Looks like a combination of some weird stuff. A new multiversal construct race, a new Cleric subclass, some new backgrounds, a rehashing of the Giant feats plus some new ones, and a bunch of stuff flavored around using cards (not really sure where that fits into the mix).
Race: The glitchling seems like a fun addition. I am all for more non-humanoid race options. I think Balance Chaos is pretty strong for a racial trait, and would prefer if it either had fewer uses or was limited to only ability checks. Vestigial wings is okay. I am not usually a fan of flying races, but since it limits your flight to the end of the turn it shouldnt be too powerful. That being said, for people that like flying races, this will probably feel too restrictive or like a half-measure. Also, just a personal opinion, but I am not a big fan of the name "glitchling" It feels to me like they wanted to make a playable Modron and decided not to.
Subclass: The Fate Domain feels like a fun addition as a divination-focused cleric. Omens and Portents feels pretty powerful early on as it gives you access to a 2nd level spell at level 1. That being said, I cant complain too much. Fey/Shadow Touched let someone do the same thing, and Augury probably wont be a game changer in those first few levels. I like Ties that Bind as a non-spell tracking ability AND the fact that it lets you focus your magic through the strand to empower the magic targeting your bonded creature. The CD seems pretty strong, but its limited since its based on your reaction and requires concentration, so it likely balances out.
Backgrounds: I appreciate that WotC wants to leave things like language more open-ended for your particular culture or upbringing, but if one of your backgrounds is literally going to be that you were raised by giants, I feel like giving them the Giant language is a no-brainer.
Feats: This may be a weird complaint, but with all of the different bonuses and features put into them these feats all feel kinda bulky. I also find the Cartomancer feat kinda weird. Firstly, not a fan of that name. Secondly, I feel like some of the abilities like using cards as a spellcasting focus or using prestidigitation to duplicate stage magic, while not RAW, were probably already allowed by DMs at this point.
Spells: All the spells seem fun, but kinda out of place in this UA. What do card tricks have to do with the multiverse?
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My big takeaway is that I think feats with prerequisites of other feats is an interesting way to add some additional crunch to 5e that people are always complaining (not incorrectly) that it's missing.
Making feats interact with each other means that suddenly your build matters, and you aren't necessarily picking at random if you're trying to build towards a larger concept.
I think it would need to be more widely applied for it to really have much impact, but it's interesting design that could make the edition more complex if properly expanded, without going too hard in the other direction and ending up with 3.5 again.
Race: The glitchling seems like a fun addition. I am all for more non-humanoid race options. I think Balance Chaos is pretty strong for a racial trait, and would prefer if it either had fewer uses or was limited to only ability checks. Vestigial wings is okay. I am not usually a fan of flying races, but since it limits your flight to the end of the turn it shouldnt be too powerful. That being said, for people that like flying races, this will probably feel too restrictive or like a half-measure. Also, just a personal opinion, but I am not a big fan of the name "glitchling" It feels to me like they wanted to make a playable Modron and decided not to.
Backgrounds: I appreciate that WotC wants to leave things like language more open-ended for your particular culture or upbringing, but if one of your backgrounds is literally going to be that you were raised by giants, I feel like giving them the Giant language is a no-brainer.
Spells: All the spells seem fun, but kinda out of place in this UA. What do card tricks have to do with the multiverse?
Glitchling: I like the Glitchling overall, but I feel like the name "glitchling" is odd for a race that has features themed around order. "Balance Chaos, Ordered Mind" etc.
A glitch by it's very nature is a disruption of order. If anything it seems like a glitchling would be the kind of thing that would be either be cast out of planes of order or hunted down in an effort to eliminate them.
Now that's a very cool concept for a character in D&D but the description in the UA seems to contradict that with "Some glitchlings then carry what they learn back to lawful planes, like Mechanus, to inform the orderly working of the multiverse." I doubt a plane that wants to maintain its order would allow a glitch to enter or return, unless to then immediately exterminate them.
It's a cool race and I want to play one but honestly I'd definitely want to play it as the Mechanus equivalent of a fallen angel rather than something that seems to be welcome home any time.
Scion of Elemental Fire: I'm pretty stoked about a feat that grants casting a damaging cantrip as a bonus action even if it's limited to PB times a day. Seems like just the right cup of flaming hot tea to pour into an Alchemist.
House of Cards: This is an odd spell. I like and dislike it at the same time. It's jam packed with flavor and its mechanics leave something to be desired. It's like a bootleg version of Tiny Hut (which I suppose is why it was allowed to be on the Artificer and Warlock lists).
In the list it's marked as "Concentration: Yes" but it's duration is stated as "24 hours" with no mention of concentration. I'm guessing the "Yes" there is a typo.
It lasts 3 times longer than Tiny Hut (good) but unlike Tiny Hut it only provides half cover both for creatures inside it (why?) and on top of it (...okay?). Unlike Tiny Hut this house of cards appropriately can be demolished... quite easily. Each card has AC 10 and only 1 hp but each card destroyed has a 1/3 chance of toppling the entire house and ending the spell.
It raises creatures up off the ground making melee combatants take a longer somewhat circuitous path to reach you (running inside and up the ramps) but considering how easy it is to topple it puts you and allies in a position where your enemies can inflict up to 3d6 damage to you by collapsing the house.
Like Tiny Hut It has a casting time of 1 minute yet unlike Tiny Hut it says nothing about the inside temperature or protecting from the elements, its benefits are strictly ones of elevation and combat (half cover) yet the casting time tends to prevent it from being cast in combat. In fact I'd consider making a campfire inside a house of cards to be a very dubious idea at best (especially since the cards aren't immune to fire damage).
Unlike Tiny Hut this spell is not a ritual spell. Making it more or less objectively a non-choice for Wizards, and Pact of the Tome warlocks who chose.
You might think to use that elevation effect as a weapon against your enemies (raise nearby foes up, cast fly, and then crash the cards dropping them down for up to 3d6 and potentially falling prone) but that 1 minute casting time rears its ugly head and gets in the way of that idea.
It's interesting, spacious, but the cards have a leaky roof, would fall apart in a hail storm, and are probably susceptible to nonmagical fire.
If it were a 2nd level spell, or had a casting time of 1 action, or provided full cover to creatures inside it, I'd love it. If it were a ritual spell, I'd accept it considering Artificers simply don't get Tiny Hut outside of multiclassing 5 levels of Wizard/Bard or taking the Ritual Caster (Wizard) feat and managing to find a Tiny Hut scroll somewhere in the world to copy down.
I like the huge amount of feats they're testing out here, especially the fact that a lot of them build off of each other in small chains or branches. The Cleric subclass I'm kinda 'eh' on, I don't think Cleric really needs another subclass at this point, and they really need to stop using Proficiency Bonus for class abilities. All of the card themed spells here make me think of Alice in Wonderland, but I don't think there's a World or plane like that in D&D history. I mean, except possibly the Feywild but we already had a Feywild focus book not too long ago. Glitchling seems neat, but I agree with Unclevertitle, they really need a better name. The backgrounds are nothing to be excited about, except for the fact that they also grant feats. It really seems like that's one of the ways 5e is gonna change when they revamp things in 2024.
I like the huge amount of feats they're testing out here, especially the fact that a lot of them build off of each other in small chains or branches. The Cleric subclass I'm kinda 'eh' on, I don't think Cleric really needs another subclass at this point, and they really need to stop using Proficiency Bonus for class abilities. All of the card themed spells here make me think of Alice in Wonderland, but I don't think there's a World or plane like that in D&D history. I mean, except possibly the Feywild but we already had a Feywild focus book not too long ago. Glitchling seems neat, but I agree with Unclevertitle, they really need a better name. The backgrounds are nothing to be excited about, except for the fact that they also grant feats. It really seems like that's one of the ways 5e is gonna change when they revamp things in 2024.
I think tying abilities and traits to proficiency bonus is here to stay and to be honest, I think it's one of the best resource values they've used so far because it increases with your level progression without any extra text fluffing or mechanics.
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Hjalmar Gunderson, Vuman Alchemist Plague Doctor in a HB Campaign, Post Netherese Invasion Cormyr (lvl20 retired) Godfrey, Autognome Butler in Ghosts of Saltmarsh into Spelljammer Grímr Skeggisson, Goliath Rune Knight in Rime of the Frostmaiden DM of two HB campaigns set in the same world.
Feats: This may be a weird complaint, but with all of the different bonuses and features put into them these feats all feel kinda bulky. I also find the Cartomancer feat kinda weird. Firstly, not a fan of that name. Secondly, I feel like some of the abilities like using cards as a spellcasting focus or using prestidigitation to duplicate stage magic, while not RAW, were probably already allowed by DMs at this point.
Spells: All the spells seem fun, but kinda out of place in this UA. What do card tricks have to do with the multiverse?
I always kinda disagree with the "Well most DMs probably already did this" thing. You just know there's some poor sap out there who has some cool character concept most DMs would allow, but they're stuck with a very "RAW" DM. If for 95% of players it's either already allowed or a non-issue, I think it's fine to make rules explicitly saying you can do it, for that poor 5% or so.
As to cards and multiverse, maybe they're teaming up with Marvel and doing an X-men fantasy variant with Gambit. Or to be less joking, odds are there's some NPC who has cards as a major part of their personality/gimmick? They know card trick type characters are popular enough that players will want to be able to do it too, so may as well write in the rules?
Some variation of a gambler archetype who is drawn into the multiverse and survives via magic tricks and games of chance does sound like a fun potential character, to me at least.
I was struck by that feat that allows you to cast a spell with casting time 1 action, despite the time it had originally (the feat of the cards, I don't remember the name now). It should be looked at, but that seems like it can lead to really powerful combos. The first things that come to mind are spells like Magic circle, Leomund's tiny hut, or Praying of healing. But surely there are even more powerful combos. Spells that have a casting time greater than 1 action precisely to prevent them from being used in combat.
I like the huge amount of feats they're testing out here, especially the fact that a lot of them build off of each other in small chains or branches. The Cleric subclass I'm kinda 'eh' on, I don't think Cleric really needs another subclass at this point, and they really need to stop using Proficiency Bonus for class abilities. All of the card themed spells here make me think of Alice in Wonderland, but I don't think there's a World or plane like that in D&D history. I mean, except possibly the Feywild but we already had a Feywild focus book not too long ago. Glitchling seems neat, but I agree with Unclevertitle, they really need a better name. The backgrounds are nothing to be excited about, except for the fact that they also grant feats. It really seems like that's one of the ways 5e is gonna change when they revamp things in 2024.
I think tying abilities and traits to proficiency bonus is here to stay and to be honest, I think it's one of the best resource values they've used so far because it increases with your level progression without any extra text fluffing or mechanics.
I mean, I think it's a fine decision for feats and other abilities that anyone can obtain and aren't tied to class, as it means these abilities are useful for everybody and not just a subset of players. But for classes, such as Cleric, then they should be using an ability modifier. Otherwise you get out of hand multiclass shenanigans as everyone will want to pick up only a few levels to get automatic scaling powers with no further investment. If they really need to be scaling uses/strength, then it should be built into the subclass so that you have to keep taking levels in that subclass in order for it to get stronger.
I like the huge amount of feats they're testing out here, especially the fact that a lot of them build off of each other in small chains or branches. The Cleric subclass I'm kinda 'eh' on, I don't think Cleric really needs another subclass at this point, and they really need to stop using Proficiency Bonus for class abilities. All of the card themed spells here make me think of Alice in Wonderland, but I don't think there's a World or plane like that in D&D history. I mean, except possibly the Feywild but we already had a Feywild focus book not too long ago. Glitchling seems neat, but I agree with Unclevertitle, they really need a better name. The backgrounds are nothing to be excited about, except for the fact that they also grant feats. It really seems like that's one of the ways 5e is gonna change when they revamp things in 2024.
I think tying abilities and traits to proficiency bonus is here to stay and to be honest, I think it's one of the best resource values they've used so far because it increases with your level progression without any extra text fluffing or mechanics.
I mean, I think it's a fine decision for feats and other abilities that anyone can obtain and aren't tied to class, as it means these abilities are useful for everybody and not just a subset of players. But for classes, such as Cleric, then they should be using an ability modifier. Otherwise you get out of hand multiclass shenanigans as everyone will want to pick up only a few levels to get automatic scaling powers with no further investment. If they really need to be scaling uses/strength, then it should be built into the subclass so that you have to keep taking levels in that subclass in order for it to get stronger.
I don't see the problem with that. Multiclassing already penalizes itself, so avoiding designing features that scale with PB isn't going to stop people. I mean, people like to multiclass. Even pointless multiclassing, mixing things that don't work well. But they don't care, because in 5e you can get along just fine with a poorly designed character without too much punishment. That is why there are people who argue that their multiclass is very strong, when it is evident that it is worse than a single class. Or with poorly designed builds and they tell you "well, I played an entire campaign, and it worked fine".
Anyway, what I want to say is that I don't see anything wrong with a subclass feature scaling with PB. I actually like it as it makes the feature grow with your progress. Then whether or not you multiclass it is up to you.
I like the huge amount of feats they're testing out here, especially the fact that a lot of them build off of each other in small chains or branches. The Cleric subclass I'm kinda 'eh' on, I don't think Cleric really needs another subclass at this point, and they really need to stop using Proficiency Bonus for class abilities. All of the card themed spells here make me think of Alice in Wonderland, but I don't think there's a World or plane like that in D&D history. I mean, except possibly the Feywild but we already had a Feywild focus book not too long ago. Glitchling seems neat, but I agree with Unclevertitle, they really need a better name. The backgrounds are nothing to be excited about, except for the fact that they also grant feats. It really seems like that's one of the ways 5e is gonna change when they revamp things in 2024.
I think tying abilities and traits to proficiency bonus is here to stay and to be honest, I think it's one of the best resource values they've used so far because it increases with your level progression without any extra text fluffing or mechanics.
I mean, I think it's a fine decision for feats and other abilities that anyone can obtain and aren't tied to class, as it means these abilities are useful for everybody and not just a subset of players. But for classes, such as Cleric, then they should be using an ability modifier. Otherwise you get out of hand multiclass shenanigans as everyone will want to pick up only a few levels to get automatic scaling powers with no further investment. If they really need to be scaling uses/strength, then it should be built into the subclass so that you have to keep taking levels in that subclass in order for it to get stronger.
I agree. I think PB is a fine metric for feats and racial traits, but not class/subclass features.
Glitchling: I like the Glitchling overall, but I feel like the name "glitchling" is odd for a race that has features themed around order. "Balance Chaos, Ordered Mind" etc.
A glitch by it's very nature is a disruption of order. If anything it seems like a glitchling would be the kind of thing that would be either be cast out of planes of order or hunted down in an effort to eliminate them.
Now that's a very cool concept for a character in D&D but the description in the UA seems to contradict that with "Some glitchlings then carry what they learn back to lawful planes, like Mechanus, to inform the orderly working of the multiverse." I doubt a plane that wants to maintain its order would allow a glitch to enter or return, unless to then immediately exterminate them.
I had the exact same reaction to the name
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Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I like the huge amount of feats they're testing out here, especially the fact that a lot of them build off of each other in small chains or branches. The Cleric subclass I'm kinda 'eh' on, I don't think Cleric really needs another subclass at this point, and they really need to stop using Proficiency Bonus for class abilities. All of the card themed spells here make me think of Alice in Wonderland, but I don't think there's a World or plane like that in D&D history. I mean, except possibly the Feywild but we already had a Feywild focus book not too long ago. Glitchling seems neat, but I agree with Unclevertitle, they really need a better name. The backgrounds are nothing to be excited about, except for the fact that they also grant feats. It really seems like that's one of the ways 5e is gonna change when they revamp things in 2024.
I think tying abilities and traits to proficiency bonus is here to stay and to be honest, I think it's one of the best resource values they've used so far because it increases with your level progression without any extra text fluffing or mechanics.
"PB times per Long Rest" does provide smooth level scaling, but I'm a bit bummed that they seem to be doing so at the expense of abilities that recharge on a Short Rest. I like having that tier of resource management in the mix, and not just because I'm a big fan of Warlocks. :)
If glitchlings have got vestigial wings, can't they wear capes or clothing covering backs or shoulders?
If the glitchlings are the third construct race after warforged and autognomes, could we anything the shardminds with the rest of the psionic races?
Pretty sure Warforged are considered Humanoids, there's nothing in either Eberron book that says their Creature Type is Construct. The only mention of their type is "Although they were manufactured, warforged are living humanoids. Resting, healing magic, and the Medicine skill all provide the same benefits to warforged that they do to other humanoids."
https://media.wizards.com/2022/dnd/downloads/UA2022-WondersoftheMultiverse.pdf
Looks like a combination of some weird stuff. A new multiversal construct race, a new Cleric subclass, some new backgrounds, a rehashing of the Giant feats plus some new ones, and a bunch of stuff flavored around using cards (not really sure where that fits into the mix).
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Race: The glitchling seems like a fun addition. I am all for more non-humanoid race options. I think Balance Chaos is pretty strong for a racial trait, and would prefer if it either had fewer uses or was limited to only ability checks. Vestigial wings is okay. I am not usually a fan of flying races, but since it limits your flight to the end of the turn it shouldnt be too powerful. That being said, for people that like flying races, this will probably feel too restrictive or like a half-measure. Also, just a personal opinion, but I am not a big fan of the name "glitchling" It feels to me like they wanted to make a playable Modron and decided not to.
Subclass: The Fate Domain feels like a fun addition as a divination-focused cleric. Omens and Portents feels pretty powerful early on as it gives you access to a 2nd level spell at level 1. That being said, I cant complain too much. Fey/Shadow Touched let someone do the same thing, and Augury probably wont be a game changer in those first few levels. I like Ties that Bind as a non-spell tracking ability AND the fact that it lets you focus your magic through the strand to empower the magic targeting your bonded creature. The CD seems pretty strong, but its limited since its based on your reaction and requires concentration, so it likely balances out.
Backgrounds: I appreciate that WotC wants to leave things like language more open-ended for your particular culture or upbringing, but if one of your backgrounds is literally going to be that you were raised by giants, I feel like giving them the Giant language is a no-brainer.
Feats: This may be a weird complaint, but with all of the different bonuses and features put into them these feats all feel kinda bulky. I also find the Cartomancer feat kinda weird. Firstly, not a fan of that name. Secondly, I feel like some of the abilities like using cards as a spellcasting focus or using prestidigitation to duplicate stage magic, while not RAW, were probably already allowed by DMs at this point.
Spells: All the spells seem fun, but kinda out of place in this UA. What do card tricks have to do with the multiverse?
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They got rid of the Rune Carver Wizard and turned it into a pair of feats instead.
Huh.
I could've sworn the Primeval Druid would get the most negative feedback.
My big takeaway is that I think feats with prerequisites of other feats is an interesting way to add some additional crunch to 5e that people are always complaining (not incorrectly) that it's missing.
Making feats interact with each other means that suddenly your build matters, and you aren't necessarily picking at random if you're trying to build towards a larger concept.
I think it would need to be more widely applied for it to really have much impact, but it's interesting design that could make the edition more complex if properly expanded, without going too hard in the other direction and ending up with 3.5 again.
Im pretty sure they had Rune feats in the original version with the Rune Crafter wizard. I dont think its a sign they dropped the subclass
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I see elemental themed feats, I upvote! It lets you make characters which are heavily elemental themed without having to be a caster.
So excited to use some of these on my Earth Genasi!
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Comments on just a few specific things
Glitchling:
I like the Glitchling overall, but I feel like the name "glitchling" is odd for a race that has features themed around order. "Balance Chaos, Ordered Mind" etc.
A glitch by it's very nature is a disruption of order. If anything it seems like a glitchling would be the kind of thing that would be either be cast out of planes of order or hunted down in an effort to eliminate them.
Now that's a very cool concept for a character in D&D but the description in the UA seems to contradict that with "Some glitchlings then carry what they learn back to lawful planes, like Mechanus, to inform the orderly working of the multiverse." I doubt a plane that wants to maintain its order would allow a glitch to enter or return, unless to then immediately exterminate them.
It's a cool race and I want to play one but honestly I'd definitely want to play it as the Mechanus equivalent of a fallen angel rather than something that seems to be welcome home any time.
Scion of Elemental Fire:
I'm pretty stoked about a feat that grants casting a damaging cantrip as a bonus action even if it's limited to PB times a day. Seems like just the right cup of flaming hot tea to pour into an Alchemist.
House of Cards:
This is an odd spell. I like and dislike it at the same time. It's jam packed with flavor and its mechanics leave something to be desired.
It's like a bootleg version of Tiny Hut (which I suppose is why it was allowed to be on the Artificer and Warlock lists).
In the list it's marked as "Concentration: Yes" but it's duration is stated as "24 hours" with no mention of concentration. I'm guessing the "Yes" there is a typo.
It lasts 3 times longer than Tiny Hut (good) but unlike Tiny Hut it only provides half cover both for creatures inside it (why?) and on top of it (...okay?).
Unlike Tiny Hut this house of cards appropriately can be demolished... quite easily. Each card has AC 10 and only 1 hp but each card destroyed has a 1/3 chance of toppling the entire house and ending the spell.
It raises creatures up off the ground making melee combatants take a longer somewhat circuitous path to reach you (running inside and up the ramps) but considering how easy it is to topple it puts you and allies in a position where your enemies can inflict up to 3d6 damage to you by collapsing the house.
Like Tiny Hut It has a casting time of 1 minute yet unlike Tiny Hut it says nothing about the inside temperature or protecting from the elements, its benefits are strictly ones of elevation and combat (half cover) yet the casting time tends to prevent it from being cast in combat. In fact I'd consider making a campfire inside a house of cards to be a very dubious idea at best (especially since the cards aren't immune to fire damage).
Unlike Tiny Hut this spell is not a ritual spell. Making it more or less objectively a non-choice for Wizards, and Pact of the Tome warlocks who chose.
You might think to use that elevation effect as a weapon against your enemies (raise nearby foes up, cast fly, and then crash the cards dropping them down for up to 3d6 and potentially falling prone) but that 1 minute casting time rears its ugly head and gets in the way of that idea.
It's interesting, spacious, but the cards have a leaky roof, would fall apart in a hail storm, and are probably susceptible to nonmagical fire.
If it were a 2nd level spell, or had a casting time of 1 action, or provided full cover to creatures inside it, I'd love it.
If it were a ritual spell, I'd accept it considering Artificers simply don't get Tiny Hut outside of multiclassing 5 levels of Wizard/Bard or taking the Ritual Caster (Wizard) feat and managing to find a Tiny Hut scroll somewhere in the world to copy down.
I like the huge amount of feats they're testing out here, especially the fact that a lot of them build off of each other in small chains or branches. The Cleric subclass I'm kinda 'eh' on, I don't think Cleric really needs another subclass at this point, and they really need to stop using Proficiency Bonus for class abilities. All of the card themed spells here make me think of Alice in Wonderland, but I don't think there's a World or plane like that in D&D history. I mean, except possibly the Feywild but we already had a Feywild focus book not too long ago. Glitchling seems neat, but I agree with Unclevertitle, they really need a better name. The backgrounds are nothing to be excited about, except for the fact that they also grant feats. It really seems like that's one of the ways 5e is gonna change when they revamp things in 2024.
I think tying abilities and traits to proficiency bonus is here to stay and to be honest, I think it's one of the best resource values they've used so far because it increases with your level progression without any extra text fluffing or mechanics.
Hjalmar Gunderson, Vuman Alchemist Plague Doctor in a HB Campaign, Post Netherese Invasion Cormyr (lvl20 retired)
Godfrey, Autognome Butler in Ghosts of Saltmarsh into Spelljammer
Grímr Skeggisson, Goliath Rune Knight in Rime of the Frostmaiden
DM of two HB campaigns set in the same world.
I always kinda disagree with the "Well most DMs probably already did this" thing. You just know there's some poor sap out there who has some cool character concept most DMs would allow, but they're stuck with a very "RAW" DM. If for 95% of players it's either already allowed or a non-issue, I think it's fine to make rules explicitly saying you can do it, for that poor 5% or so.
As to cards and multiverse, maybe they're teaming up with Marvel and doing an X-men fantasy variant with Gambit.
Or to be less joking, odds are there's some NPC who has cards as a major part of their personality/gimmick?
They know card trick type characters are popular enough that players will want to be able to do it too, so may as well write in the rules?
Some variation of a gambler archetype who is drawn into the multiverse and survives via magic tricks and games of chance does sound like a fun potential character, to me at least.
I was struck by that feat that allows you to cast a spell with casting time 1 action, despite the time it had originally (the feat of the cards, I don't remember the name now).
It should be looked at, but that seems like it can lead to really powerful combos. The first things that come to mind are spells like Magic circle, Leomund's tiny hut, or Praying of healing. But surely there are even more powerful combos. Spells that have a casting time greater than 1 action precisely to prevent them from being used in combat.
I mean, I think it's a fine decision for feats and other abilities that anyone can obtain and aren't tied to class, as it means these abilities are useful for everybody and not just a subset of players. But for classes, such as Cleric, then they should be using an ability modifier. Otherwise you get out of hand multiclass shenanigans as everyone will want to pick up only a few levels to get automatic scaling powers with no further investment. If they really need to be scaling uses/strength, then it should be built into the subclass so that you have to keep taking levels in that subclass in order for it to get stronger.
I don't see the problem with that. Multiclassing already penalizes itself, so avoiding designing features that scale with PB isn't going to stop people. I mean, people like to multiclass. Even pointless multiclassing, mixing things that don't work well. But they don't care, because in 5e you can get along just fine with a poorly designed character without too much punishment. That is why there are people who argue that their multiclass is very strong, when it is evident that it is worse than a single class. Or with poorly designed builds and they tell you "well, I played an entire campaign, and it worked fine".
Anyway, what I want to say is that I don't see anything wrong with a subclass feature scaling with PB. I actually like it as it makes the feature grow with your progress. Then whether or not you multiclass it is up to you.
I agree. I think PB is a fine metric for feats and racial traits, but not class/subclass features.
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I had the exact same reaction to the name
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
If glitchlings have got vestigial wings, can't they wear capes or clothing covering backs or shoulders?
If the glitchlings are the third construct race after warforged and autognomes, could we anything the shardminds with the rest of the psionic races?
"PB times per Long Rest" does provide smooth level scaling, but I'm a bit bummed that they seem to be doing so at the expense of abilities that recharge on a Short Rest. I like having that tier of resource management in the mix, and not just because I'm a big fan of Warlocks. :)
Pretty sure Warforged are considered Humanoids, there's nothing in either Eberron book that says their Creature Type is Construct. The only mention of their type is "Although they were manufactured, warforged are living humanoids. Resting, healing magic, and the Medicine skill all provide the same benefits to warforged that they do to other humanoids."
Is anyone else surprised that all the “card” spells aren’t on the Bard list?
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