Level Up (A5E) Is Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition compatible with D&D 5E?

[Satirical Bard]

Are Level Up spells really nerfed in general, or is it just a small percentage of specific spells? I haven't more than glanced at a few spells, so I want to get a grasp on the actuality of the changes.

Check out the Spells winners and losers thread for a non-definitive list.

And for those 'nerfed', I think many of us would say they've been 'fixed', because before they were 'OP'

 

[Indagare Nogitsune]

A5e seems to be much better about versatility, but there doesn't seem to be a way to support subclasses. For instance, if I wanted to play an Eldritch Knight, I'd have to multiclass between Fighter and Wizard and, while there are synergy feats for this, it seems like I'd still end up with something that's not going to quite be as good as a Fighter with a Wizardly features baked in (the Magus is a problem concept from the other side of this).

 

[niklinna]

A5e seems to be much better about versatility, but there doesn't seem to be a way to support subclasses. For instance, if I wanted to play an Eldritch Knight, I'd have to multiclass between Fighter and Wizard and, while there are synergy feats for this, it seems like I'd still end up with something that's not going to quite be as good as a Fighter with a Wizardly features baked in (the Magus is a problem concept from the other side of this).

If you want to play an Eldritch Knight, just play an Eldritch Knight as a subclass of an a5e fighter.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Short answer: yes. Long aswer: it is if Tasha's is.

So this quesiton seems to come up a lot, and I thought I'd quickly dive into it. Level Up isn't the same as D&D 5E (otherwise why buy it?) but it is compatible with it.

Level Up is compatible with 5E if Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is compatible with 5E. TCoE changes how races work. Eberron has a new class. But it's still compatible with 5E. That's what Level Up does, on a grander scale. Some things have changed, but they all still use the core 5E system.

Now different people might have different definitions of what 'compatible' means ranging from 'it has to be an exact reprint of D&D word for word or its a totally different game' all the way to 'if it uses a d20 it's compatible'. My measure is: can I run a D&D adventure with these rules? The answer is yes.

There are some people posting online that LU is not compatible with D&D, but what they means is it's not identical to D&D. Their definition of 'compatible' pretty much means most official D&D books aren't compatible with D&D, because they contain new content or rules. Eberron has a new class in it; Level Up has 13 new classes. If those classes aren't compatible with D&D then Eberron isn't either.

So YMMV. But this is pretty much 5E with more knobs and dials.

Compatible would mean you can run a game with elements of both, without the game braking down.

I have run 5e games with 4e monsters, but that doesn’t mean they’re actually compatible, for instance.

My question would be, is the game playable without significant extra effort using A5e and 5e classes and races?

 

[Larnievc]

Compatible would mean you can run a game with elements of both, without the game braking down.

I have run 5e games with 4e monsters, but that doesn’t mean they’re actually compatible, for instance.

My question would be, is the game playable without significant extra effort using A5e and 5e classes and races?

I’d say yes. My table has a A5E ranger with a Horizon Walker subclass.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I’d say yes. My table has a A5E ranger with a Horizon Walker subclass.

I’d have a hard time arguing that isn’t compatible, then.

 

[Satirical Bard]

If you want to play an Eldritch Knight, just play an Eldritch Knight as a subclass of an a5e fighter.

Eldritch Knight would require a very minor tweak at level 15 (if you ever get to that level) as the Arcane Surge ability keys off Action Surge. I'd just change it to 2x/SR (1x at L15 and 2x from L17 if you want a perfect match to o5e) and perhaps that it has to be combined with an Attack action (in lieu of action surge). Simples.

 

[Indagare Nogitsune]

If you want to play an Eldritch Knight, just play an Eldritch Knight as a subclass of an a5e fighter.

Okay. I just wasn't sure if any tweaks might need to be made to it. Or if things like the synergy feats would apply.

 

[Corinnguard]

Playing the Eldritch Knight as an archetype of the A5e Fighter might also require some tweaking at level 3. One common element shared by all of the Fighter archetypes in A5e at level 3 is a proficiency in a third Combat tradition. So our A5e Eldritch Knight would need a combat tradition that meshes well with their newfound spellcasting ability. It might sound simple to just play an Eldritch Knight as is in A5e, but they would be missing out on a feature commonly found among all Fighter archetypes.

 

[Stalker0]

but they would be missing out on a feature commonly found among all Fighter archetypes.

Commonly found among all LU archetypes, but I feel like that's the point.

Yes using a O5e subclass will deny you some maneuver access, just as playing a O5e class does. That's the tradeoff.