Tag: homebrew

  • Neither darkness, nor snow, nor wyverns – the Message must be delivered

    Neither darkness, nor snow, nor wyverns – the Message must be delivered

    Worlds of points of light in a wilderness, or fallen empires, or warring kingdoms, or with merchant guilds that control trade need ways for far-ranging communities to stay in touch. In the real world this meant messenger pigeons, in Game of Thrones there were crows and ravens to communicate. Other fictions use dogs, or just a hearty human that trudges through awful conditions to keep the ties of society together — The Postman by David Brin, or the Pony Express in reality.

    Your Dungeons & Dragons worlds also need these messengers. They make sense and fit the fiction so well. A Messenger in D&D also doesn’t need to be confined to the animals of the real world. A Ravnica or Eberron game might use a tiny ornithopter. Fastieths fit in Eberron and parts of the Six Kingdoms. Spiders or bats fit in Ravenloft. There’s a flavor of messenger companion for every world.

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    Messenger

    You are the connection between disparate homesteads, towns, or cities. Conveying the messages and scrolls between the communities rapidly without magic you bring news, warning, and joy to peoples who often struggle to keep in touch or that would take weeks to travel and deliver the message themselves. Often welcomed in strange towns, a messenger sometimes wears an official uniform of a ruling power and at others is a freelancer working without direction from above. You and your messenger companion are a symbol of civilization even in the furthest outposts.

    Skill Proficiencies: Animal Handling, Nature
    Tool Proficiencies: None
    Languages: Two Languages
    Equipment: One animal messenger companion, travelers clothes, a scroll case with a dozen pages, a quill, an ink pot, a whistle or bell or other command device, a pouch with 5 gp

    Choose an animal that is your messenger’s companion and conveyance, and discuss with the DM how the companion will fit into the adventure. These come in four primary groups, and a few examples are provided. Don’t feel limited to the specific animals listed, but use them for guidance regarding their abilities, if, gods forbid, they enter combat.

    • Small land animals — cats, dogs, iguanas, otters, monkeys, not-quite-giant spiders
    • Medium land animals — axe beaks, ponies, fastieths, antelopes
    • Small flying animals — pigeons, crows, ravens, owls, bats
    • Fantastic animals — enchanted paper airplanes, clockwork machines, not-quite-giant dragonflys, flying snakes, stirges, not-quite-giant wasps

    Feature: Rivers and Roads

    Your messenger companion begins the game with a network of three destinations and the ability to find its way back to you where you sent it from. When delivering a message to a known destination on the network it travels at a fast pace and does so with no penalty to a stealth check (your messenger companion add your proficiency bonus and your Wisdom bonus to their stealth at all times). If you plan to move from your location when you send a message you can instruct your messenger companion to deliver the message and then go to a different destination. You and your messenger companions have a number of network destinations of proficiency bonus +1. If your companion perishes you must train a new one. This takes several weeks of downtime.

    Natural weather has less impact on your own travels. Survival and/or Constitution checks made due to harsh natural weather are made with advantage.

    Traits, Ideals, Bonds, Flaws: At this time use the Sage, Outlander, or Folk Hero for inspiration.

    Messenger Design Goals

    Starting with the idea that greyhounds would be perfect canine versions of messenger pigeons, this background just kept growing and growing in its scope. Eventually I spun out the Far Talker as a similar but different role in the world.

    One of the difficulties was coming up with the dual features. I wanted cover the US Postal Service’s unofficial motto which actually dates back to 500-449 B.C.E.

    Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of
    their appointed rounds.

    Emulating those words was vital, but needed to not be game breaking.

    The non-magically empowered companion couldn’t be built out of Find Familiar, which was considered. My world’s bonded companions are meant to be non-magical. While the phrasing of the ability is a bit long, it’s mostly an ability that adds flavor. The messenger companion is not going to change a D&D party’s combat power.

    Other Custom Backgrounds

  • Far Talkers – Converse over miles with this D&D Background

    Far Talkers – Converse over miles with this D&D Background

    As a horde of humans riding guard drakes crests the Blue Hills, the chappe telegraph operator builds the signal that will reach the Larton Keep now that war has returned to the range. Using whistles, a youngster tells the village miles away that four sheep are lost so they’ll be home late, could his family please have tea ready for when they return.

    A thrumming beat injects itself into the air as an owlbear stalks a deer. Knowing the bear is nearing a sacred vale a group of druids and rangers work to separate hunter and prey, for there will be no killing in Frannet’s vale.

    The drawing is signed “Keith Thomas” in lower right corner – Retrieved June 11, 2014 from Radio News magazine, Ziff-Davis Publishing Co., Inc., New York, Vol. 32, No. 5, November 1944, p. 71 archived on http://www.americanradiohistory.com/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39352497

    Sure, a spell caster might be able to use Message, or two people may have Sending Stone for magical cell phones. But, the Far Talkers converse over a distance of miles, not feet. They speak with many, not one, signaling a warning or just chattering about the weather. Far Talkers and Messengers help societies that stretch over leagues communicate and maintain a culture.

    Far Talker

    You have the ability to converse over miles, sending messages for a government, faction, or some other organization. In war societies seek your aid to help units communicate. In peace you and other Far Talkers help connect towns and cities, or just keep two distant wizard towers in touch.

    Familiar with how the weather impacts your mode of speech you have learned the winds and rains of many lands. Expected to see or hear things at a great distance your senses are strong. You may be an expert at the drums, but you have heard of others who use whistles, tree beating, smoke, flags, or other instruments. No matter what tool is used your messages are simultaneously public and semi-secret.

    Skill Proficiencies: Perception, Nature
    Tool Proficiencies: One musical instrument
    Languages: One additional, plus the ability to Far Talk in Intelligence bonus languages (minimum 1)
    Equipment: A symbol of service to a government or large church, a gaming set, a spyglass or musical instrument, traveler’s clothes, a notebook with notation for your type of far talk, 1 day rations, pouch with 2 gold

    Feature: Far Talking

    Using your chosen tool you can communicate over a distance of 6 miles when outdoors, and twice normal speaking distance when indoors, in a number of languages equal to your Intelligence bonus (minimum 1). Extreme weather may make those long-distance conversations more difficult.

    When you meet another practitioner of the Far Talking arts they are always one step friendlier than their companions or social situation would indicate. For example if two scout groups from warring nations met their far talkers would be indifferent while everyone else was hostile. This is true even when the far talkers in question use different languages and tools to talk.

    Learning Far Talking

    A character without the background can learn Far Talking per the rules to learn a new language. They would then learn one method of Far Talking for a single language.

    Some groups of druids, rangers, and their allies might spend time learning Druidic spoken via Whistle Cant. A fleet of pirates could all know Yodeling. Have fun with this.

    Types of Far Talkers

    Roll on the table below or pick your favorite

    1. Whistle Cant
    2. Talking Drums
    3. Smoke Signals
    4. Signal Flags
    5. Tree Drumming
    6. Yodeling/Throat Singing
    7. Bugle
    8. Optical Telegraph

    As always, seek ways that cantrips would enhance these. Those that rely on sound would be amplified by Minor Illusion, Thaumaturgy, and can you imagine Thunder Clap sent through a massive bugle-like device. Those that need light can be made more useful by Prestidigitation, Dancing Lights, Light, and Minor Illusion. A world of magic would have Far Talkers that can speak across many miles.

    Personality: Use the Soldier or Folk Hero personality traits for now. When the Background project is done each new Background will have traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws that are unique to the Background.

    Design Goals

    The Far Talker started out from two different ideas — I wanted to create Whistle Cant as a kind of alt-Druidic and my desire for the Messenger Background. The Messenger became two different Backgrounds. That Messenger will focus on the people who deliver physical messages by walking, running, riding, etc. The Far Talker is the other version. Rather than become Druidic, Whistle Cant became a type of Far Talking, and one of several examples of alt-languages that a Far Talker might specialize in.

    Custom Backgrounds for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons

  • Bladesingers and Eldritch Knights should have Smite and Strike spells

    Bladesingers and Eldritch Knights should have Smite and Strike spells

    Using Green-Flame Blade, Booming Blade, and Lightning Lure gives these two subclasses much of the feel they need. Both invoke a feeling of characters who use their weapons while slinging spells. So does the Hexblade, the Battle Smith, some Paladins, and some Rangers.

    Unlike when the Hexblade and Battle Smith were added to the game, the Bladesinger and Eldritch Knight didn’t get access to spells like Thunderous Smite or Zephyr Strike or Ensnaring Strike. The Smites all fit the two narratives. The Strikes are just the two previously listed and Steel Wind Strike.

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    A Dungeon Master that adds these ten spells for their players helps that player play a character who fits the mold as a weapon-caster. Giving a PC a few moments a day, because they take spell slots, when that character emphasizes the vibe of the fiction that inspires their character is great. They aren’t stepping on the toes of the Paladin (who has the Smite feature still) or the Ranger (because Favored Foe and Hunter’s Mark are their combat signatures).

    Ten spells and your players will be more like the character they want to be, without the need to be a Hexblade sworn to a odd mystical sword, a Paladin sworn to a cause, or a Ranger protecting civilization from the Wildes.

  • The Hunter should be among your D&D Backgrounds

    The Hunter should be among your D&D Backgrounds

    Myth, legend and story energize Dungeons & Dragons. The game, especially in its 5th edition circles back and amplifies itself. So many of the tales which helped create the game are those of the zero who becomes a hero. A small town X becomes greater than life, saving kingdoms and worlds.

    These zeroes have so many professions. In 5th edition these preheroic roles are captured in Backgrounds. The game does a decent job of offering several. But some are missing — like the Hunter. A Hunter may be chasing a stag and stumble upon a sleeping woman. Or they set traps for furs, travelling to the city later.

    Currently you could use an Outlander or a Folk Hero. But you aren’t a hero yet. That’s going to happen at the table. The Outlander ignores many of the stories of a hunter who is part of the community from which the tale starts. That’s why you need a Hunter. So here it is.

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    Hunter

    Whether for your lone homestead or for a large city you hunt for your people’s food. You may do this with a bow, or a sling, or traps. You do this swiftly and effectively, honoring the prey for what they provide your family, friends, and neighbors. You may be a pseudo-noble authorized to hunt on the Queen’s lands or a trapper out in the wilds.

    Some hunters are expert trackers, others can stalk their prey for miles, while others still use snares. A hunter may focus on specific beasts, or not. No matter their preferred protein when they are on the trail they are completely dedicated to success.

    Skill Proficiencies: Survival, Stealth
    Tool Proficiencies: Leatherworker’s or Woodcarver’s Tools
    Languages: None
    Equipment: A non-magical ranged (w/ 10 pieces of ammunition) or 3 thrown weapons or 2 hunting traps, traveler’s clothes, waterskin, knife, whetstone

    Feature: Provider

    During a long rest you are able to find enough food for yourself and your proficiency bonus number of people for a day. You can do so and still gain the benefits of a rest, but still must sleep or trance as appropriate to your race or lineage. Additionally, you have twice your proficiency bonus for your Stealth or Survival skill gained from this Background when in natural surroundings. This bonus does not stack with Expertise or similar rules at any time.

    You are not proficient with the weapons that are starting equipment.

    For personality use the Folk Hero or Outlander, for now. When the Before We Were Heroes project is available for purchase every Background will have their own traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws.

    The Hunter can also be played as a Trapper without any changes beyond the name. Just choose the hunting traps for your equipment.

    Hunter Design Goals

    As usual this design started with the massive hole in the Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook not having many mundane backgrounds and trying to shoehorn them into the Folk Hero. But being a hero is what playing the game is about, not the story in your past.

    With the Hunter I wanted to explore a way to grant Expertise, under a different name, to any character at 1st level. But, this is as pricey as the cantrip granted by the Drudge. There must be a cost. That cost isn’t just dropping a single skill, but dropping a skill and one language/tool/etc. That didn’t seem to be enough though. So, the rule is that a Hunter must choose one of two skills and cannot have the other at 1st level. Our mundane hunter is either good at tracking/trapping or good at sneaking — not both.

    The inspiration has to start with Artemis, Orion, and the Huntsman. But there are more, so many more. Missing this trope is glaring. Crockett, Boone, Ishi, and others can guide you to your own character.

    Other Custom Backgrounds

    

  • Add the Herbalist Background to your 5th edition D&D games

    Add the Herbalist Background to your 5th edition D&D games

    Picking herbs from a backyard garden, a hot house, or a forest outside of town the herbalist collects natural items that aid and harm. An herbalist can heal, poison, invigorate. They know the powers of plants and fungi to change how humanoids and beasts experience the world.

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    Herbalist

    You are a naturalist. You use the art and science of foods and other natural goods to change the way people experience the world. Maybe your favorite tisane helps awaken the weary, or heal the hurt, or cure a disease, or puts people to sleep. A poultice could stop blood flow, or cool the overheating.

    There’s power in the natural world and your various recipes. Clerics count on gods. Druids channel the magic of nature. An herbalist knows that life interacts with itself in interesting ways. There’s a magic to that, it’s just not ‘magic.’

    Skill Proficiencies: Nature, Survival
    Tool Proficiencies: Herbalist Kit
    Languages: Druidic
    Equipment: Sickle, 2 candles, Scroll case with 5 pieces parchment or a notebook, common clothes, component pouch, herbalism kit, 2 vials (1 w/ either antitoxin or healing potion)

    Feature: A Dash of This; a Dollop of That

    Using a short rest, you can always find the various fungus, plants, and whatnot needed to make antitoxin, healing potions, poison, or coffee-like substances. Your recipes manifest as salves, poultices, potions, pills, or any other way to deliver the ingredients. Any of your recipes take just a Bonus Action to use as they are more potent than typical.

    The personality traits, ideals, bonds of flaws of the Acolyte, Folk Hero, Hermit, Outlander, and Sage all make sense to borrow from during the playtest of this Background. When published all Backgrounds will have unique character traits.

    Herbalist Design Goals

    Again, this design exists because the Guild Artisan puts most Backgrounds that are related to Tools into a Guild. That’s fine for some stories, but it ignores so many others.

    A rural or farm community Herbalist is common in the lore upon which D&D is based. These can become Druids, Rangers, Clerics, Sorcerers, Wizards, and Warlocks most commonly. There’s also a fit with certain Barbarians, Monks, and Paladins. Frankly, a Rogue (Assassin) and Paladin (Devotion, Ancients), and even a Fighter (Eldritch Knight). Because frankly every background should have a story with every core class.

    There was also a desire to have access to Druidic, my least favorite D&D language, at a Background level. A couple Backgrounds grant access to Thieves Cant, and it makes sense to have at least one grant Druidic. Shortly, there will be a post about a new take on Druidic that expands it to cover at least one more class and a couple more Backgrounds soon.

    Nynaeve al’Meara from the Wheel of Time is a foundational character for this Background.

    Custom Backgrounds for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons