D&D 5E What (low level) 5e PC Options Other Than Spells Would Change The World?

[Eltab]

Extra Attack or Multiattack
Make those Peasants bearing Pitchforks (simple weapon, reach, Piercing, d6/d8 if two-handed) more dangerous.

Even worse: the local monastery teaches every adult male in the village how to use a Monk's unarmed strike. Now they smack you for 1d4, not just 1 HP each. Attrition warfare against your HP, plus defending their homes means they will never totally give up.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Outlander
This background allows someone to find enough food and water for themselves and five other people. Militaries would actively search out and recruit Outlanders to supplement their supply lines, and elite units would have enough Outlanders to eliminate supply lines entirely. Cities would hire droves of Outlanders and make literal grocery stores out of them, and governments would organize teams of Outlanders to disaster regions to provide relief supplies. More tyrannical groups would enslave Outlanders, or force people to grow up as Outlanders against their will just to make more of them.

It's worth noting that the outlander benefit requires that thel and provides "offers berries, small game, water, and so forth." So, I'm not sure we can assume it scales up. Or that there could ever be enough Outlanders to provide for a city or a large army.

Every high end research center and fine craftsman would have a 5th level Bard on staff to pump out Bardic Inspiration. With two short rests a day, A Bard can give a dozen boosts a day! A d6/d8 can spell the difference between a great painting and the next Mona Lisa.

Well, some would, sure. Assuming enough 5th level Bards to assume enough of those Bards are interested in the gig.

What about sporting events and Song of Rest?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Extra Attack or Multiattack
Make those Peasants bearing Pitchforks (simple weapon, reach, Piercing, d6/d8 if two-handed) more dangerous.

Even worse: the local monastery teaches every adult male in the village how to use a Monk's unarmed strike. Now they smack you for 1d4, not just 1 HP each. Attrition warfare against your HP, plus defending their homes means they will never totally give up.

Heck yeah, give everyone a d4 unarmed strike! I'm all for it!

 

[Iry]

Or that there could ever be enough Outlanders to provide for a city or a large army.

By your rules, they are common enough to impact the world.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

By your rules, they are common enough to impact the world.

Sure, I just wasn't sure they're common enough to impact the world quite that much.

But also, are you really rules lawyering a hypotheticals thread?

 

[Iry]

But also, are you really rules lawyering a hypotheticals thread?

Only because you did first.
You: "What if there were enough X to impact the world?"
Me: "These fun things!"
You: "I don't think there would be enough X to impact the world like that."

 

[Minigiant]

Well, no, but I'm honestly pretty tired of this argument. I don't know what an NPC class is. I don't play 3.5, and found it pretty dreadful when I did play it long ago. I don't recall hearing about NPC classes before 3rd edition, but maybe its just bad memory. It's been over a decade since any group I play with used a version of DnD where monsters had HD as the marker for how powerful they are, rather than either a level or a CR.

The question is about what abilities change the world if they are reasonably common. I assumed, and will add to the OP, that we can all agree to use the current game (I tagged this 5e after all) and it's assumptions about the world to determine how common something is. Under those assumpions, 10% is workable, but the original "all of them" wasn't. Remember that the books actually say that most priests aren't clerics, most soldiers and the like aren't fighters, etc.

So, sure, assume 10%. So, how does that effect the world?

It affects a lot.

A 5e Tribal Warrior in the 5e MM is just a 2 HD humanoid with bad stats and Pack Tactics
A 5e Scout in the 5e MM is just a 3 HD humanoid with bad stats and Keen Senses
A 5e Berserker in the 5e MM is just a 9 HD humanoid with bad stats and Reckless

Upgrading any significant of them from humaniod HDs to PCs classes is huge even without spells.

The battle between two tribes would get very deadly. So much that they would logically want more in the surviving tribe.

After 200 years, the wild is full of Conans, Legolases, and Dars.

 

[Dross]

Gloomstalker Rangers getting darkvision: law enforcement & armies, thieves, spies
is Turn considered a spell? While Turn undead not likely, some of the other uses would cause a few interesting incidents (Tempest domain getting mugged?)

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Only because you did first.
You: "What if there were enough X to impact the world?"
Me: "These fun things!"
You: "I don't think there would be enough X to impact the world like that."

I mean, assuming near ubiquity of this stuff just doesn’t fit the assumptions of D&D. The point is to imagine what a D&D world would actually look like. No D&D worlds within the canon multiverse or using the core assumptions would have ubiquitous PC classes.

So, if we assume there are Bards but they aren’t a dime a dozen, we get different results than if we assume there are bards on every corner.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Gloomstalker Rangers getting darkvision: law enforcement & armies, thieves, spies
is Turn considered a spell? While Turn undead not likely, some of the other uses would cause a few interesting incidents (Tempest domain getting mugged?)

I’m having trouble following.

So, yes class options that grant dark vision would be sought after abilities in many contexts.
Channel Divinity would not be a spell, no. So, we can imagine the worlds’ faiths having small numbers of truly blessed holy people who can perform true miracles. Even without looking at spells, a 5th level cleric is powerful in a non-adventuring context. A Paladin can just remove diseases and poisons.