The "Horrible Homebrew" thread

[aabicus]

Hey all! In honor of this class (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Uplift_%283.5e_NPC_Class%29), (and specifically this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227249), where the idea for this thread was suggested), here's a place to post any really, really bad homebrew classes you've found over the years!

Make sure to provide links, if possible, and while you can do races, magic items, and other things, mainly stick to classes.

Revel in the crushing, asphyxiating badness of far too much of D&D homebrew!:smallyuk:

[MagnusExultatio]

I'll save a great big chunk of this thread the burden and post a link to the worst collection of D&D homebrew on the internet.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page

[Manateee]

{Scrubbed}

[aabicus]

I technically already linked to it, but the point of the thread is to laugh at particularly egregious examples. Its fun!

Don't be afraid to post specific examples from D&D Wiki, or anywhere else as well!

[hex0]

Way back in early 3.0 my DM found a ridiculous prestige class online and printed it out for us all to laugh it. Basically, by level 15 you could dual wield Fullblades with NO penalty and cast Meteor Swarm as a SLA. d12 hit die, full bab, 4 skills a level, two good saves on top of that.

If someone could find that I would be sooo happy.

[BIGMamaSloth]

Way back in early 3.0 my DM found a ridiculous prestige class online and printed it out for us all to laugh it. Basically, by level 15 you could dual wield Fullblades with NO penalty and cast Meteor Swarm as a SLA. d12 hit die, full bab, 4 skills a level, two good saves on top of that.

If someone could find that I would be sooo happy.

sounds similar to lightning warrior.

[Circle of Life]

sounds similar to lightning warrior.

Nah, the Lightning Warrior is balanced because it can't gain a familiar. That other class is just OP.

/shot

[legomaster00156]

Way back in early 3.0 my DM found a ridiculous prestige class online and printed it out for us all to laugh it. Basically, by level 15 you could dual wield Fullblades with NO penalty and cast Meteor Swarm as a SLA. d12 hit die, full bab, 4 skills a level, two good saves on top of that.

If someone could find that I would be sooo happy.
So, something that gave melee nice things? Pray tell, what is so bad about that? I think dual-wielding Fullblades would be freaking awesome. :smallbiggrin:

[Snowbluff]

I'll save a great big chunk of this thread the burden and post a link to the worst collection of D&D homebrew on the internet.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page

Dammit, Waltz of Blades... ed.

[aabicus]

Some fun ones from the original thread:


I can't balance for crap, but.. Enter the Arcanist (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Arcanist_%283.5e_Class%29)!



So Mage armor for a, oh, 300 year old elf arcanist would give you... 304 AC!

Unless I'm really missing something here.

(In regards to the cantripologist (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Cantripologist_%283.5e_Class%29))

I don't know, "Imitate Spell" is kind of ridiculously awesome once you get it at lvl 5, effectively spontaneous casting off the entire Sor/Wiz list.

[Grendus]

Way back in early 3.0 my DM found a ridiculous prestige class online and printed it out for us all to laugh it. Basically, by level 15 you could dual wield Fullblades with NO penalty and cast Meteor Swarm as a SLA. d12 hit die, full bab, 4 skills a level, two good saves on top of that.

If someone could find that I would be sooo happy.


So, something that gave melee nice things? Pray tell, what is so bad about that? I think dual-wielding Fullblades would be freaking awesome. :smallbiggrin:

Dual-wielding fullblades would be freaking awesome. Doing it before level 15 and you're completely obsolete would be even better. You can get halfway there anyways at much earlier than level 15. A human fighter 1 with TWF, EWP (Fullblade), and Monkey Grip could dual wield them, albeit at a -6 penalty, if you use the weapon equivalencies variant in the DMG. Making up the -6 is tough, but I'm sure those with more system mastery than I could make it up in the remaining 14 levels. Replace the human with a Goliath and you're only at a -4 penalty (since you drop Monkey Grip), -2 if you factor in the Goliath's +4 strength.

[Venusaur]

The sample build for the arcanist has quicken spell as the feat. For a level 1 character, this is obviously by far the strongest choice.

[Zale]

A Wild Dragon Rider (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Dragon_Rider_%283.5e_Class%29) Appears!

You get...

*5d20x100 (5000)gp
*Spells drawn from the wizard/sorcerer and cleric spell lists.
*All spells are cast spontaneously, with no listed limit to spells known.
*You get a Dragon!
*5% Arcane Spell Failure reduction per level!
*Full BAB!
*Two Good Saves!

:smallsmile: What a lovely and wholly balanced class!

[Zaranthan]

Somebody I no longer game with once came to the table with a writeup for a "Changeshifter" class. The sole class feature was an (Ex) continuous shapechange effect at CL = class level. He had even based it on the 3.0 shapechange, giving 2 HD per CL. Oh, and shifting healed you like wild shape, because turning into a unicorn over and over to reset its allotment of SLAs wasn't convenient enough. (Did I mention you got SLAs, too? Yeah.)

Totally balanced by its Commoner chassis, of course. Can't do anything with a wizard's BAB after all. :D

[peacenlove]

A Wild Dragon Rider (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Dragon_Rider_%283.5e_Class%29) Appears!

You get...

*5d20x100 (5000)gp
*Spells drawn from the wizard/sorcerer and cleric spell lists.
*All spells are cast spontaneously, with no listed limit to spells known.
*You get a Dragon!
*5% Arcane Spell Failure reduction per level!
*Full BAB!
*Two Good Saves!

:smallsmile: What a lovely and wholly balanced class!

The fact that the dragon can be a mature adult prismatic dragon (http://dndwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Prismatic_Dragon)really brings this class to a Tier 3 playability chassis.

[Greenish]

A human fighter 1 with TWF, EWP (Fullblade), and Monkey Grip could dual wield them, albeit at a -6 penalty, if you use the weapon equivalencies variant in the DMG.The what, now?

[Menteith]

A Wild Dragon Rider (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Dragon_Rider_%283.5e_Class%29) Appears!

You get...

*5d20x100 (5000)gp
*Spells drawn from the wizard/sorcerer and cleric spell lists.
*All spells are cast spontaneously, with no listed limit to spells known.
*You get a Dragon!
*5% Arcane Spell Failure reduction per level!
*Full BAB!
*Two Good Saves!

:smallsmile: What a lovely and wholly balanced class!

You forgot that they can spontaneously apply metamagic to their spontaneously casted spells without increasing their caster level. That seems important. And apply their Strength to their Armor Class. And the ability to fly for "24/hrs, Can be used 1/day." I like how they bothered to say you can only use your 24h long ability once per day. No idea if that's Su or Ex since they didn't bother saying.

[Rossebay]

Dual-wielding fullblades would be freaking awesome. Doing it before level 15 and you're completely obsolete would be even better. You can get halfway there anyways at much earlier than level 15. A human fighter 1 with TWF, EWP (Fullblade), and Monkey Grip could dual wield them, albeit at a -6 penalty, if you use the weapon equivalencies variant in the DMG. Making up the -6 is tough, but I'm sure those with more system mastery than I could make it up in the remaining 14 levels. Replace the human with a Goliath and you're only at a -4 penalty (since you drop Monkey Grip), -2 if you factor in the Goliath's +4 strength.

Throw in Oversized Two Weapon Fighting, and you take away another -2, meaning that a level 1 Goliath with EWP, TWF, and OSTWF wields those two fullblades as well as a human wields 1 fullblade.

So... Done. Haha. You just need flaws to pull it off.


Anyway... The flaws (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/3.5e_Flaws). No, literally, the flaws (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/3.5e_Flaws).

Such bad homebrew.

[Seerow]

I'll take daredevil and deadly strength please!

[legomaster00156]

Hm, on the subject of Deadly Strength, it may be a dangerous flaw to take if you dealt damage to anything you touched.

"What the heck, Rogar? You just squished your own blade handle between your two fingers!"

[Rossebay]

I'll take daredevil and deadly strength please!

Oh, definitely. Haha.

That'd be no different than what I already do.

[Venusaur]

Wait. I thought pyromania was a benefit for adventurers, not a flaw.

[Ravens_cry]

You forgot that they can spontaneously applymetamagic to their spontaneously casted spells without increasing their caster level. That seems important. And apply their Strength to their Armor Class. And the ability to fly for "24/hrs, Can be used 1/day." I like how they bothered to say you can only use your 24h long ability once per day. No idea if that's Su or Ex since they didn't bother saying.
An important detail if the DM decides to set the campaign in, oh, the cloudtops of Venus.

[nyarlathotep]

An important detail if the DM decides to set the campaign in, oh, the cloudtops of Venus.

Usually though if you're playing in a setting with a non-standard day-length classes either need to be reworked or the per day becomes per 24 hours. This is very important for space exploration games.

[Steward]

No idea if that's Su or Ex since they didn't bother saying.

Would that really have made any difference?

[Metahuman1]

Throw in Oversized Two Weapon Fighting, and you take away another -2, meaning that a level 1 Goliath with EWP, TWF, and OSTWF wields those two fullblades as well as a human wields 1 fullblade.

So... Done. Haha. You just need flaws to pull it off.


Anyway... The flaws (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/3.5e_Flaws). No, literally, the flaws (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/3.5e_Flaws).

Such bad homebrew.

You know, I've actually used one or two of those flaws. There are some good one's in there for being flaws.

Used some of the Traits too. I like Iron Liver myself because it's flavorful.


Greenish: 3.0 Arms and Equipment Guide. An exotic 2 handed weapon that deals 2d8 damage if I remember right.

[Ravens_cry]

Some of them do look kind of fun.
Cute Things Lover (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Cute_Things_Lover_%283.5e_Flaw%29) is very situational, and really depends on the DM, I think Pathfinder goblins are adorable evil green teddy bears, but could work in a more humorous campaign.

[legomaster00156]

I've used Haunted and Insomniac (not sure how the DM let me get away with it). Insomniac might be more threatening if the save DC scaled, but it does not. This made it quite trivial for a level 20 Paladin, between a good FORT save, high CON, and CHA to saves.

[Greenish]

Greenish: 3.0 Arms and Equipment Guide. An exotic 2 handed weapon that deals 2d8 damage if I remember right.I know what a fullblade is (:smallamused:), what I'm asking is what is this "weapon equivalencies variant", which is apparently the linchpin of the idea.

[Riverdance]

Once in a fit of GMing madness I decided I would create a class and force both of my players to use it. I called the class Elven Special Forces. To make matters worse, it was effectively a gestalt of fighter, rogue and ranger, making it way more powerful than any other class imaginable.

When I came to my senses I realized I was designing a video game and trashed them.

[Namfuak]

Favorite Class:

Metagamer (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Metagamer_%28DnD_Class%29)

Beyond the inherent silliness of this class, it is grossly overpowered. 3/4 BaB, 3 good saves, and by level 7 he can cast every cleric/wizard/sorcerer spell from PHB, DMG, MM1 (presumably), and the Spell Compendium (since you would probably go with that). The only disadvantage is it gets some social penalties.

Favorite Flaw:

Compulsive Skinny Dipper (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Compulsive_Skinny_Dipper_%283.5e_Flaw%29)

Just read it.

[Ravens_cry]

I've used Haunted and Insomniac (not sure how the DM let me get away with it). Insomniac might be more threatening if the save DC scaled, but it does not. This made it quite trivial for a level 20 Paladin, between a good FORT save, high CON, and CHA to saves.
Haunted is pretty bad as for some characters it really doesn't matter, so it's basically a free feat and even for classes that it does matter, like a social rogue, the penalty is pretty small once you get a few levels under your belt.
It's not "ruin your character/campaign" bad, and it's not "see, this good thing, it's actually a bad thing, and totally worth a free feat." but it's not great example of what a flaw should be.
That means it's probably among the better ones on that list.

[Steward]

Favorite Class:

Metagamer (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Metagamer_%28DnD_Class%29)

Beyond the inherent silliness of this class, it is grossly overpowered. 3/4 BaB, 3 good saves, and by level 7 he can cast every cleric/wizard/sorcerer spell from PHB, DMG, MM1 (presumably), and the Spell Compendium (since you would probably go with that). The only disadvantage is it gets some social penalties.

Favorite Flaw:

Compulsive Skinny Dipper (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Compulsive_Skinny_Dipper_%283.5e_Flaw%29)

Just read it.

It even has a chart, indicating that someone made the effort to make it readable (which IMO is the number one flaw with most of the wiki -- the rushed sloppiness that rivals Tome of Magic for sheer indifference).

[Metahuman1]

Once in a fit of GMing madness I decided I would create a class and force both of my players to use it. I called the class Elven Special Forces. To make matters worse, it was effectively a gestalt of fighter, rogue and ranger, making it way more powerful than any other class imaginable.

When I came to my senses I realized I was designing a video game and trashed them.

Gee, it's almost like it could have had a win button or two, like a Sorcerer. Or Psion. Or Favored Soul. Or Binder with Online Vestige access. Or Wizard. Or Erudite. Or Artificer. Or Druid. Or Archivist. Or Cleric.

Greenish: No idea on that one.

Flaws: I used the Artifact Collector for a Wizard once. And the fear of Insects a couple of times. and I've used somewhat modified versions of Moe Weakness that were highly amusing but less anime.

[Urpriest]

I know what a fullblade is (:smallamused:), what I'm asking is what is this "weapon equivalencies variant", which is apparently the linchpin of the idea.

DMG page 27. It's basically just 3.0 weapon size rules.

[Myth]

Once in a fit of GMing madness I decided I would create a class and force both of my players to use it. I called the class Elven Special Forces. To make matters worse, it was effectively a gestalt of fighter, rogue and ranger, making it way more powerful than any other class imaginable.

When I came to my senses I realized I was designing a video game and trashed them.

You clearly need to google 3.5 Wizard's handbook.

[Fax Celestis]

This thread is both old and offensive. Some people work very hard on something and fail to make it work, either through a lack of talent or a lack of comprehensive game knowledge. You should be helping them instead of deriding them.

[nyarlathotep]

Almost all of these are from the dandwiki which does not provide constructive methods of criticism. It's no more offensive than say any given thread about bad game experiences.

[Fax Celestis]

You can go ahead and think that. I find it offensive.

[The Glyphstone]

Great Modthulhu: Offensive, unproductive, and necromancy to boot. Thread locked.