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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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."

 

[Scribe]

@TwoSix Yeah I think its a given. The question to me that remains open, is will Wizards put distinction between the races into special rules that do not dictate class choice as heavily, but are still mechanically meaningful.

 

[Remathilis]

Sorry to pile on here, but . . .

The Strength attribute is NOT being defined as cultural. This is a misunderstanding of the UA article. A BONUS to Strength based on your race is being defined as cultural. Significant difference. It's the bonus, not the base attribute.

Agreed

Again, I think we need to remove ASIs from race/subrace in the game. But, imagine a race/culture in the game that promotes athleticism, like the goliaths . . . represented as a +2 to Strength.

Agreed

This can lead to stereotypes of our fantasy creatures like, "All goliaths are natural and superior athletes" which is uncomfortably similar to racist stereotypes in the real world. Hence the outcry.

Eh... I'm not so sure. At a certain point, you need something to make a goliath different than a human. I mean, even physical description of a race can be a stereotype; "elves are slender and graceful" seems like it omits the option to be obese and clumsy as an elf and promotes ideas of stereotypical beauty. But really, what else can you use to describe an elf at this point?

I'd be far more comfortable with a baseline and ways to go against the baseline than to omit all baselines altogether...

 

[TwoSix]

Also, there's a very big question about what you are optimizing for. We usually think of this as "combat", and even more specifically, "Damage per round".

This, of course, will hose you if, in order to succeed, the party needs broad skill bases beyond their primary damage stats.

How much of the need to optimize is rooted in limited vision in adventure design?

Definitely somewhat. Although not all, because I imagine the desire to optimize and a preference for combat in play have some correlation in players.

 

[Scribe]

At a certain point, you need something to make a goliath different than a human. I mean, even physical description of a race can be a stereotype; "elves are slender and graceful" seems like it omits the option to be obese and clumsy as an elf and promotes ideas of stereotypical beauty. But really, what else can you use to describe an elf at this point?

Yes. Without meaningful distinction between races, that yes involve biological differences as well as potentially cultural ones, its all just 'human but looking different'.

I mean why would a Human be able to relate to Elven Culture, when elves live (checking wiki) over 700 years? Image that concept. Imagine how that could impact a race or society? They are not the same.

That isnt racism, that is the appeal of fantasy. To put yourself into the shoes of someone fundamentally different and play out that experience.

 

[PsyzhranV2]

Eh... I'm not so sure. At a certain point, you need something to make a goliath different than a human.

Powerful build, resistance to cold damage, and immunity to altitude sickness. That's different.

I feel like this discussion about strength is overlooking the fact that STR in D&D is in itself an abstraction of several things mashed together. All the stats are, to be fair (especially DEX, that stat does WAAAAY too much in 5e), but even with STR, you have push/drag, lifting, and bodily coordination grouped under STR, and only one skill assigned to that stat by default (Athletics). But also weapon accuracy and damage are under STR, for some reason...?

So yes, a lineage that naturally gets +2 STR at chargen implies that members of that lineage are good and moving suff around, and also running, jumping, and climbing, but also naturally know how to swing swords better? Even though the muscle and nerve groups involved for all the above activities are different and require specific training for each, and you might also get cases like chimpanzees where they're really strong but don't have a great throwing arm that the D&D system can't account for (throwing weapons I 5e are STR unless they're finesse, just a reminder).

 

[Remathilis]

Powerful build, resistance to cold damage, and immunity to altitude sickness. That's different.

I feel like this discussion about strength is overlooking the fact that STR in D&D is in itself an abstraction of several things mashed together. All the stats are, to be fair (especially DEX, that stat does WAAAAY too much in 5e), but even with STR, you have push/drag, lifting, and bodily coordination grouped under STR, and only one skill assigned to that stat by default (Athletics). But also weapon accuracy and damage are under STR, for some reason...?

So yes, a lineage that naturally gets +2 STR at chargen implies that members of that lineage are good and moving suff around, and also running, jumping, and climbing, but also naturally know how to swing swords better? Even though the muscle and nerve groups involved for all the above activities are different and require specific training for each, and you might also get cases like chimpanzees where they're really strong but don't have a great throwing arm that the D&D system can't account for (throwing weapons I 5e are STR unless they're finesse, just a reminder).

I'm not advocating for ASI, but I'm asking how would you explain what a goliath is without using game mechanics and without relying on stereotypes.

 

[Scribe]

Anyway, this 'fantasy is racist' angle is beyond tiresome.

Mechanical Rules for these new Lineages

Dhampir.

Slightly faster than a human.
Darkvision
Spider Climb (walk on the ceiling, your hands are free) is neat.
Bite. Mechanically unique and as demonstrated by a few, powerful potentially too powerful.

Hexblood

Human Speed.
Darkvision
Fey Resilience - Anti Charm
Hex Magic - Some innate casting.
Magic Token - Some interesting RP but not my style for any kind of crunch.

Reborn

Human Speed.
Darkvision (Seriously, come on Humans, get with the times and develop some contact lenses for this...)
Deathless Nature - You are dead, you have some innate resilience. You dont eat, and you dont sleep normally.
Past Life - A neat little ability.

-------

So do these new lineages (are we honestly not going to just say race, its so much easier to type..) good for reflecting the desired tropes?

Dhampir feels great, and I think is very easily locked in as 'different' The Spider Climb alone is freaky, but the bite is a mechanical powerhouse, and it gets a speed increase, because again, Vampires have benefits.

Hexblood feels like a miss to me. Anyone have thoughts on it for or against?

Reborn, I still like it. Its not too crazy from a mechanical perspective, but I think it is distinct enough to feel like something new.

So if Wizards went in, and made every race/lineage as distinct as Dhampir, I'd be cool with that.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I'm not advocating for ASI, but I'm asking how would you explain what a goliath is without using game mechanics and without relying on stereotypes.

They're rock giants only not called giants because then we'd have to use a larger mini base an that makes spell effects all weird.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Anyway, this 'fantasy is racist' angle is beyond tiresome.

Mechanical Rules for these new Lineages

Dhampir.

Slightly faster than a human.
Darkvision
Spider Climb (walk on the ceiling, your hands are free) is neat.
Bite. Mechanically unique and as demonstrated by a few, powerful potentially too powerful.

Hexblood

Human Speed.
Darkvision
Fey Resilience - Anti Charm
Hex Magic - Some innate casting.
Magic Token - Some interesting RP but not my style for any kind of crunch.

Reborn

Human Speed.
Darkvision (Seriously, come on Humans, get with the times and develop some contact lenses for this...)
Deathless Nature - You are dead, you have some innate resilience. You dont eat, and you dont sleep normally.
Past Life - A neat little ability.

-------

So do these new lineages (are we honestly not going to just say race, its so much easier to type..) good for reflecting the desired tropes?

Dhampir feels great, and I think is very easily locked in as 'different' The Spider Climb alone is freaky, but the bite is a mechanical powerhouse, and it gets a speed increase, because again, Vampires have benefits.

Hexblood feels like a miss to me. Anyone have thoughts on it for or against?

Reborn, I still like it. Its not too crazy from a mechanical perspective, but I think it is distinct enough to feel like something new.

So if Wizards went in, and made every race/lineage as distinct as Dhampir, I'd be cool with that.

I like the Hexborn thematically - I think they go after something very close to but not quite the same as tieflings in that you're born with something evil inside you: how do you respond? Only in the Hexblood's case it's a little easier to hide but a lot freakier when it comes out.

Of course, I'm also coming form the context of Pathfinder's changelings, so it's not a whole new idea to me, just some rule to play that idea in 5e. This UA alone doesn't give quite enough fluff to really get a feel for it.

 

[Scribe]

Theme's are fine across all 3, but what I'm getting at is that there needs to be mechanics (imo) that push races into further distinction, and there is nothing in the Hexborn that would draw to me, in anyway at all, mechanically.