D&D 5E A First Look at Tasha’s Lineage System In AL Player’s Guide - Customizing Your Origin In D&D

The new player’s guide for the D&D Adventurers League has been released. Appendix 1 includes the new info from Tasha’s Cauldron on customizing your origin. It‘s a one-page appendix.

The D&D Adventurers League now uses this variant system from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything since it allows for a greater degree of customization. For ease of reference, the relevant information is included as an appendix to this document and doesn’t count against the PH + 1 rule.

You can do any of the following (obviously the full document has more detail):

1. Move your race ability score increases wherever your want to. “...take any ability score increase you gain in your race or subrace and apply it to an ability score of your choice.”​

2. Replace each language from your race with any language from a set list.​

3. Swap each proficiency for another of the same type.​

4. Alter behaviour/personality race-based descriptions.​

Its not clear if that’s the whole Lineage system or just part of it. You can download the player’s guide here.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

You're an unusually intelligent Orc with a magnetic personality.

Im not seeing anything wrong with it.

And the humor sinks lower into its grave.


(I'm not making a real critique of the system. I'm happy it exists for those tables who want it).

 

[J-H]

Not flying at my table. Preserve diversity, keep orcs orky, dwarves dwarvy, elves snooty, etc.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Not flying at my table. Preserve diversity, keep orcs orky, dwarves dwarvy, elves snooty, etc.

That. . . doesn't promote diversity.

 

[Weiley31]

And cake as cakey.

 

[pnewman]

What about Ability Score Penalties?

Does a penalty count as an "increase" that can therefore be moved around, or are all Kobolds still stuck with a -2 to Strength?

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

What about Ability Score Penalties?

Does a penalty count as an "increase" that can therefore be moved around, or are all Kobolds still stuck with a -2 to Strength?

They said they were going to fix the Kobold earlier.

 

[Charlaquin]

Do we even need ability scores anymore?

We really don’t, and I hope 6e finally gets rid of them.

 

[Asisreo]

This actually won't affect my next character since they're a non-hexblade gish going Mountain Dwarf.

I don't see how human is poop tier either. It's almost top-tier to begin with. +6 spread evenly is really good when, especially when you're a character like Paladin or Fighter that has uses for multiple different ability scores at once.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I regard mountain dwarf as broken under this system. I always saw the +2 Strength and armor proficiency as balance because you practically never could take advantage of both. And I liked that.
But I don't mind the system in general but I would not allow completely freeform races in general.

 

[Charlaquin]

No, it's not going to break anything, but I feel I'll start seeing a lot more cheeto eating munchkins rock up to my table with +2 Int mountain dwarf Wizards in half plate and shields.

Seems like the solution here would be to not invite Cheeto eating munchkins to your table...

I'm not opposed to the rule by the way. I AM opposed to players playing a race for the bonuses alone and not for the story elements. Just rubs me the wrong way.

This strikes me as a false dichotomy. A player can choose a race for the story elements and the bonuses. And players who are choosing a race for the bonuses are going to do so no matter what. Seems to me that all this rule changes is that players who want both don’t have to choose one or the other.