D&D (2024) D&D species article

[Hriston]

Dwarven Combat Training. You have proficiency with the battleaxe, handaxe, light hammer, and warhammer.

Tool Proficiency. You gain proficiency with the artisan’s tools of your choice: smith’s tools, brewer’s supplies, or mason’s tools.

Stonecunning. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Dwarvish. Dwarvish is full of hard consonants and guttural sounds, and those characteristics spill over into whatever other language a dwarf might speak.

Subrace. Two main subraces of dwarves populate the worlds of D&D: hill dwarves and mountain dwarves. Choose one of these subraces.

Edit: Plus that that your ability options are constitution (required), strength or wisdom. Not intelligence, dexterity or charisma.

So, per my example, my skinny, nerdy dwarf who just wants to learn magic is required to put points into non-optimal abilities, be proficient with a hammer, and speak an apparently genetically imbued language.

I feel like you're misunderstanding the 2014 rules, and I described them exactly accurately.

Edit 2: This is supposed to be a game of fantasy. What if my character fantasy is a dwarf who was raised in a large, cosmopolitan city and has actively rejected the stereotypes commonly associated with dwarves? They grew up speaking the same language as all the other people around them, saw no need to practice swinging a hammer, couldn't give a toss about stonework, and don't care to learn brewing, smithing, or masonry because they are putting all their time into hitting the books and learning magic? Why can't my dwarf fantasy be different from the Tolkien stereotype?

It's one thing to have tendencies for different species, especially in an adventure setting. "Dwarven culture is often associated with..." is fine. "In Wildemount, many dwarves live in Kraghammer and hew to the traditions of their people, such as..." is fine. "Your character MUST adhere to these stereotypes that we have chosen..." is not fine.

This is what you said:

Like there couldn't be a skinny, nerdy dwarf who just wanted to study magic and didn't automatically know how to use a hammer while speaking a genetically imbued language.

Assuming you're in control of creating and playing your character, how do any of the rules you've quoted above prevent you from putting low scores in Strength, Constitution, and Charisma or however you want to model being skinny and nerdy and what compels you to portray your character swinging hammers or speaking Dwarven? The game gives you the option to do so, but that doesn't mean you have to.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Looking through these without reading the thread yet, I'm loving essentially all of this. I only have two nits to pick.

Wood Elves getting Druidcraft -- This is fine if Druidcraft is improved. If it isn't, that is rather annoying, since druidcraft is fairly weak.

Rock Gnomes crafting tied to Prestidigitation -- I feel like this is too limited for the crafting. I'll likely expand it, and just use those effects as a baseline for power. As long as it is a cantrip level effect, and doesn't cause damage, I feel like taking time and effort to make a tool that does it is fine.

 

[Clint_L]

This is what you said:

Assuming you're in control of creating and playing your character, how do any of the rules you've quoted above prevent you from putting low scores in Strength, Constitution, and Charisma or however you want to model being skinny and nerdy and what compels you to portray your character swinging hammers or speaking Dwarven? The game gives you the option to do so, but that doesn't mean you have to.

No, the game requires my character to speak Dwarven, be proficient with those weapons, and put extra points into constitution plus strength or wisdom. I literally have to do those things. RAW. What I wrote was exactly accurate. I'm not sure what you are not getting.

Why? Why does being a dwarf make you automatically proficient in fighting with a hammer, for example? Is it, like, genetically coded into dwarves?

Now, it's true that I could ignore those required proficiencies and have sub-optimal ability scores for my wizard. But why should I have to? What if I want to play a dwarf without being required to waste proficiencies and ability score points?

 

[Kobold Stew]

High elf is a trap for anyone who has access to MotM or AAG.

Ah. Before you said it was a trap for anyone who doesn't have access to those books. That was the confusion.

I think we agree that Elves, already the most powerful species in PHB 2014, was made stronger by later books. We disagree as to whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I'm pleased they've dialed back, and I hope that the guidance we're given will say to use the most recent version of a species or of a feature (and so the most recent version of Trance would be used. That admittedly doesn't solve the Astral elf (because they foolishly called it Astral trance), and (in my view) it has too many toys. But it does catch the species in MotM.

I also think we're using "trap" in different senses. High Elf is not a trap -- everything remains useful, regardless of character build. It's just not as strong as some of the other Elf offerings they've given us. And that, as I've indicated, is fixed trivially.

 

[Chaosmancer]

My quibble regarding the Dragonborn is their spectral wings. Wings made of the same damage type as their breath weapons. Umm....why? Why not give them something like the Dragon Wings feature of the Draconic sorcerer? If you had to have wings made out of fire, lightning, etc., at least allow them to do a wing slap with those wings against opponents within 5 feet of your character. I like the Dragon Wings feature because it reminds me of what the dragon-like race in the Dragon Flyz cartoon could do. Sprout and retract wings when needed.

I haven't caught up on the thread yet, but there is a really simple reason why the dragonborn wings are spectral and made out of energy.

Because DnD players are pendants who can never let a small detail pass without making a huge deal about it.

The immediate thing that would happen as soon as a Dragonborn Fighter attempted to grow their wings? "Well, what about your armor?" So then every single dragonborn would need to have specialized armor built to allow for their wings, which would mean that any armor not modified would lock their flight ability, or if an enemy tied them up with ropes they wouldn't be able to sprout their wings, or if they... and on and on it would go.

So, the wings are made of energy. They allow the dragonborn to fly while ignoring things like clothes and armor. Because to do otherwise, DnD players would make a mountain out of the inconsistent little molehill.

 

[Scribe]

It was NEVER "Elves have good eyes and graceful movement. They can master a finesse or ranged weapon that matches their culture"

It was always "ALL Elves are good with these specific bows and swords because all elves are the same."

I am sure that if Elves got a free weapon mastery in a DEX weapon (many of which could be still used with STR), no one would be upset.

I don't believe the thin 300 year old elf mastering a weapon upsets anyone. In a Hammer nation, he's choose a light hammer. In the axe loving nation, he's choose a hand axe

Oh, so you want to lean into biological reality.

Well, while that works for some, it absolutely will lead to some of the same complaints about bioessentialism seen before.

 

[Corinnguard]

I haven't caught up on the thread yet, but there is a really simple reason why the dragonborn wings are spectral and made out of energy.

Because DnD players are pendants who can never let a small detail pass without making a huge deal about it.

The immediate thing that would happen as soon as a Dragonborn Fighter attempted to grow their wings? "Well, what about your armor?" So then every single dragonborn would need to have specialized armor built to allow for their wings, which would mean that any armor not modified would lock their flight ability, or if an enemy tied them up with ropes they wouldn't be able to sprout their wings, or if they... and on and on it would go.

So, the wings are made of energy. They allow the dragonborn to fly while ignoring things like clothes and armor. Because to do otherwise, DnD players would make a mountain out of the inconsistent little molehill.

Otoh, if they can grow and retract their wings, their smiths and tailors could ergonomically design armor and clothing that were built with their fellow Dragonborn in mind.

After all, 14th-level Draconic Sorcerers have to deal with the same problem whenever they use their Dragon Wings feature.

 

[Chaosmancer]

So which elf would rather have:

• 60 ft darkvision
• fey ancestry
• 4 hour long rest, immune to sleep spells
• proficiency in one of three wisdom skills
• floating wizard cantrip (LR)
• 3rd level detect magic 1/day
• 5th level misty step 1/day.

OR

• 60 ft darkvision
• fey ancestry
• 4 hour long rest, immune to sleep spells
• proficiency in perception + one floating skill choice (change on LR)
• proficiency in one floating weapon/tool (change on LR)
• light-based cantrip (light, dancing light, sacred flame)
• teleport 30 ft as bonus action (not a spell) prof times per day at level 1.

I'm sure this got addressed, but this is an unfair comparison of the 2024 High Elf with the Astral Elf, which is unchanged. WoTC has consistently made it clear that they are comparing options to the old PHB.

So, which elf would you rather have:

• 60 ft darkvision
• fey ancestry
• 4 hour long rest, immune to sleep spells
• proficiency in one of three wisdom skills (Perception, Survival, or Insight)
• floating wizard cantrip (LR)
• 3rd level detect magic 1/day
• 5th level misty step 1/day.

OR

• 60 ft darkvision
• fey ancestry
• 4 hour long rest, immune to sleep spells
• proficiency in perception
• proficiency in logsword, shortsword, longbow, shortbow
• a single wizard cantrip
• One extra language

Yes, you can argue that the Astral Elf is stronger than the 2024 High Elf... but the 2024 High Elf is also WAY stronger than the 2014 High Elf, which was still competing with the Astral Elf.

 

[DarkCrisis]

At least they fixed the issue with every single thing having Darkvision.

 

[Minigiant]

Oh, so you want to lean into biological reality.

Well, while that works for some, it absolutely will lead to some of the same complaints about bioessentialism seen before.

Only if you are narrow mined and don't think outside the box.
The community would not reject biology if you aren't biased about it or force your own preferences.

Which is my point.

TSR and WOTC designers historically and currently can't help putting their own preferences above the desires of their customers. They rarely try new ideas in a fair sensible manner if at all.