D&D 5E (2024) Stonecunning/tremorsense alternatives

[TerraDave]

So this new dwarf trait is driving me crazy in play. It doesn’t feel dwarfy and can be hard to adjudicate.

Some alternatives I am thinking of include just a +1 to AC or adding fire to poison resistance. Plus maybe something like an older version of stone cunning.

Please let me know what you think.

 

[mellored]

Take a page from 4e?

Reduce all forced movement by half.

 

[Charlaquin]

Temporary tremorsense doesn’t feel dwarfy? I dunno, I can imagine a dwarf striking the ground with a pickaxe and feeling the reverberation to figure out what’s on the other side of the door, or taking their boots off to feel the ground directly with their feet and being able to detect that there are a dozen goblins 30 meters away, or even just closing their eyes and centering themselves to get in touch with The Stone and hearing it whisper the whereabouts of nearby creatures.

 

[aco175]

It could be a bit like this.

 

[CreamCloud0]

personally i like giving dwarves minor geokinesis, this pairing of spell abilities is something i've considered before:
-you know the the Mold Earth cantrip (specifically mold earth not elementalism, one because thematics, two because it has the 5ft difficult terrain feature) and can cast it as a bonus action.
-you know the spell Earth Tremor and get PB/LR free castings of it which you are able to cast in place of an individual attack.

 

[Corinnguard]

You could always give them one of the two Heritage gifts from Level Up.

Dwarven Stability​

You gain an expertise die on saving throws against effects that would knock you prone, and on saving throws made to resist being shoved.

For 5e, it could be rewritten as:

You gain an Advantage on saving throws against effects that would knock you prone, and on saving throws made to made to resist being shoved. If a Dwarf doesn't want to be moved, they aren't going to be moved.

Dwarven Toughness​

As a bonus action, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to 1d10 plus your level. These temporary hit points last for 1 minute. You can’t use this trait again until after you finish a long rest .

You gain an expertise die on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.

Stonecunning sounds like it would be a Skill Specialty under Level Up's Engineering skill, maybe even a Cultural trait for anyone living in a Mountain Dwarf or a Deep Dwarf culture.

 

[TerraDave]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am looking for something fairly simple in play.

Adding to the existing Dwarven Resilience: "You gain proficiency with either Wisdom or Constitution saving throws."
New Stone Cunning: "You have advantage on History and Investigation checks related to stonework, including knowing its potential history, origin, if it is unusual, and its workings. This includes traps that are primarily made of stone".

Each harkens back to dwarves of earlier editions. Overall, seems like its a net boost. Maybe too much?

 

[DEFCON 1]

Overall, seems like its a net boost. Maybe too much?

That depends on how well your dwarf player can use these revised abilities. Any ability in the game can be "too much" if the player is exceedingly creative as well as persuasive. But you won't know until you actually see the ability in play (as you did with Tremorsense.) So let the player use it a bunch first before worrying about revising it again.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

So this new dwarf trait is driving me crazy in play. It doesn’t feel dwarfy and can be hard to adjudicate.

Some alternatives I am thinking of include just a +1 to AC or adding fire to poison resistance. Plus maybe something like an older version of stone cunning.

Please let me know what you think.

I used to hate dwarves until I played Dwarf Fortress. Not only do I now love them, but there's a pretty good lore and mechanical explanation for what D&D considers "tremorsense".

Back in earlier editions, Drow used to be able to see heat and infrared light. It makes sense for creatures who live underground, away from the sun, to have a way of navigating tunnels without using the visible spectrum. It makes sense that dwarves basically evolved to be living "seismographs" who are adapted to feeling vibrations in their surroundings. My cat's whiskers can help her detect vibrations in the air, the medium she lives in; dwarves are known for their whiskers too, so why can't putting your beard to the earth facilitate vibrations?

 

[mellored]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am looking for something fairly simple in play.

Adding to the existing Dwarven Resilience: "You gain proficiency with either Wisdom or Constitution saving throws."
New Stone Cunning: "You have advantage on History and Investigation checks related to stonework, including knowing its potential history, origin, if it is unusual, and its workings. This includes traps that are primarily made of stone".

Each harkens back to dwarves of earlier editions. Overall, seems like its a net boost. Maybe too much?

Proficiency on saves is too much, unless your replacing the extra HP per level.