Caesar's House

of the Fifth

/u/Caesarr

i
 C ONTENTS
1 Quick Fixes 1 4 Magic Items 13
Character Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Crafting Magic Items . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
High-level Martial Characters . . . . . . . 1 Disenchanting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Class Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Upgrading Magic Weapons & Armor . . . 13
Ability Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Ability Checks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 5 Inspiration 14
Short Rests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Benefits of Inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Survival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Using Inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Illusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Renewing Inspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Companions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Dungeon-Delving Mercenaries . . . . 3 6 Gaining Experience 15
Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Personal Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . 15
Spell Scrolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Writing Characteristics . . . . . . . . 15
Gritty Realism Spell Duration . . . . 3 Earning XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Forcecage Errata . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Party Goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Interrogations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Expected XP Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
External Pressures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2 Combat 5
Cleaving & Piercing . . . . . . . . . . 5 7 Campaign Pacing 17
Called Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Increasing the Difficulty . . . . . . . . . . 17
Attacking Prone Targets . . . . . . . . 5 Premade Adventures . . . . . . . . . . 17
Opportunity Attacks . . . . . . . . . . 5 An Extra Feat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Dashing Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Correcting CR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Potions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Treasure Hoards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Death Saves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
8 Renown 18
Massive Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Tracking Renown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Simplified Mounted Combat . . . . . 5
Benefits of Renown . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Escaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Fictional Positioning . . . . . . . . . . 18
Stealthy Takedowns . . . . . . . . . . 6 Overlapping Allegiances . . . . . . . . 18
Non-player Multiattacks . . . . . . . 6 Gaining Renown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Legendary Actions . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Maintaining Renown . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Legendary Resistance . . . . . . . . . 6
Using Skills in Combat . . . . . . . . . . . 6 9 Ruling Land 19
Interfere with an Object . . . . . . . . 6 Gaining Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Move Through Enemy Space . . . . . 6 Build on Unclaimed Land . . . . . . . 19
Cut the Straps . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Be Granted Land . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Interrupt a Spell . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Managing Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Rally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Frighten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 10 Exploring Dungeons 20
Taunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Tracking Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Resuscitate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Wandering Inhabitants . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Social Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Recalling Information . . . . . . . . . 7 11 Exploring the Wild 21
Variant: Fighting Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Using a Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Condition: Dispirited . . . . . . . . . 7 Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Fighting Spirit for NPCs . . . . . . . . 7 Sleeping in the Wild . . . . . . . . . . 21
Travel Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3 Feats 8 Travel Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Unchanged Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Random Encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Nerfed Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Environment Encounters . . . . . . . 24
Buffed PHB Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Environment Hazards . . . . . . . . . 26
Buffed XGE Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Downtime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Buffed TCE Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Advanced Recipe for Hex Encounters . . . 27

CONTENTS
ii
C HAPTER 1: Q UICK F IXES
• Last updated: March 28, 2023. C LASS C HANGES
• If you have feedback, message me at /u/Caesarr.
• The book’s colorized version can be found here.
R ANGER
• The book’s print-friendly version can be found here. Use the TCE version of the Ranger.
• You can have the Favored Foe feature last for
a single attack and not require concentration.
C HARACTER C REATION • Rather than knowing a set list of spells, you
prepare a number of spells from the Ranger
L EVEL 1 H IT P OINTS spell list equal to your Wisdom modifier + half
Level 1 characters start with 2 Hit Dice and your Ranger level, rounded down. You can
equivalent hit points of a level 2 character. When change your list at the end of long rests.
characters reach level 2, they don’t gain hit
points or a hit die. S ORCERER
F EATS
• You have an additional number of sorcery
points equal to your proficiency bonus.
Non-human races can gain a feat at level 1, by • At 3rd Level, you gain four Metamagic options.
replacing all racial ability score improvements
You gain two at 10th and 17th level.
with one +1 increase in an ability of your choice. • Subclasses that do not include a table of
M AXIMUM A BILITY S CORE additional spells (such as those in TCE) gain 2
additional spells known when they gain their
At level 1, ability scores cannot be above 17. If
1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th level in Sorcerer.
you roll for scores and roll an 18+, move the
These spells must on the sorcerer, warlock or
excess amount to another ability score.
wizard spell list, and must be from one of two
schools of magic chosen at character creation.
H IGH - LEVEL M AR TIAL
M ONK
C HARACTERS • You have an additional number of ki points
When you reach a combined total of 11 levels equal to your proficiency bonus.
(and again at 15 and 20 levels) in the following • As part of your Extra Attack class feature, the
classes, you gain an additional Ability Score number of attacks increases to three when
Improvement or Feat: Barbarian, Fighter, Monk, you reach 11th level.
Rogue, and three-quarters of any Artificer, • Deflect Missiles can be used on any ranged
Paladin and Ranger levels (rounded down). For weapon attack that hits a creature within 5
example, without any multi-classing, a Ranger feet of you.
will gain their first additional ASI at level 15 • You can make grapple and shove checks with
(15×0.75 = 11). Dexterity (Acrobatics).

The Martial Power Fantasy

At higher tiers, martial characters can start to feel less epic Skills with different abilities
than spellcasters. In popular media, martial characters like In popular culture, martial artists like Jackie Chan often
Achilles, Captain America, Ip Man, and John Wick are often perform tasks in unusual ways, such as using dexterity in
seen achieving incredible feats of strength and dexterity, or places where other combatants might use raw strength.
taking on dozens of thugs at once and winning. Additional Achieving this class fantasy in 5e can be as simple as being
attribute points and feats can help enable some of these more permissive with which skill or ability can be used to
fantasies. Using the optional Cleave can also be important achieve a task.
in achieving these fantasies.

WARLOCK
Gritty Realism
Intelligence can be used as your spellcasting
Using the Gritty Realism resting rules (p.267 of the DMG)
attribute. Any class features that use Charisma
can also help bridge the gap between martial characters
and spellcasters. The game is balanced around having 6-8 change to Intelligence.
medium-hard encounters per long rest. If spellcasters rest
more often than this, they will have more spell slots W IZARD
available per encounter than the game expects.
You do not need to roll when copying spells into
your spellbook.

CHAPTER 1: QUICK FIXES

1
 A BILITY S CORES consequences after each check, except for the
following differences:
I NTELLIGENCE • The party needs to get 3 successes before they
You know a number of additional (or fewer) get 3 failures.
languages or tool proficiencies equal to your • A different PC needs to roll each time when
Intelligence modifier. possible.
Chases. A contested skill challenge can be a good
S TRENGTH
way to play out a chase, whether the party is
Carrying Capacity. Instead of 15 times your chasing someone else or being chased.
Strength score, the amount of pounds you can
carry is (Strength score)2 + 50. For example, the
amount is unchanged if your Strength is 10, Ability checks are more than just dice rolls
adds 50 pounds if your Strength is 15, and adds Ability checks offer an opportunity for roleplaying.
150 pounds if your Strength is 20. Describing how a character does something can often be
Push, Drag, or Lift. You can push, drag and lift 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
twice this new carrying capacity using your based on a shared understanding of the world. If players
passive Strength. More is possible if you succeed approach it cleverly they might gain advantage, or a new
at a Strength check. You can lift five times your approach might call for an entirely different check with a
carrying capacity with a DC 15 Strength check, new DC. Sometimes a check might not be necessary at all.
and ten times with a DC 20 Strength check.

A BILITY C HECKS
H ELPING
S HOR T R ESTS
To help another character with a skill check, you Short rests take 10 minutes, and you can
must be proficient in the skill they are using. benefit from at most two short rests per long
rest. This makes it more reasonable to take
P ASSIVE C HECKS (T AKING 10) short rests in time-sensitive situations and
balances classes that rely on short rests.
Passive checks are not only for “always on”
senses like perception and insight, but also to
determine your typical aptitude at a task when
not under pressure (PHB p.175). In low-pressure
S URVIVAL
If you want survival to be non-trivial, use the
situations where you could safely attempt
following two quick fixes:
something multiple times, you can “take 10”
instead of rolling a d20 for the check, adding • Long rests cannot be taken in the wilderness.
your modifiers as normal (and adding or • A person can carry at most 20 lbs of water
subtracting 5 if you have advantage or (enough for 2 days), and water created by
disadvantage). If taking 10 wouldn’t give you a magic below 3rd level does not provide
high enough result, you can roll the d20 instead. hydration (nor do goodberries).
This is true for any ability check. See Chapter 11 for full rework of Exploration.

T AKING 20 H OLDING Y OUR B REATH

If you have ten times as much time available as
Holding your breath requires Concentration.
a task would normally take, and have the
This adds a twist to underwater hazards and
opportunity to try multiple different solutions,
combat, making it riskier.
you can “take 20” instead of rolling a d20,
adding your modifiers as normal (advantage and
disadvantage have no effect). This represents a R EMEMBERING G EAR
character’s skill in the best of circumstances. Sometimes players forget to buy gear that their
The DMG has a similar rule on p.237: “Multiple character would likely have remembered. If your
Ability Checks”. character has been somewhere in the past week
that sells adventuring gear (and wouldn’t have
S KILL C HALLENGES since lost possession of it), you can make a DC
When a single dice roll doesn’t feel like enough, 10 Intelligence check to remember buying one
but combat also doesn’t fit well, a skill challenge item. On a success, pay the cost of the item and
can be a nice middle-ground. Fundamentally a add it to your equipment. On a failure, you can’t
skill challenge is no different than a sequence of remember any more gear until you next visit
ability checks with the DM narrating the somewhere that sells gear.

CHAPTER 1: QUICK FIXES

2
A DVENTURING P ACK In exchange for these requirements, mercenaries
Available anywhere that sells adventuring gear, don’t require a share of any treasure found.
this item costs 20 gp, weighs 20 lb. and has 5 The table below provides the monthly pay of
charges. Spending a charge allows you to pull mercenaries of various skill. They will only follow
out any mundane item worth 5 gp or less, such adventurers they respect, but also won’t join a
as a crowbar, grappling hook, torch, or caltrops. party that far exceeds their capabilities. This is
represented in the table by the party’s level.
D AMAGING C ARRIED O BJECTS
Costs for Mercenaries
Worn and carried objects have resistance to all Party Weapon Armor d20 Monthly
damage. They are treated as having the Level Damage Class Modifier Payment
Dexterity of the carrier, increasing their AC and 1-4 4 15 +3 250gp
allowing them to make Dexterity saving throws. 5-10 8 16 +5 500gp
11-16 12 17 +7 1,500gp
VARIANT : G RITTY R ESURRECTION 17-20 16 18 +9 6,000gp
If your group is interested in playing in a game
At most 4 mercenaries can be brought into a
(and setting) where resurrection magic is more
dungeon. Any more than that causes more
costly, consider using the following rule:
inconveniences than their presence would help.
Whenever a character is brought back to life,
They refuse to go anywhere without a PC (e.g.
both they and the caster of the resurrection
they won’t spring traps), but are otherwise just
magic gain 2 levels of exhaustion.
as brave and trustworthy as the PCs.
Combat. The mercenaries are friendly to you and
I LLUSIONS your companions. Roll initiative once for the
When presented with an illusion that requires mercenaries as a group, with each having their
an action to investigate, it can be difficult to own turns. Before combat, the players choose
determine whether a creature would have a who will control which (or all) mercenaries. They
reason to be suspicious. To clarify the situation, can perform any normal actions, but don’t have
if the creature’s passive Intelligence any special abilities. If they need to make an
(Investigation) score is above the spell save DC of attack roll, skill check or saving throw, use the
the caster, they are suspicious. They do not same modifier provided in the table above.
know for certain however, and will still be
cautious. An action and successful investigation S PELLS
check (or physical contact) is still required to
know for certain. If the creature’s passive S PELL S CROLLS
Intelligence (Investigation) score is below the Anyone who can understand a language can
spell save DC, they won’t spend an action attempt to use a spell scroll using the rules on
investigating until there is new evidence. p.200 of the DMG. If it is not possible for you to
otherwise cast the spell, using the scroll requires
C OMPANIONS a successful ability check. If the spell is on the
wizard or artificer spell list, you can use
Important non-player companions and mounts Intelligence. If the spell is on the cleric, druid or
have a number of d8 Hit Dice equal to the ranger list, you can use Wisdom. If the spell is
average party level. Their maximum hit points on the sorcerer, warlock, paladin or bard list,
are therefore equal to (5 + their Constitution you can use Charisma. The DC is equal to 10 +
modifier) × the average party level. This only the spell’s level.
applies to living creatures (not constructs,
undead or summons) and mounts created with G RITTY R EALISM S PELL D URATION
the Find Steed and Find Greater Steed spells.
If you’re playing with Gritty Realism, most spells
do not need adjustment. However, the spells
D UNGEON -D ELVING M ERCENARIES listed below have rules for recasting it every day,
While guards are simply skilled hirelings, costing and therefore have their duration changed to
2gp a day, mercenaries willing to risk the two weeks:
unexplored depths of dungeons require hazard • 2nd level: Magic Aura

pay. They also have two requirements, enforced • 3rd level: Animate Dead, Tower

by a mercenary guild appropriate for the setting: • 4th level: Private Sanctum

• monthly payment in advance, and • 6th level: Druid Grove, Guards and Wards

• an extra month’s pay as death insurance, paid • 7th level: Magnificent Mansion, Temple of the

upfront and refunded upon their safe return. Gods

CHAPTER 1: QUICK FIXES

3
 Mage Armor. Mage Armor’s duration works well
with Gritty Realism, but in a different way than
I NTERROGATIONS
normal. Instead of always being on, spellcasters Whenever the party interrogates someone part of
might have lower AC for some fights. Depending an organization, follow the normal social
on the group, this might be preferred, as it interaction rules on p.244 of the DMG. The DM
means their defenses won’t always be as strong can roll on the following 2 tables to determine
as martial characters. what the NPC knows, and a personality quirk
that affects how they react.
F ORCECAGE E RRATA To determine what the NPC knows, roll 1d8 for
the lowest-ranking minions or contractors, 2d8
The text:
for mid-tier (or most common) minions, and 3d8
”The prison can be a cage or a solid box for high ranking members. The NPC knows
as you choose. A prison in the shape of everything at and below the number rolled.
a cage can be up to 20 feet on a side
and is made from 1/2-inch diameter What the Minion Knows
bars spaced 1/2 inch apart. A prison in Xd8 Information
the shape of a box can be up to 10 feet 1-3 Entrance to hideout
on a side, creating a solid barrier that 4-6 Current plans for similar minions
7-8 Guard rotations and pass-codes
prevents any matter from passing
9-11 Location of the treasure room, and any protections
through it and blocking any Spells cast
12-14 The boss’s plan for the day
into or out of the area.” 15-18 The boss’s secret weakness
19-20 The location of the boss’s key or special item
is changed to:

“The prison is in the shape of a solid box

up to 10 feet on a side, creating a solid Minion Personality (D10)
barrier that prevents any matter and 1 Fanatically loyal 6 Bitter about the job
spell effects from passing through it 2 Paranoid 7 Has sick child
and blocking any Spells cast into or out 3 Gullible 8 Best friend is also a member
of the area.” 4 Squeemish 9 Terrified of their boss
5 Greedy 10 In love with their boss

CHAPTER 1: QUICK FIXES

4
C HAPTER 2: C OMBAT
C LEAVING & P IERCING A TTACKING P RONE T ARGETS
When you kill an enemy with a weapon attack, The Prone condition no longer gives attackers
any excess damage can be applied to another disadvantage to attacks more than 5 feet away
creature within reach (who has an AC equal to from the creature. However, being prone might
or below the initial attack). Two changes are still provide cover as normal.
made to the Cleave rules on p.272 of the DMG:
• You don’t need to take a creature from full HP O PPOR TUNITY A TTACKS
to 0 HP in one hit in order to cleave. Any As a simplified version of the Mark optional rule
excess damage can cleave. on p.271 of the DMG, opportunity attacks no
• Ranged weapon attacks can “pierce”: any
longer require your reaction. You can only make
excess damage can be applied to a creature one opportunity attack per round.
within 5 feet of the target in a straight line
from where you attacked. C ASTING S PELLS N EAR E NEMIES
This rule allows martial characters to more You can make an opportunity attack when a
easily handle multiple foes, something that is hostile creature that you can see casts a spell of
otherwise mostly limited to spellcasters. 1st level or higher within your reach, unless the
spell includes a melee spell attack. This attack
C ALLED S HOTS occurs after the spell is cast.
When plausible in the fiction, you can make a
“called shot”, where you attack a specific part of
D ASHING A TTACK
a creature, or an object a creature is holding or As an Action, you gain extra movement equal to
wearing. The DM decides what the effect will be half your speed for the turn. You can make one
for succeeding before you commit to making a melee weapon attack during the turn.
called shot. Examples of appropriate effects are
included in the Called Shot Examples table. P OTIONS
You can make up to one called shot per round. Drinking a potion can be done with a bonus
Making a called shot requires one of two things: action, instead of only as an action.
• having advantage on the attack, and the cost

of making a called shot is that you lose D EATH S AVES

advantage; or
Instead of death saves resetting when you regain
• making the attack as normal, but dealing no
hit points, they reset when you complete a short
damage on a successful hit.
or long rest, or when you become stable.
Effect Duration. Bodily injuries should be
temporary, lasting until the end of the attacker’s M ASSIVE D AMAGE
next turn. For example, shooting a Cyclops’s eye
only bruises it for a round, instead of After being reduced to 0 hit points, if the
permanently blinding them. Other effects, such remaining damage equals or exceeds your max
as disarming them, last until fixed. hit points, you gain a level of exhaustion instead
of instantly dying.
Lingering Injures
If you want a more gruesome game, consider letting bodily
S IMPLIFIED M OUNTED C OMBAT
injuries last indefinitely when applied to creatures below When controlling a mount, you can choose to
half health. If this happens to a PC, it could be a good use either the default rules or the following:
opportunity for them to roleplay gaining a new flaw.
• The mount is removed from the initiative order
• You occupy the same space your mount does
Called Shot Examples • Your speed matches your mount’s speed
Too Weak Appropriate Too Strong • Your movement does not provoke opportunity
-1 AC -2 AC Loss of armor attacks
-10 speed Loses flying speed Paralyzed
-4 on next attack Blinded Stunned E SCAPING
-4 damage Disarmed Halved damage
Disadv. on a Disadv. on a Disadv. on If the party (or NPCs) want to escape combat,
single skill saving throw (incl. multiple saving they can do so by having each escaping
Concentration) throws character Dash or Disengage on their next turn.

CHAPTER 2: COMBAT
5
 Once all characters have done so, the DM (or methods are more concrete than non-magical
players in the case of escaping NPCs) chooses methods (e.g. spells), and this can result in
one of the following: players of non-magical characters having less (or
• A chase and successful escape is briefly feeling like they have less) influence over the
narrated, no rolls required. fiction. In some cases, being skilled may actually
• The enemy is not interested in chasing, and be more effective than having to rely on magic to
the escaping characters get away. achieve a similar effect.
• The enemy chases them, and a skill challenge Below are examples of balanced non-magical
begins. If the escapees fail the skill challenge, actions that can be taken in combat.
combat recommences with the next creature Proficiency. In order to use a skill in combat,
in initiative order. If they succeed, the enemy you must be proficient in the skill.
is beaten to the objective, gives up, or loses
track of the characters for at least 1d4 hours. I NTERFERE WITH AN O BJECT
When a creature within melee range of you
S TEALTHY T AKEDOWNS interacts with an object (such as a sword on the
In special circumstances, it is possible to knock ground, a map on a table, or a door handle), you
out an enemy who isn’t expecting trouble. To do can spend your reaction to make a contested
so, they must be capable of being surprised, and Dexterity (Acrobatics or Sleight of Hand) check.
you must sneak up within 5 feet of them without If you succeed, the creature fails to interact with
them noticing you. the object this turn.
If successful, you will have advantage on your M OVE T HROUGH E NEMY S PACE
first attack for being an unseen attacker. You
can knock them unconscious for 1d4 hours by Two optional rules from p.272 of the DMG allow
succeeding at one of the following in a single creatures to move through an enemy’s space. As
melee attack: an action or bonus action, you can:
• Reducing their HP to below half their max HP
Overrun. Make a contested Athletics check.
• Stunning them
Larger creatures have advantage.
• Poisoning them with a Contact, Inhaled or
Tumble. Make a contested Acrobatics check.
Injury poison, or a spell such as Contagion. C UT THE S TRAPS
N ON - PLAYER M ULTIATTACKS As an action or bonus action, if you a wielding a
dagger, you can attempt to cut the straps of one
When NPCs take the Multiattack action, they non-armor item being worn by a creature within
can replace any number of their attacks with melee range. For example, a spell materials
grapple and shove attacks. pouch, backpack, or shield. To do so, make a
contested Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check
L EGENDARY A CTIONS against the target’s Dexterity (Sleight of Hand or
Creatures with legendary actions have a number Acrobatics). If you succeed, the item falls to the
of legendary actions per round equal to one less ground. For disarming weapons, see the
than the number of PCs. For example, parties of optional rule on p.271 of the DMG.
4 still result in 3 legendary actions, but parties
of 6 now result in 5 legendary actions.
I NTERRUPT A S PELL
If a creature you are grappling is casting a spell,
L EGENDARY R ESISTANCE you can attempt to interrupt it as a Reaction.
Make a Strength or Dexterity check against DC
Legendary resistance can also be spent to
10 + the spell’s level. On a success, the
succeed at an ability check required by an
creature’s spell fails and has no effect.
enemy’s effect.
Creatures with legendary resistance have a R ALLY
number of charges per day equal to one less
than the number of PCs. As an action, if you are not frightened, you can
attempt to rally any number of either friendly
humanoids or animals within 15 feet of you who
U SING S KILLS IN can see or hear you. Make a Strength or
Charisma (Intimidation) check for humanoids, or
C OMBAT a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check for animals.
While theoretically anything fictionally possible The DC is equal to the spell save DC or roll that
can be achieved in combat, it can often be caused your targets to be frightened. On a
difficult to adjudicate fair rulings. Magical success, you end the effect.

CHAPTER 2: COMBAT
6
F RIGHTEN do count as the one free interaction you get per
turn (see “Interacting with Objects” on p.190 of
As an action, you can attempt to frighten a
the PHB).
number of creatures up to your proficiency
bonus that are within 15 feet of you and can see
or hear you. The targets must succeed at a VARIANT : F IGHTING
Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of you for
1 minute. The DC is equal to 8 + your Strength S PIRIT
(Intimidation) modifier. Instead of hit points, you have fighting spirit.
The frightened creatures can repeat the saving Fighting spirit represents all the narrative
throw at the end of each of their turns, ending elements of hit points: your tenacity, defense,
the effect on itself on a success. Creatures drive, pain resistance, energy, parrying ability,
immune to being frightened cannot be affected, training, motivation, and so on.
and you can only target each creature once per Instead of suffering damage to your physical
24 hours with this ability. body, you suffer it to your fighting spirit.
Physical harm only occurs when a creature
T AUNT deals the final blow and decides if the damage is
As a bonus action, you can attempt to taunt a lethal or non-lethal. Death saving throws work
creature within 15 feet of you. The creature as normal. Anything that refers to hit points
must make a Wisdom saving throw against a DC instead refers to fighting spirit, and hit dice are
equal to 8 + your Charisma (Intimidation) now spirit dice.
modifier (if the creature is a beast, use Wisdom If you ever have less than a third of your
(Animal Handling) instead). On a failed save, the fighting spirit (rounded down), you are dispirited,
creature has disadvantage on attack rolls described below. Healing your spirit above a
against creatures other than you and can’t move third removes the condition. Your defensive
further than 30 feet from you until the start of capabilities are not dampened while dispirited,
your next turn. but it is harder for you to find the drive to
The effects ends earlier if you attack or cast a continue the fight.
spell at another hostile creature, if an ally
attacks or casts a harmful spell on the target, or C ONDITION : D ISPIRITED
if you end your turn more than 30 feet away • You have disadvantage on attack rolls.
from the target. • Saving throws made against your spells,
attacks, and abilities have advantage.
R ESUSCITATE • Optional: You gain one additional temporary
When you attempt to stabilize a creature at 0 hit ideal or flaw. Choose from the following list or
points who is not yet stable, if the result is 15 or create one with the DM:
higher, they gain 1 hit point. If they are already – Flaw: I doubt myself.
stable, there’s nothing more you can do for – Flaw: I don’t have it in me to fight any
them. longer.
– Ideal: Violence is not the answer.
S OCIAL S KILLS – Ideal: The creatures we’re fighting deserve to
live.
Talking does not usually require an action on
your turn, but it does if you want to influence
the battle. As an action, you can try to influence
F IGHTING S PIRIT FOR NPC S
a single hostile humanoid that understands you. If the DM is comfortable tracking an additional
Make a contested Persuasion, Performance, condition, NPCs and other living creatures can
Deception, or Intimidation roll as normal. If the also use fighting spirit and the dispirited
target has been harmed by the party, roll with condition. If they do, the DM should tell the
disadvantage. If you succeed, the target will offer group when a creature is dispirited. This is a
no help but also do harm to you until you act good way to signal not only the progress the
aggressively. If you succeed by 10 or more, the party is making in combat, but also that
target will do what you ask as long as no risks creatures may be willing to surrender or
or sacrifices are involved, until you act bargain.
aggressively.
Self-preservation and Healing
R ECALLING I NFORMATION The above rules encourage self-preservation and using
healing throughout a fight, instead of only using small
History, Nature, Arcana and Religion checks to amounts of healing on unconscious characters.
recall information do not require an action, but

CHAPTER 2: COMBAT
7
 C HAPTER 3: F EATS

S
OME FEATS ARE MUCH STRONGER THAN • Climbing and swimming doesn’t cost you
others. Rather than nerfing strong feats extra movement.
though, these rules buff the weaker • You can make a running long jump or a
feats. By buffing the majority of feats, it running high jump without any previous
no longer feels as punishing to miss out on an movement, rather than 10 feet.
Abilty Score Increase when picking a feat. This • Addition: Whenever you Ready an action,
helps encourage players to further customize when the trigger occurs and you use your
and differentiate their characters with feats. reaction, you can also move up to 10 feet.

U NCHANGED F EATS A CTOR

The following feats have the right level of • Increase your Charisma score by 1, to a
strength, and are the baseline when comparing maximum of 20.
and buffing other feats. • You have advantage on Charisma (Deception)
and Charisma (Performance) checks when
trying to pass yourself off as a different person,
Good Feats (Per Book)
or mimic the sounds of another creature.
PHB XGE TCE • Addition: You take the Help action from up to
Alert Bountiful Luck Chef 30 feet away to aid an ally attacking a creature
Crossbow Expert Dragon Fear Crusher as long as the creature can hear or see you.
Defensive Duelist Drow High Magic Eldritch Adept • Addition: You gain proficiency with
Great Weapon Flames of Fey Touched
Performance, disguise kits and weaver’s tools.
Master Phlegethos
Inspiring Leader Fade Away Gunner
Magic Initiate Fey Teleportation Metamagic Adept
C HARGER
Mobile Elven Accuracy Shadow Touched • Addition: You can Dash as a bonus action.
Observant Infernal Skill Expert • Change: If you move at least 15 feet in a
Constitution straight line immediately before making a
Polearm Master Second Chance Slasher melee weapon attack, you gain a +5 bonus to
Resilient Squat Nimbleness Telekinetic
the attack’s damage roll. Regardless of
Ritual Caster Wood Elf Magic
whether you hit or not, you can can attempt to
Sentinel Telepathic
Sharpshooter shove the target up to 10 feet away from you.
Shield Master
Tough D UAL W IELDER
War Caster • You gain a +1 bonus to AC while you are
wielding a separate melee weapon in each
hand.
N ERFED F EATS • You can use two-weapon fighting even when
the one handed melee weapons you are
L UCKY wielding aren’t light.
The additional die rolled can only be used after • You can draw or stow two one-handed
determining the result from advantage or weapons when you would normally be able to
disadvantage. That is, you only ever pick from draw or stow only one.
two dice, not three. • Addition: Once per turn when you miss with
a weapon attack, you can immediately make
B UFFED PHB F EATS another attack on the same target with a one-
handed melee weapon held in the other hand.
Changes to the feats below will be listed in bold,
or listed as an Addition or Change. D UNGEON D ELVER
• Addition: Increase your Wisdom or
A THLETE Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• Increase your Strength or Dexterity score by 1, • You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception)
to a maximum of 20. and Intelligence (Investigation) checks made to
• Addition: Your speed increases by 10 feet. detect the presence of secret doors.
• When you are prone, standing up uses only 5 • You have advantage on saving throws made to
feet of your movement. avoid or resist traps.

CHAPTER 3: FEATS
8
• You have resistance to damage dealt by traps. • When you make an opportunity attack, you
• Addition: You have darkvision out to a range can make a grapple attack instead of a
of 60 feet. If you already have darkvision, its weapon attack. If you succeed, they are not
range increases by 60 feet. grappled, but their speed is reduced to 0 for
• Addition: You always know which way is the turn.
north.
• Addition: You always know the number of H EALER
hours left before the next sunrise or sunset. • Addition: Increase your Dexterity, Wisdom or
Intelligence score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
When you use a healer’s kit to stabilize a
D URABLE •

dying creature, that creature also regains 1 hit

• Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a point.
maximum of 20. • As an action. you can spend one use of a
• When you roll a Hit Die to regain hit points, healer’s kit to tend to a creature and restore
the minimum number of hit points you regain 1d6 + 4 hit points to it, plus additional hit
from the roll equals twice your Constitution points equal to the creature’s maximum
modifier (minimum of 2). number of Hit Dice. The creature can’t regain
• Addition: When you would gain a level of hit points from this feat again until it finishes
exhaustion, you can make a DC 15 a short or long rest.
Constitution saving throw, preventing the
exhaustion on a success. H EAVILY A RMORED
• Addition: You have advantage on death saving
Change: This feat has been removed, and its
throws.
benefits moved to the Heavy Armor Master feat.
• Addition: When reduced to 0 hit points, if
excess damage would instantly kill you, you
can instead suffer a failed death save.
H EAVY A RMOR M ASTER
Prerequisite: Proficiency with medium armor
Increase your Strength score by 1, to a
E LEMENTAL A DEPT •

maximum of 20.
Prerequisite: None • Addition: You gain proficiency with heavy
When you gain this feat, choose one of the armor.
following damage types: acid, cold, fire, • While you are wearing heavy armor,
lightning, or thunder. bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage
Addition: You learn one cantrip of your choice that you take from nonmagical weapons is
that deals damage of the chosen type. Choose reduced by 3.
either Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma as your
spellcasting ability for this cantrip. K EEN M IND
Addition: Increase an ability score you use for Change: The whole feat is rewritten as follows:
spellcasting by 1, to a maximum of 20. • You are able to concentrate on two effects

Spells you cast ignore resistance to damage of (such as spells) at once. Only one of the effects
the chosen type. In addition, when you roll can be a spell of 3rd level or higher. If you
damage for a spell you cast that deals damage of would make a saving throw to maintain
that type, you can treat any 1 on a damage die concentration while concentrating on two
as a 2. effects, roll once with disadvantage. On a
You can select this feat multiple times. Each failure, both effects are lost.
time you do so, choose a different damage type. • You always know which way is north.

• You always know the number of hours left

G RAPPLER before the next sunrise or sunset.

• You can accurately recall anything you have

Prerequisite: Strength 13 or higher ever seen or heard.

Change: The whole feat is rewritten as follows:
• Increase your Strength score by 1, to a L IGHTLY A RMORED
maximum of 20. • Increase your Strength and Dexterity score by
• You have advantage on attack rolls (including 1, to a maximum of 20.
shoving) against a creature you are grappling. • You gain proficiency with light armor.
• Your speed is no longer halved when moving a • Addition: While wearing light armor, you can
grappled creature with you. Disengage as a bonus action.

CHAPTER 3: FEATS
9
 L INGUIST • Addition: You gain proficiency with medium
armor and shields.
• Increase your Intelligence score by 1, to a • Wearing medium armor doesn’t impose
maximum of 20.
disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
• You are fluent in three additional languages of • When you wear medium armor, you can add 3,
your choice, and have a basic understanding
rather than 2, to your AC if you have a
of all other languages.
Dexterity of 16 or higher.
• You can ably create written ciphers. Others
can’t decipher a code you create unless you
teach them, they succeed on an Intelligence M OUNTED C OMBATANT
check (DC equal to your Intelligence score + • You have advantage on melee attack rolls
your proficiency bonus), or they use magic to against any unmounted creature that is
decipher it. smaller than your mount.
• Addition: You can read any cipher with one • You can force an attack targeted at your
hour of work. mount to target you instead, and vice-versa.
• Addition: You gain proficiency with History • If your mount is subjected to an effect that
and calligrapher’s supplies. allows it to make a Dexterity saving throw to
take only half damage, it instead takes no
M AGE S LAYER damage if it succeeds on the saving throw, and
• When a creature within your reach casts a only half damage if it fails.
spell, you can use your reaction to make a • Addition: If your mount is subjected to an
melee weapon attack against that creature. effect that allows it to make a Wisdom saving
This attack occurs while they are casting, throw, it has advantage on the roll.
and requires them to pass a DC 10
Constitution saving throw or lose the spell. S AVAGE A TTACKER
• When you damage a creature that is
concentrating on a spell, that creature has
• Addition: Increase your Strength or Dexterity
disadvantage on the saving throw it makes to score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
maintain its concentration.
• Once per turn when you roll damage for a
• You have advantage on saving throws against melee weapon attack, you can reroll the
spells cast by creatures within 15 feet of you. weapon’s damage dice and use the new total.
• Addition: The critical hit range of your
M AR TIAL A DEPT weapon attacks increases by 1.

You learn two maneuvers of your choice from

•

among those available to the Battle Master

S KILLED
archetype in the fighter class. If a maneuver • You gain proficiency in any combination of
you use requires your target to make a saving three skills or tools of your choice.
throw to resist the maneuver’s effects, the • Addition: Choose two of your skill or tool
saving throw DC equals 8 + your proficiency proficiencies. You gain expertise with the
bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier chosen proficiencies, which means your
(your choice). proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability
• You gain three superiority dice, which are d6s check you make with them.
(these dice are added to any superiority dice
you have from another source). These dice are S KULKER
used to fuel your maneuvers. A superiority die
is expended when you use it. You regain your Prerequisite: Dexterity 13 or higher
expended superiority dice when you finish a • Addition: Increase your Dexterity score by 1,
short or long rest.
to a maximum of 20.
• Addition: You can take the Hide action as a
M ODERATELY A RMORED bonus action.
Change: This feat has been removed, and its • You can try to hide when you are lightly
benefits moved to Medium Armor Master. obscured from the creature from which you
are hiding.
M EDIUM A RMOR M ASTER • When you are hidden from a creature and
miss it with an attack, making the attack
Prerequisite: Proficiency with light armor
doesn’t reveal your position.
• Addition: Increase your Strength or Dexterity • Dim light doesn’t impose disadvantage on your
score by 1, to a maximum of 20. Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight.

CHAPTER 3: FEATS
10
S PELL S NIPER B UFFED XGE F EATS
Prerequisite: The ability to cast at least one spell
D RAGON H IDE
• Addition: Increase an ability score you use for Prerequisite: Dragonborn
spellcasting by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• When you cast a spell that requires you to • Increase your Strength, Constitution, or
make an attack roll, the spell’s range is Charisma score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
quadrupled. • Your scales harden. While you aren’t wearing
• Your ranged spell attacks ignore half cover armor, you can calculate your AC as 15 + your
and three-quarters cover. Dexterity or Constitution modifier (max 2).
• You learn one cantrip that requires an attack You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.
roll. Choose the cantrip from the artificer, • You grow retractable claws from the tips of
bard, cleric, druid, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard your fingers. Extending or retracting the claws
spell list. Your spellcasting ability for this requires no action. The claws are natural
cantrip depends on the spell list you chose weapons, which you can use to make
from: Charisma for bard, sorcerer, or warlock; unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you
Wisdom for cleric or druid; or Intelligence for deal slashing damage equal to 1d6 + your
artificer or wizard. Strength modifier, instead of the normal
bludgeoning damage for an unarmed strike.
T AVERN B RAWLER
D WARVEN F OR TITUDE
• Increase your Strength or Constitution score
by 1, to a maximum of 20. Prerequisite: Dwarf
• You are proficient with improvised weapons. • Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a
• Your unarmed strike uses a d4 for damage. maximum of 20.
• When you hit a creature with an unarmed • Whenever you take the Dodge action in
strike or an improvised weapon on your turn, combat, you can spend one Hit Die to heal
you can use a bonus action to attempt to yourself. Roll the die, add your Constitution
grapple the target. modifier, and regain a number of hit points
• Addition: You can use any object that weighs equal to the total (minimum of 1).
less than your carrying capacity and is up to • Addition: You can Dodge as a bonus action.
one size larger than you as an improvised You can use this bonus action only if you
weapon. haven’t moved during this turn, and after you
• Addition: Your improvised weapons use a 1d6 use the bonus action your speed is 0 until the
for damage, or 1d8 if they are wielded with two end of the current turn.
hands, and can have any of the following
properties at the DM’s discretion: finesse,
heavy, light, reach, two-handed.
O RCISH F URY
Prerequisite: Half-orc
W EAPON M ASTER • Increase your Strength or Constitution score
• Increase your Strength or Dexterity score by 1, by 1, to a maximum of 20.
to a maximum of 20. Change: The 2 other benefits are replaced with:
• You gain proficiency with all simple and • The critical hit range of your weapon attacks
martial weapons, and with Sleight of Hand. increases by 1.
• Addition: You can freely draw a new weapon
as part of any weapon attack. P RODIGY
• Addition: Attacking at long range doesn’t
impose disadvantage on your ranged attack Prerequisite: Half-elf, half-orc, or human
rolls with weapons that have the thrown • You gain one skill proficiency of your choice,
property. two tool proficiencies of your choice, and
• Addition: You can throw melee weapons that fluency in one language of your choice.
aren’t heavy as if they have the thrown (range • Choose one skill in which you have proficiency.
10/20) property. You gain expertise with that skill, which
means your proficiency bonus is doubled for
any ability check you make with it.
• Addition: You ignore attribute score
requirements, such as for feats, armor and
multiclassing.

CHAPTER 3: FEATS
11
 • Addition: You can complete downtime
activities (and similar activities that would
take a workday or more) in half as much time.

B UFFED TCE F EATS

A R TIFICER I NITIATE
• Addition: Increase your Intelligence by 1, to a
maximum of 20.
The rest of the feat remains unchanged.

F IGHTING I NITIATE
Prerequisite: none
• Addition: Increase your Strength or Dexterity
by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• Addition: You gain proficiency with one
martial weapon.
• You learn one Fighting Style option of your
choice from the fighter class. If you already
have a style, you must choose a different one.

P IERCER
• Increase your Strength or Dexterity by 1, to a
maximum of 20.
Change: The 2 other benefits are replaced with:
• When making an attack that deals piercing

damage, add +2 to the attack roll if your target

is wearing armor or has natural armor.

P OISONER
• Addition: Increase your Dexterity or
Intelligence by 1, to a maximum of 20.
The rest of the feat remains unchanged.

CHAPTER 3: FEATS
12
C HAPTER 4: M AGIC I TEMS
The Magic Item Tables in the DMG are would take to craft the item. The item is
organized by rarity and whether they are minor destroyed in the process. It does not require any
or major items. Tables A-E have minor items, gold to disenchant a magic item. If a magic item
and Tables F-I have major items. The items in has a limited number of charges and cannot be
each table have the same rarity. recharged, the number of flux pieces created
Common Items. Table A lacks the new common from disenchanting it is reduced proportionally.
items added in XGE. For rolls of 1-52 in Table A, Flux cannot be used to craft potions or scrolls,
use the corresponding item in the “Minor Items, nor can they be disenchanted.
Common” table on p.140 of XGE.
Minor Items. Minor items (usually consumable)
cost a quarter what a major item of the same
U PGRADING M AGIC
rarity costs, instead of half. This applies to both W EAPONS & A RMOR
the crafting and purchase costs, and is Magic weapons, shields and armor with +0, +1
incorporated into the “Crafting Magic Items” or +2 bonuses can be upgraded by +1. To do so,
table below. 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).

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

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 4: MAGIC ITEMS

13
 C HAPTER 5: I NSPIRATION

I
NSPIRATION , AS WRITTEN , CAN OFTEN FEEL Marking Characteristics. When a characteristic
“tacked on”, a system that is either is called on for Inspiration, put a mark next to it.
underused or even entirely forgotten It cannot be called on again until it is renewed.
about during play. It was 5e’s attempt to A maximum of three characteristics can be
incorporate roleplaying mechanics into the game, marked at any given time.
and while a good first-step, suffers from two
main problems: R ENEWING I NSPIRATION
• ambiguity over when to receive it, and You can renew one of your character’s
• rarely powerful enough to be worth effort. characteristics in the following ways:
The rules presented here aim to address both Recap. Summarize the events of the previous
issues, while still keeping the system simple. session at the start of a gaming session. Only
The uses of Inspiration are expanded, and one player can do this per session.
regaining Inspiration is changed from being a Temptation. If any player (including you, or the
single point earned for “roleplaying” into DM) notices a situation where a characteristic of
something tied to each personal characteristic: your PC might make the situation more
the personality traits, bonds, ideals, and flaws complicated, they can propose a temptation. If
on the character sheet, chosen during character you accept the temptation, you must roleplay
creation as part of their background. the characteristic in a way that complicates the
situation. In exchange, you can renew any one
of your characteristics.
B ENEFITS OF If you propose a temptation for your own
I NSPIRATION character, it’s up to the DM whether to accept or
refuse it. Examples of complications include
Inspiration can be used to gain one of the insulting an NPC, stealing something, or letting
following benefits: your curiosity, pride or honor get the best of
Your roll. Roll an additional d20 on any roll you you.
make. You can use this ability after the original At Death’s Door. Whenever you fail a saving
roll, but before the outcome is revealed. throw to end being incapacitated or unconscious
Your enemy’s roll. After an enemy rolls a saving (for example, being stunned or at 0 hit points),
throw against an effect you made, roll a d20 and you can describe a past experience “flashing
choose whether the enemy uses their roll or before your eyes”. It should be something the
yours. group doesn’t already know, such as a moment
from your backstory, and be related to the
Flashback. Have a “flashback” to something in
characteristic you wish to renew.
the past where you did something small, such as
Growth. If your character grows or changes
buying a healing potion or other gear, learning
through the course of play, at the end of the
information, or casting a ritual spell.
session you can change or replace a relevant
characteristic to reflect the change. Doing so
U SING I NSPIRATION renews that characteristic. This type of renewal
will likely occur less often than the other types.
To use Inspiration, you call on one of your five
If you are using the XP rules in Chapter 6, it can
personal characteristics. The characteristic
occur alongside a character gaining Hard or
should be relevant to the current situation,
Deadly XP.
ideally motivating the action the character is
taking at the time.
Finding the line in the sand
It’s up to you how connected your chosen
Character growth won’t happen every session, but when it
characteristic is to the scene – the DM can’t happens it can be a tonne of fun. For example, a character
deny you your use of Inspiration. That said, might have the ideal, "Honor above all else", but during the
players should be encouraged to portray session have to sacrifice their honor in order to save their
something about their character, whether it’s a friend. Clearly honor wasn’t above all else! Pushing
characters to their limit is a great skill for DM’s to practice,
silly one-liner, yelling something dramatic, or and can be very rewarding. How the player updates their
revealing something about their character’s character’s ideal to reflect the change is how the character
backstory or feelings. grows, and the rules in this chapter and Chapter 6 reward
You can only use Inspiration once per round them for that growth.
or skill challenge.

CHAPTER 5: INSPIRATION
14
C HAPTER 6: G AINING E XPERIENCE

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

CHAPTER 6: GAINING EXPERIENCE

15
 characters gain the XP listed in the Equivalent Deadly XP will usually align with the end of a
Encounter Experience table based on how story arc, or with a tragic twist in the story. It’s
difficult the progress was in that particular possible for a particularly selfless hero to earn
session. Deadly XP at the same rate as Hard XP, though
Completing the Party Goal. If the party they may not survive as long as other PCs.
successfully completes the party goal by the end
of a session, each character gains 2 times the XP
listed in the Equivalent Encounter Experience
E XTERNAL P RESSURES
Particularly strong external effects, whether
table, based on how difficult the goal was
magical, social or emotional, offer the players an
overall.
opportunity for their characters to have
characteristics that originate from outside their
E XPECTED XP R ATE character, providing pressures that the
character may actually chafe against. Some
In order to align expectations, it is a good idea to
examples are provided below.
have all players (including the DM) on the same
page when it comes to how frequently XP is M AGIC & M ADNESS
earned. Whenever a PC is driven mad or magically
Leveling speed. The amount of XP earned is charmed into doing something, the effect can be
scaled to match the leveling rate expected by the mechanically represented as a new personal
DMG (p.261), with characters spending two to characteristic. If the player roleplays their new
three sessions on each level from 4th level and characteristic, they can be awarded XP in the
beyond. If your group prefers a slower leveling same way as any other personal characteristic.
rate, do not multiple the XP listed in the Examples of madness include the effects on
Equivalent Encounter Experience table by 2 for the Long-Term and Indefinite Madness tables on
roleplaying characteristics, and do not award XP p.260 of the DMG. Examples of magic effects are
for working towards the party goal (XP for the Suggestion spell, hallucinations, being
completing a party goal is still multiplied by 2). charmed by a sentient magic item, or being
possessed by a ghost. As a counter-example, the
G UIDELINES FOR E ARNING XP Command spell is not significant enough to
Use the following guidelines for earning XP from create a new characteristic.
personal characteristics: At the DM’s discretion, depending on the
Easy XP should be easily achievable by any strength of the madness or magic and if there
player who participated genuinely in the session. are any conflicting characteristics, the DM may
Note that roleplaying in third-person (describing disable XP rewards for some or all of the PC’s
their character’s actions) is just as valid as other characteristics until the new characteristic
first-person (acting). Occasionally this won’t is resolved.
happen, but if a player fails to earn even Easy P ROMISES & C ONTRACTS
XP multiple sessions in a row, it may indicate Promises that PCs make to NPCs or other PCs
that they are not being given a chance to shine, can make good bonds. Unlike other bonds,
or need to rewrite their PC’s characteristics. promises may be something that the PC comes
Medium XP is also attainable every session, to regret, but feel they cannot remove.
but only by characters who caused something to Similarly, contracts the PC makes with other
happen in the session that wouldn’t have creatures can force a characteristic on the PC
happened otherwise. Examples include: that they cannot remove until the contract is
convincing a mayor to spare a criminal’s life, fulfilled. This provides a mechanical way to
scaring monsters into surrendering, stealing a represent contracts, and can be especially useful
relic and angering a god, or convincing the party when a PC makes a deal with otherworldly
to change their plan or goal. creatures, such as devils.
Hard XP should not happen every session. It
requires a character clearly undergoing change, E XHAUSTION
which usually requires at least a few scenes in Exhaustion can be treated as an additional
the spotlight. Note that depending on the pace of characteristic. Just like other characteristics,
the campaign, characters might grow at a faster roleplaying exhaustion can add a lot to a game,
rate than would be “realistic” in real life. If the and provides a silver lining to a mechanic that
world can be saved in a month, then fictional can otherwise feel quite punishing. The more
characters should undergo multiple levels of exhaustion a character has, the more
life-changing events within the same time period. dimensions there are to the characteristic,
Melodrama is usually more fun than realism. providing more opportunities to earn XP.

CHAPTER 6: GAINING EXPERIENCE

16
C HAPTER 7: C AMPAIGN P ACING
To adjust the pacing of the story without
slowing down the leveling speed (the DMG
A N E XTRA F EAT
recommends leveling every 2-3 sessions), you If your group would like to increase the
can change the amount of max HP gained when customization and power of the characters,
PCs level up. Doing so will flatten (or steepen) consider giving each PC a free feat at level 1.
the HP curve, and keep threats relevant to the This can be done on any pacing tier, but if you
party for longer (or shorter). don’t want the game to be easier, use the next
Choose a column from the following table column to the right.
based on how quickly you want the campaign’s
threats to escalate. C ORRECTING CR
The challenge ratings are balanced around the
Hit Die Adjustments for Pacing assumption that the party does not have any
Heroic Default Accurate Mortal Political magic items. This was before XGE set standards
Hit Die CR for the expected number of magic items gained
d8 d6 d4 d2 d1 per tier of play. The "Accurate CR" column will
d10 d8 d6 d4 d2 align CR better with parties using magic items.
d12 d10 d8 d6 d4 For more accurate adjustments, the features
d6×2 d12 d10 d8 d6 of the party’s magic items should be compared
against the features gained when leveling up.
As a rule of thumb, the group should decide For example, a class feature that said "You gain
whether they are interested in Tier 4 gameplay, +2 to attack and damage rolls" would be a strong
where the characters are superheroes capable of class feature. For each magic item with such a
fighting gods. If that excites the group, use the feature wielded by a PC, treat that PC’s level as
Heroic column. one higher.
If they don’t feel strongly, use the Default or As a rule-of-thumb, one PC level is equivalent
Accurate CR column. If you’re playing with to one major rare or very rare magic item, or
magic items and want Challenge Ratings to be three major uncommon magic items. Major
accurate, use Accurate CR. legendary items count as two levels, and
If the party is not interested in Tier 4 but still common items and minor items can likely be
wants high-level combat, use the Mortal column. ignored.
Doing so will spread out Tiers 1-3 over levels 1-
20. If combat is not the focus, use the Political T REASURE H OARDS
column. Coins in treasure hoards grow exponentially
Other HP Increases. Temporary HP, feats like with each Challenge Rating tier. If you find that
Tough, and any other non-healing sources that this results in the party becoming more wealthy
add HP are unaffected for Heroic, Default, and than you find reasonable, consider the following
Accurate CR pacing. For Mortal and Political change:
pacing, the amount of HP gained is halved, Divide the number of coins discovered in
rounded down (minimum one). hoards by their tier number. For example, divide
coins in Tier 3 hoards (levels 11-16) by 3. Tier 1
I NCREASING THE is unaffected. Gems, art and magic items are
also unaffected.
D IFFICULTY When combined with a game where Tier 4 has
been removed (such as Mortal or Political
If your group is interested in increasing the pacing), reducing treasure hoards may feel too
difficulty of the game, or want an experience like punishing, unless the group isn’t interested in
the "Witcher" series where careful planning is being rich.
vital, use the Political column in a
combat-focused campaign.

P REMADE A DVENTURES
In premade adventures where the leveling speed
is defined by the adventure, any column to the
right of Default will increase the difficulty.

CHAPTER 7: CAMPAIGN PACING

17
 C HAPTER 8: R ENOWN

W
HILE THE DEFAULT R ENOWN SYSTEM
contains good ideas, the rewards
G AINING R ENOWN
for the ranks are often too vague, too Whenever you complete a quest, a
niche, or just generally unsatisfying. It dungeon-delve, or some other significant
also requires a lot of work to create ranks and encounter, the DM will consider the
rewards for non-default factions or communities. ramifications of your actions on the affected
These rules aim to make renown simpler and factions and communities, and choose how your
more meaningful. renown is affected based on the examples below:
• If the faction or community appreciates (or
disapproves of) your actions, gain (or lose) 1
T RACKING R ENOWN Renown with them.
Renown is tracked separately for each faction • If your actions directly saved (or hurt) a
(such as the Harpers) or community (such as a member or small group of the faction or
town or kingdom), and ranges from -5 to +5. community (such as their life or livelihood),
Renown starts at 0. Renown can only go up or gain (lose) 2 Renown instead.
down if news of your actions could have • If your actions directly saved (or hurt) a
reasonably been heard and believed by a significant portion of the faction or community,
significant portion of the faction or community, or significantly progresses (or damages) the
at the DM’s discretion. If in doubt, assume that agenda of the faction, gain (lose) 3 Renown
it takes a week for news to spread, and that true instead.
news is always believed. If both a positive and negative outcome occur,
add both numbers together and change your
B ENEFITS OF R ENOWN Renown by the net result.

When speaking with people from a faction or

community who know of you, add your Renown
M AINTAINING R ENOWN
(whether negative or positive) to all Charisma Roughly once every 2 months, factions or
checks. communities you have more than 2 (or less than
-2) Renown with slowly tend towards 0.
Maintaining positive relationships costs gold,
F ICTIONAL P OSITIONING representing your continuing support of the
Renown also acts as a way to track how famous community or faction. Conversely, maintaining
you are becoming, and how well known or negative relationships can earn you gold,
recognizable you are. Even if no Charisma check representing you benefiting from their
is rolled, Renown can inform the fiction and misfortune. The amount of gold depends on the
what creatures initially know about you. size of the community or faction, and either your
However, note that Renown does not affect the ability to profit off them or their expectations of
starting attitude of creatures, which depends on you. The DM will tell you the gold amount, using
the creatures’ personality and personal the Maintaining Renown table as a guideline.
circumstances. Interactions should still be If a faction or community is entirely cut off
resolved normally, with roleplaying informing from you, such as on another plane of existence,
whether the creatures’ starting attitude moves you cannot maintain the relationship.
up or down (or stays the same) before rolling any One relationship above 2 Renown can be
Charisma checks. See p.244 of the DMG for maintained without costing gold. For each
more details, and the DCs to convince creatures Renown above 2 (or below -2) not maintained, it
depending on their attitude. moves by 1 towards 2 (or -2).

Maintaining Renown
O VERLAPPING A LLEGIANCES Size Gold Spent (or Earned)
If the people you are speaking with are members Gang or Village 2× Renown × character level
of multiple communities or factions that you Town or Clan 4× Renown × character level
Faction 6× Renown × character level
have Renown with, the DM determines the one
City 8× Renown × character level
that is most relevant to the current conversation,
Kingdom 10 × Renown × character level
and only that Renown modifier applies for that
conversation.

CHAPTER 8: RENOWN
18
C HAPTER 9: R ULING L AND

C
HARACTERS THAT REACH TIER 3 ( LEVEL
11) are described as masters of the
M ANAGING L AND
realm. The rules in this chapter support Every month, each ruler chooses to either make
that idea, providing a simple system for money from, or expand, their territory.
gaining, managing and growing a parcel of land. Make Money. You make enough to cover all your
maintenance costs (see DMG p.127). Then roll a
Wisdom or Intelligence check. If you roll 15 or
G AINING L AND higher, you gain 100 gp for each hex in your
Parcels of land are broken up into hexes (usually territory that isn’t desert, arctic or mountains.
5-6 miles across), each with a dominant Towns earn you 5 times as much, and cities
environment. There are two ways to gain control earn you 20 times as much. If you roll 5 or
of your first parcel of land: lower, you lose half that much money instead.
Expand. If you control a castle, pick a hex you
B UILD ON U NCLAIMED L AND don’t control that’s touching your territory. The
hex can’t be controlled by your liege, but it can
In most settings, all land is already within a
be controlled by your vassals. You can only pick
kingdom or empire, but there can be exceptions,
a city if you control all surrounding hexes. Roll a
such as mountainous, arctic and desert hexes.
DC 15 Strength or Dexterity check. If the hex
Water hexes usually cannot be claimed except by
contains a fort or castle, roll with disadvantage.
water-breathing races.
If you succeed, you gain control of the hex. If
Building an outpost or fort in unclaimed land
you fail, you cannot attempt to capture it again
is enough for you to control that hex, and you
the following month.
won’t owe loyalty to a liege. The costs for
After doing one of the above, do the following:
building such a stronghold can be found on
1. Check for Discontent or Disease. If your
p.128 of the DMG. Construction in a hostile
territory is 5 or more hexes, randomly select a
environment far from supplies costs twice the
non-capital hex. Roll a DC 10 Charisma or
listed price. If you wish to grow your territory
Constitution check. If you fail, you lose control
beyond one hex, a castle is required. An outpost
of the hex, and it becomes unclaimed.
or fort can be upgraded to a castle for the
2. Check for Independence. If a vassal’s
difference in cost.
domain is more than half their liege’s total
domain, and their capital is a city if their liege’s
B E G RANTED L AND is a city, they become an independent ruler.
Anyone who controls 5 or more hexes may be 3. Collect Taxes. Each of your direct vassals
willing to grant you one hex of land (though pays you 100 gp for each hex in their domain.
never their capital - the largest town or city in 4. Pay Taxes. Pay your liege 100 gp for each hex
their territory). The person who grants you the in your domain.
land will become your liege, and require your
vassalage. By default, the cost of acquiring your Other Special Buildings
first hex is 25,000 gp, or completing a quest that These rules include benefits for controlling forts, castles,
the DM deems of equivalent worth. Building a and noble estates. Depending on your campaign, other
stronghold is not required, though maintaining a buildings like guildhalls, temples, trading posts, and palaces
might warrant similar benefits, unlocking options or
noble estate in your territory will earn you
providing advantages. The strength of the benefits should
nobility within the highest-level domain your scale with construction and maintenance costs.
land is within (e.g. the kingdom). If you ever
become unlanded, you lose this nobility.
Renown
Territories and Domains If you are using the Renown rules in Chapter 8:
A ruler’s territory are the hexes they directly control. A • A ruler will only grant you land if your Renown across
ruler’s domain also includes any hexes in their vassals’ their domain is at least 2.
domains. Rulers can only grant someone control of hexes • If the specific hex you are granted contains a township
inside their territory. who don’t personally know you, your relationship with
Domains can also have councils, varying by culture and that town starts at -2.
race. A domain’s council might be the ruler, their direct • Instead of making money or expanding, you can choose
vassals, a military commander, and two advisors (usually a to increase your Renown in your domain by 1.
mage and a priest).

CHAPTER 9: RULING LAND

19
 C HAPTER 10: E XPLORING D UNGEONS

T
HIS CHAPTER PROVIDES SOME SIMPLE that used to take a minute or less instead take
rules for exploring dungeons, caves, and 10 minutes, and 10-minute tasks instead take
other dangerous locations where the 100 minutes.
group wants to track events in terms of
minutes, instead of seconds (like combat) or
hours (like overland travel).
WANDERING
The goal of these rules is to provide the party
with interesting choices. Namely, balancing how
I NHABITANTS
Whenever the party enters a dungeon, the DM
much time they spend in the dungeon (and risk
secretly chooses an option from the table below.
running into its inhabitants) against their desire
Whenever the party has spent the listed amount
to move cautiously and explore.
of time in the dungeon (including during short
and long rests), the DM rolls a d6. On a 6, a
T RACKING T IME random encounter with inhabitants of the
When the party is inside a dungeon, time is dungeon occurs.
tracked in 10 minute increments. Examples of Reaction rolls. Optionally the DM can use the
10 minute activities are listed below. Activities reaction rules described in Chapter 11 to
not listed take either: determine how the creatures react.
• approximately 10 minutes,
Changing the frequency. Sometimes the
• a minute or less and don’t need to be tracked,
situation inside the dungeon will change enough
• or a longer amount rounded to the nearest 10
that a different option in the table below
minutes, such as short rests. becomes more appropriate. If this happens, the
DM can select a different option, but only at the
10 M INUTE A CTIVITIES end of a short or long rest.
• Casting a ritual spell
• Picking a lock or disarming a trap When to Roll for Wandering Inhabitants
• Making something or operating a complex The party is in... Roll a d6 every...
device An alerted dungeon with organized 10 minutes
• Searching a room carefully defenders
• Having an extended conversation with An unalert dungeon with organized 20 minutes
inhabitants defenders
• Getting into a fight (and the aftermath, such A dungeon with no organized or active 30 minutes
as looting) defense
• Moving between rooms cautiously A dungeon with very few mobile 40 minutes
inhabitants
Moving between rooms. When the party doesn’t An abandoned or disused nook in a 1 hour
move cautiously between rooms, they trigger any dungeon
traps between rooms, and any creatures in the A hidden area or concealed chamber Never
upcoming room hear them coming. If the party unknown to the natives of the dungeon
does move cautiously, they automatically spot
any traps, and will hear unalerted creatures
first.
Light. Barring exceptional circumstances or a
low-resource campaign, the duration of light
sources are not worth tracking.

T AKING 10 AND 20
Taking 10 (that is, Passive Checks, PHB p.175)
usually won’t noticeably affect how long a task
takes. For example, searching a room carefully
for 10 minutes is already well suited to a passive
check. Conversely, disarming a trap cannot be
done “passively”, due to the danger of making a
mistake.
Taking 20 (DMG p.237) requires spending
roughly 10 times as much time on a task. Tasks

CHAPTER 10: EXPLORING DUNGEONS

20
C HAPTER 11: E XPLORING THE W ILD

E
XPLORATION IS ONE OF 5 E ’ S THREE a permanent and maintained treehouse, or a
pillars of play. This chapter collects secure room safe from the weather and
and streamlines all of 5e’s wilderness wandering monsters.
and travel rules into a cohesive and fun If you have no remaining Hit Dice, you instead
system. The design goals of the system are: gain a level of exhaustion. While there are ways
The wild is dangerous, but profitable. The wild to mitigate it, Hit Dice and exhaustion are the
should pose a serious risk. This risk also makes main time-tracking mechanisms, incentivizing
the wild profitable, as few people are willing to the party to spend as little as possible time
face its challenges to garner its rewards. between safe locations.
Player choice. Players should have meaningful
choices to make each time they travel. If the Recovering from exhaustion
players repeat the same choices every time, then These rules increase the frequency of gaining exhaustion,
the choices either aren’t real or aren’t fun. and make it harder to recover from. As a counterweight,
Minimal prep work. The DM already has a high use the following rule: If you live a wealthy lifestyle or
higher for the duration of a long rest (costing at least 4 gp
workload preparing and running the rest of the per day), you recover one additional level of exhaustion.
game. The exploration pillar provides an
opportunity for content to be generated on the
fly. This also lets the DM join the players in
discovering what they encounter.
Minimal book-keeping. Time and resources
T RAVEL P ROCEDURE
Each day the party travels through a region,
should only be tracked if they have meaningful
perform the following steps:
and interesting narrative consequences.
Step 1. The players choose the hexes they want
More than just combat. Non-combat encounters
to travel through within 8 hours, or alternatively
should occur just as often as combat, and the
have at least one PC search for a known location
party should often be able to approach them in
or creature and let the DM choose the hexes
creative ways if they wish.
based on whether the search succeeds or not.
U SING A M AP Step 2. Each PC chooses one of the following
activities to perform while travelling: navigate,
These rules assume that the group is using a search, forage, utilize vehicle, on watch,
map, and that the map can be divided into hexes support, motivate, chronicle, or craft.
(or another shape). Each hex contains one of the Step 3. While the players are choosing their
following environments: activities, the DM rolls on the Random
Environment Types. Roads, Grassland, Coastal, Encounter table and prepares the encounter. If
Desert, Arctic, Underdark, Swamp, Hills, Forest, it’s an Environment Hazard, introduce it after
Mountains, Water, Urban. the players have picked their activities but
Cities. Any location in a city can usually be before the DCs are determined.
reached within one day, but getting lost and Step 4. The PCs resolve their activities, and
completing activities is still possible. The roleplay any scenes they’d like to have.
random encounter table is modified for cities. Step 5. If an encounter was rolled and it wasn’t a
Hazard, the DM introduces it.
T IME Step 6. The players choose whether to do a
Travel is tracked in days and hexes. One set of forced march, and which additional hexes they
rolls is made per day, and a number of hexes will travel through.
will be traversed per day depending on the
environment, the mode of travel, and whether
Hours Per 5-6 Mile Hex
the party pushes themselves.
Environment On Foot Vehicle
Road, Grassland, Coastal, Desert, 2 1
S LEEPING IN THE W ILD Arctic, Underdark
Whenever you sleep in the wilderness, you Swamp, Hills 3 2
cannot benefit from a long rest and you expend Forest, Mountain path 4 3
one Hit Die. This includes sleeping in temporary Mountains 8 6
places like a tent, or squalid conditions like a Water 8 2
cave. Long rests require at least poor conditions: Air N/A 2
safe and comfortable places like a wizard’s tower,

CHAPTER 11: EXPLORING THE WILD

21
 Other Hex Sizes T RAVEL A CTIVITIES
Miles Across Hour Multiplier Repeat Steps 2-5... This section outlines the activities that a
3 x0.5 twice a day character can perform while travelling. Each
5-6 (default) x1 once a day character can perform one activity per day.
10-12 x2 every 2 days Rangers. Rangers can perform two activities.
24 x4 every 4 days
Outlander Background. The Wanderer feature is
replaced with the following: "In addition to your
O THER H EX S IZES
normal choice of activity when travelling, you
If your map uses a different hex size, refer to the
can perform the Navigate or Forage activity."
table above. Steps 1 and 6 are always done once
DCs. DCs are determined using two tables:
a day, and each night still costs 1 Hit Die.
Activity DCs and Activity DC Modifiers.
Multiple environments. All activities and
VARIANT : O NE H EX AT A T IME
encounters occur in the most common
Sometimes you might want to move one hex at a
environment travelled through that day.
time, such as when you don’t know what the
Multiple characters. If multiple characters
map looks like. If that’s the case, repeat Steps 1,
perform the same activity, each character rolls
3, 5 and 6 every hex, except that on Step 3, the
as normal and only the highest result is used.
DM flips a coin and only rolls on the Random
Encounter table if it’s heads. Once the players N AVIGATE
decide not to travel any further that day, You navigate the wilderness, aiming to keep
perform Steps 2 and 4. track of where you are and not get lost.
The DC is determined by the environment the
V ISION party is travelling through and any relevant
The party can always see if neighboring hexes modifiers, as described in the Activity DC tables.
are mountains. For any hex size other than 24 On a success, the party follows the planned
miles, the party can see any terrain type in each route. On a failure, the party is lost.
neighboring hex, unless they are currently in a If the DC is 0 or less, the party cannot get lost
forest or mountain hex. (and therefore a navigator is not required).
Example Proficiencies. Wisdom (Survival),
T RAVEL D ISTANCE Intelligence (Navigator’s Tools).
The party can reasonably travel for 8 hours each Becoming Lost. If the party becomes lost, draw
day. The number of hexes that can be traversed a square on the map with the party’s starting
depends on the environment, as shown in the location in one corner and each side length
Hours Per 5-6 Mile Hex and Other Hex Sizes equal to the number of hexes the party
tables. These numbers assume that the party traversed, covering the hexes the party could
possesses any appropriate gear, such as snow theoretically be in. The DM then secretly
shoes or mountaineering equipment. chooses or randomly decides which hex within
Vehicles and Mounts. Mounts (or a vehicle) the square the party is in. The DM tells the
might allow the party to traverse more hexes in party what environment they’re in and describes
a day. Not all vehicles are applicable in all any landmarks in the hex, but doesn’t give them
environments however. For example, carriages any more information than that. It’s up to the
are likely only usable on roads, and most party to solve their predicament!
vehicles will not be any faster than walking in F ORAGE
forests or mountains.
You forage for food and water. The DC is
Forced March. If the party wants to traverse
determined by the environment the party is in
more hexes, they can travel for up to 16 hours
and any relevant modifiers, as described in the
in a single day, instead of the normal 8. Each
Activity DC tables. On a success, you find
additional hour costs each character 1 Hit Die,
enough food and water to feed the PCs for the
or one level of exhaustion.
day. If you beat the DC by 10+, you also find
Stealth. Travelling undetected relies on spotting enough for the PCs’ mounts and close
threats before they spot you. See the On Watch companions. Each unfed creature consumes 5
activity, described in the next section. sp worth of rations for the day or loses 1 Hit Die.
Rotating Shifts. If the party is travelling on a If they have no remaining Hit Dice, or don’t eat
vehicle large enough for them to rest, and the or drink for a number of days equal to their
creatures operating the vehicle (such as horses, Constitution modifier, they gain a level of
oarsmen, boiler room workers, or captain) can exhaustion.
change at least every 8 hours, the party can Example Proficiencies. Intelligence or Wisdom
travel for 24 hours a day. (Survival or Nature).
CHAPTER 11: EXPLORING THE WILD
22
 Don’t track rations – just track water M OTIVATE
Water is heavier and more vital than rations. 10 pounds of You motivate the party to keep the pace up by
water is required each day, compared to 2 pounds of food, playing music, coaching, persuading or
and a few days without water can be deadly. intimidating the party.
Assume that the party can travel with 2 days worth of
water per person. If they have a vehicle (or mount) carrying
The DC is 10 + the average party level. On a
a barrel of water, the party has a week’s worth of water. success, the first 3 hours of a forced march that
This rule-of-thumb is enough to make foraging both simpler day don’t cost Hit Dice, and players can add a
and more important. d4 to any initiative checks that day.
To prevent water being trivial to acquire, magic below
Example Proficiencies. Charisma (Persuasion),
3rd level cannot provide hydration.
Strength or Charisma (Intimidate or Athletics),
Wisdom or Charisma (Musical Instrument).
S EARCH
You are tracking a creature or searching for O N WATCH
something. Regardless of what you are You vigilantly keep a look out for creatures and
searching for, calculate the DC using the Activity hazards. If other creatures are also on watch,
DC tables, based on the environment the party spotting them before they spot the party requires
is in and any other relevant factors. On a a succeeding at a contested Wisdom (Perception)
success, choose one of the following: check. Otherwise you always spot them first.
• You find what you’re looking for, if the DM
Seeing creatures early allows the party to avoid
them using normal stealth rules, if desired.
knows it’s in the hexes you travelled through.
• Roll d10+10, and choose whether to replace
You also have a chance to spot some
the DM’s Random Encounter roll for the day Environment Hazards more quickly, using the
with the new roll (without knowing what the environment’s Search DC.
DM rolled). If an Environment Hazard has Example Proficiencies. Wisdom (Perception).
already been introduced, the roll would be in
addition to the Hazard, instead of replacing it. U TILIZE V EHICLE OR M OUNT
Example Proficiencies. Intelligence or Wisdom Whether its skillful control, tender caring of
(Survival, Investigation or Perception). animals, or clever adjustments, vehicles and
mounts can be pushed to travel faster.
S UPPOR T The DC to utilize a vehicle (or mount) in this
You help the party handle the wilderness with way is determined by the environment the party
supporting tasks like preparing meals or alcohol, is in and any relevant modifiers, as described in
tending to injuries, or repairing shoes or gear. the Activity DC tables. On a success, the first 3
The DC is 10 + the average party level. On a hours of a forced march that day don’t cost Hit
success, the party does not lose a Hit Die for Dice, and you have advantage on any checks or
sleeping in the wild that day, and other party saving throws made to control the vehicle (or
members can add a d4 to their Activity checks. mount).
Example Proficiencies. Intelligence or Wisdom Example Proficiencies. Dexterity, Intelligence or
(Medicine, Cook’s Utensils or Brewer’s Supplies), Wisdom (Vehicle (Land or Water)), Wisdom
Intelligence or Strength (Cobbler’s Tools), (Animal Handling), Strength or Intelligence
Intelligence or Dexterity (Weaver’s Tools). (Carpenter’s, Smith’s, or Tinker’s tools).

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

CHAPTER 11: EXPLORING THE WILD

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 Activity DC Modifiers Sharpened Weapon. You find strange wood, a
Modifier DC high-quality whetstone, or something similarly
Lightly obscured (e.g. rain, torchlight, darkvision) +5 appropriate. With the materials you craft or
Heavily obscured (e.g. night, heavy fog) +10 sharpen a weapon. It deals +5 damage the first
Magical influences (e.g. fey, celestial, demonic) +/-5 time it hits. Roll Dexterity or Wisdom (Mason’s,
Smith’s, Tinker’s, Jeweler’s, Woodcarver’s or
Carpenter’s tools).
C HRONICLE Special material. At the DM’s discretion, you
You chronicle the party’s journey, creating a can also gather materials to craft other things,
record such as drawings, songs, poems, a though some may take longer than a day to
journal, or maps. Any chronicle you create has a make or require more materials.
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.
R ANDOM E NCOUNTERS
Each day of travel, if there is no premade new
Roll an ability check with one of the skills or
content in the hex, the DM rolls a d20 on the
toolkits below that you are proficient with. The
Random Encounter table. In a city, roll d6+7.
chronicle has a gp value equal to the result. The
value is doubled if you discover a new location or
creature in the area. Random Encounters
If you roll above the environment’s navigation
d20 Encounter
DC, the party can travel the same route without
1 A large-scale event occurs, affecting an entire hex.
making a navigation check in future. This 2-10 No random encounter.
includes backtracking if you become lost. 11-12 The DM rolls on the Unexpected Humanoids table.
Example Proficiencies. Intelligence (History, 13-14 The DM rolls on the Environment Hazard table.
Performance, Musical Instrument, Forgery kit or 15-16 The DM rolls on the Monuments And Weird Locales
Cartographer’s tools), Intelligence or Dexterity table. Can optionally include treasure, but not
(Calligrapher’s or Painter’s supplies). without traps, hazards, or creatures from the
relevant environment encounter table.
C RAFT (M ULTIPLE ) 17-19 The DM rolls on the relevant environment encounter
Each day, you gather materials from the table. 25% chance of the encounter happening while
environment and craft one of the following, the party is resting.
20 A lair or stronghold. It likely contains lair effects and
depending on the toolkit you use. The DCs are
a treasure hoard. The DM chooses what creatures
presented in the Activity DC table.
occupy it from the relevant environment encounter
Magic Ink. You find a faintly magical liquid in a table, and whether the party encounters regional
plant or carcass, and either scribe a cantrip or effects while performing their activities.
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 If a large-scale event occurs, the party can
Intelligence or Wisdom (Forgery kit, Painter’s or change route, avoiding that hex but delaying
Calligrapher’s supplies, Cartographer’s tools). their travel by at least one hex (perhaps more, if
Potion of Healing. You find ingredients and the hex is a bridge or mountain pass). Examples
create a potion of healing. Roll Intelligence or of large-scale events include an army marching
Wisdom (Herbalism or Poisoner’s kit, or or camping or fighting, a dragon searching for
Alchemist’s supplies). prey, a festival, or a supernatural event.
Poison. You find ingredients and create a mild
poison. It is an ingestion or injury poison, and E NVIRONMENT E NCOUNTERS
causes the target to become poisoned for an
hour if they fail a DC 15 Constitution Saving If a random environment encounter happens,
Throw. Roll Intelligence or Wisdom (Brewer’s or the DM either rolls a d100 or chooses an
Alchemist’s supplies, Cook’s utensils, Herbalism encounter on the relevant environment table
or Poisoner’s kit). (p.92-112 of XGE), using the environment of one
Temporary Protection. You find materials and of the hexes that the party is travelling through
craft a makeshift piece of protective equipment. that day.
It provides +2 AC for up to 7 days until it On a road or river, use the encounter tables
prevents an attack that would otherwise hit the that match the surrounding environment.
wearer. Roll Strength or Wisdom (Woodcarver’s, When imagining the terrain surrounding a
Carpenter’s, Leatherworker’s, Cobbler’s, Potter’s random encounter, consider adding a random
or Weaver’s tools). monument or weird locale.

CHAPTER 11: EXPLORING THE WILD

24
Monuments and Weird Locales (Choose from any 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 Breached 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

Variant rule: Far from home T HE R EACTION R OLL

The further from civilization the party is, the more If an encounter involves creatures the party
dangerous the wilderness becomes. When rolling on an hasn’t met before, the DM either chooses or rolls
environment encounter table, add +5 for each hex on the Reactions table to see how those
between the current hex and the nearest town. If the result
exceeds 100, use the table for the next tier of party level. creatures react to the party.
Monster Desires. Reaction rolls can be used in
conjunction with the Parleying With Monsters
Unexpected Humanoids rules in TCE (p.148), to determine what the
d6 Encounter creatures are interested in.
1 Bandits, assassins, or other creatures surround,
threaten, and/or ambush the party. If in doubt, use Reactions
the Urban Encounter tables on p.110-112 of XGE.
2 The party sees humanoids or monsters attacking d20 Encounter
a caravan, homestead, settlement, or other group. 1 The creature(s) immediately attack the party, acting
Choose creatures from the appropriate hex terrain in a crazed or strange way with no regard for their
table or from the urban table. own safety.
3 Another group of adventurers is travelling through the 2-6 The creature(s) are hostile towards the party, and
region, perhaps on the same quest, or a quest the look for a good moment to attack.
party declined. 7-12 The creature(s) are unfriendly towards the party, and
4 A messenger (humanoid or otherwise) travels with will attack if provoked or tempted.
news, either for a town, a leader, or the party. 13-16 The creature(s) are indifferent towards the party,
5 An experienced merchant, nomad or hermit has perhaps curious, or ignoring them entirely.
specialty goods for sale at half their normal value, such 17-19 The creature(s) are friendly towards the party, and
as poisons, silver or adamantine weapons, gnomish maybe curious or welcoming.
contraptions, or uncommon beasts. 20 If sapient, the creature(s) fall to their knees, praising
6 An experienced spellcaster, perhaps travelling or living the party for saving them, or for fulfilling a prophecy.
in isolation, has spell scrolls and magic items for sale Otherwise the creature(s) act like domesticated
at half their normal value. If in doubt, use the “Buying animals owned by the party.
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.

Variant rule: Renown

If you are using the Renown rules in Chapter 8, 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.

CHAPTER 11: EXPLORING THE WILD

25
 Environment Hazard happening and can stop half the party from
d6 1-2 3-4 5-6 moving onto the quicksand.
Roads Storm Flash Flood Nothing Any creatures in the quicksand start partially
Grassland Flash Flood Wide River Insect Swarm submerged, and will be fully submerged in 1, 2,
Coastal Storm Flash Flood Wide River or 3 rounds if they are Small, Medium, or Large
Desert Heat Wave Heat Wave Quicksand respectively. Fully submerged creatures drop to
Arctic Cold Snap Blizzard Rock Slide 0 hit points but are stable. Simple wooden
Underdark Rock Slide Wide Canyon Razorvine vehicles that become submerged are destroyed.
Swamp Quicksand Insect Swarm Razorvine
Creatures can make it to the edge with an
Hills Storm Rock Slide Wide River
Forest Quicksand Insect Swarm Razorvine
action and a successful Strength check. The DC
Mountains Blizzard Rock Slide Wide Canyon is 10 + 5 for each previous turn they have had
On water Heat Wave Storm Storm while submerged. Creatures out of the
In the air Cold Snap Storm Storm quicksand have advantage on the check to pull
Urban Storm Flash Flood Nothing another creature or object out, though the target
is d2 × 5 feet from the closest edge and may be
difficult to reach. Anything fully submerged can
E NVIRONMENT H AZARDS eventually be pulled out.
A variety of dilemmas can come up while Flash Flood. Several hours of pouring rain cause
travelling, just from the environment alone. The a flash flood in the area. Fast-moving water 5
Environment Hazard table outlines some feet deep rushes through an area for several
possibilities for each type of environment, minutes, destroying topsoil, plants, vehicles, and
though many others could be applicable. maybe even trees. Each creature has one turn to
Weather. Strong weather might change the react (in any order) before the water hits them. If
environment enough in a hex to change which a character is On Watch and succeeds against
hazards are possible. For example, a cold snap the environment’s Search DC, they can warn the
or blizzard might be possible in any environment party and give everyone an additional turn.
if it’s winter. Each creature hit by the flood must make a DC
Regional Effects. The regional effects near the 20 Strength Saving Throw, or be swept d6 ×100
lairs of powerful creatures can be treated as feet away and drop to 0 hit points. By default,
Environment Hazards that either replace the high ground can be found 40+(d10 ×10) feet
Random Encounter roll, or occur in addition to away from any given character (roll separately
the roll. At least one regional effect should occur for each character). High-ground includes large
before the party reaches a lair. trees, hills, and buildings.
Hazard XP. If your group is playing with XP Rock Slide. Nearby rocks, dirt or snow come
earned from encounters, surviving any of the loose and roll down towards the party. Each
hazards presented here is equivalent to creature makes a DC 15 Dexterity Saving Throw
overcoming a Medium Difficulty encounter, no or is knocked unconscious momentarily, gaining
matter how well or poorly the hazard is handled. a level of exhaustion upon waking. If a character
is On Watch and succeeds against the
L IST OF H AZARDS environment’s Search DC, they can warn the
The rules for each type of hazard are outlined party and give everyone advantage on the save.
below. Some just require saving throws, while Insect Swarm. A swarm of insects moves
others are open-ended puzzles. through the party. Each creature makes a DC
Wide River or Canyon. A wide river or canyon 15 Constitution Saving Throw or gains a level of
blocks the party’s route. It is 4d4 ×5 feet wide. exhaustion. If a character is On Watch and
If it’s a river, it’s d6 ×5 feet deep at its deepest succeeds against the environment’s Search DC,
and fast-moving. If it’s a canyon, it’s d6 ×50 feet they can warn the party and give everyone
deep. The party either thinks of a way to get advantage on the save.
across, stops there for the day, or spends 3 Razorvine. The party’s route is covered in
hours in a forced march to find a bridge or Razorvine, a magical, malignant, malicious weed
narrow crossing. Swimming across a river that is known for appearing one day and
requires a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check to disappearing the next. All Activity DCs (except
not gain a level of exhaustion. Craft Poison) are increased by 5 for the day, and
Quicksand. A 10 feet deep area of sand or mud each creature loses half their current Hit Dice,
beneath the party becomes churned up by the or a quarter if a character is successfully
party’s movement, becoming liquefied. If a Supporting the party (minimum of one).
character is On Watch and succeeds against the Blizzard. Freezing winds and snow heavily
environment’s Search DC, they spot what’s obscure everything for the day. Creatures either

CHAPTER 11: EXPLORING THE WILD

26
find cover and make no progress that day, or
risk the blizzard to perform their activities and
A DVANCED R ECIPE FOR
travel half the expected number of hexes.
Finding cover (such as a building or cave)
H EX E NCOUNTERS
requires a DC 10 Perception check at If you want to prepare larger or more detailed
disadvantage, with a 50% chance of the cover encounters between sessions, the procedure
being occupied by a strange person. Creatures below is designed to set you up for success, with
that don’t find cover make a DC 15 Constitution clear opportunities and challenges for the party.
Saving Throw or gain a level of exhaustion, and The encounters will depend on the terrain type.
those without cold weather gear or resistance to When placing these encounters on your hex
cold damage drop to 0 hit points. map, remember to leave room for the other types
Cold Snap. The temperature drops incredibly low of encounters listed in the Random Encounters
for several hours. All creatures make a DC 15 table: large-scale events, unexpected humanoids,
Constitution Saving Throw or gain a level of hazards, and strongholds.
exhaustion. Creatures without cold weather gear
or resistance to cold drop to 0 hit points.
T HE R ECIPE
Heat Wave. The day becomes unbearably hot for
These steps are intended to be iterative. Do
several hours. All creatures make a DC 15
them in order, but revisit any steps if you have
Constitution Saving Throw or gain a level of
better ideas later on in the process. Remember
exhaustion. Creatures who remain in armor
that you’re free to use your own idea if you think
without resistance to fire drop to 0 hit points.
of something not included in the tables.
Storm. Strong winds and rain heavily obscure
everything for the day. Creatures either find Step 1. Choose a mood for the encounter from
cover and make no progress that day, or risk the the Mood table. When you introduce the scene
storm. Any creatures that don’t find cover (such to your players, start by describing the mood.
as a building or cave) can’t gain the benefits of Step 2. Choose one result from the Monuments
short rests, and they make a DC 15 Constitution and Weird Locales table. Decide if you’d like the
Saving Throw. On a failure, they either lose a encounter to be mostly indoors or outdoors. If
Hit Die or gain a level of exhaustion. Water and the encounter will be outdoors, choose at least
air ships that don’t find safety require the one terrain feature from the Outdoor Terrain
captain to make a DC 10 Intelligence or Wisdom Features table.
(Vehicle (Water or Air)) check, or the ship begins
Step 3. Choose an encounter from the relevant
to sink or crash.
environment table on p.92-112 of XGE. Choose
Eldritch Storms. If appropriate, the storm can what the creatures desire from the relevant table
be flavored using the descriptions in TCE on p.148-149 of TCE. Use either table first, or
(p.163): Flaywind, Flame Storm, Necrotic both together to find a combination you like.
Tempest, Thrym’s Howl.
Step 4. Decide if the party is travelling or
camping when they notice the encounter. Decide
D OWNTIME what the creatures are doing when the party
first sees them, and what their initial reaction
T RAVELLING will be upon seeing the party (you can use the
Player characters can travel for 8 hours a day Reactions table).
during downtime without risking random
encounters or attempting activities. However Step 5. Decide what rewards are possible for the
unless they are travelling on a road (or aboard a party to earn using the Hex Rewards table, and
passenger ship), they can only travel through how the rewards are related to the chosen
hexes they have previously travelled through. creatures and/or monument or weird locale.
Optional. Add a twist from the Encounter
A CTIVITIES Twists table. This can be important if the
encounter doesn’t yet have conflict or stakes.
With a week of downtime, a PC can successfully
complete one of the following Activities without Step 6. If you think there might be combat, draw
risk (assuming they meet any proficiency a map for the encounter. A simple sketch can be
requirements): enough. Include your Monument or Weird
• Search the area, at the DM’s discretion. Locale, and any terrain features.
• Chronicle the goings-on in the area for a week. Step 6b. Place all the creatures on the map,
• Craft one of the listed items. Special materials including the party, and any treasure or other
are still at the DM’s discretion. interesting objects.

CHAPTER 11: EXPLORING THE WILD

27
 Mood O THER R ESOURCES
d8 Choose one to start, perhaps transitioning later Traps. Instead of creatures, the encounter might
1 Bright, sunny, lively, chirping birds, the smell of flowers involve traps. Skip Steps 5-7 and instead choose
2 Grey, still, quiet, undisturbed, suspicious
or create some traps using the tables on
3 Rainy, muddy, miserable, soaked clothes, hard to see
4 Windy, fierce, howling, hard to walk/talk
p.114-123 of XGE. Use either 2 simple traps or 1
5 Stormy, chaotic, violent, lightning, panicked animals complex trap.
6 Sweltering heat, sweaty, stuffy, short tempers Supernatural Regions. If part of your map is
7 Freezing cold, frosty, stinging skin, numb supernatural, the tables on p.150-163 can help
8 Strangely coloured sky, otherworldly sounds and smells evoke that feeling. The tables cover: blessed
radiance, far realm, haunted, infested, mirror
Outdoor Terrain Features zone, psychic resonance and unraveling magic.
Roads Bridge Cliff face Dense trees Choose a result from the relevant table for Step
Grassland River Tall grass Pond 6b, instead of using the Encounter Twist table.
Coastal Cliff Large waves Sea stacks Supernatural Hazards. For other planes, the
Desert Oasis Large dune Rocky outcrop effects presented in the DMG can make good
Arctic Trees Frozen river Glacier crevasse hazards. Examples include Psychic Wind,
Underdark Fungus Chasm Natural pillars
Psychic Dissonance, Ether Cyclones, Shadowfell
Swamp Reeds Small islands Deep mud/water
Hills Hilltop Steep hillside Huge boulders
Despair, and Mad Winds.
Forest Clearing Huge tree Poisonous floor Specialized Focus. If a campaign will be focused
Mountains Canyon Bridge Narrow cliff path in a particular environment, specialized
On water Whirlpool Small island Sharp rocks encounter tables and hazards might be available
In the air Airstream Storm cloud Scattered clouds in other resources. For example:
Urban Buildings Wagons Clothes lines • Sailing on the sea: see Ghosts of Saltmarsh

• Jungle: see Tomb of Annihilation

Encounter Twists • A cursed land: see Curse of Strahd

d8 Choose 0 or more to ensure curiosity or drama • The Underdark: see Out of the Abyss

1 They are hunting (or being hunted by) other creature(s) • A city: see Waterdeep Dragon Heist

2 They have unusual intelligence and/or alignment • A post-apocalypse or hellscape: see Descent
3 They are arguing amongst themselves (about what?) into Avernus
4 They are arguing with a second type of creature
5 One or all are spellcasters (divine or arcane?)
6 One or more have met a PC before
7 They would easily beat the party in combat
8 They aren’t what they seem. They might be conjured
by fey or a con artist, doppelgangers, or a dream
d5 During the encounter...
1 one of them runs off with the treasure or a PC’s item
2 the floor caves in and half the party falls into a tomb,
cavern, temple, plant monster, or the creatures’ lair
3 new creature(s) arrive. They might be reinforcements
for either side, or unknown to both sides
4 the creatures threaten to magically raise an alarm or
summon a strange or horrifying threat
5 the area is affected by intense magic, maybe flooding
the area, making gravity weak, spawning portals, or
shifting to a neighbouring plane

Hex Rewards
d8 Choose one or more that are relevant
1 Individual treasure according to p.136 of the DMG, plus
one art object from p.134 of roughly the same value
2 A charm from p.228 of the DMG or Inspiration
3 1d3 uses of a poison from p.257 of the DMG
4 Mundane armor, gear, a contraption, and/or book • Last updated: March 28, 2023.
5 A pet, mount or vehicle
• If you have feedback, message me at /u/Caesarr.
6 A shortcut, such as a tunnel or portal
7 A magic item from table A (levels 1-3), B (4-6), C (7-10),
• The book’s colorized version can be found here.
D (11-15), or E (16-20) • The book’s print-friendly version can be found here.
8 Renown, either gained or lost depending on how the
encountered creatures were treated

CHAPTER 11: EXPLORING THE WILD

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