifestations of the land itself.”
And that’s great. D&D needs plant people. Other fantasy games have plant people (and mushroom people, but hey, baby steps). When they were introduced, they had different “aspects” they could manifest, the Hunter, Destroyer, and Ancient—which really seems to line up with the way that WotC handles species options right now. You pick a manifestation, gain powers (probably a free spell) based on it, and can do plant stuff. It practically writes itself.
Illumians
In Races of Destiny, we meet Illumians. These are a bunch of beings created out of pure magic. Another thing that’s sorely lacking from D&D at present. Nobody is just “magic given humanoid form.” Nor will they be, unless WotC decides to revamp the Illumians. These are humanoids who are all marked by luminous sigils that float above their heads, orbiting like Ioun Stones.
This is because they were created through an act called the Ritual of Words Made Flesh. A thing that has left them with many magical abilities related to being the embodiment of a magical language, including being able to resonate with glyphic spells, and calling upon the mystic sigils that orbit their heads to gain new powers.
Saurials
Last but not least, in the Complete Book of Humanoids we get what the people really want: dinosaur people. Called Saurials, these are like Lizard people but instead of being descended from reptiles, they are descended from dinosaurs. They come in a variety of flavors, which would make for excellent species choices. Finhead, Bladeback, Flyer, and Hornhead.
I mean, it’s dinosaur people. They can be as different as you need them to be, while making your campaign feel like it’s got some primeval connection to your world’s prehistory. Fun stuff. Powerful stuff.
What’s one option *you’d*’ like to play again?!
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