Summary
After the release ofDungeons & DragonsFifth Edition in 2014, many players picked up the game for the first time and with this came both experienced and inexperienced voices adding their criticisms to the pile. In an effort to keep their game fresh and balanced, Wizards of the Coast offered many rule changes and additions. Something which has continued ever since.
Mostly in later rulebooks, like Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and Monsters of the Multiverse, these changes reflect a growing and maturing community that doesn’t want to see the same flaws repeated that are usually born of tradition. Many of these changes are also the inspiration for core rulings in One D&D.
8Ranger Changes
One ofthe most criticized classesin all of D&D, regardless of edition, is the ranger. Perhaps overly blurring the lines between fighter, druid, and rogue, the ranger subclass in the Player’s Handbook focused heavily on choosing a specific biome that rangers have to be in to unlock most of their class features.
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything adds not-so-optional rules that make the ranger more usable in every situation, but it still loses a bit of flavor along the way. This way, at least, players don’t have to ask what biome they will likely be in for the majority of the campaign or what creature type they will most likely come across.
7Artificer Addition
One of the optional classes introduced in the Eberron setting, most players already considered the artificer class as one of the major classes. By giving them an official role alongside warlock and paladin as half-casters, it unlocked a lot of creativity for players to use their tools more effectively.
Also, artificers are not a weak class, allowing for almost free magic items and abilities alongside a powerful armor subclass and built-in allies that makes rangers shed a tear. Unfortunately, being introduced in one of Fifth Edition’s last rulebook additions, there are far fewer subclasses than in the other 12 classes.
The biggest differences from Eberron artificer to Tasha’s are the enhanced spell list and additional subclass.
6Starting Ability Score Increases
One common complaint among newer role players who picked up D&D for the adventure and storytelling is that the starting races can box you in in terms of optimal class and ability score choices that felt unflavorful. Why can’t my dwarf wizard be naturally intelligent and frail instead of being able to drink heavily without throwing up?
Now, any race you start with will have a +2 to one score and a +1 to another, or +1 to three separate scores. This way, you can focus more on creating the character you want, rather than being funneled into generic stereotypes about fantasy races.
5Creature Stat Block Changes
Re-releasing almost all of the iconic and evenobscure D&D monstersin Monsters of the Multiverse, many of the creatures got a face lift that made their CR more appropriate or more in line with their lore blurb. Small changes, like the annis and bheur hags, have increased hit die but removed resistances.
Most of these creatures have hundreds of combined minor changes that are the result of hundreds of hours of testing, but some have larger changes that make those creatures more viable and a greater challenge for your players. Examples include many of the yuan-ti, who have most of their spells replaced with unique abilities.
4Sidekick Rules
A common part of adventuring in Fifth Edition is gaining allies or hiring mercenaries that aid you in battle or serve as protection in dangerous territory. Before Tasha’s, and especially in Curse of Strahd, these allies joined with their stat block wherever they happened to be at and could frequently cause balancing issues.
With the new sidekick rules, these allies are narrowed down to base class features such as expert, spellcaster, or warrior and make them balanced for the party’s level, even when they level up, and are much more open to flavor. These rules came surprisingly late but helped save DMs from a lot of headaches.
3Updated Race Options
Other than the nine base race options in the Player’s Handbook, including one that is just a mix of two others, over 30 other races have been added in various source books and alternate settings that give players and DMs a lot of freedom. In Monster’s of the Multiverse, most of the exotic races got a face lift that fixed some odd issues.
This includes the flying speed for most races with wings that give them a more balanced feel without overcomplicating them. Additionally, many races were pulled from their settings and changed to make them usable in more generic settings, such as tortles and shadar-kai, who have new abilities and minor changes.
2Patron Benefits
Without the right background, players had to resort to persuasion or deception checks to gain benefits from groups and organizations they were familiar and allied with. These patrons were very fluid and their responsibilities and interaction with the party were almost entirely DM dependent.
With the addition of patron rules, being allied with specific faction types gave benefits a feel similar to background feats, which give automatic rewards depending on your relationships with these patrons. This is also a useful player tool, as they now have a benefit they can aim for while interacting directly with the setting and NPCs.
1Changing Skills And Features
The most common way for a player without an overly gracious DM to get rid of a character they are bored of or regret making is by continuously putting them in danger until they eventually parish. With the addition of rules that directly allow for proficiency and subclass changes, characters can fix problems that were otherwise resolute.
Tasha’s also provides DMs with specific rulings to allow these changes that aren’t entirely based on the situation and add to the player character’s growth and decision-making that can ultimately make them a more interesting hero. This comes in the form of a time commitment and gold cost that makes the change feel earned.
This alsoincludes tool proficiencies, which were otherwise locked to character creation and backstory choices.
