Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition: Is the game as we know it changing?
If there is one “good” thing that’s come out of COVID-19 quarantine, then it’s probably that people are playing Dungeons & Dragons. No longer considered to be the game with too much math involved between the rise of nerd culture and the popularity of shows like Critical Role and Adventure Zone, Dungeons & Dragons is now a cool game full of wild stories to be told.
After all, where else but in Dungeons & Dragons can you hear the story about someone falling against a door? Or about the time your bard impregnated a dragon? Or any other random and silly occurrences? The only thing limited in Dungeons & Dragons is the limits of the imagination of the DM and players. Now it looks like the upcoming rulebook Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything will only help with the expansion.
Who is Tasha and why do we need her guide?
For long time Dungeons & Dragons fans, you’ll recognize the character from the iconic Greyhawk setting. Tasha is a powerful witch raised by Babba Yaga that goes on to become a demi-god. She’s a character that can be both a hero and a villain in Dungeons & Dragons campaign with her Cauldron of Everything serving as an expansion to the existing rules of Dungeons & Dragons.
Within this 192 expansion of the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons rules, there will be new subclasses, new spells, and a brand new way for character creation that will allow for more customizable characters. It’s all really exciting.
Character creation?
Dungeons & Dragons has a traditional way to create characters: stock traits and features specific to races. For example, if you choose an elf race, then you have a racial bonus to your Dexterity stat. Over the years, however, people were uncomfortable with these bonuses being so inherently linked to a race or culture. So the move is a smart one with the crew of Wizards of the Coast making a push for more diversity.
Basically, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything allows a new way of creating a character where players can choose traits to make a more custom lineage. With this way, you can get a more unique experience with your character. In addition, the update will also remove negative racial penalties, such as orcs negative two to Intelligence from Volo’s Guide to Monsters.
New subclasses!
Dungeons & Dragons has the main classes, for example, barbarian or cleric, but the subclasses are for your characters specialization within the main class: cleric domains, paladin oaths, warlock pacts, etc. With Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, new subclasses will be added. Plus the artificer class introduced in Eberron: Rising from the Last War has been revamped so it can fit into any campaign setting.
The subclasses are Psionic Mind for sorcerers, Armorer for artificer, Order domain for cleric, Circle of Spores for druid, College of Eloquence for bards, oath of glory for paladins, and Bladesinging for wizards. There will also be new ways to customize base classes, such as giving rangers new primal beast options to summon or expanding on spells.
Other goodies
Finally, your adventuring group can have a patron through the new rulebook expansion. This patron will employ adventurers and serve as a guide of sorts on the campaign. And if your DM needs help with puzzles, then this book has several pre-made puzzles to help a DM.
And if your DM really hates you, then there are also magical landscapes. Have you ever wanted to fight a storm full of undead beings? Hey, you can do that now.
