D&D (2024) Do you think they will add more races to PHB2024 to make up for dropping other stuff?

[Micah Sweet]

Heh... that's the same feeling every single species in D&D has ever had-- a small handful of inconsequential mechanics that no one cares about once your character reaches like Level 3.

But you don't care about mechanics of any kind anyway, so this is very much a personal opinion.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Those all also suck.

All species mechanics suck, LOL. You can't condense an entire peoples genetic and societal make-up down into four simple game mechanics that have little to no effect on gameplay and have it matter. Especially not when your JOB give you 20 entire levels worth of mechanics.

It can be done better. Level Up does a better job.

 

[Remathilis]

There were comment boxes. Point is, there is no particular reason to believe that they received negative feedback on the change.

It is also VERY possible this change came from the sensitivity readers they hired and even if there was a backlash (and if memory serves, the backlash came months after that packet was done) it wasn't going to be enough to dissuade them.

 

[Parmandur]

It is also VERY possible this change came from the sensitivity readers they hired and even if there was a backlash (and if memory serves, the backlash came months after that packet was done) it wasn't going to be enough to dissuade them.

Yes, probably where it came from, but if there was a backlash they probsvly could have changed it up. I just doubt that they measured a backlash.

 

[Jaeger]

As someone of mixed parentage myself; after reading through this thread I am of the opinion that Wotc needs to poop or get off the pot on the whole "Mixed Ancestry" issue.

It is impossible to make everyone happy on this issue no matter what Choice they make.

In my opinion; No Half-Anything in the PHB. Just list the core PC races.

If they really want to do some kind of let the player mix 'n match half-race blender mechanic? Then put it in the back of the DMG as an Optional Rule; explicitly stating that it is entirely subject to GM discretion.

Wotc needs to make an actual decision, and stop trying to have it both ways.

 

[Remathilis]

As someone of mixed parentage myself; after reading through this thread I am of the opinion that Wotc needs to poop or get off the pot on the whole "Mixed Ancestry" issue.

It is impossible to make everyone happy on this issue no matter what Choice they make.

In my opinion; No Half-Anything in the PHB. Just list the core PC races.

If they really want to do some kind of let the player mix 'n match half-race blender mechanic? Then put it in the back of the DMG as an Optional Rule; explicitly stating that it is entirely subject to GM discretion.

Wotc needs to make an actual decision, and stop trying to have it both ways.

I would have no problem with an optional mixing/build-a-species in the DMG to cover all the crunchy mixing while having the "fluff your ancestry" be the PHB default. The default answer is simple, the complex options are in the DMG.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

I'd be fine with "Mix and Match" being relegated to the DMG too - indeed, I've proposed that before. I just want some indication that there will be core system options above and beyond "Pick a Parent" that don't leave mechanically minded players like myself hanging in the wind on this or shove the responsibility of properly addressing it onto 3rd parties and homebrew.

Species mechanics are a small but important part of how I conceptualize who a character is, and not having some kind of distinct mixed ancestry traits to work with (even if I have to piece them together myself) renders the whole exercise of creating a mixed ancestry character shallow, uninspiring, and meaningless. A Khoravar using human traits doesn't feel like a Khoravar to me, it feels like a human wearing fake, pointy costume ears.

And again, if "Half-elves/orcs shouldn't get special treatment by being the only mixed options with unique stats" means that no mixed options can get unique stats, then what happens the next time they take a look at Eberron? Khoravar and Jhor'guntaal aren't the only mixed ancestry populations in the setting, but they are by far the most prominent. If the goal is less about actually supporting diverse mixed ancestry options and more about making sure half-elf/orcs don't stand out from the crowd, then that doesn't end well for Eberron's existing lore, and this is a setting that very specifically doesn't do the "half-orcs are primarily the result of nonconsensual boinking" stuff.

 

[SkidAce]

The issue I've seen here (and I'm not focusing on you exclusively here, but a lot of people in this thread) is that you are making that judgment call. Half-elf is an acceptable combo and worthy of unique stats in the PHB, tabaxi-plasmoid is a bad combo, a joke and should be left to the DM to determine if it is allowed. (With more than a hint that you yourself would not allow it). Those two pairings are not equal, one set is good and the other is bad.

I still think its more that half-elf is a common theme, and tabaxi-plasmoid is rare. And WotC should focus on the more prevalent options.

Myself, if a player wanted a tabaxi-plasmoid, let do it!

WotC would have a hard time catering to all the options.

JMO...

 

[SkidAce]

I can't believe that people are arguing about genetics as if that's even a thing in a fantasy setting.

D&D species can interbreed or not interbreed, have DNA or not have DNA, be made of flesh or not made of flesh, etc, etc, as the DM wants, as the World Lore goes, and no one can tell anyone else otherwise.

It's all made up.

And I'm getting tired of the "slippery slope"-type arguments I'm seeing around here. Just because someone might want to mix an elf and a gnome doesn't mean that they'd want to mix an Aasimar and a Tortle. (Or perhaps they would: Koopa Paratroopa, anyone?) And if they DID, that would be for their own game, and under the rules set by their DM, their table preferences, or their game world, depending on what they care about. And no one can tell them otherwise.

This is the Way.

 

[Remathilis]

IKhoravar and Jhor'guntaal aren't the only mixed ancestry populations in the setting, but they are by far the most prominent. If the goal is less about actually supporting diverse mixed ancestry options and more about making sure half-elf/orcs don't stand out from the crowd, then that doesn't end well for Eberron's existing lore.

They already changed Dragonmark lore once during 4e where any race could get any mark, though certain races had a higher percentage of certain marks. Further, the Mark of Finding already has two races that it can manifest on (human and half-orc). I can see a possibility that the dragonmarks become level 1 feats and the Houses aren't necessarily racial but bound by whoever has a mark. In that, an orc could get the mark of Finding, an elf the mark of Detection, or a human the mark of storms. It will be a deviation to the lore (And Micah will hate it) but I think they will do it again to accommodate the new species paradigm.

Then again, my Nostradamus ratio is pretty terrible, so who knows?