Reskinning the demi-humans

I'm a big fan of humanocentrism and race-as-class in my games, but I'm not a big fan of the three demihuman races you'll usually see in old school games. The Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings, are classic companions, but I feel like 50 years of players playing them has exhausted their use. There's only so much you can do with a scottish accent and a mug of ale. I'm going to go over the various races' defining criteria, and then give an example of another race that is similar in theme, so that you don't have to go making new classes, and can instead just reskin what you've already got.

Dwarves are stout, resistant to poison and magic, and used to underground terrain. I think a good replacement for them is rock-people.

Those naming their Rock-Person character Dwayne are booted from the game.

Instead of having keen ears and eyes that are used to the dark, the rock-people can feel even the tiniest of movements of the stone around them. Instead of listening at doors, they're touching the door to feel what's beyond. The plate mail made for humans probably won't fit them, but they can get a big chunk of steel and just strap it to themselves. Instead of building a stronghold at high levels, they turn into a mountain from which new rock-people emerge.

Elves have a natural affinity to magic, but can still use sword & shield unhindered. They're also known for their beautiful architecture and otherworldliness. I'm not sure if this or the next thing on the list is my most radical decision, but I'm making the elves into Sea-People.

The most important characteristic of modern Elves is that they don't wear shirts, of course.

Mermaids & Mermen are cool and all, but limiting our elf-reskin solely to the underwater is effectively the same as removing them, so they're blue-skinned people who have both gills and lungs. They can wear ordinary metal armour, but that stuff rusts underwater, so they've developed their own brand of mithril armour, rustfree and offering plenty of protection from piranhas. At high levels, the Sea-People construct another beautiful underwater palace from where they will rule over all sea-life.

 

Halflings are small, sneaky, and nimble. The easy thing would be to turn them into goblins, but I prefer keeping goblins as monsters rather than turning them into people. I say they get to be Lizard-people.

I still don't get why 5e players decided these guys are cannibals.

Lizard-people are natural denizens of jungles, deserts, and swamps alike, and each Lizard-person should have their ability to hide boosted in the region they're native to. They're more likely to use primitive weaponry such as slings and spears, like the halflings who won't use big bows or big swords. Lizard-people get their AC bonus from their scales, rather than from being small. At high levels, the Lizard-People start another generic lizard cult a new tribe, with themselves as king over other Lizard-People.

Humans are the lords of the forests and the plains, but harsher terrains like mountains, the underwater, and particularly wet and dry terrains require special adaptation. Toss out the tired old haughty fey and the short folk, and give these cool guys a spot in your game.