Even Thieves Tools is not the "must-bring" it used to be in published material, I think.
I never said they were "must-bring." I literally, simply, exclusively, only, specifically said that it
is explicitly useful. It has clear, defined uses (opening locks and disarming traps, primarily) which are perfectly reasonable for an adventurer to encounter. These are stated in the item's very description, so you cannot even argue that they are not present in the core text.
I have never--not once--argued that these things are amazing, "must-have," indispensable, fantastic, whatever superlative adjectives you wish to use. I am, and have always been, purely arguing against the assertion that,
and I quote, "Plus... some DMs think Tool proficiencies are the bees knees,
others think they are virtually useless." Thieves' tools, disguise kit, and herbalism kit
are not "virtually useless." They have clear, well-defined uses: picking locks and disarming traps, non-magically concealing identities, and brewing health potions. And yes,
every single one of these benefits is explicitly listed in the PHB, requiring no supplements, no opt-in optional rules, nor any overt DM support beyond
literally what the text itself says.
You can absolutely argue, "picking locks isn't required, and others can get it and do it better." That is completely true...and completely missing the point. That it is easily obtained some other way does not obviate the fact that this is now a
new way to obtain it, for races that were
already quite strong (Elves and Half-Elves are frickin'
loaded, man), in a set of optional rules specifically designed to make
not-so-great options better suited to the plethora of pursuits an adventurer might take interest in.
For crying out loud, my very first post in this thread was,
and again I quote, "
It's not too powerful--it simply reveals that some races are clearly underpowered." How much more clear do I need to be? That was literally THE ONLY THING I SAID IN THAT POST.
The other tool profs (yes, also Disguise kit); they are definatly useless.
Again: no, they are not. They are, quite literally by definition, useful: they have a use. That that use is not
necessary and can be done better by magic
does not mean the use doesn't exist. Like, this is literally the Oberoni fallacy re-cast; "magic does X better"
does not mean that X is suddenly not a use at all. I LITERALLY ALREADY SAID that it's not an overpowered rules option. So, since I apparently failed to make that completely clear, allow me to do so.
This is not overpowered.
But it DOES show how shafted 5e Dragonborn are (and to a lesser extent certain other races.) There is essentially no reason a Dragonborn fan (such as myself--I wear my bias on my sleeve here) would
ever take the standard race if the custom origin option is available, while the Elf and Half-Elf get amazing base packages, that can now be customized to a slightly greater degree which applies NOT ONE BIT to the weakest races the game has to offer.
The rich are getting richer. It doesn't matter that that "richer" is "free doughnuts, which many won't take because they either already buy doughnuts, or have a friend that
makes them free doughnuts, or don't even
like doughnuts, or just use a magic spell to
summon doughnuts." The rich just got something extra, and the poor got
literally nothing.
Is that sufficiently clear? Have I sufficiently made my point to you now, so you can stop making this COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT point about how the utility of it is small compared to other things?
