D&D General What it means for a race to end up in the PHB, its has huge significance

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

No, it covers everything. Just not the way you want, which requires that anyone of mix-species lineage have separate rules to delineate that.

This should be a role-play choice. If players are only interested in mixed-species characters because they see a mechanical advantage, then they weren't really into it anyway.

Ah yes, the incredible mechanical advantage of giving up most of a human or elf's species traits for CHECKS NOTES darkvision, fey ancestry, and a floating skill proficiency. Truly overpowered.

Power gamers are going to power game - you can't stop them. And system mastery is not mutually exclusive with roleplaying. People who think that their choice to play a mixed ancestry character should somehow be reflected in their species mechanics are not inherently doing it for the wrong reasons, and with all possible respect, it is more than a little judgmental to assume that they are.

The only thing you do by removing that as an option is tell everyone currently playing the game or who might be interested in starting that characters of mixed ancestry only exist for "true roleplayers" - the people who need bespoke mechanics the least out of everyone.

And that's setting aside the ridiculous complexity added to the game by allowing for the hundreds upon hundred of possible combinations that would be added. My new players already take forever to choose a species out of the options currently available. I can't even imagine how long it would take if each of those species now had 40 different variations, or however many other playable species there are.

So make the system optional. Put it in the DMG, subject to DM approval - just like custom PC races were in the '14 release, where we got the initial draft of the aasimar and eladrin.

Did that cause everyone to immediately stat up a custom (sub)race for every character they made for the past 10 years, or did the vast majority of them stick to the options that got a proper, bespoke release? When was the first time you saw an aasimar or eladrin in 5e?

All I need are the tools. I can take it from there.

 

[Hussar]

I must have missed the memo where they said Eberron was no longer being supported.

Is it in the chapter of the new Vecna book where the PCs visit the Mournland? Or perhaps the upcoming book on the worlds of D&D with some 30 pages dedicated to covering the setting?

Sorry, I misspoke.

Eberron is it's own setting. Why should I care about how an individual setting, which is deliberately choosing to change core assumptions, is affected by changes in the core books? Eberron is being supported, as you say. So, Eberron can continue to support itself by having a sidebar about how half-elves in Eberron are different. Why would this be in the core books?

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Sorry, I misspoke.

Eberron is it's own setting. Why should I care about how an individual setting, which is deliberately choosing to change core assumptions, is affected by changes in the core books? Eberron is being supported, as you say. So, Eberron can continue to support itself by having a sidebar about how half-elves in Eberron are different. Why would this be in the core books?

Because the implications of "pick-a-parent", as I see it, have the (almost certainly unintended) effect of promoting a view of mixed ancestry characters that diminishes and marginalizes them, and that is not the message I think the core game system should be sending, especially with the purported goal of expanding the diversity and prevalence of mixed ancestry characters within the game.

How Eberron handles Khoravar only matters for Eberron, but if Eberron's Khoravar are a special case, then any mixed population (currently existing or developed in the future) that wants a cohesive, Khoravar-style identity of their own separate from their parent ancestries is a similarly special case. And that means there is a very noticeable subset of mixed ancestry characters that the "pick-a-parent" system does not support.

I want a system that will support those characters, and I think the core rules would benefit from an array of options to choose from, not a "one-size-fits-all" approach that demonstrably does not fit some of what it is supposed to cover. I also do not think an entirely optional trait "mix-and-match" system that is explicitly subject to DM approval would be anywhere near as mechanically complex or prone to power creep as has been suggested.

 

[Horwath]

1st level feat:

Elven Blooded, cannot be an Elf

pick 4 benefits:

1. Darkvision 60ft or improve darkvision by 60ft up to max of 120(for drow heritage)
2. Proficiency in Perception
3. +5ft move speed
4. learn one cantrip
5. Learn Faery fire spell, cast it once per Long rest
6. learn combination of 4 weapons, tool or languages appropriate for Elves

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I have been in forests. People can see fine. No need for Darkvision.

What country? Because American forests don't count.

 

[Hussar]

Because the implications of "pick-a-parent", as I see it, have the (almost certainly unintended) effect of promoting a view of mixed ancestry characters that diminishes and marginalizes them, and that is not the message I think the core game system should be sending, especially with the purported goal of expanding the diversity and prevalence of mixed ancestry characters within the game.

How Eberron handles Khoravar only matters for Eberron, but if Eberron's Khoravar are a special case, then any mixed population (currently existing or developed in the future) that wants a cohesive, Khoravar-style identity of their own separate from their parent ancestries is a similarly special case. And that means there is a very noticeable subset of mixed ancestry characters that the "pick-a-parent" system does not support.

I want a system that will support those characters, and I think the core rules would benefit from an array of options to choose from, not a "one-size-fits-all" approach that demonstrably does not fit some of what it is supposed to cover. I also do not think an entirely optional trait "mix-and-match" system that is explicitly subject to DM approval would be anywhere near as mechanically complex or prone to power creep as has been suggested.

But, that works both ways. The current system does not support the "pick a parent" system. Since "Pick a parent" results in mixed heritage characters that are virtually indistinguishable from 2014 races, I'm failing to see the problem.

 

[Yaarel]

What country? Because American forests don't count.

Dense forest in Sweden, for example. LOL! Animals dont need "darkvision" to see in forests.

 

[Yaarel]

Which old school elf didn't have infravision. Elves have always been able to see in the dark in D&D.

I had 3e Elf, in mind. The Elf lacks Darkvision.

4e Elf also lacks Darkvision.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Dense forest in Sweden, for example. LOL! Animals dont need "darkvision" to see in forests.

Animals have darkvision. That’s why their eyes shine.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Humans can see in forests during the day too...