I'm hyped for duergar and half-orc reveal.
I am also hyped for monk, because so few games do monks well, and I think Larian can get it done.
What would make me REALLY happy though is if aasimar was confirmed as well. I think tieflings are hilariously overrepresented in D&D lately and it's just tiresome, I will take even "boring" shiny humans, just give me something that doesn't have horns and tails.
When it comes to the beast races I gotta say, I am thoroughly disappointed how much attention dragonborn receive and how little attention lirazdfolk get in comparison. Lizardfolk have been with us pretty much since the beginning, while dragonborn were just literally made up not even a decade ago. Lizardfolk have this rather detailed and rich background and it's WAAAAAY more interesting then anything that dragonborn could ever aspire to. They also have this very weird, savage and yet cold mindset making them a real contrast to your standard humanoid. Dragonborn are basically just scaly humans with weird heads. They are also rather cringe-inducingly forced into the setting.
I am personally offended by the fact that Lizardfolk are not playable but the cringe dragonborn are.
Sorry I just really had to put this out here.
Wouldn't mind Tieflings as much if it wasn't a matter of overexposure (much like Dragonborn) and the 4e/5e retcon making all Tieflings have the same 'look' (horns, pointy teeth, tail etc) Tieflings reflecting a wide variety of ancestry from the lower planes was always much more creative and had a lot more story potential for both players and DMs.
And I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks Lizardfolk of the realms are much more interesting than Dragonborn. Tied into the deep history of the Forgotten Realms. I remember being a little disappointed back in the day in NWN2 that we couldn't take the Lizardman companion with us further in our travels. And of course, there was Deekin from NWN1 (technically not a lizardfolk, but closer to a dragonborn). Dragonborn still don't feel like they 'belong' in the realms because they were never written to-just sorta as you say 'forced into the setting'. without much thought as to *what* they were aside from the class they were intended to exemplify and 'those popular draconians from the other IP we own'.
Monks are a class I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Larian's plans for. FR monks are interesting, because they pretty much only come in two flavors (or a combination of them) Your traditional martial artist archetype (in armed or unarmed flavors), and *assassins* (Vhaidra from the cover of Dark Alliance 2 kinda exemplifies the latter. I would assume Way of Shadow and Open Hand would be the most on-flavor options for the class. Hope those are the ones that end up in game.
Just say no to warfcraft Orcs - I don't care if orcs have pig faces or angry gorilla faces but make them evil and as unlike any human population as possible.
But there are two types of orcs in Forgotten Realms, - the “ancient” pigfaced vermin-like orcs that were brought to Toril by Gruumsh to eradicate elves, they’re irredeemably evil and destructive.
And then there are “grey orcs” that have something to do with Mulhorand iirc.. they were brought to Toril around 3000 years ago and are reasonable, shamanistic people, akin to Warcraft orcs. Not evil, but neutral, altho nomadic and warlike.
But in my opinion, I’d like it more if all orcs were reminiscent to Warcraft orcs - smart, having honour, culture, their own history and reasons for war beyond just stupid chaos and destruction. Right now orcs are like flees or cockroaches, represented as soulless vermin to be killed without mercy or doubt. We have enough of monsters like that in FR. Wouldn’t hurt to have more unique “opposing” faction.
Are the two ideas really mutually exclusive?
The aforementioned orcs of Thesk were IIRC Mountain Orcs with ancestry tracing back to the Ondonti, which were a culture of *pacifist* orcs that abhorred violence, that were abducted and forced to fight in the armies of the Zhentarum, and these orcs deserted the Zhents before and settling in Thesk. Orcish culture can be awful, but that doesn't mean it has to be monolithic or define what an orc is on a fundamental level.
(at least orcs are in a better place now than Gnolls are)
Anyways, Half Orcs and Monks excite me. Very curious to see how Larian implements them.
