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."

 

[Chaosmancer]

Just because I’m interested in how this may affect future D&D vs. current D&D, doesn’t this change miss the point if it doesn’t apply retrospectively.

At the moment Tasha’s is optional (if you have book) and UA is playtest. But this UA appears to make a statement that there is now an official change to rules design. So how does that apply retrospectively in a consistent way? Again, there is now two standards until we have 6e.

Maybe you are refering to something I don't understand, but "retrospectively" is "with regards to the past".

And this rule doesn't change the past rules. Like you said, there are two systems right now. They aren't going to change the old system. They aren't going to remove the racial ASIs from anything already printed. Going forward, they will be doing designs like this, but that is why I think this whole discussion has been largely missing the point. We aren't discussing Tasha's, that option exists, it was published and fighting about whether it should be published is misplaced. We are discussing these lineages, so all the discussion about whether a halfling should have a +2 strength is pointless. The PHB doesn't give that. Tasha's does. That is all established.

Should a Hexborn be allowed to have a +2 strength is the content we are discussing. Perhaps we can discuss "should all future DnD 5e lineages be designed in this manner?" but thinking about the races "missing" from 5e... I can only think of the Thr-Kreen as a major race that isn't supported, and as I pointed out, the "kreen" is a race with many variants, so could easily fit into this new design.

Elves, Halflings, Minotaurs, Humans, Dragonborn, Orcs, Goblins, Kobolds, Humans, Dwarves, Tritons, Yuan-ti, Tielfings, Aasimar, Genasi, Gnomes, Aarcrockra, Kenku, Tabxi, Shifters, Changelings, Warforged, Lizardfolk, Goliaths, Firbolg... discussing all of these is fairly irrelevant, because they are already printed under the old system, and are covered under Tasha's as an optional system. If you want to argue that Tasha's is a bad option for the game, feel free, but it was printed and exists and that is basically that. Nothing in this UA changed any of that.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

No. I'm saying that having proficiency in Charisma-based skills and having a higher Charisma score don't enhance your ability to use your main rogue feature (Sneak Attack), while having higher Dexterity does. Skills are important to the class, mostly for non-combat purposes, but the class is balanced around combat (all classes are). A rogue will more often than not be mechanically better off taking a higher Dexterity score than Charisma score.

I clarified "base rogue features". A swashbuckler benefits mechanically from having a high Charisma score, but Arcane Tricksters don't. I said "base rogue features" for the purpose of avoiding this route of the discussion. It doesn't matter. My point is "the majority of rogues benefit mechanically from having a higher Dexterity score than Charisma score" and then you came into the thread and quoted my yelling "wHaT aBoUt SwAsHbUcKlErS?!?!?"

So do you just skip all the non-combat stuff in your games or what?

The idea that everyone needs to be equally good in combat is a bizarre D&Dism, and most RPGs do not operate like that; combat is just one of many facet of the game the character can be competent at. Now in an action adventure game (which arguably is the genre D&D is going for) it makes sense for all characters to be able to at least contribute in combat in some way instead of just hiding behind rocks every time enemies appear, but the insistence that everyone needs to be absolutely equal at it with no variance whatsoever is just absurd. Do you also think all characters need to be equally good at social encounters? Equally good at avoiding and disarming traps?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Maybe. But I've red One Thousand and One Night also and Al Qadim seems me in line with the depiction of OTON which is not an interpretation of somebody else culture. So my point of view is why OTON is ok and AQ no?

It's not. It's quite offensive to many of Arabic origin.

However, Hasbro isn't trying to sell The Arabian Nights to an international market.

 

[Aldarc]

Maybe. But I've red One Thousand and One Night also and Al Qadim seems me in line with the depiction of OTON which is not an interpretation of somebody else culture. So my point of view is why OTON is ok and AQ no?

This reply gets all the lolz I have to give.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Maybe. But I've red One Thousand and One Night also and Al Qadim seems me in line with the depiction of OTON which is not an interpretation of somebody else culture. So my point of view is why OTON is ok and AQ no?

In Arabic?

Or a translation written by a westerner? A westerner who lived in what era?

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

In Arabic?

Or a translation written by a westerner? A westerner who lived in what era?

If you know what OTON is, you can understand that your question is meaningless.

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

This reply gets all the lolz I have to give.

Thank you for being constructive

 

[Paul Farquhar]

If you know what OTON is, you can understand that your question is meaningless.

It's a collection of folk tales from the Middle East and South Asia, with a later linking story, possibly associated with merchants traveling the Silk Route. It received it's title and much of the "Scheherazade" narrative when it was translated into English in 1706.

So:

• Many of the stories are not actually Arabian;
• Much of it was changed to appeal to an 18th century English audience. So "which translation" is a very meaningful question;
• It only offers a tiny glimpse of a small part of several broad and diverse cultures. It's like learning everything you need to know about Germany by reading Grimms' Fairy Tales.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Aladain, the Disney's TV cartoon show was one of my favorites, and I don't remember anybody saying it was potically incorrect or cultural apropiation. If I were from Middle East I would try to use the "1001 nights" and fiction like this to promote tourism in my country.

Other option would be allowing 3PPs from those countries to publish their own setting set in their cultures. I think WotC has hired as game desinger Makenzie de Armas, who has worked in "the island of Sina Ura", a D&D setting based in Filipino culture. Other setting, "Koryo Hall of Adventures" is based in Korea, and Kaidan in a "gothic" version of Japan with a lot of angry ghosts.

I dare to say even some people from Middle East would support more fiction as "1001 nights" for western audence for this to be used to oriental cultures and like a way to fight against islamophobia.

I remember an anime what is totally based in a Spanish capital, Cuenca, even some pictures were identical copies of real images. We could say this is a case of cultural appropiation. Do you know what Cuenca did? They chose to use that anima as a hook for Japanese tourists. Why not?

* We have got the option to use "special background" to "unlock" certain "subraces" for typecasting, for example a barbarian elf (for Dark Sun, or a rip-off of Jackandor) with an alternate atributtes modifieres. I said there was an "class act" article in a Dragon Magazine number 341. pag 92-93 ( I bought a year when I was in a capital city, I didn't download a pdf version). .

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Aladain, the Disney's TV cartoon show was one of my favorites, and I don't remember anybody saying it was potically incorrect or cultural apropiation.

The Aladdin controversy Disney can’t escape - BBC Culture