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

[bedir than]

This is a tiny sidebar, but when we saw a +1 is a 5% increase is that because we think the range of any check is 1-20? But in reality the range on any check is from 0 to about 40. A +1 doesn't actually give you a 5% increase.

 

[GarrettKP]

Crawford listed all the Fighting Style Feats coming over in the Fighter video just now, the Class specific ones are still Tasha's exclusives.

I saw! More importantly, they also confirmed only 12 of the 16 Epic Boons made the cut. So that means I have 5 more unaccounted for feats.

Wouldn’t you know it, that means there’s exactly enough space to also include the following Tasha’s feats:

Chef
Fey Touched
Shadow Touched
Gunner
Skill Expert

Leaving out Artificer Initiate and the three weapon feats, since Weapon Mastery now exists.

 

[mellored]

I saw! More importantly, they also confirmed only 12 of the 16 Epic Boons made the cut. So that means I have 5 more unaccounted for feats.

Wouldn’t you know it, that means there’s exactly enough space to also include the following Tasha’s feats:

Chef
Fey Touched
Shadow Touched
Gunner
Skill Expert

Leaving out Artificer Initiate and the three weapon feats, since Weapon Mastery now exists.

Are you counting the "get weapon mastery" feat?

Because he said there was one in some video

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I think the plausible abd probable goal is helping prevent analysis paralysis gor new players.

I don't think so. I've never seen a new player have the slightest difficulty identifying their primary stat and a secondary stat they want to be high. On the contrary I think fact that this now forced people into specific backgrounds is going to cause quite a lot of confusion and unrest from people who previously just went with a character concept.

You can no longer go "concept first" with this approach to Backgrounds, because otherwise you're quite likely to end up in a situation where you can't put points in your primary, and even new players get that that's bad (esp. as 90%+ of new players have played videogame RPGs nowadays), and certainly even the most lightly experienced players do.

Also, I'm sorry, if we see any backgrounds at all being sold in future books that are more optimal than these backgrounds, I am going to have consider that I was flatly right. If the future backgrounds are a random-ass mess though, which is entirely possible then incompetence > malice.

 

[GarrettKP]

Are you counting the "get weapon mastery" feat?

Because he said there was one in some video

Yes I am. It’s one of the 60 playtest feats I’m counting (which includes space for 12 epic boons).

 

[Epic Meepo]

I just noticed something. Without custom backgrounds, the only two wilderness-themed background options in the Player's Handbook are Guide and (possibly) Hermit. Now I miss the nice, generic Outlander background, where you could have any of at least ten wilderness-themed backstories, only one of which was guide.

 

[Rabbitbait]

I think fact that this now forced people into specific backgrounds....

Total hyperbole. I strongly suspect that no-one is going to be forced in taking specific backgrounds. Yes, some backgrounds might be slightly suboptimal compared to others. I won't care if the background fits my character concept.

I can only state for sure that this won't worry me in the least but following your argument technique. I'm fine with it, therefore most people will be fine with it.

On the other hand, we haven't actually seen the book yet, so we are making big assumptions that custom backgrounds are not the default with the listed backgrounds being easy-to-choose examples.

 

[GarrettKP]

Total hyperbole. I strongly suspect that no-one is going to be forced in taking specific backgrounds. Yes, some backgrounds might be slightly suboptimal compared to others. I won't care if the background fits my character concept.

I can only state for sure that this won't worry me in the least but following your argument technique. I'm fine with it, therefore most people will be fine with it.

On the other hand, we haven't actually seen the book yet, so we are making big assumptions that custom backgrounds are not the default with the listed backgrounds being easy-to-choose examples.

Not an assumption. Crawford said in the Origins video that custom origins are a DMG thing and not in the PHB.

 

[Neonchameleon]

I think you're going to be shocked by how small the "work out as intended" group is, because of the combination of the limited stat choice and the forced two skills together with the thematic background.

To me the offset here is how simple and clean custom backgrounds are. In 5e each background has a custom minifeat. In 5.24 each has a stock feat.

In 5e Classic feats were officially an optional rule played by 90% In 3.X Prestige Classes were officially optional. In 5.24? I predict custom backgrounds.

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.

Nope. Other than the minifeat. Suboptimal, yes, but that's a long way from illegal. And 5e characters can keep playing as is.

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".

No you haven't. There's no stat anyone is forced to take and no penalty. "All elves are less tough" hasn't been part of official current D&D since 2008 and even if Con is an urchin stat you will get some (not many; it's Con) who haven't boosted it. What you have is "scholars tend to be smart and urchins tend to be tough". Both selection and training bias.

 

[mellored]

fact that this now forced people into specific backgrounds

It is not "fact"
Your not being "forced".

you can't put points in your primary,

You absolutely can.

The game will not break if you start with 15 instead of 16.