D&D (2024) D&D species article

[Clint_L]

I do think a significant portion of newer players disliked ability score increases tied to race. I think for most of them, that was just because they didn’t like that it made certain race/class combinations less optimal than others, and the concerns about racist implications were from a relatively small portion of those players. I think most just want to be able to play their orc wizard or halfling barbarian or whatever without feeling like they’re hobbling their own character’s combat potential.

Exactly this. And, on a philosophical level, I hated that we took things like not only ability scores but also languages and proficiencies and tied them so emphatically to "race." Like there couldn't be a skinny, nerdy dwarf who just wanted to study magic and didn't automatically know how to use a hammer while speaking a genetically imbued language.

 

[Weiley31]

Good thing Half-Elf and Half-Orc are still backwards compatible.

 

[Weiley31]

So, what happens to a Goliath Paladin's Aura when they turn Large via Large Form?

Remember, one of the reasons why they didn't fiddle with Large Size races was, aside from all the other stuff they didn't feel like dealing with, was that they wanted to avoid the interaction between a Paladin's Aura and the increased range granted to it via a larger size.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

It's becoming increasingly hard to avoid spellcasting or magic on a character.

What are the options for mundane characters now? Human/halfling/orc+champion/battlemaster/thief/assassin? Something like this?

 

[Charlaquin]

It's becoming increasingly hard to avoid spellcasting or magic on a character.

What are the options for mundane characters now? Human/halfling/orc+champion/battlemaster/thief/assassin? Something like this?

Dwarf, dragonborn, and Goliath don’t get spells either.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I do think a significant portion of newer players disliked ability score increases tied to race. I think for most of them, that was just because they didn’t like that it made certain race/class combinations less optimal than others, and the concerns about racist implications were from a relatively small portion of those players. I think most just want to be able to play their orc wizard or halfling barbarian or whatever without feeling like they’re hobbling their own character’s combat potential.

This seems correct.

Tasha's approach was widely accepted and used in groups who had very little interest in "social justice" issues. To judge from all available online sources the majority of groups had shifted to a Tasha's approach by like 2023.

Unfortunately 2024 throws that approach away in favour of limiting you by background instead of race, and I think thus I think a bunch of people who couldn't care less about "implied racism" or whatever, but just liked being able to freely play whatever race/class/backstory combo they wanted are going to be pretty intensely annoyed when they find out that the backstory they wanted for their character is a hard-mismatch with the primary stat of the class they wanted. I suspect the eventual outcome will be most groups ignoring the background rules on stat selection, but it'll lead to arguments for the rest of 2024's life lol.

Clearly not in regards to the end result, but yeah it matters to me that the direction of the game was warped into something more bland.

I don't think that's how players see it - because "social justice" stuff isn't the primary concern - most players just prefer race and class to be separate selection, where one doesn't really drive the other. This isn't new to 2024, note - Tasha's showed a lot of groups preferred this for a long time

I'd put this more alongside the standardization of Feats, previously an optional element. However, as noted, WotC have ballsed it up by tying it to background, which is going to annoy basically exactly the same people basing it on race did. It even still has problematic "social justice" elements being tied to background but let's not re-do that discussion beyond acknowledging that WotC hasn't actually addressed the problem on a fundamental level, because it just moved the problem. Even though had deleted the problem from both angles with Tasha's! Very silly! I think that this decision was taking basically without external playtesting speaks volumes about how out-of-touch and groupthink-y Crawford et al can be.

 

[Scribe]

So, what happens to a Goliath Paladin's Aura when they turn Large via Large Form?

Remember, one of the reasons why they didn't fiddle with Large Size races was, aside from all the other stuff they didn't feel like dealing with, was that they wanted to avoid the interaction between a Paladin's Aura and the increased range granted to it via a larger size.

Which is so crazy to me. Why fight it? Its like this battle around species size and no Tiny Fairy.

Make a better game Wizards, you had the opportunity.

 

[Corinnguard]

Celestial revelation at least provides a unique mechanic.

Until WoTC no longer feels that the trait should be unique. Then there will be a divine subclass or a spell that can do the same thing as their Celestial Revelation.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Dwarf, dragonborn, and Goliath don’t get spells either.

Dragonborn and Goliath do get "magical" abilities though - breath weapon and self-enlargement. And dwarfs have a temporary tremorsense which feels kind of magical, though I could see it as simply requiring a level of hyperfocus that wasn't indefinitely sustainable.

 

[Scribe]

However, as noted, WotC have ballsed it up by tying it to background, which is going to annoy basically exactly the same people basing it on race did. It even still has problematic "social justice" elements being tied to background but let's not re-do that discussion beyond acknowledging that WotC hasn't actually addressed the problem on a fundamental level, because it just moved the problem.

And this is exactly why I pin it on social media. They (Wizards) didnt even fix anything they just played a shell game in the hopes of placating people.