I just finished reading through the 5e Players Handbook and figured I’d take the time to write a review on this bad boy.

Disclaimer: I was not asked by WotC to write this review- I was not given a monetary reward, beer or even donuts for doing this… I did it because I wanna.

Disclaimer Number Two: I am NOT going to touch on all the fucking nastiness and bullshit that has permeated the net since the release of the D&D Basic rules.  If you don’t know about it and want to dive head first into it- go here..  Nuff said.

I guess I should give a little bit of background on myself- I started RPGing in 1995 with 2e and played it for six years before moving to 3.x (and eventually Pathfinder upon its release).  I had the 3.x monkey on my back for roughly 9 years before I just got so dissatisfied with the overly-complex rules and started fishing elsewhere.

I immediately turned to the OSR (because I remembered all the fun I had with the original red box campaign my friend had run for me years ago) and started running games using Swords and Wizardry and Lamentations of the Flame Princess (free version, paid version).  When I started writing my Hubris setting for publication I fell in love with Dungeon Crawl Classics and have been playing that for nearly a year.

I am not a fan of 4e at all.  It’s not my cup of tea.  I am not opposed to, or look down on, people who desire and enjoy playing it.  There is no badwrongfun when it comes to enjoying a game and having a blast with your chums.

When WotC released the free basic edition (link above), I downloaded it and was actually really impressed with what I read.  So it came no surprise to me that I was chomping at the bit for the PHB to be released.  I picked it up yesterday and poured through it…

Ok… Enough babble- onto the meat and potatoes

Let’s Get Started, Shall We

I’m not going to spend much time on production value- It’s a WotC book- it’s top notch.  Good binding- and page quality, etc.

The Players Handbook weighs in at roughly 316 pages, includes the character sheet, and even a small bestiary (that is a nice touch). Side note: WotC released a supplement for Tyranny of the Dragons for free with some magic items, monsters, and spells.  

First off I’ll open with that I really dig the philosophy behind this edition- it clearly borrows things from previous editions (2e, 3e, and 4e) and makes them work.  It also borrows from other sources (although I have no proof to solidify this, just my experience on other games)- Savage Worlds and  Barbarians of Lemuria- but I’ll touch my briefs on this later.

Chapter 1 is Character Creation and is standard fare- roll 4d6, keep the highest three.  Do this six times and then allocate in order you desire.

Chapter 2 is about races.  There are nine races in the PHB and several of them have sub-races (very cool).  Each race gains several traits such as increased Ability (5e term for Attributes) score, darkvision, proficiency with items, toolkits, armor, etc. (more on this later), and other things.  Each of these racial abilities give the race (and the player) a little more nifty in their PC, but not at the cost of really increasing bloat.

The races are dwarf (with hill dwarf and mountain dwarf sub races), elf (with high elf, wood elf, and dark elf sub races), halfling (with lightfoot and stout halfling sub races), human, dragonborn*, gnome* (with Forest gnome and Rock gnome sub races), half-elf*, half-orc*, and tiefling*

*= There is a side bar starting these races are uncommon and not in every D&D setting. While it doesn’t state it- it is implied that one should ask the DM if it is alright to choose one of these races.

While the races are standard fantasy fare, I like what they have done with them (except Dragonb0rn- I’ll be honest… It just makes dragons mundane for me, but that is my own opinion).  I like the different abilities and flavor texts (especially for beginning role-players), and I like that sub races create even further variation within a class without HUGE rules bloat.

Chapter 3 is all about classes and there are quite a few of them in the PHB!  Twelve classes and, like with races, many have variations or paths that  make them more unique and special.  This is cool because you could have two very different fighters or rogues based on their chosen path (or profession).  I like that they adopted a more kit mentality with the classes (like from 2e) rather than come up with 80 new classes, each one roughly 3 pages long- creating more complex rules (as we saw in 3.x/4e).  With this approach you’ll see nods to 3.x prestige classes that have been absorbed into these various paths/professions/etc.

Examples: Eldritch Knight is now a path for fighters; Arcane Trickster and Assassin are rogue paths; and while it is named differently the Shadowdancer prestige class has now been made a Monk “tradition”, the Way of Shadow; Wild Mage is a Sorcerer bloodline.  Very cool.

The classes in the PHB are: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin (there is no anti-paladin, but I can see this being a path in the DMG or released later), Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard.

Each one of these classes has very cool abilities- and more importantly is VERY quick and easy to understand (bonus for new players).  I made two characters to see how long the process would take (thinking of the 2.5 hour chargen for Pathfinder for new players) and I had a Fighter made in 25 minutes and a Wizard in 35.  That’s not bad for not being fully familiar with the system.  I then walked one of my players through chargen and he had a fully functioning Wood Elf Rogue within 30 minutes.  Awesome!

At level 1 each class also gains proficiencies with certain skills, weapons and armor, saves, and toolkits (more on proficiencies later), full hit points, and starting gear (this is an awesome feature and REALLY speeds up starting play rather than the dreaded “YOU MUST GO SHOPPING NOW BEFORE YOU PLAY!!” crap.  It’s nice to see this- I’ve been doing it for years in my home games and it really does speed up kickstarting your campaign).

Chapter 4 describes a new feature to Dungeons and Dragons- personality and backgrounds (and the optional rule- Inspiration).

Backgrounds are a nifty little thing- first a player chooses one of the following backgrounds: Acolyte, Charlatan, Criminal, Entertainer, Folk Hero (one of my favorites), Guild Artisan, Hermit, Noble, Outlander, Sage,  Sailor, Soldier, and Urchin- each one grants a few proficiencies or skill or equipment (or even a role-playing perk, like being able to get the local militia to give you aid- from soldier).  Then the player rolls on several tables to generate a personality trait, an ideal, a bond, and a flaw.  The rules state that if this doesn’t go with what you had envisioned or if you don’t like it- JUST MAKE IT UP!  How novel!

Joking aside I like that WotC has gone this route- this is something stated in the book several times- the rules aren’t the end all and be all of everything… and in the end the DM has final call on all things (and I know that has gotten some of the 3.x/4e ruleslawyers butthairs in a tangle, but hey- that’s the way it should be).

Aside- Hack and Slash has been doing his own awesome Backgrounds- scope em out!

Inspiration is basically like Bennies from Savage Worlds and is completely option- DM’s call.  Basically when you do something cool, the DM will give you an Inspiration point.  You can burn this later to give you an Advantage on a roll (or cancel a Disadvantage, I suppose).  More on Advantage/Disadvantage in Part 2.

I think I’ve prattled on enough for today- tomorrow we will hit the rest of the book- starting with customization like multi-classing and feats!

For Part One- go here.

Yesterday I covered chapters 1-4 (basically character creation and to get the PC’s up and adventurin’).  Today I will hit chapters 5-11 and the Appendixes.

Chapter 5 is the equipment chapter.  If you’re familiar with Dungeons and Dragons, I really don’t need to touch on this chapter.  The one cool thing I’ll mention about it is at the end of this chapter there is a d100 table of trinkets.  Each player receives one trinket when they create their character.  These are cool.  They could be the jumping off point of a plot hook of the character.  Is it magical?  Is it cursed?  Totally up to the DM to flesh these out (or not).

Another thing is the finesse feat of 3.x is now attached to the weapon itself (like daggers and rapiers) rather than something that the player needs to take to be functional.

Chapter 6 is about customization options for characters- these are rules that the DM can state whether or not they are allowed in their game.

Multiclassing functions a bit like it did in 3.x.  Your levels in each class add together to your actual level (IE a 3rd level fighter that takes a level of rogue is now a 4th level character).  The cool thing is that there is Ability Score minimums required to multiclass- I dig.

The chapter then touches on Feats.  I really dug what they have done.  First off the Feats section is only 4 pages long.  Again, these are an optional rule.  How it works is that Classes don’t get feats. As with 3.x (and maybe 4e- not sure about that) when a character gets to level 4 they are able to raise an Ability score.  The player can either raise one Ability by 2, or two Abilities by 1. If the GM allows the optional rule of feats you can take one instead of raising an Ability score.  So the first level you are even getting a feat is at lvl 4.  Very cool.  Again- this speeds up chargen and doesn’t overwhelm a beginning player with too many options.

Chapter 7 is about Ability scores- this covers modifiers, the Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic (which is awesome), Proficiency bonuses, Skills, and Saves.

As a major fan of OSR-style play (fast rules, simplicity, and fast women) I was really happy with these rules.  Gone are the numerous saves and weird bonuses and long skill lists.  Everything is traced back to your Abilities and Proficiencies.  All saves are now handled by your Ability score.  Each class has at least two Abilities scores that they are Proficient in for saves.  As the class levels up, so does their proficiency score- to cap out at +6 for ALL CLASSES by level 17.

When a PC is required to roll a save they roll a d20+ the appropriate ability modifier+ proficiency bonus (if applicable) to beat the determined DC.  Very easy.  I feel was inspired by Castles and Crusades.

Ability checks are done the same route and if you have a skill (determined by class) that is applicable you apply the same formula as stated above.   While it isn’t touched upon here, this is also the same for toolkits.  Your race, class, and background may give you proficiency with a toolkit.  If someone needs to pick a lock they require a thieves toolkit..  A fighter with this toolkit would roll a d2o+dexterity modifier and hope they hit the DC.  A thief is proficient with the thieves toolkit, so they would also add their proficiency bonus to the roll- making them better than others at opening locks (or disabling traps).

I really like this approach.  There isn’t the skill list wIith too many options (some redundant) of the 3.x era, and everything boils down to an Ability roll.  Everyone can try anything.  You wanna swim in a strong current?  Roll a strength check.  Oh you have the Athletics skill- go ahead and add your proficiency bonus to that then.  Done.  It’s simple and elegant.

One of the coolest mechanics in the game is the Advantage/Disadvantage system.  I really think that it was inspired by the mechanics of Barbarians of Lemuria. If you have the advantage on a target (and there are multiple things that grant this) you roll two d20s and take the higher of the two.  If you are at a disadvantage, you roll two d20s and take the lower of the two.  You can’t have more than one advantage or disadvantage at a time.  If a situation arises where you have both- you simply roll your d20 (even if you have three things giving you advantage and two giving you disadvantage).  I love this, because it’s not going to slow things down with people trying to figure out what cancels what and what’s left over, etc.  It’s a DONE DEAL.  Move on.  Roll your d20 and kill shit!  It’s a great, simple, and rewarding mechanic!

Chapter 8 is all about adventuring.  It discusses travel (broken down into times that work for dungeon crawls, city crawls, and hexcrawls), movement, vision and light sources, environmental factors, resting, and activities between adventures.

Resting…

I’m just resting… See?

Resting is broken down into a Short Rest and a Long Rest.  Short rests are for an hour more when there is no strenuous activity other than eating, drinking, or pooping.  During this time a wizard can recover a select number of spells (class ability), some other classes have things that refresh from a short rest.  Also PC’s can access their Hit Dice pool and get some healing.

I think that this is the evolution of healing surges from 4e, but I could be wrong.  Each character has a pool of dice equal to their maximum HD (IE a level 5 warlock has 5 HD pool).  The player can spend a number up to the maximum of their HD pool and roll those dice, and adds their Con modifier to each one- and that replenishes their health.  Expended Hit dice from the pool are replenished at 1/2 of level with a long rest (IE a the 5th level Warlock could regain 2 HD to their pool back with a long rest).

Long rests are a good night sleep- 8 hours.  This replenishes casters spell slots (more on this in the magic section), refreshes some class abilities, and replenishes ALL lost hit points.  I remember this rule from 4e.

I’ll be honest- when I read this, my OSR brain had the reaction in the meme below:

It causes my normal instinct of brutality and death and chaos that is prevalent in my Hubris campaign to twitch a little.  It may be too forgiving for my tastes, but honestly I haven’t played it yet and I can’t make a judgement.  It’s easy to houserule it to NO HP back or maybe I won’t be such a prick and let them have 1/2 back, but I won’t make that houserule until I play it RAW so I can actually made an educated decision.  Also I’ll concede that while 5e takes many inspirations from old school games, it still is more heroic than games like DCC or LotFP.  Level 1 characters aren’t Luke Skywalker on the moisture farm on Tattooine, they are Luke from Empire Strikes Back.  And hey- that’s fine- I’m just so used to gritty death and maiming that I have to recalibrate the way I think about things.

It also touches on things to do between sessions such as crafting, cost of living and lifestyle expenses.  These are SIMPLE rules and I love it.  Gone are the skills or feats needed to do anything…  Simple and down to one paragraph.

Now onto Chapter 9…  the big one… the thing that is on every veteran D&D player’s mind… Combat!   I was actually really surprised by the rules for combat…  why?  Because it is only takes up 10 pages in 5e (actually 9 if you count the two half pages as one page)!  It makes me weep (in a good way- not looking at myself naked in a mirror kinda way).  It’s so small and lite compared to 3.x and 4e.

Combat pretty much runs the same from 3.x and 4e days- roll your d20, add your Strength or Dex mod and beat the targets AC.  If your character is proficient with a weapon- add your proficiency bonus.

However some changes have been made, and I have to say- I like them.

Here’s a few to highlight:

• It looks like drawing a weapon is no longer a move action. It’s just part of the attack action. Likewise sheathing one weapon is like drawing one. Sheathing a second weapon in the same rounds counts for 5′ of your movement action.
• Same with drinking a potion- running over to kill a goblin, but need a potion?  Drink it on the way to shove your boot down his throat.
• Movement has been broken down into 5′ increments. So you could move 10′, attack, and then move up to another 20′.  Took a page from Savage Worlds (or the Spring Attack Feat from 3.x)on that one.
• Falling prone is no longer a movement action- getting up costs 50% of your movement (IE- if you move at 30ft, it takes 15ft of your movement).  I really like this and I know many of my players will too because you can still be effective when you get up and still move half your rating and attack or cast a spell or whatever.
• There are still attacks of opportunity by there isn’t a SHIT TON of ways to provoke them.  It’s simply attempting to run away in combat, but you can use the Disengage action and not attack and your enemy doesn’t get a AoO.
• Invisible attackers- there are no longer a ton of modifiers that need to be figured out when an invisible assailant is throttling your ass.  They get Advantage when attacking you and you suffer disadvantage when attacking them.  Easy peasy.
• The above statement also is true when firing into melee at close range.
• Everyone can two weapon fight now!  And again there is no plethora of modifiers, you just roll your normal attack.  If you hit you don’t get to add your strength modifier (unless it’s a negative) to your roll.  I’m actually surprised that they didn’t make the second attack at a Disadvantage.  There are class features in several classes (IE- Fighter and Ranger) that grant the bonus damage back.

Death

Death in 5e is handled differently than I’ve seen in any other edition.  Gone are they days of negative HP tracking.  Once you are at 0 HP, you are unconscious and dying.  When in this state you roll a d20 (no modifiers, this is purely luck now) and if you roll a 10 or above, you mark it as a success.  9 or below is a failure.  Once you have three successes you wake up with 1 HP.  If you get three failures before three successes you are maggot food.  Rolling a 20 on this roll automatically stabilizes you, whereas rolling a 1 counts as two failures.

Another way to die is from massive damage.  If you are dropped to zero and there is enough damage to equal or exceeds your maximum HP you are toasted instantly, no saves.  I like this because it keeps the threat of death for early level play, but diminishes with each level as you grow stronger.

Chapter 10 moves into spellcasting rules.  While certain things remain familiar to veteran D&D players- the way spells are now handled has changed.  Instead of having spells per day and having spells that scale as you level up, you now have spell slots.  These slots are how many spells you can cast per day.  Several classes (IE- Bard, sorcerer, etc) have spells that they know, whereas a wizard doesn’t- because they have their big badass tome of spells.

When you cast Magic Missile as a level one spell, you conjure two missiles that automatically hit and do 1d4+1 damage each.  You can choose to cast Magic Missile as a level two spell (thus taking up one of your level two spell slots) and do more damage.  The spell (and this is how any spell that follows this formula is described) states that at higher level spell slots it does 1 more dart.  So you could cast this as a ninth level spell and have 10 bolts that do 1d4+1 damage.  Higher level spells can never occupy a lower level spell slot.

This is a cool way to do things and I think will add a bit more versatility to a spellcaster.

All spellcasters can also use cantrips, basically level 0 spells.  These have unlimited use and gain in ability as the caster levels.  While it seems, to me, that casters have less spells they can cast in a day, the added bonus of cantrips, their versatility, and scaling growth keeps casters in the game even after their spells have run out.

Chapter 11 is the spell descriptions.  This is (as with any D&D book- or clone) the bulk of the book, weighing in at a whopping 82 pages.  I’m not really going to talk about the spells as I didn’t read all of them, but perused them here and there…  There are changes to some spells, some new ones, etc.  However any caster will be happy to frolic through this section.

We now move to the Appendixes- the first one is conditions- and funnily enough this is where my favorite art in the book is.  They are just simple sketches, but I really enjoy them.  The book covers the 14 conditions that are possible in 5e, and most of them are old hat to veteran players, even if in older editions we didn’t refer to them as a “condition.”

Appendix B is the gods of the multiverse.  5e touches on the deities of Greyhawk, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and Eberron.  Then it goes on to touch on deities of our world (nice touch) including Celtic, Greek, Egyptian, and Norse deities.

Appendix C is the planes of D&D, touches on planar travel and the like.

Appendix D is creature stats- while it’s not a bestiary and more of what a caster can summon, it still gives you a glimpse of how stat blocks work in 5e.  For some free enemies go here.

Appendix E is inspirational reading…  How sad that they didn’t call this Appendix N…  Tsk tsk.

Then there is an index.  Huzzah… I HATE books that don’t include an index.

My Beef

Now I’ll touch on the one thing in the book that really didn’t do anything for me…  And that is the art.  I’m not saying it’s bad…  It’s technically skilled and has a decent aesthetic, but I just feel it is pretty “meh.”  I understand that D&D is attempting to be the gateway and attract a large audience (and that is what D&D does best), but the art didn’t conjure any visceral emotions for me.  I didn’t get a “holy shit!  I want my character to do that shit!”  I just feel the art is too save….

Truth be told I’ve become spoiled by the amazing art by the many talented artists active in the indie RPG/OSR area.

People like:

Doug Kovacs

Jason Sholtis

Zak Smith

Jez “the Man” Gordon

And David Lewis “the Beast” Johnson

I just prefer art that gets my blood boiling with excitement and inspires me to write shit for my players…  The art in 5e just doesn’t do that for me…

In Conclusion- From what I have read (I haven’t played it yet), 5e is a solid and great addition to the worlds greatest RPG.  I am excited to play this game and run my players through it.  It’ll be a good change from the chaos and grit that is constant in their lives (in a good way) with DCC and my Hubris session.

Is this version of D&D in the “heroic” vein that 3e and 4e were…?  Yes…  but rather than super powers of 4e, it pays homage to the grittier and deadlier days of yore and then moves forward to the heroics, firmly acknowledging both types of play and creating a happy place for all.

I tip my hat to the people at Wizards of the Coast and the consultants that aided in making this a great game and all their hard work.  Thank you.

Now I’ll have to have my girlfriend add another panel to this strip she did for me a few years ago.

The ancient and shriveled goblin shaman Ulgrag kept a bag of victim’s belly buttons as a trophy.  He would gladly take them out and show them to the other members of his clan at a moments notice. After an unfortunate incident where Ulgrag’s head ran into a knights war mace, the bag was collected and sold off to a mysterious pawn shop, simply known as “The Emporium.”  Now the shop keeper has a deal for you…

In the bag at any given time are the belly buttons of:

Virgins (There are 10 of these)- they can be put on the fingers of a person (like black olives) and become suction cups that allow the wearer to climb sheer surfaces.  Lasts for 2d10 minutes before shriveling up and crumbling to dust.

Children (1d4 of these)- Throw at a target and it acts like the Phantasmal Killer (Wizard, lvl 4) spell.

Old People (2d4 of these)- These shriveled and nasty belly buttons can be crushed into a fine powder and blown in the eyes of a target.  The target must make a DC 14 Fort save or be blinded for 2d10 minutes and being to have horrible, violent hallucinations.  Alternatively the user can crush up four at a time and throw them at an area, which acts as the Web spell (Wizard, lvl 2).

Goblin (3d6 of these)- Ah how Ulgrag liked to carve out the belly buttons of naughty lil goblins of his clan!  Each one of these thrown summons a loyal goblin soldier (2 HP, +1 attack, AC 12, 1d4-1 dmg- rusted dagger).  These lil bastards giggle, cause mayhem, and last for 2d10 rounds or until killed.

Women (1d3 of these)- The owner can stretch this belly button out and lower it around their head.  They will be transformed into a beautiful woman (Charisma 18, +4).  The perfect disguise… or just something to do on a lonely Friday night.

Men (1d4 of these)- This can be thrown on the ground and a level 1d4 fighter will appear and serve your will.  This is a mindless husk, but very capable with a blade.  Only one of these belly buttons can be used at a time.  The fighter lasts for 2d3 rounds before disappearing.

Once all these belly buttons have been used the bag will sit empty for 1 month.  After 1 month the bag must be set under the full moon and bathed in the blood of a yak, the venom of a spider, and the spit of a whore.  Once these rites have occurred the bag will refill.

The Violin of the Lamented Exile- Isaac Thamuel, a once a renowned and celebrated musician, fled his beloved nation after he wrote a symphony of such passion and heartbreak it caused all in the audience to go insane, many dying of a seemingly broken heart.

As the years in isolation and exile passed Isaac became more engrossed in his grief and torment.  He played his violin at many inns and taverns along his travels, and the result was nearly always the same… chaos, crushing sadness, insanity, and death.

Eventually Isaac was killed by a frenzied mob as he wandered into a new town, but his violin survived.  This violin is fueled with the energies of sadness, bitterness, and chaos that coursed through Isaac’s soul.

Should a person play a song of sadness and loss on the violin, all within a 100’ radius must make a successful save DC 18 Will save or be driven mad, suffering a permanent 2d3 Wisdom loss.  Each day the target must make another Will save at the same DC or lose a further 2d3 points of Wisdom.  Once a target has dropped to 3 or below Wisdom, they are permanently insane, lost in the prison of their own mind.  A successful Will save causes the target to snap back to reality, but does not recover the lost points.

Each time a person plays this violin they permanently lose a point of Charisma as their become a more surly, moody, and tortured soul.

The Wondrous Bag of Holding*-

This 60 pound thick tattered leather backpack is a highly sought after treasure.  It has the ability to hold an immeasurable amount of objects.  The mouth of the bag is wide enough to fit a canoe or similarly sized objects or smaller.  When someone attempts to retrieve something they must stick their hand into the bag and concentrate on the object for one round.  The person then must succeed at a Luck roll to find it.  Failure means that the object is swirling in the nether of the bag for 24 hours.  Burning a point of Luck will immediately bring the object to the person’s hand.

Should the inside of the bag ever been torn by a sharp object, calamity will ensue.  The ripped inside of the bag opens a powerful vortex to the Void and begins sucking everything in within 96,000 square feet (roughly 2 ¼ acres).  There is no save.  There is no escape.  Once the bag has been sucked into the Void, the vortex dissipates, leaving a huge bowl shaped crater in the area.

*- This item is from the Hubris campaign setting.

Go here!!  Read the rules!!  Submit your request!!!  Do it!!!

Long live the Santicore!!

A few weeks ago we saw the release of 5e Dungeons and Dragons, and I was pleasantly surprised with the system (for my reviews- Part One and Part Two)!  So of course with the big new shiny to play with I asked my players if they would like to take a break from our Hubris campaign (which we are about to hit the one year mark of play) and do a mini-campaign to try out 5e.  No big surprise that all my players were chomping at the bit to try out the system.

I started pondering where I would want to run the game, and of course, I started getting too carried away- thinking of a whole campaign and world building rather than just realizing that this campaign will most likely only be 4-5 sessions before we go back into Hubris.

At first I was pondering running in in Planescape, but nixed that idea when I realized how much work I’d have to put into getting everything set up to run it…  I’m too busy editing Hubris and writing notes on my next RPG book to read through a whole campaign setting right now…  So, that’s out.

So I started thinking about just mashing a bunch of things together… I also decided that this was a perfect opportunity to test one of my designs of Hubris.

When I started Hubris I wanted it to be a full campaign setting, but I also wanted it to be able to be hacked to whatever setting you wanted to use.  Maybe you don’t want to run a game in my fucked up and gritty world, but you do like the Land of Perpetual Stone and Mire, perfect- just take that land…  It’s perfectly stand alone and hackable!

So I decided I wanted to use the River Kingdoms from the Pathfinder world, Golarion (or whatever it’s called)- however, make it a bit darker and twisted (because that’s what I like to do).

I also decided that since 5e had some serious nods to the older versions of D&D and to the OSR, I’d run an older module.  I decided to go with the Sinister Secrets of Saltmarsh since I was already decided to start this campaign in a swamp area.  This also got me excited because it meant I could run the awesome Scenic Dunnsmouth (one of the best modules/adventures ever, btw) as well!

This is a pretty cool old module.

How I see Saltmarsh

Also I decided to use a swamp because it allows me to test Hubris.  I created my own swamp territory in my setting called the Bogwood Swamp.  I’m not going to use the locations in it, but I AM going to use the Lay of the Land chart and the Encounters chart to see how well they translate to a completely different setting/world.  I know it’ll be fine, but I just want to see for myself.

I plan to start with the player emerging from the mountains with a man they are escorting to Saltmarsh.  I plan to have this be a sandbox (contained within the River Kingdoms, since it’ll be a short campaign), and we’ll see where they go.  I’ll do a session write up with thoughts of 5e mechanics after we play on 9/14 and 9/21.

Inspirational Pictures

I love looking at pictures to generate ideas and use them as a reference point.  I also think it is fun and easy to show them to my players and say “this” and them get the jist rather than constant use of descriptors that can be confusing.  I also tend to use pictures to give my players a sense of the campaign rather than a huge wall of text that I know they’ll never read.

Here are a bunch of pics!  Enjoy!

First off I was given the book by Dave to review.  Second I am partial to Dave.  He’s done excellent artwork for my Hubris campaign setting, and he’s from Mon-fucking-tana!

Not this kind of Montanan

But this kind of HAPPY Montanan!

Anyways- I digress… I’m not here to explain or examine how sexy Dave is…

We’re here to talk about Dave’s recent release of Grandpappy Cromdar’s Whizbang Zoo!  Summary- I recommend this book.  A) It’s only $5! B) It’s a happy addition to the DIY RPG community! C) It’s chock-full of tasty and fun monsters! D) There’s an awesome adventure at the end of the book!

First thing I’ll get out of the way is this is not a “serious” monster manual…  Dave states right on the first page that this is a beer and pretzel RPG book.  In this book you’ll find monsters that sling insults and warn adventurers of their presence by playing kick the can, another monster that has the favorite pastime of digesting whole sharks and turn offs include mammals, music, and waking up, or another that sounds like Winston Churchill on autotune…  If you want a serious monster manual that is also awesome, I recommend Teratic Tome by R. Chandler.  That’s not to say you can’t use this book seriously, but I think that would be missing the point and joy of Grandpappy Cromdar’s Whizbang Zoo.

The format of the book is easy to understand and follow.  I really dig Dave’s humor and it shows throughout this book.  His artwork is top notch and fun!  I love that his has a “as big as” in the monster info- that is PERFECT for a descriptor of a monster and gets the point across to your players quickly.  The favorite pastime and turnoffs are hilarious and, again, something that makes this book a delight and fun!

All in all there are 21 monsters in this book, all illustrated, and follow the same 1 page format (which I love).

After monsters you will find a HUGE 3 level dungeon with over 100 rooms!  The dungeon has a straight forward format familiar to anyone who has ever ran a dungeoncrawl before.  Level 1 has a 1 page map and then 6 pages of information, the same is said for level 2.  Level 3 has a 1 page map and 4 pages of information.

One really cool thing is that Dave includes the stats of monsters mentioned in the rooms in a single line format, which saves you from having to flip back and forth in the book (unless you want to, so you can show your players the picture).  I really appreciate this.  It’s such a small thing, but it’s a nice touch and makes me happy.  I know many modules/adventures do the same thing, but there are also many that have the “well we mentioned this creature elsewhere and now we’ll just give a page number to refer to” attitude, and that doesn’t make the book user-friendly at the table.  Dave didn’t have to do this, but he did and it shows that he has that keep shit simple, keep shit moving at the table attitude!

This book is awesome and I can’t recommend it enough, especially for the price point!  I will definitely insert this dungeon into either my Hubris campaign or my 5e mini-campaign I’ve just started running.  Seriously, get the book, run it, hack it, hug it!

I mentioned the other day that I was about to kick off my mini-campaign using the new D&D 5e rules.  I am also play-testing the hackability of my Hubris campaign book.  I am using the Bogwood Swamp territory info of the Lay of the Land and Encounters and see how well they fit in a campaign that isn’t Hubris.  So far, so good.

The River Kingdoms

The River Kingdoms

Background- I’m going super-lite on the fluff because I’m not sure how long we’ll play this.  I told my players that if they want a longer break from Hubris, I totally understand and we can keep playing this (new stuff refreshes the old- also Hubris is gritty and dangerous, and I understand them wanting to branch out a lil and be heroic for once).

I decided that the northern kingdom has been in civil war for 10 years after the Grand King died and his four children are fighting for power.  The constant shifting in territory borders, changes in laws, conscription, and other various reasons- people are fleeing their homes in the northern kingdom and going else where.  Many deserters and others are going south through the mountains to the River Kingdoms.  Each “kingdom” has it’s own set of laws and there is no over-arching form of government (I’m using inspiration here from the Civil War and the Old West).  The only one law is that everyone is free.  There is no slavery.  The moment a slave enters the River Kingdoms, they are instantly free.  Anyone attempting to capture others and make them slaves is arrested and put to death.  However government is nothing without hypocrisy, so there are forms of indentured servitude…  just slavery that’s more PC.

So that’s the backdrop of the campaign- a soggy, sodden, rainy territory filled with ancient ruins, dangerous monsters, and the various kingdoms trying to etch out their own ways, while proclaiming freedom, etc.

I did give a little fluff to the elves.  I said that the elves were banished from their ancient kingdom over a thousand years ago.  In that realm they are immortal, however the “Nemesis” attacked and was conquering everything- so the elves fled to the mortal realm.  Here they are mortal and can die.  This, and the loss of their kingdom has made them bitter and feeling isolated.

T0 give them strength, High elves latched onto the magics of the material plane.  Wood elves have latched onto nature to give them strength and power.

The drow were a splinter group of high elves, led by Lillith, who desired to regain their immortality.  They were banished and fled to the underdark.  Lillith began practicing dark rites, contaminating her own people (thus transforming them into the drow we all know) and eventually was transformed into Lolth, the drow spider goddess.  Now her people worship her, continuing to practice their dark rites in the hopes of joining her.  (Aside: However they do not realize that when they die, Lolth consumes their souls to give herself even more power.  Also she fears any form of competition that might remover her from her demi-god status).

So that’s the fluff I’ve given the setting…  and it’s enough.

Players

Fletch- Dwarf barbarian

Liam- Gnome paladin

Nate- Human fighter

Stephen- Halfling barbarian

Lisa- Human ranger

Chuck- High elf sorcerer

John- Wood elf rogue

Emerging into the Swamp

The group came out of the mountain pass, guarding a old fat human merchant who is retiring and moving to Saltmarsh.  He offered to pay the group 50gp each to get him there.

The flat area of the River Kingdoms stretched before them.  The group could see various trees dotting the landscape.  However they couldn’t see the ground… a thick white fog blanketed the ground (ankle deep).

After walking in the swamp for about 40 minutes the group stumbled across an overturned canoe made of reed and straw.  Four dead lizardmen were around the craft, as were two dead humans.  The humans had been looted of their gear and goods.

As the group was walking around surveying the area they heard a panting and splashing coming towards them.  A wounded female lizardfolk  stumbled towards them.  After a moment of them all staring at one another she begged for help.  Stating that humans were attacking her village and killing her clansmen.

The group debated for a few minutes on whether or not they should get involved or that this creature was telling the truth.  Eventually the lizardfolk offered reward for help and all (including the retiring merchant) agreed.  The group set off as fast as they could with the merchants wagons slowing them down.

Who’s the Bad Guy?  Who Can We Kill?

The group formed a plan that they would see who actually was the aggressor and culprit of the supposed attack and then act accordingly.  The group saw the smoke and flames of the sacked lizardfolk village from a distance.  As they were walking up they saw a man with a longsword and an eye patch holding a dead lizardman, “Kill them all!  Don’t forget to skin them!  We can get up to 20 gold for each of their hides!”

Someone in the party said, “Ah crap, now I HAVE to kill them.”

Stephen was first into combat and cleaved one with his short sword and threw a hand axe into another nearby raider, dropping both of them.  Stephen then shouted, “You can definitely tell this isn’t Hubris!  I’m killing stuff and not afraid to just run into combat.”  This was a compliment, because that was EXACTLY what I was aiming for with Hubris.

The fight was fairly quick.  Two of the raiders fled immediately.  The leader was nearly killed by a ray of frost from Chuck, and then stabbed to death by John.  The rest of the raiders went down easily.  One surrendered and Liam tied him up to be dealt with later.

Stephen and Lisa decided to give chase on the two that ran away.  I rolled for a chance of a random encounter during the fight and, sure enough- got one.  I rolled on my Bogwood Swamp encounter list and got 2d6 Deep Ones.  I rolled 7.

Stephen and Lisa weren’t surprised by the hideous creatures jumping out of the small stream, but they were overwhelmed by their attacks and were soon unconscious and being dragged away.  The rest of the group decided to look for the group.  Stephen and Lisa succeeded at their three death saves.  The third round was when the rest of the group caught up with the Deep Ones.

The Deep Ones all threw javelins at the party, formed a V-shaped attack pattern and began to run at the group.  At the last minute they all fell into the fog and disappeared.  The group revived Stephen and Lisa and waited for battle.  Eventually Lisa was grabbed by a Deep One and drug under the water.  John and Stephen valiantly helped her get back to the surface.

The group made quick work of these 7 hideous creatures and headed back to the Lizardfolk village.

Our Many Thanksssssss…

The group offered a place to sleep at the remains of the Lizardfolk village and given a hemp necklace with a small pressed reed pendant.  Burned into the front was the symbol of the Riptooth clan.  Wearing that displayed their frienship with this clan of Lizardfolk.  They were also given a large ruby the size of a fist, called the Dragon’s Heart, and a silver short sword.

The group asked about the surrounding area and found out that there was a grouping of four stone statues (of beasts) and that the clan stayed away from it, one day to the east.  There was also a fungal forest of large mushrooms about 1 day NE of Saltmarsh.  Those who made it out were not right in the head for several days after.

The Lizardfolk said Saltmarsh was one day south from their village.  Saltmarsh is the second largest kingdom in the River Kingdoms, Graltron being the first.

The group rested up and we ended there.

Next session- To Saltmarsh

I love blood magic.  I dug it in Avatar… love it in Dragon Age… and dug the Blood Mage prestige class in the 3.5 days.  I even drew inspiration from the class for my Hubris game.  I decided to take some of the same concepts and ideas and port them over to a sorcerous origin for 5e.

Blood Magic

Your innate magical comes from the vital component of nearly all living creatures: blood.  No one is sure what has given this rare and terrifying power, but you use it to fuel your abilities and spells.  Did this power come from your mother or father being involved in a dark ritual?  Were you cursed while still in the womb?  Or still even a darker design meant for you?  Whatever the reason, you use this power to wield the might and awe of the arcane.

Empowered by Blood- At 1^st level you are able to tap into the life essence of your blood and sacrifice a number of HD from your Hit Dice pool to gain extra power on spells that deal damage.  For every HD point spent, add an 1d4 damage to that spell (cannot sacrifice more HD than the sorcerer’s level).

Metabolic Control- At 1^st level you are able to slow down your metabolism.  By spending 2 sorcery points you only need to consume half the needed food and water per day.  At level 10 you can spend  4 sorcery points and not need to consume food or water for 24 hours.

Power of Blood- At 6^th level you have the ability to regain lost Sorcery points by pulling the energy out of blood.  This can be accomplished one of two ways: One- by cutting on your own flesh with a ceremonial dagger you regain 1d6 Sorcery points back, but take that same amount as damage.  Two- You can attempt to pull the blood out of another target.  The designated target must succeed a Constitution save.  If the target succeeds, you are unable to regain any Sorcery points.  If the target fails, you regain half of your Sorcery points back and the target takes 3d6 damage.  You must take a long rest before you are able to use this ability again.

Metabolic Weakening- At 14^th level you are now able to affect the blood of others.  A designated target within 30’ of you must succeed a Constitution based save or suffer Disadvantage on all physical rolls until they take a long rest.  The affected target’s body becomes sluggish and they move at 50% of their normal rate.  A sorcerer can spend 4 sorcery points to cause an affected target to develop hemophilia.  Any slashing or piercing damage deals an extra 1d4 damage per round (this stacks with multiple attacks).

Blood Walk- At 18^th level you are able to jump into a living creature and use their blood to transport you anywhere on the same realm that you have visited previously, no matter the distance.  You must emerge at your desired location through another living creature.  The creatures both must be living, have red blood, and medium or larger in size.  Jumping into a target is a reaction and the sorcerer must succeed a touch attack (if the target is unwilling).  You emerge at your desired location the next round, no matter the distance.  You can choose to emerge from a target violently, bursting forth from their body.  Should you choose to do emerge violently, the target must succeed a Constitution save or suffer 10d6 damage.  If the target succeeds they suffer no damage and you must make a Constitution save or be stunned for 1d3 rounds, suffering Disadvantage on all physical type rolls.  You must take a long rest before you can attempt to blood walk again.

Yesterday I posted the Blood Magic bloodline for Sorcerous Origin for Dungeons and Dragons 5e.  I thought it would be fun to do the same with some of the other classes.  I don’t know how many I will do.  I have two more (at least) planned…  we’ll see what my use says.  Anyways- enjoy.

Paladin Sacred Oath: Oath of the Fallen

Paladins take up the mantel of their faith to met out justice to evildoers and bring hope to the downtrodden and oppressed.  This constant struggle exposes paladins to some of the worst experiences and evils on the planet.  While many find strength and solace in their faith, others become disillusioned, frustrated and corrupted by hatred.  Eventually these paladins turn to the dark gods they had promised to fight against for power and strength.  To these fallen paladins the weak deserve to be crushed under boot and whip, and the good and divine are the reason the world is such a constant mess.  They march across the landscape with undead and fiends at their side, culling and enslaving the weak.

Tenets of the Fallen

The tenants of the Oath of the Fallen vary with each dark god or fiend, but the means all tend to be the same.

Wrath. Hated and anger are powerful allies, use them to your full advantage.

Cull the Weak. Those that cannot defend themselves are weak and should be put to the sword or enslaved.

Break Their Will. Corrupting others to serve your dark gods (especially those in power), bolsters your own strength and stretches the influence of your deities to further realms and heights.

Survival. Do whatever it takes to ensure your survival, even if it means the destruction of a complete civilization.

Oath of the Fallen Spells

You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed.

Variation from Paladin Class

Divine Sense- Functions as the standard ability (PHB, pg 84), with the following changes: You no longer sense or detect evil, but instead good.

Lay on Hands- Functions as the standard ability, (PHB, pg 84), with the following changes: You can only heal evil aligned targets (or yourself).  You are also able to use this on undead to heal them. 

Divine Smite- Functions as the standard ability, (PHB, pg 85), with the following changes: damage is necrotic, not radiant.

Spells- Spells function as per descriptions in the magic section, however the DM may change things slightly to fit a more evil bend.  This can be stating that the spell only works on evil creatures (IE- bolstering them, etc) or hinders good aligned.  The DM is more than within their right to alter these spells as they see fit.

Channel Divinity

When you take this oath at 3^rd level you gain the following two Channel Divinity options.

Wrack With Pain- You can use your Channel Divinity to cause enemies within a 20 foot radius to be wracked with unbearable pain.  The targets must succeed a Charisma save or suffer Disadvantage to all rolls and move at half movement while in the affected area.  This lasts for a number of rounds equal to the Paladin’s level.

Turn the Unholy- This functions as the Channel Divinity feature (PHB, pg 86), with the following changes: You can turn good-aligned or divine creatures.

Marching Horde- At 7^th level you emit an aura that causes yourself and any friendly targets within 10 feet to gain Advantage on saves against any hold spells or those that hinder movement.  At 14^th level the radius is increased to 30 feet.

Death Knight- Starting at t 15^th level, when are dropped to 0 HP you can restore life to yourself as a reaction in one of two ways: One- You can pull the life force from a living target within 15 feet.  The target must succeed a Constitution save or take 3d4 damage, and restoring half that amount to you as HP.  If the target succeeds they suffer no damage and you are only healed for 1 HP.  Two- You can sacrifice an undead minion (if you have one summoned via the Animate Dead spell), giving you half of their remaining HP.  If the undead is intelligent it receives a Wisdom save to resist.  If the undead is successful you only receive 1 HP and the undead is no longer under your control.  Once you use this ability, you must take a long rest before you can utilize it again.

Additionally you cease aging and no longer suffer any of the drawbacks of old age, and cannot be aged magically.

Unholy Champion- At 20^th level your dark gods have blessed you with necrotic zeal, allowing you to become surrounded with dark energies.  On your action you become surrounded by a thick miasma that spreads out for 30 feet, and gain the following benefits for 1 minute:

• At the beginning of your transformation you are instantly healed for 3d8+10 HP.
• Become resistant to damage from good aligned targets (or magical weapons).
• Any enemy target that starts their turn in the area of your miasma takes 3d6 damage (no save). Fiends and undead are immune to this effect.

When I first started playing 2e Dungeons and Dragons one of my favorite kits was in the Complete Elven book, the undead slayer.  I thought it would be fun to create this as an archetype for 5e.  I really love the kit approach of 5e.

Here are some other 5e goodies I’ve done:

Blood Magic- Sorcerous Origin

Oath of the Fallen- Paladin Sacred Oath

Ranger Archetype: Undead Slayer

You have seen firsthand the devastation that the undead can bring: Hordes of zombies, skeletons, and ghouls that march ceaselessly across the landscape killing and consuming the innocent, vampires enslaving whole governments and bending them to their depraved will, or a lich that corrupts and blights the very earth with their mere presence.  You’ve lost loved ones, friends, or even your whole village to their onslaught… you have trained against these monstrosities and seek vengeance.  You know that holy water, mirrors, stakes and silver weapons aren’t enough.  It takes a resolve and a reckless devil-may-care attitude to do what you do.  And you won’t stop until every single undead creature lies dead at your feet.

Hatred of Undead

If you have not chosen undead as a favored enemy at level one, it is now a bonus favored enemy.  You gain all benefits stated in the rules (PHB, pg 91).  You have also studied a specific type of undead (IE- zombies, skeletons, wrights, lich, etc.) to gain Advantage against all attack rolls against them.  At level 7 and 15 you chose another specific undead and gain the same benefit.

Righteous Spells

Undeath is the antithesis of nature, and as such the very planet itself fuels you with spells that enable you to fight undead better.  These spells only function against the undead.

*= Smites can be delivered via melee or ranged attack.

Unwavering Resolve

At 7^th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.

Battle Hardened- When fighting against one of your specific undead types you gain +2 to your AC.  If the creature hits you with an attack your AC is increased to +4 against all subsequent attacks made by that undead for the rest of the turn.

Clear Minded- You gain Advantage on saves against being charmed by undead creatures.

Minds Eye- You gain Advantage on saves against illusionary effects used by undead creatures (not spells).

Steel Will- You gain Advantage on saves against being frightened by undead creatures.

Debilitating Powder

At 11^th level your studies of your specific undead enemies have allowed you to learn their weaknesses.  You are able to create a powder (roughly 100 gp in reagents) that can affect the undead.  Choose which powder you are creating: Mental or physical.  If the mental powder is thrown on the undead it must succeed on a Wisdom save or suffer Disadvantage on all mental rolls (including spells and special abilities- if applicable).  If the physical powder is thrown on the undead it must succeed on a Constitution save or suffer Disadvantage on all physical rolls (including attack and special abilities- if applicable).  This lasts until the creature takes a short rest.

True Slayer

At level 15 your studies and confrontations with the undead have bolstered your strength and resolve.  You gain Advantage to all saves against special attacks or supernatural abilities by any undead, but not actual spells.

I love goblins- I just can’t help it… I really do blame Labyrinth and the book Goblins in the Castle…  I’ve been jonsing to do a Goblins race for about two weeks now and I figured I’d better get this out of my system.

Goblin

“Goblins are small, black-hearted, selfish humanoids that lair in caves, abandoned mines, despoiled dungeons, and other dismal settings. Individually weak, goblins gather in large- sometimes overwhelming- numbers. They crave power and regularly abuse whatever authority they obtain” (5e Monster Manual, pg 165).

Deviation From the Norm

While most goblins are vile, black-hearted creatures, there are those who tend to get on better with the more civilized races of the world.  Their culture and behavior is still abhorrent and crass, but they are slightly more tolerable than their evil-aligned and cruel brethren.

Goblin Traits

Ability Score Increase.  Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Age. A goblin’s life is short and brutal, most are lucky if they live more than 5 years or so.  A goblin reaches adulthood at the age of 3.  A goblin is elderly around 20 years and they rarely live past 30 years old.

Alignment.  Goblins are chaotic, nuff said.

Size.  Goblins average roughly 3 feet tall and weigh about 30-40 pounds.  Your size is small.

Speed.  Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Darkvision.  Goblins dwell in the underdark and have grown accustomed to little or no light.  You can see in dim light within 60 feet as if you were in bright light, and in darkness as if you were in dim light.  You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

Eat Damn Near Anything.  Your stomach is capable of breaking almost anything substance down and gaining nutrients from it.  Poisons or toxic substances will still harm and kill you, but a pile of rocks is mouthwatering and will sustain you for a day.

Distracting.  You are a distracting little nuisance.  You jump up and down in combat, shouting curses and insults, hurling small stones and other objects.  Any spellcaster within 10’ of you suffers Disadvantage on spellcasting rolls.

Nimble Escape.  You can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of your turns.

Languages.  You can speak Common and Goblinoid.  Goblins are illiterate and don’t bother with the time wasting that is learning to read.

Subrace.  The sheer number of the various goblin clans is staggering.  Much like the number of beetle species on the planet, it is impossible to know and catalogue them all.  Listed below are two of the less vile or horrific goblin tribes, the Bug Collectors and the Fire Breath Clan.

The Bug Collectors

Bug Collectors are obsessed with any sort of creepy crawly, believing them to have mystical properties (and they also are extremely tasty).  Bug Collectors will look under rocks, jump into foxholes, and peak into any nook and crany in the hopes of finding more insects for their collection!

Ability Score Increase.  Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Bug Scavenge.  Each morning a Bug Collector can scavenge around and is able to find some sort of bug.  The goblin must keep the bug in a jar that is destroyed when the insect is thrown at a target.  The insect will attack the target immediately and stay for 1d3 rounds before scurrying off (or killed).  Roll 1d6: (1) Giant Centipede (MM, pg 323); (2) Giant Fire Beetle (MM, pg 325); (3) Giant Wolf Spider (MM, pg 330); (4) Scorpion (MM, pg 337); (5) Large jar of insects- treat as Swarm of Insects (MM, pg 338); (6) Spider (MM, pg 337).  If a Bug Collector doesn’t release the bug, it becomes dinner later that night.

Insect Resilience.  You have advantage on saving throws against any poison on disease that is transmitted by insects (of any size).

Fire Breath Clan

Fire Breath Clan goblins hail from the deep swamp and are crimson in color and have red burning eyes.  They are constantly warm to the touch hate the cold.

Ability Score Increase.  Your Wisdom score is increased by 1.

Fire Breath.  You are able to belch a ball of fire at a target within 10’.  You must make a successful ranged attack (add your proficiency bonus).  If the attack is successful the target takes 2d4 damage.  This is increased to 3d4 at 6^th level, 4d4 at 11^th level, and 5d4 at 16^th level.

After you use your breath weapon twice, you can’t use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Fire Resistance.  You have resistance to fire damage.

Tank Clan

You hail from the ancient Goblin City.  You served proudly in the Goblin King’s army and wear your armor proudly!  In fact you really prefer to never take it off, sleeping and eating inside of it.  It is not uncommon for a person (even a close friend) to never see your face.

Ability Score Increase.  Your Strength score increases by 2.

At Home in Armor.  You have proficiency with light and medium armor.  Wearing your bizarre cannonball-shaped armor is second nature to you.  You can curl up inside it and sleep comfortably.  While in the armor you are considered to be wearing half plate (PHB, pg 145), however you do not suffer disadvantage to Stealth rolls.

Badass Spikes.  A ring of foot long spikes line the top circumference of your cannonball-shaped armor.  A target that falls into these (or if you charge at a target) takes 1d6 damage.

Other 5e Goodies

Undead Slayer- Ranger Archetype

Blood Magic- Sorcerous Origin

Oath of the Fallen- Sacred Paladin Oath

What player doesn’t like to put their character through hell by carousing and causing mayhem that they don’t remember?  Jeff Rients over at Jeff’s Gameblog came up with an excellent Carousing table (that is the stuff of OSR legend now), and Zak later flushed it out more for Vornheim.  I have used both table several times, altering results on the fly to fit my setting… However I finally decided to make a table up for Hubris, as my players seem to enjoy punishment and have caroused several times.

Hubris Carousing Table

When the characters are in a populated area, they may wish to dive into the depths of debauchery and get drunk at the local tavern.  If characters are willing to pay gold and take a gamble on what happens for the evening, they gain xp.  When a player carouses they roll a die and spend an amount of gold equal to what was rolled x 50gp.  The die rolled corresponds to how large the city is: 1d4 for villages; 1d6 for a town or city; 1d8 for Shadowfall or Fairweather, as they are dens of debauchery and excess.  The character then must succeed on a DC 12 Fortitude save, with the number rolled on the die acting as a negative modifier.  If the character succeeds roll on the night passed without incident and a good time was had by all.  If the character fails they roll on the Carousing Mishaps table.

The amount rolled on the die also equals the amount of XP gained for carousing.  If the player doesn’t have the actual amount of gold spent, they receive only half the XP gained and are now in debt to someone.

Example: A PC decides to try their luck and carousing while the party is resting in Fairweather.  The player rolls 1d8 and gets a 6.  In the course of the evening the player spends 300gp and needs to roll a DC 12 Fort save with a -6 to the roll.  The player rolled a 4 on their Fort save, thus failing the roll  The player now rolls on the Carousing Mishap table.

Carousing Mishap Table

1- You make a complete fool out of yourself in public.  You gain no XP.  Roll a Luck roll.  If successful you suffer -2 to Personality rolls for 24 hours.  If the Luck roll failed you gain reputation as the drunken lout and all Personality rolls are made one step lower on the die ladder for the next 1d4 months.
2- Get into an epic pub brawl!  Roll 1d3: 1-2) there are an equal number of brawlers to party members; 3) There are 1d4 more brawlers to party members.  Party members suffer -2 to attack for being drunk.
3- A slight drunken misunderstanding with the local constabulary that results in a fine of 2d8x10gp.  Failure to pay said fine results in 2d10 days in jail.
4- You wake up in bed with someone… roll on Wake Up in Bed With… table below.
5- You lose an additional 1d10x50 GP in gambling loses and gain 0 XP.
6- You drank and celebrated and were the life of the party.  Roll a DC 10 Personality Check- if you fail, you manage to be forgotten and fade into the mists of inebriation.  If you succeed on the roll you become the stuff of legend and all future carousing in this location cost double due to people who glom onto you for free drinks and revelry.
7-8- You insult a notable person of importance.  Roll on Local Person of Rank table.
9- Sharing mugs, swapping spit (or worse) isn’t the smartest thing…  You picked up a disease..  Roll on the Diseases of Hubris table (pg XX).  Use this util the book is published.

10-You get hammered and decide it’s a great idea to get a new tattoo: Roll 1d7 1) PC chooses; 2) Judge chooses; 3) player to your left chooses; 4) player to your right chooses; 5) PC carousing with you also gets the same tattoo; 6) PC chooses, but the tattoo artist botches it terribly; 7) PC chooses and the piece is a work of art.
11-The drunken player boasts about their vast amount of riches (whether true or not) and is set upon by a group of opportunistic thieves when the PC is alone.  Roll 1d4: 1) 1d3 level 1 thieves; 2) 1d2 level zero mooks; 3) 2d2 level zero mooks; 4) 2d5 level zero mooks, but after 1d3 rounds two city watchmen get involved in the fight.

12-Make a Luck roll: Success- wake up in with only your armor; Critical Success- wake up with  your armor and your most prized possession; Failure- wake up with no possessions; Critical Failure- wake up with no possessions and suspended upside down in an abandoned building, a pile of  dead bodies below you.
13- You wake up with the hangover from hell.  All rolls (including spellcasting) are made one step lower on the die ladder for the next 24 hours.

14- In your drunken stupor, you managed to upset a witch…  She casts a horrible curse upon you (DCC, pg 438).
15-You joined a local organization… It’s kinda foggy on which one you joined, but you somehow remember all the secret codes, handshakes, and passwords.  Roll on Local Organization table below.
16-You had a night of gambling: Roll 1d6: 1) You bet on a brain grub match and won!  1d10x2 gp; 2) You bet on a boxing match and lost!  2d4x10 gp; 3) You bet on a boring chess match and won!  3d6 gp! 4) You went to a brain grub match that went awry!  Resolve with normal combat!  -2 to PC because they are drunk; 5) You won big at a pie eating contest!  1d100 gp; 6) You went to a cage match- a giant spider VS a poodle…  You bet on the poodle… sure thing, right? Wrong- lose 2d100 gp!
17-Wake up stark naked in local temple, roll a 1d7 on the Local Organizations table below.
18-Someone slipped you a love potion.  Roll on the NPC table to find out who you are smitten with (pg XX).  Effect lasts for 1d10 days.
19- You got yourself in some sort of mess while in your drunken stupor and begged and whined to your god to get you out of this mess… Unfortunately for you, your god heard and answered you.  Now they are demanding you go on a quest for them.

20- You manage to start a fire in your drunken idiocy.  Roll 1d6 twice: Part One- 1-2) burn down your favorite inn or tavern; 3-4) you burn down some other den off ill-repute; 5-6) you burn down a large portion of the town.  Part Two- 1-2) no one knows what you did; 2-3 your fellow carousers know what you did; 5) someone else knows and are planning on blackmailing you; 6) everybody knows and are quite angry…

Local Organizations (d14) Gods of Hubris

1) Church of the Stillborn Unwanted Child
2) Church of Set
3) Church of Yelsa, Goddess of Sex and Violence
4) Secret temple of the Heathen Below
5) Holy library of the God of the Terrible Whisper

6) Lavish temple of the Corpulent One

7) Church of Bailey
8) Church of the Great Slumbering Monolith

9) Church of Zxyldon

10) Secret church of Digradia

11) Chamber of Drallic the Flayer

12) Temple of Vralkar

13) Sect of the Spider Goddess (info on the Spider Goddess)

14) Cult of the Molted Raven (info on Cult of Molted Raven)

15) Band of Skeletal Gun Runners (info on Skeletal Gun Runners)

16) Guardians of the Egg that has Yet to Hatch

 
Local Person of Rank (d8)
1) Priest of most one of the religions of Hubris- roll 1d12 on the Local Organizations table for the deity.
2) Local magistrate
3) Tavern owner
4) Chief of the constabulary/local military
5) Court wizard
6) Plague Doctor (info on Plague Doctor)
7) Random local noble, female
8) Random local noble, male

9) Emissary from a different nation of Hubris: Roll 1d4*: 1) Floating Island of Terror; 2) Eisenbar; 3) Shadowfall; 4) Fairweather.

*reroll if outcome is nation characters are currently in

10) Prominent member of the local thieves guild
Wake Up In Bed/Smitten Subtable (d14)

1) A succubus- make a Luck roll- Success- she’s satisfied; failure- she’s not satiated and she’s angry.
2) A dead person: Roll 1d2- Even) random NPC (roll on Hubris NPC generator); Odd) roll on Local Person of Rank table
3) “Apparently” a normal attractive member of orientation-appropriate gender
4) Randomly determined other PC (neither remembers anything)
5) S/he’s ugly. You’re married.
6) (Roll again on this table.) You’re married.
7) Ekrask female who loves you
8) Half demon who is filled with regret.
9) Most important NPC in game
10) A Murder Machine
(what did you do?!)
11) Roll on “Local Person of Rank” table
12) Priest/ess of…Roll d10 on Local Organizations Subtable

13) Your mom/dad- a manifestation of the Twisted One sits on the edge of the bed looking pleased…  You are not.

14) A reoccurring villain of the game… they open dialogue with “so… what are you thinking about?”

Session Two

Players

Liam- Gnome paladin

Stephen- Halfling barbarian

Chuck- High elf sorcerer

Aside: This session ended up being a little light on players, but the three who could make it, stepped up to the plate and kicked some ass.

Last session we left off with group resting before heading into Saltmarsh… Arriving at Saltmarsh the group was demanded to play a small tax of 5 silver to enter into the town.  The retired merchant that they were escorting that he must pay 25 gold for his wagon of goods.  After debating and grumbling, the merchant paid for everyone’s entrance fee.

The group wandered into Saltmarsh and were greeted by the sights, smells and sounds of the Merchant District (see map below).

The City of Saltmarsh

The group bid farewell to the merchant and decided to explore the district together.  I used my City District Generator to generate all the districts, distinctive features, rumors/hooks, and an event happening in that district.  For the merchant district event I rolled “A festival celebrating life and happiness is currently underway!  The Cleric in charge of the sermon misreads the wrong passage and causes people to drop dead and rise as zombies and ghouls!”  I described the event underway and that there was free food and drink…  they took the bait and watched.  They then watched in horror as the priest read the passage and transformed into a massive bloated zombie that bellowed out a ferocious roar.  The blood floated to the ground and was surrounded by a sinister aura.  Suddenly people in the crowd were transformed into zombies (20 of them to be exact).

The group leapt into action!  Chuck ran away most of the fight (and missed pretty much all of his spell rolls) shouting, “I’m a sorcerer, dammit!  I don’t have the HP for this!”  Liam defended the helpless people in the crowd now being munched on by zombies…  A few city guard came to help him.  Out of the six that showed up, one survived (I think I need make this character show up again).  Stephen made his way through the surging crowd to the bloated zombie and began hacking away at him.  After Stephen dropped the bloated zombie, it exploded and three 1′ long maggots with barbed teeth

The fight was quite vicious and took roughly an hour and change to get through… but it made me happy.  It was deadly, and for a D&D combat of the modern era to take only an hour with 30 different combatants was refreshing and made me happy!

Chuck and Stephen then focused on killing the book while Liam continued to mop up the remaining zombies in the crowd.

After the fight they were met by Barnes, the captain of the guard in this district, who thanked them profusely for their deeds and said he needed to escort them to the leader of Saltmarsh in the Pirate’s Quarters.

That is where we left off for the session.  The experience gained was enough to allow them all to hit level 2.  Chuck and Liam upped themselves to level 2 in their classes.  Stephen took a level in Fighter (he wanted Fighting Style, and more importantly Second Wind).

Afterthoughts: We are really still enjoying 5e

Players

Fletch- Dwarf barbarian

Stephen- Halfling barbarian

Chuck- High elf sorcerer

John- Wood elf rogue

*Omar- Half demon Cleric

*Coley- Wood elf ranger

*Omar and Coley join us this week for some fun.  Omar has been rpging with me for years, but has been absent for nearly a year due to a busy RL schedule.  Coley is his g/f and it was her first time RPG.  She kicked butt.

Cleaning up the Mess

Last session we left off with the three heroes, Chuck, Liam, and Stephen, being escorted by Barnes- the captain of the Merchant District guard to the Pirate’s Quarters to meet with the leader of Saltmarsh.  The group got into a cart and were taken up to the Pirate’s District.  At the edge of the Merchant district the group saw a dilapidated building with guards in leather armor and masks.  A line of homeless and helpless looking people were being allowed into the building.

As the cart got near, a cultist in a red robe and white mask approached the wagon, “Excuse me my brothers, would you like health, happiness, and eternal life?  The Universal Brotherhood can grant you salvation.”  Barnes pushed the cultist off the cart, “Be off, you damned weirdo!”

Barnes grumbled and filled the party in on this new cult that has sprung up in Saltmarsh.  “They are growing at an alarming rate.  They are promising health, happiness, food, and a gateway to eternal life… Thus far they have made good on their promises.  They haven’t done anything suspicious or illegal, so we have no way to move in on them..  but I don’t like them.”

The Universal Brotherhood

The group rolled into the Pirate’s Quarters, past a massive cemetery, up to a large mansion and were shown up to the second floor into a large office by a snooty butler.  Inside the room was Omar and Coley’s characters.  The group was served drink and food.  After a few minutes they could hear arguing from another room- a gruff voice saying that Saltmarsh must give concessions to one of the kings of the North (there is a civil war going on in the northern kingdoms between three brothers and a sister).  A female voice retorted that the River Kingdoms are free and that Saltmarsh is the gate to the south and will not give such requests.  The gruff voice made a snide remark and called the female foolish.  The door flew open and a dwarf came crashing out, landing on his back- a dark elf female came out and told the dwarf to remember his place and that she was the leader of Saltmarsh, not him.  The dwarf got to his feet and scurried away.

The dark elf introduced herself as Neteela, leader of Saltmarsh.

The group talked for a bit and got some info on the city, the status of affairs, and was asked if they would be interested in a job of investigating a creepy mansion that has been abandoned for 25 years.  It was home to a wizard named Gargomel, who made a fortune on appraising antiquities and dabbling into the dark arts.  It is rumored that he was a demonologist.

Liam, Chuck, and Stephen were given 100gp each and the choice of a weapon from her armory (with a % chance that the weapon had special properties- silver, masterwork, or magical).  The whole group was given one week stay in the Lady Dragon’s Inn in the Pirate’s Quarters as a thank you for taking on the mission.  Chuck got a silver weapon, Liam and Stephen got masterwork (+1 to damage).

Carousing, Investigating, and Avoiding Taking a Bath

The group decided to split up here and do their own thing(s).  I was happy about this because it’s been awhile since the players have been able to do this.

I’ll just go through the highlights here:

Chuck- He decided to carouse and rolled a 6 on the table.  He is now known as a party animal.  All carousing costs are doubled in Saltmarsh.  He also didn’t have the money to pay for said revelry and is now in debt to someone, but doesn’t know who.  He woke up in the Planks District with a crow standing on his head.  He shooshed it away and it landed next to him, squawking.  He shot a ray of frost at it.  The bird split in two and squwaked, its jaw then dislocated and a small head came out of it’s mouth, “you owe me…  You owe me recompence…”  Then the birds died.  Chuck said, “Well… I guess I owe someone more than money…  Great.”

Fletch- Fletch also caroused and rolled a 15 and ended up joining the Guardians of the Egg that has Yet to Hatch.  He knows all their handshakes, passwords, and codes…  He also got a nifty lil hat with an egg on it.  He also woke up naked next to an old woman, having had some fun that night.

Omar and John- Omar and John went to the library in the Law District to investigate Gargomel and his mansion.  They talked to a very rude and crazy librarian who referred to Omar as “imp” and was drawing pictures in a book, and muttered to himself.  The librarian gave the two a key to the third basement and a said, “watch out for the rodents of unnatural size.”

I did a good job scaring them in the basement, and described a rat tail whipping out of sight… Omar found the book and when he pulled it from the rack a necrotic rat sprang from the bookshelf and hit Omar in the face and exploded.  John ran.  When they got back upstairs the librarian had drawn a picture of what had happened.  Omar grumbled and took the book with him.

Reading through the book- Omar discovered that Gargomel made a fortune off crafting a strange blue substance called Smurf… and it was highly sought after.

Coley and Stephen- Stephen was bogged down with weapons and equipment and wanted Coley to show him the best place to sell the gear.  She failed her local knowledge check and instead took him into the Vagabond District to Mad Max’s Used Weapon Emporium.  When they got inside there was a halfling on his back being fed grapes by a fat half demon female.  I gave the halfling a faux-British accent (like Penguin in the Arkham Asylum games).  Stephen and him bartered for a few minutes and came to a great deal.  Stephen then mentioned he needed a bath (he was still covered in zombie blood and goo from the fight last session).

Mad Max jumped up and said, “Well you’re in luck!  My sister Hairy Henrietta has the finest bathhouse in all of the Vagabond District!  Go to her, tell ‘er I sentcha!  She’ll treat you right!”  Stephen and Coley agreed and when they got there the found a ramshackle hut and a surly, butch female dwarf with a round face standing by two iron bath tubs.  There was three homeless people standing behind her getting served soup labeled, “Bath Leavin’s Soup- only 2 copper!”  Sure enough- a ragged old lady was dumping the bath water in a pot to warm it up… mmmmm..

After hearing Hairy’s offer to give them a free massage with the bath (holding up her hands and showing open sores), Stephen and Coley fled and headed back to the Lady Dragon’s Inn.

Setting Off For Adventure… And Death

The group left the next morning for the mansion.  Being only 8 miles away it didn’t take too horribly long, but their movement was slowed due to the bog.  After a few hours of walking the group saw something coming towards them in the sky.  When it got closer the group realized it was two goblins on a bicycle.  There was a carved wooden monkey with actual feather wings on the front and back of the bicycle that flapped as the two goblins peddled.  When the goblins got close to the party, they started laughing and shouting obscenities at them.  Coley shouted, “I want to kill these fuckers! (Yeah- I think she fits right in… Already a murderhobo). “

Initiative was rolled and Stephen, Coley, and the goblins all went first.  Coley fired an arrow at one while Stephen tried to run to where he thought there were going to land/crash (Coley missed though).  One of the goblins shouted, “I am prince Ibrogrik!  How dare you!” and let lose a jar of glowing beetles.  When the beetles hit the area of the group- they exploded.  Those that failed their save were knocked prone and took 1d4 damage- those that passed were still standing and took half damage.

Chuck threw a firebolt up at the goblin peddling and killed him… down went the bike and the prince goblin screaming curses… crash, dead… ouch.

The group proceeded on and eventually found the mansion in the distance.

As they were walking through the fields, a large insect erupted from the dirt and attacked Omar, dropping him to zero HP instantly.

The group began attacking this creature, doing decent damage (especially Fletch, who connected with a holy shit 19 points of damage with his great axe).  Omar failed his first Death save at the end of the round.

The creature released a spray of acid at all the characters, doing 15 points of damage, dropping Coley’s character… Omar critically failed his Death save… and thus ends the great tale of the half demon cleric…

After two more rounds, the Ankheg was killed and the group was able to revive Coley (she made all three of her saves, but she was at two failed, two successes… so it was hairy for a moment).

We left off the session outside the mansion with the group, bruised, bloodied and tired.  They mourned the loss of their new comrade by looting his body and dividing up the spoils.

Next Week: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

So many magical items have personalities, powers, and machinations.  The other day I was considering how this is never really done to wizard’s spellbooks… and those are FILLED with spells and untapped arcane energies.  It just made sense to me to create something like that in Hubris.

Zak S. did a great job making books new and strange in Vornheim:

“It is known to some scholars that the skins of snakes can be read like books. Those who speak the serpent language know that these creatures continuously hiss their titles. As they grow, the animals revise and expand themselves, shedding old knowledge for new. The most common and convenient

method of reading a snake (among human ophidobibliologists) is to have it slither through an ivory serpent-reader – a sphere with ornately carved orifices and channels.  Common snakes are usually fairly uninteresting works – garter snakes tend to be cookbooks, corn snakes are generally works of adventure fiction with cliche characters or too-convenient endings.  Rarer breeds- 100’ anacondas, albino cobras- often contain long-forgotten secrets or comprise unique works of poetry or philosophy.  Giant snakes are typically encyclopedias or great multi-volume sagas representing the myths and theogonies of entire cultures. Nagas are linguistic texts, translating from the languages of snakes to the languages of humans. The snakes growing from the heads of medusae are generally reference works—(Vornheim, pg 8)”.

 

This is a cool and unique idea and really served as inspiration.  I wanted to make spellbooks more than just tomes of spells that the wizard flips through.  I found the picture below and thought that this would be a cool idea for a spellbook.  What if an image with a personality and quirks manifested on the page to bother the wizard, guide or heckle them, etc.

I decided to use the structure of familiars and magic items in DCC as a reference for this (also wanted to keep it in line with the rules).  Anyways, enjoy!

The Wizard’s Spellbook (here it is as a PDF: Wizard’s Spellbook)

A spell book isn’t just a dusty old tome with a bunch of squiggly lines and jibberish that a caster reads and mumbles to be able to summon massive fireballs, bring forth demons, or move mountains.  No… these books are filled with weird runes, riddles, bizarre and horrible phrases that lesser minds were not meant to see or know.  If a mere mortal without any magical talent or training were to attempt to read these passages they would be driven mad from the images and horrors that assault their mind.  Or worse, their eyes catch fire and melt out of their sockets.

It should come as no surprise that a wizard’s spellbook is anything but mundane.  The wizard casts a ritual when they obtain their spellbook, imbuing it with a sliver of their essence.  The book becomes a living thing with a personality and features.

Go to the table that fits the wizard’s alignment and roll 1d5 to figure out the book’s cover, appearance, personality, and quirks.

Special Ability- The wizard must succeed a Luck roll.  Success means the caster rolls 1d3 and gains that special ability while the book is in their possession.

The Wizard’s spellbook and Other Spellbooks- If a wizard finds another spellbook, roll on the table below to figure out its personality.  The two spellbooks will interact with one another, often striking up conversations, getting in fights, and becoming increasingly jealous of one another.

Patron Characteristics

When a wizard bonds to a patron (DCC, pg 148) their spellbook becomes contaminated with small traits that match the patron.  Consult the list below for patrons and the effect.

Hubris Patrons

Charred Maiden (pg XX)-The book is hot to the touch and smoke wafts out of its pages.

Floating Island of Terror (pg XX)- Small metal tubes burst from the book and connect to the binding.  Small amounts of oil drip from the pages.

Spider Goddess (pg XX)- Spiders crawl all over the book and the pages are stuck together with think spider webs.

Twisted One (pg XX)- Small bumps and growths appear on the book cover, the book’s pages gain a fleshy texture.

DCC pages

Bobugbubilz (DCC, pg 322)- The book cover becomes bumpy like a toads flesh.  The pages are damp and slimy to the touch.

Azi Dahaka (DCC, pg 330)-The book becomes pitted and aged looking.  Dust and sand fall from the book when opened.

Sezrekan (DCC, pg 336)- The cover takes on a semi-ethereal feel, and the book releases a maniacal laugh when opened.

The King of Elfland (DCC, pg 342)- The cover becomes covered in clumps of moss.  When the book is opened small ethereal fairies flutter out and then disappear.

The Three Fates (DCC, pg 348)- Three glowing runes appear on the front cover of the book.  When it is opened the book floats 2” above the casters hand and splits into three version.

Yddgrrl, the World Tree (DCC, pg 354)- The cover takes on a bark-like texture.  The pages become a patchwork of leaves stitched together.

Obitu-Que (DCC, pg 355)- Five ruby eyes appear on the book cover.  The book is wreathed in spectral red fire.

Ithha, Prince of Elemental Wind (DCC, pg 356)- The book hums with power in the hand of the caster.  The pages flitter, as if by a gentle wind, and opens to the page the caster was concentrating on.

CLAPtrap

You are a robot manufactured by the Hyperion Corporation.  While most of your metallic brethren adhere to their program and offer assistance to the people of Pandora, you have a short circuit and have somehow gained full sentience and freedom.

While your kin toils and adheres to their programming, your destiny is your own and you are enjoying the hell out of it!

CLAPtrap Traits

Ability Score Increase.  Your Constitution score increases by 2.

Age.  With proper repair and maintenance a CLAPtrap can survive for 500 years.  Hell, even without proper maintenance a CLAPtrap can survive for 500 years…  They just go a little crazy and are really grumpy.

Alignment.  CLAPtraps are all over the spectrum…  It depends on how many short circuits they have.

Size.  CLAPtraps are about 3 ½ feet tall, but weigh around 250 pounds.  Your size is small.

Speed.  Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

CLAPtrap Body.  You are immune to poisons and diseases and only require 4 hours of rest a day to recharge.  You suffer disadvantage to saving throws against lightning/electricity damage and take an additional 1d6+1 damage.  Your armor class is 11 + your Dexterity modifier.

Lowlight Vision.  Your optical lens allows you to have superior vision in dark and dim conditions.  You can see in dim light within 60 feet as if you were in bright light, and in darkness as if you were in dim light.  You cannot discern color in darkness, only shades of green in night vision.

Languages.  You speak English and bad English.  You also know a series of intricately rude hand gestures.

Subraces.  The three main types of CLAPtraps produced are Meat Grinders, Medical Assistants, and Service Traps.  Choose one of these models.

-Subraces-

Meat Grinder

You were constructed to serve as a guard or attackbot for some rich person or business on Pandora.  Now you use your abilities for your own defense and personal gain.

Ability Score Increase.  Increase your Strength score by 1.

Heavy Metal.  You are covered in thicker armor plating.  Your armor class is 13 + your Dexterity modifier.

Buzz Saw Betty.  You have a large buzz saw in your central storage compartment.  You can use your bonus action to attack with the buzz saw if the target is in melee range.  Add your proficiency bonus to attack (no ability modifiers).  The damage of the buzz saw is 1d6.

Medical Assistant

Your programming gives you the necessary tools to aid the quack doctors of Pandora with surgery, medical administration, and general clean up (it’s amazing how many extra body parts there are after a surgeon does his job ain’t it?).  You have taken to the wastes in search of treasure and fame, and use your abilities to keep the weaker fleshy people at your side alive.

Ability Score Increase.  Increase your Intelligence score by 1.

Hypo Spray. You have a small syringe that you can inject into a target to heal them of a poison, disease, or restore 1d4+1 HP.  You cannot do this again until you have a long rest.

Programing.  You are proficient in the Medicine skill.

Service Trap

You were programmed to fix computers and machinery that goes bunk on Pandora.  Now with your freedom, you use your programming to hack into people’s bank accounts and help yourself to their credits, or soup-up vehicles so you can go off-roading and crush a few bandit heads under your monster truck tires.

Ability Score Increase.  Increase your Intelligence score by 1.

Programing.  You are proficient with the hacking tool and Repair skill.

The Proper Tools.  You have a hacking tool installed in your system.

Thank you for your service! And welcome to Pandora!

Arcane archers are rangers that have begun dabbling in the arcane arts to imbue their arrows with special properties to aid them in combat.  With a bow in hand, an arcane archer is a deadly adversary that uses their ranger training to track down and destroy enemies and vile horrors with extreme prejudice and accuracy.

Enchanted Arrows: At 3^rd level an arcane archer can enchant a select number of arrows with elemental damage.  The ranger can imbue three arrows per day with fire, frost, or electricity.  On a successful attack the imbued arrow does an additional 1d6 damage (of chosen element).  Once per day after the ranger finishes a short rest they regain the ability to imbue one additional arrow.  Once used, the ranger must take a long rest before they can use it again.

At 7^th level the number of arrows an arcane archer can enchant is increased to 5.

At 11^th level when an arrow that is imbued with elemental energy critically strikes an opponent it explodes, and rather than dealing 1d6 damage to the target, it deals 1d10 damage to all targets within a 10 foot radius.

At 15^th level the number of arrows an arcane archer can enchant is increased to 10.

An arcane archer can only have one enchantment on an arrow at a time. 

Split Shot: In lieu of their regular attack an arcane archer can summon two spectral arrows in their hand and fire them from their bow at the same time.  These arrows will strike two separate targets.  The attacks must be resolved normally.  An arcane archer can use this ability once per day, and must take a long rest before it can be utilized again.

Long Distance: At 7^th level the arcane archer no longer suffers disadvantage for shooting arrows long distance.

Seeker Arrows: At 11^th level the arcane archer can enchant his arrows to seek out the target.  This enchantment gives the arcane archer advantage on their attack rolls with the arrow.  An arcane archer can only have one enchantment on an arrow at a time. 

Phase Arrows: At 15^th level the arcane archer can add a phase enchantment to their arrows.   The phase allows an arrow pass through solid objects (up to 3’ thick) and hit those behind cover.  The arcane archer resolves the attack normally.  An arcane archer can only have one enchantment on an arrow at a time. 

Other 5e Goodies

Undead Slayer-Ranger Archetype

Oath of the Fallen- Paladin oath

Blood Mage- Sorcerous origin

Goblin Race

CLAPtrap race

Fatespinner- Sorcerous Origin

While other sorcerers were born from a sordid tryst between dragons or fae with lesser mortals, you were conceived by the very cosmos themselves.  Within you lies the ability see and manipulate the strands of fate.  Your eyes crackle with lightning blue energy and your veins seem to have a soft glow, as the very power of the cosmos surges through your body.

You know that fate is yours to manipulate and that the power to move mountains or to control and destroy lesser being lies at your fingertips.  You are your own master and those that attempt to state otherwise generally end up dead by your hand.

Spin Fate: At 1^st level a fatespinner is able to tap into the threads of what will be and manipulate it.  The fatespinner gains advantage on one roll of their choosing.  A fatespinner can use this ability once per day and must take a long rest before they can use it again.

Fickle Finger of Fate: At 6^th level the fatespinner can tap into the threads of fate and affect another creature.  The creature must succeed Wisdom save, DC 16, or gain disadvantage on their next roll.  A fatespinner can spend 5 sorcerery points and increase the number of disadvantage rolls to 3.  A fatespinner can use this ability once per day and must take a long rest before they can use it again.

Commune With the Cosmos: At 6^th level the fatespinner can spend 5 sorcery points and cast the Augery spell (PHB, pg 215).  A fatespinner can use this ability once per day and must take a long rest before they can use it again.

Deny Fate: At 14^th level a fatespinner can attempt to deny the cosmos of that which they hunger for most- the life essence of the sorcerer.  When the fatespinner is dropped to zero HP they can use this ability to gain an automatic success on one of their death saves.  Further a fatespinner can spend 7 sorcery points to gain another immediate success (or a total of 14 for two successes).  A fatespinner can use this ability once per day and must take a long rest before they can use it again.

Resist Fate: At 18^th level a fatespinner can alter the outcome of fate.  By weaving the cosmos they are able to allow themselves (or one other friendly target within 120’) to reroll one failed roll (including failed death save).  A fatespinner can use this ability once per day and must take a long rest before they can use it again.

Seal Fate: At 18^th level a fatespinner is able to manipulate the outcome of fate against a fallen comrade.  A fatesinner can use this ability to give a fallen ally an automatic success on one of their death saves.

Other 5e Goodies

Undead Slayer-Ranger Archetype

Arcane Archer- Ranger Archetype

Oath of the Fallen- Paladin oath

Blood Mage- Sorcerous origin

Goblin Race

CLAPtrap race