Choosing what DnD race you want to play is not an easy task. There are a lot of options to choose from, which doesn’t necessarily help your decision. Have you ever wondered what races are the least common? Listed below are the bottom five least common races to play, based on a DnD Beyond sample.
The races in this article are from Volo’s Guide To Monsters and the Player’s Handbook.
5. Half-Orc
The fifth least popular race according to DnD Beyond is the half-orc. While the half-orc isn’t completely unplayed, this is a fairly low placing for such a cool race in my opinion. A fair question to ask oneself is, “why?”
Well, there are a couple of reasons that spring to mind. For one, there is an inherent narrative problem with the half-orc. They are half-human and half-orc, which means that they are half good and rational, and half evil and brutish.
As a consequence of this, they might be less fitting for roleplay, seeing as they might have less variety to them. How many ways are there to rationalize and build a halfbreed as a cool origin story? There also exists a prevailing opinion that half-orcs are, or should be, rarer than other races and that they wouldn’t necessarily fit in with a party of adventurers.
Another potential reason for half-orcs being moderately unpopular is that half-orcs pretty much exclude the option of playing casters. They have inherent martial and strength bonuses, so casters probably just pick a race that fits the narrative and playstyle of a caster better.
Again, I think half-orcs are really cool but I understand the problems they bring to the table.
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4. Gnome
The fourth least popular race according to DnD Beyond is the gnome. This one I understand more than the half-orc, and quite frankly, I’m not sure why it’s not lower on the list.
For starters, they have lackluster stats. Reduced speed and small size present all sorts of problems. Moreover, they get +2 in intelligence so most of the time you’re gonna play a caster when you’re a gnome. This means that if you don’t want to be that, you’re probably not going to pick a gnome.
The second problem with gnomes is their aesthetics and design. Gnomes are seen as tiny goofball wildcards, and that gets tiring for most players after a while. This character archetype usually doesn’t fit in with a party of adventurers and, as a result, breaks immersion for players.
Halflings already exist. They are more popular than gnomes, which tells us that the demand for short, quirky humanoids with high-pitched voices is already filled. Gnomes are a bit redundant in that aspect.
I’m not the biggest fan of gnomes myself, and this placing makes more sense than the former for me.
3. Goliath
Goliaths take the number 3 spot on this list. They largely suffer from the same problems as the half-orcs do, but there are a few things that I think make them less popular.
For one, Goliaths are not in the DnD core books. This simply means that they receive less exposure than other races do, which means that they get played less.
Another aspect to consider is that other options for the brute fighter archetype already exist, such as Dwarves and the already mentioned half-orcs. Lastly, DMs oftentimes leave goliaths out of their campaigns because they think that Goliaths do not fit into their campaigns.
I think that Goliaths are kind of cool, and I don’t think that the design of the race necessarily is what makes them unpopular.
2. Aarakocra
The second least played race in DnD is Aarakocra. Aarcakocras are not in the core books, same as Goliaths, which means that they also suffer from exposure problems.
Another problem with Aarakocras is the design of the race. They are bird-people for one. The other design problem regarding Aarakocras is their lifespan. They generally mature at around three years old, and they generally die around 30 years old.
If campaigns are long, then there’s a good chance that your character will get old and even die.
The last and biggest problem with Aarakocras is regarding their flight mechanic. Not only can they fly, but they can do it from level 1. You might ask; why is that a problem? Well, other players can get access to flight at level 5, and that’s from a spell.
This can be somewhat annoying to other players, but above all, it presents problems for the DM. DMs have to balance dungeons, labyrinths, and campaigns around the fact that Aarakocras can fly. Sure, you can argue that the problem lies in DM’s lack of creativity, but it’s a reason for DMs to ban the race from their campaigns altogether.
1. Aasimar
The Aasimar is the least-played race according to DnD Beyond stats. Why? I don’t really know, they are quite liked within the DnD community as far as I can tell. Personally, I think they’re quite bland and boring, but that’s just me.
One of the reasons why they’re not very popular is that they can feel limited to players. Aasimars are oftentimes played as paladins first and foremost, which means that players might choose something else if they don’t want to be paladins.
DMs sometimes dislike Aasimar because of their aesthetic. Obviously, DMs vary their campaigns and race designs in whichever way they please. One common theme is that the Aasimar are royalty, and therefore do not fit in a party of adventurers.