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Bjarkmundur
2019-09-12, 05:58 PM
Appearently Half-Elves had this trait in AD&D 1e


1 in 6 chance to detect a concealed door when passing by
2 in 6 chance to detect a secret door when actively searching
3 in 6 chance to detect a concealed door when actively searching

and this in AD&D 2e


Merely passing within 10 feet of a concealed door (one hidden by obstructing curtains. etc.) gives the half-elven character a one-in-six chance (roll a 1 on Id6) of spotting it.
If the character is actively seeking to discover hidden doors, he has a one-in-three chance (roll a 1 or 2 on Id6) of spotting a secret door (one constructed to be undetectable) and a one-in-two chance (roll a 1, 2, or 3 on 1d6) of locating a concealed door.

as a fun little exercise I was wondering how to port this while still making it sound 5e and came up with this:


When you make a Wisdom (Perception) check as a part of the Search action treat rolls of 18-19 as if you had rolled a 20.

Which in turn had me think of things like


Jack of all Trades
When you roll a d20 for an ability check, treat all rolls of 1-4 as having rolled a 5.

lightningcat
2019-09-12, 09:39 PM
It has been a while since I cracked open those books, but I believe full elves had the same ability, or maybe a slightly better version. As they are in storage right now, I am not going to double check that. I do remember the ability getting a call out in one of the novels, Elfblade I think. The first one of the Harper series that had the half-elf with a Moonblade, that book is also in storage.

Bjarkmundur
2019-09-13, 02:55 AM
It has been a while since I cracked open those books, but I believe full elves had the same ability, or maybe a slightly better version. As they are in storage right now, I am not going to double check that. I do remember the ability getting a call out in one of the novels, Elfblade I think. The first one of the Harper series that had the half-elf with a Moonblade, that book is also in storage.

Maybe I'll take a crack at porting those too. Porting really gives you great understanding of 5e overall design aesthetic.