D&D (2024) D&D species article

[Kobold Stew]

A chunk of the species power has shifted to the background.

Mountain Dwarfs can still start with medium armor, just as a background feat.

Perhaps less flavorful, but it's more customization.

...and means that a Dwarf fighter (etc.) doesn't "lose" the advantage of the free feat, since they have the option not to take it.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Stepping back from that from a moment and looking at the bigger picture, I have a lot of questions about how that changes world building. When 4E made changes to tieflings and dragonborn, those changes echoed in changes to game lore and setting assumptions.

4e assumptions about Tieflings have been removed in 5e through out the years, first there's been no mention of Bael Turath ever in 5e, and then ideas about the pacts have slowly dissipated from D&D. The moment Planescape rose to significance in 5e, is the moment when 4e assumptions about Tieflings have died.

The UA writeup about Tieflings is quite close to the 2e Planescape assumptions about Tieflings, it even mentions Sigil as a place of significance for Tieflings.

 

[Corinnguard]

I really wish there was a Confused emoji.

That's probably not the only emoji someone has probably wished for on these forums when hitting the Like button.

What is the 5e24 design team's overall vision for the game going forward?

Repeating history? The last time WoTC came out with an edition that wasn't well liked by the fans; D&D spawned a rival. Pathfinder. Do they really want more rivals challenging the supremacy of D&D? Oh, wait. They already do have more of those.

 

[Corinnguard]

Well, I'm sure it utterly impossible to... oh wait, you mean it is trivially easy to make that change if you want it? Okay. Knock yourself out.

But, see, Wizards of the Coast has to write the rules for people who are only going to get to play that 5th level Dragonborn on a two-shot adventure where they are never going to get the opportunity to find an armorsmith. And since they don't want "wearing armor or clothes" to be a hindrance on this ability as part of the mechanical power of it.... then they went with the option that is easy to skip this issue.

You want to bring it back? Knock yourself out. But don't act like they didn't have a coherent reason for doing it outside of "everything is energy"

True. WoTC wrote up the rules for 2024 D&D. But we don't have to follow them if we don't like what we see.

It's easy to make changes if you come across something you don't like in the RPG. If you are a DM, you can craft a new house rule or rules for your own group. If you have an interest in designing a new class or making an improvement to an existing race/species or a class, you can homebrew it and post it somewhere like DMsGuild or GM Binder for everyone to see and perhaps borrow for their games.

 

[Neonchameleon]

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - in the new rules that states this. You can make your character as much of a blend of different groups as you want.

And mechanically one, and only one of them gets weight put on it. There MUST be a primary race you consider yourself to be and game mechanically the rest are purely cosmetic. So you literally can't make yourself mechanically a blend at all.

Focusing on a few physical features as if those are what matter when it comes to a cultural heritage is weird and, IMO, echoes problematic IRL stereotypes.

Which has always been a D&D problem with using race. And still remains.

 

[mellored]

...and means that a Dwarf fighter (etc.) doesn't "lose" the advantage of the free feat, since they have the option not to take it.

True.
But now whatever background that gives you armor training will "lose" it.

 

[CreamCloud0]

The character was described as speaking, and last I checked the rules, the player is in control of what the character does.

and i described them as being spoken to, can a character ever suppress their own understanding of a language they are entirely fluent in? if someone speaks in dwarvish they will understand them, because dwarvish is a language they Know, if they say they don't understand they are just lying.

 

[Remathilis]

How many D&D derived RPGs in 2024 have dedicated half-races anymore? Pathfinder doesn't, they are all just ancestry feats. TotV didn't to my knowledge per their SRD. I don't know Level Up well, but a cursory glance doesn't list them either. Half-races are kinda like the Illusionist or assassin standalone classes; they are not strong enough concepts anymore to stand alone so they are becoming part of larger systems. I think the only systems that have dedicated half races are older ones or those designed to emulate older ones. Half-elf and half-orc apparently are passe. Much like the removal of the word race, I find WotC is late to the party.

 

[Laurefindel]

Half-elf and half-orc apparently are passe. Much like the removal of the word race, I find WotC is late to the party.

True. Still, I preferred when D&D put up its own parties rather than catching up with others’.

It’s a though position to be in; move on with the times or preserve your own identity. Ditching half-elves is coherent with their (apparent) orientation and modern RPG trends, but I still don’t like it.

 

[Corinnguard]

How many D&D derived RPGs in 2024 have dedicated half-races anymore? Pathfinder doesn't, they are all just ancestry feats. TotV didn't to my knowledge per their SRD. I don't know Level Up well, but a cursory glance doesn't list them either. Half-races are kinda like the Illusionist or assassin standalone classes; they are not strong enough concepts anymore to stand alone so they are becoming part of larger systems. I think the only systems that have dedicated half races are older ones or those designed to emulate older ones. Half-elf and half-orc apparently are passe. Much like the removal of the word race, I find WotC is late to the party.

There is a small sidebar in Level Up's Adventurer's Guide on how to design a mixed heritage character. To create one, all you really need to do is pick a heritage and a heritage gift from another heritage.

If you wanted to create a Half-Elf that bears a resemblance to the Half-Elf in 5e's PHB, you pick the Elven heritage and a human heritage gift. So, you would get all of the traits commonly shared among elves-age, size, speed, Darkvision, Fey Ancestry and Trance. But instead of getting an Elven heritage gift (Mystic Rapport, Prescient Vision, and Preternatural Awareness), you would choose a Human heritage gift such as Diehard Survivor, Ingenious Focus, or Spirited Traveler.

Otoh, if you wanted a Half-Elf that looks human, you pick the Human heritage and then pick one of the Elven heritage gifts I mentioned above.

Level Up's heritage gifts work much like a 1st-level feat. And then at 10th level, you gain a paragon gift that either gives your character something or goes on to improve your heritage gift. Unlike the heritage gift, paragon gifts cannot be mixed-and-match between heritages. A Half-Elf in the first example, for instance will level up and eventually get an Elven paragon gift.

After heritage, your Half-Elf character can either be raised in one of four Elven cultures (Eladrin, high elf, shadow elf or wood elf) and gain that particular culture's mechanical traits, or they could grow up in a non-Elven culture.