D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook Reveal: Feats/Backgrounds/Species

[CapnZapp]

background should just be roleplay ideas and what your imagination puts into your character.

leave mechanics out of it.

They want to move away from species/race so what should they have chosen instead if not backgrounds?

 

[CapnZapp]

Originally, yes. Orcs (and some other species) used to be creatures with light sensitivity (Orcs and Goblins being inspired by LoTR). Orcs were later reframed to be wild barbaric tribes, leaving the light sensitivity to Drow, which has now also been removed.

I long for the time when player characters actually feared the dark.

A time when Darkvision wasn't handed out like candy.

 

[CapnZapp]

Truly stupid decision that will cause absolute havoc with the backgrounds. People have got used to being able to assigning stats as they want, and restricting it this way is going to force people to be ludicrously suboptimal in ways that people really, really, really hate.

Ways that generally speaking, even race-based limits placement didn't do. Acolyte is a prime example - absolutely NO-ONE wants to primary CHA, INT or WIS, and then put the +1 into the one of the others on that list. They've created a joke background no-one will take.

If this rule goes in on D&D Beyond, people will be insanely mad. They'll have to put in an override or people will literally be demanding refunds.

I imagine 80-90% of groups will ignore it anyway, because it's putting a restriction in after a restriction has been gone for 5+ years, and the restriction makes absolutely no sense and isn't balanced (c.f. Guide vs Acolyte - Guide offers a hugely more advantageous choice - no Cleric will ever be an Acolyte again - but most will be Guides).

I like it. Restrictions are often the foundations of interesting mechanical choices.

The short period of D&D where you could put your ability scores wherever you like regardless of charbuild choices should not be seen as definitive.

I had zero problems with racial modifiers but background restrictions are at least better than nothing.

 

[CapnZapp]

Forcing people to spend money to legalize ability combos that have been legal for 5+ years is pretty gross behaviour, even by WotC standards. Pretty damn gross.

What are you talking about now?

D&D being pay to win is news to me.

 

[CapnZapp]

i find it hilarious they said they didn't want to replicate the stat distribution limitations of species and then immediately went into how they basically did just that anyways, granted maybe with a little more leeway in it, but like, after tasha's floating for so long it's by comparason putting restrictions back onto the system rather than removing them.

i would've liked if they'd split the difference between species or background providing your potential ASI placement and had two stat choices given from each.

Not sure if this is applicable, but one rule from 2014 I did not like was the way you could pick a skill you knew you would get anyway, in order to turn that pick into "anything I want".

It created a game where there ostensibly was a limitation, but where system mastery let you circumvent said limitation in a trivial and costless way.

 

[CapnZapp]

And again, a guard who can't see pick pockets isn't a good guard

The archetypal guard is neither smart nor attentive, so

 

[CapnZapp]

You laughed at my post about an Int boost

Just as a friendly reminder: it's impossible to discern whether someone clicked the icon to laugh with your post or to laugh at your post.

My suggestion is to interpret every laugh like as laughing with you...

 

[CapnZapp]

Sounds like someone won't be buying the new books.

Sounds like someone who definitely will be buying the new books

 

[CapnZapp]

I honestly hope that backgrounds force players to take more suboptimal-but-still-functional routes in character creation.

I am convinced half my players will simply minmax the background that serves their character best. I also don't worry about that half, it's not like this will diminish their play fun in the slightest - these players seldom roleplay their characters much anyway... it's not that the rules could make them roleplay more or better anyway. If only one of them is bothered about the "phony" background choice and starts making an effort to actually embody the chosen background, that's a win in my book!

It's the other half this is great for - the half that ends up either choosing a suboptimal Background and makes the best of it anyway, or ends up choosing an optimal Background but then makes a whole new character out of the unexpected choice.

 

[CapnZapp]

You can't put the cat back in the bag

Sorry I have news for you:

Despite the dozens(?) of posts you make here, the cat is squarely back in the bag.