D&D 5E (2024) WotC Should Make 5.5E Specific Setting

[Yaarel]

Or it is a way of simply not actually integrating Goliaths into the setting.

These FR books gave WotC an opportunity to make FR a fully current D&D setting snd it sounds like they squandered it. So not only do you not have a new setting, you don't have an old setting that actually reflects D&D today.

Here the method is. Looking at the small amount of information, and extrapolating from it a context where it can make sense.

I can only imagine the apparently inevitable Dark Sun will be even worse.

In Dark Sun the Goliath are a retcon to replace the playable Half-Giant species.

 

[mamba]

I am just saying it would be easier and cooler to just build a setting that fundamentally incorporates all those things. I get that people like FR.

I never cared much for FR, I would not mind a new setting where all the species are incorporated in its history and have a place in the world

 

[Yaarel]

Looking at the Players Handbook, the Goliaths "descend" from Giants. They seem to have evolved from the Giant creature type to the Humanoid creature type. The size of Giants is a magical trait, and the Goliaths retain the ability ("supernatural boon") to temporarily exhibit this Giant size.

The "species" of Goliath can reproduce with each other. Nevertheless, each child only exhibits the traits of one of the ancestors: Frost, Fire, Storm, etcetera. A family might have children that are one of each.

The reference, "Goliaths seek heights above their ancestors", suggests a shared culture that honors - or rather rivals - their ancestors. In other words there is an indigenous culture that blends a Pan-Giant heritage from the various Giant "kin": Frost, Fire, Storm, etcetera, fusioning. That this culture seems to compete with their ancestors, might be a factor in their evolving into Humanoids. Also, the Giants live long, so there might be literal competitions between Goliaths and Giants, for various sports and contests. Great great great grandson is in a contest with a great great great grandmother.

As such, the setting can locate Goliaths anywhere Giants are present, especially where diverse Giant kin - Frost, Fire, Storm, etcetera - all happen to neighbor each other.

 

[Hussar]

Let's see if I can use some personal anecdotes to get my point across better.

Some time ago, I was a player in a Hoard of the Dragon Queen campaign. So, I made a dragonborn character, thinking that, well, in that campaign, that would make quite a lot of sense. So, I did my due diligence as a player and hit up the FR wikis and some source books to build a background for my character. And, there was basically nothing as far as the Sword Coast is concerned.

So, I created the idea that my parents were adventurers, had made it to the Sword Coast before retiring and settling down with a family in a nice farm outside of Greenest. Now, again, this isn't impossible or even implausible really, but, it was completely generic. I could have plonked this background down in any setting (or nearly any setting) and not had to change at thing other than a couple of proper nouns. IOW, there was absolutely nothing that made this character or this background a "Forgotten Realms" character.

Later on, I played in a Decent into Avernus campign. So, again, I hit up the wiki. This time I played a Thayan priest of Kossuth who was raised in the Thayan Enclave in Baldur's Gate. I had connections to the named NPC's in the setting, I had a history, I had a goal built in with the Thayan diaspora. This was a quintessentially Forgotten Realms character. I couldn't plonk this character down into another setting without pretty much entirely rewriting his entire background.

THAT'S what you get when you have species that are actually tied into a setting. That's what I expect for every single PHB race when played in a given setting. If I am playing a standard option from the PHB in a WotC setting, I don't think it's too much to expect that I could build a character that is actually tied into that setting. I shouldn't be forced to play Father Generic the Cleric just because I happened to pick a species from the PHB to play in a setting.

Being able to create characters that are tied to the setting when choosing bog standard PHB races should be the bare minimum of any setting which allows for PHB races. Since that's not actually true, then having a 2024 D&D setting built from the ground up that incorporates bog standard PHB options isn't a terrible idea.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Although, that does make it somewhat tricky for my Goliath to be in Baldur's Gate.

Why? I live near London now, and have done for over 20 years, but I’m not from London and don’t consider myself a Londoner. People of all kinds from all over the world are drawn to settle in major cities.

 

[Hussar]

Why? I live near London now, but I’m not from London and don’t consider myself a Londoner. People of all kinds from all over the world are drawn to settle in major cities.

I imagine that you weren't born several months travel from London. I could be wrong, but, just guessing here.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I imagine that you weren't born several months travel from London. I could be wrong, but, just guessing here.

I wasn’t, but many on my neighbours’ grandparents were.

 

[Hussar]

I wasn’t, but many on my neighbours’ grandparents were.

You're STILL missing the point.

Yes, being a fish out of water character is perfectly viable. Having a character from parts unknown is perfectly fine.

It should not be the default for a PHB option. It should not be the ONLY option for a PHB option.

Again, name a dragonborn community in the Sword Coast. If I'm playing a dragonborn character, where am I from if I'm living on the Sword Coast? What ties do I have with any existing elements? What makes my dragonborn PC a Forgotten Realms PC as opposed to yet another generic character that can be parachuted into any setting?

And, unless your neighbour's grandparents are several hundred years old, I sincerely doubt it took them months of travel to reach London. Good grief, you could circumnavigate the globe in two months in the 19th century.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

You're STILL missing the point.

Yes, being a fish out of water character is perfectly viable. Having a character from parts unknown is perfectly fine.

Why not? The majority of the population of London are from parts unknown if you go back one or two generations.

It should not be the default for a PHB option. It should not be the ONLY option for a PHB option.

It has to be, for some, because they are not actually species as such.

And you keep ignoring species that are not in the PHB. D&D is not, never has been only about things in the core rulebooks. It has always grown organically, with new things incorporated as they are added to the game.

Again, name a dragonborn community in the Sword Coast.

Name a Scottish community in Surrey. There are none. That doesn't mean there are no Scottish people in Surrey. Not everyone is from a place where everyone is just like them. The most likely place to find dragonborn in the Sword Coast is in a large port city, such as Baldur's Gate (and there are some there in BG3). But not in ghettos, just living amongst all the many other people whose grandparents came from elsewhere.

If I'm playing a dragonborn character, where am I from if I'm living on the Sword Coast?

Wherever you want to be from. How is that so difficult?

What ties do I have with any existing elements?

What ties do you want them to have?

What makes my dragonborn PC a Forgotten Realms PC as opposed to yet another generic character that can be parachuted into any setting?

Who says they are a Forgotten Realms PC? The Forgotten Realms has planar travel, they might be from anywhere in the multiverse. You might build local connections into your character's backstory, but that's likely to be a waste of time, since the life of an adventurer takes them to far off lands. The last Forgotten Realms adventure I ran the PCs travelled something like 10,000 miles from where they started (not including visits to other planes).

And, unless your neighbour's grandparents are several hundred years old, I sincerely doubt it took them months of travel to reach London. Good grief, you could circumnavigate the globe in two months in the 19th century.

People where arriving in London by ship as late as the 50s and 60s (and still are covertly). Not everyone is rich enough to afford air travel.

See this, for example: Windrush Day - Wikipedia

But rich privileged people can travel to Baldur's Gate by portals or teleportation. Even faster than air travel.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

So maybe we should homebrew a 5e/5.5 friendly setting?