Levelling Up Your Game
We've been talking an Awfully lot about recent kickstarters (see what we did there?) and upcoming sourcebooks without mentioning one of the biggest projects we have ever undertaken to date. It's time to rectify that with this week's blog as take a peek behind the curtain at Level Up, our backwards compatible advancement of the 5th Edition ruleset.
If you've never heard of Level Up before, there is an excellent and informative website that is entirely dedicated to the game and its development. The site also has its own regular blog to keep you informed of progress, plus there are regular surveys sent out that help to shape the game's development, so make sure to sign up and get involved!
To whet your appetite before you head over there, however, we'll attempt to cover the concept in broad stokes. Billed as an Advanced 5th Edition, Level Up's design builds on the foundations of the world's most popular roleplaying game and to add nuanced layers that enhance everyone's enjoyment at the table.
It's important here to once again reiterate that Level Up is built and designed to be completely backwards and sideways compatible with 5E. Characters from either system can adventure alongside each other perfectly fine, there'll just be those nuanced differences mentioned previously. And what do those differences look like? Well, in terms of player characters, Level Up characters will have more breadth and options to their build, plus a little more functionality with some of the polished mechanics on offer within the system. This also means that you can use existing sourcebooks and adventures without needing to undertake any conversion work at all.
And despite being backwards compatible, Level Up is also stands entirely on its own, meaning that the Level Up core rulebook is the only book that you will need to run the game! You will find features such as new classes, including a redesigned ranger and brand new warlord class, a completely fresh and redesigned origin system (known as race/subrace/background in 5E, a brand new and exciting development of the exploration pillar that provides thematic journey rules, more ways to spend that hard-earned gold so that it still has meaning, a range of martial maneuvers to give non-spellcasters more options in combat, enhanced skills, distinct crafting rules, new spells, magic items, and artifacts, plus so much more!
Don't just take our word on this, however. Head on over to the Level Up website and get involved! Everything that has previously been sent out for playtest is still downloadable and there is already a licensing, support and compatibility system in place. Yes, that's right, there are firms plans to introduce a System Reference Document to provide you with the freedom to Level Up your own games even further! Make sure to check in regularly for news on Level Up's crowdfunding campaign launch in October!
