The Elder Scrolls D&D 5th Edition

[tuturutut]

It's been years now since I wanted to play a TES themed campaing, but I always failed to find an adaptation that was to my liking, so I decided to do my own thing: tesdnd.blogspot.com.br

I already have done the birthsigns and races, now I'll start doing minor tweaks to the classes and the magic list. I'm still not sure about the races, I wanted to do more for them but I'm a little lost.

Any help would be highly appreciated. I think I'll need to do some corrections and maybe some more balancing, but I believe it's good for now. If you have any tips free to give me a hand.
It will be available both in english and brazilian portuguese, which is my native language. I'm having some problems with the translation because I'm not familiarized with the english books, but I intend to fix that along the way.

For the birthsigns I tried to avoid any kind of active ability. The premisse I used was that horoscope signs will give you some personality traits and make you more willing to do some types of activities.

For the races I tried to stay more loyal to the lore as possible, but I still want to do more, like give stealth to khajiits and a bonus on AC to saxhleel, but I'm not sure, I'm too afraid on making things too under or over powered.

The reason of the magicka points is because I'm using the alternative spellcasting system that is present in the dungeon master's guide.

To decide which language which race would be able to speak, read and write, I used the UESPWiki, but I'm confused by the fact that both Altmeris and Cyrodilic are considered Tamrielic, is this correct?

Also, I decided to call Saxhleel instead of Argonian beacuse of a thread I saw on /r/teslore. the people in the thread said that "Most Saxhleel are Argonians, but not all Argonians are Saxhleel", that the amphibious lizard-folk of Black Marsh are Saxhleel, a type of argonian, so i decided to go with Saxhleel, do you think it's a good choice?

Any help will be highly apreciated, and feel free to give any kind of sugestion.

I'm very thankfull for your attention, and sorry for any grammar error. :)

[Axorfett12]

The biggest balance issue I can see is giving Men +1 to all ability scores and a free feat, as well as passive resistances. I recommend taking away the free feat. I would also recommend specifying whether certain racial abilities utilize an action, bonus action, reaction, or no action. In addition, the wording of some abilities could use improvement. Look to the players handbook for proper phrasing. This is not a new idea either. Don't be afraid to draw inspiration from other sources. Search online for what others have come up with. The best advice you can receive is from those who have alread tried what you are attempting. Pages 273-289 of the DMG will be your most powerful tool. You might also take a look at the Unearthed Arcana: Class Design Variants article from the Wizards website. Finally, playtesting is your friend. When you finish class adjustments, run a couple scenarios with some friends. Have them explore a dusty Nordic ruin filled with drougr. Have mages challenge them to a spell duel. Thoroughly test your ideas before committing to a final product, and don't be afraid to make changes on the fly. I'm far from the best home brewer here, but hopefully others can give more.

[Finback]

There are also some 3rd party/fanmade races - there is a good Khajit one on a tumblr blog (will get address later) that my group's cleric wanted - it has four subraces, based off earlier games.

[Eldamar]

Men aren't that diverse. In TES, the different races of men are very different. When I ran TES in 5E, I went back to Morrowind and Oblivion (mostly Oblivion) for my inspiration. I also used Spellpoints. Every race got +2 to a stat, +1 to another, and like one extra bit.

Bretons got lke +2 Int, Wizard Cantrip, and Resistance charms and whatnot.
Nords got +2 Con, +1 Str, and Frost Resist.
Redguards got +2 Str, +1 Con, and like Second Wind one per day.
Imperials got like +1 Con, +1 Str, +1 Cha and something or another (I forget).

I didn't give elves fey ancestry or any of that sleeping business. It doesn't fit the lore.
Altmer got +2 Int, +1 Dex, Wizard cantrip, +2 Spellpoints.
Bosmer were pretty much PHB Woodelves.
Dunmer got +1 Str, +1 Int, +1 Dex, and fire resistance.
Orsimer got +2 Str, +1 Con, and a limited rage.

Khajiit got +2 Cha, +1 Dex, and 1d4 nat weapons and darkvision.
Argonians got like +2 Con, +1 Str, Poison and disease resistance.

I didn't write out Birthsigns, but asked my players what they wanted and made something up. I think I gave the Mage like +2 Spellpoints, The Serpent a touch poison attack that scales, and the Steed +10 movement speed.

I also banned druid and cleric and allowed wizards to pick up spells from the cleric list as restoration.

[JumboWheat01]

Ooh, nice one, Eldamar. Though Argonians are also known and played like a Thief race through most of the games, with a splash of spell casting. Wouldn't something along the lines of +2 Dex and +1 Int work better for them? After all, in Morrowind and Oblivion, they actually start with a +10 to Agility and Speed, and loose out on Willpower, Personality and Endurance, while having fair Intelligence (or boosted Intelligence if female, but still they have lower Personality and Endurance.)

Argonians should totally have Amphibious Nature as well, letting them breath in air and water. It's what the race is known for.

[Sir cryosin]

Men aren't that diverse. In TES, the different races of men are very different. When I ran TES in 5E, I went back to Morrowind and Oblivion (mostly Oblivion) for my inspiration. I also used Spellpoints. Every race got +2 to a stat, +1 to another, and like one extra bit.

Bretons got lke +2 Int, Wizard Cantrip, and Resistance charms and whatnot.
Nords got +2 Con, +1 Str, and Frost Resist.
Redguards got +2 Str, +1 Con, and like Second Wind one per day.
Imperials got like +1 Con, +1 Str, +1 Cha and something or another (I forget).

I didn't give elves fey ancestry or any of that sleeping business. It doesn't fit the lore.
Altmer got +2 Int, +1 Dex, Wizard cantrip, +2 Spellpoints.
Bosmer were pretty much PHB Woodelves.
Dunmer got +1 Str, +1 Int, +1 Dex, and fire resistance.
Orsimer got +2 Str, +1 Con, and a limited rage.

Khajiit got +2 Cha, +1 Dex, and 1d4 nat weapons and darkvision.
Argonians got like +2 Con, +1 Str, Poison and disease resistance.

I didn't write out Birthsigns, but asked my players what they wanted and made something up. I think I gave the Mage like +2 Spellpoints, The Serpent a touch poison attack that scales, and the Steed +10 movement speed.

I also banned druid and cleric and allowed wizards to pick up spells from the cleric list as restoration.
I would say the bretons advantage to all saves against Magic much like the Gnomes Connie because in the Elder Scrolls world breton's are have a higher resistance to Magic. And what the hell is resistance to charm you can't resist charm unless they're flat-out immune to it,

[Eldamar]

I would say the bretons advantage to all saves against Magic much like the Gnomes Connie because in the Elder Scrolls world breton's are have a higher resistance to Magic. And what the hell is resistance to charm you can't resist charm unless they're flat-out immune to it,

Magic resistance in Elder Scrolls translates to advantage on savings throws in this edition.

Fey Ancestry: You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.

Though since you mention gnomes, I think Gnome Cunning is what I used. It's been half a year and I've lost my notes for most of it.

JumobWheat01, I do see your point about agility and speed in older games. That would make more sense. I'm fairly positive I gave my argonians amphibious as well, but alas, I can't check my notes.

[JackPhoenix]

And what the hell is resistance to charm you can't resist charm unless they're flat-out immune to it,

Sounds like advantage on saves against charm effects (similar to fey origins) to me

[tuturutut]

The biggest balance issue I can see is giving Men +1 to all ability scores and a free feat, as well as passive resistances. I recommend taking away the free feat. I would also recommend specifying whether certain racial abilities utilize an action, bonus action, reaction, or no action. In addition, the wording of some abilities could use improvement. Look to the players handbook for proper phrasing. This is not a new idea either. Don't be afraid to draw inspiration from other sources. Search online for what others have come up with. The best advice you can receive is from those who have alread tried what you are attempting. Pages 273-289 of the DMG will be your most powerful tool. You might also take a look at the Unearthed Arcana: Class Design Variants article from the Wizards website. Finally, playtesting is your friend. When you finish class adjustments, run a couple scenarios with some friends. Have them explore a dusty Nordic ruin filled with drougr. Have mages challenge them to a spell duel. Thoroughly test your ideas before committing to a final product, and don't be afraid to make changes on the fly. I'm far from the best home brewer here, but hopefully others can give more.

I removed the free feat and gave specific ability score points to the subraces. I made Ancestor's Wrath uilize an action and Orsimer Rage utilize a bonus action. I started reading the english player's handbook, I will drop the portuguese version for now, I was using a fanmade portuguese translation and i found some errors in it.
A huge thanks for the support :)


Men aren't that diverse. In TES, the different races of men are very different. When I ran TES in 5E, I went back to Morrowind and Oblivion (mostly Oblivion) for my inspiration. I also used Spellpoints. Every race got +2 to a stat, +1 to another, and like one extra bit.

Bretons got lke +2 Int, Wizard Cantrip, and Resistance charms and whatnot.
Nords got +2 Con, +1 Str, and Frost Resist.
Redguards got +2 Str, +1 Con, and like Second Wind one per day.
Imperials got like +1 Con, +1 Str, +1 Cha and something or another (I forget).

I didn't give elves fey ancestry or any of that sleeping business. It doesn't fit the lore.
Altmer got +2 Int, +1 Dex, Wizard cantrip, +2 Spellpoints.
Bosmer were pretty much PHB Woodelves.
Dunmer got +1 Str, +1 Int, +1 Dex, and fire resistance.
Orsimer got +2 Str, +1 Con, and a limited rage.

Khajiit got +2 Cha, +1 Dex, and 1d4 nat weapons and darkvision.
Argonians got like +2 Con, +1 Str, Poison and disease resistance.

I didn't write out Birthsigns, but asked my players what they wanted and made something up. I think I gave the Mage like +2 Spellpoints, The Serpent a touch poison attack that scales, and the Steed +10 movement speed.

I also banned druid and cleric and allowed wizards to pick up spells from the cleric list as restoration.

I hope you don't mind I used some of your ability scores for the Man races.
I'm thinkg about banning druid too, they don't see to fit in the lore. Also, the only magic user class that REALLY fits in the lore for me is the Wizard, and I don't yet what to do with Clerics and Paladins.

[tuturutut]

Ooh, nice one, Eldamar. Though Argonians are also known and played like a Thief race through most of the games, with a splash of spell casting. Wouldn't something along the lines of +2 Dex and +1 Int work better for them? After all, in Morrowind and Oblivion, they actually start with a +10 to Agility and Speed, and loose out on Willpower, Personality and Endurance, while having fair Intelligence (or boosted Intelligence if female, but still they have lower Personality and Endurance.)

Argonians should totally have Amphibious Nature as well, letting them breath in air and water. It's what the race is known for.

Argonians excel at many types of activities, close combat, stealth and magic, that's why I choose to let the player decide which ability score he whishes to increase :)

[Eldamar]

There are clerics and paladins in TES. Divine magic isn't quite a thing and doesn't work like traditional PHB, but fluff their spells as being from the Restoration school. I allowed Sorcerers and Warlocks (have a blast with Daedra). They're sort of classes already, but very different than D&D.

[tuturutut]

I made some alterations based on the feedback from a user of reddit/DnD.
I'm also thinking on changing all the birthsigns to a free feat based on the birthsigns, I Believe this way it will be more balanced. What do you guys think?

And thanks for your support, guys :)

[Axorfett12]

Forums exist to provide a place where people can ask for help and receive it. It is my genuine pleasure to assist you. You have a great idea here.

Browsing through, this idea is shaping up to be an impressive project. You have a knack for this it seems. The races and signs have the right flavor to them, while still maintaining good balance. The Thief sign may be problematic. Lucky is just a spectacularly abusable feat, and can cause all manner of issues at a table. Perhaps in the absence of halflings in the world, giving a version of their Lucky racial trait would provide similar flavor without inviting abuse.

I would hesitate to replace the birthsigns with feats, though. For one, I believe the signs as written are far more engaging and flavorful than saying "Thief: You gain the Skulker feat." Secondly, there are some signs that are extremely difficult to replicate with the existing feats. And lastly, giving a free feat at level 1 will most likely cause more balance issues than giving a sign. I suppose that depends on the sign though.

Again, hope this helps. Best of luck.

[brainface]

I don't like the lord!

Lord birthsigns can basically freakishly regenerate, this is... a minor advantage? IMO at least, a much stronger healing like ability that regenerates on long rest would better capture the spirit of the sign. As is it just looks like an effect that might often be overlooked entirely, and that makes me sad. ^^

I really like the ritual's effect (though it seems kind of like what I expect the lord to have ^^--I'd rather expect ritual to have something more like cure wounds 1/rest and or a single turn undeady thing.)

I don't like how serpent and bosmer/redguard/saxheel's racial ability are redundant. I'd certainly give serpent's proficiency in poisoner's kits for giggles.

The lover's proficiency bonus seems like it would often be redundant with players that pick the lover sign--that is, it seems like proficiency is a skill lovers might often have. Giving advantage may be too good, though? Or maybe lovers just build their characters so they're bad at persuading their own gender. ^^

You probably want to define exactly what magical damage is--is it just damage from spells, does it apply to dragon breath and so on.

Ancester's Wrath from the dark elves isn't really good for something that costs an action, or at least it won't scale well--I'd make it scale up like dragonborn breath does?

I feel like you could pass out some more skill/weapon proficiencies--Bosmers should all probably know how to use at least a shortbow, for instance?

[Eldamar]

Birthsigns will be really, really hard to balance. To be honest, I wouldn't be giving out ability improvements through Birthsigns. I think they ought to be 1/day abilities that are worth it or passive buffs.


Apprentice and Atronach need to be more clear.

Lord is rather terrible. I'd do +1 AC, or a Second Wind like ability, or something similar. Roll an additional Hit Die every rest even.

Lover. I don't think the gender differentiation is needed. Just proficiency with Persuasion.

Serpent should get a poison-based damage attack, in my opinion. d12 poison, once per day, touch attack (Attack Bonus = Dex Mod + Proficiency Bonus). Scales like cantrips. 2d12 at level 5, etc.

Shadow has the same issue as weird language. Just give proficiency in stealth. I'd give it invisibility on self once per day.

Tower makes zero sense to me. It is really hard to come up with a power for it though. I'd give an ability, once per day, that allows a player to take 20 on a dice roll to open a mundane lock or trap. I think they should get +1 to AC. The Tower has immense metaphysical significance, and you're either breaking into it or trying to defend it. Make it harder for others to "break into" the character with this birthsign and for the character to break into other towers easier.

[tuturutut]

Forums exist to provide a place where people can ask for help and receive it. It is my genuine pleasure to assist you. You have a great idea here.

Browsing through, this idea is shaping up to be an impressive project. You have a knack for this it seems. The races and signs have the right flavor to them, while still maintaining good balance. The Thief sign may be problematic. Lucky is just a spectacularly abusable feat, and can cause all manner of issues at a table. Perhaps in the absence of halflings in the world, giving a version of their Lucky racial trait would provide similar flavor without inviting abuse.

I would hesitate to replace the birthsigns with feats, though. For one, I believe the signs as written are far more engaging and flavorful than saying "Thief: You gain the Skulker feat." Secondly, there are some signs that are extremely difficult to replicate with the existing feats. And lastly, giving a free feat at level 1 will most likely cause more balance issues than giving a sign. I suppose that depends on the sign though.

Again, hope this helps. Best of luck.

You are very kind. It's been a little hard because I have almost zero experience as dungeon master and I only played D&D a few times. I love TES so much and I'm holding this project so close to my heart, I really wish that this become a thing that people in the future will use in their campaign or as reference to their own homebrews. I'm really grateful for your words.

It's a great ideia to use the Lucky racial trait, I'll definitely do the change.

A guy on reddit also said that it would be easier to balance the birthsigns if they were just a free feat, but I agree with you, I think that the way they are now is way more engaging and fit better in the lore than just giving a free feat.

[tuturutut]

I don't like the lord!

Lord birthsigns can basically freakishly regenerate, this is... a minor advantage? IMO at least, a much stronger healing like ability that regenerates on long rest would better capture the spirit of the sign. As is it just looks like an effect that might often be overlooked entirely, and that makes me sad. ^^

I really like the ritual's effect (though it seems kind of like what I expect the lord to have ^^--I'd rather expect ritual to have something more like cure wounds 1/rest and or a single turn undeady thing.)

I don't like how serpent and bosmer/redguard/saxheel's racial ability are redundant. I'd certainly give serpent's proficiency in poisoner's kits for giggles.

The lover's proficiency bonus seems like it would often be redundant with players that pick the lover sign--that is, it seems like proficiency is a skill lovers might often have. Giving advantage may be too good, though? Or maybe lovers just build their characters so they're bad at persuading their own gender. ^^

You probably want to define exactly what magical damage is--is it just damage from spells, does it apply to dragon breath and so on.

Ancester's Wrath from the dark elves isn't really good for something that costs an action, or at least it won't scale well--I'd make it scale up like dragonborn breath does?

I feel like you could pass out some more skill/weapon proficiencies--Bosmers should all probably know how to use at least a shortbow, for instance?

I think I'll change it to a Second Wind like ability or an additional Hit Die every rest, like Eldamar suggested.

I'm not concerned about the redundancy. It will be the same if I end up giving Stealth to Khajiit and change The Shadow do Stealth proficiency. One of the ideas I had for the birthsigns was to make then a sweet bonus that could help define your character, but that was completely optional and not essential, but I guess I didn't made it right :(

I'll probably end up changing The Lover to Persuasion profiency.

A better definition of magic damage is already on my to do list. It still like this because I decided to do other things lol

A guy on reddit told me the same thing about Ancestor's Wrath. It will be in the next changelog :)

Bosmer definitely should know how to use short and long bow. But as I said before, I want and I'll do more for the races, but no for now. I already have some ideas though.

[tuturutut]

Birthsigns will be really, really hard to balance. To be honest, I wouldn't be giving out ability improvements through Birthsigns. I think they ought to be 1/day abilities that are worth it or passive buffs.


Apprentice and Atronach need to be more clear.

Lord is rather terrible. I'd do +1 AC, or a Second Wind like ability, or something similar. Roll an additional Hit Die every rest even.

Lover. I don't think the gender differentiation is needed. Just proficiency with Persuasion.

Serpent should get a poison-based damage attack, in my opinion. d12 poison, once per day, touch attack (Attack Bonus = Dex Mod + Proficiency Bonus). Scales like cantrips. 2d12 at level 5, etc.

Shadow has the same issue as weird language. Just give proficiency in stealth. I'd give it invisibility on self once per day.

Tower makes zero sense to me. It is really hard to come up with a power for it though. I'd give an ability, once per day, that allows a player to take 20 on a dice roll to open a mundane lock or trap. I think they should get +1 to AC. The Tower has immense metaphysical significance, and you're either breaking into it or trying to defend it. Make it harder for others to "break into" the character with this birthsign and for the character to break into other towers easier.

I think it would be so much easier to balance if they were all just ability improvements or skill proficiency.
As I said, I tried to avoid active abilities, I want to prevent situations like a Basbarian becoming invisible, how the hell can a Barbarian become invisible, how and why can he do this? And why can a horoscope sign give a person the abality to become invisible, or heal himself, or anything along these lines. I tried to make it a little more real and flavorful, assuming that a sing can impact in your parsonality and make you more willing to do some types of activities. But I really like the idea of passive buffs, I just don't know how to do it :(

The Lord: I'll probably change it to an additional Hit Die every rest.

The Lover: The idea was to make it a little more engaging :(

The Serpent: That was my initial idea, maybe I should give up and just go back to it, theres too much poison resistance already.

The Shadow: I was going to change it to "You are considered proficient in Stealth if you attempt to hide in dark and dim conditions."
But I think you'll say the same thing, just give proficiency in stealth.

The Tower: I tried to recreate the birthsign from Oblivion, I believe I wans't successful.

I think I should look Skyrim's standing stones for inspiration too.
About the ones that aren't clear enough: I'm blaming my translation, some of these thing really made more sense back then.

[TripleD]

I'm confused by the fact that both Altmeris and Cyrodilic are considered Tamrielic, is this correct?


Language is not really 100% clear in the lore (then again nothing is in Elder Scrolls lore). As far as we can tell Cyrodillic is the most widely spoken language in Tamriel via the influence of Tiber Septim. As for Altmeris, while it's probably not vernacular in many places, most educated elite probably speak it. High Elven culture is associated with the arts, history, religion, and, of course, magic.

Granted this all depends on when and where the campaign is taking place.



I decided to go with Saxhleel, do you think it's a good choice?


I'd actually say no. "Argonian" is what they are known as to most players, and to most peoples within Tamriel. As much as I love talking about the Hist and their alien hive-mind, "Saxhleel" just seems like it would be needlessly confusing to casual fans of the Elder Scrolls.

[Eldamar]

As I said, I tried to avoid active abilities, I want to prevent situations like a Basbarian becoming invisible, how the hell can a Barbarian become invisible, how and why can he do this? And why can a horoscope sign give a person the abality to become invisible, or heal himself, or anything along these lines. I tried to make it a little more real and flavorful, assuming that a sing can impact in your parsonality and make you more willing to do some types of activities. But I really like the idea of passive buffs, I just don't know how to do it :(


These aren't just horoscopes. They're holes in the fabric of the universe from which magic enters the world. Being born under one can have immense power on heroes. Real, demonstrable power. The balance issue is understandable, but I like the feel from old games of having this active ability or passive buffs.

[tuturutut]

I needed to take a little break because of college, sorry for the absence.

I gave it a little thought and I agree, the birthsigns shouldn't be just simple horoscope signs, also I decided to go back and stay with the standard spellcasting system.

I made some major chances to almost all the birthsigns. I'm afraid I made then even more unbalanced and maybe too over powered.

If you guys have time I would love to hear you feedbak.
tesdnd.blogspot.com.br

And thanks again for your time :)

[JumboWheat01]

A thought just rang into my head, wouldn't Birthsigns for Tamriel be akin to Dragonmarks for Eberron? While the Unearthed Arcana isn't the most balanced thing in this edition so far, it might be a good idea to take a peek at that and see what they're working with.

[tuturutut]

A thought just rang into my head, wouldn't Birthsigns for Tamriel be akin to Dragonmarks for Eberron? While the Unearthed Arcana isn't the most balanced thing in this edition so far, it might be a good idea to take a peek at that and see what they're working with.

I checked the Dragonmarks, I liked how they are straightforward but I think they are too plain and a little boring, it would be the same thing if I just throwed a free feat, cantrip or skill proficiencie.
Since my main concern so far is keeping things lore friendly and flavorful I believe taking this path could damage the immersion.
I'm not that much worried about balance anymore, I just don't wanna make things too underpowered or overpowered then again, I'm not settled with how things are so far, evetualy if things don't work out I might as well justo go back and make it simpler by giving a free feat, cantrip or skill proficiencie.

[tuturutut]

I'll stop posting updates in this thread.
I created a new one in the homebrew section, if someone is interested this is the thread

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?493659-The-Elder-Scrolls-D-amp-D-5th-Edition