D&D 5.5E – New Playable Species Preview, Goliath Fans Will Be Happy
WotC previewed some of the new playable species rules for 5.5E, and it looks like Goliaths are getting their day in the sun.
Wizards of the Coast revealed a whole bunch of new information on how their various playable species will work in 5.5E. And while playable species is still a very clunky phrase (Pathfinder’s Heritages and Ancestries is maybe a little better), the rules themselves are much less clunky. More customizable.
So if you like picking fun little abilities, you’re going to have a good time. And if you’re a fan of Goliaths (who have been around for quite a while but were popularized again almost a decade ago by Grog Strongjaw of Vox Machina), you’ll be stoked to see what’s new.
And don’t worry. Your favorite option, whether that’s elves or tieflings or really anything but Dwarves, is still going to have a lot going for it.
WotC previews 5.5E Playable Species Rules with Aasimar, Goliaths, and More
Alright. There’s a lot to dig through. As always, you can check out the D&D Beyond article for the full “patch notes,” but here’s some of the more salient information.
Aasimar are a lot like they were in Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse. Almost unchanged. Except now, when they get their Celestial Revelation feature, they can decide whether they’re feeling angelic or fiendish (dealing extra radiant or necrotic damage), giving them extra damage once per turn on an attack. All the other stuff is pretty much the same.
Dragonborn carry forth some of the improvements they got in Fizan’s Treasury of Dragons. Specifically, their breath weapons can now be used as part of an Attack Action and deal damage that scales from 1d10 up to 4d10 at level 17. And they can decide whether that breath weapon is a 30-foot line or a 15-foot cone. At 5th level, Dragonborn can gain spectral wings and accompanying fly speed for 10 minutes.
Dwarves have been “streamlined”. This is a gentle way of saying they’ve been overhauled to have features that might actually ever come up in a D&D game. I don’t know when the last time Stonecunning came up in one of your games. Or even anyone’s game, since 2014 when the PHB was first released.
Now, Stonecunning gives you Tremorsense for 10 minutes and works on stone surfaces only, which is better. But I foresee a lot of wooden forts and dungeons with planked walkways or dirt floors. Because DMs love nothing more than to nerf into oblivion, a situationally powerful ability that will be really cool one time.
Dwarves also all get Dwarven Toughness, can see in the dark up to 120 feet, and get a speed of 30 feet to make up for the fact that their abilities are all kind of just okay, and their lore is about as generic and appetizing as lukewarm, plain oatmeal.
Elves, on the other hand, are WotC’s favorite special little princesses. Every last one of them is magical. Drow don’t suffer the only drawback they ever had. High Elves start with Prestidigitation but can swap it out for any other Wizard cantrip after a Long Rest. And Wood Elves get Druidcraft. Along with that, each Elf variant gets a spell at level 3 and level 5 that is always prepared and can be cast once without a spell slot.
Because elves are just magical and cool that way.
Gnomes also got a speed boost. They can move 30 feet per round now. Forests Gnomes get to cast Speak with Animals. Rock Gnomes get Mending and Prestidigitation, and the Tinker Ability is…also there.
Goliaths get a big makeover. Now you can decide what kind of Goliath they descend from Cloud Giant, Fire Giant, etc. And that heritage gives them specific benefits like adding d10 fire damage to an attack or resisting 1d12 damage with Stone’s Endurance. At level 5, they can become Large for 10 minutes, which is cool.
Halflings have all become Lightfoot Halflings, but nobody will notice because nobody played Stout or Ghostwise Halflings anyway.
Humans are just as generic as ever. But now, to make up for everyone getting to be a little more generic in terms of ability scores, they get free Inspiration at the start of every day. And otherwise, are exactly the same as the Variant Human.
Orcs made the jump to the Player’s Handbook with some cool new art. I’m a fan. They work a lot like Orcs in Monsters of the Multiverse, except they lose Powerful Build, have Darkvision out to 120 feet, and regain use of Adrenaline Rush (the bonus action dash + temporary hit points ability) after finishing a short or long rest.
Finally Tieflings get to decide if they’re related to demons, devils, or “cthonic” (underworldy) and gain damage resistance and spells, like elves.
All this is in the 5.5E Player’s Handbook, coming out September 17th!
