boxfox
2015-06-02, 11:27 AM
Hello. I'd like to present the Weaver.
http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u383/Timothy_Boehmke/Mobile%20Uploads/Table%20-%20The%20Weaver.jpg_zpseemc3szz.png
---NOTE---If this image isn't showing up for other people, please let me know. My network is blocking it because I'm at work.
The worlds within the D&D multiverse are magical places. All existence is suffused with magical power, and potential energy lies untapped in every rock, stream, and living creature, and even in the air itself. Raw magic is the stuff of creation, the mute and mindless will of existence, permeating every bit of matter and present in every manifestation of energy throughout the multiverse.
Most mortals can’t directly shape this raw magic. Instead, they make use of a fabric of magic, a kind of interface between the will of a spellcaster and the stuff of raw magic. The spellcasters of the Forgotten Realms call it the Weave and recognize its essence as the goddess Mystra, but casters have varied ways of naming and visualizing this interface.
By any name, without the Weave, raw magic is locked away and inaccessible; the most powerful archmage can't light a candle with magic in an area where the Weave has been torn. But surrounded by the Weave, a spellcaster can shape lightning to blast foes, transport hundreds of miles in the blink of an eye, or even reverse death itself.
All magic depends on the Weave, though different kinds of magic access it in a variety of ways. The spells of wizards, warlocks, sorcerers, and bards are commonly called arcane magic. These spells rely on an understanding— learned or intuitive—of the workings of the Weave. The caster plucks directly at the strands of the Weave to create the desired effect. Eldritch knights and arcane tricksters also use arcane magic. The spells of clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers are called divine magic. These spellcasters’ access to the Weave is mediated by divine power— gods, the divine forces of nature, or the sacred weight of a paladin’s oath.
Weavers prefer a more direct approach.
Creating a Weaver
The most important question to consider when creating your weaver is “Are you really sure you wouldn’t rather be playing something else?” Also ask “Are you sure spell failure is worth the extra versatility?”
QUICK BUILD
You can make a weaver quickly by following these suggestions. First, Charisma, Wisdom, and Intelligence should be your highest ability scores, followed by Constitution and then Dexterity. Second, choose the Sage background. Third, choose the cantrip1, cantrip2, cantrip3 cantrips, along with the following 1st-level spells: spell1, and spell2.
As a weaver, you gain the following class features.
Hit Dice: 1d6 per weaver level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per weaver level after 1st
Armor: None
Weapons: Daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, light crossbows
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma
Skills: Choose two from Arcana, Investigation, Nature, Perception, Religion
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
• (a) a quarterstaff or (b) a dagger
• (a) a sling or (b) a light crossbow with 20 bolts
• An explorer’s pack and a magical focus
Your powers aren’t spells in the same way that wizards and clerics imagine them. Though they look and function in the same way, you aren’t working with a fabric of magic, but directly with the raw energies of the Weave itself.
CANTRIPS
At first level, you know three Cantrips of your choice from any spell list. You learn additional Cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Weaver table.
SPELL POINTS
Each spell has a point cost based on its level. The Spell Point Cost table summarizes the cost in spell points of slots from 1st to 9th level. Cantrips don’t require slots and therefore don't require spell points.
Instead of gaining a number of spell slots to cast your spells from the Spellcasting feature, you gain a pool of spell points instead. You expend a number of spell points to create a spell slot of a given level, and then use that slot to cast a spell. You can't reduce your spell point total to less than 0, and you regain all spent spell points when you finish a long rest.
Spells of 6th level and higher are particularly taxing to cast. You can use spell points to create one slot of each level of 6th or higher. You can't create another slot of the same level until you finish a long rest.
The number of spell points you have to spend is based on your weaver level and Wisdom score, as shown in the Weaver table. Your level also determines the maximum-level spell slot you can create. Even though you might have enough points to create a slot above this maximum, you can't do so.
Spell Point Cost Table
Spell Level
Point Cost
1st
2
2nd
3
3rd
5
4th
6
5th
7
6th
9
7th
10
8th
11
9th
13
Spellcasting Ability and Learning Spells
Accessing the Weave requires study, intuition, and force of will. Because of its complexity, it requires more than the single-minded focus that most spellcasters have. Weavers use Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma in tandem when working the pure magic of the Weave.
Intelligence determines how many spells you can pull from the Weave. For each point of Intelligence Modifier, you learn one spell when you gain a level, chosen from any spell list.
Wisdom determines how often you can cast spells. The number of spell points you get each day is directly influenced by your Wisdom Modifier.
Charisma determines the power of your spells and how hard they are to resist. Your Spell Attack Bonus and Spell DC are tied to your Charisma score.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Spellcasting Focus
You can use either an arcane, druidic, or holy focus (found in chapter 5) as a spellcasting focus for your weaver spells.
Weave Magic
Whenever you attempt to cast a spell of first level or higher that you’ve learned from the Weave, roll a d20 and consult the Weaver Class Table. Weaver spells have a failure chance based on your level. At levels 1-5, there is a 20% failure rate on all spells of 1st level or higher. This failure rate drops to 15% from levels 6-10, 10% from 11-50, and 5% from 16-20. There is no way to lower your spell failure chance except for gaining levels.
Spells fail when your control over the Weave slips. On a failure, roll a d% and compare it to the Wild Magic Surge table (located in the Sorcerer Class section of the PHB) to learn the effects of your loss of control.
The followers of this path become more in tune with the Weave and learn to see how it is being manipulated by people and magic.
ACUTE PERCEPTION
When you choose this path at level two, you gain proficiency in the Perception skill if you don’t already have it, and your proficiency bonus is doubled for all Perception checks.
WEAVESENSE
Beginning at level six, you begin to sense changes in the Weave around you. This ability functions exactly like the spell Detect Magic, except that its range is only 5 feet (instead of 30), and it only requires concentration when you use your action to see magical auras.
WOVEN SIGHT
By level 10, followers of the Path of Perception have become much more observant.
Starting at 10th level, you can use your action to increase your powers of perception. When you do so, choose one of the following benefits, which lasts until you are incapacitated or you take a short or long rest. You can’t use the feature again until you finish a rest.
• Darkvision. You gain darkvision out to a range of 60 feet, or the range of your darkvision increases by an additional 60 feet, as described in chapter 8 of the PHB.
• Ethereal Sight. You can see into the Ethereal Plane within 60 feet of you.
• Greater Comprehension. You can read any language.
• See Invisibility. You can see invisible creatures and objects within 10 feet of you that are within line of sight.
WEAVER’S INTUITION
At level fourteen, your understanding of the Weave and increases senses allow you to feel when the Weave has been disturbed and gives you an edge to avoid its effects. You have advantage on your saving throws against spells.
RESTORE THE WEAVE
Once you’ve worked the Weave this long, you intuitively understand how to prevent others from altering it against your will. Beginning at 18th level, you can cast Dispel Magic twice per short rest without using spell points or requiring spell components. Alternatively, you can cast it as if using a 9th level spell slot, but you are unable to use this ability again for 1 week.
WEAVE REALITY
At 20th level, you have learned to force the Weave to your will in order to change reality. Once per short rest, if you would miss an attack, you can turn the miss into a hit. Alternatively, if you fail an ability check, you can treat the d20 roll as a 20.
The men and women who choose to follow this path wield incredible power, and risk sanity to use it.
TWIST THE WEAVE
Once you begin down this path at level 2, you gain the ability to directly touch the Weave and twist it to alter the fabric of reality. This is incredibly dangerous and risks the weaver losing his mind every time he does it. This path does not have additional features.
Choose one:
• Gain advantage on 1 attack, ability check, or saving throw. [bonus action]
• Cause someone else to gain disadvantage on 1 attack, ability check, or saving throw. [reaction]
• Increase the saving throw DC for 1 spell by an amount equal to your Proficiency bonus. [bonus action]
• Increase the damage of a spell by a number of d6’s equal to your Proficiency bonus. [bonus action]
• Gain resistance to one type of damage (bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic, poison, radiant, or thunder) for a number of rounds equal to your Proficiency bonus. [reaction]
Every time you use this ability, roll on the SHORT-TERM MADNESS table. The effects of this madness cannot be healed by any means short of a Wish spell or effect of equivalent power (subject to DM’s approval).
SHORT-TERM MADNESS
dlOO Effect (lasts ldlO minutes)
01-05 You retreat into your mind and become paralyzed. The effect ends if you take any damage.
06-10 You become incapacitated and spend the duration screaming, laughing, or weeping.
11-15 You become frightened and must use every opportunity to flee from the source of the fear.
16-30 You begin babbling and are incapable of normal speech or spellcasting.
31-35 You must use your action each round to attack the nearest creature.
36-45 You experience vivid hallucinations and have disadvantage on ability checks.
46-55 You do whatever anyone tells you to do that isn't obviously self-destructive.
56-70 You experience an overpowering urge to eat something strange such as dirt, slime, or offal and must spend your turns doing so for the duration.
71-75 You are stunned.
76-80 You fall unconscious.
81–90 You feel fine.
91-100 Roll on the LONG-TERM MADNESS table.
LONG-TERM MADNESS
dlOO Effect (lasts ldlO x 10 hours)
01-05 You feel compelled to repeat a specific activity over and over, such as washing hands, touching things, praying, or counting coins.
06-15 You experience vivid hallucinations and have disadvantage on ability checks.
16-25 You suffer extreme paranoia. You have disadvantage on Wisdom and Charisma checks.
26-30 You regard something (usually the source of madness) with intense revulsion, as if affected by the antipathy effect of the antipathy/sympathy spell.
31-35 You experience a powerful delusion. Choose a potion. You imagine that you are under its effects.
36-40 You become attached to a "lucky charm," such as a person or an object, and have disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws while more than 30 feet from it.
41-50 You are blinded (25%) or deafened (75%).
51-60 You experience uncontrollable tremors or tics, which impose disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws that involve Strength or Dexterity.
61-70 You suffer from partial amnesia. You know who you are and retain racial traits and class features, but don't recognize other people or remember anything that happened before the madness took effect.
71-80 Whenever you take damage, you must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be affected as though you failed a saving throw against the confusion spell. The confusion effect lasts for 1 minute.
81-85 You lose the ability to speak.
86-90 You fall unconscious. No amount of jostling or damage can wake you.
91-100 Roll again on the INDEFINITE MADNESS table.
INDEFINITE MADNESS
dlOO Flaw (permanent)
01-15 "Being drunk keeps me sane."
16-25 "I keep whatever I find ."
26-30 "I try to become more like someone else I know, adopting your style of dress , mannerisms, and name."
31-35 "I must bend the truth, exaggerate, or outright lie to be interesting to other people."
36-45 "Achieving my goal is the only thing of interest to me, and I'll ignore everything else to pursue it."
46-50 "I find it hard to care about anything that goes on around me ."
51-55 "I don 't like the way people judge me all the time."
56-70 "I am the smartest, wisest, strongest, fastest, and most beautiful person I know."
71 -80 "I am convinced that powerful enemies are hunting me, and their agents are everywhere I go. I am sure they're watching me all the time."
81-85 "There's only one person I can trust. And only I can see this special friend ."
86-95 "I can't take anything seriously. The more serious the situation, the funnier I find it."
96-100 "I've discovered that I really like killing people."
The Weaver: What is it?
The weaver has a kernel of each other caster class, but is unlike anything else. Below, I’ll try to break down the mechanics of the class in a straight forward manner.
Base Survivability: (Most like-Wizard)
With a d6 Hit Die, no armor proficiency, and very few weapon proficiencies, weavers won’t be mixing it up in melee. They are casters, and will either stay away from their enemies or very likely die. Given the fact that their spells will almost always have a failure chance, they cannot even fully rely on magic to get them out of sticky situations like other “squishies” do.
Saves and Skills: (Most like-Cleric)
I wanted the saves to be in line with other casters, which focus on mental saves. I chose to use the same saves as clerics, imagining characters of this class to be steady and strong-willed. All skill choices are mental skills and duplicate a cleric’s skill list with the exception of Investigation, which replaces Insight and History.
Spellcasting: (Most like-Sorcerer)
A weaver’s bread and butter. The first change is the removal of slots in favor of using spell points. To me, spell points feel like 3.5 sorcerers. Weavers don’t spend their time praying or pouring over old tomes, so preparing their spells just felt unnatural. Spell points function exactly like spell slots with 2 exceptions:
1. You can only cast one 6th level spell instead of two at levels 19 and 20
2. You have greater control over what power level of spell to cast, whether you want to use a large percentage of your pool on just a few really powerful spells, or conserve your strength all day with a bunch of low level spells.
I’ve copied the DMG spell point variant directly into that section, to save time.
There are two powerful features available to weavers. They can learn a greater variety of spells, and they can cast a few more spells a day than other classes. An astute DM may see that the spell point values in the weaver class table are higher than those given in the DMG (as long as the characters Wisdom score is at least a 16). It’s true. At each level, a weaver will have enough points to cast their highest level spell 1, 2, or 3 more times a day than a caster of another class if their stats are high enough.
To balance these powerful features, weavers suffer from perpetual spell failure that they cannot overcome. It begins at 20% at lower levels, though grows smaller as the class progresses.
Weaver Archetypes
The Path of Perception
This path represents the increased awareness a person would acquire as they become more familiar with the Weave. I think of it like Neo, eventually seeing the Matrix code everywhere after he “leveled up” by the end of the movie.
In terms of power level, there is nothing here that is super strong.
• Expertise in 1 skill is under par compared to other things that grant similar bonuses, such as the Knowledge domain, 1 level in Rogue, the Skilled feat, etc, which all give expertise or access to multiple skills.
• Weavesense is always on, which is powerful, but the range is dropped to 16% of full power, and it still requires concentration when the aura ability is used. Altogether, having a limited range, full-time access to a level 1 spell is solid, but not overpowering, especially when compared to the 3rd level spells getting thrown around by this point.
• Reflavored version of “The Third Eye”, the level 10 ability from the School of Divination.
• Weaver’s Intuition is just a reflavored “Spell Resistance” ability from the wizard’s School of Abjuration archetype, given in the same way at the same level.
• Access to a 3rd level spell for free a few times per short rest is also mostly flavor. It is useful, sure, but not very flashy, nor is it supposed to be. By this level, a weaver’s “Shininess” is in their spells, not their other class features. They should be thinking about magic all day, every day.
• The capstone is just a reflavored “Lucky” capstone from the rogue class.
The Path of Madness
This path started as a joke, but I think it’s actually a solid concept. Instead of multiple features while you level up, you gain a single ability that can save you or damn you…and take your party with you.
You gain access to 5 abilities, all of which are very powerful. The only rule is, every time you use one, you go a little crazy. In game terms, you have a very high chance of getting knocked right out of the fight every time you use this feature. There is also the chance to not only knock yourself out of the fight, but to take your party out, as well, giving the monsters freedom to eat you at their leisure. There is also a chance of going permanently nuts!
The Madness tables that I’ve included are based on the tables in the DMG, though slightly modified for clarity and to make it a little more dangerous to use the feature.
All in all, this path gives a very real power boost, but has some really serious repercussions.
TL;DR- The books always point out that “over-powered” refers to something that is auto-include…something that everyone will choose because it’s too good not to. The weaver class increases class rewards by increasing risk as well, making it an interesting, but very unpredictable choice that will appeal to relatively chaotic players.
http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u383/Timothy_Boehmke/Mobile%20Uploads/Table%20-%20The%20Weaver.jpg_zpseemc3szz.png
---NOTE---If this image isn't showing up for other people, please let me know. My network is blocking it because I'm at work.
The worlds within the D&D multiverse are magical places. All existence is suffused with magical power, and potential energy lies untapped in every rock, stream, and living creature, and even in the air itself. Raw magic is the stuff of creation, the mute and mindless will of existence, permeating every bit of matter and present in every manifestation of energy throughout the multiverse.
Most mortals can’t directly shape this raw magic. Instead, they make use of a fabric of magic, a kind of interface between the will of a spellcaster and the stuff of raw magic. The spellcasters of the Forgotten Realms call it the Weave and recognize its essence as the goddess Mystra, but casters have varied ways of naming and visualizing this interface.
By any name, without the Weave, raw magic is locked away and inaccessible; the most powerful archmage can't light a candle with magic in an area where the Weave has been torn. But surrounded by the Weave, a spellcaster can shape lightning to blast foes, transport hundreds of miles in the blink of an eye, or even reverse death itself.
All magic depends on the Weave, though different kinds of magic access it in a variety of ways. The spells of wizards, warlocks, sorcerers, and bards are commonly called arcane magic. These spells rely on an understanding— learned or intuitive—of the workings of the Weave. The caster plucks directly at the strands of the Weave to create the desired effect. Eldritch knights and arcane tricksters also use arcane magic. The spells of clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers are called divine magic. These spellcasters’ access to the Weave is mediated by divine power— gods, the divine forces of nature, or the sacred weight of a paladin’s oath.
Weavers prefer a more direct approach.
Creating a Weaver
The most important question to consider when creating your weaver is “Are you really sure you wouldn’t rather be playing something else?” Also ask “Are you sure spell failure is worth the extra versatility?”
QUICK BUILD
You can make a weaver quickly by following these suggestions. First, Charisma, Wisdom, and Intelligence should be your highest ability scores, followed by Constitution and then Dexterity. Second, choose the Sage background. Third, choose the cantrip1, cantrip2, cantrip3 cantrips, along with the following 1st-level spells: spell1, and spell2.
As a weaver, you gain the following class features.
Hit Dice: 1d6 per weaver level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per weaver level after 1st
Armor: None
Weapons: Daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, light crossbows
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma
Skills: Choose two from Arcana, Investigation, Nature, Perception, Religion
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
• (a) a quarterstaff or (b) a dagger
• (a) a sling or (b) a light crossbow with 20 bolts
• An explorer’s pack and a magical focus
Your powers aren’t spells in the same way that wizards and clerics imagine them. Though they look and function in the same way, you aren’t working with a fabric of magic, but directly with the raw energies of the Weave itself.
CANTRIPS
At first level, you know three Cantrips of your choice from any spell list. You learn additional Cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Weaver table.
SPELL POINTS
Each spell has a point cost based on its level. The Spell Point Cost table summarizes the cost in spell points of slots from 1st to 9th level. Cantrips don’t require slots and therefore don't require spell points.
Instead of gaining a number of spell slots to cast your spells from the Spellcasting feature, you gain a pool of spell points instead. You expend a number of spell points to create a spell slot of a given level, and then use that slot to cast a spell. You can't reduce your spell point total to less than 0, and you regain all spent spell points when you finish a long rest.
Spells of 6th level and higher are particularly taxing to cast. You can use spell points to create one slot of each level of 6th or higher. You can't create another slot of the same level until you finish a long rest.
The number of spell points you have to spend is based on your weaver level and Wisdom score, as shown in the Weaver table. Your level also determines the maximum-level spell slot you can create. Even though you might have enough points to create a slot above this maximum, you can't do so.
Spell Point Cost Table
Spell Level
Point Cost
1st
2
2nd
3
3rd
5
4th
6
5th
7
6th
9
7th
10
8th
11
9th
13
Spellcasting Ability and Learning Spells
Accessing the Weave requires study, intuition, and force of will. Because of its complexity, it requires more than the single-minded focus that most spellcasters have. Weavers use Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma in tandem when working the pure magic of the Weave.
Intelligence determines how many spells you can pull from the Weave. For each point of Intelligence Modifier, you learn one spell when you gain a level, chosen from any spell list.
Wisdom determines how often you can cast spells. The number of spell points you get each day is directly influenced by your Wisdom Modifier.
Charisma determines the power of your spells and how hard they are to resist. Your Spell Attack Bonus and Spell DC are tied to your Charisma score.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Spellcasting Focus
You can use either an arcane, druidic, or holy focus (found in chapter 5) as a spellcasting focus for your weaver spells.
Weave Magic
Whenever you attempt to cast a spell of first level or higher that you’ve learned from the Weave, roll a d20 and consult the Weaver Class Table. Weaver spells have a failure chance based on your level. At levels 1-5, there is a 20% failure rate on all spells of 1st level or higher. This failure rate drops to 15% from levels 6-10, 10% from 11-50, and 5% from 16-20. There is no way to lower your spell failure chance except for gaining levels.
Spells fail when your control over the Weave slips. On a failure, roll a d% and compare it to the Wild Magic Surge table (located in the Sorcerer Class section of the PHB) to learn the effects of your loss of control.
The followers of this path become more in tune with the Weave and learn to see how it is being manipulated by people and magic.
ACUTE PERCEPTION
When you choose this path at level two, you gain proficiency in the Perception skill if you don’t already have it, and your proficiency bonus is doubled for all Perception checks.
WEAVESENSE
Beginning at level six, you begin to sense changes in the Weave around you. This ability functions exactly like the spell Detect Magic, except that its range is only 5 feet (instead of 30), and it only requires concentration when you use your action to see magical auras.
WOVEN SIGHT
By level 10, followers of the Path of Perception have become much more observant.
Starting at 10th level, you can use your action to increase your powers of perception. When you do so, choose one of the following benefits, which lasts until you are incapacitated or you take a short or long rest. You can’t use the feature again until you finish a rest.
• Darkvision. You gain darkvision out to a range of 60 feet, or the range of your darkvision increases by an additional 60 feet, as described in chapter 8 of the PHB.
• Ethereal Sight. You can see into the Ethereal Plane within 60 feet of you.
• Greater Comprehension. You can read any language.
• See Invisibility. You can see invisible creatures and objects within 10 feet of you that are within line of sight.
WEAVER’S INTUITION
At level fourteen, your understanding of the Weave and increases senses allow you to feel when the Weave has been disturbed and gives you an edge to avoid its effects. You have advantage on your saving throws against spells.
RESTORE THE WEAVE
Once you’ve worked the Weave this long, you intuitively understand how to prevent others from altering it against your will. Beginning at 18th level, you can cast Dispel Magic twice per short rest without using spell points or requiring spell components. Alternatively, you can cast it as if using a 9th level spell slot, but you are unable to use this ability again for 1 week.
WEAVE REALITY
At 20th level, you have learned to force the Weave to your will in order to change reality. Once per short rest, if you would miss an attack, you can turn the miss into a hit. Alternatively, if you fail an ability check, you can treat the d20 roll as a 20.
The men and women who choose to follow this path wield incredible power, and risk sanity to use it.
TWIST THE WEAVE
Once you begin down this path at level 2, you gain the ability to directly touch the Weave and twist it to alter the fabric of reality. This is incredibly dangerous and risks the weaver losing his mind every time he does it. This path does not have additional features.
Choose one:
• Gain advantage on 1 attack, ability check, or saving throw. [bonus action]
• Cause someone else to gain disadvantage on 1 attack, ability check, or saving throw. [reaction]
• Increase the saving throw DC for 1 spell by an amount equal to your Proficiency bonus. [bonus action]
• Increase the damage of a spell by a number of d6’s equal to your Proficiency bonus. [bonus action]
• Gain resistance to one type of damage (bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic, poison, radiant, or thunder) for a number of rounds equal to your Proficiency bonus. [reaction]
Every time you use this ability, roll on the SHORT-TERM MADNESS table. The effects of this madness cannot be healed by any means short of a Wish spell or effect of equivalent power (subject to DM’s approval).
SHORT-TERM MADNESS
dlOO Effect (lasts ldlO minutes)
01-05 You retreat into your mind and become paralyzed. The effect ends if you take any damage.
06-10 You become incapacitated and spend the duration screaming, laughing, or weeping.
11-15 You become frightened and must use every opportunity to flee from the source of the fear.
16-30 You begin babbling and are incapable of normal speech or spellcasting.
31-35 You must use your action each round to attack the nearest creature.
36-45 You experience vivid hallucinations and have disadvantage on ability checks.
46-55 You do whatever anyone tells you to do that isn't obviously self-destructive.
56-70 You experience an overpowering urge to eat something strange such as dirt, slime, or offal and must spend your turns doing so for the duration.
71-75 You are stunned.
76-80 You fall unconscious.
81–90 You feel fine.
91-100 Roll on the LONG-TERM MADNESS table.
LONG-TERM MADNESS
dlOO Effect (lasts ldlO x 10 hours)
01-05 You feel compelled to repeat a specific activity over and over, such as washing hands, touching things, praying, or counting coins.
06-15 You experience vivid hallucinations and have disadvantage on ability checks.
16-25 You suffer extreme paranoia. You have disadvantage on Wisdom and Charisma checks.
26-30 You regard something (usually the source of madness) with intense revulsion, as if affected by the antipathy effect of the antipathy/sympathy spell.
31-35 You experience a powerful delusion. Choose a potion. You imagine that you are under its effects.
36-40 You become attached to a "lucky charm," such as a person or an object, and have disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws while more than 30 feet from it.
41-50 You are blinded (25%) or deafened (75%).
51-60 You experience uncontrollable tremors or tics, which impose disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws that involve Strength or Dexterity.
61-70 You suffer from partial amnesia. You know who you are and retain racial traits and class features, but don't recognize other people or remember anything that happened before the madness took effect.
71-80 Whenever you take damage, you must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be affected as though you failed a saving throw against the confusion spell. The confusion effect lasts for 1 minute.
81-85 You lose the ability to speak.
86-90 You fall unconscious. No amount of jostling or damage can wake you.
91-100 Roll again on the INDEFINITE MADNESS table.
INDEFINITE MADNESS
dlOO Flaw (permanent)
01-15 "Being drunk keeps me sane."
16-25 "I keep whatever I find ."
26-30 "I try to become more like someone else I know, adopting your style of dress , mannerisms, and name."
31-35 "I must bend the truth, exaggerate, or outright lie to be interesting to other people."
36-45 "Achieving my goal is the only thing of interest to me, and I'll ignore everything else to pursue it."
46-50 "I find it hard to care about anything that goes on around me ."
51-55 "I don 't like the way people judge me all the time."
56-70 "I am the smartest, wisest, strongest, fastest, and most beautiful person I know."
71 -80 "I am convinced that powerful enemies are hunting me, and their agents are everywhere I go. I am sure they're watching me all the time."
81-85 "There's only one person I can trust. And only I can see this special friend ."
86-95 "I can't take anything seriously. The more serious the situation, the funnier I find it."
96-100 "I've discovered that I really like killing people."
The Weaver: What is it?
The weaver has a kernel of each other caster class, but is unlike anything else. Below, I’ll try to break down the mechanics of the class in a straight forward manner.
Base Survivability: (Most like-Wizard)
With a d6 Hit Die, no armor proficiency, and very few weapon proficiencies, weavers won’t be mixing it up in melee. They are casters, and will either stay away from their enemies or very likely die. Given the fact that their spells will almost always have a failure chance, they cannot even fully rely on magic to get them out of sticky situations like other “squishies” do.
Saves and Skills: (Most like-Cleric)
I wanted the saves to be in line with other casters, which focus on mental saves. I chose to use the same saves as clerics, imagining characters of this class to be steady and strong-willed. All skill choices are mental skills and duplicate a cleric’s skill list with the exception of Investigation, which replaces Insight and History.
Spellcasting: (Most like-Sorcerer)
A weaver’s bread and butter. The first change is the removal of slots in favor of using spell points. To me, spell points feel like 3.5 sorcerers. Weavers don’t spend their time praying or pouring over old tomes, so preparing their spells just felt unnatural. Spell points function exactly like spell slots with 2 exceptions:
1. You can only cast one 6th level spell instead of two at levels 19 and 20
2. You have greater control over what power level of spell to cast, whether you want to use a large percentage of your pool on just a few really powerful spells, or conserve your strength all day with a bunch of low level spells.
I’ve copied the DMG spell point variant directly into that section, to save time.
There are two powerful features available to weavers. They can learn a greater variety of spells, and they can cast a few more spells a day than other classes. An astute DM may see that the spell point values in the weaver class table are higher than those given in the DMG (as long as the characters Wisdom score is at least a 16). It’s true. At each level, a weaver will have enough points to cast their highest level spell 1, 2, or 3 more times a day than a caster of another class if their stats are high enough.
To balance these powerful features, weavers suffer from perpetual spell failure that they cannot overcome. It begins at 20% at lower levels, though grows smaller as the class progresses.
Weaver Archetypes
The Path of Perception
This path represents the increased awareness a person would acquire as they become more familiar with the Weave. I think of it like Neo, eventually seeing the Matrix code everywhere after he “leveled up” by the end of the movie.
In terms of power level, there is nothing here that is super strong.
• Expertise in 1 skill is under par compared to other things that grant similar bonuses, such as the Knowledge domain, 1 level in Rogue, the Skilled feat, etc, which all give expertise or access to multiple skills.
• Weavesense is always on, which is powerful, but the range is dropped to 16% of full power, and it still requires concentration when the aura ability is used. Altogether, having a limited range, full-time access to a level 1 spell is solid, but not overpowering, especially when compared to the 3rd level spells getting thrown around by this point.
• Reflavored version of “The Third Eye”, the level 10 ability from the School of Divination.
• Weaver’s Intuition is just a reflavored “Spell Resistance” ability from the wizard’s School of Abjuration archetype, given in the same way at the same level.
• Access to a 3rd level spell for free a few times per short rest is also mostly flavor. It is useful, sure, but not very flashy, nor is it supposed to be. By this level, a weaver’s “Shininess” is in their spells, not their other class features. They should be thinking about magic all day, every day.
• The capstone is just a reflavored “Lucky” capstone from the rogue class.
The Path of Madness
This path started as a joke, but I think it’s actually a solid concept. Instead of multiple features while you level up, you gain a single ability that can save you or damn you…and take your party with you.
You gain access to 5 abilities, all of which are very powerful. The only rule is, every time you use one, you go a little crazy. In game terms, you have a very high chance of getting knocked right out of the fight every time you use this feature. There is also the chance to not only knock yourself out of the fight, but to take your party out, as well, giving the monsters freedom to eat you at their leisure. There is also a chance of going permanently nuts!
The Madness tables that I’ve included are based on the tables in the DMG, though slightly modified for clarity and to make it a little more dangerous to use the feature.
All in all, this path gives a very real power boost, but has some really serious repercussions.
TL;DR- The books always point out that “over-powered” refers to something that is auto-include…something that everyone will choose because it’s too good not to. The weaver class increases class rewards by increasing risk as well, making it an interesting, but very unpredictable choice that will appeal to relatively chaotic players.