D&D (2024) Playtest: Is the Human Terrible?

[Yaarel]

The One D&D playtest human (ouman) is strictly better than the Players Handbook variant human (vuman)!



Here are the mechanics that dont matter:

• vuman: humanoid creature type
• ouman: humanoid creature type

• vuman: medium size
• ouman: medium or small size

• vuman: lifespan less than a century
• ouman: lifespan 80 years average

• vuman: Common and one chosen language
• ouman: (background gives chosen language)



Here are the mechanics that do matter:

• vuman: speed 30
• ouman: speed 30 − SAME!

• vuman: one chosen skill
• ouman: one chosen skill − SAME!

• vuman: one chosen feat
• ouman: one chosen feat − SAME!

• vuman: ...
• ouman: Resourceful (free Inspiration advantage per day) − BETTER!



The playtest ouman is better than the vuman.

 

[Maxperson]

• vuman: one chosen feat
• ouman: one chosen feat − SAME!

This is both right and wrong. It's right in that they each get one feat and 1=1. It's wrong in thinking that those feats are equal. The 5.5 human gets one feat from a very limited selection of weak(ish) feats. The Vhuman can pick any feat it wants and usually goes for one of the major strong feats. That makes the Vhuman superior in this category.

• vuman: ...
• ouman: Resourceful (free Inspiration advantage per day) − BETTER!

Advantage is almost trivially easy to get if you really try. Advantage on one roll a day isn't all that strong, and in my opinion doesn't overcome the very much more powerful feat that the Vhuman gets. Even when you combine it with the weak feat that 5.5 humans get.

 

[Yaarel]

This is both right and wrong. It's right in that they each get one feat and 1=1. It's wrong in thinking that those feats are equal. The 5.5 human gets one feat from a very limited selection of weak(ish) feats. The Vhuman can pick any feat it wants and usually goes for one of the major strong feats. That makes the Vhuman superior in this category.

Advantage is almost trivially easy to get if you really try. Advantage on one roll a day isn't all that strong, and in my opinion doesn't overcome the very much more powerful feat that the Vhuman gets. Even when you combine it with the weak feat that 5.5 humans get.

The PH feats themselves are a separate category.

I feel the worthwhile feats that players feel are worth trading an ability score improvement for, are the correct amount of design space. The other feats that arent worth giving up improvement are subpar.

So, most PH feats need a boost to be worth an improvement. Only a few feats are decent as-is.

In any case, if the designers add, remove, or rewrite feats, that affects both the vuman and ouman equally. A game where both the 5.0 feats and the 5.5 feats are available, will allow both the vuman and the ouman to take any feat.

The vuman and ouman are comparable. The ouman is strictly better.

 

[Maxperson]

The PH feats themselves are a separate category.

I feel the worthwhile feats that players feel are worth trading an ability score improvement for, are the correct amount of design space. The other feats that arent worth giving up improvement are subpar.

So, most PH feats need a boost to be worth an improvement. Only a few feats are decent as-is.

In any case, if the designers add, remove, or rewrite feats, that affects both the vuman and ouman equally. A game where both the 5.0 feats and the 5.5 feats are available, will allow both the vuman and the ouman to take any feat.

The vuman and ouman are comparable. The ouman is strictly better.

A number of the 2014 PHB feats are not merely decent, outright powerful or even broken in some cases.

Compare that to 2014 PHB feats that are changed in this UA to be even weaker than the PHB versions.

PHB

ALERT
Always on the lookout for danger, you gain the
following benefits:
• You gain a +5 bonus to initiative.
• You can't be surprised while you are conscious.
• Other creatures don't gain advantage on attack rolls against you as a result of being unseen by you.

UA
ALERT
1st-Level Feat
Prerequisite: None
Repeatable: No
Always on the lookout for danger, you gain the following benefits:
Initiative Proficiency. When you roll Initiative, you can add your Proficiency Bonus to the roll.
Initiative Swap. Immediately after you roll Initiative, you can swap your Initiative with the Initiative of one willing ally in the same combat. You can’t make this swap if you or the ally is Incapacitated.*

I mean, you lose a static +5 on initiative to gain advantage which is roughly equal, but I view the +5 as slightly better. You lose the ability to never be surprised while conscious, as well as invisible creatures not getting advantage to attack you, and in it's place you get the :::: ability to swap initiative with an ally once per combat at the very beginning when you don't know if it will be a good thing later on.

The PHB version is much better.

Edit: I missed the inititiative proficiency in the new feat, which makes it better, but still not as good as the PHB version. Most people will see +2 or +3 from it, but will still be able to be surprised and wrecked by invisible opponents.

 

[Yaarel]

A number of the 2014 PHB feats are not merely decent, outright powerful or even broken in some cases.

Compare that to 2014 PHB feats that are changed in this UA to be even weaker than the PHB versions.

PHB

ALERT
Always on the lookout for danger, you gain the
following benefits:
• You gain a +5 bonus to initiative.
• You can't be surprised while you are conscious.
• Other creatures don't gain advantage on attack rolls against you as a result of being unseen by you.

UA
ALERT
1st-Level Feat
Prerequisite: None
Repeatable: No
Always on the lookout for danger, you gain the following benefits:
Initiative Proficiency. When you roll Initiative, you can add your Proficiency Bonus to the roll.
Initiative Swap. Immediately after you roll Initiative, you can swap your Initiative with the Initiative of one willing ally in the same combat. You can’t make this swap if you or the ally is Incapacitated.*

I mean, you lose a static +5 on initiative to gain advantage which is roughly equal, but I view the +5 as slightly better. You lose the ability to never be surprised while conscious, as well as invisible creatures not getting advantage to attack you, and in it's place you get the ability to swap initiative with an ally once per combat at the very beginning when you don't know if it will be a good thing later on.

The PHB version is much better.

Edit: I missed the inititiative proficiency in the new feat, which makes it better, but still not as good as the PHB version. Most people will see +2 or +3 from it, but will still be able to be surprised and wrecked by invisible opponents.

Here the point is, feats are feats. Feats are a separate design space, with its own metric. The goal of the feat design space is to be roughly comparable in value to a +2 ability score improvement.

So, whatever feats exist, both the PH vuman and the ODD ouman can choose it.

The choice of feat for vuman and ouman is exactly the same!

(By the way, in this case, I agree with updating the flat +5 bonus to Alert initiative, to be +pro bonus instead. But since both the vuman and ouman can take it, the vuman and ouman feat choice is identical.)

 

[Reynard]

The choice of feat for vuman and ouman is exactly the same!

That is explicitly not true. The ouman can pick a first level feat, not any feat as the vuman can.

 

[Yaarel]

That is explicitly not true. The ouman can pick a first level feat, not any feat as the vuman can.

Every feat in the Players Handbook is a "first level feat"!

The feat choice of vuman and ouman is the same thing.

 

[Reynard]

Every feat in the Players Handbook is a "first level feat"!

The feat choice of vuman and ouman is the same thing.

No. The first level feats are listed in the UA document.

"Feats. Every 1st-level Feat mentioned herein
appears in the “Feats” section, which contains
both new and revised Feats."

 

[Yaarel]

No. The first level feats are listed in the UA document.

"Feats. Every 1st-level Feat mentioned herein
appears in the “Feats” section, which contains
both new and revised Feats."

So what?

The 5.5 ouman can still pick any feat from the 5.0 Players Handbook if the table is using both 5.5 and 5.0 together at the same time.

The choice of feat for both vuman and ouman is the same.

Whatever feats are available at the table, either one can choose.

 

[Reynard]

So what?

The 5.5 ouman can still pick any feat from the 5.0 Players Handbook if the table is using both 5.5 and 5.0 together at the same time.

The choice of feat for both vuman and ouman is the same.

Whatever feats are available at the table, either one can choose.

No, they can't. The ouman very specifically gets to pick from the feats listed in the UA document if you are testing the ouman. That's how playtesting works.