GoblinKnife › 5e rules

Fifth-edition rules, with real dice

GoblinKnife is compatible with fifth edition. It plays by the 2024 rules in the System Reference Document 5.2, and a rules engine, not the AI, applies them.

What the engine handles

• Ability checks, saving throws and attack rolls, with Advantage and Disadvantage
• Damage, resistances and vulnerabilities, critical hits, conditions and death saving throws
• Spells: slots, concentration, and reactions such as Shield
• Class features such as Rage, Sneak Attack, Lay on Hands and Divine Smite, and weapon mastery properties
• Initiative, turns and the action economy, including readied actions
• Rests, Heroic Inspiration, character creation and levelling up

The AI game master describes the results. It never computes a number itself, and it can’t change one.

Every roll on the table

Each roll appears in the chat as a card: who rolled, what for, the die, the bonus, the target and the outcome. Roll your own checks with a tap, or let the game roll for you.

Character options

Every class, species and background in the SRD 5.2: 12 classes, each with its SRD subclass, 9 species and 4 backgrounds with their origin feats. Roll your ability scores (4d6, drop the lowest) or let the game fill them in. Every pick is checked against the rules, and an illegal one comes back with legal alternatives.

Levels

Today the engine fully automates levels 1 to 4. Campaigns use milestone levelling: The Seventh Waking takes you from level 1 to 3. When you level up, you make your choices on the character sheet.

Zones instead of a grid

Combat is theatre of the mind, organised into zones such as the stairs, the cells or the far side of the gate. There’s no map to manage on a phone.

House rules, per campaign

Like a game master at a real table, each campaign chooses its own options: how hit points are gained, which rest rules apply, how critical hits work, and whether your character gets a second chance.

The fine print

GoblinKnife is an independent game, not affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. It uses the SRD 5.2 under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Its campaigns, characters and stories are original.