"Custom Lineage ... Creature type. You are humanoid. You determine ... whether you resemble your kin."
It does not say you are an elf humanoid. It only says you are humanoid with no racial tag. You determine who you resemble, but it does not say you are any kind of kin, it only says you can choose your appearance to be however you want. It does not allow you to choose your kin mechanically.
"Kin" means racial "tag", such as elf.
In the game, every humanoid includes a more specific racial tag. Every humanoid.
They would have put (any race) with humanoid if they wanted, but they did not. This alone is clear enough that you cannot add any racial tag to it.
RAW, Custom Lineage does not have specific racial tags, and RAW, they are not allowed to have them.
Instead they put "kin".
And kin means race.
Actually it means: "one's family and relations."
You can have kin that is not your race, because it is simply a way of referencing who you are related to. And your family does not need to biologically be the same as you.
Because an origin "lineage" may or may not be a race, the choice of the term "kin" is intentional.
In Eberron, a Dragon Mark might be considered a kind of lineage. If so, other characters with the mark would be kin.
It is part of a wider discussion about whether D&D should discontinue the term and concept of "race".
If you are a member of a race, such as elf, then elf is your kin.
However, if your character has no race, maybe is a kind of construct, then similarly constructed characters are kin.
So are you suggesting Custom Lineage allows you to create a character that is Dragonmarked?
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"Custom Lineage ... Creature type. You are humanoid. You determine ... whether you resemble your kin."
It does not say you are an elf humanoid. It only says you are humanoid with no racial tag. You determine who you resemble, but it does not say you are any kind of kin, it only says you can choose your appearance to be however you want. It does not allow you to choose your kin mechanically.
"Kin" means racial "tag", such as elf.
In the game, every humanoid includes a more specific racial tag. Every humanoid.
They would have put (any race) with humanoid if they wanted, but they did not. This alone is clear enough that you cannot add any racial tag to it.
RAW, Custom Lineage does not have specific racial tags, and RAW, they are not allowed to have them.
Instead they put "kin".
And kin means race.
Actually it means: "one's family and relations."
You can have kin that is not your race, because it is simply a way of referencing who you are related to. And your family does not need to biologically be the same as you.
Because an origin "lineage" may or may not be a race, the choice of the term "kin" is intentional.
In Eberron, a Dragon Mark might be considered a kind of lineage. If so, other characters with the mark would be kin.
It is part of a wider discussion about whether D&D should discontinue the term and concept of "race".
If you are a member of a race, such as elf, then elf is your kin.
However, if your character has no race, maybe is a kind of construct, then similarly constructed characters are kin.
So are you suggesting Custom Lineage allows you to create a character that is Dragonmarked?
The player has full control to create a new kind of lineage, such as Dragonmark. (The custom lineage choice of feat determines what this mark does.)
As a DM. I want negotiation. In my play style, the players play a hero, and the DM plays the world. Just like players want agency about what their hero is like, I as a DM want agency about what the world is like.
So, if a player wants to invent a new kind of race or subrace, or a new kind of Dragonmark, it has implications about what the world is like.
The situation of creating a new lineage is identical to the situation of choosing a language. Because language also has world implications.
"Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character."
So I would apply the same metric for creating a new lineage. Something like: You can invent a new race or comparable lineage "that you and your DM agree is appropriate".
For sure, the player must be happy with their own character. But also I need to be happy with the world. Fortunately, I want players to be creative, and am creative to find ways to make it fit in within the setting. So as long as the character concept is compelling narrative and adds to the world, I appreciate the collective authorship of our setting.
Regarding half elf. Obviously, both human and elf are kin. It would be: humanoid (human, elf).
The problem is Xanathars. Its prerequisite must have the lineage say "high elf", specifically. And according to Xanathars, half elf cannot take it. The problem is Xanathars.
RAW, there are no racial tags like that for any monster, so it would make even less sense for a PC character to have a racial tag like that, and PCs are always on a much tighter leash in regards to creative freedom compared to monsters and NPCs. Custom Lineage already has a pretty unique and restrictive racial tag of just humanoid. While there are no restrictions on how DMs can create NPCs and monsters, racial tags for official monsters are always something like humanoid (human), humanoid (elf), humanoid (half-elf), humanoid (half-orc); there are no racial tags like humanoid (human, elf) or humanoid (human, orc).
Regarding half elf. Obviously, both human and elf are kin. It would be: humanoid (human, elf).
The problem is Xanathars. Its prerequisite must have the lineage say "high elf", specifically. And according to Xanathars, half elf cannot take it. The problem is Xanathars.
That seems to imply that Favored Foe (half-elf) encompasses FF (Elf) and FF (Human) as well, unless we're inventing race tags on the fly now. And shouldn't that be humanoid (human, elf, half-elf) then?
The problem isn't Xanathar's. Your problem is that Xanathar's doesn't do what you want it to do. Why is it problematic that half-elves can't take Fey Teleportation? Drow or wood elves can't take it either. All elves and half-elves can share racial feats (as Elven Accuracy proves), just not all racial feats. Some are more specific than others.
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Regarding half elf. Obviously, both human and elf are kin. It would be: humanoid (human, elf).
The problem is Xanathars. Its prerequisite must have the lineage say "high elf", specifically. And according to Xanathars, half elf cannot take it. The problem is Xanathars.
RAW, there are no racial tags like that for any monster, so it would make even less sense for a PC character to have a racial tag like that, and PCs are always on a much tighter leash in regards to creative freedom compared to monsters and NPCs. Custom Lineage already has a pretty unique and restrictive racial tag of just humanoid. While there are no restrictions on how DMs can create NPCs and monsters, racial tags for official monsters are always something like humanoid (human), humanoid (elf), humanoid (half-elf), humanoid (half-orc); there are no racial tags like humanoid (human, elf) or humanoid (human, orc).
A werewolf is "humanoid (human, shapeshifter)".
So, multiple tags are ok with regard to ones origin.
1) The player has full control to create a new kind of lineage, such as Dragonmark. (The custom lineage choice of feat determines what this mark does.)
2) As a DM. I want negotiation. In my play style, the players play a hero, and the DM plays the world. Just like players want agency about what their hero is like, I as a DM want agency about what the world is like.
1) But this new lineage wouldn't be kin with other kinds of Dragonmarked characters. You'd be calling it a Dragonmark, but it'd be a homebrew one.
2) What you and/or your players want carries weight at your table. It has no impact on the official rules, however.
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1) The player has full control to create a new kind of lineage, such as Dragonmark. (The custom lineage choice of feat determines what this mark does.)
2) As a DM. I want negotiation. In my play style, the players play a hero, and the DM plays the world. Just like players want agency about what their hero is like, I as a DM want agency about what the world is like.
1) But this new lineage wouldn't be kin with other kinds of Dragonmarked characters. You'd be calling it a Dragonmark, but it'd be a homebrew one.
2) What you and/or your players want carries weight at your table. It has no impact on the official rules, however.
Yes.
1) Unless a feat grants exactly the mechanics of a game's Dragonmark, the player would effectively be creating a new mark with new mechanics depending on the chosen feat.
2) Yes, by the rules, the player has agency to create a lineage that the player is comfortable with. Emphatically "full control".
Heh, no rule permits a DM or a player to be a jerk!
Say the player invents some kind of mystic mark. The DM still determines how rare or common that mark would be, and how much it might impact the rest of the world. Perhaps, the player and one other ancestor (of DMs choice) are the only ones with this mark?
As a DM. I want negotiation. In my play style, the players play a hero, and the DM plays the world. Just like players want agency about what their hero is like, I as a DM want agency about what the world is like.
So, if a player wants to invent a new kind of race or subrace, or a new kind of Dragonmark, it has implications about what the world is like.
The situation of creating a new lineage is identical to the situation of choosing a language. Because language also has world implications.
"Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character."
So I would apply the same metric for creating a new lineage. Something like: You can invent a new race or comparable lineage "that you and your DM agree is appropriate".
For sure, the player must be happy with their own character. But also I need to be happy with the world. Fortunately, I want players to be creative, and am creative to find ways to make it fit in within the setting. So as long as the character concept is compelling and adds to the world, I appreciate the collective authorship of our setting.
There is a difference between loosely interpreting the rules and loosely enforcing the rules. Rules should generally be strictly interpreted, but as a GM, that does not mean you have to strictly enforce them. Unless you are in Adventurer's League or something where consistency demands strict rules enforcement to make integration, participation, and running the game easier, it is much more practical and even encouraged to deviate from RAW in personal private games where consistency is not important.
I frequently handwave restrictions in my games, but I know that I am going against RAW. However, at the same time, I do not let how I like to run my games affect how I interpret the rules.
Regarding half elf. Obviously, both human and elf are kin. It would be: humanoid (human, elf).
The problem is Xanathars. Its prerequisite must have the lineage say "high elf", specifically. And according to Xanathars, half elf cannot take it. The problem is Xanathars.
RAW, there are no racial tags like that for any monster, so it would make even less sense for a PC character to have a racial tag like that, and PCs are always on a much tighter leash in regards to creative freedom compared to monsters and NPCs. Custom Lineage already has a pretty unique and restrictive racial tag of just humanoid. While there are no restrictions on how DMs can create NPCs and monsters, racial tags for official monsters are always something like humanoid (human), humanoid (elf), humanoid (half-elf), humanoid (half-orc); there are no racial tags like humanoid (human, elf) or humanoid (human, orc).
A werewolf is "humanoid (human, shapeshifter)".
So, multiple tags are ok with regard to ones origin.
Ah, okay, so there are monsters with multiple tags, but that seems to only apply to shapechanger though, and that shapechanger tag does not imply a race, as all the monsters with shapechanger tag has an ability to change shape.
However, I still do no think RAW allows racial tags for Custom Lineage, or else they would have done so with (any race).
However, I still do no think RAW allows racial tags for Custom Lineage, or else they would have done so with (any race).
The Custom Lineage gives latitude to create new kinds of tags that dont currently exist in the game.
I am not pushing this, but in my own campaign, I prefer to see more descriptive tags like:
• Dragonborn humanoid (dragon) − using dragon as a tag relating to origin, but not as a creature type.
• Eladrin humanoid (fey, elf) − using fey as a tag relating to origin, but not as a creature type.
• Werewolf humanoid (human, wolf, beast, shapechanger) − thus a real kinship with natural wolves that feels more animistic to me.
• Revenant humanoid (any race, undead) − using undead as a tag relating to origin but not as a creature type.
• Damphyr humanoid (human, vampire, undead)
• Tiefling humanoid (human, devil/demon)
• humanoid (any race, dragonmark)
• Firetouched humanoid (human, fire, elemental)
• Automaton humanoid (clockwork, construct)
• Dvergar humanoid (dwarf, earth, elemental)
Anyway, regardless of what the technical formatting should be, the above character concepts are legitimate lineages that a player might want to play. If they can find a feat to make the concept work mechanically, its appropriate enough.
1) The player has full control to create a new kind of lineage, such as Dragonmark. (The custom lineage choice of feat determines what this mark does.)
2) As a DM. I want negotiation. In my play style, the players play a hero, and the DM plays the world. Just like players want agency about what their hero is like, I as a DM want agency about what the world is like.
1) But this new lineage wouldn't be kin with other kinds of Dragonmarked characters. You'd be calling it a Dragonmark, but it'd be a homebrew one.
2) What you and/or your players want carries weight at your table. It has no impact on the official rules, however.
Yes.
1) Unless a feat grants exactly the mechanics of a game's Dragonmark, the player would effectively be creating a new mark with new mechanics depending on the chosen feat.
2) Yes, by the rules, the player has agency to create a lineage that the player is comfortable with. Emphatically "full control".
Heh, no rule permits a DM or a player to be a jerk!
Say the player invents some kind of mystic mark. The DM still determines how rare or common that mark would be, and how much it might impact the rest of the world. Perhaps, the player and one other ancestor (of DMs choice) are the only ones with this mark?
The point is, you don't get to create a custom lineage character that has the same race as an official Dragonmarked character this way. Custom Lineage can't cover all the benefits of any of the existing Dragonmarks.
So, you say that by your reading of the rules as written a custom lineage character can choose the race it belongs to. As the above shows, this doesn't add up when looking at Dragonmarked characters (which are, according to the RAW, a subrace).
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1) The player has full control to create a new kind of lineage, such as Dragonmark. (The custom lineage choice of feat determines what this mark does.)
2) As a DM. I want negotiation. In my play style, the players play a hero, and the DM plays the world. Just like players want agency about what their hero is like, I as a DM want agency about what the world is like.
1) But this new lineage wouldn't be kin with other kinds of Dragonmarked characters. You'd be calling it a Dragonmark, but it'd be a homebrew one.
2) What you and/or your players want carries weight at your table. It has no impact on the official rules, however.
Yes.
1) Unless a feat grants exactly the mechanics of a game's Dragonmark, the player would effectively be creating a new mark with new mechanics depending on the chosen feat.
2) Yes, by the rules, the player has agency to create a lineage that the player is comfortable with. Emphatically "full control".
Heh, no rule permits a DM or a player to be a jerk!
Say the player invents some kind of mystic mark. The DM still determines how rare or common that mark would be, and how much it might impact the rest of the world. Perhaps, the player and one other ancestor (of DMs choice) are the only ones with this mark?
The point is, you don't get to create a custom lineage character that has the same race as an official Dragonmarked character this way. Custom Lineage can't cover all the benefits of any of the existing Dragonmarks.
So, you say that by your reading of the rules as written a custom lineage character can choose the race it belongs to. As the above shows, this doesn't add up when looking at Dragonmarked characters (which are, according to the RAW, a subrace).
Note, in Eberron, a dragonmarked human or half-orc or half-elf counts as a "variant race". So a custom lineage can do something like a dragonmark, whether a variant dragonmark, or a similar mystic mark concept.
Also a custom lineage can be a "high elf" (both race and subrace), and likewise a "dragonmarked elf" (both race and subrace).
1) The player has full control to create a new kind of lineage, such as Dragonmark. (The custom lineage choice of feat determines what this mark does.)
2) As a DM. I want negotiation. In my play style, the players play a hero, and the DM plays the world. Just like players want agency about what their hero is like, I as a DM want agency about what the world is like.
1) But this new lineage wouldn't be kin with other kinds of Dragonmarked characters. You'd be calling it a Dragonmark, but it'd be a homebrew one.
2) What you and/or your players want carries weight at your table. It has no impact on the official rules, however.
Yes.
1) Unless a feat grants exactly the mechanics of a game's Dragonmark, the player would effectively be creating a new mark with new mechanics depending on the chosen feat.
2) Yes, by the rules, the player has agency to create a lineage that the player is comfortable with. Emphatically "full control".
Heh, no rule permits a DM or a player to be a jerk!
Say the player invents some kind of mystic mark. The DM still determines how rare or common that mark would be, and how much it might impact the rest of the world. Perhaps, the player and one other ancestor (of DMs choice) are the only ones with this mark?
The point is, you don't get to create a custom lineage character that has the same race as an official Dragonmarked character this way. Custom Lineage can't cover all the benefits of any of the existing Dragonmarks.
So, you say that by your reading of the rules as written a custom lineage character can choose the race it belongs to. As the above shows, this doesn't add up when looking at Dragonmarked characters (which are, according to the RAW, a subrace).
Note, in Eberron, a dragonmarked human or half-orc or half-elf counts as a "variant race". So a custom lineage can do something like a dragonmark, whether a variant dragonmark, or a similar mystic mark concept.
Also a custom lineage can be a "high elf" (both race and subrace), and likewise a "dragonmarked elf" (both race and subrace).
So what you're saying is that a character can be a dragonmarked elf without having an actual official elven dragonmark, is what I'm getting from this.
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The Custom Lineage gives latitude to create new kinds of tags that dont currently exist in the game.
I am not pushing this, but in my own campaign, I prefer to see more descriptive tags like:
• Dragonborn humanoid (dragon) − using dragon as a tag relating to origin, but not as a creature type.
• Eladrin humanoid (fey, elf) − using fey as a tag relating to origin, but not as a creature type.
• Werewolf humanoid (human, wolf, beast, shapechanger) − thus a real kinship with natural wolves that feels more animistic to me.
• Revenant humanoid (any race, undead) − using undead as a tag relating to origin but not as a creature type.
• Damphyr humanoid (human, vampire, undead)
• Tiefling humanoid (human, devil/demon)
• humanoid (any race, dragonmark)
• Firetouched humanoid (human, fire, elemental)
• Automaton humanoid (clockwork, construct)
• Dvergar humanoid (dwarf, earth, elemental)
Anyway, regardless of what the technical formatting should be, the above character concepts are legitimate lineages that a player might want to play. If they can find a feat to make the concept work mechanically, its appropriate enough.
First off, by constantly saying that these double race types are legit, even though they are not by RAW, you are in fact pushing the concept you say you aren't.
Many of your "kin" tags don't even make sense in a RAW or lore sense. As pangurjan said, you can do whatever you want at your table. But you wanted a rules clarification and keep ignoring RAW that we all are saying and keep pushing what you would allow at your table. That is not RAW or RAI - that is homebrew and what you do at your table is your own prerogative. But stop pretending that these concepts you've been saying are allowed by RAW when you yourself have said these are personal concepts you use at a table level.
By RAW, the lineage can choose a race as the kin, and sometimes a race includes a subrace (such as high elf or dragonmarked elf).
Also by RAW, the kin need not be a literal race.
The possibility of multiple kin seems legitimate, such as a half elf counting both human and elf as kin. Indeed, a half drow seems to count the human race and the elf race, and the drow subrace as kin. But this multiplicity gets more complex because of certain texts treat half-elf as a race that is neither human nor elf.
Beyond that, I am not "pushing" multiple kin, albeit I like it, and find it useful for world building.
That said, a lineage can be a race/subrace or something comparable to a race/subrace.
What really matters is the availability of a feat that is appropriate enough for the lineage concept.
By RAW, the lineage can choose a race as the kin, and sometimes a race includes a subrace (such as high elf or dragonmarked elf).
Also by RAW, the kin need not be a literal race.
As mentioned several times above, it is one thing to be let your players have more creative freedom, but it is another thing to claim that giving players that creative freedom is RAW. It is best to best to be impartial to the rules and not let how you want to play the game affect how you interpret the rules.
RAW, Custom Lineage clearly does not grant any existing mechanical racial qualifications, or else (any race) would have been part of the humanoid tag. It grants you the freedom to flavor and choose the appearance of your character however you want, but that is it.
By RAW, the lineage can choose a race as the kin, and sometimes a race includes a subrace (such as high elf or dragonmarked elf).
The problem here is that dragonmarked elf is not a subrace. It's "Elf subrace: Mark of Shadow". There isn't one dragonmarked human variant; there are five, one of which has a half-orc subrace equivalent. So by RAW, you'd either be able to choose Mark of Shadow or Mark of Finding as your custom lineage 'kin' (which would make you a member of that subrace for mechanics that require it) but you wouldn't actually have the corresponding Mark, or you're not able to choose that kin - and if you can't choose that kin, that arguably mean you can't just choose kin in general.
And as said several times, if the chosen lineage is a high elf, then a feat that has a high elf prerequisite is available.
But that is not RAW, and the evidence you point to does not support your claim. If anything, the racial tag you mentioned makes it pretty clear that Custom Lineage only grants player the generic humanoid tag and it does NOT grant any additional racial mechanical qualifications. Custom Lineage allows players to call their characters elves, but it does NOT grant them the mechanical qualifications of an elf.
TCOE as whole supports letting players flavor things however they want, but it is very conservative and restrained in regards to loosening up mechanics for players. The clearest example of this is in the spells section where encourages players to flavor the appearance of their spells, but it actively discourages changing anything mechanical about the spells.
By RAW, the lineage can choose a race as the kin, and sometimes a race includes a subrace (such as high elf or dragonmarked elf).
The problem here is that dragonmarked elf is not a subrace. It's "Elf subrace: Mark of Shadow". There isn't one dragonmarked human variant; there are five, one of which has a half-orc subrace equivalent. So by RAW, you'd either be able to choose Mark of Shadow or Mark of Finding as your custom lineage 'kin' (which would make you a member of that subrace for mechanics that require it) but you wouldn't actually have the corresponding Mark, or you're not able to choose that kin - and if you can't choose that kin, that arguably mean you can't just choose kin in general.
Looking at Wayfinders:
"For humans and half-orcs, a dragonmark is a variant race that replaces normal traits associated with those races."
So, strictly speaking, a dragonmarked human is a "variant race".
I would have to search the texts, but I assume a "dragonmarked human" still counts as a "human", even tho traits are different for this variant. If so, the lineage is humanoid (human, dragonmark) with two kin.
You point out there are five different kinds of dragonmarks that a human can have. So effectively, there are five "variant humans" to choose from. Each has different mechanics.
A custom lineage could chose any of these variant humans, being a human of any of these five marks.
Now the problem is the feat to choose from. If the feat does something that none of the official marks can do (and the feat cant do what the official marks do), then I would recommend creating a new "variant human" that has a new kind of dragonmark. Now the player could argue, that they really have the "Mark of Shadow" but that for some mysterious reason, the Mark of Shadow is working differently for this character. If the player really cared about this concept, then fine. It works well enough for the mood of Eberron.
The point is, a custom lineage can allow a player to create a human with a Mark of Shadow, even tho the custom character has traits that differ from the game's description of this.
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he / him
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So are you suggesting Custom Lineage allows you to create a character that is Dragonmarked?
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
The player has full control to create a new kind of lineage, such as Dragonmark. (The custom lineage choice of feat determines what this mark does.)
As a DM. I want negotiation. In my play style, the players play a hero, and the DM plays the world. Just like players want agency about what their hero is like, I as a DM want agency about what the world is like.
So, if a player wants to invent a new kind of race or subrace, or a new kind of Dragonmark, it has implications about what the world is like.
The situation of creating a new lineage is identical to the situation of choosing a language. Because language also has world implications.
"Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character."
So I would apply the same metric for creating a new lineage. Something like: You can invent a new race or comparable lineage "that you and your DM agree is appropriate".
For sure, the player must be happy with their own character. But also I need to be happy with the world. Fortunately, I want players to be creative, and am creative to find ways to make it fit in within the setting. So as long as the character concept is compelling narrative and adds to the world, I appreciate the collective authorship of our setting.
he / him
RAW, there are no racial tags like that for any monster, so it would make even less sense for a PC character to have a racial tag like that, and PCs are always on a much tighter leash in regards to creative freedom compared to monsters and NPCs. Custom Lineage already has a pretty unique and restrictive racial tag of just humanoid. While there are no restrictions on how DMs can create NPCs and monsters, racial tags for official monsters are always something like humanoid (human), humanoid (elf), humanoid (half-elf), humanoid (half-orc); there are no racial tags like humanoid (human, elf) or humanoid (human, orc).
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That seems to imply that Favored Foe (half-elf) encompasses FF (Elf) and FF (Human) as well, unless we're inventing race tags on the fly now. And shouldn't that be humanoid (human, elf, half-elf) then?
The problem isn't Xanathar's. Your problem is that Xanathar's doesn't do what you want it to do. Why is it problematic that half-elves can't take Fey Teleportation? Drow or wood elves can't take it either. All elves and half-elves can share racial feats (as Elven Accuracy proves), just not all racial feats. Some are more specific than others.
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A werewolf is "humanoid (human, shapeshifter)".
So, multiple tags are ok with regard to ones origin.
he / him
1) But this new lineage wouldn't be kin with other kinds of Dragonmarked characters. You'd be calling it a Dragonmark, but it'd be a homebrew one.
2) What you and/or your players want carries weight at your table. It has no impact on the official rules, however.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Yes.
1) Unless a feat grants exactly the mechanics of a game's Dragonmark, the player would effectively be creating a new mark with new mechanics depending on the chosen feat.
2) Yes, by the rules, the player has agency to create a lineage that the player is comfortable with. Emphatically "full control".
Heh, no rule permits a DM or a player to be a jerk!
Say the player invents some kind of mystic mark. The DM still determines how rare or common that mark would be, and how much it might impact the rest of the world. Perhaps, the player and one other ancestor (of DMs choice) are the only ones with this mark?
he / him
There is a difference between loosely interpreting the rules and loosely enforcing the rules. Rules should generally be strictly interpreted, but as a GM, that does not mean you have to strictly enforce them. Unless you are in Adventurer's League or something where consistency demands strict rules enforcement to make integration, participation, and running the game easier, it is much more practical and even encouraged to deviate from RAW in personal private games where consistency is not important.
I frequently handwave restrictions in my games, but I know that I am going against RAW. However, at the same time, I do not let how I like to run my games affect how I interpret the rules.
Ah, okay, so there are monsters with multiple tags, but that seems to only apply to shapechanger though, and that shapechanger tag does not imply a race, as all the monsters with shapechanger tag has an ability to change shape.
However, I still do no think RAW allows racial tags for Custom Lineage, or else they would have done so with (any race).
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Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
The Custom Lineage gives latitude to create new kinds of tags that dont currently exist in the game.
I am not pushing this, but in my own campaign, I prefer to see more descriptive tags like:
• Dragonborn humanoid (dragon) − using dragon as a tag relating to origin, but not as a creature type.
• Eladrin humanoid (fey, elf) − using fey as a tag relating to origin, but not as a creature type.
• Werewolf humanoid (human, wolf, beast, shapechanger) − thus a real kinship with natural wolves that feels more animistic to me.
• Revenant humanoid (any race, undead) − using undead as a tag relating to origin but not as a creature type.
• Damphyr humanoid (human, vampire, undead)
• Tiefling humanoid (human, devil/demon)
• humanoid (any race, dragonmark)
• Firetouched humanoid (human, fire, elemental)
• Automaton humanoid (clockwork, construct)
• Dvergar humanoid (dwarf, earth, elemental)
Anyway, regardless of what the technical formatting should be, the above character concepts are legitimate lineages that a player might want to play. If they can find a feat to make the concept work mechanically, its appropriate enough.
he / him
The point is, you don't get to create a custom lineage character that has the same race as an official Dragonmarked character this way. Custom Lineage can't cover all the benefits of any of the existing Dragonmarks.
So, you say that by your reading of the rules as written a custom lineage character can choose the race it belongs to. As the above shows, this doesn't add up when looking at Dragonmarked characters (which are, according to the RAW, a subrace).
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Note, in Eberron, a dragonmarked human or half-orc or half-elf counts as a "variant race". So a custom lineage can do something like a dragonmark, whether a variant dragonmark, or a similar mystic mark concept.
Also a custom lineage can be a "high elf" (both race and subrace), and likewise a "dragonmarked elf" (both race and subrace).
he / him
So what you're saying is that a character can be a dragonmarked elf without having an actual official elven dragonmark, is what I'm getting from this.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
First off, by constantly saying that these double race types are legit, even though they are not by RAW, you are in fact pushing the concept you say you aren't.
Many of your "kin" tags don't even make sense in a RAW or lore sense. As pangurjan said, you can do whatever you want at your table. But you wanted a rules clarification and keep ignoring RAW that we all are saying and keep pushing what you would allow at your table. That is not RAW or RAI - that is homebrew and what you do at your table is your own prerogative. But stop pretending that these concepts you've been saying are allowed by RAW when you yourself have said these are personal concepts you use at a table level.
By RAW, the lineage can choose a race as the kin, and sometimes a race includes a subrace (such as high elf or dragonmarked elf).
Also by RAW, the kin need not be a literal race.
The possibility of multiple kin seems legitimate, such as a half elf counting both human and elf as kin. Indeed, a half drow seems to count the human race and the elf race, and the drow subrace as kin. But this multiplicity gets more complex because of certain texts treat half-elf as a race that is neither human nor elf.
Beyond that, I am not "pushing" multiple kin, albeit I like it, and find it useful for world building.
That said, a lineage can be a race/subrace or something comparable to a race/subrace.
What really matters is the availability of a feat that is appropriate enough for the lineage concept.
he / him
As mentioned several times above, it is one thing to be let your players have more creative freedom, but it is another thing to claim that giving players that creative freedom is RAW. It is best to best to be impartial to the rules and not let how you want to play the game affect how you interpret the rules.
RAW, Custom Lineage clearly does not grant any existing mechanical racial qualifications, or else (any race) would have been part of the humanoid tag. It grants you the freedom to flavor and choose the appearance of your character however you want, but that is it.
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Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
And as said several times, the only feats available to custom lineage is those not requiring any race prerequisites.
The problem here is that dragonmarked elf is not a subrace. It's "Elf subrace: Mark of Shadow". There isn't one dragonmarked human variant; there are five, one of which has a half-orc subrace equivalent. So by RAW, you'd either be able to choose Mark of Shadow or Mark of Finding as your custom lineage 'kin' (which would make you a member of that subrace for mechanics that require it) but you wouldn't actually have the corresponding Mark, or you're not able to choose that kin - and if you can't choose that kin, that arguably mean you can't just choose kin in general.
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And as said several times, if the chosen lineage is a high elf, then a feat that has a high elf prerequisite is available.
he / him
But that is not RAW, and the evidence you point to does not support your claim. If anything, the racial tag you mentioned makes it pretty clear that Custom Lineage only grants player the generic humanoid tag and it does NOT grant any additional racial mechanical qualifications. Custom Lineage allows players to call their characters elves, but it does NOT grant them the mechanical qualifications of an elf.
TCOE as whole supports letting players flavor things however they want, but it is very conservative and restrained in regards to loosening up mechanics for players. The clearest example of this is in the spells section where encourages players to flavor the appearance of their spells, but it actively discourages changing anything mechanical about the spells.
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Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
Looking at Wayfinders:
"For humans and half-orcs, a dragonmark is a variant race that replaces normal traits associated with those races."
So, strictly speaking, a dragonmarked human is a "variant race".
I would have to search the texts, but I assume a "dragonmarked human" still counts as a "human", even tho traits are different for this variant. If so, the lineage is humanoid (human, dragonmark) with two kin.
You point out there are five different kinds of dragonmarks that a human can have. So effectively, there are five "variant humans" to choose from. Each has different mechanics.
A custom lineage could chose any of these variant humans, being a human of any of these five marks.
Now the problem is the feat to choose from. If the feat does something that none of the official marks can do (and the feat cant do what the official marks do), then I would recommend creating a new "variant human" that has a new kind of dragonmark. Now the player could argue, that they really have the "Mark of Shadow" but that for some mysterious reason, the Mark of Shadow is working differently for this character. If the player really cared about this concept, then fine. It works well enough for the mood of Eberron.
The point is, a custom lineage can allow a player to create a human with a Mark of Shadow, even tho the custom character has traits that differ from the game's description of this.
he / him