Philosophy Manifest (5e Sourcebook)

Work In Progress

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Within the mundane forms of games, there are questions that can be asked of every role, every class. There are certain thought processes and methods that can be approached differently if one gets into the mind enough. The philosophical features explore this side of the spectrum.

The power of thought is a powerful thing. What if that directly influenced your character? What if their ideals became true power? In a world of magic, it's not an unfeasible thing. These philosophies come about as something integral to character. Simply writing them off as a feat doesn't really do them justice when they can be literally driving forces behind a character's motivations. Therefore, these are essentially variant features.

Mimicking the caricature of philosophy, when you take a philosophy feature instead of your appropriate feature, it can be roleplayed as you spending your time doing some pondering instead of the usual meat-grinding. In essence, you forgo a benefit to achieve something else. Therefore, when you take a philosophy feature, you do not gain any other benefit that level, excluding the increases in proficiency bonus. If a spellcaster takes a philosophy feature, they do not gain their spell slots as they would have, instead moving those down to the next level. This means that, with each level a philosophy feature is taken, the spellcaster loses out on slots.

Philosophy is not something that can be properly done by those working in the fields, slaughtering their enemies, practicing for their next performance, practicing a new spell; essentially, philosophy cannot be done if you do not have enough time in your day to think. The ancient greek philosophers did nothing but think, some took to literal poverty and begging since they were not being productive within the sense of working for money. This is why you do not earn any other class features when you take a philosophy feature.

Philosophy features can be divided into several groups of thoughts along a similar vein. Some of them have little prerequisites like alignment or even personality idiosyncrasies that you must meet in order to take. Higher tier philosophy features have requisites of lower features often. This can be imagined as a cohesive system of thought emerging out of fragmented bits. For example, a character who develops selfish and independent habits would be able to take a lot of the freedom philosophy features. As they grow, they see themselves as the drivers of their reality, thus allowing them to achieve the Atlas philosophy, which is the pinnacle of independence and narcissism.

If you get offended that all or most of these are Western ideas, just go away then. There's also some inappropriate jokes here and there maybe.

On Classes and Philosophy

Classes are blank canvasses in 5e mostly. It is perfectly acceptable and plausible to have a meathead wizard or a pacifist barbarian. However, for the sake of philosophic rumination, there are some assumptions to be made about the official classes. This is not to say there are heavy restrictions on what features they can take, but there has to be a sound logic in building a character and their philosophy as one holistic image, rather than a hodge-podge of the strongest bits you liked.

Artificer

The artificer is the furthest removed from the core classes, breaking typical 5e design by relying on magical items outside the player's control. In normal lore, they use magic, which is total weaksauce since they're no freer than your usual arcane spellcaster then. The excuse is that they figured out the formula behind magic or its logarithms, but that means nothing when they are still totally endogenous to the system. The philosophical subclasses for this class aim to get at the human hubris and powers of technology which change reality... without necessarily relying on pseudo-understandings of the unexplained and unknowable.

Barbarian

You might think it weird a barbarian or all people have a philosophical side. Even perceived barbarians like Hannibal Lecter or Genghis Khan had their motives and ideologies, however. Force itself after all is thought to be a form of philosophy manifested. The questions asked may be different of course, but the thought process is philosophical all the same. Additionally, since the barbarian is essentially the class that gives 0 cares about everything, they are the freest, in a philosophical sense.

Bard

The bard is an obvious choice for a philosopher, being usually likened to lofty speakers of verbose and non-practical scripts. But in some ways, they are a poor choice as well. The stereotypical bard is a playboy, a non-committal person who looks at the moment. They are characterized as lustful hedonists nowadays rather than the keeper of stories. But that lifestyle in itself is also a testament to a way of philosophy on how to live. They could also just be assholes.

Cleric

As the poster child of good bois, clerics are usually said to be either boring or too edgy in an attempt not to be boring and moral. But their stance is actually quite interesting, as they stand on a precipice between gods and humanity. Or are there actually gods? What about just omnipotent forces? A cleric with questions may ponder this, and thus find greater things to worship, beyond that of the usual gods. It could even be something that predates them.

Druid

Druids are usually hippies. That makes them extremely philosophical. Sometimes all it takes is some alone time with hallucinogens, you know? But in all seriousness, nature is a great source of philosophy, when humans weren't being jackasses towards Mother Earth. Druids are super in-tune with the natural world, which is part of some philosophies which see civilization as stewards rather than conquerors of nature.

Fighter

The fighter is a "boring" class since it's the generic warrior. Warriors in history though turned out to often be somewhat enlightened people, like Napoleon, Sun Tzu, or Alexander. A bit like the barbarian, the fighter is a symbol of force, but they are a bit more spread out somewhat. Or at least, arguably so. I mean, barbarian as a name sounds pretty anti-philosophy.

Monk

Another solid philosophy choice, the monk is a mystical figure usually associated with discipline and meditation. As such, you might come up with a lot of cool ideas while doing nothing but human pretzel positions.

Paladin

Similar to the cleric, the paladin is a person between the divine and mundane. But they are also a sign of martial strength in the soul, which makes them less dependent than a cleric. Their oaths are like self-restrictions to temper their power.

Ranger

This was probably the hardest to make subclasses for. It's all pretty much shooty-shooty or something.

Rogue

Usually as amoral as the barbarian, but with a cunning edge, the rogue is the kind of person who makes people question life. They are excellent and trite existentialist figures since they stereotypically operate outside laws. But their roles are easily reduced a bit to someone who wants to be edgy about >50% of the time. They oppose things like the categorical and thrive in a grey area.

Sorcerer

Of all the classes, sorcerer is arguably another odd one out of the core 12. It is based on blood, that is, race-sounding stuff, more than how you are developed. Highly debated and valid both ways, since the subclasses literally are called bloodline after all. This makes it seem a bit determinist, as it is something of their birth which determines what they are. They, in character, should not and do not have control over their heritage. If a player is just yanking out the mixed lineage for meta purposes, it can seem rather ridiculous honestly since you're playing with blood rather than skill here. But that's the philosophy part of it. How much of a sorcerer is birth and how much of it is an actual class?

Warlock

Warlocks are a prime candidate of thought. They are aware of powers beyond their own and seek to discover their secrets. Unlike an artificer, they will never truly have control over it. Thus, part of their power lies in what they cannot grasp, and that is what makes them all the more ponderous. What lends them power may be something truly titanic and monstrous that it can only remain in the mind. But warlocks are not so passive as clerics, and have some knowledge about what it is they deal with. Usually.

Wizard

The brainiac of the classes is sometimes not the most thoughtful. Knowing a lot doesn't mean you know how to think. Philosophical wizards, from their knowledge, would be rendered to the point of inactivity thinking all the time. As bearers of knowledge, philosophical wizards have a responsibility to be movers of ideas, not just snobby know-it-alls who love to shoot pew pew.

Philosophy Features

The following features are classified into several "schools" of thought, which contain the features used to substitute for class levels. Some of them have no mechanical benefit whatsoever since many of these features are literally just ideas.

Freedom

How well do you actually know this facetiously simple idea of freedom? Freedom to and freedom from. Is it freedom to rob others of their freedom? Is the nature of the world ultimately divided on freedom, with only select few enjoying its fruits while everyone else pays the price? Does everyone "deserve" freedom or can it be taken away? Should people be allowed to do whatever they want so long as they dont "hurt others"? Hurt in what way? See, did you really think any of this through?

Radical Freedom

Sartre was a weird man with a lazy eye who believed people to ultimately be free to do whatever they want. To Sarte, authenticity lies in living true to oneself, free of the social constraints of conformity. People exist and are naturally free by existing. But their situations are what bind their freedom. Thus, to be truly free, one must actively resist these shackles on themselves. That is, they embrace their own existence wholly and become ascendant of the world's hindrances. This can be a bit of a problem and results in less than optimal results when you face limits like body, money, and society in general. Any class can take this feature. When they do, they are filled with the immense confidence that they can go and do anything, even become invisible. They will firmly believe in this even if this is not true and any checks to persuade them otherwise automatically fail.

Dialectical Freedom

Hegel's Absolute Politics led to a quite firmly planted understanding of freedom: to be free from one's self-interest (desires, wants, preferences; essentially rejecting Radical Freedom). Holding this conception of freedom only works if you accept some higher authority as the guide for the interest that you will serve.

Epistemology

Possibly one of the most circular and time-consuming, yet arguably pointless, studies is that of epistemology! It is the question of HOW you know things as they are, if you can even be right, if the thing even exists, etc. etc. A lot of these ideas can sound just like playing with imaginary questions.

Deity's Perception

Berkeley believed that, external to the mind, objects would not exist without perception. The only way something existed without us looking is if a deity perceived it, making their perceptions the basis of reality. Michael Dummett was similar, believing that only a god can affirm something "as itself in reality." Taking this feature allows you to hide something from the perception of the gods, making them supposedly nonexistent. You essentially choose a creature you can see, and make them invisible to the gods. But that won't stop them from existing if anyone else can see them.

Brain In A Jar

Reality is based on a series of synapses and firings of chemicals in the brain. From our taste to love, it is all chemicals. If our brains were simulated in a vat of chemicals with electrical impulses to control it, the brain could even think it was alive and a whole person. Reality is endogenous, and we have the means to control it. If something simulates the same reactions, it is no different than the "real" thing... or what we think is real anyway.

Conquering the Demon

René Descartes was the first to recognize the lies which the untrained eye is not able to peer beyond. You know to look even harder into things that you perceive to properly assess the validity of your initial observations. You gain proficiency in the Investigation skill, or expertise if you already have proficiency in the skill.

Daemon

This idea is like the Brain In A Jar, except, instead of a machine and chemicals, there is an omnipresence which rivals that of god that obscures the senses and makes you think things are a certain way, unlike reality. The only thing you can trust is your own mind, and god, who would never mislead you. But god coexists anyway with the daemon, and who doesn't want a reality-warping entity on their side? This daemon is also called the demiurge by some Platonics.

Deity's Billiards

Unlike the College of Skepticism, the Deity's Billiards are actually a warlock patron, because it handwaves everything away without even needing to be critical about it. There is no way to know the truth of the universe, whether something happens in the now will be true in tomorrow or what is true will always be. Who can say? Happenings are like billiards by gods. Observing them doesn't mean you understand. Causation is false. You trust in this power which can never be explained or even observed.

Unchanging Change

Heraclitus was a clueless man who came up with this idea while staring at a moving river. "You never step in the same part of a river twice" because the water is always moving. Same as that analogy, the world is always in a state of change, and that is what does not change. What does that have to do with knowing things? Well, what you know or think you know will always change!

Noumena

"The Thing In Itself" is an exogenous concept that symbolizes the objective and categorical. Similar to Plato's Forms, Noumena is the perfect ideal. What we perceive out of Noumena is Phenomena, which are subjective and fallible. Kant believed these were not only the physical world's base particle (later to be atoms), but also in the world of ideas. A warlock wielding this patron's powers holds an absolute hand over the relative and subjective, as Noumena is immune to all that jazz.

Ethics and Morals

Ethics are compulsive sources of a code of action, coming from an external source. This contrasts with morals, which are impulsive (coming from an individual's internal compass of good and evil). They both are lumped in this section.

Anything Goes

As Dostoevsky wrote in his very dour and depressing works, if god doesn't exist, anything goes. Since gods are very much real in DnD, this is sort of a moot argument. But, if your character is an irreverent person, they might just do whatever they want despite the existence of gods. Taking this feature allows you to disobey moral standards set forth by gods without moral repercussions. This does not protect you if the god decides to smite you for being annoying.

Trolley Problem

If you want to play the agonized role of god, decide in a vacuum who would die, one or many? Who is the one, and who are the many? Does it matter who is on the trolley or if the lever malfunctions? There are so many questions you could ask that throw a wrench in the problem, but that's a lot of thought experiments. Those are just ways to avoid the unsavory decision. But the artificer cannot run from this. Here, you are asked to objectively weigh life as a value. Can you do it?

Utilitarian Calculator

Unlike the Trolley Problem which weighs life, you are now tasked to weigh happiness. What is happiness in this meta? Why, buffs! Advantages and condition-removals for your allies! It seems nice and easy, right? Maximize happiness by buff, buff, buff! In reality, the calculus actually comes from the need to allocate away. Maximal happiness can be achieved by both raising the bar, or lowering some and raising others. What is the optimal formula? There are only so many ways you can think outside the box that will work in life.

Virtue

Virtue ethics are super boring and very humanocentric in Aristotle's case. Living a balanced life, basically, is the point. Virtue isn't just doing all good or all bad, but having a balance. You need to do some bad things and balance it out to be perfect. And it's something unique to humans. So nonhumans cannot take this subclass. It's too bad that Anscombe and the other later people didn't amend this.

Categorical Imperative

There is something that is independent of god. Despite being a staunch Christian, Kant made this thing that is "always good, no matter what," which means it is good in and of itself, independent of god. This absolute is replicable and should always be upheld, like an icon. You're free to think it's something else like the ego or something. Just be sure it passes the test of logical consistency.

Power

Proletariat

The working class is exploited time and again throughout history. They are true fighters against their own fates of drudgery under the oppressive bourgeoisie. As one of the proletariat, you are educated but have worker roots. You rise as a champion of the workers to take the world and make a paradise for the ones who have suffered and been tricked for centuries. And Marx said it would be violent so, yeah, fighter.

Panopticon

Imagine a world where everyone's behavior was guaranteed on the basis of publicity. Everyone can see anyone doing anything, but they are never sure they are being watched, or by who. Thus, this facilitates obedience and good behavior. It is the all-seeing which guards the guards. Bentham meant for this to be used in all facets of life, from prisons to factories, and even schools. It is echoed by the Big Brother figure in Orwell's 1984 as a dictatorial form of surveillance. But for good or evil, its use is up to you.

Leviathan

People exist in a state of war. Hobbes feared this and so Leviathan was conceived of. It is a formless entity who, at the same time, has an infinite form, representing the ultimate ruler and bringer of order. All subjects submit to it for safety from violence of their neighbors. The Leviathan is one greater than the one you know from the Monster Manual. It is not bound by the sea. It is above all. Warlocks of Leviathan are devoted to the powers of dictatorship and tyranny for the purpose of "peace."

Determinism

Dialectic Progression

History, contrary to what barbarians think, is a progression of ideas. Turn it on its head, and its material dialectics. Hegel believed in the former, and Marx, the latter. But let's go with Hegel since he came first. Ideas and the way they affect and change things is how history has progressed. The idea of war has changed a lot, more than we can ever say, as have ideas of enlightenment and science. Without them, we would have a different world altogether. The march towards the end of time with these ideas is what defines history. A wizard with this knowledge controls the flow and alters the very essence of these concepts.

Invisible Hand

The force which motivates people to make rational decisions in self-interest is the invisible hand. It was the main hand that Nozick and Friedman could count on to stroke their egos and dicks. This is usually the driving force whose proxy is money. Economies are driven by rational self-interest and there is thus no interference required of the world. Let the hand go its course. As a warlock of this mysterious patron, you, too, learn to work in such mysterious ways. You can manipulate desire so people act a certain way to enable, just like the hand, moving everything towards the perfect economic equilibrium. You can cast the incite greed spell without spell slots and only with the verbal component, which is you explaining to someone the beauty of capitalism and rational self-interest as the driving force of all history and progress.

Anti-Tractatus

Wittgenstein was a person who did a 180 when he realized all his old work was garbage. Language is not objective at all. Nonsense and sense are relative. Like that kook, an Anti-Tractatus wizard goes to overturn order and normalcy. They can undo things that have happened by deconstructing them and showing that, ultimately, everything is just a construct.

The Cave

The allegory of the cave was to show how superior philosophers were so Plato could stoke his position in life and honor Socrates. Those who know have a duty to inform those who do not, even at the price of death. For otherwise, we would still be stuck in the cave like savages, only looking at semblances of reality. But people are stupid and will oppose the truths you know, because they fear the light you bring, and the questions you raise.

Veil Of Ignorance

Rawls made this intricate veil to help people understand what it means to be empathetic ... and to get tenure. The point is that if we knew how other people felt, we would be better at making decisions that helped everyone. So, the best thing to do is ignore your own position in the now, and place yourself in a removed position. From this distance, you now make your choices, which should be to benefit the largest amount of people possible. Otherwise, you may find yourself at the receiving end of the bad parts of the choice. This veil is your reverent medium, which allows you to connect with the mindset of others.

Rebel

During a meaningless and absurd life, one feels usually oppressed and helpless. The rebel, as Camus puts it, is one who rebels against that meaningless absurdity by finding meaning in pleasures of life. Thus they rebel against the things that would put them down. This probably sounds a bit more barbarian, but the rogue is sorta a rebel too. Or a wanna-be one all the time at least.

Metaphysics

Ambiguity

The cat in the box may be dead or alive, but it is both at the same time. "Ambi" as a root means "both." This subclass focuses on confusing the heck out of your enemies. You're both there and not there. They've both been shot, and the shot also missed.

Oath of Evil's Banality

Pencil pushers are the evil mooks that people should never give a hoot about. They are everywhere, and possibly in everything. That's because evil is in fact everywhere, and it manifests in rather ordinary ways. Simply by following orders, a secretary commits genocide. The secretary in reality is a low-level idiot who is self-interested, without will or intelligence to cause evil. What causes it, in reality, is the unseen system, the banal mundane... And that is why this oath is a mook killer.

Nature

Unmoving

Zeno of Elea was really lazy basically. Things cannot move and movement is an illusion because of the rule of halves. If you assume a person must move half the distance somewhere to their destination and you divide that distance by halves as they approach, it is infinite and impossible for them to ever truly reach their destination. In the same way, because movement is a type of change, and all movement is false, then change is also impossible.

Circle of Omnipresence

Spinoza got kicked out of his Jewish home for questioning the existence of a single god. So, he came up with the idea that god was in everything, even you. Thus, everything has significance and everything can be nature. The bad news is Spinoza also didn't believe in anything like free will. The best thing to do in life, for him, as to sit around and observe nature, that is, god. This is a circle for a lazy player who likes to do things without moving much.

Working Contradiction

For some reason, Locke and Ayn Rand believed that property was the way of the world and that it superseded nature because humanocentrism, you know? Basically, property is a naturally occurring instance of someone putting effort and time to work something. But, for some reason, a slave's work is considered to be his master's property, according to Locke. How ridiculous. Even Adam Smith decried landlords for being leeches. Taking this philosophy, your Intelligence and Wisdom scores each decrease by 2.

Ontology

Circle of the Sublime

The sublime is a concept of something which induces both suffering and happiness, fear and awe. Polar opposites are not mutually exclusive, but rather manifested in the sublime. It is the highest form of experience, and it is probably the most common in nature, whether it is in a magnificent mountain, the starry nebulas, or our very insignificant existence in the overall natural world.

Collective Unconscious

There is a connective force which binds all histories and memories, but is latent and not overt. Jung believed this unconsciousness was created of shared instincts and experiences common across all of a certain body, that is, existence. You can tap into this limitless potential as one who is aware of this unconsciousness. This gives you special control over parts of the mind people didn't even know existed in their head.

Philosophical Zombies

Holistic Philosophies

These high-tier philosophy features are on the level of boons due to how they are supposed to show self-actualization of a character's inner thoughts and place in the world.

Atlas

Despite what people may say, Ayn Rand did something for philosophy. Not too sure what it was. This figure of Atlas is supposedly her central figure in her magnum opus. The theoretical Atlas is the one who upholds the world upon his shoulders and bears all the pain. He takes the jeers from lesser beings he carries because he is the greatest and most awesome. He produces jobs unlike the stupid leeches of society who feed off his genius... or something. Regardless, you are the champion of Objectivism.

Prerequisites

• Virtue, Invisible Hand
• To be Atlas, you need to be incredibly selfish, because that is a virtue.
• You have to either be rich or have become rich through your own doing.

Captain Metaphysics

Monads, atoms, noumena, forms, and ideas are considered the grounding foundation of the world down past its physical unit of existence. Using all of them, you command not only the simplest state of existence but also perceive them in their truest, most basic form. Phenomena do not phase your eyes from reality, and the forms are within your reach. You know what is the "cupness" that makes a cup.

Prerequisites

• The Cave, Noumena

Übermensch

The "overman" is a being that takes many forms but has many of the same traits, known as triumphs. They see all as necessary for what they are and reject none of it. Like an immortal having lived many of the same lives, they have come to see what is truly meaningful in the life that can be all too trivial as a mortal. Reality is not something they run from, good or bad, but embraced.

Prerequisites

• Rebel

Amor Fati

Villains

Called "villains," these concepts were created to embody antagonistic ideas to existing philosophies as a form of discourse in the shape of imaginary problems. They are meant to be like an antithesis that one uses in debate to destroy the position of another. These ideas can be used as actual monsters for fun.

The Utility Monster

This thing gets more happiness than you ever will. So it deserves more than you since it increases overall happiness more. This monster was made in response to utilitarianism based on quantified happiness. Its actions are always justified because it always gains more happiness doing something bad compared to someone doing something good.

Philosophy Subclass Concepts

Barbarian

Path of Puissance

Power, that is, force, is considered one of the driving forces of history, along with ideas and materials. Simone Weil held that it was oppression that moved people to mobilize and revolt. The oppressors would then continually seek new ways of power to oppress, and the cycle would thus facilitate the wheels which turn history. Taking on this path, you seek the same raw, unopposable force to oppress others. You will move the world.

Bard

College of Eudaimonia

The essence of happiness was debated for years on end without a conclusion between philosophers. What makes happiness? Knowledge? Virtue and balance? Food, pleasure, and freedom from responsibility? This is the feel-good bard who just wants to find the key to happiness. But what makes one happy can make another miserable. Eudaimonia is elusive indeed.

College of Skepticism

It's easier to doubt other people's ideas than to come up with your own. This bard just doubts everything, from his own existence, gods, all of it. Eventually, he even gets a little post-modern and then nothing has objective meaning anymore. You now add your intelligence modifier to Wisdom (Perception) checks. However, even if you see something, you will probably doubt it because cause and effect to you is like God playing billiards with David.

Everything is Unconfirmed

Everything is a coincidence. Cause and effect are all lies. Starting at 14th level, you are immune to all mind-altering effects due to your sheer ability to question everything. This includes all effects in the illusion school, being charmed or lfrightened. This also means, however, that you become so skeptical that even normal things become subjects of contention for you. For example, you will question a potion of healing whether it will heal you or not no matter how many times you have already used it before. Causation is a lost cause to you.

College of Suffering

Like the College of Skepticism, the bard of suffering sees no real meaning in life. But that's not because they doubt everything. It's just because life is awful and suffering. People are born as negative values and are better off dead, like Schopenhauer said. Or they become like Benatar and try to kill everyone else. All you need are the words to bring the souls of others down, hence why this subclass only has one feature that scales.

I want to die, don't you?

Life is full of meaningless suffering, trials, and tribulations. Your biting, scathing wit, opens the eyes of others to this sordid truth and, if their psyche cannot handle it, they will kill themselves simply by compulsion of your nihilistic persuasion. Starting at 3rd level, whenever you use vicious mockery, the damage dice for the spell is doubled. Starting at 6th level, the target of your mockery makes their save against this spell with disadvantage against your dirge of nonstop assault on their existence. Starting at 14th level, if the target fails the saving throw, they don't take the normal damage anymore. They just try to kill themselves.

College of Nihil

Over in the very misunderstood ideas of nihilism, there is the idea that Or they end up like Stirner and just do whatever they want because they have the power and ego to. Of course, this is an excuse to create a nihilistic emo of a bard whose biggest joy in life is that there is no meaning to any of it.

Freud's College of the Penis

This is a joke. Because Freud was not a real philosopher. Or was he? It's certainly true some people think through their gonads.

Monk

Way of the Enlightened

Buddha believed desire led to suffering. So one had to relinquish them. This would lead to nirvana, enlightenment, which is freedom from the world and opening the mind to the universe. That's a lot of stuff that is up to interpretation. Basically, this monk is someone who has no desire or attachment to the outside world, making them a singularity, unaffected by most effects.

Way of the Stoic

Not gonna lie, this is a weaker version of the Way of the Enlightened. Zeno of Citium was a weirdo who believed that not-caring was the best answer to just about anything. It's a good way to destress over things out of your control at least. Monks of this way tend to be apathetic assholes that just really don't like to show any emotions or care.

Paladin

Oath of Despair

Kierkegaard was a depressing guy who believed that while god was real, people would be suffering forever trying to keep their faith, throwing everything they had into believing. But this despair is what makes life have meaning, no matter how depressing it is. So you basically become the Little Mermaid from SINoALICE.

Sorcerer

Swampman Bloodline

This is another one of those soul-mind-body thought experiments, created by Donald Davidson. Imagine you existed before. Then you died, but a sudden clone of you emerged from the swamps nearby via lightning. This clone is like your old self, with the same thought processes, physical appearance, and even your memories. From those memories, it believes itself to be you, and acts just like you. It is an even more extreme form of the sorcerer race-class dilemma. However, what makes this new you a successor rather than the original is that none of your experiences are authentic. You never experienced them for real. You only have the memory of it. Like the thought experiment, the swampman sorcerer has all the properties of its original form/ancestor, but it ultimately an inauthentic being until it can make its own experiences.

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