D&D (2024) D&D species article

[mamba]

What are you talking about lol? Who rolls stats in the year 2024 AD?

there is no difference whether you use point buy or the array either

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yeah I'm kind of surprised there isn't more outcry. It seems like Elves are getting to keep basically everything (I mean, Wood Elves lose out a bit, but only them), and they had quite a lot - they even get to keep a bloody skill, which otherwise seems FORBIDDEN!!!

But Dwarves? Nah mate. They'll take 120ft Darkvision and they'll like it! Because the rest of your kit is pretty much gone!

I suspect when people see all the statblocks side-by-side there will be a bit "HEY WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL!".

Perhaps the elf-love is connected to WotC's baffling love affair with the Feywild.

 

[Micah Sweet]

either you go with the 2024 books or you don’t, but better balance still means that not everything is simply buffed up, esp if it is meant to be compatible

Tell that to a paladin player.

 

[mamba]

There's something wrong with your math here, as this would indicate that there's a 333% chance of the background having all three stats.

There are 20 possible combinations. If each background has a distinct set of three (which is far from guaranteed), that only covers 16. Therefore, you are at (maximally) 16/20 = 80% chance for having a background linked to all of your stats.

lol, yeah, the odds are 1 divided by the result, so flip the two around

Yes, there are 20 combinations, you see that in the 5*4 as well, but that still implies that 1,2,3 is different from 1,3,2, which it is not as you can assign the +1/+2 at will. So some of these 20 unique combinations collapse further down into the same effective combination

 

[mamba]

Now, maybe there is, but to make this work WoTC would need to turn every species into a series of feats, then check every possible combination, and this would also require making sure that all of this could be mixed and be equally balanced.

yes, that would be required, not quite the same as impossible to achieve though

 

[mamba]

But they are are still human.

If you are a Goliath with hands, feet, and muscle twice as big?

not sure big hands and feet help with climbing at all… if anything you have a harder time finding support in small cracks

Squirrels are much better climbers than humans, and it is not due to them having larger extremities

 

[mamba]

Tell that to a paladin player.

they deserved a nerf, not sure that means nothing else does

 

[Parmandur]

I don't think a DM choosing not to use an optional rule in the DMG should be considered a red flag.

With custom backgrounds being moved to the DMG, they should no longer be the expected default from players, just like players shouldn't expect the DM will use flanking rules or the Honor Ability Score rules.

The difference of a custom Background is basically nothing, so yeah, it's a red flag (me being the player rather than the DM here is purely theoretical, but come on).

 

[Parmandur]

there is no difference whether you use point buy or the array either

Yes, from a game balance perspective point buy and the array are a subset of roll results.

 

[JEB]

Perhaps the elf-love is connected to WotC's baffling love affair with the Feywild.

While modern designers do seem rather fond of the Feywild, D&D being biased towards elves is a very old thing. Even under the original boxed set rules, elves are clearly the best of the species options (the single disadvantage is their class/level restrictions).