Campaign Rules and House Rules
After 117 years of peace, Andórë became the site of the largest demonic invasion in the history of the multiverse. A grand sacrifice was made to save it.
But now, Andórë has lost its gods and stands apart from the universe.
You grew up on an isolated island in a far corner of the world. 1137 years have passed since The Fall. It is time to find who, or what, else is out there.
Campaign Overview¶
Once the party leaves the starting island, Ashes of Andórë becomes an open-world survival campaign led by player choices rather than a prewritten narrative.
You do not know what waits beyond Agrovionimb. The world was overrun by demons. You might be corrupted. You might find other survivors eking out a meager living. You might rebuild a new society.
There is intentionally no predetermined method of saving the world.
Character Creation¶
Because the DM is out of practice and refuses to learn new things, characters are limited to 5.5e core and expanded material only.
- No 5e classes or subclasses.
- No Legacy-tagged 5e material.
- No homebrew, except where specifically approved.
- No third-party material.
D&D Beyond Content Settings¶
Now that characters have been created and subclasses have been selected, players may turn on old content on their D&D Beyond character sheets.
In practice, this means:
- You may use 5e spells and magic items that do not carry the Legacy tag.
- Example: Silvery Barbs from Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos is a 5e spell, but there is no 5.5e version. It may be selected.
- You still may not use 5e classes or subclasses.
- You still may not use homebrew content unless it has been specifically approved by the DM.
Homebrew content must be enabled on D&D Beyond because approved homebrew items may be added to the campaign.
Starting Level¶
Characters begin at level 2.
If somebody argues with the DM about character creation, everybody starts at level 1.
Species¶
The following species are unavailable:
- Aasimar
- Tiefling
- Khoravar
- Kalashtar
The following species are available:
- Dragonborn
- Elf
- Dwarf
- Gnome
- Goliath
- Halfling
- Human
- Orc
- Changeling
- Shifter
- Warforged
Drow¶
Drow have the Sunlight Sensitivity trait, regardless of what the 2024 Player’s Handbook says.
Classes and Subclasses¶
At this time, any divinely inspired classes and subclasses are unavailable.
At character creation, this means:
- No Clerics
- No Paladins
On level-up, this also means:
- No Path of the Zealot Barbarian
- No Celestial Patron Warlock
Bladesingers¶
Bladesingers must be elves.
Any type of elf is fine.
Ability Scores¶
Players may choose either:
- Standard Array
- Rolled stats: 4d6, keep the highest 3
You must choose before rolling.
If you choose to roll, the DM must be in the Dice Roller channel with you when you roll. You may roll two sets of stats and choose the better set.
If you suck, you suck.
D&D Beyond¶
Campaign Link:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/campaigns/join/76000913908582913
FoundryVTT¶
We will be playing in FoundryVTT.
The game is hosted here:
https://foundry.webjr.net/
The DM may run the FoundryVTT server locally instead of using the Forge-VTT service used in past games, because Forge regularly pisses him off.
Campaign Wiki¶
This campaign uses the Andórë Obsidian/MkDocs wiki as its primary reference.
Players should begin with:
The sections Metaphysical Andórë and Andórë Encyclopedia are presented as in-world books. Your character may or may not have read them. You can assume that you, somebody in your group, or somebody in your family has copies.
All of these works were written more than 1137 years ago, so their information reflects history, not necessarily the current state of the world.
Andórë Today is essentially the party’s book. It will be updated with discoveries made during the campaign.
Inciting Incident¶
The party will be hired by the Tidewardens, the local guards of Agrovionimb, to investigate a murder.
House Rules¶
5e Rules Over 5.5e Rules¶
If the DM likes a 5e rule better than a 5.5e rule, the campaign uses the old rule.
Current examples:
- The Command spell uses the 5e version.
- The Sorcerer Twinned Spell Metamagic uses the 5e version.
- Sleeping uses the 5e rules from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything.
- Downtime uses the rules from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything.
- Surprise uses the 5e rules.
Death, Resurrection, and Madness¶
If your character dies and is resurrected, you roll on the Indefinite Madness table.
This rule was also used in Heroes of the North. Mara became an alcoholic.
Death Saves and Table Language¶
If you say your character is dead when they are at 0 hit points and unconscious, you immediately fail one death saving throw.
This rule was also used in Heroes of the North.
Healing Potions in Combat¶
A character may drink a healing potion in combat as a bonus action using the normal rolled healing.
If a character drinks a healing potion in combat using a full action instead of a bonus action, they regain the maximum possible hit points from the potion instead of rolling.
Natural 20 on Initiative¶
If a player character rolls a natural 20 on initiative, that player may strategically choose where they appear in the initiative order after all rolls are complete.
This can include acting ahead of creatures that rolled higher total initiative because of Dexterity bonuses or other modifiers.
This rule does not apply to enemy initiative rolls.
Surprise¶
Surprise uses the 5e / 2014 rules rather than the 5.5e / 2024 rules.
The DM determines who might be surprised. If neither side is trying to be stealthy, creatures automatically notice each other.
Otherwise, the DM compares the Dexterity (Stealth) checks of any hiding creatures against the passive Wisdom (Perception) scores of creatures on the opposing side.
Any creature that does not notice a threat is surprised at the start of the encounter.
If a creature is surprised:
- It cannot move on its first turn of combat.
- It cannot take an action on its first turn of combat.
- It cannot take a reaction until that first turn ends.
A member of a group can be surprised even if other members are not.
This replaces the 5.5e / 2024 surprise rule where surprise only gives disadvantage on initiative.
Approved Homebrew¶
Spell Void Sorcerous Origin¶
The DM’s Spell Void Sorcerous Origin has been updated from 5e to 5.5e and is available for Andórë going forward.
For those who are not aware, the 5e Spell Void was a subclass Wizards of the Coast created for the DM as part of their Extra Life charity drive in 2018.