homebrew

[cerulean seal]

I'm going for the knees

[south wasp]

Yeah, but the same principle is with the entirety of your armor- its BUILT for that

[primal osprey]

Oww 😥

[paper belfry]

Tho the knees are a bit weaker

[heady stream]

generally, the most effective weapons in most scenarios were polearms, until guns became too good

[south wasp]

And again, thats less ignoring armor and more so focusing in trying to get the guy in armor to fall over so you can actually kill them

[scenic dew]

Then you don't want Warhammer. I know 40 thousand of them were made, but not for that purpose.

[paper belfry]

Haha u have armor begins to spray a 50 round mag into you

[south wasp]

Usually by stabbing directly down with all your force

[cold rock]

Elite knowledge over here

[south wasp]

WELLLLL

[paper belfry]

Cannon?

[south wasp]

TLDR theres no single “best” weapon, weapons are built to be good in very specific scenarios

[cold rock]

.

[heady stream]

yes, my point is that as generalist weapons, sticks with pointy ends are hard to beat

[paper belfry]

True

[cerulean seal]

Except a Glock of course

[scenic dew]

With Longsword being likely the most versatile in general. It's peak killing design.

[paper belfry]

RPG

Well rocket launcher sorry

[south wasp]

WELLLLLLL

[primal osprey]

Black hole

[heady stream]

like, reach is very very important

[paper belfry]

Axes

[cerulean seal]

See guys, this is why the gun is the best weapon.

[heady stream]

axes are cool but not really a generalist weapon

[paper belfry]

No but they were made for controlling a weapon

You use a dagger than a axe best combi

[south wasp]

The main issue with the longsword is trying to duel weird

[scenic dew]

Cutting, stabbing, bludgeoning. Half swording, mordhau. It's size is manageable in closed spaces compared to pole arm which is generally better.

[heady stream]

why would anyone actually dual wield longswords?

in IRL

[south wasp]

I dont mean duel welding like that

I meant having an off hand

[cerulean seal]

Sword and board is the peak

[south wasp]

This

[paper belfry]

Hard to do

[heady stream]

ah sure, yeah I guess they can be a but too big for constant one handed use

[heady stream]

spear+board

[south wasp]

Having an offhand is really really good

Even a sword and cape is better than a lot of things

[scenic dew]

Yeah. You can use it with shield, but then it turns to shittier spear, but generally I would say it offers biggest versatility in size and use, but definitely not "best".

[queen egret]

bucklers are handy as hell, apparently

i don't know, i'm an archer, i've never even held a sword

[paper belfry]

They is

[heady stream]

you can wield a shield with a bow actually

[south wasp]

You can yeah

But it’s not particularly great

[queen egret]

thankfully i never needed a shield

[scenic dew]

staring in crossbow superiority

[queen egret]

but good to know

[south wasp]

WELLLLL

[paper belfry]

throws u to the sun shuhs

[scenic dew]

Here comes the sun, tudududi

[south wasp]

Crossbow reload time is worse, so its a better first attack, worse if you miss your first shot

[cerulean seal]

Nah best ranged weapon is the sling, duh

[heady stream]

actual crossbows are sooo slow to load. the most unrealistic part of dnd

slings are underrated for sure

[paper belfry]

Don't that only throw rocks

[scenic dew]

Then don't miss.
~Sun Tsu~

[south wasp]

There are now 2 enemies

[cerulean seal]

At like crazy speeds and force

Also you can use ball bearings

[south wasp]

Ggs

[paper belfry]

Frick I can't aim straight

[scenic dew]

Have two crossbows ready

[paper belfry]

Recoil go brr

Lowkey just make hand ballistas

[scenic dew]

It's countered with peasant strength

[south wasp]

Unrealistic to have a second crossbow loaded

[paper belfry]

Personally my go to would be dual wield axe and dagger or rapier

I can grapple then stab

And if I need to I can control and parey

[scenic dew]

Well it was unrealistic to have even first crossbow loaded unless you are trying to jump someone or know it's coming

[cerulean seal]

Everyone knows Scythes are the most efficient weapon.

[paper belfry]

Get out rn!

[cerulean seal]

What, why? Anime told me Scythes are the ultimte weapon.

[scenic dew]

True, if your enemy is Wheat

[paper belfry]

How long time out this time

[south wasp]

As someone who fully knows scythes are bad, awful weapons

[paper belfry]

They are

[cold rock]

Except for katas

[south wasp]

Theres no one in this world who will be able to stop me using them in my dnd fantasy game as cool badass weapons

[paper belfry]

They are bad at slashing and piercing

[scenic dew]

It's the only weapon that works in reverse grip because it's equally as bad

[south wasp]

No, its still a stick with a heavy thing on it

Thats always at least something

[heady stream]

there are war scythes, but those are basically just glaives

[scenic dew]

But imagine if the scythe blade was vertical instead horizontal

[south wasp]

Also were historically only used by farmers who went to fight

Aka peasant weapon

[scenic dew]

Macutahul is peak weapon because to this day, I don't know if it's sword, axe or club

[south wasp]

Its the equivalent of a baseball bat with nails sticking out

[scenic dew]

Exactly, peak weapon

[south wasp]

So, yeah cant argue with that

Unlike a sword, if it gets dull its a decent bludgeoning weapon

[scenic dew]

Also it's more like cricket bat with saw embedded inside it

[queen egret]

aren't those also made with obsidian with extremely sharp edges

[cerulean seal]

See all this conversation is why magic is the best.

[scenic dew]

Yes, obsidian was used to make scalpels if I remember correctly

[south wasp]

In dnd? Yeah, pretty much

[scenic dew]

We need a way to parry spells. Like imagine deflecting the shit out of fireball.

[south wasp]

Thats why deflect attack monk is so cool

[scenic dew]

Not Eldritch Knight, but Eldritch King

[south wasp]

Upgrading to deflect energy to deflect a firebolt

Aura.

[cerulean seal]

just give them antimagic armor. duh

[scenic dew]

One weapon, I'm still trying to form is Cestus or Brass Knuckles just so there would be way to throw hands bit more efficiently.

But punching your way through campaign sounds cool.

Without being Aang

[south wasp]

Just use the stats of any of the species features of a species with claws

1d6 plus strength

Btw can we talk about how bows technically should be strength weapons

[cerulean seal]

Could make like... Gauntlets? I know big metal gauntlets are a big weapon archetype in like anime and media

Could probably ne an interesting weapon type in DnD. Like wearable? so you don't have to "equip" it a tthe start of combat

[scenic dew]

I imagine it kinda like taking up your "gauntlet slot" in exchange you cannot be disarmed by being forced to drop your weapon. Also you can use and hold objects and weapons, but you can't use them unless your hand is free.
So mix of armor and weapon.

[scenic dew]

They would be. Tbh, I think the Strength melee, Dex ranged system is there just to make simple things even simpler. It would make much more sense to me to have all weapons usable with either Strength or Dexterity, they would just have different modifiers for stats working better with specific weapons.

Hammers with strength, Rapier with Dexterity.

[dry lintel]

can someone plz answer my question

[queen egret]

i sort of homebrewed something like that while adapting a ff6 class for my dnd campaign

you prevent the spell from being cast and absorb the spell slot used to make it though

[cerulean seal]

What book is the time dragon from?

[heady stream]

Planescape

[dry lintel]

as Omegon said

Planescape

[cerulean seal]

Spell casting is easy, under their actions sections just give them a spellcasting feature. This is what the one on the Ancient Red Dragon looks like:
Spellcasting. The dragon casts one of the following spells, requiring no Material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability (Spell save DC 23, +15 to hit with spell attacks):

At Will; Command (Level 2 version), Detect Magic, Scorching Ray (Level 3 version)
1/Day Each: Fireball (Level 6 version), Scrying

just adjust that with some time related spells

The legendary actions I think you can literally just change the name of the section from "reactions" to "legendary actions" and the little blurb with LA/Lair stuff and be done with it.

[hushed lily]

Anyone here do online games and want me fr? I have experience in game

I miss playing so bad

[severe trellis]

Does Valkirhund sounds cool for a Dog-Spirit companion? Like a Spirit that looks and acts like a big dog but is supernatural

[cerulean seal]

#find-a-game

[hushed lily]

Ty bro

[hollow siren]

re: my prior issues with the elemental wild talent feats and damage, i am thinking of reworking them to essentially be agonizing blast for the specific cantrip the feat gives in place of swapping out other damage types, with multiple limitations

[severe trellis]

Would Psychic damage be the one yall most assosiate with Fey?

[coral delta]

Sure.

[hollow siren]

this is the reworked version of Atmokinesis (note that it requires a homebrew fire bolt clone i made, which deals lightning damage, rename lightning bolt (3rd level spell) to fulminata and name the cantrip lightning bolt optional, because shocking grasp is a great back up spell but terrible as the main shtick of a feat for a caster):

Atmokinesis
Wild Talent Feat (Prerequisite: Can’t have more than two other Wild Talent feats, can’t have more than one other Wild Talent feat from either Cryokinesis or Pyrokinesis)
You gain the following benefits:

Psionic Talent:
You know the [Lightning Bolt/Lightning Blast] cantrip. You also always have the Fog Cloud spell prepared. You can cast it once without a spell slot, and you regain the ability to cast it in that way when you finish a Long Rest. You can also cast it using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level. When you reach character level 3, you also always have the Gust of Wind spell prepared and can cast it the same way.

When you cast these spells, they require no Verbal or Material components, and Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for them (choose when you select this feat). Even though you chose the modifier of all the spells and cantrips granted by this feat when you selected it, all the spells and cantrips granted by this feat count as if they were prepared or learned by all of the classes you have levels in, but don’t count against the total number of spells prepared and cantrips known.

Storm Shaper:
When you cast the cantrip granted by this feat, you add the modifier chosen by this feat to all of its damage rolls a number of times equal to the damage die rolled (up to a maximum of 4 times total for each damage roll). When you reach character level 6, you also add an additional bonus damage die to its damage rolls. The cantrip granted by this feat does not benefit from any other features that add the modifier chosen by this feat.

When you reach character level 3, you add the modifier chosen by this feat to all damage rolls of any spell or cantrip that deals Lightning damage (except for the cantrip gained from this feat.

note, the alternative is no multiplicative bonus and just a one modifier bonus thing instead of it being multiplicative

the one mod bonus is one i have already drafted too. Its more or less the dame otherwise

[dry lintel]

got it, thanks

[hollow siren]

this is part of a larger rework of wild talent feats that ill be consolidating into a single document BTW

that document is still being drafted. I just wanted to survey/opinion test on that specific issue above though

[severe trellis]

I think I need some help making a bito f Subclass flavortext/intro more concice

"The bond between Humans and Dogs is one that is as old as the idea of Civilization itself. Dogs are Humanity’s Oldest and most loyal companions. Through their bond to Humans, Dogs have managed to work their way into the everyday lives of almost every humanoid race in existence.
This ancient, powerful love and bond has managed to create a new creature, beings embodying that love between Humanoids and Canines, some of them are spirits of beloved pets who passed, reincarnated while others are the manifestations of childhood dreams for companionship."

I think this feels a little clunky but IDK how else to refine it

[dry lintel]

I do need help rewording the timing of Temportal Lag. At the moment, it reads: "Until initiative count 20 of the next round, the affected creature can move or take an action on its turn, not both." I need help with wording it so that it uses the intended duration without relying on initiative like lair actions did.

[polar galleon]

is it normal for a class to get nothing on levels 2nd, 7th, and 13th

[misty trellis]

Iirc the Warlock has something like that. Perhaps it's not "normal", per se, but you can definitely get away with it.

[hollow siren]

yes assuming its spellcasting. Depends if not

even for casters it also depends too

[polar galleon]

currently (im considering cutting the spellcasting subclass) one subclass is a caster

[hollow siren]

thats fair. I mean a good way to determine if its fine is to compare it to arcane trickster

[native gale]

The only time a class ever gets "nothing" on a level is when one or more of their base features improves dramatically at that level. So for example, clerics get nothing at level 9, that's when they get 4th level spell slots.

[misty trellis]

I say if you're going for something mostly focused on not-spellcasting, it might be good to stick with the established stuff.Then again, I'm a rando on the internet that literally just showed up when you happened to ask that question.

[hollow siren]

to add: or when they get a scaling resource and even then resource scaling should be big enough to justify nothing

[polar galleon]

Its a very complicated class --albiet most of the complexity is my lack of knowledge of dnd terms and introducing mechanics via features -- involving resource management and a lot of flexability so

[hollow siren]

I’d be happy to take a look and/or if you want to run stuff by me via here or DMs to not clog the channel

[polar galleon]

i would share the class but im currently rewriting it to be more in line with other classes in base game (2024)

[cerulean seal]

Every level should be doing something for your class. Weather spell slots, or an improvement to a former feature, or even something ribbon

[polar galleon]

if youre okay with a lot of newbie style homebrew be my guest

[native gale]

If you're not familiar with D&D terms, you probably shouldn't be trying to design a homebrew class. That is quite literally the hardest homebrew project you can take on. It absolutely requires a great depth of knowledge about the game and its design/balance/mechanics

[polar galleon]

would it be balanced out by a level giving multiple new actions or features? my subclass levels are especially bad for this

[hollow siren]

i’d be happy to provide feedback. With this being said, i would echo collosus’ advice. Start small with a spell or item. You should have a passing understanding of the game and its mechanics before making a class

[hollow siren]

this works but it also can go really off the rails. So i guess it depends

[cerulean seal]

I’m not sure what you mean by this.

[hollow siren]

to be a walking stereotype lol

[polar galleon]

ive recently read the 2024 dmg cover to cover and im currently reading the ph so my terms are fresh in my brain, the class writing im talking about is sprawled over like two months, the start having the more unsavoury examples

[hollow siren]

i assume they mean like maneuvers or new ways to use an action/reaction/bonus action

[hollow siren]

ah i see. I was just saying because you said youre new to the nomenclature

[cerulean seal]

Yeah I would need an example. Because Rogues get a bunch of cunning actions they can do

Monks have all of their stuff

Fighter battle master has maneuvers

[polar galleon]

I meant like: Level 5 one of the subclasses grants the player 2 features, both adding value to previous subclass features, and two actions that play off of the established features

[cerulean seal]

Oh you mean like class progression

So level 5 is usually dedicated for extra attack

Unless this is a spell caster

[hollow siren]

these seem fine. Depends on the class overall but the idea is fine

[cerulean seal]

Is this a full caster, half caster or martial?

[polar galleon]

So... its currently two martial subclasses and one caster subclass

[cerulean seal]

Talking about the core class

[polar galleon]

martial

[cerulean seal]

Then 5th level needs to be extra attack

What you do is you go “is my class a martial, half caster or full caster” then you look at the other classes of that type and compare power levels and mechanics and identity

What can you do differently, what can you compare your stuff to, what niche can you fill

[polar galleon]

thats what i did when creating the table and i looked a fighter and saw every slot was filled

[cerulean seal]

Follow the general design standards

[polar galleon]

thats why i came here

[native gale]

Well, it doesn't need to be. Rogue does exist. Blanket "must" statements like that should probably be reserved until we see the class itself

[hollow siren]

i feel like gore is correct but collossus is right too. Generally EA is given at 5

But it doesnt have to be

[polar galleon]

to warn yall, the first part is not the standard i hold myself to currently but i need this advice before i can continue rewriting it
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/world-1-fpan15/a/abyssal-warrior-article

[hollow siren]

provided you get another damage scaling shtick

[polar galleon]

it also includes terms tied to the campaign its linked to

[coral delta]

Are you homebrewing a class for your own character in a campaign you're in?

[hollow siren]

ill take a quick look. I gtg back to work soon but ill take a brief skim

[polar galleon]

im dming the campaign i just wanted my players to be able to play one of the driving forces if they so please. Its also because i really just like the idea of the class

[hollow siren]

first off, void weapons is not a weapon/item class

i question whether the idea can function more simply like monk weapons

[polar galleon]

i did say it has terms linked to the campaign

also void weapon is explained in the feature void star forge

[hollow siren]

i actually like this a lot. Kudos to you for immersion for your players

[hollow siren]

got it

[native gale]

So on top of creating your own class you've also created your own tool types, weapon types, and damage types

[hollow siren]

no I know. Im saying you should write that out but i wasnt sure you had already drafted and explained it later

damage type creation is iffy. Im torn on it but that feels like a lot

[polar galleon]

yes, theyre nothing that special its just that they are very intertwined to the other aspects of the world

[hollow siren]

specifically as its more complicated than it needs to be

and it also creates more work for you

[polar galleon]

yeah ive accepted that

[hollow siren]

Youd have to go through every enemy and determine if they resist or are vulnerable to it

[polar galleon]

not really because the two major forces (abyssal energy and ryneston) are new, they came from a catsrophe, theyre not an inherit part of the world

[native grove]

https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDHomebrew/comments/1pi5v8z/revised_circle_of_the_land_druid_subclass/

This is a link to a homebrew druid subclass i made. How does it look?

[red nebula]

heya dnd peeps. Quick question would it be too OP for a PC to eventually get 6th level spell immunity? (Similar to raksha) (levels 15-20)

[cerulean seal]

Probably? Depends on context I guess

[red nebula]

oh interesting, in what context would it be alright?

[coral delta]

It's only OP if the DM relies on enemies that use spells below 6th level. If they do, it's extremely strong. If they don't, it's useless.

Either way, it's a huge detriment to the player, because they are unaffected by their allies' Healing Word.

[hollow siren]

you could make them necrotic and radiant

but i get it

[polar galleon]

ive had this conversation with some others and i just really wanted it to be distinct, not for balancing purposes but to elevate the narrative they bring

[red nebula]

hmm interesting. So its a DM or campaign basis kinda thing.

[coral delta]

There's a discussion to be had about whether adding additional damage types is necessary. What did Void mechanically do that Necrotic or Force doesn't? Needlessly adding extra things for flavor doesn't make things better, it makes them bloated.

Simplicity is king.

[polar galleon]

As well as necrotic and radiant as a whole being tied to morality, where the new two are very separated from morality

[hollow siren]

I completely understand. I would suggest for simplicity sake however to introduce them as mechanics instead of new damage types like drakkenheim did to corruption.

[polar galleon]

pray tell i will go have a look at that

[hollow siren]

not necessarily. Necrotic is also thematically keyed to shadows

radiant is also keyed to starlight

[hollow siren]

yeah! You should.

Insofar as resistances go with necrotic/radiant, make a new class of creatures that then have their OWN interactions with the damage type

[native gale]

The important thing to remember about damage types in D&D is that they represent how the thing damages you. Its not an just an element attument like a pokemon move type. That's why there's no "water" damage type. Because the concept of "water" doesn't inherently damage something. If rushing water strikes someone with a lot of force, that's bludgeoning damage. If frigid water causes hypothermia, that is cold damage. Etc. So if you want to add your own damage type to the game, the question is how does that damage type represent a new way to damage someone? What does "abyssal damage" actually do narratively? It can't just be energy that's tied to the abyss. It has to represent a whole new way to injure someone

[hollow siren]

I wouldn’t go that far, but the idea is that

[polar galleon]

i didnt think about this, this gives more more worldbuilding to do lol

[hollow siren]

for instance, i think its fine to make astral and shadow damage distinct

and decouple them from necrotic and radiant

however I generally otherwise agree with collossus

[red nebula]

Ill make it so that 6th level spell immunity is heavily dm discretion.
(Spell immunity progression is DM discretion with a max of 6th level spells. Max gained at 20th level or end of campaign.)
thanks for the insight. I think this'll help.

[hollow siren]

at the very least the new damage type should be a last resort if you cant make an existing one work

[hollow siren]

concept wise, what are everyones thoughts?

[polar galleon]

i mean the concept of abyssal energy (as ive explained it) is it the oppsoite to ryneston, everything ryneston is, the abyss is not. Its very linked to space - more specifically the absence of matter.

[red nebula]

This might come off the wrong way but if your the DM cant you essentially do whatever?

[hollow siren]

i see. TBEH this feels way too much like necrotic

[polar galleon]

While necrotic is linked to decay, im not sure if radiant represents creation or rebirth the way i envision ryneston

[hollow siren]

i feel like a much simpler way to bring this to life, you can just make unique interactions with the damage type

e.g. if a creature or class has the void/ryneston tag, they deal additional effects on all targets with the respective damage types

[cerulean seal]

Well like, antimagic fields exist and there is a spell that lets you cast that. That just cancels out all magic. So you could tie it to like a resources or a limited mode the player is in. Shouldn’t be always though

[hollow siren]

its a simpler fix is all im saying

[polar galleon]

im not sure what you mean by this

[red nebula]

oh

[hollow siren]

radiant can mean either starlight, radiation (in the case of sickening radiance); and holy energy.

[hollow siren]

simple. When x creature deals radiant/necrotic damage to another creature, y effect

[polar galleon]

ohh gotcha

[hollow siren]

the effects would then be keyed to the concept

[cerulean seal]

Antimagic field is an 8th level spells but legit you could make a capstone feature or high level feature that just makes the player antimagical but for a certain period of time like for 1 minute or something

[polar galleon]

the major theme in the world is nothing (the abyss/void), Everything (ryneston) and something

[red nebula]

right I have that as well (14th level feature) 😅

oopsie

[hollow siren]

interesting

yeah, i would consult the dungeon dudes’ drakkenheim campaign book for their unique corruption mechanics

in relevant part, corruption is a unique mechanic qnd thematically similar damage dealing effects merely use force

like the octarine bolt or whatever its called spell/cantrip

it deals force damage and triggers corruption mechanics IIRC

[cerulean seal]

Abyss is probably Nectrotic. “Everything” is Force since that’s like raw pure true energy

[polar galleon]

but i see it as necrotic is decay, which is something

the abyss is nothing

thats how i see it

[cerulean seal]

Then how does abyss even damage

What is a creature being hit by nothing doing?

[polar galleon]

The absence of not damage idk

[hollow siren]

Agreed. You could also deal force damage for each and have it trigger based on a tag system tho too

[hollow siren]

decay is still keyed towards the concept of nothingness

[cerulean seal]

The abyss is either doing no damage because it’s literally nothing.
Or it’s absorbing things into nothingness which is still Necrotic

[hollow siren]

nothingness and decay are conceptually similar if not at least adjacent enough to make it work

[polar galleon]

Erasure i feel is a better word

[hollow siren]

just bumping one last time if people have opinions. If not totally cool

[polar galleon]

erasure deletes the essence of what it erased, making what once was, nothing

[rigid ledge]

i have made a ranger beast master companion is ther any changes i need to balence this or make better https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/6140502-dragonwolf

[hollow siren]

this still feels like necrotic

[cerulean seal]

That’s still necrotic. Either this isn’t a damage type at all and is instead an effect that just makes things disappear which could be a thing.
Or this is Necrotic.

If I recall correctly, some vampires in DnD can literally permanently get rid of a a creatures maximum hit points

[coral delta]

The spell Disintegrate deals force damage, for example.

[hollow siren]

i like the idea of making unique rules around necrotic and tagging it as “Abyssal” which causes interactions

or you could simplify it as BOTH forces deal force damage but have mechanical tags

so that the Rynestone or whatever implicates some creation-y effect and Void/Abyssal another

[polar galleon]

unrelated but when i first came up with this class it was always This thing, but better and when i came up the new damage type, it was force but better and that has become a phrase we use

[hollow siren]

anyway. Would love people’s opinions on my WIP changes to the elemental wild talent feats to be multiplicative like that but again if not also cool

[hollow siren]

interesting concept

you could just use that

i think the reason a new damage type is getting suggestions to tweak is that it feels needlessly complex and like you can achieve the same thing with existing damage types

[cerulean seal]

The goal shouldn’t be to go “I want to do force damage but better” but rather how can you apply those existing damage types in a narratively fitting way into your campaign

[polar galleon]

im saying when brainstorming , everything i did was something already but better

[cerulean seal]

Magic missle does force damage.
But say… your monsters can deal force damage but extra effects

[polar galleon]

its just an inside joke

[polar galleon]

so youre saying its force damage... but better

[hollow siren]

i have to agree lol

Force damage with a bonus effect is just force but better

especially because force damage triggers no vulnerabilities

[polar galleon]

so why not just separate it avoiding making it more complicated

[cerulean seal]

No i'm saying you can just give every creature in this type of monster you are making have extra effects on their statblocks. "When they hit they do this thing"

[hollow siren]

because this is much LESS complicated to just use force damage and tag specific spells and effects as triggering specific effects or mechanics

[hollow siren]

bump. I was saying exactly this in addition to doing the same as a general mechanical matter

[polar galleon]

i dont know if i agree tbh, the damage type doesnt interact with anything outside of its opposite

its self contained so idk if it makes it more complicated

[hollow siren]

Even simpler. Void creature are weak to spells effects etc. that have the opposite tag, and vice versa

[cerulean seal]

It's not self contained though if you are making a class and monsters and spells that all use and deal this damage type. Then EVERY creature has to interact with it in some capacity

[polar galleon]

so theyre weak to ryneston, maybe even ryneston alligned damage

[hollow siren]

take this for example: Void Bolt, standard 1d8 force damage cantrip, and its special tag is void which triggers the mechanics around the void tag

and then for a class/subclass, all attacks made with a weapon have the void property

etc.

properties to spells/cantrips/items as a mechanical feature are so criminally underutilized and so much simpler to implement at times

[polar galleon]

Everything isnt quantifiable like light, holiness or brightness is, Nothing isnt quantifiable like decay, death, and darkness is. Something is quantiable, because something can be anything, which includes necrotic and radiant

[severe trellis]

Do you think it makes sense to have a distraction require an intelligence saving throw

[coral delta]

The Help action is a distraction.

No save required.

[severe trellis]

Yeah but an ability to distract that does something elseo ther than provide advantage on an attack.

[coral delta]

Well we can't really make any balance judgement without knowing what that other effect is.

[cerulean seal]

Just remember that DnD is still a system at the end of the day. A flexible system that allows us to create and adjust things to fit our narratives.
You shouldn't try to hold on super tightly to gamifying everything narrative when that work has already been done for you. You are just making things needlessly complex and ignoring the playtesting and balancing that has already been done for you just because you don't like the narrative of something.

If your players are happy with all the stuff then ignore everything everyone has said because this is your table and yours to run. As long as your party is happy. But yeah, this channel is going to have a very difficult time helping you due to all the differences and distinctions you are making

[hollow siren]

if youre making a distraction ability, use that one AT Rogue ability as a measure for it

[severe trellis]

I don't quite have the effect yet but I am thinking that it will either
1.Impose Disadvantage on the target creature's Attacks until the end of the target's turn

2.Impose disadvatnage on a Saving Throw like Dexterity or Strength until the end of the target's turn

[coral delta]

Does it deal damage? What action economy does it use? What's the range?

[dry lintel]

hey can someone plz answer my question?

[severe trellis]

I'll be a Bonus Action on the Player's part to command a Pet. It'll require the Pet's Action and the Range weill the Pet will have a 30 Foot walking speed and the distraction will be on one creature within melee range of the pet

[coral delta]

Initiative is the method by which time in rounds is tracked between turns. You want this effect to end on initiative count 20 but without mentioning the phrase initiative count? I don't think there's a way to describe this that isn't way, way wordier than just saying "initiative count 20".

[dry lintel]

not what I meant. this is a former lair action I am dealing with. What I want is fro the effect to last an entire round for each creature affected by it.

[coral delta]

"Until the start of the creature's next turn"?

[native grove]

https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDHomebrew/comments/1pi5v8z/revised_circle_of_the_land_druid_subclass/

This is a link to a homebrew druid subclass i made. How does it look?

[coral delta]

"Until the end of the creature's next turn"?

[cerulean seal]

I think you just say that then. "Creatures within the range of this ability are effected until the end of the creatures next turn"

[dry lintel]

that is the problem, what if the next creature in the turn order IS the affected creature, it would hardly last at all! (I am truning it into a legendary action for context)

[cerulean seal]

Why would the next creature in the order be the effected creature?

If there is an entire party

[coral delta]

"Until the end of the creature's next turn"

[native grove]

https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDHomebrew/comments/1pi5v8z/revised_circle_of_the_land_druid_subclass/

This is a link to a homebrew druid subclass i made. How does it look?

[dry lintel]

what I mean is since Temporal Lag is now a legendary action, it is used at the end of a creatures turn instead. what if the affected creature take there turn after the turn it was used. That is what I meant

[dry lintel]

Don't repost this in the same channel twice, you may be called for spam

[cerulean seal]

Ah I see

[native grove]

Sorry it’s just I was ignored last time

[dry lintel]

So, can you think of a solution then?

[cerulean seal]

Could just say 1 Round?
The 20 initiative count of the next round I think is fine to keep though since you are basically forcing that creature the debuff for both the round you are in AND the near end of the next round too.

[glad veldt]

So, I've been working on homebrew mechanics for a D&D campaign I'm building off the idea of replayability. I have 3 (or so) custom mechanics unique to this campaign:

• Ruin: A score similar to exhaustion that you get for going through the cursed mist.
• Gaze: The attention and likelihood your party runs into something you'd rather not encounter in the Mist.
• Ire: The attention and willingness to act against the party of the BBEG.

[dry lintel]

ah ok, I was gonna say, "but what if the creature has an imitative count of 21" or something, but then I realized it says NEXT round

[glad veldt]

I'm still Ironing out actual mechanics but I'd like advice:

Ruin: Gives a stackable -1 to constitution and Charisma you can only get rid of by leaving the Mist for a long rest (along with flavor side effects and potential disadvantage to certain rolls at high enough levels, including a boost to Gaze).

Gaze: Very much WIP. I've designed several versions of the mechanics and none hit quite right. related to random encounters frequency and difficulty.

Ire: A value gained whenever the BBEG takes notice of the party doing anything to thwart them, cannot be lost unless cinimatically applicable or the BBEG spends it to cause bad things to happen to the party (such as blocking paths, sending minions or lieutenants to fight them, preventing characters from being resurrected, capturing characters, locking an ability for a round or two, ect.)

[upbeat acorn]

I don't know if Ire needs to be made into numbers. it's not a bad idea, but I would just do it narratively

Ruin makes sense. There's also effects in the game that made you gross cause you're covered in acid or whatnot

and it's a way to make going into the bad place a risky proposition

[fierce dome]

ive been workshopping this sorc subclass that im going to be playing in an investigation/intrigue campaign soon, and looking for as much feedback as i can get lol:

https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-Ojb8pl-csjSeIj12vYY

i was initially concerned that it doesnt get any damage boosts, but then i went back and reread every official 2014 sorc sub, and only draconic and storm get any damage boosts before 18, and theyre relatively minor

even the 18th level ones i found werent really a big deal

and this is meant as a more supporty sub, focused largely on awareness and detection, so a damage boost doesnt really seem necessary

and yes, the capstone is basically a modified version of the foresight spell. i initally tried writing it as using that spell explicitly, but the modification involved just made the feature really wordy. doing it this way was cleaner

[frank leaf]

Tbh tho, there are definitely issues with early DND subclasses (I'm looking at you, Battle Rager barb). So maybe looking at the average subclasses would be better.
At the very least, adding combat utility would go a long way if you don't want this to be a damage class

(gimme a sec to read it srry)

[fierce dome]

it gets a decent amount to do during combat, i think

the campaign is using 2014 rules, so this is formatted as a 2014 sub. i did include a version of 2024's sorcerous restoration to get back sp on a short rest though. i figured that wouldnt be a huge deal

[native grove]

any comments?

[frank leaf]

Yeah, reading it, it's heavily abusable.

Tranquility needs changing

Although, it's strange to get at level 1

[fierce dome]

the first half shouldnt, its taken straight from astral elf

the first half is basically a ribbon

the second half im less sure of

[frank leaf]

Because there's no minimum you don't actually benefit from it til 4th level

[fierce dome]

hahahah good callout

it restores half as many sp as 2024's sorcerous restoration, so its weaker, but i didnt put a 1/lr restriction on it, which im guessing is what you think is abusable

[frank leaf]

Yeah, +1 Sorcery point per Hour rly only serves to empower coffeelocks, I'd say if you wanna keep it make it Prof. Bon. Sorcery points back on a short rest only once per long rest.

[fierce dome]

cant use prof bonus on class features. abusable via multiclass

the feature continues to scale even if you dont keep taking levels in the class

[frank leaf]

I mean, you can here, since you wouldn't have the required sorcery point maximum to actually use the sorcery points

You'd be stuck at 2/2 and couldn't get more

[fierce dome]

thats something they figured out in the early oned&d playtests and stopped doing it entirely. only tasha's-era classes or subclasses use prof bonus for scaling

and its part of why twilight cleric is so overpowered

[frank leaf]

☝️

[fierce dome]

wait what? im not sure i understand

[frank leaf]

There are places where it's okay, particularly like when it's use oriented but not feature improvement that's locked behind a subclass feature

[frank leaf]

You can't get back 6 sorcery points if your PB is 6 if you take just 1 level in Sorcery, since your max would still be 2

You overcap

And it gets wasted

You'd need minimum 6 Sorcery level to abuse it fully

[fierce dome]

okay i think i get it. 1/4 sorc level is still less than pb though

i think youre arguing to expand how many sp you get back on an sr

[frank leaf]

It is, but more abusable and less practical for those who don't want to abuse it

[fierce dome]

i dont understand how its more abusable

[frank leaf]

Yeah, and also removing the abusive portion

[fierce dome]

if anything, the biggest issue is that i didnt put a 1/lr limit on it like 2024's sorcerous restoration

[frank leaf]

. . . That's what I'm saying

But if you do it's so few points it's basically a ribbon feature

Why I mentioned the PB scaling

[fierce dome]

i mean, its meant to be a ribbon. the other 1st-level feature eats up most of the power budget at 1

scaling is
1-7: 1 sp
8-11: 2 sp
12-15: 3 sp
16-19: 4 sp
20: 5 sp.

prof is more than that

[frank leaf]

It's rly not strong. Blind sight you can get with a Fighting Style from a martial/half caster

[fierce dome]

all aberrant mind gets at 1 is telepathy and a spell list and its considered one of the best sorc subs

1st-level sorc features tend to be pretty weak

[frank leaf]

Tbf it's spell list is pretty good

[fierce dome]

all storm gets is a quick evade

[frank leaf]

Storm sorcer is pretty bad lol.

Bad example

[frank leaf]

All I'm saying is ik they tend to be weak, but making Tranquility Prof. Bon will by no means push this subclass over the edge

It'll just make it feel comfy before level 10

[frank leaf]

Alright, Macrocosm:

Needs some limit

Rn it can give you 3k miles of Blind sight at max level

Which even for level 20 is silly

"Spend up to x Sorcery Points" is all you need to fix it

Universal Reach gets broken by Macrocosm if you let that part be infinite, but otherwise it seems fine.
Level 14 looks good, and level 18 is tame, fine though.

[upbeat acorn]

I don't have all the details for this yet, but i've been turning this thought over in my brain lately. I was reading about 3.5, and realized bards were essentially a half caster back then, and I realized that kind of... felt right to me? and it started me down this train of thought that I kind of think DnD might have too many full casters? Like I said, I don't have this idea fully developed, but I essentially asked myself the question "What if wizards and sorcerers were the only "full" casters?". As in, 1-9 spell level progression and the amount of spell slots those classes currently get. And classes like Bard, Cleric, and Druid had fewer spell slots, maybe topping out at 7, to differentiate them from half casters, but got more other class features to compensate. Because Wizards are supposed to be this pinnacle of magic, and to be fair they do probably have the best spell list, but i feel like their supposed power is something overshadowed by other classes who also get better hit dice, proficiencies, class features, so on. I think it could strengthen their identity, and free up some power budget for the other current full caster classes. But there are obviously issues with it, and a lot of people would be unhappy with worse spell level progression in their class, so i don't know if it would overall be worth it. just kind of a bee in my bonnet

[native grove]

Does anyone have any comments on this subclass?

[fierce dome]

Shouldn't things be silly at 20 lol

I kinda liked the idea of being able to meteor swarm the moon

[frank leaf]

Not 3k miles of spell range/true Sight silly

For the whole party

[upbeat acorn]

No at level 20 your hunter's mark should go from d6 to d10, that's all the power you need

[frank leaf]

Vro, okay, slow it down, we are NOT pulling a Ranger 😭

(Screw the Ranger hater on the team, IK ITS SOMEONE, IT JUST HAS TO BE)

[fierce dome]

18 is essentially foresight, which is a 9th level spell, for free, then at a cost of 5sp after, so several times a day. Surprised you think it's tame

[upbeat acorn]

LOl

[fierce dome]

Especially since 14 shares those features with all your allies

[upbeat acorn]

Ranger mains suffer more than the guy born in bethlehem in year 0

[frank leaf]

Not all spells are created equal. Advantage doesn't stack so becomes a dead feature for a lot of characters who don't specifically build around that far off thing the campaign might not reach

Rogues hardly need advantage on checks they're already guaranteed to succeed, and Monks would get advantage against everyone the moment they knock someone over

Advantage on saves is prob the only strong portion tbh

[frank leaf]

Besides, you can't tell me you'll choose that everytime over more Twin Spell save or suck shenanigans

[hollow siren]

hot take: sorcerers should have gotten the psion’s no M or V components needed feature. Psions should instead have a feature where they get no V components needed and if they have both hands free the M component is satisfied

[frank leaf]

That kills the Gish subclass they made for Psion

Which is already too squishy for a Gish

[hollow siren]

Simple solution, the flesh weapons dont count anyway because they’re your own hands

i dont think that would count really as a non free hand considering that but easy clarification

[hollow siren]

agreed. At least bladesinger got armor. Flesh morpher didnt even get an unarmored defense IIRC?

ah. It did but its 2, and only at level 6 as a temporary buff

thats another revision i would make to the metamorph too

[upbeat acorn]

I hope it gets more when finalized cause it's a baller concept

I really wanna play a metamorph

[frank leaf]

It even takes more energy dice to do 😭

Unnatural flexibility at level 10 is lowkey better without even needing more energy dice

[hollow siren]

i agree on the psion overall too. like, the psion overall is a great class to refluff into a sorcerer based on int to really play the wizard prodigy. Sadly psion features dont include something that interacts with wizard spells because fire bolt with no incantations would be baller

[frank leaf]

They stack ik, but the fact that it eats energy dice for less than a Bladesinger's durability is sad

[hollow siren]

i know, thats salt in the wound lol

[frank leaf]

Overall, I feel like anytime you spend energy dice you should be able to roll them

No matter what, for something

Maybe smth minor the subclass to give, so that you never feel like you wasted them, just at the least, which would very much alleviate this subclass specifically.

[hollow siren]

while stuck in phone call hold Hell today, i gave more thought to my variant of Wild Talent feats with the multiplicative bonus for the elemental wild talents and i like it so much more because it doesnt have to do more for the psion to be to interact with the WT feats themselves

as a related thought

[hollow siren]

i agree tbh

[frank leaf]

Like, what if this subclass gave temp HP every time you rolled Psionic energy dice for a subclass feature* and not just when you take the Transformation? That's a fat load of Temp HP I think they could get away with this subclass eating Energy dice for.

[hollow siren]

I think, if i was redrafting the Psion and Sorcerer Spellcasting blocks i would draft them as follows:

Psionic Spellcasting. When you cast a Psion spell,
that spell doesn’t require a Verbal component, even if the spell includes “V” in its “Components” entry. In addition, if you have two free hands, that spell doesn’t require a Material component, even if the spell includes “M” in its “Components” entry, except Material components that are consumed by the spell or have a cost specified in the spell.

Sorcerer would just have the psionic casting as it exists currently

metamorph’s organic weapons feature would include a line that the hand formed into a weapon still counts as a free hand for psionic casting purposes

[hollow siren]

I actually like this a LOT. I would make this part of the 6th level feature and give them an unarmored defense with Int at level 3

[frank leaf]

Tbf, atp you could just give them the Mage armor spell

Hm. Thematically clashes but makes sense mechanically

[hollow siren]

honestly it feels more thematic to have Unarmored Defense and a bonus at 6th as its own sep thing

mage armor clashes thematically

and mechanically it works ok

here, i would rework Organic Defense to include the +2 AC bonus (and give it a +2 bonus to all Str, Dex, and Con saving throw rolls) and that you gain tem HP equal to the roll of your psionic energy die plus your int mod

[frank leaf]

NGL, what about an Improved Alter self spell? Spending Energy dice to cast Alter self, and when you do, you also get the benefits listed?

[hollow siren]

thats also a cool idea. Perhaps?

[frank leaf]

Altered self gives you natural weapons and lets you attack with spellcast mod anyway

[hollow siren]

im NGL i was initially a little repulsed by metamorph and the new transmutation wizard thematically (and still am TBH, because body horror, but this is good as they brought the idea to life well flavor wise and thus means WOTC made a cool concept that was well written and amazingly meat flavored), but these variant adjustments mechanically are BALLER

i like and appreciate the adjustments we have discussed here for being well thought out even if i would never play it lol

as a matter of preference tbf

[frank leaf]

Rereading Transmuter, and realizing they get a boosted Alter Self too. Tbh, I wish their boosted altered self worked on willing creatures

To distinguish these two

Transmuter being better at Transmutating anything, Metamorph better at just themsleves

[rapid phoenix]

Not sure if I'm asking in the right place, but Is it possible to create a custom True Strike attack spell for a +1 weapon?

[hollow siren]

i feel like this is good but metamorph shouldve gotten it too

[hollow siren]

honestly i love this too

rn it feels like 2024 transmuter just stole metamorph’s lunch lunch money and pants

like i cant tell if the UA 2024 transmuter wizard is a tzeentchian magi-mutant, nymphadora tonks, nicholas flamel, some combo of the above, or all of the above

[wraith cedar]

https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/2610682-the-red-sun

you guys think this might be too strong?

tried to host it as a replacement for banneret

[frank leaf]

5e Banneret in 5.5 is actually pretty strong lol. If level 7 was buffed, I'd argue it's realistically on par just due to the higher raw healing you can output from it (and didn't make you more MAD like the new does with Cha. Mod. to boot). The Charm/Frighten comes too late for the new one.

But lemme get to reading your intended replacement

[next gust]

If the fighter gets to level 11, Mark of faith would give the fighter an extra 21d4 damage over the course of 6 rounds? Accounting for action surges too.

[wraith cedar]

it's 1d4 per 2 hit dice spent

so at most only 10d4

[frank leaf]

okay, so, level 3 is kind of a mess, the rest seems fine. Also, I keep seeing multiplications, when you could just say "a number d4 equal to" for example

Not tryna be rude btw, I just mean it's not very strong and has a very vague/niche feature included

[next gust]

Clarify that in the description. It says one minute of light and damage.

[wraith cedar]

ye just not sure where the whole "21d4" is coming from

[lethal cedar]

Does this race seem overpowered or does it seem fairly balanced
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/s/3hrIRjz4dD

[wraith cedar]

uhhh... where is it?

there's no body text

or pdf

[frank leaf]

Honestly neither do I. Rn it reads as basically Divine favor, a first level spell, for 2 hit dice 😭

[next gust]

One round is six seconds in game. So the light and damage, according to the description, would last six rounds.

If every hit gives an extra 1d4 damage and you account for extra attacks and action surges at higher levels (lvl 11 in my example) you would potentially have an extra 21d4 damage over the span of 6 rounds.

The description needs to be cleaned up. It currently reads, if I spend 2 hit die I would get light and an extra 1d4 damage on each hit using my weapon.

[wraith cedar]

oh well over six rounds that's nothing.

[frank leaf]

A) Average combats don't last that long B) this is trading 2 hit dice for Divine Favor basically. That is by no means good

[wraith cedar]

I think the only ambiguity is how many hit dice you can spend.

[cerulean seal]

3rd level has some language issues which need to be corrected.

The second bullet on Voice of Dawn is probably too restrictive.

A lot of these features have resources this fighter is going to have to keep track of. X number per LR sort of things. I think there are probably a few too many. I would nerf one to make it unlimited use or buff them make those into just being a once per LR or SR thing.

[wraith cedar]

Cause I'd think one would spend as much hit dice as possible there

[cerulean seal]

too many features that are PB times per LR imo

[lethal cedar]

huh

[lethal cedar]

Did... did you read it?

I don't understand

[wraith cedar]

I did my post has no body text

maybe my browser is whack

[lethal cedar]

Okay now I'm genuinely confused

[frank leaf]

Anyway, Blessing of the Sun is pretty weak/niche, same Voice of Dawn. Have you considered making the former just being able to use the Commanding Strike Maneuver by rolling a d4 and using the number rolled?

[lethal cedar]

I guess maybe I could like, dm you the images of the main race and the feats

[wraith cedar]

i forget what commander strike does

the intent is d4 per two hit dice spent

[frank leaf]

I can read it. Hm. Not a lot of mechanical justification to call them half dragons. They lack the Natural AC of Dragon born, but once per short rest immunities more than make for that.

[lethal cedar]

Guess the spellcasting is kinda where you can argue they are draconic

Though man those free spells...

[frank leaf]

Ik, for the damage portion, I meant for the "replacing attacks for a command" feature

[frank leaf]

I mean they're a little too draconic

[umbral dust]

I figured I'd post this here as I just got done with the finishing touches. a few people here helped me with the weather tables a few weeks ago so thank you to whomever remembers me lol

it's a (hopefully) intuitive skeleton for a travel system i developed to solve some problems i had with RAW d&d travel in exploration heavy campaigns and can be modified for any setting or environment. let me know what you all think!!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PaQG1oYXxDTjlkdPjuaw5xLlrM5aMLJAVTvIfhldWHc/edit?usp=sharing

[wraith cedar]

it's 2d10 at high level

[frank leaf]

As in they lack things to tie them to their other ancestry

[lethal cedar]

I mean... dragon genetics is kinda super dominant

[frank leaf]

Yeah, but atp you could flavor playing a Dragonborn as playing a half-dragon since there isn't a huge mechanical difference from yours. Only the spells which still lean them Dragon side.

They even get a fly speed in 2024e

[lethal cedar]

Granted this is stated to be a 13 race

[wraith cedar]

seems kinda world specific then

[frank leaf]

Draconic Resolve and Potent Breath are cool though, wish 2024e did more with racial feats.

[floral fjord]

Hey yall, I’m modifying Path of the Wildheart to fit my character and am trying to figure out a replacement for the 10th level feature (ritual casting commune with nature) that preserves the idea of it being a nature/primal-themed utility feature without stepping on the toes of the druid in my party. Any ideas?

[lethal cedar]

I do like that the gold and red have different spells

[queen egret]

It is very cool and you should check it out

[lethal cedar]

Command is very in character for a gold

[cerulean seal]

Out of curiosity is this supposed to be related to the half-dragon monster statblock?

[queen egret]

YOOOO, someone else made a half-dragon! I use one I made myself.

[frank leaf]

It says 1d10 max. But, like, I mean it's rly niche. Even spells that involve speaking a phrase have a hard limit, so maybe you could just make it the next check the make like Bardic Inspiration?

[lethal cedar]

Pretty sure. Like a dragon and a humanoid for these

[queen egret]

Aww, gold dragons should get disguise self and alter self, not command

[frank leaf]

True, that'd be cool.

Maybe Sleep at least

Since they have that breath now

[queen egret]

to be more distinctive from dragonborn i used a mix of dragonborn and elven traits and a little from the half-dragon monster stat block

[frank leaf]

Anyway, if you made it like Bardic Inspiration it would be ridiculous, but maybe if you wanted to lean into the Hit Die spending, you could make the one minute of 1d4 radiant only cost 1, and let them be able to spend more hit dice for the check boosts?

Just flat d10s whenever they spend hit dice

[lethal cedar]

Arguably all metallics should get disguised self but I suppose half dragons don't have it so hey

[queen egret]

some metallics are even more likely to blend into society than others so those absolutely should get those

[lethal cedar]

Coppers not getting Viscous mockery is crazy

[wraith cedar]

it's 2 dice tho in the ability

[frank leaf]

"The ally can add the die to their next D20 test related to that command before the end of their next turn
Your die size changes with your fighter level:"

Die, not dice

[wraith cedar]

oh wait nvm it's only one

confused the features

ye I guess they don't wanna outshine the bard

[frank leaf]

If it costs hit dice, it's rly not that big a deal. That way the feature is streamlined and imo more practical (besides, Bard gets way more by level 5)

[wraith cedar]

iirc chromatics don't get any shapechanging

but ye i guess it depends on color

[lethal cedar]

Yeah only Metallics naturally can change their forms. Among them notably only golds can still fly while disguised.
There was a blue dragon that learned how to disguise as a storm giant however

[wraith cedar]

@lethal cedar imo races should just grant one lvl 1 spell and 1 cantrip and that's it. and frankly that's pushing it.

you can give them more features tho if it's cantrip only

[lethal cedar]

I guess at least its additional spells with level up

I mean hey drow get faerie fire and darkness

[wraith cedar]

might have to dm it to me cause im not sure how one gets "additional spells" just from their race

[wraith cedar]

ye but those spells are situational at best and that's it

something like shield is obv too powerful for a race spell

[lethal cedar]

Alright

[queen egret]

tiefling get spells too

[queen egret]

githzerai moment

love gith

i guess wotc never agreed with you about this

yanki also get misty step worth considering

armor of agathys from levistus tiefling also looks great

oooh, cure wounds

can't believe this one message made me realize how many banger racial spells there are

[wraith cedar]

legit never someone play a githzerai

*never seen

[queen egret]

an op race would attract players i think
therefore it's not op

👍

[umbral dust]

i play a githyanki in a campaign i'm in but yeah githyanki/zerai are incredibly rare just because they're a weird race

there are infinitely more interesting things to play

[wraith cedar]

also iirc it has drawbacks

[queen egret]

it actually doesn't

the zerai traits table is nothing but upsides

free invisible mage hand, shield, detect thoughts, psychic resistance, advantage against charmed and frightened

peak, i think

[wraith cedar]

zerais don't get misty step til lvl 5 and mage hand til lvl 3

psychic resistance is the rarest damage type in the game...

also idk where you read this but they do not get advantage against charmed or frightened

they get proficiency with a weapon and a skill

oh at least yanki don't

it's cast shield or detect thoughts once per long rest not both

but yeh innate spellcasting and one resistance isn't OP

having innate spellcasting, a breath weapon, and a resistance is op

[next gust]

It seems fairly balanced, I am sure a little bit of work could be done.

As a dm I may not want my barbarian to cast a lvl 2 spell.

Although like some people were saying, Gith get Misti step and drow get darkness.

I would also reduce the breath weapon range. 15 foot cone and 30 foot line.

maybe,
the black dragon can spit acid at a point it can see within 30 feet. Each creature within a 10-foot radius sphere takes 1d12 damage. It may be cool to have more than just cones and lines, more choices.

[queen egret]

So you read an entire wrong thing. Zerai don't get misty step. They also don't get weapon proficiencies.

[wraith cedar]

ye I was reading yanki

zerais again, get resistance to the least common dmg type in the game

you only get one level one spell per day

[queen egret]

You can cast it as many times as you want with spell slots, the first is free

[wraith cedar]

and you get advantage against the two big mental effects

[next gust]

I would also be down to play test the race with you.

[wraith cedar]

it's not a spell that you know for spellcasting

that's not how racial spells work

Just cause you can use it once per day, doesn't mean it's added to your spell list

[queen egret]

"You can also cast either of those spells using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level."

[next gust]

Who determines how homebrew works?

[wraith cedar]

we're speaking zerai which is official

[queen egret]

I'm sorry but you are beefing with plainly available text.

[wraith cedar]

must've missed that. but like I said it's not even OP imo, cause then it hinges on picking a spellcaster

[queen egret]

yeah i never said it's op, the point is that shield as a racial spell isn't op

it's just cool

[wraith cedar]

like I said, a natural weapon that doesn't require hands, resistance to a common damage type, and innate spellcasting (above level 1 btw) is insane

[queen egret]

breath weapons are generally terrible tbh

[wraith cedar]

ye no one said it was.

but it's too strong to share with multiple big features

[queen egret]

when I made my own half-dragon i outright removed it because I kept forgetting it existed

[wraith cedar]

also it has straight up damage immunity

to the chosen damage type

at lvl 1.

[queen egret]

dragonborn already have that

chromatic fizban dragonborns can do it

[wraith cedar]

ye once per long rest as a reaction.

mind you the innate spellcasting also gives access to a 2nd level spell

[next gust]

Darkness and misti step are lvl 2

[wraith cedar]

and the breath weapon lets you choose charisma or con for the modifier which is insanely convenient

[wraith cedar]

we've been over this.

These spells like darkness are situational at best.

downright self-sabotaging at worst.

[next gust]

Darkness is extremely powerful

[wraith cedar]

lol no it isn't.

unless you have devil sight you also get the disadvantage in combat.

[next gust]

I agree to disagree with you

[wraith cedar]

there's a reason that almost everyone ive seen take darkness and actually use it was cause they were doing the warlock darkness + devil sight cheese

[queen egret]

any of the variant humans seem better than this tbh

[wraith cedar]

that's insane.

[queen egret]

using features as intended is cheese now

[wraith cedar]

I don't see how anyone can say that.

[lethal cedar]

I'd say if it gets some minor tweaks it could be fixed

[wraith cedar]

it's an intended cheese bro we both know why you picked those two things. I'm not saying it's bad but that doesn't change the fact that it's a cheese.

[queen egret]

"intended cheese"

this is just word salad atp

[wraith cedar]

yes all cheeses tend to be intended..

[queen egret]

I'm done. good evening.

[lethal cedar]

I do like the idea of an assassin rogue half black dragon using acid arrow is fun

[wraith cedar]

mind you the warding is also stronger cause this one has it as a reaction

instead of an action

[lethal cedar]

I mean only getting it for a turn as opposed to an entire minute

[next gust]

Cheese is tasty, all I’m gonna say.

[wraith cedar]

Because it costs an action.

reactions are inherently stronger because it's free actions, in a game that's controlled entirely by actions.

[umbral dust]

smart combinations of abilities are hardly cheeses

[wraith cedar]

also yours regenerates on a short or a long

the 1 minute one is long only

[lethal cedar]

I mean 10 turns of potential no fireballs is scarier than a single fireball

[wraith cedar]

also this ability is only gotten at lvl 5

yours is off rip at lvl 1.

[next gust]

Ball, I am lost.

[wraith cedar]

about what

[lethal cedar]

Yeah I would vote to move some of this to other levels

[wraith cedar]

im just not understanding why one wouldn't just play a dragonborn...

it's not like the flavor text matters whatsoever or anything

[next gust]

Flavor does matter to a lot of people.

[wraith cedar]

okay? then just reflavor it.

you don't have to make a super OP version of the dragonborn just cause you don't like the flavor text

[lethal cedar]

I WILL NOT PLAY A FORMER SLAVE RACE TO THE TRUE DRAGONS

[wraith cedar]

.....

[next gust]

It’s not OP

[lethal cedar]

Jk I like dragonborn lore

[wraith cedar]

it clearly is.

[lethal cedar]

I think its a little bit. Just move some things to higher level

[twin leaf]

What brought this up 😭 ????

[umbral dust]

is this the topic in question?

[wraith cedar]

it gets lvl 5 abilities at lvl 1, that are better.

Gets innate spellcasting with lvl 2 spells...

Gets a choice of what modifier to do on breath weapon in ADDITION to its increase in base damage.

[lethal cedar]

Yeah we've been talking about this

[queen egret]

while i like some of the ideas here, i also would rather have a more personalized half-dragon, so i homebrew my own mixing the traits of the parent species.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/species/2083371-half-dragon enjoy, my half-elf half-dragon

[wraith cedar]

also you get the damage immunity REGARDLESS of what color you pick

which is wild

in fizban's it was only reserved for chromatics

[queen egret]

the campaign i took this fire-immune half-dragon to was an aquatic one and thus the entire thing was worthless

[umbral dust]

darkvision, damage resistance, a breath weapon, a one-time immunity, and a set of spellcasting abilities?

it looks strong compared to other races, as tieflings only get the damage resistance and spellcasting ability and dragonborn get the breath weapon and resistance.

i don't think it's well balanced compared to other more races which typically get one larger feature (spellcasting, special weapon, etc) and a resistance

darvision is a staple of like 90% of races

[queen egret]

being immune to a single damage type is so hilariously blown out of proportion, but that reddit homebrew did get a little bit more than usual

[umbral dust]

i'd remove either the weapon or spellcasting ability if i were to use it in one of my games but yeah the one time daily use of a type of elemental damage immunity isn't really that crazy

[wraith cedar]

it's OP when it's A. lvl 1 instead of lvl 5.
B. resets on both a short and a long rest.
C. is an additional feature tacked on to all of them, rather than just chromatics.

and D. it's a reaction

[queen egret]

make it permanent no-cost and it's still countered extremely easily lmao

[lethal cedar]

Ideas I have to fix it up

• Move draconic ward to only be a once per long rest reaction at level 5
• Change some of the spells.
• Make the breathe weapons more similar to the red dragon veterans for a rough example

[wraith cedar]

it's overloaded my guy. Far outshines dragonborns

[umbral dust]

that sounds about fair

most races i see have a major feature like innate spellcasting and a minor feature like a damage resistance. a few things get extra stuff but nothing insane

[queen egret]

oh, this homebrew absolutely is just dragonborn+. i do it differently.
but single damage immunity is super overrated unless it's like, physical damage period

[umbral dust]

but yeah, what's the issue with not just playing a flavoured dragonborn? flavour is free

[queen egret]

that mage just flings a thunderball at you

[wraith cedar]

a damage immunity as a reaction is wild.

[queen egret]

boom fire imm worthless

[wraith cedar]

and again, all dragon borns get it

sorry *half-dragons

in this case. You don't have to pick chromatic to get it here.

I haven't even gotten into the color specific stuff yet

[lethal cedar]

Like gold dragons... Heat metal is just too scary for them

I will give brass dragons speak with animals.

I mean thats a thing with them

[queen egret]

any vaguely intelligent enemy can tell fire won't do well against a red-colored draconic creature, so it makes sense for the dm to throw a thunder chromatic orb at you at that point

it could nullify a trap that only does fire damage i guess

[lethal cedar]

Maybe the brass dragon gets say... produce flame, speak with animals, and calm emotions

[queen egret]

i only play dragonborn and i cant remember the last time my resistance actually cut damage

[lethal cedar]

Half debated giving the brass dragon a cantrip and 2 first level spells

Friends, speak with animals, comprehend languages

[queen egret]

clod, my suggestion is don't bother homebrewing an entire race with every single subspecies

[wraith cedar]

again seems like dragonborn just do all this stuff

[queen egret]

decide on a character, pick a dragon, then work only on that

[wraith cedar]

and more balanced

[queen egret]

14 dragonborn are sort of a nothing race, 24 and fizban dragonborn are cool though

[lethal cedar]

Fair enough

I guess just a draconic sorcerer dragonborn can be flavored as a half dragon

[wraith cedar]

almost seems like fizban buffed it then 2024 nerfed again

[wraith cedar]

so then just do it with dragonborn. huh?

[queen egret]

i really can't pretend to care about flight

[lethal cedar]

Yeah me either thats too extra

[wraith cedar]

flight is the bane of lazy dm's everywhere.

but ye it's not that strong

[lethal cedar]

Anyway for an actual homebrew thing I had I tried to make a race get basically a dragonborn breath weapon thats a single target melee bite

[queen egret]

my half dragon had like

• a free wizard cantrip (elf)
• immunity to magical sleep, advantage vs charmed (also elf)
• immunity to fire
• darkvision

due to his personal lore he couldn't grow wings until lv14 of drac sorc and couldn't use a breath weapon, sort of a defective birth. in reality i just didn't care enough about the 1d12 breath to make it occupy space on the character sheet.

[lethal cedar]

So I got this:
Strongest Bite. When you take the attack action on your turn you can replace one of your attacks with a special attack with your bite. If the attack hits, the creatures 2d10 piercing damage + Your strength modifier and you grapple them, so long as the creature meets the requirements. This damage increases by 1d10 when you reach 5th level (3d10), 11th level (4d10), and 17th level (5d10).

You can use your Strongest Jaws a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

For a T. rex themed race

[umbral dust]

You could have a look at reflavouring a vampire race? They have bite weapons

[lethal cedar]

Yeah but a vampire bite is like a lil peck compared to what the strongest bite attack is supposed to be

[next gust]

I would do 1d10 bite.

Bite and grapple

[lethal cedar]

Normal bite attack is a 1d6

[queen egret]

i would rule that you gotta bite the dm, and if they're hospitalized from it it's a 4d12

[lethal cedar]

Just this is them basically doing a full force bite thrashing

[umbral dust]

Critical hit if they get like sepsis or something

[queen egret]

HAHAHAHA

[umbral dust]

Ah fair enough, it looks balanced enough

[next gust]

You could do 1d10, if the enemy is still grappled at the end of their turn they take 1d6.

[umbral dust]

It looks to be mechanically just a melee fire bolt with a limit per day

And the grappled condition explains the limit

[lethal cedar]

There was also the nanotyrannus subrace that instead gets the tabaxi be like this.
Tyrant's Agility. Your reflexes and agility allow you to move with a burst of speed. When you move on your turn in combat, you can double your speed until the end of the next turn. Once you use this trait, you can't use it until you move 0 feet on one of your turns.

[next gust]

How would you flavor a bite and thrash to only once a day? Wouldn’t you need an explanation?

[lethal cedar]

Main stuff the base race gets is
Darkvision
Prof in perception and athletics
1d6 bite

[umbral dust]

Teeth hurt

[lethal cedar]

You gotta pump yourself up to being out the raw rage if your tyrant kin

[next gust]

True true

[lethal cedar]

The race for Gigantosaurus gets a bite attack that leaves a gaping wound

Gaping Wounds. When you hit a creature with your bite, you can force it to make a Constitution saving throw equal to 8 + Your Constitution modifier + prof bonus. On a failure the creature suffers a gaping wound. A wounded creatures loses 1d4 hit points at the start of each of its turns due to blood loss. Any creature can take an action to stanch the wound with a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine) check. The wound also closes if the target receives magical healing.

You can use this wounding effect a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

If you wanna know why these two similar races have different bites: T. rex crushed bones while Carnosaurs like Giganotosaurus and Allosaurus killed their prey with blood loss and shock

[next gust]

Do you like yuan ti?

[lethal cedar]

The Pachycephalosaurus race i made is unironically just the Minotaur race and it came about inadvertently

[lethal cedar]

I mean i like their lore their neat still funny to me they got away with purebloods getting a damage AND condition immunity and advantage on magic saving throws

[next gust]

Hey I mean they’re rare

[lethal cedar]

Played a homebrew class Malison once

[umbral dust]

oh my god yeah poison IMMUNITY is nutty for a racial feature

i would defo rule it as immunity to snake-related venom, or nonmagical poisons

makes no sense to me that a yuan-ti can walk through a cloudkill just because it happens to be a snake

[next gust]

I agree

[lethal cedar]

I gave one of my races immunity to specifically ingested poisons

[umbral dust]

yeah i think immunity with conditions works better than just a general immunity

[lethal cedar]

The reason being its a scavenger and in their culture eat rancid meat

[umbral dust]

because d&d isn't a videogame and context exists

[wraith cedar]

yay my DM is letting me play the red sun!

[next gust]

I thought yuan ti were just resistant?

[umbral dust]

dark sun?

[lethal cedar]

RED SUN OVER PARADISE

I think i made my Microraptor race arguably kinda weak

[umbral dust]

volo's is immune, mordenkainen's is resistant

[next gust]

Got it got it. I have a player who is yuan ti, I’ll have to tell him he is not immune.

[umbral dust]

i mean yeah it depends on which version he's using

[lethal cedar]

Size. Wei are some of the smallest of Saurians. Standing only around 3 feet tall and weighing only around 30 pounds. Your size is small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Talons. Your talons are natural weapons. You can use them to make unarmed strikes, dealing 1d4 + Dexterity modifier piercing damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage that you would normally deal for an unarmed strike.

Limited Flight. You have a flying speed of 40 feet. To use this speed you cannot be wearing heavy armor or carrying heavy weapons. You must land at the end of each of your turns. If you do not, you begin falling slowly at a rate of 60 feet per round at the end of your turn, taking no fall damage.

Small Thief. You can move through the space of a creature that is of a size larger than you.

[umbral dust]

i like small thief with the idea of rolling under an ogre's legs like you do in shadow of war lol

[lethal cedar]

Took it straight from halflings

[umbral dust]

lol

i'm more a DM so i only really read up on the races my players are

[wraith cedar]

red sun

[lethal cedar]

Fair

[umbral dust]

my PHB is in pristine conditon despite being a year old

[wraith cedar]

spell resistant

[next gust]

Yes they are also spell resistant

If yall want to help me. I want to make mechanics for how a yuan ti transformation ritual takes place.

[umbral dust]

how in-depth do you want it to be?

[lethal cedar]

Is limited flight too nerfed or is it okay

[umbral dust]

falling 10 feet per second with zero fall damage is a little confusing but otherwise no it just seems like a cooler jump spell

[lethal cedar]

Main reason for the lack of carrying some things is unlike Aarakocra the Wei have to use their arms as their wings

[umbral dust]

that's fair enough

i don't think it's particularly underpowered

[lethal cedar]

I thought fir the hadrosaur race could get a sorta choices for their call like you can pick 1 option and an additional one at level 5 and then a feat for an additional one

Like, a call that behaves like rally

[umbral dust]

giving a racial feature as a feat is a little strange but yeah it's cool

[lethal cedar]

Basically the idea is "you get X options pick 2," and the feat lets you grab another

Like say a rally call that gives a certain number of teammated with temp hp and a soothing call to end like the frightened condition

[next gust]

As in depth as it can be

I want to do a prologue with the character before the first session. Maybe, have him make a few rolls. He states in his backstory that he is rescued before the ritual is completed, so he wouldn’t see the whole “system” through.

[wraith cedar]

unless he has to go stop another one

dangit

[umbral dust]

The reincarnate spell requires 1,000gp worth of rare oils as well as a verbal and somatic component. Considering you want to transform into a specific race, those oils could be replaced by various types of poison and the heart of a giant snake or something. Anything that would solve the problems of "how do we turn this person into a half-snake?"

As for the verbal and somatic components, maybe it would require multiple casters for a specific amount of time?

[lethal cedar]

I know from Volo so grain of salt involves bathing in the blood of humans and serpents

[umbral dust]

Yeah a pool of Serpent blood could equally work with a bunch of shamans chanting stuff lol

[next gust]

That sounds like a blast, have him make some con saves.

[umbral dust]

Defo lol

[severe trellis]

very much work in progress but I have most of my new rough draft for the houndsmen! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IEeR9semTrptFCP9EAyd9dZBwxyS5gb0GRP8L30eM_4/edit?usp=sharing

I need a capstone but I hope it all feels good and flows well until then, and of course I need to make the statblock for the Valkirhund

[proven pawn]

Condition immunity is simply they cannot be affected by that condition. So if they are say a large creature that is surefooted, maybe they can't be affected by the prone condition

[cerulean seal]

Is this 7th level feature busted for a treasure hunting/genie ranger?

Level 7: Magical Collector
Once per day as a bonus action, you can touch a magical item that has charges and restore a single charge to it.
Additionally, when you touch a magic item, scroll, spell book, or other source of magic which contains a spell. You can spend 1 minute learning its contents and copying the targets spell to your list of prepared spells permanently. You must have access to a spell slot capable of casting the learned spell. You can learn a number of spells this way up to your Wisdom modifier. You can choose to replace previously learned spells from this feature with any new ones you discover causing you to forget the previous spell.

[proven pawn]

this is balanced especially giving this specific subclass of ranger more spell versatility and having access to more prepared spells, very good for helping ranger be a better class

[tough compass]

I may actually have a homebrew addiction this shit is killing me lol

[proven pawn]

I mean its good, because just like modding games for your enjoyment, you can do that with homebrew, as long as it is balanced and doesn't take away from other players enjoyment

[tough compass]

Yeah, I’m just getting too into it heh

I’ve done some minor not good homebrew before but after getting pissed at artificers LIES and DECEPTIONS I was like “oh I’m gonna just make like a quick outline for a theoretical subclass up to 5th level”

Anyways I’ve developed a new spellcasting system, all the main progression pacing for a now full new class, and I’ve planned out five subclasses for it

It’s been like three days

[proven pawn]

Welcome to becoming the perma dm

It starts with this, then, worldbuilding, then npcs and adventures, storyline hooks, good interactive roleplay scenarios, then you realize 5 years has gone by and you should've just written a book

[tough compass]

Oh no I’ve never dmed

My sibling on the other hand does, and they also went to college for game design, so we’re kinda working on it together but im doing most of the development and balancing and I’ll just be running the systems by them so we can fix broken things

We’re going to start play tests once I’m confident the first subclass entirely functions up to level five and the spellcasting system doesn’t have anything notably flawed without testing

The goal is to have it properly balanced and ready to run in oneshots at level 3/5 (depending on who’s involved) and then later level 9

[proven pawn]

I wish you luck in this endeavor

[tough compass]

If it really does work and is balanced at level nine I’ll see about running it in a campaign after that

[tough compass]

Thank youuuuu

I should probably specify, it’s a cartomancer

[proven pawn]

So it messes with maps?

[tough compass]

Cartomancy is the term for fortune telling with cards 😭

But wait a map based spellcaster sound both stupid and way too fun to make so I need to stop lol

Cartomancer is maybe a temp name since it has the fortune telling connotations

The base class uses magical cards to cast spells, the PC is not actually magical themselves

I am planning a fortune teller subclass though because like come on it’s the easiest thing ever lmao

[proven pawn]

Hmmmmmm

Indeed

Getting major Dr. Fauciler Vibes

[tough compass]

Brb gonna look that guy up

OH HIM

[proven pawn]

Yeah

[tough compass]

GODDAMNIT I don’t have anything vodooish planned and I’m not letting myself go over five rough outlines for subclasses

But he’s so cool

Maybe I can get rid of the jester, it was too high concept and impossible to conceptually balance anyway

[proven pawn]

Easy to balance

• can be a good bard subclass

[tough compass]

Trust me you have no idea what I mean by jester here and if you did I’d probably be banned from homebrewing lol

No loss, it was way too complicated for how rough of a sketch it was anyways

Rn I’m just making the most sensical one the first one, because it was originally just kind of part of the class but then my sibling was like “why not make this mechanic a subclass” and I was like “oh yeah it literally progresses at the same rate as vanilla subclasses do let’s go east change”

[tough compass]

It did just occur to me though that the original concept for the jester was to be focused more on skills and I probably just subliminally copied the bard vibe into my homebrew lmao

[proven pawn]

Happens all the time with homebrew, it's a very common occurrence

[tough compass]

The funny part is I thought I was copying rogue lmaooo

Anyways the other half of the jester subclass was gonna be a challenge type deal but I’ve already deleted the whole document for it I spent like 40 mins on and replaced it with the word “voodoo” and I feel genuinely better about it

I might make it an enchantment/minor power stealing subclass but that’s gonna take a loooot of research first as I’m not familiar with any standards for that in dnd

[proven pawn]

Can be done, by being a buff debuff class with some aspects taken from creatures

Like giving it a stat drain effect for hits with certain abilities, temp hp buffs, certain magical equipment functions being added or getting better

[tough compass]

Yeah, I was gonna look to see what some creatures have as a start

I don’t know what archetype voodoo would fill in a team tho. I really want the Magician to be support and we’ve already worked on that enough to go back on it

I mean actually the obvious answer (especially after your message) is to primarily be a debuffer for enemies and maybe some very slight personal buffs as a result

[proven pawn]

Well, they can also have special interactions with specific magic items like tarot cards, deck of many things, etc.

[tough compass]

Also do you think a gambler could work well as a spell sword? With the subclass system I’m going with I would like one that receives some minor bonuses to non-pure-casting

[tough compass]

Oh I mean the whole concept is already aligned with that

Haven’t written down lore yet in case something breaks and it contradicts a huge mechanical change but the basic idea is the class is a result of a normal non magical person being connected to a magical deck of cards that has a slight Will of its own, almost like a parasite

The logical way you’d get one of those is with a domt or other powerful magical deck, but ultimately it’s up to whatever fits the dms world lmao

Oh also the subclasses are a result of the deck attuning itself to the play style or philosophy of the pc

So cheaters become Cheaters, performers and the such become Magicians, people who view cards as representations of the world become Fortune Tellers, and I bet you can’t guess what happens to people who take risks

[proven pawn]

they become risk-takers?

[tough compass]

I called their class Gamblers

I’m so creative

[proven pawn]

Indeed

Or maybe Win Bigger?

[tough compass]

I mean really I worked backwards, got the class concepts and then did their role in role play, but I think it makes sense

[tough compass]

Idk what that means

[proven pawn]

Gamblers like to win, then they want to Win bigger

[tough compass]

I think I’d like that more if the alternative wasn’t so perfect and self explanatory

The gambler subclass is for players and characters who like to take risks and have a chance at some rewards. I reckon it’s going to end up a bit of a glass cannon as such but I’m not mechanically deep enough yet to say

[proven pawn]

Indeed there are a lot of gambler subclasses already out there though

[next gust]

Maybe call them Trailblazers.

[proven pawn]

plus having the class name in other languages ay inspire something

periculum homicidii

which is risk taker in latin

[next gust]

First to take the path they’re on

[proven pawn]

That could work

[tough compass]

Ohhhh true about the gambler name being common

I just really want the names to be directly related to the aspect of cards that they fulfil

You know, advantage, performance, divination, gambling

That’s the main four I’m on rn

[proven pawn]

Heh

gambling could be Deal-breaker

because a lot of gamblers break the deal when they lose

[tough compass]

And then the dealer breaks them

Oh shit wait I’m so dumb I should replace the plan for the magicians kit with a dealer and then make the magician do the rune/ward thing my bro wanted it to be mainly about

[proven pawn]

hmmm indeed

[tough compass]

Cause the plan was to make the magician about materializing the spell cards for others to use

Like that’s literally dealing your cards

[proven pawn]

That could be a very good vaible way to increase, there are classes that do that already, but it could be good

[proven pawn]

hmmm that would be good for a subclass just called the Card Master

[tough compass]

Ok that literally describes all of them

The entire concept of the class is mastering cards

[proven pawn]

Maybe thats the name of the class then

[tough compass]

You start with no control over them and your strength comes in large part from your ability to manage them

Perhaps, and it’s also like one sound off of cartomancer lmao

[proven pawn]

Then have it instead of a subclass call it a specialities where you can have
Cartomancer: Speciality of Magician

[next gust]

Where does the power of the cards come from? Sorry if I missed an earlier explanation.

[tough compass]

I think I’ll weirdly enough just be ditching the gambler subclass concept for the time being

He’s the least developed anyways, just the fundamental plan of what his stuff does with no balancing considered yet so it’s an easy loss

So the roles in order of how developed they are so far are:

Cheater
Dealer (stole from magician)
Tarot
Magician
Voodoo

Good plan for a supportive caster

[proven pawn]

This is gonna sound dumb but maybe instead of Voodoo, I would instead have it as Witch Doctor or Wiccan

[tough compass]

It’s a magical deck of cards, with a slight Will of its own that’s kind of like a parasite on the character who had the class. The magic is entirely within the cards

If you mean where do the magic cards get their magic, easy answer deck of many things, hard answer I’m probably going to come up with something more deep involving many many magic decks and how they engage with will

[stuck raptor]

deck of many class less gooo

[tough compass]

Oh yeah the name ain’t gonna be voodoo lol, that’s just the role it’s gonna fill

Witch doctor makes the most sense though it does etch further away from the cards, I’ll do some research on the more curse side of card lord irl tomorrow to finalize that name

[tough compass]

I’ve already started reading the book of many things just in prep for the lore I know I have to write

[next gust]

Haha love it. I like the gambler subclass. You could base it on Luck.

[tough compass]

Wasn’t gonna do lord at first, I was just gonna make is a character specific subclass, but I’ve developed it so far that I’m obviously gonna need a universal introduction to it

[tough compass]

Yeah see like I do think I should add it eventually but I want to square away five subclasses that fill certain needs first

It’s gonna be a tossup between voodoo and gambling for the last slot probably

It’d EASILY be gambler if not for the fact that the playing card game for profit thematic role wasn’t already filled by the Cheater, who was originally just the class in general

[proven pawn]

There are already a lot and i mean a lot of gambler classes out there

a voodoo one for a card user seems more thematic

Plus it would be cool if there was an option for the card user to be a half-caster, like how there are throwing knife cards that are metal and blade edged

[tough compass]

But do they have a magical card deck that actively encourages their gambling addiction for its own benefit

[tough compass]

You fool, gambler WAS going to be the spellblade lol

[proven pawn]

or the cards themselves can be either a thrown weapon, or a spellcasting focus that flips out in front of the card master hovering in the air, picking a card, and then flipping over casting a spell from it

[tough compass]

The class is based on warlock when it comes to health and armor/weapon proficiencies so they won’t NEED to be solely a caster

[stuck raptor]

i have the hikari(?) dance meme stuck in my head now

[tough compass]

Magician is going to do the being a weapon thing, as they’ll materialize the cards so they don’t need to be attached to a person to function

Still don’t know exactly how because I haven’t looked into wards and that’s what I was told to work off of for the first bit of it

[proven pawn]

a lot of their spells like maybe vine whip etc are thematicized as tricks like pulling out rope from their mouths, a set of flowers could be withering bloom etc

[proven pawn]

Wards are like runes, only they need a word of power, or some sort of activation source

[tough compass]

Gotcha, so that will be pretty different from normal functions

One sec let me get the thing

Card Components
“Touch spells require both the caster and the target to be in contact with the spell card. Verbal spells require the caster to announce the playing of the card, and any magic sounds from the spell will originate from the spell card. Somatic spells require the caster to perform the proper movements while in contact with the spell card. Ranged spells will originate from their card, but the card must remain with the caster.”

[proven pawn]

Yeah kinda sorta like an arcane deck of playing cards, with instead of a spellbook, your cards are your spellbook and spellcasting focus

Maybe even weapon if needed

like a multipurpose tool for a class thats entire thing is about cards

[tough compass]

Spellbook yes, very much so, arcane focus we’re actually debating each other on that one lmao

[proven pawn]

Maybe a specific tailored item to the class, maybe some glasses, or necklace, etc

[tough compass]

They think the deck should be physical but I want the cards to be an entity that is attached to the player, but can only come out WITH an arcane focus at which point it exists incorporeally

But also this class is explicitly allowed to use any deck of cards as a focus to summon it

Any non magical deck*

Remember, the player is not magic, they have no magic at all from the class

[proven pawn]

Arcane focuses unfortunately have to be something physical because if it is lost, then the player has to start keeping material compnenets

[tough compass]

Oh yeah that’s my point

I want the deck to be summonable with a focus, but if the deck is the magic and the focus then losing the deck just loses your class lmao

[proven pawn]

So then how would spellcasting work if they are not magical? spellcasting itself in dnd means you have some form of advanced connection with the weave

[tough compass]

You know how warlocks have patrons to give them magic

[proven pawn]

Have the arcane focus be a tatoo

[proven pawn]

I mean yeah true

[tough compass]

Ok you cooked so hard and that’s actually perfect but one sec

The idea is that the deck is like a patron but parasitic, so instead of GIVING you powers it makes you use its powers

[nova basin]

Everybody and their mom wants tattoo foci, me included

But its generally unbalanced unless it takes attunement

[tough compass]

At the current stage of my lore, people who have this class do not generally get to decide that they wanted to be this class

[proven pawn]

Yeah, have the deck be a form of magical being thats like a multiplanar thing

[tough compass]

I should have explained it like that the first time that’s literally what it is 😭

[proven pawn]

and its like a weave parasite that is attracted to people with latent magical potential that havent accessed their connection with it yet

[nova basin]

Honestly a spell monk is the best candidate to have a tattoo focus

[proven pawn]

so they choose to feast on it instead

[tough compass]

I guess I’m that case though I need to ditch the arcane focus that’s probably what’s confusing it

[tough compass]

True

[nova basin]

The UAs have been so close but so far from what could be

[tough compass]

I mean that would work as a reason for one person to end up like that

[proven pawn]

well all magic classes have to have a spellcasting focus of some sort which is some form of equipment

Unless you want this class to be able to cast spells without having and spellcasting focus whatsoever which would make it broken as hell

[tough compass]

Eventually I’m planning on playing it as a card cheat who would collect weird and rare decks of cards, but eventually started using magic decks to cheat, which eventually ended up in them accidentally becoming the victim of one of the decks that now clings onto him as he continues to search for decks

[proven pawn]

this is like that worm parasite dude in total warhammer 3 that just chooses his hosts for nurgles purposes

[tough compass]

Ok I am realizing that I do need a better way to define this

[proven pawn]

Yes

[tough compass]

I need to come up with a system where the player has an object that functions as an arcane focus but with significantly different flavor, while restricting the deck from ever appearing without the object

But also I need the deck to be able to exist as a parasite without the object, or the player could literally lose their class

Those last two points are the problem I think, they contradict each other.

[proven pawn]

Maybe as i suggested before

the deck of cards is the arcane focus and parasite at the same time

[tough compass]

Sorry got timed out cause I said a bad word

Yeah that’s what I meant tho

[proven pawn]

i mean it works

[tough compass]

You just need a physical deck of cards for it to imprint itself on to for the spellcasting itself

[severe trellis]

anyone got an opinon on my houndsman?

Also whatchall discussing right now I wanna see

[tough compass]

Since you are not magic you don’t need an arcane focus, but it needs a focus to be able to engage with you

[proven pawn]

unless you want the parasite to be, how do i say this, like a it gets into your brain type of thing and infuses the body with weave energy

[tough compass]

Card based spellcaster class

[proven pawn]

and it chooses a random deck of playing/fortune telling cards to exist in

[severe trellis]

how is this different than a spellcaster that flavors their spells with cards

[tough compass]

It does all of that except for the infusing your body with magic part. The decks in this context does not want to give you magic, it moreso is using you to cast its own magic

[severe trellis]

sorry if that sounds like a kinda sarcastic question but it is genuine

[proven pawn]

it then attaches to the host and basically uses them as a way to connect with the weave since the parasite itself cannot form a connection rather that infusing the power

[tough compass]

Because you’re a spellcaster who has no inherent magic ability

Also, I made an entire spellcasting system that requires a physical deck to use so that’s a bit different

[severe trellis]

Like a Divination Wizard using a bunch of Taroka Cards as the flavor for how they cast their spells can already exist

[tough compass]

They don’t use traditional spellcasting at all lmao, when I say a deck of spell cards I mean a LITERAL DECK of spell cards

[severe trellis]

Gonna be honest, that sounds kidna boring and annoying to use and even more random than a wild magic sorcerer which already catches some flack

[next gust]

I like the idea

[proven pawn]

Indeed the idea is a good work and brings a unique mechanic to the game, I just thing we are overcomplicating it

[tough compass]

I’m very tired so I can’t explain it all rn but it’s very acutely balanced so it’s not annoying

It is random, but there’s enough benefits to it that it works, and a lot of the progression of the strength of the class is the increased breadth of options the player has to manipulate the deck to get what they want

[tough compass]

We’ve talked for like half an hour now about a single piece of flavor I have been intentionally trying to avoid making any lore on until I finish the deck mechanics 😭

[proven pawn]

gonna be honest your houndsmen just sounds like an offbrand beastmaster ranger, Battlesmith Artificer, and any summoning class ever.

[tough compass]

This is peak midnight activities

[proven pawn]

See how rude and unprofessional that sounds?

[true forge]

idk whats happening :P

[proven pawn]

Yeah its a hard thing to discuss and come up with

[severe trellis]

So you use the physical deck, but then give a ton of things about manipulating and changing the probability anyways? Could work

[proven pawn]

ill do some brainstorming and digging to see if this has been done before.

[tough compass]

The physical deck is pretty much just so you can shuffle it lol, other wise you can imagine it as a spell conveyer belt

It really is a conveyor belt system with shuffling and a few other deck mechanics that necessitate and justify it being a deck

[next gust]

Ok, could a player just hand their deck to another player?

[severe trellis]

I guess? But thats my genuine opinion hearing the initial idea as someone who plays Physcial card games, bricking on your character's starting hand when playing a ttrph sounds like it would be horrible to me

[tough compass]

Also as of about 8 hours ago, I finally managed to balance it so you don’t see your cards (with exceptions) woohoo

[proven pawn]

So its just more of a tossup of what you are going to cast?

[tough compass]

No, the magical deck is a parasite in the player. Not even the player has full control over the cards

[severe trellis]

Maybe this peice of homebrew just isnt for me cause this doesnt sound like anything I'd be hinterested in Thorn, but good luck with your brew

[next gust]

Apologies, I understand now.

[tough compass]

Nope, you have a hand, there’s decrying, and I did a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT of math to secure this

[proven pawn]

uh huh

well if you need any help ill see what i can do to help

[tough compass]

Scrying *

[proven pawn]

mostly for homebrew i create weapons and armor pieces.

Classes, subclasses, and races are a difficult thing because its probably already been done

[tough compass]

Starting at level 2 you’ll get at least some ability to know what the next few cards coming are, though whether it’s an active or passive system requires a looooooooot of math to decide

[next gust]

I mean, races can be original.

I have been thinking about a Vitner based Druid subclass.

[tough compass]

Well, even if it has, I’m having a lot of fun and we’re mostly making it for us. Also this is all tangentially out of spite for the artificer lowkey so that’s a decent drive lol

[next gust]

Yea it doesn’t have to be original to be homebrew

[tough compass]

Also I’m actually quite confident that nobody has done things the way I’ve done them to be honest, particularly if the Soul Cards work out well

Soul Cards are the general progression system of subclasses that I’m realizing I don’t have the time to even start to get into right now so I shouldn’t have brought them up lol

Uhhh it’s metamagic but cards in the deck there you go

[proven pawn]

I mean yeah ig

[tough compass]

Oh also one potential flaw but also huge advantage I’d that the entire clssses viability as a concept relies on spell points instead of spell slots

If I didn’t remember spell points existed I would’ve stopped well before now lmao

Ok I can’t pull a second 3 am stay up so I’m just gonna turn off and mute my phone

Hope y’all have a lovely mornin

[steady laurel]

Opinions on this homebrew spell that is much like Counterspell but requires you to do some actual... counter "spelling"?

Spellcheck

Level 2 Abjuration Spell
Reaction, which you take when you see a creature within 60 feet of yourself casting a spell
Range: 60 feet

You learn the name of the spell being cast by a creature, and then attempt to substitute one letter in the spell's name to create a new (correctly spelled) name.
The creature must make a **Constitution **saving throw. On a failed save, this spell's casting changes in accordance with the new name. If their saving throw resulted in an Odd number, the spell is functionally useless, otherwise, the spell is changed only thematically.
The action, Bonus Action, or Reaction used to cast this spell is wasted. If that spell was cast with a spell slot, the slot isn't expended.
Once a specific spell has been Spellchecked, it cannot be Spellchecked again for 24 hours.

[proven pawn]

so basically an annoying counterspell clone, honestly i kinda love it.

[steady laurel]

realised the wording technically means if the spell save is even and the spell is changed thematically but is still effective, the enemy still doesn’t lose a spell slot so might need to patch that

[native grove]

Yo, can someone review a subclass I made?

[proven pawn]

sure

[native grove]

https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDHomebrew/comments/1pi5v8z/revised_circle_of_the_land_druid_subclass/

This is a link to a homebrew druid subclass i made.

[proven pawn]

Very solid subclass

love the biome specific stuff, overall well balanced, and well thought out very good job

[true forge]

hmmmmm, what to make what to make

i should make that Blood Hunter Ranger sub (vamp hunter, basically just a monster slayer remake)

although that would be after this rune sub for somebody's Magus

[native grove]

which biome would you say is your favorite from the list?

[proven pawn]

I like the mountains one the most, but artic is a close second

[cold rock]

Wassup, i tried reworking a feature for a warlock sublass im making, would you mind checking it, i think its too op and i need some ideas

Level 14 Feature: Realmheart
You no longer age, you regain hit points equal to 1d6 + your constitution modifier on each turn if you have at least 1 hit point, in addition, once per long rest, you can use your action to gain the following benefits for 1 minute or until you fall unconcious:
• You gain a +1 bonus to attacks and spell saves.
• You gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed and can hover.
• You gain the effect of the Haste spell for the duration.

[umbral dust]

I'm not well versed in high level abilities so correct me if i'm wrong however 1 minute of haste, a flying speed, a +1 to all attacks and permanent 1d6 healing seems a lot for one class feature

[pastel mirage]

at a minimum the 1d6 should be part of the minute, not just generally, cause in a 5 turn combat thats lowkey average 30 hit points with a good constitution

high end more like 45

[cold rock]

Thx for your help, I was thinking of lowering the healing at 1d4 without constitution and remove the attack and spell bonus, would that work in your opinion?

[hexed solar]

I'm new to DND and I'm a DM for my friend who is also a new player in our campaign, I wanted to know if my homebrew was good and balanced to implement into our campaign.

Item name: Infernal cloak
Wondrous item, rare (Requires attunement)
Attunement: spellcaster, warlock, sorcerer, or a creature with a fiendish or draconic lineage

Description: This heavy dark black obsidian cloak with molten lava like patterns glowing along its edges. When struck, the cloak ignites, sending bursts of fire, as though the cloak itself recoils in anger.

Abilities

1. Hellish retaliation (reaction): When a creature you can see hits you with a melee attack within 5ft, you can use your reaction to unleash a burst of infernal flame. The attacker must make a DC 8 + proficiency bonus + spellcasting modifier Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 2d8 fire damage and is pushed up to 5 feet away from you. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and is not pushed. Once you use this reaction, you can’t use it again until the start of your next turn.

[umbral dust]

It sounds cool however I would maybe limit the use of the reaction to an amount of times per rest/day

2d8 damage on a reaction is more than a greatsword does on an opportunity attack, and you get it basically free

[hexed solar]

So 3 or 5 times per long rest?

[umbral dust]

Probably tie it to the wearer's proficiency bonus? Not sure