5-Neal

For 5th Edition Shows, Neal Pass Erickson could have different house rules based upon the campaign. The rules on this page may not apply to all of his 5e Campaigns.

See also:

• EoA House Rules
• EoW House Rules

5.Neal

5th edition heavily implies a highly magical world. The changes here are designed to bring the game more inline with gritty, low magic world.

Chapter 1: Ability Scores

Stat Generation

The following are acceptable methods for generating character stats. 3d6 4d6d1 Point Buy with 300 points

No more than 17 in any one stat at 1st level (after feats and racials).

Chapter 2: Player Character Races

Aging Effects

Rather than age affecting specific physical or mental stats, the player may choose where to place their bonuses and penalties.

1st level of aging: Players take a total penalty of 2 to their physical stats, and gain a bonus of 1 to their mental stats.

2nd level of aging: Players take 5 more penalties to physical stats, and gain another 1 bonus to mental.

3rd level of aging: Players take another 3 penalties to physical stats, and gain another bonus of 2 to mental stats.

For example, at 45 years of age, a player might decide their human rogue takes a penalty of 2 to their con. All that living on rations and mucking around in swamps has taken a toll on his health. He's got ulcers and internal scarring from pneumonia has left him short of breath. Or the player might decide that he takes a -1 to dex and str. He's not as spry as he used to be, his hands are beginning to tremble a little, and it's got him scared that he's losing his edge. He's certainly not going to tell anyone about it, but his mortality is looming.

Bonuses to mental stats are gained from time spent in the world. Magical aging will not grant these bonuses. Penalties to physical stats come from degradation of the body. Magical aging will grant these penalties, although reversed ageing may remove them.

Chapter 3: Player Character Classes

Removed or altered subclasses

Class	Restriction
Barbarian	Path of the Ancestral Guardian Path of the Totem Warrior changes below Aspect of The Beast: Eagle removed Totemic Attunement: Eagle Path of the Storm Herald Path of the Zealot
Bard	College of Whispers
Cleric	Tempest Domain Grave Domain
Druid	Circle of Dreams Circle of the Shepherd changes below Faithful Summons: Only works when you are reduced to 0hp. Summons vanish when you reach 1hp.
Fighter	Eldritch Knight Arcane Archer
Monk	Way of the Drunken Master changes below Tipsy Sway -> Redirect Attack -> The creature must re-roll the attack against the new creature. Way of the Open Hand changes below Quivering Palm -> Removed. Way of the Kensei Way of Shadow Way of the Sun Soul Way of the Four Elements changes below Clench of the North Wind -> Cast as a bonus action on a target that you hit. Flames of the Phoenix -> 3 ki points, strike a hard surface, fireball is cast centered on where you strike, does not affect you. Mist Stance -> 2 ki points, must touch an object in the process, the spell only lasts until you’ve passed that object. Can be used to slip through prison bars, under a doorway, etc., but not to float about. Ride the Wind -> No level requirement, 1 ki point, cast jump instead of fly. River of Hungry Flame -> Removed Shape the Flowing River -> Must be touched Water Whip -> Removed Wave of Rolling Earth -> Removed
Paladins	95% restricted unless you're 100% devoted to being an avatar of your god.
Ranger	Their innate abilities are all too magical.
Rogue	Arcane Trickster
Sorcerer	Draconic Bloodline Divine Soul Shadow Magic: Shadowwalk --> Once per short rest. Shadows must be connected. Storm Sorcery
Warlocks	All
Wizard	School of Evocation changes below Sculpt Spells -> Creatures you choose who pass saves take no damage, else they take half. No automatic success. School of Transmutation changes below Minor Alchemy -> The material also reverts if you lose sight of it. Master Transmuter -> Remove Panacea, Restore Life, and Restore Youth

Chapter 4: Personality and Backgrounds

Backgrounds

Ignore all the features from backgrounds

Chapter 5: Equipment

Wealth

Copper is the default currency that values are expressed in.
Platinum is worth 200 copper.
Mithril is worth 2,000 copper.

Weapons

Spears and javelins now have the finesse tag.

Adventuring Gear

• Lamp: A lamp casts dim light for 10 feet.
• Lantern, hooded: A hooded lantern casts bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for another 20 feet.
• Torch: A torch provides bright light in a 5-foot radius and dim light in an additional 10 feet.

Chapter 6: Customization Options

Removed Feats

• Bountiful Luck
• Crossbow Expert
• Dwarven Fortitude
• Drow High Magic
• Fade Away
• Fey Teleportation
• Flames of Phlegethos
• Keen Mind
• Lucky
• Magic Initiate
• Ritual Caster
• Sentinel
• Sharpshooter
• Skulker
• Spell Sniper
• Wood Elf Magic

Modified Feats

• Alert: Gain a bonus to your initiative equal to 5 plus your proficiency bonus. No other features.
• Athlete: Climbing is at half speed, but you have advantage on climbing checks.
• Actor: No mimicking speech of other people
• Dungeon Delver: Remove resistance to damage dealt by traps
• Elven Accuracy: Only applies to attacks made with bows. (Not crossbows)
• Orcish Fury: Only applies to melee weapons.
• Second Chance: Once per short rest.
• Shield Master: 2nd feature now reads, “If you aren’t incapacitated, you can add your shield’s AC bonus to any Dexterity saving throw you make against a spell or other harmful effect,” ignoring the “that targets only you”.
• War Caster: Removed rules about somatic components when using weapons/shields in one or both hands.

New Feat: Direction Sense

• Increase your wisdom by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• You always know which way is north, unless you have been moved to a place where you cannot see the sky while your vision was obscured (unconscious, blindfolded, etc.)
• You always know how many hours are left in the day or the night as long as you can see the sky.

Chapter 7: Using Ability Scores

No changes.

Chapter 8: Adventuring

Movement

A character may only dash once per round, regardless of the source of the dash. For example, a rogue may move, attack, and bonus action dash, but may not move, bonus action dash, action dash. Expeditious Retreat is the exception to this and permits one additional dash. Haste already increases your speed, so it does not allow any additional dashes.

Swimming

Swimming is heavily impacted by encumbrance. A character may swim normally as long as they are carrying weight less than or equal to their strength score. They may tread water if they have weight greater than their strength score, but less than or equal to twice their strength. If a character has more weight on them than twice their strength score, they cannot swim and must sink. Do not count buoyant gear in this calculation (wooden staff, water skin, etc.) For deeper understanding on this, please look up records for “swim up” weights. Don’t swim in armor kids.

≤ Str | Normal swimming

> Str | Tread water

> Str x2 | No swim, only sink

Suffocating

A character that exerts themselves cuts the time they can hold their breath in half. Swimming is exertion.

Resting

Variant resting rules are in effect. A short rest is a good night's sleep, a long rest is a week of downtime.

Chapter 9: Combat

Armor Class

When surprised, restrained, incapacitated, or otherwise rendered immobile, AC is not modified by Dexterity or having a shield equipped.

Cover

Other creatures provide cover if they are directly in front of you.

1 rank of creature = ½ cover | +2 AC / Dex saves

2 rank of creatures = ¾ cover | +5 AC / Dex saves

3 rank of creatures = full cover

Weapon Proficiencies

Crossbow does not require a proficiency slot to use.

Other 5.Neal Rules:

• 5-Neal Character Creation - Changes & Restrictions on Creating Characters in Arcadia in 5e
• Arms, Armor, and Visibility
• Economics
• Poisons: Stats / Descriptions
• Bloodhound Tracking