Crit Academy discusses 5th Evolution (5evo): Carbide City! This awesome supplement was developed by Limitless Adventures takes the wildly popular Dungeons and Dragons 5e game mechanics and applies them to new genres. This 5evo product brings superheroes to your stories and campaigns! This fantastic supplement is the perfect marriage of comics and roleplaying.
Let’s talk about Blank!
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything hits our Dungeons & Dragons games next week (DMs willing), so Wizards of the Coast is getting everything ready. Most notably, the D&D designers are getting previous books ready to be compatible with the big changes Tasha's will bring.
Not too long ago, Wizards released a Sage Advice document. Sage Advice is like a mix between D&D patch notes and rule clarifications. It answers fan questions about the wording around certain spells or abilities and also makes changes to those things. The recent Sage Advice saw adjustments made to racial abilities in light of Tasha's reworking of the idea.
Today, Wizards drew our attention to that same Same Advice but with two new additions. The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide and Eberron: Rising From the Last War books now have sections in the Sage Advice document. A quick glance shows that Sword Coast changes are largely centered around the Bladesinger subclass, whereas Eberron saw changes to the artificer. Both are due for printing in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. It looks as though the changes were made to have both books match the way their content will be shown in Tasha's.
Also of note are a few small lore changes to each book, which might have to do with how Tasha is going to present things in the upcoming book. Tasha has never been to Eberron that we know of, so her section on artificers will have to introduce new lore for the magical scientists. Tasha's Cauldron of Everything will release in the US on November 17.
The Arcania digital tile set lets you make dark, shadowy dungeon maps, rich with the fumes of arcane secrets.
Winner: wizardcadius
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Each 5evo book opens with a comic that GMs will share digitally with their players prior to the gaming session. These comics serve to introduce the genre and setting, as well as get players excited and invested in the coming adventure. (discuss the story of the comic and thoughts on its integration)
The second section of the 5evo book is a one-shot adventure, complete with pre-generated characters, that picks up where the comic left off. (Discuss the adventure, pregen characters provided)
Expectations of the Supers Genre
Character death and murder are rare. It is expected that villains will be apprehended and turned over to the authorities. Murder and excess violence will adversely affect a character's (or NPC's) Public Opinion score (see page 30).
Healing is rare. There is no cleric ready to bounce you back into a fight. Some evos are capable of regeneration, but in Carbide City this ability only appears in feral evos. Players need to gauge risks, take cover and dodge as though their lives depend on it. GMs will need to take a lack of healing into account as well when writing their adventures.
They always come back. When death does occur, characters and villains usually come back to life through creative means.
City has character. Most comics take place in a central setting that becomes a character of its own. Make your setting someplace that your heroes want to defend and risk their lives for.
Anonymity. Most evos lead double lives to protect their loved one from villains, the media, and lawsuits. A hero without a secret identity can expect no rest or peace as they are constantly harassed and asked for help.
With great power. Superpowers are almost always a burden or a nuisance. Supers find themselves ostracized and loved in equal measure and often seek the company of other supers who understand their unique plight.
Many stories converge. The greatest comic story arcs often contain several crossovers that converge on one point, usually a supervillain. The introduction of other heroes (even those from other cities and worlds) and villains are common and expected. Make sure each character (hero and villain) get their own story that allows them to develop and expand on their character growth.
Finally, the third section of each 5evo book is a source guide that lets the GM create their own adventures in that genre. The best part? All 5evo products are completely compatible. Want to have space marines fight a T-Rex, or see how your wizard would fare against a machine gun-toting mech? Well, you can do that and more with 5evo. One might say the options are Limitless…
Fight the Monster in its Den … If You Dare!
Book of Lairs brings you 24 great monster lairs for 5th edition! Each of these exciting and unusual battlegrounds comes with a complete short adventure, including a hook, area hazards, tactics, and treasures. Stage your 5th Edition fights in unforgettable locations like; Clockwork Tower, Branches of Yggdrasil, Sky Stairs of Beldestan and many more! Check it out here!
Character Concept:
The Fake Villain “Many believe I am a threat to society, and I make sure they all believe it. Sometimes to take down darkness, you become the darkness.” Sometimes the best way to take down a threat to society is to become one, or at least convince everyone that you are. You decided to play the role of a villain without truly becoming one so you can not just walk into their world, but be welcome in it. This gives you avenues that you would not otherwise have access to and allows you to take apart the shadowy underworld from within as well as pull at threads you otherwise may not have even seen. Beyond that, accepting your role as a villain means that you are willing to go beyond the limitations of normal heroes, doing what is necessary without the limitations of morals.
Monster Variant:
Venom Drake
Venom drakes hunt and prowl around lush marshlands, slimy swamps and often outside the lairs of green or black dragons. They are fearless creatures. Their bite is filled with a black ichor that causes loss of sight and hearing. Those who underestimate them, quickly lose sight of their future.
Origin: Chuul
Lost features sense magic, tentacles, language, pincer
New features:
Venomous Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 feet., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. Until this poison ends, the target is blinded and deafened. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Reaction.
Imposing Roar. When the drake is hit with a melee weapon attack, it can use its reaction to release an intimidating bellow at the attacker. If the target can see and hear it, it must make a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of the drake until the end of their next turn.
Encounter:
Blood of a Troll
Reikala Ashhelm (LG, F, dwarf noble) is a respected educator in a large city. She has dedicated her life to alchemy, the combination of science and magic. When she was young she lost her arm in a goblin raid. While her family has money, access to magic that can heal the flesh is far too expensive for many, especially the poor farmers. Because of this, she has experimented and been developing a regenerative potion created from trolls blood. In the hopes, it can be used to regrow lost limbs.
Townsfolk have reported a monster in the sewers and Reikala has gone missing. Her apprentice Aeynor Gemheart (LF, N, gnome commoner) is seeking help finder her. Aeynor believes that the monster may have kidnapped Reikala. Aeynor invites the characters back to their ransacked lab to investigate her last known whereabouts. A successful DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals a broken potion bottle among the debris and massive claw marks around the lab. Aeynor tells them it was the most recent experimental mixture of their troll blood potion. A successful DC 18 group Wisdom (Survival) check the characters are able to track the monstrous beast to its lair in the sewers. There they find a stocky troll with long hair. A successful DC 19 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals that trolls' tattered white garment is nearly identical to that of what Aeynor Gemheart was wearing. The troll is Rekala, she drank the experimental potion. It regrew her limb but turned her into a troll with little awareness of who she is.
Magic Item:
Spectacles of the SuperMan
Wondrous Item, rare (requires attunement)
This head piece is a golden frame inlaid with magical transparent blue lenses. A sigil in the form of an S is engraved on both sides that pass over the wearer’s ears to keep the lenses in place.
While wearing the spectacles of the superman, you have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. In conditions of clear visibility, you can make out details of even extremely distant features and objects as small as 2 feet across.
The spectacles have 5 charges. While wearing them, you can use an action to expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it, spell save DC 15: scorching ray (2 charges), fireball (3 charges) and true seeing (5 charges).
The staff regains 1d4+1 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the spectacles blacken, crumbling into cinders, and is destroyed.
Dungeon Master Tip:
Public Opinion (5th Evolution)
When evos fight, they tend to make a pretty big mess. This doesn't bode well with the taxpayers. Each evo, hero or villain, has a public relation score that affects how they are received by the public. This score starts at 10 and can go as low as 0 and as high as 30. Much like an ability score, a public opinion less than 10 imposes a negative modifier on Charisma skill checks.
Player Tip: Don’t be a Dick
Be a Hulk!
For the toughest hulk like character, start as a hill dwarf for a +1 hp bonus per level. Select the Barbarian class. At 3rd level, pick the Path of the Bear Totem Warrior to gain resistance to all damage but psychic while raging. At fourth level, take the Toughness feat for 2 more hp per level, and then use your ability score increases to maximize Constitution.
A masked menace terrifies the region. The adventurers stumble into her scheme: the kidnapping of a famous performer known as Devon Artis. Their mission is to deliver a ransom and collect Devon.
Winner: turlogh
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Closing: Please join us on our next episode. We will discuss Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
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