Additional features at lvl 1?

[Waazraath]

I noticed that in quite some of the recently released books there are extra options for lvl 1 characters. Theros has supernatural gifts, Icewind Dale has secrets, Ravenloft has Dark Gifts.

All of these are optional I think, but it does give the impression that designers think there is room for more features to customize a character at lvl 1, in addition to race/class/background. Personally, I'm not really sure if it's needed, but on the other hand I don't mind more features.

Any thoughts?

[Glorthindel]

Personally, I suspect that it is less a fundamental design idea, and more a "how do we sell this book to players" strategy. 5th ed Setting Books have been notably different from earlier editions, in that there appears to be an attempt to make them also a viable purchase for players, when earlier edition ones were clearly DM-only offerings.

I get the strategy, since D&D has a long history of being cursed with producing books with low sales numbers towards the latter end of an edition, even if I am not a fan (I am of a belief that 5th ed setting books seem to be a lot more sanitised than in the past, with more unanswered questions on fundamental setting ideas, and I assume this is the cause). Ultimately, if you want a player to pick up a book, you need player options. Sure, not everyone will bite, but enough will to get those sales numbers that bit higher.

[Rukelnikov]

Personally, I suspect that it is less a fundamental design idea, and more a "how do we sell this book to players" strategy. 5th ed Setting Books have been notably different from earlier editions, in that there appears to be an attempt to make them also a viable purchase for players, when earlier edition ones were clearly DM-only offerings.

I get the strategy, since D&D has a long history of being cursed with producing books with low sales numbers towards the latter end of an edition, even if I am not a fan (I am of a belief that 5th ed setting books seem to be a lot more sanitised than in the past, with more unanswered questions on fundamental setting ideas, and I assume this is the cause). Ultimately, if you want a player to pick up a book, you need player options. Sure, not everyone will bite, but enough will to get those sales numbers that bit higher.

Really? I mean, I didn't play 4e, but in 3.x most setting books came with some PrCs, spells, and magic items. If anything I get the feeling 5e setting books have less "player oriented content", however if we consider 5e in general has much less bloat, I'd say its about the same ratio of "player oriented content"

[Dork_Forge]

I think it's valid space to put setting specific features/boons in, but I would not like to see it used generally for features beyond what we already have.