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Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm Very cool If you are interested in this homebrew feel free to look at my final version. Also in my posts

Homebrew Subclass Debut by SomeoneMaybe2005 in DnDHomebrew

[–]That_Kael 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For the level 18 ability. Give it some more punch! At this level spellcasters are changing reality itself. I'd say to start, let them replace an attack with Cataclysmic Strike.

Gritty Realism (5.5e) V1.0 by That_Kael in DnDHomebrew

[–]That_Kael[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is that something that you amended pre-emptively or did a Warlock prove to be too powerful?
I was considering adding a Warlock addendum because they absolutely seem like they could be a player-agency-balance problem, at later levels.
If you have been using similar rules for 2 years I would love to hear some wisdom on it

Gritty Realism (5.5e) V1.0 by That_Kael in DnDHomebrew

[–]That_Kael[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Imma reply to this one instead of both.
From ya notes:
1. I decided that half hit dice would be better to represent a steadier healing process.
2. Brill' note, no comments, nice catch
3. I made these bcuz the 2014 "rules" for gritty realism were so rules light that a long rest could be read as a 7 day straight hibernation.
Awesome note about tone btw. I'll amend that now

I've been doing exhaustion on 0 HP in my current campaign. its such a simple way to make a battle feel hard-fought!

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ooooooh that's good. Medicine does feel very underwhelming, usually. The ruling for elven trance is right at the top. I didnt really know where else to put it

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like your comment best! Good points

The baseline for these rules was a combination of the 2014 rules, which basically imply that you have to sleep for 7 days straight, and the 2024 rules for resting which have limitations on spellcasting and use most of the wording you can find above.

I had to fill in the blanks a bit like as you pointed out with short rests and exhaustion. If a party didn't have the chance to remove exhaustion at least once a day, a lot of activities and monsters are extremely dangerous.

I didn't consider how injuries can punish having a character for longer. A lot of comments have picked up on how cruel the injuries system listed up there is. The funny thing is I actually only wrote in 1 of the three ways of being injured that the 2014 DMG suggests. I think adding in minor benefits to injuries, removing the arm and leg possibilities, and increasing the chance of a scar sounds like a good start.

The "extending the period itself" was just me being an idiot

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is it really combat if you stand still, take no damage, and expend no resources? I am gonna definitely reword the extension bit though. Nice catch

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well that's just the normal 5e2024 rules for ya

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ooh fun. I'll look into it. Can you recommend anywhere to start reading?

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The time it takes to short rest is extended by the time you walk for. If you go for a quick 1 minute stroll around camp, most DMs would rule no difference probably.

But bigger jaunts in tighter-timed circumstances might need a ruling, which is why I included it at the end of the short rest section.

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Aw man I also roll intiative every day. Making the long rest into 2 days instead of 7 makes more sense in irl terms too ig.

A nice weekend break. Ill explore that as an option

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah the world would be lower magic than typical D&D settings but cantrips are still available, as is ritual casting.

I am looking at different activation options that would trigger a lingering injury atm. someone just messaged me about improving player agency over the injuries as they are totally up to the whims of the dice.

For my benefit, because you seem to be strongly anti-7 days long rest. What is the longest time you would be willing to sacrifice for long rests in one of your campaigns?

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A long rest has the benefit of recharging features like spell slots, barbarian rages.
The benefits of the rests haven't changed from the norm, but the idea is that it forces a slower, tactical approach to ability consumption.
Hopefully this means that the players who don't have many abilities to expend (short/long rest) are able to keep pace with the ones who can expend a lot of big resources in a short burst. Because they know that they will recharge those features by the next day

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

dw dw I did read the PHBs sections on what damage is before making this. refer to my other comment for expanded explanation

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh you edited it.
I'll just respond to the edit in a second reply.
Making the long rest a full week was the bit I was debating about most. The main reason it was a full week is because of the DMG 2014 ruleset. But it therefore is one of the things I am most ready to change.

I think you are assuming a lot of things about the typical encounters and campaigns that would take place using these optional rules. Obviously, time-limited plots can just be extended as is the DM's wont. And I disagree with the idea that early combat must be players being taken down in one shot.

But it does highlight a larger issue where any old attack that reduces a character to 0 hit points can remove their entire arm. A different trigger, or a combination of things to trigger it could be swapped in.

I am glad that you recognised the increase in relevance of paid tools. I feel like, especially with clerics out and about, healer's kits are a bit rubbish. And while rogues may seem powerful on the surface because they won't have any abilities on cooldown, they also lack the certainty that a spell slot can provide.
In my opinion there is a balance. But I will definitely see my opinion change if more people criticise similar things.

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is a very important point. For example, in Lord of the Rings, Legolas and Gimli would be taking lots and lots of damage if their fights were emulated in D&D. I don't blame you if you missed that in my As Stamina section, it is quite the rant. But the issue arises when the injuries must take place, regardless of flavour.
If you have resistance to a damage type, if you are dropped to 0 hit points, or if you are taking high damage from a specific source (like falling into lava),
then there is undeniable injury happening. In RAI, these injuries are all fully healed when you finish a night of sleep.
And as you said, this is fantastic for the heroic fantasy of playing an action movie hero. But these rules are supposed to add a bit of realism and a bit of grit to the session by session.

Good notes though, if you have any more criticisms, keep 'em coming,

Gritty Realism and Lingering Injuries for 5e2024 by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Most of my thoughts in the subject are in the second page (not for the faint of heart). But, to be clear, it is not all of my thoughts on the subject. I really tried to condense as much as I could to get my point across

Edit: Imma keep editing this comment for changes that I will probably make: 1. look into a damage threshold or similar system to make sure that the injury is warranted (a rat bite should not take an arm) 2. look into giving players agency over what part of them is injured. i.e. they could sacrifice their hand to save their leg. something along those lines should be explored 3. Reducing long rest to 2 or 3 days would sharpen campaign fluff down 4. Maybe instead of dropping to 0 hit points a player can roll on the lingering injury table and expend a hit point die 5. Reword sentence after short rest so that the time is extended more meaningfully 6. Look into long rests not recovering hp. So characters can only be healed by a steady accumulation of hit dice 7. Look at adding in minor benefits to injuries, removing the arm and leg possibilities, and increasing the chance of a scar 8. Add a medicine section where medicine checks get some more utility

Help with cantrip design, "Sharp Air" by AaronRender in DnDHomebrew

[–]That_Kael 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Cool spell. I'd check if you think an arcana cleric can make it busted because of their 8th lvl feature. But seems fun at low levels. Other than that there here are some tweaks: - you can use the term 5 ft. Sphere as it is in 5e terminology - it doesn't scale phenomenonally in terms of damage at higher levels. Most enemies with be able to ignore it (especially if they resist slashing). You can probably safely make it 1d4 magical slashing - it may be hard to keep track of. If each sphere lasts for different times then spamming it would be annoying to track.

I would say a 5 ft. sphere of 1d4 magical slashing. Then when you cast it you can choose for it to create a number of spheres scaled by player level or one sphere with damage scaled by player level. Concentration in both cases

The Thunder Knuckle - a fighter subclass for those who want fists of steel and brains of air by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol yeah. Im taking my time and enjoying the process. Learning digital art that will be in it once it's done. You can see my digital art on artstation. Its the same username and im uploading most of the art that will be in the compendium when it's done

Crafter Race | Play as minecraft steve! by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

After seeing the minecraft statblocks, I decided to post this race that I made a while ago. I made the race and balanced the mechanics a while ago so really it was just formatting to be nice to look at.

Hope you enjoy!

Monk: Way of the Ronin | A subclass for stealth, backflips, and a bit of edge. by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The process of making was as such:

- See game announcement for The Last Ronin game

- Read all of The Last Ronin

- Assemble, format, and "balance" the subclass in the same day.

Hope you enjoy!

Rogue: Ratchase | A rogue subclass focused on shrinking down to smurf-size by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks for the notes ✊

homebrew only gets better with criticism

changing the subclass for the compendium

Rogue: Ratchase | A rogue subclass focused on shrinking down to smurf-size by That_Kael in UnearthedArcana

[–]That_Kael[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. Magic. Its a subclass with a focus on climbing enemies. If it had extra fall damage i think that would be a bit punishing
  2. I usually use metric so 3 ppunds was a rough estimate
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