Books allowed: PHB, Xanathar, Tasha's

Races allowed: All the races from the PHB along with- Aasimar, Goblins, Bugbears, Hobgoblins, Half-Giants (Goliaths), Orcs, Kobolds, Genasi

Classes: No Artificers, Bards Clerics, Druids or Wizards. I'll allow one sorcerer and one warlock.

Starting Level: 3rd- All subclasses from the Books above allowed.

Alignment: Any. The Setting is filled with moral ambiguity and life-or-death choices, so alignments are not set in stone. That being said, if your character's sole motivation as a murder hobo is to ruin the fun for everybody, I'll probably pass.

Starting Equipment: As PHB, but to reflect on your character's adventuring done so far:

• Swap out starting armor for the following: Studded Leather armor, scale mail, chain mail (barbarians can opt for any of this armor as well)
• A free shield if you don't start with one
• Two martial or simple weapons of your choice
• A healing potion
• An extra 50 IP/GP to spend or keep

Skills
I like reworking unpopular skills into something useful so:

Acrobatics can be used to climb certain walls that allow for footholds for some nimble parkour.

Animal Handling: As an action, the skill can be used to charm beasts for one round (as the "Animal Friendship" spell). Three successes (over 3 rounds) makes the beast charmed for one hour and neutral afterwards.

Medicine: Can be used in the same way the "Investigation" skill is used, when determining the cause of death or an injury. As an action, can be used to determine certain conditions (poisoned, disease, stunned, blinded, deafened, paralyzed, unconscious, incapacitated)

Knowledge skills will function like in third edition, and characters can gain insights on creatures they face through knowledge checks:

Arcane: Aberrations, Constructs, Elementals, Monstrosities

Religion: Celestials and Fiends, Undead

Nature: Beasts, Fey, Giants, Humanoids (physical strengths and weaknesses), Oozes, Plants

History: Humanoids (culture and attitudes), Dragons (using famous examples as references)

Races

Human Variants: Here's going to be an unpopular houserule- I'm going to limit what feats variant humans can access to. Sorry, I don't think low level characters should be doing +10 damage on go-for-broke swings of their swords. So Variant Humans can choose any Half Feats they qualify for. What is a Half Feat? A feat that grants a +1 in a stat and a minor advantage. For example, in the PHB, feats like Actor and Tavern Brawler.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:34, Thu 18 Mar 2021.