D&D 5E Unearthed Arcana: Gothic Lineages & New Race/Culture Distinction

The latest Unearthed Arcana contains the Dhampir, Reborn, and Hexblood races. The Dhampir is a half-vampire; the Hexblood is a character which has made a pact with a hag; and the Reborn is somebody brought back to life.

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dnd.wizards.com

Perhaps the bigger news is this declaration on how race is to be handled in future D&D books as it joins other games by stating that:

"...the race options in this article and in future D&D books lack the Ability Score Increase trait, the Language trait, the Alignment trait, and any other trait that is purely cultural. Racial traits henceforth reflect only the physical or magical realities of being a player character who’s a member of a particular lineage. Such traits include things like darkvision, a breath weapon (as in the dragonborn), or innate magical ability (as in the forest gnome). Such traits don’t include cultural characteristics, like language or training with a weapon or a tool, and the traits also don’t include an alignment suggestion, since alignment is a choice for each individual, not a characteristic shared by a lineage."

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

It's actually a lot more realistic to have proficiencies come from your background. No pirate is going to learn to wear plate, even if they are on a boat of dwarven pirates.

None of the races' cultural proficiencies give plate armor proficiency. Your culture and your background are two different things.

 

[Hurin70]

Look, chap - you've got a Tolkien ubermench handle followed by an 88 tag (="H(eil)H(itler)") and you keep arguing for racial essentialism? I'm going to look askance at your entire argument throughout , and you aren't exactly coming up all non racist, y'know? Might be worth reevaluating.

You serious?

Tolkien was strongly opposed to Nazism and antisemitism in all its forms. Surely you know that? I'll send you the famous letter he wrote making that abundantly clear.

And having 8 as your favorite number does not make you a Nazi.

I can't believe I have to say that.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

You serious?

Tolkien was strongly opposed to Nazism and antisemitism in all its forms. Surely you know that? I'll send you the famous letter he wrote making that abundantly clear.

And having 8 as your favorite number does not make you a Nazi.

I can't believe I have to say that.

The 88 gave me pause as well, but to equate Hurin to some sort of ubermensch concept is just nonsense, yeah. Tolkien was opposed to violent ethno-supremecist expansionism. Doesn’t mean a LoTR fan can’t be a Nazi, just look at every fandom ever, but yeah that part is a super big leap.

Still, 88 in your handle is gonna raise eyebrows, no matter what it’s there for in actuality. Its used by Nazis enough that its reasonable to be suspicious of it.

 

[Sacrosanct]

You serious?

Tolkien was strongly opposed to Nazism and antisemitism in all its forms. Surely you know that? I'll send you the famous letter he wrote making that abundantly clear.

And having 8 as your favorite number does not make you a Nazi.

I can't believe I have to say that.

I have no idea if you're a neo Nazi or not, but surely you're aware that the number 88 is often used by neo Nazis, right? They've been doing it for a long time now. So perhaps just an unfortunate cooincidence.

 

[Charlaquin]

 

[Hurin70]

I have no idea if you're a neo Nazi or not, but surely you're aware that the number 88 is often used by neo Nazis, right? They've been doing it for a long time now. So perhaps just an unfortunate cooincidence.

I've never heard anything like this before. I've been using this username for a while; no one ever said anything remotely like that to me. 8 has been my favorite number since I was 8 years old (it was a good year), so whenever I have to type a number I type 8 or 88. And when I signed up for the forums, Hurin was taken, so I typed 88.

But now that I've been made aware that this number is used by white supremacists, let me be clear, so we can all move on: I reject white supremacy and all forms of racism. I never intended to perpetuate such a harmful and misguided ideology. My apologies if I gave the impression that I was signaling white nationalists.

 

[Argyle King]

I was today years old when I learned that numbers were bigotry.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I've never heard anything like this before. I've been using this username for a while; no one ever said anything remotely like that to me. 8 has been my favorite number since I was 8 years old (it was a good year), so whenever I have to type a number I type 8 or 88.

It's literally one of the most common Nazi symbols...

88

88 is a white supremacist numerical code for Heil Hitler. Read more about the meaning behind the numbers, as well as how it’s used in non-extremist forms.

www.adl.org

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I was today years old when I learned that numbers were bigotry.

They're not bigotry, but numbers can symbolize other things than just their value in the number system. Like 69 or 240. A "full 180" is another example. 88 symbolizes white supremacy in a lot of American neonazi groups. Numbers aren't bigotry, but can symbolize bigotry.

 

[Argyle King]

It's news to me too.

The explanation seems counterintuitive. I would have maybe guessed because "88" could be a disguised way of typing "SS."

Regardless of the explanation. I am also someone who had never heard about it.

What races are found on page 88 of Volo's?

Edit: It appears to be a discussion of how Orcs can be bred with other things to be stronger. hmm