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8.2 - Playtest Checklist

Record feedback at levels 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 when possible.

Character Record

  • Base ancestry and lineage.
  • Ancestral Detail.
  • Versatile or Mixed Lineage, if any.
  • Heritage and background.
  • Ancestral Trait and later talents.
  • Class, subclass, and level.
  • Expected party role.

During Play

  • Which ancestry feature changed an outcome?
  • Did the Ancestral Detail supply useful identity without behaving like another skill proficiency?
  • Which feature was forgotten or never useful?
  • Which choice felt compulsory?
  • Which resource required confusing tracking?
  • Did an ancestry feature outperform a class feature?
  • Did exceptional sight remove the need for ordinary illumination?
  • Did a glide, leap, or flight feature make terrain irrelevant more often than intended?
  • Did Heritage remain distinct from both inherited Lineage and professional Background?
  • Did a Flaw create an interesting decision without removing agency?

Quantitative Checks

  • Damage added per round and per long rest.
  • Damage prevented or healed per long rest.
  • Number of rerolls or automatic successes.
  • Flight, teleportation, and special movement uptime.
  • Resistance frequency.
  • Temporary Hit Point frequency.
  • Number of extra skill, tool, and language proficiencies.

Red Flags

  • Repeated bonuses to every attack or save for a full combat.
  • A short-rest resource usable proficiency-bonus times.
  • Sustained flight without an iconic body and a substantial Talent investment.
  • A lineage that is strictly better than every alternative.
  • A drawback that is actually a reliable benefit.
  • A later talent that duplicates a defining class feature.