Expand Your Roleplaying Through Heritage and Culture in 5E D&D

If you want to stir the pot with the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons fandom then bring up the topic of race and watch the opinions flow. Race is a core mechanic of 5E D&D and while some prefer the term lineage (see Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything) the two terms are used interchangeably within the community. The way I like to run D&D games, I view any mechanic as having a direct influence on the story and likewise I believe every mechanic’s existence ought to be justified by a story element. Race is just one of these areas so let’s break down character race, what it means, and how to use it more effectively in your 5E D&D games.

Heritage and culture

Recently I’ve been running the Nerdarchy Live game for Ashes of Ardor, a noble dark fantasy set in my original world of Aulmn. As an avid fan of dark fantasy properties like the Witcher, Dragon Age, Diablo and more I’ve always enjoyed the characters of a RPG story just as much as the mechanics and I feel each should influence the other.

Family groups have heritages and cultures and these aren’t limited by geography alone. Religion, socioeconomic status and more all play key roles in developing a specific culture. Heritage is another key factor as well.

When it comes to reading racial traits I often look at anything physical or magical first. Physical traits such as size, armor class adjustments and any special physical actions like biting, natural weaponry, flying or swimming speed and so forth give insight into the environment of the race as well as how they use their physicality to overcome obstacles.

Magical racial traits can be read a few different ways. In the case of something like Gnome Cunning I read this as a trait of the mind, essentially marking them as alien in their thought processes in some way. Whether influenced by elements of the Feywild or otherwise this resistance affords them a degree of mental protection from magic.

Conversely, when it comes to races like high elves you could argue either an inherent connection to magic or their free cantrip could be a product of their schooling and culture, as evidenced by the fact it uses Intelligence to cast. Similarly you could argue dwarves’ Stonecunning is the result of an innate connection to rock and stone or it could be a byproduct of their culture’s emphasis on architecture and stonework.

Then you have things like weapon, armor and tool proficiencies, which are clearly a result of a cultural influence. These indicate how a certain people tend to arm their soldiers as well as offer insight into the training young members of the society might receive.

Expanding roleplay

From its inception D&D placed an emphasis on story, being born of a war game incorporating fantasy and story elements. The current era 5E D&D continues this emphasis through the roleplaying choices associated with background characteristics — personality trait, ideal, bond and flaw.

While these four choices are a great springboard for roleplaying we’ve seen expansions to these ideas related to classes, subclasses, and more through books like Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. We’ve also seen expansions to roleplaying options through settings like Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, which we covered thoroughly here at Nerdarchy the Website.

While mulling over ways to further expand roleplaying options for characters I came up with a few new tables I hope might help further flesh out your own 5E D&D characters, specifically related to their race and culture. Look at the tables below and see if any of these appeal to you.

What do you think?

How do you use heritage and culture in your 5E D&D experiences? What’s your favorite option or table from above? Whatever your thoughts, leave us a comment and a like. Don’t forget to connect with Nerdarchy on Facebook or tweet @Nerdarchy. For more discussion on culture, check out the Nerdarchy Live chat below.

*Featured image — In All That Remains a strange fog filled with the ghosts of a battle fought long ago form around an excavated monument. Adventurers who investigate the scenes can ascertain the identity of the ruler or the culture from which they come along with other lost details about the ancient culture along with 54 other dynamic scenarios ready to drop right into your 5E games. Learn more here.

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