D&D 5E Free 60+ page Guide to Sword & Sorcery for 5E D&D

[S'mon]

Spoiler: cont'd discussion on gender

A quick googling tells me Belit and Valeria are much closer in body type to classically feminine. I would peg them as DEX fighters (in 5E terms). Crucially, they look nothing like the muscle mountains I associate with 20 STR 20 CON.

Yeah, if I was running 1e up to even 3e I'd likely follow your POV. I remember playing 3e and keeping my female Fighter PC's STR to 16.

4e-5e, I ceased believing that the D&D STR stat had anything much to do with actual visible musculature, so when a 5e player of mine rolled up an Atlantean noblewoman with STR 18 I just described her as Brigitte Nielsen type, not Hulk-type.

I'm much the same with INT stat, I don't think it has much to do with actual intelligence.

Edit: However in practice, many of the Belit type NPCs IMCs are DEX-based Finesse fighters with moderate STR, just as you say.

 

[CapnZapp]

so when a 5e player of mine rolled up an Atlantean noblewoman with STR 18 I just described her as Brigitte Nielsen type, not Hulk-type.

Yeah, well I don't get to or even want to describe my players' characters for them, so...

Spoiler: text

What I (personally) want is for the system, not just the gamesmaster, to just say "no" to the player who wants to create a character that is just as strong as Conan, but with the body of an attractive woman. That is the specific cake you should not both get to eat and have in Sword & Sorcery.

In regular fantasy I have no opinion either way. But in S&S, that's tantamount to the player new to D&D that asks for a mighty warrior that can cast spells too. Sure you can, if you accept that you won't be as good as either (cue the Eowyn example earlier).

Red Sonja though? She's like a level 20 Fighter and a level 20 Wizard in one character. That's fine - for a comic book, where balance and spotlight isn't an issue. For a rpg where more than one character is the hero, nope. You're supposed to have things you don't do well. And I don't mean Sonja might not be the best at healing, or reading, or stealing. Those things are secondary. What bringing up Red Sonja means to me is "I want to be the best at both what a man does and what a woman does."

And in S&S specifically, you're either a man or you are a woman. Not both, unless you compromise. S&S is primal, almost caveman-like in its gender politics.

In other words, I want the following, not just in fluff, but in crunch too:

If you want to wield a huge sword and be best at cleaving Apes, play a hulking mountain of a man. Somebody everyone in the room immediately assumes is a lethal threat. Somebody every woman in the room secretly wants. You can play a lot of other male archetypes as well, but they will always be "lesser" in the fundamental aspect of being a manly man.

If you want to be able to wrap people in power around your little finger, play a voluptuous temptress of a woman. Somebody everyone in the room is dazzled by, but consistently underestimates. Somebody every man (not so) secretly wants. You can play a lot of other female archetypes as well, but they will always be "lesser" in the fundamental aspect of being a womanly woman.

S&S is like going back in time to the eighties before smart-ass heroes like Bruce Willis or androgynous heroes like Keanu Reeves took over cinema! Back to the curious time where wooden but well-muscled actors not only get the girl but are taken entirely seriously by the audience as well!

Thank you for reading.

 

[S'mon]

What I (personally) want is for the system, not just the gamesmaster, to just say "no" to the player who wants to create a character that is just as strong as Conan, but with the body of an attractive woman. That is the specific cake you should not both get to eat and have in Sword & Sorcery.

You are denying Xena's Lived Experience!!! :-O

 

[xoth.publishing]

I guess I'm nitpicking the word "can" in "The following broad cultural archetypes can be used to further distinguish between characters who would otherwise have the same racial abilities."

I see your point and I'm going to change it to "...are used to..." to make it clear that you must choose a culture.

I would totally ask players to choose culture first, since that is your #1 defining trait (whether you're a Barbarian, proud but uneducated, or some pampered but cunning citizen from a crumbling empire) and then list suggested races under each culture. (So the two chapters reference each other)

Once again, I see your point and I agree that (early) choice of culture will (should!) focus the character's concept in the player's mind. I'll let this simmer a bit before I do any layout changes...

 

[xoth.publishing]

Great stuff, but I have a big gripe -

None of what you list as races are races. They're ethnicities. There is only one human race, and what we call race is a social construct created by, well, racists.

Given that D&D actually does have contextually "real" races, it also avoids confusion of two concepts using the same word. You changed clerics to cultists, when you could have kept the name. Please consider doing the same for an outmoded concept.

I see your point, I guess I'm just using "race" out of habit since that term has been used in D&D since forever. That said, there are many definitions of the word "race", such as "a group of persons related by common descent or heredity" and "any people united by common history, language, cultural traits, etc." so rest assured that I'm not using the term to promote any specific agenda.

As for alternatives, "ethnicity" would work, but doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. PF2 calls it "Ancestry". I guess even "Peoples of Xoth" could work (but "pick a people" sounds a bit weird?). I'm open to other suggestions here...

 

[JPL]

"Bloodline." It's got that "blood" in there.

 

[xoth.publishing]

That said, Battle Cry is unbelievably broken and overpower. And at 3rd level, it's arguably the most powerful the class gets. Simply giving allies an extra damage die (like the Valor Bard's Combat Inspiration) would be much more reasonable.

Why do you feel it's overpowered? It gives each ally an automatic crit, if they hit, so that's one extra damage die per creature. It lasts one round. It can be used once per long rest per point of Charisma bonus. The conqueror has MAD (multiple attribute dependency) because Strength, Intelligence and Charisma are all important, so a maxed-out Charisma score would be unusual.

Possibly I can see it being toned down a bit by just applying to each ally's first attack in the round, not all of them.

(Also, while we are discussing Battle Cry, notice that the Improved Battle Cry at 11th level says the duration increases to 1 minute (10 rounds). That's a typo, that should be 2 rounds and this will be corrected in the next version of the document.)

 

[xoth.publishing]

In Xoth, you use the 5e Druid to represent the ‘shaman’.

However, the 5e Bard actually represents the shaman better and more straightforwardly.

Bardic songs work as shamanic songs to rapport with nature spirits and to inspire the community.

Unlike the Druid, the Bard wont normally shapeshift (but still could if learning the appropriate spell).

Everything the Bard does is shamanic, nature magic, healing, divination, mind manipulation.

And Charisma as the key ability makes more sense for a shaman anyway, many of who are also tricksters.

Interesting perspective, I've never thought of it that way. But what do you do with the Druid then?

The way I've implemented it, by using the Bard as a basis for another "social" class, gives one more option for PCs, not one less.

 

[GlassJaw]

Why do you feel it's overpowered? It gives each ally an automatic crit, if they hit, so that's one extra damage die per creature.

Crits double ALL damage dice, which includes things like Sneak Attack dice. I guess it's not as bad since paladins don't exist in the world but my concern it will cause unforeseen consequences and big swings in combat (especially boss battles).

Additionally, I don't believe there are any mechanics in the game that trigger automatic crits, aside from the paralyzed condition.

 

[S'mon]

Crits double ALL damage dice, which includes things like Sneak Attack dice. I guess it's not as bad since paladins don't exist in the world but my concern it will cause unforeseen consequences and big swings in combat (especially boss battles).

Additionally, I don't believe there are any mechanics in the game that trigger automatic crits, aside from the paralyzed condition.

My son loves his Goliath Rogue Assassin - Assassin path gets automatic crits vs Surprised targets, and as a Rogue-13/Barbarian-1 he's doing 16d6+6 damage with DEX 20 and a d6 +1 magic weapon.

He'd certainly like a friend who lets him do that on every hit.