Mixing variants? 5e

[Miguel Borges]

I started a thread asking the same thing I while ago, but I didn't give enough info and didn't get a solid answer


I'm gonna start playing in a 5e game where the DM allowed a lot of material, including UA and SCAG


That been said


Would it be legal to combine The tiefling sub races from UA (Fiendish options) and the SCAG variant Feral?


For example


Feral Tiefling of Zariel +2 to dex and +1 to int, zariel spells instead of infernal legacy.

 

[Charlaquin]

Again, this is a question for your DM. The rules themselves have nothing to say about this either way.

 

[Miguel Borges]

Well, if the rules have nothing against it, and they dont interfere with each other, why do i have to ask my DM like is some type of homebrew? if my DM already allowed both UA and SCAG, wouldn't it be like combining feral tiefling and winged?

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Well, if the rules have nothing against it, and they dont interfere with each other, why do i have to ask my DM like is some type of homebrew? if my DM already allowed both UA and SCAG, wouldn't it be like combining feral tiefling and winged?

SCAG definitely calls winged and feral as exclusive to each other. There's nothing about combining a race variant with another race variant that doesnt modify the same feature from playtest material because its not official yet. If a player asked me, I would say no because its like having two sub-races. But I'm not your DM.

EDIT: just saw that Zariel legacy already gives you a variant stat bonus. So definetly no, you cant decide that your character is a subrace but with the stats bonus of another subrace. Its like saying: I want the wood elf racial features but prefer the stat bonuses of the High Elf for my build, so lets say I'm a High-Wood Elf.

 

[Charlaquin]

Well, if the rules have nothing against it, and they dont interfere with each other, why do i have to ask my DM like is some type of homebrew? if my DM already allowed both UA and SCAG, wouldn't it be like combining feral tiefling and winged?

There are two answers to this. The first is that you should always ask your DM if what you’re thinking of building is appropriate for the campaign. That’s just good player etiquette.

The second is that Unearthed Arcana is not official material. It is unofficial, untested material that may or may not have unintended interactions with official material, released for public playtesting with the disclaimer that the DM may need to adjust it on the fly to account for odd interactions or the material turning out to be over or under powered within the context of their campaign. In other words, using Unearthed Arcana is exactly like using homebrew. It just happens to be homebrew written by people at WotC. And it has less playtesting behind it than a lot of the homebrew you find in places like th DM’s Guild.

 

[redrick]

The second is that Unearthed Arcana is not official material. It is unofficial, untested material that may or may not have unintended interactions with official material, released for public playtesting with the disclaimer that the DM may need to adjust it on the fly to account for odd interactions or the material turning out to be over or under powered within the context of their campaign. In other words, using Unearthed Arcana is exactly like using homebrew. It just happens to be homebrew written by people at WotC. And it has less playtesting behind it than a lot of the homebrew you find in places like th DM’s Guild.

Yep.

 

[guachi]

EDIT: just saw that Zariel legacy already gives you a variant stat bonus. So definetly no, you cant decide that your character is a subrace but with the stats bonus of another subrace. Its like saying: I want the wood elf racial features but prefer the stat bonuses of the High Elf for my build, so lets say I'm a High-Wood Elf.

I let someone in my campaign do this as the world had no distinction between wood elf and high elf and I didn't really care, anyway. But a DM can basically allow anything. As you state, the rules don't actually allow you to do this without DM approval.

 

[ccs]

Well, if the rules have nothing against it, and they dont interfere with each other, why do i have to ask my DM like is some type of homebrew? if my DM already allowed both UA and SCAG, wouldn't it be like combining feral tiefling and winged?

1) Because your DMs opinion/answer is the one that actually counts.
Your DM trumps the written rules, the errata, the designers, Mike Mearls, whoever you see on YouTube, Gary Gygax's ghost, and all of us random others.

2) And you have questions about wether or not your combo is legal. (it's not btw)
So I don't know why you wouldn't seek your answer from the source that's actually going to matter to the game you'll be in.

Oh, wait. Yes I do know why you wouldn't do that. Because you want to be able to wave a pile of counter-evidence/opinions at your DM in the event he tells you No.

Go talk to your DM. Pitch your concept. Maybe he'll like it & agree. Maybe not. Just accept whatever his verdict is. Good luck.

 

[Sunseeker]

Well, if the rules have nothing against it, and they dont interfere with each other, why do i have to ask my DM like is some type of homebrew? if my DM already allowed both UA and SCAG, wouldn't it be like combining feral tiefling and winged?

Because the rules don't let you cherry-pick subraces or subrace elements.

And specifically the comment you were replying to said:

The rules themselves have nothing to say about this either way.

Which is substantially different from "the rules don't allow it" and the "rules do allow it". Saying nothing about it just means it says nothing about it. The Rules DO say you only get to pick one subrace.

 

[Satyrn]

Oh, wait. Yes I do know why you wouldn't do that. Because you want to be able to wave a pile of counter-evidence/opinions at your DM in the event he tells you No.

Geezus.

He might just be new to RPGs and hasn't yet fully grokked the role of the rules and the DM (and you oughtta know it's not an obvious thing readily understood by people new to the game)

Or maybe his DM is a more by-the-book kinda guy so the by-the-rules answer is likely to apply.