D&D MONSTER RANKINGS - HUMANOIDS (pt. 2)

[@scorpiovenator_4736]

The giff wasn't in the first video, they can't possibly

[@esperthebard]

I left out the blasted giff. But here ya go: Giff (mid D Tier) Mechanics 2 Style 1 Roleplaying 3 Lore 2 Versatility 3 I really do not like this monster, like nails on a chalkboard. That said, I do think they work great in the right setting, like Spelljammer or Gamma World (or Ninja Turtles), in which context I would give them a higher score in style, and they'd probably be in C Tier.

[@mr.nutcracker8957]

@@esperthebard i mean... They are meant to be in Spelljammer, that's where they started and where they are meant to be used, like Warforged in Eberron they don't fit in the regular high fantasy setting

[@alexeagleston5618]

I actually used one as the imaginary friend of an NPC. The party had to enter his dreams to fight off a Night Hag and they encountered him as an ally.

[@ScythianGryphon]

@@esperthebard I can imagine Giff in a whimsical campaign, inspired by Alice in Wonderland :) I've read Giff lore and they remind me fantasy Prussians. Disciplined, obedient, soldiers, whose pedantry makes them comical. XIX century fantasy with steam ships and zeppelins may use a Giff or two.

[@unknowndragon3736]

Is it pronounced “jiff”? If not, then we can fix this in a jiffy.

[@hanklestank]

Xvart: “What is my purpose?” Raxivort: “I created your whole race as camouflage from a demon lord who’s hunting me. So when he finds you instead of me, woo boy, I wouldn’t want to be you when he does!” Xvart: “Oh… my god!” Raxivort: “I know right? Anyways, good luck. I made you really stupid so you’re probably going to need it. Toodles!”

[@MarkLewis...]

True story.... Xvarts were named when the creator's artwork was shown to a coworker and asked what they should be named? The coworker said they "look like farts... X-farts that should have died..." and the Xvarts were (literally) born.

[@nicolaezenoaga9756]

@@MarkLewis... It's amazing how the game got as popular as it did with nonsense like this!

[@MarkLewis...]

@@nicolaezenoaga9756 lol... Well... They do look like a fart, anthropomorphized... What else would they name it?! 😂 It was Xvarts or Xoterds!

[@nicolaezenoaga9756]

@@MarkLewis... You know what? Your right, that is better.

[@purplehaze2358]

Nagpas remind me of the Skeksis, both in terms of their limited numbers, designs, and generally malevolent temperament.

[@hopeforescape884]

Yeah, I was going to say the dark crystal is the first thing to come to my mind when ever I see them.

[@esperthebard]

Definitely like skeksis. I actually was watching the Dark Crystal the other day, and wow are the skeksis freaky. Pretty gritty and gruesome stuff, which definitely left an impact on me as a kid.

[@thedragonknight3600]

I honestly want to create my own sect of Hobgoblins that mean more into their god of unity than Maglubiet. I feel like there's strong potential there, especially since Maglubiet killed like... most of the other goblinoid gods and subsumed their portfolios as his own. Could be some interesting stuff there, especially with the potential hook of "We want to figure out who our old gods were." Because gods dying and coming back to life sounds so intriguing to me.

[@esperthebard]

It is a very intriguing story element indeed. Dead gods and factions seeking to bring them back have been major themes in my Ichoria setting, and it indeed is an effective fuel for the plot and the motivations of characters and NPCs.

[@Jeromy1986]

I really like your pronunciation of Shadar-Kai and Githyanki instead of the oft-heard Shatter-Kai and Githyankee.

[@esperthebard]

Those two creatures are quite enjoyable to pronounce!

[@maplesyrupminer437]

The ranking videos are back! Lets get Esper to 100k!

[@esperthebard]

That's what I'm talking about! I need to hit 100k this year!

[@FlailSnail222]

I haven’t watched this guys channel in a while, and coming back to see him super in character is really great.

[@esperthebard]

Welcome back!

[@ninjabreadman22]

I love the quality of your content, but your perspective that D&D shouldn't be cartoonish and should adhere to a strict, serious, fantasy tone kinda limits your ability to see fun applications for monsters sometimes.

[@esperthebard]

While I do prefer D&D to overall have a serious setting, my players and I are always having fun and being funny at times. As a tangent, I did put the kobold inventor in A Tier and referred to it as an incredibly fun monster. What I don't care for is when the foundation of a campaign itself is nonsensical and goofy.

[@ninjabreadman22]

@@esperthebard I can agree with that. I don't like to invest weeks of my time into something so irreverent as some of my friends. I do love a silly oneshot every once in a while though. During a really serious campaign, when the pandemic had all of us down, we did a silly oneshot where the enemies were cartoonish bullywugs who just had frog themed everything. I think a lot of the throwaway monsters in D&D are good for a quick module or oneshot, but would definitely ruin the theming and tone of a proper campaign.

[@esperthebard]

@@ninjabreadman22 Thanks for the great reply. Well said!

[@ninjabreadman22]

@@esperthebard Thanks for all the great content. I also got started on 3.5e and the Monster Manual 3's evocative cover and mystifying menagerie were what got me into the game.

[@lisagaughan7154]

@@esperthebard a bit late, but I think a good fix for the bullywugs is go more into them seeing themselves as the masters of the swamp, and maybe give them some fangs, that way, they're more like the frog people from Aztec mythology.

[@TheGenericavatar]

The Gith got their weird looks from originating in the 1E 'Fiend Folio', where all the art was weird and bizarre.

[@Fresch_K]

​@@AllenCrawford3 I agree, always loved their design. Their armor and weapons resemble central asian cultures just closely enough to be somewhat familiar yet oh so alien. And they work great in classical swords-and-sorcery settings as well as more space themed settings. I feel like Esper might be a bit unfairly biased against them.

[@حَسن-م3ه9ظ]

Having non-evil monsters was a thing since the beginning with the Ondonti (non-evil orcs from 2e) and the pre-Maglubiyet goblins from 1e

[@thedragonknight3600]

I have a lot to say on this video apparently. Hurray for the Algorithim. But I take issue with the new Drow stuff not because they want to make the drow not inherently evil, but because they want to change the very foundation of the and create side factions that just.... haven't been influenced by either Lolth or Elistraee. The Drow have a deep level of potential, and to abandon both paths is foolishness in the highest regard. Especially in a world where Demons and Devils and Hags and all other manner of things are just waiting with great glee to find a group of people they can infiltrate and corrupt. If they wanted to make non evil drow, they should've made them people who have at least associated with Elistraee long enough to get to the surface. To let these new settlements they want to add be new things, things that can be subverted. Things that are fragile and at risk of being attack from Below and all around by the kin they freed themselves from as well as those around them who couldn't possibly know that they aren't the same people who slaughtered their loved ones years ago. If you want to make bad races good, you need to make them undergo some sort of redemption. an up hill climb to either free themselves of the dark influence they've been under or the struggle of overcoming their evil nature. Not disregard everything they've been until this point.

[@joedan5366]

"Don't linger at the Tavern door. Stay awhile and subscribe"

[@esperthebard]

That's it right there!

[@the_chosen_one5642]

ALGORITHM LETS GOOOOO

[@thegayghost872]

On the topic of making Drow less cartoonishly evil, I have a simple solution: Add more lore for Drow who don’t worship Lolth, instead following some good aligned god, and give them a culture that doesn’t revolve around spiders and backstabbing

[@alicekingston8521]

I'm super down with this. I think there's a Drow Goddess that's not evil. It would be cool to see a splinter faction of Drow that want nothing to do with Loethe, but still live in the underdark. You keep the conflict of the Drow, but avoid the Drow the defacto "evil" race. I feel like this has been done with Orcs to a degree, and any DM worth their salt will find a way to give any race more personality, then just "evil slaver race."

[@MegaPokefan97]

There is a Drow goddess of the moon that tries to save them from Lolth

[@thegayghost872]

@@MegaPokefan97 Elistraea, I think her name was?

[@excusezmoi9823]

@@thegayghost872 pretty sure that's right

[@TheHornedKing]

That all already exist. These non-evil drow are just getting more attention. That is really all that is happening.

[@IreneiosOP]

Esper says: "I'm no Drow Matron simp! Let me just appreciate the power, the intrigue, the beauty for a moment."

[@patrickdees5256]

Honestly, with how it's been described with whole "not all drow are evil," or any naturally evil aligned creatures, its my personal opinion, let the DM handle it. My personal preference when I I DM, there are good aligned monsters (drow, orc, beholder, mindflayer, etc.), but they're a extremely rare, especially with mindflayers and beholders. The story potential is there, especially with the international struggle against said creature's natural instinct, while being an outcast of their own kind, the fact that civilians will see them more than what they are, the desire to do something good. Would they be acting as as silent savoir, or Martyr for the party in the end. Or, in a worst case scenario, see what they are doing, as just something hopeless, and fall back on their natural instinct.

[@TheHornedKing]

Non-evil drow have been a thing in DnD lore for a long time. There are even whole drow civilizations that aren't evil. Most notably there are the followers of Eilistraee, a good drow deity who is all about saving the drow from Lolth's evil influence, and who live on the surface. This whole thing about drow not being all evil anymore is nothing new, it's just giving more attention to something that was already there.

[@githyanki1899]

Jackleweres are the best. Playing as one at the moment using Tasha's sidekick rules. These guys are awesome

[@jesterssketchbook]

bugbears are so cute

[@esperthebard]

I LOVE the 3e bugbear art by Wayne Reynolds!

[@knightclub9668]

I finished the first video, went to go to the bathroom, came back and this was out.

[@internetcatfish]

Haven't watched your stuff in a while. Came back for ideas to flesh out the campaign and setting I'm writing. Was not disappointed at all. I'm really excited to see your custom creatures in your book but I want to get it in a hard copy. I don't like using pdf files or ebooks. If you ever do another bestiary like that, could you put in your versions of intriguing monsters from books, movies, and mythologies that are often overlooked by the official material for some unknown reason. Things like the wargals and kalkara from Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice, the ra'zac and shades from Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, and the myriad of undiscussed abominations from Lovecraft's lesser known works such as The Cats of Ulthar, The Quest of Iranon, and Under the Pyramids. I have attempted to bring these strange creatures and others to life within the realms of role playing, but my experiments have yielded only pitiful mockeries of the masterpieces I sought to replicate.

[@RoninCatholic]

Flinds losing their Flindbars in favor of a more generic three-headed flail is kinda disappointing. One of the illustrations even shows it - basically, they're extra large nunchucks made out of iron bars instead of wooden sticks.

[@rachdarastrix5251]

Kobolds being the weakest of the dragonkin was a bit of a problem. But that problem was solved when I gave them guns.

[@badideagenerator2315]

Reminds me of "meet the engineer" lol

[@RevengeofGothzilla]

I would've put all the Gith in F-tier, myself, but other than that good video.

[@reygunpocket]

Little detail about Jackalwere Sleep Gaze. "A creature that successfully saves against the effect is immune to this jackalwere's gaze for the next 24 hours. Undead and creatures immune to being charmed aren't affected by it." Key word, *this jackalwere's gaze for the next 24 hours* So if you have 5 different jackalweres using sleep gaze. You need to succeed 5 times to be immune to all of the for 24 hours. A swarm of jackalweres are no joke

[@adamxei9073]

I think the "Darkness of the Drow" section of the players handbook should be re-read by wizards of the coast. They've already stated that there are exceptions to the wholely evil race.

[@loganfields159]

I think it's ok for there to be bad guys.

[@Mr_Welch]

The original nagpa lore was so much better. An entire race cursed never to no happiness or satisfaction. If they died they were immediately reincarnated back as a nappa. Even death couldn't undo their banal existence. But the Forgotten Realms meet the strip-mine other settings for Monsters why should they be any different

[@ubershrimp69]

22:14 “their eater her and next their going to eat me… OH MY GOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!”

[@jessicaberry5596]

What I really like about all the monsterous humanoids that were enslaved by the mind flayers is how they all came out from it. There is a pleasant amount of variety. The Grimlocks became debased servants of the Illithids, forever carrying out the tasks of their now missing masters. The Gith otherthrew their masters and now engage in a dangerous three way between their two factions and any Illithid bands they come across. The Duergar were hardened by the experience, losing themselves in their freedom. The Kuo-Toa were similarly maddened by the Grimlocks, but unlike the former they instead made up their own gods to fill the void the illithids left behind.

[@esperthebard]

Agreed. It's this great mix of mad experimentation with strange results and stories that each carry the spirit of the monstrous race.

[@scroletyper8286]

In my setting kenku invented sign language and can cast spells with it

[@Torthrodhel]

A picture of a goblin, with bees? Goblin, and bees! Combine my two favourite things ever, much? SO COOL

[@WyntheRogue]

Goblin swarmkeeper ranger does sound like it be pretty fun!

[@esperthebard]

@@WyntheRogue Actually that does sound really cool, I might have to use that for an npc.

[@Torthrodhel]

Now that's what I call "fury of the small!" :P

[@thedragonknight3600]

27:47 *whispers* Uka'toa

[@Olav_Hansen]

I am running a campaign where yuan-ti are the main villains of the story. The campaign is about a remote island which people have started to settle (there was gold discovered on the island). The yuan-ti, who basically have 2 hidden small cities have tried to get rid of the islanders, but were initially stopped by high ranking adventurere. So now they have performed a ritual which makes the island guarded by a kraken. The party is a group of people that have stranded on the island after the kraken attacked their ship, when they sailed a bit to close to the island and the kraken attacked. Tbh the entire arc shows how deep the plots of the yuan ti are, and what kind of amazing race they are.

[@esperthebard]

I have run and also played in campaigns with similar plots, and they were unforgettable. Yuan-ti machinations ... dreadful giant monsters in the sea ... shipwrecked on a tropical island ... all these and more make for amazing adventures!

[@Olav_Hansen]

@@esperthebard I am not a long time dm yet, so I decided to keep things easy and restrict the player area to just an island :) The players are also fairly new, so having this clear end goal from the beginning on (even if they didn't know how to stop it yet) made the players more decisive in what they wanted to do. I have only ran 1 earlier campaign with new players (that died after ~7 sessions because covid and other oog reasons), and I noticed that players didn't always know where to go and what to try, but trying to find a solution against 'da big beasty' and fighting a cult on their search there really seems to help.

[@The_Horse-leafs_Cabbage]

Gotta say, I appreciate the Gojira references

[@bobhallway5507]

Just got to say, as a DM and from a humanities perspective, the two finite limited axes of morality are far to reductive. Law and chaos are two facets of the same idea. Without chaos order is mute, and this without order chaos is rudderless. As an example of this that most people will have seen or heard of, is the sentiment that all pit bulls are hostile, this may be true for some but does not properly represent the entire breed. While Wizards of the Coast may be going about this in a strange way, alignments as a whole are far to dependent of the culture of the viewer. As in theory a bone devil would not seem themselves as evil but as the objective good, while they would see any celestial as the objective evil. As there are only a handful of universal evils, most other forms of evil would be best identified on a cultural basis.

[@حَسن-م3ه9ظ]

"Law and chaos are two facets of the same idea" Yeah... That's the point Also, bone devils, just like most devils, come from Lawful Evil souls that descend to the Nine Hells, they're considered Lawful and Evil by the Great Wheal itself

[@revremains7617]

I love your ranking videos. Love the passion and lore you put into them.

[@wanderingdoc5229]

Dearest esper I think you for another wonderful video I always look forward to them and they are such a wonderful inspiration to me in my times of burn out with being a Dm so thank you for what you do

[@purplehaze2358]

I’m kinda surprised this didn’t take longer to release.

[@esperthebard]

I took something a different approach this time around. I already had approximately 75% of the part 2 notes and script written before I released part 1.

[@TheHornedKing]

Non-evil drow have been a thing in DnD lore for a long time. There are even whole drow civilizations that aren't evil. Most notably there are the followers of Eilistraee, a good drow deity who is all about saving the drow from Lolth's evil influence, and who live on the surface. This whole thing about drow not being all evil anymore is nothing new, it's just giving more attention to something that was already there.

[@squashedeyeball]

And the Esper strikes again as thunder and winds blow outside my window! 40:57 Now these are inspiring words! 2:07 Bless you man :) Oh Bessy, I couldn't save her, all those many years ago... (But *BG SPOILER* I avenged her by murdering that entire, humble Xvart village). So many good choices! A truly great second part. 27:27 A super cool concept. I can imagine of a seemingly innocents, yet strangely earie fishing village, full of these things. I agree with top A tier for Drow. Personally, I most enjoyed killing them... :) 30:09 Oh yes, Matron Mothers are truly the thing to, *ahem* kill.and.send.back.to.lolth *ahemahemahem!*, in a Drow Society. With enough levels under our belts first, of course.

[@bobmcbob9856]

Why are you so obsessed with grit? If we’re talking about a medieval setting, gritty isn’t realistic. The insides of castles & manor houses for example, were brightly coloured like childrens’ rooms, the stylized animal images on heraldry could be said to look cartoony, and peasant villages were full of bright colours & celebration precisely to make up for their poverty with as much partying as they could afford, court jesters made fart jokes. The medieval world was full of colour, immature humour, and about as much happiness as we have today, Yes, life was harder than today, they had less technology and all, but it wasn’t all darkness, depression, mud, grey skies, cold grey stone, and depleted tones. There’s really nothing wrong with colour, joy, or even cartoonishness, or at least nothing more unrealistic about a brightly coloured frog man than there is about a hyena man who became humanlike from eating a demon lord’s leftovers. Both have their place, depending on what kind of adventure or setting you’re making. Neither is bad, they’re just hard to make work together. That’s the one thing that bothers me about this tier list, that your obsession with dark edgy gritty stuff is such a huge factor in the ratings while you try to present this as fairly objective. The other criteria you use, like combat mechanics, role play potential, versatility, those are kind of objective things you can compare, so it feels out of place. If you were more clear about this just being “how cool I find these” it’d be fine (although I do find overly edgy “””realistic””” people to be a bit cringe, we’re all a bit cringe in our own ways)

[@stavros2956]

Oh boy, that's a beefier episode than what i have expected. I am going to enjoy this.

[@amberkat8147]

About Drow, my group has always ruled that not all of them are evil. Some are neutral, a few are even goof- but having the average, and those who rule, be almost all evil means those few who aren't have to hide it, and that's interesting without unduly limiting non-evil character options. But trying to take it away completely takes away a large part of what makes playing a Drow interesting. Playing against type, as a rebel or renegade, is part of the fun. Which is why my group is ignoring the new rules about races.

[@robttore2]

Drow Society has always been evil. Not all Drow have always been evil. And that is perfectly fine, I love evil drow society with a few enclaves that aren't evil. There is only *one* drow god that isn't subservient to the Spider Queen, Lolth, and that is Eilistraee, The Dark Maiden and Lady of the Dance. The only Drow Deity that isn't straight up evil, and her worship is rare and rarely do drow learn to turn to her.

[@alexanderhoward4833]

30:18 with on the topic of drow, in my D&D homebrew the drow and dark elves were once the same race, but within the main home region of the shadow fields, the city of Kabraht magic was apart of their caste system you weren't a member of society or had a place in society unless you casted magic, the drow were a sect of dark elves that dove too deeply into dark magic, in the occult, demon worship and many other aspects of dark magic, the dark elves banished this sect of dark elves into the under dark for their crimes of misusing and abusing their magics, as demon worshipping was not allowed in the city necromancy on a small scale, but too many dark elves took advantage of the free roaming magical freedoms in the city, so the city had to limit the magical freedoms, after being casted out those dark elves later became the drow as long term exposure down there altered them greatly, some drow of later generations resented their ancestors actions while others simply wish to destroy the world above out of anger for what happened to them and their ancestors, to keep the drow in many places thought to be possible entraces were sealed of by powerful magics blocking anyone form coming out, but anyone falling in would be stuck, only a few passages lead out of the under dark

[@pelecyphora1]

Gargoyle make for an exciting encounter. A tree village (Ewok style) The Alchemist and Bandit class.

[@donhanson9571]

Ellistrae, one of the Drow's other goddesses is working towards showing them how to live less despicable lives, so there is a precedent for heretics that are Chaotic Neutral or even Good.

[@adamholcomb1906]

Yup Drow are truly one of the best villains along with Yuan-ti in the best epic stories from level 1 all the way to level 20…….I truly love them both 🕸🕷🐍🐍💯

[@codiruttenbur3494]

Great video bro, I haven't seen as many videos from you lately, so it was great to see another cool entry. Question for you, do you often have problems with copyright claims? If so, how do you deal with them or prevent them?

[@esperthebard]

I rarely ever have copyright claims. Just on a few older videos in which I used music that the copyright holder claimed, so those videos got demonetized. I think the last time that happened was a video from 2013 or 2014. I've made sure to always use music that is free to use since then.

[@AGS363]

If the Mindflayers face the Ravenqueen, who would win?

[@redcapetimetraveler7688]

1:10 "xvarts" get farted into teir faces by their creator god that's why they are bold and get strong nostrels in teir desapointed faces ....😂

[@orangexlightning]

I'm very surprised that Orcs are C but Goblinoids are B

[@levert2457]

say what you will about hippo folk but there's still the animal that kills the most humans. and I would say that's pretty scary.

[@jdmajor_gaming6432]

I dont like the Gith at all. Don't like their lore and never use them. My players don't like them either so it all works out

[@landremon]

Will you make a video on npc stats like abjurer, thug, veteran and the like?

[@Forgotten_bubs]

My first character was a lizard folk paladine. I loved him so much

[@Jasonwolf1495]

Oh shit, Esper putting standard Kobold above standard Goblin. I knew I subbed for a reason.

[@esperthebard]

They're extremely close, but I think the kobolds a little more diverse and inventive. The goblin gods are brutal and mighty, but they can be distant or even forgotten about by DMs, whereas the kobolds' dragon rulers are more present and active.

[@thecharmer5981]

Kolbold superiority

[@pzalterias5154]

Nagpas would make more sense with a "tzeentch servant" flavor

[@nathansteinfromarkham7109]

Goblins mentioned. Me: Goblin Slaying intensifies.

[@cristiancojocaru9821]

You can't make a matriarchy that isn't evil, it is just impossible.

[@MrNiceguyofficial]

You sorta patched this together with some older tier entries but still its a damn fine upload

[@bastard-cu2378]

i mean the good drow godess could be a forced traits of good/nautral aligned drow

[@xavierhetherwick9025]

Personally I think gnolls in general should be higher on the list if not S tier.

[@TheGenericavatar]

Nagpa = Skexis from the Dark Crystal?

[@Cherry-ki3ln]

To me it's a little ridiculus how you talk about those races that are "perfect for villans". An interesting villan has a good motivation, but most of those are evil for evil's sake. Like drow that you mentioned. Sure, conflict drives stories, but "funny colored elves like to lie for the sake of it/ power" is much more flat than anything involving a human adversary. I could decide in a homebrew that all dwarves are actually evil and just want power, that doesn't make them especially interesting, if anything it makes them videogame enemies or cartoon villans.

[@esperthebard]

I do understand the value of giving more depth and dimension to the antagonists and near-antagonist of a story. I utilize this fairly often in my campaigns (both at home and those I livestream). However, in a fantasy game of high adventure, in which 80% of the game is based on combat, we need lots of creatures that are evil or at least objectively the enemies. Very few DMs have the time, energy, or creativity to make every adventure full of nuanced grey creatures that provide moral quandries, philosophical debates, and sophisticated complexity. The humanoid races in particular are indeed simplified and exaggerated humans. Take real world people, focus in on a trait or two, amplify those traits, and give some fantastical characteristics---this is the essential formula for a fantasy race. Does every single drow, orc, or goblin have to be purely evil? No. Nobody ever thought that. There have always been exceptions, and they are interesting NPCs to meet. But it is foolish to expect our mythic fantasy battle game to become a sociology class.

[@smile-tl9in]

i'm kinda disapppointed that anyone who suffered against the mindflayers ended up morally worse than what they use to be. Is't there ANY race that turned their suffering at their hands into a drive to root evil and slavery ?

[@حَسن-م3ه9ظ]

On top of my head, Githzerei are Lawful neutral

[@bradywomack9751]

Most excellent.

[@ChurchillGeoff]

you missed my favourite humanoid for role playing, the Tabaxi

[@esperthebard]

They are in the races ranking video. This ranking is for creatures that have entries in the bestiary books, like the Monster Manual (not player character race options).

[@coldlogic8792]

I don't think I saw humans on this list.

[@rezonpokemon3854]

I secretly hope you make a list ranking of unique named NPCs in pre written campaigns/adventire modules. But that's just me.

[@vazyenka9990]

I somewhat think the concerns about broadening the alignments of monsterous races/evil races is a bit much. It makes it simplier to run when every monster of a background culture behaves the same but it rapidly reduces the complexity of their society and lore, and the main push to broaden it isn't just "make them humans" but rather allow denizens within the society to stray off the beaten path. Evil culture, not necessarily evil creatures, which creates interesting potential for conflicts within those settings as well as a way to fake out the Party when they've been having to fight a particular monster/race the majority of the time they encounter them. I do wish more attempts at this tried preserving the tendency to evil alignment, like how Tieflings and Orcs are described, where because of their evil god origins they struggle with a nigh divine evil that inhabits them and that makes for a lot of interesting scenarios, where even outside of the evil organizations of those monsters they aren't comfortable being good aligned. There is a lot of potential for conflict when alignment isn't rigid, though when I DM I prefer to throw the alignment out the window and aim for more of a culture clash ordeal; what is seen as virtuous and shameful in a monster society is at odds with the humans, so they view each other as "evil". That one sidesteps most of the issues with evil and good alignment when the reason they're doing it isnt to be evil on purpose but because to them that's the ideal world

[@Torthrodhel]

My favourite of my goblins is "Virtue Resplendance", an actually-insane insanely-positive copper-platemail-bedecked paladin and "princess" of an "acquired paradise" on Pandemonium with her own invented royal crest, and won't hear a single word about any so-called gods claiming ownership of an entire people! Kinda an antidote to how "planet of hats" the lore around races and gods can be. If she stood before Magluviet tomorrow she'd not hesitate to scurry up to him, slap him across the face and say "you make me quite cross young sir!" :P

[@imoweenlodestone5447]

Have ever done review like this for your viewers? For example, rate humanoid races that gms, aka your viewers created. For example I made half orc race.

[@MrSloth-sy3rh]

I love the nagpa it's like a hag but cooler than again I've always loved bird monsters I want a bird monster with the head of an eagle or vulture a long neck but on four legs kinda like a drake but with a beak and covered in feathers.

[@nicolaezenoaga9756]

So why are humanoids so popular? You get to interact with new, interesting (if well written) and a little alien cultures. You get to mix up within their politics and ambitions, all of witch is just cool.

[@borgshadow13]

after binge-watching demonacs TDDC for ... unhealthy... amounts of time i just start sweating every time i encounter kuo toa in a game. great to see them on your list !

[@DaxterL]

i need to use jackalwere more, maybe more as bit suave or spoony type of characters, probably even merchants (i love a trope of a monstrous merchant). Last time i used them was the first time i dmed and in the encounter found out they are immune to nonmagical attacks. It was a single jackalwere and i think he almost kidnapped the half-drow rogue and only thanks to the dragonborn paladin with some smites and his breath weapon did he manage to turn around the situation.

[@Olav_Hansen]

Nagpa not having magic items: as far as I am aware the books only give the base version of monsters. It's up to the dm if they give the nagpa magic items.

[@nicolaezenoaga9756]

I wonder who will be number one.

[@kevinsmith9013]

Hey! It wasn't a full TPK. Thanks Drow poison!

[@11shovel11]

You're right, conflict does drive story and plots.

[@jeffreylucier5266]

Thank you esp

[@jamesmichael5]

You should totally do a video on just the variants of these humanoid races

[@logex621]

Hello there

[@jasonsantos3037]

Good job 👏

[@alexmorningstarmedia]

Any chance of a video ranking spells based on flavor and lore?

[@scoliasma6532]

dwarf

[@mr.nutcracker8957]

This game is full of humanoids, you filled ranks and ranks and still managed to miss some.... Where would the Giff be put in this ranking? Is strange you passed the opportunity to complain about their style

[@esperthebard]

I've griped about the bloody giffs on other videos lol

[@marcosblaky6861]

28:00

[@ben_bun]

I noticed that some of the more recent Humanoids added to D&D aren't on either of these lists, such as the Harengon and Owlin. What do you think of them?

[@maxppo3615]

More anthropomorphic animals with 0 lore. Arent those and elfs like 90% of the races in 5e?

[@scoliasma6532]

kobold cool

[@80Elminster]

It's pronounced "dwairgar" not "dugar". It's from scandinavian and means dwarf. In Danish "dværge" in norwegian "dverger" :)

[@charles9489]

Nobody cares

[@nicolaezenoaga9756]

First!

[@granttrain3553]

Lair- rymes with share.

[@LAYOTAM444]

How do you feel about goblins becoming fey?

[@MegaPokefan97]

considering the word "Goblin" originally meant "Ugly Elf"

[@MarkLewis...]

I know you said you can't get to every monster, but I think Human monsters should have made the humanoid list. Still... Very entertaining as always.

[@esperthebard]

There are no human monsters as such. There are general NPCs that can be "any race" and there are specific named NPCs in adventure modules. I'm strongly considering doing an NPCs ranking video.

[@MarkLewis...]

@@esperthebard Sure there are... Not just Thugs, Bandits, Cultists, etc... but many others... Thanks for the videos Esper.

[@justnoob8141]

Esper: So lately, they had been implementing the good aligned faction of evil creature, not sure how it will go though Certain drow go by the name Drizzt: um

[@arcmen2275]

With 5 aaracokra player/hireling you can summon your own air elemental.

[@arcmen2275]

No dragonborn?

[@Alltaer]

When I first used the lovely Jackalweres, 3/4 of the party fell to the Sleep Gaze leading to an entire story arc of the party being captured by a Night Hag who commanded them.

[@thepoetoffall7820]

As for the “un-evil-ing” of creatures, I’m all for it, and you should be too. Think about it for a moment. What drives conflict? Differences between people. What happens when a good drow and an evil drow meet? Conflict! Further. It is bloody stupid to say “yep, that entire race is evil, all of them made a blood pact with a devil making them all evil. They’re all descendants of Abel, who slew his brother Cain, because their god preferred Cain’s gifts over his brother.” It all sounds like racist BS to me. Edit: I want to point out that this swings both ways, it’s equally BS to have races that are all good. Like Celestials or some Fae.

[@georgethompson913]

It's almost like its something that could only exist in fantasy.

[@thepoetoffall7820]

@@georgethompson913 Yeah, but it’s not like fantasy cannot reflect reality, or teach us something about acceptance and empathy. While also being a fun game where you shoot the bad guys, and they fall down.

[@nAb-IlIIlIlIll]

It's strange when people project racism onto Dungeons and Dragons

[@thepoetoffall7820]

@@nAb-IlIIlIlIll You say it’s projection, I say you haven’t actually read what’s going on. They’re literally called races, and individuals from those races literally being discriminated against because of their race within the text. I don’t think it gets more racist than that. Maybe, we should stop pretending racism is a fantasy? Just saying.

[@حَسن-م3ه9ظ]

I think you got Cain and Abel confused