6 Page Grimoires (Printable)

Download, print, fold, hand to new player, play.

Some design notes:

• Inspired by: 5e's clunky ass magic system (out of spite); various zines ; Into the Breach, somehow
  
• I """"balanced"""" these for a hypothetical all-wizard-no-spell-slots 5e game that will never happen. A more refined game/hack would help these books shine, but I haven't figured out what that would be yet
• in the theoretical grimoirehack, all players would play wizards, each dungeon would have a new grimoire for treasure, and each player would have some kind of... rubber stamp? yeah, a stamp (unique wizard seal) for marking which pages of which grimoires they've learned. i think that's fun
• yes, you can learn from more than one grimoire (wizard multiclassing). There's some obvious cross-grimoire synergies in these 6
• i wanted to make a randomizer that scrambles the grimoire pages and makes a printout, but i got lazy
  
• This is technically a GLOGtober post, except its for my own prompt (Physical Game Pieces) so it doesn't count IM GOING TO FAIL AGAI

WΔRRIOR

Vagabond

A long time ago, Sahh asked me to do another WΔRLOCK-type post. This is that.

I've already written a 5e Fighter rework, but I don't think it really holds up. Use this instead.

* * * * *

You become a Fighter by fighting a Fighter. (The Fight is infectious, in that way.)

When you defeat a Fighter, you learn one of their Techniques. (You need to see their Technique in action and figure out what it actually is, or you won't be able to learn it.)

This is the only way to become a Fighter.

 

Your Fighter level is the number of Techniques you know.

At Level 1, you recognize other Fighters on sight, and they recognize you. Fighters rarely get along, for obvious reasons.

Once per session, when you meet or initiate combat with an NPC, you may declare that they are a Fighter, then laugh and laugh as the GM scrambles to assign Techniques to them. (This will, obviously, make combat with them a lot harder.)

At Level 3, you can tell, at a glance, if a creature is your superior, equal, or inferior in any combat-relevant statistic. This includes (but is not limited to) current and maximum HP, level, # of Techniques known, and # of weapons on their person.

At Levels 6, 10, 15, and 21, you can attack an additional time per turn.

 

You can invent new Techniques by combining ones you already know. This takes resources (a dedicated dojo space, ancient martial texts, and/or a community of other Fighters) and time (one session playing as a different character).

If you've learned the same Technique twice, you can combine it with itself to get an exaggerated version of that Technique. 

Either way, this will attract prospective disciples and enemy Fighters.

(Optional) If a Fighter defeats you and allows you to live, you may begin developing a Technique to counter their own. If you do, you will definitely cross paths with them again, when both of you are stronger.

* * * * *

ΔRTS OF WΔR

If you try to use a Technique you've learned without internalizing it, you're likely to push your limits and hurt yourself (Save vs. 1d6, or more if it's especially dangerous). You internalize a Technique through meditation, achieving physical perfection, and esoterick training methods. Think of them as side-quests.

Anyone can learn and use these Techniques without becoming a Fighter. It's just that the only people who can teach Techniques are Fighters, and they are rarely keen on sharing.

Δ: Archer Eyes
Train with a ranger lord for a session; or, Somehow acquire cooler eyes.
Spend 1/2/3 turns locking on to guarantee your next attack from across a room/a clearing/a battlefield.

Δ: Dueling Stance
Train with an etiquette coach for a session; or, Marry royalty of any stripe.
You deal +2 damage when fighting with one hand behind your back.

Δ: Great Weapon Fighting
Train with a monster hunter for a session; or, Cook and eat something Huge or larger.
Reroll 1s and 2s when attacking or dealing damage with two-handed weapons. 

Δ: Perfect Defense
Train with a berserker-knight for a session; or, Become locked inside a suit of armor, forever.
You have +1 AC. You have an additional +1 AC while upholding an extremely inconvenient oath.

Δ: Protector's Oath
Train with a martyr for a session; or, Die for someone else, and come back.
Once per round, you can take an attack for someone in arm's reach. (It ignores your AC.) If they were an enemy, they remake their reaction roll with an additional +2.

Δ: Two Swords Style
Train with a swordwife for a session; or, Get legally married to two or more swords.
You deal +1 damage for each sword you are currently holding.

[To "train for a session," play another character for at least one session. The Fighter returns to the game a soon as is feasible in-fiction.]

Karate Baka Isekai

Δ: Action Surge
Knock yourself unconscious three times by pushing your limits.
Once per day, you can act twice in combat.

Δ: Indomitable
Wear the severed head of a tyrant or slaver on your waist.
You can take 1d6 damage to make a failed Save.

Δ: Second Wind
Travel three days and three nights without rest, carrying another on your back.
Once per day, you can purge yourself of all fatigue and one condition.

Δ: Improved Critical
Crit the same target three separate times.
Your critical hit range is 19-20.

Δ: Superior Critical
Crit the same target seven separate times.
Your critical hit range is 18-20. When you crit another Fighter, you may learn one of their Techniques. (You still need to figure out their Technique before you learn it.)

Δ: Brutal Critical
Deal 40+ damage in a single strike.
When you crit a target, disable OR copy one of their abilities for the next hour (i.e. injure a dragon's wing or fly via sheer willpower).

Δ: Unarmored Defense
Survive 40+ damage from a single strike.
Treat your exposed abs as plate armor.

Δ: Remarkable Athlete
Win a shiny medal in a crowded arena.
You can climb as fast as you can run, jump twice as far and high, and hold your breath four times as long.

Δ: Survivor
Have a near-death experience.
You don't fall unconscious at 0 HP. (You still make Death Saves.)

Δ: Student of War
Watch a historic battle unfold from a tall vantage point.
You can spot 2 flaws in any battle plan. If you shout very loudly, dumb animals and nameless goons will follow your orders for a few seconds.

Δ: Combat Superiority
Defeat a fighting force 10 times larger than yours.
Dumb animals and nameless goons never, ever fuck with you.

Δ: Weapon Bond
Sleep in the wilderness with nothing but your weapons for a week. If you sleep with any creature comforts, start over.
You can't be disarmed of your weapons as long as you are conscious. They will leap a short distance into your hands, when called.

Δ: War Magic
Never wear armor. Instead, wear a tall, goofy hat that screams "I'm a wizard!"
Whenever you cast a spell, you may attack as a bonus action.

Δ: Eldritch Strike
Eat or marry an intangible thing.
You cut through illusions and ghosts like paper.

Δ: Arcane Charge
Carry five curses from five different wizards.
You are immune to magic as long as you are charging in a straight line.

Δ: Deflect Missiles
Walk across a 100+ man battlefield without getting hit.
You can catch as many projectiles per round as you have free hands.

Δ: Born to the Saddle
Stay mounted for three days. Sleep in the saddle.
You can't be dismounted.

[this is about where I started getting bored of adapting the "canon" Fighter abilities. the completion thereof--as well as of the Monk/Ranger/Rogue/Paladin/Barbarian abilities--is left as an exercise to the reader]

Negimaki Kagyu

Δ: Nothing Personnel
Wear sunglasses, carry a cursed katana, and hold onto your virginity. If you've already lost it, get it back.
If no one is looking at you (even for a moment), you can disappear and reappear directly behind an enemy, unless it would be impossible for you to do so.

Δ: Scabbard Cut
Cut down a tree with a fish.
You can treat any sword-shaped object, from a scabbard to a toothpick, as if it were a medium sword.

Δ: Sword Step
Marry the wind; or, Walk across a warm lake without getting wet.
You can balance perfectly on an outstretched weapon or flying projectile, as if weightless.

Δ: Hawk's Gambit
Fall from the top of the tallest tower.
You deal +2 damage while fighting in midair (suspended from a wire is a-ok; standing on the ceiling is not).

Δ: Killing-Shadow
Kill your doppelganger; or Become a Creature of the Night.
The shadow of your sword can cut, if it is dark enough.

Δ: Gentle Cutting Storm
Swing a weapon straight through a loved one without hurting them.
You can take an extra turn of attacks. Don't roll damage for them until you sheathe your weapon dramatically (takes a full turn).

Δ: The Fletching Arts
Shoot through two monstrous eyes with a single shot.
You can ignore cover and curve projectiles around corners.

Δ: Like a Ghost
Let no one, not even yourself, remember your name.
When you kill someone, turn briefly invisible. 

One Punch Man

Δ: Exploding Point Excavating Burst
Level a small hill via explosive means.
You can cast Fireball centered on the tip of your finger.

Δ: Iron Cloth
Kill someone with a necktie.
You may treat cloth as steel.

Δ: World Tree Root Stance
Drink from a tree root deep underground.
You can't be moved against your will, even while dead or unconscious.

Δ: Dark Sky Trial
Acquire a 1' grip diameter, somehow.
You can fire a high, arcing arrow at everything in a 1000' radius as an action. This briefly blots out the sun.

Δ: Red Hot Fist
Set yourself on fire for an hour.
You can light a fire/burn thru wood/heat metal with 1/2/3 turns of rapid, continuous, noisy strikes.

Δ: Sword Swallowing
Eat a legendary sword.
You can hide weapons in your throat. While you do this, you can't talk, and your throat is impervious to slashing damage.

Δ: Extreme Equestrian
Learn the 6 dark secrets of horses.
With a 60' running start, your mounts can charge straight up a wall or do a wall-run. They may still struggle with stairs.

Δ: Tseren's Ear
Listen to the song of the elusive Col Do Ma Ma Daqua.
You can fight without sight, so long as you can hear.

Δ: Burial Chop
Literally push someone into Hell.
With a swift chop, you can bury someone in the ground up to their chest.

Δ: Healing Factor
Become best friends with a troll. (This is widely considered impossible.)
You may heal 1d6 HP/round. If you overheal, Save vs. mutation.

Δ: Turtle Power
Don't sweat it. Turns out, it's really easy.
You can suck each of your appendages into your torso, individually or all at once.

Δ: Swarchery
"Redefine archery," whatever that means.
You can shoot any size of weapon from a bow.

Δ: Hippo Wrestling
Bite thru an iron bar.
Your teeth count as a heavy weapon.

Δ: Qi Arts
Varies.
You can cast a spell. (This Technique is an umbrella term for Fighters that are just Wizards.)

(Add fantasy martial arts to taste.)

Yakuza Reincarnation

P.S. none of these are manga recommendations. They're just pictures with good vibes.

P.P.S. DO read Ranma 1/2 tho
and send me more pictures with good vibes

WΔRLOCK

"this is but one of the roads a man can walk to lose his humanity"
someone pls remind me which blog im quoting rn
LUKE GEARING

You made are currently making a deal with a devil. You can trade pretty much anything for power: hit dice (and the associated HP), class abilities, significant memories, favors, artifacts, the lives of loved ones, etc. You get that much Debt in return.

This is the only way to become a Warlock.

As a Warlock, you have access to Pact Magic (per RAW). Your known cantrips and spells, spell slots and slot levels are as if you had a number of Warlock levels determined by your Debt (see table). You don't gain any other features, proficiencies, or HD/HP.

Level	Debt
1	1
2	3
3	6
4	10
5	15
etc.	etc.

While in Debt to your Patron, you appear as their alignment to magical detection. When you die, your Patron will do whatever they want with your soul.

Make a sacrifice and roll d1000 under your Debt to ask special favors of your Patron.

INVOCΔTIONS

Your Patron's origin still expands your spell list (per RAW). All other Warlock class features—invocations, boons, mystic arcanum, patronage features—are unlocked thru loyal, if reluctant, service to your Patron. Think of them as side-quests.

Anyone can do these things, and receive the benefits just the same. Warlocks are just more likely to know what and how to do them.

Never Slaked, Always Seeking (The 5e Fighter)

"Not every member of the city watch, the village militia, or the queen’s army is a fighter. Most of these troops are relatively untrained soldiers with only the most basic combat knowledge. Veteran soldiers, military officers, trained bodyguards, dedicated knights, and similar figures are fighters."

Anyone who loves the Fight is a Fighter. Others know the Fight, or think they do, acknowledge it begrudgingly, but they do not love it like you do. The Fight does not hang on their shoulders, does not follow them to bed and kiss them gently awake in the morning.

(And the Fight does not love them either, it couldn't, not as much as it loves you. It knows you get so jealous, after all.)

They don't get class levels. You do.

One Easy Trick to Make Your Fighter Last All Night!

At level 1, you can spend Hit Dice as a bonus action without short rest-ing; roll to heal result+CON.

Other classes run out of Hit Dice. Fighters do not. Fighters always have more hitting to do. Once per day, you can use your Second Wind to get all your Hit Dice back.

[Digression 1: The fighter resource loop is a straight line. Fighters go all day, no peaks, no valleys. It's what separates them from 10-ish casters and half-casters. Barbarians run out of Rage. Monks run out of Ki. Fighters keep on trucking.]

At level 3, you get Combat Superiority, EXCEPT you spend your Hit Dice instead of superiority dice for Maneuvers; d10s, or a mix if you multiclass. You start with 2 of the following Maneuvers, in addition to the spend-HD-for-HP move from level 1:

• Disarm. When you hit, spend any number of HD to force the enemy to drop an object held with that many hands.
• Execute: When you hit, spend any number of HD to deal [sum] bonus damage.
• Feint. As a bonus action, spend 1 HD to gain advantage on your next attack against a nearby enemy.
  
• Lunge. As a bonus action, spend 1 HD to increase your reach by 5 feet.
• Parry. As a reaction, spend any number of HD to reduce incoming damage by [sum].
• Protect. As a reaction, spend any number of HD to reduce incoming damage for an ally within reach by [sum].
• Riposte. As a reaction, spend 1 HD to attack back when an enemy misses you with an attack.
• Shove. When you hit, spend any number of HD to push the enemy 15 feet away from you if they are that many sizes larger than you.
  
• Sweep. When you hit, spend any number of HD to deal [sum] damage to that many other enemies next to the target.
  
• Trip. When you hit, spend any number of HD to knock the enemy prone if they are less than that many sizes larger than you.

[Digression 2: If I could strip Hit Dice out of 5e and replace it with my feasting rules, I would. That said, they're much more fun if you can spend them shoryuken-ing the big bad.]

You can learn more Maneuvers from wandering martial artists, legendary swordsmen, etc. by training with them for 1 session. (Play a different character during this session.)

You also choose a School of Battle. This replaces your Martial Archetype, gives you additional features at 7, 10, 15, and 18, and expands your selection of Maneuvers.

Your School of Battle gives you an Impetus--your love language for combat. You regain Hit Dice by accomplishing the task specified by your Impetus. You'll see what I mean in a second.

Also, you get Know Your Enemy at or before level 3. Level 1 is probably fine.

School of Battle: Champion

The Fight is a competition, and you are nothing if not a competitor. Peerless on the track and in the arena, you turned your gaze above what mortal contests have to offer. Others see your potential, see what you can become; you are eager to live up to their expectations.

Impetus: Excellence. When you crit on an attack, refresh 2 HD.

[3] You crit on attacks twice as often. 

[7] You jump twice as far, swim twice as fast, and hold your breath twice as long.

[10] You choose an additional Fighting Style.

[15] You crit on attacks thrice as often.

[18] Once, instead of dying in combat, you may become a demigod with 100 HP. (Ignore age and disease to your liking. A minor cult worships you now.)

Champion Maneuvers:

• Challenge. When you hit, spend 1 HD to give the enemy disadvantage when attacking anyone but you until the end of your next turn.
• Decimate. When you defeat an enemy, spend 1 HD to attack again.
• Excel. As a reaction, spend 2 HD to pass a saving throw.
• Immortalize. When you defeat a significant enemy, spend 1 HD to immortalize whichever weapon (or unarmed appendage) dealt the killing blow. It's a magic weapon with a minor enchantment of your DM's choosing (perhaps rolled on their table of choice).

School of Battle: Eldritch Knight

The Fight is an ongoing experiment, and you are a tireless researcher. The greatest magicks are fueled by sacrifice; thus, you reason, proximity to violence will catalyze your sorcerous discoveries. You are certainly not mad; this is simply the scientific method at work.

Impetus: Hubris. When you cast a non-cantrip spell, refresh 1 HD.

[3] You ignore all class, race, and level requirements on the use of magic items.

[7] When you cast a spell, you may make a weapon attack as a bonus action.

[10] When you hit with a weapon attack, the target has disadvantage on saving throws against spells you cast before the end of your next turn.

[15] When you use your action surge or second wind, you may teleport up to 30 feet.

[18] When you cast a spell, you may cast it again as a bonus action.

Eldritch Knight Maneuvers:

• Confiscate. When you hit, spend any number of HD to Concentrate on a random spell of that level your target knows. Until you lose Concentration, they cannot cast that spell and you can cast that spell once.
• Ken. As a bonus action, spend any number of HD to Concentrate on a random spell of that level you have previously cast. Until you lose Concentration, you can cast that spell once.
• Plagiarize. As a reaction, spend 1 HD to Concentrate on a spell as someone else casts it. Until you lose Concentration, you can cast that spell once.
• Pry. As a bonus action, spend 1 HD to see every spell known by anyone who looks you in the eyes.

School of Battle: Martial Artist

The Fight is universal truth, and you are a devoted ascetic. You see yourself as you are; an especially sharp stone cutting through a world designed for combat. Your commandment is singular: Reach Heaven Through Violence.

Impetus: Balance. When you lose Concentration, refresh 1 HD.

[3] Your unarmed damage die is d4. Add your proficiency modifier to Concentration saving throws.

[7] Your unarmed damage die is d6. Your hands and feet are magic weapons.

[10] Your unarmed damage die is d8. You can Concentrate on 2 things at once.

[15] Your unarmed damage die is d10. Your hands and feet are invulnerable and indestructible.

[18] Your unarmed damage die is d12. You can Concentrate on everything, everywhere, all at once.

Martial Artist Maneuvers:

• One Mind Parts the Veil. As a bonus action, spend 1 HD to Concentrate. As long as you Concentrate, you may pass a Wisdom, Intelligence, or Charisma saving throw as a reaction.
• Twelve Eyes Find the Path. As a bonus action, spend 1/2/3 HD to Concentrate. As long as you Concentrate, you provoke no opportunity attacks. If you spent 2 HD, you can walk on walls. If you spent 3 HD, you can walk on water.
• Hundred Hands Turn the Rain. As a bonus action, spend 2 HD to Concentrate. As long as you Concentrate, you may deflect any projectile within reach as a reaction.
• Thousand Fists Break the Earth: As a bonus action, spend any number of HD to Concentrate. As long as you Concentrate, you may make that many unarmed attacks as an action.
  

School of Battle: Warlord

The Fight is your family, and you are a doting parent. You couldn't have been more proud watching your kids decimate their first hobgoblin battalion. It warms your heart when everyone gets together for a group interrogation. That's family: can't live with 'em, can't kill without 'em.

Impetus: Leadership. Once per turn, when an ally attacks on your turn, refresh 1 HD.

[3] Your allies have +20 movement speed on your turn.

[7] You may take an additional reaction between your turns.

[10] As a bonus action, you can shout at an ally to remove the frightened, charmed, or dazed conditions.

[15] Your allies have resistance to all damage types on your turn.

[18] If an ally would die, you may sacrifice yourself to restore them to 100 HP instead.

Warlord Maneuvers:

• Aim For The Eyes! When you hit, spend 1 HD. The next attack against the target by someone other than you has advantage.
• Get Over There! When you hit, spend 1 HD and an ally's reaction to let them move without provoking opportunity attacks from the target.
• Strike Them Down! When you attack, spend 1 HD and an ally's reaction to let them attack instead.
• Take Heart! As a bonus action, spend any number of HD to give that many allies temp HP equal to [sum] + your Charisma modifier.

School of Battle: Wrangler

Impetus: Arrogance. At the end of your turn, if you are wrangling (i.e. grappling, climbing, or riding) a creature larger than yourself, refresh 1 HD.

[3] You have advantage on attacks if you have the high ground.

[7] When you wrangle an unwilling creature, you choose whether they contest you with Athletics or Acrobatics.

[10] If you wrangle an unwilling, non-sentient creature for 3 consecutive turns, you control it entirely until you dismount.

[15] You can't be hurt by anything you are wrangling.

[18] You have all special abilities of anything you are wrangling.

• Break Their Spirit. When you hit, spend 1 HD to make the target frightened of you until the end of your next turn.
• From The Skies. When you take damage from falling, if you landed on a creature, spend 2 HD to deal that much damage to them instead.
• Hit The Deck. As a reaction, spend 2 HD to pass a Dexterity saving throw and/or move up to 10 ft.
  
• Yip Yip! As a bonus action, spend 1/2/3 HD and the reaction of a creature you are wrangling to move both of you 10/20/30 feet.

School of Battle: Magical Girl

Impetus: Applause. When you spend your entire turn posing, shouting, and/or transforming, refresh 2 HD.

[3] You soul-bond with a weapon. It's a magic weapon with a minor enchantment of your DM's choosing (or rolling). You can transform any weapon of the same type into this weapon; they transform back if they leave your possession.

[7] As an action, you may begin (or continue) transforming. While transforming, you can't move or attack, you are immovable, invulnerable, and indestructible, and you can stack temporary hit points from multiple sources. At the start of your next turn, triple your temporary hit points.

[10] You have a 30 ft flying speed while you have temporary HP.

[15] You may spend actions, bonus actions, and movement you didn't use during your last turn.

[18] Once, by gathering the simultaneous attention and devoted worship of 125.8 million sentient creatures, you may deal 9 billion damage to everything within a 1-mile radius of a point you can see.

Magical Girl Maneuvers:

• Beautiful Butterfly Beam! When you hit, spend any number of HD to deal the same damage to that many additional targets in a line in front of and behind your target.
• Glittering Gamma Ray Guard! As a reaction, spend any number of HD to gain [sum] temporary HP and resistance to your choice of damage type this turn.
• Pretty Penguin Power Up! As an action, spend 3 HD to deal double damage during your next turn.
  
• Shining Scepter Strike! When you hit, spend any number of HD to deal [sum] + your Charisma modifier more damage.
  

Secret Techniques

These maneuvers aren't core to any Schools of Battle, and can only be learned from eccentric martial artists with drinking problems:

• Fletcher's Gambit. When you attack from range, spend 2 HD to attack invisible targets, targets behind walls, etc. with no penalty. The projectile will even curve around corners.
  
• Like a Ghost. As a bonus action, spend 5 HD to become invisible. If a Void Monk sees you do this, they'll put a hit out on you.
• Roots of the World Tree. As a bonus action, spend 1 HD and plant your feet to become absolutely immovable.
• Dark Sky Ritual. As an action, spend any number of HD to make a single ranged attack against twice that many targets. Roll damage separately.
• Vigil. Spend 1 HD to make an opportunity attack without spending a reaction.
• Iron Cloth. Spend 1 HD to treat cloth as steel. OR Spend 8 HD to treat steel as cloth.
• Exploding Point Excavating Burst. Spend 6 HD to cast Fireball centered on the tip of your finger.
• Piledriver. Spend any number of HD to deal [sum] damage to a grappled creature.
• Santoryu. Spend 3+ HD to wield that many swords without penalty.
• Half-Sword. Spend 1 HD to deal bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage instead of another type.
  
• Shadow Boxing. Spend 1 HD to treat a creature's shadow as that creature.
• Kame... Hame... Spend any number of HD to Concentrate. At the start of your next turn, if you didn't lose Concentration, deal that much damage in a line.
• The World. Spend 12 HD to take another turn.
• Ki Rata. Spend any number of HD to multiply the damage of your next unarmed attack by that much.
  

The Homebrew Honeypot

Elden Ring babyyyyyyihaventplayedit

(Disclaimer: I just want to play with my dudes, and they all know 5e, so that's what we're playing.)

So you want to homebrew 5e. There's 2 basic ways to do it:

Ignoring rules is easy; just ignore the rules for item weight, rations, encumbrance, exhaustion, hit dice, ammunition, etc. etc. I ask my players to ignore unconsciousness at 0 HP and it works out fairly well. Even the RAWest of RAW groups do this all the time, and most tables won't bat an eye.

Adding rules is harder; everyone needs to buy in, and then everyone needs to remember the new shit. 5e has quite a few rules already, the mental burden of which is spread thin between players and DMs. Getting folks to remember whole new subsystems at the start of a campaign is daunting.

The approach I'm taking for my new project (a Soulsborne boss rush, get @ me lichesgetstitches) is to sprinkle NPCs and items around the map that add homebrew to the game, piecemeal. Introducing them one at a time, as well as tying them to concrete items and NPCs, will hopefully improve long-term retention for the new subsystems. Essentially, "tricking" my players into playtesting my homebrew.

[note: this doesn't work with "nerfs"; you need to start the campaign with those in mind]

Some ideas:

• The furtive ruin-runner teaches the party to dodgeroll (use your reaction to move up to your base movement speed - 20ft). This doesn't replace AC-based combat, but it adds an additional defense to heavy area of effect attacks. The added versatility comes at the expense of a limited resource.
• Pretty much any NPC can teach a combat technique to the party and introduce another layer to 5e combat. You can use this for shields will be splintered, among other things.
• The scarred veteran teaches the party to lean in (use your reaction when attacked; set your AC to 0 until your turn to attack back immediately). Additionally, if the sum of your attack exceeds theirs, you may parry.
• A surefire way to get a mechanic to stick in a party's mind is to make it a primary tactic of one of the monsters. I want more modules to pull that trick, the "oh, now I get to do the thing!" It's fun.
  
• Drink the immortal water in the empty palace. You don't fall unconscious at 0 HP.
• Alternatively, you can "spend" a death saving throw (doesn't recover until combat ends) to remain at 1 HP and not go to 0.
  

[I hope you see the theme here; pretty much all the combat-related abilities are traps that let me ramp up the lethality of my boss monsters.]

• The Socketer's tools, bestowed by (or stolen from) the grumpy blacksmith. Unlocks socketing and re-socketing of item enchantments, allowing for fun mix-and-matching between boss rush attempts (as well as silly stuff like horned helmets that deal +2d6 fire damage on hit).
• Metamorphose Seeds: Eat one to replace any of your RAW class abilities with a random one. Just let the party take as many as they want. (One weird pill doctors won't tell you about! Smuggling GLOG templates into 5e has never been easier!)

Oh, btw: if you allow long rests all the time (wherever there is a bonfire), you won't have to waste your time modding the short rest system. Yes, the adventuring day is broken and no one knows how to design around it. My philosophy for 5e is this: only 1 combat per rest, so make it a good one.

Die On Your Feet

benoit godde

New Houserule: When you drop to 0 HP, you don’t fall unconscious. When you die, you do so on your feet.

Advantages:

• Mitigates the death spiral; players don’t lose action economy until they start actually dying.

• Mitigates the feelsbad of overtuned encounters by presenting an obvious opportunity to retreat. (In my experience, players refuse to retreat so long as they have HP left in the tank; “the next hit will kill you” should be an effective incentive to ditch combat.)

• Mitigates “healbot whack-a-mole,” further reducing the need for a dedicated healer in the party.

• Prevents situations where one player is stuck rolling death saves and nothing else for multiple rounds.

• Allows players to act throughout the encounter, instead of KOing them right before the encounter’s climax.

• Allows players to risk their lives heroically.

• Allows players to risk their lives stupidly.

This rule isn’t about adding lethality or realism to the game. 5e isn’t a game about lethal risks; HP and death saves are purposefully forgiving gameplay systems. Subverting that design decision is a losing battle.

Instead, my intention is to give players the OPTION to kill their character dramatically where the rules-as-written won’t let them do so. If it happens to raise lethality, it’s the self-selecting type; players who want to die will die and players who want to live will live based on their decisions, not their rolls.

Also, bleeding to death unconscious is lame as fuck. Die like a warrior.

Epic Level Classes

theres like 1 million of these big-monster-human-facing-away paintings
william wu

Inspired by this.

The higher your level, the less you should need to read the rules. This isn’t just a result of familiarization; rather, achieving certain levels of in-game power should trivialize the rules themselves.

If you know how to teleport, you don’t need to use the overland travel rules.

If you can breathe underwater, you don’t need to know how long you can hold your breath.
If you are fabulously wealthy, you don’t need to read mundane price tables.

With this in mind, here’s some epic level classes. You can start a campaign from these OR replace your existing class abilities piece by piece as you level up to 20. Feel free to make your own adjustments.

Here’s an Epic Wizard.

Most spells are as trivial to you as parlor tricks; treat them as cantrips.
You know three spells of great import. You may cast each once per day.

You know too many recipes, rituals, and sacred canticles to enumerate. You can always answer the following questions, as well as any number of useless riddles:

• How do we summon this magic entity?
• How do we prepare this magic recipe?
• Where can we find the magic artifact?
• Who would know the answer to this other question I have?

You can best any wizard in magical conflict, unless they are also a master. Master wizards recognize each other on sight.

And here’s an Epic Rogue.

When you attack an enemy, answer the following questions:

• Are you hidden from sight?
• Are they relaxed/very distracted?
• Have you spent at least one day studying them closely?

If you answer yes to all three, they die. If you answer yes to only one or two, they half-die.

Ignore any obstacle that would prevent you from going where you please, including locked doors, moats, walls, handcuffs, forcefields, and being swallowed by a tarrasque. They can harm you, but they cannot stop you.

Choose three non-violent actions; these are your knacks. No matter what, you always succeed when performing your knacks.

If you wish, anyone who looks at you will underestimate you.

Aaaaaand an Epic Fighter.

Anyone who looks at you knows exactly how dangerous you are. This generally dissuades lesser foes from fucking with you.

When you attack a lesser foe, they are defeated instantaneously.
If you attack a battalion of lesser foes, half of them are defeated instantaneously.
If you strike a foe three times, and you give them a chance to rout or surrender between each strike, the third strike is invariably fatal.

Describe your nemesis in three words. You cannot be killed by anything except your nemesis. And poison. Poison always circumvents fate somehow.
If you would be killed by anything other than your nemesis, you instead gain a gruesome scar and are restored to fighting form.

Foolish, Fragile Humans

Lucas Graciano
"Man the mortal; master of horses..." what a crock

In RPGs where race/species is distinct from class, humans are sometimes given certain mechanical advantages, in order to balance them with respect to the more fantastical options available.


This is patently ridiculous.

- Elves are good at magic. That’s why human spell-books and prayers are written in elven.

- Dwarves are good at making stuff. That’s why human artifacts are dwarvencraft hand-me-downs.

- Orcs are good at fighting. That’s why most human wars are fought by orcish mercenaries.

Humans aren’t good at anything. We aren’t “good at endurance” or “versatile” or “plucky” or any of that horseshit. Humans are the weakest, shittiest fantasy race.

Let’s embrace that.

Human "Perks"

To clarify, we aren’t the MOST pathetic species to stand on two legs. We just don’t measure up to other fantasy races at all.

A large part of this is due to the fact that all of our unique strengths as a species (intelligence, language, social structure) are assumed to be the default for sentient fantasy races. If we took those traits away from elves or orcs, we wouldn’t recognize them as beings capable of interacting peacefully with human society.

That isn’t to say that being human is without upsides. Consider how most D&D campaigns take place in or adjacent to a mostly-human society; our home turf! The unique advantage of being human is that you are NOT another race—elf, dwarf, etc—in a cultural context where being “the other” can be dangerous.

This secret racial perk goes unexplored in most editions of D&D, perhaps because the casual ttrpg crowd doesn’t want to drag fantasy racism into their campaign. (Unless you choose to be a tiefling, half-orc, or similarly “dark” race.)

At the very least, it feels weird to write it out as a mechanical tradeoff: “okay, you can choose between darkvision and a cast-iron stomach, or immunity to racial discrimination”

So What?

If being human is an option in your games, don’t give them mechanical bonuses for being human. Use them for speedy character creation and nothing else.

If, as a player, you want a mechanical bonus for your species, then don’t be a human. (Their bonuses range from boring to min/max anyway. Might as well ignore them)

Better yet, no bonuses for race at all. Screw weapon proficiencies, darkvision, and the horse they rode in on; you’re just people on an adventure, some of whom happen to have bad accents. I feel like 5e is moving in this direction after Tasha’s (even if they wussed out of making it the default) and its a much more freeing space to play pretend in.

“But that’s unbalanced! Nobody will want to play as a human without incentive!”

Fine. Play an international coalition of fae pirates. Or assemble a gonzo fantasy Oceans 11. Or re-enact the Hobbit.

Or just play a human anyway, because you want to.

Everyone loves an underdog.

All The 5e House Rules You’re Already Using (And Some You Should Be)

ismail inceoglu

I wrote this post so I could beat my playgroup over the head with it.

Most of these houserules are pretty standard. You may already be using them.
Underlined rules are the wild ones. They aren’t for everyone.

STARTING THE GAME

At the beginning of the game, decide as a table whether to play with or without an inventory limit.

• Option 1 (default): You have no inventory limit, and can carry anything you could feasibly hoist on your back. The only downside is, if everyone else at the table agrees you’re carrying "a lot of stuff," you sink like a rock and can't move quietly to save your life.
• Option 2: You have a number of slots equal to your Strength score. You simply cannot carry more items than you have slots, end of story.
  

Regardless of which option you pick, NEVER add mundane ammunition, food, water, light sources, etc to your inventory. (If you want to run a campaign where scarcity of these resources is important, feel free to reintroduce them. By default, however, these are assumed to be on your person in quantities sufficient for expected use.)

During character creation and when leveling up, you can defer decisions about your character until later in the game. Here’s an incomplete list of deferrable character features:

• age/weight/height/other cosmetic factors
• subrace/draconic ancestry
• sex & gender
• alignment (alternatively, ignore alignment completely)
• background
• extra languages
• skill proficiencies
• ability score improvements
• feats
• spells/cantrips
• druid circle/wizard school/fighter archetype/etc.
• if you're really crazy: race/class/name
  
• pretty much anything in the PHB that says “of your choice” or “you choose”

Mark these on your character sheet with question marks. At any point in the game, you may make one of these decisions. For example, if you defer an extra language and stumble upon some ancient runes: “Truth be told, Abyssal was my elective back in knight school.”
You don’t gain the benefits of a given feature until the next rest if it takes you more than 10 seconds to consult the PHB and write it down. Keep the game moving.

Armor proficiencies are stupid. Ignore them.
Multiclassing prerequisites are stupid. Ignore them.
Ability score prerequisites for feats are stupid. Ignore them.

ALL players ALWAYS roll for a trinket at character creation. (it's the best piece of content in all the published 5e sourcebooks)

bani-chan

BASIC PLAY RULES

DICELESS ADVANTAGE:
If you have advantage from 2+ different sources, you automatically succeed.
If you have disadvantage from 2+ different sources, you automatically fail.
If you have advantage/disadvantage from 3+ different sources, you automatically crit.
Yes, this means you can guarantee a crit an AC30 demon with some grease and a lesser invisibility spell. Smart planning will always be rewarded appropriately.

There are 3 DCs: Easy (10), Hard (20), and Nearly Impossible (30). The DM should use these exact words when describing a task’s difficulty.
(For conversion’s sake, always round up: 5 -> 10, 15 -> 20, 25 -> 30)
The DM should reveal a task’s DC or a monster’s AC when asked explicitly by the players. None of this is secret information; PCs just have a better sense of how difficult something is in-universe than anyone at the table.

FOR GROUP CHECKS, ALWAYS USE A SINGLE ROLL
One person elected by the group rolls. No other PC can attempt the check afterwards.
If everyone needs to succeed, only the character with the lowest modifier rolls.
- Example: sneaking around undetected
If only one person needs to succeed, only the character with the highest modifier rolls.
- Example: perception, remembering historical trivia
If it makes no difference how many PCs attempt the roll and for how long, don’t call for a check in the first place.

Here’s are the rules for using ability checks in social interactions:

1. Don’t. Rolling the dice to determine success means the players have fucked up somehow and are leaving things up to fate. Neither the player nor the DM should WANT a social interaction to come to this, but sometimes all the good ideas in the world can’t help the bumbling adventurers.
2. Call for an ability check only if failure is meaningful; if the roll comes up short, the conversation is going to come to a screeching, unfavorable halt.
   (alternatively, there is something at risk; the vizier learns whatever secret the players are trying to keep from him, or decides to execute his captives effective immediately.)
   
3. Before rolling, players are told what the DC is and what the stakes are, as well as given a chance to walk whatever they said back. (You should do this for all ability checks, but especially for social encounters.)
4. If they succeed, they get what they want. If they fail, they lose what they risked. There is no opportunity to interject; the die is cast, and the conversational thread has been snipped with great prejudice.

THE GAME OCCURS IN TURNS
In combat, these are 6 second rounds.
In the dungeon, these are 10 minute crawls.
In settlement visits, these are 1 hour jaunts.
In overland exploration, these are 8 hour treks.
Each turn, each PC gets 1 action and some movement. The scale of action and movement changes depending on the turn’s scope.
For more information, read this post on turn structures.

UNLESS YOURE PLAYING ON A GRID, IGNORE ALL PRECISE MEASUREMENTS
5’ = “within reach”
10’-30’ = “in the same room”
30’-100’ = “within shouting distance”
100’+ = “visible from a distance”
If you’re 5’ short of reaching the lever on the other side of the room, you reach it anyway, because counting feet is for caterpillars.

The DM writes down your marching order. Unless you explicitly decide to change your marching order, this is it for the rest of the campaign.

artem demura

OH NO VIOLENCE

NPCs/monsters don’t roll initiative. Treat all NPCs as if they rolled a 10 on their initiative. Everyone can see the initiative order; again, this isn’t hidden information.
(Alternatively, fuck turn-based initiative, do it my way instead.)

A target with half cover has advantage on Dex saves, and attacks against it have disadvantage.
A target with 3/4 cover has half cover. 3/4 cover is a myth, a kid’s tale.

Moving through another creature’s space is NOT DIFFICULT TERRAIN (seriously, who wrote this?????)

Critical failures in combat are not opportunities for PCs to fuck up; they’re opportunities for monsters to be absolutely terrifying.
When you roll a 1 in combat, the nearest/scariest enemy takes advantage of it. The dragon frightens the player, no save. The orc gets a free attack. The goblin farts in your face, poisoning you.
This is upsetting, but infinitely less frustrating than dropping your axe for the 3rd time this session. Seriously, you should get a wrist strap for that thing.

When you drop to 0 HP, you aren’t unconscious, just unhelpful. You fall on the ground, unable to do anything but clutch your wounds and maybe scream.
If you attempt to do anything helpful while at 0 HP, including shouting advice or crawling to safety, you automatically fail one of your death saves. If you’re stable, you destabilize.

You don’t kill NPCs/monsters, you defeat them.
When you defeat an enemy, they are completely at your mercy; you can send them running witless into the hills, knock them off a cliff (no save), or slay them where they stand. By default, you knock them unconscious unless you describe otherwise.
You can immediately extend a helping hand to a defeated foe, restoring them to 1 HP. Maybe this brings combat to an end, or maybe you’ve doomed yourself by putting your faith in another. That’s up to you and your DM.

Hit Dice are stupid. Don’t use them.
There are two types of rest: short and long.
Short rest: Take an hour, have a snack, catch your breath. Regain up to half your max HP.
Long rest: Rest for a solid eight hours without interruption. Regain full HP.
Recuperating in downtime takes a week of rest. Remove all non-permanent, non-magical injuries, poisons, and diseases affecting you.

Optional: Feasting! You can spend a slot of high quality food per PC (if playing with inventory limits) to turn a short rest into a long rest. It's a feast, and everyone's invited! If a monster/NPC shows up (very likely, given the smell), you must invite them to join in peacefully or forfeit the benefits of the long rest.

EXTRAS

Any purchase that costs less than 1% of your total wealth is a trifling sum, and costs effectively nothing. This includes daily expenses, such as lifestyle and hireling costs.
Players who attempt to abuse this mechanic (for example, by buying 100 swords at 100 different shops) pay in full.

If this information ever becomes relevant in your campaign, just nuke it from fucking orbit.

Ignore all the rules for long jumps and high jumps. Ignore movement rules in general.
You can move around as much as you need to, unless:

• Your DM tells you its risky. They tell you the DC. You choose to take the risk (make a check, suffering consequences on a failure) or do something else.
• Your DM tells you it’s impossible. Not “near impossible”, impossible. You can’t do it, so you don’t try.

You can hold your breath for five minutes or until you get the wind knocked out of you. Make a death saving throw (+CON mod if your DM is nice) each round spent without air. You don’t drop to 0 HP and can still act while suffocating.

IF YOU CANT SEE, YOU CANT SEE
WHY DOES THIS TAKE SO MANY WORDS TO EXPRESS

THE ONE HOUSE RULE TO RULE THEM ALL

If you ever invoke the 5e Exhaustion rules, you lose the game of D&D. Everyone packs up and goes home.
If you absolutely must use exhaustion in your game, you’re exhausted instead. (disadvantage on everything, speed = 0) You don't die from exhaustion; something else comes along and kills you instead.

Five Level Fifth Edition (5L5E)

My primary D&D group plays 5e (*gasp!*) and yknow what the background is inside the PDF anyway.

Basically its 5e but with 5 levels instead of 20, with classes rewritten around some nebulous GLOG-y principles, for games with VERY fast character progression.