So a bunch of fiendish subraces but only a point of ABS besides Charisma moved to other skills and some Legacy spells swaps, plus some cult spells and features.
It doesn't do much for my game.
It doesn't do much for my game.
Demonic boons? Mostly benefits with no downside (Zuggtmoy and Jubilex aside)? Well, that is interesting. I think they need to have a downside that comes into play when the boon is taken away, and perhaps an 'upkeep' requirement (sacrifices, etc...) to keep the booned entity loyal to their master.
Yet another bunch of boring, lazy options. More races with spells instead of imaginative, creative or interesting differences. And yet more power creep. Dex + Cha + minor illusion/disguise self and invisibility, really? That's 10x better than just about any other option aside from winged.
Isn't the cult and boon information for DMs to apply to NPCs and monsters? I agree downside might be interesting for flavor, but I don't think you need them to use these effectively. They are just something to add to some monsters/NPCs to give them a unifying theme.
They are 99% meant for NPCs and monsters, but I think they make a great fall back to give to players when they make deals with dark forces.
In which case it is important to consider and write up some appropriate consequences.
As for the tieflings/cults, I guess I think of Asmodeus as more fear/control, with fire as secondary, whereas Mephisto (oops, wrong devil) and Fierna are more fire with other stuff secondary, so I probably would have made the PHB tiefling the default one for Mephy, and a more tyrannical one for Assy.
And yet, were they to release new Tiefling options next year without anyone getting a chance to see/playtest them first, there'd be a heap of complaints about it.
I mean, we STILL get people complaining that they never got to playtest or check out the newer versions of the Warlock or Sorcerer after the first versions they threw to us and it's been three fricking years since they've been released. So now they give us things they're looking at adding so we have a chance to comment and people are complaining about that too because they aren't "important enough" to be these mythical UAs.
It's almost as though people need or expect these UAs to just be the Ranger, Artificer, and Mystic on a tri-monthly loop of updates... because if a UA isn't the size of a full 20-level class then obviously it's a complete waste of everyone's time.
If WotC does anything at all--or doesn't do it--there will be a heap of complaints about it. That is the nature of a large and passionate fanbase. Ain't no pleasing everybody.And yet, were they to release new Tiefling options next year without anyone getting a chance to see/playtest them first, there'd be a heap of complaints about it.
I expect this UA is more about judging the fan reaction, and this fan's reaction is "That's all you got?"
Okay then answer me this: What other parts of the Tiefling race needed to be changed for this sub-race to be substantial to you?
The differences in appearance don't really need playtesting, and are more or less set by the established aesthetic of the given Devil types, I would think.Swapping out abilities and spells is simple; any DM I have ever seen could do the re-skins with little effort.
I look for something more substantially unique in these articles.
For this one, I would have settled for some differences in appearance among the sub-races (horn, tail, skin-color, etc.) but would really have liked a new feature for most.
The differences in appearance don't really need playtesting, and are more or less set by the established aesthetic of the given Devil types, I would think.