Plantae
2018-01-09, 01:38 PM
As a reward for completing a particularly arduous quest (and attuning to a magical place of power), I'm planning on rewarding each of the player characters in my current campaign with a specific ability, as magic items in this setting are rare and powerful. I'm not too concerned about these abilities being balanced overall, but I want to make sure they're all on roughly the same power level, so no one feels like they got the shaft.
The characters are a Ranger (Beast Conclave, revised version), a Paladin (Oath of the Conquerer), a Bard (College of Whispers), a Monk (Way of the Open Hand), and a Druid (Circle of the Land). Here's what I had in mind for each character.
Ranger
Hunter’s Vendetta. You may designate a target you can see as your sworn enemy. When you hit this creature with a weapon attack, you deal an additional 2d6 damage. You also know the distance and the direction to this creature as long as it is on the same plane as you. This lasts 24 hours or until you choose another sworn enemy. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you complete a long rest.
I based this on the Revenant and on the Oathbow abilities. The ranger is motivated by vengeance, so it seemed suitable.
Paladin
Inner Radiance. You can cast spirit guardians one additional time per day, even when your reliquary [Divine Focus] is not in your possession. Your Divine Smite deals an extra 1d8 damage against evil-aligned individuals who reject the True Faith.
The paladin already has the ability to cast spirit guardians through a once a day magic item (the reliquary). He's trying to root out corruption in his church, thus the smite ability.
Bard
Resonant Words. When you cast vicious mockery, add your Charisma modifier to damage, even against creatures that succeed on their saving throw. When you target a creature with vicious mockery, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to deal extra damage equal to your Psychic Blades.
I know vicious mockery is already a pretty potent cantrip, but the bard really enjoys relying on it and has used it to great effect in the past.
Monk
Wardance. As a bonus action, you may enter a war dance. While in this stance, you have advantage on Dexterity checks and Dexterity saving throws, a +2 bonus to AC, and resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. Your war dance lasts 1 minute, or until you are knocked unconscious. Once you this ability, you can’t use it again until you complete a long rest.
The monk belongs to a specific group of elvish monks called wardancers. He's on a quest to achieve spiritual enlightenment and has a strong sense of duty as he seeks to redeem his family name.
Druid
Nature’s Wrath, Nature’s Bounty. When you strike a creature with a druid spell, you may deal an extra 3d6 damage to the target. For 3 rounds, the target’s speed is also halved, it takes a -2 penalty to AC and Dexterity saving throws, and it can’t use reactions; on its turn, it can use either an action or a bonus action, but not both. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you complete a long rest.
In addition, when using Wisdom (Herbalism), you discover twice as many ingredients. Your herbal remedies also last twice as long and heal creatures by an additional hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier.
The druid is the most attuned to places of power in my campaign, which have roots in natural magic. I'm using some optional rules for herbalism that the player really enjoys.
The characters are a Ranger (Beast Conclave, revised version), a Paladin (Oath of the Conquerer), a Bard (College of Whispers), a Monk (Way of the Open Hand), and a Druid (Circle of the Land). Here's what I had in mind for each character.
Ranger
Hunter’s Vendetta. You may designate a target you can see as your sworn enemy. When you hit this creature with a weapon attack, you deal an additional 2d6 damage. You also know the distance and the direction to this creature as long as it is on the same plane as you. This lasts 24 hours or until you choose another sworn enemy. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you complete a long rest.
I based this on the Revenant and on the Oathbow abilities. The ranger is motivated by vengeance, so it seemed suitable.
Paladin
Inner Radiance. You can cast spirit guardians one additional time per day, even when your reliquary [Divine Focus] is not in your possession. Your Divine Smite deals an extra 1d8 damage against evil-aligned individuals who reject the True Faith.
The paladin already has the ability to cast spirit guardians through a once a day magic item (the reliquary). He's trying to root out corruption in his church, thus the smite ability.
Bard
Resonant Words. When you cast vicious mockery, add your Charisma modifier to damage, even against creatures that succeed on their saving throw. When you target a creature with vicious mockery, you can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to deal extra damage equal to your Psychic Blades.
I know vicious mockery is already a pretty potent cantrip, but the bard really enjoys relying on it and has used it to great effect in the past.
Monk
Wardance. As a bonus action, you may enter a war dance. While in this stance, you have advantage on Dexterity checks and Dexterity saving throws, a +2 bonus to AC, and resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. Your war dance lasts 1 minute, or until you are knocked unconscious. Once you this ability, you can’t use it again until you complete a long rest.
The monk belongs to a specific group of elvish monks called wardancers. He's on a quest to achieve spiritual enlightenment and has a strong sense of duty as he seeks to redeem his family name.
Druid
Nature’s Wrath, Nature’s Bounty. When you strike a creature with a druid spell, you may deal an extra 3d6 damage to the target. For 3 rounds, the target’s speed is also halved, it takes a -2 penalty to AC and Dexterity saving throws, and it can’t use reactions; on its turn, it can use either an action or a bonus action, but not both. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you complete a long rest.
In addition, when using Wisdom (Herbalism), you discover twice as many ingredients. Your herbal remedies also last twice as long and heal creatures by an additional hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier.
The druid is the most attuned to places of power in my campaign, which have roots in natural magic. I'm using some optional rules for herbalism that the player really enjoys.