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."

 

[Remathilis]

We have so many different savage tribes of violent raiders who have primitive weapons and customs. Do we really need more? Or should we actually look into having less?

I'm sorry you lack the creativity to make multiple overlapping options work. Have a nice day.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Useless Trivia Note: "Cooshee" is a phonetic approximation of Scottish/Irish (respectively) Gaelic "cù-sìth"/"cú sídhe". There were also elven cats in 1e, but they never attempted to name them "cat-sìth"/"cat sídhe" or give them a phonetic approximation. ¯\(ツ)/¯

Probably just couldn't think of a catchy name for them.

A variety of cultists! A cult devoted to worshipping music notes! (Stolen from Scythe.)

Several of the bard colleges that aren't devoted to worshipping themselves probably.

A cult that worships bugs (everyone hates bugs)!

Children of Winter Druid sect. Cult of the daelkyr Valaara.

Cultists that worship an archfiend of terror

Lords of Dust. Church of the Mockery.

(mine's called "The Abomination") that try to appear as horrifying as possible, by sawing off pieces of their flesh and wearing masks of their victims' faces.

Definitely Church of the mockery.

A cult devoted to ghosts, trying to find a way to escape the afterlife!

That is like three of the major religions of Eberron.

 

[Krachek]

I see no problems with the new Race definition taken by DnD.
The core rules should be independent from any setting.
Races, religion, gods, culture, society are all setting dependent.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I see no problems with the new Race definition taken by DnD.
The core rules should be independent from any setting.
Races, religion, gods, culture, society are all setting dependent.

^^^ Exactly this.

There's no reason why if I have a world where dwarves are plateau-dwelling hunters that use longbows and scimitars that they should have Stonecunning. There's absolutely no reason that Orcish or Drow culture on my world would be evil, as Gruumsh and Lolth don't exist.

 

[Guest 6801328]

I'm sorry you lack the creativity to make multiple overlapping options work. Have a nice day.

/raisedeyebrows

 

[Scribe]

^^^ Exactly this.

There's no reason why if I have a world where dwarves are plateau-dwelling hunters that use longbows and scimitars that they should have Stonecunning. There's absolutely no reason that Orcish or Drow culture on my world would be evil, as Gruumsh and Lolth don't exist.

The major issue I have with this as the 'official packaged product provided by Wizards of the Coast (tm) D&D (tm) Game' is...you cannot sell me nothing. You cannot sell me a bunch of tables to put together a 'world' after rolling a bunch of D8-D100. It wont sell.

Tropes exist for a reason. From comfort, from nostalgia, from marketing, from ease of use, to any number of examples more or less specific.

For SOME, that kind of 'make your own path' works. For many, it simply doesnt.

 

[Umbran]

I'm sorry you lack the creativity to make multiple overlapping options work. Have a nice day.

Mod Note:

Next time, please resist the urge to be insulting. You're done in the thread.

 

[Arial Black]

No! What it means is that your villains need to have motivations for being villains. And "it's an orc, therefore evil" is not a motivation.

Agreed.

And I'd extend that to, "It's tribal, therefore evil" is equally not a motivation.

Therefore, 'tribal' is not insulting, just descriptive. Nothing wrong with tribal cultures.

So why can't orcs be 'tribal' again?

 

[Arial Black]

"Its the gods fault" is a piss-poor explanation for everything. A slapped on 'oh yeah the gods did it' is a deus ex machina response to cover up bad writing afraid to make what should be people into actual people.

Hey! No real world religions!

 

[Mecheon]

Hey! No real world religions!

Find me some real world worshippers of D&D gods and I'll stop relentlessly dunking on them at every oppertunity I get. Until then? COME ON AND SLAM, WELCOME TO THE JAM.

Agreed.

And I'd extend that to, "It's tribal, therefore evil" is equally not a motivation.

Therefore, 'tribal' is not insulting, just descriptive. Nothing wrong with tribal cultures.

So why can't orcs be 'tribal' again?

Orcs should be treated as just people. You can have tribal orcs. You can have city orcs. You can have Business Orc

Its the "All orcs are X" that goes into problems.