Cocolito
2016-02-07, 06:22 PM
Hey guys, I've been looking for a good home-brew of the Cavalier class for 5e and haven't found one that didn't seem to be at least a little unbalanced. I decided to throw in a few ideas here and hope some of you can help me flesh out the archetype out into something usable.
I find that 5e seems to lean towards making old classes through archetypes, since most of the old classes played similar to the core classes. A Cavalier is, I believe, would work best off of the Fighter class, but grant him more a leadership kind of role, granting allies extra bonus's.
The 3 main aspects to a Cavalier (at least in pathfinder) are the Challenge ability, Tactician ability, and mounted combat skills (along with a faithful mount).
When choosing this archetype at level 3, a Cavalier must choose an Order. While in previous additions, their have been a LARGE amount of orders, I decided to make rules for only 3 types of orders. For fluff reasons, you can created or use any old order and place them into one of these three types: Order of the Blade, Order of the Defender, and Order of Wisdom. The order they choose will decide the way their Challenge ability will function.
War Mounts are also a staple of Cavaliers, but in respect to the ranger's pet subclass, I decided it should work differently to not over shadow/copy that class. Instead, due to a Cavalier's ability to ride and control a mount in combat, they add minor bonuses to an mount they ride into combat. This will help keep the mount alive a little while longer (especially since they're such vulnerable targets to begin with).
The Tactician ability will also work based on the Order chosen, making the Cavalier function better in a team, giving allies actions during the Cavalier's turn.
A Cavalier's would also carry a banner into combat, granting bonus's to allies withing range. I don't know if I should make these bonus's specific to the Order, or just make it a flat bonus. For now, it's a flat bonus.
Finally, a special charge skill that grants the Cavalier a bonus when moving and attacking (but not the same as the Charge feat).
Orders:
-Choose an Order to Join (gained at 3rd level):
-Order of the Blade: Gain proficiency in one STR or DEX skill
-Order of the Wisdom: Gain Proficiency in one INT or WIS skill
-Order of the Shield: Gain proficiency in one CHA skill
-War Trained Mount (gained at 3rd level)
-Can train/gain a mount. Mounts have their same statistics as normal, except you add your proficiency bonus to their AC and add double the Fighter’s level to the mount’s HP as temporary HP.
-Challenge (Gained at 3rd level): As a bonus action, Challenge a creature within 30 ft of you once per short rest to gain the feature stated by your order below:
-Order of the Blade: Until you or the creature challenged falls to 0 hp, add your CHA modifier to all damage rolls (minimum 1)
-Order of the Wisdom: Until you or the creature challenged falls to 0 hp, recieve a bonus to all saving throws against the creature by an amount equal to you CHA modifier (1 minimum)
-Order of the Shield: Until you or the creature challenged falls to 0 hp, add your CHA modifier to your AC (minimum 1) against attacks from that creature
-Tactician (Gained at 7th level)
-Order of the Blade: Use an action to grant an ally within melee attack range of your a creature within 5 ft of you an attack action with their reaction against that creature.. Add your CHA modifier to their attacks (minimum 1).
-Order of the Defender: Use an action and grant all adjacent allies of you an AC bonus equal to your CHA modifier for that turn (minimum 1).
-Order of the Shield: Once per short rest, use an action to grant all allies within 30 ft of you temporary HP equal to your level plus CHA modifier (duration is 1 minute).
-Banner (Gained at 10th level)
-All allies within 30 ft of you and can see your banner gain advantage on mind affection saving throws.
-Cavalier's Charge (Gained at 15th level)
-When you move at least 10 ft in a straight line before using an attack action on a creature, add your CHA modifier to you attack and damage (Minimum 1)
-Supreme Charge (Gained at 18th level)
-When using Cavalier’s Charge, any ally adjacent to you can use their reaction to move at least 10 ft and use an attack action.
I find that 5e seems to lean towards making old classes through archetypes, since most of the old classes played similar to the core classes. A Cavalier is, I believe, would work best off of the Fighter class, but grant him more a leadership kind of role, granting allies extra bonus's.
The 3 main aspects to a Cavalier (at least in pathfinder) are the Challenge ability, Tactician ability, and mounted combat skills (along with a faithful mount).
When choosing this archetype at level 3, a Cavalier must choose an Order. While in previous additions, their have been a LARGE amount of orders, I decided to make rules for only 3 types of orders. For fluff reasons, you can created or use any old order and place them into one of these three types: Order of the Blade, Order of the Defender, and Order of Wisdom. The order they choose will decide the way their Challenge ability will function.
War Mounts are also a staple of Cavaliers, but in respect to the ranger's pet subclass, I decided it should work differently to not over shadow/copy that class. Instead, due to a Cavalier's ability to ride and control a mount in combat, they add minor bonuses to an mount they ride into combat. This will help keep the mount alive a little while longer (especially since they're such vulnerable targets to begin with).
The Tactician ability will also work based on the Order chosen, making the Cavalier function better in a team, giving allies actions during the Cavalier's turn.
A Cavalier's would also carry a banner into combat, granting bonus's to allies withing range. I don't know if I should make these bonus's specific to the Order, or just make it a flat bonus. For now, it's a flat bonus.
Finally, a special charge skill that grants the Cavalier a bonus when moving and attacking (but not the same as the Charge feat).
Orders:
-Choose an Order to Join (gained at 3rd level):
-Order of the Blade: Gain proficiency in one STR or DEX skill
-Order of the Wisdom: Gain Proficiency in one INT or WIS skill
-Order of the Shield: Gain proficiency in one CHA skill
-War Trained Mount (gained at 3rd level)
-Can train/gain a mount. Mounts have their same statistics as normal, except you add your proficiency bonus to their AC and add double the Fighter’s level to the mount’s HP as temporary HP.
-Challenge (Gained at 3rd level): As a bonus action, Challenge a creature within 30 ft of you once per short rest to gain the feature stated by your order below:
-Order of the Blade: Until you or the creature challenged falls to 0 hp, add your CHA modifier to all damage rolls (minimum 1)
-Order of the Wisdom: Until you or the creature challenged falls to 0 hp, recieve a bonus to all saving throws against the creature by an amount equal to you CHA modifier (1 minimum)
-Order of the Shield: Until you or the creature challenged falls to 0 hp, add your CHA modifier to your AC (minimum 1) against attacks from that creature
-Tactician (Gained at 7th level)
-Order of the Blade: Use an action to grant an ally within melee attack range of your a creature within 5 ft of you an attack action with their reaction against that creature.. Add your CHA modifier to their attacks (minimum 1).
-Order of the Defender: Use an action and grant all adjacent allies of you an AC bonus equal to your CHA modifier for that turn (minimum 1).
-Order of the Shield: Once per short rest, use an action to grant all allies within 30 ft of you temporary HP equal to your level plus CHA modifier (duration is 1 minute).
-Banner (Gained at 10th level)
-All allies within 30 ft of you and can see your banner gain advantage on mind affection saving throws.
-Cavalier's Charge (Gained at 15th level)
-When you move at least 10 ft in a straight line before using an attack action on a creature, add your CHA modifier to you attack and damage (Minimum 1)
-Supreme Charge (Gained at 18th level)
-When using Cavalier’s Charge, any ally adjacent to you can use their reaction to move at least 10 ft and use an attack action.