Current Situation

Thoughts

Nobody has missed Mana / Spell Slots since 8.5 basically nullified Soul Shards / etc. New metamagic feats are working fine without any traditional resource management. Perhaps the "specialness" is worth preserving but not the "metamagic". And even if we need resources for metamagic, 5e's approach, while simplistic, works well enough in practice. I don't feel a strong need for "special metamagic" more so than "special the other 90% of magic", which is necessarily more important.

Ancestry Powers

It's worth noting that the original "pure casters" (Elementalist, Priest, Warlock, Witch) all have some form of specialness that's working to some degree--the ones that don't are either newcomers (Arcanist) or those whose power source isn't an entire pillar of magic (Fighter, Artificer). A major rework is being considered to unite Arcanist and Psion into the Mentalist--distinguished by their use of Mnemonics and their lack of verbal and somatic components.

But what of Fighters and non-class powers? Vampires are an example of an Ancestry that has a well-defined specialness: Blood drinking. It's a central mechanic that informs everything about the several powers available to Vampires. This suggests that specific Ancestries--rather than the older generic approach--might be the way forward for giving non-class powers a meaningful identity and mechanical depth.

Quick brainstorm:

• Dragons: rage (to do: tackle the classic problem of rage not being a very good disadvantage and dragons being OP)
• Faeries: glamour, the need to be seen and believed in, vulnerability to iron
• Lycanthropes: involuntary transformation, vulnerability to silver...mostly disadvantages really
• Elemental/Genaasi: need to soak in their element to "charge up"
• Warforged: reactor, capacitor, need for maintenance

Feats: talent trees per class

Skill List

Strength

• Martial Weapons
  • Harness special abilities based on weapon type, such as:
    • Sweeping: Cleave
    • Reach: set for charge, etc
• Block
  • Block reaction
• Climb
  • Gain a climb speed
• Swim
  • Gain a swim speed
• Jump
  • Gain a jump distance based on Strength score

Dexterity

• Acrobatics
  • Gain Dodge reaction, Tumble maneuver
• Sleight of Hand
  • Pick pockets, palm items, etc
• Stealth
  • Gain bonuses to hide and move silently; sneak attack
• Light Melee
  • Duelist/Skirmisher style
• Dual Wield
  • Wield two light weapons

Constitution

• Toughness
  • Soak reaction
  • Bonus HP
  • Legendary save for Con
• Armor Proficiency
  • Heavier armor

Intelligence

• Initiative
  • Can't be surprised, get a bonus reaction per encounter
• Linguistics
  • Speak more languages, decipher script, etc
• Spellcraft
  • Ritual casting
• Security
  • Disable traps, pick locks, bypass security systems

Wisdom

• Concentration
  • Sustain spells
  • Good for ritual casting
• Healing
• Marksmanship
• Perception
• Survival

Charisma

• Performance
• Persuasion
• Willpower
  • Spell damage, dominance