D&D (2024) One D&D Cleric & Revised Species Playtest Includes Goliath

"In this new Unearthed Arcana for the One D&D rules system, we explore material designed for the next version of the Player’s Handbook. This playtest document presents the rules on the Cleric class, it's Life Domain subclass, as well as revised Species rules for the Ardling, the Dragonborn, and the Goliath. You will also find a current glossary of new or revised meanings for game terms."

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WotC's Jeremey Crawford discusses the playtest document in the video below.

 

[Maxperson]

Hah. That'll piss off the Eberron-haters. I'm all for their inclusion (it's a bit difficult to translate them to other worlds, IME), but I could see a certain section of the fanbase throwing a fit over that.

I'm one of those who don't like Eberron as a setting.

The magic is everywhere flavor, even if it is low level, is the opposite of what I like with magic. I'm also not a fan of not knowing if the gods are real. That said, there are elements of Eberron(mostly the races) that I really like. Among my 4 players in my Forgotten Realms campaign are a warforged and a changeling.

 

[Dungeonosophy]

I propose this core species list:

1. Ardling (i.e. animaloids, including 'furries.' With Dog Ardling and Cat Ardling (a.k.a. Lupin and Rakasta) as two of the core varieties. I mean, cats and dogs are universal. But also include Kenku (Sparrow Ardling), Tortle (Turtle Ardling) - which were presented as 'common' species in one of the 5E childrens books. Plus the other animals mentioned in the playtest.)
2. Dhampir (vampires are a thing. It'd be 'nice' to have one undead-ish core species.)
3. Dragonborn
4. Dungeon Avatar (from Battlezoo Ancestries. So that you literally have 'dungeons' & 'dragons'!!!)
5. Dwarf
6. Elf
7. Gnome
8. Goliath (Cloud, Fire, Hill, Mountain, Stone, and Jogishk Goliaths (Half-Ogre or Ogre-Blooded). Half-Ogres were a core species in 2.5E (Skills & Powers.) It's good to have 'giants' to go with the 'dragons.' And a big species to go with the little species: gnomes and halflings)
9. Halfling
10. Orc (just because Half-Orcs have always been a part of AD&D.)
11. Planetouched (with Tiefling and Aasimar as the core varieties. So that darkness is balanced by light. Maybe also include Fire, Air, Water, and Earth Genasi, since elemental 'benders' are a thing, and so that the elemental types provide a neutral 'spectrum' between the Tiefling and the Aasimar.)
12. For an even dozen, maybe: Goblin (as a competitor with Pathfinder), or a shapechanger or construct (Warforged) or plant...or ooze!

'Ardling' and 'Planetouched' would be a 'species type' or 'species group', not a species in themselves.

All combos of these species ought to be supported in the core rules as bi-species or multi-species blends. With a basic assumption that magically-spawned births (rather than natural conjugal births) are pretty common in the D&D Multiverse.

The original concept of Ardlings could be slightly supported by a bit of lore that says that Aasimar / Ardling unions are relatively common.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I'm one of those who don't like Eberron as a setting.

The magic is everywhere flavor, even if it is low level, is the opposite of what I like with magic.

As many of us Eberron-fans have told @Scribe in the active Eberon thread, there are major parts of Eberron that don't have the "wide, low magic" that Sharn and some other places in Khorvaire do. But I can understand why its presence would put someone off.

I'm also not a fan of not knowing if the gods are real.

Understandable. I, on the other hand, think that it makes for way more interesting and compelling religions, like the Blood of Vol, Church of the Silver Flame (and its variants; the Ghaash'kala and Shulassakar)

That said, there are elements of Eberron(mostly the races) that I really like. Among my 4 players in my Forgotten Realms campaign are a warforged and a changeling.

The races of Eberron are definitely great.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm one of those who don't like Eberron as a setting.

The magic is everywhere flavor, even if it is low level, is the opposite of what I like with magic. I'm also not a fan of not knowing if the gods are real. That said, there are elements of Eberron(mostly the races) that I really like. Among my 4 players in my Forgotten Realms campaign are a warforged and a changeling.

The only thing about the Eberron gods I don't like is how much everybody crows about it, like it's the greatest thing since sliced bread and thank (maybe)God WotC was brave enough to publish such a thing. Why can't something just be interesting and different without also having to be a statement?

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

The only thing about the Eberron gods I don't like is how much everybody crows about it, like it's the greatest thing since sliced bread and thank (maybe)God WotC was brave enough to publish such a thing. Why can't something just be interesting and different without also having to be a statement?

Eberron's pantheons themselves are, IMO, quite boring. They're just standard pantheon gods. The main thing special about them is that they may or may not exist. Oh, and the fact that they're actually worshipped similarly how polytheistic religions in the real world were/are, unlike the strange mishmash of polytheism and monotheism that D&D religions typically follow.

The thing that makes this great is the consequences of not knowing if the gods exist. It allows for a lot more nuanced and interesting religions. Most D&D religions tend to be a bit boring and homogenous, because the gods normally objectively exist and can answer your questions, while Eberron not confirming their existence allows for The Blood of Vol, the Path of Light, the Church of the Silver Flame, the Becoming God, and its other great religions to exist without being the "weirdos" of the setting. In fact, they're kind of the opposite of the "weirdos" in Eberron, because there's no evidence for the gods existing, but the Silver Flame does exist and worshipping it does influence the world and your afterlife. The Blood of Vol has some genuinely great points about how if the gods do exist, they're probably jerks, and you should try to perfect yourself instead of caring about some irrelevant ultimate beings. The Becoming God is a Warforged religion that worships an unborn god that they believe will be born (and you can get cleric powers from worshipping a god that objectively doesn't exist), there's even a faction of the religion that worships the Lord of Blades and is trying to turn him into a god.

Most other D&D settings don't do anything even close to as interesting and nuanced as that. The closest thing to this from a setting that does objectively have gods is the Dawn War Pantheon (which I do like about as much as I like Eberron's take on religion).

The "statement" that Eberron makes is that D&D's standard take on religion is often bad and boring, and the game is actually better without it. It proves this by subverting the standard D&D assumptions about deities and making its most interesting religions be the ones completely unconnected to its main pantheons.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Eberron's pantheons themselves are, IMO, quite boring. They're just standard pantheon gods. The main thing special about them is that they may or may not exist. Oh, and the fact that they're actually worshipped similarly how polytheistic religions in the real world were/are, unlike the strange mishmash of polytheism and monotheism that D&D religions typically follow.

The thing that makes this great is the consequences of not knowing if the gods exist. It allows for a lot more nuanced and interesting religions. Most D&D religions tend to be a bit boring and homogenous, because the gods normally objectively exist and can answer your questions, while Eberron not confirming their existence allows for The Blood of Vol, the Path of Light, the Church of the Silver Flame, the Becoming God, and its other great religions to exist without being the "weirdos" of the setting. In fact, they're kind of the opposite of the "weirdos" in Eberron, because there's no evidence for the gods existing, but the Silver Flame does exist and worshipping it does influence the world and your afterlife. The Blood of Vol has some genuinely great points about how if the gods do exist, they're probably jerks, and you should try to perfect yourself instead of caring about some irrelevant ultimate beings. The Becoming God is a Warforged religion that worships an unborn god that they believe will be born (and you can get cleric powers from worshipping a god that objectively doesn't exist), there's even a faction of the religion that worships the Lord of Blades and is trying to turn him into a god.

Most other D&D settings don't do anything even close to as interesting and nuanced as that. The closest thing to this from a setting that does objectively have gods is the Dawn War Pantheon (which I do like about as much as I like Eberron's take on religion).

The "statement" that Eberron makes is that D&D's standard take on religion is often bad and boring, and the game is actually better without it. It proves this by subverting the standard D&D assumptions about deities and making its most interesting religions be the ones completely unconnected to its main pantheons.

That's what I'm talking about. I don't need the game to make a statement, and I especially don't need it to make the statement that things I like about the game are actually bad. I just want it to have cool stuff.

Also, I like clerics actually having to worship gods, and I like the Planescape-popularized idea of a God gaining power from it's followers.

But I'm an old 1e/2e fan, and stuff like 3e's Eberron is still "newish" from my point of view.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

That's what I'm talking about. I don't need the game to make a statement, and I especially don't need it to make the statement that things I like about the game are actually bad. I just want it to have cool stuff.

I'm sorry, but I really don't see anything wrong with a setting proving that another setting hasn't been utilizing religion to its fullest potential by subverting their religions and making something more interesting.

And all pieces of art "make statements" or have messages. That's one of the main ways art has been used throughout the millennia.

Also, I like clerics actually having to worship gods, and I like the Planescape-popularized idea of a God gaining power from it's followers.

Both of those are a part of Eberron. You can worship the gods, their existence just isn't objectively proven. And the "you can become a god through being worshipped" still might be true in Eberron, as I said when summarizing the Becoming God.

Also, I do like "Gods as Tulpas"-style divinity like in Planescape and Discworld, but I also like Eberron's version. Liking one doesn't mean that you can't like the other.

But I'm an old 1e/2e fan, and stuff like 3e's Eberron is still "newish" from my point of view.

And Eberron just slightly younger than I am. It's two months older than my younger sister. To me, Eberron is an old setting.

 

[JEB]

I never took Eberron's interesting take on religion as a criticism of the standard D&D take on religion - just a different, interesting take, like the way it approaches a number of other D&D tropes. There's nothing wrong with liking the standard. There's nothing wrong with liking the alternative.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I never took Eberron's interesting take on religion as a criticism of the standard D&D take on religion - just a different, interesting take, like the way it approaches a number of other D&D tropes. There's nothing wrong with liking the standard. There's nothing wrong with liking the alternative.

The issue is, people who like the alternative seem to proselytize it.

 

[Faolyn]

That's what I'm talking about. I don't need the game to make a statement, and I especially don't need it to make the statement that things I like about the game are actually bad. I just want it to have cool stuff.

Also, I like clerics actually having to worship gods, and I like the Planescape-popularized idea of a God gaining power from it's followers.

But I'm an old 1e/2e fan, and stuff like 3e's Eberron is still "newish" from my point of view.

You don't, but there are lots of people who like it.

The Planescape model and the Eberron model can very easily both be true. They could both be true even within a single setting.