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.

 

[Stacie GmrGrl]

Well... So much for D&D being D&D. This completely trivializes how important the choice of Race matters while also allowing the game to be more fully min/maxed.

In what other ways can WotC turn 5e into D&D with training wheels?

 

[Greg Benage]

Yeah, but really, so what. You're doing less than 1 point of damage more than me. Big deal.

I don't know, man, did I get killed by the full-strength enemy with 1 hp left? Did I start to notice my damage dealer was dealing 25% less damage than yours over a couple sessions, and did I feel bad about my character choices? Has anyone on a D&D board ever complained about issues such as multiple attribute dependency that make some characters feel worse in play than others?

Cause I kind of feel that this is the kind of naughty word that comes up from time to time.

 

[Horwath]

Half elves already were ideal, so not much change on that front.

All elves probably should have been "+2 Any" anyway.

The new rules help elves be better at doing elf things.

Half elves were ideal for Paladin, Sorcerer and Warlock.
And only very good for all other classes

 

[Undrave]

Well... So much for D&D being D&D. This completely trivializes how important the choice of Race matters while also allowing the game to be more fully min/maxed.

In what other ways can WotC turn 5e into D&D with training wheels?

Don't be such an elitist and let people have their fun. Sheesh. We're here for a good time.

 

[Horwath]

Well... So much for D&D being D&D. This completely trivializes how important the choice of Race matters while also allowing the game to be more fully min/maxed.

In what other ways can WotC turn 5e into D&D with training wheels?

Training wheels is more in situation where you have no feats, no alternate class features, no alternate racial faetures. And only default ability array.

No thinking about making your character.
Game already has everything premade for you. Just write down your character name.

 

[Markh3rd]

Half elves already were ideal, so not much change on that front.

All elves probably should have been "+2 Any" anyway.

The new rules help elves be better at doing elf things.

They were ideal for paladin or charisma classes. But now it includes monks and rangers as well. Or any MAD multiclassing build.

 

[Maxperson]

I don't know, man, did I get killed by the full-strength enemy with 1 hp left? Did I start to notice my damage dealer was dealing 25% less damage than yours over a couple sessions, and did I feel bad about my character choices? Has anyone on a D&D board ever complained about issues such as multiple attribute dependency that make some characters feel worse in play than others?

When things have 80+ hit points, the odds of that 1 point being meaningful like that is going to be so rare that it's really not worth worrying about. Just leaving creatures at 1 point will be uncommon, then during those times it has to choose to attack you, and then it has to actually hit you, and then at a time that will kill you. You can worry about the meteor landing on you. I'm not going to.

 

[Greg Benage]

When things have 80+ hit points, the odds of that 1 point being meaningful like that is going to be so rare that it's really not worth worrying about.

What about the CR 1/4 giant centipede with 4 hp that deals 1d4+1 piercing on a hit and 3d6 poison + paralysis on a failed Con save? Cause that's the kind of thing that's probably eating me at 1st level.*

* Hypothetically, of course. I've been playing D&D for 40 years, so I'd never have a 1st-level character eaten by a giant centipede with 1 hp left, no way, but other players might, and I'm just asking, "Who will think about the children?"

 

[Haldrik]

They were ideal for paladin or charisma classes. But now it includes monks and rangers as well. Or any MAD multiclassing build.

Half-elves should be good at being rangers anyway?

The new rules make races more flavorful, and better at the stuff their flavor should be doing.

If wood elves make fine monks, a half wood elf would too.

As long as the class is a mage, it feels elven enough. Both ranger and monk feel magically adept.

Even if a half-elf is a mundane Fighter with Str-Con-Dex, well that is the human parentage.

 

[Azzy]

Well... So much for D&D being D&D. This completely trivializes how important the choice of Race matters while also allowing the game to be more fully min/maxed.

Ah, yes, this again. Because the only thing that meaningfully differentiated the races from each other were their ASIs. All those other traits... who cares about any of that crap?