Character Narratives Preview from PRIMEVAL THULE

Here's another preview of the Primeval Thule campaign setting for D&D 5th Edition coming from Sasquatch Games. I already showed you the table of contents and the beastman warrior. This time it's one of the nineteen character narratives from the setting. "In 5e, narratives can be taken as an alternative to backgrounds. Narratives provide a small list of benefits thematically linked to the story and flavor of the specific narrative. At first level these features include skill training and usually a signature ability that provides a small combat benefit. As the character increases in level, additional benefits become available, reflecting a rise in stature or notoriety. At higher levels a narrative might grant an income, a title, or even followers!" (thanks to Fabrício for the scoop!)

For the original announcement, click here.

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[Rich Baker]

In all honesty, we see no difference between saying "once per short rest" and "once per encounter." They're functionally the same thing 99 percent of the time. We just prefer the simpler language from previous editions, and trust savvy gamers to handle the mechanic correctly.

Giving our narratives a signature combat ability or unique move is a hat tip to the idea that Thule is a more dangerous setting with tougher heroes than the average world. Plus, we really liked the way themes worked in 4e and how they supplemented your character abilities. There is a fair amount of really good 4e "tech" that got left by the wayside for 5e, and we want to save some of the good ideas when it's appropriate.

Rich Baker
Sasquatch Game Studio

 

[Rich Baker]

Oh, and we say "Thool," rhymes with rule or tool. But I understand that the proper pronunciation is actually more like Too-lay.


Rich Baker
Sasquatch Game Studio

 

[ilsundal]

In all honesty, we see no difference between saying "once per short rest" and "once per encounter." They're functionally the same thing 99 percent of the time. We just prefer the simpler language from previous editions, and trust savvy gamers to handle the mechanic correctly.

I think this is a mistake. D&D 5e has a well-established and clear terminology. I see no point in suddenly using a different terminology in Thule 5e. It'll only bring confusion. Like you see in this thread. And like you see over at the kick-starter comments e.g. about "tactical advantage". I don't think anyone will appreciate this.

 

[Rich Baker]

[MENTION=6794176]ilsundal[/MENTION], It's also a matter of being very careful with a 3rd-edition era OGL and steering clear of any possible gray areas. Making use of a commonly known word such as "monstrosity" isn't a problem, so we can refer to the creature type without confusion. Making use of a particular phrasing of a specific rule requires us to exercise more care. Something like "you regain X when you finish a short or long rest" is wording we'll avoid just to be on the excessively safe side -- especially when our audience is already very familiar with a concept such as once-per-encounter abilities. We're comfortable that we can deliver a great 5e experience with terminology that is perfectly understandable to smart gamers, but working under an older OGL means being careful about this sort of thing.

Rich Baker
Sasquatch Game Studio

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Oh, and we say "Thool," rhymes with rule or tool. But I understand that the proper pronunciation is actually more like Too-lay.


Rich Baker
Sasquatch Game Studio

In Greek, it depends whether you're speaking ancient or modern Greek. The letter theta was basically a T in ancient Greek (the aspirated voiceless dental stop, for linguistics geeks) but is a TH in modern Greek (the voiceless dental fricative).

However, the word has been in English since Anglo-Saxon days, so an English pronunciation is really just as "proper" at this point. The OED says "thoo-lee", but I've only ever heard it pronounced "thool".

 

[ehren37]

So I noticed the Key identity for this lists various classes, including warlord. Is there a warlord class in the book, or is that a holdover from 4E text?

 

[Wrathamon]

In all honesty, we see no difference between saying "once per short rest" and "once per encounter." They're functionally the same thing 99 percent of the time. We just prefer the simpler language from previous editions, and trust savvy gamers to handle the mechanic correctly.

Giving our narratives a signature combat ability or unique move is a hat tip to the idea that Thule is a more dangerous setting with tougher heroes than the average world. Plus, we really liked the way themes worked in 4e and how they supplemented your character abilities. There is a fair amount of really good 4e "tech" that got left by the wayside for 5e, and we want to save some of the good ideas when it's appropriate.

Rich Baker
Sasquatch Game Studio

Couldn't agree more!

 

[Imaro]

I'm a little wary of this as I was originally going to get the 13th Age version until I started to see numerous complaints online about the rules being a very bad conversion (to the point that I think they had someone from Pelgrane redo parts of it and even then many weren't happy with it on the 13th Age forums)... I hope that's not going to be the case with 5e as I really like what I've read about the setting but I am not playig 4e or Pathfinder for the foreseeable future...

 

[Imaro]

Couldn't agree more!

I guess... if 5 mins and 1 hour are functionally equivalent in your game...99 percent of the time.

EDIT: In other words why not just say after an hour rest...

 

[ninjayeti]

In all honesty, we see no difference between saying "once per short rest" and "once per encounter." They're functionally the same thing 99 percent of the time.

I beg to disagree. In my experience characters usually handle several encounters per short rest. (The DMG suggests 6-8 encounters per adventuring day with 2-3 short rests. See DMG p. 84).

That said if the worst thing about this book is having to mentally translate "encounter" to "short rest" then I will not complain too loudly.

 

[SigmaOne]

Is there a reason the title says "5 Character Narratives"? Am I missing something?

Also, thank you Rich Baker for participating in the conversation. For our group a short rest usually occurs after multiple encounters; but like ninjayeti said, that's not a big deal. I'm looking forward to having the product in my hands!

 

[Morrus]

Is there a reason the title says "5 Character Narratives"? Am I missing something?

I made a mistake!

 

[Staffan]

In all honesty, we see no difference between saying "once per short rest" and "once per encounter." They're functionally the same thing 99 percent of the time. We just prefer the simpler language from previous editions, and trust savvy gamers to handle the mechanic correctly.

Except, in 5e they're not. A "standard" 5e adventuring day, if such a thing could be said to exist, has 6-9 encounters and 2-3 short rests. So in 5e, "once per short rest" is more like once per three encounters.

The way I like to put it is that in 4e, a short rest is a coffee break, but in 5e it's a lunch break.

 

[Agamon]

Hrmmm. Maybe I should just convert the setting myself rather that pay for a conversion I still need to convert... :/

I understand the language issue, but maybe a closer hewing to the rules using different language (like the "once per hour hour long rest" suggested above) is possible?

 

[ChapolimX]

I'm also unsatisfied with the use of 4th edition specific terminology. I think that "You can use the Cutthroat Strike again after rest for an hour" would avoid legal issues and be much more clear as other people in this thread had pointed. I will not take my pledge because of this, but I think Sasquatch has a good opportunity to improve their project based on feedback.

 

[VenomousFiligree]

After a short period of rest - after a respite - after a short break
After a long period of rest - after making camp - after a long break

 

[Rich Baker]

So I noticed the Key identity for this lists various classes, including warlord. Is there a warlord class in the book, or is that a holdover from 4E text?

Holdover from previous text, which we're striking out for the 5e version. (Actually a little embarrassed that we missed this one!)


Rich Baker
Sasquatch Game Studio

 

[Rich Baker]

Except, in 5e they're not. A "standard" 5e adventuring day, if such a thing could be said to exist, has 6-9 encounters and 2-3 short rests. So in 5e, "once per short rest" is more like once per three encounters.

The way I like to put it is that in 4e, a short rest is a coffee break, but in 5e it's a lunch break.

Fair enough. Perhaps my players are layabouts.


Rich Baker
Sasquatch Game Studio

 

[epithet]

How about "You can use the ability once. You regain the use each time initiative is rolled."

5e does give out goodies when initiative is rolled, so that seems like a thematically consistent metric.

Rich, I'm looking forward to seeing the FG module details on the KS page, so that I can throw more money at you.

 

[IgnatiusJ.Reilly]

It might be a bit problematic to assume 5E folk are familiar with 4E terminology. Whereas, I did read the 4E rules many years ago, I no longer have them for reference. However, it's good to know what experience you're after, even though you need to 'tip toe' around terminology.