D&D 5E Tasha's Optional Class Features - Using Them or Not?

[Scribe]

@AcererakTriple6 that system sounds quite good.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

@AcererakTriple6 that system sounds quite good.

Thanks. I like it too, and it has worked well the few times I have used it.

As a plus, it also doesn't have the balance issues that Tasha's has for Mountain Dwarves, Kobolds, and Half-Elves.

 

[Scribe]

Thanks. I like it too, and it has worked well the few times I have used it.

As a plus, it also doesn't have the balance issues that Tasha's has for Mountain Dwarves, Kobolds, and Half-Elves.

And by the sounds of it, it keeps a logical tie to the race, or do you let that float to wherever?

 

[Demetrios1453]

I use a similar system. You get one ASI for your Background, one for your Class/Subclass (I start games at level 3), and one for your Race/Subrace (maximum of +2 in any ability score).

This lets an Orc get a +2 to Intelligence if they want, but they'd have to use both their Class/Subclass and their Background to get this bonus, while a Gnome could only just choose a Class/Background and their Race to get the same bonus. This makes it so gnomes can get this bonus more easily than an Orc, but Orcs aren't inherently required to be stupid (like they were in the original version of Volo's).

That's a really interesting system, threading the needle nicely between PHB over-rigidity and TCoE over-flexibility, all while tying things logically to the actual character-building process. I may have to steal this for my next game.

How do you work humans in this however? Do they just get their regular +1 to everything (vanilla) or +1 to two different stats (variant) like they do now? And do half-elves and mountain dwarves still get an extra ASI (presumably confined to CHA and STR/CON respectively)?

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Thanks. I can't take credit for the original idea, but most of the system was developed by me.

Correct, the DM would assign them. I did the stats for every single official background from every single official 5e source, but homebrew ones would require the DM to rule on them.

Minor quibble (pertinent to AL): As long as a player follows the formula laid out in the PHB “Customizing a Background” section, their background is RAW. Backgrounds appearing in official WotC publications are all just samples provided to get players up and running more quickly.

Also interested in how humans are handled (per @Demetrios1453 above) in your ASI system.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

And by the sounds of it, it keeps a logical tie to the race, or do you let that float to wherever?

Yep, it keeps the tie to the race. The player can choose to increase any stat they would normally get a bonus to from their race or subrace by 1. So, a Hill Dwarf could choose to increase their CON or WIS by 1.

It keeps the logic of having your race matter while not restricting it as much as Pre-Tasha's racial ASIs did.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

How do you work humans in this however? Do they just get their regular +1 to everything (vanilla) or +1 to two different stats (variant) like they do now? And do half-elves and mountain dwarves still get an extra ASI (presumably confined to CHA and STR/CON respectively)?

I don't have any normal humans. Human characters don't get a bonus to an ability score, but they do get a feat of their choice (so, if they choose a half feat, they'll get the same overall +3 that the other races get).

Half-Elves and Mountain Dwarves don't get the extra ASI, they function like all of the other races in this system.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Minor quibble (pertinent to AL): As long as a player follows the formula laid out in the PHB “Customizing a Background” section, their background is RAW. Backgrounds appearing in official WotC publications are all just samples provided to get players up and running more quickly.

The DM can rule it in that case.

 

[Scribe]

Yep, it keeps the tie to the race. The player can choose to increase any stat they would normally get a bonus to from their race or subrace by 1. So, a Hill Dwarf could choose to increase their CON or WIS by 1.

It keeps the logic of having your race matter while not restricting it as much as Pre-Tasha's racial ASIs did.

I really really like that. I seem to think there is another game I played recently that had Race + Background contributing to Ability Score but I cannot remember exactly how it was done.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Everything except Versatility.

Goofiest thing I've seen in awhile that a Fighter can completely "forget" years of specializing in one style and with an overnight rest magically become awesome with something else. It feels like "respeccing" in a video game.