Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition is a Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition compatible roleplaying game that offers Dungeons & Dragons-style play with more options and with it greater complexity. Not necessarily a huge amount of complexity, but enough that switching from another Dungeons & Dragons-style roleplaying game to Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition requires some adjustment. As with Dungeons & Dragons, there are three core rulebooks. These are Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide, Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Monstrous Menagerie, and Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Trials & Treasures. Of these, the player will only need access to the first, whilst the second two are definitely for the Narrator, will of course need all three books.
The Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide is the book for player. It covers Player Character creation and details what a player can roleplay; combat and adventuring; numerous spells, combat manoeuvres, and exploration knacks; and lots of adventuring equipment, weapons, armour, vehicles, and strongholds. It comes as a fat slab of a book, but fortunately, a player does not to read everything in it. He needs to know how to create a character and what his character can do, how both adventuring and combat works, and what the expectations of play are. So, he can pick the parts that he needs to play right now and if he changes a character, he simply needs to read the description of the things that the new character can do. What it means is that the player just needs to read the bits that are pertinent and read the other bits latter.
Starting with the Player Character, he will have Hit Points, Abilities and Ability Modifiers, and a Proficiency Bonus in Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition just as he does in Dungeon & Dragons, Fifth Edition. Otherwise, a Player Character is defined by his Heritage, Culture, Background, Destiny, and Class. Heritage represents a Player Character’s parentage, what might be called ‘Species’ or ‘Race’ in other fantasy roleplaying games; ‘Culture’ is the environment in which the Player Grew up in; ‘Background’ his occupation; ‘Destiny’ his story, both what has happened in the past and then could happen in the future; and ‘Class’ what his abilities are. The Heritage, whether it is Dragonborn, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Human, Orc, Planetouched (either Aasimar or Tielfling), or Mixed Heritage sets age, size, and speed for the Player Character, but also grants certain gifts and a paragon gift at Tenth level. For example, an Elf has ‘Darkvision’, ‘Fey Ancestry’, and ‘Trance’, but can have the gift of either ‘Mystic Rapport’, ‘Prescient Vision’, or ‘Preternatural Awareness’, and when the Player Character reaches Tenth Level, can have ‘Elfsight’, ‘Inexorable Insight’, or ‘Spiritual Awareness’. The traditional Half-Elf or Half-Orc found in other similar fantasy roleplaying games can be represented by using the Mixed Heritage option.
Humans in Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition have the traits of ‘Fast Learner’ and ‘Intrepid’. The first means that a Human Player Character gains knowledge or skill faster, but not necessarily the wisdom to use it, reflected by an extra skill Proficiency and requiring less time to train in armour, tools, armour. The second means that in a pinch, a Human player Character can make an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw with Expertise, and then again after a short or long rest. The Human Player Character also has the choice of the Gifts of ‘Diehard Survivor’, ‘Ingenious Focus’, and ‘Spirited Traveller’, with the Paragon Gifts of ‘Determined’, ‘Wind at Your Back’, and ‘Voracious Learner’. Altogether, this covers some of the character of humanity and makes a Human Player Character that little bit more dynamic.
A Player Character’s ‘Culture’ can be Caravanner, Circusfolk, Collegiate, Cosmopolitan, Dragonbound, Dragoncult, Forsaken, Godbound, Imperial, Itinerant, Lone Wanderer, Nomad, Settler, Steamforged, Stoneworthy, Tyrannised, Villager, Warhordling, Wildling, Deep Dwarf, Deep Gnome, Eladrin, Forest Gnome, Forgotten Folx, High Elf, Hill Dwarf, Kithbáin Halfling, Mountain Dwarf, Mustbairn Halfling, Shadow Elf, Stoic Orc, Stout Halfling, Tinker Gnome, Tunnel Halfling, or Wood Elf. What each provides a range of different traits, skill proficiencies, languages, and more. For example, Cosmopolitan means that the Player Character knows how to be ‘Discretely Armed’, has ‘Fashion Sense’ and can thus read other through their bearing and what they wear, ‘Skill Versatility’ grants Proficiency in Culture and another skill, ‘Urban Denizen’ means he knows his way around a city, is ‘Well-Connected’ and knows someone from another culture or heritage, and is literate in Common and two other languages.
What is interesting about some of these Cultures is that ordinarily, they would actually be represented by the equivalent of Heritage in other roleplaying games. So, for example, the Elf Heritage represents a base line, but if a player wants an Elf from the Dreaming or Fey Wild, he chooses the ‘Eladrin’ Culture, and then more traditional Elf types are represented by the ‘High Elf’ or ‘Wood Elf’ Cultures, whilst the ‘Shadow Elf’ Culture does the ‘dark’ Elf or ‘Drow’ of other fantasy roleplaying games. Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition does this in turn for the Dwarf, Gnome, and Halfling Heritages and is much easier way of handling the differentiation.
‘Background’ is what a Player Character did before he became an adventurer. This can be Acolyte, Artisan, Charlatan, Criminal, Cultist, Entertainer, Exile, Farmer, Folk Hero, Gambler, Guard, Guildmember, Hermit, Marauder, Noble, Outlander, Sage, Sailor, Soldier, Trader, or Urchin. This grants the first of the Player Character’s two Ability bonuses, Proficiency in two skills as well as tools and languages, a connection, a memento, and feature which shows how the Player Character interacts with the world. For example, The Cultist Background grants +1 to Intelligence and another ability; Proficiencies in Religion and either Arcana or Deception; a language; a holy symbol, common clothes, and five torches; and the ‘Forbidden Lore’ Feature which allows the Player Character to research a topic and knows in what book if he fails an Arcana or Religion check. Of course, members of the cult that the former cultist belonged to, might be looking for him.
‘Destiny’ gives a Player Character with Motivation and Inspiration and a means of fulfilling this Destiny. The given Destinies are Chaos, Coming of Age, Devotion, Dominion, Excellence, Knowledge, Metamorphosis, Revenge, Underdog, and Wealth. For example, the Motivation for ‘Knowledge’ might be ‘Meaning, ‘Superiority, or ‘A Cure’; the Source of inspiration is ‘Learning’, which grants a Player Character Inspiration after studying for eight hours or more or making a discovery; the Inspiration Feature is ‘Critical Evaluation’ which enables the Player Character to use that Inspiration to assess a creature or item and learn one thing about it; and the Fulfilment Feature is ‘Converging Theories’ which happens when the Player Character brings together scientific and spiritual theories in a single hypothesis. It grants bonuses to the Player Character’s Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, as well as increasing their maximums. Essentially, a Player Character’s Destiny is a roleplaying incentive. In other words, roleplay the Motivation and desire behind the Destiny and the Player Character will be rewarded with a mechanical benefit in the form of Inspiration. It is also an indication from the player to the Narrator what sort of story arc he wants his character to have in addition whatever stories and plots the Narrator has planned.
The Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide details thirteen Classes. These are Adept, Bard, Berserker, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Herald, Marshal, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard. Of these, the Adept is the equivalent of the Monk in Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, the Berserker of the Barbarian, and the Herald of the Paladin. The Marshal is a new Class, war leaders and motivators, providing support on and off the battlefield. Every Class opens up three or more Archetypes at Third Level, which grants more specialised abilities over the course of a Player Character’s progress. For the Cleric, this includes ‘Healer’, ‘Oracle’, ‘Sun Priest’, and ‘War Priest’, whilst for the Marshall, this is ‘Gambling General’, ‘Swift Strategist’, and ‘Talented Tactician’. For the most part, there will be a lot that is familiar with these Classes in comparison to similar fantasy roleplaying games, but there are a lot of changes too, for example, allowing the Warlock to have Intelligence and Wisdom as a primary ability, rather than just Charisma.
One of the biggest changes is to the Fighter Class. It still gets Fighting Styles, such as ‘Duelling’, ‘Protection’, and ‘Two-Weapon Fighting’, and then adheres to a Fighter Archetype such as ‘Brute’, ‘Duellist’, ‘Gladiator’, ‘Knight’, and ‘Sharpshooter’. The Fighter, as well as the other martial Classes—the Berserker, the Herald, the Marshal, and the Ranger—has access to Combat Manoeuvres. To use a Combat Manoeuvre, the Player Character expends Exertion, the cost varying from Combat Manoeuvre to Combat Manoeuvre. A basic Combat Manoeuvre, like ‘Disarm’ or ‘Knockdown’, does not cost anything and inflicts basic damage, whereas, ‘Missile Volley’ costs two Exertion and enables the Player Character to attack a number of opponents equal to his Proficiency value and ‘Iron Will’ costs a single point, but grants Advantage on a Saving Throw to resist being charmed or frightened. There are roughly one-hundred-and-fifty Combat Manoeuvres, and what they do enable a player to really design a Martial character and have him fight how he wants and how he wants him to be cool.
All of the character and Class information is followed by the equipment chapter. This covers everything you would expect—arms, armour, adventuring gear, mounts, and more. The more includes rare weapons, different materials, and spellcasting foci, but also services, hospitable donations, and even building strongholds. The latter includes numerous example buildings. Then there is a chapter on multi-classing and Feats which a player can choose instead of improving an Ability when prompted when the character gains a new Level. Another addition to the range of Feats is Synergy Feats, which enable a Player Character to enhance a Feat he already has. In addition, some Synergy Feats require multi-classing as well. For example, ‘Bladechanter’ enables the Player Character to treat dual-wielded weapons as a combination of spell components and focus, grants him an Armour Class bonus equal to his Intelligence if he is not wearing armour, and the capacity to cast a spell through a weapon that has been used to strike an opponent. This requires the Player Character to be at least a Third Level Fighter, a Third Level Wizard, and posses the Two-Weapon Fighting style. Later on, the Player Character can then take the ‘Whirling Incantor’ and ‘Eldritch Whirlwind Master’ Feats at later Levels.
To create a character, a player first rolls his Ability values. This is done on four six-sided dice and the lowest value discarded. (Other methods are also provided.) He then chooses his character’s Heritage, Culture, Background, Destiny, and Class. He then selects equipment. Every Class description includes lists of possible starting equipment and the equipment section includes equipment per Class past First Level. This does include some magical items. The creation process is not challenging, but it does involve multiple choices and it takes a while. Of course, with multiple players, it means that the set-up time for a campaign is a little more involved and replacing a Player Character mid-play is not quick either.
Mechanically, Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition, as with other modern iterations of Dungeons & Dragons is a d20 System roleplaying game. Like Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, whenever a player wants his character to undertake an action, he rolls a twenty-sided die and attempts to equal to, or greater than, a difficulty value. This can be the Armour Class of an opponent, the Difficulty Class of an Ability or Skill check, a Saving Throw, and so on. A natural roll of twenty will always succeed and is counted as a Critical Success, whilst a roll of a natural one is counted as a Critical Failure. In either case, there will be extra effects. It uses the rules for Advantage and Disadvantage introduced with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and now prevalent in a great other roleplaying games. Lastly, it includes Expertise. This represents greater knowledge or skill about a situation and whether from a Class feature or trait, grants a Player Character an extra die to roll when attempting an action. This is a four-sided die, but if Player Character is granted more than one Expertise die, the size of the die to be rolled is increased rather than multiple dice being rolled. The Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide goes into some detail about how and when Ability and Skill rolls might be made, the Difficulty Classes, the outcomes situation by situation, including both Critical Success and Critical Failure, and so on, and all of which is illustratively helpful. It adds two new skills, Culture and Engineering, and a host of Specialities that grant a Player Character Expertise. All Player Characters have Specialities at First Level and gain more as their Proficiency Bonus increases.
Adventuring covers everything from time, movement, and travelling to what a Player Character does during downtime, when he is not adventuring, and then also his Prestige, his reputation, and optionally, calling in favours, based on Prestige. The rules for both adventuring and combat work as you would expect. Three additions in combat include the actions ‘Press the Attack’, ‘Fall Back’, and ‘Sprint’. ‘Press the Attack’ enables a Player Character to focus on an opponent and attack with Expertise, but the defender can ‘Fall Back’ as Reaction to move back and negate the attacker’s use of Expertise. ‘Sprint’ is when a Player Character does nothing but run and this will quadruple or triple the Player Character’s Speed depending upon armour worn. Two other additions are ‘World Actions’ and ‘Countdowns’. ‘World Actions’ make environments dynamic and potentially dangerous. For example, ‘Frigid’ gives an environment that can have ‘Frostbitten Surface’, ‘Icy Patch’, and ‘Snow’, meaning that the touching cold surfaces can inflict cold damage, changing direction when moving can be difficult, and the area is obscured. The ‘World Action’ is ‘Cold Chill’ which forces the Player Character to make a Saving Throw versus Constitution or suffer cold damage. ‘Countdowns’ covers situations when a Player Character is racing against time, for example, can a cliff be scaled before it crumbles or will a thief pick a lock before the guards complete their rounds? This is handled by pool of six sided-dice rolled at the beginning of every round. Each roll of six means that a die is removed from the pool and when there are no more dice to roll, the potential danger is triggered. It adds lots of randomness to situations such as this.
One fifth of the Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide is dedicated to spells and spellcasting, most of which lists all of the spells for the various spellcasting Classes. There are lots of tweaks throughout the spell list, so anyone coming to Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition from a similar roleplaying game will need to give each spell description a closer examination than they might otherwise think. Some spells are absent, such as Arcane Gate and Aura of Life, but there are new additions such as Soulwrought Fists and Searing Equation. Perhaps the biggest addition are rare versions of spells. There are lots of spells named for famous wizards in Dungeons & Dragons, such as Bigby’s Arcane Hand, Mordenkainen’s Faithful Hound, and Tenser’s Floating Disk. In fact, many of the changes to the spells in the Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide have been made so that they no longer contain such names for obvious reasons. In Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition, rare spells are variants of existing spells that spellcasters have reworked and made their own. For example, Magic Missile is a ubiquitous spell, which launches a trio of glowing bolts at one or more targets, but Kreven’s Ruinous Magic Missile is a version which causes targets hit by this spell’s missiles to suffer the Rattled condition unless they make a Saving Throw versus Strength.
Lastly, the appendices in the Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide covers conditions, including tracked conditions such as fatigue and strife, and mental stress effects; gods, faith, and beliefs, including Domains for the Cleric Class; a small selection of beasts and creatures; and notes on compatibility. The latter is not an extensive list, more a starting point. However, it still means that a lot of the content for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition can be imported into Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition.
Physically, the Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide is very well presented. The book is well written and the artwork is decent throughout.
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition and thus the Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide is a choice and all about choice. It is an alternative to Dungeon & Dragons, Fifth Edition, one that the Narrator and her players are likely to choose because they want more choice and detail in their fantasy roleplaying. There can be no doubt that the Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide delivers that, whether that is the options for Heritage, Culture, and Background in particular, follow by Destiny and Class, or the addition of Combat Manoeuvres which empower the martial Classes and make their combat options more exciting and dynamic. There are lots of useful details which help player and Narrator alike, such as the detailed examples of skill and Ability checks and Critical Successes and Failures which give an idea of how and when they work (or not). Of course, with all these extra elements and the greater choice and detail comes greater complexity and more involved play mechanically. This will suit some players and not others, but there plenty of other, similar roleplaying games offering a similar style of play if Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition is too much. That is one of the benefits of having so much choice.
One issue with Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition and in particular, the Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide is its accessibility. A player or Narrator coming to Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition from Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition will have less of a problem making the switch than someone new to the hobby picking up the Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide for the first time. For either, but especially the player new to the hobby, the Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide really could have been improved with some examples of character creation and play and combat, to see the rules in action. That would have made it choices easier to grasp and better displayed the designers’ intent, more so given just how daunting the Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide is as a book.
As an alternative to Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, what Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition offers is more choice and more detail, and with it, more complexity. That is what some players and some Narrators want and the Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition – Adventurer’s Guide delivers that and for the most part, delivers and explains that very well.
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