D&D (2024) First playtest thread! One D&D Character Origins.

[Paul3]

We have bred at least three generations who have just become sick and tired to the same (ironically) lazy slander and libel leveled at them as have been leveled at every generation of young people for hundreds of years and aren't taking it anymore.

Oh, there are many things that young folk are better at because of this "ping-ponging". They are more adaptable, able to better adjust to transitions, can multi-task, are better at finding work-arounds, can quickly adjust to new tech, etc. It isn't a slam on young people at all in the big picture. Stamina just isn't one of those attributes.

 

[Shardstone]

Oh, there are many things that young folk are better at because of this "ping-ponging". They are more adaptable, able to better adjust to transitions, can multi-task, are better at finding work-arounds, can quickly adjust to new tech, etc. It isn't a slam on young people at all in the big picture. Stamina just isn't one of those attributes.

This is how I know you have no clue what you're talking about.

 

[Paul3]

So they like interesting things that don't cause brain damage? ;-)

Then why go?

 

[Cadence]

Then why go?

I will confess I completely don't understand the desire to sit next to the person you're texting, but that would put a lot of such folks nearby.

Could also be lack of other social activities on Friday nights? (Scouts usually don't meet on Fridays, other sports don't program against football, church things are usually Wednesday, have clubs for teens to dance at been a thing since the 90s?, the game stores are filled with scary old people...)

Are the parties either at a cheerleader or players house afterwards?

 

[Justice and Rule]

I advocate for their removal. I think people should just get feats at those levels.

Then what about feats that grant +1 ASI?

If ability scores are a function of genetics, then there should be no way to change them barring powerful magics. Not by feats, levels or class.

This. Creating the choice between ASIs and Feats was meant as something to keep it so you didn't need to use Feats in your game. It was a bad split and shouldn't have been done.

A dwarf scholar-wizard starts the game with 15 Intelligence and proficiency in the Arcana skill, granting them a +4 bonus to Arcana checks, a +4 bonus to spell attack rolls, and a spell save DC of 12. This is measurably better than the human baseline of +0 to Arcana checks and no spellcasting, making this dwarf a distinguished individual that is smarter and more learned than most people, even those of a species with a +2 to Intelligence.

A gnome scholar-wizard starts the game with 17 Intelligence and proficiency in the Arcana skill, granting them a +5 bonus to Arcana checks, a +5 bonus to spell attack rolls, and a spell save DC of 13. They are only marginally better than their dwarf counterpart, the difference is functionally imperceptible in play. You could always create a dwarf that is book smart and sickly with the core rules without incurring any significant penalty.

I don't fully agree, but this basically makes my point for me: if the numbers matter that little, then why are we using the numbers to differentiate? Why not let us have the ability to make them better match our concepts (where they will have the most notable effect) and save differences in race to interesting abilities that other races won't have access to?

We agree that ASIs do not distinguish races in any meaningful way. They are essentially fluff, non-essential unless your objective is to increase they key ability score of your class.

I disagree with this a great deal. ASIs matter, especially in a game where there are very limited options for improvement. Plus, saying that they're just "fluff" and non-essentially is really a great argument as to why we don't need to attach them to race anymore. The only real effect they have is largely pushing people who want to play certain classes towards certain races so that they can get the most out of them. Why not detach them, put them into characterful backgrounds (or even custom ones) while making race something that has a bunch of interesting consequences that supplements your class choice rather than deciding it?

Having said that, I would still not create a hypothetical elf barbarian with the template presented in this playtest material - their traits do not synergize with the barbarian class as well as those of other races.

I disagree. Those powers have a ton of utility and could be useful both in and out of combat. Each of those spells are useful to have on their own detached from class. Compare this to getting stat boosts that run counter to my class: putting them into dump stats will likely have little effect on my character.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Oh, there are many things that young folk are better at because of this "ping-ponging". They are more adaptable, able to better adjust to transitions, can multi-task, are better at finding work-arounds, can quickly adjust to new tech, etc. It isn't a slam on young people at all in the big picture. Stamina just isn't one of those attributes.

It's still a slam on young people in general for no real reason and I wish you'd stop doubling down on it.

 

[Paul3]

I will confess I completely don't understand the desire to sit next to the person you're texting, but that would put a lot of such folks nearby.

Could also be lack of other social activities on Friday nights? (Scouts usually don't meet on Fridays, other sports don't program against football, church things are usually Wednesday, have clubs for teens to dance at been a thing since the 90s?, the game stores are filled with scary old people...)

FWIW, attendance at high school sporting events has declined significantly over the last 20+ years, primarily because they DO have many other options. They no longer need to go to the football game to socialize even though they don't care about football. Anyway, this is derailing the thread so I am going to bow out on this topic, but I stand by my position that in-person non tech-based DnD gives kids today a unique experience that benefits them and gradually losing that experience is something that makes me sad.

 

[Cadence]

It's still a slam on young people in general for no real reason and I wish you'd stop doubling down on it.

Busting the attention span myth

Is there any evidence that the internet and smartphones have shrunk our attention spans?

www.bbc.com

 

[Cadence]

but I stand by my position that in-person non tech-based DnD gives kids today a unique experience that benefits them and gradually losing that experience is something that makes me sad.

I will definitely agree with that. I hope my son can play in person with friends for the first time this Fall. --- Having friends scattered over a wide area, instead of just the neighborhood, will make that a challenge though, so we'll see if we can pull off having everyone get together in person.

 

[OB1]

Maybe we will see change to the rogue to compensate in a future playtest

I think we will see exactly that, but it does bring up an interesting quandary in terms of compatibility. If the new core Rogues get an additional feature to compensate for the loss of doubling sneak attack dice, what happens to a 2014 Rogue playing under the 2024 core? Here are the choices as I see them

1. Drop the new weapon only crit rule
2. Keep the new weapon only crit rule as a general reduction in power to non-weapon damage with no exceptions
3. Keep the new weapon only crit rule as a general reduction in power but allow new subclasses to provide an exception
4. Keep the new weapon only crit rule as a genera reduction in power, but allow core class features to provide an exception and provide a conversion doc to allow 2014 core classes to take advantage of that exception