Dungeons and Dragons has a Human Problem

Credit to Vesko81

Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition has an absolute plethora of player options in the form of classes, subclasses and "races". With the recent publication of "Tasha's Cauldron of Everything", that selection grows even more so with optional rules to change the starting stat bonuses, proficiencies, languages and many other things. It is a creative hotbed for new characters! At least, I would like to say that. 

The class and subclass selection are wide and varied, and for the most part have something that distinguishes them and offers a unique place for that class in the world. Their existence says something about the world of the game. The same cannot be said for nearly all of the character "races" provided.

The issue is, there are only three of them.

Humans, Lizardfolk, and the Kenku.

I have seen and heard arguments that Warforged should be added to this list, but I am honestly om the fence regarding that. I'm inclined to agree but haven't collected my thoughts on them enough to decide for sure.

The reason I keep airquoting "race" here is that I think "species" is a better term, so I will be using that from here forward. The term species has a stronger delineation between the choices. Put another way, there is no meaningful distinction between Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Genasi, Triton, Kalashtar and many others in the printed books. Yes, they have their various lore and innate abilities, different lifespans, but Dungeons and Dragons more or less stops there. Elves and dwarves in particular are so far detached from their fae cousins that once their expanded lifespans are accounted for, they boil down to Nature Humans and Mountain Humans. 

Contrast this with the Lizardfolk. They are described in such a way that makes it clear they lack any sort of human way of thinking. Empathy is alien to them, and a Lizardfolk only carry names given to them by members of other species for convinience. Consuming the dead is not an act of barabarity or cruelty, it is pragmatic and acts to ensure their own survival, which is ultimately their biggest goal. They do not adventure out of a sense of friendship towards party members, but the day to day survival of itself. Religious texts hold no importance aside from their utility as portable kindling, but they may decide to not deface a text since doing so means that several armed and armored individuals would try to kill them over it. There would be no hesitation in using the ashes of a disentegrated party member as camouflage should situation demand it. They are adaptive predators, ultimate utilitarians and sociopaths by human standards.

Kenku are a cursed species that had their creativity and flight stolen or removed from them, potentially forever. They possess no ability to form original thoughts or take creative actions, and as such became masters of mimicry. From the moment of their birth they begin memorizing everything around them. Not doing so would result in a certain death. Some people have trouble have issues coming to terms with this outside the game, suggesting that the Kenku removes all agency from the player because a Kenku PC is unable to adapt to situations. Perhaps if the Kenku is a fresh hatchling this would be true, but by the time they are of adventuring age, they have soent years observing others, learning skills, collecting phrases and slowly building a means to communicate. While unable to concieve of novel solutions and poorly reacting to novel sitautions, something they excel at is rote memorization. If situation X is happening, react in Y way. If X and W are happening, act Z way. Kenku are living computers, unable to act in a way they have not programmed themselves to react. 

Dungeons and Dragons has a problem with humans, and it is the fact so many of the character species choices could just be replaced by them.

Beyond the Veil Draft Pt. VI - Downtime and Camping

see the previous post in this series

Downtime and Camping

Even the most well prepared group needs time to recuperate, sell plunder, train, and tend to their bodies, souls and equipment. Camping is a time-honored tradition, watches and all. Downtime takes place in settlements and cities, costing currency and serving to pass time more quickly in the relative safety they offer. This is true even in games where the bulk of adventure is urban; there should be places suitable to "camping" during such adventures, such as abandoned buildings or a cheap inn.

Most of the same activities can be taken up during Downtime or Camping, though there are some differences. Feel free to add to or edit these lists to suit the game as it unfolds.

Camping

The Camping Phase takes place when outside of civilized lands such as abandoned buildings, rocky overhangs, roadside inns or forest clearings. It is a dangerous affair, and a light in the darkness attracts attention both positive and negative. It also, thankfully, tends to scare off all manner of beasts. While camping, adventurers can take one of several actions from the following list, or from their Class, if relevant. Characters each take turns while camping, and a turn lasts 4 hours. No action may be taken twice by a single character while Camping unless otherwise noted.

• Watch: What is Camping without someone keeping watch for approaching dangers? Watches dissuade most minor nuisances from approaching a travelling group... Usually. If your group is approached, anyone on Watch will notice signs that something is about to happen.
• Repair: If a party member's Armor is only damaged, a character can spend time repairing a single piece of armor by tamping out dents, patching holes, et cetera and sacrificing an object made of similar material to the damaged armor. You do not have to repair your own Armor and this action may be taken multiple times.
• Scout: The wilderness is dangerous, dungeons and ruins more so. You may take this action to gather information about a location nearby or the immediate area with a successful Aspect Check. Failure results in whatever inhabitants knowing they are being spied upon and react accordingly, if there are any in the area.
• Cook: Soak the rations to remove the excess salt and make it palatable, or prepare fresh food if it is available from a hunting trip. If no character takes this action, you go the day without food. This action provides for the entire party so long as there is enough food. If there is not, choose which character goes without tonight.
• Recovery: Your character may expend a Medical Supplies to reduce the severity of an injury by one step upon success. You may take this turn more than once per Camping Phase so long as the party has Medical Supplies.
• Relaxation: The journey has been long and harrowing, your spirit is nearly broken. Indulge in a vice, send up a prayer or just write in a journal. Expend an appropriate resource for your Relaxation and become Spirited. If you are already Charmed or Scared, remove those conditions instead.

Downtime

In contract to Camping, the Downtime Phase happens in cities. While safer than the lands outside their walls, cities provide their own unique varieties of complication and danger. In addition to most of the options from Camping being available, there are a few unique options as well. Characters each take turns during Downtime, and a turn lasts 1 day. Don't forget to mark down cost-of-living expenses as well for each day in civilization.

• Repair: Damaged and broken equipment can be taken to a craftsperson of the appropriate type and fixed for 1 Flake per point of Armor lost. Each point Repaired takes one day. Characters may take another action while having an item Repaired but there are only so many craftspeople in any given city and can only each work on one project at a time unless they have apprentices.
• Recovery: Whether through medicines or mysticism, healers and doctors make good coin tending to the injured and infirm. Reduce Injured to Healthy for the cost of a Medical Supplies (1X) and one day of time. Reduce Critical to Injured for three-times the cost of Medical Supplies (1X) and one week of time. Characters may not take other actions while recovering from Critical status.
• Shop: Spend the day looking for a particular object or item, though a given city won't necessarily have what you are looking for, aside from common or mundane items. Make an Aspect Check to determine your character's luck in finding anything peculiar you wish to spend their plunder on. 
• Training: Spend one week and the appropriate amount of Currency to increase your character's level. Your character may take one year and spend 1 Plate to earn level 0 in a Class they have not taken, meet the qualification for, and can find an instructor to teach them. This may only be done once and the second class cannot advance past level 2.
• Obligation: By Oath, by court order, or simply by circumstance, your character has some sort of obligation they have to fulfill. If this action is not taken by a character with an obligation during a downtime, they will suffer consequences as justified by the particular Obligation. This action may take a variable amount of time and is suitable for handing out quest hooks.
• Gather Information: Everyone always has some sort of job they need done, and this is how your character finds out what those jobs are. Useful information is hard to come by, and the person doing the snooping must make an Aspect Check. Success means that a particularly lucrative opportunity has presented itself (such as a recently unearthed ruin) while failure indicates that the information gained may not be all that reliable (such as a recently unearthed ruin actually being occupied by Bandits). Every 10 Flakes spent when taking this action gives your character +1 Card.
• Treatment: Unlike wounds, Sickness and Poison are more difficult to treat, and often far more debilitating. An appropriate Antidote (0X) must be secured for poisons, and treating a Sickness can be as simple as a few days bed rest or as complicated as needing specific reagents to create a tonic or balm for treatment. Viper Antidote is not suitable to treat a spider bite, so keep that in mind when running this downtime. May be suitable for quest hooks to save a fellow adventurer.

Next Up

Wow. It has been a while since the last one. I have moved in the time between posts, and things are finally settled down enough to where I feel comfortable taking the time to write. I think next for me will be writing a one (does it still count if it is front and back?) page dungeon for use in an introductory session. I have also been reading some interesting books and might share my thoughts on those.