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Unearthed Arcana: Gothic Lineages & New Race/Culture Distinction
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<blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 8199868" data-attributes="member: 6915329"><p>Yes, that <em>is </em>true. The way it's currently done is <em>also </em>problematic, as it assumes many races are simply more intelligent, wise, or charismatic than others. Even saying some races are <em>healthier </em>than others is problematic for the exact same reasons.</p><p></p><p>The best way to get around it is to simply remove all racial ASIs whatsoever. Either let everyone put their +2/+1 where they want, or assign it to the classes. If you're a Fighter, you get a +2 in either Strength or Dexterity, your choice. If you're a Barbarian, you can choose Strength or Constitution. If you're a wizard, it goes in Intelligence. Etc. They're doing that in the Level Up playtest, although I believe they're putting the ASIs in background and not in class.</p><p></p><p>OTOH, what WotC is <em>actually </em>saying that the ASIs aren't biological; therefore, they can be placed wherever you want them to be. Whereas wings <em>are </em>biological in nature, and can't be given out willy-nilly. Here's the actual quote from the UA:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Following in [TCoE's] footsteps, 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</p><p></p><p>If anything, it's slightly poor writing. The sentence should actually be "the race options...lack the Ability Score Increase trait and other traits that are purely cultural, including the Language and Alignment traits." Also note that breath weapon is considered racial, meaning that wings would be as well.</p><p></p><p>Of course, you can also assume that some traits, like Strength, <em>are </em>influenced by culture. A dwarf miner that spends its days hefting a pickax and mining for whatever or carrying loads of raw ore hundreds of feet out of the shafts is going to be stronger than an goliath priest that spends its days consulting the spirits and analyzing the stars. But here, "Miner" is a culture that should be independent of any race--you can have dwarf miners, orc miners, kobold miners, human miners, goliath miners... But again, that could be a background with an ASI, like in Level Up.</p><p></p><p>(However, why is it not absurd to accept that, by RAW, a three-foot tall halfling is as strong as a six-and-a-half foot human or tiefling?)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Faolyn, post: 8199868, member: 6915329"] Yes, that [I]is [/I]true. The way it's currently done is [I]also [/I]problematic, as it assumes many races are simply more intelligent, wise, or charismatic than others. Even saying some races are [I]healthier [/I]than others is problematic for the exact same reasons. The best way to get around it is to simply remove all racial ASIs whatsoever. Either let everyone put their +2/+1 where they want, or assign it to the classes. If you're a Fighter, you get a +2 in either Strength or Dexterity, your choice. If you're a Barbarian, you can choose Strength or Constitution. If you're a wizard, it goes in Intelligence. Etc. They're doing that in the Level Up playtest, although I believe they're putting the ASIs in background and not in class. OTOH, what WotC is [I]actually [/I]saying that the ASIs aren't biological; therefore, they can be placed wherever you want them to be. Whereas wings [I]are [/I]biological in nature, and can't be given out willy-nilly. Here's the actual quote from the UA: [INDENT]Following in [TCoE's] footsteps, 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[/INDENT] If anything, it's slightly poor writing. The sentence should actually be "the race options...lack the Ability Score Increase trait and other traits that are purely cultural, including the Language and Alignment traits." Also note that breath weapon is considered racial, meaning that wings would be as well. Of course, you can also assume that some traits, like Strength, [I]are [/I]influenced by culture. A dwarf miner that spends its days hefting a pickax and mining for whatever or carrying loads of raw ore hundreds of feet out of the shafts is going to be stronger than an goliath priest that spends its days consulting the spirits and analyzing the stars. But here, "Miner" is a culture that should be independent of any race--you can have dwarf miners, orc miners, kobold miners, human miners, goliath miners... But again, that could be a background with an ASI, like in Level Up. (However, why is it not absurd to accept that, by RAW, a three-foot tall halfling is as strong as a six-and-a-half foot human or tiefling?) [/QUOTE]
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