Caesarr’s House Rules for 5e

Updated to incorporate XGE and TCE

/u/Caesarr

February 20, 2021

 C ONTENTS
1 Quick Fixes 1 Heavy Armor Master . . . . . . . . . . 7
Character Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Keen Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Lightly Armored . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Linguist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
High-level Martial Characters . . . . . . . 1 Martial Adept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Moderately Armored . . . . . . . . . . 8
Ranger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Medium Armor Master . . . . . . . . 8
Warlock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Mounted Combatant . . . . . . . . . . 8
Sorcerer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Savage Attacker . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Monk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Skilled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Companions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Skulker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Ability Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Spell Sniper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Taking 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Tavern Brawler . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Taking 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Weapon Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Skill Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Dwarven Fortitude (XGE) . . . . . . . 9
Illusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Holding your Breath . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 5 Inspiration 10
Challenge Rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Benefits of Inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Using Inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Magic Items 3 Renewing Inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Crafting Magic Items . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Disenchanting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 6 Gaining Experience 11
Upgrading Magic Weapons & Armor . . . 3 Personal Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . 11
Writing Characteristics . . . . . . . . 11
3 Combat 4 Earning XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Party Goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Resurrection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Expected XP Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Potions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Variant Rule: Magic, Madness & Promises 12
Shields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Interacting with an Object . . . . . . 4 7 Renown 13
Mark (Opportunity Attacks) . . . . . 4 Tracking Renown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Cleaving & Piercing . . . . . . . . . . 4 Benefits of Renown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Called Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Fictional Positioning . . . . . . . . . . 13
Moving through enemy space . . . . 5 Overlapping Allegiances . . . . . . . . 13
Casting multiple spells . . . . . . . . 5 Gaining Renown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Non-player Multiattacks . . . . . . . 5 Maintaining Renown . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4 Feats 6 8 Travelling 14
Unchanged Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Using a Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Nerfed Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Lucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Sleeping in the wild . . . . . . . . . . 14
Buffed Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Steps for Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Athlete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Travel Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Actor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Activities While Travelling . . . . . . . . . 16
Charger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Random Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Dual Wielder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Environment Encounters . . . . . . . 18
Dungeon Delver . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Environment Hazards . . . . . . . . . 19
Durable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Custom Environments . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Elemental Adept . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Downtime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Grappler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Travelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Heavily Armored . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

CONTENTS
ii
C HAPTER 1: Q UICK F IXES
C HARACTER C REATION
F EATS
Similar to the variant Human in the PHB,
non-human races can also gain a feat at level 1.
If you choose to gain a feat, all racial ability
score improvements are replaced with a single
+1 increase in an ability of your choice.
I NTELLIGENCE
You know a number of additional languages or
tool proficiencies equal to your Intelligence
modifier. Negative modifiers reduce your known
languages or tool proficiencies in the same way.
H IGH - LEVEL M AR TIAL
C HARACTERS
When you reach a combined total of 11 levels
(and again at 15 and 20 levels) in the following
classes, you gain an additional Ability Score
Improvement or Feat: Barbarian, Fighter, Monk,
Rogue, and three-quarters of any Artificer,
Paladin and Ranger levels (rounded down). For
example, without any multi-classing, a Ranger
will gain their first additional ASI at level 15
(15×0.75 = 11).
The Martial Power Fantasy
At higher tiers, martial characters can start to feel less epic
than spellcasters. In popular media, martial characters like
Achilles, Captain America, Ip Man, and John Wick are often
seen achieving incredible feats of strength and dexterity, or
taking on dozens of thugs at once and winning. Additional
attribute points and feats can help enable some of these
fantasies. Using the optional Cleave can also be important
in achieving these fantasies.
Gritty Realism
Using the Gritty Realism resting rules (p.267 of the DMG)
can also help bridge the gap between martial characters
and spellcasters. The game is balanced around having 6-8
medium encounters per long rest. If spellcasters rest more
often than this, they have many more spell slots available
per encounter than the game expects.
C LASSES
R ANGER
“Favored Foe” from TCE. You may use the
feature as an instantaneous ability, lasting for a
single attack and requiring no concentration.
WARLOCK
During character creation, Intelligence can be
chosen as your spellcasting attribute. Your
Charisma saving throw, and any class features
that reference Charisma, change to Intelligence.
S ORCERER
• At 3rd Level, you gain four Metamagic options
of your choice. You gain another two at 10th
and 17th level.
• You have an additional number of sorcery
points equal to your proficiency bonus.
• Subclasses that do not include a table of
additional spells (such as those in TCE) gain 2
additional spells known when they gain their
1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th level in Sorcerer.
These spells must on the sorcerer, warlock or
wizard spell list, and must be from one of two
schools of magic chosen at character creation.
M ONK
• You have an additional number of ki points
equal to your proficiency bonus.
• As part of your Extra Attack class feature, the
number of attacks increases to three when
you reach 11th level.
• Starting at 1st level, while you are wearing no
armor and not wielding a shield, enemy
creatures have disadvantage on opportunity
attacks against you.
• You can make grapple and shove checks with
Dexterity (Athletics).
Skills with different abilities
In popular culture, martial artists like Jackie Chan often
perform tasks in unusual ways, such as using dexterity in
places where other combatants might use raw strength.
Achieving this class fantasy in 5e can be as simple as being
more permissive with which skill or ability can be used to
achieve a task.
C OMPANIONS
Important non-player companions and mounts
have a number of d8 Hit Dice equal to the
average party level. Their maximum hit points
are therefore equal to (5 + their Constitution
modifier) × the average party level. This only
applies to living creatures (not constructs,
undead or summons), with the exception of
mounts created with the Find Steed and Find
Greater Steed spells.
CHAPTER 1: QUICK FIXES
1
 A BILITY C HECKS
When the DM proposes an ability or skill check,
they choose a DC based on how the players have
described their characters performing the task.
The DM tells the players the DC before any dice
are rolled – the characters are assumed to be
competent enough to assess the difficulty of a
task before they attempt it.
The players then have the option to either
attempt the ability check, or decide on a
different course of action. This can include
altering how they approach the task in order to
make it easier, in which case the DM should be
open to lowering the DC. Or if the solution is
clever enough, an ability check might not be
necessary at all! This can be particularly
appropriate when navigating hazards.
Ability checks are more than just dice rolls
Ability checks offer an opportunity for roleplaying. It
doesn’t have to be in first-person, but describing how a
character does something can often be more interesting
than the dice roll itself. While the DM has the final say, the
DC of a task can be decided as a group based on a shared
understanding of the world, and change based on the
characters’ actions.
T AKING 10
If a character is not in a stressful situation (such
as a conflict or high-stakes situation) they can
make ability and skill checks without rolling a
d20. Instead, they “take 10”, calculating their
result as if they had rolled 10 on the d20. If
taking 10 wouldn’t be high enough to complete
the task, they can roll a d20 instead. Taking 10
represents a character’s default aptitude at a
task, when not under pressure. The PHB has a
similar rule called “Passive Checks” on p.175.
T AKING 20
If a character has ten times as much time
available as a task would normally take, and has
the ability to try multiple different solutions
(such as using ad-hoc tools, looking up
information in a book, or coordinating a plan
with others), they can “take 20” instead of rolling
a d20. This represents a character’s aptitude in
the best of circumstances. The DMG has a
similar rule on p.237: “Multiple Ability Checks”.
S KILL C HALLENGES
When a single dice roll doesn’t feel like enough,
but combat also doesn’t fit well, a skill challenge
can be a nice middle-ground. Fundamentally a
skill challenge is no different than a sequence of
ability checks with the DM narrating the
consequences after each check, except for the
following differences:
CHAPTER 1: QUICK FIXES
2
• The party needs to get 3 successes before they
get 3 failures.
• Each skill or tool proficiency can only be used
once every 3 checks.
I LLUSIONS
When presented with an illusion that requires
an action to investigate, it can be difficult to
determine whether a creature would have a
reason to be suspicious. To clarify the situation,
use the creature’s passive Intelligence
(Investigation) score. If their passive skill is
above the spell save DC of the illusion, they are
suspicious. They do not know for certain
however, and will still err on the side of caution.
An action and successful investigation check (or
physical contact) is still required before the
creature will act as if the illusion is fake. If the
creature’s passive Intelligence (Investigation)
score is below the spell save DC, the creature
will only spend an action investigating if
presented with new evidence.
Identifying the spell. XGE outlines rules for
identifying a spell with a reaction or action on
p.85. This is an alternative method for
discerning an illusion, but may have a higher
DC than the above method (15 + spell level).
H OLDING YOUR B REATH
Holding your breath requires Concentration.
This makes underwater hazards and combat a
bit more risky and different from normal
scenarios.
C HALLENGE R ATING
Challenge ratings are balanced around the party
having no magic items. If this isn’t the case, use
the following adjustments.
At each tier of play after the first, add a
cumulative +1 to the average party level when
rolling for random encounters or calculating
challenge rating. For example, treat level 5
characters as level 6, and treat level 11
characters as level 13.
For higher difficulty, or for parties with a high
number of magic items, add another flat +1 to
the average party level. These adjustments are
summarized in the table below.
Challenge Rating Adjustments
Average Party Standard CR For Higher
Level Increase Difficulty
1-4 +0 +1
5-10 +1 +2
11-15 +2 +3
16-20 +3 +4
C HAPTER 2: M AGIC I TEMS
The Magic Item Tables in the DMG are
organized by rarity and whether they are minor
or major items. Tables A-E have minor items,
and Tables F-I have major items. The items in
each table have the same rarity.
• Table A lacks the new common items added in
XGE. For rolls of 0-60 in Table A, consider
replacing potions of healing and cantrip spell
scrolls with a selection of XGE’s common
magic items.
• Minor items (usually consumable) cost a
quarter what a major item of the same rarity
costs, instead of half. This applies to both the
D ISENCHANTING
To disenchant a magic item, it takes half the
time it would take to craft the item, and results
in the creation of half as many flux pieces as it
would take to craft the item. The item is
destroyed in the process. It does not require any
gold to disenchant a magic item. If a magic item
has a limited number of charges and cannot be
recharged, the number of flux pieces created
from disenchanting it is reduced proportionally.
Flux cannot be used to craft potions or scrolls,
nor can they be disenchanted.

•
crafting and purchase costs.
After seeing the result of their d20 roll when
U PGRADING M AGIC
taking the “Buying A Magic Item” downtime
activity (p.126 of XGE), the party can choose
W EAPONS & A RMOR
Magic weapons, shields and armor with +0, +1
any lower result.
or +2 bonuses can be upgraded by +1. To do so,
it requires the same crafting costs as it would
take to craft either the original item or a basic
C RAFTING M AGIC I TEMS magic item with the new bonus, whichever is
higher. The resulting item will keep any effects
If your setting includes the ability to craft magic the original item had, with a +1 higher bonus
items, or transform them into different items (up to +3).
(e.g. the Forge of Spells in ”Lost Mines of The rarity of the combined magic item equals
Phandalin”), consider using flux as a crafting whichever of the two items had higher rarity,
material. and it can be disenchanted the same as any
The Crafting Magic Items table presented here item of that rarity.
expands the rules outlined on p.129 of XGE,
and uses flux as a crafting and disenchanting
material. Rather than requiring exotic
ingredients invented by the DM, flux can be
used instead.

Description of flux. Flux is made of a jagged,

shimmering crystal material that slowly changes
color over time. It is considered magical, and
emanates turbulent magical energy. One piece of
flux can fit in the palm of a human hand, and
weights 1 lb. By default, flux is too unreliable to
be part of the larger economy (such as buying or
selling it).

Crafting Magic Items

Item Rarity Major/Minor DMG Table Workweeks Gold Cost Flux Cost
Common - A 1 50 gp 20 fp
Uncommon Minor B 1 50 gp 30 fp
Uncommon Major F 2 200 gp 60 fp
Rare Minor C 5 500 gp 40 fp
Rare Major G 10 2,000 gp 80 fp
Very Rare Minor D 12 5,000 gp 50 fp
Very Rare Major H 24 20,000 gp 100 fp
Legendary Minor E 24 25,000 gp 60 fp
Legendary Major I 48 100,000 gp 120 fp

CHAPTER 2: MAGIC ITEMS

3
 C HAPTER 3: C OMBAT
H EALING
Spells and potions that restore hit points use the
maximum possible roll of the dice when applied
to creatures with 1 or more hit points. This
improves the action economy of healing, and
brings healing spells and potions in line with
Heal and Lay on Hands.
If damage takes you to 0 hit points, you go
into a dazed state, unable to act except to speak
falteringly and move 5 feet on your turn. Death
saving throws are done as normal. You are still
considered unconscious for all mechanical
purposes, but can at least do something small
on your turn now.
If you are healed above 0 hit points by magic,
you gain a level of exhaustion, up to a maximum
of three levels.
Concussions are exhausting
The above rules disincentivizes players from only using
small amounts of healing on unconscious characters, and
promotes using healing throughout a fight.
R ESURRECTION
If you are resurrected, your level of exhaustion is
set to two (instead of reducing by one) and you
do not incur any other penalties caused by the
resurrection magic.
P OTIONS
Drinking a potion can be done with a bonus
action, instead of only as an action.
S HIELDS
Once per combat, you can don and/or doff a
shield as a free object interaction, instead of
requiring an action.
I NTERACTING WITH AN O BJECT
When a creature within melee range of you
interacts with an object (such as a sword on the
ground, a map on a table, or a door handle), you
can make a contested Dexterity (Acrobatics or
Sleight of Hand) check. If you succeed, the
creature fails to interact with the object.
M ARK (O PPOR TUNITY A TTACKS )
As a simplified version of the Mark optional rule
on p.271 of the DMG, opportunity attacks no
longer require your reaction. You can only make
one opportunity attack per round.
CHAPTER 3: COMBAT
4
C LEAVING & P IERCING
When you kill an enemy with a weapon attack,
any excess damage can be applied to another
creature within reach (who has an AC equal to
or below the initial attack). Two changes are
made to the Cleave rules on p.272 of the DMG:
• You don’t need to take a creature from full HP
to 0 HP in one hit in order to cleave. Any
excess damage can cleave.
• Ranged weapon attacks can “pierce”: any
excess damage can be applied to a creature
within 5 feet of the target in a straight line
from where you attacked.
This rule allows martial characters to more
easily handle multiple foes, something that is
otherwise mostly limited to spellcasters.
C ALLED S HOTS
When plausible in the fiction, you can make a
“called shot”, where you attack a specific part of
a creature, or an object a creature is holding or
wearing. The DM decides what the effect will be
for succeeding before you commit to making a
called shot. Examples of appropriate effects are
included in the Called Shot Examples table.
Making a called shot requires having
advantage on the attack, and the cost of making
a called shot is that you lose advantage. If the
attack hits, the called shot is successful: you
deal damage as normal, and the target suffers
from the effect.
You can make up to one called shot per round.
Creatures can only be affected by one called
shot at a time. NPCs can also make called shots.
Effect Duration. Bodily injuries should be
temporary, lasting until the end of your next
turn. For example, shooting a Cyclops’s eye only
bruises it for a round, instead of permanently
blinding them. Other effects, such as disarming
them, last until fixed.
Lingering Injures
If you want a more gruesome game, consider letting bodily
injuries last indefinitely when applied to creatures below
half health. If this happens to a PC, it could be a good
opportunity for them to roleplay gaining a new flaw.
Called Shot Examples
Too Weak Appropriate Too Strong
-10 speed Loses flying speed Paralyzed
-4 on next attack Blinded Stunned
-4 damage Disarmed Halved damage
Disadv. on a skill Disadv. on a Disadv. on
saving throw (incl. multiple saving
Concentration) throws
M OVING THROUGH ENEMY SPACE
Two optional rules from p.272 of the DMG are
used, to allow creatures to move through enemy
space. As an action or bonus action, you can:
Overrun. Make a contested Athletics check.
Larger creatures have advantage.
Tumble. Make a contested Acrobatics check.

C ASTING MULTIPLE SPELLS

Instead of any bonus action spell (whether a
cantrip or not) preventing you from casting any
other leveled spell during your turn (including
reactions such as Counterspell), the rule is
made more intuitive in the following way:
You cannot cast leveled spells with your
action and with your bonus action in the
same turn.

N ON - PLAYER M ULTIATTACKS
When NPCs take the Multiattack action, they
can replace any number of their attacks with
grapple and shove attacks.

CHAPTER 3: COMBAT
5
 C HAPTER 4: F EATS

S
OME FEATS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY stronger
than others. Rather than nerfing strong
B UFFED F EATS
feats though, these rules buff the Changes to the feats below will be listed in bold,
weaker feats. By buffing the majority of or listed as an Addition.
feats, it no longer feels as punishing to miss out
on an Abilty Score Increase when picking a feat. A THLETE
This helps encourage players to further • Increase your Strength or Dexterity score by 1,
customize and differentiate their characters with to a maximum of 20.
feats. • Addition: Your movement speed increases by
10 feet.
U NCHANGED F EATS • When you are prone, standing up uses only 5
feet of your movement.
The following feats have the right level of • Climbing and swimming doesn’t cost you
strength, and are the baseline when comparing
extra movement.
and buffing other feats. • You can make a running long jump or a
TCE. Feats added in TCE are unchanged until running high jump without any previous
tested further. movement, rather than 10 feet.
• Addition: Whenever you Ready an action,
Unchanged Feats when the trigger occurs and you use your
Great Feats Good Feats reaction, you can also move up to your speed
Great Weapon Master Defensive Duelist minus any movement used during your turn.
Sharpshooter Healer
Alert Inspiring Leader
Crossbow Expert Mage Slayer
A CTOR
Polearm Master Magic Initiate • Increase your Charisma score by 1, to a
Resilient Observant maximum of 20.
Sentinel Ritual Caster • You have advantage on Charisma (Deception)
War Caster Tough and Charisma (Performance) checks when
Mobile Bountiful Luck (XGE)
trying to pass yourself off as a different person,
Shield Master Dragon Fear (XGE)
or mimic the sounds of another creature.
Elven Accuracy (XGE) Dragon Hide (XGE)
Prodigy (XGE) Drow High Magic (XGE)
• Addition: If you take the Help action to aid an
Fade Away (XGE) ally attacking a creature, you can do so from
Fey Teleportation (XGE) up to 30 feet away if the creature can hear or
Flames of Phlegethos (XGE) see you.
Infernal Constitution (XGE) • Addition: You gain proficiency with
Orcish Fury (XGE) Performance, disguise kits and weaver’s tools.
Second Chance (XGE)
Squat Nimbleness (XGE)
Wood Elf Magic (XGE)
C HARGER
Change: The whole feat is rewritten as follows:
You increase your Strength score by 1, to a
maximum of 20.
Optional buff to good feats
You can use your bonus action to Dash, with
The difference between good and great buffs is small, but
some groups might still find it noticeable. If that’s the case, the following conditions and benefits while
consider adding a thematically appropriate tool proficiency moving in this way:
or language to good feats. • You can only move in one general direction.
• You can move through the space of any
creature as if they were an ally.
N ERFED F EATS • You have resistance to damage caused by
opportunity attacks.
L UCKY • If you move at least 10 feet, you may attempt
The additional die rolled can only be used after to shove a creature within reach with
determining the result from advantage or advantage. On a success, you can push the
disadvantage. That is, you only ever pick from target up to 10 feet away from you and/or
two dice, not three. knock them prone.

CHAPTER 4: FEATS
6
D UAL W IELDER
• You gain a +1 bonus to AC while you are
wielding a separate melee weapon in each
hand.
• You can use two-weapon fighting even when
the one handed melee weapons you are
wielding aren’t light.
• You can draw or stow two one-handed
weapons when you would normally be able to
draw or stow only one.
• Addition: Once per turn when you miss with
a weapon attack, you can immediately make
another attack on the same target with a one-
handed melee weapon held in the other hand.
D UNGEON D ELVER
• Addition: Increase your Wisdom or
Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• You automatically detect the presence of
secret doors within 30 feet of you.
• You have advantage on saving throws made to
avoid or resist traps.
• You have resistance to damage dealt by traps.
• Traveling at a fast pace doesn’t impose the
normal -5 penalty on your passive Wisdom
(Perception) score.
• Addition: You have darkvision out to a range
of 60 feet. If you already have darkvision, its
range increases by 60 feet.
• Addition: You always know which way is
north.
• Addition: You always know the number of
hours left before the next sunrise or sunset.
D URABLE
• Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a
maximum of 20.
• When you roll a Hit Die to regain hit points,
the minimum number of hit points you regain
from the roll equals twice your Constitution
modifier (minimum of 2).
• Addition: When you gain a level of exhaustion,
you can make a DC 15 Constitution saving
throw. On a success, you instead do not gain
the level of exhaustion.
• Addition: You have advantage on death saving
throws. If you would ever suffer instant death,
you are instead reduced to 0 hit points and
suffer a death saving throw failure.
E LEMENTAL A DEPT
Prerequisite: None
When you gain this feat, choose one of the
following damage types: acid, cold, fire,
lightning, or thunder.
Addition: You learn one cantrip of your choice
that deals damage of the chosen type. Choose
either Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma as your
spellcasting ability for this cantrip.
Addition: Increase an ability score you use for
spellcasting by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Spells you cast ignore resistance to damage of
the chosen type. In addition, when you roll
damage for a spell you cast that deals damage of
that type, you can treat any 1 on a damage die
as a 2.
You can select this feat multiple times. Each
time you do so, choose a different damage type.
G RAPPLER
Prerequisite: Strength 13 or higher
Change: The whole feat is rewritten as follows:
• Increase your Strength score by 1, to a
maximum of 20.
• You have advantage on attack rolls against a
creature you are grappling (including shoving).
• Your speed is no longer halved when moving a
grappled creature with you.
• When you make an opportunity attack, you
can make a grapple attack instead of a
weapon attack. If you succeed, they are not
grappled, but you stop any movement they
may have been taking.
H EAVILY A RMORED
Change: This feat has been removed, and its
benefits moved to the Heavy Armor Master feat.
H EAVY A RMOR M ASTER
Prerequisite: Proficiency with medium armor
• Increase your Strength score by 1, to a
maximum of 20.
• Addition: You gain proficiency with heavy
armor and shields.
• While you are wearing heavy armor,
bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage
that you take from nonmagical weapons is
reduced by 3.
K EEN M IND
Change: The whole feat is rewritten as follows:
• You are able to concentrate on two effects
(such as spells) at once. Only one of the effects
can be a spell of 3rd level or higher. If you
would make a saving throw to maintain
concentration while concentrating on two
effects, roll once with disadvantage. On a
failure, both effects are lost.
• You always know which way is north.
• You always know the number of hours left
before the next sunrise or sunset.
• You can accurately recall anything you have
ever seen or heard.
CHAPTER 4: FEATS
7
 L IGHTLY A RMORED
• Increase your Strength and Dexterity score by
1, to a maximum of 20.
• You gain proficiency with light armor.
• Addition: While wearing light armor, you have
advantage on Acrobatics checks to tumble
through an enemy’s space.
L INGUIST
• Increase your Intelligence score by 1, to a
maximum of 20.
• You are fluent in all languages.
• You can ably create written ciphers. Others
can’t decipher a code you create unless you
teach them, they succeed on an Intelligence
check (DC equal to your Intelligence score +
your proficiency bonus), or they use magic to
decipher it.
• Addition: You can read any cipher with one
hour of work.
• Addition: You gain proficiency with History
and calligrapher’s supplies.
M AR TIAL A DEPT
• You learn two maneuvers of your choice from
among those available to the Battle Master
archetype in the fighter class. If a maneuver
you use requires your target to make a saving
throw to resist the maneuver’s effects, the
saving throw DC equals 8 + your proficiency
bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier
(your choice).
• You gain three superiority dice, which are d6s
(these dice are added to any superiority dice
you have from another source). These dice are
used to fuel your maneuvers. A superiority die
is expended when you use it. You regain your
expended superiority dice when you finish a
short or long rest.
M ODERATELY A RMORED
Change: This feat has been removed, and its
benefits moved to Medium Armor Master.
M EDIUM A RMOR M ASTER
Prerequisite: Proficiency with light armor
• Addition: Increase your Strength or Dexterity
score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• Addition: You gain proficiency with medium
armor and shields.
• Wearing medium armor doesn’t impose
disadvantage on your Dexterity (Stealth)
checks.
• When you wear medium armor, you can add 3,
rather than 2, to your AC if you have a
Dexterity of 16 or higher.
CHAPTER 4: FEATS
8
M OUNTED C OMBATANT
• You have advantage on melee attack rolls
against any unmounted creature that is
smaller than your mount.
• You can force an attack targeted at your
mount to target you instead, and vice-versa.
• If your mount is subjected to an effect that
allows it to make a Dexterity saving throw to
take only half damage, it instead takes no
damage if it succeeds on the saving throw, and
only half damage if it fails.
• Addition: If your mount is subjected to an
effect that allows it to make a Wisdom saving
throw, it has advantage on the roll.
S AVAGE A TTACKER
Change: The whole feat is rewritten as follows:
• Increase your Strength or Dexterity score by 1,
to a maximum of 20.
• The critical hit range of your weapon attacks
increases by 1.
S KILLED
• You gain proficiency in any combination of
three skills or tools of your choice.
• Addition: Choose two of your skill or tool
proficiencies. Your proficiency bonus is
doubled for any ability check you make that
uses the chosen proficiencies.
S KULKER
Prerequisite: Dexterity 13 or higher
• Addition: Increase your Dexterity score by 1,
to a maximum of 20.
• Addition: You can take the Hide action as a
bonus action.
• You can try to hide when you are lightly
obscured from the creature from which you
are hiding.
• When you are hidden from a creature and
miss it with an attack, making the attack
doesn’t reveal your position.
• Dim light doesn’t impose disadvantage on your
Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight.
S PELL S NIPER
Prerequisite: The ability to cast at least one spell
• Addition: Increase an ability score you use for
spellcasting by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• When you cast a spell that requires you to
make an attack roll, the spell’s range is
quadrupled.
• Your ranged spell attacks ignore half cover
and three-quarters cover.
• You learn one cantrip that requires an attack
roll. Choose the cantrip from the bard, cleric,
druid, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell list.
Your spellcasting ability for this cantrip
depends on the spell list you chose from:
Charisma for bard, sorcerer, or warlock;
Wisdom for cleric or druid; or Intelligence for
wizard.
T AVERN B RAWLER
• Increase your Strength or Constitution score
by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• You are proficient with improvised weapons.
• Your unarmed strike uses a d4 for damage.
• When you hit a creature with an unarmed
strike or an improvised weapon on your turn,
you can use a bonus action to attempt to
grapple the target.
• Addition: Your improvised weapons use a 1d6
for damage, or 1d8 if they are wielded with two
hands.
• Addition: Your improvised weapons can have
any of the following properties if the DM
deems it appropriate: finesse, heavy, light,
reach, two-handed, versatile.
• Addition: Anything that weighs less than your
carrying capacity (usually 15 times your
Strength score) and is no more than one size
larger than you can be used as an improvised
weapon.
W EAPON M ASTER
• Increase your Strength or Dexterity score by 1,
to a maximum of 20.
• You gain proficiency with all simple and
martial weapons.
• Addition: You gain one Fighting Style from
the fighter class that you do not already have.
• Addition: Attacking at long range doesn’t
impose disadvantage on your ranged attack
rolls with weapons that have the thrown
property.
D WARVEN F OR TITUDE (XGE)
Prerequisite: Dwarf
• Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a
maximum of 20.
• Whenever you take the Dodge action in
combat, you can spend one Hit Die to heal
yourself. Roll the die, add your Constitution
modifier, and regain a number of hit points
equal to the total (minimum of 1).
• Addition: On your turns where you do not
use any of your movement, you can Dodge as
a bonus action.
CHAPTER 4: FEATS
9
 C HAPTER 5: I NSPIRATION

I
NSPIRATION , AS WRITTEN , CAN OFTEN FEEL
“tacked on”, a system that is either
underused or even entirely forgotten
about during play. It was 5e’s attempt to
incorporate roleplaying mechanics into the game,
and while a good first-step, suffers from two
main problems:
• ambiguity over when to receive it, and
• rarely powerful enough to be worth effort.
The rules presented here aim to address both
issues, while still keeping the system simple.
The uses of Inspiration are expanded, and
regaining Inspiration is changed from being a
single point earned for “roleplaying” into
something tied to each personal characteristic
(i.e. personality traits, bonds, ideals, and flaws).
B ENEFITS OF
I NSPIRATION
Inspiration can be used to gain one of the
following benefits:
Your roll. Roll an additional d20 on any roll you
make. You can use this ability after the original
roll, but before the outcome is revealed.
Your enemy’s roll. After an enemy rolls a saving
throw against an effect you made, roll a d20 and
choose whether the enemy uses their roll or
yours.
Flashback. Have a “flashback” to something in
the past where you did something small, such as
buying a healing potion or other gear, learning
information, or casting a ritual spell.
Each player character can only use Inspiration
once per round or skill challenge.
R ENEWING I NSPIRATION
A player can renew one of their character’s
characteristics in the following ways:
Recap. Summarizing the events of the previous
session at the start of a gaming session.
Growth. If the character grows or changes
through the course of play, and the
characteristic in question is changed to reflect
the change at the end of the session.
Temptation. If any player (including the DM)
notices a situation where a characteristic of
another player’s PC might make the situation
more complicated, they can tempt that player. If
the player accepts the temptation, they must
roleplay their character acting in accordance
with the characteristic in a way that complicates
the situation. In exchange, they can then renew
any one of their characteristics.
At Death’s Door. Whenever you fail a saving
throw to end being incapacitated or unconscious
(for example, being stunned or at 0 hit points),
you can describe a past experience “flashing
before your eyes”. It should be something the
group doesn’t already know about, such as a
moment from your backstory, and be related to
the characteristic you wish to renew.

U SING I NSPIRATION
To use Inspiration, the character calls on one of
their five personal characteristics. The
characteristic should be relevant to the current
situation, ideally motivating the action the
character is taking at the time.
It’s up to the player how connected their
chosen characteristic is to the scene – the DM
can’t deny their use of Inspiration. That said,
players should be encouraged to portray
something about their character, whether it’s a
silly one-liner, yelling something dramatic, or
revealing something about their character’s
backstory.
When a characteristic is called on, put a mark
next to it. It cannot be called on again until it is
renewed. A maximum of three characteristics
can be marked at any given time.

CHAPTER 5: INSPIRATION
10
C HAPTER 6: G AINING E XPERIENCE

I
NSTEAD OF GAINING XP FROM encounters the characteristic significantly and permanently
and killing monsters, XP is awarded changing, representing character growth.
for acting on personal characteristics and Alternatively, a character might gain a new
completing goals. The system described characteristic in a dramatic way, in which case a
in this chapter replaces all other sources of XP. characteristic that is no longer relevant can be
replaced with the new one. A characteristic
P ERSONAL gained in this way cannot change until it earns
the character XP at least once more.
C HARACTERISTICS Deadly. Because of the characteristic, the
character attempted to achieve something larger
Personal characteristics are the personality than any individual agenda. They did so for
traits, bond, ideal and flaw that each character more than personal gain, and gravely risked
has. These characteristics are a way for players their life or sacrificed something to do it.
to tell the group what they are interested in, and Succeed or fail, at least one characteristic
would like to be rewarded for in the game. changes as a result, either because they had a
revelation or became scarred.
W RITING C HARACTERISTICS
Each player character can have up to five Equivalent Encounter Experience
characteristics: one personality trait, one bond, Average Party Level Easy Medium Hard Deadly
one ideal, one flaw, and a fifth characteristic of 1st 25 50 75 100
any type. These characteristics can be selected 2nd 50 100 150 200
from the usual tables during character creation, 3rd 75 150 225 400
but should be customized as the characters 4th 125 250 375 500
change during play. Any number of 5th 250 500 750 1,100
characteristics can be changed between 6th 300 600 900 1,400
sessions, to better reflect the character. 7th 350 750 1,100 1,700
8th 450 900 1,400 2,100
You should be able to imagine at least one way
9th 550 1,100 1,600 2,400
in which each of your characteristics might 10th 600 1,200 1,900 2,800
come up in play. If you can’t, rewrite the 11th 800 1,600 2,400 3,600
characteristic until you can. 12th 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,500
13th 1,100 2,200 3,400 5,100
E ARNING XP 14th
15th
1,250
1,400
2,500
2,800
3,800
4,300
5,700
6,400
At the end of each session, the group discusses 16th 1,600 3,200 4,800 7,200
the characteristics of each character, and 17th 2,000 3,900 5,900 8,800
chooses up to one characteristic per character 18th 2,100 4,200 6,300 9,500
that earned the most XP during play, using the 19th 2,400 4,900 7,300 10,900
following guidelines (the DM has the final say). 20th 2,800 5,700 8,500 12,700
The amount of XP earned is based on the party’s
average level, and equals 2 times the XP listed in
the Equivalent Encounter Experience table, T HE P AR TY G OAL
corresponding to one of the four difficulties The party has one party goal at a time, decided
described below. as a group at the start of each session. Some
Easy. The player acted on or roleplayed the goals may take multiple sessions to complete.
characteristic in a genuine, interesting, or The party goal might be a quest given to them by
entertaining manner. an NPC, or a goal they’ve given themselves.
Medium. The characteristic caused the character Whatever it is, it’s something that the party is
to change the decisions or actions of other working towards as a group.
creatures. Examples include speeches, strong Working towards the Party Goal. If the party
leadership, or desperate decisions causing other works towards the party goal but does not
creatures to change their worldview, complete it by the end of the session, all
relationships, or desire to fight. characters gain the XP listed in the Equivalent
Hard. The characteristic is resolved or changed Encounter Experience table based on how
in a dramatic way. This might involve a personal difficult the progress was in that particular
goal or bond being accomplished (or failing), or session.

CHAPTER 6: GAINING EXPERIENCE

11
 Completing the Party Goal. If the party
successfully completes the party goal by the end
of a session, each character gains 2 times the XP
listed in the Equivalent Encounter Experience
table, based on how difficult the goal was
overall.
E XPECTED XP R ATE
In order to align expectations, it is a good idea to
have all players (including the DM) on the same
page when it comes to how frequently XP is
earned.
For a similar rate of leveling up to the normal
XP rules, use the following guidelines for XP
from personal characteristics:
Easy XP should be easily achievable by any
player who participated genuinely in the session.
Note that roleplaying in third-person (describing
their character’s actions) is just as valid as
first-person (acting).
Medium XP is also attainable every session,
but only by characters who caused something to
happen in the session that wouldn’t have
happened otherwise.
Hard XP should not happen every session. It
requires a character clearly undergoing change,
which usually requires at least a few scenes in
the spotlight. Note that depending on the pace of
the campaign, characters might grow at a faster
rate than would be “realistic” in real life. If the
world can be saved in a month, then fictional
characters should undergo multiple
life-changing events within the same time period.
Melodrama is usually more fun than realism.
Deadly XP will usually align with the end of a
story arc, or with a tragic twist in the story. It’s
possible for a particularly selfless hero to earn
Deadly XP at the same rate as Hard XP, though
they may not survive as long as other PCs.
characteristic, they can be awarded XP in the
same way as any other personal characteristic.
Examples of madness include the effects on
the Long-Term and Indefinite Madness tables in
the DMG. Examples of magic effects that might
create a new characteristic are the Suggestion
spell, being charmed by a sentient magic item,
or being possessed by a ghost. As a
counter-example, the Command spell is not
significant enough to create a new
characteristic.
At the DM’s discretion, depending on the
strength of the madness or magic and if there
are any conflicting characteristics, the DM may
also disable XP rewards for some or all of the
PC’s other characteristics until the new
characteristic is resolved.
P ROMISES & C ONTRACTS
Promises that PCs make to NPCs or other PCs
can make good bonds. Unlike other bonds,
promises may be something that the PC comes
to regret, but feel they cannot remove.
Similarly, contracts the PC makes with other
creatures can force a characteristic on the PC
that they cannot remove until the contract is
fulfilled. This provides a mechanical way to
represent contracts, and can be especially useful
when a PC makes a deal with otherworldly
creatures, such as devils.

VARIANT R ULE : M AGIC ,

M ADNESS & P ROMISES
Particularly strong external effects, whether
magical, social or emotional, offer the players an
opportunity for their characters to have
characteristics that originate from outside their
character, providing pressures that the
character may actually chafe against. Some
examples are provided below.

M AGIC & M ADNESS

Whenever a PC is driven mad or magically
charmed into doing something, the effect can be
mechanically represented as a new personal
characteristic, temporarily replacing another
characteristic. If the player roleplays their new

CHAPTER 6: GAINING EXPERIENCE

12
C HAPTER 7: R ENOWN
W
HILE THE DEFAULT R ENOWN SYSTEM
contains good ideas, the rewards
for the ranks are often too vague, too
niche, or just generally unsatisfying. It
also requires a lot of work to create ranks and
rewards for non-default factions or communities.
These rules aim to make renown simpler and
more meaningful.
T RACKING R ENOWN
Renown is tracked separately for each faction
(such as the Harpers) or community (such as a
town or kingdom), and ranges from -5 to +5.
Renown starts at 0. Renown can only go up or
down if news of your actions could have
reasonably been heard and believed by a
significant portion of the faction or community,
at the DM’s discretion. If in doubt, assume that
it takes a week for news to spread, and that true
news is always believed.
B ENEFITS OF R ENOWN
When speaking with people from a faction or
community who know of you, add your Renown
(whether negative or positive) to all Charisma
checks.
F ICTIONAL P OSITIONING
Renown also acts as a way to track how famous
you are becoming, and how well known or
recognizable you are. Even if no Charisma check
is rolled, Renown can inform the fiction and
what creatures initially know about you.
However, note that Renown does not affect the
starting attitude of creatures, which depends on
the creatures’ personality and personal
circumstances. Interactions should still be
resolved normally, with roleplaying informing
whether the creatures’ starting attitude moves
up or down (or stays the same) before rolling any
Charisma checks. See p.244 of the DMG for
more details, and the DCs to convince creatures
depending on their attitude.
O VERLAPPING A LLEGIANCES
If the people you are speaking with are members
of multiple communities or factions that you
have Renown with, the DM determines the one
that is most relevant to the current conversation,
and only that Renown modifier applies for that
conversation.
G AINING R ENOWN
Whenever you complete a quest, a
dungeon-delve, or some other significant
encounter, the DM will consider the
ramifications of your actions on the affected
factions and communities, and choose how your
renown is affected based on the examples below:
• If the faction or community appreciates (or
disapproves of) your actions, gain (or lose) 1
Renown with them.
• If your actions directly saved (or hurt) a
member or small group of the faction or
community (such as their life or livelihood),
gain (lose) 2 Renown instead.
• If your actions directly saved (or hurt) a
significant portion of the faction or community,
or significantly progresses (or damages) the
agenda of the faction, gain (lose) 3 Renown
instead.
If both a positive and negative outcome occur,
add both numbers together and change your
Renown by the net result.
M AINTAINING R ENOWN
Roughly once every 2 months, factions or
communities you have more than 2 (or less than
-2) Renown with slowly tend towards 0.
Maintaining positive relationships costs gold,
representing your continuing support of the
community or faction. Similarly, maintaining
negative relationships can earn you gold,
representing you benefiting from their
misfortune. The amount of gold depends on the
size of the community or faction, and either your
ability to profit off them or their expectations of
you. The DM will tell you the gold amount, using
the Maintaining Renown table as a guideline.
If a faction or community is entirely cut off
from you, such as on another plane of existence,
you cannot maintain the relationship.
One relationship above 2 Renown can be
maintained without costing gold. For each
Renown above 2 (or below -2) not maintained, it
moves by 1 towards 2 (or -2).
Maintaining Renown
Size Gold Spent (or Earned)
Gang or Village 2× Renown × character level
Town or Clan 4× Renown × character level
Faction 6× Renown × character level
City 8× Renown × character level
Kingdom 10 × Renown × character level
CHAPTER 7: RENOWN
13
 C HAPTER 8: T RAVELLING
T
T HE EXPLORATION PILLAR SUFFERS FROM
vague rules that require too much
work from the DM, and little player
involvement. The rules presented here
create a streamlined process for handling travel,
with the following design goals in mind:
The wild is dangerous, but profitable. The wild
should pose a serious risk. This risk also makes
the wild profitable, as few people are willing to
face its challenges to garner its rewards.
Player choice. Players should have meaningful
choices to make each time they travel. If the
players end up repeating the same choices every
time, then they aren’t real choices.
Minimal prep work. The DM already has a high
workload preparing and running the rest of the
game. The exploration pillar provides an
opportunity for content to be generated on the
fly. This also lets the DM join the players in the
discovery process – the whole group gets to be
surprised by what happens, not just the players.
Minimal book-keeping. Time and resources
should only be tracked if they have meaningful
and interesting narrative consequences.
More than just combat. Random encounters
should be non-combat scenarios just as often as
they are combat, and the party should
frequently have the ability to avoid encounters or
resolve them in unorthodox ways if they wish.
U SING A M AP
These rules assume that the group is using a
map, and that the map can be divided into hexes
that are each 5-6 miles across. Each hex
contains one of the following environments:
Environment Types. Roads, Grassland, Coastal,
Desert, Arctic, Underdark, Swamp, Hills, Forest,
Mountains, Water, Urban.
Cities. Any location in a city can usually be
reached within one day, but getting lost and
completing activities is still possible. The
random encounter table is modified for cities.
T IME
Travel is tracked in days and hexes. One set of
rolls is made per day, and a number of hexes
will be traversed per day depending on the
environment and travel pace.
S LEEPING IN THE WILD
Whenever a character sleeps in the wilderness
(i.e. somewhere temporary like a cave, tent or
other squalid conditions), they cannot benefit
CHAPTER 8: TRAVELLING
14
from a long rest and they expend one Hit Die. If
a character has no remaining Hit Dice, they
instead gain a level of exhaustion. This is the
main time-tracking mechanism, incentivizing the
party to spend as little time between safe
locations as possible.
Recovering from exhaustion
These rules increase the frequency of gaining exhaustion,
and make it harder to get rid of when using normal rest
rules. As a counterweight, use the following rule: If you live
a wealthy lifestyle or higher for the duration of a long rest
(costing at least 4 gp per day), you recover one additional
level of exhaustion. This rule works especially well when
using the Gritty Realism rest rules.
S TEPS FOR T RAVEL
Each day the party travels through a region, the
players perform the following steps:
Step 1. Plot the direction or ideal route the
party would like to take (or choose to track a
creature, or generally explore an area).
Step 2. Determine how many hexes the party
can traverse that day, taking into account their
travel pace and any vehicles.
Step 3. Each character chooses one of the
following activities to perform while travelling:
navigate, search, forage, utilize vehicle, on
watch, support, motivate, chronicle, or craft.
Step 4. While the players are choosing their
activities, the DM rolls on the Random
Encounter table and prepares the encounter. If
it’s an Environment Hazard, introduce it after
the players have picked their activities but
before the DCs are determined.
Step 5. The characters resolve their activities,
roleplaying a day of travel.
Step 6. If an encounter was rolled and it wasn’t
a Hazard, the DM introduces it.
U NCER TAIN STOPS
The party’s route might involve multiple
locations where the party intends to spend some
time. If the outcome at those locations is
uncertain, and there is no guarantee that the
party will continue travelling, perform Steps 3-6
only for the travel done before the first uncertain
location. If the party does continue travelling
that day, the only activity that is repeated is
Navigate.
T RAVEL D ISTANCE
The party can reasonably travel for 8 hours each
day. The number of hexes traversed depends on
Hexes Per Day
Environment Slow Pace Normal Pace Fast Pace With a Vehicle Forced March
Roads 3 4 5 6 +1 per HD, up to +4
Grassland 3 4 5 5 +1 per HD, up to +4
Coastal 3 4 5 5 +1 per HD, up to +4
Desert 3 4 5 5 +1 per HD, up to +4
Arctic 3 4 5 5 +1 per HD, up to +4
Underdark 3 4 5 5 +1 per HD, up to +4
Swamp 2 3 4 4 +1 per HD, up to +3
Hills 2 3 4 4 +1 per HD, up to +3
Forest 1 2 3 2 +1 per HD, up to +2
Mountains 0 (1 if there’s a path) 1 (2) 2 (3) 0 (2) +1 per HD, up to +1 (+2)
Water 0 1 2 4 +1 per HD, up to +1
Air N/A N/A N/A 6 N/A

Activity DCs
Environment Navigate Search Forage Utilize Vehicle Ink Potion Poison Protection Weapon
Roads 0 15 10 10 20 20 20 15 15
Grassland 10 15 5 15 15 15 15 15 15
Coastal 0 10 10 20 10 15 10 15 15
Desert 20 15 25 20 20 20 15 20 20
Arctic 20 10 20 20 15 20 20 20 15
Underdark 15 20 15 10 10 15 10 15 20
Swamp 10 10 10 20 10 10 10 15 15
Hills 15 15 10 15 20 15 15 10 10
Forest 15 15 5 25 15 10 10 10 10
Mountains 20 20 20 30 20 20 20 15 15
Mountain path 10 20 20 15 20 20 20 20 20
Water 15 25 15 20 10 10 10 20 20
Urban 15 20 N/A N/A 25 25 25 25 25
In the air 0 N/A N/A 15 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Magical influences +/-5 +/-5 +/-5 +/-5 +/-5 +/-5 +/-5 +/-5 +/-5
Slow pace -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5
Fast pace +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5
Lightly obscured +5 +5 +5 +0 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5
Heavily obscured +10 +10 +10 +5 +10 +10 +10 +10 +10

the environment, outlined in the Hexes Per Day
table. These numbers assume that the party
possesses any appropriate gear, such as snow
shoes or mountaineering equipment. If the party
would be moving through multiple environments,
use the proportional average (rounding down).
Travel Pace. Each day the party travels on foot,
they choose whether to travel at a slow, normal,
or fast pace, or to undergo a forced march. This
adjusts the number of hexes they traverse, and
affects Activity DCs like navigation. If some
party members are travelling at different speeds,
use the slowest speed among the party.
Vehicles and Mounts. A vehicle (including
mounts) might allow the party to traverse more
hexes in a day. Not all vehicles are applicable in
all environments however, and skillful utilization
of the vehicle might be required to move further
than a fast pace on foot would. For example,
carriages are likely only usable on roads, and
most vehicles will not be any faster than walking
in forests or mountains.
Forced March. If the party wants to traverse
more hexes and/or don’t want to travel quickly,
they can instead commit to a normal pace for up
to 16 hours in a single day, instead of the
normal 8. Each additional hex costs each
character 1 Hit Die, or one level of exhaustion. A
forced march can at most double the hexes that
would be travelled at a normal pace.
Stealth. Travelling undetected relies on spotting
threats before they spot you. Travel pace affects
a character’s effectiveness at being On Watch.
Rotating Shifts. If the party is travelling on a
vehicle large enough for them to rest, and the
creatures operating the vehicle can change at
least every 8 hours, the party can travel all day
and move up to 4 times as far. This usually
requires a driver or captain handing control to
someone else, and might require changing the
horses on a carriage, a team of oarsmen,
workers in a boiler room, or spellcasters running
a magic vehicle. By default, a vehicle capable of
rotating shifts can only move at a normal pace.

CHAPTER 8: TRAVELLING
15
 A CTIVITIES W HILE
T RAVELLING
This section outlines the activities that a
character can perform while travelling. Each
character can perform one activity per day
(except for Rangers, who can perform two).
Environment. If any DCs change depending on
the environment, use the most common
environment that the party is travelling through.
Multiple characters. If multiple characters
perform the same activity, each character rolls
as normal and only the highest result is used.
N AVIGATE
You navigate the wilderness, aiming to keep
track of where you are and not get lost.
The DC is determined by the environment the
party is travelling through and any relevant
modifiers, as described in the Activity DCs table.
On a success, the party follows the planned
route and/or doesn’t get lost. On a failure, the
party is lost.
If the DC is 0 or less, the party cannot get lost
(and therefore a navigator is not required).
Example Proficiencies. Wisdom (Survival),
Intelligence (Navigator’s Tools).
Becoming Lost. If the party becomes lost, draw
a square on the map with the party’s starting
location in one corner and each side length
equal to the number of hexes the party
traversed, covering the hexes the party could
theoretically be in. The DM then secretly
chooses or randomly decides which hex within
the square the party is in. The DM tells the
party what environment they’re in and describes
any landmarks in the hex, but doesn’t give them
any more information than that. It’s up to the
party to solve their predicament!
S EARCH
You are tracking a creature or searching for
something. Regardless of what you are
searching for, calculate the DC using the Activity
DCs table, based on the environment the party
is in and any other relevant factors. On a
success, choose one of the following:
• You find what you are looking for, if it is in the
hexes the party traversed through.
• Roll d10+10, and choose whether to replace
the DM’s Random Encounter roll for the day
with the new roll (without knowing what the
DM rolled). If an Environment Hazard has
already been introduced, the roll would be in
addition to the Hazard, instead of replacing it.
Example Proficiencies. Intelligence or Wisdom
(Survival, Investigation or Perception).
CHAPTER 8: TRAVELLING
16
F ORAGE
You forage for food and water. The DC is
determined by the environment the party is in
and any relevant modifiers, as described in the
Activity DCs table. On a success, you find
enough food and water to feed the PCs for the
day. If you beat the DC by 10+, you also find
enough for the PCs’ mounts and close
companions. Each unfed creature consumes 5
sp worth of rations for the day or loses 1 Hit Die.
If they have no remaining Hit Dice, or don’t eat
or drink for a number of days equal to their
Constitution modifier, they gain a level of
exhaustion.
Example Proficiencies. Intelligence or Wisdom
(Survival or Nature).
Don’t track rations – just track water
Water is heavier and more vital than rations. 10 pounds of
water is required each day, compared to 2 pounds of food,
and a few days without water can be deadly. Additionally,
goodberries do not provide hydration.
Assume that the party can travel with 2 days worth of
water per person. If they have a vehicle (or mount) carrying
a barrel of water, the party has a week’s worth of water.
This rule-of-thumb is enough to make foraging both simpler
and more important.
U TILIZE V EHICLE
Whether its skillful control, tender caring of
animals, or clever adjustments or repairs,
vehicles and mounts can be pushed to travel
faster.
The DC to utilize a vehicle (or mount) in this
way is determined by the environment the party
is in and any relevant modifiers, as described in
the Activity DCs table. On a success, the vehicle
(or mount) can move one more hex that day, and
you have advantage on any checks or saving
throws made to control the vehicle (or mount).
Example Proficiencies. Dexterity, Intelligence or
Wisdom (Vehicle (Land or Water)), Wisdom
(Animal Handling), Strength or Intelligence
(Carpenter’s Tools or Smith’s Tools), Intelligence
(Tinker’s Tools).
O N WATCH
You vigilantly keep a look out for creatures and
hazards. You have a chance to spot other
creatures before they spot the party, with a
contested Wisdom (Perception) check. If the
party is travelling at a slow pace, add 5 to your
result. Subtract 5 if the party is moving at a fast
pace. Spotting creatures early can allow the
party to move stealthy past them using normal
stealth rules, if they wish to.
You also have a chance to spot some
Environment Hazards more quickly, using the
environment’s Search DC.
Example Proficiencies. Wisdom (Perception).
S UPPOR T
You help the party handle the wilderness with
supporting tasks like preparing meals or alcohol,
tending to injuries, or repairing shoes or gear.
The DC is 10 + the average party level. On a
success, the party does not lose a Hit Die for
sleeping in the wild that day.
Applicable Proficiencies. Intelligence or Wisdom
(Medicine, Cook’s Utensils or Brewer’s Supplies),
Intelligence or Strength (Cobbler’s Tools),
Intelligence or Dexterity (Weaver’s Tools).
M OTIVATE
You motivate the party to keep the pace up by
playing music, coaching, persuading or
intimidating the party.
The DC is 5 + the average party level. On a
success, the party lose d4 less Hit Dice from a
Forced March, or can move an extra hex if they
are not moving on a vehicle or Forced March.
Example Proficiencies. Charisma (Persuasion),
Strength or Charisma (Intimidate or Athletics),
Wisdom or Charisma (Musical Instrument).
C HRONICLE
You chronicle the party’s journey, creating a
record such as drawings, songs, poems, a
journal, or maps. Any chronicle you create has a
set amount of value, either in gold pieces or
services. For example you could recount the
chronicle at taverns for free food and beds, or
sell copies of the work to a library or guild.
Roll an ability check with one of the skills or
toolkits below that you are proficient with. The
chronicle has a gp value equal to the result. The
value is doubled if you discover a new location or
creature in the area.
If you roll above the environment’s navigation
DC, the party can travel the same route without
making a navigation check in future. This
includes backtracking if you become lost.
Example Proficiencies. Intelligence (History,
Performance, Musical Instrument, Forgery Kit or
Cartographer’s tools), Intelligence or Dexterity
(Calligrapher’s supplies or Painter’s supplies).
C RAFT (M ULTIPLE )
Each day, you gather materials from the
environment and craft one of the following,
depending on the toolkit you use. The DCs are
presented in the Activity DC table.
Magic Ink. You find a faintly magical liquid in a
plant or carcass, and either scribe a cantrip or
1st level spell you know, or create a letter or
artwork that causes the first viewer to be under
the effect of the Suggestion spell. Roll
Intelligence or Wisdom (Painter’s supplies,
Calligrapher’s supplies, Cartographer’s tools or
Forgery kit).
Potion of Healing. You find ingredients and
create a potion of healing. Roll Intelligence or
Wisdom (Herbalism kit, Alchemist’s supplies or
Poisoner’s kit).
Poison. You find ingredients and create a mild
poison. It is an ingestion or injury poison, and
causes the target to become poisoned for an
hour if they fail a DC 15 Constitution Saving
Throw. Roll Intelligence or Wisdom (Brewer’s
supplies, Cook’s utensils, Herbalism kit,
Alchemist’s supplies or Poisoner’s kit).
Temporary Protection. You find materials and
craft a makeshift piece of protective equipment.
It provides +2 AC for up to 7 days until it
prevents an attack that would otherwise hit the
wearer. Roll Strength or Wisdom (Woodcarver’s
tools, Carpenter’s tools, Leatherworker’s tools,
Cobbler’s tools, Potter’s tools or Weaver’s tools).
Sharpened Weapon. You find strange wood, a
high-quality whetstone, or something similarly
appropriate. With the materials you craft or
sharpen a weapon. It deals +5 damage the first
time it hits. Roll Dexterity or Wisdom (Mason’s
tools, Smith’s tools, Tinker’s tools, Jeweler’s
tools, Woodcarver’s tools or Carpenter’s tools).
Special material. At the DM’s discretion, you
can also gather materials to craft other things,
though some may take longer than a day to
make or require more materials.
R ANDOM E NCOUNTERS
Each day of travel, the DM rolls a d20 on the
Random Encounter table. In a city, roll d6+7.
Random Encounters
d20 Encounter
1 A large-scale event occurs, affecting an entire hex.
2-10 No random encounter.
11-12 The DM rolls on the Unexpected Humanoids table.
13-14 The DM rolls on the Environment Hazard table.
15-16 The DM rolls on the Monuments And Weird Locales
table. Can optionally include treasure, but not
without traps, hazards, or creatures from the
relevant environment encounter table.
17-19 The DM rolls on the relevant environment encounter
table. 25% chance of the encounter happening while
the party is resting.
20 A lair or stronghold. It likely contains lair effects and
a treasure hoard. The DM chooses what creatures
occupy it from the relevant environment encounter
table, and whether the party encounters regional
effects while performing their activities.
If a large-scale event occurs, the party can
change route, avoiding that hex but delaying
their travel by at least one hex (perhaps more, if
the hex is a bridge or mountain pass). Examples
of large-scale events include an army marching
or camping or fighting, or a dragon searching for
prey, a festival, or supernatural event.
CHAPTER 8: TRAVELLING
17
 Monuments and Weird Locales (The DM chooses from either column)
d20 Monuments Weird Locales Magical Phenomena (TCE)
1-2 Sealed burial mound or pyramid Wild magic zone (roll on the Wild Magic Enchanted Springs
Surge table whenever a spell is cast)
3 Plundered burial mound or pyramid Dead magic zone (similar to anti-magic field) Enchanted Springs
4 Faces or statues carved into a cliff Boulder carved with talking faces Enchanted Springs
5 Recent obelisk etched with a warning River ferry guided by a skeletal captain Magic Mushrooms
6-7 Recent obelisk etched with historical lore, a Giant crystal shard protruding from the Magic Mushrooms
dedication, or religious iconography ground
8 Ruined or toppled obelisk, possibly haunted Permanent portal to another plane Magic Mushrooms
9 Recent statue of a person or deity, perhaps Battlefield where lingering fog occasionally Mimic Colonies
vandalized assumes humanoid forms
10 Ancient home built for Large creatures Haunted hill or barrow mound Mimic Colonies
11-12 Ruins of a settlement Ancient tree containing a trapped spirit Mimic Colonies
13 Ruins of an ancient temple Wrecked ship, perhaps nowhere near water Primal Fruit
14-15 Ruins of a stone tower Wishing well Primal Fruit
16 Great stone wall with tower fortifications Crystal cave that mystically answers Primal Fruit
spaced at one-mile intervals questions
17 A strange fountain Field of petrified soldiers or other creatures Unearthly Roads
18 Recent circle of standing stones Forest of petrified or awakened trees Unearthly Roads
19 Ruined or toppled circle of standing stones Canyon containing a dragon graveyard Unearthly Roads
20 Magic totem pole Floating earth mote with a tower on it Unearthly Roads

Unexpected Humanoids E NVIRONMENT E NCOUNTERS

d6 Encounter
1 Bandits, assassins, or other creatures surround,
If a random environment encounter happens,
threaten, and/or ambush the party. Use the Urban the DM either rolls a d100 or chooses an
Encounter tables on p.110-112 of XGE if in doubt. encounter on the relevant environment table
2 The party sees bandits or other creatures attacking a (p.92-112 of XGE), using the environment of one
caravan, homestead, settlement, or other group. Use of the hexes that the party is travelling through
an Urban Encounter if in doubt. that day.
3 Another group of adventurers is travelling through the On a road or river, use the encounter tables
region, perhaps on the same quest, or a quest the that match the surrounding environment.
party declined. When imagining the terrain surrounding a
4 A rider travels with news, either for a town, a leader, random encounter, consider adding a random
or specifically for the party.
monument or weird locale sometimes.
5 An experienced merchant, nomad or hermit has
specialty goods for sale at half their normal value, such
Variant rule: Far from home
as poisons, silver or adamantine weapons, gnomish
The further from civilization the party is, the more
contraptions, or uncommon beasts.
dangerous the wilderness becomes. When rolling on an
6 An experienced spellcaster, perhaps travelling or living environment encounter table, add +5 for each hex
in isolation, has spell scrolls and magic items for sale between the current hex and the nearest town. If the result
at half their normal value. If in doubt, use the “Buying exceeds 100, use the table for the next tier of party level.
a Magic Item" downtime rules on p.126 of XGE. To
simplify it, roll 4 items on Table F on p.146 of the DMG.
Reaction Roll
d20 Encounter
Environment Hazard 1 The creature(s) immediately attack the party, acting
d6 1-2 3-4 5-6 in a crazed or strange way with no regard for their
Roads Storm Flash Flood Nothing own safety.
Grassland Flash Flood Wide River Insect Swarm 2-6 The creature(s) are hostile towards the party, and
Coastal Storm Flash Flood Wide River look for a good moment to attack.
Desert Heat Wave Heat Wave Quicksand 7-12 The creature(s) are unfriendly towards the party, and
Arctic Cold Snap Blizzard Rock Slide will attack if provoked or tempted.
Underdark Rock Slide Wide Canyon Razorvine 13-16 The creature(s) are indifferent towards the party,
Swamp Quicksand Insect Swarm Razorvine perhaps curious, or ignoring them entirely.
Hills Storm Rock Slide Wide River 17-19 The creature(s) are friendly towards the party, and
Forest Quicksand Insect Swarm Razorvine maybe curious or welcoming.
Mountains Blizzard Rock Slide Wide Canyon 20 If sapient, the creature(s) fall to their knees, praising
On water Heat Wave Storm Storm the party for saving them, or for fulfilling a prophecy.
In the air Cold Snap Storm Storm Otherwise the creature(s) act like domesticated
Urban Storm Flash Flood Nothing animals owned by the party.

CHAPTER 8: TRAVELLING
18
R EACTION R OLL
If an encounter involves creatures the party
hasn’t met before, the DM either chooses or rolls
on the Reaction Roll table to see how those
creatures react to the party.
Monster Desires. Reaction rolls can be used in
conjunction with the Parleying With Monsters
rules in TCE (p.148), to determine what the
creatures are interested in.
Variant rule: Renown
If you are using the custom Renown rules, consider
modifying the d20 reaction roll with any relevant renown
score, if one exists. If the result is above 20 or below 1, one
of the creatures personally knows a party member.
E NVIRONMENT H AZARDS
A variety of dilemmas can come up while
travelling, just from the environment alone. The
Environment Hazard table outlines some
possibilities for each type of environment,
though many others could be applicable.
W EATHER
Strong weather might change the environment
enough in a hex to change which hazards are
possible. For example, a cold snap or blizzard
might be possible in any environment if it is
winter.
R EGIONAL E FFECTS
The regional effects near the lairs of powerful
creatures can be treated as Environment
Hazards that either replace the Random
Encounter roll, or occur in addition to the roll.
At least one regional effect should occur before
the party reaches a lair.
L IST OF H AZARDS
The rules for each type of hazard are outlined
below. Some just require saving throws, while
others are open-ended puzzles.
Rock Slide. Nearby rocks, dirt or snow come
loose and roll down towards the party. Each
creature makes a DC 15 Dexterity Saving Throw
or is knocked unconscious momentarily, gaining
a level of exhaustion upon waking. If a character
is On Watch and succeeds against the
environment’s Search DC, they can warn the
party and give everyone advantage on the save.
Insect Swarm. A swarm of insects moves
through the party. Each creature makes a DC
15 Constitution Saving Throw or gains a level of
exhaustion. If a character is On Watch and
succeeds against the environment’s Search DC,
they can warn the party and give everyone
advantage on the save.
Wide River or Canyon. Halfway through the
day’s most common environment, a wide river or
canyon blocks the party’s route. It is 4d4 ×5 feet
wide. If it’s a river, it’s d6 ×5 feet deep at its
deepest and fast-moving. If it’s a canyon, it’s d6
×50 feet deep. The party either thinks of a way
to get across, or spends two hexes of travel
finding a bridge or narrow part of the river or
canyon. Swimming across a river is possible, but
requires a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check to
not gain a level of exhaustion.
Quicksand. A 10 feet deep area of sand or mud
beneath the party becomes churned up by the
party’s movement, becoming liquefied. If a
character is On Watch and succeeds against the
environment’s Search DC, they spot what’s
happening and can stop half the party from
moving onto the quicksand.
Any creatures in the quicksand start partially
submerged, and will be fully submerged in 1 (if
they’re Small), 2 (Medium) or 3 (Large) rounds.
They can make it to the edge with an action and
a successful Strength check (no proficiency). The
DC is 10 + 5 for each previous turn the creature
has had while submerged.
If a creature out of the quicksand spends their
action pulling a creature out, the DC is 5 lower,
though the target creature is d2 × 5 feet from
the closest edge and may be difficult to reach.
Creatures who become fully submerged can
eventually be pulled out by others, but they are
at 0 hit points (and stabilized). Some vehicles
can also be pulled out with time and effort, but
simple wooden vehicles are destroyed.
Flash Flood. Several hours of pouring rain cause
a flash flood in the area. Fast-moving water 5
feet deep rushes through an area for several
minutes, destroying topsoil, plants, vehicles, and
maybe even trees. Each creature has one turn to
react (in any order) before the water hits them. If
a character is On Watch and succeeds against
the environment’s Search DC, they can warn the
party and give everyone an additional turn.
Each creature hit by the flood must make a DC
20 Strength Saving Throw, or be swept d6 ×100
feet away and drop to 0 hit points. By default,
high ground can be found 40+(d10 ×10) feet
away from any given character (roll separately
for each character). High-ground includes large
trees, hills, and buildings.
Razorvine. The party’s route is covered in
Razorvine, a magical, malignant, malicious weed
that is known for appearing one day and
disappearing the next. All Activity DCs (except
Craft Poison) are increased by 5 for the day, and
each creature loses half their current Hit Dice,
or a quarter if a character is successfully
Supporting the party (minimum of one).
CHAPTER 8: TRAVELLING
19
 Storm. Strong winds and rain heavily obscure
everything for the day. Creatures either find
cover and make no progress that day, or risk the
storm. Any creatures that don’t find cover (such
as a building or cave) can’t gain the benefits of
short rests, and they make a DC 15 Constitution
Saving Throw. On a failure, they either lose a
Hit Die or gain a level of exhaustion. Water and
air ships that don’t find safety require the
captain to make a DC 10 Intelligence or Wisdom
(Vehicle (Water or Air)) check, or the ship begins
to sink or crash.
Eldritch Storms. If appropriate, the storm can
be flavored using the descriptions in TCE
(p.163): Flaywind, Flame Storm, Necrotic
Tempest, Thrym’s Howl.
Blizzard. Freezing winds and snow heavily
obscure everything for the day. Creatures either
find cover and make no progress that day, or
risk the blizzard to perform their activities and
travel half the normal number of hexes. Any
creatures that don’t find cover (such as a
building or cave) can’t gain the benefits of short
rests. Creatures with resistance to cold damage
or in cold weather gear make a DC 15
Constitution Saving Throw or gain a level of
exhaustion. Creatures without appropriate
protection drop to 0 hit points.
Cold Snap. The temperature drops incredibly low
for several hours. Creatures with resistance to
cold damage or in cold weather gear make a DC
15 Constitution Saving Throw or gain a level of
exhaustion. Creatures without appropriate
protection drop to 0 hit points.
Heat Wave. The temperature becomes
unbearably hot for several hours. Creatures with
resistance to fire damage or with no armor on
make a DC 15 Constitution Saving Throw or
gain a level of exhaustion. Creatures in armor
who don’t have resistance or immunity to fire
damage drop to 0 hit points.
C USTOM
E NVIRONMENTS
If the party will be travelling in an environment
not represented here, such as another plane,
you can create statistics for that environment by
filling in the following information:
H EXES P ER D AY
• Normal Pace (default 4)
• Slow Pace (Normal Pace -1)
• Fast Pace (Normal Pace +1)
• Forced March (Normal Pace ×2)
• With a Vehicle (depends, or Normal Pace +1)
CHAPTER 8: TRAVELLING
20
A CTIVITY DC S
• Navigate
• Search
• Forage
• Utilize Vehicle
• Craft Magic Ink, Potion of Healing, Poison,
Temporary Protection, and Sharpened Weapon
E NVIRONMENT E NCOUNTERS
A table of creatures the party might encounter,
appropriate for their tier of play. A d6 table is
likely enough to start with, and then later
replacing any creatures that the party
encounters with new options.
E NVIRONMENT H AZARDS
1-3 potential hazards in the environment, using
either the hazards listed here or new hazards.
On other planes, the effects presented in the
DMG can make good hazards. Examples include
Psychic Wind, Psychic Dissonance, Ether
Cyclones, Shadowfell Despair, and Mad Winds.
S PECIALIZED F OCUS
If a campaign will be focused in a particular
environment, specialized encounter tables and
hazards might be available in other resources.
For example:
• Sailing on the sea: see Ghosts of Saltmarsh
• Jungle: see Tomb of Annihilation
• A cursed land: see Curse of Strahd
• The Underdark: see Out of the Abyss
• A city: see Waterdeep Dragon Heist
• A post-apocalypse or hellscape: see Descent
into Avernus
D OWNTIME
T RAVELLING
Player characters can travel during downtime
without risking random encounters or
attempting activities. However unless they are
travelling on a road (or aboard a passenger ship),
they can only travel through hexes they have
previously travelled through, and must travel at
a slow pace in order to avoid trouble.
A CTIVITIES
With a week of downtime, a PC can successfully
complete one of the following Activities without
risk (assuming they meet any proficiency
requirements):
• Search the area, at the DM’s discretion.
• Chronicle the goings-on in the area for a week.
• Craft one of the listed items. Special materials
are still at the DM’s discretion.