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."

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

the problem being, of course, being what it honestly is, as in what are we trying to make?

I would say that we're trying to make options to play a vast variety of characters from different cultures. However, they should try to separate mechanics from culture. People should definitely be able to play the stereotypical crouching tiger, hidden dragon martial artist, but they should also avoid making a character that just wants to be a brawler be forced into the cultural stereotypes of the monk class.

plus to correct some of the stereotypes we have to avoid M.A.D or making it stupid powerful to avoid that.

Game design is the easy part in comparison to the cultural appropriation/multiculturalism dilemma. Paladins are MAD in order to balance them out. Monks are by no means "stupid powerful".

Anyway, we're extremely off topic. Maybe we should get back to the UA?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Bard, Druid, Paladin, no issue to me. While Western religious orders didnt lean into the Monastery as a physical/martial center to the level of trope development like the East, you could work one up without a terrible amount of effort. Get those stereotypical robes going, base the martial art aspect around straight up boxing...its salvageable I think.

Boxing isn’t even necessary, it’s not like Europe didn’t have full body martial arts traditions. They just got squashed better in Europe than in East Asia.

European longsword fighting was full of grappling, and kickboxing traditions like savate didn’t come from nowhere.

I’ve made kensei Monks as cinematic/Dumas-inspired swashbuckler Musketeers and a sword master skirmisher based on Khalid ibn Al-Walid, a variant open hand Assassin based on Assassin’s Creed (the variant was that they gained the ability to use deflect arrows in melee, basically), a pit fighter who used analytical observation to predict his enemy using the drunken master, and I’ve seen others like them. Love a monk.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I would say that we're trying to make options to play a vast variety of characters from different cultures. However, they should try to separate mechanics from culture. People should definitely be able to play the stereotypical crouching tiger, hidden dragon martial artist, but they should also avoid making a character that just wants to be a brawler be forced into the cultural stereotypes of the monk class.

Game design is the easy part in comparison to the cultural appropriation/multiculturalism dilemma. Paladins are MAD in order to balance them out. Monks are by no means "stupid powerful".

Anyway, we're extremely off topic. Maybe we should get back to the UA?

we should get back to the UA but this topic is clearly un-finished.

the poll is up, has everyone made their opinion know yet?

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

the poll is up, has everyone made their opinion know yet?

I have.

 

[Scribe]

the poll is up, has everyone made their opinion know yet?

Yeah, as soon as I saw the link, looks like there is more complaining about ASI, than review of the races on Twitter lol

 

[Mind of tempest]

Yeah, as soon as I saw the link, looks like there is more complaining about ASI, than review of the races on Twitter lol

what does that exactly stand for as I forget, I mean I know in practice what it is but not what it stands for?

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

what does that exactly stand for as I forget, I mean I know in practice what it is but not what it stands for?

Ability Score Increase/Improvement

 

[Mind of tempest]

Ability Score Increase/Improvement

man do I feel dumb to forget the basics.

 

[TrickyDUK2]

Not wanting to continue any of my previous discussion on this, but after reading several more pages, my mind started thinking, what would 6e actually look like if WoTC continue with the current direction of travel, imagining that race and class both need an overhaul, and that more sacred cows are lined up for slaughter? I just wonder if there is line somewhere that says this has gone too far and if WoTC step over that line, would the D&D success bubble burst?

I was all excited by 4e until I finally played it. I took a year off fantasy RPGs until Pathfinder came out. When 5e came out, I realised that my personal preference was still 3.x/Pathfinder, but 5e was a step in the right direction and couldn't deny its strengths as a game. D&D is very influential in the TTRPG market, but it isn't infallible (4e proved this). Would it continue to be the trend setter or push itself too far outside of the community's expectations?

 

[Azzy]

the poll is up, has everyone made their opinion know yet?

Indeed.