D&D 5E Unearthed Arcana: Gothic Lineages & New Race/Culture Distinction

The latest Unearthed Arcana contains the Dhampir, Reborn, and Hexblood races. The Dhampir is a half-vampire; the Hexblood is a character which has made a pact with a hag; and the Reborn is somebody brought back to life.

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Perhaps the bigger news is this declaration on how race is to be handled in future D&D books as it joins other games by stating that:

"...the race options in this article and in future D&D books lack the Ability Score Increase trait, the Language trait, the Alignment trait, and any other trait that is purely cultural. Racial traits henceforth reflect only the physical or magical realities of being a player character who’s a member of a particular lineage. Such traits include things like darkvision, a breath weapon (as in the dragonborn), or innate magical ability (as in the forest gnome). Such traits don’t include cultural characteristics, like language or training with a weapon or a tool, and the traits also don’t include an alignment suggestion, since alignment is a choice for each individual, not a characteristic shared by a lineage."

 

[Arial Black]

You could just give races advantages on checks and saves. So a half-orc isn't any better at hitting someone with a great sword than a gnome is, but the half-orc is slightly better at carrying things and powering out of a grapple. Of course, that would be even better if there were more strength and con skills....

Or how about this: eliminate racial bonuses to Str, but give those races that used to have +2 Str the racial ability to add +1 to attack and damage rolls with melee weapons?

 

[Vaalingrade]

And I get you. Where it breaks down for me, and I assume a few others is that in your military vet scenario, there is no way that halfling should be as strong as a Goliath that went through the same experience.

I get what you are saying, you are an outlier. I'm on my phone so I can't check the default halfling, but is it 15 str? If it isn't, you are already an outlier.

You simply don't stack up on a biological level as a Goliath at the same point on the journey.

Realistically though, what are the chances at that point that there's another player in the group who a) wants to play a Goliath b) picked the same background and c) is that dead set on biting off you that they can't accept not being stronger?

And at that point, is it even worth appeasing that guy at the expense of the halfling player?

 

[Hurin70]

Huh? They’re both halflings...

Ok, then the answer is clear in my group at least. The highest Strength the Halfling can start the game with is 15.

Every game has constraints. If we're about to play Monopoly, and I ask if I can roll three dice to move rather than the normal two, because I have a cool concept of a dog that is faster than any race car, what do you tell me?

 

[Vaalingrade]

Ok, then the answer is clear in my group at least. The highest Strength the Halfling can start the game with is 15.

Every game has constraints. If we're about to play Monopoly, and I ask if I can roll three dice to move rather than the normal two, because I have a cool concept of a dog that is faster than any race car, what do you tell me?

That Monopoly isn't a roleplaying game, but next time we play D&D, you can play the hell out of that dog?

 

[Scribe]

Realistically though, what are the chances at that point that there's another player in the group who a) wants to play a Goliath b) picked the same background and c) is that dead set on biting off you that they can't accept not being stronger?

And at that point, is it even worth appeasing that guy at the expense of the halfling player?

That's not really the point here however with this discussion.

The point is one of abstraction, of suspended belief, and where one sits on a sliding scale if restrictions and freedoms.

Ultimately at our tables, we decide those lines in the sand.

Currently, both camps have an official system.

That won't last, and that's an issue to me.

 

[TwoSix]

But they are only exceptional if there is a default that they break from.

I agree, but I think that default can be defined by existing trope and stated narrative, and doesn't necessarily need the backing of a rules structure.

 

[Charlaquin]

Every game has constraints. If we're about to play Monopoly, and I ask if I can roll three dice to move rather than the normal two, because I have a cool concept of a dog that is faster than any race car, what do you tell me?

I’m the one who’s arguing against one player getting a mechanical advantage on the other on the basis of fluff. The only way you can even kind of apply this horrendously tortured analogy to the current argument is by framing the player trying to get the extra die on the basis of their choice of game piece to the Goliath player.

 

[Vaalingrade]

That's not really the point here however with this discussion.

I rather think it is.

The rest is us complaining about our dumb philosophies, but the reality is we're talking about a roleplaying game and player experience is what matters. And we're talking about dumping that in favor of a lot of dumb tradition and worthless verisimilitude that are both totally divorced from actual play.

 

[Charlaquin]

Or how about this: eliminate racial bonuses to Str, but give those races that used to have +2 Str the racial ability to add +1 to attack and damage rolls with melee weapons?

No, that... the +1 to attack and damage rolls is the main thing that makes racial ASIs so much more valuable than other racial features.

 

[Hurin70]

That Monopoly isn't a roleplaying game, but next time we play D&D, you can play the hell out of that dog?

Nice. Ok, you got me on that one.

But seriously, if my class concept is 'My class concept is to play x race, but its going to have better stats than that race has, with no downsides', then honestly, the best thing is just to say, 'Sorry, you'll have choose something else.'

If you want to play a space-Halfling with Orc-level strength, then you're also going to have to have some harmful mutations that compensate for that inequality. Because balance.

Or better yet, you can just play an Orc.