Level Up (A5E) More Exploration Knacks

[xiphumor]

The AG does a great job of providing us with a solid list of diverse exploration knacks (by which I mean the features which go in the “Exploration Knacks” section of the character sheet, not just ranger knacks), but obviously, we’re all greedy little gremlins who want MORE! Where do you see gaps in the available knacks that could be expanded on?

The druid secrets of nature, for example, does a solid job of mapping most major biomes, but I would love to see ones more specifically suited to plains and cities.

Savant clever schemes have a wide spread of different areas they can cover, but that somewhat forces you to make a fairly generalist character. More options tailored toward specialists would be cool.

Bards seem… oddly sparse? I can’t help but feel like there’s a lot that could be done there, especially with social knacks.

Speaking of social knacks, I respect that rogues essentially have their social “skill tricks” built into their class progression, but this does mean that archetypes like the Courtier have a harder time maxing out their specialized skills. Perhaps something could be done there?

I can’t help but feel that we’ve only scratched the surface for artificers. I bet you could make a field discovery themed around every artisan’s tool in the AG if you put your mind to it.

P.S. While we’re here, a part of me always felt like exploration knacks with expertise dice were stronger than those without. I imagine that’s not really the case, but I’d love some thoughts on the matter.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

artificers could easily get a trick like alchemical prodigy for every type of craftable (scrolls, weapons, armor, wondrous items, etc.), honestly. maybe even a trick to let them circumvent crafting components when crafting magic items.

 

[WarDriveWorley]

I kind of think there should be a generalist group of explorations knacks that can be chosen by any character, but I almost feel like you would have to make those somewhat less powerful than class based ones to encourage players to "specialize" in the class options.

I do agree that knacks giving expertise are more powerful than ones that just grant a base prof.

I have to disagree with your assessment of Bards. Looking at total knacks per class in the AG the bard falls firmly middle of the pack:

Class	Tricks per class from AG
Rogue	24
Ranger	18
Adapt	16
Cleric	14
Herald	14
Warlock	14
Bard	11
Berserker	10
Druid	10
Fighter	9
Sorcerer	9
Wizard	8
Marshal	7

Personally I love the Bard knacks because they're almost all built along group benefits.

 

[xiphumor]

But here’s the thing: Bards are skill monkeys (or “Experts” to use One D&D terminology). Compared to Rangers and Rogues, they have relatively few knacks, and no “knack-like” class features. The problem gets worse when you recall that classes like the ranger can also use knacks available to druids and fighters. Bards get three extra knacks from other classes, admittedly, but they’re late in the game.

 

[Morrus]

But here’s the thing: Bards are skill monkeys (or “Experts” to use One D&D terminology). Compared to Rangers and Rogues, they have relatively few knacks, and no “knack-like” class features. The problem gets worse when you recall that classes like the ranger can also use knacks available to druids and fighters. Bards get three extra knacks from other classes, admittedly, but they’re late in the game.

The thing to remember is that they’re for the exploration pillar. Bards aren’t particularly wilderness (or dungeon) oriented! Rogues and rangers are.

I reckon druids would use some more though!

 

[xiphumor]

Exploration happens in towns and cities too.

 

[xiphumor]

I’m okay with Bards having fewer knacks overall. They have magic to counterbalance. I just like more options, and I have nothing against the existing ones.

 

[Morrus]

Exploration happens in towns and cities too.

In the common English-language usage, but that’s not really what we mean by the exploration pillar. That’s typically more the social pillar. The exploration pillar is about exploring wilderness and dungeons. Bards are very much a social class and their strengths lie there.

 

[xiphumor]

Sure, but a good number of exploration knacks are social abilities, such as Meeting of Minds (savant), Read the Room (ranger), Sly Confidant (bard), Voice of Doom (cleric), or Silvered Tongue (herald). I don’t see a particular reason why more knacks couldn’t be made for social roles. Again, happy to let the bard have fewer slots than the ranger or rogue. I just think it would be fun to write more options, although I think we have enough already to give us a lot of choice.

 

[Morrus]

Sure, but a good number of exploration knacks are social abilities, such as Meeting of Minds (savant), Read the Room (ranger), Sly Confidant (bard), Voice of Doom (cleric), or Silvered Tongue (herald). I don’t see a particular reason why more knacks couldn’t be made for social roles. Again, happy to let the bard have fewer slots than the ranger or rogue. I just think it would be fun to write more options, although I think we have enough already to give us a lot of choice.

Write as many as you like! I'm not saying you shouldn't. I was just trying to explain why the bard didn't have as many as the ranger and rogue because the very concept of exploration knacks was to give classes exploration pillar features.