D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook Reveal: Feats/Backgrounds/Species

[GarrettKP]

Oh, thst one is actually super weird. What if...along with all the Psionic Subclasses, theybare bringing Telepath in as a Background Feat? Could this be a Telepath Baclground?

Guess it’s possible, but I crunched numbers on feats and I don’t think there’s room for it. After the playtest feats (including epic boons) there’s only room for 11 more feats, and 4-7 of those are Tasha’s fighting styles (depending on if they bring over or leave out the class specific ones like Druidic Warrior).

I’m assuming all 7 come over which means only 4 feats left. Those four should be Fighting Initiate, Eldritch Adept, Meta Magic Adept, and Poisoner. The rest of the Tasha’s feats except Artificer Initiate (which obviously won’t be here) are already half feats with a ASI boost. Those 4 need updating to be half feats, so they make the most sense to be brought over.

 

[Parmandur]

Guess it’s possible, but I crunched numbers on feats and I don’t think there’s room for it. After the playtest feats (including epic boons) there’s only room for 11 more feats, and 4-7 of those are Tasha’s fighting styles (depending on if they bring over or leave out the class specific ones like Druidic Warrior).

I’m assuming all 7 come over which means only 4 feats left. Those four should be Fighting Initiate, Eldritch Adept, Meta Magic Adept, and Poisoner. The rest of the Tasha’s feats except Artificer Initiate (which obviously won’t be here) are already half feats with a ASI boost. Those 4 need updating to be half feats, so they make the most sense to be brought over.

I wouldn't actually expect that any of those 4 Feats will be in tge PHB: Tasha's is still selling, and they didn't bring over all the Subclasses. Whereas as they seemed to decide to make a big move of Psionic material into the PHB already, so bringing Telepath over as a Level 1 Feat and Telekinesis over as a Level 4 Feat seems highly likely.

And a Psionic Background to match would make perfect sense.

 

[mellored]

Oh, thst one is actually super weird. What if...along with all the Psionic Subclasses, theybare bringing Telepath in as a Background Feat? Could this be a Telepath Baclground?

It comes after Sage if the other post was correct.

Possibly Telekinetic as the feat.

 

[GarrettKP]

I wouldn't actually expect that any of those 4 Feats will be in tge PHB: Tasha's is still selling, and they didn't bring over all the Subclasses. Whereas as they seemed to decide to make a big move of Psionic material into the PHB already, so bringing Telepath over as a Level 1 Feat and Telekinesis over as a Level 4 Feat seems highly likely.

And a Psionic Background to match would make perfect sense.

It’s not an unreasonable expectation. I just think they will look at those feats, see that the four I mentioned need to be updated now to half feats, and bring those over. My guess is they look at Telepath and Telekinetic as useable with new rules so they can hold off.

The other option is they just don’t bring Druidic Warrior and Blessed Warrior over, leaving room for the two Psionic feats. Which honestly I could definitely see.

 

[Parmandur]

It’s not an unreasonable expectation. I just think they will look at those feats, see that the four I mentioned need to be updated now to half feats, and bring those over. My guess is they look at Telepath and Telekinetic as useable with new rules so they can hold off.

The other option is they just don’t bring Druidic Warrior and Blessed Warrior over, leaving room for the two Psionic feats. Which honestly I could definitely see.

I could see all of those going either way. I do think they both want Paionic stuff one and done in the PHB, and to leave material for Tasha's to remain unique and marketable.

 

[Kobold Stew]

I think since they have ported over all the psionic subclasses, having Telepathic and Telekinetic as Feats at 4th level, in the PHB, is a likely outcome.

 

[GarrettKP]

I could see all of those going either way. I do think they both want Paionic stuff one and done in the PHB, and to leave material for Tasha's to remain unique and marketable.

So this made me go back and check something. The picture I link here shows some feats, and Blind Fighting from Tasha’s is clearly on the chart. But Blessed Warrior isn’t!

So I think you’re right, I think they left off the Blessed Warrior and Druidic Warrior fighting styles. This would make the 11 Tasha’s feats (to go with the 64 playtest feats):

Blind Fighting
Eldritch Adept
Fighting Initiate
Intercepter
Meta Magic Adept
Poisoner
Superior Technique
Telekinetic
Telepath
Thrown Weapon Fighting
Unarmed Fighting

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Despite @Ruin Explorer 's claims Wisdom is an ultra strong stat - about 25% of spells that force saving throws are wisdom saves, and Perception and Insight are both skills that can save your life.

This is a half-truth, and didn't claim it wasn't true at all, so you're putting words in my mouth, and that's just going to cause confusion.

WIS is only strong or useful at all if you ALSO have access to:

A) Perception (and preferably but less importantly Insight)

B) Proficiency in WIS saves.

Otherwise it's hugely worse than CON as a secondary, and worse than DEX for anyone who isn't wearing heavy armour.

I mean, how many WIS saves do you make in a long campaign? 20? 50? And how many times is you AC rolled against? 200? 1000?

WIS is not worthless, but only really one PC in the party needs a high WIS, or benefits much from it, and they want to align having those two skills with it. Others benefit from it in a far smaller way.

HP and AC are more directly useful to every single character (and saying they aren't is just not realistic).

I mean, adding it to background is actively more restrictive than the already existing Tasha's setup, AND it makes new backgrounds actively less compatible with older material.

I don't get it. I mean, I do get it, but the reasons almost certainly aren't better gameplay.

If we look at it honestly - there's pretty much one plausible goal here - forcing to people to buy more books to get more backgrounds, and those backgrounds are more optimal and/or cooler. Then they can wave the books at the DMs, and the exact sort of DMs who aren't keen on Custom backgrounds are likely to be fine with stuff that's from books.

I honestly can't really see any other rationale - it's flying against how D&D has been played for 5+ years, and it's actively making the game less compatible. I can see another reason - not a rationale - simple bad design, without understanding the consequences, but I'd almost prefer that they were trying to sell books, because that's just depressing.

 

[TwoSix]

If we look at it honestly - there's pretty much one plausible goal here - forcing to people to buy more books to get more backgrounds, and those backgrounds are more optimal and/or cooler. Then they can wave the books at the DMs, and the exact sort of DMs who aren't keen on Custom backgrounds are likely to be fine with stuff that's from books.

I honestly can't really see any other rationale - it's flying against how D&D has been played for 5+ years, and it's actively making the game less compatible. I can see another reason - not a rationale - simple bad design, without understanding the consequences, but I'd almost prefer that they were trying to sell books, because that's just depressing.

Yep. I like to make my characters on a sheet of looseleaf. Any rules changes designed around "Let's sell more character trinkets for people who want drop-down menus on the character builders instead of free text" are ideas I'm opposed to.

 

[Scott Christian]

As soon as the full list is out, people will start picking at it, and rightly so. People will see characters they've played for years, or even decades, are flatly illegal under the new rules. Oh your backstory for your Wizard is that you were a Urchin? Well, that background doesn't have INT as an option, so you're going to be permanently dumber than another INT character.

Again, not really. Is that urchin a little less smart. Well yes, if the point buy can't exceed 15. They will be a +1 behind the top most optimized. Might they gain something else from the street urchin background that makes them unique, and dare I say, even better than that +1 optimizer? The answer is yes.

It's not really non-inflammatory. You've moved from saying to "All elves are more agile but less tough" or the like, to "All street people are tougher but dumber".

This is classic WotC stupidity, and inability to see past the end of their nose. If they'd kept Custom in as a default, they could easily have argued that these were "just examples". But they didn't, so they can't. Instead they've made it so you're inherently less potentially intelligent or less potentially healthy or stronger or whatever based on what, previously, was just a minor choice.

Does that make Background more important? Yes. Will that work out well? I definitely don't think so. Background is a weird thing introduced in 5E, that frankly most PCs (rightly) gloss over in favour of their character's actual, y'know, backstory.

It is less inflammatory. Racial, even fantasy racial makeups, are frowned upon by many. An orc being less intelligent than a gnome is not the same thing as a street urchin being less intelligent than a noble. One comes from an innate/genetic disposition, the other comes from a lack of exposure.

I don't entirely disagree but it's very much beside the point. When that's serendipitous, people are delighted by it. When they're forced into something they don't like, it just annoys them further. Further, both the examples you provide are of (presumably) intentional choices, not being forced into something, which is illustrative of how you're not really seeing what's going on here.

Both choices are me building a fantasy character that I imagined. I really don't play out the boons and banes of selecting a specific combo. I think of a character, their history, upbringing, and desires. Then I pick a culture, class, and background that represent what I envisioned. What combo that produces, and its mechanical benefits, is not at the forefront of my mind.
That said, I have min/maxed before. And when I do, the mechanical benefits I'm after always come first. I think there is an in between that most people use, and I think the system they created will suffice for most of those that fall in between.