Monster Knowledge & Weaknesses
This mechanic is pulled and modified from both Battlemaster's 7th-Level Feature "Know Your Enemy" as well as Tasha's Cauldron of Everything "Parleying with Monsters - Monster Research" on page 148 of the Dungeon Master's Tools in that book. I recommend reading through my published Homebrew for inspiration on what you could replace this feature with at that level.
Monster Research
Adventurers can research what a creature's capabilities are, any of their major strengths, their supernatural traits and capabilities, or their flaws & weaknesses. The Monster Research table suggests which skills can be used to learn about a creature of a particular type. The DC for a relevant ability check equals 10 + the creature's challenge rating.
Upon succeeding on the check, you can learn up to three of the following characteristics of your choice:
Active Research. Maybe you have the monster close at hand, or you're trying to learn and gain an advantage over them during the thick of battle. Monster Research can be attempted as an Action or a Bonus Action in this case, however you only learn one characteristic of your choice (this action can be repeated to learn more characteristics):
Monster Research
| Type | Suggested Skills |
|---|---|
| Aberration | Arcana |
| Beast | Animal Handling, Nature, or Survival |
| Celestial | Religion |
| Construct | Arcana or History |
| Dragon | Arcana, History, or Nature |
| Elemental | Arcana or Nature |
| Fey | Arcana or History |
| Fiend | Arcana or Religion |
| Giant | History or Nature |
| Humanoid | History |
| Monstrosity | Nature or Survival |
| Ooze | Arcana or Survival |
| Plant | Nature or Survival |
| Undead | Arcana or Religion |
Monster Knowledge
The DM tells you the modifier of a given score, the average AC of the creature, or if its current hit points are equal, superior, or inferior to yours, depending on the characteristic you choose to learn:
- Any Ability Score (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma).
- Armor Class
- Current Hit Points
- Total Class Levels, if any
- Damage resistances, immunities, or vulnerabilities, if any
- Condition immunities or resistances, if any (like say a dwarf's advantage against poison for instance)
- Their movement speed (walking, flying, swimming, etc.)
- Spells it may have prepared, innate or from spellcasting classes
- Special traits such as a medusa's petrifying gaze (and how it can be turned against them), a beholder's antimagic eye (and how its rays can't be fired into them), most creatures having magic resistance and advantage against spells, etc. and their limitations or Saving Throw DCs attached
- Any personality quirks known about it, such as a dragon's ego, a beholder's paranoia, or a fiend's cruelty streak
Note: For Secretive GMs
Any of the above features can be turned more vague for the party's knowledge. Use your better judgement on keeping things more obscure for the party such as hiding DCs, Stat scores, or specific features on wrap. Examples being do not say "the Creature has magic resistance" and say "the creature is especially resilient against spells"; do not say "the fiend is immune to poison, resistant to cold, fire, and lightning damage" say "the demon ignores toxins and stands tough against the elements"; do not say "the dragon has 17 AC" say "the dragon has scales as tough as plate mail". Things that are more evocative than they are gamey can immerse your players better, but do not be disappointed when they slowly piece together meta-knowledge about it during their fight with it.
Story Trumps Spell
Aka, Fuck You Got Mine Spellcasters.
Don't actually use this rule. I lied, there's nothing here. If it really is your game and your story you don't need some authority to tell you other than the GM if a given spell is going to work to progress the plot or save the characters. If anything from the example listed in Dungeon Meshi, it's likely Falin had the popular alternative, "Last Stand: A Worthy Death", a Dungeon Master's Guild title which allows your character to give the party one last trump card before dying and contributing nothing else until revived.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/242601/Last-Stand-A-Worthy-Death
In addition, here is quick revision for Word of Recall. Edits I have made will be in the Bold Underlined.
Word of Recall
6th-Level Conjuration
- Casting Time: 1 Action
- Range: 15 feet
- Components: V
- Duration: Instantaneous
You and up to six willing creatures within 15 feet of you instantly teleport, alongside anything you are wearing or carrying to a previously designated sanctuary. You and any creatures that teleport with you appear in the nearest unoccupied space to the spot you designated when you prepared your sanctuary (see below). If you cast this spell without first preparing to a sanctuary, the spell has no effect.
You must designate a sanctuary by casting this spell within a location, such as a temple, dedicated to or strongly linked to your deity. Alternatively you can cast this spell within an area of consecrated ground, such as an area effected by the hallow spell. If you attempt to cast this spell in this manner in an area that isn't either of the above, the spell has no effect.
Swap Target Reaction
Aka, Hit Me Instead!
This rule is better used as a limited resource, and generally a given party can be expected to be scattered across the battlefield, so attaching the ability to move to take the hit is recommended.
Swap Targets. As a reaction when you see an ally within 15 feet of you is hit by an attack, you can immediately move up to within 5 feet of that ally and swap places, and you are hit by the attack instead. Once you use this trait, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.
Character Bonds
Characters grow stronger from their interactions, therefore supporting roleplay with actual mechanics is a win-win for your story and shows the growth your party has from a group of individuals to a real team.
The Rules are available here: Character Bonds & Support Links, this is a rough version modified from another writer's version of them.
Monster Rations
Was called Ration & Resting, but wasn't indicative enough of what I meant. Anyhows, food and health have always been sorta oddly equated to one another: a goodberry heals you for 1 hit point and you are full, the chef feat lets the chef make magical treats which grant temp hp depending. Well what if a given monster gives you varying traits, such as in Icewind Dale where eating a troll's heart grants their regeneration for a day? There are better documents that do this in greater detail than I will, such as the title "Monster Cooking in D&D - D&D 5th Edition Artificer Subclass", by My Wife is the MC, which is a homebrew title which has plenty of content including the magical traits magical ingredients give.
https://ko-fi.com/s/e430319ab2
Monster Rations
The delicious and powerful essence of slain monsters grants a bolstering benefit. These rules are written without consideration for if a character overeats, and has just as magical of an endless stomach.
Hearty Food. If you eat at least 1 pound of cooked monster as an Action, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to the Monster's CR. If outside of combat, this can be eaten during a Short or Long Rest, gaining the double the amount of Temporary Hit Points at the end of a Long Rest, but not a Short Rest.
Temporary Hit Points granted by Hearty Food are added onto any other meal-based effect, such as food or treats made by the Chef Feat.
Drict's Chef Buffs
Chef has always seemed undertuned in comparison to other Temporary Hit Point feats, such as Inspiring Leader specifically.
Chef
Time spent cooking has revealed how amazing you can cook:
- You gain proficiency with cook's utensils if you don't already have it.
- As part of a short rest, you can cook special food, provided you have ingredients and cook's utensils on hand. You can prepare enough of this food for a number of creatures you have enough ingredients for (see PHB rules for consumption, 1 lb. per Medium character is the rough estimate). At the end of the short rest, any creature who eats the food immediately regains 1 Hit Dice, of which they can immediately spend as part of the short rest.
- When you finish a long rest, you prepare a meal so long as you have enough ingredients for each creature participating in the meal. At the end of the long rest, each creature who eats the food gains temporary hit points equal to your level + your proficiency bonus. You can preserve leftovers treats from this meal equal to your proficiency bonus, and a creature can eat a treat as a bonus action to gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus.
Gathering & Scavenging
Light enough rules for how you could handle gathering or scavenging materials, but in my own humble opinion, just gloss over this kind of stuff unless you really need important materials to give to the party, such as a quest item or resource. Nobody wants to roll to have to find the macguffin hidden in the room after beating the big bad for instance.
These rules signify a variant for the players to use while within the Dungeon or Overland Travel. As the party travels, they can potentially find Gathering Locations or "Spots". A given spot has anything one can consider for ingredients, whether cooking, alchemy, or other magical manufacture. Further below are a couple examples.
Prerequisites: A given spot has prerequisites for Skill, Tools, or other stats in order to acquire materials from them. If a character has multiple of these proficiencies or tools on hand, they have the potential to gain more from the spot. When reading the table for how much is acquired after the time is spent, each PM means Prerequisite Met, or each Prerequisite they have, as an example a Character with Nature and Survival Proficiencies, with Herbalism Kit onhand has 3 PM.
Resources: The rules below provide a base in pounds acquired (lbs.), to your preference a version in gp or just "flat amounts" like 1-5 healing herbs can be provided. A given spot should only be used once, unless you note it as a place with abundance or otherwise have a set number of resources the players can get at this location.
Time: It can be assumed a given resource spot can be fully collected in an hour, if not shorter or longer. Time should be the most dangerous aspect of collecting, beyond clearing it of danger previously (monsters or obstacles) or leaving themselves vulnerable in the wilderness.
Healing Herbs Spot
Prerequisites: Nature, Survival, Herbalism Kit
| 1 PM | 2 PM | 3 PM |
|---|---|---|
| 1 lb. | 5 lb. | 10 lb. |
These herbs heal a creature who eats them as an action for 1 HP. 1 lb. of herbs can be created into two Potions of Healing with Herbalism Kit downtime.
Mining Spot
Prerequisites: Athletics, Con mod +1-5, Mining Pick
| 1 PM | 2 PM | Con mod |
|---|---|---|
| 1 lb. | 3 lb. | x# the Mod |
Calculate the Prerequisites Met, and then multiply the total result by your Constitution modifier signifying how stamina a character can work with.
Fishing Spot
Prerequisites: Survival, Strength +1-10, Fishing Tackle
| 1 PM | 2 PM | Str mod |
|---|---|---|
| 1d4 lb. (small fish) | 2d6 lb. (medium fish) | x# the Mod |
Calculate the Prerequisites Met, and then multiply the total result by your Strength modifier signifying large catches the character doesn't allow to get away.
DISCLAIMER
The following content material references the following IPs owned by: Dungeons & Dragons 5th-Edition published by Wizards of the Coast. Delicious in Dungeon written by Ryoko Kui, the manga of which is published by Enterbrain and Yen Press, the anime of which is adapted by Studio Trigger and licensed by Netflix.
Please support the official and semi-official release.
The material presented in this document is meant to display refined mechanics or features balanced via research, active playtesting with player groups, and 5e mechanics that are pre-established or grounded within other features. This material is usable and encouraged for your D&D5e Campaign, though users must note to pick and choose appropriate material to modify or use-as (if the GM) or ask the GM's permission and approval to use the material in their game.
Copyright Notice
This is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast, LLC.
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