Healing is similar in a few regards, but the biggest change is that you no longer spend Hit Dice to heal. Rests are divided based on where they take place and represent a night’s worth rather than 1 or 8 hours. Safe rests restore your level in HP, while Unsafe Rests inside dungeons, in the wilderness, etc restore a mere 1 HP. Characters reduced to 0 HP become unconscious and die in 1 minute or by the end of the fight (whichever is sooner) if not stabilized in time. The 0 HP rule makes 5TD PCs much hardier than their OSR counterparts, but falling to 0 HP still has consequences even when you recover. There’s a 1d20 table of various effects, mostly 1d6 ability score damage,* and only a natural 20 has a positive result where you heal 1d8 HP due to a speedy recovery.
*which can also be caused by disease and poison and takes several weeks to cure unless magic is used to speed the process.
For smaller various rules, NPCs and monsters roll for morale (Wisdom modifier plus morale bonus plus proficiency if a brave type of character), and traps cannot be found on a skill roll but based on players describing how they interact with the environment.* The primary means of gaining experience points is based on how much GP is taken back to a safe haven, and enemies typically have 1d20 times their Hit Dice in GP worth of loot. Magic items can also grant XP equal to their monetary value...but in 5th Edition magic items no longer have an attached cost to them, and 5TD gives no example values.
*albeit the text states that the GM must forewarn all traps via narrative cues, no matter how well-concealed the trap’s designer may have otherwise made them.
For the dungeon-crawling aspects of rules, we have several meant to simulate old-school resource management. Travel Turns represent every hour spent in a dungeon or unsafe area, and torches and lanterns can last 1 to 3 turns. Every Travel Turn that passes the GM rolls a d20, the lower the result the more disastrous the event which occurs, ranging from random encounters and traps to environmental catastrophes. An 11 to 19 gives the PCs time to prepare in some way for a danger, while a 20 is safe in that nothing bad occurs. PCs also have a new feature: Resilience, which is equal to their Constitution score and represents the number of hours they can remain active while traveling without needing rest. Every hour beyond that forces a check of increasing DC, and failure causes Exhaustion, with further failures causing actual HP damage. Exhaustion is still debilitating, and is all or nothing rather than the 6-level gradient in normal 5e. It reduces your speed to 0 and you cannot perform any significant actions including combat and magic. Exhaustion is only healed via a Safe Rest or by magic.
There are also rules for chasing foes and running away from combat, as well as Rolling to Return for times when the GM doesn’t want to roleplay the PCs exiting a dungeon or making it back to civilization in detail. For chases the pursuer uses Strength or Dexterity based on the terrain, and the DC is 1 greater than 11 for every 5 feet of speed the one being chased has over 30 feet. For PCs and their retainers retreating from combat, they can give up their turn’s worth of actions to make a retreat, which fails automatically if they are damaged or stopped by an enemy. The Chase rules are used if foes pursue them further and are able to outmaneuver any PCs/Retainers that are remaining in combat.
Rolling to Return is a DC 10 check which increases by 1 for every Travel Turn that has passed to a maximum of DC 20. The check can differ depending on circumstances, and failure causes the PC to either take 1d6 damage for every value of 1 they failed the DC, or they lose 1 Load worth of equipment. Those reduced to 0 HP somehow died or fell unconscious due to the arduous journey, and less-secure and valuable equipment is targeted first.
The rules overall do a good job of simulating an ‘old school feel,’ plus or minus a few hiccups. I do feel that the danger from Travel Turns is a bit too high in terms of trigger frequency, and ability score damage is something that neither 5th Edition nor most OSR games have and will thus create additional book-keeping. I do like how there are rules for chases and fleeing, as many OSR games emphasize knowing when to retreat. But if a monster is fast and mobile enough, a lot of times it is impossible unless one PC valiantly holds them off or the DM is merciful in some way like the monster being too big to fit in a smaller tunnel. The Resilience score feels a bit unnecessary, as its all-or-nothing state means that most PCs will play it safe so they don’t have to worry about lugging around a defenseless party member who will be worth a naughty word-ton of Load all their own.
Magic is greatly simplified in comparison to 5th Edition, with a few changes in place. Both Zealots and Mages are akin to sorcerers in that they automatically know a number of spells based on level, and use a unified table to determine how many spells they can cast per day. Casters also know 3 cantrips, and any known spell can be cast as a Ritual which takes 1 hour per spell level to cast in this way but obviates the need for a casting check.* Speaking of which, casters now roll a Spellcasting check equal to DC 10 + spell level, adding their relevant ability modifier and proficiency bonus. A failure causes a Magical Mishap, which is a d20 table of various negative qualities ranging from affecting the wrong target, the caster taking damage, an orb of light blinds the caster and nearby creatures, etc. Concentration spells function similarly as they do in 5th Edition, but any form of damage or distracting effect automatically causes the spell to be lost rather than the caster getting an opportunity to resist and maintain it. Finally, certain items can act as a Magic Focus, which eliminates the need to use material components and/or have one hand free in order to cast a spell. Nice!
*unlike normal 5th Edition where it doesn’t cost a spell slot to use.
We have a discussion on converting spells and magic items from other games. Generally speaking Five Torches Deep discourages converting direct damage spells, and no cantrips should cause damage. Spells which target enemies are treated as an attack roll (or in some cases an appropriate check) rather than the enemy resisting with a DC. Scrolls can only be used by spellcasters and require a check, and wands can be used by noncasters but use Charisma to determine checks and damage. Consumable items never require attunement, and all magic items must have their features identified before they can be used.
We get 2 pages detailing all of the Zealot and Mage spells in Five Torches Deep. They are very minimalistic, with an entire levels’ worth easily fitting on an index card:
The casters of Five Torches Deep are much less versatile than 5th Edition in what they can do. The Mage only has 2 spells out of 25 which deal direct damage, and most of their features are some form of utility. The Abjure spell is really useful, as is Charm, and Astral Rift’s object transportation has quite a bit of uses. I am a bit sad that classic standbys such as Fireball and Lightning Bolt are not present.
The Zealot has the typical cleric abilities, and I do like how the various healing spells can work at range rather than touch which is a big step up from 5th Edition’s Cure Wounds. The specification of “evil targets” isn’t as useful as one would normally think given how said descriptor is more restrictive in Five Torches Deep.
NPCs & Monsters is self-explanatory. For the NPC side of things we talk entirely about Retainers and Henches. Retainers are NPC allies the party can hire on to aid them during adventures, and Henches are higher HD trusted allies who work for free. Both types are limited in how many can accompany one PC based on their Charisma score, with Henches based on level and Charisma. Retainers cost 10 GP per Hit Die per level per day of work, and add their proficiency bonus to their Hit Die for tasks in which they are skilled. PCs can give Orders to Retainers in combat as an active action, allowing all of the Retainers/Henches under their command to do a single special action. Charge order causes them to move forward and attack, Form Up grants +2 AC until their next turn, Focus Fire gangs up on one opponent, and Retainers unable to follow orders can still act independently.
There’s also brief rules for Renown and Reactions; the former determines how likely NPCs are to recognize the party, while the latter determines an NPC’s initial first impression with a higher result on a d20 indicating a more positive impression. The latter is a particularly common old-school rule, but is a bit odd to use in that it makes social results at the mercy of the die rather than the other way around of PC actions determining NPC reactions.
For Monsters, this also includes wicked humans but the overlying rules remain the same. Monsters are grouped based on their role (Brute, Leader, Sniper, etc) rather than their type or species for determining what they’re good at. Abilities, saves, skills, etc are divided into Weak, Normal, and Strong Categories depending on the monster’s areas of expertise. We have a table for these modifiers along with Hit Dice, average HP, and average damage, while their Armor Class is 10 + their most relevant modifier depending on how nimble/sturdy/etc they are.
Monsters also have a list of sample Techniques to choose from, ranging from 0 to 3 based on how strong they are (‘bosses’ have more than ‘mooks’). The sample Techniques are rather broad in application and can cover a wide variety of attacks, spells, and the like.
We have new rules in this chapter as well. Monster Hoards serve as the most protected treasure in a dungeon and are equal to 1,000 times the Hit Dice of the strongest monster. For alignment of both NPCs and monsters, Five Torches Deep ignores it entirely save for Evil. “Evil” in this case represents the physical manifestation of otherworldly corruption and those who willingly give themselves to it. Evil is thus only appropriate for demons, necromancers, undead, and the like. Creatures who do not fit this criteria cannot be “Evil,” now matter how wicked and destructive they may be.
We get a discussion of how to convert monsters and NPCs from 5th Edition and OSR games. For the former ruleset, Five Torches Deep claims that stats can be used as-is save that hit points should be halved due to this book’s lower-powered nature. OSR monsters determine their Armor Class via 20 minus the Descending value (AC 6 becomes AC 14) with negative AC becoming AC 20. Monsters who “attack as Fighters”* use the Brute category for seeing how skilled they are in regards to physical actions and attacks. For determining Dexterity for initiative, the value from a 5th Edition monster can be used, but for an OSR monster their Hit Dice + 10 determines their effective DEX for turn order in combat.
*which interestingly is most monsters in B/X era retroclones.
Our section ends on general advice for how to use these rules to build your own monsters, along with six sample ones whose stat blocks can each easily fit on an index card.
I do feel that the custom creation rules are simpler and in line with 5TD’s ethos, and I particularly like how monsters are grouped by roles rather than the typical types of dragon/fey/etc for determining important core statistics. What I am iffy on is how easy conversion from other systems will be, particularly for 5th Edition. 5TD PCs are much more fragile and with less means of regaining hit points, so monsters with damaging double digit values can be much more deadly than their Challenge Rating in the base game would indicate. Legendary Actions, Lair Actions, and actual spellcasting can up this threat even further, and given that quite a few monsters have abilities keying off of Conditions which don’t have hard and fast rules in Five Torches Deep, this is a complicating factor for the GM.
Running the Game covers generic advice for Dungeon Masters. A lot of it is things we’ve already read about elsewhere, such as how to space out threats and obstacles and creating a stable of allies and enemies for the party. We also have a Generator for creating adventure/plot ideas on the fly, with entries for Things, Actions, and Fallout along with Descriptors for subjects like treasure, emotion, etc in case more specifics are needed.
But the novel feature that sticks out is using a Rubix Cube to generate random maps, with the colors on one side corresponding to room type: white is open path/entrance, orange has danger of some kind, green has treasure or an important feature, etc. If the GM doesn’t have such a cube they can roll 9d6 and convert each die’s result and placement based on the colors. Sounds rather nifty, but can’t state how straightforward this is in play.
Our book ends with a 2-page Quick Reference summing up the major rules for Five Torches Deep and a 1d20 Sundries table for random equipment. Our very last page has a custom character sheet with just enough space to neatly pack in every little detail.
Final Thoughts: Five Torches Deep is a 5th Edition variant with some interesting ideas. But as a wholesale system I cannot really see the appeal in comparison to the ones from which it takes inspiration. There’s also the fact that it’s incomplete in several areas; no sample treasures and magic items are a big negative, and for monsters we’re heavily encouraged to borrow from sourcebooks of other systems. The book also presumes that players are already familiar with 5th Edition and want an old-school experience, so it can’t really be run as an “entry point” to 5e. As a means of easing in 5e players to an OSR game, it does ape the playstyle in certain areas but is a far shot from the real thing. Cost and readability isn’t an issue when so many retroclones are legally free and rules-lite, so this book primarily appeals to 5e players who want to play another kind of D&D but don’t want to learn a new set of rules...which is a bit of a moot point when Five Torches Deep changes its parent system’s mechanics in quite a few large ways. Even then, it does have a demand, as it is a Best Mithral Seller on Drive-Thru RPG. For those unfamiliar with that category, it includes the top 0.22% percent of best-selling products on the entire website.
I admit that I’m not entirely sure what book I’m going to review after this. My remaining options for 5th Edition are far longer than the ones I covered, so it’ll take some reading on my part to get familiarized enough for another in-depth review.
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