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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dnd.wizards.com

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."

 

[Alzrius]

The bottom of a Wikipedia article citing four articles in the last 20 years is the exact opposite of ‘commonly acknowledged’.

Actually, that particular section cites five articles from the last twenty years:

• Kelley, David (2014). The art of reasoning: an introduction to logic and critical thinking (4th ed.). New York London: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
• Rizzo, Mario; Whitman, Douglas (2003). "The camel's nose is in the tent: rules, theories, and slippery slopes". UCLA Law Review. 51 (2): 539–592.
• Kahane, Howard (2001). Logic and contemporary rhetoric: the use of reason in everyday life. Australia Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning. p. 84
• Volokh, Eugene (February 2003). "The mechanisms of the slippery slope" (PDF). Harvard Law Review. 116 (4): 1026–1137.
• Corner, Adam; Hahn, Ulrike; Oaksford, Mike (2011). "The psychological mechanism of the slippery slope argument". Journal of Memory and Language. 64 (2): 133–152.

But if going to the bottom of the article seems disqualifying somehow, the second paragraph at the top of the page says, "The fallacious sense of "slippery slope" is often used synonymously with continuum fallacy, in that it ignores the possibility of middle ground and assumes a discrete transition from category A to category B. In a non-fallacious sense, including use as a legal principle, a middle-ground possibility is acknowledged, and reasoning is provided for the likelihood of the predicted outcome."

But if we’ve got to the point of you going to Wikipedia to dredge up semantics I order to tell me why I can’t have my D&D character

Since we're talking about semantics, I'll note that I never said you can't have your D&D character. I was simply rebutting your out-of-hand dismissal of the slippery slope argument.

the discussion has reached a supernatural level of tedium.

No, I think we've only now reached that particular point.

 

[Scribe]

Yes, I know you do. But I don’t. I think the Halfling Titan is a awesome character concept, and I don’t want the rules telling me it can’t exist.

Ypur game world isn’t my game world. The rules should allow both worlds to exist.

And you have Tasha's soon to be the only official game in town, while I lose my system going forward as per the UA for anything new.

Fair?

 

[Morrus]

Given that I said you weren't wrong for wanting your halfling titan, why did you cherry pick this one sentence to quote? I went out of my way to specifically acknowledge that it was okay for you to prefer the halfling titan. But the way you quote my post makes me look like a jerk out to berate you for having bad-wrong-fun and that wasn't my position at all.

I found a lot to disagree with in the rest of your post, but it would have been a lot of effort to go through everything. I addressed what I could. And it’s 2am here. If I get time tomorrow I’ll see if I can remember to rebut the other things, but no promises!

 

[Morrus]

Actually, that particular section cites five articles from the last twenty years:

• Kelley, David (2014). The art of reasoning: an introduction to logic and critical thinking (4th ed.). New York London: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
• Rizzo, Mario; Whitman, Douglas (2003). "The camel's nose is in the tent: rules, theories, and slippery slopes". UCLA Law Review. 51 (2): 539–592.
• Kahane, Howard (2001). Logic and contemporary rhetoric: the use of reason in everyday life. Australia Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning. p. 84
• Volokh, Eugene (February 2003). "The mechanisms of the slippery slope" (PDF). Harvard Law Review. 116 (4): 1026–1137.
• Corner, Adam; Hahn, Ulrike; Oaksford, Mike (2011). "The psychological mechanism of the slippery slope argument". Journal of Memory and Language. 64 (2): 133–152.

But if going to the bottom of the article seems disqualifying somehow, the second paragraph at the top of the page says, "The fallacious sense of "slippery slope" is often used synonymously with continuum fallacy, in that it ignores the possibility of middle ground and assumes a discrete transition from category A to category B. In a non-fallacious sense, including use as a legal principle, a middle-ground possibility is acknowledged, and reasoning is provided for the likelihood of the predicted outcome."



Since we're talking about semantics, I'll note that I never said you can't have your D&D character. I was simply rebutting your out-of-hand dismissal of the slippery slope argument.


No, I think we've only now reached that particular point.

Wow.

 

[Morrus]

And you have Tasha's soon to be the only official game in town, while I lose my system going forward as per the UA for anything new.

Fair?

Nah, I’ll have Level Up! Way ahead of this particular curve! But probably not popular with many in this conversation.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Can you explain, I don't know what you mean?

The lineages unveiled in this UA are all designed so that it is narratively easy to start as a member of one race, say dwarf or elf, and become one of these through play. I would like to see a more conventional race, say dwarf or elf, visualized using these "neo-Tasha" rules as per the UA. Would they remove things (Stonecunning seems pretty clearly cultural, but is not technically a proficiency)? What would they replace them with? How do races/lineages look going forward, and where do the cultural elements go in future books. The UA just doesn't have them in the new lineages. Is that the way they're going to play it?

 

[PsyzhranV2]

The lineages unveiled in this UA are all designed so that it is narratively easy to start as a member of one race, say dwarf or elf, and become one of these through play. I would like to see a more conventional race, say dwarf or elf, visualized using these "neo-Tasha" rules as per the UA. Would they remove things (Stonecunning seems pretty clearly cultural, but is not technically a proficiency)? What would they replace them with? How do races/lineages look going forward, and where do the cultural elements go in future books. The UA just doesn't have them in the new lineages. Is that the way they're going to play it?

From my read of it, the lineages here would completely overwrite everything from your previous race/lineage except for the languages you know. Everything else is lost.

Might be easier to just start off as one of these, take Dhampir/Hexblood/Reborn as your race from Level 1.

As for the cultural element, I'm of the mind that the very attempt to try and mechanize culture at all is fraught, and best relegated to worldbuilding fluff. Working on that thought.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Your halfling, maybe. Not mine. Zidi, the Halfling Titan, laughs in the face of minotaurs over breakfast.

Ah, but what would Zidi do if he faced Idiz, the minotaur titan who laughs in the face of halflings over afternoon tea? He's should be allowed to be just as strong as Zidi.

 

[Retreater]

Ah, but what would Zidi do if he faced Idiz, the minotaur titan who laughs in the face of halflings over afternoon tea? He's should be allowed to be just as strong as Zidi.

I guess you'd have to find another way to prove your strength? Maybe by ... rolling dice and playing a game?

 

[Minigiant]

The what? is that like a regional slang for something?

It's a professional wrestling reference. It's the end posts of a wrestling ring.

Many of the people Ive played D&D with happened to be pro wrestling fans and one of the popular flexes to do on a villain is jumping from an elevated position onto a downed villain to deliver an unarmed attack.

Monks make it easier as you set them up with a Stunning Strike.