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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TheOneGargoyle" data-source="post: 8162600" data-attributes="member: 6924207">Haha, I know, sorry about that !  I'm just excited to know ALL OF THE THINGS !!I have checked out the website (it's looking pretty good btw!).  I read the Features & FAQs sections in their entirety, but haven't read all the playtest documents (yet).I've now downloaded and read the first Playtest document on Origins, and yes, I see now that one is all about Heritage and Culture (cool idea btw - separate the Nature vs Nurture components IIUC?).  I have to say, I LOVE the Paragon Gifts !  This was always something I loved in previous editions of D&D where you could take racial levels to really embody & be a paragon of your race.  This is excellent <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> I haven't yet found the overview though - have I missed it somewhere ?  Or do you mean the Home page when you say that ?Thanks Tetrasodium <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> I think what's happened is I'm very much a "top-down", "big picture first" kind of guy so I always look for the big summary thing to start me off and then dive down into the detail once I know how it all links up.  So, although campaign/world settings are great (and I would definitely like to look into those in time), I was more meaning something to give me the overall view of LevelUp! in one place.  I think you're right that this doesn't exist yet and probably you guys have all been in this conversation for a while so you already know how it all fits together so you don't need it.  Maybe at some point in the future it could be something to help introduce top-down people like me to LevelUp.Yes, looking into the Origins playtest doc has already clarified a number of those terms for me, I think again, there probably hasn't been a need for a glossary (yet), maybe it's a future thing.100% agree.  I'm just trying to understand if there is some litmus test/plan/strategy/benchmark to help determine how much change is desirable, when should something be changed (ie only if strictly necessary? sparingly ? liberally? everywhere we possibly can?) to know what the end-state we're aiming for is ?  Do we want something that is a) as close to 5e as possible only making changes that are really needed, b) vaguely similar to 5e but with lots of changes that we prefer, c) a real stretch from 5e with most things changed, or d) as differentiated as humanely possible while still being able to trace it's roots back to 5e ?  Absolutely. Which I think is a really interesting line of thinking. Just how much lore pertains to the core concept & identity of a race and how much is flexible & customisable.  For example, are elves always shorter on average than humans ?  Some settings have them taller than humans.  Some settings have them longer-lived than humans but still mortal, and some have them immortal (I like the way you've straddled that hurdle in the Origins playtest btw), etc.Yeah, fair enough.  Sometimes we have to wait for shiny new toys.  I'm not always so good with patience (Yeah, yeah, yeah, "Patience", how long will THAT take??) LOL !No offense taken at all (I'm literally the opposite of outrage culture LOL!).I can totally get where you're coming from though if you've had lots of people saying that to you.  Sorry to hear that man, that must be a drag :-\I've no issue at all with Drow not being evil (no hate for the Drizz't man!), or orcs for that matter either.Hehe, to give you an example, I DM a game where my (sometimes a little murder-hobo-ish) players had PC's supposedly of Good alignment.  When the invading giants attacked their village, the players decided that it was ok to sneak into the giants camp and slaughter their women and children in their sleep (because they're EVIL!).  They were quite confused and shocked when I pointed out that the people being evil here where the PCs, not the giants. LOLOLOL !I do however think there's a really interesting conversation to be had here though (which LevelUp's splitting race into Heritage & Culture gives nice tools to btw), which is, let's say a particular Orcish Culture (not Heritage!) has Savagery as a core tenet, they prize it, value it, esteem those who display it - how does someone who grew up in that Culture relate to that quality ?Does that mean that every player character has be particularly savage in nature/demeanor ?  No, of course not.  But will they have to decide for themselves whether they embrace that savagery, reject it utterly, or find a balance somewhere in the middle wrt it ?  Yeah, they probably will.And will they have to contend with other's prejudices, perceptions & biases on that front because most of the people from their culture act that way so people expect them too as well ?  Most likely. Hmmm... I think I worded that question poorly.  It wasn't meant to say that I think LevelUp will be bland. It was designed to be part observations, part question but I think they were conflated.  I'll try a different tack:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">My Observation #1 - It seems to me that WotC are changing a lot of their wordings, terminology to be more in line with diversity & inclusiveness.  I think this is great.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">My Observation #2 - It seems to me that there is a risk that WotC might go too far and end up eroding points of difference that I think are key to core concepts of making fun & interesting systems, worlds, characters etc. I don't think this would be a great outcome.  Other's might not see this as being an issue, might not agree there is a risk of this happening with WotC, might think it's a good outcome, etc depending on their perspectives.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Question (meant to be an honest, open enquiry) - Do we think there is a risk/danger of this happening with LevelUp ?  (Answer might be no, that would be desirable to me).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Example #1 - It seems strange to me to move stat bonuses from race (I guess we are talking about Heritage in LevelUp) to backgrounds - does this not mean that stat-wise, dwarves are no tougher than gnomes, elves are no more nimble than dwarves, etc so from an ability point of view, all individuals of all races are identical ?  I mean, I understand the desire for customisability (is that even a word?) but do we not think there are biological differences that would show up as tendencies to different stat distributions ?  Of course there is a huge variation, and individuals can be unique snowflakes, and training is important, but isn't that what skill trainings in backgrounds are for ?</li> </ul>* Example #2 - The choice to make the subraces Cultures .... that would tend to imply that there aren't biological differences b/w subraces in this version ?  So for example, Shadow Elves (Drow?) have the same hair, skin, eye colouring etc that wood elves & high elves ?  Is that really what we want ?  Again, of course there is the ability to have customisation for individuals, but isn't the dark skin and pale hair of drow as distinct from the earthy tones of the wood elves part of the core concept of those subraces ?  Or are we saying like Tetrasodiums comment above that these sorts of things are left to the campaign setting and might be different in different worlds ?  In which case, wouldn't it still be valuable to have defaults or examples or starting points that people can change if they wish to and make a conscious choice to depart from ?Again, apologies if this question shows I don't understand ground LevelUp has already covered elsewhere.Thanks for the multiple responses to this newbie's many & involved questions <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":-)" title="Smile    :-)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":-)" /></blockquote>

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