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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next 5e Engineer Homebrew Class [PEACH]



Ramshack
2014-11-22, 08:05 PM
Engineer (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1snbQKdWd2oqcR2kcLaIuIc2FRDbgLk2KTs06I9iV5YM/edit?usp=sharing)

I made a Robot Oriented Class using the Astral Projection concept from 3.5 I created a scaling Robot that you can command. I tried to follow the Beast Master action economy so as to not disrupt game balance, though the pet as a whole is stronger than a Beast Masters. This is because there is no spell casting and the fighting ability of the Engineer is weaker than a ranger as well. Additionally to augment the Engineer I gave him Gadgets to use similar to a Warlocks Invocations.

As always this is just the first pass at the class and am always open to criticism, critiques and advice. Just keep it constructive please :)

DiBastet
2014-11-23, 08:18 AM
I like it, really. You might want to borrow some ideas from my Artificer, theres a Machinist subclass (granted, it's for power armor instead of mechs) that may have something useful.

I'm just thinking where did you get the values for the various astral constructs improved mechs? Medium values for creatures of same CR? Also these numbers may need a bit of tweaking; 5e summoning improves at a much slower rate than 3e did, but lower cr creatures keep being usefull even at higher levels thanks to bounded accuracy.

I don't know where you got the values, but you could base them on medium values for creatures of the same CRs that a moon druid can turn into.

Amnoriath
2014-11-23, 09:44 AM
Engineer (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1snbQKdWd2oqcR2kcLaIuIc2FRDbgLk2KTs06I9iV5YM/edit?usp=sharing)

I made a Robot Oriented Class using the Astral Projection concept from 3.5 I created a scaling Robot that you can command. I tried to follow the Beast Master action economy so as to not disrupt game balance, though the pet as a whole is stronger than a Beast Masters. This is because there is no spell casting and the fighting ability of the Engineer is weaker than a ranger as well. Additionally to augment the Engineer I gave him Gadgets to use similar to a Warlocks Invocations.

As always this is just the first pass at the class and am always open to criticism, critiques and advice. Just keep it constructive please :)

1. The AC this thing gets is equal to a tri-maxed stat 20th level barbarian with a magical shield 3 levels earlier. This is only with a +1 AC menu A. Additionally it gets a huge slam attack in which no conceivable magical weapon is going to be able to match just at base, not including the extra energy damages. Finally its Strength is the Barbarian's maxed strength 3 levels earlier.
2. Why does this class have an Extra Attack? As you said it isn't supposed to be a fighting class.
3. While I understand this suppose a companion class the base guy should be a little more skilled.
4. Your Design ideas are very boring. Subclasses are supposed to introduce something new both thematically and hopefully mechanically to your class. These though are just simple add ons.

Ramshack
2014-11-23, 12:40 PM
I followed similar HP values from the 3.5 Astral Projections, I reduced their AC to hit, damage etc, the Slam damage is based on the slam damage based on similar sized Constructs but I knew this was the hardest thing to balance and have no problems messing with the Values. But the AC didn't seem out of line, I have level 6 players in my campaign with 22 AC. +1 Platemail, ring of protection, and a shield, add in the protection fighting style and their at 23 AC already. So 24 AC at level 17 seemed reasonable.

I can remove second attack, was just trying to keep the same action options as the range and beast master in case someone wanted to attack and let their Mech attack, also didn't want to pigeon hole everyone into taking the second attack option from Menu B.

As you can see the Class Features I'm very stuck on, it's hard to balance the pet abilities and giving neat option without breaking action economy.

Amnoriath This is the base template and my first pass on it, as you know you've helped me work on Custom Classes before, if you're interested in giving some ideas on where to take it, you know I'm very open to making changes and taking advice from the community to make a fun, interesting and balanced class in the end.

Amnoriath
2014-11-24, 12:36 PM
I followed similar HP values from the 3.5 Astral Projections, I reduced their AC to hit, damage etc, the Slam damage is based on the slam damage based on similar sized Constructs but I knew this was the hardest thing to balance and have no problems messing with the Values. But the AC didn't seem out of line, I have level 6 players in my campaign with 22 AC. +1 Platemail, ring of protection, and a shield, add in the protection fighting style and their at 23 AC already. So 24 AC at level 17 seemed reasonable.

I can remove second attack, was just trying to keep the same action options as the range and beast master in case someone wanted to attack and let their Mech attack, also didn't want to pigeon hole everyone into taking the second attack option from Menu B.

As you can see the Class Features I'm very stuck on, it's hard to balance the pet abilities and giving neat option without breaking action economy.

Amnoriath This is the base template and my first pass on it, as you know you've helped me work on Custom Classes before, if you're interested in giving some ideas on where to take it, you know I'm very open to making changes and taking advice from the community to make a fun, interesting and balanced class in the end.
1. Astral Constructs, the health isn't really what bothers me. Remember those constructs become huge size with that base damage and they effectively competed with Uberchargers and/or martial initiators. So, the size factor alone restricted where you could grow them all the way. In 5e you don't nearly have those kind of damage numbers any more. If you get only a few upgrades you have what is equivalent to a Paladin's smite every attack. As for the AC keep in mind that it won't grow much at all from that and they have a shield which is at the expense of damage output. I also didn't factor in any possibilities for items, upgrades, or share spell type abilities.
2. You use your action to command them anyway and your attacks with a weapon aren't at all going to compare what your robot or even your gadgets do.
3. One I can think of right away is adding your proficiency bonus to any dexterity or intelligence based check dealing with mechanical objects. I also believe that the Enscapsulate ability could be used as a subclass on its own. As for another maybe look towards being more gadget focused.

Ramshack
2014-11-24, 01:24 PM
1. Astral Constructs, the health isn't really what bothers me. Remember those constructs become huge size with that base damage and they effectively competed with Uberchargers and/or martial initiators. So, the size factor alone restricted where you could grow them all the way. In 5e you don't nearly have those kind of damage numbers any more. If you get only a few upgrades you have what is equivalent to a Paladin's smite every attack. As for the AC keep in mind that it won't grow much at all from that and they have a shield which is at the expense of damage output. I also didn't factor in any possibilities for items, upgrades, or share spell type abilities.
2. You use your action to command them anyway and your attacks with a weapon aren't at all going to compare what your robot or even your gadgets do.
3. One I can think of right away is adding your proficiency bonus to any dexterity or intelligence based check dealing with mechanical objects. I also believe that the Encapsulate ability could be used as a subclass on its own. As for another maybe look towards being more gadget focused.

Thanks for the feedback, I think that is an important fact to keep in mind, the Mech cannot be upgraded with magical items, armor weapons etc. To gain more durability they have to choose menu options that take away from the offensive choices. Instead of following the Construct damage progression of 1d8 small, 2d8 medium and 3d8 large I can trade it 1d10 small, 2d6 medium, and 2d6 +1d4 for large. it lowers the average damage per hit by about 5 or so but keeps the damage equal in terms of what other players can achieve. I also think it's worth noting I intentionally left the Power Attack features and action surge features off the menu items so melee classes will always have the option to do more damage. I've also reduced the Huge construct to Large at upgrade 9.

As far as archetypes I was thinking of playing around with Encapsulate being the capstone for one arche type, and the Eldritch Knight's cast a spell, make 1 attack as the arche types cap stone. Only it's use one gadget, and instruct your mech to make 1 attack. I could use the level 7 Eldritch Knight ability as another class feature, you can use either the gadget Freeze Ray or Blunderbuss (cantrips) and instruct your mechanical companion to make 1 attack. But I haven't changed anything yet in the document until I can get home and make sure no one is getting class features ahead of anyone else.

Ramshack
2014-11-25, 01:04 AM
Putting too many hours into this lol. Spent a good portion of the night working on this. Added a few class features, fleshed out the second arche type. filled in white space with images lol. Let me know what you think and I can tweak it from there.

OskarF
2015-02-19, 01:16 AM
It's cool to see an engineer class! I like what you already have here, but I want to offer some thoughts.

An engineer could start out as a fairly rounded character. You have a bot that can serve as a tank or melee dps, you have some basic ranged attacking ability, you have some spell-like effects, and you have some utility skills. You don't really shine anywhere, though.

Then, once you pick your subclass at level 3, you specialize.

Mechanical engineer - (martial path) You become an expert in the structural properties of materials as well as design and fabrication methods. The engineer and bot could be fitted with strong armor (which is strong as heavy armor but light enough for the engineer to wear without strength or proficiency in heavy armor). The bot's melee damage could increase, and the engineer could either make or augment ranged weapons for personal use. (maybe the menu options could force you to specialize in only tank, melee dps, or ranged dps at a single time)

Electrical engineer - (caster path) You become an expert in the subtle manipulation of charge and electromagnetic fields, unlocking effects described as "magical" to the layperson. You get access more spell thingies. Idk, I didn't really think this through. I'm in it for the theme! Maybe your bot counts as a casting node, meaning you can measure range from yourself or from the bot. Maybe the bot can also serve as a conductor to extend the effect of a chain lightning. Seems like this could unlock some really interesting play where you're trying to position your self and your bot to maximize the effect of spells.

Software engineer - (utility path) You become an expert in information processing and programming of machines. This specialization would allow your bot to gain extra skill proficiencies (maybe just int-based ones), and maybe other skill features like the battle master's "know your enemy" feat. It could also allow your bot to act more autonomously during battle, helping with your action economy. You don't get crazy casting or martial abilities, but you can be adequate in two places at once. At a later level, you could get a "Turing test ace" feat (or something like that), where your bot effectively becomes a sentient being. Not sure what the tangible benefits of that are, but it just makes me smile.

It'd be a lot of work to flesh those out in a balanced way, but it seems like there's a lot of potential for fun. :)