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]

How is it the race that's unbalanced in favoring wizards too much, when the default write-up of the race isn't unbalanced in favoring them? If a new rule allows the making of an unbalanced character, how is that not the fault of the late added rule?

Because the new rule only exposed the problem with the mountain dwarf. Before, Mountain Dwarf was a good race to take as a wizard, but they didn't get an Intelligence bonus. Now, giving them the ability to get a bonus to Intelligence in exchange for their previous bonus shows that the race is unbalanced. They get a +2 to 2 ability scores, which no other races get. They get medium armor, which is probably not balanced. It's not a problem with the current rule, its a problem with the race.

 

[ChaosOS]

I sincerely doubt that starting with a +3 instead of +2 intelligence as a dwarf while wearing Medium armor is going to break a damn thing. The rest of the dwarf racial line up is mediocre, and d6 hit die means getting hit is still bad for you. Now, is this still one of the more optimal choices for a wizard-based gish? Yes! Is that bad? No, gishes in 5e have been pretty disappointing so more options for them is only better.

 

[Cadence]

Because the new rule only exposed the problem with the mountain dwarf. Before, Mountain Dwarf was a good race to take as a wizard, but they didn't get an Intelligence bonus. Now, giving them the ability to get a bonus to Intelligence in exchange for their previous bonus shows that the race is unbalanced. They get a +2 to 2 ability scores, which no other races get. They get medium armor, which is probably not balanced. It's not a problem with the current rule, its a problem with the race.

It feels like the list of skills they had would count as a "risk factor", but the "cause of death" was the new rule. (Assuming order is related to causality, or something of the kind).

Without the new rule, was there a particular problem? Was the extra +1 unbalanced given other things they lacked (and how the classes those stats were most useful for would probably already have the armor, making it wasted)?

 

[Flamestrike]

I honestly think people are overblowing the impact of dwarf casters. Relative to literally any other race, what you're getting is another point in your secondary stat - which I assume is so you can have a base 14 instead of base 15 to start with a score of 16. That's worth 2/27 points, so in reality you're actually just bumping you're tertiary stat from a possible 13 to a reasonable 14. Furthermore, you could get those stats with any other race, so it's really just +2 points spread across your 4th/5th/6th best stats. Is it nice that you can make a dwarf wizard with 16 con and 14 dex with medium armor? Yes! Is that broken? Probably not - You're still stuck with 25' speed, and while you get to trade off those weapon proficiencies for tools, your only other positive feature is the anti-poison Dwarven Resilience. By contrast, other races offer other strong features like skill proficiencies, broader resistances, or even spells.

What I'm saying is Mountain Dwarf kinda sucked and this is actually just making them playable, moving them from D tier to a solid B+. Yes, it's a big move, but you're not raising the ceiling.

You also get medium armour off the bat as well.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

You also get medium armour off the bat as well.

Does that break anything? Clerics and Druids have medium armor off the bat.

 

[dave2008]

Maybe according to DNDBeyond or whatever, but not in any game I've ever played it or seen IRL.

Everyone is different, but I believe WotC surveys agreed with the DnD Beyond data. Personally, my groups are 75% human or elf. Then we have things like giants, lizard folk, yuan-ti, dragon-kin, and every once and a while a halfling

 

[Cadence]

Does that break anything? Clerics and Druids have medium armor off the bat.

Can I use them as a race to make a Wizard? (Is that a big bonus for Wizards?)

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Can I use them as a race to make a Wizard? (Is that a big bonus for Wizards?)

If clerics and druids have medium armor, why is it OP to give Wizards medium armor? I don't think its that big of a bonus, either.

 

[ChaosOS]

I don't think anyone is going to contest that more versatility is going to mean you can do new things that you couldn't before. Sometimes those new things are even good! But the underlying concern is "will this break anything", and I just can't find evidence to suggest that's the case. Mountain Dwarf is moving from D tier to B+, and that's OK!

 

[Cadence]

If clerics and druids have medium armor, why is it OP to give Wizards medium armor? I don't think its that big of a bonus, either.

I don't know. I've just assumed over the past x-editions that Clerics having more weapons and armor than Wizards was a game balance thing too, and not just flavor. Has it never been a balance thing? Were the extra HP and to-hit a bigger part? Or is 5e different about it?