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."

 

[teitan]

Or it shows that some people are so used to or are accepting of the problems that the problems just seem normal to them, and then get annoyed when it's pointed out to them that no, those things are actually bad. Also, that quote basically means "don't try to fix anything because you yourself aren't perfect."

Sure ok. Have a good day. Buh bye now.

 

[Guest 6801328]

In Soviet Russia, everyone casts fireball.

I thought that in Soviet Russia, fireball casts you.

 

[Remathilis]

I cannot figure out for the life of me why have a floating ASI. It is the exact same things as increasing a point buy. I mean, if you attach it to something specific: race, class, background, culture, I get it. But if it is just floating, you do not need them at all.

I've advocated for raising the point buy amount and cap for future editions of D&D.

Not everyone uses point buy!

That's your choice. You opted to gamble with your ability score rolls, the price for trying to start with an 18 is that you might end up with only a 12 as your high score.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I thought that in Soviet Russia, fireball casts you.

Oh my god. Idea for Eberron: living spells of Humanball that just launch explosions of body parts at you.

 

[Guest 6801328]

I don't even get why people are so angry at 'Political Correctness' when most of the time, it's 'Being Slightly Less of a Bell-end'.

The need to blame one's failures on something other than oneself?

 

[Scott Christian]

I disagree, and it's easy to argue, too. You cannot say an absolute like "Dwarves are hardy" if you can have a 5 CON Dwarf. That's already limiting you to "tend to be". And "tend to be" is compatible, in English, with some of them not being that way. If you remove the ASIs, as a whole, Dwarves can still "tend to be hardy", but PCs can be an exception. I'm afraid there's no way around that - PCs are exceptional. The rules they follow are not the rules all members of the race follow, nor are necessarily typical members of that race.

?What math are you using?
Point buy a thousand characters. Take a portion (dwarves) and add 2 to their con. They are now hardier than others. Roll 4d6 a thousand time. Take a portion of the results (the dwarves) and add 2 in con. They are now hardier than others.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I've advocated for raising the point buy amount and cap for future editions of D&D.
That's your choice. You opted to gamble with your ability score rolls, the price for trying to start with an 18 is that you might end up with only a 12 as your high score.

I use Standard Array, which similarly benefits from the floating bonuses.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Oh my god. Idea for Eberron: living spells of Humanball that just launch explosions of body parts at you.

Clearly they should get a +4 Cha score.

 

[Remathilis]

I thought that in Soviet Russia, fireball casts you.

Since everyone casts fireball, everyone casts fireball AT you! Subtle difference.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Clearly they should get a +4 Cha score.

Depends on the body parts.