All heroes start somewhere. In sword-and-sorcery, this is usually somewhere idyllic that gets completely upended by the harsh realities of an uncaring world. Sometimes, it’s just dark from page one. In the Song of Evermorrow, heroes start when they are created by players using…
One important thing to note during hero creation is that this chapter allows you to build a starting hero, with zero levels in any class. In 5ed, you get a lot of things at 1st-level: saving throw proficiencies, skill proficiencies, and a maximized hit die. However, if you multiclass into something else, you only get some of the 1st-level features. This annoys me.
In the Song of Evermorrow, those things are given to all starting heroes and 0th-level NPCs. So during hero creation, a hero gains proficiency with two saving throws of their choice (not dictated by their class), two skills of their choice (not restricted by their class) and base hit points equal to 5 + their Constitution modifier (even a turnip farmer has a few hit points).
During hero creation, a hero also gains one Background (probably the best rule to come out of 5ed) and one Talent (I refuse to call them Feats. A feat is a discreet action, not a specialized skill or training.)
Ability Score Points of Interest
- Constitution is now tied to death saving throws and the Intimidation skill.
- Strength is still tied to carrying capacity, but the weight limits have been toned-down from super-heroic to realistic.
- Dexterity lost initiative to Intelligence.
- Intelligence gained initiative checks and more use as the saving throw that explicitly resists illusions.
- Wisdom lost saving throw dominance by sharing its monopoly with Intelligence and Charisma, but is otherwise unchanged.
- Charisma lost Intimidation to Constitution, but picked up some saving throw utility as the go-to for resisting fear effects.
Proficiency Points of Interest
- During hero creation, heroes choose any two saving throws and skills to be proficient with instead of gaining fixed saving throws from their class and a restricted choice of skills based on their class.
- It is assumed that all heroes speak two languages.
- All heroes, regardless of class, are proficient with light melee weapons, thrown weapons, and staves.
- Whenever a hero’s proficiency bonus increases (i.e., at 5th level and again at 9th level), they gain proficiency with an additional saving throw, skill, and language/toolset of their choice.
Background & Talent Points of Interest
- A hero’s background gives them two skills and usually an additional tool and language. In addition, it gives them a Bond (a social connection to the world) and a Complication (a social hinderance that may come into play).
- All heroes gain a Talent during hero creation, just like variant humans. The Talents have been expanded and modified to better fit the setting and to redress the balance of some egregious builds.
Hero Advancement Points of Interest
- Song of Evermorrow uses a unique experience system that rewards players for learning, looting, interacting, overcoming challenges, and fulfilling personal goals.
- At 3rd level, and again at 7th and 11th levels (in any combination of classes), a hero adds +1 to all of their ability scores. As people gain experience, they become incrementally better at everything they do, not just those they focus on. This rule also encourages more diverse builds when heroes choose which abilities to improve or which Talents to select (I will die on this hill).
- Multiclassing has been streamlined for non-casting and single-casting classes. Front-loaded features (saves, skills, and proficiencies) have been moved to level 0, so anything that is listed as a class feature is gained when a hero multiclasses.
- Multiclassing in different spellcasting classes remains a pain in the ass.