Want a chance to play your Homebrew Class? (Roll20 Playtesting/Critique Session)

[Toothless]

Hey everyone!

Just decided to put the idea out there if anyone was interested. Perhaps we could set up a time and do a playtesting session of some of your homebrew class creations out there! A lot of the stuff we homebrew is just "theorized" or "looks okay", but actually creating the character and playing the class tells a whole different story.

I'm thinking we'd run through some encounters at 1st, 3rd, and 5th level (as those are the most commonly played levels) and then critique and grade our classes based on their performance. If a class is OBVIOUSLY dominating every single encounter, that might be an indicator that it could use some tweaking.

On the other hand, a niche class isn't performing as up to par as expected, that could use some tweaking as well.

I'm available nearly everyday anytime between 1 PM PDT and 7 PM PDT, then some nights as well. I'd be more than happy to set up and DM this as I have a class that needs testing too. ^^

[Michael7123]

I'm not sure if I'd be able to participate in this myself (as much as I want to). However, if someone else want's to test out my homebrew, you are more than welcome to do so. I could use the feedback.

[Toothless]

I'm not sure if I'd be able to participate in this myself (as much as I want to). However, if someone else want's to test out my homebrew, you are more than welcome to do so. I could use the feedback.

Aww, why can't ya join? I can make a note of it though, no problem. Which class do ya want tested?

[bloodshed343]

When I get home I'll get you a link to the campaign I started. I have 3-4 players already. I have no DM experience, though, so if you want to DM we might have to make a new campaign.

That being said, I think the best levels for a playtes are 2, 5, 11, and 18.

[BRKNdevil]

Would also like my Alchemist to be tested and reviewed. I think its ok to go now and you can get to it through my sig. Don't personally have the time as i'm looking for a job. On that note, anyone know an opening for an entry level Mechanical Engineer?

[Michael7123]

Aww, why can't ya join? I can make a note of it though, no problem. Which class do ya want tested?

Well, I've got 16 warlock patrons, a dread necromancer, and a knight. You're welcome to use any of them.

[zylodrizzt]

I've got a few I've been working on myself but stating that this is to try homebrew designs seem to me that you'd need to have official classes possibly of the same class or role to test against cause if you fill a party up with all homebrew how will u know for sure actual play how it really compares if you don't use actual official classes to compare them to

[bloodshed343]

I've got a few I've been working on myself but stating that this is to try homebrew designs seem to me that you'd need to have official classes possibly of the same class or role to test against cause if you fill a party up with all homebrew how will u know for sure actual play how it really compares if you don't use actual official classes to compare them to

I would have to agree to this, to a certain extent. We may not actually need official classes in the same playtest, as we could use our experience with classes in similar roles to judge. It should be fairly obvious if a class feature is trivializing encounters that are meant to be challenging.

Anyway, here's a link to the roll20 campaign:

https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/30705/homebrew-playtest

[Toothless]

When I get home I'll get you a link to the campaign I started. I have 3-4 players already. I have no DM experience, though, so if you want to DM we might have to make a new campaign.

That being said, I think the best levels for a playtes are 2, 5, 11, and 18.

Sure, that sounds totally good!

Most likely the encounters I'll write will be of Hard or Deadly level, as 5E is designed for characters to go through multiple encounters (which is what the difficulty level calculates).


Would also like my Alchemist to be tested and reviewed. I think its ok to go now and you can get to it through my sig. Don't personally have the time as i'm looking for a job. On that note, anyone know an opening for an entry level Mechanical Engineer?

Sure, sounds good! We have a lot of people who want their stuff played over, but I'll be sure to let everyone know. ^^


Well, I've got 16 warlock patrons, a dread necromancer, and a knight. You're welcome to use any of them.

Sweet, I'll make sure to let everyone know, thanks!


I would have to agree to this, to a certain extent. We may not actually need official classes in the same playtest, as we could use our experience with classes in similar roles to judge. It should be fairly obvious if a class feature is trivializing encounters that are meant to be challenging.

Anyway, here's a link to the roll20 campaign:

https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/30705/homebrew-playtest

Yup yup, I agree with the above. I thought about it, but I've played more than my share of DnD games at various levels, and although I haven't played the higher levels as much, we'll know if there are any glaring issues right off the bat.

I do agree that playing them with similar classes would be best, but we don't quite have enough time, and this is still a pretty effective method.

We could also always cross-reference the stuff with levels of official classes during and after the encounters, and talk and compare the two.

[Toothless]

We "technically" have it scheduled for tomorrow, August 28th at 5 PM PDT, which doesn't work out too bad for me, but we can always reschedule, that is a bit early. I just wanted to to inform you all on how the playtesting will be done:

- At the beginning, all playtesters and the GM will read through each of the classes one by one and discuss. Here's a good time to decide what to test to balance the party out. Glaring problems and confusing abilities should be addressed first as well as mediating OPness, and some tweaks can be done before we start the first encounter.

- There will be three encounters, run at levels 2, 5, 11, and 18. The first three encounters will be set to Hard, with the last set to Deadly. The monsters as well as the environment will be completely randomized via a generator (http://donjon.bin.sh/5e/random/#type=encounter;n_pc=4;level=1;difficulty=any;envi ronment=Arctic) by rolling a d13 (Arctic, Coastal, Desert, Forest, Grassland, Hill, Mountain, Swamp, Underdark, Underwater, Urban, Abyssal Plane, and Infernal Plane).

- At the end of each encounter, we'll have another small discussion about our classes and give an opportunity to tweak again before continuing on the next encounter.

At the end of the day, it's really all for fun, so don't take it too seriously if things get a bit heated during the discussion. We're all just looking to help each other out and roll some dice, so there's no harm.

[Prince Zahn]

I don't know if it's too late, but I'd like to offer up my Binder Class (link in my Sig with large, friendly letters on the cover) for anyone interested. I don't know if I'll be able to play that late. myself, however. So even if there's no takers, consider this class if you go for another round.
Thank you very much in advance.

[bloodshed343]

We "technically" have it scheduled for tomorrow, August 28th at 5 PM PDT, which doesn't work out too bad for me, but we can always reschedule, that is a bit early. I just wanted to to inform you all on how the playtesting will be done:

- At the beginning, all playtesters and the GM will read through each of the classes one by one and discuss. Here's a good time to decide what to test to balance the party out. Glaring problems and confusing abilities should be addressed first as well as mediating OPness, and some tweaks can be done before we start the first encounter.

- There will be three encounters, run at levels 2, 5, 11, and 18. The first three encounters will be set to Hard, with the last set to Deadly. The monsters as well as the environment will be completely randomized via a generator (http://donjon.bin.sh/5e/random/#type=encounter;n_pc=4;level=1;difficulty=any;envi ronment=Arctic) by rolling a d13 (Arctic, Coastal, Desert, Forest, Grassland, Hill, Mountain, Swamp, Underdark, Underwater, Urban, Abyssal Plane, and Infernal Plane).

- At the end of each encounter, we'll have another small discussion about our classes and give an opportunity to tweak again before continuing on the next encounter.

At the end of the day, it's really all for fun, so don't take it too seriously if things get a bit heated during the discussion. We're all just looking to help each other out and roll some dice, so there's no harm.

Great. So did you make your own campaign? If you are I need to send the players who signed up a link to yours. If not, make a post and I'll invite you to the game.

Edit: Sheet for my Tankissary. AC may be low. http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=515340

[Toothless]

Great. So did you make your own campaign? If you are I need to send the players who signed up a link to yours. If not, make a post and I'll invite you to the game.

Yup, I created my own campaign. ^^ Had a bit of time to work so I made some maps and stuff. I'll PM you the link, and then you can send it out to the other members.

Also, I realized I might have a DnD game today at 4 PM PDT, but if it doesn't go through and we have people around, we could run a playtest at 4 PM PDT or 5.

[BRKNdevil]

So how did it go?

[Toothless]

So how did it go?

It went pretty well actually! We're at the 5th level encounter now, fighting 5 Ice Memphis and a White Dragon (not gonna say which for spoilers xP) with a 3 man party, but we're not doing so bad!

I'm thinking about expanding the playground to double as a chatroom for the Homebrew section of GITP and a playtesting room, so people can come in anytime to ask for advice or run encounters and such. I'm also thinking about running a campaign with some homebrew classes w/ accelerated levels, kinda like what we're doing now, except longer.

[bloodshed343]

The homebrew playtest has been most enlightening. I do encourage you brewers to stop by and chat about things. Even if you don't play, some outside observation might help us balance things out better.

[BRKNdevil]

So was it only those four that got playtested?

[bloodshed343]

So was it only those four that got playtested?

So far it's only been my Janissary, the Runner, and my two goblin races. Goblin Pack Tactics is pretty powerful for a rogue, but the Hobgoblin is fairly meh so far.

Playing this campaign has made me realize that my narrative and mechanical focus with the Janissary was far too narrow. I used some of its features to make a more general Bladesinger class, with Janissary as one of the traditions.

[Nifft]

So far it's only been my Janissary, the Runner, and my two goblin races. Goblin Pack Tactics is pretty powerful for a rogue, but the Hobgoblin is fairly meh so far.

Playing this campaign has made me realize that my narrative and mechanical focus with the Janissary was far too narrow. I used some of its features to make a more general Bladesinger class, with Janissary as one of the traditions.

Cool stuff.

What time / timezone do you play in?

I'd like a chance to kick the tires on my Binder and my Chameleon.

[Submortimer]

I completely authorize anyone to test any of my myriad subclasses, classes, feats, etc., just PM me the results after the fact.

[bloodshed343]

Cool stuff.

What time / timezone do you play in?

I'd like a chance to kick the tires on my Binder and my Chameleon.

We might have a game tomorrow, but that's up to toothless. We'd have to squeeze it in before 5 mountain though. I have a lab to go to.

[bloodshed343]

I completely authorize anyone to test any of my myriad subclasses, classes, feats, etc., just PM me the results after the fact.

Ha! I remember working on those cantrips with you! I'm stealing some of them.

[Michael7123]

Hey, my Knight is about as balanced as it's going to be before it is tested in game. If you could hurl some Knights at the party, that'd be really helpful.

[Toothless]

Hey, my Knight is about as balanced as it's going to be before it is tested in game. If you could hurl some Knights at the party, that'd be really helpful.

Sure, totally, that sounds pretty cool. x3

I plan on running more of these sessions in the future. The next one will probably be tomorrow if nothing happens, starting at 1 PM PDT. I'll eventually make a steadier schedule and pick a specific day and time weekly so you guys can have a better idea when these'll be ran.

If any of you guys are interested, post below! I'll get something more official up later this week. xP

[bloodshed343]

Sure, totally, that sounds pretty cool. x3

I plan on running more of these sessions in the future. The next one will probably be tomorrow if nothing happens, starting at 1 PM PDT. I'll eventually make a steadier schedule and pick a specific day and time weekly so you guys can have a better idea when these'll be ran.

If any of you guys are interested, post below! I'll get something more official up later this week. xP

Tuesdays, thursdays, saturdays, and Sundays are good for me. I only have a morning class plus my evening lab on tuesday.

[Zyn]

I would be very interested in testing my Allomancer class, if you havn't seen the post it has quite a lot of complicated tracking, however I am hoping to streamline it down to an easier version eventually. If you're willing I would quite like to try it out just to see how it fares balance wise, and how the existing tracking system works and if any of you guys can come up with a better way to utilize the unique resources.

Having said that I am GMT based, out of curiosity how long did your last session take to complete?

[bloodshed343]

Having said that I am GMT based, out of curiosity how long did your last session take to complete?

About 3 hours, I think.

[Nifft]

Tuesdays, thursdays, saturdays, and Sundays are good for me. I only have a morning class plus my evening lab on tuesday.

Saturday or Sunday (or both) could work for me.

[Gr7mm Bobb]

I'd also like to try and participate in this. But my schedule is very chaotic so it'll be pretty hit and miss for me.

Just putting it up there as a request, I am comfortable with any of these being play tested + critiqued:

Races

Warforged (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Warforged-Gr7mm_(5e_Race)) (Outside link)
Lizardfolk (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Lizardfolk_-_Gr7mm_(5e_Race)) (Outside link)
Shardmind (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Shardmind-Gr7mm_(5e_Race)) (Outside link)
Vulshok (incoming, not the one listed by me in the forums)


Class Options

Homebrew Spell Book (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m01JcmdjZNvCv5Iq3q2JdVnftCLsSU_mogF7D4qg6Ew/edit?usp=docslist_api)
Class: Duskblade (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fntmKg1Uvlcx69CmgADko0Xr1XaMLu7LKOczn1ULzyU/edit?usp=sharing) (Google Doc)
Patron: The Inescapable Void (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Warlock_Patron_-_The_Inescapable_Void_(5e_Subclass)) (Outside link)
Patron: The Immemorial Glacier (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Warlock_Patron_-_The_Immemorial_Glacier_(5e_Subclass)) (Outside link)
Bloodline: Pyroclastic Bloodline (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Sorcerous_Origin_-_Pyroclastic_Bloodline_(5e_Subclass)) (Outside link)


More to be added with requests.

[Starcofski]

As an avid Brew-er, I'd love to help participate in this! Only have races that I'm working on at the moment though, but they (mostly) just need final tweaking.

[Nifft]

So, how's it looking for this weekend? What times are you folks thinking about?

Should I sign up for a campaign on Roll20?

Thanks!

[eleazzaar]

I can't commit to another campaign, but how do you feel about drop-ins on short notice? I might be able to fit it in sometimes-- especially on the weeks when my IRL game gets canceled.

Also, should anyone want to, I'd welcome additional feedback on any of the dozen or so races in my compendium (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m7qG9BDQEH1pIykhmUb88f1--ghHvJZlV5QBJUtzTR4/edit#).

[Ralcos]

REDACTED

I didn't see that this was a 5e thread until it was too late. Sorry about that! :smalltongue:

[BRKNdevil]

So any chance anyone will post the issues they found in playing a homebrew class on this thread or should i go to the individual threads of the classes being played?

[Toothless]

We've temporarily post-poned sessions Devil, but we may be getting a weekly one set up soon since my schedule's clearing up! Essentially, it'll be a "workshop" set up on a certain day, where anyone can drop-in to join and play. We'll probably have 4-5 slots, so if it becomes popular, we'll have no problem filling them up. ^^

If there are any other DMs out there though, feel free to post here and I'll promote to you GM in the R20 campaign!

[bloodshed343]

So any chance anyone will post the issues they found in playing a homebrew class on this thread or should i go to the individual threads of the classes being played?

Toothless has a subreddit for discussions. For those who don't use Reddit, I'll be keeping a google doc transcript of the tester's feedback once testing begins, which will have a link posted on this forum as well as in the subreddit.

Unless someone else was already doing that.

I want just a little bit of responsibility.