D&D (2024) First playtest thread! One D&D Character Origins.

[Bill Zebub]

. And no, this is not any more problematic than the wood elves being faster runners than the dragonborn.

Maybe not problematic from a biological determinism standpoint, but it is from a character diversity standpoint.

. The ideal solution would be to lessen this pressure, but I doubt they're going to do that.

I very much agree here. I wish all characters were more MAD. That would greatly alleviate the problem.

I also don't like the autofail on one and autosuccess on 20. A skilled master shouldn't fail simple tasks 5% of time nor a bumbling buffoon succeed at highly specialised and difficult tasks 5% of the time.

The DM can (and should, imo) rule automatic success or failure in this circumstances and not be calling for dice rolls.

 

[Cadence]

Backwards compatible means that you must be able to mix and match old content with new and have a roughly equal experience power wise. It doesn't have to be exactly the same, but the range needs to be close to the same. If you can't do that, it's not backwards compatible.

It sounds like they're making their own definition of backwards compatible (run the adventures and campaign settings and use most of the supplements without much work, otherwise...).

Kind of like the have a new definition of what edition means.

 

[Maxperson]

Crawford explicitly said thst they are fine with people using theb2014 core rulebooksnto run the tests, because they are mostly not changing. He also said that future UA would be more focused than this one was, dialing in on very specific elements (Classes, probably).

I mean, you literally have to run the 2014 version with them. The only thing we have are backgrounds, feats and races. You can't play with just those.

 

[Parmandur]

Backwards compatible means that you must be able to mix and match old content with new and have a roughly equal experience power wise. It doesn't have to be exactly the same, but the range needs to be close to the same. If you can't do that, it's not backwards compatible.

Exactly, and that's what we're seeing so far.

 

[Parmandur]

I mean, you literally have to run the 2014 version with them. The only thing we have are backgrounds, feats and races. You can't play with just those.

Exactly! This document has plug and play modules that are built along the same lines as other options released the past few years.

 

[Cadence]

Exactly, and that's what we're seeing so far.

It kind of feels like I'd bet that mixing and matching the most powerful thing from each version will be a problem.

Or maybe there won't be much to call out about it beyond not getting ASI with both race and class. (Does this mean no spells are likely to be significantly nerfed since one could go back and use the old one? Or will they errata those?).

Interested to see how important using feats ends up being to this one beyond 1st level.

 

[Maxperson]

Exactly, and that's what we're seeing so far.

Are we? I haven't compared the new races and backgrounds with the old races and backgrounds to see if they are on par. The new backgrounds grant a feat, which is pretty good.

What I see is this. The new backgrounds are significantly better than the old ones, since they grant feats. To balance that the new races can't be as good as the old races. So what happens if an old race takes a new background? It will be more powerful than new race plus new background. If they races are balanced, then new background plus new race will be more powerful than old background plus old race.

I don't see how these things can be reconciled.

 

[Parmandur]

It kind of feels like I'd bet that mixing and matching the most powerful thing from each version will be a problem.

Or maybe there won't be much to call out about it beyond not getting ASI with both race and class. (Does this mean no spells are likely to be significantly nerfed since one could go back and use the old one? Or will they errata those?).

I suspect that Spells might not get a huge overhaul on the individual level: those have been more aggressively errata in the past 8 years than Race or Class.

Also, they went out of their way to emphasize that the exact number balance here isn't ready forprinting, but these are in the right ballpark frankly.

 

[Parmandur]

Are we? I haven't compared the new races and backgrounds with the old races and backgrounds to see if they are on par. The new backgrounds grant a feat, which is pretty good.

What I see is this. The new backgrounds are significantly better than the old ones, since they grant feats. To balance that the new races can't be as good as the old races. So what happens if an old race takes a new background? It will be more powerful than new race plus new background. If they races are balanced, then new background plus new race will be more powerful than old background plus old race.

I don't see how these things can be reconciled.

The new Races are on par with the old, but don't take my word for it. The 1st Level Feat is the only significant difference, and..."take a free 1st Level Feat" isn't a huge fix. That's already normal in every book published since Theros in 2020.

 

[Maxperson]

The new Races are on par with the old, but don't take my word for it. The 1st Level Feat is the only significant difference, and..."take a free 1st Level Feat" isn't a huge fix. That's already normal in every book published since Theros in 2020.

But only for new backgrounds. The old backgrounds in the 2014 PHB cannot be played as they are without a significant difference. A feat isn't minor.

New Soldier
Ability Scores: +2 Strength, +1 Constitution
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Intimidation
Tool Proficiency: Gaming Set* (one of your
choice)
Language: Goblin
Feat: Savage Attacker

Old Soldier
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Intimidation
Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, vehicles (land)
Equipment: An insignia of rank, a trophy taken from
a fallen enemy (a dagger, broken blade, or piece of a
banner), a set of bone dice or deck of cards, a set of
common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp

FEATURE: MILITARY RANK
You have a military rank from your career a s a soldier.
Soldiers loyal to your former military organization
still recognize your authority and influence, and they
defer to you if they are of a lower rank. You can invoke
your rank to exert influence over other soldiers and
requisition simple equipment or horses for temporary
use. You can also usually gain access to friendly
military encampments and fortresses where your
rank is recognized.

Is that rank feature equivalent to rolling twice once per round and taking the higher damage number? Not even close. It's got highly narrow usage and what you get during that narrow usage isn't going to be anywhere close to as useful as Savage Attacker.