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."

 

[JEB]

It does: it indicates that WotC didn't feel the need to create separate statblocks for each race, or even a sidebar in the back of the MM telling people to go to the DMG to find out the racials ASIs. As far as they were concerned, a generic statblock was perfectly acceptable regardless of the race.

No, instead they had a sidebar in the back of the MM telling people to go to the PHB to find out the racial traits, if they wanted the NPC statblocks to reflect their race. Indicating that by default, the generic statblocks do NOT reflect racial traits. They were just saying you could use them for nonhumans without reflecting racial traits, if you wanted to.

Putting it another way: are they suggesting that dragonborn NPCs don't have breath weapons, because they're not reflected in the generic NPC stat blocks? That elf NPCs don't have darkvision?

 

[Chaosmancer]

It is interesting that they don't mention adjusting the Hit Die in the DMG, but the DMG doesn't suggest another other way to make a halfling version of a NPC such as a commoner, other than applying the halfling ASI and traits. And the ASIs they suggest match those for PCs in the PHB.

That could be because the rules for HD are either in the Player's Handbook for PCs or in the Monster Manual for NPCs and Monsters. Why would it be in the DMG?

Where are you getting the ability scores for these? I just looked, and all it says is "drow commoner" and "goblin commoner" and "kobold commoner" and "orc commoner". Seems to me they're assuming you'd follow the guidelines from the DMG, and apply the ASIs for those races to the commoner statblock. In which case they would be Dex 12, etc.

I listed these same stats in an earlier post, got them from 5e tools, but compared them directly to the numbers provided by DnDBeyond, which I checked for context.

However, you do indicate something interesting, that the DMG ASIs for goblins, kobolds, and orcs are slightly different from the ones provided in Volo's:

• DMG goblins are -2 Str, +2 Dex; Volo's goblins are also +2 Dex, but swap -2 Str for +1 Con.
• DMG kobolds are -4 Str, +2 Dex; Volo's kobolds have -2 Str, +2 Dex.
• DMG orcs are +2 Str, -2 Int; Volo's orcs are +2 Str, -2 Int, +1 Con.

However, this isn't evidence that they originally intended ASIs to reflect only PCs and not the race as a whole. It does, however, suggest that "PCs are special" might have older roots than the 2020 rethink. On the other hand, it might just suggest they rethought their default ASIs, but not the fundamental idea that ASIs are inherent to the race.


The lizardfolk commoner is an anomaly, but one that doesn't really prove either of our points...

The Lizardfolk in the DMG get +2 str, -2 int, in Volos they get +2 Con, +1 Wis
The Kenku in the DMG get +2 Dex, in Volo's they get +2 Dex, +1 Wis
The hobgoblin in the DMG gets nothing, no score increases, in Volos they get +2 Con, +1 Int

The Deep Gnome in the DMG gets +1 Str, +2 Con, in Mordenkainen's they get +2 Int, +1 Dex

So, we are up to at least seven "monstrous player races" that are innacurate between the DMG and their published versions. That is approaching 25% of all races.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Of course you can use the default statblock to represent a nonhuman NPC. As long as you're fine not having racial traits reflected.

But if you do want to customize them with racial traits, the MM points you to the PHB's traits, and the DMG expands on that with more specifics. In both cases, racial traits for PC races follow the same rules used for those races in the PHB. So once again, ASIs were not originally different between PCs and NPCs.

"Customizing them" is homebrewing them. It is altering the stat blocks. Yes, if you want to alter the Elven Archmage statblock to make them more Elven, you can add +2 Dex, +1 Wis, an extra cantrip, ect.

However, that default block is still the statblock for an elven archmage, without those ASIs. And yes, if you wanted to add elven traits, you referred to the list of elven traits in the PHB. I wouldn't use the DMG though, since you would be missing out on a lot of features.

No, they don't say they don't expect you to add the ASIs or traits. They just say you can use the default statblock if you want to, or you can choose to customize the stat block to represent their racial traits. It's not the same thing.

If using it straight from the book is the "non-custom option" then how is that expecting you to customize it? There is no where where it says you are expected to customize the statblock with ASIs and traits. It says you can.

Choosing to customize =/= the default.

My friend doesn't want to do "literally any other stats". He wants to create a typical halfling. Which means suggested defaults are helpful to him.

You don't think it's a problem. He does. You have your subjective opinion. He has his.

And for the halfling he has, and will always have, the 5e PHB to tell him what defaults to use.

And for the Goliath he has and will always have, the 5e Volo's guide to tell him what defaults to use.

And for the Changeling he has and will always have, the 5e Eberron guide to tell him... that they get a +2 Cha and that the other stats are floating.

And for the Human he has, and will always have, the 5e PHB to tell him that it is always floating and there are no defaults.

So, if changelings and humans aren't bad, why is the Lineage #6, the future product he wants to play, bad? It won't have a default? False. It will have the same default every race with floating scores has, that is that the scores are floating. That is their default.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I must have missed something, but the DMG page 282 tells you how to create NPCs with the Ability Modifiers...

It tells you how to homebrew those NPCs. In the same section as creating a completely unique monster or how to give class levels to monsters.

It is also wildly inaccurate to the later released products, or heck the current products.

Dwarves in the DMG get +2 con, then +2 strength or +2 Wisdom, not the +1 Wisdom that hill dwarves get in the PHB

The goblins in the DMG get -2 Str, +2 Dex; in Volo's they get +2 Dex, +1 Con.
The Kobolds in the DMG get -4 Str, +2 Dex; in Volo's kobolds originally got -2 Str, +2 Dex. Now they get +2 Dex
The Orcs in the DMG get +2 Str, -2 Int; in Volo's orcs originally got +2 Str, -2 Int, +1 Con. Now they get +2 str, +1 con
The Lizardfolk in the DMG get +2 str, -2 int, in Volos they get +2 Con, +1 Wis
The Kenku in the DMG get +2 Dex, in Volo's they get +2 Dex, +1 Wis
The hobgoblin in the DMG gets nothing, no score increases, in Volos they get +2 Con, +1 Int

The Deep Gnome in the DMG gets +1 Str, +2 Con, in Mordenkainen's they get +2 Int, +1 Dex

So, yes, there is a chart for customizing homebrew statblocks in the DMG. It it not meant to represent default stat blocks, and it is currently innaccurate.

And, as was shown by checking DnDBeyond or 5e tools, if you look at Goblin and Kobold Commoners in the Sunless Citadel, you see these stat arrays

Goblin 8/10/10/10/10/10
Kobold 10/10/10/10/10/10

Which is a strong indication, because DnDBeyond is official, that the commoner statblock is exactly what you should use, and you can use it straight with no mods.

 

[JEB]

That could be because the rules for HD are either in the Player's Handbook for PCs or in the Monster Manual for NPCs and Monsters. Why would it be in the DMG?

I don't know, why would it?

I listed these same stats in an earlier post, got them from 5e tools, but compared them directly to the numbers provided by DnDBeyond, which I checked for context.

I don't have a D&D Beyond subscription, but I am capable of searching the monster list. The only official, non-homebrew commoners I can find are the generic commoner, the lizardfolk commoner (which has issues, as both @Faolyn and I noted), and two others: a goblin commoner and a kobold commoner, both from Tales from the Yawning Portal. Since I have no subscription, I can't determine whether they conform to the DMG guidelines, or Volo's guidelines, or if they're just using the default commoner stat block.

That said, if they do use the generic commoner stat block, that simply means racial traits weren't applied. Also, D&D Beyond isn't infallible, either (though I would agree it's more reliable than 5etools) and has had unofficial stuff under its aegis (such as that racial feat supplement they released on DMs Guild years ago).

The Lizardfolk in the DMG get +2 str, -2 int, in Volos they get +2 Con, +1 Wis
The Kenku in the DMG get +2 Dex, in Volo's they get +2 Dex, +1 Wis
The hobgoblin in the DMG gets nothing, no score increases, in Volos they get +2 Con, +1 Int

The Deep Gnome in the DMG gets +1 Str, +2 Con, in Mordenkainen's they get +2 Int, +1 Dex

So, we are up to at least seven "monstrous player races" that are innacurate between the DMG and their published versions. That is approaching 25% of all races.

And as I pointed out, that may indeed suggest that "PCs are special" had begun to emerge as an idea sooner than 2020. Or it may just indicate that they had a rethink on their baseline ASIs. Either way, it doesn't have any bearing on how they treated ASIs in the core rules - as a trait that was part of the race's makeup.

If using it straight from the book is the "non-custom option" then how is that expecting you to customize it? There is no where where it says you are expected to customize the statblock with ASIs and traits. It says you can.

Choosing to customize =/= the default.

Then I reiterate the question I asked @Faolyn - if you assume that a generic commoner is meant to represent a member of a nonhuman race as is, does that mean elf NPCs don't have darkvision? That dragonborn NPCs don't have breath weapons?

The only interpretation that makes sense here is that you can use the NPC statblocks as is if you don't want racial traits factored in, or you can reflect their race by applying the racial traits from the PHB or DMG.

And for the halfling he has, and will always have, the 5e PHB to tell him what defaults to use.

And for the Goliath he has and will always have, the 5e Volo's guide to tell him what defaults to use.

And for the Changeling he has and will always have, the 5e Eberron guide to tell him... that they get a +2 Cha and that the other stats are floating.

And for the Human he has, and will always have, the 5e PHB to tell him that it is always floating and there are no defaults.

So, if changelings and humans aren't bad, why is the Lineage #6, the future product he wants to play, bad? It won't have a default? False. It will have the same default every race with floating scores has, that is that the scores are floating. That is their default.

First of all, when did I say floating ASIs were "bad"? I already said I don't really have a position on fixed vs. floating. I just want continued support for fixed ASIs as well, so folks who liked having defaults for character races can still get them.

Second, humans don't count for this discussion, because only the variant human has floating ASI in the core rules. The default human gets +1 to all six stats. If you pick variant human, you're already not a casual player, you're looking to customize.

Third, it is true that two existing races have partial floating ASI - the changeling and the half-elf. However, those both still provide some partial guidance for folks who want it, which is better than zero guidance. (Also, now I wonder how popular the changeling and half-elf are with casual players.)

Fourth, sure, Wizards is perfectly capable of establishing a character race so adaptable and formless that it wouldn't have any typical ASIs. But so what? You're still making things more complicated for folks who liked having suggestions. (In fact, similar to changelings and half-elves, I wonder how popular such a character race would have been with casual players.) I don't see the harm in throwing some recommendations in with them.

 

[Faolyn]

Putting it another way: are they suggesting that dragonborn NPCs don't have breath weapons, because they're not reflected in the generic NPC stat blocks? That elf NPCs don't have darkvision?

What they're suggesting is that NPCs only have the traits the DM wants them to have. If the DM doesn't bother to give an NPC dragonborn a breathweapon, it doesn't have one. Or, if the DM wants the NPC dragonborn Commoner to have a breathweapon that does 6d8 damage, or only 1d4 damage, it does. Or if you want to say that this NPC dragonborn is actually an iron dragonborn (remember the ferrous dragons?) and its breath weapon is 1d6 fire damage and 1d6 lightning damage, and it is resistant to both fire and lightning damage, that's also fine.*

In the MM, it says at the start of the chapter on NPCs, "You can add racial traits to an NPC. For example, a halfling druid might have a speed of 25 feet and the Lucky trait. Adding racial traits to an NPC doesn't alter its challenge rating. For more on racial traits, see the Player's Handbook." Note the word can. Note that it doesn't say stat increases--which in fact could end up altering its challenge rating. A higher Strength or Dex affects to-hit and damage rolls, a higher Dex affects AC, a higher Con affects hit points, and higher mental stats affect spell save DCs. You might consider that pedantic of me, but I've converted scores of monsters to 5e and believe me, at lower CRs, even a point or two can make a huge difference.

Or, as another example, take a look at the entry for Lycanthropes. There's a sidebar which reads "The statistics presented in this section assume a base creature of human. However, you can also use the statistics to represent nonhuman lycanthropes, adding verisimilitude by allowing a nonhuman lycanthrope to retain one or more of its humanoid racial traits. For example, an elf werewolf might have the Fey Ancestry trait."

One or more. It doesn't say, "you must increase the lycanthrope's stats according to their ASIs," nor does it say "you must give them all of their racial traits." Instead, it says you can add verisimilitude--note the word--and that an elf werewolf might have Fey Ancestry. Which means that no, an elven werewolf might in fact not have Darkvision, and it might actually have to sleep.

What I'm saying here is that NPCs are built much more like monsters than they are like PCs in this edition. They're not required to have all the exact scores that PCs are. If you want a strong blacksmith, you give that blacksmith a Strength of 16 or 18 or 20, because it's likely that the NPC's role as a blacksmith, and what they are used to making, is more important to the game than its race will be. You might decide that this one blacksmith is used to making cooking pots and horseshoes and can't make a sword to save his life and that's great, but that doesn't have anything to do with race; it's just that this one blacksmith is from a tiny, peaceful village. You can also decide that this one blacksmith isn't as good at his job because he's a halfling and halflings are physically weak, and that's also fine. But that has nothing to do with the PC stats.

--

* In case you don't remember the ferrous dragons, they were from Dragon Mag issue #170 and reprinted for 3e in #365. Iron dragons had a breath weapon of "superheated sparks," as well as a sleep breath weapon. I'd allow iron dragonborn, but say the player gets to pick between fire and lightning for its breath and resistance, and they don't have to be the same.

 

[Scribe]

It tells you how to homebrew those NPCs. In the same section as creating a completely unique monster or how to give class levels to monsters.

It is also wildly inaccurate to the later released products, or heck the current products.

Dwarves in the DMG get +2 con, then +2 strength or +2 Wisdom, not the +1 Wisdom that hill dwarves get in the PHB

The goblins in the DMG get -2 Str, +2 Dex; in Volo's they get +2 Dex, +1 Con.
The Kobolds in the DMG get -4 Str, +2 Dex; in Volo's kobolds originally got -2 Str, +2 Dex. Now they get +2 Dex
The Orcs in the DMG get +2 Str, -2 Int; in Volo's orcs originally got +2 Str, -2 Int, +1 Con. Now they get +2 str, +1 con
The Lizardfolk in the DMG get +2 str, -2 int, in Volos they get +2 Con, +1 Wis
The Kenku in the DMG get +2 Dex, in Volo's they get +2 Dex, +1 Wis
The hobgoblin in the DMG gets nothing, no score increases, in Volos they get +2 Con, +1 Int

The Deep Gnome in the DMG gets +1 Str, +2 Con, in Mordenkainen's they get +2 Int, +1 Dex

So, yes, there is a chart for customizing homebrew statblocks in the DMG. It it not meant to represent default stat blocks, and it is currently innaccurate.

And, as was shown by checking DnDBeyond or 5e tools, if you look at Goblin and Kobold Commoners in the Sunless Citadel, you see these stat arrays

Goblin 8/10/10/10/10/10
Kobold 10/10/10/10/10/10

Which is a strong indication, because DnDBeyond is official, that the commoner statblock is exactly what you should use, and you can use it straight with no mods.

All I see is 'we changed things a bit as we went through the publishing cycle on new books.'

Its clear to me they INTENDED for the core PHB lineages to follow a template of ASI. Is that changing now due to 'reasons'? Sure. That was the intent though, its right there.

 

[JEB]

And, as was shown by checking DnDBeyond or 5e tools, if you look at Goblin and Kobold Commoners in the Sunless Citadel, you see these stat arrays

Goblin 8/10/10/10/10/10
Kobold 10/10/10/10/10/10

I see those stat arrays on 5etools, which as I noted, is not official. What do they look like on D&D Beyond? The official versions, mind, not homebrew.

I also don't see those statblocks in the actual Tales from the Yawning Portal book, which suggests they may have been assembled by D&D Beyond themselves rather than Wizards of the Coast. So D&D Beyond might have simply messed up.

I'd also point out that the goblin commoner there does in fact have an ASI adjustment from the standard commoner. So even if those are official stats, clearly that means the default commoner does not reflect goblin stats.

 

[Faolyn]

I must have missed something, but the DMG page 282 tells you how to create NPCs with the Ability Modifiers...

Yes, it's there. But they don't say that you have to, and at least some of those numbers don't match up with what end up being the PC stats. They're guidelines for DMs who would rather have hard numbers instead of winging it.

 

[Scribe]

Yes, it's there. But they don't say that you have to, and at least some of those numbers don't match up with what end up being the PC stats. They're guidelines for DMs who would rather have hard numbers instead of winging it.

Of course you dont have to. You dont have to use any system as provided. You could have used Tasha's as Optional, nothing is set in stone.

I see a table of suggested attributes. Oddly, they aligned with the ASI in the PHB. Its not a leap.