8.3 - Version Notes and Open Questions
Version Notes and Open Questions
V4.0 Structural Changes
- Replaced open Ancestry Point purchasing with bounded chassis, heritage, and talent choices.
- Removed ancestry-based ability-score increases.
- Removed the draft v4.0 background catalog; use native D&D 5e and existing Hiraeth backgrounds.
- Separated learned Culture from inherited Ancestry.
- Restored personal choice through one narrow ancestry knack at character creation.
- Restored lifecycle, physical profile, Hiraeth context, heritage flavor, roleplay questions, and multiple quick-build cues.
- Reclassified Aasimar and Tiefling as versatile heritages.
- Added a general mixed-ancestry procedure.
- Restored Ilithad as an approval-required ancestry for campaign-specific play.
- Replaced mandatory compensated flaws with optional complications.
- Replaced level 1/5/10/15/20 talent timing with 1/5/9/13/17.
- Removed proficiency-bonus-per-short-rest ancestry resources.
- Defined Low-Light Vision and shared save/resource language.
- Added a complete Dragonborn Breath Weapon rule to accompany its variant matrix.
Deliberate Playtest Questions
- Should later ancestry talents remain free progression or replace another character resource?
- Is level 9 the right earliest point for sustained flight?
- Are Culture Practices useful enough without becoming another skill-bonus layer?
- Does the ancestry-knack layer create meaningful identity without pushing the level-1 power budget too high?
- Do Aasimar and Tiefling work better as versatile heritages than standalone ancestries in Hiraeth?
- Does the Mixed Ancestry table preserve identity without making one secondary ancestry compulsory?
- Should Hiraeth retain Low-Light Vision or translate every sense to standard 5e Darkvision?
- Is the restricted Ilithad package sufficiently bounded for campaigns that permit its lore?
Status
This book is a reviewable playtest. No rule in it becomes campaign law merely because it has been published to BookStack.