D&D (2024) Worldbuilding Differences between 5e and 5.5?

[Maxperson]

Because Gruumsh associates with the Astral dominion of Acheron, Gruumsh should probably be Lawful Neutral with Evil tendencies.

There is no astral dominion of Acheron. Acheron, by default anyway, is an outer plane and is therefore not on the Astral and is not a dominion of any sort. It's a full plane. It's also a plane of by LN and LE, not one with tendencies of the other. What's more Gruumsh should live on one of the CE planes, since he is all about might makes right.

 

[Yaarel]

There is no astral dominion of Acheron. Acheron, by default anyway, is an outer plane and is therefore not on the Astral and is not a dominion of any sort. It's a full plane. It's also a plane of by LN and LE, not one with tendencies of the other. What's more Gruumsh should live on one of the CE planes, since he is all about might makes right.

We will see how 2024 sorts out "Astral dominions" and "outer planes" in the "Astral Sea".

 

[Yaarel]

For those interested in the English nature beings. The linked essay pulls together many references from the works of Shakespeare about the fairies, as understood in England during the late 1500s. This essay was written during the late 1800s, and much academic research has transpired since then, but because it is attentive to the texts of Shakespeare it is still somewhat useful.

Over all, the essay gives a decent sense of what a "fairy" is. The English understood this nature being to be a kind of "spirit", akin to an angel, that is utterly immaterial, but can manifest as if solid. The spirit generally appears as an immortal youth, whose apparent age could range from an infant (compare changelings) to a young adult of a marriageable age.

In an earlier century, the term "fairie" (spelled variously), simply means "magic", namely the "realm of faie". It could refer to any kind of magical creature. But by the 1500s, the term "fairy" came to specify a particular kind of creature, which Shakespeare describes in some surprising amount of detail.

Different locales in Britain preserve different concepts about the fairy. But these descriptions from the locales of Shakespeare deeply influence much of Europe.

 

[Minigiant]

1) 5.5 assumes 2 BIG Strong races.

Although dwarves and half orc could both be strong, dwarves were not automatically so. And neither had powerful build. 5.5e adds pure Orcs and Goliaths and both as Powerful Build races.

2) Elves are a magic race not a warrior race nor a dexterous race

Elves losing their default +2 Dex and each subrace getting their magic means that Elf is no longer the archer species but the caster species again.

3) Halfling is the sole default Dextrous race.

Halfling is now the only species that has natural benefits for Dexterity. The core nudge for your City of Thieves or Ninjas Village or Pirate Nation is Halflings.

4) Barbarians are all part Martial and Primal.

To fix Barbarian's Out of Combat strength, WOTC made them core Primal like 4e. There is no separate space for Berserkers and Battleragers as purely not overtly magical barbarians.

5) Monks are all default Martial and firmly Warriors

Losing Ki and many overtly supernatural features firmly makes Monks an alternate Path of the Warrior along with Fighter.

 

[Scott Christian]

How do the mechanical changes to the game (and how classes, monsters, spells, and etc) work change how the in-game world of a 5e game functions?

With the constant reassurance of retro-fitting, I don't really think it will change many game worlds. I mean, this is especially true for the MM, which explains you can change the monsters in the book already. So them tweaking the monsters does little. Regarding the classes and spells, it might encourage/discourage players from liking a specific class, but again, I doubt the overall landscape will change.

This much I know is true: Players that enjoy a specific class due to that class fitting their personality, will likely find the class they like enjoyable. Generically, the player that loves the thought of delving into books and spells and magic will always like playing a wizard. This is because WotC balances the classes fairly well.

For example, does a larger list of "common" magic items mean a world in which magic items are more commonly assumed?

A larger list of common magic items could influence world design. It depends on how deep the DM thinks about things. I could see some of my own stuff bending slightly. But there is a huge caveat to this. This assumes DMs have been restrictive with their magic item use. And if you look at the evidence, (published adventures, sections of books dedicated to magic items, a gazillion threads on cool magic items, third party books on magic items) there has never been a lack of magic items in most people's campaigns. There might be quite a few tables that use few magic items, but judging from the space inside core and third party books, I do not think it is the norm.

So long answer short, for most people it won't change a thing.

How do some of the changes influence the style of the game and the types of stories told through the game?

This one feels like a wait and see question.

 

[Yaarel]

This thread is more about what will happen within the 2024 setting. This post is something I hope happens more clearly.

The Feywild is the go-to for fairytale tropes and animism. It does a decent job. The setting can emphasize certain aspects to do even better.

There are two kinds of worldviews here. D&D can do both well.

One worldview is, there is a separate other world, the Faerie, a fairyland, an otherworldly realm where purely magical creatures inhabit. It is immaterial and has little or no connection to the features of the Material Plane.

The other worldview, the animistic one, is no other world. The nature beings are here among us, everywhere, roaming the trees, underwater, on mountainsides, in our homes. They themselves actually are the trees, waters, mountains, and homes. Nature is alive. Nature has personality and personal presence. The worldview is entirely this-worldly. All of it is in the Material Plane.

The D&D setting can emphasize how it does both worldviews well. In the same way there is a "Deep Ethereal" and a "Border Ethereal", there is also a "Deep Feywild" and a "Border Feywild". Fey creatures are a kind of ethereal creatures, but the positive energy vitalizes and vivifies this ether.

The Border Feywild is the part of the Feywild that is simultaneously part of the Material Plane. In this realm, all of the Fey creatures walk invisibly and ethereally among the creatures of the Material Plane − Eladrin, Hobgoblins, Dryads, Naiads, Alseids, Satyrs, Sprites, Gnomes (!), Pixies, Boggles, Hags, Dolphin Delighters, Blink Dogs, etcetera. Most of the time these nature beings ignore their Human neighbors. They simply are the mountains, trees, waterways, and do mountainous, treeish, and watery things. The Dryads are influences of a particular forest, and a Hamadryad is a particular tree. The Eladrin Elves are the manifestations of the Fey magic coursing thru the Material Plane evoking wonders and threading fates. But sometimes curiosity or need from either Fey or Humanoid provokes an interaction. Spells that affect the Border Ethereal also affect the Border Fey, such as See Invisibility and Planar Protection (namely Protection from Evil/Good). In a Norse-esque view, these Border Fey creatures are the souls of mountains, trees, and waterways, projecting outofbody in whatever chosen appearances. They are usually "hidden folk", namely ethereally invisible. But they can manifest as if solid, samewise as a conjuration spell effect made out of force does. The locales within the Material Plane, where natural life and magical power flourish abundantly, are Fey Crossings. Here at the Crossings, the hidden Border Fey are especially populous and active, and the separation between material and immaterial blurs.

By contrast, the Deep Feywild is the Faerie. This fairyland is utterly separate from the Material Plane, and perhaps associates more intimately with the Astral Plane and its realm of conceptual ideals. There powerful Deep Fey minds can manifest locale and realms out of the stuff of the force of the positive ether, where emotions, perceptions, whims, and habits come to life. All Fey Domains are within the Deep Feywild. Unfettered magic becomes reality.


Note, the Shadowfell likewise has these partitians: the Border Shadow and the Deep Shadow. Here the negative ether is where after death, part of a soul can rest while the rest of the soul expands within the eternal mindscape of the Astral Plane. (In Dark Sun, this Border Shadow and Deep Shadow correspond to the Gray and the Black, respectively.) All Shadow Domains are in the Deep Shadow. Meanwhile Shadow Crossings are where the restless Undead spirits of the Border Shadowfell are especially active, often animating their Material corpses.


Between the positive ether of the Feywilds and the negative ether of the Shadowfelds, there is a mix of positive and negative that together behave as neither. This dynamically neutral ether is ether as an elemental substance, a physical-but-immaterial force. This elemental ether is the Ethereal Plane proper. It is the route of elemental beings.

 

[Vikingkingq]

I have always been a fan of "Thin Places" in folklore and fiction. It would certainly make adventuring parties less reliant on Plane Shift.

 

[Yaarel]

I have always been a fan of "Thin Places" in folklore and fiction. It would certainly make adventuring parties less reliant on Plane Shift.

A route of Thin Places can get characters back and forth between the Material Plane and the Astral Plane.

Material ‹› Fey Crossing ‹› Border Fey ‹› Deep Fey ‹› Celestial (Positive Astral) ‹› Astral

Material ‹› Shadow Crossing ‹› Border Shadow ‹› Deep Shadow ‹› Fiend (Negative Astral) ‹› Astral

 

[Yaarel]

Those who have a deep sense of the Celtic worldview. Which makes more sense? Do the "Unseelie Fairy Courts" correspond to the D&D Shadow Crossings or the D&D Fey Crossings?

I can see it either way. In some Scottish lore, the Unseelie sometimes commingle with undead humans as well as fiends, whence D&D Shadowfell. But the Unseelie might also be the more dangerous aspects of wild nature, whence D&D Feywild.

If the Unseelie are moreso Shadow, then the Border Shadow, Border Ether, and Border Fey, would likewise have Thin Places between them.

 

[Vikingkingq]

A route of Thin Places can get characters back and forth between the Material Plane and the Astral Plane.

Material ‹› Fey Crossing ‹› Border Fey ‹› Deep Fey ‹› Celestial (Positive Astral) ‹› Astral

Material ‹› Shadow Crossing ‹› Border Shadow ‹› Deep Shadow ‹› Fiend (Negative Astral) ‹› Astral

I think this would work. It's just a different terminology for the existing Planar Portals mechanic, that's a bit more evocative of the specific aesthetic of the Feywild and Shadowfell.