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.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Technically they got two fixes already. But of the said fixes is probably gonna be in Tasha's.

Not really official fixes.

 

[Maxperson]

NPC with Heat Metal just found a better target. The d6 HD Mountain Dwarf wizard...

Cook and book?

 

[Weiley31]

NPC with Heat Metal: Crap, I can't heat up paper!!!!

 

[variant]

This lineage system just ruins any chance of anyone playing a human. This kinda crap has been banned in my campaigns since 2e Skills & Powers hit the market and everyone just used it to min-max their character further.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

But, I'm not talking about your game, I'm talking about the game as presented, which means point buy or standard array. Die rolling PC's has largely fallen out of fashion. And, again, you moved the goalposts. I don't WANT a "faster and harder to hit" elf. I want a clumsy elf. So, why is my clumsy elf getting a +2 on his Dex? Why are you forcing me to play to your concepts but, refuse to allow me to play to mine?

You folks are the ones insisting that this is purely for optimization and is going to break the game.

That sounds a bit paranoid. You can do whatever you want. If you want to read into what I wrote that I come to your table and use force to make you play something you don't want to, you have other problems than some written rule. I am honestly worried about you.

 

[Hussar]

That sounds a bit paranoid. You can do whatever you want. If you want to read into what I wrote that I come to your table and use force to make you play something you don't want to, you have other problems than some written rule. I am honestly worried about you.

Reads this then reads the post immediately above it

This lineage system just ruins any chance of anyone playing a human. This kinda crap has been banned in my campaigns since 2e Skills & Powers hit the market and everyone just used it to min-max their character further.

Umm...

Over thirty pages now of people talking about how this is all to "pander to powergamers". Pander was the specific word used some pages ago. Page after page of people wringing their hands how this will massively change the game. It will mean that no one ever plays humans (never minding that humans are BY FAR the most popular option right now and I highly doubt that that's going to change). It means that everyone will play dwarven wizards, despite the fact, as @Choasmancer points out, better options have existed in the game for a couple of years now and no one is playing that.

Methinks your teacup runneth over with tempest.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Reads this then reads the post immediately above it

And still... no one comes to your house to force you into something.

Also, you already could play as you wanted before such a rule as presented. So please take care of yourself.
You already could play an elf with 1 Dexterity. I think if you tell your DM you want to play one, he probably won't disallow it. That is even more freeform than the rule presented.
Rules are only suggestions. You can do house rules as much as you want. It is even encouraged.

That does not mean, that everyone has to like an official (but probably optional) rule, because they think it does not do what it promises it to do.

 

[Iry]

The main thing I want out of the Lineage System is good phrasing. As in "You are a dwarf and get +2 Con. You were raised in an X culture so you get +2 Y, and training in Z cultural tool."

 

[Hussar]

And still... no one comes to your house to force you into something.

Also, you already could play as you wanted before such a rule as presented. So please take care of yourself.
You already could play an elf with 1 Dexterity. I think if you tell your DM you want to play one, he probably won't disallow it. That is even more freeform than the rule presented.
Rules are only suggestions. You can do house rules as much as you want. It is even encouraged.

That does not mean, that everyone has to like an official (but probably optional) rule, because they think it does not do what it promises it to do.

Ahh, Stormwind. Thy breath ever smell so sweet.

 

[Oofta]

But, I'm not talking about your game, I'm talking about the game as presented, which means point buy or standard array. Die rolling PC's has largely fallen out of fashion. And, again, you moved the goalposts. I don't WANT a "faster and harder to hit" elf. I want a clumsy elf. So, why is my clumsy elf getting a +2 on his Dex? Why are you forcing me to play to your concepts but, refuse to allow me to play to mine?

You folks are the ones insisting that this is purely for optimization and is going to break the game.

Well, compared to the average elf, an elf with a 10 dexterity could be considered clumsy. Things like that are all a matter of perspective. For that matter, most non-elves would be considered clumsy. Just like we're poor climbers compared to chimpanzees. But given the way that point buy works though, you'll never have a spectacularly clumsy PC of any race.

As far as "purely for optimization and is going to break the game", all I can say is that for me that's not it. As I said earlier I'm not completely opposed to the change and my next mountain dwarf wizard arcane craftsman may put their +2 into intelligence instead of strength. I'm still on the fence whether or not to use it for home games.

For me it's more that the modifications to ability scores reinforces the idea that different races are not just humans in costumes. They are physiologically different species and simply built different.