D&D General What is the purpose of race/heritage?

[Vaalingrade]

So to go way back to the actual question:

Race/Species/we need a better name for this thing is what weird thing you are. It's the built in things you can do regardless of your culture, education, etc. It's part of who you are inherently.

Class is what you've learned to do; the powers and you've gained through practice, study, creation, or connections.

Background is... kind of what your culture is, or at least vocation.

Essentially D&D doesn't have a codified culture segment in character creation. It's been bolted onto species, onto feats, sometimes onto class, but it's never had its own thing and it would be very interesting to have one.

 

[Cadence]

So to go way back to the actual question:

Race/Species/we need a better name for this thing is what weird thing you are. It's the built in things you can do regardless of your culture, education, etc. It's part of who you are inherently.

Class is what you've learned to do; the powers and you've gained through practice, study, creation, or connections.

Background is... kind of what your culture is, or at least vocation.

Essentially D&D doesn't have a codified culture segment in character creation. It's been bolted onto species, onto feats, sometimes onto class, but it's never had its own thing and it would be very interesting to have one.

And there are some D&D adjacent games that certainly have that...

 

[Vaalingrade]

Being setting agnostic makes it more difficult, but then every setting could have come with some culture bitz.

 

[CreamCloud0]

So to go way back to the actual question:

Race/Species/we need a better name for this thing is what weird thing you are. It's the built in things you can do regardless of your culture, education, etc. It's part of who you are inherently.

Class is what you've learned to do; the powers and you've gained through practice, study, creation, or connections.

Background is... kind of what your culture is, or at least vocation.

Essentially D&D doesn't have a codified culture segment in character creation. It's been bolted onto species, onto feats, sometimes onto class, but it's never had its own thing and it would be very interesting to have one.

Four part character build would be nice/interesting, your biological species, culture of upbringing, background skills and training and your adventurer’s class.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I don't think mechanical representation of cultures is a good idea. It would be highly unrealistic* and would easily come across as offensive due many fantasy cultures being analogous to real cultures.

(* People from the same culture are unlikely to reliably always share same skills/traits, aside perhaps the language.)

 

[Cadence]

Four part character build would be nice/interesting, your biological species, culture of upbringing, background skills and training and your adventurer’s class.

One instantiation of that is in the Level-Up A5e system. At worst it seems a nice thing to start from for mechanics or inspiration.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I don't think mechanical representation of cultures is a good idea. It would be highly unrealistic* and would easily come across as offensive due many fantasy cultures being analogous to real cultures.

(* People from the same culture are unlikely to reliably always share same skills/traits, aside perhaps the language.)

I disagree.

For WoE, I gave the core species at least 2 mechanically supported and optional cultures that are represented by feats that (mostly, some are biologically dependent).

For example, the caravan halflings form bonds with canids and ride them, so they have a feat that gives you a free wolf/fox/dog companion while the city halflings get dirty fighting/knife fighting stuff, or haggling benefits.

Meanwhile, the ISO standard miner dwarves have feat that give them special fighting tricks with picks, or bonuses to air magic because the most important thing n mines is ventilation.

The catfolk in cities get social feat that let them abuse the stereotypes about them while the wilderness loners get tree parkour ala Disney's Tarzan.

My philosophy is the use elements of culture instead of trying to represent a culture writ large. Not ever caravan halfling has a wolf buddy and not every city halfling is a street ninja. Those are options afforded to them by the culture they're in, but not the culture.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

So to go way back to the actual question:

Race/Species/we need a better name for this thing is what weird thing you are. It's the built in things you can do regardless of your culture, education, etc. It's part of who you are inherently.

Class is what you've learned to do; the powers and you've gained through practice, study, creation, or connections.

Background is... kind of what your culture is, or at least vocation.

Essentially D&D doesn't have a codified culture segment in character creation. It's been bolted onto species, onto feats, sometimes onto class, but it's never had its own thing and it would be very interesting to have one.

• Species
• Culture
• Background
• Class
• Subclass

Would be my ideal layout.

 

[CreamCloud0]

I don't think mechanical representation of cultures is a good idea. It would be highly unrealistic* and would easily come across as offensive due many fantasy cultures being analogous to real cultures.

(* People from the same culture are unlikely to reliably always share same skills/traits, aside perhaps the language.)

It’s better than it being rolled up into part of your species though, it could be a much more granular system with several small choices within (you grew up with dwarves, you speak dwarvish and common, pick one of dwarven weapon proficiency or dwarven armour training or proficiency in history and religion skills, pick one tool proficiency from brewers tools, jewlers kit or smithing tools)
Or have several ready-made quickbuild selections from the PHB or GM for their world.

 

[Mind of tempest]

• Species
• Culture
• Background
• Class
• Subclass

Would be my ideal layout.

it would be ideal but the culture is going to be hell to do and eat pages in setting books like there is no tomorrow.