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.

 

[Jeff Carpenter]

Also, no one said, that halfling are best burglars. Probably they excell more by blending in the crowd than crawling around in the darkness...

The halfling thing was something heard from my buddy JRR.

 

[ChaosOS]

So, the only point that's potentially persuaded me that Mountain Dwarf's +2/+2 is uniquely valuable beyond being 2 more points spread across your three bottom stats is that it allows a 17/17 start to roll into +1/+1 tier up. My issue is I'm not sure what two stats you'd want to do that with - if it's Spellcasting Stat+Dex, you're wasting the medium armor proficiency. I'd really like to see someone actually work out a build that leverages the 18/18 at level 4 well. Otherwise, I'm still waiting to hear how mountain dwarf is better than high elf.

 

[Shardstone]

Its wild how violently explosive people get over +2 to an ability score. Reading through this thread, some people seem so absolutely terrified of the idea of a player having +1 to their spell save DC or attack rolls that they just cannot stomach the idea. Some you have actually said this is a terrible and horribly balanced rule that ruins the game. Crazy. Juuuuuuuuuuust crazy.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

So, the only point that's potentially persuaded me that Mountain Dwarf's +2/+2 is uniquely valuable beyond being 2 more points spread across your three bottom stats is that it allows a 17/17 start to roll into +1/+1 tier up. My issue is I'm not sure what two stats you'd want to do that with - if it's Spellcasting Stat+Dex, you're wasting the medium armor proficiency. I'd really like to see someone actually work out a build that leverages the 18/18 at level 4 well. Otherwise, I'm still waiting to hear how mountain dwarf is better than high elf.

Your casting stat and con definitely.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

The halfling thing was something heard from my buddy JRR.

Yeah, and that halfling was stumbling through the darkness just fine. And he was not a burglar, but always considered a thief.

 

[DND_Reborn]

If you can't imagine a world where a dwarf wizard can start with a 17 like a gnome wizard can without rolling, that's not my problem. Some people like playing that way, and it's not going to break any of D&D's supposed "realism" by letting a player have more options for being good at their job.

But I'm leaving it at that. This argument has been done so many times it is sickening. We've had numerous threads about it and there is no point rehashing the same arguments over and over.

washes hands of whole thing...

 

[Zarithar]

Nerd Immersion does a preview here. Start at the 3 minute mark. Seems like a preview of what we'll expect in Tasha's

Hmm. This actually seems very similar to what they did with World of Warcraft back in the day... and suddenly Tauren paladins were running around everywhere.

 

[Shardstone]

Hmm. This actually seems very similar to what they did with World of Warcraft back in the day... and suddenly Tauren paladins were running around everywhere.

What happens in a video game and what happens in a TTRPG should not be so frivolously compared.

 

[Kurotowa]

What I am asking is you why you think that someone who put a number considerably higher than average into their Strength ability score should not think of their character as "strong".

It's a line. Is the line arbitrary and subjective? Absolutely. Any sort of line like that will be. It's based on personal experiences, subjective evaluations, and a rough comparison to easily comparable alternatives. That doesn't make the line less real for the people who see it as existing.

I think that a lot of the people who required the level of optimisation of an ability being maxed out otherwise it is 'mechanically deficient', are simply going to gravitate to their mechanically enforced racial essentialism as represented by other racial traits.

My experience is that optimization is a diminishing returns endeavor. The higher you go the less return you get and the more people reach a point where they say "good enough" and stop.

Having a racial ASI in your class's main stat is the low hanging fruit. It's easy, it's obvious, and a lot of people feel like the difference is obvious in play. Having racial abilities that synergize with your class is a tier above that. Some people will aim for it, the same as they already do. Other people will feel like racial abilities are minor enough to just take what's offered and prioritize character identity, once racial ASI are off the table. It's that group that I fall into, and I don't seem to be alone in it.

 

[ChaosOS]

Your casting stat and con definitely.

So +1 hp per level, and +1 on concentration saves. Not bad, but I'm not sure it's a huge buff outside of gish. I can see a mountain dwarf bladesinger post-Tasha's being pretty fun, but I'm still going to hold out on that actually being OP rather than just finally viable.