Whetstone and Chalk

I just found out today that whetstones and chalk were removed in 5.5 rules.  Can anyone explain?

Likely because neither had game-specific rules and therefore don't need to be listed in the rules. That doesn't mean they don't exist, just they're not something that requires detailing in a mechanical, rules sense

A whetstone was pretty much completely pointless in 5e, given that even the optional rules didn't include anything for weapon maintenance. Chalk I could take or leave as adventuring gear, although pinning down the life of the basic listed piece would probably be a nuisance. Maybe express it in square footage? I dunno; if they made it work with ink I think they could have with chalk, but it's not a glaring omission either.

Chalk (used for things such as marking passages in dungeons) is commonly enough used in games that it seems worth an entry, though probably not much of one.

If it isn't in the 5.5 books, it doesn't have a 5.5 version.

It'd be an impractical move to either remove the Legacy tag or make a duplicate entry.

There's more, albeit still minimal, value in putting back the 2014 Lance.

Quote from Pantagruel666 >>

Chalk (used for things such as marking passages in dungeons) is commonly enough used in games that it seems worth an entry, though probably not much of one.

But do the game rules need to explain what chalk is and how it works? 

Does you dm require a certain amount of time per day to be spent sharpening your blades? If so, perhaps consider finding a new dm?

The dms that ive had that required us to account for every arrow (or in your case, weapon blade maintenance), always turned out to NOT be good dms. DnD is telling the story of heroes and adventure, neither of which has anything to do with counting ammunition or sharpening your blades.

As for chalk, the entire white cliffs of dover is chalk. Chalk should be easy to find and readily available. And it should be cheap enough (a copper?) That your dm should worry about tracking its cost.

Quote from Davyd >>

But do the game rules need to explain what chalk is and how it works? 

 Do the game rules need to explain what ink is and how it works? Just say something like

Chalk comes in 1-ounce sticks, enough for 200' of lines.

That's fairly realistic, and the fact it's sufficient for 200' of lines is probably more likely to ever be game relevant than the number of pages you can write with ink.

Quote from Pantagruel666 >>

Quote from Davyd >>

But do the game rules need to explain what chalk is and how it works? 

 Do the game rules need to explain what ink is and how it works?

 I'd say no

If its not on the sheet you don't have it.

While we don't track something like chalk's number of uses, we track that we have it in inventory.  These are items cost wise we include in Living Expenses.  Ball of Twine isn't on the inventory list either but you won't find my Rogue without one.  

Personally I wish they would create a mundane list of items, as well as a list of varied value basic gems (something like Gem worth 10gp Gem worth 100gp etc).  Currently I have to create my own gems  and mundane items.  Heck just reach back in their library and grab Auroa's Whole Realms and use it.

To those that say they serve no purpose or are so trivial that they do not need to be tracked, I would say that I agree with TheYeti1775 "If its not on the sheet you don't have it."  

I certainly don't track the number of pieces of chalk my players have, I really put it in the category of a regularly restocked item that just happens in town. If they do not have it on their sheet they cannot use it in the field.  I don't make my players use their whetstones except when their weapons take damage. Acid is a thing in D&D. If you aren't doing this I'd say that you're the poor DM. If mundane items don't matter then why do we have paper, ink, vials, pitons or any of 100 other items in the equipment list?

So your players can just say they have chalk without actually preparing properly?

Quote from Moxys >>

To those that say they serve no purpose or are so trivial that they do not need to be tracked, I would say that I agree with TheYeti1775 "If its not on the sheet you don't have it."  

I certainly don't track the number of pieces of chalk my players have, I really put it in the category of a regularly restocked item that just happens in town. If they do not have it on their sheet they cannot use it in the field.  I don't make my players use their whetstones except when their weapons take damage. Acid is a thing in D&D. If you aren't doing this I'd say that you're the poor DM. If mundane items don't matter then why do we have paper, ink, vials, pitons or any of 100 other items in the equipment list?

 Hey, look, it's the fun police.

Also chalk can go under Other Possessions just fine. If you, as a DM, don't allow this because they didn't stat chalk out, you're still the bad DM.

The thing about the equipment table is that if an item's on that table, players are a lot more likely to think about having it. Honestly, there's a lot of stuff still on the equipment list that's much less useful than chalk, either because it's unlikely to be used in an adventure, or its stats are mostly irrelevant or worse than useless.

For example, almost the entire class of containers is a waste of space. Containers that are not specifically designed to be carried around on an adventure (mostly backpack, pouch, waterskin) will almost never be purchased by adventurers (though they may find loot, particularly trade goods, already in containers), are generally "whatever size is needed", and can typically be abstracted into the cost of the thing they contain.

Quote from Moxys >>

So your players can just say they have chalk without actually preparing properly?

 No one said that. But since you brought it up... Sure? Why not? It's chalk. "Preparing properly" means the PC went to a general store once at any point in their life. Or they walked past an exposed limestone deposit. I don't feel like that's a stretch.

There doesn't have to be a rule or an entry in the PHB or DMG for every single mundane item. There's not an entry for a spoon, but if my players say they're eating stew at camp I'm not going to demand they show me where they wrote "spoon" or "bowl" down on their character sheets.

Yeah, given that they specifically dropped the Mess Kit from '24, they presumably feel the basics can be handled without specific entries unless we're supposed to conclude that WotC specifically wants all the characters only eating with their hands.

Part of it is that if it isn't on the list ,1 - people who want it don't know how much it costs 2 - some folks wouldn't think of getting it.

You might think chalk, mess kit, incense, wetstones, and whatever else doesn't matter but sometimes it really does matter.

I feel like the point of streamlining rules was to avoid bloating tables and whatnot - so some things were cut out. The idea of the gear tables in the books isn't "these are the only things you can have" - just general examples.

Chalk is so abundantly common and so incredible cheap, even for the medieval / renaissance periods D&D is generally going for, that tracking the purchasing and amount of it seems overly tedious. A single copper would get you enough chalk to last your entire adventure - why need a PHB entry for that? Just add it to your sheet.

There's no mechanics for taking a piss either - but we can all assume your characters do it at some point. Not every tiny thing needs a PHB entry or rules. You want chalk? Ask DM, DM says yes, gives you a cost, you pay, add to sheet and move on. 

Quote from Wysperra >>

Part of it is that if it isn't on the list ,1 - people who want it don't know how much it costs 2 - some folks wouldn't think of getting it.

You might think chalk, mess kit, incense, wetstones, and whatever else doesn't matter but sometimes it really does matter.

 

Point, but at a certain point they need to cut off unless they're going to try and tabulate every possible mundane item, and the exact point will have to be arbitrary. 2024 was focused on streamlining, so they likely trimmed off items that rarely appeared on the online character sheets.

I understand not adding every mundane item, but removing perfectly proper adventuring items is silly.  It just ends up cluttering the Homebrew with these items which we have to remake in order for our characters or games to feel right to us.