The Most Popular Race in 'Dungeons & Dragons' is a Bit of a Surprise

It seems like Dungeons & Dragons players don't like to venture out of their comfort zone.

In a conversation on Twitter, Dungeons & Dragons lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford revealed which of the game's races was the most used by players. Crawford stated that players preferred creating human characters, even though there are plenty of different racial options to choose from.

Want to know which D&D race is played more than any other? Humans, by far. #DnD https://t.co/FWKEJ8fcs3

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) March 1, 2018

A recurring complaint among some Dungeons & Dragons players is that several new playable races from the upcoming Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes book are descended from elves. In a recent video explaining some of the lore behind one of these races, Crawford stated that "people like to play elves," leading to a complaint that it was because elves were overpowered within the game.

Responding to the complaint, Crawford stated that players tend to choose things like story, aesthetic, and personality over racial abilities, no matter how many different races are available to choose from. He also noted elves, humans, and dwarves have always been popular choices, regardless of which version of D&D is being played.

It's a bit surprising that human characters are the most popular choice in Dungeons & Dragons, given all the different options the game has. Currently, there are 26 different playable races ranging from the catlike Tabaxi to the lizardfolk. That's not even including subraces like the drow or wood elves.

While Crawford noted that humans are the most popular because of story reasons, some players might also be swayed because of the variant human build. Usually, humans get a +1 to all of their ability scores, but the variant human build allows player to pick an extra skill proficiency and a bonus feat in exchange for only adding a +1 to two of their ability skills. Variant humans are the only race who get a default feat at the first level, which some players might see as more tempting over the options that other races provide.

In the end, Crawford's big takeaway is that D&D is a big tent that allows players the freedom to choose the story they want to tell with a character that they pick. While optimizing a character for combat can be fun for some players, it seems like more players enjoy the storytelling aspect of D&D.

Let us know what your favorite D&D race is in the comment section!