OK, so what do we have here....
One thing I've noted a few times, is that the best way forward for Wizards is to
generalize because they certainly are not going to tie themselves down by specializing, in a specific setting, it simply provides no meaningful benefit, that is what I believe the main take away with a lot of these changes are. We can, and have, debated the meaning, impact, reason, value, of race (and I will use race because its 4 letters I can type with my left hand quickly and its the 'official' term even as of this document) changes to date, starting with Tasha's, then the Spooky UA Lineages (aka Templates) and so on and so on, down through the months.
What I believe Wizards has finally arrived at, is "we are not going to tell you what they are, only the mechanics of how they operate." Now I believe this actually has benefits, even if I personally do not like it, because I have come to understand that I dont like it
because I have a personal interpretation of D&D that I wish to be supported and promoted, but so does everyone else.
So, what does Wizards do? Remove things which are setting dependent, and I think this will be clear as we go.
ASI: Generic.
Language: Generic.
Creature Type: NOT Generic. I hope, really really really HOPE, that they lean into this as a way to differentiate races mechanically in how the wider ruleset functions.
Life Span: Generic.
Height and Weight: Generic. While I know a few mention 'within the range of humans' is large, I'm sorry but thats just giving Wizards a reason they dont need. This more than anything is just a way to make it Generic...and the reason is very clear as
@Yaarel said in their other thread.
That's it right there. Same with the removal of Alignment, ASI, Language, Culture, etc, etc. Its because Wizards doesnt want to be in the business of telling us what something is, again, only how it functions.
"But Scribe, people can already do that within their own settings!"
Yes, I know. Trust me, I know. It doesnt matter though, because this is actually the path of least resistance for Wizards, provide the mechanics, and then sell settings which further define IN THAT SETTING, what a race is or how it relates to the world around it.
Anyway!
Anything 'Generic' or "Human in effect." in my opinion needs to be dropped, and thankfully it appears thats how these are set up. Which is good, because otherwise you would see '..Human...' in other races definitions, and that would be jarring first of all, and tilting for me personally...
Yep, absolutely looks like what would normally be a subrace, is now getting broken out. The alternative is that you have a 'subrace' definition like Fallen Aasimar which would read.
Necrotic Shroud: Other creatures within 10 feet of you that can see you must each succeed on a Charisma saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier) or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn.
- Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During it, once on each of your turns, you can deal extra necrotic damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra necrotic damage equals your level.
- Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
No, Wizards is going to want to pad that out with the various other parts that define mechanically what an Aasimar is, I think.
So lets see.
Astral Elf
I can for sure see why
@Charlaquin is calling out the High Elf. Its very similar to the point where I bet this is the template for 5.5 or whatever we are calling it.
Radiant Soul is the 'subrace' ability (like Fallen Aasimar noted above) and it feels like Trance Proficiency is ~= Elf Training/Language? I mean its ok, but its not really calling out to me.
Honestly, this is a High Elf to me. Quite Meh.
Autognome
Creature Type! Construct! - Please let this remain.
Armour Casing: Cool
Built for Success: Cool, takes a bit of RNG out of things potentially.
Mechanical Nature: Cool, and appropriate.
Sentry's Rest: Cool.
Specialized Design: Defined by the player, a theme now.
True Life: Mending, great! The healing spells? Remove! If you are a construct, you are a construct! I have no reason to expect they would remove it, but I know thats the feedback I will provide.
All in all, especially if you removed the healing spells from functioning, I'd be very positive on this race design.
Giff
Size: Just make them large. Come on. Just figure it out Wizards and do it.
Damage Dealer/Hippo Build: Eh, after Autognome....ok. You hit stuff, and should be Large.
This doesnt do anything for me.
Hadozee
Dexterous Feet: OK.
Glide: OK.
Big shrug.
Plazmoid
Awesome.
Creature Type: Ooze! THIS MUST STAY.
Size: Medium or Small. Sure.
Amorphous: Very cool.
Darkvision: OK
Hold Breath: Eh? OK, but just make it so it doesnt breath imo.
Natural Resilience: Makes sense.
Shape Self: Cool.
Amorphous sells me pretty much by itself. I dig this.
Thri-keen
Creature Type: MONSTROSITY. I was really afraid they would make all PC's 'humanoid' I REALLY hope these all stick.
Size: Sure
Carapace: Yep, and bonus stealth, I like it.
Darkvision: Zzz, ok.
Secondary Arms: Neat.
Sleepless: Interesting. 3 Races that dont sleep the same. Keep.
Telepathy: Cool. Need to be able to see prevents some shenanigans, but thats ok.
Cool, stuff, and different enough to be interesting to me.
All in all, a fine enough selection, but I think the 'weird' 3 all are far far more interesting than the rest. I just wish Autognome's couldnt be healed, and hope they keep the different Creature Types.
My Rank
- Autognome
- Plazmoid/Thri-keen
- Giff
- Hadozee
- Astral Elf
EDIT: The Giff and Hadozee really suffer from the removal of the Racial ASI 'dial'. If Wizards had been able to hold onto that, they could have been more interesting options, than what we have now.
Some of it, but that 'some' is setting specific. That is the big thing people need to take away so that (at least for me) they can stomach the changes without getting tilted.
I do think its interesting they will tell us something is long lived, but not short lived. I'm not sure what social pressures they have to do that for, or if its just an oversight. I think the updated Orc will confirm it though.
It does, by not defining it. That is something people are going to have to come to grips with being a 'feature' going forward, but the removal of definition to some is a flaw.
I'm not gaining anything, but at least I have reasoned with it enough to understand why Wizards is doing it. If its races like Astral Elf, or Hadozee? That isnt exciting. If its Autognomes and Plazmoids, thats cool. Giff is kind of this weird middle ground, where it clearly wants you to lean into a specific build, but its far less interesting than the top 3 imo.
All in all, I believe I understand why Wizards has made the changes they have made. I think they will make the 'default' D&D less defined, and wont tell you what a race is, but how it functions.
It will be up to the players or DM's to determine what a race is, its place in a setting or at your table, and thats how they will go moving forward.
They MAY define things further in setting books, but I HIGHLY doubt it.
dnd.wizards.com
