Playtest (A5E) Level Up Playtest Document #1: Origins

Welcome to the first Level Up playtest document. This playtest contains a candidate for the game’s Origins system—the initial building blocks of your character.

Are you ready to level up your 5E game? Welcome to Level Up, the standalone 'advanced 5E' backwards compatible tabletop RPG coming in 2021!

A crunchier, more flexible version of the 5E ruleset which you know and love. If you love 5E but would like a little more depth to the ruleset, Level Up is the game for you!

Level Up is a standalone hardcover roleplaying game brought to you by EN Publishing, the company which brought you EN5ider Magazine and Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters!

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What this is
This is a playtest document. We’d love you to try out the rules presented here, and then answer the follow-up survey in a few days.

What this is not
This is NOT the final game. It’s OK if you don’t like elements of these rules; that’s the purpose of a playtest document. Be sure to participate in the follow-up survey in a few days. All data, positive or negative is useful.

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Your survey responses help form the direction of the game as it goes through the development process.

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[TheSword]

I’ve had a good look through. I don’t think it’s states that any culture is available. In fact it’s strongly suggested otherwise - that only the ancestry races plus general cultures are available. Probably just needs making clearer.

[Edit] I’ve re-read that sentence and it doesnt say what I think it says. It is open.

 

[Thirdpartycollector]

Lol, yes because farmers are always described as lean and nobles always described as burly... Oh wait.

Nobles and knight are not synonymous.

Of course in that instance Acolytes would be the strongest... everyone knows the bishops table was the best.

I see my point seems rather silly now in the context of a dnd setting as opposed to a more grim setting where characters would have to suffer famine through formative years of their physical development.

 

[Stacie GmrGrl]

Put Aasimar in the game somehow. This is one area I'd really look at how Paizo has handled their Ancestries from the Pathfinder 2e Advanced Players Guide. How they did Aasimar/Tieflings in this edition is beautiful and genius.

 

[Morrus]

I’ve had a good look through. I don’t think it’s states that any culture is available.

It states it several times. There’s even a whole sidebar which states it.

 

[TheSword]

Feedback of the mechanics is very very good.

I really like the core features of each heritage and then the optional features. They are good and at first appear to be a little power creep, but then every character has one less +1 at level 1 so it’s probably fair.

There is some really flavorful stuff. I like spell like abilities that come online at later levels like Drow.

Elves have some particularly cool mechanics, I love foresight and int to interaction stats.

The +1 and floating +1 on backgrounds looks balanced. It lets me create a sage fighter, or a charming rogue which is cool. Key ability score plus another for flavor seems reasonable.

Mechanically the only thing I’m not sure about is flight at 1st level. That doesn’t sound like a good idea, even for limited rounds.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I suppose I feel every race should feel like one you're excited to play. I think the playtest does a pretty good job at that, but there is room for improvement (as in most things).

 

[tetrasodium]

wrt nobles having better access to protein & such, look at all the "muscle" on king henry the VIII's 52 inch waist. Rather than having every sorcerer/warlock/diplomancer being a noble for that sweet +charisma & a floating +1 likesome have suggested they should stick the +cha somewhere fitting like an entertainer or trader & give nobles something that fits with having the wealth to pursue whatever floats their boat & give them a bunch of skills like 1-2 set plus 3-5 of choice.

 

[Micah Sweet]

No I don't believe so. Look at their heritages (?). Only one is really anything about being involved in war & and those same mechanics are the kinds of things nearly every well organized professional army trains their soldiers in to varying degrees since the mongol, & roman armies proved how effective it was.

The warholding mechanics fit better under elf where it fits faerun's elves, eberron elves, & dark sun elves. where all three are known to be skilled in combat similar to how the English were known for their skill with the longbow because they paid their common citizens to practice so their rulers could levy a peasant militia even while maintaining elite troops of their own. The warholding mechanics work fine for an organized military training/education. Big difference between elf armies & orc armies is that one is presented in a positive light that focuses on skill & training rather than playing off scary minority tropes.

Fair enough. Do you think a way could be found to present orc armies as a result of skill and training? That would be awesome!

 

[Thirdpartycollector]

wrt nobles having better access to protein & such, look at all the "muscle" on king henry the VIII's 52 inch waist.

Access to proper nutrition helps with body building, overeating can be done by anyone of any background, i doubt king Henry was practicing his swordsmanship and watching what he ate. if you had a pair of twins and fed one only bread and another all the veggies and proteins his body needed, the one latter would put on muscle far faster.

 

[tetrasodium]

Fair enough. Do you think a way could be found to present orc armies as a result of skill and training? That would be awesome!

I think it would be extremely difficult based on my experience trying to break orc=bad & show eberron style orcs in my semiopen games. star trek tng tried to do it by giving worf a funny looking weapon & paying someone to come up with tai chi looking exercises that Incorporated it, but in the end it rarely ever played out that way in practice. When your known for strength you can avoid the negative tropes by shifting to a body structure that doesn't fit them like alara or focusing on other areas like the caravaner & such like these two even if they come from someplace horrible that still has horrible people they are ashamed of.

Think of Orcs like Germany, you might visit one of the concentration camps if you went for a vacation but the tourism bureau puts an awful lot of effort into playing up everything else you might want to do on a trip to Germany because it's a shameful blot on their history they refuse to risk repeating not an all consuming identity. You can't spin orcs into a noble savage without putting the noble part front & center keeping their savage brothers & sisters locked in the basement when the spotlight comes around looking for culture & that's precisely why bortus & alara manage it.