Level Up (A5E) Changes to race (species?)

[Undrave]

I am strongly leaning toward that solution.

At level 1 ("level 0"), every character gets a free feat. The human uses this feat for any feat. Other species suggest certain "typical" feats that a player can choose, but the player can still use this feat for anything, depending on the concept of this unique player character.

Notice to improve one ability score by 2, or two ability scores by 1, is still a kind of feat that a player can choose.

Maybe the species-limited feat could actually be slightly BETTER than a straight +2? Like the Orc feat givs you +2 STR and bumps your max STR to 22 (or some other ribbon?). Essentially, not all Orcs are stronger, but for an Orc it's easier to become the strongest than for another specie, if they're willing to put the effort in ya know?

 

[Micah Sweet]

What the Players Handbook calls "race" is inseparable from "culture".

Everything from language, to skill and weapon proficiencies, to ability improvements, to special traits, look like the same mechanics that backgrounds and feats grant. Certain mechanically loaded concepts, like vampire or dragon, work better as classes that advance across levels, or as feats with level prereqs.

Suppose "race" splits into: culture + species.

Essentially, "species" seems little more than a place on the character sheet to put "physical appearance", such as skin color and average height. Because skin color, hair color, and eye color, plus height and weight, are things that a player chooses arbitrarily anyway, according to personal taste and character concept, species itself doesnt matter mechanically.

Besides physical appearance, everything seems like optional choices that backgrounds can supply, including proficiencies in language, skill, tool, singular weapon, and non-combat minor-feature ribbon. Even horns or claws are a weapon proficiency, mechanically.

Certain mechanics relating to height and weight might imply mechanics. Small size disadvantages heavy weapons. Large might hypothetically grant a size bonus to damage, albeit not necessarily. For the most part, the player character can default to Medium size. Even a halfling player character can be a tall 4 feet, rather than the "average" 3 feet. An ogre player character might be unusuaully short at 7 feet, or else young and still growing. During character building at level 1, to be Large or Small is a player choice, that seems more like part of a feat, whether a benefit or a cost, that a player likes and chooses.

Similarly Speed modifiers, whether a benefit or cost, seems more like part of feat. Compare how Monk and Barbarian learn to walk faster.

Even Darkvision looks like a cantrip that any culture can learn. Compare how Warlocks learn how to do it.

Notice how a species that has tough, scaly, natural armor is only a feat. For the Dragonborn species, Dragon Hide (Xanathars) is an optional feat choice that a player may or may not want.

Even Wings work more like a feat, that according to other editions of D&D has a level prerequisite, or else like a prestige class or a path.

An ability score improvement comes from a feat, whether the feat grants +2 to one ability score, or +1 to two ability scores. A halffeats can swap with one of these +1s.



In sum, a "species" is simply a place on the character sheet to put physical appearance. Language is cultural, and depends on the setting. Everything else is cultural backgrounds that supply proficiencies and ribbons, ideals and flaws. Additionally, both species and backgrounds can suggest certain feats that a player might want to choose to further develop the concept of the species.



When designing a species, the flavor depends entirely on the setting. Each setting guide can supply a default version of a species that represents a "typical" member of the species within this setting and that preselects the choices of skin color and average height, plus mechanically an ability improvement, feat, and a "species background" that correlates with the species in this setting. The player can swap each of the mechanical units − feat, halffeat, proficiency/ribbon − for an other that is more desirable to individuate and personalize a character concept.

Are you describing what you think the game is now, or what you'd like it to be? Certainly you can say that racial features are mechanical widgets in an arbitrary package, but that's neither how they are presented nor how they are intended.

 

[Haldrik]

Maybe the species-limited feat could actually be slightly BETTER than a straight +2? Like the Orc feat givs you +2 STR and bumps your max STR to 22 (or some other ribbon?). Essentially, not all Orcs are stronger, but for an Orc it's easier to become the strongest than for another specie, if they're willing to put the effort in ya know?

To ensure that every feat balances with every other feat, both safeguards the gaming mechanics, and the health of the D&D game, and makes customizability easier by swapping one feat for an other feat.

If the design needs more powerful mechanics, then give each character two feats at level one. Then the player can use the feat to improve one ability score by 2, and use the other feat in various ways, such as two halffeats, or improve one ability score by 1 plus one halffeat, or whatever.

 

[Haldrik]

Are you describing what you think the game is now, or what you'd like it to be?

Both.

I looked again at the Players Handbook format for the races.

It is clear that each race is almost entirely "cultural". Plus certain features look more like part of a feat. Even ability score improvements are mechanically a feat.

Everything in a Players Handbook race is mechanical units of feats, halffeats, and ribbons ( ≈ proficiencies).

These are easy to swap if a player prefers to do so.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Both.

I looked again at the Players Handbook format for the races.

It is clear that each race is almost entirely "cultural". Plus certain features look more like part of a feat. Even ability score improvements are mechanically a feat.

Everything in a Players Handbook race is mechanical units of feats, halffeats, and ribbons ( ≈ proficiencies).

These are easy to swap if a player prefers to do so.

This sounds a little like wishful thinking. Many traits in a race are absolutely presented as part of who they are biologically. Darkvision, powerful build, natural attacks and armor are the most obvious. You can treat everything as swappable culture bits if you wish, but that's not what they're intended to be at all, and the explanations required to make them that would get obtuse very quickly IMO.

 

[Haldrik]

This sounds a little like wishful thinking. Many traits in a race are absolutely presented as part of who they are biologically. Darkvision, powerful build, natural attacks and armor are the most obvious. You can treat everything as swappable culture bits if you wish, but that's not what they're intended to be at all, and the explanations required to make them that would get obtuse very quickly IMO.

The thing is, even "biological" is optional. For example, officially, a player who wants their Dragonborn to have natural armor from a thick scaly hide, needs to choose a feat to do so.

I noticed Mordenkeinans said that Monster Manual entries for demons only represent "broad trends" as defined by human demonologists, but that actual individual demons "defy those tendencies". The same is true for any species − especially for a magical species.



There is merit if a setting presents a default entry that represents a "typical" member of the species, while also mentioning there is diversity. This allows a player to go with the default, or else take time to customize it.

In any case, the differences between the species that are in the Players Handbook are minimal, and are mostly cosmetic or cultural.

 

[glass]

Random idea but what if we just gave every player a free feat at level 1 and made up some Species feat, including some that are just '+2 to a stat tradtionally ascribed to them'?

That's actually not a bad idea.

_
glass.

 

[Dire Bare]

Both.

I looked again at the Players Handbook format for the races.

It is clear that each race is almost entirely "cultural". Plus certain features look more like part of a feat. Even ability score improvements are mechanically a feat.

Everything in a Players Handbook race is mechanical units of feats, halffeats, and ribbons ( ≈ proficiencies).

These are easy to swap if a player prefers to do so.

This sounds a little like wishful thinking. Many traits in a race are absolutely presented as part of who they are biologically. Darkvision, powerful build, natural attacks and armor are the most obvious. You can treat everything as swappable culture bits if you wish, but that's not what they're intended to be at all, and the explanations required to make them that would get obtuse very quickly IMO.

D&D traditionally, and in the 5th Edition, does not differentiate very well between species (genetics or inherited traits) and culture (learned traits) and the D&D "races" are a mix of the two . . . which is something that's been being discussed for quite some time now here on the boards.

Roughly . . . very roughly . . . race equates to species and subrace equates to culture . . . but both levels are a mix of learned and inherited traits.

D&D would be improved, dare I say "leveled up" (heh) if that distinction was made more clear. It's always going to be an abstraction, but this would be an improvement to the game's suspension of disbelief and will help excise some of the racist baggage of how D&D treats race.

 

[Dire Bare]

I am strongly leaning toward that solution.

At level 1 ("level 0"), every character gets a free feat. The human uses this feat for any feat. Other species suggest certain "typical" feats that a player can choose, but the player can still use this feat for anything, depending on the concept of this unique player character.

Notice to improve one ability score by 2, or two ability scores by 1, is still a kind of feat that a player can choose.

This is close to what the new Theros campaign does. Every character gets to choose a supernatural gift at 1st level, which is essentially a free (or extra) feat. The book lists 10 campaign-themed gifts, but also gives the option of simply taking a feat (with the DM's permission).

I've already decided that this is my new normal, that in every game I run, every character gets to take a supernatural gift or feat at 1st level.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The thing is, even "biological" is optional. For example, officially, a player who wants their Dragonborn to have natural armor from a thick scaly hide, needs to choose a feat to do so.

I noticed Mordenkeinans said that Monster Manual entries for demons only represent "broad trends" as defined by human demonologists, but that actual individual demons "defy those tendencies". The same is true for any species − especially for a magical species.



There is merit if a setting presents a default entry that represents a "typical" member of the species, while also mentioning there is diversity. This allows a player to go with the default, or else take time to customize it.

In any case, the differences between the species that are in the Players Handbook are minimal, and are mostly cosmetic or cultural.

Profoundly disagree. Some racial traits are inherited and others are learned. You can separate these out and balance them so people can mix and match ancestry and culturs, and I think that's great. But saying everything's cultural or you can be physically different from everyone else in your species in a mechanical way is an excuse to just have a giant list and pick what you want, and that's not the way I want to play. Your mileage may vary, of course.