The D&D team have just launched the big media assault pushing the upcoming 50 year anniversary new revision of the ruleset that they're calling One D&D, and a big part of their first step was to release some Unearthed Arcana showing the direction they're interested in going. There's also a lot about their digital tools, and there's a lot to say about that, but we're just looking at the UA pdf playtest rulekit here.
The Character Options UA is a solid document, and far better than I was expecting. It effectively covers a whole bunch of fundamental game rules and principles that can be overhauled. Here are the dot points:
- Attribute bonuses have moved over to Backgrounds
- It still uses the term "Race"
- The Races included are all those in the PHB plus a few new ones and the half-breeds have been redesigned. They also don't give Attribute bonuses any more
- Backgrounds DO give Attribute bonuses and are far more important to character building than ever before (YES!)
- A few Feats have been given the old once-over
- Spells can now be of Primal origin rather than Arcane or Divine
- DMs don't get critical hits any more
- 1s always fail
- 20s always succeed and also grant Inspiration
- A bunch of other rules have been tweaked and some of them could be reeeeeal interesting
Because it's still in development it seems a bit premature to properly review the changes, but I can certainly assess whether I'm likely to include the changes in my home games. Lets break 'em down.
Races
Contrary to what I expected, all Players Handbook races are included, though there's a twist with the "half-breeds". If you want to play a character of mixed heritage you now just pick one side of the family for game stats and throw in some cosmetic fluff from the other. I wouldn't be surprised if this gets some feedback, because I'm sure people are going to want to swap racial traits in and out.
That means the half-elf is gone, but it also means that orc is now on the standard menu, and it's pretty much what we saw in Mordenkainen's Multiverse of Monsters. The big shiny distraction is the inclusion of the ardling race, which is like a beast-headed variant on the aasimar.
As mentioned above, the big difference is that Attribute bonuses have been thrown into Backgrounds, but your race still gives you some racial abilities. Some of them are obvious, such as Dragonborn who still have their breath weapons and damage resistance (and now get darkvision), or halflings, who still get their various tricksiness. Elves are pretty much as expected with the change that each breed of elf gets a different suite of spells as they go up levels, and tieflings now have a similar approach with Abyssal and Cthonic heritages now available. Dwarves now get Tremorsense, which is a really nice idea and I dig it a lot. The items that rock gnomes can make have now been declared to be bound to effects limited by the Prestidigitation spell, which I like but it makes me wonder if they'll do some proper overhauling of the spell system.
But, as always, I want to know what they're doing with humans, because that's where the real action tends to take place.
I'm glad to say it isn't bad. Humans get to grab a skill and a Feat of their choice, which is completely unsurprising, and also the ability to get Inspiration for finishing a Long Rest. That last sounds pretty solid, especially considering that you now lose Inspiration at the start of a Long Rest, but it means we'll have to learn more about what the rules for Inspiration are gonna be like... but that'll have to wait to come up.
Will I use it: I'll certainly give it a go. There are no immediate red flags, and I can't say ardlings inspire me in any great way, but some of the changes are quite intriguing. However, including these Race changes depends on the Backgrounds changes as they seem to go hand in hand, so it all rests on our next section...
Backgrounds
One of my favourite inclusions in 5e was the introduction of Backgrounds and I've long thought more attention should be given to them, so I'm very pleased to see that the team has finally agreed with me. Backgrounds are now incredibly important and seem to be one of the most customisable aspects of character creation.
All Backgrounds are now cut from the same cloth. The default is to build your own, but pre-made templates are offered which can further be tweaked using the same rules for building them. A Background grants you:
- +2 to one Attribute and +1 to another (as mentioned earlier, this has been shunted over from Races)
- Proficiency in two skills
- Proficiency in a tool
- Proficiency in a language
- A Feat
- 50gp to spend on equipment
The prepackaged Background templates are the same as was in the PHB but with a few new faces and some changed names. Acolyte, Charlatan, Criminal, Entertainer, Gladiator, Sage, Sailor, Soldier, Hermit, Noble, and Urchin are familiar, though some that greatly relied on their Features have had to make do with Feats that don't really seem to cover the old territory (such as Charlatans losing their fake identity and getting the Skilled Feat).
Folk Hero is gone and replaced with Farmer and Laborer, which are pretty much the "commoner" archetypes that Folk Hero was always going for. Artisan has replaced Guild Artisan. Outlander has gone, but Guide and Pilgrim offer two interesting takes on the same premise. Guard offers a henchman/watchman angle on the Soldier, while Cultist is a very interesting variant on Acolyte.
Will I use it: On the whole I like this a lot. Replacing the old Features with a Feat is a mixed blessing as some of the old Features were weird and unbalanced, but some of them did have some interesting character to them. I'd like to see the tools and languages interchangeable, so you could ditch tools for two languages or vice versa. But these are minor quibbles. I'll move to this in an instant.
Languages and Feats
The Language selection is slightly overhauled, with notable inclusions being Common Sign Language and Primordial now covering all the elemental languages (Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran).
Only a few Feats are included, and they have some solid errata. Lucky now gives you a number of Luck Points equal to your Proficiency Bonus, which is a standard yardstick used for a lot of batteries moving forward it seems. Savage Attacker has been reworded and Tavern Brawler seems a bit more fun. Healer is a lot more useful and can let you reroll 1s on a healing spell die. Crafter and Musician not only grant Tool Proficiencies but also other little boosts.
Will I use it: Sure, whatever. They're small changes and basically errata.
Miscellany
There are a whole bunch of other rules of interest that have been tweaked and modified.
D20 Test: A catch-all term for the core of the game, which covers the three main rolls (ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws). If a rule affects d20 tests it can be assumed to affect all three of the main rolls. Importantly, a 1 on a d20 check now always fails and conversely a 20 always succeeds. Additionally, a 20 also grants Inspiration.
Will I use it: Absolutely. These rules are basically in my games already.
Critical Hits: One of the more unpopular rule changes, critical hits now only affect weapons and unarmed strikes from PCs. Spells and incidental damage (such as creating an avalanche to crush your foes) are no longer covered, and DMs now don't get them at all. I think this will get a lot of feedback and will probably be changed before publication.
Will I use it: Probably not. I kinda like that it gives martial characters an edge, but there's something about the craziness of crits that can veer a game off into great directions and limiting that wildness is counterintuitive to me. But I'd like to look more into the philosophy behind why they've chosen to do this, and I'm open to the idea that I could be swayed.
Spell Lists: There are now three branches of magic; Arcane, Divine, and Primal. Primal covers the spells cast by Druids and Rangers, though I imagine the Barbarian Totem Warrior might have their spells fall into this category as well. I'm not surprised by this inclusion, as it has been seen in previous editions (notably 4th).
Will I use it: Until further rules changes are introduced this is a moot point. I'm not against it in principle.
Conditions: Incapacitated now specifies that concentration is broken, the character can't speak, and they get disadvantage on initiative rolls. Grappled now specifies how the condition can be broken, grants disadvantage to attacks against anyone other than the grappler, and the grappler can now move the character they've got hold of but suffer the Slowed condition. Slowed is brand new which effectively halves your movement, gives attackers Advantage against you, and gives you Disadvantage on Dex saves.
Will I use it: Absolutely.
Tool Proficiency: The big takeaway is that your Tool and Skill Proficiencies stack, meaning a first level Rogue could potentially get +8 on a roll from their Expertise specialties alone before even looking at Attributes. All Artisan's Tools now cost 15gp and Musical Instruments all cost 20gp.
Will I use it: I'm prepared to give this a whirl, but will be watching to see if it gets exploited.
Resting: Long Rests specify needing at least six hours of sleep during the eight hour window to get the benefit. An interrupted Long Rest can still potentially grant the benefits of a Short Rest.
Will I use it: Simple errata. It's fine.
Tremorsense: A natural ability for dwarves, this feature lets you detect creatures and moving objects that are on the same surface as you. Very interesting. I like it.
Will I use it: Yep. Seems like it could be a load of fun.
Inspiration: A few changes here. For one thing, you lose Inspiration at the start of a Long Rest, though Humans gain one at the end of a Long Rest and a few other methods exist for doing the same (such as the Musician Feat). A 20 on any d20 Test now also rewards Inspiration (as noted above). Though you can still only bank one at a time (boo!) if you gain Inspiration while you already have it you may now pass it off to the others in your team.
Will I use it: Passing Inspiration around is something I've played with for a while, but honestly I think a lot more work needs to be done with Inspiration entirely. The whole Inspiration system barely scrapes the bare minimum of what could be done with this mechanism, and tying it to Bonds, Ideals, and Weaknesses is an obvious first step. I'll continue to develop my own far more interesting Inspiration systems.
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