Well, after purchasing my copy of Bestiary 5, I am very impressed with some of the new races-especially the orang-pendaks and reptoids. Obviously, my first thought was to utilize some of these new races in my homebrew campaign I'm making. So, I decided to make this thread, more so to discuss on what classes could work best to which classes. I'll start with my own personal opinions, and I could be wrong on which classes would be best for which race. Let's see:
Astomoi: Obviously, this race seems to fit best with any of the psychic classes, but outside of these classes, I'd like to think that the best arcane class would be wizard, and the best divine class would be oracle. For wizards, I'd like to think that abjuration or even conjuration would be the best schools (maybe thematically), and for oracles, life and time seem to be the most thematic choices for mysteries.
Dark Folk, Caligni: As this race seems more fitting in a Darklands campaign than anything else, it's difficult for me to determine which classes would work best for this race. However, I do know that, thanks to their racial bonuses to Dexterity AND Constitution, they could work best for melee classes that rely on their Dexterity-like monks and rogues-but their penalty to Intelligence seems to make them not so good choices for arcane spellcasters who rely on a good Intelligence score, like magi, wizards and witches.
Deep One Hybrid: This race seems to work well for a barbarian class-in terms of melee-given it's increase to Constitution and Wisdom (and a barbarian's rage can increase hp and Will saves), but the biggest issue is the penalty to Dexterity-making classes like monks and rogues VERY poor choices for deep one hybrids. Due to their Wisdom bonus, divine classes seem to work the best, and I wouldn't imagine that most NPC deep one hybrids have classes in either cleric, warpriest, or for the really evil ones, antipaladins.
Orang-Pendak: What seems to be my favorite of the new races (I'm a HUGE cryptozoology fan), this race, with their bonuses to Strength and Wisdom, makes them ideal for melee classes-barbarian, hunter, monk, fighter, and ranger are the classes that come to mind, especially with these creatures elusive and shy natures, and their affinity for living in the jungles. However, one class that I think would not work for this race at all is the cavalier (and it's alternate, samurai), simply due to their SQ own two feet-which, for those that don't know, gives them a -2 penalty to attacks, ability checks, damage rolls, saving throws, and skill checks whenever they are riding a mount. As for spellcasting classes, druids and shamans seem to work the best-indeed, the bestiary does say that a tribe's shaman would have levels in one of those two classes. And, due to their penalty to Intelligence, all arcane classes that rely on that Ability (alchemists, arcanists, magi, wizards and witches, as well as investigators) would not work well both statistically or thematically for these little ape men.
Reptoid: This race, which I'm assuming is a new antagonistic race (like how goblins, kobolds and orcs are normally used), has a unique mix of abilities and stats that can utilize some odd multiclassing-their mental potency (which increases the DCs for enchantment and illusion spells cast by a reptoid by 1) makes them useful as mesmerists, but their seemingly LE alignment, their fondness for positions of power, and their bonuses to Strength makes them good as melee classes like barbarian and brawlers, and their change shape ability can really throw off a party expecting a human leader. However, their penalty to Dexterity means that some classes, like monks and rogues, wouldn't work their best-yet at the same time, I don't think the reptoids would be too terrible at these classes.
Shabti: This is probably the most difficult race I can think of good classes for-mainly for their immunity to undeath, resistance to level drain effects, and practically being immortal. However, as a race with no racial penalty to an ability score and a bonus to Constitution and Charisma, it seems like classes like bards, oracles, and sorcerers (I find the destined bloodline thematically fitting) are the absolute best for this race.
Anyone who wants to throw in their two scents on these ideas, or just put out their own ideas/opinions are more than welcome to.
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A Reptoid Oracle can get scary. Str 18, Dex 5, Con 14 Int 12 Wis 10 Cha 17 is a scary stat line-up to have at base for a Lunar Oracle, say, since Dexterity dumping is their watchword.
Less stat-dump heavy, but perhaps even better is Oracle of the Heavens. +1 Save DC and +1 HD effected by Color Spray is a very nice combo for them.
Paladin is also a super great class for Reptoids mechanically, and could make for an amusing character trying to make up for his people's wicked ways while simultaneously not letting anyone figure out what he is.
Reptoids also seem like they'd make excellent Vigilantes. There's a lot of fun to be had with that combo, both thematically and mechanically.
And finally, Reptoids have three natural attacks base. That lets them be very solid natural attack builds (for almost any class) right out of the box, though they are the three most common natural attacks and thus hard to add more to. Still, that's pretty neat.
Moving on from Reptoids, I think Orang-Pendak would make great Inquisitors or Slayers, and indeed any other potentially Str-based class that might want to be good at stealth. The +4 Size modifier is super shiny when combined with +2 Str.
The shabti, I think, would make excellent Bloodragers and Paladins in addition to the Classes you list. No Str bonus, but those classes do both rely heavily on both Cha and Con. Having more would definitely be nice.
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Astomoi: The Wis bonus suggests Cleric, Druid, or Shaman over Oracle. They also wouldn't work equally well with all psychic classes - they'd be great as Psychics with a wisdom-based discipline (perhaps Enlightenment or Lore) but not great Mesmerists or Mediums since those are Cha-based, and the Con penalty makes them terrible kineticists.
Dark Folk, Caligni: Void kineticist, anyone? Super thematic, your basic kinesis negates the racial weakness, and you don't need Eyes of the Void to see through your Greater Darkness Infusion. Also, I find it odd that they're suggesting alchemist as a class for these guys when they have an Int penalty.
Deep One Hybrid: I also would go with divine casters. A water-oriented druid might be a fun choice. The dex penalty also works well with heavily-armoured martials, though that's a bit weird for a race that's supposed to spend time near the water. I think the Wis and Con bonuses are actually beneficial enough to the Unchained Monk to make up for the Dex penalty. You could get something like 16, 12, 14, 16, 10, 8 with 20 points, which is not fantastic for the monk, but it's not "very poor."
Orang-Pendak: I wouldn't write off cavalier entirely, since there are several ways to do one without a mount (including keeping the mount feature and just not riding them). It still doesn't seem thematic, though. I agree they would do well with most melee classes, and as druids. Shamans tend to be less combat-oriented, so less likely to make use of the Str bonus than the druid, but are still plenty workable. Warpriest and Inquisitor would also work well mechanically, though maybe not as well thematically as the druid.
Reptoid: Super-good with one of those Dex-dumping Oracle builds, possibly Lunar to make use of natural weapons. They'd also mechanically make good paladins, if you want to defy the "usually LE" thing (I like Deadmanwalking's suggestion). Bards can also make good use of mental potency and the physical bonuses, and are well-placed for political power games.
Shabti: An immortal paladin sounds like tons of fun, and the character could be tough as adamantine nails.