DND 5E races

Some of the best underrated races.

I was bored so now I'm making this. Do with that as you will.

1. Leonin
Introduced in mythic odysseys of theros we got lion people. Which are fucking cool.

You get plus 2 to con which is nice because more health and plus 1 to strength because leaders need to be strong in order to lead.
You also have a 35 for movement speed which is great so you can get to enemies quicker whether they are coming towards you or running away like cowards.
You also get dark vision which is always nice.
Your claws also count as weapons which means for unarmed strikes you do 1d4 plus your strength mod slashing damage. This is good because if your weapon is ever knocked out of a hand or if you don't have your weapon ready you have an emergency weapon with you always.
You also have the daunting roar race feat which means you can make any creature that is within 10 feet of you afraid if they fail a wisdom save. This is great because if an enemy is frightened they have disadvantage on attack rolls.
I recommend classes like paladin, fighter and barbarian because those are mostly the ones to run into battle leading the charge and tanking hits and doing heavy damage.

2. Tortle
If I haven't gushed about tortles enough then here's more to convince you.

They have plus 2 to strength and plus 1 in wisdom. Awesome
The big take away however is the shell you have which gives you 17 AC. However you can't wear any armor but that's fine because there are spells for that extra defense if you really need it. You can also still use a shield so that's great to.
As an action you can hide in your shell which gives a plus 4 to your AC. Though this comes with a cost of you not being able to do anything except come out of your shell as a bonus action.
You also have claws like the leonin and can breath in water for about an hour.
Your also proficient with survival which is great for searching for food, hunting and traveling.
I'd choose classes like monk, barbarian and fighter mainly for that unarmored defense bonus and that good shield for extra AC. If you want you can also choose rogue so you can be a ninja turtle.

3.Loxodon
Okay so I haven't done an official chapter on this boy yet but hear me out.

Your an elephant person which is cool.
You have plus 2 to con and plus 1 to wisdom.
You also have advantage on saving throws against and ending the charm and frightened effect because you have a little fey in you.
You also have natural armor which is 12 plus your con mod and you can use a shield.
But the best thing is your nose which counts as a third arm which is great.
I recommend classes like barbarian, fighters, clerics and monks obviously because of high AC and unarmored defense.

4. Eladrin
Yes they count as elves but fuck you their not that popular as the other elf subraces.

This race is mainly for role play heavy players because your basically playing 4 characters in one because of the seasons.
This is because the seasons gives you different characters and abilities. The cool thing is you can change a season whenever you want so you don't have to wait for an in game season to pass.
Their main take away is the fey step Which lets them teleport 30 once per short rest. What makes this cool is there is a bonus effect depending on the season you currently are.
You have a plus one to char because elves are the eloquent and beautiful race and you also get plus 2 dex.
The classes I would recommend are some like warlock, sorcerer, ranger and bard.

5.triton
Fish people yep that's all I got but hear me out.
You get plus one in con, strength and char which makes them and paladin a match made in heaven.
You also have dark vision.
You get some free spells like fog cloud, gust of wind, and wall of water.
You can also breath in water and can move underwater at the same speed as your walk speed.
Oh and you can talk to sea animals.
The best classes I think are obviously paladin but also warlock, fighters and sorcerers.

6.locathah
Catfish people. Yeah but hear me out.
You get plus 2 to strength and plus 1 to dex.
You have a swim speed the same as walk speed.
You also have natural armor of 12 plus your dex mod.
You are also proficient with athletics and perception.
The best ability here though is leviathan will, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, frightened, paralyzed, stunned, put to sleep and poisoned. Yeah that's beefy.

There is a pretty good reason why people don't play this race though. That's because you have be submerged in water every four hours or else you'll suffocate. However this can be dealt with if at least someone in your party has the shape water spell. Water genasi get this spell for free as well.
The classes I recommend are rogues, monks and barbarians.

7. Simic hybrid
Your an octopus squid creature I think? That doesn't matter your cool as fuck.
You have a plus 2 to con and plus 1 to another stat.
You have dark vision.
Here's the cool thing the more you level/ the stronger your character gets the more features they get at level 1 and 5 you get 3 features to choose from. At level 1 You can glide and slow your fall. You can also climb just as fast as your walk speed. You can also swim as fast as your walk speed and be able to breath in water.
Level 5 is where shit gets real. You can grow extra appendages to grab things and grapple creatures as an action. They also count as weapons that do 1d6 plus your strength mod piercing damage which is cool. You can also grow thick skin giving you +1 to your AC. You can also choose to spit acid that does 2d10 acid damage this damages increases to 3d10 at level 11 and to 4d10 at level 17.
These best classes for this are barbarians, fighters, monks and rangers.

8. Shifter
Oh boy here we go.
These lads are able to transform into creatures like druids without the fear of metal.
You get plus 1 to dex.
You have darkvision and proficiency with perception nice.
As a bonus action you can transform for a minute.
This gives you temp hit points equal to your level plus your con mod.  You also get some benefits based on your sub race.
Beast hide gives you plus 2 to Con, prof with athletics, a 1d6 temp hit points and plus one AC.
Longtooth gives you plus 2 to strength, prof with intimidation, and bonus action bite attack that does 1d6 plus your strength mod worth pierce damage.
Swiftstride gives you plus one to dex and char. You also get a plus 5 to movement speed and prof with acrobatics. You can also as a bonus action move 10 feet without provoking opportunity attack.
Wild hunt gives a plus 2 to wisdom and plus 1 to dex. You get prof with survival and have advantage on all wisdom checks.
Shifters are great with every class depending on your subrace you choose.

9. githzerai
Githzerai get plus 1 to intel and plus 2 to wisdom. They have advantage on saving throws against being frightened and charmed.
They are great because they are psychic as fuck giving them mage hand for free, they can also cast shield and detect thoughts. This is great because you don't need components to cast these spells.
Classes I recommend are wizards, artificers, monks and druids.

10. Vedalken.
You have plus 2 to intel and plus 1 wisdom. They also have advantage on every intel, wisdom and char saving throws. You are also proficient with investigation, history, medicine, performance and sleight of hand and a random tool of your choice.
You can also breath underwater which is cool.
I recommend the classes wizards, rogue and artificers.

Fuck I'm tired.