Playtest (A5E) Level Up Playtest Document #1: Origins

Welcome to the first Level Up playtest document. This playtest contains a candidate for the game’s Origins system—the initial building blocks of your character.

Are you ready to level up your 5E game? Welcome to Level Up, the standalone 'advanced 5E' backwards compatible tabletop RPG coming in 2021!

A crunchier, more flexible version of the 5E ruleset which you know and love. If you love 5E but would like a little more depth to the ruleset, Level Up is the game for you!

Level Up is a standalone hardcover roleplaying game brought to you by EN Publishing, the company which brought you EN5ider Magazine and Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters!

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What this is
This is a playtest document. We’d love you to try out the rules presented here, and then answer the follow-up survey in a few days.

What this is not
This is NOT the final game. It’s OK if you don’t like elements of these rules; that’s the purpose of a playtest document. Be sure to participate in the follow-up survey in a few days. All data, positive or negative is useful.

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Your survey responses help form the direction of the game as it goes through the development process.

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[Zsig]

I noticed that there does not seem to be anything like PHB125's "If a character would gain the same proficiency from two different sources, he or she can choose a different proficiency of the same kind (skill or tool) instead." is something that should never have been a thing since classes are always choose x skills from the following list like wizard giving 2 Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, or Religion & sage giving arcana and history so bob starts with arcana religion persuade & perception. It was jut too nakedly transparent & definitely something that should be avoided

I guess you missed the "Customizing a Background" a few sections below that (PHB, same page):

"You might want to tweak some of the features of a background so it better fits your character or the campaign setting. To customize a background, you can replace one feature with any other, choose any two skills, and choose a total of two tool proficiencies or languages from the sample backgrounds"

It's important to note that this is not a variant rule, this is RAW.

The reason backgrounds allows you to replace skill proficiencies with whatever you want when there's some sort of duplicity is because it's not supposed to matter. They are not supposed to offer meaningful mechanical elements/advantages, they are there to help provide you with a cool story for your character. If I want to make a cleric with a criminal past, I can, and the rules won't penalize me for that. If I want to make a rogue that studies and has a Sage background, I'll not be gimped by it.

And that's precisely the problem I have with backgrounds offering Ability Stat Increases, because now it's no longer a tool to flesh out a character's backstory, instead it locks you out of some options when making your character.

We all know that Str is a dump stat in this edition, only a few classes benefit from it, and the moment you say Nobles get +1 Str you immediately neglect the fact that over 2/3's of the character archetypes/classes don't give a damn about Str. Then, suddenly, the only characters that will ever get Noble as a background are barbarians, paladins and a few fighters and rangers.

 

[Morrus]

Also only read Dragonborn so far and I stumbled across:

Dragonbound Teachings. You know one cantrip of your choice from the wizard or cleric spell lists. Intelligence or Wisdom (your choice) is your spellcasting ability for it.

Umm... wouldn't Dragons be naturally inclined to be sorcerers, not wizards? Maybe this is for making INT more int-eresting, but it irritated me a lot.

We don't want to irritate anybody, but it's important to understand that a playtest process involves bugs and elements you don't like, and that it's your participation in the process which helps to guide the development process.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Also, Profiteer needs to be the language expert. Always found it odd that those guys who get around most would speak as much or even less languages than a sheltered, xenophobic wood elf.

Agreed. And the name needs a change, Profiteer sounds more like a background thing than a whole civilization. There's place for a ruthless merchant cultures (though I'd prefer the Hill Dwarves had those and give the community magic thing to humans) , but I'd think Oligarchy, Metropolis or Mercantile Culture without the need to have PC have an explicitly non-good options written on their character sheet because they loved the feature it came with.

 

[Minigiant]

I skimmed through the human section and thought that they were pretty weak and lackluster compared to the other heritages. The reason why humans are a trong choice in 5e is because they either provide more ability boni than other heritages or because you get an extra feat and skill. And then compare Marathon runner to telepathy... (even though I do like the fact that whoever wrote the human section included the reason actual humans were able to strive in ancient civilization: They got superior running skills and stamina - in addition to a really strong "throw skill")

Also, Profiteer needs to be the language expert. Always found it odd that those guys who get around most would speak as much or even less languages than a sheltered, xenophobic wood elf.

I know that making human and heritage culture would be hard.

In fantasy when races are plentiful, the human attributes are usually Adaptive, Ambitious, Good with vehicles and mounts, Good at filling all gaps in of a society, Perfect middlemen, and are Breeders. These however are hard to display in a RPG and look powerful or interesting.

That's why I think that societal adaptability and regionalism feel more like human heritage and culture. Youcould say humans become their surroundings. Human evolve mentally,physically, and spiritually faster.

 

[Dungeonosophy]

Pretty cool. Could the Forgotten Folx (or Forest Gnome) have the option of blue skin and white trousers/dresses and white caps? (Red cap if a Paragon?)

 

[Oligopsony]

And the name needs a change, Profiteer sounds more like a background thing than a whole civilization.

“Mercantile” is indeed probably a better name, but my read on the cultures here is that only in a minority of cases do they represent a whole civilization - more often a way of life that you grew up in and that may well be a minority subculture within the greater social fabric. This isn't consistent, though - if culture was consistently “what milieu you grew up in” and background “what non-adventuring thing you did/are as an adult” then there’d probably be some reshuffling of things like urchin and noble.

 

[tetrasodium]

I guess you missed the "Customizing a Background" a few sections below that (PHB, same page):

"You might want to tweak some of the features of a background so it better fits your character or the campaign setting. To customize a background, you can replace one feature with any other, choose any two skills, and choose a total of two tool proficiencies or languages from the sample backgrounds"

It's important to note that this is not a variant rule, this is RAW.

The reason backgrounds allows you to replace skill proficiencies with whatever you want when there's some sort of duplicity is because it's not supposed to matter. They are not supposed to offer meaningful mechanical elements/advantages, they are there to help provide you with a cool story for your character. If I want to make a cleric with a criminal past, I can, and the rules won't penalize me for that. If I want to make a rogue that studies and has a Sage background, I'll not be gimped by it.

And that's precisely the problem I have with backgrounds offering Ability Stat Increases, because now it's no longer a tool to flesh out a character's backstory, instead it locks you out of some options when making your character.

We all know that Str is a dump stat in this edition, only a few classes benefit from it, and the moment you say Nobles get +1 Str you immediately neglect the fact that over 2/3's of the character archetypes/classes don't give a damn about Str. Then, suddenly, the only characters that will ever get Noble as a background are barbarians, paladins and a few fighters and rangers.

Yea I found it later after I posted that. Choose any skill should absolutely go as it says there was no reason to bother limiting skills given/chosen. The default classes get

Spoiler: phb class skills

Artificer: gives Arcana, History, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, &Sleight of Hand

• Sage gives History, & one of Arcana or Religion So any four skills
• Guild Artisan gives Persuasion, & one of Insight or History. So Persuasion, one from artificer, & any two
• Noble gives History, & one of Animal Handling or Persuasion. So one artificer skill, one of animal handling or persuade, & any two.
• Sage gives History, and one of Arcana or Religion. So any four skills
• Hermit gives Religion, and one of Survival or Medicine. So any four skills.
• Folk Hero gives Survival, and one of Animal Handling or Nature. So one from artificer, survival, & any two.
• Sailor gives Athletics, and one of Acrobatics or Perception. So one artificer, athletics, & any two skills
• Charlatan gives Deception, and either Sleight of Hand or Insight. So deception & one artificer pus any two.
• Urchin gives Sleight of Hand, and one of Deception or Stealth. So Sleight of hand, one artificer, plus any two

Barbarian: 2 from animal handling, athletics, intimidation, nature, perception, & survival

• Nomad gives Survival skill, and your choice of either Animal Handling, Medicine, Nature, or Perception... So any four skills
• Folk Hero gives Survival, and one of Animal Handling or Nature. So any four skills
• Noble gives History, and one of Animal Handling or Persuasion. So History, one from the barbarian list, and any two other skills.
• Soldier Athletics, and one of Animal Handling or Intimidation. So any four skills
• Outlander gives Survival, and one of Athletics or Intimidation. So any four skills
• Sailor gives Athletics, and one of Acrobatics or Perception. So any four skills
• Criminal gives Stealth, and either Deception or Intimidation. So Stealth, 1 from the barbarian list, & any two.
• Hermit gives Religion, and one of Survival or Medicine. So religion, from barbarian, & any two.

Bard: Any 3

• Depending on your reading, this actually works against the bard because even though it's the only class with any skill options at first it doesn't get the same skill from a background as a result so is limited to the background's skills as offered.

Cleric: Two from history, insight, medicine, persuasion, & religion

• Noble gives History, and one of Animal Handling or Persuasion. So any four.
• Sage gives History, and one of Arcana or Religion. So any four
• Hermit gives Religion, and one of Survival or Medicine. So any four.
• Acloyte gives Religion, and either Insight or Persuasion. So one cleric, religion, & any two.
• Entertainer gives Performance, and one of Acrobatics or Persuasion. So one cleric, performance, & any two
• Guild Artisan gives Persuasion, & one of Insight or History. So any four.

Druid: Two from Arcana, Animal handling, insight, medicine, nature, perception, religion, & survival

• Sage gives History, and one of Arcana or Religion. So any four
• Nomad gives Survival skill, and your choice of either Animal Handling, Medicine, Nature, or Perception... So any four skills
• Folk Hero gives Survival, and one of Animal Handling or Nature. So any four skills
• Noble gives History, and one of Animal Handling or Persuasion. So History, one from the Druid list, and any two other skills.
• Soldier Athletics, and one of Animal Handling or Intimidation. So any four skills
• Hermit gives Religion, and one of Survival or Medicine. So any four.
• I'm tired of showing that more backgrounds give access to any skill choices than not

Fighter: Two from Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, & Survival
Monk: Two from Acrobatics, Athletics, History, Insight, Religion, and Stealth
Paladin: Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Medicine, Persuasion, & Religion
Ranger: Three from Animal Handling,Athletics, Insight, Investigation, Nature, Perception, Stealth, & Survival
Rogue: Four from Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception. Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Perception, Performance. Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, & Stealth

• You mentioned rogue sage though so I'll fill this in...
• Outlander gives Survival, and one of Athletics or Intimidation. So three rogue, survival, & any two skills
• Sailor gives Athletics, and one of Acrobatics or Perception. So any six skills
• Soldier Athletics, and one of Animal Handling or Intimidation. So any six skills
• Entertainer gives Performance, and one of Acrobatics or Persuasion. So any six.
• Charlatan gives Deception, and either Sleight of Hand or Insight. So any six.
• Criminal gives Stealth, and either Deception or Intimidation. So any six.
• Urchin gives Sleight of Hand, and one of Deception or Stealth. So any Six.
• Entertainer gives Performance, and one of Acrobatics or Persuasion. So any six
• Guild Artisan gives Persuasion, & one of Insight or History. So any six.
• Noble gives History, and one of Animal Handling or Persuasion. So any six.
• Acloyte gives Religion, and either Insight or Persuasion. So three rogue, history, & any two.
• Sage: gives History, and one of Arcana or Religion. So four from rogue, history, & either arcana or religion.

Sorcerer: Two from Arcana, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Persuasion, & Religion
Warlock: Two from Arcana,Deception, History, Intimidation, Investigation, Nature, & Religion
Wizard: Two from Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, & Religion

There are 12 backgrounds. Investigation is not on any background. Arcana & Medicine is only given by the sage background. Stealth is only given by Criminal & urchin. Clearly there are some skills that should be limited in who can take them trivially & there is a purpose to limiting what skills a player can choose from, but making it so braindead trivial to circumvent without opportunity cost beyond not choosing some other skill devalues the benefit of having a class/background that gets it. Your rogue sage is not "gimped" because you took sage, your gimped because you didn't take one of the backgrounds that gives you any six skills plus what could be a more useful background feature to a rogue.... It literally works against the purpose you say it's intended for.

 

[Lylandra]

We don't want to irritate anybody, but it's important to understand that a playtest process involves bugs and elements you don't like, and that it's your participation in the process which helps to guide the development process.

Fair enough
that's why I pointed it out, because this is one of the cultures that I'd houserule immediately to be more open in terms of options.

 

[Stalker0]

And then compare Marathon runner to telepathy...

I've had characters with telepathy in my games...and its very overrated as an ability. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it very cool to send a note to your friend secretly, or freak out a villager by hearing voices in their head. But the fact they can't reply really limits the ability, and for the vast majority of time its just an alternate way to say words.

I actually think the telepathy ones are some of the weakest.

 

[Lylandra]

I've had characters with telepathy in my games...and its very overrated as an ability. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it very cool to send a note to your friend secretly, or freak out a villager by hearing voices in their head. But the fact they can't reply really limits the ability, and for the vast majority of time its just an alternate way to say words.

I actually think the telepathy ones are some of the weakest.

Not if you play in a more thematic campaign and have everyone take it. We finished a campaign earlier this year and one character had two-way telepathy. We focused heavily on stealth and espionage, where it is pure gold. Plus using it for potent intimidation is always an option... just think about the effect you create if you just send voices to the head of another creature...

Also, if your DM allows it, telepathy can be possibly a faster way of communication because thoughts are much quicker than spoken words, thus enabling more talk and strategy.