I am not going to lie I enjoy D&D Next. It isn’t my favorite system and some of the rules during the playtest seemed strange to me. However, it is up there in terms of system enjoyment for me and I don’t think I will mind shelling out the $50.00 for the books when they come out (if of ocurse I can find a group to play with).
As a game designer (don’t laugh) I am interested and waiting with baited breath to see if Next will be OGL. I am really hoping it is as it would allow me to broaden the amount of people who will want to see what I create. I am still studying the playtest version of the system and I have a lot of questions (especially about monster creation), but there comes a time when one must actually do instead of research. As such I took one of my less memorable races, the Diwata, and attempted to make her compatible with the Next version of the rules.
Please tell me what you all think, especially if you have some experience with the playtest rules.
The Diwata are benevolent or neutral spirits that are invoked ritually for positive crop growth, health, and fortune. The Diwata spirits may also incur illness or misfortune if not given proper respect. They are said to reside in large trees and are the guardian spirits of nature; casting blessings or curses upon those who bring benefits or harm to the forests.
Diwata can be born from any type of tree, however, the tree must be one of considerable age (500 years plus) and from a climate that could be considered under the influence of Good or Lawful deities. In some respects the Diwata are the avatar of the tree that birthed it and have an inborn sense of curiosity and wanderlust.
All Diwata are female in appearance, tall with a lithe figure and green or auburn colored hair. They have exceedingly smooth skin, having no wrinkles (even at joints) or other markings on their flesh.
Traits
Ability Score Adjustment – Your Wisdom or Charisma score increases by 1
Size – Medium
Speed – 30 Feet
Infrared vision – You can see living things up to sixty feet away by the amount of heat they give off.
Flesh of the Tree – You have tougher than normal skin, granting you a natural +1 to your AC
Blessing of the Land – When you are at or below half your total hit points the natural land around you will aid you, granting you a +1 bonus to any attack, spell or proficiency based check for the rest of the encounter. After using this ability you cannot do so again until you’ve completed a short rest.
Languages – Common and Druidic
I like it.
Oh, and I'm like you, I'm really interested in seeing if the new edition is going to be OGL, GSL or something else entirely.
Really hoping for OGL
Hoping for OGL myself. GSL was too restrictive in my opinion and I think Next be opened up and more accepted if it went the OGL route.
Sounds interesting. I feel like D&D Next is trying to get rid of the small bonuses. Maybe change Blessing of the Land to "Advantage on your next roll"
Flesh of the Tree seems very powerful, +1 AC all the time. The races dont in D&D Next dont seem to have a lot of power, maybe +1AC for 1 encounter?
Excellent suggestions!