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.

 

[Maxperson]

I wouldn't since a 16 or 17 are just as good (both being +3 modifier), especially if you remove the ASI +1 from half-feats. Also, this way if you want the +4 at level 4, you have to invest the full ASI into that score.

How do you plan on compensating the half feats for the loss?

 

[billd91]

Or, to put it another way, why can't my elf be very strong and clumsy? Or my dwarf be very nimble? So on and so forth? Why does the race of my character HAVE to be locked into a single body type with zero deviation?

You always could do that - all that ever depended on was where you put the stats you generated whether rolled or point buy. The only difference with the fixed ASIs is you were a little more dexterous than a human for the same input. That's hardly zero deviation.

 

[DND_Reborn]

How do you plan on compensating the half feats for the loss?

Either develop them into full feats or allow the choice of two half-feats or one full feat? Either works IMO.

 

[TwoSix]

We can argue about the implementation of the Tasha rules all we want, but I think it's fairly obvious that species/race will no longer be a major vector of mechanical differentiation in WotC D&D products moving forward. It'll be interesting to see how any new races are implemented in setting material that comes out in 2021 and beyond.

 

[Istbor]

I'm rolling my Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to steal this.

You succeed!

 

[Micah Sweet]

Which is all well and good until you get frustrated that you're not playing your character as you envisioned playing it.

Sometimes I don't envision the character at all. I let the dice give me a framework, and flesh it out based on that. It can be really fun, and in some ways it's more realistic, as people in real life don't determine all their attributes and have to work with what they get. I certainly don't do it all the time, but it can be refreshing.

 

[Cadence]

Sometimes I don't envision the character at all. I let the dice give me a framework, and flesh it out based on that. It can be really fun, and in some ways it's more realistic, as people in real life don't determine all their attributes and have to work with what they get. I certainly don't do it all the time, but it can be refreshing.

Are there any Traveller-esque systems for D&D character creation. I can see one where you might even start 2nd level or with a magic item... of course maybe missing a limb, or being middle aged because of years being press-ganged...

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Are there any Traveller-esque systems for D&D character creation. I can see one where you might even start 2nd level or with a magic item... of course maybe missing a limb, or being middle aged because of years being press-ganged...

Xanathars has a very simplistic form of it. You ca roll your family and if you were criminal and you might start with a minor magic item, a scar or an ally. Not much but its neat.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Are there any Traveller-esque systems for D&D character creation. I can see one where you might even start 2nd level or with a magic item... of course maybe missing a limb, or being middle aged because of years being press-ganged...

I miss the life path rules from Cyberpunk.

 

[Azzy]

Darkvision, which almost every other race also has. Fleet foot, is just increased speed which multiple classes give. Cantrips and drow magic? Any spellcaster has those. These racial abilities are nothing special. They're commonplace among other races and classes.

The only thing that is really uniquely elvish is trance.


Most of those are also not unique. Halflings have luck, but so does any PC with the feat. And so on.

How many racial abilities are unique to a race?

So what if they, like darkvision, aren't all utterly unique abilities that only one race can get — neither are ASIs (which are just bland numbers). It's the package of these abilities together that define the races. Far more so than ASIs.