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

[HammerMan]

This was an issue that several players at my tables had about the Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster. The players wanted some magic out of the gate,

This is why we always start at 3rd or higher level

One issue that I could foresee is the problem that if they do combine them, then someone's warlock character concept will get screwed over. If they convert their character over to Nat 1 D&D but find out, for example, that all their Fiendlocks have the Chain Boon and are locked out of the other boons or that Feylocks can't be Bladelocks, then that may damper their spirits.

Yeah I have a friend playing a hex blade with tomb pact to get extra cantrips. She will not be happy if they lock in things like this

 

[HammerMan]

Average value of 1d12 is 6.5. average value of 2d12 keep higher is 8.49.

It's an even worse value with smaller die sizes.

Retooling when you get the worst possible result is better then rolling 2 take the highest psychologicaly.

 

[HammerMan]

It’s possible that Magic Initiate is too strong to be a 1st level Feat. Or maybe the other 1st level Feats all need a boost to get on MI’s level. They’ll sort that out later, if leveled Feats pass the survey stage.

Too many things are locked behind spell casting. This HAS to remain a 1st level choice.

 

[HammerMan]

So instead of the standard meaning, they meant 'backward' in the sense of 'the opposite of'?

I think they mean the DM side can still use adventures but players have to upgrade as a whole table or stay back in old PHB.

 

[HammerMan]

Sure. It's still a disclaimer indicating that certain uses of old material will be deprecated. It also very strongly implies that you shouldn't be using 2014 Backgrounds anymore.

Yeah. Even equipment from backgrounds is changed up. Now every background gets 50gp

 

[HammerMan]

What would they even change that they haven't already changed for levelUp?

• Character origins: already different in LevelUp
• Feats: already different in LevlUp
• Spells: Already different in level up

I guess they could change conditions to match? Changing the crits and 1 & 20 rolls is a non issue (as it cost nothing one way or the other to implement or remove). So I don't think you have to worry about LevelUp much, it is already Advanced 5e.

It is an interesting thought. Not just level up but every 3rd party supplement (as of now only really PC facing ones) and how they will fit.

 

[Ixal]

Or perhaps because people keep getting all upsetti spaghetti about such a small thing that actually does make D&D more inclusive? Sometimes the squeaky wheel is the problem, not the indication that something else is going wrong.

The actual impact of individual variations within a given race will almost always be more important than the central tendency thereof. Sure, it may be the case that the average dwarf is stronger or tougher than the average human. Adventurers, by definition, are not average people.

And yet, when you compare a human and a dwarf adventurer of the same class you still end up with the dwarf being tougher than the human because he is a dwarf. You can't shake off your race and the average npc dwarf is equally affected as the average adventurer dwarf. No matter how odd and special he is, he is still a dwarf.

And no, to me its not a small thing. It represents the core of what the game is, one where you play a fictional role in a fictional world in which dwarfs are dwarfs with their own quirks in which case a dwarfs ASI stays no matter what class they play.
Or you play as a stat array of combat manoeuvres to have several tactical battles. In that case it doesn't matter what your race is, only your combat stats count. You are not playing a dwarven adventurer, you are playing the sword and shield tank.

Sadly with the change to floating and backgrounds ASI WotC caters to the latter. For them the "Role" in Role Playing Game seems now to mean combat role and they educate their players in that regard to always optimize their combat stats instead of playing something not optimal because you like the idea/role of it. Because in the end thats who the change to floating ASI is for. People who only something with optimal attributes for their combat role.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

And yet, when you compare a human and a dwarf adventurer of the same class you still end up with the dwarf being tougher than the human because he is a dwarf. You can't shake off your race and the average npc dwarf is equally affected as the average adventurer dwarf. No matter how odd and special he is, he is still a dwarf.

Why? Why should it be the case that the weird bottom 0.1% of Dwarves are ALWAYS superior to the weird top 0.1% of humans?

Real actual live humans have HUGE amounts of variance on these things. Why are fantasy races so narrowly pigeonholed? Why are they dramatically more uniform than even a single nation's population IRL?

 

[Ixal]

Why? Why should it be the case that the weird bottom 0.1% of Dwarves are ALWAYS superior to the weird top 0.1% of humans?

Real actual live humans have HUGE amounts of variance on these things. Why are fantasy races so narrowly pigeonholed? Why are they dramatically more uniform than even a single nation's population IRL?

Please read what I write and don't build strawmans. In all my posts I specifically compared characters of equal standing and not "bottom 0.1% to top 0.1%"
The top 0.1% of humans will of course be tougher than the bottom 0.1% of dwarves. Thats what the standard array is for.
But when you compare the top 1% of dwarves to the top 1% of humans (top meaning characters that trained their endurance), the dwarves will be thougher because of their race. Thats consistent and just logical. One does not suddenly stop being a dwarf just because you become an adventurer.
The same way the middle or bottom 1% will also have the dwarves just a little bit tougher when compared with each other.

Also, see the edit above.

 

[Remathilis]

Putting ASI into backgrounds makes no sense. ASI are something you are born with and are genetic.

I assume you are advocating for their removal from classes at 4th, 8th, 12th, etc levels then?