8.2 - Playtest Checklist

Playtest Checklist

Record feedback at levels 1, 5, 9, 13, and 17 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 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.
• Permanent flight before level 9.
• 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.