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

[Belen]

v5.2 does seem battle-grid heavy and hard to do theatre of the mind with. In that way it's closer to 4e and v3.0-3.5's Miniature's Game, but mostly it seems like this was designed too sell subs to the virtual tabletop.

...and this is why I am very close to not transitioning to 5.5. 3.5/PF1e burned me out on tactical grids. I hate them now as a DM.

 

[Charlaquin]

Yes, they do.

Player: I want to buy a shovel
DM: you're on a tiny boat in the middle of the ocean, you can't.

That’s not even the DM making a call, that’s just an absurd situation

Or

Player: I want to buy a shovel
DM: your wallet takes 10 damage
Player: i reduce the damage by 2.

What on earth are you talking about?

Player: I buy a shovel for 8, and there is nothing you can do about it.
DM:

Except that is actually what this feature does.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Yes, I agree that it’s a very strange benefit for a feat called Crafter to give, but my interpretation is consistent with the text of the feat in the UA:

Your are adept at crafting things and bargaining with merchants. You gain the following benefits.

Tool Proficiency. You gain proficiency with three different artisan’s tools of your choice.
Discount. Whenever you buy a nonmagical item, you receive a 20% discount on it.
Faster Crafting. Whenever you craft an item using a tool with which you have proficiency, the required crafting time is reduced by 20%.

It was weird then and it’s weird now.

A few things have subtly changed since UA. So lets wait and see. Athough there is a good chance you are correct.

Edit: maybe the reasoning is easy. Even today, stores get a discount when buying things from their distributer. So maybe as a crafter you get that too. At least in lands where this is common.

 

[mellored]

Seriously…would anyone in this conversation ever take or recommend this feat?

I would have to see the new Crafting rules.

But yea, i expect 20% off of shovels is not going to compete with 20% more HP. I haven't seen non-magical items used past the first few levels.

At best I can see it getting you Full Plate a level early, but we'll have to see.

 

[mellored]

That’s not even the DM making a call, that’s just an absurd situation

It is absolutely DMs call if a shovel is available for purchase.
And at what price.

It's absurd to say otherwise.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I would have to see the new Crafting rules.

But yea, i expect 20% off of shovels is not going to compete with 20% more HP. I haven't seen non-magical items used past the first few levels.

At best I can see it getting you Full Plate a level early, but we'll have to see.

I can see me taking it. 20% more hp sounds nice, but being able to McGyver your way around fights is even nicer.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Except that is actually what this feature does.

If that is the only thing we worry about in this edition, we are in a good place.

 

[Charlaquin]

It is absolutely DMs call if a shovel is available for purchase.
And at what price.

Right, but the player always gets to pay 20% less than that price. They don’t have to convince the seller to lower their price. They just get a discount automatically. Anyone else who wants a discount has to actually go through the action resolution process to get one.

 

[Charlaquin]

If that is the only thing we worry about in this edition, we are in a good place.

Sure. To be clear this isn’t a huge deal to me. It’s a small annoyance that I’ll be houseruling away. It’s just frustrating to have to do that when the point of the revisions was supposed to be to fix these sorts of annoyances.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Sure. To be clear this isn’t a huge deal to me. It’s a small annoyance that I’ll be houseruling away. It’s just frustrating to have to do that when the point of the revisions was supposed to be to fix these sorts of annoyances.

I still think, there are many situatiins where you don't play out shopping. I bet there are downtime rules for that. In those cases, the rule makes a lot of sense.
I would not use it in roleplaying encounters. Otherwise it would go:

PC: "I am a crafter, I get 20% discount."
Shopkeeper: "No problem, the prices just went up 25%."