D&D (2024) No Dwarf, Halfling, and Orc suborgins, lineages, and legacies

[CreamCloud0]

Waterbreathing and Darkvision are so ubiquitous at level 1, they need to be cantrips.

Moreover, when Darkvision is a cantrip, it means the Elf DOESNT automatically have Darkvision.

Too many species have Darkvsion.

the darkvision cantrip existing doesn't mean the elf doesn't have natural organic darkvision, it just means that there is a cantrip that can give darkvision, for the species like humans who don't get natural darkvision.

 

[Remathilis]

the darkvision cantrip existing doesn't mean the elf doesn't have natural organic darkvision, it just means that there is a cantrip that can give darkvision, for the species like humans who don't get natural darkvision.

Darkvision is a 2nd spell. Ergo no race should get it before 5th level as a free cast.

Darkvision

You touch a willing creature to grant it the ability to see in the dark. For the duration, that creature has [sense]darkvision[/sense] ou...

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[Mind of tempest]

People keep saying this like it's a surefire cure. First, people will still demand Dragonlance, Greyhawk etc be supported. Second, if the setting is a generic/kitchen sink, it will be viewed as a "yet another" but if it has a twist people will dislike it for being too different. Lastly, to make it successful, WotC will need to put energy into it which will be viewed as that setting "taking away" from the stable of successful settings.

I was there when Eberron came into being and I can recall the number of people who wondered why we were getting a steampunk setting of robots and choo choos instead of a new version of Dark Sun. Or how in 4e Nerath cannibalized Greyhawk and other settings rather than support them directly. Even the first 5 years of 5e were "Forgotten Realms is absorbing every setting" because they used it for the original span of adventures. A new setting will not fix these problems. It just adds another to the pile.

true but there is some limits Dragonlance I think has to be negotiated and should people really poke around in gary's old setting given he is dead and did not put much in place for what the setting should go forward as?

to me the logical way to to have several core selling points per setting, example one that gives plenty of lore for dragonborn and incorporates practical rules for making and running hexcrawls meaning there are more reason to buy it.

darksun has some problems that make it a political can of hornets.
you also ideally do not make them default catch-all, you can use anything from any setting together but defacto they would be more focused as we need no more catch-all at this point.

people will complain forever but have sufficient stuff to sell them on and they will pay for it whilst grumbling.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The player can play one if the DM lets them play one. Their character is a free-willed mutant with non-standard abilities. Player characters are exceptional is a core assumption of D&D.

So you're a draconian that just happens to have all the mechanical characteristics of a drsgonborn, by freakish happenstance?

Please.

 

[Scribe]

What does "natively" "biologically" mean in the context of Elves?

It means they breath water without a spell. Like a Fish.

 

[Micah Sweet]

If you real the current DMG, the focus is on encouraging DMs to create their own settings.

Except the focus has apparently changed to, "please buy products depicting changed versions of our existing IP".

 

[CreamCloud0]

Darkvision is a 2nd spell. Ergo no race should get it before 5th level as a free cast.

Darkvision

You touch a willing creature to grant it the ability to see in the dark. For the duration, that creature has [sense]darkvision[/sense] ou...

www.dndbeyond.com

ah, Yarrel referred to it as such and i didn't register they were speaking as a hypothetical, but regardless of if it is a cantrip or levelled spell the point i was making stands, just because a spell exists doesn't mean that all elves are perpetually casting Darkvision on themselves to have that trait.

 

[Yaarel]

Now this I agree with. I kinda hope that Darkvision goes away in the 2024 revision, but, I'm pretty sure it won't.

Making the access to Darkvision be by means of a cantrip for certain species, means it is easier to regulate the number of species with it.


The only species who should gain Darkvision "biologically" are who?
• Dwarf (sunless, underground)
• Duergar (dwarf)
• Tiefling (creature of night, fiend)
• Dragonborn (snake infrared)
• Orc (creature of night, mythologically of underworld)
• Tabaxi (cat nightvision)
• Yuan-ti (creature of night, fiend)
• Triton (deep sea)
• Shifter (cat nightvision)
• Kobold (sunless, underground)
• Vampire (sunless, creature of knight, undead)
• Dhampir (vampire)

That is pretty much it for player species with built in Darkvision.


These species shouldnt have Darkvision but include individuals who might.
• Wood Elf (British nocturnal fairyfolk)
• Drow Elf (sunless, underground)
• Shadar-kai Elf (sunless, Shadowfell, undead-ish)
• Earth Genasi (underground)
• Water Genasi (deep sea)
• Rock Gnome (fairyfolk underground)
• Svirfneblin Deep Gnome (sunless, underground)
• Aasimar (combat darkness)
• Hexblood (nocturnal Fey)
• Goblin, Hobgoblin, Bugbear (nocturnal fairyfolk)
• Owlin (owl nightvision)
• Aarakocra (owl nightvision)

• High Elf (no reason!)
• Eladrin Elf (no reason!)
• Astral Elf (no reason!)
• Thri-kreen (no reason!)
• Simic Hybrid (no reason!)
• Plasmoid (no reason!)

In these situations, where Darkvision wouldnt or shouldnt affect the entire species, it is better for any relevant individuals to rely on a Darkvision cantrip.

In the case of an Elf community, a Mythal Background is a possible access to Darkvsion.

 

[Micah Sweet]

People keep saying this like it's a surefire cure. First, people will still demand Dragonlance, Greyhawk etc be supported. Second, if the setting is a generic/kitchen sink, it will be viewed as a "yet another" but if it has a twist people will dislike it for being too different. Lastly, to make it successful, WotC will need to put energy into it which will be viewed as that setting "taking away" from the stable of successful settings.

I was there when Eberron came into being and I can recall the number of people who wondered why we were getting a steampunk setting of robots and choo choos instead of a new version of Dark Sun. Or how in 4e Nerath cannibalized Greyhawk and other settings rather than support them directly. Even the first 5 years of 5e were "Forgotten Realms is absorbing every setting" because they used it for the original span of adventures. A new setting will not fix these problems. It just adds another to the pile.

See, WotC has proven to me they have no ability or interest, for the most part, in putting out the sort of setting material I want (which is basically more of the kind of setting material D&D used to produce). Thus, they might as well make a new setting that appeals to the sensibilities of the fans they want to court, and stop generating milquetoast versions of stuff the giants whose shoulders they're currently standing on made.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

GILLS
Transmutation Cantrip

Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: S
Duration: 24 hours

You transmogrify your body to adapt to life underwater, sprouting gills and undulating body. You can breathe air and water. You gain a Swim Speed equal to your Speed.

This is terrible spell design. Cantrips like this shouldn’t exist. In effect it grants permanent capability as cantrips do not use spell slots so it is far more elegant to just write it as permanent feature.