Old-school dungeon crawl using 5e playtest rules

[Shayuri]

I won't have access to the pdf until Sunday, but I'd be happy to update as of then.

 

[Kobold Stew]

(overload on the servers might mean that none of us have it until Sunday!)

 

[Li Shenron]

As one of the characters whose class won't be available until August, I'm fine either letting those who can do so update right away and the rest of us waiting, or (pref?) selectively updating as rules emerge. And so Bartleby will be a Basic Dwarf later the week, but will still be a play test druid until the PHB.

I'm also fine with any "hybrid" solution

 

[tuxgeo]

Aeiyan's Ranger class also won't be available until early August.

I expect that I will be able to adjust his racial features once the Basic game is available; but his "Commoner" background might not make it into Basic, so that's not a whole lot of updating.

I am, however, very interested in what the final rule looks like for getting duplicate Proficiencies -- from race and background and class.

Specifically: I would expect silos -- if you get a skill or tool proficiency duplicated, choose a different skill or tool proficiency; if you get a weapon proficiency duplicated, choose a different weapon proficiency; if you get an armor proficiency duplicated, choose a different armor proficiency. To me, it would be strange to break out of those silos by too much. For example, Aeiyan has four (4) weapon proficiencies from being an elf, and all of them are duplicated by his Ranger class. I doubt that WotC wants to give him an armor proficiency in exchange for any of those!

 

[Li Shenron]

I am, however, very interested in what the final rule looks like for getting duplicate Proficiencies -- from race and background and class.

Specifically: I would expect silos -- if you get a skill or tool proficiency duplicated, choose a different skill or tool proficiency; if you get a weapon proficiency duplicated, choose a different weapon proficiency; if you get an armor proficiency duplicated, choose a different armor proficiency. To me, it would be strange to break out of those silos by too much. For example, Aeiyan has four (4) weapon proficiencies from being an elf, and all of them are duplicated by his Ranger class. I doubt that WotC wants to give him an armor proficiency in exchange for any of those!

I wasn't expecting any update on handling duplicates... In the playtest, duplicate skills prof grant another skill prof in place, and that's because there's a rule saying you can customize or create your own background, while duplicate weapon/armor prof basically just overlap. But let's see tomorrow...

 

[tuxgeo]

Confirmed, now that the rules are out: it's another of the same type. (And that's only in the Backgrounds.)

 

[Jimmy Disco T]

​So, level 2 with the new Basic rules... woohoo!

Tock v2.0

Str 17 / +3
Dex 14 / +2
Con 14 / +2
Int 8 / -1
Wis 10 / 0
Cha 12 / +1

Speed: 30ft

HD: 2d10
HP: 17

AC: 17 (scale mail + DEX + composite plating)
Init: +2 (DEX)

Passive Perception: 10
Passive Insight: 10

Weapons
Halberd attack +5 (STR + prof), damage 1d10+3, reach, 2-handed, heavy
L. Crossbow attack +4 (DEX + prof) , damage 1d8+2, loading, 2-handed

Proficiencies (+2 bonus)
Armor: All
Weapons: Simple, Martial
Saves: STR, CON
Skills: Athletics, Survival, Nature

Special Abilities
Second Wind - use bonus action to regain 1d10+CON HP, must rest between uses
Action Surge - additional action on top of action and bonus action, must rest between uses
Fighting Style, Great Weapon - re-roll 1 or 2 on damage dice with two-handed weapons
Composite Plating – grants additional +1 AC
Living Construct - Immune to disease, no need to eat or breathe, trance for 4 hours

Equipment
Halberd
Light crossbow, 40 bolts
Scalemail
Adventurer's kit
10 iron spikes, hammer
bullseye lantern, 5 oil
grappling hook
2x dagger
climbers kit
35gp

• Swapped out Protection weapon style (as you now can't use it without a shield)
• Proficiency bonus increased to +2
• Gains +1d10 HP, Action Surge
• Still using playtest Warforged race and Guide background
• Edit - added Passive Perception & Insight score of 10

 

[tuxgeo]

Working on it. The new rules for the Ranger aren't included (as we knew would be the case), so I'll use the 2nd Level stuff from the latest Playtest.

Aeiyan loses a point of INT -- but he wasn't using that INT 11 much anyway. (His new "INT 10" will serve him just fine.)
His "Commoner" background will translate very closely to the "Folk Hero" background, with little more than the loss of one skill and one tool proficiency.
His six skills will become four skills. ("Choose wisely.")
(Oh, wait: that'll be five skills, because he gets Perception from his race.)

I originally didn't select any Traits, Ideals, Bonds, or Flaws for Aeiyan, so this is going to take me a while longer yet to figure out.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Bartleby
NG Mountain Dwarf Druid
Level 3

[sblock="level 3"]Abilities:
STR 14 (+2)
DEX 16 (+3)
CON 15 (+2)
INT 11 (+0)
WIS 17 (+3)
CHA 12 (+1)

Size M
Speed 25 (25 in armour, disadvantage on stealth)
AC 19
Init +3
Hit Points 25

Proficiency bonus: +2
Proficiencies: Light and Medium Armor, wooden shields, druid weapons, dwarven weapons, brewer's supplies, Herbalism kit, Thieves' tools.
Saves: WIS, INT
Skills: Survival, Perception, Stealth, Investigation
Languages: Common, Druidic, Dwarvish, Goblinoid

Background (trait): custom (False Background)

Race abilities:
* Darkvision 60'
* Dwarven Relisience (adv on saves vs. poison, resistance to posion)
* Stonecunning (doubly proficient on Int (Hist) on stone)

Class abilities:
* Grassland (since the mountain druid should have been a hill druid!)
* Spellcasting (DC 13)
- slots: 4 x 1st level, 2 x 2nd level
- 6 spells may be prepared/day
- typical spells ready: [1] Healing Word, Entangle, Faerie Fire, Goodberry; [2] Moonbeam, Heat Metal (+ Pass without Trace, Invisibility)
- Cantrips: Druidcraft, Guidance, Produce Flame
* Wild Shape (1 hr/day)
* natural recovery (1/day during short rest, recover 2 spell slot levels)

Equipment: Scale Mail, +1 Shield, Adventurer's kit, Herbalism kit, traveller's clothing, manacles, scimitar, Potion of Healing

Weight: 109
[/sblock]
[sblock="levels 1 and 2"]
Abilities:
STR 14 (+2)
DEX 16 (+3)
CON 15 (+2)
INT 11 (+0)
WIS 17 (+3)
CHA 12 (+1)

Size M
Speed 25 (25 in armour, disadvantage on stealth)
AC 18
Init +3
Hit Points 17

Proficiency bonus: +2
Proficiencies: Light and Medium Armor, wooden shields, druid weapons, dwarven weapons, brewer's supplies, Herbalism kit, Thieves' tools.
Saves: WIS, INT
Skills: Survival, Perception, Stealth, Investigation
Languages: Common, Druidic, Dwarvish, Goblinoid

Background (trait): custom (False Background)

Race abilities:
* Darkvision 60'
* Dwarven Relisience (adv on saves vs. poison, resistance to posion)
* Stonecunning (doubly proficient on Int (Hist) on stone)

Class abilities:
* Spellcasting (DC 13)
- slots: 3 x 1st level
- 3 spells may be prepared/day
- typical spells ready: Healing Word, Entangle, Fog Cloud
- Cantrips: Druidcraft, Guidance, Produce Flame
- Wild Shape (1 hr/day)
- natural recovery (1/day during short rest, recover 1 spell slot)

Equipment: Scale Mail, Shield, Adventurer's kit, Herbalism kit, traveller's clothing, manacles, scimitar, Potion of Healing

Weight: 109


Summary of changes into 5e:

Race:
* loss of Armor mastery (drop in AC)
* proficiency in brewing
* +2 str, +1 con, -1 wis. Wow. It's now hill dwarves who get the bonus to wisdom, not mountain dwarves.
* stone cunning completely changed; can now become lost.
--> As a thought experiment -- if Bartleby were suddenly to become a Hill dwarf, the total stat change would be only +1 con (str and wis remain unchanged, so more consistency there). He'd lose proficiency in medium armours, which would mean he wouldn't have scale mail but leather (! -- hide also possible, 2 AC lower) for a total AC change of -3! He'd then have +1 hit point. It would mean he'd be much less of the tank that I've been playing him as, much more cautious about being hit. Interesting. These changes hit the effectiveness of my metal druid; it's still possible, though.


Other:
* Prof bonus now +2
* (based on cleric holy symbol) DC for spells up as if focus were in use; focus now does other things.
* background: old bkgd gave 3 skills, mounts (tool), and 2 languages. New backgrounds only give two skills and two languages or tools: so I'll remove "search" for now -- when new rules for druids appear, there will be a second skill added from class; I'll also remove one language (Giant, since we've spoken Goblin), and change Mounts to Vehicles (land).
* went to second level, circle of land.

More (with PHB):
* INT save for druids
* cantrip list changed (Read magic out; Produce Flame in)
* bounty hunter completely removed. custom bkgd instead.

* questions:
1. drop Guidance for Poison Spray? (we've used Guidance a few times, but I'm happy to swap it out).
2. custom bkgd okay ("Investigator")? Stealth, Investigation; one language and Thieves' tools*; false background (from Charlatan).

*not part of the original bkgd, but part of the long-term character design (which was to dip into rogue to get this proficiency, which wasn't possible for a druid when we began). With this, the desire to dip goes down, but still might happen. As it happens, the character does not at present have any thieves' tools, but once he gets some...[/sblock]

 

[tuxgeo]

I'm nearly done with Aeiyan's update. Shall I edit the post I made in the Characters thread to include the new information?

Changes:
1. For stats, I used point-buy of 14-14-13-12-10-10, costing the new 27 points. That leaves his abilities the same, except INT becomes 10 instead of 11.
2. Added 7 hit points (= 6 + 1), for new HP maximum of 18.
3. Armor Class rises from 15 to 16 because of the 2nd-level Ranger class feature, "Fighting Style": Aeiyan chooses "Defense" to gain +1 AC while armored.
At the same time, Studded Leather Armor is a wash: it goes from Medium to Light, so he adds his whole +3 DEX modifier to that (not limited to 2); but the base amount of AC given by Studded goes down from 13 to 12 with the move, so the total effect of the changes to Studded Leather Armor is zero.
4. Skills moved around, but he still gets the same ones: Animal Handling & Survival from "Folk Hero"; Athletics, Nature, and Stealth from Ranger; and Perception from being an elf.
5. He takes the "Path of the Colossus Slayer" as his Favored Enemy at 2nd level. This gives him brief extra damage after hitting with a weapon attack.
6. Proficiency of +2, not the +1 that I gave him at 1st level. Attacks recalculated. Light Hammers are not "Finesse," so he uses his STR for that.
7. The cost of Studded Leather Armor rose from 25 GP when Aeiyan bought his set to 45 GP in the final rules. He got a bargain by buying when he did!

We haven't been told the XP and treasure from the room with the ghouls, so I skipped that.
I added a Defining Event, a Trait, an Ideal, a Bond, and a Flaw, but I made them up. I didn't roll on the included Tables for those. (We can rewrite those things as needed.)