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--- changes [2024/03/09 23:09] – [Character Option No-Nos] Ron Helwig
+++ changes [2026/09/10 10:58] (current) – Record combined Spell/Sorcery Points for VikingWorld Sorcerers Seraphina
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-====== Equipment ======
+# Equipment
 I have some changes I make to standard D&D equipment.
-===== Sling =====
+## Sling
 Slings should have a better range than the rules say. I change it so that when using a cast bullet, designed for usage in a sling, the range is the same as that of a shortbow. I believe the evidence shows that as a valid correction. When using a found stone, the distance is half of that of a shortbow, due to the random characteristics of the rock.
-==== Foraging Stones ====
+### Foraging Stones
 Foraging for stones, when the terrain makes it possible, requires a successful investigation roll. If successful, one stone per point above the DC per minute spent is retrieved. In most situations the DC would be very low, indicating a high probability of finding suitable stones.
-==== Crafting Slings and Bullets ====
-A character may craft a sling in an hour using 5 copper pieces of material. Scrounged material can be used instead of spending money, but it won't be usable long term.
-Regular (lead) bullets may be purchased in most towns at a cost of 4-5 copper pieces for 20 bullets.
+### Crafting Slings and Bullets
+- A character may craft a sling in an hour using 5 copper pieces of material. Scrounged material can be used instead of spending money, but it won't be usable long term.
+- Regular (lead) bullets may be purchased in most towns at a cost of 4–5 copper pieces for 20 bullets.
+- Silver bullets might be available in marketplaces in larger towns at a cost of 5 SP/bullet.
+- Bullets can be cast from metals such as lead or silver using a Sling Bullet Molding Set.
+**Sling Bullet Molding Set**: Costs 1 GP, weighs 2 lbs, comes with a 5-bullet mold, a ladle for pouring the molten metal, and a small pot to melt the metal in. One lead bar (2 CP, 1.5 lbs) can make 20 bullets in 10 minutes. Silver bullets can be made at a cost of 4 SP per bullet.
+A competent blacksmith can make a bullet molding set in a day. A business-savvy blacksmith could do it in a few hours for a higher price.
+> Note: 1.5 lbs (the weight of 20 lead bullets) is 24 oz. Coins are typically 1/3 oz, so each bullet (1.2 oz) takes 4 coins' worth of metal.
+>
+> Lead and tin can be melted in a typical wood fire. Other metals like iron, steel, silver, and gold must be melted in a forge.
+## Spear
+Wielding a spear two-handed adds the **Reach** property. This better reflects the reality of using a spear to control the area around the user.
+### Crafting
+- A character with **Smith's Tools** proficiency can craft a spearhead.
+- A character with **Carpenter's Tools** or **Woodcarver's Tools** proficiency can craft the shaft.
+- Both are required to make a spear.
+**Cost**: 10 SP per spear.
+**Time**: 50 spears/week. A single spear takes a couple of hours. If two characters work on separate parts, time is halved.
+If no forge is available, quadruple the crafting time due to building and using a crude forge.
+### +1 Spear Crafting
+- Requires proficiency with **Smith's Tools** and **Arcana**.
+- Uses a troll’s spleen and 500 GP in materials.
+- Takes 2 weeks and a successful DC 8 Arcana check.
+- Roll on [Xanathar's Crafting Complications table](https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/xgte/downtime-revisited#CraftingComplications) on a natural 1.
+## Seax
+Most Norse would use a **seax** rather than a Roman-style short sword. In D&D terms, treat it mechanically as a short sword. Single-edged, utilitarian, and common in Scandinavia.
+## Sword
+The swords used by Vikings would be classified as longswords in D&D but are not long enough for two-handed use.
+## Dart
+Darts, including plumbata-style darts, have a range of **40/160**. All other dart rules remain the same unless an item, feat, or feature says otherwise.
+## Shield
+Boss-grip round shields were standard. Lightweight, versatile, and easily replaced — but not very durable.
+## Padded Armor
+Widespread and cheap. Often called a **Gambeson** in later France. In the early Viking age, it might be called a **Kaftan** or **vápntreyja**.
+# Character Building
+Most Viking-age people were simple farmers. Even raiders farmed much of the year. Wealth and resources were scarce, especially in the early Viking age.
+Custom backgrounds are available and preferred for historical flavor. Starting gear should reflect this.
+Most standard D&D classes can be justified, though some fit better than others.
+The [[changes:elemental_sorcerer|Elemental Sorcerer]] is a D&D-VikingWorld homebrew class for characters whose innate elemental magic is shaped directly rather than prepared as ordinary spells. It uses one combined Spell/Sorcery Point pool, a Nova Limit, elemental cantrip forms, and its own metamagic options.
+**Playable races** in the real world = humans. But for kid-friendly games, elves, dwarves, tieflings, dragonborn, and warforged are allowed.
+For teaching games, I often use [[character_advancement|Mastery-based character advancement]] instead of pure XP or milestone leveling. Mastery advances characters when players show they understand the core rules and their own character options well enough to handle the next level.
+## Typical Clothing
+A typical Scandinavian might wear:
+- Turnshoes
+- Nalbound socks
+- Loose-fitting pants
+- Winingas (leg wraps)
+- Wool or linen tunics
+- One or more thin belts
+- Hoods and mittens for cold
+Clothing lacked pockets and buttons. Small pouches were worn on belts.
+# Hybrid 2014 / 2024 Rules
+D&D-VikingWorld is a **hybrid** of the 2014 and 2024 D&D rules, plus the house changes on this page. The live campaign platform at [[https://latitude.ronhelwig.com|latitude.ronhelwig.com]] should stay in sync with this page.
+## 2024 rules used in VikingWorld
+- **Second Wind** uses the 2024 Fighter version: regain 1d10 + Fighter level HP as a Bonus Action; 2 uses at Fighter 1–3, 3 uses at 4–9, and 4 uses at 10+. Regain one expended use on a Short Rest and all expended uses on a Long Rest.
+- **Cure Wounds** and **Healing Word** (and their Mass versions) use the 2024 healing amounts: Cure Wounds 2d8 + spellcasting modifier (plus 2d8 per extra slot), Healing Word 2d4 + spellcasting modifier (plus 2d4 per extra slot).
+## True Strike (VikingWorld)
+*True Strike* is a Divination cantrip, 1 action, range 30 feet, S, duration 1 round. Target one creature you can see. It makes a Charisma saving throw; on a success the spell ends. On a failed save it is outlined in dim light of a color you choose and you learn its vulnerabilities (if any). If you later cast this on that creature again after learning its vulnerabilities and it fails the save, you learn its resistances (if any).
+Until the end of your next turn, you and your allies that can see the target add your proficiency bonus to the first attack roll made on their turn.
+Range increases by 30 feet at 5th level (60 feet), 11th level (90 feet), and 17th level (120 feet).
+Weapon mastery properties from 2024 (Cleave, Vex, Slow, Topple, and so on) are used when a character has them.
+## Campaign platform rulings that belong here
+These are already how Latitude plays and should stay documented on this wiki:
+### Gritty Rest
-Silver bullets might be available in marketplaces in larger towns at a cost of 5 SP/bullet.
+A Long Rest begins with a Short Rest. It does not restore hit points automatically. Characters may spend Hit Dice to heal. They regain up to half their maximum Hit Dice.
-Bullets can be cast from metals such as lead or silver using a Sling Bullet Molding Set. A Sling Bullet Molding Set costs 1 gold piece, weighs two pounds, comes with a 5-bullet mold, a ladle for pouring the molten metal, and a small pot to melt the metal in. It can be used to make lead and silver bullets for slings. One lead bar (2 CP, 1.5 lbs) can make 20 bullets in 10 minutes. Silver bullets can be made at a cost of four silver pieces per bullet.
+### Exhaustion
-A competent blacksmith can make a bullet molding set in a day. A blacksmith with competent business skills should be able to craft one in a few hours for a higher price.
+VikingWorld exhaustion has **10 levels**. Each level reduces Speed by 5 feet (minimum 10 feet). Exhaustion 10 is death.
-<code>Note: One and a half pounds (the weight of 20 lead bullets) is 24 ounces. Coins are typically 1/3rd of an ounce, so since each bullet is 1.2 ounces, it will take 4 coins to make one bullet.
+# Character Option No-Nos
-Lead and tin can be melted in a typical wood fire, but other metals such as iron, steel, silver, and gold must be melted in a forge.</code>
+Some things are not allowed unless very well justified:
-===== Spear =====
+- **Plate armor** — didn't exist in Viking age
-Wielding a spear two-handed adds the //Reach// property. This better reflects the reality of using a spear to control the area around the user.
+- **Greatswords** (Zweihänder, claymore, etc.)
-==== Crafting ====
+Some gear (like crossbows) is not available at character creation, but might be found through gameplay. Crossbows were known but rarely used in Scandinavia.
-A character with proficiency in //Smith's Tools// can use them to craft a spearhead. A character with proficiency in //Carpenter's Tools// or //Woodcarver's Tools// can use them to craft a shaft that can be attached to a spearhead. It takes both to make a spear.
-The total cost to craft a spear is 10 silver pieces, and 50 spears can be made in a week. The materials are likely to be easily procured. To craft a single spear would take a couple of hours. If two separate characters are crafting the spearhead and the shaft, the time is cut in half.
+## Absorb Elements (VikingWorld)
-The spearhead crafting time assumes the use of a typical forge. If there is no forge available then the time is quadrupled as a crude forge, at a minimum, must be built and using a crude forge takes longer.
+Absorb Elements retains its normal reaction trigger, resistance to the triggering damage type (including the triggering damage) until the start of the caster's next turn, and lack of Concentration.
-=== +1 Spear Crafting ===
+On the caster's next turn, the stored energy can add 1d6 of the absorbed type either to their first melee attack that hits or to one damage roll of a spell they cast that turn that already deals the same damage type. The spell option cannot add a new element or boost a different element; add the dice to the matching damage component.
-A character proficient with //Smith's Tools// and //Arcana// may use the spleen of a troll, as well as 500 GP worth of other supplies, to craft a +1 spear. It will take two weeks and a successful DC 8 Arcana check, with a lookup on the [[https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/xgte/downtime-revisited#CraftingComplications|Crafting Complications table]] if they roll a 1.
-===== Seax =====
+When that roll is shared by multiple targets, all those targets receive the extra damage, with their normal saving throws, resistance, and immunity applied. For a spell with separate damage rolls, such as Scorching Ray, only one roll gains the extra dice. The energy is used only once: choose melee or spell damage. Unused energy expires at the end of the caster's next turn; the resistance still ends at the start of that turn.
-While short swords were used in older times, most folks living in areas where the Norse were would mostly use a seax instead of a short sword that looks like a Roman gladius. For D&D purposes we consider a seax as being mechanically the same as a short sword, although they are single edged and more utilitarian.
-Basically any character from Scandinavia who would normally be created with a short sword as one of their weapons would instead have a seax.
+For example, absorbed fire can boost Fire Bolt or Burning Hands, but cannot boost Ray of Frost or Magic Missile. Each spell slot level above 1st adds another 1d6 to this bonus, as with the normal spell. A free Runestone Spell-Clasp cast remains 1st level and adds 1d6. Storing a rune in that clasp does not consume the extra-damage benefit.
-===== Sword =====
+## Sorcerers: combined Spell / Sorcery Points
-The full swords typically used by the Vikings who could afford them would be classified as longswords in D&D, but their hilts aren't long enough to be used two-handed.
-===== Shield =====
+Ordinary Sorcerers use the 2014 DMG Spell Points variant in VikingWorld. Their Spellcasting slots become spell points, and their normal Font of Magic Sorcery Points (starting at Sorcerer level 2) are added to the same pool. Spellcasting and metamagic spend that single pool; no slot-to-point conversion step is needed. All spent points return on a Long Rest, not a Short Rest. Cantrips cost no points.
-The shields that the vikings used were boss-grip round shields. They aren't super durable but they are light, easy to use, versatile, and cheaply replaced.
-===== Padded Armor =====
+Spell levels 1–9 cost **2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13** points respectively. Base spell points at caster levels 1–20 are **4, 6, 14, 17, 27, 32, 38, 44, 57, 64, 73, 73, 83, 83, 94, 94, 107, 114, 123, 133**. Add the normal Sorcery Point allowance to those totals. A level-1 Sorcerer therefore has **4 points** and spends **2 points per 1st-level spell**.
-Padded armor is cheap and ubiquitous. In France during the middle to late medieval period this sort of armor would be called a Gambeson. From what I can find, during the early Viking age it would be called a Kaftan or vápntreyja.
-====== Character Option No-Nos ======
+The usual spellcasting progression limits the highest spell level available, even when the pool could afford more. Each spell level from 6th through 9th can be cast with points only once per Long Rest. For multiclass Sorcerers, convert the shared Spellcasting progression to points; spells known/prepared still depend on the individual class levels. Warlock Pact Magic remains separate.
-Some character options just don't make sense historically, so unless the player can come up with a compelling reason why their character should have these options, they would not be allowed to choose them.
-One good example is plate armor. That wasn't invented until long after the Viking age, so that isn't an option in my Viking era campaigns. The same applies to greatswords, also known as Zweihänder, claymore, spadone, and the like.
+This rule does not turn an ordinary Sorcerer into an [[changes:elemental_sorcerer|Elemental Sorcerer]] or grant its special features, progression, or Nova Limit.