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An Eye to PHB 2014 and 2024 Race/Class Soft Mechanics
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My Ruminations With An Eye to PHB 2014 and 2024 Race/Class Soft Mechanics
Extended my opinion/ruminations in When Mechanics Substitutes for RPG Flavor…
Races Only Give Advantages: The Race expression has devolved from positive and negative expressions AND gender baselines in older versions, to positive only with no race based limits. Everyone just wants bonuses mechanics-wise for taking a race or species (or whatever you want to classify it as). I understand the intent to create a positive experience, but taking every negative aspect out removes deep hints of diversity and difference and the adversity that came come with it. The lessons to be learned in the safe space of social and biological niches in role-playing are diminished. It robs the challenge aspect of role-playing that I personally find most rewarding.
But it’s Supposed to be Fun: Some will argue that role-playing isn’t supposed to be a challenge, but I would say that it is. There should be a challenge in there, otherwise you’re just playing a human or even yourself with a different skin. Yes, a lot of people have played that way over the ages, and frankly the younger you are the more prone to it you are. The challenge aspect usually works its way in later where you want to get something more from role-playing other than just an escape from reality where you are a hero and the conclusion of an adventure is not more of a foregone thing. A escape from reality you can get by reading whereas role-playing is much more immersive because of agency. The emphasis on positive adjustments only seems to be a play towards ego, or lack of a strong ego rather. Fun is not always easy, learning involves a challenge, challenges require adversity. Overcoming adversity gives a sense of accomplishment and reward more than if it is gained without it.
Old Timer Lament: It makes me sound old with a “get off my lawn” sort of perspective, but objectively we’ve gone from pluses and minuses to pluses only in the vast expressions of DnD. I think that decreases (or at the very least paves a road in such a direction) some of what role-playing can give you in terms of overcoming obstacles and being creative and taking the challenge of difference and diversity and finding a way to best express it positively and effectively within a larger group. All within the safe confines of a game world without real-world consequences. It may also be the inability of modern gamers to separate the fantasy and reality consequences, in the same way my generation never thought we could test cartoons by finding an anvil to drop on someone.
Outcomes
Restoration of racial bases positive AND negative adjustments.
See also, the running DnD 2024/5.5 Response.