D&D 5E Companion thread to Survivor:Proficiencies

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Calligrapher’s Supplies 14 + 1 = 15 How is this a subset of the Forgery Kit?

By a immediate and direct reading of the actual descriptions.

Calligrapher's supplies:
"Components. Calligrapher's supplies include ink, a dozen sheets of parchment, and three quills.” -- Xanthar's Guide to Everything, p.79.

Forgery Kit:
"This small box contains a variety of papers and parchments, pens and inks, seals and sealing wax, gold and silver leaf, and other supplies necessary to create convincing forgeries of physical documents." -- PHB, p.154.

"Components. A forgery kit includes several different types of ink, a variety of parchments and papers, several quills, seals and sealing wax, gold and silver leaf, and small tools to to sculpt melted wax to mimic a seal." -- Xanthar's Guide to Everything, p.81.

So, the calligrapher's supplies has ink -- which the forger's kit has. It has parchment -- which the forger's kit has. It has three quill pens -- which the forger's kit has. And then the forger's kit has a bunch of other things. The calligrapher's supplies are, as a tool, a proper subset of the forgery kit.

---

Further, as a simple logical matter, if a forger couldn't duplicate everything a calligrapher can do with calligrapher's supplies, then the forger couldn't actually forge the documents made by the calligrapher. So, it's clear that a calligrapher's core skills (until we get into the "special use" zone in Xanthar's descriptions) are a subset of a forger's skills.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

By a immediate and direct reading of the actual descriptions.

Calligrapher's supplies:
"Components. Calligrapher's supplies include ink, a dozen sheets of parchment, and three quills.” -- Xanthar's Guide to Everything, p.79.

Forgery Kit:
"This small box contains a variety of papers and parchments, pens and inks, seals and sealing wax, gold and silver leaf, and other supplies necessary to create convincing forgeries of physical documents." -- PHB, p.154.

"Components. A forgery kit includes several different types of ink, a variety of parchments and papers, several quills, seals and sealing wax, gold and silver leaf, and small tools to to sculpt melted wax to mimic a seal." -- Xanthar's Guide to Everything, p.81.

So, the calligrapher's supplies has ink -- which the forger's kit has. It has parchment -- which the forger's kit has. It has three quill pens -- which the forger's kit has. And then the forger's kit has a bunch of other things. The calligrapher's supplies are, as a tool, a proper subset of the forgery kit.

---

Further, as a simple logical matter, if a forger couldn't duplicate everything a calligrapher can do with calligrapher's supplies, then the forger couldn't actually forge the documents made by the calligrapher. So, it's clear that a calligrapher's core skills (until we get into the "special use" zone in Xanthar's descriptions) are a subset of a forger's skills.

That sounds to me like the Forgery Kit simply shouldn't exist, then, and should simply be folded into the Calligraphy Supplies, because it's literally just "calligraphy + one other thing."

 

[RealAlHazred]

That sounds to me like the Forgery Kit simply shouldn't exist, then, and should simply be folded into the Calligraphy Supplies, because it's literally just "calligraphy + one other thing."

In my games, it's the "Scribe's Kit," and is used for both Forgery and Calligraphy.

What do you have against the Glaive!?!?!?!

I missed this since my daughter was born on the 31st, and on the 29th I was still being a cheerleader for my wife. But who doesn't like the Glaive? It's an excellent ranged weapon, and I was jazzed to learn in History class that there used to be squads of troops using these!

 

[RealAlHazred]

I am a little shocked to still see Survival on there. Really, in most games I run it's "Pick Campsite," and that's it.

 

[Tonguez]

I am a little shocked to still see Survival on there. Really, in most games I run it's "Pick Campsite," and that's it.

I suppose it depends on how much time you spend exploring outside, I use survival for finding tracks, hunting & foraging, locating drinkable water, orientation and finding an easier path, pushing through thick undergrowth while avoiding snakes and spiders, assessing the weather and a whole lot of other stuff. But I like to use a lot of wilderness and ‘natural dungeons’

 

[CleverNickName]

Oh man, we use Survival for all sorts of things:

• Following tracks
• Foraging for food
• Identifying natural hazards (quicksand, unstable slopes, etc.)
• Finding shelter (or building a makeshift shelter)
• Building a raft
• Building a campfire
• Harvesting meat, hides, etc. from animals
• Fishing/hunting
• Avoiding random encounters

This is just off the top of my head; I'm sure I could come up with more if I put my mind to it. Basically, Survival is our default ability check for "surviving in the wilderness." It's the most important ability check for the Exploration tier of play, and we spend a lot of time exploring at my table.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Oh man, we use Survival for all sorts of things:

• Following tracks
• Foraging for food
• Identifying natural hazards (quicksand, unstable slopes, etc.)
• Finding shelter (or building a makeshift shelter)
• Building a raft
• Building a campfire
• Harvesting meat, hides, etc. from animals
• Fishing/hunting
• Avoiding random encounters

This is just off the top of my head; I'm sure I could come up with more if I put my mind to it. Basically, Survival is our default ability check for "surviving in the wilderness." It's the most important ability check for the Exploration tier of play, and we spend a lot of time exploring at my table.

I suppose it depends on how much time you send exploring outside, I use survival for finding tracks, hunting & foraging, locating drinkable water, orientation and finding an easier path, pushing through thick undergrowth while avoiding snakes and spiders, assessing the weather and a whole lot of other stuff. But I like to use a lot of wilderness and ‘natural dungeons’

See, my group hires local specialists for most of that work, who form the "Experts" (except the group in-chat refers to them as the "Expendables" due to their high mortality rate). The PCs generally only focus on the fighting stuff. Not my preference, but it's what the players want to do.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Holy $#!+.

This is exactly why I decided these threads weren't for me. In just one single day, the only one I really properly liked goes from "doing quite well" to "completely destroyed." Not even winning! It was second-place!

Yeah, I just...I really hate this format.

 

[The Glen]

I downvoted Takhisis every single day for DL gods and watched as the next two people immediately upvoted it. It can get frustrating, especially when the one you hate dominates the entire thread.

 

[CleverNickName]

So I did it.

As promised, I took the Top Five "surviving" options and made a playable character out of them. I didn't do the full character sheet, but there's enough bits and pieces here to work with if someone decided to stat it up.

D&D 5E - 5E Survivor - Proficiencies

Alchemist's Supplies 9 Cartographer's Tools 7 Cook’s Utensils 8 - 2 = 6 Disguise Kit 9 Herbalism Kit 11 Survival 2+1=3

www.enworld.org

Note that I didn't say "winning" options, because it's pretty clear that y'all are the reason I can't have nice things.