The Return of Subraces?

[Zireael]

I am for subraces as they are a way to rip culture out of the genetics of race. You get the base race and if the DM allows it, the subrace culture. So you pick elf and at "wood" culture on top of it.

And I am only for "mostly" culture subraces. No ability adjustments on subraces.

I think that is what they are going to do. Also, must spread xp around.

@ up: it is possible that subraces will be background.

 

[Aeolius]

c'mon, aquatic subraces.... daddy needs a new pair of flippers!

 

[GM Dave]

I'm very optimistic about this idea.

Four races to teach the basics of the game.

A host of sub-races, half-races (Half-Elf, Half-Gnome, Half-Orc, etc..), themed-races such as Wood Elf, High Elf..etc..

If monsters from Monster Vault have different roles and types, so should characters.

Speaking of sub-races and monsters.

Can we finally have different tribes of non-humanoids?

I mean, Goblins in WFRP come in different types. Couldn't DnD take a lesson and start to have different types of Goblins, Hobgoblins, Orcs, etc.

I get to choose monsters and they all seem so vanilla humanoid of the week. I'd like it if they had a small table of choices to personalize the humanoid monsters around tribal themes.

 

[Gold Roger]

I don't like it one bit and hope if they stick with the idea it's a module that can be edited out easily.

As a homebrew DM, I'm against any culture info defined by the rules. In my games elves aren't high elves or wood elves. In many campaign settings there aren't either (for example eberron and dark sun).

Culture is highly individual to every game table. After all every DM and player interprets and presents human fantasycultures differently, the same should be true for nonhuman PC races.

Culture is mostly presented in game by roleplaying and the DMs description of the world. If a player particularly wants to represent his PCs culture, he has the option to do so via suitable kits, PrCs, backgrounds, paragon paths, themes or whatever.

But PCs shouldn't always have some qualities he shares with every other person of his culture. Culures aren't monolithic like that.

 

[hafrogman]

I don't like it one bit and hope if they stick with the idea it's a module that can be edited out easily.

*shrug* On one hand I think you'll be disappointed. I expect that with the module removed D&DN elves will just look like any other edition's elves, cultural hardcoding and all as opposed to a true blank slate. Removing modules, or turning them off, seems more about returning playstyle to earlier editions more than creating a new framework to build on.

On the other hand it sounds like you'll have an easier time removing it from D&DN than any previous edition as the subraces will at least point out specifically what to remove. For good or bad, D&D elves have had a bonus to using longswords and bows for a long time. If under the subrace system that's specifically called out as a cultural ability then it can be replaced or trimmed a lot more easily (or obviously).