UA: New Race Options, Eladrin and Gith

The Eladrin ability score adjustment needs to be: +2 Charisma, +1 any other.

Charisma and all of its connotations [charm, innate magic, bardic song, etcetera] is what best represents the Fey Elf concept.

Intelligence is an accident of D&D only having Wizard class in the beginning, but it has merit in folklore too.

Dexterity is irrelevant.

Maybe handsized sprites connote Dexterity, but humansized spirits of magic, less so.



Edit.

Elves can work better this way:

Wood Elf: +2 Dexterity
High Elf: +2 Intelligence
Eladrin Elf: +2 Charisma

That is what the Elf feels like.



Edit.

High Elf
+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence (!)
Trance
Investigation skill proficiency
Languages: Elven, Sylvan, and Common
Cantrip
Elven Armor (permanent Mage Armor, appears as supple chain armor or as invisible force)
High Elf Weapon Training (longsword proficiency, treat as finesse weapon and spell focus)
(Darkvision too?)



Edit.

Eladrin are a group of elves that are native to the Fey Plane. They feel like a separate race of Elf with their own four subraces. The concept of the Eladrin evolves across the editions, and their association with the four seasons seems to enjoy traction. They consolidate well into four kinds of Eladrin, each one corresponding to a season.

Eladrin Elf
• Spring: +2 Charisma, +1 Dexterity (Ghael, Coure)
• Summer: +2 Charisma, +1 Strength (Firre, Bralani)
• Autumn: +2 Charisma, +1 Intelligence (Tulani)
• Winter: +2 Charisma, +1 Wisdom (Noviere, Shiere)

 

[fuindordm]

Eladrin is a pretty good take on a fey/sidhe elf, it gives mechanical support to the archetype of a passionate and volatile character without being overpowered.

The Gith are a bit bland... I'm all for giving them innate psionics but their specific powers and ribbons could have been chosen better to reflect their unique culture and environment.

For example, a defensive ability like Blur or 3E Entropic Shield is a better fit flavorwise for a monk who has learned to harness the powers of Limbo.

 

[gyor]

I've never seen a more captive audience for a game of ping-pong - so while I've got no horse in that race (or any other sports metaphor) - can I ask why folks want a planar sourcebook?

Given that previous editions had them it seems like a hole. Right?

But the materials are there to tell cool adventures with or no? So, the planes. Every time this comes up in my campaigns I cringe.

Why are we leaving everything behind to go to a monochromatic place modeled on Christian heaven or hell? Okay - so everything's burning. Right? And we don't know anybody here.

That seems pretty goofy. I guess I've never wanted to stem the tide of invaders at the source. I've never wanted to go to a place I can't exist which wished I was gone already. So--the planes? You can have em!

That is a poor understanding of the planes if you think they are a monochromatic place modelled on Christian After lives.

Christianity has some influence, but so do far more sources.

Angels are based on Spiritualism, aka New Age, not traditional Christianity.

Mechanus is a plane of steam punk magical wonders.

Many other examples of the strange and wonderful, not the least of which is Sigil itself.

 

[Delazar78]

I've never seen a more captive audience for a game of ping-pong - so while I've got no horse in that race (or any other sports metaphor) - can I ask why folks want a planar sourcebook?

Given that previous editions had them it seems like a hole. Right?

But the materials are there to tell cool adventures with or no? So, the planes. Every time this comes up in my campaigns I cringe.

Why are we leaving everything behind to go to a monochromatic place modeled on Christian heaven or hell? Okay - so everything's burning. Right? And we don't know anybody here.

That seems pretty goofy. I guess I've never wanted to stem the tide of invaders at the source. I've never wanted to go to a place I can't exist which wished I was gone already. So--the planes? You can have em!

Do you even Ysgard, bro!?

 

[Charles Rampant]

I really like the Eladrin concept and fluff, but I agree with others who feel that it's overpowered. It's barely less powerful than many full races - just give it +2 Dex and you'd be done, nevermind the rest of the Elf abilities. It's especially problematic when the Elf subraces already have 'free cantrip' as part of a markedly less powerful package.

The Gith, by contrast... man, there's just something missing! They are awesomely cool races, with lots of fun fluff and a really unique place in the game, but this writeup just doesn't excite me at all. And I say that as someone who just finished a big Githyanki focused storyline, so I'm well versed in the race and their ethos and culture. They've taken the traits from the Monster Manual, and make a race that is mechanically fine, but just very dull.

 

[Alexemplar]

I've never seen a more captive audience for a game of ping-pong - so while I've got no horse in that race (or any other sports metaphor) - can I ask why folks want a planar sourcebook?

Given that previous editions had them it seems like a hole. Right?

But the materials are there to tell cool adventures with or no? So, the planes. Every time this comes up in my campaigns I cringe.

Why are we leaving everything behind to go to a monochromatic place modeled on Christian heaven or hell? Okay - so everything's burning. Right? And we don't know anybody here.

That seems pretty goofy. I guess I've never wanted to stem the tide of invaders at the source. I've never wanted to go to a place I can't exist which wished I was gone already. So--the planes? You can have em!

I don't care much for the usual D&D cosmology, but I do use some of the planar locations, effects, player options, items, and monsters for my own campaigns where the cosmology is much smaller in scope and places like Genies and the city of Brass, Deities and their seven heavens, and fairie demiplanes are places where you'll want to go to get certain information, spells, items, resources, or interact/negotiate with these creatures who are major players in the prime-material (and perfectly capable of being coerced/outwitted/defeated/killed).

 

[kenmarable]

Eladrin is a pretty good take on a fey/sidhe elf, it gives mechanical support to the archetype of a passionate and volatile character without being overpowered.

The Gith are a bit bland... I'm all for giving them innate psionics but their specific powers and ribbons could have been chosen better to reflect their unique culture and environment.

For example, a defensive ability like Blur or 3E Entropic Shield is a better fit flavorwise for a monk who has learned to harness the powers of Limbo.

Yes, these look like a lot of fan conversions - aka "What were their abilities before? Now, convert to 5e." I know it's a fine line between changing things too much and fans complaining and just doing a bland x-to-x conversion. The conversions I enjoy are typically more like looking at the concept of the race and then seeing how to best exemplify that concept with the new rules.

The eladrin seasonal stuff definitely does that. But the gith conversions are... well, ok. If you were to just look at the mechanics, could you see what the personality and concept of the race is?

That's one of the yardsticks I have for a good race (conversion or not). If you gave someone just the mechanics, could they get a feel for the flavor of the race?

 

[Imaro]

I've never seen a more captive audience for a game of ping-pong - so while I've got no horse in that race (or any other sports metaphor) - can I ask why folks want a planar sourcebook?

Because...Planescape

Given that previous editions had them it seems like a hole. Right?

Well there's a nice primer in the DMG so no, not exactly a hole...

But the materials are there to tell cool adventures with or no? So, the planes. Every time this comes up in my campaigns I cringe.

Not sure why it makes you cringe but again... yes they are there to help have cool adventures... so again... because Planescape

Why are we leaving everything behind to go to a monochromatic place modeled on Christian heaven or hell? Okay - so everything's burning. Right? And we don't know anybody here.

Wait... that's not Planescape...

That seems pretty goofy. I guess I've never wanted to stem the tide of invaders at the source. I've never wanted to go to a place I can't exist which wished I was gone already. So--the planes? You can have em!

Well yes the planes being a monochromatic place modeled on Christian heaven or hell might seem goofy (though I think I could come up with some pretty cool adventures based on those places...I thought we were talking about Planescape...

 

[Elon Tusk]

I've converted most of the humanoids in the MM and Volo's to PCs for my players.
My Githzerai based off of the MM looks almost identical to this one, give or take a stat mod.

 

[kenmarable]

I've never seen a more captive audience for a game of ping-pong - so while I've got no horse in that race (or any other sports metaphor) - can I ask why folks want a planar sourcebook?

Given that previous editions had them it seems like a hole. Right?

But the materials are there to tell cool adventures with or no? So, the planes. Every time this comes up in my campaigns I cringe.

Why are we leaving everything behind to go to a monochromatic place modeled on Christian heaven or hell? Okay - so everything's burning. Right? And we don't know anybody here.

That seems pretty goofy. I guess I've never wanted to stem the tide of invaders at the source. I've never wanted to go to a place I can't exist which wished I was gone already. So--the planes? You can have em!

As others have said, the D&D outer planes are FAR much more than a Christian Heaven and Hell. It sounds like you might have had some bad experiences with planar gaming and only experienced a slight fraction of it. It's like starting to read Tolkien and thinking "This Shire place is boring. I don't get what the big deal is.", closing the book and moving on.

If "so everything's burning" is all you have experience of the planes, then it would certainly seem monochromatic and boring. So that's understandable. You don't have to enjoy planar content in gaming, it's not for everyone. But sometime, I do hope you would at least consider looking into the larger expanse of the planes, especially if there is a future 5e product(s) there. Just like with both Bilbo and Frodo, the Shire might have a quaint little charm to it, but the real excitement happens when they leave and go out to the rest of the world. Having the PCs go to hell where everything is burning, sure maybe it's fun once, but if you go deeper there or to any of the many other planes, it is an extremely rich and exciting area of D&D to explore.

Still might not be for you, and that's fine. I just hope people aren't missing out because of misinformation. I guess a lot of adventures have tended to be "stop a demon invasion!" as the only very limited peak at the planes. That will definitely influence opinions of them.

Not saying it is the case here, but with Planescape coming up on its 25th anniversary and little official content for 3 editions now, I know there are a lot of gamers who have started playing long after Planescape ended. (Not that Planescape is all there is to the planes, but it is the richest and most detailed version of them.) I've been tempted to start an "Intro to Planescape" style blog/podcast/something. Hmm... might have to actually get around to that.

 

[DEFCON 1]

It's not surprising people think there's something "missing" with the Gith entry in the article... it's because it's true! There is literally something missing!

The Eladrin section starts with several paragraphs of description of who they are as a race, and there follows a huge section on the eladrin's personality types. And only after that do they give the game mechanics for the race.

Whereas the Gith are presented purely as their game stats. That's it. So of course something feels missing, because no description of who they are as a people are presented, giving us the story and flavor of who they are and how their game mechanics are meant to be interpreted.

Which is exactly what WotC wants for this part of the Gith playtest.

They don't want us critiquing the story aspects of these two subraces of Gith. All they want is for us to look at where the ability score bonuses were placed, and how the game mechanics of Decadent Mastery, Martial Prodigy, Githyanki Psionics, Monastic Training, and Githzerai Psionics all look... and for us to tell them whether there are any obvious problems with those features. If there aren't, and no one comments in the upcoming survey "Hey, the problem with Monastic Training is--" blah blah blah... then they know they are on the right track with the mechanics and can then focus on the story of the Gith race and make sure once that is in place that the game mechanics still align to it.

Obviously, because Eladrin have already had preliminary work done in the entry in the Dungeon Master's Guide, they are far enough along where WotC was fine giving us both story and mechanics together for us to critique. Which is completely okay.