Too many races (+My Carcosa)

Races available in my next Carcosa (Dark Sun/Tékumel) campaign:

- Choose any race available in any 5e book. Try to avoid the most boring ones (no ordinary humans). If you find something cool in another system, we will find a way to include it too.
- Tell the GM the main distinction of your race: habits, culture, etc. Be brief. You do not have to stick to WotC text.
- Races chosen by players substitute one of the thirteen types of men described in the book.
- Races not chosen are whatever the GM feels like. Some suggestions:

Black – Danuvian (Talislanta)
Blue – Vedalken (Ravnica)
Bone – These look cool the way they are, actually.
Brown – Goliath
Dolm – Thri-Kreen (Dark Sun)
Green – Genasi
Jale – Gnolls
Orange – Ahazu (Talislanta)
Purple – Kenku
Red – Red Martians
Ulfire – Shén (Tekumel)
White – Melniboneans
Yellow – Githyanki

Voilá! Now Carcosa is full of bizarre races, each with a distinct appearance and culture, if you need one (just google it!).

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Explanation:

My current 5e campaign has four player characters: a gnoll, an aasimar, a goliath, and a tiefling. I play most old school modules and I'm currently running Curse of Strahd; so you can imagine that there is no place reserved for such races in most adventures. My players do not care much about their races beyond chargen, and as a result their races NEVER got mentioned again (except for the goliaths' size).

I don't care either - I want players to be free to create any characters they enjoy. However, it paints an irritating picture in my mind. They seems out of place - unlike my Dark Sun or Ravnica adventures, these "unusual races" just do not seem to fit (they would be a bad fit for "tolkienesque" settings too, but I hardly run those).

To be honest, Curse of Strahd should probably be human-only. Not onyl the PCs, but the NPCs add nothing by being half-elves etc (well, I can only remember a single case anyway).

My next campaign after CoD is probably a Carcosa hexcrawl, which gave me this idea.

As you know, Carcosa is inhabited by many types o men: orange men, blue men, bone men, etc. They are nearly identical expect for the colors of their skins, which many people find boring (although I think 13 different races with distinct appearances and cultures might be too much).

So I thought I'd inverted the usual "these races are available". Instead, let the players choose which races are available, and cut everything else. This will give the setting a distinct flavor and avoid race proliferation.

(And if you're asking yourself how many races should a setting have, the answer is probably seven).

Makes me wonder if it wouldn't be better to use the same reasoning for ALL settings...

Damage types (D&D 5e)

5e has thirteen damage types: acid, bludgeoning, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, piercing, poison, psychic, radiant, slashing, and thunder.

One could argue we don't need damage types at all - a monster that is susceptible to fire will obviously take more damage form a 5d6 fireball, so "5d6 fire damage" fireball is redundant.

The distinction is useful if you have a magic mace that deals, say, additional 1d6 fire damage, or a spell like meteor swarm, which deals bludgeoning AND fire damage. In this cases, a susceptible creature would take double damage form the fire, but NOT from the bludgeoning damage.

But even in these cases, I think I would ok with a less "realistic" and more "cinematic" version: the (fire-susceptible) scarecrow would be easily destroyed by a flaming sword, etc., despite the fact that a flaming sword would do a terrible job at destroying a scarecrow in real life.

In any case, I would like to keep damage types if only to make things clear and avoid questions such as "does the meteor swarm causes double damage to this monster?".

However, there are three damage types that bother me:

Bludgeoning. Blunt force attacks—hammers, falling, constriction, and the like—deal bludgeoning damage.

Force. Force is pure magical energy focused into a damaging form. Most effects that deal force damage are spells, including magic missile and spiritual weapon.

Thunder. A concussive burst of sound, such as the effect of the Thunderwave spell, deals thunder damage.

These three are so similar in my mind that they could all be described as "bludgeoning". I assume most people picture the impact of a magic missile to be akin to an invisible rock. Likewise, the impact of a "spiritual mace" would be the similar to a regular mace (even if stronger).

And "thunder" damage is specially weird. It deals "concussive" damage - like a mace, but more diffuse I'd guess - but this damage is caused by a burst of sound. Maybe the distinction would make  sense in real life, but in 5e thunder damage doesn't hurt your eardrums, and even a grenade does not cause thunder damage. In addition, people might find the thunder/lighting separation confusing (here is one example). "Sonic" damage might be a better choice.

As for monsters... there are not many monsters that are susceptible or resistant to bludgeoning or force. Some creatures are resistant to thunder damage, but most of these are ALSO resistant to bludgeoning for non-magical weapons. There are some flavorful choices - storm giants being immune to thunder and lighting, for example - but also weird distinctions, like skeletons being especially susceptible to maces but not thunderwave, "spiritual maces" or grenades.

Other than that, damage types don't really DO anything. There is no difference in criticals, types of armor (unless magical), and so on. You are not on fire after receiving too much fire damage, and you're not even poisoned if you take poison damage.

In short, if you NEED to use damage types, you could probably fold thunder and force into bludgeoning, making the game simpler and losing very little in the process.

Alternatively, you could USE damage types to do things (for example, making bludgeoning better against heavy armor), but that would make the game more complex.

The "middle ground" of "we have many damage types, but they rarely DO anything" seems like a bad choice for me.

UPDATE (10/10/2019): I released a book (5e Manual of Arms: Weapons) that, among other things, tries to differentiate between bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage - see below!

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Speed, initiative, bonus actions and the action economy...

Happy new year!

These year I'll write about monsters, weapons, yadda yadda, let us skip this stuff for now.

So, here is a brief idea after a long hiatus. Hopefully, I'll get back to blogging soon enough.

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TL;DR: I'm considering allowing PCs to trade half their move (or their main action) for an additional bonus action.
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I like the whole "action economy" of 5e. I think they've got it (mostly) nailed with actions, bonus actions and reactions, with a few exceptions - two weapon fighting, Beastmaster Rangers, etc.

However, Mike Mearls himself has suggested that it might be a good idea to get rid of bonus actions.

I often wonder about the same topic.

The most obvious solution would be trading some MOVEMENT for special actions - dodge, disengage, hide, etc. Use "half your movement" as a baseline. Not too different from getting up if you're prone, for example, or how disengage worked in B/X.

Other simple actions could be "part of your attack". Drawing a knife or arrow, for example. Drawing a zweihander might cost you some movement, so an unprepared warrior with a heavy weapon would be less mobile. Nice!

Other things - like rage, for example - might be better portrayed as reactions. I like the barbarians' rage triggering in response to some event, at least in the first few levels.

What about bonus action spells? Well, I'm not the greatest fan TBH. Most of them seem to be created to allow you to create a special weapon and attack with it. So, just add hat to the spell's description.

In short... bonus action serves as an abbreviation, a shortcut to the idea that you can do this "thing" and still get your main action, but you cannot do two of these "things" in the same round. Which is not always a good thing - rangers, for example, have too much stuff competing for their actions.

In short, the whole "bonus action" concept isn't necessary... but a good enough shortcut. Because of that, I am not sure if getting rid of them would make the game any simpler.

If I were to make a "realistic" system from that, I'd probably give each character a few TOKENS representing their movement. Say, one blue token for each 5 feet of movement (these can be used for various kinds of movement). Then one red token for each attack or spell (a fighter with four attacks gains four tokens). Whoever surprises the other side, rolls high enough for initiative, has some rogue-like reflexes, etc., gains a few green tokens that cannot be used, only held until the end of the round.

The creature with the most tokens acts first, spending some of their tokens - maybe from one to three, at most.

So, the fighter with four attacks can probably pull a knife and stab a CR 1 monster three times before it reacts... But if he has a battleaxe, he might have to spend a couple of blue tokens to draw it before attacking, which might be enough to let you attack back, unless you're surprised, etc.

This would lead to more "organic" battles, as I intended here.

These lead to endless permutations, of course. Tokens for reactions - why not? Additional tokens for critical hits of misses, maybe depending on weapon speed, etc.

Probably too much work for little effect. But something I would definitely use for a more "tactical" version of D&D in line with 4e, etc.

For now, I might just allow PCs to trade half their move (or their main action) for an additional bonus action. Maybe fighters get one additional bonus action for extra attack, provided they use it for TWF, etc.

Next: maybe a(nother) simple yet detailed "fix" for two-weapon fighting or weapon speed, based on this post.

Super-critical hits!

Random idea I can't get off my mind lately:

Super criticals

Roll 1d4.
1: Maximum damage.
2: Double damage.
3: Triple damage;
4: Special (depends on weapon, armor, etc).

Example: if your usual damage is 1d6+3, maximum damage is 9, double damage is 2d6+6* (Average 13), triple damage is 3d6+9* (average 19.5).

*OR just roll 1d6+3 and multiply by two or three.

How?

A super-critical is achieved when you crit and beat the target AC by 10 or more, or when you have advantage an roll 20 on both dice. In some circumstances, all your crits will be super-crits, while in others none will (however, you can reach crits through combos - see my next post).

I thought of this as a rule for my Dark Fantasy Basic but you can obviously use for D&D 5e, etc. Notice that "maximum damage" result is slightly worse than the usual 5e crit... but it kinda FEELS better IMO, and is one less roll.

Why?

I just like crits! They are exciting, fun and a great way of differentiating weapons and characters, since only a few hits will be crits. It also gives you that "urgency" - the fight may suddenly take a sharp turn for the better or worse...

However, I get bored by long tables and dislike stopping combats to check complex rules/charts.

Super-crits are intuitive and significant. "Special" results - you can put whatever you want there, but should be very significant, and maybe IN ADDITION to triple damage - will happen less than 2% of the time. THEN you can use a table or complex rules. Almost 99% of the time, things will be straightforward.

Notice that this crits will make the difference between creatures of different HD/CR more significant. A level 10 fighter will be very likely to destroy one orc per critical hit in 5e - or even an ogre (4+1 HD) in B/X or DFB.

Likewise, heroes must think twice before attacking something that is out of their league. In 5e, this means the need for "minions" for high-CR foes is made a bit less relevant.

Well, that's it for now.

Concocting constructs

Here is a small part from TERATOGENICON, the ultimate monster generator! If you like it, consider acquiring the book on DTRPG. I wrote this post before publishing the book, so some of the text has been update. The tables and pages you see below are exactly as presented in the book. 

(The images are copyright WotC, as far as I can tell, and are not included in the book - which is lavishly illustrated by Rick Troula!)

Celestial Creation

From an early draft of Teratogenicon:

Celestials are creatures native to the Upper Planes. Many of them are the servants of deities, employed as messengers or agents in the mortal realm and throughout the planes. Celestials are good by nature, so the exceptional celestial who strays from a good alignment is a horrifying rarity. Celestials include angels, couatls, and pegasi.

A typical celestial has the following traits:

Size: any.

Alignment: Lawful Good.

Abilities: varies.

Common resistances/immunities: charm, fear, nonmagical attacks.

Senses: Darkvision.

Languages: Common, Celestial, and many other languages.

Challenge: 2d6.

Habits, diet and habitat

Celestials live in different planes to humankind and often come with a specific mission. Angels and their kind can live anywhere and do not need to eat, drink or sleep. Animal-shaped celestials, such as unicorn and pegasi, are usually more mundane in this aspect.

Appearance & Powers

A celestial’s heavenly nature manifests in their appearance, as auras of gold, shining armor, and feathered wings. When they take humanoid form, they are healthy, strong, and thin specimens. Some celestial are somewhat more mysterious and less human, as if to indicate they are somewhat superior or different from mundane beings (the last eight entries are darker than the rest; use 1d12 if you want a more traditional look).

Attacks. Celestials often carry big magic weapons with impressive special properties. Even when unarmed, their attacks are usually considered to be equivalent to magical weapons.

Some celestials can project attack with beams of radiant damage, auras of fire, and so on (spheres of energy originate on the celestial but do not affect it). Celestials without ranged attacks will often have strong defensive powers (teleportation, invisibility, etc.).

Energy. This table applies to the celestial’s attack and possibility to their features as well – fire halos, radiant wings, lighting auras, and so on.

Animals. Some celestials look like animals - examples are winged lions, golden stags, unicorns, etc. Some were actually animals once, now ascended by the contact with higher powers (in this case, their attacks will probably be unarmed – although some animals may carry weapons in their mouths or possess intelligent weapons that fight by themselves on command). Other celestials have animal features, animal motifs in their clothing, animal companions, or the ability to transform into animals. The list below contains the animals most commonly associated with celestials.

Color/metal. These colors and metals are commonly applied to celestial features – clothes, eyes, wings, hair, skin, etc.

Origins and goals

Celestials are usually created by deities, but there are other possibilities. Their goals are usually benevolent, but not always. Notice that some deities have draconic laws against insignificant sins (wearing the wrong color in a temple, eating forbidden food, etc.).

Tables

All art: copyright Peter Mohrbacher.

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If you enjoyed this post, you'll certainly enjoy the final version: Teratogenicon, the ultimate monster builder! It is full of random tables like the ones above and it has amazing art by Rick Troula. Chek the previews to see what I mean!

ABERRATION GENERATION!!! (5e)

From an early draft of Teratogenicon:

Aberrations are utterly alien beings. Many of them have innate magical abilities drawn from the creature’s alien mind rather than the mystical forces of the world. [from the SRD]

Aberrations are the strangest and most variable type of monster. A giant with two heads or blue skin is still a giant; a giant with a head on its stomach, a serpent for a tongue and half a dozen slimy tentacles where the legs should be is probably an aberration.

Some aberrations are very intelligent while others are dumber than farm animals, but most of them are utterly unpredictable. Their alien, deranged minds are capable of feats unknown to most of humankind – innate magic, telepathy, baffling schemes and calculations – but can also make them erratic and self-destructive. Few aberrations have humanlike capacities – most are either incredibly gifted or incredibly stupid, although some appear to be both.

Habits, diet and habitat

Aberrations are alien enough to defy comprehension. They are mostly inscrutable, although many behave like common predators, killing for food and sport. Most aberrations need food and water to survive, although some seem to subside on psychic energies, ether, or other mystical energies. They often live in forgotten dungeons, temples and caves, away from human eyes, since none in their right mind would suffer them to exist.

Traits

A typical aberration has the following traits:

Size: any.

Alignment: Chaotic Evil.

Abilities: good Strength, Constitution; bad Charisma, Intelligence.

Senses: darkvision 60 ft.

Languages: Few aberrations can comprehend languages and even fewer can speak. If they do, it is likely Deep Speech, Common, or Undercommon.

Challenge: 2d6.

Attacks: upper limbs (see below) and others.

Appearance. The first five tables describe an aberration’s appearance – skin, upper and lower limbs, body and special features. There is no entry for heads – the head, if any, will be appropriate to the body most of the times (amoebas will rarely have heads, octopuses have heads and no bodies, etc.). However, you can roll twice on the body table to produce a different head.

A monster with no upper limbs must attack with the lower limbs or other body parts (bite, slam, etc.). A monster with no lower limbs may use pseudopods, some form levitation, move with the upper limbs, or just roll around.

  

Special Powers

1. Genius: The monster has genius-level Intelligence (18 or more), knows a few languages and mental skills, and gains one additional special attack appropriate for an intelligent creature (psionic blast, ray gun, spellcasting, etc.).

2. Telepathy: The monster can magically transmit simple messages and images to any creature within 120 feet of it that can understand a language, and detect the overall intentions of their foes from the same distance.

3. False Appearance: While the monster remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a common object, animal or terrain feature (rug, tree, cow, humanoid in robes, stalagmite, bundle of ropes, etc.).

4. Teleporting: As an action, the monster can teleport, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.

5. Aberrant Ground: The ground in a 10-foot radius around the monster is difficult terrain (doughlike, frozen, slippery, filled with tentacles, etc.). Each creature that starts its turn in that area must succeed on a Strength saving throw or have its speed reduced to 0 until the start of its next turn.

6. Regeneration: The monster regains (2xCR) hit points at the start of its turn. If the monster takes one specific kind of damage (choose one from fire, acid, radiant, etc.), this trait doesn’t function at the start of the monster’s next turn. The monster dies only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn’t regenerate.

7. Carapace: the monster has a thick carapace that adds +2 bonus to AC and all Dexterity saving throws.

8. Fog: the monster is constantly surrounded by a thick fog (or illusion, cloud of darkness, etc.) that makes it invisible to all creatures that are not within 15 feet of the monster.

9. Four-dimensional: the monster lives in four dimensions and occasionally shifts out of existence. As a bonus action, the monster can roll 1d4. On a 1 or 2, nothing happens. On a 3, it shifts partially out of the three known dimensions, becoming heavily obscured. On 4, it enters a fourth dimension, where it is still visible yet it cannot affect or be affected by anything on the material plane. The effects last until the beginning of its next turn.

10. Shapechanger: The monster can use its action to polymorph into a Small or Medium humanoid it has eaten in the past, or back into its true form. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.

11. Engulf: As an action, the monster engulfs a Medium or smaller creature Grappled by it. The engulfed target is Blinded, Restrained, and unable to breathe, and it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw at the start of each of the monster’s turns or take (2xCR) bludgeoning damage. If the monster moves, the engulfed target moves with it. The monster can have only one creature engulfed at a time.

12. Drain: As an action, the monster deals (CRx1) damage to a creature, and regains hit points equal to the damage the creature takes. The target must be grappled (blood drain) or charmed (psychic drain) by the monster.

13. Alien Mind: The monster is immune to scrying and to any effect that would sense its emotions, read its thoughts, or detect its location. In addition, if a creature attempts to do any of these things it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or take (CRx1) psychic damage and suffer the Stunned condition for one round.

14. Replicating: The monster is usually accompanied by 2d4 smaller versions of it, with lower CRs. The sum of their CRs cannot exceed the monster’s CR.

15. Horrific Appearance: Any humanoid that starts its turn within 30 feet of the monster and can see it must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is Frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if the monster is within line of sight, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to the monster’s Horrific Appearance for the next 24 hours. Unless the target is surprised, the target can avert its eyes and avoid making the initial saving throw. Until the start of its next turn, a creature that averts its eyes has disadvantage on attack rolls against the monster.

16. Magic Resistance: The monster has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

17. Flying: The monster has a 30 feet flying speed.

18. Gibbering: The monster babbles incoherently while it can see any creature and isn't Incapacitated. Each creature that starts its turn within 20 feet of the monster and can hear the gibbering must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the creature can't take reactions until the start of its next turn and rolls a d8 to determine what it does during its turn. On a 1 to 4, the creature does nothing. On a 5 or 6, the creature takes no action or Bonus Action and uses all its Movement to move in a randomly determined direction. On a 7 or 8, the creature makes a melee Attack against a randomly determined creature within its reach or does nothing if it can't make such an Attack.

19. Telekinetic field: While the monster is conscious, it has advantage in Strength and Dexterity saving throws. Melee attacks against the monster have disadvantage, and ranged attacks miss automatically.

20. Roll twice

Color images:  copyright WotC. B&W images: art by Rick Troula - see below!

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If you enjoyed this post, you'll certainly enjoy the final version: Teratogenicon, the ultimate monster builder! It is full of random tables like the ones above and it has amazing art by Rick Troula. Chek the previews to see what I mean!