Sep 16

Sep 16 Creating a Character in One D&D Part I

With the announcement of One D&D coming in 2024, Wizard released the first of their monthly Unearthed Arcana for the new system. There's a lot of information we've already seen from other sources, such as Tasha's, but the changes in the UA are significant. This article is the first step in looking at character creation based on the race UA rules for One D&D.

Racial traits are a hot topic these days. A few races have significant changes, while others remain the same. What did stand out to me was the elimination of the half-elf and half-orc. It's glossed over with a short paragraph that states if you want to play a character whose parents were of different races, great, choose two race options that are humanoid to represent your parents. Then determine which of those Race options provides your game traits: size, speed, and special traits. You can then mix and match the two options' visual characteristics, such as color, ear shape, and the like.

I hope they do some serious work in this area. The idea is fantastic, but the current rules, or lack thereof, are horrible. If you can mix and match physical characteristics, why can't you do the same for their game traits? This is the next evolution of D&D, so why not create a set of rules so you can design a 1/2 elf, 1/2 dwarf character with attributes from both races? The racial traits for every race would have to be uniform, which is problem number one, and they would have to be defined into specific categories; Main Trait, Secondary Trait, and Flavor Traits. I hope something along these lines will show up down the road.

So here are my thoughts on the races and their traits. Grading is based on three things; the new traits for each race, how much you'd want to play the race compared to the other races in One D&D, and how much you'd like to play the race compared to the 5th edition version.

Human - The only benefit from the previous edition was a +1 bonus to each ability score, and it was arguably the best racial trait of all the races found in the Player's Handbook. The new human traits are as follows:

Resourceful. You gain Inspiration whenever you finish a Long Rest. Inspiration grants you an advantage on a single ability check, attack roll, or saving throw. Those three d20 rolls are now known as a D20 Test. You must use your Inspiration before your roll, so choose carefully. Advantage on a final death saving throw, a saving throw against being turned to stone, or even landing the killing blow on the BBEG is terrific. Grade: A
Skillful. You gain Proficiency in one Skill of your choice. Proficiency in a single skill usually wouldn't rate so high. However, combined with the other racial traits, it is much more powerful than it may seem. Augmenting your character this way can turbocharge them. For example, when you factor in the additional two skill proficiencies a character now gets when choosing their background, a human rogue can start the game with Proficiency in seven skills. Grade: B
Versatile. You gain the Skilled Feat or another 1st-level Feat of your choice. Let's throw in the Variant Human additional feat trait; it's only UA, right? If you want to become the ultimate skill monkey, you can take the Skilled Feat. Your rogue is now proficient in ten skills, more than half of the total list. Or you can choose a different one if you so desire. Grade: A

Once again, the Human is overpowered.

Overall Playability Grade: A-

Ardling - The only new race to appear as an option, the ardling race is a dash of aasimar, a counterbalance to the tiefling, with a splash of Egyptian mythology. Like the aasimar, the ardling is tied to the Upper Planes via their ancestors, carrying around a tiny bit of that good old celestial spark inside them. Instead of appearing as an angelic figure, you can pick the head of an animal that relates to one of the three celestial legacies you can choose from. In a nutshell, a celestial legacy is your ardling subclass which gives you a spell at 1st level and again at 3rd and 5th levels.

The three legacies are Exalted, Heavenly, and Idyllic. Exalted ardlings are tied to the Chaotic Good planes. The spells they receive are Thaumaturgy (1st), Divine Favor (3rd), and Lesser Restoration (5th). Heavenly ardlings have relatives that are from the Lawful Good planes. Their spells are Light, Cure Wounds, and Zone of Truth. The Idyllic ardling's legacy connects them to the Neutral Good planes, and they gain access to Guidance, Healing Word, and Animal Messenger.

Regardless of your legacy, all ardlings share the following racial traits:

Angelic Flight. As a Bonus Action, you sprout spectral wings for a moment and fly up to a number of feet equal to your speed. If you are in the air at the end of this movement, you fall if nothing is holding you aloft. You can use this Bonus Action a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest. As I've said in the past, I think giving a character the ability to fly grants them an unfair advantage, especially at the lower levels. This racial trait, however, doesn't feel like flight but more like a good jumping ability. The ardling has a movement speed of 30 feet. It's great if you want to move up to a ledge or fly over a pit trap (does anyone remember those). What hurts is that you need to land before your turn plummeting to the ground—no more flying 30 feet into the air and staying there, firing arrows down at the poor defenseless creature you so cruel want to kill. Making it a bonus action is nice. At least you can attack before you fly up into a tree. Grade: C-
Damage Resistance. You have Resistance to Radiant Damage. Resistance is always good, even if it's to a damage type you may not encounter that often. Grade: B-

The ardling feels like a lame attempt to keep a character race that can fly, but the flying it can do isn't very good.

Overall Playability Grade: C -

Dragonborn - There are not many changes for our scaly friends. You still look like a dragon with no wings, and your scales are a beautiful shade of blue, red, or any other classic dragon color. That color corresponds to which breath weapon you'll receive, which is listed in the 5e PHB. The Dragonborn traits are as follows:

Breath Weapon. As an Action, you exhale destructive energy in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your Constitution modifier + your Proficiency Bonus. On a failed save, a creature takes 1d10 + your character level in damage of the type determined by your Draconic Ancestry trait. On a successful save, a creature takes half as much damage. You can use this Breath Weapon a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest. At first glance, I didn't think much of this, but when I read it closely, I realized how strong this trait is. I like the change to the area of effect being a 15-foot cone for all breath attacks. Uniformity is a positive thing. The damage scales a little differently, doing slightly more damage as you level up, but not enough to make a huge difference. The number of times you can use it increase is a bit overboard to me. For example, at the 9th level, you do an average of 14 points of damage per attack, but now you can use it four times, increasing the total average damage to 56. Previously, you could only do 14 total damage per short or long rest. Changing the recharge to only a long rest doesn't balance it out. Grade: A+
Damage Resistance. You have Resistance to the damage type determined by your Draconic Ancestry trait. No changes. Grade: B
Darkvision. You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet. It was always strange to me that if you're a dragon in humanoid form, you didn't get darkvision, considering all dragons have it. Minor trait, helpful addition. Grade: B+
Draconic Language. You instinctively know the language of dragons. You can therefore speak, read, and write Draconic. I'm sure I'll talk about this again, but I do not understand the obsession with languages in D&D. It's great that you can speak to dragons and their ilk, but does it matter? I'm sure you'll be able to figure out a way to communicate with them if you can't speak their language. Grade: C

The Dragonborn breath weapon pushes the race over the top, as it is unbalanced at higher levels. I understand that the breath weapon currently becomes a near useless trait at higher levels, but the adjustments have swung the pendulum the other way.

Overall Playability Grade: A-

Dwarf - The poor dwarf was stripped of all its subclasses! I understand when they said they wanted to make the dwarfiest dwarf they possibly could, but the elf and gnome kept theirs, so it doesn't seem fair. The dwarf racial traits are as follows:

Darkvision. You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet. No changes. Grade: B
Dwarven Resilience. You have Resistance to Poison Damage. You also have Advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the Poisoned Condition on yourself. A slight tweak in the wording, but the trait remains the same. Grade: B
Dwarven Toughness. Your Hit Point Maximum increases by 1, and it increases by one again whenever you gain a level. No changes. Grade: B
Forge Wise. Your divine creator gave you an uncanny affinity for working with stone or metal. You gain Tool Proficiency with two of the following options of your choice: Jeweler's Tools, Mason's Tools, Smith's Tools, or Tinker's Tools. Changes to the options are positive. Brewer's tools implied the race had a drinking problem, although it's a shame there won't be as much dwarven ale now. Jeweler's tools were a brilliant addition. Grade: B+
Stonecunning. As a Bonus Action, you gain Tremorsense with a range of 60 feet for 10 minutes. You must be on a stone surface or touching such a surface to use this Tremorsense. The stone can be natural or worked. You can use this Bonus Action a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest. The Stonecunning trait is revamped, and I got to say I love what they did with it. How often did you use the bonus to your stone knowledge, maybe two times a campaign? Now the trait has an actual use. The range and duration are fantastic. Able to use multiple times per long rest is excellent. Can be used as a bonus action? Fantastic. Tremorsense may not be as good as Blindsense, but touching the stone floor of a dungeon to know precisely where those shifty kobolds are is nothing to scoff at. Grade: A+

I hate the loss of the subraces, but the changes to the dwarf traits are significant.

Overall Playability Grade: A-/B+

Elf - We return to only three elven lineages; the Drow, High Elf, and Wood Elf. A significant factor driving the changes to some races is to remove any negative connotations based on real-world racial stereotypes. Removing the Sunlight Sensitivity trait from the Drow is a perfect example. The elf racial traits are:

Darkvision. You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet. No changes. Grade: B
Elven Lineage. You are part of an elven lineage that grants you supernatural abilities. Choose a lineage from the Elven Lineages table: Drow, the lineage of the Underdark; High Elf, the lineage of fey crossings and other magical locations; or Wood Elf, the lineage of primeval forests. You gain the 1st-level benefit of that lineage. Starting at 3rd level and again at 5th level, you also gain the ability to cast a Spell with this trait. Once you cast the spell with this trait, you can't cast that spell with it again until you finish a Long Rest; however, you can cast the spell using any Spell Slots you have of the appropriate level. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for the Spells you cast with this trait (choose the ability when you select the lineage). Each subrace retains its main bonus trait. The Weapon Proficiency trait is gone. The wood elf also loses the Mask of the Wild feature, which is replaced by gaining a cantrip. Each subrace also gains a spell at the 3rd and 5th levels, which is a nice little bonus for the high and wood elf subrace, as the Drow already had this trait. The high elf gets Faerie Fire (3rd) and Darkness (5th), while the wood elf picks up Longstrider (3rd) and Pass without Trace (5th). For non-spellcasting classes, it's an excellent addition since they'd probably have Proficiency in the weapons the sub-races no longer provide. Grade: B+
Fey Ancestry. You have Advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the Charmed Condition on yourself. The immunity to sleep effects moves to the Trance trait. We won't penalize this trait for that change. Grade: B
Keen Senses. You have Proficiency in the Perception Skill. No changes. Grade: B
Trance. You don't need to sleep, and magic can't put you to sleep. You can finish a Long Rest* in 4 hours if you spend those hours in a trancelike meditation, during which you retain consciousness. Here's the missing immunity to sleep effects trait. No other changes. Grade: B

The elf remains the same for all intents and purposes. If you liked the elf in the 5th edition, you have nothing to worry about when One D&D rolls out.

Overall Playable Grade: B

Gnomes - Love them or hate them, the gnome isn't going anywhere. It's back to just the Forest and Rock Gnomes, which, much like the elf, were the original two subraces in the 5th edition Player's Handbook. The gnome traits are as follows:

Darkvision. You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet. No changes. Grade: B
Gnomish Cunning. You have Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws. No changes. Grade: B
Gnomish Lineage. You are part of a gnomish lineage that grants you supernatural abilities. Choose a lineage from the Gnomish Lineages table: Forest Gnome, the lineage of magic-filled forests, or Rock Gnome, the lineage of primeval mountains. You gain the benefits of that lineage. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for the Spells you cast with this trait (choose the ability when you select the lineage). There are some minor changes to the forest gnome. Talking to squirrels and chipmunks is not an innate ability. Instead, you can cast the Speak with Animals spell a number of times equal to your Proficiency or by using a spell slot. A minor nerf, but nothing that would prevent me from playing a forest gnome.
The Rock Gnome replaces the Artificer's Lore trait by allowing you to cast the Mending and Prestidigitation cantrips. The Tinker trait remains, but with adjustments. You're not limited to three specific devices. When you cast Prestidigitation to create a Tiny device, you choose its effects from the spell's list of options. You can use a Bonus Action to produce an effect. If the selected effect has options within it, you choose one of those options for the device when you create it. Everything else from the original Tinker trait remains the same. Grade: B

The few changes to the gnome's racial abilities shouldn't alter a person's desire to play the game's shortest race.

Overall Playability Score: B

Halfling - Another race whose subraces disappear. I'd think there was a short humanoid race bias if it wasn't for the gnome. The halfling racial traits are as follows:

Brave. You have Advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the Frightened Condition on yourself. No changes. Grade: B
Halfling Nimbleness. You can move through the space of any creature that is of a Size larger than yours, but you can't stop there. A slight change in wording, but the trait remains the same. Grade: B
Luck. When you roll a 1 on the d20 of a d20 Test, you can reroll the die, and you must use the new roll. No changes (still OP). Grade: B
Naturally Stealthy. You have Proficiency in the Stealth Skill. I assume this is how they compensate for removing the Lightfoot and Stout subclasses. Not great, not bad. Grade B

Another race with few changes. However, unlike the dwarf, the only significant change made isn't enough to move its score one way or another. While the grades reflect a solid B, I'm scoring it lower because removing the subclasses will cause some people to have less desire to play them.

Overall Playability Grade: C+

Orc - We move away from the 5th edition Player's Handbook and jump over to a race from Volo's. The orc undergoes more changes than the last few races we've looked at, which isn't surprising. Along the Drow, the orc is the race that has gotten a bad rap, with several negative stereotypes from the real world attached to it. The orc racial traits are as follows:

Adrenaline Rush. You can take the Dash Action as a Bonus Action. When you do so, you gain a number of Temporary Hit Points equal to your Proficiency Bonus. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest. This is the replacement for the 5th edition Aggressive trait, a horrible name for an orc racial trait given its connotations. The Dash Action replaces the awkward wording in the PHB. There's no requirement to move closer to an opponent, which makes the trait…less aggressive, I guess? It is no longer an ability with unlimited usage, but there's a good reason for that. Getting temporary hit points is a great add-on. Two hit points are a lot at 1st level, and four can keep you in the fight for multiple rounds. Grade: A-
Darkvision. You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet. - No change. Grade: B
Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift. No change. Grade: B
Relentless Endurance. When you are reduced to 0 Hit Points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 Hit Point instead. Once you use this trait, you can't do so again until you finish a Long Rest. No change. Grade: B

It's incredible how one simple tweak can make a big difference. The writers will need to make several changes to the orc description in the new Player's Handbook, so hopefully, they'll do a better job than they did with the Hadozee.

Overall Playability Grade: B+ / B

Tiefling - Not sure why they felt the need to have the ardling and the tiefling be mirror opposites of each other. The only thing I can think of is that they are going all in on the multiverse concept in which the planes play a significant role. The new rules expand the 5th edition Player's Handbook tiefling but simplify them when considering the nine available options found on D&D Beyond. It isn't easy to draw a direct line from the alignments of the planes your legacies are related to. Not many DM's are going to want a Chaotic Evil party member.

The Abyssal Tiefling is to the of Abyss, Pandemonium, and Carceri. If you want to look like a demon, this is the tiefling for you. Chthonic Tieflings feel the pull from Carceri, Gehenna, and Hades. You can be as pretty or as ugly as you want. The Infernal Tieflings are bound to Gehenna, Acheron and Nine Hells. As you probably already figured out, your appearance will likely resemble that of a devil.

The tiefling's new racial traits are as follows:

Darkvision. You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet. No change. Grade: B
Fiendish Legacy. You are the recipient of a fiendish legacy that grants you supernatural abilities. Choose a legacy from the Fiendish Legacies table: Abyssal, associated with Chaotic Evil planes; Chthonic, associated with Neutral Evil planes; or Infernal, associated with Lawful Evil planes. You gain the 1st-level benefit of the chosen legacy. Starting at 3rd level and again at 5th level, you gain the ability to cast a higher-level Spell with this trait, as shown on the table. Once you cast the spell with this trait, you can't cast that spell with it again until you finish a Long Rest; however, you can cast the spell using any Spell Slots you have of the appropriate level. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for the Spells you cast with this trait (choose the ability when you select the lineage). We talked about the legacy choices above. The traits you have for each legacy are a mash-up of the original PHB tiefling and a couple of cherry-picked traits from the various tiefling subraces. An abyssal tiefling initially has Resistance to Poison Damage, along with knowing the Poison Spray cantrip. You also learn the Ray of Sickness spell (3rd) and the Hold Person spell (5th). Chthonic tiefling has Resistance to Necrotic Damage, knows the Chill Touch cantrip at the start, and learns the False Life spell (3rd) and Ray of Enfeeblement (5th). Finally, as an Infernal tiefling, you have Resistance to Fire Damage and know the Fire Bolt cantrip (1st), learn Hellish Rebuke (3rd), and Darkness (5th). It's an excellent happy medium between zero and nine legacies, but it takes a while to come online. Grade: B-
Otherworldly Presence. You know the Thaumaturgy cantrip. When you cast it with this trait, the spell uses the same spellcasting ability you use for your Fiendish Legacy trait. - Reduced down to just the single cantrip. Big nerf, but your tiefling legacy makes up the difference…sort of. Grade: C+

I'll be honest; I have conflicted feelings toward the new tiefling. I like what they've done with the race, but it feels off to me somehow. Maybe I'll come around, but right now, the grade is lower than others may think it should be.

Overall Playability Grade: C+

Next up, Backgrounds.

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