Gus Wezerek at Fivethirtyeight.com breaks down the popularity of the Races and Classes in Dungeons and Dragons 5e in his article “Is Your D&D Character Rare?”

How does your favorite character compare?

Unfortunately I thought I was special playing a human wizard. I even came up with the cool name “Greytome” for him! Given the popularity of Gandalf, Harry Potter, Raistlin, and Doctor Strange I guess I shouldn’t be surprised it’s fairly common.

But what about a game I’m running now? How rare were my player’s choices?

I’m currently running a group through the Curse of Strahd campaign setting and two players came up with unique race/class combinations. One is playing a Tiefling Paladin and the other is playing an Aasimar Sorcerer. I’m running the game on Roll20 so these players never met face to face  nor had they discussed what to play.

In my experience Tieflings are typically Sorcerers or Warlocks and Aasimar are Paladins or Clerics. To be fair Aasimar are not a core rule book race. They are featured in sourcebooks which could explain their lower numbers. Regardless, these two combinations are definitely unique. Kudos to Kirby and Ander. You both developed unique and interesting character concepts. We’ll see how well they stand up against Strahd!

Sorry Nexeh, the EvolingRPG webmaster is also in my game, but it looks like human fighters are the most commonly played race/class combination out there. But Aslam the Fighter has shown bravery and skill battling hordes of wolves, witches, and vampire spawn.  There may be a lot of fighters out there but there is only one Aslam!

The human monk is fairly popular too. The serenity and power of the monk’s fighting stance makes it a resilient combatant. In my campaign the monk, Caine, zips in and out of melee aiding where he is needed. He’s able to knock down or literally throw enemies around the battlefield. The exceptional speed and ability to make multiple attacks gives players a rich toybox of maneuvers to work with.

Every group needs a healer so no surprise seeing Clerics near the top of the chart. Humans and Dwarves dominate the class here. Besides their functional role they are able to hold their own in a fight. You can’t go wrong with healing spells and a warhammer! Frost, the human cleric in the campaign, stays to the rear of the fight lending magical aid as needed. Several foes have learned the hard lesson that a cleric is not defenseless at the business end of Frost’s hammer.

While no spreadsheet will ever deter me from playing a wizard it’s still interesting to see how many of us like playing similar characters. Check out how your favorite race and class ranks and comment below!

Graphic plucked from: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-your-dd-character-rare/