D&D 5E (2024) WotC Should Make 5.5E Specific Setting

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

but the things i mentioned didn't come from neither class nor levels, species and background are things i would fundamentally expect every 0th level character to have(barring perhaps background for very young children), you can't exist and not have a species, how can you live your life and not have ANY sort of background life experience?

"Backgrounds" of the game mechanical kind in 5e are only ever mentioned in the context of creating Player Characters. There is no reason to think that NPCs have them. 0th level characters also aren't a thinkg in 5e. Player characters have levels, NPCs have Challenge Ratings.

 

[Yaarel]

"Backgrounds" of the game mechanical kind in 5e are only ever mentioned in the context of creating Player Characters. There is no reason to think that NPCs have them. 0th level characters also aren't a thinkg in 5e. Player characters have levels, NPCs have Challenge Ratings.

Level zero player characters are easy in 5e 2024. These characters have all of their origin mechanics but dont have any levels in a class yet. Give them a number of hit points depending on their species, plus all simple weapons and perhaps a choice of either one martial weapon with shield, or one cantrip. Solid level zero characters.

Instead of starting level 1 by maxing the class hit dice, add the average to the species hit points at zero.

I suspect they renamed "origin" feats, instead of "level 1" feats because the designers had level zero in mind.

 

[Charlaquin]

I'm responding to the notion older settings cannot be used if changes to them have to be made to make them compatible with the current edition. IE Greyhawk can never have Dragonborn because Dragonborn didn't exist in 1983.

Ok. I didn’t see that sentiment being expressed, but I haven’t really been following the thread super closely.

 

[Reynard]

I'm responding to the notion older settings cannot be used if changes to them have to be made to make them compatible with the current edition. IE Greyhawk can never have Dragonborn because Dragonborn didn't exist in 1983.

I don't think anyone argued that, and that certainly isn't the subject of the thread.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I'm responding to the notion older settings cannot be used if changes to them have to be made to make them compatible with the current edition. IE Greyhawk can never have Dragonborn because Dragonborn didn't exist in 1983.

Older settings never worked that way. PC races, classes etc where added to the game in Dragon Magazine, Unearthed Arcana etc, and they became part of the setting.

 

[bedir than]

It's not an official setting, but I think @SlyFlourish 's City of Arches is built on the rules conceits of the 5e ecosystem.

From its design it is crafted so any combination of nature, nurture and heroic path are possible -- no matter how weird and offbeat they feel to us old timers.
The enemies are not purely evil, but shades of grey. The minimization of alignment in 5e is reflected in this choice.
There are dungeons, but there's also a stronger sense of urban play.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

but the things i mentioned didn't come from neither class nor levels, species and background are things i would fundamentally expect every 0th level character to have(barring perhaps background for very young children), you can't exist and not have a species, how can you live your life and not have ANY sort of background life experience?

No backgrounds in 1st edition.

 

[CreamCloud0]

No backgrounds in 1st edition.

Good thing this is 5th edition then and 1st is entirely irrelevant to the discussion

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Good thing this is 5th edition then and 1st is entirely irrelevant to the discussion

I’ve never given a background to a 5e commoner or classless NPC either.

 

[CreamCloud0]

I’ve never given a background to a 5e commoner or classless NPC either.

okay, but that's not because it doesn't make sense for them not to have them, that's just on you and everyone else who neglects their NPCs lifestyles.