Yaarel
He Mage
Witchlight uses the new official format for player character races. While presenting two new races, the fairy and the harengon, the format frames them within descriptions that appear to now be true for all races.
Most of the format is what we expect from the earlier WotC announcements. But Witchlight confirms some things that raise eyebrows. For example. The format mostly adheres to the Custom Lineage format in Tashas, except: A race no longer needs to be the "humanoid" creature type, where the fairy race is "fey" instead, and any other creature type is possible. Every race will come enjoy a choice of ability scores improvements: either +2 and +1, or three +1s instead. But the Players Handbook races as-is will still remain backwards-compatible. Each setting and even each campaign will determine independently which races are present − and which planes. Inferably, some settings wont include certain Players Handbook races − such as Dark Sun not including gnome, but this setting-dependence or campaign-dependence now seems the general principle rather than Dark Sun being an exception to the rule. Inferably as well, there could be old school settings like Dragonlance that wont have some of the more recent race traditions like Drow or Tiefling in the 5e Players Handbook. Players will choose whatever height and weight they want for their character concept "regardless of race", and enjoy broad control over their physical appearance. The "typical" size of any race is human-like. Thus inferably a Small size is assumed to be like a small human child? If a race has innate magic as a race trait, it will allow the player to choose any mental ability for its spellcasting, whether Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. Judging by the stats for the fairy race, where Flight by itself is a powerful feat, the equivalent to the darkvision trait appears to be more mechanically satisfying, worth about half of a feat: here equivalent to a cantrip at level 1, a slot 1 spell at level 3 and slot 2 spell at level 5. In sum, the Custom Lineage appears to be the new format for all races, except now the format allows more variety of possibilities.
A race is now: type, size, speed, feat, and a trait (worth about half a feat).
Ability score improvements, alignment, languages, and notably physical appearance, are no longer aspects of race. Instead, these other traits appear to be cultural or unique.
The following are quotes from the Witchlight adventure.
"
RACES
All the characters races presented in the Players Handbook are well suited for this adventure, as are fairies and harengons (both presented below).
If you allow players to create fairy or harengon characters for this adventure, they should assume that their characters are from the same world as the other player characters and have never set foot in the Feywild despite their fey heritage.
Creating Your Character
At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, such as the fairy or the harengon in this section, follow these additional rules during character creation.
ABILTY SCORE INCREASES
When determining your characters ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy.
The "Quick Build" section for you characters class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you cant raise any of your scores above 20.
LANGUAGES
Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Players Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.
LIFE SPAN
The typical lifespan of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the charactr doesnt meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. Fairies and harengons, however, have a lifespan of about a century.
HEIGHT AND WEIGHT
Player characters, regardless of race, typically fall into the same ranges of height and weight that humans have in our world. If youd like to determine your characters height or weight randomly, consult the Random Height and Weight table in the Players Handbook, and choose the row in the table that best represents the build you imagine for your character.
CREATURE TYPE
Every creature in D&D, including each player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. A race in this chapter tells you what your characters creature type is.
Heres a list of the games creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Oooze, Plant, Undead.
These types dont have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the Cure Wounds spell doesnt work on a Construct or an Undead.
"
"
FAIRY TRAITS
As a fairy, you have the following racial traits.
Creature Type. You are Fey.
Size. You are Small.
Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
Fairy Magic.
• You know the Druidcraft cantrip.
• Starting at 3rd level, you can cast the Faerie Fire spell with this trait.
• Starting at 5th level, you can also cast the Enlarge/Reduce spell with this trait.
• Once you cast Faerie Fire or Enlarge/Reduce with this trait, you cant cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast either of those spells using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level.
• Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells when you cast them with this trait (choose when you select this race).
Flight. Because of your wings, you have a flying speed equal to your walking speed. You cant use this flying speed if your wearing medium or heavy armor.
FAIRY
The Feywild is home to many fantastic peoples, including fairies. Fairies are a wee folk, but not nearly as much so as their pixie and sprite friends.
The first fairies spoke Elvish, Goblin, or Sylvan, and encounters with humans prompted many of them to learn Common as well.
Infused with the magic of the Feywild, most fairies look like small elves with insectile wings, but each fairy has a special physical characteristic that sets the fairy apart. For your fairy, roll on the Fey Characteristics table or choose an option from it. Youre also free to come up with your own characteristic if none of the suggestions below fit your character.
"
Notice. According to this official race format, the only traits that define a "race" are: type, size, speed, plus a feat and a trait (worth about a half feat).
Things like ability scores, languages, alignment, and even the specific appearance of the character, are no longer part of a race, and now seem "cultural" or uniquely "individual".
Most of the format is what we expect from the earlier WotC announcements. But Witchlight confirms some things that raise eyebrows. For example. The format mostly adheres to the Custom Lineage format in Tashas, except: A race no longer needs to be the "humanoid" creature type, where the fairy race is "fey" instead, and any other creature type is possible. Every race will come enjoy a choice of ability scores improvements: either +2 and +1, or three +1s instead. But the Players Handbook races as-is will still remain backwards-compatible. Each setting and even each campaign will determine independently which races are present − and which planes. Inferably, some settings wont include certain Players Handbook races − such as Dark Sun not including gnome, but this setting-dependence or campaign-dependence now seems the general principle rather than Dark Sun being an exception to the rule. Inferably as well, there could be old school settings like Dragonlance that wont have some of the more recent race traditions like Drow or Tiefling in the 5e Players Handbook. Players will choose whatever height and weight they want for their character concept "regardless of race", and enjoy broad control over their physical appearance. The "typical" size of any race is human-like. Thus inferably a Small size is assumed to be like a small human child? If a race has innate magic as a race trait, it will allow the player to choose any mental ability for its spellcasting, whether Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. Judging by the stats for the fairy race, where Flight by itself is a powerful feat, the equivalent to the darkvision trait appears to be more mechanically satisfying, worth about half of a feat: here equivalent to a cantrip at level 1, a slot 1 spell at level 3 and slot 2 spell at level 5. In sum, the Custom Lineage appears to be the new format for all races, except now the format allows more variety of possibilities.
A race is now: type, size, speed, feat, and a trait (worth about half a feat).
Ability score improvements, alignment, languages, and notably physical appearance, are no longer aspects of race. Instead, these other traits appear to be cultural or unique.
The following are quotes from the Witchlight adventure.
"
RACES
All the characters races presented in the Players Handbook are well suited for this adventure, as are fairies and harengons (both presented below).
If you allow players to create fairy or harengon characters for this adventure, they should assume that their characters are from the same world as the other player characters and have never set foot in the Feywild despite their fey heritage.
Creating Your Character
At 1st level, you choose whether your character is a member of the human race or of a fantastical race. If you select a fantastical race, such as the fairy or the harengon in this section, follow these additional rules during character creation.
ABILTY SCORE INCREASES
When determining your characters ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy.
The "Quick Build" section for you characters class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you cant raise any of your scores above 20.
LANGUAGES
Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Players Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.
LIFE SPAN
The typical lifespan of a player character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the charactr doesnt meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. Fairies and harengons, however, have a lifespan of about a century.
HEIGHT AND WEIGHT
Player characters, regardless of race, typically fall into the same ranges of height and weight that humans have in our world. If youd like to determine your characters height or weight randomly, consult the Random Height and Weight table in the Players Handbook, and choose the row in the table that best represents the build you imagine for your character.
CREATURE TYPE
Every creature in D&D, including each player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. A race in this chapter tells you what your characters creature type is.
Heres a list of the games creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Oooze, Plant, Undead.
These types dont have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the Cure Wounds spell doesnt work on a Construct or an Undead.
"
"
FAIRY TRAITS
As a fairy, you have the following racial traits.
Creature Type. You are Fey.
Size. You are Small.
Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.
Fairy Magic.
• You know the Druidcraft cantrip.
• Starting at 3rd level, you can cast the Faerie Fire spell with this trait.
• Starting at 5th level, you can also cast the Enlarge/Reduce spell with this trait.
• Once you cast Faerie Fire or Enlarge/Reduce with this trait, you cant cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast either of those spells using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level.
• Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells when you cast them with this trait (choose when you select this race).
Flight. Because of your wings, you have a flying speed equal to your walking speed. You cant use this flying speed if your wearing medium or heavy armor.
FAIRY
The Feywild is home to many fantastic peoples, including fairies. Fairies are a wee folk, but not nearly as much so as their pixie and sprite friends.
The first fairies spoke Elvish, Goblin, or Sylvan, and encounters with humans prompted many of them to learn Common as well.
Infused with the magic of the Feywild, most fairies look like small elves with insectile wings, but each fairy has a special physical characteristic that sets the fairy apart. For your fairy, roll on the Fey Characteristics table or choose an option from it. Youre also free to come up with your own characteristic if none of the suggestions below fit your character.
"
Notice. According to this official race format, the only traits that define a "race" are: type, size, speed, plus a feat and a trait (worth about a half feat).
Things like ability scores, languages, alignment, and even the specific appearance of the character, are no longer part of a race, and now seem "cultural" or uniquely "individual".
