Augury - Tome of Heroes (D&D 5E)

Tome of Heroes is latest 5E product crowdfunded by Kobold Press. I have fond memories of the Zobeck Gazetteer and the amazing Midgard Campaign Setting (Wow! Almost 10 years!) and the Tome of Heroes is in many ways may door coming back to that setting. However, while it does have iconic elements from Midgard, it is not necessarily a setting sourcebook. Quite the contrary, we are talking here about a massive expansion for D&D 5E regarding new options for players: 316 pages of content, spread though seven chapters of a beautiful illustrated book.

The first chapter is all about new races and subraces. We have the centauroid Alseid, the almost mandatory Catfolk (Malkin and Pantheran), the definitely obligatory Drow (Delver, Fever-Bit and Purified), the hedgehog-folk Erina, Minotaurs (Bhain Kwai and Boghaid), and the Mushrromfolk (Acid Cap, Favored, and Morel). There are also new subraces for the classics: Dwarves (Fireforge and Spindrift), Elves (Dunewalker and Frostfell), Gnomes (Shoal and Wyrd) and much love for Halflings (5 subraces: Courtfolk, Hinterfolk, Rivefolk, Urban and Winterfolk!). Finally, there is the weird: the cthulhian Satarre (basically you play what sounds like an Elder Race from the Void) and the Shade (which are kind of materialized ghosts who seemed, only at first, to be alive… but they can be also echoes or memories left after someone’s death… as I said: weird).

All of above comes with interesting bits of lore from Midgard that can enrich any setting. Now, there are a lot of refreshing approaches to traditional concepts too. For example: the crazed (or not so crazed) Derro seems to be lots of fun to play, with plenty of insanity, mutations, and psychic awareness for everyone’s taste. However, for me, the real gems are the Darakhul and the Gearforged. Darakhul are the high ghouls of Midgard, but they work perfectly also as Lovecraftian ghouls or just as your basic undead race. Both Darakhul and the Gearforged come with subrace-like templates, which allow you to build, for example, a Darakhul who was a dragonborn before becoming undead, or a gearforged whose body is built like a kobold. The Darakhul’s Imperfect Undeath and the Gearforged’s Living Construct traits are the friendliest approach that I have seen so far to those concepts in 5E.

Chapter 2 is about classes. The Barbarian gets the lion-based Path of the Booming Magnificence, the infernal-themed Path of Hellfire, the fey- (and teleport-) based Path of the Mistwood, the self-explanatory Path of the Dragon, the skald-like Path of the Herald (your friends can rage with you!), the premonitory Path of the Inner Eye, and the plant-based Path of Thorns. Bards get new Colleges: Echoes (yup, you get echolocation), Investigation (perfect for Pathfinder fans of that class), Shadows (weird mix of bard and ninja I guess), Sincerity (the most original one, with a troupe-style mechanic), Tactics (almost a warlord!), and Cat (definitely a ninja). The new cleric domains are Black Powder (my favorite!), Hunt (totally Ranger-like), Mercy (the most original one, dealing both with healing and death), Portal (probably the most fun to play, specially for players that love using teleport through the battlefield), Serpent (you’re a yuan-ti/serpentman), Shadow (magic ninja!), Vermin and Wind. New Druid Circles are Ash (Phoenix-based and very flavorful), Bees (very weird and specific), Crystals (for character optimization’s afficionados), Sand (if you are a fan of the 90s’ The Mummy this one is for you), Green (spirit animal companion), Shapeless (ooze-lovers) and Wind. Fighters get two new Fighting Style Options (Gunfighting and Buccaneer), and 6 new Archetypes: Gun Mastery (for your usual gun fu), Chaplain (a healer), Legionary (fighting with pals), Pugilist (a much-needed non-monk unarmed combatant), the awesome Timeblade (my favorite, for anime and time travel fans), and the Tunnel Watcher. Monks get 7 new Monastic Traditions: Way of the Concordant Motion (for monks that like to empower their allies with ki), Way of the Dragon, Way of the Humble Elephant (seems like the Dwarven Defender prestige class from the old 3^rd Edition days, but it is a monk), the potent Way of the Still Waters, the Way of the Tipsy Monkey (for Jackie Chan fans like me), the bow-based Way of the Unerring Arrow, and the Way of the Wildcat (this one, plus the new Pantheran subrace, and you have basically a Thundercat). Paladins gain the Gunfighting Fighting Style plus 6 new Oaths. Both the Oath of Justice and the Oath of Safeguarding offer interesting tactical powers to control the battlefield, the first one focusing on the enemies, the later one on your allies. Oath of the Elements is self-explanatory, while Oath of the Guardian is another set of powers all about boosting allies. Oath of the Hearth is like a “Paladin of the Frozen North” archetype and Oath of the Plaguetouched is an undead-bane Paladin, but one with an amazingly flavorful description. Rangers can choose between Beast Trainer, Grove Warden, Gunslinger (an interesting choice as this is usually a Fighter Archetype), Haunted Warden (you get a spirit instead of an animal companion), Snake Speaker (another serpentman archetype), Spear of the Weald (limited to Alseids), and Wasteland Striders (Cthulhu Rangers!). Rogues can become Cat Burglars, Dawn Blades (radiant blasters divine thieves?), Sappers (by far my favorite… bombs and demolitions! What its not to like?), Smugglers (good at hiding stuff and using a bit of magic), Soulspy (another divine rogue), and finally the also spellcasting Underfoot (another archetype limited to one race: the Erina). Sorcerers bring a plethora of new Metamagic Options (17!) plus 5 new Origins: Black Powder (the already classic Gun Mage trope), Cold-Blooded (more serpentfolk!), Resonant Body (a sound themed sorcerer), Rifthopper (portal sorcerer), Spore, Wastelander (Cthulhu/ooze sorcerer). The Sorcerer Origins are all very flavourful and well detailed. My favorite class, Warlock, gains new 20 new Invocations. I consider Invocations to be the source of many of my favorite builds of Warlock, as they allow you to play a really unconventional characters in terms of most D&D/d20 games. While most Tome of Heroes’ Invocations are not that much “outside of the box” they do allow you some cool tricks (Convulsions of the World lets you create small focused earthquakes for example) and also a new concept (what I call the ”Forest Warlock” or “Druid Warlock”). New Patrons include Ancient Dragons and Animal Lords (both classical elements of D&D), as well as the Hunter in Darkness (“Predator Warlock” I guess), Old Wood (which fits nicely with the new Invocations), Primordial (the most original for me, where you serve non-Cthulhian chthonic entities or mystery deities), and Wyrdweaver (basically your pact is with chaos itself). Closing the chapter we have new Arcane Traditions: the Cantrip Adept (a very interesting and unusual concept, but that I would love to try at my table), Courser Mage (a weird spellcaster that uses bows and focus on surveillance and stealth), Familiar Master (boosting your familiar), Gravebinding (practically a white necromancer), School of Black Powder (more gun magery!), the School of Liminality (another weird theme that deals with chances and space), and the Spellsmith (a specialist in manipulating the energy behind spells, using it to gain an extra boost). Wizards are by far the place where the Tome of Heroes really went outside of the box for ideas.

Chapter 3 is for Background and Feats. The new Backgrounds are Court Servant (you play Alfred), Desert Runner, Destined, Diplomat, Forest Dweller, Former Adventurer, Freebooter, Gamekeeper, Innkeeper, Mercenary Company Scion, Mercenary Recruit, Monstrous Adoptee, Mysterious Origins, Northern Minstrel, Occultist, Parfurmier, Scoundrel, Sentry, and Trophy Hunter. To my surprise I am old fashioned when it comes to Backgrounds and I really love when their Features are purely narrative (no game mechanics). Kobold Press usually don’t do that. Nevertheless, they managed to create interesting Features, such the one for Court Servant (you are the perfect valet and thus hard to notice). On the other hand, Parfumier is an awesome Background that completely missed the opportunity to create a cool Feature (just give her a super nose for smells or olfactory memory, for example). Mechanic-less Features that I really liked were Destined (you’re a Chosen One), Forest Dweller (you can find safe havens in woods), and Monstrous Adoptee (you were raised by monsters and know their locations as well as how to interact socially with them). Destined and Former Adventurer are not only wonderfully original but also classical themes that I am surprised to never have thought of them as Backgrounds. Mysterious Origins is a nice way for a player to tell the Dungeon Master to create a backstory for her character (something which happens quite a lot at my tables).

Still on Chapter 3 we have 15 new feats. This part of Tome of Heroes has something for everyone. From traditional stuff like Diehard, Forest Denizen, and Giant Foe, to amazingly flavorful things like Floriographer (a new secret language, like Druidic) and Part of Pack (you can talk with wolves and summon a pack). Two of the new feats, Draconic Rune Casting and Hedgecraft, are linked with new magic systems detailed later.

Chapter 4 is about adventuring gear, where (obviously) firearms have their own section. Besides new armor, weapons, poisons, tools, and trinkets, we also have new special materials (cold iron, peachwood, soulbound steel, wave-washed steel, and windforged steel). This is possible the most setting-heavy chapter, bringing a lot of unique elements of Midgard, such as the elven memory spheres and the ghoul saliva paste. There is an entire section on clockworks, as well as new vehicles and war animals.

Chapter 5 is what sets Tome of Heroes as a true expansion of D&D. Here we have a lot of new rules for the game. In Downtime, there are options for Court Reputation, Crafting a Masterpiece, Creating Preserves, Creature Care, Criminal Enterprise, Foraging, Magic Plant Gardening, Managing a Trading Company, and Manor Ownership and Operation. All those activities came with subsystems, most through victory points and complications. While all those activities can be handwaved by most Dungeon Masters using the Core Books, Tome of Heroes provides concrete rules for those that prefer a more robust approach. Bear in mind, some activities can get quite complex and become minigames – and yes, I’m talking about Managing a Trading Company and Manor Ownership and Operation, which consume most of the chapter (Who does not love tables and a spreadsheet?).

The next bit of Chapter 5 is a new rule: Group Themes. This idea is something that I discovered in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3^rd Edition and since them I want to use in every game that I run (another awesome use of that rule is in King of Dungeons). Basically, a group theme is an adventuring party template. Tome of Heroes has Imprisoned, Haunted, Homeward Bound, and Wardens. Each entry comes with a basic description, game hooks, and group benefits (small mechanical bonus). The entire idea is really good, easy to use, and can help many tables to keep a better focus at their goals. The chapter also has guidelines to create your won Group Themes.

Chapter 5 closes with Weapon Options, a series of weapon-based actions that any proficient character can use. Examples are Assail (to distract and force him on the defensive), Disarm, Leash (better rules for whips), Pinning Shot, among others. These maneuvers are, more importantly, a good set of guidelines for Dungeon Masters and players who would like to further differentiate weapons. However, considering the Action Economy of D&D 5E and how most parties are obsessed only in dealing damage, many of the described maneuvers might seem suboptimal without a proper narrative contest (for example, creating a combat where disarming or restraining a foe might be more important than just wounding him).

Chapter 6 is about magic, a strong suite from Kobold Press if you have been following their Deep Magic line. First, we get two new magic subsystems, accessible through feats. The Draconic Rune Casting allows you to create runes by spending spell slots. Once created those runes can be active to change parameters of other spells. For example, the Dubito rune allows you to to double the duration of one spell, while Frigus allows you to change the original damage to cold damage (it works on 3 spells before fully expended). The next subsystem is Hedge Magic, with deals with the magical properties of plants. It is basically a magic herbalism system that require components rated by their rarity. It is the most flavorful system in Tome of Heroes but one that does require bookkeeping (and possibly maintaining a magic garden in some instances). After that the chapter closes with a plethora of new spells (35 pages of it to be more exact).

Chapter 7 has new magic items. Some are a munchkin’s dream, like the Axe of Many Strikes (hit your friends, store the damage, then unleash in on your foes!) or the Javelin of Teleportation (strike and teleport the target to any place within 60 feet… but at least it has a save). Other are very flavorful, such as the Cloak of Tentacles, the Momentblade, the Pouch of Runestones, and the Potion of Infinite Possibilities. This is one of the best chapters and has a cool magic item for everyone’s tastes.

In many ways the Tome of Heroes feels like Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, Chapter 2 of Volo’s Guide to Monsters, plus Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, but on steroids! It has a bit of everything that I expected from an official D&D expansion and it is a great source for many campaigns to come. For Midgard fans it is almost obligatory as it brings home to 5E many of the themes and options that were alluded even by the first version of the setting, 10 years ago! (I am talking about stuff that grounds in the social aspects of the setting, such as Court Reputation system.)