D&D (2024) D&D Background and Origin Feat Article

[Charlaquin]

What I want to know (and what I asked in the Playtest feedback) is how this interacts with buying diamonds for spell components. 20% off 500gp diamond would be very significant in some campaigns.

Theoretically I imagine it would indeed apply if you’re directly buying a diamond, or any other expensive material component. But as such components are (presumably) not on the adventuring gear table, you can’t count on them being available for sale.

 

[Charlaquin]

Agree. That is just a PAINFUL rule. I'm sure I'll eventually get good at figuring out what 1/5 of the price is, but UGH I wish they had found a better way to do that.

And beyond just the math, it opens questions as to what happens if the players try to haggle. Do they get 20% off whatever price they talk a vendor down to? Is 20% off the base price the starting point from which you negotiate down? Or, what if a vendor is asking more than the base price? Do you get 20% off whatever they’ve jacked it up to? These aren’t difficult questions to answer, but they are annoying to have to answer because of an origin feat.

 

[Kobold Stew]

The list of origin feats is exactly what was in the first playtest packet; Lightliy Armored was added later; it is just possible that the author of this article is using old data. However, reference to the Fast Crafting table was not in the playtest description of the Crafter feat, and so there is some new information..

Musician: You gain proficiency with three musical instruments of your choice. At the end of a Short or Long Rest, you may play the instrument and grant Heroic Inspiration to a number of allies equal to your Proficiency Bonus.

Proficiency with three instruments still seems wild to me. Bards also get three proficiencies, and so if your Bard has a musician background, they will be proficient in six instruments. That is, for most characters, a completely wasted set of proficiencies and a complete non-choice. Yes, this is the way the character can replicate the feel of the old Song of Rest feature. But yeesh -- Apart from magic items, how many bards play something other than the main instrument they've chosen?

Tavern Brawler: When you hit with an Unarmed Strike you can deal 1d4 + your Strength modifier. If the damage dice for your Unarmed Strikes roll is a 1, you can reroll it and must use the new roll. You have proficiency with improvised weapons. Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an Unarmed Strike as part of the Attack action, in addition to dealing damage, you can push the target 5 feet away from you.

Proficiency with improvised weapons implies other characters don't have proficiency. In 2014 it was always "with the DM's permission". Maybe that's gone now?

 

[Kobold Stew]

Theoretically I imagine it would indeed apply if you’re directly buying a diamond, or any other expensive material component. But as such components are (presumably) not on the adventuring gear table, you can’t count on them being available for sale.

in one of the Crawford interviews in the past two weeks, they were even joking about people selling diamonds outside of temples. It's such an endemic problem, and I don't think it occurred to them to fix it...

 

[Kobold Stew]

I have a feeling that the feat actually references adventuring gear, maybe including tools, instruments, gaming sets, and vehicles, rather than all non-magical items.

Edit: maybe weapons and armor too.

I just hope it's clear, whatever the rule is.

 

[Charlaquin]

10% is usually easy to figure, then just double that.

I mean, yeah, that’s how I work out the tip on a bill at a restaurant. But that’s easier when the price is rendered as $55.23 instead of 5 gold, 5 silver, 23 copper. And moreover, it’s just a bizarre benefit for a Feat to give. It doesn’t grant the player’s character the ability to do something special, it warps the way the world they’re interacting with works. It’s a (and I hate that I’m using this term but I think it’s accurate) dissociated mechanic.

 

[mellored]

It doesn’t grant the player’s character the ability to do something special, it warps the way the world they’re interacting with works.

Warping the world around you is doing something special.

 

[Charlaquin]

Warping the world around you is doing something special.

But the character isn’t doing anything in the universe to cause this warping. The DM is just obliged to change NPC behavior because the player selected a feature that says so.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Speculation on the associated feats (the answers might be out there already -- some certainly are.

• Acolyte - Healer
• Charlatan - Skilled? Alert?
• Artisan - Crafter
• Criminal - Tough? Skilled? Tavern Brawler?
• Entertainer - Musician
• Guard - Alert
• Farmer - Tough
• Guide - Healer?
• Hermit - Healer
• Noble - Skilled
• Merchant - Crafter?
• Sage - Magic Initiate
• Sailor - Tavern Brawler?
• Soldier - Savage Attacker? (Lightly Armored?)
• Scribe - Magic Initiate
• Wayfarer - Lucky

Happy to be corrected!

 

[Parmandur]

The list of origin feats is exactly what was in the first playtest packet; Lightliy Armored was added later; it is just possible that the author of this article is using old data. However, reference to the Fast Crafting table was not in the playtest description of the Crafter feat, and so there is some new information..

Nah, this article is pretty clearly based on the PHB: Lightly Armored is not in as a Origin Feat.