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JNAProductions
2016-01-11, 05:09 PM
Welcome, homebrewers, to round two of base class contests for 5E! Same rules as before-you need a base class, levels 1-20, with at least two subclasses.

As usual, the prize is a subclass, designed by me, for the winning class.

This time, the theme is Homestead. That is, I want classes designed around the concept of a home. If you need more elaboration, just ask.

The deadline will be January 31st, giving you 20 days to design your class.

Reaver ||

Hearth Guardian |

WarrentheHero
2016-01-11, 05:18 PM
This is an interesting concept.
Could a bodyguard fit into this idea? It's not a short leap, but it could work in a sort of "my charge/family member/whoever I'm guarding is my home" idea.

JNAProductions
2016-01-11, 05:19 PM
At least one subclass has to be a guardian of home and hearth, rather than of people. But yes, I'll allow that.

WarrentheHero
2016-01-11, 06:13 PM
Alright. I'll brainstorm some ideas and post back soon-ish.

Fast Jimmy
2016-01-11, 06:25 PM
Welcome, homebrewers, to round two of base class contests for 5E! Same rules as before-you need a base class, levels 1-20, with at least two subclasses.

As usual, the prize is a subclass, designed by me, for the winning class.

This time, the theme is Homestead. That is, I want classes designed around the concept of a home. If you need more elaboration, just ask.

The deadline will be January 31st, giving you 20 days to design your class.

Can these be wildly overpowered? :)

WarrentheHero
2016-01-11, 07:46 PM
Alright, I've got some concepts down for a Defender class that uses Defense Dice (like Superiority Dice or Bardic Inspiration).
Subclasses are a Guardian that acts like a bodyguard, and Threshold Keeper that defines an area or building and defends it.

Does this idea work for you?

JNAProductions
2016-01-11, 07:48 PM
Can these be wildly overpowered? :)

I'd really rather they not.


Alright, I've got some concepts down for a Defender class that uses Defense Dice (like Superiority Dice or Bardic Inspiration).
Subclasses are a Guardian that acts like a bodyguard, and Threshold Keeper that defines an area or building and defends it.

Does this idea work for you?

It does indeed!

Oerlaf
2016-01-11, 11:34 PM
That's a difficult theme for D&D. For now I have the idea of a psionic class, one subclass of which uses its psionic powers to summon the images of his family members that live in his home to aid in battles.

FruitOfTheShroom
2016-01-12, 12:44 PM
Should we post our submissions here?

JNAProductions
2016-01-12, 12:48 PM
Make a thread for your class, and post a link here.

FruitOfTheShroom
2016-01-12, 01:57 PM
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?474818-Homestead-Theme-Contest-Homestead-Champion&p=20290242#post20290242

I apologize for the terrible formating, I tried to make it easy to parse, but without tables and what not it made it tricky.

WarrentheHero
2016-01-12, 11:24 PM
Defender is here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?474887-The-Defender-JNAP-s-Homestead-Contest-WIP-PEACH&p=20292405#post20292405).

Calen
2016-01-23, 12:16 PM
Here is my submission:
The Guardian (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?476115-Guardian-Class-(PEACH)&p=20335434#post20335434)

weaseldust
2016-01-30, 09:10 PM
Since everyone else seems to have made classes for defending the home, I made one that will break into your home instead: The Reaver (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?476891-The-Reaver-A-Class-for-Breaking-and-Entering)

MoleMage
2016-02-03, 03:38 PM
I was working on a nomad-type class but couldn't figure out the archetypes in time, so I'll shelve it for later. Any ideas on the next contest's theme?

JNAProductions
2016-02-03, 03:40 PM
Oh crap!

Yeah, let's actually handle voting for this right now.

WarrentheHero
2016-02-03, 03:48 PM
I will note that my class is incomplete. I was having difficulty figuring out high-level abilities for the Threshold Keeper subclass, and life got in the way of me being able to sit down and properly work/type out those few ideas I did have.

If you're fine with a 90% complete class competing, that's fine. Otherwise I'll have to withdraw my entry.

weaseldust
2016-02-04, 11:07 AM
How do you want us to vote? If WarrentheHero withdraws, there are only 3 entries. I can't vote for my own, so if the method is two-votes-each like last time, it's pointless for me to vote.

JNAProductions
2016-02-04, 12:20 PM
With only three entries, everyone gets one vote.

Calen
2016-02-05, 06:12 PM
I will submit my vote for weaseldusts The Reaver. I like the way he turned the concept on its head.



As a note for future contests JNAP it would be helpful to outline the rules in the opening post or provide a link to a thread that does have the rules.

WarrentheHero
2016-02-06, 01:06 PM
I'll also vote for Reaver. I never would of dreamed of taking this theme and reversing it; well done. Beyond that, the class is actually fairly neat, as well.

weaseldust
2016-02-06, 08:12 PM
I vote for FruitOfTheShroom's Hearth Guardian (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?474818-Homestead-Theme-Contest-Submission-Hearth-Guardian-WIP). It's unconventional and unpolished, but I really appreciate the ideas behind some of the features. It makes having a homestead genuinely appealing and at the same time lets you function effectively as part of a team of vagabond monster-slayers.

WarrentheHero
2016-02-12, 01:32 PM
So... is voting over?

JNAProductions
2016-02-12, 06:02 PM
Honestly, I've lost enthusiasm for this. I done goofed on the last one and never made an archetype, and I'm not sure I have it in me for building one on the Reaver. In addition, people appear to have lost interest.

I'll take another look at the Reaver, since it's the winner, and see if I can drudge up enough creative energy, but since I probably can't, I'm sorry.

weaseldust
2016-02-12, 07:26 PM
Honestly, I've lost enthusiasm for this. I done goofed on the last one and never made an archetype, and I'm not sure I have it in me for building one on the Reaver. In addition, people appear to have lost interest.

I'll take another look at the Reaver, since it's the winner, and see if I can drudge up enough creative energy, but since I probably can't, I'm sorry.

Don't worry too much about it. I won't be offended if you don't make an archetype.

I don't know if people have lost interest, or if it's just a case of this being a difficult theme to work with, which results in fewer people making classes. I expect that also accounts for fewer people voting, since the contest is harder to get invested in.

There are more than enough people making good 5e homebrew to be capable of supporting a contest like this, so I support its continuation (which isn't to say you should do it - anyone can make the post). I started making suggestions for how to continue, but it got a bit long, so apologies for that.


I'd borrow a few things from the 3.5e contest (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?477112-Base-Class-Contest-XXXII-Tipping-the-Scale-II-3-5) to encourage people to participate. One is a standard format, which entrants can copy and fill in, so that people aren't put off by the difficulty of formatting a class. Another is an ancillary contest (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?476329-3-X-Ancillary-Contest-VII-Community-the-Many-as-One), though I'd give it the same theme as the base class contest. That way, people who have ideas that fall short of a full class still have a way to participate and an interest in following the contest and voting. Also, an idea that starts in the ancillary contest (e.g. a new spell) might turn out to form the basis for a class.

I also like that people are encouraged to discuss their works in progress in the contest chat thread. At the moment, I don't think it's worth making a separate chat thread for these contests, since having people make separate posts for their entries hasn't been flooding the front page, so we might as well keep discussions in the contest thread. But just a note in the post introducing the contest that explicitly encourages discussion could go a long way.

More controversially (I expect), I'd suggest that voters rate the entries rather than rank them. When you make homebrew, it's not really useful to you to know how many people prefer it over all the others - you want to know how good they think it is. I think a good system would be to have everyone rank entries on a scale from 1 to 5 and then calculate the average score for each one. The highest would still be named the winner, but other entrants could benefit by seeing how well they scored even if they didn't come first.

I'm told that rating systems work much better if the numbers are associated with descriptions, e.g. 5 - Exceptional, 4 - Very good, 3 - Good, 2 - OK, 1 - Not very good (I think having any descriptions more negative than that would put some people off voting).

One last suggestion, also taken from the 3.5e contest, is that we list all previous winners in each post. Using a rating system, we could also list all entries that scored fairly well (perhaps an average of 3.5 or better?), so long as we clearly distinguished the winners. That way, you give new entrants an idea of what a good submission looks like, you draw attention to the forum's best content, and you reward people for winning.


Does anyone have any comments on the above? I'd be happy to make the next thread, and I'd also be happy for anyone else to do it. The one thing I'd really push for is a standard format that people can copy and paste, to lower the barrier for entry.

Mr.Moron
2016-02-12, 07:38 PM
Honestly, I've lost enthusiasm for this. I done goofed on the last one and never made an archetype, and I'm not sure I have it in me for building one on the Reaver. In addition, people appear to have lost interest.

I'll take another look at the Reaver, since it's the winner, and see if I can drudge up enough creative energy, but since I probably can't, I'm sorry.

I think the lack of entries is less people's lack of interest and more the narrowness/difficulty of theme. I wanted to enter but brainstorming got me nothing but variants on the whole guardian concept.

Calen
2016-02-14, 08:28 AM
The one thing I'd really push for is a standard format that people can copy and paste, to lower the barrier for entry.

There is a thread for pre-formatted 5e classes floating around here somewhere. Its what I used to set up the table for my entry. Sadly I forgot where it was and don't have the time to track it down right now.

sterling vermin
2016-02-14, 01:32 PM
I wish I hadn't missed this. ; - ;

JNAProductions
2016-02-14, 01:47 PM
Make a class anyway. Post it here, people will see it.

sterling vermin
2016-02-14, 02:15 PM
Make a class anyway. Post it here, people will see it.

I may do...not that I need to bite off any more big D&D projects. Finishing up my pugilist class and fleshing out my scholar class should probably take precedence over diving into something new but I love the homestead prompt. It reminds me of Fallout 4.

weaseldust
2016-02-15, 06:26 PM
OK, if no-one objects or preempts me before tomorrow, I'll post a new contest then. We'll have time to discuss the voting afterwards anyway.

JNAProductions
2016-02-15, 07:01 PM
You've certainly got my approval (not that it's needed).

Hell, I might even enter.