Od&d Homebrew C

Additional context

This document delves into a complex system of status conditions, primarily within the framework of tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. These conditions, such as 'prone,' 'restrained,' 'stunned,' and 'wounded,' are a core mechanic for simulating the physical and mental toll of combat and other dangerous situations. In the broader field of game design, these systems aim to add strategic depth and narrative realism. By providing players with distinct, mechanical effects for various states of being, designers can encourage tactical decision-making. For instance, understanding the penalties associated with being 'prone' might lead a player to prioritize actions that prevent them from being knocked down, or conversely, to strategically exploit an opponent's prone state. This work builds upon decades of evolution in role-playing game rules, where initial simple concepts like 'dying' have been expanded into nuanced conditions that affect movement, attacks, defenses, and even the ability to act altogether. The goal is to create a more engaging and challenging experience that reflects the unpredictable nature of adventure.

Prone: A target must be of the kind who can be knocked prone. Typically, these are creatures with feet standing upon the ground. (swimmers and flyers can be knocked prone but their speed is reduced to 0 and they suffer no additional effects). The topple weapon mastery and the shove (prone) unarmed strike option can only affect creatures no more than one size larger than the attacker.

Falling from a height greater than half the victim's height will give the creatures the prone condition if it causes damage. Recovering from prone requires an expenditure of movement speed. This is different for each size of creature too: T: 5', S: 10', M: 15', L: 20', H: 25', G: 30'. This amount is adjusted for speed penalties of any armor worn.

Definition

On their Heels: A condition inflicted after recovering from prone status, causing attack roll penalties and defensive vulnerabilities for the remainder of the turn.

Then the creature is considered "On their Heels" for the remainder of their turn. Attacks Affected. You have Disadvantage on attack rolls. An attack roll against you has Advantage if the attacker is within 5 feet of you. Otherwise, that attack roll has Disadvantage.

Restrained: While you have the Restrained condition, you experience the following effects. Speed 0. Your Speed is 0 and can't increase. Attacks Affected. Attack rolls against you have Advantage, and your attack rolls have Disadvantage. Saving Throws Affected. You have Disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws.

Slowed: typically a result of the Slow spell, the target suffers -5 to their static initiative, speed is penalized by +1 foot/foot, -2 A.C, _2 dex saves and no reactions, action or bonus action only, only a single attack permitted, 25% of somatic spell failure.

Definition

Stumbled: A condition caused by taking damage in combat, resulting in a speed penalty for the following round.

Stumbled: if a character takes any damage in a round of combat, they have the stumbled condition on the following round. With a grunt of pain audible to anyone in 30', the victim suffers a 5' speed reduction on the next round of movement. A solid hit inflicts the Stumbled condition.

Stunned: While you have the Stunned condition, you experience the following effects. Incapacitated. You have the Incapacitated condition. Speed 10. Your speed is 10 and can't increase. Saving Throws Affected. You automatically fail Strength and Dexterity saving throws. Attacks Affected. Attack rolls against you have Advantage.

Terrified: fail a fear save by 10 or more. The hapless victim screams and flees, gain the prone condition in difficult terrain.

Unconscious / Subdued / Sleeping: this usually occurs at 0 H.P _{body} ; at negative H.P a living creature continues to bleed, burn or expire at 1d4 H.P per round. An unconscious character immediately gains one level of exhaustion, falls prone and drops whatever is held in their hands. Undead, constructs, fiends and elementals are animated or summoned creatures, they cannot be made unconscious. At 0 H.P they fall to pieces or dissipate to their native plane.

- Unconscious characters who are healed to 1 H.P body will awaken the next turn. Otherwise, a character stabilized at 0 or higher begins a short rest (1 hour). Until they awaken you have the paralyzed condition. Exhaustion level increases by 1.

- Subdued characters reduced to 0 H.Pbody by non-lethal damage begin a short rest. When they awaken they are at the H.Pbody level they were at when they started taking non-lethal damage but zero grit. Exhaustion level increases by 1.

Sleeping characters awaken on a successful Perception (listen) roll of D.C 10 (or the result of an enemy's Stealth check). This roll is normally at a disadvantage for normal sleepers, unmodified for meditators (elves) and those with the alert feat, and advantage for those who are being shaken awake. When they awaken determine if they have completed their Long Rest or Full Rest. If they take damage, roll initiative or cast a spell their rest is interrupted. Sleep is natural and characters revive at the same H.P totals as before they rested.

o A Utilize action must be used to extricate themselves from their bedrolls.

A Search action (with appropriate lighting conditions) must be used to find a weapon or a shield or a magical focus

○ A Utilize action must be used to exit a tent or shelter.

Even now the P.C has little clothing on, no armor, no boots (-2 Init), no helm, no backpack!

Definition

Winded: An exhaustion condition caused by prolonged combat that applies cumulative penalties to movement, A.C, attacks, and saving throws.

Winded: a character who has been in combat for 1 minute (6 rounds) or more might become winded. They must make con saves (D.C 2 naked, 4 traveler's clothing, 5 lightly armored, 8 medium armored, 10 heavily armored). If they succeed, they may keep on fighting. If they fail, they gain one temporary level of exhaustion. This condition is identical to levels of exhaustion, but it is temporary. [−5' move rate, −2 armor class, −2 penalty on to hit rolls, −2 penalty on damage rolls, −2 penalty to spell D.C's, −2 penalty on ability checks, −2 penalty to initiative and −2 penalty to all saving throws].

Definition

Aftermath: A 10-minute period following combat during which characters perform activities like looting, maintenance, first aid, and assessment.

A fumbled roll adds 2 temporary levels of exhaustion. If the combatant gains 6 temporary levels of exhaustion they have a heart attack and die. Each additional minute of combat adds 2 to the con save D.C. A lesser restoration spell received in combat will remove the Winded condition. Even naked professional boxers take a break after 3 minutes of combat. M.M.A fighters go for 5-minute bouts. A typical battlefield engagement may go on for 1 hour, but individual fights and charges last only a few minutes at most. A 5-minute rest between combats or the Aftermath phase, will reset the winded (exhaustion) counter to 0.

2 Definitions

Definition 1: H.Pbody: A pool of hit points representing actual physical trauma to the creature's body; losing these leads to critical conditions, unconsciousness, or death.

Definition 2: Layer: A categorical defense system for armor and spells, where damage reduction (D.R) values stack based on the layer of protection applied.

Wounded: A player character who is wounded has been damaged below their H.Pbodymax threshold. The H.Pbody for a living N.P.C / Monster is: 2 H.Pbody for Tiny, 5 H.Pbody for Small, 8 H.Pbody for Medium; 12 H.Pbody for Large; 20 H.Pbody for Huge, 40 H.Pbody for Gargantuan. Non-living creatures such as undead, constructs, and elementals are immune to being wounded. This condition is variable due to the hit location and whether the damage was moderate or critical. Wounded characters suffer a temporary level of exhaustion due to blood loss and crippling pain. (Barbarians in their rage state and characters with a relentless racial ability or feat do not suffer this temporary exhaustion because adrenaline courses through their system)

Dead: A character who surpasses their negative H.P body is considered dead. The heart stops beating and bleeding stops too. If the P.C still suffers further damage past that point, he may be considered eaten, digested, dismembered or even undead.

The soul departs from a dead host after lingering about the corpse for 1 minute. The soul may be consumed if a fiend has slain the victim. In most cases, however, the soul is at peace and free of pain and anguish. It still perceives its environment; it sees, hears, smells and it can remember what was last done to its corporeal form.

If the soul has not been consumed then a Revivify spell or a medicine check D.C 25 can revive an intact body provided a full minute has not elapsed since death. Missing body parts are not restored but there is no permanent mental damage. A dead character (with an intact soul journeying to its judgement) can be revived up to 2 to 5 minutes later with a Medicine (Wisdom) check D.C 25. However, a constitution saving throw, D.C 20, is required to avoid brain damage (if one fails the test then lose 1 point from (roll 1d6): 1=strength, 2=dexterity, 3=constitution, 4=intelligence, 5=wisdom, 6=charisma). The character will also roll on the Mental Stress Table at a D.C 15 Charisma saving throw.

Beyond 5 minutes the P.C or N.P.C is truly deceased, has reached the halls of judgement, and can only be retrieved from its eternal rest by the magical spells: Raise Dead, Reincarnation, Resurrection, True Resurrection and Wish. Be mindful that care for the deceased will affect the success of these spells. Ceremony, proper burial, Gentle Repose, a wake, a solemn funeral, fire should all have an effect on the return of the deceased.

1.32. Aftermath – This is a 10-minute period after a combat where the overall damage and health of characters and equipment can be assessed. Damage to armor, weapons and objects are assigned by the D.M. Combatants who are winded or wounded will rest and tend to their wounds. Warriors may clean and maintain their weapons to avoid weekly rot & ruin. A skilled smith with tools can give a pristine edge to P/S weaponry. A cartographer can update and draw features upon their maps. Archers may recover ammunition, healers can perform triage or priority aid, rogues can loot corpses & harvest poisons, monks can meditate, casters can prepare spell components, mend tears or any collection of legerdemain tasks.

Looting is always the default action during the aftermath, but it can be accomplished differently. It takes 1 minute to loot each target of carried items, 5 minutes for each worn item such as armor. Rogues are trained to do it in half the time. Hidden items require a Search action; Perception rolls vs D.C 12. Dastardly rogues may use Sleight of Hand D.C 12 to hide retrieved items from the rest of the party.

Definition

A.H.P: Armor Hit Points, representing the structural integrity of equipment that can be damaged or destroyed during combat.

Mending cantrip can be used to restore 1 A.H.P to a suit of clothing, small weapons, light armor at tier 1, 2 A.H.P|SHP to normal weapons & medium shields at tier 2, 3 A.H.P|SHP to medium armors, heavy weapons & large shields at tier 3, 4 A.H.P|SHP to all clothing, heavy armors, & all shields at tier 4. The mending cantrip cannot be used more than once per combat; it cannot repair acid or fire damage; and it cannot sharpen a weapon.

Repairs to Armor & Weapons are performed by a proficient artisan with the proper toolset. Repairs are done with an Intelligence roll (plus an appropriate Tool proficiency) versus D.C 10. If successful 1 A.H.P is returned, or the weapon improves by 1 condition level.

Cartography may require a calligrapher's tool check to update existing maps.

Harvesting a dead creature for essence, trophies, poisons, fluids, or organs can also occupy the aftermath phase. Very sharp blades and containers should be available. Looters should pass anatomy checks (medicine D.C 5 + C.R) and creature knowledge checks (nature/religion/arcana/history D.C 5 + C.R) and delicate harvesting (sleight of hand D.C 5) may be required not to spoil the item harvested. Only 1 attempt is permitted, or the target object is ruined.

Recovering spent ammunition is detailed in the d20 attack roll charts. If the archer did not pay any attention to recoverable missiles, you may assume 25% of the spent ammunition is recovered in normal condition (if Search D.C 10 is tried) and 25% of the ammo is recovered in repairable condition. Magical ammunition that hits its target loses its magic. The D.M may call for bowyer/fletcher tools and skill rolls or mending cantrips.

Casters can examine, organize and replenish their remaining spell components or arcane/divine foci. Alternatively, they can cast one of their ritual spells.

1.33. Recovery – Post-Combat Encounter options

Observe if any Priority Aid or First Aid healing is performed by a trained Wisdom (Medicine) practitioner (especially within 10 minutes).

Short Rest (+ slow healing): 50 to 60 minutes of light activity. Includes eating food, drinking water and activities with low exertion. A stabilized unconscious character will regain 1 H.P body at the end of the short rest.

More H.P body is not recoverable on a short rest under normal circumstances. (magical spells, healing potions and healer's kits are supernatural) H.P recovery is possible only if H.P body is full. Only then can H.P grit – healing occur (a P.C can spend one of their H.D + con modifier). The winded condition is reset. The wounded condition persists until H.P body of the patient is full. If combat initiative or spell casting is called for within the hour, then the short rest is interrupted without any benefit. Characters with very high constitution scores or the Durable feat may recover a level of exhaustion.

Long Rest (+ slow healing): 8 hours (6 hours of sleep / 4 hours of meditation for elves +2 hours of grooming). Long rests cannot be in any type of armor unless the P.C possesses the Armor Mastery feat or the Durable feat. Long rests require 2 lbs of adequate food (rations), 1 gallon of clean water, basic shelter (tent or tarp), warmth (campfire, cloak or blanket), and basic comfort (bedroll). H.Pbody heats by 1 + con Modifier (minimum of 0). P.C's may use all their remaining H.D to heal grit. Full H.P grit recovery is possible only once H.Pbody is full. Exhaustion is reduced by one level.

Definition

Lingering Injuries: Debilitating or lasting physical damage sustained from combat that persists after normal healing and requires specialized treatment.

Lingering Injuries persist until cured by time or magic. A long rest does not heal an amputated limb! P.C's only regain one half their level in H.D instead of Full H.P & H.D.

Full Rest: 12 hours (10 hours of sleep, 2 hours of grooming). Full rests require 4 to 5 lbs of fresh food (not rations), 1 gallon of clean water or ale, good shelter (pavilion, inn or bed), warmth (campfire or hearth fire), and good comfort (nursing, bath or entertainment). P.C's regain their full level in H.D instead of Full H.P & H.D. Exhaustion is reduced by two levels.

Extended Rest: used mainly in the Kingdoms and Warfare supplement by M.C.D.M, the extended rest is a one week-long period of minimal physical activity. Living expenses are paid, domain turns are made, characters recover all H.P's and exhaustion levels. Weapon masteries can be changed, magic crafting can progress, research can conclude and other downtime activities can resume.

1.34. Normalcy while in Wilderness Exploration — people are not always ready for combat! Adventurers get fatigued. They are not hyper-aware all the time.

They do not carry their weapons in hand unless they have spent years in military training with strong martial discipline. Bows are unstrung during travel unless hunting is the main task while travelling at a slow pace. Wet weather ruins all types of gear. Simply walking in armor and a heavy backpack is exhausting. Dashing, climbing, swimming or combat for more than a minute may exhaust you (See the Winded condition above).

Sleeping in medium or heavy armor is almost impossible. Good food and drink are essential for energy and focus. An encounter will assume the concept of normalcy if, during a long rest, the player characters are prone, unarmed, unarmored, in a shelter, inside a bedroll and asleep for a minimum of 6 hours (unless they are on a 2 or 4-hour watch duty).

If a random encounter occurs, then perception versus stealth rolls may dictate how far apart the encounter begins. The first round might be a surprise situation for one or both sides. Normalcy dictates that appropriate clothing is being worn for the weather, weapons are sheathed or unstrung, shields are stowed, valuables are secured.

In hyperactive dangerous situations such as traipsing through a dungeon, characters can have readied weapons, taking constant care to move stealthily. This is slow and exhausting and can be maintained for only about an hour. (6 dungeon turns)

1.35. Running a night watch — a typical watch is 4 hours long. I consider 3 x 4-hour watches: Dusk, Dark & Deep. Various levels of activity are involved on each type of watch. Dusk and Deep may be considered to be dim lighting if in the summer or completely dark if in the winter. Dark watch is completely black unless moonlight or starlight is available. Maintaining high alert status should require a P.C on patrol to make a constitution saving throw every 2-hours vs a D.C of 8, 10, 12, etcetera P.C's with dark vision lowers the D.C by 2. Characters with the alert feat gain advantage on the saving throw.

Elves are immune to sleep inducing effects, so they need not roll. Another companion such as another P.C, a familiar or a watchdog, on the same watch rotation, might give advantage to the roll due to the mutual Help action. A failed save indicates drowsiness (dazed condition). If the saving throw is failed by 5 or more, it indicates the patrolman has fallen asleep (unconscious condition).

1.36. Traps and Pitfalls — there are many ways to die or get injured in this game. In raw D&D traps, and pitfalls seem to be downplayed in favor of creature combat. Dungeons have disappeared in favor of small lairs and wilderness encounters.

The concept of mega-dungeons being revisited by many groups in various sorties is a myth. “Modern games are about a quick assault, encounter resolution in (3) 6-second turns, loot the corpses, long rest, and level up.” The old edition styles of exploration, scouting, identifying hazards, stealthing past encounters, saving resources, gathering intel for the slow game, have all but disappeared. The old dungeons still exist in my game, and they have deadly traps and deadly consequences. Nobody builds traps and pitfalls in the middle of nowhere, so they are usually protecting something.

Still the dungeon deliver feat is too often ignored because characters have learned not to fear anything in the dungeon, least of all traps and pitfalls. Simple falls should not be ignored like they are in the base ruleset.

- The original scale of damage for falling creatures have been maintained but the limits have moved up from 200' to 500'.

greater than - O Acceleration due to gravity on Oerth is 30 per second squared.

- o Creature size determines the die used for impact damage, whether by fall or throw.

Agile creatures can now reduce the damage taken in a fall by making a Dexterity (Acrobatics) ability check at the listed D.C.

If the landing surface is soft or a fluid, then the damage is one quarter normal.

If the acrobatics roll meets or beat the D.C, then the damage is halved and characters land on their feet or 3-point superhero style. No armor damage.

• If the roll fails, the creature is prone. Minor armor damage also accrues (1 A.H.P per 10' fallen).

If a natural 1 (fumble) occurs, then bad things happen. The creature takes maximum damage and most breakable items on their body break as well. Items have damage thresholds to overcome.

1.37. Forced Movement: If the target of an attack that includes forced movement such as hurricane winds, the weapon mastery (push), the charger feat, an unarmed strike (shove); and the target impacts a soft surface (i.e. water, another creature) or a hard surface (e.g. dirt, rock), they will take one half or full falling damage. They may take additional damage if the pit is full of spikes or acid, etcetera (piercing in an area of spiked growth, wall of thorns, or giant porcupine; slashing in an area of sharp coral; bludgeoning against a typical stone wall or player character ally). Forced Movement Impact with a hard surface inflicts the damage (found before the slash) to the victim. Forced Movement Impact with a soft surface inflicts the damage (found after the slash) to both the target and the object or creature.

Definition

H.Pgrit: A pool of hit points representing stamina, luck, and martial resilience; these are lost before physical body points and are easily recovered during rest.

1.38. Bleeding, Binding Wounds & Infection: Victims who are bleeding typically take 1d4 H.P necrotic damage every 10 seconds. An unconscious character continues to bleed. When the victim reaches their negative H.Pbody they perish. An unconscious victim does not know their own status, nor can they communicate the urgency of the matter. In these situations, the D.M records the damage to add to the drama of uncertainty. A well applied bandage (by anyone with a healing kit) will reduce bleeding to 1d4–2. If at any time the result on the bleeding die is 0 the bleeding stops. H.Pbody + H.Pgrit + H.Ptemp = hpmax

Treatment Time: it takes an action to make a Wisdom (medicine) skill check vs D.C 8 to assess an unconscious creature, whether they are stable, bleeding, or dead and the location of the injury and how to help the victim. Then, another 10 seconds is required to find a healer's kit or rip up clothes for bandage material. This uses both the move and utilize actions.

- o Unskilled Binding: Anyone can attempt to bind the wounds of another creature in 10 seconds using whatever material they can find or just both hands clutching a grievous wound. This consumes both their action and move action. Without access to fresh clean bandages from a healing kit, the roll is made at disadvantage. A Healing Kit provides 10 clean bandages for use in binding wounds. They must still roll their Wisdom (Medicine) skill at a D.C 5. If successful they reduce any bleeding to d4–1. If uses of the Healer's kit remain, they may attempt again next turn on a different or fresh wound. Any roll of natural 1 (fumble) by an unskilled healer kills the patient.

Skilled Healing: In the aftermath phase, a trained healer can perform the healing strategies below (no more than 10 minutes total). The medic must expend a charge of her healer's kit to give first aid (two charges for priority aid). The healer's efforts can be used to grant another saving throw to poison or to grant a chance to avert a disease or gangrene. The victim may choose either to roll again or use the Medicine check as the saving throw.

Bardic Inspiration and Chefs' cooking can all assist in party healing during long rests. Another character can provide the Help action whether they are skilled in Medicine. H.Pbody must be fully recovered before H.Pgrk can be regained.

- Triage (20 seconds; D.C 8 Medicine check) to reduce bleeding by 2 points; cast two cantrips (typically Spare the Dying which reduces bleeding by 4, Sanitize which eliminates all chance of infections, parasites, and disease); diagnose poisons (injected, ingested, inhaled, contact); determine parasites, fungal spores, or disease; and quantify the current health level of an unresponsive P.C. The medic must then decide where to focus their attention.

- First Aid (2 minutes, D.C 10 Medicine check) to one creature A Healer's kit plus clean water and Medicine proficiency is required.

- Self Aid (4 minutes, D.C 15 Medicine check) to treat themselves. A Healer's kit plus clean water and Medicine proficiency is required.

- Priority Aid (5 minutes, D.C 20 Medicine check) to one creature. A Healer's kit plus clean water and Medicine proficiency is required. Priority aid is the only non-magical way of fixing a lingering injury before necrosis sets in.

1.39. Magical Healing - A Cure Wounds spell will accelerate healing and usually dulls the pain of the wounds as nerves recover. Potions of Healing have been upgraded. They function in the arcane form, however. Arcane healing is more painful (itchy & burning) than divine healing as many of the elements of gentle soothing compassion are ignored.

Physical Damage: Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing

Elemental Damage: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder

Exotic Damage: Poison, Force, Radiant, Necrotic, Psychic

Potion of Healing: Cost 25 gp / Value 50 gp; 0.5 pounds; restore 3d4+3 arcane healing. [burgundy red with glimmering swirls; 1 day to create with an Herbalism Kit; Arcana + Medicine + Nature D.C 10]

Potion of Greater Healing: Cost 125 gp / Value 250 gp; 0.5 pounds; restore 6d4+6 arcane healing. [crimson red with flecks of gold; 3 days to create with an Herbalism Kit; Arcana + Medicine + Nature D.C 15, 6 attempts allowed]

Potion of Superior Healing: Cost 600 gp / Value 1200 gp; 0.5 pounds; restore 12d4+12 arcane healing. [scarlet red with silver sparkles; 10 days to create but requires a basic laboratory; Arcana + Medicine + Nature D.C 20, 5 attempts allowed]. Any healing beyond the maximum is turned into temporary H.P for 8 hours.

Potion of Supreme Healing: Cost 2,000 gp / Value 4,000 gp; 0.5 pounds; restore 15d4+30 arcane healing. [glowing amaranth + iridescent glitter; 30 days to create and requires a full laboratory; Arcana + Medicine + Nature D.C 25, 4 attempts allowed]. Any healing beyond the maximum is turned into temporary H.P for 24 hours.

Potion of Vitality: Cost 1500 gp / Value 3,000 gp; 0.5 pounds; removes all exhaustion, cures all diseases, cures all poisons. For the next 24 hours you regain maximum H.P on any die you spend to regain H.P. This requires a basic laboratory. [crimson pulsing with dull light 60 bpm; 20 days to create; Arcana + Medicine + Nature D.C 20].

1.40. sex — Yes, this topic can exist in a mature themed game. Attracting the opposite sex will be simplified to a few skill checks. Consenting adults may engage inflagrante delicto.

Attraction: D.C 10 Deception (Charisma) (disadvantage for species difference, significant age difference. societal norms (marriage, chastity)

• Performance: D.C 10 – Athletics (Strength) (disadvantage if wounded)

• Afterglow: Successful copulation will grant both participants 1d6 H.P _{temp} until the next long rest is completed.

: Table 25 summary: Falling and impact damage scales based on distance fallen and the size of the creature. As distance increases from 10 to 500 feet, the time of fall increases from 0.8 to 6.0 seconds. For distances up to 60 feet, Acrobatics or Athletics DC increases linearly from 5 to 30, becoming impossible at 500 feet. Damage is categorized by creature size and surface hardness, with hard surfaces generally dealing more damage than soft ones. For example, at 60 feet, a Medium creature takes 6d6 damage on a hard surface and 12 on a soft surface, while a Gargantuan creature takes 6d12 on a hard surface and 24 on a soft surface. At extreme distances of 100, 200, and 500 feet, damage is listed only for hard surfaces and scales directly with distance, such as 50d12 for a Gargantuan creature falling 500 feet.

Table 26 summary: Medical aid options categorized by phase, ranging from immediate combat actions to short rest recovery. In the Bleeding phase, there is a 33 percent chance of sepsis after a body HP wound unless treated by First Aid, Self Aid, Priority Aid, or Sanitize, while magical healing eliminates sepsis entirely. During combat, the Bind action takes 10 seconds with a Med DC of 5. Aftermath actions include Triage, which takes 20 seconds with a Med DC of 8; First Aid, taking 2 minutes with a Med DC of 10; Self Aid, taking 4 minutes with a Med DC of 15; Priority Aid Lingering, taking 5 minutes with a Med DC of 20; and Revive, which takes 5 minutes with a Med DC of 25. Most Aftermath actions require a kit and water. During a Short Rest, Second Aid takes 55 minutes with a Med DC of 5 and can remove poisons, infections, parasites, grant a new saving throw for paralysis, or restore one level of exhaustion. Healers with a Healer's Kit or the Battle Medic I Healer Feat receive specific bonuses, such as the ability to reroll 1s or provide increased healing based on Proficiency Bonus and Hit Dice expended.

1.41. Curses, Diseases & Magical Contagions – There is overlap in these three categories.

- A Curse is a pronouncement upon a victim by a supernatural agency (Hag, deity, devil, demon or an agent of something evil) The Remove Curse spell might resolve the issue, or it might be a stepping stone to a much more difficult quest.

A Disease is a common malady in medieval settings, usually because of poor sanitation, war, famine or pestilence. Those with a poor constitution suffer the most. A Lesser Restoration spell or 5 H.P from the Lay on Hands ability of a Paladin is typically sufficient to cure cough, influenza, gripe, and the pox. Refer to the table below once a week during the normal course of downtime activities.

If a disease is contracted, roll severity with 2d6. Apply the character's con modifier. On a 2 the disease is fatal in 1d6 weeks. On a 3 to 7 the disease inflicts 3 exhaustion levels and runs its course in 3 weeks of extended rest. On an 8 to 11 the disease inflicts 1 exhaustion level and runs its course in 1 week of extended rest. On a 12 the victim has the poisoned condition for 1 day. It abates if the P.C has 1 full rest.

- A Magical Contagion is the result of mystical interference by a monster, a spellcaster or a plague. It differs from a curse in that it can spread to others, and it is much more serious a threat to life and wellbeing. A list of 13 magical contagions is available on page 24 in the New D.M.G elements in the Homebrew.

: Modifiers to the base 1 percent weekly chance of contracting a disease. The most significant risk increase comes from the disease vector of warfare at plus 7 percent, while the largest reduction is provided by the Paladin class at minus 15 percent. Other notable risk factors include direct exposure at plus 6 percent, dungeons at plus 5 percent, and outbreaks at plus 15 percent. Conversely, upper planes and the sanitize cantrip provide reductions of minus 5 percent each. The table further categorizes modifiers by lifestyle, such as wretched at plus 5 percent versus aristocratic at minus 2 percent, location, and various physical conditions or environmental factors.

1.42. More Magical Recovery – Lesser Restoration spells will remove conditions, parasites, toxins, common diseases, scars, and dead flesh. Cure spells can restore blood vessels, nerves and mend bone, ligaments, and muscle. Greater Restoration spells will restore magical contagions, damaged vision, damaged hearing, olfactory, muscular, sanity and even dental damage.

Heal spells do all the above swiftly plus they reset the shadow score. Regeneration replaces lost limbs, eyes, and organs except for the head. The 9 superscript th level spell Power Word Heal will restore everything, including lost years to necromantic effects, pain, emotional trauma, all scars, burns and missing pieces. It will also grant 180 temporary H.P grit.

2. Downtime/Crafting — Is there down-time for your P.C's? Do you use the downtime raw? About how much time passes between sessions/adventures? Do you have an alternate down-time system? What do characters do during downtime, what can they do during down time? What can P.C's craft? Do you use crafting raw? or did you tweak it?

2.1. I will use the D.M.G for downtime events and crafting. About one month to one year typically passes between adventures. I also have subclass training, tier training, crafting, language learning, shopping, and feat training down-time rules.

Each of those pursuits take time. Player characters are still expected to pay lifestyle costs while pursuing their individual agendas. If they cannot afford upkeep and take no work then they must sell equipment or go to debtor's prison.

3. Hit Locations and Lingering Injuries — With the use of H.P _{body} , are there debilitating and lasting effects of wounds sustained in combat?

3.1. I will use the following Hit Location/Lingering Injury Charts. See section A.A for the charts and tables.

The Stealth Takedown System was developed by The A.I Guy's YouTube channel. It is a D&D 5e homebrew subsystem inspired by Assassin's Creed and Hitman, designed for cinematic, tense infiltration scenes outside of combat. It replaces standard surprise attacks with a flat d20 roll against the target's Challenge Rating (C.R, adjusted by alert state) to determine takedown success: Clean Kill (silent instant elimination), Subdue Phase (messy struggle resolved by Subdue Dice versus H.P), Scramble Round (salvage attempt), or Complete Fail (instant alarm).

Core Requirements

Out of combat (no initiative rolled; in stealth mode – Hide Action D.C 15 Stealth, heavily obscured and out of an enemy's line of sight).

Use your entire movement to reach the unaware target (they don't know your exact position).

Limitations: No takedowns on creatures with base C.R greater than or equal to P.C level, creatures' C.R greater than 10, creatures with Legendary Resistance, constructs, most undead, oozes, elementals, or creatures resistant or immune to relevant damage/conditions. Other creature types require a D.C = C.R Study Action to determine ways to instantly kill them.

Table summary: The Study Action required for different Creature Types in the Stealth Takedown System. Most creatures are associated with a specific skill, such as Arcana for Aberrations, Monstrosities, and Fey; Nature for Beasts, Dragons, and Plants; and Religion for Celestials and Fiends. Humanoids and Giants both require History or Medicine. However, for Elementals, Constructs, Oozes, and Undead, the Study Action is listed as Impossible.

Alert State System

Modifies the effective C.R:

Table summary: The Stealth Takedown System defines how an entity's state affects the CR Row Modifier. The modifier ranges from -2 for an Unaware state, characterized as relaxed or incapacitated, to +2 for a Searching state, where entities actively hunt in pairs with drawn weapons. An Alert state provides a neutral modifier of 0, while a Suspicious state adds +1. In a Lockdown state, a takedown is Impossible as all entities converge to fight or run.

Takedown Resolution

1. Roll flat d20 (no modifiers).

2. Compare to adjusted C.R using the table below.

3. Die roll determines the result option (Clean Kill, Subdue Phase, Scramble, Fail)

Table summary: Higher CR values increase the difficulty of achieving a Clean Kill and expand the ranges for Subdue Phase, Scramble Round, and Complete Fail. For a CR of 0, a Clean Kill requires a 2 or higher, with a Scramble Round at 1 and no possibility of a Complete Fail. As CR increases to 10, a Clean Kill is only possible on a 20, the Subdue Phase range shifts to 15 through 19, the Scramble Round range becomes 11 through 14, and the Complete Fail range expands to 1 through 10.

- Mid Roll – Subdue Phase: Roll Subdue Dice versus target's current H.P (like Sleep spell). Success = messy kill; fail = Scramble Round.

- Formula: (d20 result) d6 + (S.T.R/dex/Spellcasting Mod) d6.

- Low Roll-Scramble Round (1 chance to salvage the situation/desperate action, no initiative):

Table summary: Options for handling a situation, each with a specific check and outcome. For example, choosing Silence requires an Attack w/ Advantage, where success results in 0 HP and silence, while failure leads to a scream. Other options include Subdue via an Athletics/Acrobatics contest to restrain and silence a target, Abort using Stealth versus Perception to remain hidden, and Redirect using Deception versus Insight to shift blame. A Creative option allows for a player pitch based on a DM-set check.

• Very Low – Complete Fail (C.R 2+): Caught; free attack/alarm.

Class Takedown Flavour

- O Rogue – Throat Slit, nerve strike, garrotte

- Barbarian – Neck slap, crushing chokehold

- O Fighter – Military takedown, grapple and stab

- O Monk – Pressure point, chi disruption

- Paladin – Armored hand over mouth, weight pin

- O Ranger – Hunter's kill, predator ambush

- O Wizard – Sleep touch, arcane paralysis

- O Sorcerer – Magic surge, charm and drop

- Warlock – Soul rip, shadow embrace

- Cleric – Divine Silence, peaceful passing

- Bard – Lullaby whisper, flourish into strike

- Druid – Animal instinct, vine choke.

Section T: The Second Pillar - Exploration

Definition

Hexcrawl: A style of exploration-based gameplay focused on mapping and traversing a large geographical region divided into hexagonal tiles.

This campaign arc I am restructuring the game into a Hexcrawl followed by a series of Dungeon crawls. The intent is to bring back a sense of wonder and mystery to the journey, not just destinations (dungeons) separated by miscellaneous dice rolls for random encounters. Programdom encounters is my new buzzword for mixed encounters in a themed setting with some purpose or relevance to the broader campaign world. [Credit for this Hexcrawl idea draws from the advice of Dadi of the Mystic Arts You-Tube channel]

Definition

Dungeoncrawl: A focused, small-scale exploration of confined, dangerous environments like ruins or subterranean lairs.

A Dungeoncrawl is a small-scale exploration

A Hexcrawl is medium scale exploration with a purpose. That purpose is not always clear to players at the beginning but should be revealed in parts as the region gets revealed.

Definition

Pointcrawl: A large-scale exploration style that utilizes a map where the focus is on traveling between specific, pre-determined key locations.

A Pointcrawl is large scale exploration which is possible with a map and destinations already placed. The greater world has been largely explored.

Mechanics: Chronography

Travel is tied to time. A definition of time units is needed.

Exploration Inside (dungeons, castles, cities)

1 round = 10 seconds [Move Action = Speed (feet/round), Dash = 2 x Speed (feet/round); Sprint = 3 x Speed (feet/round)].

1 minute = 60 seconds = 6 rounds

1 Dungeon Turn = 10 minutes = 600 seconds = 60 rounds. (ritual spell casting time, roll for random encounters (base 1d8))

1 Short rest = 1 hour = 6 Dungeon Turns = 60 minutes = 3600 seconds = 360 rounds.

Exploration Outside (wilderness, roads, towns, villages)

1 hour = Short Rest; or Travel

• Exploration Mode = Speed divided by 20 (~1.5 miles/hour).

Slow March = Speed divided by 15 (~2 miles/hour).

Normal March = Speed divided by 10 (~3 miles/hour)

fast Marchn = Speed divided by 6.66 (~4.5 miles/nour)

1 Watch = 4 hours (night sentry, roll for random encounters (base 1d30)); Elven meditation cycle

1 March Overland = 2 Watches = 8 hours (Forced March = 3 Watches = 12 hours)

1 Encampment/Decampment = 1 Watch each = 4 Camp Actions (2 hours mandatory and 2 hours free)

1 Long rest (basic) = 2 Night Watches = 8 hours (recover 11 over 2 H.D for healing).

1 Full rest (extended) = 3 Night Watches = 12 hours (recover full H.D for healing purposes; no free hours for encampment/decampment)

Table 27 summary: A travel clock detailing activities across a 24 hour cycle for three different travel paces: Normal, Leisurely, and Forced March. The day is divided into watches, beginning with Dawn from 6 am to 9 am, Noon from 10 am to 1 pm, Day from 2 pm to 5 pm, Dusk 1 and 2 from 6 pm to 9 pm, and transitioning through various Dark and Deep watches from 10 pm to 5 am. Ambient light is noted as Dim at 6 am and 5 pm to 6 pm, Bright at 11 am, and Dark at 12 pm midnight. For the Normal pace, activities include CA, Decamp, Normal March or Exploration, SR, and Encamp, ending with a Long Rest from 10 pm to 5 am that restores 1 EL. The Leisurely pace replaces some marching with Slow March and extends Encampment, concluding with a Full Rest from 10 pm to 5 am that restores 2 EL. The Forced March pace utilizes Fast March and SR, includes a specific Forced March period from 2 pm to 4 pm, and ends with a Long Rest from 8 pm to 5 am restoring 1 EL.

Mechanics: Geography

Definition

Superhex: A large-scale geographical division spanning 81 miles, subdivided into smaller 3-mile hexes for detailed exploration.

A regional map can be a traditional or hex shaped according to the whim of the D.M. In the Mobius Realm, I define a Superhex as 81 miles from face to face, or 27 hexes, each 3 miles (1 league) across.

- Crossing a hex to one of the 3 far sides requires 3 miles (1 league) of travel.

- Crossing a hex to one of the two near sides requires 1.5 miles (1/2 league) of travel.

- Changing direction more than once within a hex will result in the loss of 1 mile of progress each time direction is changed.

In the diagram at the right, the party occupies the center hex (base camp). They can determine the terrain in adjacent hexes 1 league away [hexes 1 to 6] under good visibility conditions (daytime, clear weather). If they can get to a high viewpoint [elevation 50' over surrounding terrain], they may be able to determine the terrain 2 leagues away. A flying creature (1000' altitude) with superior vision could determine terrain features 3 leagues away.

Normal travel is broken into 1 league hexes. You must be able to fully enter a hex to reveal it. On the player's map they get to color in the hex. Adjacent hexes, if seen, are drawn in with pencil by the player mapper.

The following skill checks and modifiers apply to normal travel through a hex:

Players have an option of searching a hex. The party chooses an exploration pace if they wish to search a hex. The benefits are that

• Perception (of moving creatures) is an advantage.

• Investigation (of hidden places and dungeons) is no longer at a disadvantage.

Image summary: A diagram titled Table 28 – Hexploration Skills, featuring a central white hexagon labeled BASE CAMP 7-8, surrounded by six numbered hexagons from 1 to 6. Each outer hexagon is blank except for its number in the top corner.

Nature checks (identifying fauna, foraging for food, medicinal herbs, caves, avoiding hazards) are at an advantage, and

• Survival checks (tracking creatures, hunting, fishing, hiding) are also at an advantage.

Druids and Rangers can enlist the aid of animal companions, flying familiar and druidic spells and language to reveal secrets about the hex.

Terrain, Exploration and Travel Times.

Journey Cycles March 1 day] & Trek 10 day]

A journey takes place in cycles that each represent the days spent traveling in the wilderness. The D.M first decides whether the journey is short or long, depending on how long it will take the characters to reach their destination. The length of the journey determines how many days are represented by a cycle; each cycle is 1 day for a march or 10 days for a trek.

For each cycle, follow these steps in order:

1. Weather. The D.M determines the predominant weather conditions for the cycle. As D.M, you either choose the weather or roll for it on the Weather table on the D.M screen.

2. Pace. The players choose their group's travel pace for the watch cycle (4-hours):

Fast (1 level of exhaustion, suffer disadvantage on Navigation checks, suffer disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks, cannot make Stealth checks to avoid detection)

Normal (0.5 levels of exhaustion; P.C's cannot use Stealth checks to avoid detection), or

Slow (no exhaustion accrued, gain advantage on Navigation checks, can make Stealth checks to avoid detection, the chance for a non-exploratory encounter is halved).

Exploratory (gain advantage on Navigation checks, cannot make Stealth checks to avoid detection, the chance for an encounter is doubled). Forced March If a character spends more than 2 watches travelling in one day, they must make a Constitution check (D.C 10 +1 per hour of additional travel).

3. Navigate. The D.M decides whether the adventurers are at risk of losing their way, following the guidelines in the "Becoming Lost" section 3 pages below.

4. Encounter. Roll every 4-hours for a march or trek. Roll percentile dice according to the terrain and density of creatures in the area. The general rule is a 1 on a d12 (8%). The D.M either decides what happens or rolls on the Random Encounter table.

5. Supplies. Expend food and water for each creature in the party that must eat or drink, consulting the "Food and Water" section below. Units gathered last only 1 extra cycle before it rots, or it gets scavenged. Starving characters gain 1 exhaustion level per day until they have a full meal. Thirsting characters gain 2 exhaustion levels per day until they have full fluids.

6. Shelter. Characters must get adequate rest under suitable shelter and comfort.

If the party moves at a Slow pace in the wilderness, a Survival roll D.C 15 is required by the guide to find proper shelter. Normal pace requires Survival D.C 20, and a fast pace requires Survival D.C 25. Inadequate shelter from the weather and comfort prevents all benefits of a long rest including recovering levels of exhaustion. The egregious D.M might reduce the supplies and condition of the groups' ordnance. Travel in civilized lands offers inns, farms, manors, campgrounds, and such but at a higher cost to the P.C's (unless they engage in banditry). During this time in the wilderness the P.C's are assumed to be living a squalid lifestyle, paying 1 sp per day for the upkeep of their equipment. In civilized regions assume a poor lifestyle (2 sp/day).

7. Progress. Track the party's progress in miles for the cycle. 1 league = 3 miles = 1 hex

Note: Per Day on this table is based on traveling for two watches (8 hours); that is, a full day of travel without a forced march.

Table 28 summary: Hexploration skills and their modifiers based on distance. For the Perception skill, Colored Features are used in the same hex, while Black & White Features are used within a range of 1 league, resulting in a Disadvantage modifier. Survival is penalized with Disadvantage for Hazards & Lairs, as well as Food & Shelter & Tracking in the same hex, and Food & Shelter within a range of 1 league. Investigation Nature applies to Hidden Areas in the same hex with no specified modifier.

Table 29 summary: Basic travel distances based on pace, showing a direct correlation between speed and distance covered over different time intervals. Fast pace covers the most distance at 4.5 miles per hour, 18 miles per watch, and 36 miles per day. In contrast, Exploration pace covers the least, at 1.5 miles per hour, 6 miles per watch, and 12 miles per day. Normal and Slow paces fall in between, with Normal at 3 miles per hour and Slow at 2 miles per hour.

Advanced Rule: Mounts & Vehicles

Gallop: If riding a mount, you can gallop for 1 hour during a watch in which you are traveling at normal or fast pace. During that hour you travel at twice your fast pace speed. (This results in a total watch distance of 18 miles at normal pace or 22.5 miles at fast pace.)

If fresh mounts are available every 8 or 10 miles, characters can cover larger distances at this pace, but this is very rare except in densely populated areas.

Land Vehicles: Choose pace normally.

Waterborne Vehicles: Distance is limited to the speed of the vessel. On some ships, characters may be able to take rest and active watches even while the ship is moving. This may also allow the ship to travel up to 24 hours a day if the crew can operate in multiple shifts.

Unsuitable Terrain: Most land vehicles are designed to be used on roads, although many will fare well in open terrain (like a prairie). At the G.M's discretion, in unsuitable terrain a vehicle may be limited to a slow pace, and ability checks may be required each watch to make any progress at all.

Advanced Rule: Expedition Speed

An expedition's speed is based on the speed of its slowest member.

- In 1 hour at normal pace, the expedition can travel several miles equal to its speed divided by 10.

- At a fast pace, the expedition can travel 150% of its normal speed.

- At a slow pace, the expedition can travel 66% of its normal speed.

- At an exploration pace, the expedition can travel 50% of its normal speed.

- Calculate distance per watch based on the expedition's hourly speed.

On the tables below, distances have been rounded to the nearest half mile.

Table 30 summary: Expedition speeds in miles per hour based on base speed and pace. Faster paces result in higher speeds across all base speeds, with Fast Pace consistently providing the highest miles per hour and Exploration Pace providing the lowest. For example, at a base speed of 30 ft., the speed ranges from 1.5 miles per hour at Exploration Pace up to 4.5 miles per hour at Fast Pace. At the highest base speed of 300 ft., the speeds range from 15 miles per hour for Exploration Pace to 45 miles per hour for Fast Pace.

Table 31 summary: Miles per hour for different expedition speeds based on base speed. Movement is fastest at a Fast Pace and slowest at an Exploration Pace. For a base speed of 30 ft., the travel rates are 18 miles per hour for Fast Pace, 12 for Normal Pace, 8 for Slow Pace, and 6 for Exploration Pace. This scaling continues up to a base speed of 300 ft., where the rates reach 180 miles per hour for Fast Pace and 60 for Exploration Pace.

Advanced Rule: Terrain

The type of terrain modifies the speed at which an expedition can travel.

Highway: A highway is a straight, major, paved road.

Road: A road is a dirt track or similar causeway.

Trail: An irregular byway. Probably unsuitable for most vehicles and may only allow for single-file travel. Most off-road travel follows local trails. A known trail does not usually require navigation checks, although a known trail in poor repair requires a D.C 10 navigation check to follow.

Trackless: Trackless terrain is a wild area with no paths. +2 to navigation D.C's. puller can lead a file with several animals equal to their passive Wisdom (Animal Handling) skill.

Image summary: A vertical diagram illustrating various sizes of wooden barrels, labeled from largest to smallest based on their capacity relative to a tun. The sizes listed are Tun, Pipe or Butt (1/2 tun), Puncheon or Tertian (1/3 tun), Hogshead (1/4 tun), Tierce (1/6 tun), Barrel (1/8 tun), and Rundlet (1/14 tun).

Poor Visibility: This condition also gives disadvantage to navigation and forage checks.

River Crossing: This penalty applies to any watch during which a river must be crossed. This does not apply if the characters are following a road which has a bridge on it but does apply if they're traveling cross-country and must seek out a bridge.

Table 33 summary: Speed modifiers for various exploration conditions. Most conditions slow movement, with a common modifier of 3/4 speed for factors like cold or hot climate, giant terrain, leading mounts, river crossings, and storms. More severe impediments further reduce speed, such as poor visibility and snow cover at 1/2 speed, heavy snow cover at 1/4 speed, and hurricanes at 1/10 speed. Conversely, the Feywild increases speed with a 3/2 modifier, while the Shadowfell reduces it to 2/3.

Becoming Lost

Image summary: A diagram of a gray hexagon titled Table 33 – Exploration Conditions Modifier EXPEDITION SPEED CONDITIONS MODIFIER. A blue arrow points upward from the bottom center toward the middle of the hexagon. Numbers are placed around the interior perimeter: 1 on the lower left, 2,3,4,5 on the upper left, 6,7 at the top, 8,9,10,11 on the upper right, and 12 on the lower right.

Travelers are unlikely to get lost when following an established path or road or with a landmark in sight. In those circumstances, assume a group of adventurers won't get lost. Here are the circumstances that can cause a group to lose its way:

Weather that obscures the area. such as heavy rain. snow. or fog.

• Traveling at night, even with light sources, moonvision or deepvision.

Deep wilderness travel without a local guide.

Horizon-obscuring terrain, such as dense forest

• Branching passages traveling underground.

• Traveling at sea while unable to see the sky or any familiar land.

• Travelling without a good map of the area.

The D.M lets the group know when they are in one or more of those circumstances, and then the characters choose one of their number who must make a Wisdom (Survival) check against a Navigation D.C appropriate to the terrain. Other members of the group (who are proficient in either Survival or Nature) can take the Help action on this check. Traveling at a fast pace imposes disadvantage on the check. If the check fails, the group spends 1 March (4 hours) exiting the hex in a random direction (1d12) direction. The new direction will be maintained until a successful Navigation Roll is made. The D.M may roll a die to determine which hex the group ends up in on a map. Armored Travel in Extreme Climates — see the guidelines on the Ordnance supplement.

- Wearing armor or being heavily encumbered in any climate require Constitution saving throws [D.C 5 (light armor), D.C 8 (medium armor) or D.C 10 (heavy armor)] every 4 hours (March or Watch). Failure results in one level of exhaustion. Extreme environments like deserts, jungles and arctic terrain increase the D.C by 5. Anyone with the durable feat does not need to roll.

- Marching in medium (-5 base speed) and heavy armor (-10 base speed) (in normal environments) restricts travel to a normal or slower pace. Armor mastery feats, species traits and magical armors reduce these speed penalties by 5'. If speed penalties are removed, then fast pace is possible.

- Be wise, ride a mount and ignore the restrictions and exhaustion levels.

Food and Water Needs (Dungeon Master's Screen)

Camp Supplies: this is a concept from Baldur's Gate 3 where food, water, cooking gear, plates, utensils, salt, spices, and soap are all combined together as Units of Camp supplies.

1. Basic Utensils = 3 units (6 lbs.) [15 sp]

- Each person requires some minimum equipment to carry, prepare, hold and store food and water. This amounts to 6 lbs. of utensils, pouches, pots, cutlery. If P.C's eat fresh food or standard rations, then these basic utensils are a necessary part of that process. Basic Utensils do not deteriorate but they can get lost or damaged.

2. One quart of water = 1 unit (2 lbs.)

• Small and Medium creatures require 1 gallon (4 quarts) of water per day.

- Tiny creatures require 1/4 gallon (1 quart) of water per day.

- Large creatures (or those with the powerful build trait) require 4 gallons of water per day.

- Huge creatures require 16 gallons of water per day.

- Container + contents: flask = 1 unit, waterskin = 2 units, bucket (gallon) = 4 units, Pin = 20 units, Firkin = 40 units, Kilderkin = 80 units, Rundlet = 90 units, Barrel = 160 units, Tierce = 220 units, Hogshead = 330 units, Butt = 660 units, Tun = 1330 units.

3. One day's standard rations = 1 unit (2 lbs.)

• A creature needs food and water depending upon its size. Table 32 indicates units of food and water required per size category.

Table 32 summary: Expedition speed terrain modifiers across various environments. Movement on a HIGHWAY is generally unaffected with a multiplier of x1, except in Mountains where it drops to x3/4. For ROAD / TRAIL and TRACKLESS movement, speeds are often reduced, with TRACKLESS being the slowest, reaching x1/4 in Jungle. Navigation and forage difficulty costs vary by terrain, with the highest navigation cost of 18 in Forest (dense) and the highest forage cost of 20 in Desert.

There was no refrigeration in temperate medieval climates. Food would spoil readily. Arctic climates could freeze food, however. Desert climates could sundry food as well. Various aspects of food preservation could extend the life of your larder.

- Rot, fungus, vermin, and bacteria could all ruin food. This game will use these values for deterioration. Roll for spoilage at the end of each day or Long Rest. If spoiled food is eaten then diners must make a con saving throw at D.C 10 or suffer the poisoned condition for 24 hours. The chance of contracting a disease from section K.8 increases 5%. The Purify Food & Drink spell will prevent spoilage.

Table 34 – Food Units | Sustenance | Hunting & Foraging

Table 34 summary: Food and sustenance requirements, broken down by food type and creature size. Food types range from Fresh Cooked Food, which is the most expensive at 4 to 10 sp and spoils fastest at 33 percent per day, to Iron Rations, which cost 6 sp and spoil at 10 percent per day. Beverages like Spirits have 0 percent spoilage, while Water is the cheapest at 1 cp per quart. Sustenance needs scale by creature size; for example, a Medium Human requires 1 food unit and 6 units of water per day, costing 5 sp. In contrast, a Large Goliath requires 4 food units and 12 units of water per day, costing 16 sp. The largest requirements are for creatures 7.5 to 12 feet tall, such as the Ogre, which needs 28 food units and 80 units of water daily.

Foraging

Characters can hunt or gather food and water while the party travels at a slow or exploration pace. A foraging character makes a Wisdom (Survival) check against a Forage D.C determined by the terrain. On a successful check, the character gathers units of food equal to a roll on the foraging table.

Repeat the roll for drinkable water. Uncooked food and foraged water may contain parasites and diseases.

Table summary: Rules for fishing, hunting, and foraging, detailing the risks and rewards for different methods. Hunting is split into three categories: Snares and Traps, which are passive and require a DC 15 Survival or Nature check for 1 plus skill modifier food units; Small Game or Fishing, which is active and requires a DC 10 Nature or Stealth check for 2 plus skill modifier food units; and Big Game, which requires a DC 12 Nature or DC 15 Stealth check for 1d10 times the skill modifier in food units. Foraging rewards vary by biome: Abundant biomes provide 2d12 plus skill modifier food units and unlimited water; Limited biomes provide 2d4 plus skill modifier food units and 2d12 plus skill modifier water units; and Sparse biomes provide 1 plus skill modifier of both food and water. Animal grazing requires either 4 or 8 hours depending on the activity.

The D.M might ask you to make a Wisdom (Survival) check to follow tracks, hunt wild game, forage for food, discover sources of water, guide your group through frozen wastelands, identify signs that owlbears live nearby, predict the weather, or avoid quicksand and other natural hazards.

An Introduction to Skinning

The parts I have listed here are by no means the only parts you can use from a creature, but I have listed the most common and easily sold pieces. Each creature will likely possess some of the following, as described by the table below:

- Meat-how much, how to store it, and how much a vendor may pay for it.

Eggs-for applicable creatures, eggs can be eaten or sold as future pets.

• Pelts, Skins, and Hides - pelts and hides can be worked into cloaks, bags, or leathers, or sold to vendors.

- Claws, Fangs, and Teeth - these parts are typically only used as trophies, but can often be made into jewelry or sold to vendors.

- Venom - certain serpents and arachnids (such as scorpions and spiders) possess venom glands that can be carefully extracted or bled into containers. This venom can be sold to vendors (as is illegal in many cities) or kept for personal use.

Skinner's Tools

Each toolkit contains a skinning knife, a whetstone, two sets of hempen rope (25 feet long), a flask of oil, 1 pounds of salt, and two hunting traps. 25gp, 30lbs

Using the Tools (Survival)

Table summary: Skinning time and difficulty increase significantly with the size of the game. Tiny and small game take 15 minutes with a DC of 10, while medium game takes 45 minutes with a DC of 15. Large game requires 1 hour and a DC of 20, huge game takes 8 hours with a DC of 25, and gargantuan game takes 1 week with a DC of 30.

On a successful check, the amount of meat harvested is determined above. The other parts, such as pelts and claws, are also included in these D.C checks.

A failed Survival check will result in half the meat being worthless and ruining the pelt or hide in question.

You are proficient with Skinner's Tools if you are proficient with Leatherworker's Tools.

The Harvesting of Meat

Unlike aberrant meat, the meat of monstrosities is relatively edible. Certain exceptions exist, where the meat itself may contain a toxicity that cannot be cooked, or the creature's form doesn't actually possess meat (such as mimics).

Innkeepers and taverns may be interested in purchasing raw meat from players. Standard game, such as rabbits, deer, bear, etcetera will likely be purchased at 5cp per lb. More exotic meats, such as tiger, crocodile, and shark will be worth much more, depending on the location and the rarity of the creature whose meat you are trying to sell. I suggest 5sp per lb, with a x2 or x3 exoticism modifier per D.M discretion. For more exotic sales, keeping a trophy to prove what the meat came from may be useful.

Camp Action

Table summary: The amount of harvestable meat increases based on game size, ranging from 1d4 pounds for Tiny game to 12d10+100 pounds for Huge game. Intermediate sizes include Small at 1d6+10 pounds, Medium at 3d10+30 pounds, and Large at 8d10+50 pounds. All harvested meat must be sold or salted within 2 days to prevent spoiling.

:

Image summary: An illustration by artist Lucas Firmino of a bald, bearded man in a fur-lined cloak stirring a pot of stew containing meat and vegetables. The accompanying text notes that harvested meats must be salted or sold within two days of the kill to prevent spoiling.

Definition

Weave: The metaphorical structure of magical energy in the setting; it can be manipulated, unraveled, or depleted by spellcasting.

In a 24-hour period, there are usually 2 watches during a long rest, 2 watches spent marching, 1 watch spent on normal biological activities. This leaves 1 watch or 4 hours available for Camp Actions. Spellcasters must spend one camp action to regain their full allotment of spells: either in divine communion, spellbook study, meditation, singing and music or some suitable connection to the weave.

Table 35 summary: A comprehensive list of Camp Actions, their durations, and their associated effects or requirements. Most activities, such as crafting items, studying spells, or treating injuries, take 1 hour. Specialized class activities for Sorcerers, Bards, Warlocks, Druids, Rangers, Clerics, Paladins, and Wizards typically take 1 hour and allow them to regain spell slots or imbue their focuses. Other durations include 30 minutes for setting patrols, 2 hours for building defensive works or caring for pets, and 4 hours for fishing, foraging, or hunting. A detailed process for attuning to magic items takes 1 hour and requires skill rolls based on the item's rarity, with DCs ranging from 5 for common items up to 28 for unique, legendary, or cursed items.

Survival D.C.S by Task

Avoid Getting Lost / Avoid Natural Hazards: You can use the Survival skill to avoid getting lost or avoid natural hazards and you make a Wisdom (Survival) check whenever the situation calls for one. Unstable mines and slippery floors are considered underground hazards. Rip tides are a coastal hazard.

Cover Tracks: You know not only how to find signs that mark the passage of men and animals but also how to make your own tracks more difficult to follow. If you move at three-quarters your normal movement rate, you can make a Survival check with a -5 penalty to destroy signs of your passage. Anyone attempting to track you must not only beat the D.C of the environmental conditions, but their own check must equal or beat yours. If they fail to do this, they cannot track you.

Determine Distance: By concentrating for 1 minute and making a Wisdom (Survival) D.C 15 check you can determine the distance between two points within your line of sight. If the check fails, you cannot determine the distance. If you succeed, the D.M tells you about the distance in a reasonable unit of measure. If you fail the check by 5 or more, the D.M adds or subtracts (at his option) 1d20 of the same units to or from your measurement. You cannot determine the distance between two towns down to the nearest foot, but you can judge how many miles separate them. You may also use this skill to determine the size and dimensions of a subterranean chamber that you cannot fully see, using echoes, and telltale rock formations (D.C 20).

Find Path: One excellent use of the Survival skill is to allow quick movement through wilderness terrain. Whenever you are moving in a hex of trackless terrain, you may, as an action, attempt a D.C 20 Survival check to locate a path through the terrain as though it were a road or trail for the purpose of determining your overland speed. This benefit also extends to your allies or traveling companions.

Intuit Depth: By concentrating for five minutes, you can gauge your current depth beneath the earth's surface. The D.M makes this check in secret. If the check is successful (D.C 20), you correctly deduce your depth. If you fail the check by 5 or more the D.M adds or subtracts (at his option) d100% feet to or from the current depth.

Know Direction: You can determine true north in relation to yourself with a D.C 12 Wisdom (Survival) check.

Track: To find tracks or to follow them for 1 mile requires a successful Wisdom (Survival) check. In a hexcrawl, you make the tracking check three times per league or hex. You must make another Survival check every time the tracks become difficult to follow. If you are not trained in this skill, you can make untrained checks to find tracks, but you suffer disadvantage. You move at half your normal speed while following tracks (or at your normal speed by suffering disadvantage). The D.C depends on the surface and the prevailing conditions, as given on table. You always know when you have lost track of your quarry.

: Table 37 summary: Survival checks for tracking prey, divided into ground conditions and situational modifiers. Tracking difficulty increases as the surface becomes harder, with DC values ranging from 5 for very soft ground up to 30 for an alien environment. The size of the tracks found scales with this difficulty, moving from tiny for very soft ground to gargantuan for alien environments. Modifiers for these ground types range from plus 5 for very soft ground to minus 5 for shallow water or alien environments. Situational modifiers further adjust the check, such as a plus 5 bonus for starlit or moonlit nights, a plus 1 penalty for every 24 hours since the trail was made, and disadvantage if there has been rain or snow since the trail was created.

Streetwise: You can navigate the districts of a city, from its sewers to the docks to markets and high quarters. Combined with Thieves Cant in the urban setting or Druidic in the wilderness, you can gather a lot of information on the surrounding area, who is in control and what are the dangers. A street-smart kid can gather rumors and names as well as any charismatic bard tossing coins about.

Survive in the Wilderness: You can keep yourself and others safe, watered and fed in the wild. The D.M can set a D.C appropriate to the climate and terrain. Hunting and foraging while travelling at a slow pace is possible but the Survival roll is at a disadvantage. Matching the D.C could feed one person for a day. Exceeding the roll by 5 can feed 4 persons for a day.

Use Ropes: You can tie ropes to assist in climbing, craft nets, lasso an object or creature, haul heavy loads, bind a prisoner, build a raft or a bridge. The D.M should set an appropriate D.C for the task at hand. Fancy knots should refer to the Sleight of Hand skill.

Wilderness Encounters: To check for encounters, roll 1d30 once per watch.

A low roll indicates that an encounter should be rolled on the hex crawl's Wilderness Encounters table.

A high roll indicates that the characters have encountered a keyed location within the hex as an Exploration Encounters. Most hexes only have a single keyed location. For hexes with multiple keyed locations, determine the location encountered randomly.

When an encounter is generated, the distance at which the encounter may be detected will depend on the terrain in which it is occurring. (If the encounter is with a group of creatures and both sides are surprised – that is, they do not detect each other – it's technically possible they will pass each other without ever realizing it.)

Deterioration: there is a base 1% chance every week that anyone, anywhere can become diseased. For simplicity roll this on Earthday and the holy days belonging to deities of ill-luck, disease and decay. This chance may increase depending upon the climate, location, sanitation, cultural norms, shelter quality and food quality.

If Table 20 indicates a 4% chance, then a d100 roll of 01 indicates a severe disease, while a 2, 3, 4 indicates a mild disease. A diseased character recovers minimum H.P from first aid and magical healing. Recuperating from a disease or contagion requires an extended rest (1 week) and a D.C 12 Constitution saving throw.

Mild Disease: runs its course after a successful Constitution (D.C 12) saving throw. The character always has 1 level of exhaustion. It is curable by a Lesser Restoration spell or the Paladin's ability to Lay-on-Hands (5 points). Proper food, warmth and shelter must be available to the victim. Medical aid will grant advantage on the saving throw. A natural 1 on the saving turns it into a Severe Disease.

Severe Disease: runs its course until a successful Constitution (D.C 17) saving throw. The character always has 2 levels of exhaustion and the poisoned condition. It is curable by a Greater Restoration spell or the Paladin's ability to Lay-on-Hands (25 points). Proper food, warmth and shelter must be available to the victim.

Medical aid will remove disadvantage on the saving throw. A natural 1 on the saving throw indicates death.

See the Dungeon Master's Guide, Chapter 3 for examples of Magical Contagions (Cackle Fever, Sewer Plague, Sight Rot). In Greyhawk normal diseases also exist (despite WotC's aim to sanitize D&D into monster bashing as the only form of challenge).

When a chase begins in the wilderness, the D.M can use these rules to determine whether the pursuer catches their quarry.

A chase is played out over the course of rounds, during which each chase participant takes a turn. Here are the steps to follow in a chase:

1. Establish Positions. Determine how far apart the quarry and the pursuer are from each other. The quarry and the pursuer might each be an individual or a group. Over the course of the chase, the D.M keeps track of this distance. You may use a dry-erase hex map in this kit to track distance. If you do so, you determine how many feet each hex represents: 5 feet, 10 feet, or more. Begin with the lead quarry being a distance of their Speed + 1d6 X 5' ahead of the pursuer.

2. Determine Initiative. Everyone involved in the chase determines their initiative based upon their position. The lead character is assigned the highest initiative, followed by the others in order of their distance behind him. This initiative order may change from round to round as creatures pass each other. Ties go to the one with the highest dexterity score.

3. Track Movement. Use miniatures but place them in relative positions. The lead quarry should have their speed written down for all to see. Chases rarely occur at normal movement speeds. Dashing is the default. Dashing in difficult terrain may require acrobatics checks. Encumbered characters cannot dash.

4. No Opportunity Attacks. No one involved directly in the chase can use an opportunity attack against anyone else in the chase. During a chase, you can take reactions as normal, but you can't make opportunity attacks against other chase participants, since you are all assumed to be moving in the same direction at the same time. However, chase participants can still be the targets of opportunity attacks from creatures not participating in the chase. For example, an adventurer who chases a bandit past a wolf in the woods might provoke an opportunity attack from the wolf.

5. Track Exhaustion. You can use the Dash action several times equal to 3+ your Constitution modifier. For each Dash action after that you must succeed on a D.C 10 Constitution check or take one level of exhaustion. Your speed becomes 0 when you reach level 5 exhaustion.

Attack. If a pursuer can move into a quarry's space, he may instead use a bonus action to perform a single melee attack against the quarry when he is within reach. The attack is made at a disadvantage. Note that the pursuer cannot use this option if he can only move within reach but could not overtake the quarry if he chose to.

Overtake. A pursuer overtakes a quarry when he moves into its space. He can then use a bonus action to attempt to grapple the creature. Normal grapple rules apply.

If successful, both pursuer and quarry are stopped. Rather than grapple, the pursuer may attempt to trip, push over or tackle (both end up prone) the quarry. The pursuer has advantage on the attack.

As an optional rule, an attack that fails by 5 or more results in the pursuer falling prone.

7. Quarry Escapes. The quarry can attempt to escape if it is out of sight for all the pursuers. He makes a Dexterity (Stealth) check and must beat the passive Wisdom

(Perception) scores of the pursuers. The quarry gains advantage or disadvantage on the check based on prevailing circumstances, as shown in the Escape Factors table.

8. Complications. Roll 1d20 at the end of your turn and compare that roll to the appropriate Chase Complications table. The complication is not applied to your character, but rather to the next character in initiative order. You can spend an inspiration point to negate the complication you rolled or one that effects you. Rather than rolling on the table, the D.M may allow a quarry to impose a condition on a pursuer to slow him down. It might be one listed on the table, or one

:

purse on the table, or one of his own creation. Another option to using a table would be for the D.M to declare conditions based on his map or the terrain and the path the quarry takes.

9. Conditions. Prone. A complication may leave you prone. To get up from prone you subtract the distance represented by half your move rate from your total move distance. A 'kip-up' is also possible.

Table 36 summary: Difficulty Class requirements and examples for Wilderness Survival situations. A DC 10 check allows a character to survive in the wilderness while moving at half overland speed without food or water supplies. At DC 15, characters can avoid natural hazards like quicksand and cliffs, keep from getting lost, or predict the weather up to 24 hours in advance. A DC 15 result also provides a plus 2 bonus on Constitution saves against severe weather, with the ability to extend this bonus to others based on how much the result exceeds 15. Finally, a DC 20 check is required to survive in extreme climates such as arctic, aquatic, or desert environments.

Table 38 summary: Chase Complications, organized as two separate random tables using a 1d20 roll. The first table lists various complication types and their mechanical effects. Hazards, such as holes or log bridges, require a DC 10 Dexterity or Strength save to avoid falling and taking damage. Cramped spaces, Barriers, and Uneven Ground typically require Athletics or Acrobatics checks with DCs ranging from 10 to 15, with failures resulting in difficult terrain or falling prone. Poor visibility requires a DC 10 Constitution save to avoid being blinded and having speed halved. Entanglements require a DC 15 Dexterity save to avoid being restrained. Animal herds require a DC 10 Dexterity save to avoid taking 1d4 bludgeoning and 1d4 piercing damage. Results 11 through 19 yield no complication, while a roll of 20 provides a Short Cut, requiring a DC 10 Wisdom Perception check to gain 1d4 times 5 feet of distance. The second table provides a themed set of complications for snowy or icy environments, mapping specific obstacles like snow drifts, blowing snow, and ice cliffs to the complication types defined in the first table, with rolls of 11 through 20 resulting in no complication.

Figure Aerial Complications summary: A list of potential aerial complications determined by a 1d20 roll. Results from 1 to 10 trigger specific complications, such as hazards like a Tower or Ship mast, impediments like a Flock of birds or Updraft, and visibility issues like Smoke or Dust. Other types include a Barrier from Storm clouds, Cramped space from Turbulence, and Entanglement from Ice buildup. Rolls from 11 to 20 result in No Complication.

Arctic Complications

Table summary: A list of beach complications determined by a 20 sided die roll. Rolls from 1 to 10 trigger specific complications, such as a Tidal pool as an Impediment, a Crevice as a Hazard, or Sea turtles as an Animal herd. Rolls from 11 to 20 result in No Complication.

Cave Complications

Table summary: A list of potential complications determined by a twenty sided die roll. Results one through ten introduce various environmental challenges, such as a Crevice or Wet floor as Hazards, Bats and Stalagmites as Impediments, and a Lava crossing as a Barrier. Rolls eleven through twenty result in No Complication.

Table summary: Church Complications for a 1d20 roll, which include an Entanglement type complication called Curtains across path on a roll of 1, and an Uneven Ground type complication called Stairway on a roll of 2.

: Table summary: Complications encountered in a church setting, categorized by the specific scenario and the type of obstacle it presents. Examples include pews as obstacles, a narrow hallway creating cramped space, a highly polished floor or railing acting as hazards, and a smoke filled room causing poor visibility. Other complications include entanglement from chimes, a balcony acting as a barrier, and loose rugs as an impediment. Scenarios 11 through 20 are listed as having no complication.

City Complications

Table summary: Church Complications for a 1d20 roll. Results from 1 to 10 introduce various complications, such as Alleyway and Market as Cramped space, Bridge and Rooftop as Hazard, or Large Animals as an Animal herd. Rolls from 11 to 20 result in No Complication.

Desert Complications

Table summary: Church Complications determined by a 1d20 roll. Results 1 through 10 trigger various complications, such as Dunes as Uneven Ground, Quicksand as a Hazard, or Cliff as a Barrier. Rolls from 11 to 20 result in No Complication.

Dungeon Complications

Table summary: Church Complications determined by a 1d20 roll. Results from 1 to 10 introduce various environmental issues, such as Hazards like a Pit or slime covered floor, Impediments like Rubble or a torture chamber, and other obstacles like stairs, coffins, or chains. Rolls from 11 to 20 result in No Complication.

Forest Complications

Table summary: Church Complications for a 1d20 roll, listing various environmental obstacles and their types. Examples include a log bridge crossing a stream as a hazard, dense brush causing poor visibility, and vines across path resulting in entanglement.

Table summary: Swamp Complications for entries 8 through 20. These include impediments such as Panicked monkeys and Thorn bushes, as well as a hazard consisting of 2' tall ferns obscuring path. Entries 11 through 20 are listed as having No Complication.

Graveyard Complications

Table summary: Swamp Complications determined by a 1d20 roll. Complications occur on rolls of 1 through 10, including Hazards like an Open grave or Low fence, Barriers such as a High fence, and various Impediments like Loose dirt, a Crypt, a Coffin, or a Funeral Coach. Other possibilities include Cramped space from Tombstones, a Crowd from a Funeral procession, and Entanglement from Vine covered graves. Rolls from 11 to 20 result in No Complication.

Indoor Complications

Table summary: A list of swamp complications determined by a 1d20 roll. Results from 1 to 10 introduce various challenges, such as hazards like slippery floors or holes in the floor, impediments like a littered floor or kitchen, and other issues like cramped spaces in narrow hallways or entanglement from curtains and beads. Rolls from 11 to 20 result in no complication.

Mountain Complications

Table summary: A list of potential swamp complications determined by a 20 sided die roll. Rolls from 1 to 10 trigger specific complications, such as hazards like a crevice or log bridge across chasm, and other issues like a flock of birds impediment or mountain goats animal herd. Rolls from 11 to 20 result in no complication.

Ocean Complications

Table summary: A list of random complications for a swamp environment determined by a 20 sided die roll. Results from 1 to 10 trigger various obstacles, such as hazards like Coral maze and Reef, entanglement risks from Kelp beds and Fishing nets, or visibility and space issues like Precipitation and Narrow strait. Rolls from 11 to 20 result in No Complication.

Table summary: A list of swamp complications determined by a twenty sided die roll. Results from 1 to 10 introduce specific challenges, such as Hazard for Quicksand, Shallow water, and Slick, algae covered ground; Impediment for Muck $ \alpha $ Mire and Fallen logs; or other types like Cramped space for Thick Vegetation and Barrier for Deep Water. Rolls from 11 to 20 result in No Complication.

Section 5: Roguish Rules

1. Stealth — Do you allow stealth movement in your game? How is it accomplished? Do you require that the movement be immediately from one hiding spot to the next? Can stealth be accomplished in combat, or is it only out of combat? Consider taking the time to emphasize how Stealth/hiding in D&D is different from what players may have experienced in videogames.

1.1. Stealth is done raw. There are many limitations including light, distractions, line of sight, camouflage, movement, noise, and scent. Certain species, classes and circumstances can bend these rules. Often the rules for invisibility and silence are misunderstood.

Stealth relies on being able to hide visually, move silently and masking your scent. All of this can be a complex adjudication and requires some assumptions. These will be investigated separately.

2. Unseen Attacker, Invisibility, Hidden — What does it mean to be an unseen attacker? How does cover work? How do actions/things cause an unseen attack to become revealed?

How does such an attacker go back to being an Unseen Attacker? Can enemies even 'target' an unseen attacker? What does it mean to be hidden? Can a hidden creature be a 'valid target'? If they can, what penalties does the attacker have against the hidden creature?

What actions/things reveal a hidden creature? How does such a creature go back to being Hidden? Can a hidden creature clearly attack an un-hidden creature without penalty? What does it mean to be invisible? Can an invisible creature be a 'valid target'?

If they can, what penalties do they have? What actions/things cause an invisible creature to become revealed or a target? How does an invisible creature go back to being unrevealed?

2.1. Being invisible is different from being Unseen. Invisible targets can still give away their position by the sound of footsteps, disturbed dust whorls, strong scents, or incidental noises. Characters still need to take the Hide action which is a Dexterity (Stealth) check opposed by Wisdom (Perception) checks. Being invisible has the effect of imposing disadvantage on attack rolls against you and granting you advantage in your first attack (unless target has the alert feat). Being unseen means that you cannot be targeted by an enemy's ranged attack.

2.2. Hidden creatures break line of sight between both parties. It normally requires either: 3 over 4 cover under normal visual ranges, prone behind 1 over 2 cover or appropriate camouflage, heavy obscurement or darkness or invisibility. Camouflage provides a +2 bonus to the Stealth skill. Creatures that rely upon other senses such as hearing, smell or tremorsense can fail to locate an opponent if similar steps are made to foil the dominant sense (silence, loud noises, masking smells or motionlessness). Attacking reveals a hidden creature. Moving also reveals a creature if they fail a Dexterity (Stealth) roll opposed by a Wisdom (Perception) roll. Once a creature attacks, they are considered visible to all for that round. Some roguish types get cunning actions or bonus actions that allow them to Hide. These creatures must find cover or concealment.

2.3. As per the Player's Handbook (page 177) and Unseen Attackers and Targets, (page 194) of the same book. According to this, "If you are hidden – both unseen and unheard – when you make an attack, you give away your location when the attack hits or misses." This means that all enemies now know where you are, and unless you have another means of remaining unseen from them (such as greater invisibility, heavy obscurement such as darkness, total cover, or the Skulker feat), you are no longer an unseen attacker.

2.4. The Old D.M's House Rules on Hiding:

The Hidden Condition

Hidden: The creature or creatures that you are hiding from are unaware of your location.

Clarification:

The terms “you are hiding” and “you are hidden” or “you have the Hidden condition” are synonymous.

Being “stealthy” is trying to remain undetected which is the same as trying to hide.

You are hidden if the creature you are hiding from is unable to determine your location by sight, hearing, smell or any other sense it possesses. This is the most common situation. The Creature is trying to determine where you are. It may be wanting to attack you, but it can't see or hear you.

An example could be when you are invisible (it can't see you) and you are being very quiet (it can't hear you).

Another example would be when you move to a position behind total cover, such as behind a tree or a barrel and try to remain unseen and unheard.

You are hidden if the creature you are hiding from doesn't notice you. This is typically when a creature you are trying to sneak up on is currently unaware of your presence. They may be distracted or simply looking the other way. You attempt to both quickly and silently sneak up from behind.

A third example might be if you are attending a royal party and attempt to pick the pocket of a noble. You try to avoid attracting his attention while you get close enough to pick his pocket without being noticed.

A fourth example would be if you transformed into a small spider and are simply there to gather information while observing from the ceiling in the corner of the room.

You are hidden if the creature you are hiding from can't distinguish you from others. In this case they can see you and they may know that you are near and a possible threat, but you are among others and it doesn't know which one you are. You may be trying to blend in with the crowd, or you might be attempting to hide while disguised as (or transformed into) a sheep in a flock of sheep.

Benefits to Being Hidden

If you are hidden from all your opponents before the first round of combat you will surprise them and get to attack them first before they can take any action or reaction. (You are no longer hidden after you attack.) On all targeted attacks against you, the attacker must first identify where he thinks you are located. The attack will automatically miss if you are not in that 5 foot square area. Called shots are impossible.

The attack is made with disadvantage, even if you are not in the targeted area, and the D.M simply tells the attacker if his attack missed. If you are hidden you make attacks with advantage if you can see the target. However, you will no longer be hidden if the attack hits or misses.

When can you hide?

During combat, hiding is an action. In combat or not, you can't hide from a creature that can perceive your location.

Clarification:

The D.M determines when conditions are right for making a hide check, including in the following examples.

You can attempt to hide from one or more creatures if they do not currently see you clearly or perceive your location by any special senses they might have such as darkvision, blindsight, tremorsense, or truesight. Another situation where you can attempt to hide is when the creature you are trying to hide from is distracted or looking away from your location. If in normal viewing conditions, hiding requires 3 over 4 cover or better.

How do you hide?

You make a Hide check [a Dexterity (Stealth) check]. Make a note of the results of that check to be used later. Unless you indicate one or more specific creatures that you are attempting to hide from, it will be assumed that you are attempting to hide from your foes and not from your allies.

When are you no longer hidden?

Until you are discovered or you stop hiding, the hide check you made is contested by the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that might notice you or that actively searches for signs of your presence. You are discovered and no longer hidden from creatures that win the contest. The D.M may choose to use the creature's Passive Perception score rather than making a Perception check. Superior senses add 5 to the roll.

Keen senses add 10 to the roll. Supernatural senses add 15 to the roll.

You are no longer hidden from a creature that can hear you if you make any audible sounds.

You are no longer hidden from a creature that can hear you if you speak louder than a whisper or cast a spell with a verbal component.

You are no longer hidden from a creature that can smell you.

You are no longer hidden from a creature that can vibe you.

You are no longer hidden if you make an attack of any kind if it hits or misses.

Difference between hidden and invisible

Invisible: Being invisible means you can't be seen by normal sight or darkvision but creatures might still locate you by sounds you make, tracks you leave, your smell, the way the air or plants move around you, or some other way.

Hidden: If a creature can't perceive your location by seeing you, or by any special senses, you can attempt to hide from it. So, if a creature is dependent on sight alone to perceive your location, you can attempt to hide from it if you are invisible.

Clarification:

If you are invisible and hidden, when a creature locates you, you will no longer be hidden from it but you will still be invisible.

If a creature can't be detected by using any of your senses, then you can only guess at its location.

If you can notice some clue as to its location, you must succeed on a Perception-check to locate it.

You can make this check with advantage if you use the Search action.

If it has attempted to hide, your Perception check will be against its hide check.

Advantage and Disadvantage

Here is a summary of situations where your character might have advantage or disadvantage based on hidden or invisible conditions. Attacks you make against a creature you can't see are made with disadvantage. If you are hidden or invisible, attacks you make against a creature you can see are made with advantage.

If you attack a creature that is hidden from you, you must guess at its location (identify the square you think it is in) before you make the attack, and the attack is made with disadvantage. The D.M will tell you if the attack hit or missed. If it missed, you would not know if the creature was in that square or not. If you attack a creature that is invisible but not hidden, you may first make a perception check to see if you can notice some indication of where it is located. If you determine the creature's location, your attack is made with disadvantage. Failing the perception check, proceed as you would if it were hidden.

Handling Total Cover

Have you ever had a player that wanted to stay behind total cover during combat and just step out and fire his arrow on his turn and then step back? I don't like this. It doesn't make for cinematic, or heroic combat. Here are a couple of house rules I have implemented to address this and other similar situations.

If you are behind total cover and hidden, if you move out from behind that cover, you are no longer hidden to creatures who can see you. However, the first attack you make the round you come out from cover is made with advantage. This is to reward you for being stealthy.

If you are behind total cover but are not hidden and cannot see your target, if you move out from behind total cover and attack, the first attack you make that round is made with disadvantage. This is because you will have to locate your target visually and do not have time to take careful aim. If, during your turn, you move from an exposed location to a location behind total cover, one creature that can see you can take a reaction to make an attack with disadvantage against you with a ranged weapon it is holding. This assumes of course that the attacker hasn't used its reaction this round and meets any other requirements for making the attack.

For example, if it has a longbow in hand, it must have the other hand free and access to an arrow it can draw and fire. The attack will necessarily be rushed. That is why it is made with disadvantage. The attack is made when you are in the last exposed 5-foot space that the creature can see before you enter total cover.

The limit of one creature taking the reaction is imposed to prevent a deluge of arrow attacks against a character seeking refuge. Remember that you can now only attempt to hide this round by taking the hide action. If you have already taken an action (to attack for example) you might not have another action available.

If, during combat, you move from an exposed location to a location behind total cover it is assumed that your opponents are taking note of where you are hiding. Therefore, if you then take the hide action, unless you move at least 15 feet while remaining behind total cover before moving out into the open, the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that might notice you is made with advantage.

Note that this will typically mean that they will have advantage on noticing when you re-appear if you have stepped behind a tree or barrel for example and can't move 15 feet or more before leaving an area of total cover. If they succeed in their perception check, you are not hidden from them so your first attack after revealing yourself is made with disadvantage instead of with advantage (refer to the Advantage Disadvantage section above).

3. Traps — Do you as a D.M use the new Unearthed Arcana ruleset for traps? Are traps heavily featured in your game? How often can adventurers be expected to encounter a trap? Do overcoming/defeating traps provide E.X.P? If so, how much E.X.P can players expect?

3.1. Traps will often protect dungeons, lairs, and treasures. They can occur anywhere. Disarming or resetting them will provide full experience. Tripping them and/or simply surviving a trap may grant 1 over 2 experience. The D.M.G p.297 provides all the rules for traps.

4. Treasure themes — the D.M.G introduces themed treasure for successful encounters and monster looting.

4.1. Arcana: Gemstones plus magic items of an eldritch or esoteric nature

4.2. Armaments: Coins or trade bars plus magic items that are useful in battle

4.3. Implements: Coins, trade bars, or trade goods plus magic items that focus on utility

4.4. Relics: Art objects plus magic items that have religious origins or purposes

5. Vendors — Most N.P.C's vendors will sell items for what cost? for base-price? base-price +10%, +20%? will most vendors haggle or only some of them? or will vendors not haggle at all?

5.1. Local currencies have 100% face value. Locals readily accept it.

5.2. Foreign (hostile or ancient) currencies are generally worth 80% face value. Locals will not accept hostile currencies. Go to a moneylender or smuggler to get them exchanged.

5.3. Foreign (neutral) coinage is worth 90% face value. Locals can be persuaded D.C 10 to accept these currencies at par value.

5.4. Foreign (allied) coinage is worth 100% face value. Locals will readily provide services for these currencies.

5.5. Trade goods are very common and watched by port authorities so those are readily purchased at 100% P.H.B prices. Trade goods sold without a merchant's license imposes direct tariffs amounting to 25%. Exotic goods from distant lands are purchased at 75% + d100% of stated value. A merchant's guild license is 10 gp and valid for 5 years.

5.6. Trade bars have full common value (100%) in the civilized world. Trade bars stamped by allied countries are readily traded, neutral or distant countries at 90% value and enemy countries have 80% value.

5.7. Tithing is common for religious classes – Clerics, Paladins. Generally, 10% of income per month if outside the jurisdiction of a temple or order.

5.8. Taxation is unavoidable – the world has toll gates, city arrival tax, free sword tax, war tax and feudal taxation. In my games I do impose taxes but typically during downtime periods.

5.9. Melting coinage into its base metal yields 75% value. Therefore 1 pounds. of molten gold is equivalent to 37 gp value in local currency. That 1 pounds of gold fashioned into a tiara or statuette might bring as much as 100 gp with a master craftsman. Such craftsmen have royal licenses to perform such work. Debasing coinage is a crime (treason) in most countries. Coin clipping (scavenging 10% of the weight of coins) is also punishable by prison time.

5.10. Gems may be sold to vendors once appraised and certified (costing 5%) for 5% below market value. Transactions in gemstones (greater than 50 gp base value) are often not accepted without significant haggling: Charisma (persuasion), Charisma (deception) or Intelligence (appraisal) rolls. Base recovery is 95% +1d20% for successful haggling D.C 10. Certification to appraise gems comes from a guild license. You must demonstrate knowledge (proficiency) in jeweler's tools, pay 10 gp for a 5-year license to appraise gems in any major market. A gem may be cut into jewels in an attempt to increase its value but it is risky. A jewel crafting check at D.C 20 will increase its value to 200% of base value. Failure will ruin the gem and reduce it to 25% base value.

5.11. Art Objects (jewelry, tapestries, statuettes, macaroni ash trays) are very subjective in market value. Base recovery (including 5% appraisal costs) is 70% +1d20% for each successful haggling: Charisma (persuasion), Charisma (deception) and Intelligence (appraisal) rolls D.C 15.

5.12. Vendors in towns will sell mundane items for a base 100% (or 50% in abundant areas, or 150% in scarce areas). Vendors in cities will sell premium items for a base 100% (or 50% in abundant areas, or 150% in scarce areas).

Haggling: Charisma (persuasion), Charisma (deception) or Intelligence (appraisal) at D.C 15 to lower the price by 1d20%. Those with the crafter origin feat can lower prices outright by 20%.

• If the buyer is looking for items above 500 gp, then they will have to negotiate a custom build with an artisan or go to the grey or black markets.

Masterwork items are by custom consignment only. See section W.4 If they are available, expect to pay anywhere from 200% to 500% base cost. Bribery works here as superior craftsmen are in high demand (sometimes by coercion, prior customers, better offers). Crafting these items takes time.

Grey market items (limit of 2000 gp) inflate the base price to 150%. Haggling is set at D.C 17. Weekly markets and special agents will often make these types of transactions. Watch out for pickpockets!

Examples of Grey Market Items in a D&D city:

○ Smuggled or untaxed luxury goods — Fine wines, spices, silks, or exotic fruits from distant lands brought in without paying import duties.

Unlicensed potions and alchemical items — Healing potions, antitoxins, or minor magical oils sold by street alchemists without guild approval.

Military-grade or restricted weapons — Crossbows, heavy repeating crossbows, or certain poisons that require a permit (common in cities that restrict them to the city watch or military).

Knock-off or second-hand magic items — Low-level enchanted weapons, armor, or wondrous items that are genuine but sold without the approval of the Mages' Guild or Arcane College.

○ Exotic but non-sentient pets or mounts — Rare animals (e.g., pseudodragons, giant lizards) imported without proper paperwork.

○ Stolen-but-"laundered" goods — Jewelry or art that was once stolen but has been altered or sold through middlemen so it's hard to trace.

O Unregulated spell components or reagents — Rare herbs, monster parts (e.g., griffon feathers), or minor necromantic components that aren't fully banned but are monitored.

○ Fake or altered identification papers — Documents that technically pass casual inspection but wouldn't hold up to magical scrutiny.

Grey market goods often feel "sketchy but doable"—vendors might operate from back alleys of the main market or have a legitimate storefront with a hidden selection.

- Black market items (limit of 8000 gp) inflate the base price to 200%. Haggling is set at D.C 20. Guilds, gambling casinos, treasuries and criminals will deal in these items. Bring coinage and security. Black market items are clearly illegal in the city or region. Buying or possessing them can lead to arrest, heavy fines, imprisonment, exile, or execution, depending on the severity and local laws. These are usually traded in hidden locations (sewers, warehouses, underground taverns, or invitation-only night markets), often run by thieves' guilds, criminal syndicates, or shadowy organizations. Transactions involve secret handshakes, passwords, or magical wards.

Examples of Black-Market Items in a D&D city:

Poisons and assassination tools — Deadly contact poisons, ingested poisons, or specialized blades coated in rare toxins.

O Necromantic items and reagents — Corpse parts (hands, skulls), books on raising the dead, or items that facilitate undead creation (often banned by most good-aligned churches and governments).

Cursed or dangerously unstable magic items — Items known to carry powerful curses, demonic influences, or that were stolen from dangerous cults.

Stolen high-value goods — Noble family heirlooms, holy relics from temples, or powerful magic items recently taken from adventurers or vaults.

Forbidden spell scrolls and tomes — Scrolls of animate dead, dominate person, or books containing forbidden knowledge (e.g., true names of devils, rituals for summoning demons).

○ Slaves or trafficked sentient beings — Enslaved humanoids, captured fey, or exotic intelligent creatures (highly illegal in most civilized settings).

Exotic/illegal creatures or their parts—Dragon eggs, young displacer beasts, cockatrice eggs, or harvested parts from protected or evil monsters (e.g., beholder eyestalks for potions).

Counterfeit currency or magical forgeries — Fake platinum pieces, illusion-covered coins, or forged official documents that are magically convincing.

☐ Mind-control or love potions — Potions that strip free will (often banned due to ethical and legal reasons).

Assassination contracts or "dirty deeds"—Services from hired killers, plus tools like undetectable poisons or disguised weapons.

Banned substances/drugs—Powerful hallucinogens, rage-inducing berserker potions, or alchemical mixtures that create addiction or temporary superhuman abilities.

Black market items are high-risk, high reward. Prices are inflated due to danger, quality can vary wildly (some are fakes or cursed), and dealing with sellers often involves roleplay complications like rival gangs, undercover guards, or moral dilemmas.

5.13. Vendors in towns and cities will buy salvage (limit of 100 gp base price of item). Recovering the materials of broken weapons and armor will yield 10% of its base value.

5.14. Vendors in towns will buy mundane items (limit of 100 gp price). They will open for a base of 25% on well used/damaged items or 50% for undamaged items (successful haggling: Charisma (persuasion), Charisma (deception) or Intelligence (appraisal) D.C 5) and the crafter feat can raise it by 1d20% each of the cost listed in the P.H.B.

5.15. Vendors in cities will buy premium items (limit of 500 gp price) They will open for a base of 25% on well used/damaged items or 50% for undamaged items (successful haggling: Charisma (persuasion), Charisma (deception) or Intelligence (appraisal) D.C 10) and the crafter feat can raise it by 1d20% each of the cost listed in the P.H.B. Damaged and broadly used goods can expect a 33% return on base value.

5.16. Vendors will buy & sell magical items according to the rules set out in the D.M.G.

5.17. Rulers may offer trophies, boons, strongholds, bounties and rewards for various items, tasks, and monsters.

Section W: Mundane & Masterwork & Magical Ordnance

1. Alterations—Normal equipment requires professional adjustment to fit other characters of the same size category. The variant rule on equipment resizing from the D.M.G is in effect.

1.1. Using armor not precisely fitted to the wearer is effectively 1 A.C lower than stated. It incurs a 5' movement penalty reduction, imposes disadvantage to stealth, athletics, and acrobatics skill rolls. P.C's do not benefit from armor feats (and some class abilities) while inappropriate armor is worn.

1.2. Use of the appropriate toolkits (Smithing + Leatherworking) by a skilled character at D.C 5/5 and 1d12 hours of effort will modify basic armors for use by another creature of the same shape (bipedal) and size category. Some items, such as helms for a Tiefling, gauntlets for a dragonborn, boots for a halfling, may not be suitable for adaptation at all. In these cases, the helm, gauntlets or sabatons are discarded, and the A.C is reduced.

1.3. Masterwork items require a D.C of 12 and 2d12 hours of effort.

1.4. Magical armors require D.C of 15 and 3d 12 hours of effort.

1.5. The material cost incurred is 1d20% of the base cost of the item, doubled or tripled in the case of masterwork, grandmasterwork or magical armors.

2. Size matters. — Creatures, weapons & armor of different size and mass have the following length, weight & cost; damage, armor H.P and D.R multipliers: (1 damage dice step is roughly equivalent to 1d2 damage). Damage Advancement Steps: 0 | 1 | 1d2 | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 | 1d12/2d6 | 2d8 | 2d10 | 2d12/3d8 | 3d10 | 3d12 | 4d12/6d8 | 3d20/5d12/6d10 | 8d8 | 7d10 | 6d12.

2.1. Tiny: +2 base A.C due to target size, Weapons: L/Wt/: 0.25/0.05/0.15; damage reduced 3 dice steps. (A tiny sized battleaxe does 1d2). Armor: A.H.P/W/: 0.15/0.05/0.15; lower damage reduction (B/P/S/E) by 4 D.R to a minimum of zero. Tiny characters find 3 over 4 cover options easily with a Wisdom (Perception-visual) D.C 5 roll. Tiny creatures have more difficult terrain issues than medium creatures. They cannot grapple medium creatures. They have advantage in athletics, hide attempts, stealth, and acrobatics. Tiny critters get +2 on static initiative. Tiny creatures cannot wield any weapons sized for medium creatures.

2.2. Small: plus 1 base A.C due to target size, Weapons: L/Wt/dollar sign: 0.50/0.25/0.50; damage reduced 1 dice step. (A small sized greatsword does 2 d 4). Armor: A.H.P/Wt/dollar sign: 0.33/0.25/0.50; lower damage reduction (B/P/S/E) by 2 D.R to a minimum of zero. Small characters find 1 half cover options easily with a Wisdom (Perception-visual) D.C 10 roll. Small characters have more difficult terrain issues than medium creatures. They cannot grapple large creatures. They have advantage in hide attempts, stealth, and acrobatics. Small characters get plus 1 on static initiative. They cannot grapple or shove Large creatures. Small creatures who wield any weapons sized for medium creatures do not benefit from their proficiency bonus. They also cannot wield medium versions of heavy or versatile weaponry.

2.3. Medium: +0 A.C, Weapons: L/W/: 1/1/1; baseline damage. Armor: A.H.P/Wt/: 1/1/1; baseline damage reduction (B/P/S/E). Medium characters find 1/2 cover options with a Wisdom (Perception-visual) D.C 15 roll. They cannot grapple or shove huge creatures. They can crush tiny creatures. Medium characters get +0 on static initiative. Medium creatures who wield weaponry one step above or below their size category do not get their proficiency bonus.

2.4. Large: minus 1 base A.C due to target size, thicker skin adds 1 D.R. Weapons: L/Wt/: 2/4/4; damage increased 1 step. (A large sized warhammer does 1 d 10, 1 d 12 if two handed) Armor: A.H.P/W/: 2/4/6; increase armor worn damage reduction (B/P/S/E) by 2. Large characters have difficulty finding 1/2 cover options: Wisdom (Perception-visual) D.C 20. Large characters can ignore difficult terrain types such as shrubs and grasses. They have disadvantage in hide attempts and acrobatics. They cannot grapple or shove gargantuan creatures. They can crush small creatures. Large creatures get minus 1 on static initiative. Large creatures who wield weaponry one step above or below their size category do not get their proficiency bonus.

2.5. Huge: -2 base A.C due to target size, much thicker skin or hide adds 4 D.R. Weapons: L/Wt/: 4/16/8; damage increased 3 steps. (A huge sized great axe does 2d12) Armor: A.H.P/Wt/: 4/16/8; increase armor worn damage reduction (B/P/S/E) by 4. Huge creatures have great difficulty finding 1/2 cover options. They must pass a Wisdom (Perception-visual) D.C 25 roll. Huge characters can move and ignore most types of difficult terrain including trees, normal sized furniture, boulders, swamps, small structures. They can crush medium or smaller creatures. They have disadvantage when swimming. Huge creatures cannot hide, stealth, nor perform acrobatics. Huge creatures get -2 on static initiative. Tremorsense readily locates such creatures. Unarmed strikes allow them to throw a medium or smaller grappled opponent as a bonus action. Huge creatures who wield weaponry one step above or below their size category do not get their proficiency bonus. Huge creatures suffer a -5 to hit Tiny creatures in melee.

2.6. Gargantuan: -4 base A.C due to target size, much thicker skin adds 9 D.R. Weapons: L/Wt/S: 16/64/20; damage increased 8 steps. (A gargantuan sized dagger does 3d10) Armor: A.H.P/Wt/S: 4/16/8; increase armor worn damage reduction (B/P/S/E) by 9. Weapons: cost 2000%, weight 12800%, damage increases 6 steps (6d4 or simply epic). Armor: cost 1600%, weight: 6400%, A.H.P 3200%; increase armor worn damage reduction (B/P/S) by 8. Gargantuan creatures ignore most types of difficult terrain. They cannot swim (unless aquatic), jump, hide, stealth, nor perform acrobatics. Huge creatures get -4 on static initiative. Unarmed strikes allow them to throw any smaller grappled opponent as a bonus action. They can crush huge creatures. Gargantuan creatures cannot take cover, hide, stealth, do acrobatics or swim without a swim speed. Gargantuan creatures suffer a -5 to hit Small creatures and -10 to hit Tiny creatures in melee.

3. Medium weapons used by small characters. — In many cases small characters expect to use any old weapon at full efficacy. However, they lack the mass to counterbalance swinging weapons, and their grip is not sized for the weapon at hand (pun!). If these weapon versions are not sized for the wielder, then they must be used in two hands as if they were versatile.

A medium shortsword loses the light property in a gnome's hands. Furthermore, bludgeoning weapons scale differently than piercing and slashing weapons due to its mass dominance. A medium versatile weapon (longsword, battle-axe, etcetera) or two-handed weapon (heavy crossbow, great club, longbow, bardiche, etcetera) is unusable by a small character.

A small character would be better served with an arming sword. Weapons with the Heavy property may not be used by small characters, despite the overly permissive raw.

4. Masterwork item rules — The creation of a magic item presumes a masterwork version is created first. Such masterwork items cost typically cost 200%—300% of the base price and take twice or thrice as long to craft. Also note that these items demand fanciful containers. A masterwork baldric and scabbard for a sword is a minimal accessory!

4.1. Masterwork Weapons come in 2 qualities (masterwork at 300% & grandmotherwork at 500% base cost [excluding rare materials like mithril or adamantium]). To craft these masterwork weapons requires x3 or x5 amount of time, +100% premium materials cost and a single D.C 20 or D.C 25 crafting check (tool use) by the weaponsmith. A failed roll results in a normal weapon. Magical weapon crafting begins with a masterwork weapon first.

Masterwork weapons may be enchanted afterwards to create a +1 weapon. A Grandmasterwork is needed to enchant it into a +2 weapon. Multiple craftsmen, all experts at their craft would be required to create a weapon worthy of +3 or higher. Each crafting attempt requires 200% man-hours of labour. A smith may have up to 2 assistants. 1 cuts the time in half and 1 grants advantage on the check. Masterwork weapons offer 3 points, or 5 points of improvements chosen from this list below. Typical species' craftsmen offering these enhancements are listed in square braces.

• (0.5 pts–durable) difficult to sunder, corrosion resistant, no damage incurred on fumbles & desperate parries. Its durability is increased by {①} . [human, dwarven]

(0.5 pts-alloyed) with silver [good for dark fey, lycanthropes, undead, devils: +1 damage to those creatures] or cold wrought iron [good for light fey and demons: +1 damage to those creatures]. [human, halfling]

adorned, embossed) for formal presentation at court; such famous objects carry a name. [any]

corrupted by dark powers to inhibit healing (-1 H.P received in the next 24 hours) and increase chance (+5%) of festering wounds. [orcish]

ate) +15% greater range (short and long). [elven, halfling]

d) +2 on special weapon maneuvers (negates the usual pen

50.25 pts-hardened edge sharp) +1 to hit. [elven, gnomis

(1.25 pts-weighted) +1 damage. [dwarven, dragonborn, goliath]

(2.0 pts-vicious) critical hit range increased to 19 to 20. [orcish]

4.2. Masterwork Armors are always custom built and made in a single quality (200% base cost). To craft these masterwork armors requires twice the amount of time, +100% material cost, and a double compound tool proficiency check (i.e., smith, woodcarving, masonry, leatherworking, sewing). Multiple artisans may work together on a megawatt project. Having apprentices assist during the entire process grants either advantage to the skill roll or cuts the time in half. An acolyte of a war deity could be employed to cast guidance cantrips but feel free to increase the cost to include a sizeable donation to the temple of war.

Masterwork Crafting – Light armor (D.C 15) / Medium armor (D.C 20) / Heavy armor (D.C 25) / Shield (D.C 15) involves complex crafting checks. Three successes must occur before two failures to succeed at the masterwork. Each crafting attempt requires 80-light, 240-medium, 720-heavy, man-hours of labour. A smith may have up to 2 assistants: 1 cuts the time in half and 1 grants advantage on the check. Each assistant earns 10%, the master earns 30%. Crafting these requires a dedicated shop, with a large variety of tools. A suit of plate armor could require 30 pieces.

For example, Masterwork platemail A.C 18 would have a base cost of 1500 gp, a masterwork sale price of 3000 gp. The cost of premium materials rises from 750 gp to 1500 gp. The crafting would take 360-man hours to create (9 work weeks). It would require three complex tool use D.C 25 checks:

1) Smith Tools: S.T.R modifier + Professor modifier + Tool bonus if any.

2) Smith Tools: I.N.T modifier + Professor modifier + Tool bonus if any.

3) Leatherworker Tools: I.N.T modifier + Professor modifier + Tool bonus if any.

A failed complex tool use roll results in normal armor.

megawatt Light armors get 1.5 pts. megawatt Medium armors get 3.0 pts. megawatt Heavy Armors get 4.5 pts.

megawatt Shields have a single quality (200% base cost) and get points for enhancements. Small 1.5 pts, Medium 3.0 pts, Large 4.5 pts.

• (0.5-exotic) +1 bonus on skill rolls: Influence; +25% cost in materials. (any)

• (0.5-fanciful) +1 bonus on skill rolls: Influence; enameled, embossed, or engraved, +25% cost in materials. (any)

• (0.5-durable) +25% A.H.P; resistance to sunder damage. (dwarven)

(0.5-wicked) Spiked [P] or bladed [S]. Grappling inflicts 1d6 damage on opponent. Adds 10 lbs. to weight. (orcish)

(1.0-lightened) 75% standard weight. Reduce A.H.P by 10%. (elven, halfling, gnomish)

(1.5-hardened) D.R 1B 1P 1S 1E (any)

• (1.5-flexible) +1 dex allowance, reduce movement penalty by 5'. (elven, halfling)

4.3. Masterwork tools, kits and instruments are made in a single quality (300% base cost). They take 3x as long to craft. They add +1 in attempts to craft items, play music, pick locks, first aid, scribe scrolls, brew potions. The variety might be endless. Crafting a masterwork tool requires a D.C 20 skill roll, usually with tinkering or woodcarving.

5. Pristine & Eversharp rules — Pristine weapons roll advantage on their base damage dice. Any masterwork melee weapon can be pristine including bludgeoning versions. Their balance is exquisite. Their edge is without nick or burr. Newly made masterwork weapons are considered pristine for their first full day of use in combat or poor environmental conditions.

After this period of time or a Long Rest after a combat lasting a minute or more, a megawatt weapon loses this property. An Eversharp treatment applies to slashing and piercing melee weapons. They are skillfully sharpened with smithing tools or a whetted one taking 30 minutes of effort and an Intelligence (smithing tool) check D.C 10. Eversharp weapons last for 1 minute (6 rounds of combat).

6. Magic item rules — The classic +1 weapon contains all the properties of a masterwork weapon (3 pts is normal) plus its permanent protection with a weave of arcane or divine magic. Such weapons can only be damaged by another magic weapon or some effect that dispels the magical weapons. In a similar fashion, magic armor and shields can only be damaged or destroyed by magical weapons and magical creatures. Example: a +1 weapon could not sunder +2 armor. Other items, despite looking flimsy, survive indefinitely unless drained of magic by calamity or spell. Magical weapons with a '+' and not just an energy property are considered eversharp against normal equipment and armor. Magical armor negates the pristine quality of magic weaponry (and mundane quality pristine sharpened weapons too).

Magic armors with a '+' bonus also apply to Damage Reduction for the layer. Thus, it is possible to have +1 arming doublet with D.R plus 1B 1P 1S 1E and +2 platemail D.R plus 2B 2P 2S 2E and a +3 shield D.R plus 3B 3P 3S 3E where the damage reductions stack!

Definition

Attunement: The process of bonding with a magic item to access its full potential, requiring investigation and skill checks.

7. Attunement / Identify — Does attunement reveal everything about an item, or do P.C's need to identify them to get the full list of everything an item can do? Do P.C's need to identify an item before being able to attune to it?

7.1. 2 hours spent investigating a magic item (after a long rest) invokes a compound skill roll on Intelligence skills of Arcana + History | Nature | Religion. The D.M decides which skills and tools are pertinent to the item. Arcana is the dominant skill (higher D.C) for these rolls. If the character is not proficient in these skills, then the skill rolls are done at a disadvantage. Successful rolls are needed to understand and attune to a magic item.

D.C 5/8 (common, 1 roll) D.C 10/13 (uncommon, 1 roll), D.C 15/18 (rare, 2 rolls), D.C 20/23 (very rare, 2 rolls), D.C 25/28 (unique, legendary, cursed, 3 skill rolls) identifies an item and allows attunement. Characters with a relevant tool proficiency may add their proficiency bonus to these checks. Rolls may be repeated (once only at the higher D.C) after a long rest.

Other players may help the character. N.P.C sages can be hired to make those rolls as well (+6 on their specialty). Access to a full magic library or laboratory would grant advantage on the roll.

Attunement provides moderate knowledge about an item. The Identify spell adds +10 to the roll (or automatically reveals knowledge about common, uncommon & rare magic items). A Legend Lore spell is useful for information about D.C 30 items. Using it without attunement is the same as using a mundane item.

8. Repairing Weapons and Armor — see the guidelines on the Ordnance supplement.

8.1. Magical ordnance repairs need a master smith, carpenter, or leatherworker to repair.

8.2. Repairing Weapons: Dulled weapons can be resharpened, bent weapons can be reforged and quenched, hafted weapons can be refit with new hafts, pins, welds, and hilts can be remade. It requires material, tools, skill, and time. Assess the damage on the weapon as either.

- Minor: 10% cost in materials; smith, woodcarving tools; a D.C 10 crafting roll; 4 hours of time (12 hours for masterwork).

- Major: 50% cost in materials; smith, woodcarving tools and a shop; a D.C 15 crafting roll; 8 hours of time (24 hours for masterwork).

- Sundered: best to purchase a new weapon. Original materials will cover 25% of the cost of the replacement.

8.3. Repairing Armor: repairing armor cannot restore armor to brand new condition but it can restore lost A.H.P. A mending cantrip can restore 1/2/3/4 A.H.P to clothes/light/medium/heavy armors depending upon the tier level of the cantrip. It can work only once after damage is received to the item. An artisan can repair damaged armor if he has the appropriate set of tools (leatherworking, woodcarving, smithing) and time to work. A short rest can allow time for minor repairs: 1 hour of time, I.N.T + tool Professor

D.C 10, repair 1 A.H.P. Field repairs work only once after a combat encounter giving armor damage. A full day in a proper armoury with materials and a full set of tools, anvils, forges etcetera, an artisan can make an I.N.T based tool proficiency check with the D.C = A.C. (+2 for Masterwork, +5 for magical (+)1) and restore 1d6 A.H.P. A 5% base cost of materials is also required each day. Skilled helpers can grant advantage to the roll.

8.4. For gross estimates of repair costs and time: Each point of damage on the armor or shield can be repaired by a smith, leatherworker, weaver, or carpenter at [50% of original cost × Lost A.H.P/Total A.H.P]. If you need a master smith for masterwork and magical ordnance, the price goes up to 75%

9. Magic Resize—Do wearable items auto-magically resize to fit their wearer? If not, is there a way to resize such items? Only Rare & above items resize while uncommon does not?

Only if you are attuned to the item, will it resize? All magical items auto-resize? It is on a case-by-case basis?

9.1. Magic Resize occurs to fit the wearer for all creatures in the same size category. Sentient items and artifacts can ignore this rule. Small and Medium character sizes cannot share items. There is one magical way to resize these items: a dispel magic spell followed by a reduce/enlarge spell within 1 turn (10 seconds).

Section 10: Spells: Manna, Attunement, Concentration, Revisions

1. Legacy Magic – the spellcasters in Greyhawk are drawing power from a dwindling resource in the world – mana. Ancient civilizations were much more powerful in terms of raw magical essence. But their avarice tore the 'weave' and magic is draining from the world. Ancient items, constructs, artifacts have trapped portions of magic, but they are all but forgotten and buried by time. Extraplanar entities come to feed on this dying world.

This means little to the common folk who do not trust nor traffic in the likes of magic – “...good riddance!” is most often heard. However, adventurers do not share this desire for peace and tranquility. In order to cast spells in Greyhawk now, characters must be very adept in the “art.” All users of magic, divine, arcane, must have a casting statistic equal to 10 + the spell level.

Thus, to cast a 9 superscript th level wish spell, a wizard will need to have an I.N.T of 19, a Bard will need a C.H.A of 19 and a Droid will need a W.I.S of 19. This requirement does not apply to innate spellcasting; spells gained via species traits and spells cast via a magic item. See item 3.2 below. {in the campaign year C.Y 585, the drain of magic accelerates, and the casting statistic goes up to 11 plus S.L; 12 plus S.L in C.Y 590; 13 plus S.L in C.Y 594; 14 plus S.L in C.Y 597, 15 plus S.L in C.Y 600 The common man or woman does not possess high stats and cannot use magic spells beyond the level of acolyte or hedge wizard.

Definition

Manna: A finite magical energy source or life force in the campaign world that must be channeled to cast spells; its dwindling supply affects magic use.

2. Spellcasting is a concentrated force of willpower over manna. The essence of magic is chaos. For mortals to comprehend it they must first learn to control it and summon it. Magical spells require loud and obvious Verbal components, clearly heard by anyone (including the caster) within 30'. They require strong and obvious Somatic gestures, easily visible by anyone within 60 feet. (Subtle spell is a metamagic feat available to sorcerers). To every other spell caster type using somatic components is obvious. Often magic requires the sacrifice of Material objects which dissolve back into chaos to exchange the back flow of manna which then powers the spell. Greater spells require more expensive objects as their inherent beauty, order and rarity taps a pure and sympathetic manna flow.

Magical foci can be constructed to take the place of minor spell components, but they have to be imbued with manna channeled into it on a sacred day of the week. Magical foci glow like a candle when they are channeling magic, the color of the glow chosen by the spellcaster. Magical foci speeds up the flow of manna during its use.

Some foci must be crafted of rare materials to contain larger flows of manna. Material components or a Magical focus requires a free hand to manipulate. Somatic components also require a free hand to stretch and distort the weave. I expect casters to use both hands for S and M spells. The Warcaster feat allows somatic components to be completed with weapon or shield in hand. One-armed casters may have to display their focus around their necks or strap it to their remaining arm. Sorcerers have learned metamagic feats that allow them to ignore some of these restrictions.

Image summary: A digital illustration of a cloaked figure from behind, holding a glowing lantern and ascending a winding stone staircase. The stairs are flanked by towering bookshelves filled with books, some of which are open and floating in the air. Numerous lanterns hang from the ceiling and walls, casting a warm light throughout the cavernous, library-like space.

magic sorcery is very nihilistic in Greyhawk. Spellcasters are generally feared but wild magic sorcery is actively hunted by other wizards! Spell targets must be perceived either visually, audially, or olfactorily.

Definition

Mythal: A permanent, powerful field of overlapping magical wards that can alter reality or define magical rules within a specific area.

3. The 'Weave' & 'Mythal' – the concepts of these two words, in common parlance in a setting like the Forgotten Realms, operate the same way in this world. Magic can be conceived as a great metaphorical tapestry of threads of manna, woven together to form spells and magical effects. Mythals are great works of magical art, scenes in this tapestry.

3.1. Detect Magic. The Detect Magic spell reveals threads of the Weave woven together through spellcasting, and the way the threads are arranged reveals the school of magic. Similarly, active spells and areas imbued with magic are limned in a silvery network of threads, which might twist and reknit themselves depending on the magic involved. A magic item appears enmeshed in the silvery-blue threads of the Weave.

3.2. Dispel Magic. The Dispel Magic spell unravels woven threads of the Weave.

3.3. Antimagic. The Antimagic Field spell unravels magic woven from the Weave. While an otherwise-permanent effect is within an area of antimagic, the knots of the Weave untie, but the threads retie themselves once the magic is outside the antimagic effect.

3.4. Dead Magic. In areas of dead magic, the Weave is absent. Not only do spells and magic items cease to function, but even the supernatural abilities of creatures that are innately tied to the Weave might fail as the knot of the Weave they carry with them unravels.

3.5. Wild Magic. In an area of wild magic, the Weave becomes tangled, spontaneously forming its own magic. It also twists the magical creations of the Weave, causing unexpected results.

3.6. High Magic. In Greyhawk's ancient history, the Weave hadn't yet stabilized. Mages at that time developed a spellcasting system called high magic. This system required many—sometimes hundreds—of spellcasters working in concert, and a single magical effect could take days or weeks to complete. But high magic was capable of incredible feats beyond the reach of ordinary spellcasters today.

High wages could heal hundreds of people at once, simultaneously create multiple magic items, restore large portions of forest, or destroy an entire city. The most famous examples of high magic are the Invoked Devastation, Rain of Colorless Fire, the Legend of Grot-Ugrat, the Destruction of Fleeth and the creation of Mythals.

3.6.1. For ages, high magic was thought lost, its techniques supplanted by traditional spellcasting as the Weave settled into its current form. But some secrets of high magic have been preserved, though few living spellcasters retain this knowledge.

3.6.2. Mythals are some of the most powerful magic in Oerik. These creations are permanent fields of overlapping magical wards that bind and shape the Weave in a particular location. Mythals are sometimes so powerful that they bend or rewrite the rules of magic or even reality. That level of magical power can no longer be attained by mortals and deities like Boccob, Vecna and Cyndor exist to control mortal access to it.

Definition

Circle Magic: A collaborative casting technique allowing multiple spellcasters to combine their power to exceed the limits of a single individual.

4. Circle Magic – Millennia ago, powerful mages researching alternative magical traditions developed a technique by which many spellcasters working together could cast spells beyond the limit of any individual.

4.1. Any spell that has a casting time of an action or 1 minute or longer and is cast using a spell slot can be cast as a Circle spell. To cast a Circle spell, follow the usual rules for spellcasting, as described in the Player's Handbook, as well as the following rules for Circle spells.

4.2. A Circle spell has one primary caster ("you" in these rules). Unless otherwise specified, you as the primary caster decide the spell's targets, maintain Concentration if required by the spell's Duration entry, provide the spell's components, expend the slot for casting the spell, and decide any of the other options noted in the spell's description. The spell's effects originate from you.

4.3. You take a Magic action to initiate casting a Circle spell. When you do so, choose which Circle casting option (see "Circle Casting Options" below) you're using for this casting; you must also meet any of the other requirements described in that option's text. Until the Circle spell's casting is complete (see below), you must maintain Concentration on the spell.

4.4. If a Reaction would trigger when a creature casts a spell—such as the Reaction taken to cast Counterspell—it also triggers when you take this action to initiate a Circle spell.

4.5. Casting a Circle spell requires that one or more other spellcasters, called secondary casters, lend their magic to the spell. A secondary caster must have either the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature to participate in a Circle spell.

4.6. After you initiate the spell, each secondary caster takes the Magic action to contribute to the spell. A secondary caster can take this action only while within 30 feet of you and before the start of your next turn.

4.7. If the spell has a casting time of an action, the Circle spell's effects occur immediately after the final secondary caster takes the required action to contribute to the spell. You decide which secondary caster is the final one.

4.8. If the spell has a casting time of 1 minute or more, you and each secondary caster must take the Magic action on each of your turns for the entire casting time, and you must maintain Concentration while you do so. In this case, if any caster's Concentration is broken, the spell fails.

4.9. The following options provide ways to enhance a spell when casting it as a Circle spell. You can use only one Circle casting option on a spell at a time.

4.10. Some spells have a "Casting as a Circle Spell" section in their description. Instead of using one of the following options, you can create the effect described in that section when casting the spell as a Circle spell. Such effects are often uniquely powerful and specific to their respective spells.

Augment: When you cast a spell with a range of at least 5 feet, you can increase the range of the spell by 1,000 feet per secondary caster contributing to the spell, up to a maximum of a 1-mile increase.

- Distribute: When you cast a spell that requires Concentration, you can distribute the mental load of the spell among you and the secondary casters. Once the casting is complete, you and all secondary casters can choose to maintain Concentration on this spell. As long as at least one caster who contributed to the spell maintains this Concentration, the spell's effects remain active. The familiar might have this ability, intrinsic at higher tiers.

Expand: When you cast a spell that creates an area of effect, you can increase one dimension of the spell's area of effect for this casting by 10 feet per secondary caster contributing to the spell. For example, if a spell creates a 20-foot-radius Sphere, casting it as a Circle spell with two secondary casters would increase the radius to 40 feet. A spell that creates a Line that is 5 feet wide and 300 feet long, cast as a Circle spell with two secondary casters, could make a Line that is either 25 feet wide or 320 feet long.

Each secondary caster contributing to the spell must expend a spell slot (no action required). If the spell fails, these spell slots aren't expended.

Prolong: When you cast a spell that has a duration of 1 minute or longer, you can increase the duration of the spell depending on the number of secondary casters contributing to the spell, as detailed in the table below.

Each secondary caster contributing to the spell must expend a spell slot (no action required). If the spell fails, these spell slots aren't expended.

Secondary Casters The Spell Increases Duration By 1 to 3 (1 hour), 4 to 6 (8 hours), 7+ (24 hours)

Safeguard: Similar to the Evoker 6 superscript th level ability, when you cast a spell that creates an area of effect, you can carve out a safe zone within that area of effect that is unaffected by the spell for its duration. This safe zone consists of a number of 5-foot Cubes equal to your spellcasting ability modifier plus the number of secondary casters contributing to the spell (minimum of one Cube). You can arrange the Cubes as you like, but each Cube must be contiguous with at least one other Cube.

☐ If the spell's area of effect can be moved, the safe zone moves with it.

Supplant: When you cast a spell that requires at least one Material component with a specified cost that is consumed by the spell, you can reduce the minimum cost of one such Material component by 50 G.P per each secondary caster contributing to the spell. For example, casting Revivify as a Circle spell with two secondary casters would reduce the Material component's minimum cost to 200 G.P.

Each secondary caster contributing to the spell must expend a spell slot of a level greater than or equal to the spell's level (no action required). If the spell fails, these spell slots aren't expended.

5. Manna – the magic in Greyhawk, Gary Gygax's world, is from a finite source. Great magic can deplete or even destroy the 'weave.' In Greyhawk the twin cataclysms have forever been ravaged and diminished the magic in Oerth. They were 10 superscript th level magical spells enacted by thousands of magicians working together to destroy their enemies. The rift created in the cosmic weave is not repairable except by divine intervention at the creator level.

Manna can be described as a life force or spiritual cosmic energy. This source is replenished by immortals, be they deities, celestial bodies, a cosmic weave, or the Llano. This source is tapped by mortals in ways too complex to cover in this document. Existence before creation contained only raw manna: chaos.

Definition

Manamatics: The theoretical, mathematical framework governing the behavior of magical energy and the cosmos.

Primordial chaos is unlimited in power, but it has, by definition, no target, no purpose. Magic is a creation of intelligent designs, of shapes and runes, of the flow and ebb of energy, of order and of time. Only creation tamed the flow of manna. Time, dimension, transition, physics, and mentalism all arose from chaos, but they are separate and distinct forces of the multiverse. Mortals can channel manna, and they can wield power up to certain limits. Breaking the manamatics (mathematics of the magical cosmos) is the purview of wild magic and the influence of the infinite chaos.

The Great Old Ones were beings of primordial chaos, immensely powerful but unable to work towards a common purpose as the New Gods came to be. All life is magic, albeit temporal.

5.1. Spellcasting is the ability to channel manna. The study of magic concerns itself with where this manna is drawn from and how it is manifested. Character level is tied to your magical channeling limits. A spell caster must be of a level high enough to channel power for any spell.

Normally this is ignored as a character would need to be at the 9 superscript th level of experience to channel the power of a 9 superscript th level spell. This is obviously irrelevant to the casting structure in D&D. However, if a 5 superscript th level character attempts to cast a 6 superscript th level spell from a magic scroll, that caster consults either a wild-magic mishap table or simply fails to channel. Some epic realm level spells, level 10 in my game, is typically unattainable. Yet if you put 100 – 10 superscript th level casters in a location, all channeling that epic spell it may succeed, or it may kill d100% of those casters.

They would certainly draw the attention of immortals, for good or ill. When a mortal creature dies, their manna is released to the guff, and all of their magic items lose attunement within 5 minutes. When an immortal creature dies there are spectacular consequences, but those are story driven. {In C.Y 600 manna is leaking uncontrollably from the 'weave'. Channeling now requires 2–character levels per spell level. Wild surges occur twice as often for wild sorcerers and mundane magicians now consult the wild magic table 5% of the time}

5.2. Manna types: Manna types are tied to the bearer's initial class, education, and profession. Artifiers, alchemists, runesmiths, chronomancers and wizards are able to invest intellectual manna in the items and illusions they create and destroy. Sorcerers, bards, and warlocks manipulate passionate manna in different ways and are rarely able to create persistent magical constructs.

Clerics and paladins use divine or moral manna. They pray and beseech immortal cosmic powers to create relics, symbols, and artifacts. Druids and rangers tap primal manna from the Feywild/Shadowfell. Shamans and some barbarians and druids may use spiritual manna wherein they tap the latent and ancient past through spiritual channeling.

Mundane classes such as rogues, fighters, barbarians still contain kinetic manna. Monks, of course, have Qi–Psionic manna. Creation manna is immortal in origin and accessible to mortals only through the acts of marriage and procreation. Creation manna is the mastery of time, energy, and the elements. The Covenant of Creation set Order upon Chaos, creating an arrow of time, a shield of physics, a boulder of mortality. The covenant forever bars mortals from the ability to create life or shift time by will alone. It is the essential magic of life, order, and creation. Immortals and divine agents, (Nature, Fate, gods & goddesses) including those mortals who have undergone apotheosis, can access moral and creation manna and channel it to supplicant clerics in order to heal, create elements and grow things.

These are the forces of hope, promise and reward. They are beings of the uncertain future. Elder powers, fiends, spirits, and abominations are forces of regret, loss, and despair.

They only have the power to destroy or dissolve into chaos. They exist in the immutable past. They dabble in passionate manna.

Elemental Beings, Fey and all Dragonkind command the present and are not bound by cosmic imperatives. The four elements exist in eternal balance. The Llano springs from the well of creation and flows throughout the multiverse.

Gods who espouse oblivion and dwell in the far realms might wish to drink the Llano and undo creation; thereby disposing of all the laws of the universe. A quantum mote of creation manna is imbued in every fertile male and female creature in the universe. Necromancy is often seen as an affront to creation, but it draws power from chaos, controls it and keeps the multiverse from imploding. The other schools of magic all exist in balance.

5.3. Manna types provides D.R (damage reduction) and a bonus to saving throws to a particular damage type:

6. Additional/Customized spells — Elemental evil spells, do you allow them? Do you allow spells from the Unearthed Arcana: That Old Black Magic? Do you allow homebrewed spells? Do you allow any class to make tweaks to spells, or do you limit that metamagic to only the Sorcerer? If spells can be tweaked, what kind of tweaks can be made? Damage-type? Range? Duration? etcetera

6.1. Spells beyond the P.H.B: will be considered carefully by the D.M. Customized spells require research and testing before they are allowed in the game. Only the sorcerer class can tweak spells with metamagic sorcery points.

6.2. Magical Sanctums: Beyond adventuring, a full spellcaster may wish to scribe spell scrolls, brew potions and craft magic items. To do any of these tasks requires skill in Arcana and a magical sanctum appropriate to their spell casting theme. (Wizard's library, sorcerer's laboratory, warlock's coven, cleric's temple, druid's grove). These places come at a cost, either as a Bastion or something similar.

Any place this richly appointed draws the attention of thieves, adventurers and pirates. A minor research lab, worth 500 gp, can research 1st through 3rd level spells and identify common magic items. A major research lab, worth 5000 gp, can research 4th through 6th level spells and identify very rare magic items.

A grand research lab, worth 50000 gp, can research 7 superscript th - 9 superscript th level spells and identify legendary & cursed magic items. Optionally an aspiring wizard could use an Arcanum Laboratory at a University of Magical Arts (don't forget library fees!).

6.3. Scribing Spells: This is covered in the P.H.B, p.233. If you own the appropriate magical sanctum, then the cost and time is halved.

6.4. Scribing Scrolls into a Wizard's Tome: These rules apply to the classic wizard. The Order of Scribes wizard is far better (2 minutes/spell level) than the table below.

Table 40 summary: Spell inscription requirements and sale values for Wizards, where costs, time, and sale prices scale sharply with the spell level and caster level. For a 1st level caster inscribing a Cantrip, the process takes 1 day, costs 15 gold pieces into the tome, and yields a base sale price of 30 gold pieces. At the highest end, a 17th level caster inscribing a 9th level spell requires 120 days and 50,000 gold pieces into the tome, with marketing expenses of 5,760 gold pieces and a 320 day wait to find a buyer, resulting in a base sale price of 100,000 gold pieces.

6.5. Spell Research: Researching a spell beyond those you create as you gain levels requires a library and a laboratory to be capable of research. It takes 1 day per 25 gp spent; at the end of which you make a D.C 20 plus SpVl Intelligence (Arcana or Religion) check. Knowing the base language of the spell (see 9.3) lowers the D.C by 2. Familiar grant you advantage on this check. If you fail, you gain one level of exhaustion, but you may continue research. Start over again but this time the D.C 15 plus SpLvl. A failure this time imposes 2 levels of exhaustion. A third round is possible, and the D.C drops to D.C 10 plus SpLvl. After a third failure, 3 levels of exhaustion are gained, which may kill the magician unless she receives lesser restoration or rest. The researcher must stop & further spell research is impossible.

Advantage might apply if you have been able to study or have otherwise experienced the spell enough to reverse engineer it, or maybe if you have the incomplete notes of another magician. Possessing a scroll of the spell reduces the cost and thus the time required for a check by half as well as +10 to the arcana check.

7. Spells Vs Environments — Do spells work differently in different environments? Do fire spells work underwater? what about lightning spells underwater? Do ice spells work on the Plane of Fire? Do you have guidelines, or do you make judgement calls when such circumstances happen?

7.1. Enhanced Potency (all spells in ideal environments) Unless stated otherwise, assume D.C +2 and reroll all 1's and 2s on damage dice.

7.2. Exotic energy spells (Radiant-Good, Necrotic-Evil, Psychic-Chaotic, Force-Lawful, Time, Poison-Neutral) are most potent on the outer planes.

Healing. Thunder, and Radiant magic is stronger on the upper outer planes.

- Necrotic, Fire and Cold magic is stronger on the lower outer planes.

• Psychic, Force and Lightning magic is stronger on the middle outer planes.

7.3. Elemental energy spells (Fire, Cold, Lightning, Thunder, Acid) work at varying potency depending upon its associated elemental plane.

Maximum damage on a matching elemental plane

Minimum damage on the opposite elemental plane.

7.4. Observed variations of magic in the inner planes:

Illusions, light magic, and enchantments are more effective in the Feywild. (D.C +2)

• Light (& radiant) magic is weakened in the Shadowfell. (D.C -2)

• Psychic energy is strongest on the astral plane. (D.C +2)

• Psionic powers are strong on the ethereal plane. (D.C +2)

7.5. Many armors now have a damage reduction to elemental attacks. They include fire, cold, lightning, thunder, and acid. Armors have damage reductions (D.R) for physical attacks and a similar rating versus all elemental attacks. Armor is essentially protective layers over living flesh.

7.6. Sufficient elemental damage can damage or destroy objects, weapons, and armors too. Any elemental damage equal to or greater than the full A.H.P of a suit of armor has a d100% chance of destroying it. The caveat is that the target must either be critically hit or fail a saving throw. A plain medium suit of chainmail has 24 A.H.P. An average fireball does 28 damage. There would be a 28 to 24 = 4% chance of that chainmail being ruined by the fireball.

Ancient gold dragon fire breath does 71 damage giving the chainmail a 47% chance of melting off the hapless victim. Similarly, weapons may be ruined by a d100% roll if the result is equal to or under the damage received. Example: a fireball hits an unlucky victim for 28 fire damage (failed saving throw).

Mundane weapons, with a D.R equal to their maximum base damage (silver longsword=10), have a 28 to 10 = 18% of being ruined or downgraded. The D.M can rule that a material has a resistance [x squared] (steel) or vulnerability [x squared] (wood) to fire damage. Many other items such as clothing and jewellery could be lost.

7.7. Inanimate Objects are unaffected by Exotic damage. They include poison, force, radiant, necrotic and psychic.

8. Spell Abuse — As a D.M how do you handle things if a caster starts using spells abusively? What do you consider to be spell abuse?

8.1. I consider a caster to be abusing spells if they fail to track their spell use or fail to prepare their spells properly. If they misrepresent spell descriptions to suit their needs or feign ignorance of consequences, then they are cheating. Players who lose the trust of the D.M will be warned and ultimately removed from the game. This seems orish to me too...but some lines should not be crossed.

9. Spell Casting & Spell Foci— Do players need to keep track of which hand carries their components, which hand they use for somatic gestures, which hand they use for foci, which hands holds their spell-book, & which hand they use for weapons? Or as D.M, do you not care if it is not breaking the action economy? Do you strictly enforce spell-casting rules via raw, or do you allow some leniency?

9.1. The hand being used does not matter. raw is enforced meaning a free hand is required to cast a spell with somatic components and any weapon (or shield) occupying both hands must be sheathed (with a bonus action) and/or dropped. The war caster feat removes these conditions. Also, a hand covered by a gauntlet impedes somatic gestures and it will cause such standard action spells to fail. Doffing gauntlets requires a full round (all actions) and lowers the A.C bonus by 1. Some sorcerers get metamagic abilities such as subtle spell which circumvents this limitation.

9.2. An arcane or divine focus is faster than a component pouch. This applies to holy symbols, wands, rods, staves, chicken feet, fetishes, medicine bundles, painted shields, icons, crystals, musical instruments, and magic 8-balls. It functions as written where material components are secretly consumed by the magical focus. Using a spell component pouch comes at the cost of speed. Using the component pouch costs 5' of movement and drops the static initiative by 1 point.

9.3. The language of energetic magic spells is Draconic. The language of healing spells is Celestial. The language of summoning spells is Infernal. The language of curses and death magic is Abyssal. The language of glamour and illusion spell crafting is Sylvan. Primal magic, covering other options, is spoken in the Giant tongue. When researching a new spell, having knowledge of the base language lowers the D.C by 2.

9.4. Magical Foci requires weekly storage of magical power. An arcane focus stores and channels arcane magic. A divine focus channels divine magic. An arcane focus must be held in a free hand, one that does not have to operate somatic gestures.

9.4.1. Wizards are arcane casters who channel intellectual manna. Typical foci for wizards include wizardly robes and hats, rods, staves, wands, orbs, or the holy symbol of the god of magic (Boccob). Wizardly items are exempt from the rule of holding the foci to cast spells. If the caster does not imbue the focus with this power, then that focus fails to operate for the next 7 days. Each week on Starday casters must expend one spell slot of the highest level the caster can cast to imbue the focus with channelling ability for arcane spells. The caster must also invoke a divinity or patron's name or the local greater deity of magic. The wizard must also practice a ritual to summon and store the weave, by making an Arcana D.C 10 check. A 9th level caster able to cast 5th level spells must give up a 5th level spell slot for that day only. It lasts a week until next Starday's eve. Also, each time a focus is replaced or created it must undergo this ritual; it must be crafted of rare materials totalling 10 gp/maximum spell level cast from it. Our wizard needs a 50-gp arcane focus. If the focus is destroyed or sundered it implodes in the 5' square of its holder, inflicting 1d4 force damage per spell level contained in the focus. The 9th level wizard will take 5d4 damage.

9.4.2. Sorcerers and Warlocks are arcane casters as well, but they channel power by force of will and the invocation of mysterious powers. They tap passionate manna, but their source is extraplanar. Only the most chaotic of sorcerers (and demonic of warlocks) can summon raw chaos (called wild magic) to do their bidding. Their magical foci may take strange forms including familiar, corrupted body parts, tattoos, and magical fetishes.

Destroying a sorcerer's magical focus will inflict 1d4 fire damage per level of their highest spell slot. Each sorcerer or warlock has a patron entity that must be appeared to imbue power into their focus. A 9 ^{th} level caster, able to cast 5 ^{th} level spells, must give up their top spell slot on each Sunday (sorcerer) or Waterday (warlock) to allow the focus to channel their magic.

These casters must also mediate and make Persuade D.C 10 rolls to beseech the spirits and patrons for their magic. Suitable sacrifices grant advantage on these rolls.

9.4.3. Bards cast a variation of arcane magic using passionate manna, but the power is drawn from the Llano, the lyrics and melody that created the universe. Their magical foci are musical instruments which must be played (creating sound) to facilitate spellcasting. A bardic focus must be played. Each week on Freedy casters must expend one spell slot of each level the caster can cast to imbue the focus with channelling ability for arcane bard spells.

The caster must also use their Perform skill at D.C 10 to invoke the local greater deity of music. A 7th level caster is replaced or purchased; it must be a musical instrument crafted of rarer materials totalling 10 gp/spell level cast from it. The bard needs a 40 gp arcane focus. If the focus is destroyed or sundered it implodes in the 5' square of its holder, inflicting 1d4 thunder damage per spell level. The 7th level bard will take 4d4 thunder damage.

9.4.4. Clerics & Paladins moral manna is directly channelled by the gods and their agents. Their divine foci are sanctified in temples or ceremonies to permit eschewing spell components. They are typically called holy symbols, relics, and vestments.

A divine focus must be held in a hand, worn visibly, or born upon a shield. Each week on Godsday casters must expend one spell slot of the highest level the caster can cast to imbue the focus with channelling ability for divine spells. The caster must also consecrate it in a Religion D.C 10 skill check by invoking their chosen deity or pantheon. Suitable sacrifices may grant advantage on this roll. These checks gain advantage in sacred and sanctified areas.

An 11th level cleric caster able to cast 6th level spells must give up 6 levels of spell slots for that day only. It lasts a week until next Godsday's eve. Also, each time a focus is replaced or purchased; it must be made of rarer materials totalling 10 gp/spell level cast from it. The cleric needs a 60-gp divine focus. If the focus is destroyed or sundered it implodes in the 5' square of its holder, inflicting 1d4 damage per spell level of psychic damage. The 11th level cleric will take 6d4 damage.

9.4.5. Druids & Rangers are attuned to the Oerth, and such powers depend upon life energy & forces of nature. Their foci are sanctified in remote wilderness to permit eschewing spell components. They are typically called staves, wands, mistletoe, torcs, medicine bags, runestones, ancestral bones, heartblood, sympathetic magic, crystal magic. A divine focus must be held prominently in one hand, worn visibly, or born upon a shield. Each week on Oerthday casters must expend one spell slot of the highest level the caster can cast to imbue the focus with channeling ability for divine spells.

The caster must also consecrate it with a Nature D.C 10 skill check by invoking their nature patron or shamanism spirits. These checks gain advantage in sacred areas. A 11th level druid caster able to cast 6th level spells must give up 6 levels of spell slots for that day only.

It lasts a week until next Oerthday's eve. Also, each time a focus is replaced or purchased; it must be made of rarer materials totalling 10 gp/max spell level cast from it. The druid needs a 60-gp divine focus. If the focus is destroyed or sundered it implodes in the 5' square of its holder, inflicting 1d4 lightning damage per spell level contained in the focus. The 11th lvl druid will take 6d4 lightning damage.

9.5. Immortals draw their power from the Feywild & Shadowfell. Moondays are their special day.

9.6. An arcane of divine focus must be grasped with one free hand. It must be visible and obvious if it is to replace material components. A shield, weapon and a focus cannot be held all at the same time.

Sleight of Hand and Deception skills can disguise the use of foci from casual observers. A focus targeted by a dispel magic can detonate is the roll is successful. The focus is not destroyed, but its magic is released, violently.

10. Material Components — Do spell casters need to keep track of what components they have? or can they just simply deduct 50 gp for that diamond they need for Chromatic Orb? You decided to wave all the material cost of spell components for spells below 6th level? Consider discussing what you as a D.M expect from your caster players.

10.1. Material components are usually ethereally converted & consumed by the spell focus. If the focus is destroyed or lost, then spellcasting is slower, refer to section 7.2 above.

10.2. Material components shall be tracked. Reagent costs of 1 gp or higher should be tracked. It helps the immersion of the game. An arcane focus or a divine focus can help but it is an obvious weakness, and it can be targeted, sundered, or disarmed. The caster can assume to have spell reagents for 3 uses of all their known spells when created or encountered. The Chromatic Orb does require a 50-gp diamond, but it is not consumed by the spell.

11. Concentration Spells —Spells (that require concentration) cast in Initiative-based-Combat or maintained in the same round as you are taking a move action will now require a Dexterity saving throw. This also applies to a caster who is forcibly moved even if no damage is assessed. Casters with the war caster feat gain advantage on all these saves. If the caster has a familiar, and it is not engaged in combat, it bolster's the concentration saving throw.

The surface determines the D.C of the save. A failed check means the caster loses concentration while a fumble indicates a trip, fall and a lost spell slot.

11.1. The target D.C of a concentration check increases with the level of the spell. The target D.C is now 8 + Spell Level.

Table 39 summary: Manna based defenses for every tier, providing a plus one bonus on DR and saving throws. Each class group is assigned a specific damage type for each of the four tiers. For example, Creation Immortals, Chronomancers, and Alchemists have Psychic defense at tier 1, Thunder at tier 2, Necrotic at tier 3, and Cold at tier 4. Similarly, the Qi/Psionic Monk progresses from Lightning at tier 1 to Psychic at tier 2, Force at tier 3, and Bludgeoning at tier 4.

Table 43 summary: The time and gold piece cost for spell research and modification increase significantly as the spell level rises. For low-level spells, a level 1 spell requires 4 days and 100 gold pieces, while a level 3 spell requires 16 days and 400 gold pieces. This progression continues through level 6, which takes 128 days and 3,200 gold pieces, peaking at level 9, which requires 1,028 days and 25,000 gold pieces.

Table 44 – Movement versus Concentration

Movement & Concentration

12. Spell Interruption — Spells cast in combat may be interrupted. It is rare but possible. Reaction and bonus action spells are not interruptible. Spells requiring a magic action are interrupted if the caster receives damage because of an opponent's readied action and fails a concentration check equal to one half the damage received (or D.C 10 for a grapple or knockdown). Ritual spells receive disadvantage on the concentration checks.

Awkward movement cited in the above table can also interrupt spellcasting. An interrupted spell does not consume the spell slot nor its material components. It only wastes a bit of time.

13. Recurring Saving Throws — Spells that allow repeated saving throws every turn is too weak with the current d20 + modifier system. Spells on average have a D.C 14 saving throw. Something that lasts a minute with concentration vs a target with +4 to their saving throw is statistically 2 turns. My turns last 10 seconds instead of 6, I employ the following modification: Unless the player narrates the effect of a failed spell roll in such a way as to contribute to game immersion, each subsequent turn that you get to repeat a saving throw is at a disadvantage. If you roll a 1 then the spell goes to full duration.

14. Spell Tweaks — Perhaps the Grease spell is flammable? You found on Reddit a better version of True Strike cantrip that you would like to use. You renamed Chill Touch so that its name is less confusing? You tweaked/expanded on how Charm & Illusion spells work? Perhaps if the Bard can make his/her Vicious Mockery funny enough to make you laugh, it auto-crits?

14.1. Animal Messenger (2) the spell grants the animal +10 on stealth checks for the spell duration.

14.2. Arcane Ward (2) this Abjuration Wizard special ability extends to any familiar, within 100' range, for the duration.

14.3. Bane (1) this enchantment spell is categorically weaker due to the charisma saving throw allowed to ignore the spell effects. The initial Charisma saving throw is also penalized by 1d4.

14.4. Barkskin (2) grants the creature a D.R 2 for all incoming physical & elemental damage in addition to its normal A.C of 17. However, any fire damage is not reduced.

14.5. Chromatic Orb (1) the chance that the orb will bounce to a new target is 34.375%. If upcast using a level 2 slot the bounce chance rises to 58.98%. If upcast to level 3 the chance to bounce is 79.49%. A 6th level slot deals 8d8 damage and has a bounce chance of 100%, bouncing 30' a minimum of 6 times, providing every attack roll hits..

14.6. Color Spray (1) It's range would be upcast 15' per spell level. Upcasting this spell is not efficient as stated. Upcast spells would have an extended duration as well (a third level color spray then has a 45' cone and blinds for 3 rounds, no recurring saving throws). Any creatures caught in the cone are affected.

14.7. Conjure Woodland Beings the text is modified by 3 words: “Whenever the Emanation enters the space of a creature you can see on your Turn, and whenever a creature you can see enters the Emanation or ends its turn there, you can force that creature to make a Wisdom saving throw.”

14.8. Continual Flame any gemstone of 50 gp value or more can be used in place of ruby dust. The continual light takes on the gemstone's hue. It does not have to take the appearance of flame.

14.9. Control Weather change begins immediately up to 1 level on each table, plus 1 more every 10 minutes.

14.10. Cordon of Arrows see the ranger, section G.

14.11. Counterspell as per the raw except that if the counterspell is successful then magical feedback causes 1d4 force damage per spell level to the creature casting the initial spell plus the interrupted round.

14.12. Create or Destroy Water is also effective on magical flames and magical fog. It can create a 10' radius zone of safety (for 1 turn) against a wall of fire. It can be cast to become a vertical shield of water which will provide brief resistance to fire damage such as the wall of fire or red dragon breath. Used in this manner it lasts only 1 turn and then splashes onto the ground at the beginning of the caster's next action. If used offensively on elements, then it can inflict 1d12 damage per spell level on fire or water elementals; efreet or marids. It will slow down air and earth elementals by 10' for 1 round. They may make a con save to take half damage.

14.13. Crown of Madness is modified as follows. It permits the caster to walk the charmed creature half of its movement provided the caster does not put it into obvious danger (i.e., Off a cliff). It allows ranged combat. The controlled creature cannot take opportunity attacks, bonus actions or reactions. If line of sight is interrupted, then the spell ends. The target is not allowed to act normally while under the spell.

14.14. Druidcraft is modified to give it more relevance in this game. It can determine the nutrient health of soils, clean water. It will purify tainted water (1 gallon). This cantrip will assist in the identification, preservation and magical properties of plants in the World of Greyhawk. Druidcraft casting will grant advantage to any Intelligence (Nature) check made to determine the properties of a plant (or cause it to bloom, pollinate or bear fruit).

A caster can ethically harvest 1d4+W.I.S doses per plant investigated, +P.B if skill in a Herbalism kit is included. Harvested plants will be preserved against rot and decay (not mice!) until the next full moon. Mistletoe is a sacred plant that can be revived each month on the full moon with this cantrip. Druidcraft can write or erase druidic script on natural surfaces.

14.15. Elementalism has more applications than what is stated in the P.H.B. The cantrip can spring forth (or evaporate) water, spark (or turn to ash) a normal fire, conjure a fresh breath of air, cause a tiny object to become buoyant, snuff a small flame with vacuum, crumble a small volume ( 1 in cubed ) of stone into dust or mortar up a hole, fertilize soil, create a sling stone, identify any mineral, gemstone, plant, gas or chemical within 5' . If combined with Druidcraft, these two cantrips can maintain a Druid's grove.

14.16. Enhance Ability in addition to the advantage on ability checks as stated in the spell description, the target creature gains +2 to the chosen ability.

14.17. Ensnaring Strike see the Ranger, section G

14.18. Enthrall duration is 10 minutes and affected creatures have a visible shroud of shadows surrounding its head to alert the caster.

14.19. Find Familiar [ritual] When within range, the familiar shares your defenses (magical) including your mage armor, shield spell and arcane ward (abjuration). The Damage Reduction component of these spells is not shared.

The familiar is a spirit bonded to a physical creature. It looks like a beast, but it may be a fey, fiend or celestial. It does not require sleep, food or water...but it likes to pretend to be one of its chosen species. The fey, fiend or celestial spirit endures 1 lunar month if the body is slain. Therefore, it can have a memory of how it was treated.

The spell is a 1-hour ritual at tier 1, a 4-hour ritual at tier 2, an 8-hour ritual at tier 3 and a 12-hour ritual at tier 4. Each familiar has a different personality and its own agenda upon agreement to being the servant of the wizard.

The familiar can take on any appearance. The form is negotiated during the 1-hour summoning ritual.

• It matches your primary magical statistic, and its saving throw is adjusted to match. It has a minimum H.P equal to the conjurer's P.B.

The familiar gains the master's P.B to its attack rolls (if it is greater than its own).

While the familiar lives and is bonded to you, you gain your P.B as a temporary H.P & H.P _{max} as well.

It grants you a +2 bonus to concentration as it helps you manifest and maintain spells.

If it dies you suffer Tier #10 d6 force damage (Tier 2 = 2d6) immediately. You are also stunned for 1 round. Another familiar may not be summoned until an extended rest is completed.

Special bonuses for the familiar are tied to the tier level of the caster:

- Tier 1: a familiar gets all its basic powers as stated in the P.H.B, C.R 0 tiny beast. [max H.P=3] – typical list from the P.H.B [10 gp for the spell components]. The familiar understands all the languages of its master but can only speak its animal form.

- Tier 2: the familiar can cast the Guidance cantrip (master and itself only) and Nystul's Magic Aura, 1 per L.R, C.R 1/4 tiny beast or fey. [max H.P=9] [50 gp for the spell components] The familiar can attune to one magic item that it can carry and use (for example, a wand of magic missiles). The familiar can speak all languages known by its master.

- Tier 3: the familiar adds Minor Illusion cantrip and False Life (master and itself – 3 superscript rd level slot) to its repertoire, 1 per L.R, C.R 1/2 tiny beast, fey, plant, elemental, fiend, celestial, undead. [max H.P=18] [100 gp for the spell components]

- Tier 4: the familiar adds True Strike (itself – 17 superscript th level) cantrip and Dimension Door (with master) to its repertoire, 1 per L.R, C.R 1 tiny beast, fey, plant, elemental, fiend, celestial, undead, aberration, construct, dragon, monstrosity, ooze. [max H.P=27] [500 gp for the spell components]. The tier 4 familiar can also maintain concentration on any spell the master casts.

14.20. Find Traps spell will reveal the location of all traps and hazards within the 120' range. It will not make it easier to disarm. It will identify a trap as natural, mechanical, or magical by briefly outlining it in a green, orange, or purple nimbus. It will not reveal hidden enemies, but it can locate dangerous camouflaged or invisible objects. It will also reveal piercers, trappers, gelatinous cubes, and mimics (if they fail I.N.T saving throws vs the spell D.C).

14.21. Gentle Repose the spell produces a pleasant smell that repels insects and fungus and creates a foul taste in the mouths of any beast that would use such a corpse as a source of food.

14.22. Goodbacon (ritual). This spell summons a rasher of crispy maple syrup infused bacon, freshly cooked. It grants anyone who eats it 1d4 temporary hit points, +1 A.C and +1 on saving throws for 60 minutes. If the spell is upcast, then multiple rashers of bacon are created for additional creatures. Components V.S.M (a bit of pork rind). It takes 10 seconds to eat a rasher, where the person eating it is incapacitated with savoury delight. (artificer, cleric, paladin, wizard)

14.23. Goodberry. Caveats: It cannot be combined with Disciple of Life to provide 3 H.P per berry. A Goodberry cannot be fed to an unconscious victim to revive them. It provides food but not water.

It tastes sweet and sticky (like a potent gumdrop) but it is not a desirable replacement for actual food. It takes a conscious character to use their bonus action to eat a Goodberry, so the maximum rate is 1 per round.

14.24. Hail of Thorns see the ranger, section G

14.25. Hellfire this evocation cantrip, taken from the Illtrigger Revised by M.C.D.M, has a casting time of magic action, range 120', Components V,S, Duration Instantaneous."You create an eruption of smoldering hellfire around a creature you can see within range. The target must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or take 1d4 fire damage plus 1d4 necrotic damage. Tormented screams of the damned surround the target rendering the victim deafened for one round."

The cantrip scales at the same pace as other cantrips. Available to Illtrigger, sorcerer, warlock & wizard.

14.26. Hunter's Mark. This spell has no range limit after it is initially cast, allowing better tracking and pursuit. Rangers get an advanced version of this spell which scales with ranger level (see section G).

14.28. Identify this ritual spell has an additional requirement. Each item allows a caster only one attempt per day to divine its magical properties. An Intelligence (Arcana) check is called for.

If the check is failed, the strain and concentration cause the caster to suffer 1d4 points of psychic damage. The caster does not know the level of power the item has. The D.C's of items are: Common [D.C 5], Uncommon [D.C 8], Rare [D.C 12], Very Rare [D.C 15], Legendary [D.C 20], Cursed [D.C 25], Artifact [D.C 30]. (A cursed item will give off a different divination as if it were an Uncommon [D.C 8] item, allowing regrettable attunement)

14.29. Incendiary Cloud You can choose the direction of the cloud's movement.

14.30. Inflict Wounds This spell requires a melee spell touch attack roll to hit the target. The Constitution saving throw component to reduce damage is removed. Since an attack roll is needed, a critical to-hit roll inflicts double dice of damage, and a fumbled attack affects the caster themselves!

14.31. Lesser Restoration since I put in more sources of exhaustion in this game, the lesser restoration spell will now remove 1 exhaustion level instead of it being on the list of conditions removeable only by Greater Restoration.

14.32. Lightning Arrow see the ranger, section G

14.33. Locate Animals & Plants you also learn its number, status, speed and direction of travel, if any.

14.34. Mage Armor spell scales, grants A.C = P.B and D.R = 1 to all physical, elemental, and exotic damage for the 8-hour duration. It acts as an innermost layer 1 defense.

14.35. Mage Hand this cantrip scales with every tier. It performs as listed for tier 1. The maximum object weight is only 5 lbs. At higher tiers multiple hands appear to do multiple tasks simultaneously. At tier 2 (level 5 to 10) two mage hands can manipulate objects (not creatures) up to 10 lbs. At tier 3 (levels 11 to 16) three mage hands can manipulate objects (with a Sleight of Hand skill check or a Tool Check) up to 15 lbs. or grapple or shove (with an unarmed attack roll) (15 pounds) tiny living objects.

At tier 4 (levels 17 to 20) the caster creates 4 mage hands which can be invisible, and it can punch, slap an opponent, poke or tickle an opponent, flick or manipulate any type of object (including tools, instruments, liquid, or gas) up to a total of 20 lbs. & contained within a 5' cube. Each hand can either render the help action or make one attack with a light weapon. Treat the attack as if wielded by the caster with the attack and damage bonus according to the casting statistic. The arcane trickster has access to the tier 3 version of Mage Hand as their 3rd level subclass feature, and the tier 4 version as their 13th level subclass feature. This cantrip cannot bestow flight upon the caster.

14.36. Melf's Acid Arrow spell will do 4d4 damage on the first turn and 4d4 damage on the second turn.

14.37. Mending cantrip also scales. It performs as listed for tiny objects (arrows, jewels, daggers, etcetera) and clothing at tier 1; it will repair 1 A.H.P (a 1' rent), structural points or durability. This recovery of A.H.P can occur only once after it takes object damage. It cannot make a weapon pristine or eversharp. At tier 2 the cantrip will affect small objects 1 H weapons, small shields and light armor) and it will repair 2 A.H.P (a 2' rent). At tier 3 the cantrip will affect medium objects 2 H weapons, medium shields and medium armor); it will repair 3 points of A.H.P (a 3' rent). At tier 4 the cantrip will affect large objects (Siege weapons, statues, large shields and heavy armors including horse barding); it will repair 4 points of A.H.P (a 4' rent).

14.38. Mordenkainen's Sword is modified as follows. It becomes a 6th level spell.

14.39. Resistance the cantrip no longer requires concentration.

14.40. Power Word: Heal the spell also grants 180 H.P _{temp} in addition to its other effects.

14.41. Shield it also gains D.R = 1 to all forms of physical, elemental and exotic damage except for force damage which grants it D.R 5. It acts as an outermost layer 4 (temporary defense). Shield still negates magic missile attacks. (Magic missile is 3 missiles that do 2 to 5 damage each). This spell is shared with the familiar, if any, that is within 5' of the caster.

14.42. Shield of Faith now includes a D.R 1 for all attack types as well as its bonus of +2 A.C. It acts as a layer 4.

14.43. Spike Growth a dragged creature must fit within the carry capacity of the grappler. The dragged creature can choose how they are dragged along the boundary of a spike growth patch.

14.44. Stoneskin also bestows D.R 4 to all physical and elemental damage in addition to its resistance qualities to all physical damage. The costly spell component (100 gp diamond dust) is replaced with 10 gp quartz dust. It acts as a layer 0.

14.45. Swift Quiver see the ranger, section G.

14.46. Warding Bond also gets D.R 1 to all types of damage in addition to its standard effects. It acts as a layer 4.

14.47. Zephyr Strike this spell is in Xanathar's Guide to Everything. It is included on the Ranger spell list only. It cannot be scaled up.

Table 44 summary: DEX save DC requirements and their associated notes. Difficulty classes range from 3 to 12, with specific rules for different classes and skills. For example, at a DC of 3 or 8, rangers and monks do not need to roll, while at a DC of 5, casters may use their Intelligence modifier. Higher DCs involve skill checks, such as Athletics for a DC of 8 and Acrobatics for a DC of 10, while a DC of 12 provides a plus 2 on checks.

15. New Spells — I am adding the following homebrewed spells:

:

15.1. Bend Arrow & Bolt - [Wizard, Artificer] 1st level abjuration. Reaction. Any targeted ranged attack (mundane or magical) may be bent around an object or person. This is typically the mage when used defensively. Used offensively it can alter the trajectory of a subsequently cast spell or missile up to 30 degrees, possibly hitting another unintended target.

When cast at higher levels the trajectory bends another 45 degrees for each additional level or an additional missile is bent. When used on a spell of higher level this spell must also be upcast to match the level. Cast at 2 superscript nd level, a bolt can turn a 90-degree corner and ignore cover. Cast at 4 superscript th level, a ray, bolt, or missile could be turned back upon the caster!

This spell has no effect on melee weapons as the Shield spell covers that mode of attack. Material component: a small amount of electrum dust (3 ep) tossed into the air.

15.2. Boggle - [Bard, Wizard] 1st level enchantment. 1 action. When you cast this spell upon a target, it is bedazzled and interrupted for several rounds equal to the caster's proficiency bonus. If successfully cast before the target casts their own spell, boggle forces a concentration check, or their spell is lost. The slot is not expended. The caster's D.C sets the value for the concentration check suffered by the target.

Any new spell cast by the target must pass the concentration check. The target also suffers disadvantage on any intelligence ability checks and skills based upon Intelligence.

15.3. Coin a Phrase – [Artificer, Bard, Warlock] Cantrip Enchantment. 1 action. Duration instant. Range touch. You enchant an electrum coin with an impulse to believe the next phrase or request uttered by the caster. The coin holds its magic for 10 minutes, but the enchantment occurs immediately when the target accepts the coin. The target is granted a Charisma saving throw to ignore its effects.

An electrum coin is the standard bribe. Using a copper piece will cause the spell to automatically fail. The saving roll is made with advantage if a silver coin is offered and disadvantage if a gold coin is offered. A person who saves vs this enchantment will not realize the bribe attempt until 10 minutes later as the memory of the transaction is somewhat fuzzy.

15.4. Contingency – [Wizard, ritual] 3 ^{rd} level Enchantment. V,S,M (a sheet of parchment and ink worth 10 gp that is consumed at the end of the spell casting in a flash of blue light) Casting time: 10 minutes. Duration: 1 day or until used. When you cast this spell, you choose spells from your prepared list targeting your self with a combined level equal to the level that contingency is cast at. (3 x 1 ^{st} level spells, or 1 x 2 ^{nd} + 1 x 1 ^{st} level, 1 x 3 ^{rd} level spell). When the contingency spell is cast, the spells stored consume their slots for the day.

Spells cast using contingency may not be upcast. Invoking the contingency requires a reaction. No verbal nor somatic components are required but you will still need to supply any material components used. If the stored spell requires concentration, then the normal spell rules apply.

15.5. Entropy – [Warlock, Wizard] 2nd level Necromancy. Reaction. Any spell cast may be partially countered with Entropy. This spell affects the very fabric of magic itself. The wizard makes a contested roll of Arcana (Intelligence) vs the target caster's Arcana or Religion skill (add 1 for every level of the spell). If the wizard succeeds, then the spell effects are minimized, or advantage is gained on the saving throw. If the spell fails, then the spell slot is not expended.

15.6. Foreshadow - [Cleric, Druid, Bard, Warlock, Wizard, Sorcerer] Cantrip Divination. 1 action. Duration 1 minute. Range 30'. You cause shadows cast by any light source to enact a shadow play of an event in the area the spell was cast. The P.C is granted advantage on the next Insight roll or Investigation roll made to discern a course of action or answer a riddle or question. The D.M can secretly roll a d6. On a roll of 1 it is a distant past event. On a 2 it is a recent event.

On a 3 to 5 it is too obscure or esoteric to determine any type of relevance. On a 6 it is a near future event. Only one cantrip can be cast in that area per day. If this is cast upon an actual undead shadow the cantrip heals it by 1d6 points.

15.7. Fumble Fingers – [Bard, Wizard, Warlock] Cantrip Enchantment. 1 action. Duration instant. Range 60'. You cause a target's hands and fingers to cease up in arthritic pain for 1 round. The target can make a saving throw vs Constitution. If they fail, they are unable to cast spells requiring a somatic component and they suffer disadvantage on attack rolls or skill rolls requiring the use of their hands: Thieves Tools, Sleight of Hand, Performance, artisan tools and some musical instruments. Manipulating any small objects become difficult. Potions may drop, ink quills may smear, cups may spill. A successful save means the target is immune to this cantrip for 10 minutes.

15.8. Hoodwink – [Artificer, Bard, Warlock, Wizard] Cantrip Enchantment. 1 bonus action. Duration instant. Range self. The caster flips up the hood of his cloak or his robe and momentarily displaces themselves a few feet. This effect causes disadvantage on all targeted attacks in the same round. Another spell may be cast in the same round if it takes an action.

15.9. Icy Patch – [Druid, Wizard, Sorcerer] Cantrip Evocation. 1 Action. Duration 1 minute. Range: 30'. You cover a 5' square (horizontal or vertical) with 1" of transparent slippery ice. Any creature beginning their round or crossing the icy patch must make a Dex save at the spellcaster's D.C or fall prone. The patch will float on water, but it will only support 100 lbs. The icy patch cannot be created over a hole or upon a hot surface like lava.

15.10. Know Alignment – [Cleric, Druid] Spell (Ritual) Divination. Casting Time: 10 minutes. Duration 1 minute. Range 10'. The priest gains a spiritual sight of the third eye for a brief time. The caster can read auras about a creature or sentient object which allow them to divine the creature's true alignment. The caster can read 1 creature per round if they make a Wisdom (Insight) test versus D.C 10.

15.11. Penny for your Thoughts - [Artificer, Bard, Warlock] Cantrip Divination. 1 action. Duration instant. Range 10'. You offer a shiny copper piece that will reveal the uppermost thoughts of the target who accepts it. The target is granted a Charisma saving throw to ignore its effects. The target is never aware of the mind reading if they voluntarily keep accepting copper coins.

15.12. Protection from Cantrips – [Artificer, Cleric, Druid, Bard, Warlock, Wizard, Sorcerer] 1st level Abjuration. 1 Action. Concentration. Duration 1 minute. Range: personal. While this spell is in effect, all cantrips targeting this creature fail, the cantrip is identified as well as its caster. The spell consumes a material component: an octagon of red silk worth 1 sp.

15.13. Sanitize – [Cleric, Druid] Cantrip Transmutation. 1 action. Duration instant. Range touch. You may target one creature with a touch of your hand. All dirt and sweat and blood and bad bacteria are cleaned from the body rendering it cool, fresh, and clean. This works even beneath armor and clothing.

Hair is combed and trimmed (optionally shaved); teeth are brushed. A corpse is cleaned and repels vermin for an hour. Using this cantrip during an aftermath phase prevents infection and gangrene and it aids in the binding of wounds. This aid takes the form of advantage on subsequent Medicine checks. Sanitize stings for a round and its effects lasts for 5 minutes. It grants 1 H.P temp and it lasts 1 hour. The temporary H.P does not stack with multiple castings of this spell. It also provides a mild analgesic to the pain of wounds, calming a wounded creature down.

It also has a 50% chance of eliminating spores, fungi, parasites, and rot grubs in fresh wounds. There is a material component of 1 ounces. of 40% pure alcohol. (the material component costs 2 cp at any apothecary or alchemist shop, 3 cp at a temple or tavern). The material component is consumed when you use this cantrip.

15.14. Shadow of Misfortune - [Wizard, Sorcerer, Warlock] Enchantment Cantrip. 1 action. Duration instant. Range 60 ft. Components: V.S.M (a small broken mirror). You grasp at the shadows that surround you and throw them like a dart against a creature within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the creature, reminding it of an impending doom.

On a hit, the target takes 1d4 psychic damage and 1d4 necrotic damage. The target is surrounded by deep shadow for the next round, moving daylight to dim light or dim light to darkness. You can make the attack roll with advantage if the target is currently subjected to a curse-like effect (at the discretion of the D.M), such as the Hex or Bane spells. Conversely, you have disadvantage on the attack if the target is in direct sunlight. This spell's damage increases by 1d4+1d4 when you reach 5th level (2d4+2d4), 11th level (3d4+3d4), and 17th level (4d4+4d4).

15.15. Shrink Leather - [Artificer, Druid, Warlock, Wizard] 2nd level Transmutation. Casting Time: 1 Action. Components: V.S.M Duration 1 minute. Concentration. Range: 60'. You cause inanimate leather goods, sheaths or armor to dry, shrink and tighten in a 5' cube or 1 medium sized creature. A fleshy head may be shrunk to one half its normal size. A shrunk scabbard or belt loop will trap a weapon requiring a S.T.R check at the D.C of the caster to free or draw. Shrink leather boots will cause a painful penalty of 10' to speed. Leather based armors subject to this spell will constrict the target; inflicting 2d6 bludgeoning damage each round that concentration is maintained. The caster must use their bonus action to maintain concentration in successive rounds.

The target, wearing leather armor, suffers disadvantage to ability checks and attack rolls every turn. Flesh golems are subject to this damage and its spell effects. The material component is a drop of vinegar or urine.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, you can increase the volume of the spell by a 5' cube, possibly including more targets, or a large target; and the damage increases by 1d6 per spell level.

15.16. Sticky Fingers – [Bard, Wizard] Cantrip Enchantment. 1 action. V.M Duration 1 round. Range 30'. You cause a target's hands and fingers to become sticky for 1 round. This cantrip differs from Fumble Fingers in that the fingers stick to other objects, not themselves. An unwilling target can make a strength saving throw vs the spell D.C. A successful save means the target is immune to this cantrip for 10 minutes. A successful save means the target is immune to this cantrip for 10 minutes. Any object can be made sticky as well. A piece of spider web is required or pine tree sap. A stuck item cannot be dropped or recovered without passing another Strength check. A caster targeted by this cantrip must pass the strength save or be unable to cast spells with material components. Recipients of sticky fingers gain advantage to any climbing checks.

15.17. Tongue-Tied – [Bard, Wizard, Warlock] Cantrip Enchantment. 1 action. S Duration instant. Range 30'. You cause a target's mouth and vocal chords to spasm for 1 round. The target can make a saving throw vs Intelligence. A successful save means the target is immune to this cantrip for 10 minutes. If they fail, they are unable to cast spells requiring a verbal component and they suffer disadvantage on skill rolls requiring the use of their lips or voice: Intimidation, Persuasion, Performance, some musical instruments. Conversation in a language devolves into stammering, croaks, squeaks, and sputtering. Imbibed potions or beverages may spill.

15.18. Warp Wood – [Artificer, Druid, Warlock, Wizard] 2 superscript nd level Transmutation. Casting Time: 1 Action. Components: V.S Duration Instantaneous. V.S.M Range: 30'. You cause wood to bend and warp, permanently destroying its straightness, form, and strength. A warped door springs open (or becomes stuck, requiring a Strength check to open, at your option). A boat or ship springs a leak. Warped shields become useless.

Warped ranged weapons are useless. A warped wooden (hafted) melee weapon causes a –4 penalty on attack rolls. You may warp one object of no larger than 5 cubic feet.

Alternatively, you can unwarp wood (effectively warping it back to normal) with this spell, straightening wood that has been warped by this spell or by other means. It can repair cracked or damaged wood but not if it has been burned. If used on living plants the spell inflicts 5d6 necrotic damage or it can heal 5d4 damage to a single plant creature. The material component is a drop of vinegar or urine.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the volume of wood you may warp increases by 5 cubic feet per spell.

At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the volume of wood you may warp increases by 5 cubic feet per spell level.

15.19. Whim – [Druid, Sorcerer] 1 superscript st level Divination. 1 bonus action. V, Duration 1 turn. Range: 30'. The caster verbalizes a desirable outcome of a minor event or object. There is a 25% chance that it comes true. If cast at a higher level, the chance rises by 5% per spell level increase. The D.M always has a final ruling on the scope of the spell.

15.20. Dyson's Magnificent Vacuum – [Wizard, Sorcerer] 8 ^{th} level Evocation 1 action, V.S.M Duration 1 minute tubular wall of wind of 10 ^{°} radius and 30 ^{°} height around a target. The target is allowed a Dexterity saving throw but a successful save only means that the whirlwind is stationery does not travel with the target after the first round. The spell is concentration based and collapses when the spell expires or fails. Creatures within the vacuum immediately gain the Deafened condition and if they are respiring creatures and they fit inside the radius, they lose their breath and begin suffocating. Their blood boils inflicting 1d12 necrotic damage per round.

Flying creatures cannot use physical flight to exit the vacuum. Ambulating creatures must make an Athletics skill check of the spell's D.C to push through the whirling boundary into a normal atmosphere. On round 2 occupants must save vs Constitution or become Incapacitated. On round 3 occupants save vs Constitution or suffer the Blinded condition. On round 4 those trapped inside must save versus Constitution or become Stunned. On round 5 those trapped inside must save versus Constitution or become Paralyzed. After 1 minute (round 6) inside the vacuum all breathing creatures die of respiratory failure.

If the spell ends prematurely then the crushing air pressure slams the occupants with 6d4 bludgeoning damage. The caster is not immune to this effect, but he can tell where the field of her spell begins and ends. The material component is a reed straw.

Section Y: Damage, Healing, Death, Resurrection, Lifestyle

1. Damage — The Hit points granted at 1 superscript st level may be described as body/blood/flesh points. Hit points granted at higher levels are considered grit/stamina/toughness points. A 5 superscript th level dwarven barbarian with con 18 might start the game with 16 H.Pbody and 44 H.P grit. H.P grit gained for higher levels represent innate toughness, pain tolerance, martial skills, resilience, and luck.

Damage in this area is superficial and easily recovered by the short rest and the long rest rules of the game. Temporary H.P _{temp} raises only the grit points. Magical healing raises the H.Pbody points first before the H.P _{grit} . A typical commoner might have 5 H.Pbody and no grit points. Mortal monsters, who can have lots of H.P, are bloodied at 50% H.P max depending upon their size and type. They are wounded at 10% H.P max , unless it is undead, aberration or construct. These creatures do not feel pain.

Image summary: A digital illustration of a deceased dwarf lying on a rocky surface. The dwarf has a white beard and is wearing red quilted armor, with two arrows protruding from his back. An axe lies on the ground beside him. Below the rocky ledge, a reflection or mirrored image shows a small, green creature looking up at the body.

Any damage into H.Pbody elicits a loud grunt or scream of pain. Massive damage rules in this mechanic says that if you take enough damage to go to your negative H.Pbody total, then you are killed! An orc who has 10 H.Pbody and 15 H.P _{grit} dies instantly when reduced to -10 H.Pbody. The same orc is unconscious (effectively out of a combat) at 0 H.P and bleeds to death in a few rounds.

1.1. H.Pbody + H.Pgrit + H.Ptemp = hpmax

1.2. Any solid hit that inflicts damage to H.Pgrit (which means through damage reduction and through H.Ptemp) causes a brief Stumbled condition for 1 round. Some creatures like undead, constructs, elementals, aberrations, are immune to pain and do not suffer this problem. The stumbled condition speed penalty does not stack with additional attacks in the same round.

1.3. When any Player Character, Non-Player Character or Monster takes damage to set them below this 1 superscript st level H.Pbody threshold, roll for Hit Location and read the entry under moderate damage. The victim reacts in pain and they gain the Dazed condition. They retain the ability to speak.. N.P.C's will now make morale checks;. If they reach 0 H.Pbody, then they gain the Unconscious and Prone conditions. Even if cured with healing magic they are Prone and Dazed for the round following the spell or ability. Any damage below 0 H.Pbody causes the Dying conditions. Perishing creatures continue to bleed, suffocate, or expire at 14d H.Pbody per round plus any additional wounds taken afterwards.

Additional combat wounds taken below 0 H.Pbody apply a Lingering Injury (critical) should the hapless victim survive. If the negative H.Pbody is reached, then the N.P.C dies.

1.4. The soul departs the victim's dead body after 1 minute. Amazing Healer skills can revive a creature as well as the Revivify spell until the 1-minute mark.

2. Healing (Natural and Magical) — I will use the Slower Natural Healing option adapted from the 2014 D.M.G pg. 266: All Hit Dice are restored at the end of a full rest. H.P can be gained in the following manner:

2.1. At Negative H.Pbody (Dying, Bleeding Out):

• Dying continues at minor, major or massive deterioration until death or stabilization.

- The Death saving throw mechanic is removed from my game.

- Stabilization can be achieved by a Spare the Dying cantrip or successful First Aid which surpasses the (1/4/8) level of deterioration.

2.2. At Negative H.Pbody (Stable, Not Bleeding Out):

- start a short rest (1 H.Pbody per hour), until conscious.

Those who regain consciousness gain one level of exhaustion. A Lesser Restoration spell can remove one level of exhaustion. Individuals with the Durable feat skips this penalty.

2.3. At Positive H.Pbody:

- All these forms of rejuvenation assumes adequate food, water, shelter and warmth. Any ongoing damage prevents recovery. This includes the poisoned condition from poisons, diseases and magical contagions.

• a short rest gains 1 H.Pbody + Con Modifier (positive); spending 1 H.D to do so. 0 H.P recovered is possible.

- a long rest recovers 2 H.Pbody + 2 x Modifier (positive); depleting any saved-up H.D. H.D are regained normally beginning the next day. If a character is still below their H.Pbody threshold they cannot recover any exhaustion levels or recover spell slots. Individuals with the Durable feat recover exhaustion levels.

- A full rest recovers 3 H.Pbody + 3 x Modifier (positive); depleting any saved-up H.D. H.D are regained normally beginning the next day. If a character is still “wounded” they cannot recover any exhaustion levels or recover spell slots. Individuals with the Durable feat recover exhaustion levels.

2.4. At Positive H.P Grit:

Image summary: A photograph of a middle-aged man with grey hair and a beard lying asleep on a pillow. He has a blood-stained bandage wrapped around his head and blood splatters across his white, open-collared shirt and chest. He wears a simple cross necklace and a brown leather belt across his waist.

- All these forms of rejuvenation assumes adequate food, water, shelter and warmth. Any ongoing damage prevents recovery. This includes the poisoned condition from poisons, diseases and magical contagions.

- a short rest gains 1 H.D + Modifier (positive); spending 1 H.D to do so.

- a long rest does not restore all lost hit points; it allows a character to spend any or all regained Hit Dice to recover H.P, just as with a short rest. The P.C gains 1 over 2 of their H.D (round down) at the end of the long rest. An exhausted victim reduces their exhaustion level by 1.

• A full rest is like the long rest, but the P.C regains all of their H.D for summary healing.

3. Divine Intervention / Concordance — “Miracles happen. Dumb luck favors the foolish. Fate may not be finished with you yet.” Whatever your view of the cosmos, fantasy stories are rife with heroes cheating death. Players may roll d100, viewed by the entire table, when a player character death occurs.

There is always a base 1% that the character somehow survives. The D.M decides on the following bonus modifiers: +1% for a very pious character beseeching their deity or patron if they were in the service of that deity prior to the death; +1% for karma (a deceased character with a good alignment). A Cleric may use their Divine Intervention ability if it not previously expended, +10%. Roll 1d100 and add modifiers.

If 00 is achieved the P.C cheats death...this time. This rule addition was suggested by Darrell Minty. If a P.C is saved by divine providence, then the G.M is well advised to put a geas upon the character to perform some deed of merit.

4. Death — What happens when a P.C dies? What happens when there is a T.P.K? Does the game end? Does it mean that time passes & events progress a certain number of years before the players can create new P.C's? Should every player have a backup character ready to go? Make sure your players know what it means when these events happen; this is something often forgotten about which brand-new players need to know.

4.1. A P.C death should be a serious event in any game. Resurrection has limitations in the game. A failed resurrection ritual requires a backup character ready to play.

4.2. The spirit or soul of a P.C remains with the head, heart and organs of a corpse until it decays or has proper funerary rites. The P.C loses agency to the D.M. With regards to communication, haunting, manifestation, the D.M now controls the former P.C. A corpse decays in time according to the climate or the region, flora, and fauna. All attuned magic items deactivate in 5 minutes.

5. Leaving the Party — What happens if a player character leaves the party, either voluntarily or by the death of their character?

5.1. If the player character leaves the party that person may return with a new character with the unanimous consent of the remaining players. Such a recruit will join the party matching the lowest experience of the rest of the party. That character has no prior knowledge of the party except for adventures and accolades which are public knowledge. It is up to the D.M whether any magic items will be granted to the new P.C. It is unlikely that the departing character will donate any magic items or personal treasures they had prior to their departure.

6. Resurrection — What options, in the setting or in the game, do players have for resurrecting fallen P.C's? Is this the privy of high-level P.C's & Gods, or can anyone bring the corpse of a fallen ally to the resurrection temple & pay a huge sum of money to resurrect a character? Do you have an alternate set of Resurrection rules? Did you pick up the ruleset that Matt Mercer recently refined for his P.C resurrections? Even if you follow resurrection raw, what impact does resurrection have in-game? Is this a common occurrence in this setting? or is it something special & unique? Will characters be expected to get a special McGuffin (like unicorn blood, angel tears, phoenix down) otherwise resurrection spells will automatically fail?

6.1. Revivify can be cast within 1 minute of death. Gentle Repose may be used to extend the time a creature's corpse can last by 10 days, repeatable. Raise Dead can be cast within 10 days of death, but it requires a whole corpse. Reincarnate can be cast before the next full moon; it does not require the whole corpse. Resurrection can be cast within 100 years of death. True Resurrection can be cast within 200 years of death. Beyond that only great quests, Wish and divine intervention can affect the dead.

6.2. When a caster attempts to use a necromantic spell to bring someone back from the dead, the caster or an attendant must make an Intelligence (Religion) spell check against D.C 12. If they fail the check within four points of the D.C, the spell fails, and they suffer one level of exhaustion. If they fail the D.C by five points or more, they also age one year for every additional point they fail by. A failure of 10 points or more will attract an agent of death. A proper funeral, gentle repose spells and subsequent respectful religious rituals can (at the option of the D.M) grant advantage on the skill roll.

6.3. A P.C may only ever be raised or resurrected once. Gods of death and judgement place hard limits on such transgressions against their domains. A True Resurrection or a wish might work as intended but the offended deity will most assuredly send an agent to punish the impudent mortals who thwarted their office. If a soul coin was collected by a fiend when the victim perished then a quest to recover the coin begins.

6.4. When a caster succeeds in using a necromantic spell to bring someone back from the dead, the recipient must pass a single D.C 12 death save.

- Subtract from the D.C however many points the caster exceeded their Religion roll.

• The D.C of this 'death save' increases by 5 if the corpse/spirit was undead.

- The D.C drops by 5 if the recipient received a Gentle Repose spell within 1 day of dying.

- The D.C drops by 2 if the recipient had a Speak with Dead spell cast upon their behalf and mortals make a plea for returning.

• If the recipient is not a follower of the god granting the spell, then the D.C increases by 2.

- If they fail, the recipient loses one temporary Constitution point for every point they fail by. Every time they gain a level or a Greater Restoration spell, they recover one Constitution point, up to their original Constitution score.

Note that spirits must still be willing and able to return from the dead for the spell to succeed. All spell components are consumed whether the spell succeeds or fails.

7. Lifestyle — During scheduled downtime or accumulated downtime, whether you are healing, training or simply living the good life, there are expenses and the degradation of equipment according to your stated lifestyle.

7.1. Based originally on the Xanathar's Guide to Everything. Characters begin with a Family Lifestyle. This determines their opportunities in early life as an adolescent. Player characters are driven to adventuring mainly as a get-rich-quick scheme to escape the drudgery of medieval serfdom. The table below can be used to determine the consequences of maintaining a certain lifestyle.

Table summary: Lifestyle levels based on a 3d6 roll, ranging from Wretched to Aristocratic. Higher rolls provide significantly more wealth, with Silver Per day and Gold Per week increasing from nothing at the Wretched level to 100 silver and 70 gold for Aristocratic. Higher lifestyles also improve Childhood Home modifiers, moving from minus 40 for Wretched to plus 40 for Aristocratic, and reduce the Loss percentage from 40 percent down to 1 percent. Consequences vary by tier, with lower lifestyles facing item degradation, criminality, and exhaustion, while higher lifestyles gain benefits like good food, servants, and high social status, though the Aristocratic level introduces risks like political scheming and assassins.

+1 for urban background (Squire, Soldier, Scribe, Sage, Miner, Merchant, Guard, Entertainer, Criminal, Acolyte), +2 for Noble background

Table 7.2 summary: Childhood home options determined by a d100 roll plus a modifier. Higher rolls correlate with wealthier homes and increased starting funds, ranging from being on the streets with a 90 percent reduction in funds for a roll of 00, up to a palace or castle with a 75 percent increase in funds for rolls between 111 and 140. The number of siblings varies across these outcomes, represented by different dice rolls such as 2d6 for those on the streets or 1d8 for those in a large house.

Crafting Magic Items

Included here is the concept of essence harvesting (credit to Dadi of the Mystic Art). All creatures are infused with manna or essence by the 'weave'. When they are slain their essence returns to the weave unless it is identified and harvested within a few minutes after their passing. Fiends are far more adept at this where they will pause attacking to harvest or consume a sentient mortal's soul!

Celestials may arrive to protect or guide the essence of a creature to its realm. Think Valkyries and Angels.

The base item that will be infused with magic needs to be exemplary. Thematically it is best if the proper tools are used to craft the armor, weapon, ring, rod, staff, wand or wondrous item. See the D.M.G p 220. Arcana items are for Sorcerers, Warlocks and Wizards, Armaments are for Barbarians, Fighters, Paladins and Rangers. Implements are for Bards, Monks and Rogues. Relics are for Clerics and Druids. Magic items have resistance to all damage types.

To craft an item, you and any assistants must have proficiency in the Arcana skill. An assistant will cut the time in half but increase the cost by 10%. The availability of materials is 25% per week unless you are in a city where availability rises to 75% per week.

Special Features of Magic Items are well covered on p.222 of the D.M.G.

In exchange for this game-requirement the base cost of materials is 1 over 2 that of the D.M.G. The essence may be harder to collect and store for long periods. Consumables (e.g. potions, dusts, inks) are created requiring an alchemy lab or a temple or ceremony spells. If you have essences, then the material prices are cut in half again. Spell scrolls are covered in the P.H.B.

Table summary: Crafting and purchase requirements for items based on rarity, where costs, time, and difficulty increase significantly as rarity rises. Common items require Creative Essence from CR 1/8 to 1, take 5 days to craft, and have a Bargain DC of 12. In contrast, Legendary items require Creative Essence from CR 21 and above, take 250 days to craft, and have a Bargain DC of 30. Crafting costs scale from 100 percent of the base item plus 25 gold pieces for Common items up to 300 percent of the Masterwork item plus 50,000 gold pieces for Legendary items. Purchase prices follow a similar steep climb, ranging from 100 percent of the base item plus 100 gold pieces for Common items to 300 percent of the Masterwork item plus 200,000 gold pieces for Legendary items. All rarity levels require the skills listed in DMG'24 p 220.

Coin & Container Consequences

Real coinage is separate from Fantasy coinage. Real coins have gravitas. They have size, weight and value. Coins inspire greed amongst everyone.

Real coins are noisy. Fantasy coinage is weightless, without any form, symbol or attachment to the monarch of a country it is found in. An orcish minted gold coin is the same as every human gold coin across 50 countries on a world map. Fantasy coins are...meh.

Table summary: The number of coins that make up one pound varies by metal and coin size, with Mithrit having the most at 101 coins and Platinum the fewest at 34. Platinum is the densest material listed with a specific gravity of 21.45, while Mithrit is the least dense at 4.00. The coins are modeled after Canadian currency, with most metals like Copper, Bronze, Iron, Mithrit, and Adamantium using the 50 cent coin size of 27.1 by 1.95 millimeters and a volume of 1127 cubic millimeters.

In ancient Greece and Rome, the coins in common circulation were either bronze or silver. One day's labor was worth 1 denarius (silver piece). One month's wage was 1 solidus (gold piece). Now it does not make too much sense to use a non-decimal based coinage for Dungeons & Dragons. Coinage conversions for historical relevance seems too difficult to implement on players.

• In D&D a small alms purse can hold 50 coins. It is made of cloth which is easily cut but extremely cheap to make.

- A small pouch with drawstrings is made of soft leather, like deer hide, it can hold 6 pounds without bursting. The 6 pounds weight limit constrains the amount to 282 Copper, 241 Silver, 168 Electrum, 131 Gold, 118 Platinum.

- A spell component pouch is a bit larger and has many interior and exterior pockets to organize spell components. When full it weights 2 pounds, but it is not designed to carry piles of coins. It is also magically watertight and won't spill even in combat acrobatics.

- The large pouch is constructed of stiff cured leather, often tooled in fanciful designs. It has a broad flap, shoulder straps and it is secured with a clasp or two. This pouch weighs 1 pound itself and can carry a volume of 0.2 cubic feet. or a maximum weight of 11 pounds. I will assume a packing efficiency of 60% for loose coins. I am using the Canadian toonie for coin size (28 millimeters diam., 1.75 millimeters thick = 1.08 centimeters cubed). Such a pouch has a high volume, but the weight limits is set at 5 kilograms (11 lbs). Such a pouch could hold 3155 coins based purely on volume. However, the 11 pounds weight limit constrains the amounts to 518 Copper, 443 Silver, 309 Electrum, 240 Gold, 216 Platinum.

- A medieval strongbox, reinforced with iron weighs 50 lbs empty and holds 3 cubic feet. It has a weight limit of 250 lbs. It is like the armada strongbox which can be handled by 2 men or a cart. It can hold 11,751 Copper, 10,035 Silver, 7,017 Electrum, 5,450 Gold, or 4,909 Platinum coins by weight.

The D&D large chest, 25 pounds empty weight, 12 cubic foot capacity would be very flimsy for carrying gold coins. Grok made a few assumptions and computed compressive stress, wall thickness and reinforcements. The structural limitations, with a FoS =2.0, 0.5 centimeters thick oak walls with minimal iron reinforcement, hinges and latch-lock.

Image summary: A bar chart titled Coins in a 0.2 ft³ Pouch (Toonie Size) showing the number of coins of different metal types that fit in a pouch. Copper has the highest count at approximately 510 coins, followed by silver at about 440, electrum at 300, gold at 240, and platinum at the lowest count of approximately 210.

A 12 ft cubed chest weighing 25 lbs empty can carry approximately 587 gold coins (toonie-sized, approximately 20.81 g each, total approximately 27 lbs or 12.22 kilograms) without bursting, limited by the tensile strength of minimal iron reinforcements on the sides. The oak base could support up to approximately 68,260 coins, but the side walls fail first due to insufficient iron banding.

Coin Weights

In the real world, metals have different densities. If we assume all coins have the same volume, regardless of shape, thickness and sovereign emblem, then here is how they compare.

The unique metals include internal iron, available only on the 2" pit of Hell, the city of Dis and each one carries a soul. Mithril is found in secret places known only to dwarves and elves. No one else may craft them! Adamantium is harvested from fallen stars and is strongly magnetic unless demagnetized in special furnaces or lightning. Finally, there is Talondorum, the rarest alloy in the multiverse.

The knowledge of its source and who can craft it is known only by the gods. Weapons made of this metal can kill demon lords, archdevils and the gods as well.

:

Section A.A: The Third Pillar – Social Interaction & Roleplaying

9177 Ⅱ

There is no doubt that this is the most Difficult pillar of the game to play and referee. The group either has social and acting skills, or they are paying lip service to the idea of roleplaying. There are so many factors at play here that the line between "fun" and "boredom" is different for everyone. Immersion is good ... until it goes too far.

Meta gaming can be politely ignored ... until it goes too far. I can cajole and admonish reluctant P.C's. I can point out unsociable role-playing. I can protect the players in the game against sensitive topics and inane chatter.

And it can fall apart so fast that nobody knows what caused it. I know that trust amongst gamers is a very rare thing and modern players are prouder of the quantity of games they play instead of the quality of games they play. There are many hidden benefits for good roleplaying baked into the homebrew rules presented here. Teamwork and synergy are always a good thing, so I focus on that. A bad D.M will force combats upon P.C's to avoid alternatives involving roleplaying allies and adversaries. Thinking of alternatives to combat takes real imagination!

roleplaying allies and adversaries. Thinking of alternatives to combat takes real imagination!

After many iterations on group size over 45 years, the best group is 4 loyal, engaged players, with 1 to 2 N.P.C's to share the workload of adventuring tasks. 5 players is a challenge to any D.M. 6 or more players is insanity. Having 8 players on Critical Role every game takes a large team of coordinators and professional players. The action economy of a 6-player group will break down any encounter the D.M dreams up. The P.C's will get bored waiting for their turns. I advise - me - to have the players establish a personality for their characters well before dice rolls, class or species or background selection.

On one side, optimizers like Treantmonk will always eschew the campaign theme for a selfish combat bonus. On the other side, roleplaying purists will empathize with each other dramatically while being clueless how to win an encounter by any other means than talking. Yet there is fun to be had in all aspects of the game, but one cannot make rules or even vague guidelines for roleplaying.

The closest it comes to is imposing alignment restrictions. But in the end of my gaming years there is only one roleplaying rule I wish to share: "Don't be an ass". Words can hurt feelings. Player compatibility is the most critical component of your game's success.

Pseudo Roleplaying: A Shared Story Board in Combat

Attempts to involve the players as participants in the narrative will occur. Imagine a combat that goes as follows. An ogre A.C 13 is fighting two characters: a platemail and shield wearing fighter A.C 20 and his bard companion, A.C 15. The D.M expertly narrates the ogre swinging his greatclub against the fighter and then the bard. His rolls to hit are 18 and a 14, both misses.

However, they are both rolls at 10 or above. Instead of a simple and boring, 'hit A.C 18', "miss" and 'hit 15', "miss". The players are expected to fill in the visuals to complement the D.M. The fighter responds with "his raised shield fends off the blow, and his armor absorbs the weight of the greatclub scraping along his breastplate" instead of "miss". The bard responds with "although in studded leather armor, his nimbleness allows him to dodge out of the way as the warclub crashes down into the dirt", instead of "miss". Yes, fights now take longer but everyone is creating the story instead of just observing the D.M trying to perform miracles of entertainment. P.C's that are 'wounded' (reduced to below their H.P (body)) - essentially any damaging hit at first level - should demonstrate their pain audibly, visually or narratively in the story board manner. In later levels you gain H.P (grit) and shrug off lots of damage until you are wounded. Doing this is one way to gaining extra experience.

It is meant as a story element and not to embarrass you. As you gain levels and grit, you naturally gain resilience to this level of critical health. You will not be allowed to offer your current H.P levels across the battlefield to other players in an attempt to plead for rescue.

Table summary: Miscellaneous homebrew rules for a D&D 5e campaign. Key gameplay mechanics include requiring player dice rolls to be open and witnessed, while the DM may roll in secret for subjective skills like Stealth, Perception, and Insight. In contests between a PC and an NPC, tied rolls are awarded to the player character. All mathematical divisions are rounded down. To speed up combat, players are requested to roll all attack and damage dice simultaneously. Party requirements mandate that characters have integrated backgrounds connected to other PCs, and evil characters are prohibited. Roleplay guidelines encourage first-person speech to earn inspiration tokens and discourage asking permission questions. Absent players' characters continue to play but act at disadvantage, go last in initiative, and earn no experience. Weapon restrictions are based on creature size, with small characters unable to use certain great weapons or longbows, and downsized weapons dealing 1dB less damage. Special bonuses are provided for origin-based knowledge, and players who complete their origin stories may choose one unique, borderline magical trait. Finally, Dragonborn lore is modified to include a specific draconic deity hierarchy and a minimum AC of 11.

:

Table 34 summary: Morale outcomes based on a 1d6 roll for various creature types. Higher rolls generally lead to more aggressive responses, such as Ferocious, while lower rolls lead to retreating behaviors like Rout, Hesitant, or Cower. For example, a roll of 6 results in Ferocious for almost every creature type, including Dragon, Elemental, Fiend, and Undead. Conversely, a roll of 1 often results in Rout for Beast and Fey, or Flee for Humanoid. Some creature types have specific gaps or unique entries, such as Construct and Plant, which have several empty cells, and Undead, which lists Dissolution on a roll of 1.

Table 37 summary: A system for item saving throws using a 1d6 roll with modifiers to determine damage. A result of 1 means the item is destroyed, 2 to 3 is severely damaged and not repairable, 4 to 5 is lightly damaged and repairable, and 6 or higher means the item is unharmed. Modifiers include plus 3 for magical items, plus 1 for resistant materials, robust or medium items, or items in a container, and minus 1 for fragile or tiny items, vulnerable materials, or items previously damaged. Additional modifiers are applied for the intensity of the damage.

: Experience awards chosen by the Player Characters, which provide a 10 percent experience bonus. PCs vote for one another in four categories: best roleplaying moment, innovative use of a skill or tool in exploration, most entertaining moment in combat, and a category for donating 5 percent of their experience to another player.

Mounted I will adopt the new mounted combat rules presented in Arcadia by M.C.D.M productions. Combat while mounted confers the ability to use the Weapons war trained mount's move action and P.C's action to either attack with hooves, attack (shove) or dash. A rider's move action is consumed in and Shields Animal handling (D.C 5 or higher).

Description of Attack Roll - D.20

:

Definition

Supercritical: A combat result occurring on a high attack roll that inflicts a specific status effect on the target in addition to standard damage.

A supercritical will often apply a status effect. A creature that is resistant to the indicated damage type is immune to the status effect. Ability losses are temporary and return 1 point for each full rest.

A lesser restoration spell will recover 1 ability point. A greater restoration will recover all ability losses.

Death Effects. When a creature takes enough damage to take it down to their negative body hit points they are killed outright. This table is used by the D.M to determine the final descriptive result. The Revivify spell will return life to the body but the D.M is at liberty to apply permanent effects according to the damage type that killed the target.

Table summary: A D100 injury table detailing moderate and critical damage effects based on body location. Injuries to the lower body generally impact movement, with foot and ankle damage reducing speed by 5 feet at a moderate level and reducing speed to 10 feet or severing the foot at a critical level. Leg injuries result in speed reductions and penalties to Athletics or movement actions, culminating in a speed of 0 for critical knee injuries. Torso injuries affect combat and survival, with lower torso damage impacting Concentration and critical upper torso damage reducing AC by 4 and causing a crushed rib cage. Arm and hand injuries impair attacks and manipulation, with critical effects often involving severed limbs or the loss of arm use. Head and neck injuries are the most severe, ranging from loss of speech and sensory impairment to critical outcomes like skull fractures, permanent brain injury, or decapitation for a roll of 96 to 00.

: Quadrupedal Hit Location Chart for creatures such as wolves, horses, bears, big cats, or quadrupedal dragons. The chart maps d100 rolls to specific body locations, providing penalties for both moderate and critical damage. Hind leg injuries primarily impact speed and mobility, with critical damage to the upper leg reducing speed to 10 feet. Front leg injuries affect attack rolls and armor class, with critical shoulder damage leaving the creature prone. Torso injuries result in systemic penalties; critical damage to the lower torso causes evisceration and exhaustion, while upper torso trauma can lead to paralysis. Tail injuries reduce dexterity and balance, and head or neck injuries cause severe sensory loss or incapacitation, with critical skull trauma potentially leading to unconsciousness or decapitation.

:

:

: Difficulty Class values and their corresponding task levels and training requirements. A DC of 5 is Trivial for the Untrained, 8 is Very Easy for an Apprentice, 10 is Easy for a Professional, 12 is Moderate for a Journeyman, 15 is Challenging for an Expert, 18 is Difficult for a Master, 20 is Hard for a Grand Master, 25 is Formidable for a Mythic Master, and 30 is Impossible for a Legendary Master.

:

:

:

Additional Practical Rules for Dungeon Masters & Players.

These rules were written for myself, for the way I run games. I am not saying that anybody else “should” run a game this way. These rules exist to help me be consistent, and so my players can know what to expect. Anybody else is free to use them as guidelines, to modify them, to use some but not others, or to ignore them altogether, as seems best to you. Not everybody agrees on how to run a game, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Some of them are serious, some are deliberately exaggerated for comic effect, but all of them are actual considerations when designing or running a world.

1) Don't make it flammable if you don't want it burnt.

2) The D.M cannot make the P.C's more complex than the players do. No matter what the character sheet says, there are usually only three P.C alignments – Lawful Snotty, Neutral Greedy, and Chaotic Backstabbing.

3) What the players want today is a quick, easy victory. But what they will want tomorrow is to have brilliantly and valiantly turned the tables to triumphantly defeat a deadly opponent when it looked as if they were all about to die.

4) It is not the D.M's job to oppose or obstruct the players. It is the D.M's job to provide opposition and obstructions for the P.C's.

a) Try to make the difference clear to the players. Celebrate their victories with them; don't mourn the loss of your N.P.C.

5) It's your job to build the problem. It's their job to find a solution. If you create a death trap with only one solution, then then they cannot get out unless they figure out what your one solution is. But if you build a death trap with no solutions, then any clever plan they come up with might work.

a) Do not confuse a death trap with no solutions with a death trap that cannot be solved. No resemblance.

b) The purpose of a death trap is not death; it is to make the players feel clever. Don't build one to cause death, and more importantly, don't build one to make them feel stupid.

c) An escape proof trap, is, by definition, escape proof. What you want is a fool proof trap and allow your players to amaze you with the quality of fools being made today.

6) Never let a player roll a die unless it is reasonable to roll a 20, and reasonable to roll a 1.

a) If there's no way to fail, don't roll. If there's no way to succeed, don't roll.

b) If the result isn't random, then don't roll dice; summarize. Rolling dice for mop-up combat is as pointless as rolling dice for tying your shoes.

Rolling a 20 doesn't mean a one-in-a-million result; it means a one in 20 result. Rolling a 1 isn't automatic failure; it's the worst of the twenty most likely results.

a) Rolling dice for the impossible assumes that there's a 5% chance that you can jump to the moon. Rolling dice for the trivial assumes that there's a 5% chance that you can't open your closet door.

b) If the action is close to automatic, then rolling a 1 doesn't mean failure; it means awkward or incomplete success, with possible consequences. "You rolled a 1? okay, you successfully jumped past the gnolls down to the next landing, but you sprained your ankle. You cannot move more than 5 feet per round until it is healed."

8) At the start of the game, you should have in mind several ways for the P.C's to fail. By contrast, it is not your job to find a way for them to succeed.

a) It is, however, your job to make it possible for them to succeed.

9) Reward good tactics, consistent characterization, and brilliant ideas more than lucky die rolls.

a) If one player comes up with a great idea that requires another player's P.C, then the P.C should get rewarded, but so should the player who came up with the idea.

b) Do not reward “consistent characterization” that consistently disrupts the party or the game.

10) A role-playing game is run by rules. But it isn't made from rules; it's made of ideas, characters, and imagination.

11) The D.M can change, annul, or overrule any rule in the rulebook. This is not a toy or free privilege to change the game at whim. It's a heavy responsibility to make the game go right. and to be fair to the players. even when the rules aren't right for a specific moment.

12) The more completely you know the rules, the better you can be at ignoring them when necessary.

a) "When necessary" means it should be rare, forced by an unusual situation, and non-intrusive.

13) There must be enough rules consistency, and world consistency, that the players know what they can count on.

a) They should also know what they cannot count on. It's okay for your goblin to be different from the goblin in the rules. It's okay for them to not know what goblin are like. But it's not okay for them to believe that goblin will be rules-goblin.

14) When you change rules, you don't necessarily have to tell the players the new rules, if it is something that their characters wouldn't know. But you should tell them not to assume all D&D rules apply.

a) If you changed dragons because most people in that world don't know details about dragons, you don't have to tell them those details. But you should tell them that dragons aren't color-coded for their benefit.

challenging adventure of discovery. Knowing things that are false is just a failure mode. No resemblance.

c) Changing rules has consequences elsewhere. Think them through in advance. If dragons aren't color-coded, what does Tiamat look like?

ever base a campaign on something you are more excited about than your players are.

job isn't to create something hilarious to you. Your job is to create something fun and challenging for the players.

a) Experience is real. Just as a game for first level P.C's is different from a game for high-level P.C's, a game for first-level players is also different from a high-level players.

b) “Something fun and challenging for what you think average characters at this level should be able to do” is an unfocused approach. It should be fun challenging for these players with these P.C's.

17) Don't hinge your adventure on the players figuring out a specific clue. Just because it seems obvious to you doesn't mean that it will seem obvious to your players. Have multiple clues, and/or multiple entries.

18) Failing to solve a puzzle can cost them hit points, time, resources, curses, some treasure, or surprise attacks, but it should never cost them the adventure.

a) Some nice treasure can be behind the secret door, but the quest object cannot. [Unless there's another way to find it.]

19) If you aren't willing for the players to have it, don't put it in the game. Remember that if the N.P.C uses an item on the P.C's, there are only two possible outcomes: a) They party will all die, or

b) The party will wind up with the item.

20) The players do not have the right to screw up the game. They do have the right to screw up your plot. Don't confuse the two.

a) Do not give them a set of options that includes screwing up the game.

b) "Screwing up the game" includes genre-busting. Medieval fantasies don't have railroads, factories, or atomic power; the players have no right to introduce them.

21) The dice do not have the right to screw up the game. They do have the right to screw up your plot. Don't confuse the two.

a) Do not roll a die that could screw up the game.

b) I don't care how wonderful that well-designed N.P.C is. He or she is not necessary for the story to continue. If the P.C's kill him, let him die.

22) The D.M does not have the right to screw up the P.C's story. He does have the right to screw up the P.C's' plans. Don't confuse the two.

a) The player does have the right to screw up the P.C's story – even by accident. If a 2nd level P.C chooses to attack a dragon, then the P.C's death is his doing, not the D.M's.

41) The player identifies with the P.C and will take what happens to the P.C personally. If the P.C wants to defeat the orcs, then the player wants to defeat the orcs. The D.M does not have that luxury. The orcs want to kill the P.C's, but the D.M should not.

a) Follow Matt Dillon's principle from the T.V show Gunsmoke: "I never hang anybody. The law does." The D.M should never kill a P.C. Sometimes the game might.

b) When the party gets past the danger without facing it, they didn't outsmart you; you're not trying to defeat them. They only outsmarted the N.P.C.

42) When the players come up with something you never considered, stop, and think. This is the source of your absolute best, most perfect moments. It's also where all scenario-destroying mistakes come from. Ask yourself which it is before you react.

a) "Scenario-ending" and "scenario-destroying" are not (necessarily) synonyms. You may have planned a major battle in front of the Black Gate. But a P.C ending the quest by throwing the Ring into the Cracks of Doom could still be a satisfying, if abrupt, ending.

43) You are here to give the players a challenge. But the challenge should be within the game (dragons, traps, puzzles), not playing the game (mapping, tracking equipment).

a) Having said that, they are in still charge of their character sheets and their equipment.

44) N.P.C's should be memorable characters, not merely plot points.

a) The P.C's should not be the only people in the world who matter, even to the P.C's.

b) Name every N.P.C who speaks, even if the players never hear that name.

45) Give immersive descriptions. Make it feel medieval and/or fantastic.

a) "You open the door and see a 30' by 30' room" is not immersive. "The door swings slowly open on hinges that groan a little, as if they haven't moved in decades. The floor is slightly damp grey stone. Thirty feet back is the back wall, with a wall hanger that clearly once held a tapestry. The two side walls are tan bricks and might have been added to the castle later."

b) Have a specific adjective that you use more than once in the description – "dark", "silent", "eerie", "damp", and "slightly cold" are all effective.

c) Use more senses. Smell can be particularly evocative. Touch is usually forgotten.

46) Remind them of things that their characters would not have forgotten, but not things that characters will forget.

a) The P.C's can't forget that they picked up a magic glaive, so if they start looking around for a long weapon, remind them that they have it. And they won't forget the face of the sorceress who destroyed their village. But if they forgot that the blacksmith said he heard about ogres in the hills, then the P.C's weren't paying attention.

b) This can require some careful judgment calls.

47) The “Rule of Cool” must always be subordinate to the “Rule of Don't Be Ridiculous.”

a) Support player ideas that are cool, creative, imaginative, and reasonable. That does not mean supporting ideas that are cool, creative, imaginative, and unreasonable.

48) For the players to be free to be clever, they must be free to be stupid. For them to be free to make the right decision, they must be free to make the wrong decision. Either way, it's the freedom to make the choice for their P.C's.

a) If you carefully prevent them from making any mistakes, then you're the one who's playing the characters.

b) This can require careful judgment calls. Find a way to prevent them from making T.P.K-causing errors based on no information.

49) A short-term curse is an interesting challenge to overcome. A long-term curse is just an annoyance. Have the curse dispelled before it gets boring.

isten to the players' complaints, even when you know they aren't valid. ["You don't give any treasure" when you know that they chose not to open two treasure vaults.] They may be wrong about why it happened, but their annoyance at what happened is still real.

Image summary: A digital illustration depicting a fantasy scene divided into two contrasting environments. On the left, a landscape of flowing lava and volcanic rock features a red-sailed ship and a green reptilian creature perched on a bridge, with a white castle city visible in the distance under a cloudy sky. On the right, a giant red-skinned demon with horns and a sword stands within a stone archway, facing two smaller armored human warriors who are positioned defensively before him. A small blue bird flies above the demon's head.

: A fantasy illustration depicting a cross-section of a mythical world divided into an upper surface and an underground realm. The surface features a central tree surrounded by a red dragon, a giant eagle, a winged monkey, a unicorn, a centaur, and a small fairy. The subterranean area below the surface contains a giant purple worm, a large green caterpillar, a goblin-like creature, a troll, and a giant spider.

Image summary: A digital illustration for Castles & Crusades depicting a party of four adventurers exploring a ruined stone dungeon. In the foreground, a group consisting of a woman in purple robes holding a staff, a man in armor studying a map, a woman with a bow, and a soldier with a shield stand amidst scattered loot and debris. In the background, a large, stone, multi-faced statue looms over them, while a monstrous creature lurks in a distant archway.

a) It's not their fault that they are wrong about facts that they aren't supposed to know. [It's not your fault, either. It's just the truth.]

Fix what you reasonably can – independent of why it happened.

51) You will make mistakes – lots of them. A crucial skill to be a good D.M is the ability to fix mistakes as quickly and seamlessly as possible.

This will sometimes involve admitting them. It will also sometimes involve keeping the players from ever seeing them.

b) In either case, the point is to make the game go forward, not to repair your ego.

Your job isn't to provide monsters that have the right C.R; it's to provide a challenging encounter. C.R is a merely a tool to help you do that. If it's busted, ignore it.

a) Don't provide an encounter that "should" be a challenge for P.C's at the level of your players' P.C's. Provide an encounter that will challenge these P.C's with these magic items played by these players.

b) There is no such thing as an over-powered party, just under-powered monsters.

53) Wishes ought to be a social contract between the players and the D.M. Don't try to screw up the game, and I won't try to screw up your character.

a) If a game system has clear, unambiguous limits for wishes, and a wish falls within the limits, then it should work as intended. b) Wishes should rarely go wrong.

1) The best way for a wish to fail is to have no meaningful effect at all. Wasting a wish is well-attested in fantasy literature. It doesn't hurt the game or the P.C.

2) When a wish goes bad, it should not cripple or destroy the P.C, but at worst put the character in a difficult and threatening situation. Difficult and threatening situations are a D.M's stock in trade.

3) When a wish has an actual negative effect on a P.C, it should be a challenging obstacle, not a character-destroying tragedy. And it should end before it stons being challenging and becomes merely a boring weakness.

c) There is no sentient entity processing the wish (other than the D.M). It is a pure magical effect – akin to programming a computer. There is neither benevolence nor malevolence involved.

1) There will be a very few malevolent exceptions to this. Efreeti can be malevolent because they are phrasing the actual wish.

2) But after the wish has been phrased, it remains a pure magical effect with no sentient entity processing the wish.

d) Unless it will screw up the game, the D.M should follow the exact wording of the wish. This is usually, but not always, the same as the intent.

1) Following the exact wording of the wish does not mean abusing homonyms. If they ask for an extra feat, they don't get extra feet.

2) Following the exact meaning of the wish does not mean a bizarre, unlikely meaning. It means the most reasonable meaning of those exact words.

3) If it took you more than a few seconds to come up with that interpretation, then it isn't the obvious meaning of those words.

e) A wish will be fulfilled in the simplest manner possible. If a player wishes to have the only sword in the world, it is easier for the magic to put him and his sword on a separate world than to find and destroy every other sword on the primary game world.

f) An unselfish wish is always much safer. Wish for bumper crops near the village, or for the plague to end, and the magic flows much more smoothly.

g) A wish grants one effect. If the P.C wishes for a sword and a shield, then he gets a sword. The shield is another wish. If he has two wishes, he gets the first two effects requested. If he wishes to travel to another continent to be introduced to the king and marry the princess, then he gets the travel and to meet the king, and his wishes are done.

1) Among other things, this means that long contract-like texts of legalese won't work. Only the first clause is enacted.

2) A wish should terminate any time you encounter the word: "and".

54) If the D.M asks for feedback, provide it. Do not wait to see if things self-correct.

55) Dungeons & Dragons is a collaborative game. This means every player should participate enthusiastically. If you are expecting to sit back and be entertained by the D.M, then you have missed the point of the game.

Appendix T.L.D.R Summary of Changes

For committed players, here are the rule changes within the 5e game system.

Showing up to the game is the most important quality of an adult gamer.

No alcohol, drugs, weed or non-game cellphone use during the game.

D.20 tests are most often initiated by the Dungeon Master. Player initiated dice rolls require consequences for success and failure. Player Characters cannot affect the behavior of other P.C's with dice rolls.

➤ Player versus Player happens only by consent of all parties.

There will be minimal time given to secrets kept between player characters.

Be careful about taking player agency too far. Anyone including the D.M, can call a time-out.

Power gaming and optimizing characters is encouraged, but...

Metagaming will be called out as inappropriate.

Long form games include random encounters, not as a vehicle to extend the game but as consequences for deviating from the quickest and safest path possible.

Planned encounters and dungeon adventures target the level of the P.C's. Random encounters do not.

Random encounters may be only tracks, hazards, scenes or weather complications.

Courtesy to other gamers is expected. Discourtesy includes avarice in splitting treasure, attention whores, trivial droning, telling other P.C's how to play.

Enabling full player agency means consequences to your words and actions. Greyhawk is not altered to challenge characters at appropriate levels. P.C's must recognize when something is beyond their current capabilities.

Party tasks are voluntary and they gain a skill bonus when they are followed. Navigator/Cartographer, Lore Keeper, Provisioner/Pack Puller, Scout/Sentinel, Treasurer, Vanguard, Linkboy/Porter, Medic.

Banned Alignments: Neutral Evil, Chaotic Evil

Improbable Alignments: Lawful Evil, Chaotic Neutral

Murder Hobos: The lawful societies of the world will send bounty hunters, adventuring parties, and armies to bring these criminals to justice.

My campaign is not "Woke". Villainy amongst N.P.C's takes on many aspects including racism, classism, sexism, slavery, and brutality.

➤ Greyhawk is a medium fantasy setting

I do not support multiclassing.

P.C's may select from curated list of green species/races appropriate to this region of Greyhawk.

The Flanaess has 5 subspecies of humans. The larger world of Oerth has 11 subspecies.

The Ranger class and its subclasses have seen a redesign of its abilities and spells.

Starting age is now based upon your class choice as well as species.

There is now Shadow points and Renown points.

The species & gender maxima for your stats may be higher or lower than 20.

Commoners have some base d6s for hit dice. (soldier/apprentice 1 H.D, veteran/master 2 H.D, grandmaster 3 H.D) are now expanded into age and profession categories.

➢ Literacy, Numeracy, and Comeliness are now determined by your primary stats.

Mounts are better, stronger, faster.

Fast Advancement is static. It is tied to the tier level of your character.

Players are encouraged to narrate all their actions and spells in combat

You can train (at any time) languages, skills, tools, musical instruments, and specific weapons given enough time and money.

Armor, shields, helms, gauntlets can interfere with spelling and perception.

Index card summaries exist for Move, Action, Bonus Action & Reactions.

Strategizing – default actions listed on an index card.

A new combat sequence has been designed to smooth play. The combat round has been extended into 10 seconds, 6 per minute. A minute of intense combat can be tiring (think of boxing but with armor, shield, backpacks, bulging money pouches and assorted weapons).

Perception: vision d20, hearing d12, smell d10, taste d6, vibe d4.

Vision has been changed and therefore its perception ranges. Fewer species can see in the dark. Perception rolls are managed by the D.M; therefore, passive perception is useless.

Unarmed Strike-Crush, Sniper Shot, Desperate Parry, Shield Sacrifice, Power Attack, Sunder Strike, Throw Creature

Definition

Bulwark: A combined defensive fighting style that replaces multiple individual styles to improve protection during combat.

Two defensive fighting styles have been combined into one with a new name: Bulwark ➤ Rangers and Paladins have limits on the fighting styles they can choose.

Dirty Tricks is a new fighting style.

Concentration is tested more often. This includes difficult movement options.

Flanking is reintroduced as a +2 to hit modifier for allies crossing 2 grid lines.

Definition

Roll for Emphasis: A rolling method using 2d20 where the result furthest from 10 is chosen to determine extreme outcomes or binary results.

Roll for Emphasis is 2d20, take the furthest result from 10, for situations with binary outcomes – great success or great failure.

There are ways to fumble, wild miss, miss, graze, solid hit, perfect hit, critical hit and supercritical on d20 attack rolls.

Supercritical can apply a status effect in addition to the Dazed condition.

Creatures can make Called Shots; however, they sacrifice their own Armor Class benefits due to Dexterity, they get disadvantage on their attack roll and a 'to hit' penalty based upon the location chosen.

Physical, elemental, and exotic damage can now be reduced by armor, shields, and magical protections.

A physical attack might be thwarted with a desperate parry or a shield sacrifice if the target expends a reaction to do so.

Equipment, tools, weapons, and armor can be damaged or destroyed.

Small size characters cannot use the same equipment as medium size characters. They have other advantages due to their size.

There are twelve additional conditions: Anguished, Bleeding, Burning, Dazed, Encumbered, Enraged, Flanked, Miserable, On their Heels, Stumbled, Wounded.

Any damage sustained by living creature causes the 'Stumbled' condition.

A character recovering from the prone condition or retrieving a disarmed weapon are considered 'On their heels'. They get disadvantage on their next attack. They also provoke attacks of opportunity from adjacent opponents.

Sleeping Characters awake on a Perception (listen) roll D.C 10 (at disadvantage, normal for alert P.C's, advantage if shaken).

Enemies make morale checks, players never do.

Vitality of all creatures are now split into Hit Points (body) and Hit Points (grit). Unconsciousness occurs at 0 H.P (body). Death occurs at negative H.P (body).

H.P (body) is equal to your 1 superscript st level Hit points. Everything after that is H.P (grit).

A combat scenario now has an Aftermath phase. P.C's recover, treat their wounds, collect spent ammunition, manage their equipment, search for treasure, draw maps, harvest poisons or monster parts and plan their next move.

Healing rules for short rests and a long rest are slightly changed.

Dash has limits in certain terrains.

A blinded person or one heavily obscured cannot Dash.

There will be downtime between adventures allowing P.C's to pursue their own agendas.

Increasing a level requires an extended rest (1 week of full rest and training)

Creative inspiration, bardic inspiration and stunt advantage are player character boons.

The D.M will keep a list of player-rolled d20s behind the screen. This list will be used for secret and mental checks: Perception, Investigation, Insight, Persuasion, Intimidation, Deception, Sleight of Hand, Stealth.

Healing potions are more powerful at all levels. Using a full 10 seconds to drink a healing potion will maximize the healing effect.

Multiple skill roll attempts are limited to 2 unless the situation significantly changes.

Skills are greatly expanded. Every skill has at least 5 different applications that you may have been unaware of.

Complex Skill checks are introduced for complicated and time-consuming tasks. They involve multiple successes before multiple failures.

Compound Skill checks involve different skills to achieve a success.

Group Skill checks are possible. 50% successes needed to pass.

Critical Hits double the damage dice roll from all sources. Then you add any bonuses.

Fumbles in combat happen only on a disadvantaged roll.

Saving throws: a natural 1 rolled on a saving throw or ability check may result in maximum damage or no opportunity to roll to stop the effect later.

➢ Savi-after the first

You can haggle with vendors for better prices.

Equipment and armor require professional adjustment to fit others of the same size category. This takes 8 hours of time, tool use and a skilled craftsman. A tool use D.C 10 check is also made. 1d20% of the base price is also required.

There are guidelines for creating masterwork items and magical items.

Identifying and attunement to magical items is not guaranteed.

Elemental magic functions differently in abnormal environments.

10 existing spells have been tweaked.

10 new low-level spells have been added.

Divine Intervention is available to all pious characters, once in their lives. Chance of success is very small.

Raising the Dead back to the living is a long and expensive process and carries no guarantees. Return from death happens only once.

N.P.C bosses get villain actions which have event triggers.

Magical thrown weapons have the returning property bestowed upon them.

Magical ammunition loses its potency when it successfully hits the target.

Targeted Spells can critically hit, and they can fumble.

Surprise: the initiative roll for targets deemed to be surprised is at a disadvantage. All combatants may act normally on their initiative. In an encounter where the distance between combatants is very low or one side is unaware, the first attackers in the surprise round get advantage vs defending targets and the target cannot use their reactions.

Fighters, Rangers, Paladins Rogues and Barbarian characters using melee weapons may declare a Power Attack. The warrior takes one or more attacks: -2 to hit, +1d6 (Heavy weapons) or +1d4 damage (standard weapons) or +1d2 damage (light weapons).

Melee weapons may be sacrificed (dropped or damaged) for a desperate parry. This reaction might save your P.C's life.

Armor and shields now have damage reduction. Its defensive value is significant. They are layered over clothing.

Being reduced to negative H.P results on a roll on the Lingering Injury table.

Poisons are stronger.

The Stunned condition also limits Speed.

I use the "Click" rule for traps.

“Tales by the Campfire” can give player characters inspiration and roleplaying experience.

Absent P.C's continue with the party in a semi-conscious capacity. All their actions are at a disadvantage, they move at 1 over 2 rate, their initiative is last in the round. Think zombie...

Incorporeal undead are barely affected by mundane weapons.

Even legendary creatures have exploitable weaknesses if the player characters take the time to discover its lost lore.

“I Know a Guy” rule can develop the plot of the campaign at critical moments. Fighters get triple the normal amount.

Familiarers are beasts as stated in the P.H.B for tier 1 casters. A larger variety is available at higher tiers. They are semi-permanent creatures who can act independently, attune to a single magic item, and speak the languages of its master.

Familiar bolster concentration saves by 2. They share many of the defensive spells cast by their master plus they gain minor powers as they advance in tiers.

Dungeoncrawls, Hexcrawls and Pointcrawls have a procedure for exploration.

End of Document

You have reached the end of the document.