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.

 

[dave2008]

I understand peoples' desire for flexibility, but IMO this just detracts from the concepts of races (or "lineage" or whatever) and makes min/maxers even more dangerous... Like it said, a mountain dwarf wizard with INT +2 and CON +2, plus trading out the combat training for other weapons and/or tools? Yikes!

It will be interesting if this is what they end up doing in Tasha's (not that I'm buying it, but it will be interesting to see nonetheless).

WotC doesn't design with min/max in mind IMO. Nor should they really, it is not like that is a big part of the player base. Personally, I like severe penalties and bonus for races, but I don't mind an option that throws all of that out the window.

 

[Parmandur]

I hope there's more to the ''lineage system'' than that. I hoped for something like XGtE's Its your life tables, but generating starting proficiencies and ASI instead. If its just ''you can replace whatever with something you like'', calling it a ''system'' might be pushing it little

Based on what they said, a this is your life style system sounds like it is coming, but maybe this is the cliff notes for how to apply the tables in AL games.

I wouldn't be surprised if the book rules allow for swapping of special race features with others.

 

[Kurotowa]

Speaking purely from my own perspective, I find this to be perfectly adequate. Since my group uses point buy, not rolled stats, having at least a +1 in your main stat so you can start at 16 is a big deal. The racial abilities, meanwhile, feel minor enough that they're mostly flavor and I don't go out of my way to synergize them with my class. So this setup would free me to pick a race/class combo mostly on the basis on what makes a cool character.

Will some optimizers get into the weeds trying to exploit new synergies? Without a doubt, but that's always the case, and the racial ability packages are weak enough I'll be surprised if there's anything truly abusive out there. I mean, maybe there will be a flood of Mountain Dwarf Wizards and Sorcerers ...but medium armor isn't a game breaker, and honestly the idea of armored dwarven runecrafters being a well established archetype doesn't sound that bad to me.

 

[TheSword]

They’ve given the option to take alternative stats. Proficiencies, and tools. It doesn’t sound particularly world ending or game breaking. Who cares if mountain dwarves can now be great wizards with the DMs permission (its a non-core book).

Tashas just gives the idea legitimacy and may persuade DMs who are wary of house rules to take the blinkers off. Seems eminently reasonable to me.

There is plenty interesting about races... the abilities and traits for a start. An Int 17 dwarf will still feel like a dwarf. He just won’t be dumber than the elf equivalent. I’m cool with that.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

WotC doesn't design with min/max in mind IMO. Nor should they really, it is not like that is a big part of the player base. Personally, I like severe penalties and bonus for races, but I don't mind an option that throws all of that out the window.

If min-maxing was not commonplace people would have been happy with their strength 15 halfling barbarians or int 15 dwarf wizards.

 

[dave2008]

..

If min-maxing was not commonplace people would have been happy with their strength 15 halfling barbarians or int 15 dwarf wizards.

There is a big difference between not wanting to be penalized and min-maxing.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

There is a big difference between not wanted to be penalized and min-maxing.

Not in this context. The potential imbalance was pretty insignificant. And by similar logic non-mountain-dwarf casters are now penalised.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Starting from 2nd edition when there was that article of bringing the Tiefling under the skills & power system, I felt that at least in the Tiefling and other planetouched races their ability modifiers should not be that set in stone as the other PC races were. As one from a Goristo Demon bloodline is probably going get a bonus in STR and CON. And in the case of the Tiefling with it's pattern of 1 resistance, 1 cantrip and 2 spells at later levels those should be flexible given that Planetouched Tieflings can come from a variety of backgrounds and bloodlines.

 

[dave2008]

Not in this context. The potential imbalance was pretty insignificant. And by similar logic non-mountain-dwarf casters are now penalised.

Sorry, I don't now what your talking about. What is the context because I am not getting it. How can a player option penalize the player? They simply don't take it. With regard to min-max I am refer to surveys in the past the show not many people play that way and I doubt all the influx of new players has changed that.

 

[Oofta]

I'm on the fence. I think it dilutes the different races (or whatever the word of the day is) to the point of coming close to race just being the equivalent of a cheap halloween costume. But it's already not really much more than that from a game mechanics standpoint anyway.

Of course it doesn't really matter because it will only affect AL play for me. In AL unless someone tells me what their race is I'll never know anyway. In addition, it means my next dwarven fighter can get something useful instead of armor and weapon proficiencies they already get from their class.

I don't think a +2 to ability scores matters all that much anyway, my first 5E PC was a rogue with a 14 dex. It will make min/maxers happy. While I use point buy, rolling for stats (assuming no house rules) will still make more of a difference. I just predict even fewer human PCs, especially in AL.