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."

 

[Charlaquin]

Agreed, we have established that Str is a poor abstraction.

So what we do about it is. Next.

Render it an even worse abstraction? That is an option.

I would phrase it as “accept that it’s a poor abstraction and stop letting it get in the way of character build flexibility,” but yes. I do think we should do that.

 

[Remathilis]

I actually agree that the climbing rules do not make much sense, and I think climbing being dex-based would probably yield more intuitive results. Elephants or squirrels, which are better climbers?

Yes. Let's make Dex even more Uber.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Exactly! Why are we so worried about modeling something (combat ability) that should only be 1/3 of the game!

I'm not even remotely worried about "modeling" it. Smells like simulationism to me. I'm purely interested in rules that result in non-obvious decision-making. I'm perfectly able to turn those rules into exciting visuals in my imagination.

 

[TwoSix]

Agreed, we have established that Str is a poor abstraction.

So what we do about it is. Next.

Render it an even worse abstraction? That is an option.

I prefer my solution, which is "Recognize that stats are an historical artifact whose only real use is as a game balance tool, and not use them to derive any sort of world-building or simulative rules."

In my games, goliath NPCs beat halfling NPCs in wrestling because goliaths are way bigger and stronger. But when it comes to PCs making rolls, those assumptions are out the window. A halfling PC can beat a goliath at wrestling because that's what heroes do.

 

[Hurin70]

Well, I have done lots of physical sports and competitions over my lifetime. But I can't say I've ever wrestled with a halfling, orc, or goliath. Also, Flavio Baccianini (4'10") is much stronger than Robert Wadlow (8'11") ever was.

That's not really the question though, is it? How much stronger would Wadlow have been if he had trained as much as Baccianini? It wouldn't be a contest.

As an aside, I've always just justified it as that we have real life examples of something being smaller than a human but much stronger by weight (like a chimp), so it's not unreasonable to have a halfling that just a strong. Well, being a fantasy world with heroes is all the justification we really need, but if you want more, then I go by the other justification as well.

You can try to justify it with strained arguments, but I've never heard of a chimp who was stronger than a bull. Relative strength is not absolute strength.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Render it an even worse abstraction? That is an option.

I assume by "worse" you mean less realistic, in ways that are important to you. I say "better" if it results in gameplay where optimal choices are less obvious.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Yeah, I agree. My position is simply that the (in my opinion minuscule) verisimilitude gained by Goliaths having +2 strength is not a worthwhile tradeoff for the (in my opinion significant) imbalance it causes (or perception of imbalance, if you prefer).

Well, we value it differently. Though I agree that in this instance the perception of significance is greater than actual significance, which is exactly why I feel it is good for verisimilitude. Your strength score being higher than anyone else's feels significant, even though the actual mechanical impact might not be that great and doesn't cause a huge imbalance.

 

[Hurin70]

Also, it should probably not be lost that we have historical literature precedence for strong halflings. Per Tolkien:

Bandobras charged at Golfimbul and knocked off his head with a club. According to a legend, Golfimbul's head flew through the air for 100 yards and went down a rabbit hole.

Edit* Also, I should note that for the longest time, up until a couple years ago, I was totally on the other side of the argument, arguing why halflings shouldn't be as strong. After evaluating everything since then (like the above), I've changed my position.

You don't think Tolkien actually meant to say that Golfimbul's head really flew through the air that far though, right?

Tolkien even gives a hint by introducing the quote with 'According to a legend'. And he ultimately adds that this was how golf was invented. You don't perceive any humor, irony, or skepticism in this passage -- you take it as a literal account?

 

[Guest 6801328]

I prefer my solution, which is "Recognize that stats are an historical artifact whose only real use is as a game balance tool, and not use them to derive any sort of world-building or simulative rules."

In my games, goliath NPCs beat halfling NPCs in wrestling because goliaths are way bigger and stronger. But when it comes to PCs making rolls, those assumptions are out the window. A halfling PC can beat a goliath at wrestling because that's what heroes do.

YES! This. Perfectly said.

When the halfling wins the wrestling match it doesn't have to mean that it was because muscle-against-muscle he won. It could mean something more evocative and cinematic, like he managed to get up on the goliath's shoulders and choked him out.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Yes. Let's make Dex even more Uber.

Yes, I know. That's why it cannot be done.