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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kobold Stew" data-source="post: 8845402" data-attributes="member: 23484">I am very impressed with the revisions to species, at a first glance.1. Species for Race is long overdue. Good.2. Ardlings. I see in many ways this is nerfed from the first iteration, but I am so much more excited about this version than the last. This is something I would choose to play, and it gives lots of options.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Perception but no Darkvision. Good. Fewer darkvision races is good for the game, and I'm pleased that it's still not here. I think Perception gets too much foregrounding generally, but I'll take it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A Divine Cantrip. Good. The default of Thaumaturgy is purely cosmetic: you get a cantrip and can switch it out once per long rest. Light (countering darkvision), the new Guidance and the new Resistance (giving a use for reactions), and Sacred Flame (a scaling attack cantrip) are all better choices than Thaumaturgy (for me), and this means that I will feel a desire to choose magic initiate as my first feat less often<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It might make more sense as a Primal cantrip (and lose the fluff-connection to the Celestial Plane), but it's still a tidy feature, that will remain useful at all levels.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Animal ancestry, with a choice of four options:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Climb speed (with a minor damage boost for unarmed attacks). Fine, good for some.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Swim speed and cold resistance. I don't swim often in games, but the cold resistance means you can manage an aquatic adventure on your own.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dash Bonus. Will work really well for speedy rogues.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Personal Feather Fall and a jump bonus. So this is the way Feather Fall used to work, and the way that feels more "natural" to me -- I don't like a reaction catching a whole party falling; I much prefer the thought of an individual being able to leap off cliffs and somehow (magically or otherwise) make it to the ground. Fantasy paratroopers. This gives me that.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ardlings are now close to Tabaxi, Harengon, and Shifters in terms of the niche they fill. Sure, some are stonger than others, but I can imagine builds with all of these, and the magic doesn't need to be a defining characteristic -- you can take guidance or resistance and have it described as a natural ability (people are lucky around me; I give good advice).</li> </ul>3. Dragonborn. This is a race I have never played in 5e. I simply haven't found them appealing. I know they've had a number of versionsin the past few yers, but this suddenly feels compelling to me. It's basicially the PHB version, but with flight for 10 mins/day from level 5 onwards. Enough to last for one or two combats; enough to mae you feel like you are actually a dragon; but not enough to make you always flying. It's a resource you need to choose to spend, which makes it gameable. Whereas I didn't like the flight with the ardling in the first packet, this gives just enough to be fun but not overpowering.4. Goliaths. Again, they seem to have hit my sweet spot.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">35 speed. Sure.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Large Form. Become Large for 10 minutes 1/day is fun. They'll need to be clearer about (a) how large weapons work, and (b) whether your stuff grows with you or not. The idea of hulking out is cool, but who benefits is not clear. Also, how it will interact with Powerful build:</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Powerful Build. Getting rid of the free Athletics proficiency makes sense, but advantage to escape grapples means that you can also benefit by investing in Athletics. I suspect that "one size larger" should not apply when you yourself are large, but perhaps not enough people will care about that.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The high altitude ribbon was fun, but never actually saw play. That makes it less useful than...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Giant ancestry. Sp for the first time, Goliaths are clearly tied to specific giant types. That's good. The Stone's endurance is the default (= what was in MotM), but players can instead choose extra damage on attacks (fire or cold), teleporting ('cause everyone teleports now), thunder damage when hit at range, or knocking someone prone. My gut says that's the one to take -- that the Hill giant option is the one that will be the funnest for melee characters. But I really like that there are options that can make the Goliath a good choice for any class.</li> </ul>Seriously, I think this is the most positive I have felt about races at an initial read in 5e so far.</blockquote>

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