Compatibility

Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E) is designed to be backwards compatible with the original version of the game. You can use any of your existing (or future) original 5th Edition (O5E) adventures, monsters, spells, characters, and more in Level Up right out of the box. This book, Trials & Treasures, and the Monstrous Menagerie replace the O5E core book with revamped classes and expanded rules, the O5E Narrator’s book with new magic items and rewarding exploration rules, and the O5E monster book with more in-depth versions of the same creatures (plus variants and a whole lot more).

However, in some rare cases, you will find some terminology changes. For convenience, these have been listed below.

Some spells have also been renamed. O5E spells which contain proper named individuals in the title no longer contain the proper name (sometimes substituting the word “arcane”). The spell name is the same otherwise. This includes the following spells: acid arrow , arcane hand , arcane sword , arcanist’s magic aura , black tentacles , faithful hound , floating disk , freezing sphere , hideous laughter , instant summons , irresistible dance , magnificent mansion , private sanctum , resilient sphere , secret chest , tiny hut , telepathic bond .

Maneuver DC

Before using an O5E creature in an A5E game, the Narrator should calculate and jot down its Maneuver Defense (8 + proficiency bonus + Dexterity or Strength modifier).

Supply & Magic

In A5E, magic is limited in the amount of useful food and water it can create. Only the following spells in this book create Supply: create food and water , create or destroy water , heroes’ feast . Also, magnificent mansion can support a number of occupants for its duration. If a spell does not specify that it creates Supply, then any foodstuffs that it creates do not constitute Supply.

Additionally, Supply cannot be stored in extradimensional spaces.

If you are using O5E spells, or spells from additional sources, the Narrator will need to determine whether the spell creates Supply. Generally, a spell is able to create a maximum amount of Supply equal to its spell level up to 3rd-level spells, or up to twice its spell level for spells of 4th level or higher. Spells of 8th or 9th level can generally circumvent Supply requirements.

What Isn’t Compatible?

While characters in O5E and A5E can be used alongside each other, and are fully compatible as complete entities, their building blocks are slightly different in each game because A5E was designed from the ground up to provide a wide degree of flexibility and customization.

This means that A5E’s heritages, cultures, and backgrounds are not individually directly compatible with O5E’s races and backgrounds. However, your A5E character can be used in an O5E adventure and vice versa, and you can safely mix and match characters and NPCs from both games.