Editing Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (section)

===Minimal Player Options===
Let's face it, RPGs have been around for over 40 years now, and as such players are quite used to having lots of options and ways to customize their character just the way they like it. And, originally for reasons of accessibility, later because of content drought, 5e just flat out doesn't offer that compared to similar games. Most classes have little to no customization options past their subclass selection other than spells known (if they even cast at all).

Feats and spells are a particular sore spot, with no new options being officially added for literal years after release, ostensibly to cut down on the 3.5 problem of stealth-buffing casters every single sourcebook by effectively giving them a bunch of free new options and/or permanent additions to their spell roster.  But, it shows in other ways too, whether the lack of new "fighting style" class features, the paucity of fresh backgrounds, and a single non-playtest new base class since release.  Only in terms of new races, archetypes, and magical items is the game truly rich.  And even then, between frequent racial balance issues, the "attunement" system putting an upper limit on how many magic items a player can benefit from at once, and the game's attempt to balance itself around magic items being rare and hard to find, these things don't necessarily matter as much as they could.

Furthermore, while cannibalizing Pathfinder's "archetype" system as a means to differentiate classes from one another via subclasses was an inspired choice, it also necessarily means dropping one of the most subtly useful aspects of that system and granting the player the ability to trade out some more-weakly-designed or thematically undesired class features from certain classes, or the designers to offer the option to do so without pulling the class up by the roots.  

This wouldn't be '''so bad''' if WoTC would release more supplements featuring more overall content. But as mentioned previously, they've been dragging their feet on that all throughout this edition. Even including the Unearthed Arcana stuff (which is of questionable validity due to being "In Playtesting") there isn't much more in the way of variety nearly '''5 years''' into the game's lifespan than there was when it was launched.

To emphasize the point, as of March 2019, 5e's official content stands at:
* 33 Races (with 24 subraces):
** Human
** Dwarf (Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf, [[Duergar]])
** Elf (High Elf, Wood Elf, [[Drow]], [[Aquatic Elf]], [[Eladrin]], [[Shadar-kai]])
** Gnome (Forest Gnome, Rock Gnome, [[Svirfneblin]])
** Halfling (Lightfoot, Stout, Ghostwise)
** Dragonborn
** Half-Orc
** Half-Elf (High Elf, Wood Elf, [[Drow]] [[Aquatic Elf]])
** Tiefling (Asmodeus/Standard, Variant, Baalzebul, Dispater, Fierna, Glasya, Levistus, Mammon, Mephistopheles, Zariel)
** Aarakocra
** Genasi
** Aasimar
** Firbolg
** Goliath
** Kenku
** Lizardfolk
** Tabaxi
** Triton
** Bugbear
** Goblin
** Hobgoblin
** Kobold
** Orc
** Yuan-ti Pureblood
** Githyanki
** Githzerai
** Tortle (some would argue this is Semi-Official, given it's only on DM's Guild)
** Grung (some would argue this is Semi-Official, given it's only on DM's Guild)
** Centaur
** Minotaur
** Loxodon
** Simic Combine Hybrid
** Vedalken
* 12 Classes (with 83 Subclasses)
** Barbarian (Berserker, Totem Warrior, Battlerager, Ancestral Guardian, Storm Herald, Zealot)
** Bard (Lore, Valor, Swords, Glamour, Whispers)
** Cleric (Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature, Tempest, Trickery, War, Death, Arcane, Forge, Grave, Order)
** Druid (Land, Moon, Dreams, Shepherd, Spores)
** Fighter (Champion, Battlemaster, Eldritch Knight, Banneret/Purple Dragon Knight,  Cavalier, Samurai, Arcane Archer)
** Monk (Open Palm, Shadow, Four Elements, Long Death, Sun Soul, Kensei, Drunken Master)
** Paladin (Devotion, Ancients, Vengeance, Crown, Oathbreaker, Conquest, Redemption)
** Ranger (Hunter, Beastmaster, Gloom Stalker, Horizon Walker, Monster Slayer)
** Rogue (Thief, Assassin, Arcane Trickster, Swashbuckler, Mastermind, Inquisitive, Scout)
** Sorcerer (Dragon, Wild Magic, Storm Magic, Shadow Magic, Divine Soul)
** Warlock (Great Old One, Archfey, Fiend, Undying, Celestial, Hexblade)
** Wizard (Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, Transmutation, Bladesinger, Warmage)

Whilst the "semi-official" content from Unearthed Arcana, Plane Shift, and Mearls’ twitter and livestream stands at:
* 2 Classes (Artificer and Mystic)
* 7 subraces for canon races:
** Avariel Elf
** Grugach Elf
** Abyssal Tiefling
** 3 Zendikaran Elves
** Kaladeshian Dwarves
* 16 new races:
** Revenant
** Kor
** Merfolk (with 5 subraces; Emeria, Ula, Cosi, Green, Blue)
** Vampire
** Zendikaran Goblin (with 3 subraces; Grotag, Lavastep, Tuktuk)
** Aetherborn
** Aven
** Khenra
** Naga
** Ixalan Goblin
** Siren
** Changeling
** Kalashtar
** Shifter
** Warforged
** Viashino
* 37 New Subclasses:
** College of Satire Bard
** 9 Cleric Domains (City, Protection, Solidarity, Strength, Ambition, Zeal, Beauty, Darkness, Destruction)
** Circle of Twilight Druid
** 9 Fighter Archetypes (Knight, Scout, Monster Hunter, Sharpshooter, Brute, Psychic Warrior, Slayer, Warlord, Weapon Master)
** 2 Monk Archetypes (Tranquility, Soul Knife)
** Oath of Treachery Paladin
** Primeval Guardian Ranger
** Acrobat Rogue
** 4 Sorcerer Archetypes (Phoenix, Pyromancer, Sea, Stone)
** 5 Warlock Patrons (Ghost in the Machine, Seeker, Raven Queen, Kraken, Lolth)
** 6 Wizard Traditions (Artificer, Theurgy, Loremastery, Technomancy, Inventor, Psionics)

Now, in fairness, this list is actually pretty large when you look at it altogether... but so much of it is stuff that a lot of DMs won't allow at their table, especially the UA Wizard subclasses. Not to mention, these are examples of ''total'' options, not much variation exists within each individual class. Keep in mind, the Bard and Druid for instance went from having only 2 variations to...5. Whoopee. Plus, it actually does pale before the sheer amount of class and race options that previous editions would have after five years of printing material.