D&D 5.5 Edition (New Thread)

[pagnabros]

After years of reading ranger revisions, sorcerer revisions, reddit posts, discussion forums, Jeremy Crawford contradictory tweets, class guides, Happy Fun Hours, sageadvice, Treantmonk's videos, errata, coffee sorlock, TWF fix, and yet again others ranger revisions, I'm proud to present you years of playtested houserules about the most controversial topics (yes ranger beastmaster, I'm looking at you) of D&D 5th edition. Our aim was not to radically change the system, but instead to improve the rules by using the experience and the insights accumulated by the D&D community after 4 years since the publication of 5th edition. The design philosophy was light changes and more customization. The following PDFs are an attempt by our gaming group to condensate all the changes we have made across years of gaming sessions in easily accessible documents. The purple sentences are the one changed from the RAW, so that you can easy find all the modifyed rules.

Here is the link to the PDFs: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QKR4U7Z6nFjJEIA3rK0RAI5oev6bNat_

A general overview of the houserules:

1. Races: Lots of races have been reworked and streamlined (most noticeable humans and Volo's monster races). Every race now gives a +1 to two fixed stats and a +1 to one of your choice, to help fight the “all half-orcs are barbarians, all gnomes are wizards” effect and give more freedom.

2. Classes: Bottom of the barrel classes and subclasses have been buffed, giving them more identity and unique mechanics (ranger and sorcerer received the most attention, but also the 4 elements monk). Hexblade has been reworked (and refluffed), the Hex Warrior class feature removed and now is the Pact of the Blade that gives you the opportunity to use your Charisma when attacking with your pact weapon (sorry no more super dip for min/maxer!). New subclasses have been added, polished and better refined, many taken by the UA documents and Mike Mearls Happy Hour.

3. Feat: The infamous -5/+10 on GWM and Sharpshooter has been changed with a common houserules (once per turn, penalty equal to your proficiency bonus on attack roll, + double proficiency bonus to damage). The Charger feat is removed and now every creature with Extra Attack or Multiattack can use a bonus action to make one melee weapon attack or to shove a creature after using the Dash action. Several feats have been added or slightly reworked (Tier 1 feats, like Crossbow Expert and Polearm Master, have been changed).

4. Combat: Two weapon fighting now deals one extra die of its damage with your bonus action attack if you gain the Extra Attack (2) class feature, and another extra die if you gain the Extra Attack (3) class feature. We were thinking about removing the bonus action tax and we came out with the idea that you can make a second attack when you hold two light weapons, both with disadvantage but with the fighting style removing the disadvantage on the main hand. This change though makes the TWF a “neverpick” for the Rogue. If you have any ideas, we will be more than happy to hear them!

5. Weapons: Finesse weapons damage capped at d6, in order to help balancing a bit Strenght vs Dexterity. Now rapier is equal to a shortsword mechanically, and so can be used to TWF.

6. Spells: Game-breaking encounters spells got a light nerf (polymorph, wall of force, forcecage), while some never picked ones got a boost (circle of death, immolation). We thank Treantmonk and all the fantastic online class guides for many of the insight in the matter!

7. Variant Rules: We’ve introduced different variant rules such as: everyone gets a free feat at 1st level (to help customization), flanking gives you +1 on melee attacks and you can cast somatic spell even with weapons and shield without taking the Warcaster feat.

Of course, these houserules are not by any means perfect and don’t want to claim themselves as a true “new edition”! They are written so that everything is modular: you can choose to use certain things and exclude others as you like. We want to share them with all of you because we hope they will improve your game as much as they improved ours and maybe even spark your creativity and inspire some of you to write your own houserules!

We will be very happy if you’ll want to leave a comment expressing your thoughts on the matter. Any constructive criticism, advice, suggestion, consideration, etc, is gladly welcomed!

[Greywander]

Nice work on reworking this to be copyright-friendly (or at least more so; I'm not an OGL expert). It's definitely a pain, but I'm sure you'd be happy for the rules if it was your copyrighted content that was getting reposted without your permission. I do wonder if there might be an option to allow access to a "full version" if someone can prove that they own a legitimate copy of the original PHB, although I'm not entirely certain that that would be completely legal either, though I have heard of fandoms distributing copyrighted content this way (the Star Wars Despecialized Edition comes to mind).

Just taking a quick look, I noticed that you gave bows the "special" property, allowing you to use your choice of STR or DEX for them. However, this is literally what the finesse property is: you can use your choice of STR or DEX for that weapon. Since this is usually in the context of melee weapons, it's easy to equate finesse to DEX, but then there's darts. Darts are a ranged weapon, so normally you'd only be able to use DEX for them, but since they are finesse, you can also use STR.

Another thing I noticed was that your changes on TWF reference Extra Attack (3) and (4), but I don't think Extra Attack (4) exists. I believe most martial classes (except rogue) get Extra Attack, and then fighters get Extra Attack (2) and (3). Extra Attack (3) gives you four attacks: your normal attack plus three Extra Attacks. It's an easy mistake to make, since you do end up with four attacks, but it does matter since it makes a huge difference on when a fighter will benefit from those bonuses.

Another thing I noticed is that Arcane Fusion should probably limit you to spells with a casting time of 1 action. You shouldn't be allowed to bypass a lengthy casting time by using Arcane Fusion (at least, I assume that's not an intended feature of the spell).

Anyway, that's just what I found after looking briefly at some of the files. Hope that helps.

[pagnabros]

Just taking a quick look, I noticed that you gave bows the "special" property, allowing you to use your choice of STR or DEX for them. However, this is literally what the finesse property is: you can use your choice of STR or DEX for that weapon. Since this is usually in the context of melee weapons, it's easy to equate finesse to DEX, but then there's darts. Darts are a ranged weapon, so normally you'd only be able to use DEX for them, but since they are finesse, you can also use STR.

Yeah you are right, is more elegant and consistency to just give bows the finesse property. More recently, I was thinking that maybe this modification will homogenises too much Strenght and Dexterity, so I was thinking to add a new feat for Bows, called Bow Expert with the following benefit:

- You deal d10 damage with a longbow or d8 damage with a shortbow.
- When you use an arrow as an improvised melee weapon, you can use your Dexterity modifier instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls with it. If you hit a creature with this attack, as a reaction you can move up to half your speed without provoking opportunity attacks from the target of your attack.
- Shortbow or a longbow you held gain the finesse property.

What do you think about it? Is this a good solution?



Another thing I noticed was that your changes on TWF reference Extra Attack (3) and (4), but I don't think Extra Attack (4) exists. I believe most martial classes (except rogue) get Extra Attack, and then fighters get Extra Attack (2) and (3). Extra Attack (3) gives you four attacks: your normal attack plus three Extra Attacks. It's an easy mistake to make, since you do end up with four attacks, but it does matter since it makes a huge difference on when a fighter will benefit from those bonuses.

Yeah, you are right, very good catch!



Another thing I noticed is that Arcane Fusion should probably limit you to spells with a casting time of 1 action. You shouldn't be allowed to bypass a lengthy casting time by using Arcane Fusion (at least, I assume that's not an intended feature of the spell).

Again, another very good catch. The intended feature was to allow only spell with a casting time of 1 action to be used with this spell, and I was convinced to have written it but maybe I forgot. Thank you very much to have pointed this out!

[Kane0]

Well, lots to go through! I guess i'll do a post for each PDF as you have them.

Barbarian/Bard/Cleric
Extra Attack: Nice touch adding the charge function into Extra Attack, though I notice that only the Barbarian and Ranger get this part. Was that intentional? Also, I like to put some sort of benefit for doubling up on Extra Attack (such as Fighter 5 / Ranger 5) so it doesn't feel like a dead level. I just give a half ASI for that but YMMV

Intimidating Presence: Good stuff
Frenzy: You're not doing anything about the exhaustion problem?

Red Reaver:
Devourer: I'm generally averse to reactions during your turn, but otherwise seems solid
Scent: Perhaps key off another stat like Wisdom, like how berserkers use Charisma for their fear ability
Blood of the Pack: handing your Hit Die out to others once per LR I think is resource expenditure enough, no need to tack on exhaustion on top of that
Bloodlust: I like it

Storm Herald: All good, though perhaps change up the Raging Storm Swamp as it partially does what Storm Aura Swamp already does
Totem Warrior: Thumbs up

College of Fortune: I really like this all around, good stuff!
College of Satire: Not my cup of tea personally, but I appreciate it for what it is and it's all solid
College of Whispers: Perhaps widen the window of memory steal opportunity to within around of landing the hit, you aren't likely to get the killing blow as a Bard and it's only once per LR

Trickery Domain: Nice touches, though I've always been a fan of letting all level 8 clerics choose between the weapon or cantrip feature

[Kane0]

Druid/Fighter/Monk

Druid:
Wildshape: Nice touch, though I'd increase the HP cap just a touch
Circle of Dreams: Per hit die? I'd tone it down to once per creature per rest
Circle of Land: Also a nice touch
Circle of Moon: Was the attack/DC buff necessary? I suppose it would be called for when magic items and the like come into play
Circle of Seasons: I would reduce the amount of healing from the Spring season (just take the 1d4 off), and add a save to the Summer season. Otherwise really nice work, I like it!
Circle of Shepherd: Good stuff
Circle of Twilight: Perhaps alter harvest scythe to allow up to prof bonus dice used per turn and make the healing THP? Also, do you get Adv on death saves at level 10 as well? Otherwise all good, I have a soft spot for the Twilight Druid

Fighter:
Protection FS: Potentially OP compared to other options (haven't run numbers). I'd advise restricting to with shield only and taking out the disadvantage.
AA: Still feels like you're one shot short for most of your career, though it's hard to justify the buff
Champ: Is good, I like. Maybe the Durability should be a d4 though, for balance's sake
EK: Thumbs up
PDK: Still feels like it comes short, though that said I haven't seen consensus on the Warlord-lite yet (discussion here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?576465-Let-s-Fix-The-Purple-Dragon-Knight))

Monk:
Drunken master: The prone touch is lovely

Empathy:
Empathy: Is it a coincidence that you say 5x level HP healed but then halve it as damage taken? You like to make healing real easy don't you :smallwink:
Empathetic Bond: Why not just add Warding Bond to the spells you can cast from the Sense Emotion feature at the same level?
Otherwise I really like this subclass, feels much better than the UA Tranquility monk

Four elements:
Attunement: Why not grant 2-4 of the elemental cantrips?
Disciplines: I like the change to mimic Battlemaster maneuvers, and I love the names. I'll admit I didn't thoroughly go over each one but nothing stood out as a terrible idea. You don't get to choose many though which is a shame

Kensei: I only just realized that this applies to thrown weapons. Huh.

Sun Soul: Minor quibble, you still can't follow up your rays with punches? Otherwise everything seems good

[Kane0]

Feats

Blade Mastery: That's a lot of OAs, and you can use it with GWM
CBE: Nice change
Dual Focused: Doesn't scale by Prof bonus or similar? Still, nice to have the option.
Dual Wielder: Still have the problem of needing your Bonus action which gets more and more crowded as levels progress, plus other minor quibbles about basic functions of TWF locked behind the feat and half-assing other styles as primary benefits
Fell Handed: Don't the shove and prone bullets double up in function? It also takes away from Shield mastery a bit
Flail Mastery: You still can't knock it more then 5 feet away under most circumstances, which is within their reach and one item interaction to pick back up on their turn
Grappler: Good stuff, though maybe make it a half feat?
GWM: Have always liked that change
Keen Mind: Still super situational as far as feats go, but not as bad as it was I suppose
Knife Mastery: Desperately calling out to be a half feat. Also why is it separate from Blade Mastery?
Linguist: Nice touch to be able to pick up languages rapidly in downtime, but still pretty situational
Lucky: The short rest limitation is a nice change, but I personally haven't seen luck points being spammed within short time periods in my games
Observant: I used the exact same thing in my Ranger work, is a nice touch to the feat
PAM: Nice change, matches CBE too which is a bonus
SS: Same as GMW, have always liked this approach
Skulker: Lovely stuff, always thought this should have been spelled out somewhere but I'm concerned by including it here it means you cannot do it otherwise (the mermaid effect).
Tavern Brawler: Wait, why wasn't this part of the Grappler feat?
Thrown Master: I was honestly expecting bouncing thrown weapons, but followup advantage is good too. Still probably less great than other style feats comparatively however
Weapon Master: Better, but still terrible. Honestly i'd just call it Arms Master and grant all weapon, armor and shield proficiency in one feat.
Whip Master: Like flails, a whole feat for one weapon seems off in 5e's design philosophy. Why don't Slings get the same treatment? What about nets or ? I digress. Perfectly fine, though might also want to be a half feat.

Angelic Protection: Solid stuff
Daylight Adaption: Also solid
Dao/Djinn/Efreet/Marid Heritage: Seem a bit lacklustre really
Like a Boss: I had to laugh, and it's actually pretty good to boot!
Urd Wings: Also good

Sidenote: No metamagic feat?

My broader reflection on feats: There are so many and so few you can actually obtain, while having to balance them between combat, noncombat and ASIs. I like the simplicity approach that 5e went with, but there has got to be a better way especially if new ones are going to be added (eg race feats).

[pagnabros]

Well, lots to go through!

Well, lots of very good observations to go through! Now is bedtime in my "world time zone" but tomorrow I'll answer properly :)

small preview: RAI Extra Attack should be the same for every class who obtain it, if not it's a mistake I need to correct on the PDFs, good catch! Also, I very much agree for the half ASI with multiclassing

[Kane0]

General rules

Self potioning as a bonus action is interesting, but I wouldn't call it necessary. What about Thief Rogues?
Thrown weapons treated as ammo, I approve (because I do the same)
+1 Attack flanking, much better than DMG flanking and flank rules i'd use at my table (if my players cared about flanking)
TWF, as stated in the feat part the core problem of using up your BA remains. The extra damage really only helps fighters, but there are all sorts of characters that might be interested in using two weapons if it weren't such a mechanical hamstring

Underwater combat has always been a bit weird, to me it seems like one of those things that the devs didn't want to go into but had to at least mention. Personally i'd just leave it all up to the DM but that sort of defeats the point of having rules as guidelines in the first place I suppose.
Attacks from land: Maybe half cover and three quarters cover, the 'you can see' part of spells and such should cover the rest
Underwater casting: How do you do Verbal components at all underwater? I can see somatic needing a concentration check.
Swimming: Endurance isn't generally a thing covered in the rules at all (except for food and sleep each day), aquatic combat seems an odd place to start. I think a proper section in the rules should be made for these things, presumably a DMG variant rule taking up a page or two.

Spellcasting Variant: Yeah seems fine, apart from rendering that part of Warcaster obsolete as you yourself mention
Lvl 1 Feat Variant: a common table rule and nice to see put in print alongside other options
Monster INT checks: Good rule of thumb for DMs and harkens back to previous editions, I like that you avoided any mention of DCs
Improvised weapons: Wait, why? Isn't that one of the main draws of the feat, and what makes improvised weapons undesirable compared to proper ones?
Bola: Couldn't you just reflavor a net for the same purpose? Though I suppose they should be listed under equipment (as in adventuring gear) rather than weapons either way.
Str on bows: mechanically it changes very little, but this will render pretty much all other ranged weapons obsolete. Poor slings. I would instead offer this as a composite bow in the same manner as mithril and adamantine armor appear in game.

Weapon tables: You know, I never understood why shortbows were listed as simple. Poor, poor sling; and crossbows. Merging the really similar ones is a smart move.

Short Rests: So you're using the Heroic rest variant by default? Wait, just for short rests. Doesn't really change much either way, just moves the default assumptions (like spell duration). The hard cap of benefiting from 2 SR per LR makes sense, but I think is just better enforced by the DM rather than the rulebook.

[Kane0]

Paladin
Avenging style: Nice, I'd use it
Protection style: As above, IMO OP. Change to shield only and remove the disadvantage part
Smite: Why? You're forcing the rationing, which doesn't solve the one creature per day DM nor makes the paladin more fun to play.

Sidenote: Still no option for a ranged smite, maybe would make a good style or subclass feature.

Crown: Scaling healing and a THP aura, nice.
Redemption: Doesn't match the fluff, but fluff be damned that is fun.

Ranger. Oh boy.
Favored Enemy: So is it a feature or a ribbon? Pick one. I like the tracking to change FE though.
Natural Explorer: The classic exploration pillar issue of removing aspects of play rather than making them more fun and interesting. Nice that you can have so many and change them around though.
Guerrilla Style: Ah, skirmish. I like skirmish. Not extra damage though? If you take this chances are you will be flanking for the +1 to hit quite often.
Primeval Awareness: No resource limit to this, so it can be spammed. Otherwise fine.
Vanish/HiPS: I've often wondered why rangers try to be good at hiding in the mid levels when they are set up as good at seeking in the early ones. They are really just chasing rogues (and some other classes) by the time they try, and they could just cast Pass Without Trace anyways. Wasted design space and a major contributor to the 'meh' feeling of rangers if you ask me.
Foe Slayer: Nice, but i'd make it once per Short or Long rest

Beast Master
Bonus Spells: Necessary with the advent of Xanathar's
Companion: How do you calculate it's Proficiency Bonus and Hit Die? Can they take feats? If you can rez it on a LR, why bother with death saves? At the core, my contention is that you could simplify this significantly, which is definitely what you want if you have a class feature that is essentially 'you get to play a second character'
Coordinated Attack, Exceptional training, Beast Defence, Storm of Claws: All good

Hunter
Bonus Spells: Necessary with the advent of Xanathar's
Defensive Tactics: Yeah good stuff, i'd even be tempted to include advantage vs charms here too
Whirlwind attack: Nice to specify you can move

Primeval Guardian:
Guardian Soul: Ah, I see this is the tanky/lockdown option. Nice. Is it an action to end, and is it once per short rest or something? Also, maybe halve your speed with a minimum instead of just setting it to a straight number.
Piercing Thorns: Nice, but no action requirement? This makes it quite a bit better than other subclass options
Ancient Fortitude: Solid, no complaints
Rooted Defence: Lovely
Guardian Aura: That is pretty damn powerful, I hope there is a usage limit on your Groot form to keep it in check

Vigilante:
Urban Ranger: Wait, I couldn't before? Why make that distinction?
Grazing Strike: No save or anything, but otherwise a decent implementation of called shots
Above and Below: Isn't this straight up better than when the fighter/rogue did it?
Streetwise: Crowdsurfing, the feature. I like it. Could potentially come sooner though, swap with Grazing strike?
Close Quarters: Also nice

Rogue:
UMD: Nice change, always thought it was odd that ATs didn't get it

Divine Herald:
Harbinger: Perhaps split the damage from the disadvantage so you don't have to worry about the resource limit
Dogma Votary: Rogues already get lots of skills and expertise, not sure you'd need this really. Still, Scout proves me wrong.
Guise of the Believer: Usage limitation seems odd, considering the Assassin ability which is very similar (as well as Spy background and other spells/features)
Crosier of Penance: Unable to cast a spell is a pretty hefty penalty, i think the once per LR is enough
Last Rites: Ooh, nice and flavorful.

Inquisitive: Can you just keep trying Insightful Fighting until it sticks? Unerring Eye is good.
Mastermind: Always strange drawing the line on what is meta knowledge and what isn't, but that's a DM call. No limitation on Misdirection is pretty powerful
Thief: Doesn't that step on the Scout a bit? It's almost like the Thief has no real place with all these other specific subclasses floating around.

[Kane0]

Races

ASIs: I like the setup of this.
Dragonborn: No Darkvision? Everything else looks solid, though I think they need a ribbon
Dwarf: Stability is nice, I approve.
Genasi: Mimicing the spells of the other planetouched is a good move, even if i'd never pick them myself
Gnome: I think the tinker feature would be better off giving examples and leaving it up the the player & DM rather than a list of specific options, but that's a personal opinion (as if all of this isn't, but still)
Half Elf: actually taking after your parent(s) is nice
Human: Exactly what I do, so naturally I approve
Kenku: I despise them, but mechanically works fine
Tortle: Good to specify, sort of a catch-22 without it. Instead of the long list of things you can and cannot do, why not just use the incapacitated condition (except for the action to emerge)

[pagnabros]

Ok so, let's begin the elaborate answers!



Extra Attack: Nice touch adding the charge function into Extra Attack, though I notice that only the Barbarian and Ranger get this part. Was that intentional? Also, I like to put some sort of benefit for doubling up on Extra Attack (such as Fighter 5 / Ranger 5) so it doesn't feel like a dead level. I just give a half ASI for that but YMMV

As I already said, RAI all classes that gets Extra Attack should also use the same rules, including the Dash benefit. That was my mistake. As for the half ASI for multiclassing Extra Attack, I think is very much reasonable and I would implement it at my table (never had the chance tough).



Frenzy: You're not doing anything about the exhaustion problem?


This one is tricky but I have tried to address it in the past but fails to balance it. Since my player are all min-maxer, I have to be extra careful when balancing things. I tested it without the exhaustation (or with a faster method to recover from it, a common HR) but tbh a bonus attack for a Barbarian is huge DPR boost and there is the need to "tune it down" a bit somehow. As I never found a satisfactory option, I mantained it RAW to avoid troubles and buffed Intimidating Presence instead, but if you have suggestions I would gladly hear them!



Devourer: I'm generally averse to reactions during your turn, but otherwise seems solid


I'm also averse to them, but I don't know how to make it works otherwise. Do you have any idea on the matter?



Scent: Perhaps key off another stat like Wisdom, like how berserkers use Charisma for their fear ability
Blood of the Pack: handing your Hit Die out to others once per LR I think is resource expenditure enough, no need to tack on exhaustion on top of that


I agree with the changes you proposed and I'll implement them



Storm Herald: All good, though perhaps change up the Raging Storm Swamp as it partially does what Storm Aura Swamp already does


Good catch, I need to came up with somenting to replace it. As always, any suggestions is more than welcome



College of Whispers: Perhaps widen the window of memory steal opportunity to within around of landing the hit, you aren't likely to get the killing blow as a Bard and it's only once per LR


I agree that perhaps it needs a different trigger, maybe some kind of ability check vs Insight or a Wisdom save vs spell DC after being hit by Psychic Blades once per short rest?



Trickery Domain: Nice touches, though I've always been a fan of letting all level 8 clerics choose between the weapon or cantrip feature

I too allow my clerics to decide which one they prefer, I simply didin't listed it as a variant rule because, emh, too much effort XD.

[pagnabros]

Wildshape: Nice touch, though I'd increase the HP cap just a touch


Since my player are very power creep(y), I always side on the careful approach when modify somenthing. Do you honestly think 4x is really too low?



Circle of Dreams: Per hit die? I'd tone it down to once per creature per rest


Maybe tuned down to be only Wisdom modifier added to the total? More elegant and simple



Circle of Moon: Was the attack/DC buff necessary? I suppose it would be called for when magic items and the like come into play


A common complain at my gaming table about moon druid is that they are very powerful in the 2-4 level window, but then they simple became a HP meat bag with poor offence at all. Since I nerfed the Wildshape with this line "After you revert to your normal form, you may not trasform in that beast form again until you finish a short rest", essentially preventing the spamming of the same form more and more, I compansate it with a little more offense power. As far as for now, it worked pretty well in practice.



Circle of Seasons: I would reduce the amount of healing from the Spring season (just take the 1d4 off), and add a save to the Summer season. Otherwise really nice work, I like it!

Seems reasonable to me, approved!



Circle of Twilight: Perhaps alter harvest scythe to allow up to prof bonus dice used per turn and make the healing THP? Also, do you get Adv on death saves at level 10 as well? Otherwise all good, I have a soft spot for the Twilight Druid


RAI, only allies receive the ADV on death saves at 10th. Yeah, I also think that putting a limit to harvest scythe would be appropriate balancewise, but maybe I prefer up to your Wisdom modifier than by proficiency bonus (more in line with the approach d&d 5e had). Healing to be THP is also reasonable.




Protection FS: Potentially OP compared to other options (haven't run numbers). I'd advise restricting to with shield only and taking out the disadvantage.

IMO, it's not OP as you say, because a lot of my players (veterans of many editions) still simple pick the Defense style as default defensive fighting style. But maybe it's only a matter of prospective



AA: Still feels like you're one shot short for most of your career, though it's hard to justify the buff

With the short rest beign reduced to 10 minutes, it's almost automatic after encounters, so I feel only one more shot is enough



Champ: Is good, I like. Maybe the Durability should be a d4 though, for balance's sake


Seems reasonable, I was also afraid that a d6 is a bit too much.



PDK: Still feels like it comes short, though that said I haven't seen consensus on the Warlord-lite yet (discussion here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?576465-Let-s-Fix-The-Purple-Dragon-Knight))

I simply don't want to extensively chance it (my designing approach was light modifications) and also I forgot to add that beside the class features swap I also buffed the Bulmark class feature, now you can choose one ally within 60 feet of you that also failed ANY saving throw against the same effect, not just Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma ones.



Empathy: Is it a coincidence that you say 5x level HP healed but then halve it as damage taken? You like to make healing real easy don't you :smallwink:
Empathetic Bond: Why not just add Warding Bond to the spells you can cast from the Sense Emotion feature at the same level?
Otherwise I really like this subclass, feels much better than the UA Tranquility monk


Do you think Empathy to be too much powerful and one should get all the damage it heals? I'm doubtious it will make the class feature too weak. As for Empathethic Bond, I thought it to be different enough from the Warding Bond spell to "deserve" an unique class feature slot, but maybe is more consistent to just let you cast an improved Warding Bond version with Sense Emotion (akin to the shapeshifter class feature of the wizard that mimic a spell while also improving it).


Attunement: Why not grant 2-4 of the elemental cantrips?

Simply beacuse I like it to be more unique and different from the cantrips


Disciplines: I like the change to mimic Battlemaster maneuvers, and I love the names. I'll admit I didn't thoroughly go over each one but nothing stood out as a terrible idea. You don't get to choose many though which is a shame

At first I made you able to choose two options at 3rd, 6th, 11th and 17th level instead that two at 3rd and 6th and one at 11th and 17th, but with the already reduction of spell ki points cost it felt maybe too much to add both improvement.



Sun Soul: Minor quibble, you still can't follow up your rays with punches? Otherwise everything seems good

Yep, you can follow up rays with puches them. Rule of cool always win :)

[pagnabros]

Blade Mastery: That's a lot of OAs, and you can use it with GWM


Maybe just removing the greatsword from the included weapons? If not enough, how will you handle it?



Dual Focused: Doesn't scale by Prof bonus or similar? Still, nice to have the option.


As I already said before, I'm always extra careful when modifying somenthing, expecially about concentration. I think this to be fairly powerful as it is.



Dual Wielder: Still have the problem of needing your Bonus action which gets more and more crowded as levels progress, plus other minor quibbles about basic functions of TWF locked behind the feat and half-assing other styles as primary benefits

Yeah, I also think that TWF need an ovehaul and that ideally the bonus action cost should be removed from it. The problem is that it needs to have some kind of drawback too, otherwise it will became the always pick decision for many characters. For example, if I remove the bonus action without any kind of drawbacks in return, rogues will always use two weapons because is mechanically superior, same for monks who will always use two light monk weapon so that they gain another free strike, even if the "fantasy" for monk is by attacking unarmed. It's a complex problem, and is not a coincidence it's still a very controversial argument even now. As always, any of your suggestions is superwelcomed!



Fell Handed: Don't the shove and prone bullets double up in function? It also takes away from Shield mastery a bit

You are totally right, but I'm struggling to find a better replacement for the "+1 on attack rolls" from RAW. Any ideas?



Flail Mastery: You still can't knock it more then 5 feet away under most circumstances, which is within their reach and one item interaction to pick back up on their turn

I think that knocking it at least at 10 feet should fix it. Also, I started to rule that if you pick an item from the ground, you provoke an attack of opportunity.



Grappler: Good stuff, though maybe make it a half feat?

I am afraid that making it a half feat will make it very powerful, expecially since I already buffed it up


Knife Mastery: Desperately calling out to be a half feat. Also why is it separate from Blade Mastery?

Because I've always dreamed to create a "Weapon Mastery" feat for every weapons in the PHB but I'm starting to realize it is maybe too ambitious. Maybe using a more broader categoritation as the one suggested by Mike Mearls in the Happy Fun Hour about the Weapon Master (I don't recall the precise categoritation now, I'll edit it later)



Skulker: Lovely stuff, always thought this should have been spelled out somewhere but I'm concerned by including it here it means you cannot do it otherwise (the mermaid effect).

Mmh you are probably right and this should be baseline in the Stealth rules instead. Still, I feel the Skulker feat should be buffed a little since it's pretty lackluster.



Tavern Brawler: Wait, why wasn't this part of the Grappler feat?

Many think Tavern Brawler and Grappler should be melded together, and to a point I also agree. Still I haven't found a decent result tough.



Thrown Master: I was honestly expecting bouncing thrown weapons, but followup advantage is good too. Still probably less great than other style feats comparatively however

Sadly, I don't know is is possible to make a Thrown Master Feat that doen't feel less great than other style feats, no matter how much one tries



Weapon Master: Better, but still terrible. Honestly i'd just call it Arms Master and grant all weapon, armor and shield proficiency in one feat.

Tbh, that would be too much imo, but still is very difficult to make weapon master more appealing without a more incisive change.



Whip Master: Like flails, a whole feat for one weapon seems off in 5e's design philosophy. Why don't Slings get the same treatment? What about nets or ? I digress. Perfectly fine, though might also want to be a half feat.

The line between a half feat and a "complete" feat is very thin but at the same time also very tricky balancewise. Half feat by design should give you situational and mostly out of combat benefits to feel balanced, since there are many case in which one would prefer to have +1 to a odd ability score and some other benefits insetad of a +1 on two abiliti scores. IMO "Weapon Mastery" feats should be always complete feats, but I agree that an entire feat only for a weapon is a waste.



Dao/Djinn/Efreet/Marid Heritage: Seem a bit lacklustre really

I agree, but I don't know how to "spice them"



Sidenote: No metamagic feat?

I have done a metamagic feat in the past, but it really feels like robbing the sorcerer of his unique class feature, and so I removed it.



My broader reflection on feats: There are so many and so few you can actually obtain, while having to balance them between combat, noncombat and ASIs. I like the simplicity approach that 5e went with, but there has got to be a better way especially if new ones are going to be added (eg race feats).

Again, I very much agree with you that feats should be more integrated with the core system and more tailoring to a specific concept or archetype. Also, I think that half-feats were a mistake. But this need a very extensive rework approach, one that I think is more akin with a 6th edition than as a 5.5th edition.

[pagnabros]

Self potioning as a bonus action is interesting, but I wouldn't call it necessary. What about Thief Rogues?

Didn't think about the poor Thief. Yep it's interesting but not necessary



TWF, as stated in the feat part the core problem of using up your BA remains. The extra damage really only helps fighters, but there are all sorts of characters that might be interested in using two weapons if it weren't such a mechanical hamstring

Yep, TWF is really a headache and I, as many, haven't find a satisfactory cure yet.



Underwater combat has always been a bit weird, to me it seems like one of those things that the devs didn't want to go into but had to at least mention. Personally i'd just leave it all up to the DM but that sort of defeats the point of having rules as guidelines in the first place I suppose.
Attacks from land: Maybe half cover and three quarters cover, the 'you can see' part of spells and such should cover the rest
Underwater casting: How do you do Verbal components at all underwater? I can see somatic needing a concentration check.
Swimming: Endurance isn't generally a thing covered in the rules at all (except for food and sleep each day), aquatic combat seems an odd place to start. I think a proper section in the rules should be made for these things, presumably a DMG variant rule taking up a page or two.

Yeah you are right, infact I thought the Underwater Combat part to be removed, didn't noticed it's still present.




Spellcasting Variant: Yeah seems fine, apart from rendering that part of Warcaster obsolete as you yourself mention

I really hate how Spellcasting Components works by RAW. They are needless overcomplicate, and in my game I simply ignore them except when a character is tied up, gaggled and throw in a cellar. In that case, you can't cast spell. Simple



Improvised weapons: Wait, why? Isn't that one of the main draws of the feat, and what makes improvised weapons undesirable compared to proper ones?
Bola: Couldn't you just reflavor a net for the same purpose? Though I suppose they should be listed under equipment (as in adventuring gear) rather than weapons either way.

In the improvised weapons there is a line: "At the GM's option, a character proficient with a weapon can use a similar object as if it were that weapon and use his or her proficiency bonus". Since I don't like to discuss with my players if a broken bottle is similar to a dagger or not (and it happened more than you may think), I solved the problem at root and made them all proficient, but improvised weapons always deal 1d4 damage. Simple and clean. As for the Bola, yeah you can just reskin the net or making it an adventuring gear. The preference is really yours



Str on bows: mechanically it changes very little, but this will render pretty much all other ranged weapons obsolete. Poor slings. I would instead offer this as a composite bow in the same manner as mithril and adamantine armor appear in game.

I agree, I'll maybe make it a magic item as opposed as the default option, or maybe a new Fighting Style



Weapon tables: You know, I never understood why shortbows were listed as simple. Poor, poor sling; and crossbows. Merging the really similar ones is a smart move.

Indeed, shortbows should be martial. Add it to my list of modifications!



Short Rests: So you're using the Heroic rest variant by default? Wait, just for short rests. Doesn't really change much either way, just moves the default assumptions (like spell duration). The hard cap of benefiting from 2 SR per LR makes sense, but I think is just better enforced by the DM rather than the rulebook.

I just wanted to make short rests almost aumomatic to help balance out the "short rest vs. long rest" class issue. To prevent any abuse, I simply introduced the hard cap

[pagnabros]

Smite: Why? You're forcing the rationing, which doesn't solve the one creature per day DM nor makes the paladin more fun to play.

Because I always hated "nova" mechanics in any rpg game and it's also a problem in my game since I never use the 6-7 encounter but mainly 2-3 encounters at best. Paladin still remain one of the most fun and powerful class to play, and now they are also more encouraged to use spells instead of just burning spell slots for divine smite against the Big Bad Guy.



Sidenote: Still no option for a ranged smite, maybe would make a good style or subclass feature.

Yep, a ranged subclass for paladins in on my list



Ranger. Oh boy.

You could say that right my friend



Favored Enemy: So is it a feature or a ribbon? Pick one. I like the tracking to change FE though.

IMO it's not a ribbon ability, but more an exploring class feature as stated many times but the developers. Sadly, the explore pillar of the game is pretty lackluster in the RAW and more important not fun at all (TOA being the prove). Another problem is that it's too situational, and without making too substational changes I simply made it more easy to switch. But I'm really interested to know how would you handle Favored Enemy since is a very controversial class feature for many


Natural Explorer: The classic exploration pillar issue of removing aspects of play rather than making them more fun and interesting. Nice that you can have so many and change them around though.
I wholeheartedly agree with you, I also hate the "removing aspects of play" in the Natural Explorer. The problem here is that the entire exploration pillar should be rebuilded from scratch, somenthing very complicate to do, and then Natural Explorer being tailored on the new rules. However, if you have any nice ideas how to improve it, feel free to share it!


Guerrilla Style: Ah, skirmish. I like skirmish. Not extra damage though? If you take this chances are you will be flanking for the +1 to hit quite often.
Maybe switching +1 to hit with a +1 on damage rolls? I'm afraid both would make it too powerful


Primeval Awareness: No resource limit to this, so it can be spammed. Otherwise fine.
I really, really hate this class feature. I still don't know how to make it works without making it useless or a pain in the ass for DM.



Vanish/HiPS: I've often wondered why rangers try to be good at hiding in the mid levels when they are set up as good at seeking in the early ones. They are really just chasing rogues (and some other classes) by the time they try, and they could just cast Pass Without Trace anyways. Wasted design space and a major contributor to the 'meh' feeling of rangers if you ask me.

Again, I agree with you. I've tried to make more unique and fun the Vanish class feature, and tbh I think I partially succedeed, but we are far from perfection. As for HiPS, I buffed it up a little but is still a ****ty ability at 10th level.



Foe Slayer: Nice, but i'd make it once per Short or Long rest

As always, I tried to be careful with "no save oneshot" abilities, and I was afraid that one per short rest would be too much. But on the other hand it's the capstone ability, so maybe I'm just overthinking it.


Companion: How do you calculate it's Proficiency Bonus and Hit Die? Can they take feats? If you can rez it on a LR, why bother with death saves? At the core, my contention is that you could simplify this significantly, which is definitely what you want if you have a class feature that is essentially 'you get to play a second character'

It's easy, you use your proficiency bonus instead of that of the animal. So if I'm at 3rd level, the animal will have a proficiency bonus of +2 (as normal), but when I hit the 5th level, then the animal companion proficiency became +3. It works exactly as when your character improve its proficiency bonus. As for Hit Dice, you add them to the animal. So at 3rd ranger level your wolf have 2d8 Hit Dice, but every time you level up as a ranger your companion also get an addictional Hit Dice. So a character with 20 ranger level would have a wolf companion with 19d8 Hit Dice (2d8 base + 17d8 from your class level). They can not take feats, only ASI. Death saves matters if you wanna save the animal companion without the need to wait a long rest to get him back. Tbh, I don't think this to be overcomplicate, and is pretty much similar to the Revised Ranger approach.




Guardian Soul: Ah, I see this is the tanky/lockdown option. Nice. Is it an action to end, and is it once per short rest or something? Also, maybe halve your speed with a minimum instead of just setting it to a straight number.
Piercing Thorns: Nice, but no action requirement? This makes it quite a bit better than other subclass options
Guardian Aura: That is pretty damn powerful, I hope there is a usage limit on your Groot form to keep it in check

Sorry I forgot to add, the Guardian Soul doesn't need an action to be ended, and you can enter that form once per short rest. I like the halve your speed with a minum approach, more elegant. Piercing Thorns is indeed not very exiticing as a class feature, it maybe should be removed or added to the Guardian Form feature while tuned down a bit. Guardian Aura is powerful true, but not gamebreaking IMO.



Urban Ranger: Wait, I couldn't before? Why make that distinction?
Grazing Strike: No save or anything, but otherwise a decent implementation of called shots
Above and Below: Isn't this straight up better than when the fighter/rogue did it?
Streetwise: Crowdsurfing, the feature. I like it. Could potentially come sooner though, swap with Grazing strike?

As RAW, you can't choose an urban environment for the Natural Explorer class feature. Mike Mearls also have confirmed it. Which option of Grazing Strike do you think should need a save (I bet the Head one)? As for Above and Below yes, for a change the ranger is better in a class feature than the rogue or the fighter. Rejoy! Streetwise is cool, but every ranger at 3rd level have some kind of damage boost (Mike Mearls said is very important for balanced reasons since ranger doesn't get much of them in the first 2 levels compared to others martial classes) and I'm afraid switching them would be unwise



Harbinger: Perhaps split the damage from the disadvantage so you don't have to worry about the resource limit
Dogma Votary: Rogues already get lots of skills and expertise, not sure you'd need this really. Still, Scout proves me wrong.
Guise of the Believer: Usage limitation seems odd, considering the Assassin ability which is very similar (as well as Spy background and other spells/features)
Crosier of Penance: Unable to cast a spell is a pretty hefty penalty, i think the once per LR is enough

Dealing radiant damage with Sneak Attack it's a pretty powerful ability if left unchecked IMO. I think Dogma Votary to be necessary for the concept, maybe making it only advantage. As for Guile of the Believer, the limitation is a little odd when comparated with similar class feature, but remember that this class also have spells while assassin doesn't. As for Crosier of Penance, yeah the LR and the spent Hit Dice should be enough to keep it in check.



Inquisitive: Can you just keep trying Insightful Fighting until it sticks?

Yep, it's the same as RAW



Mastermind: Always strange drawing the line on what is meta knowledge and what isn't, but that's a DM call. No limitation on Misdirection is pretty powerful

Yeah it's strange, but I don't know how to substitute it. Besides, if this one is removed we should also removing the Know Your Enemy class feature of the Battle Master. Not sure it's worth the pain. Misdirection, while powerful, is situational and is not "free" since it requires a setup and a reaction to use so I think is fine as it's. Besides, the Mastermind is not at all considered a good subclass so a buff is a nice addiction.



Thief: Doesn't that step on the Scout a bit? It's almost like the Thief has no real place with all these other specific subclasses floating around.

Tbh, the Thief subclass has no real place well before my Escape Artist class feature addiction...

[Kane0]

This one is tricky but I have tried to address it in the past but fails to balance it. Since my player are all min-maxer, I have to be extra careful when balancing things. I tested it without the exhaustation (or with a faster method to recover from it, a common HR) but tbh a bonus attack for a Barbarian is huge DPR boost and there is the need to "tune it down" a bit somehow. As I never found a satisfactory option, I mantained it RAW to avoid troubles and buffed Intimidating Presence instead, but if you have suggestions I would gladly hear them!

Well, how much better is the Frenzy BA attack than any other BA attack? If you're worried about powergaming players perhaps substitute the level of exhaustion for one hit die?



I'm also averse to them, but I don't know how to make it works otherwise. Do you have any idea on the matter?

Hmm. How about:
While raging, when you reduce a small or larger creature to 0 hit points with a melee weapon you can use a bonus action to bathe in their blood, healing as if you had spent a hit die. You cannot benefit from this healing if your current hit points are above half your maximum.



Good catch, I need to came up with somenting to replace it. As always, any suggestions is more than welcome

Following the pattern of the other abilities, i'd just make it straight poison damage. Perhaps double level because poison as a damage type sucks



I agree that perhaps it needs a different trigger, maybe some kind of ability check vs Insight or a Wisdom save vs spell DC after being hit by Psychic Blades once per short rest?

Proposal: If a creature is reduced to 0 hit points within one minute after they take damage from your Psychic Blades you can use your reaction to steal thoughts from it's broken mind, learning its memories from the last 24 hours of its life.



Since my player are very power creep(y), I always side on the careful approach when modify somenthing. Do you honestly think 4x is really too low?

Not so much too low as it would alter the creatures CR calculation; a lot of the time more HP makes up for low AC.



Maybe tuned down to be only Wisdom modifier added to the total? More elegant and simple

Yeah, that was what I meant sorry



RAI, only allies receive the ADV on death saves at 10th. Yeah, I also think that putting a limit to harvest scythe would be appropriate balancewise, but maybe I prefer up to your Wisdom modifier than by proficiency bonus (more in line with the approach d&d 5e had). Healing to be THP is also reasonable.

Also works, just means they can use all of them at early levels.



IMO, it's not OP as you say, because a lot of my players (veterans of many editions) still simple pick the Defense style as default defensive fighting style. But maybe it's only a matter of prospective

Rerolls are always pretty strong. Imagine instead of +1 AC you can use your reaction to say 'no, try again' once per round, if they crit you even. Now give them disadvantage on the reroll. That's at least as good as Shield on tap or Uncanny Dodge.



With the short rest beign reduced to 10 minutes, it's almost automatic after encounters, so I feel only one more shot is enough

Battlemasters get four, Monks get their level, Clerics get multiple channels, etc. Three sounds like the sweet spot to me, you're trading a battlemaster die for more options to use at range.



Do you think Empathy to be too much powerful and one should get all the damage it heals? I'm doubtious it will make the class feature too weak. As for Empathethic Bond, I thought it to be different enough from the Warding Bond spell to "deserve" an unique class feature slot, but maybe is more consistent to just let you cast an improved Warding Bond version with Sense Emotion (akin to the shapeshifter class feature of the wizard that mimic a spell while also improving it).

More pointing out that halving is always rounded down, so you get 5 healing for 2 damage.
I totally understand the motivation, but in this case it really feels similar enough to be able to use the spell, because that's why it exists. You can always add in the extra functions as part of the feature description though.



At first I made you able to choose two options at 3rd, 6th, 11th and 17th level instead that two at 3rd and 6th and one at 11th and 17th, but with the already reduction of spell ki points cost it felt maybe too much to add both improvement.

I'd recommend looking at them like Monk versions of the EK rather than the BM in terms of how many to hand out, especially since the list of options is broken into levels



Maybe just removing the greatsword from the included weapons? If not enough, how will you handle it?
You are totally right, but I'm struggling to find a better replacement for the "+1 on attack rolls" from RAW. Any ideas?
Because I've always dreamed to create a "Weapon Mastery" feat for every weapons in the PHB but I'm starting to realize it is maybe too ambitious. Maybe using a more broader categoritation as the one suggested by Mike Mearls in the Happy Fun Hour about the Weapon Master (I don't recall the precise categoritation now, I'll edit it later)

I prefer style feats over weapon feats, I think 5e got that right. I can swing back to this if you're set on the concept though (I see your other comments below)



Yeah, I also think that TWF need an ovehaul and that ideally the bonus action cost should be removed from it. The problem is that it needs to have some kind of drawback too, otherwise it will became the always pick decision for many characters. For example, if I remove the bonus action without any kind of drawbacks in return, rogues will always use two weapons because is mechanically superior, same for monks who will always use two light monk weapon so that they gain another free strike, even if the "fantasy" for monk is by attacking unarmed. It's a complex problem, and is not a coincidence it's still a very controversial argument even now. As always, any of your suggestions is superwelcomed!

I have spent significant time tangling with it myself, and think I have a decent solution if you would like to use it. I still have my number working on it too actually.



Mmh you are probably right and this should be baseline in the Stealth rules instead. Still, I feel the Skulker feat should be buffed a little since it's pretty lackluster.

Indeed. Perhaps something like 'you can attempt to hide even when being observed at disadvantage'



Many think Tavern Brawler and Grappler should be melded together, and to a point I also agree. Still I haven't found a decent result tough.

Yeah, i'm still working on that myself



Sadly, I don't know is is possible to make a Thrown Master Feat that doen't feel less great than other style feats, no matter how much one tries

It's possible, but like TWF it gets tricky with the limitations already placed by the system. I have some tweaks on them myself if you're interested



I agree, but I don't know how to "spice them"

It's difficult with the elementals, they are usually a pretty one dimentional resistance + manipulate element sort of deal. Perhaps a ribbon for each like Stonecunning or the Storm Sorc's wind manipulation.



I have done a metamagic feat in the past, but it really feels like robbing the sorcerer of his unique class feature, and so I removed it.

Well, that's a failing in the sorcerer for only having one thing worth taking :smallwink:



I really hate how Spellcasting Components works by RAW. They are needless overcomplicate, and in my game I simply ignore them except when a character is tied up, gaggled and throw in a cellar. In that case, you can't cast spell. Simple

Yeah I follow the general rules of 1: you need a free hand to touch people, wave around and grab your focus/bat guano and 2: if the spell needs you to communicate you need to be able to communicate



In the improvised weapons there is a line: "At the GM's option, a character proficient with a weapon can use a similar object as if it were that weapon and use his or her proficiency bonus". Since I don't like to discuss with my players if a broken bottle is similar to a dagger or not (and it happened more than you may think), I solved the problem at root and made them all proficient, but improvised weapons always deal 1d4 damage. Simple and clean. As for the Bola, yeah you can just reskin the net or making it an adventuring gear. The preference is really yours

Ah right, makes sense then. I've never come across that specific problem myself.

And i'll be back with more later!

[Lord Von Becker]

Hello again. I posted a link to my Two Weapon Fighting fix (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?577321-Two-Weapon-Fighting-Weapon-Upgrades-Poison-and-a-Paladin-Feat) in the last thread, but I'm not sure you saw it. It should be modular enough to be ported fairly easily, and was built to be excellent for Rogues and competitive-but-not-overpowering for Fighters.

As for the rest, I'm afraid my computer is having trouble viewing the PDFs. So based on what little I've actually gotten to see:
*I like the picture you chose for the Paladin an awful lot, and Avenging looks like an interesting fighting style.
*Arcane Apotheosis is pretty cool, but seems kind of underpowered for 9th level. Perhaps if it lasted eight hours? That'd be on par with Foresight. I guess the move-based damage counts for a lot, but it's a Concentration spell, and it's not entirely clear that you don't take damage when you end your turn in another creature's space.
*Your design philosophy seems to prefer nerfing the powerful to buffing the weak. (This is based on your treatment of both Smiting and Finesse weapons.)
*You didn't mention the Champion Fighter in your list of known issues in vanilla 5E. Was that on your metaphorical radar?

[pagnabros]

Hello again. I posted a link to my Two Weapon Fighting fix (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?577321-Two-Weapon-Fighting-Weapon-Upgrades-Poison-and-a-Paladin-Feat) in the last thread, but I'm not sure you saw it. It should be modular enough to be ported fairly easily, and was built to be excellent for Rogues and competitive-but-not-overpowering for Fighters.

I read your suggestion fix for TWF but I really prefer a solution that doesn't include adding more attack rolls simple because it slow down combat. But mine is a preference, not the absolute truth. If you have no problems with more attack rolls at your table, the solution is honestly fine and fairly balanced (even if I'm afraid is a little too good for Rogues, and became the default style for them).




*I like the picture you chose for the Paladin an awful lot, and Avenging looks like an interesting fighting style.

Thank you! I also like it a lot :)



*Arcane Apotheosis is pretty cool, but seems kind of underpowered for 9th level. Perhaps if it lasted eight hours? That'd be on par with Foresight. I guess the move-based damage counts for a lot, but it's a Concentration spell, and it's not entirely clear that you don't take damage when you end your turn in another creature's space.

I always side with caution when creating somenthing totally new for players. Mine are very min-maxer so I need to be extra careful. I prefer to discover a spell to be not much powerful (and buff it) than too powerful (and then nerf it). I didn't test yet because I created it recently and I don't currently have an active tier 4 campaign, but I thought this to be fairly powerful.



*Your design philosophy seems to prefer nerfing the powerful to buffing the weak. (This is based on your treatment of both Smiting and Finesse weapons.)

I, as many others, don't like nerfs. I always prefer to buff somenthing than nerfing somenthing else. But the sad reality is that to make things more balanced, I would need to buff a lot more things than if I nerf the "tier 1" stuffs. So I've done a middle ground. I buffed a lot of things rated very low in the guides, while nerfing the "always picked" choice by a little (the notable example be the tier 1 feats like GWM, SS and PM). I know, ideally one should only buff things, but that way you almost need to rewrite the entire books and that is not somenthing I wanted to do.




*You didn't mention the Champion Fighter in your list of known issues in vanilla 5E. Was that on your metaphorical radar?

I have tried to adress it with two simple changes, I'll post them here if you can't see them on the PDFs:

New 3rd level class feature: Remarkable Athlete/Acrobat
At 3rd level, you can add half your proficiency bonus (round up) to any Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check you make that doesn't already use your proficiency bonus.

In addition, when you make a running long jump, the distance you can cover increases by a number of feet equal to your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice).

New 7th level class feature: Champion's Durability
Beginning at 7th level, your toughness allows you to shrug off assaults that would devastate others.

Whenever you make a Strenght, death, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throw, roll 1d4 and add the die to your saving throw total. If applying this bonus to a death saving throw increases the total to 20 or higher, you gain the benefits of rolling a 20 on the d20.

[pagnabros]

Well, how much better is the Frenzy BA attack than any other BA attack? If you're worried about powergaming players perhaps substitute the level of exhaustion for one hit die?

The BA from berserker benefit from the rage bonus to damage, and very often is a greatsword or a great axe. I nerfed all the others BA attack in the game besides TWF (notably the feats PM and CBE), so a BA with rage damage and with a two-handed weapon is a big deal IMO, also because barbarian already deals tons of damage. I'm afraid that spending only a Hit Dice to activate it is a very low price



Hmm. How about:
While raging, when you reduce a small or larger creature to 0 hit points with a melee weapon you can use a bonus action to bathe in their blood, healing as if you had spent a hit die. You cannot benefit from this healing if your current hit points are above half your maximum.

This way you will nerf the class feature since now the second part of the class feature is in competition with the first part of the same class feature. I was thinking to make it automatic when you deal a killing strike, since it's an already a good limit factor.



Following the pattern of the other abilities, i'd just make it straight poison damage. Perhaps double level because poison as a damage type sucks

That is a simple fix, but since damage alone is pretty boring (and poison damage on the top of it) I was thinking of somenthing like a more powerful CC, like: "Immediately after a creature in your aura hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to force that creature to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature its incapacitated until the end of its next turn as a pungent scent of decay surrounds you". Do you think is too powerful?



Proposal: If a creature is reduced to 0 hit points within one minute after they take damage from your Psychic Blades you can use your reaction to steal thoughts from it's broken mind, learning its memories from the last 24 hours of its life.

Besides the fact that if you deal the killing strike you will use your reaction in your turn, I think is solid stuff!



Not so much too low as it would alter the creatures CR calculation; a lot of the time more HP makes up for low AC.


So, do you think is better as 5x druid level hp?



Rerolls are always pretty strong. Imagine instead of +1 AC you can use your reaction to say 'no, try again' once per round, if they crit you even. Now give them disadvantage on the reroll. That's at least as good as Shield on tap or Uncanny Dodge.

Yes, but you can only use it to protect someone else, and that someone needs to be at 5 feet of distance from you. That makes the style one of the hardest to pilot, and also cost your reaction.



Battlemasters get four, Monks get their level, Clerics get multiple channels, etc. Three sounds like the sweet spot to me, you're trading a battlemaster die for more options to use at range.

I agree, infact with my modification, you will end up with three arcane shots per short rest.



More pointing out that halving is always rounded down, so you get 5 healing for 2 damage.
I totally understand the motivation, but in this case it really feels similar enough to be able to use the spell, because that's why it exists. You can always add in the extra functions as part of the feature description though.



I'd recommend looking at them like Monk versions of the EK rather than the BM in terms of how many to hand out, especially since the list of options is broken into levels

So if I get this right, you think is fine to give it two discipline options at every class feature level right?



I prefer style feats over weapon feats, I think 5e got that right. I can swing back to this if you're set on the concept though (I see your other comments below)

I also prefer style feats, since as I realized weapon feats are too much limitating. Do you have come out with some feat style or have any ideas or which style would be nice to add to the game?



I have spent significant time tangling with it myself, and think I have a decent solution if you would like to use it. I still have my number working on it too actually.
Yeah, i'm still working on that myself
It's possible, but like TWF it gets tricky with the limitations already placed by the system. I have some tweaks on them myself if you're interested
Yeah, i'm still working on that myself

Everything you are working on it's more than welcome, if you wanna send them with a PM it would be really awesome :)



Indeed. Perhaps something like 'you can attempt to hide even when being observed at disadvantage'

I think that to be an almost perfect solution, maybe some sort of limitations since a rogue at high level and with expertise could really exploit it.



It's difficult with the elementals, they are usually a pretty one dimentional resistance + manipulate element sort of deal. Perhaps a ribbon for each like Stonecunning or the Storm Sorc's wind manipulation.

The ribbon suggestion is a good one, I just need to came up with somenthing.



Well, that's a failing in the sorcerer for only having one thing worth taking :smallwink:

Very sad indeed, yet is how Wizards of the Coast designed it :(



And i'll be back with more later!

Very hope so, your suggestions are gold!

[Kane0]

Because I always hated "nova" mechanics in any rpg game and it's also a problem in my game since I never use the 6-7 encounter but mainly 2-3 encounters at best. Paladin still remain one of the most fun and powerful class to play, and now they are also more encouraged to use spells instead of just burning spell slots for divine smite against the Big Bad Guy.

Ah, it's a product of your encounter structure. That's fine, I can see you're leaning into the A/E/D concept with your resting assumptions. Also keep in mind that some people like alpha strike gameplay, but you're not denying all their fun since they can still take Warlock, smite spells, Twilight Druid, etc.



Yep, a ranged subclass for paladins in on my list

I allow ranged smites by default, as d6s rather than d8s. Might not be to your liking though, I don't have powergamer players.



IMO it's not a ribbon ability, but more an exploring class feature as stated many times but the developers. Sadly, the explore pillar of the game is pretty lackluster in the RAW and more important not fun at all (TOA being the prove). Another problem is that it's too situational, and without making too substational changes I simply made it more easy to switch. But I'm really interested to know how would you handle Favored Enemy since is a very controversial class feature for many

Hmm, well my current version of the ranger (i've had a lot of tries at it) has this:

Choose a type of favored enemy: aberrations, beasts, fey, giants, monstrosities, oozes, plants, or undead. Alternatively you can choose one bloodrace of humanoids (bluebloods, greenbloods or redbloods).
You have advantage on Wisdom and Intelligence checks when dealing with your favored enemies and learn one language of your choice that is spoken by your favored enemies.

At 6th level, you choose a second type of favored enemy: celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals or fiends. You can also change one of your favored enemy types to another at the end of a long rest. If you choose to change Favored Enemies in this manner the languages you know do not change.
Additionally, you gain advantage on saving throws against spells and abilities used by a favored enemy.

For reference, bloodraces are a houserule that categorizes humanoids into three broad categories based on the color they bleed. Reds are most standard races, blues are the reptilian/draconic 'cold blooded' ones and greens are the rest, being 'bestial'



I wholeheartedly agree with you, I also hate the "removing aspects of play" in the Natural Explorer. The problem here is that the entire exploration pillar should be rebuilded from scratch, somenthing very complicate to do, and then Natural Explorer being tailored on the new rules. However, if you have any nice ideas how to improve it, feel free to share it!

Sure, here's mine for your consideration:

- Moving through nonmagical difficult terrain costs you no extra movement
- You can pass through nonmagical vegetation without taking damage from thorns or similar hazards
- You have advantage on saving throws against plants that are magically created or manipulated to impede movement, such as those created by the entangle spell
- You remain alert to danger even while foraging, navigating or tracking




Maybe switching +1 to hit with a +1 on damage rolls? I'm afraid both would make it too powerful

I'd make it +1d4 damage for variety, but then it'd be straight up better than dueling style. Hmm.



I really, really hate this class feature. I still don't know how to make it works without making it useless or a pain in the ass for DM.

What I currently use is adapted from UA, perhaps it may help

Primal Awareness
By concentrating for one minute, as if casting a spell, you can sense the presense of your favored enemies.
This feature reveals which of your favored enemies are present, their number, and the creatures’ general direction and distance up to one mile away from you. If there are multiple groups of your favored enemies within range, you learn this information for each group.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.




Again, I agree with you. I've tried to make more unique and fun the Vanish class feature, and tbh I think I partially succedeed, but we are far from perfection. As for HiPS, I buffed it up a little but is still a ****ty ability at 10th level.

I scrapped it entirely and stole the UA Healing Salves instead, like a poor man's Lay on Hands. For level 14 I reinforced the 'freedom of movement' thing.



As always, I tried to be careful with "no save oneshot" abilities, and I was afraid that one per short rest would be too much. But on the other hand it's the capstone ability, so maybe I'm just overthinking it.

Yeah it's a capstone, let it be fun!



It's easy, you use your proficiency bonus instead of that of the animal. So if I'm at 3rd level, the animal will have a proficiency bonus of +2 (as normal), but when I hit the 5th level, then the animal companion proficiency became +3. It works exactly as when your character improve its proficiency bonus. As for Hit Dice, you add them to the animal. So at 3rd ranger level your wolf have 2d8 Hit Dice, but every time you level up as a ranger your companion also get an addictional Hit Dice. So a character with 20 ranger level would have a wolf companion with 19d8 Hit Dice (2d8 base + 17d8 from your class level). They can not take feats, only ASI. Death saves matters if you wanna save the animal companion without the need to wait a long rest to get him back. Tbh, I don't think this to be overcomplicate, and is pretty much similar to the Revised Ranger approach.

For comparison, here's how I ended up handling it:

Level 3: Bonus Spells
Heroism, Enhance ability, Catnap, Dominate beast, Awaken

Level 3: Beast Companion
You can cast the Find Companion spell without expending a spell slot or material components. When you do so, your beast companion has a maximum hit point value of 4 per Ranger level you possess. Once you cast this spell you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest, (you can cast it using spell slots as usual).
At ranger level 7 you cast Find Companion as if from a 3rd level spell slot, at level 11 a 4th level spell slot and level 15 a 5th level spell slot.

Level 7: Bolster Beast
While your companion is within 100 feet of you it adds your proficiency bonus to its attack and damage rolls, AC and saving throws and it's attacks are considered magical for the purposes of overcoming damage resistance and immunity.

Level 11: Bestial Fury
When you make a weapon attack against a creature that is within the reach of your companion it can use its reaction to grant you advantage on the attack roll.

Level 15: Beast’s Defense
Whenever an attacker that your companion can see hits it with an attack, your companion can use its reaction to halve the attack’s damage against it.

Find Companion
2nd-level conjuration (Ranger, Druid)
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Instantaneous

You summon a spirit that assumes the form of an animal. Choose a beast that is of large size or smaller and that has a challenge rating of 1/4 or lower. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the companion has the statistics of the chosen form.
Your companion acts independently of you on your initiative, obeying your commands.
When within 100 feet you can communicate with your companion telepathically, and when you cast a spell with a range of self you can choose to touch your companion to also target them with that spell.
As an action, you can dismiss your companion permanently.
A companion that drops to 0 hit points disappears, leaving behind no physical form. If you cast this spell while you already have a companion, you instead restore your companion to its hit point maximum and can cause it to adopt a new form that meets the same requirements above.
At Higher Levels: If you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the companion is up to CR 1/2. If you use a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the companion is up to CR 1. If you use a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the companion is up to CR 2.

I'm not calling mine superior or anything, just another way of handling it. It's seen several revisions.



Sorry I forgot to add, the Guardian Soul doesn't need an action to be ended, and you can enter that form once per short rest. I like the halve your speed with a minum approach, more elegant. Piercing Thorns is indeed not very exiticing as a class feature, it maybe should be removed or added to the Guardian Form feature while tuned down a bit. Guardian Aura is powerful true, but not gamebreaking IMO.

Ah no worries then.



As RAW, you can't choose an urban environment for the Natural Explorer class feature. Mike Mearls also have confirmed it. Which option of Grazing Strike do you think should need a save (I bet the Head one)? As for Above and Below yes, for a change the ranger is better in a class feature than the rogue or the fighter. Rejoy! Streetwise is cool, but every ranger at 3rd level have some kind of damage boost (Mike Mearls said is very important for balanced reasons since ranger doesn't get much of them in the first 2 levels compared to others martial classes) and I'm afraid switching them would be unwise

Even hearing that from the Devs, i'm not sure why an urban environment should be off limits without the proper loophole. There's no restriction for barbarians to be illiterate anymore, or paladins lawful good.
Also damage boosts come at both 3rd and 11th, both are important. Otherwise you'll have the same old problem of people going for dips or half way and not into Tier 3 with a single class.



Dealing radiant damage with Sneak Attack it's a pretty powerful ability if left unchecked IMO. I think Dogma Votary to be necessary for the concept, maybe making it only advantage. As for Guile of the Believer, the limitation is a little odd when comparated with similar class feature, but remember that this class also have spells while assassin doesn't. As for Crosier of Penance, yeah the LR and the spent Hit Dice should be enough to keep it in check.

In the context of also being a partial caster yeah, I wouldn't call it too weak.



Yeah it's strange, but I don't know how to substitute it. Besides, if this one is removed we should also removing the Know Your Enemy class feature of the Battle Master. Not sure it's worth the pain. Misdirection, while powerful, is situational and is not "free" since it requires a setup and a reaction to use so I think is fine as it's. Besides, the Mastermind is not at all considered a good subclass so a buff is a nice addiction.

IMO attributes are fine, HP and CR are dependant on DM because HP isn't meat and CR is a meta evaluation of total combat power. Class levels are just weird because the default assumption is that only PCs and custom-built NPCs have them, not your average monster or NPC you might be grabbing from the MM.
Maybe what saves they are proficient in?



Tbh, the Thief subclass has no real place well before my Escape Artist class feature addiction...

Heh, just scrap it then. Clears up design space for more interesting options. I did that for the Battlerager.



The BA from berserker benefit from the rage bonus to damage, and very often is a greatsword or a great axe. I nerfed all the others BA attack in the game besides TWF (notably the feats PM and CBE), so a BA with rage damage and with a two-handed weapon is a big deal IMO, also because barbarian already deals tons of damage. I'm afraid that spending only a Hit Dice to activate it is a very low price

Indeed, what do your players think of frenzy? One hit die might be the sweet spot of 'yeah I give a bit up, but I can deal with that for a little edge over just going War Cleric or something'. Also, Barbarians can TWF quite well.



This way you will nerf the class feature since now the second part of the class feature is in competition with the first part of the same class feature. I was thinking to make it automatic when you deal a killing strike, since it's an already a good limit factor.

Hmm, true. I forgot that this should be a defining ability, not a Dark One's Blessing grade. Perhaps you can split the functions into two features? Like at level 3 you get the bonus action spend Hit Die whenever you like, at a later level you get the ability to get HD back when you land a crit that reduces a creature to 0 HP or something.



That is a simple fix, but since damage alone is pretty boring (and poison damage on the top of it) I was thinking of somenthing like a more powerful CC, like: "Immediately after a creature in your aura hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to force that creature to make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature its incapacitated until the end of its next turn as a pungent scent of decay surrounds you". Do you think is too powerful?

Some abilities are better off being straightforward, you already have the poisoned condition at the earlier stage which is plenty good. In fact, perhaps swap them around?



So, do you think is better as 5x druid level hp?

Oh yeah, that should be fine.



Yes, but you can only use it to protect someone else, and that someone needs to be at 5 feet of distance from you. That makes the style one of the hardest to pilot, and also cost your reaction.

With your flanking rule I suppose you won't have two characters right next to each other all that often, but I expect your players to really start taking advantage of this once they figure it out. I could be completely wrong, that's why we playtest!



I agree, infact with my modification, you will end up with three arcane shots per short rest.

Yeah, at level 10. That's a long wait. But then again, I dispute AA being a fighter subclass in the first place so i'm biased.



So if I get this right, you think is fine to give it two discipline options at every class feature level right?

Yeah, give it a try and see what happens!



I also prefer style feats, since as I realized weapon feats are too much limitating. Do you have come out with some feat style or have any ideas or which style would be nice to add to the game?

Well, we have Sword & Board, Archery, zweihander, Dual Wielding, Polearms, improvised, unarmed and 'fencing' already, what seems to be missing is versatile and thrown weapons. I suppose you could stretch that out to damage types as well, but the scarcity of opportunities to get feats means you shouldn't be doubling up on options.



Everything you are working on it's more than welcome, if you wanna send them with a PM it would be really awesome :)

Rightio then, here we are:

Base Rule: When you take the Attack action while wielding a one handed weapon in each hand, you can use a bonus action to make one attack with the weapon that you are holding in your off hand. This attack does not add your ability modifier to the damage roll.

Sidenote: Thrown weapons (dagger, handaxe, javelin, light hammer, spear/trident) can be drawn freely like ammo, so you can draw two weapons by default

Fighting Style: You can add your ability modifier to the damage of your off hand attack

Feat:
- While wielding a different weapon in each hand, if you make an opportunity attack you can also make an attack using your off hand against the same creature
- While wielding a different weapon in each hand, you can make an additional attack using your off hand as part of the Attack action instead of as a Bonus Action. This extra attack can only be taken once per turn.
- You can draw or stow two one-handed weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one

The only potential issue I can see is getting this feat to free up your bonus action then using your BA to attack again, like with monks. I've been considering adding a clause to that bullet point specifying that you cannot then use your BA to make additional attacks, but it's largely a case of 'lets see if it gets abused' for me



The ribbon suggestion is a good one, I just need to came up with something.

Stonecunning, always-comfortable-and-favorable-winds, altering light range of open flames, water-divination (as in drink it and learn where it's been/what it's done)?



Very sad indeed, yet is how Wizards of the Coast designed it :(

Fortunately, we have everything we need correct that oversight. Which reminds me I have yet to go over that PDF.

[olskool]

I'd suggest an "upgrade" to Warcaster in order to make it more of a "tier 2" FEAT. Why not allow Warcaster's to Concentrate on a SECOND spell requiring Concentration in exchange for their Reactions during that period? It will increase the Warcaster's power at the expense of versatility of action.

[olskool]

Perhaps a good addition to any "Weapon Mastery" FEAT would be allowing the "master" to bump the weapon's damage upwards by a die (ie 1D6 becomes 1D8 and 1D10 becomes 1D12)? Make the Weapon Proficiency FEAT a requirement and you have a reasonable tier 2 FEAT in Mastery.

[Kane0]

Sorcerer
Eschew Materials: Good stuff
Metamagic: One extra at 7th is good
Reverberating spell: Also nice
Origin spells: Necessary and welcome
Boreal Bloodline: Ice flows doubles up wording from Winter guide, no big deal. Winter embrace might need a SP cost attached, based on how other sorcerer features work
Divine bloodline: The once per turn limitation is a little odd, because you would only be able to cast a healing spell once per turn anyways due to the levelled spell rule. You didn't mean the rolls for one creature should you cast a spell that heals multiple people, or is it to combat healing spirit shenanigans?
Draconic bloodline: good stuff
Phoenix sorcerery: Form of the Phoenix might need an SP cost as well to match up with other sorc features
Sea sorcery: Watery Defense might need an SP - wait I can see the pattern here. You're probably right, SP costs for subclass features as well as metamagic as well as extra spell slots is a dumb idea.
Shadow sorcery: All good
Stone sorcery: Could potentially key Stone Aegis off Prof bonus, but I can see why you chose not to
Sylvan Sorcery: The changing damage type from untamed champion i always thought fit better as a metamagic option, but there's nothing wrong with it here
Wild Magic:
Sidenote: I'm disappointed you haven't also done a spellscarred or spellfire sorcerer :smalltongue:

Warlock
INT-locks: I approve. Do you offer the same option for Wisdom paladins?
Blade pact: Thankyou for moving this away from Hexblade. I despise the hexblade.
Chain pact: Them seeing with your sight invocs is a nice touch
Mystic Arcanum: That is a significant buff. I biased towards locks, but even I have to admit that they don't need it.
Spell invocations: 1/LR without needing a slot actually makes them worth taking, I approve
EB incovations: once per target is a fair cop, it should have been that way to begin with really
Sacrificial demise: Perhaps base it on how much HP the familiar has left? Otherwise, I like it for the pokemon gags it opens up
Word of the Occultist: No save? I mean it isn't that great for a level 15 requirement but still
Archfey: yep, all good
Celestial: also good
Great Old one: Create thrall is actually useful now, yay!
Noble Genie: Limited wish is very limited in its usability (reliability?), though I like the concept (because I used the same idea for sorcerers). Genie form seems a bit over the top, especially for level 14
Seeker: Shielding Aura is potentially too good, especially since you can stack something like Hellish Rebuke or Tomb of Lev on top of it.
Shadow: I'd like to see Armor of curses be something like reaction to reduce incoming attack roll by 1d6 rather than introducing a new layer of defense. I still have nightmares from 3.PF
Undying: Good stuff
Sidenote: Giants would make for a neat patron IMO. Call it The Titan or something.

Wizard
I've long considered gutting the existing spell school subclasses into paired or at least more thematic ones (Beguiler = enchantment + illusion, Warmage = evocation + abjuration, etc) to free up design space.
Beguiler: Erudite Elucidation is potentially very, very strong with a dip but should be OK comparing to War Magic.
Bladesinger: Solid stuff
Mage Hunter: I like it, seems appropriate
Transmuter: Good clarification
Warmage: Also nice

I think I might leave that for someone else

[pagnabros]

Divine bloodline: The once per turn limitation is a little odd, because you would only be able to cast a healing spell once per turn anyways due to the levelled spell rule. You didn't mean the rolls for one creature should you cast a spell that heals multiple people, or is it to combat healing spirit shenanigans?


I simply leave it as RAW, except for the removed SP cost. Dunno why the developers specify once per turn.


Phoenix sorcerery: Form of the Phoenix might need an SP cost as well to match up with other sorc features
Sea sorcery: Watery Defense might need an SP - wait I can see the pattern here. You're probably right, SP costs for subclass features as well as metamagic as well as extra spell slots is a dumb idea.

Yep, in my opinion class feature should not cost SP since is a limited resource per long rest



Wild Magic:

Lost notes :P


Sidenote: I'm disappointed you haven't also done a spellscarred or spellfire sorcerer :smalltongue:

Honestly I've done more subclasses for the sorcerer than any other class. Maybe in the future!


INT-locks: I approve. Do you offer the same option for Wisdom paladins?

Tbh my players never asked me, but I dunno since Paladin imo are really tied to Charisma



Blade pact: Thankyou for moving this away from Hexblade. I despise the hexblade.

The Hexblade is simple awful designed. I was really surprised it comes out from UA the way it is...



Mystic Arcanum: That is a significant buff. I biased towards locks, but even I have to admit that they don't need it.

This was not meant to buff the warlock, but to help fighting the "always eldritch blast" effect, giving you a little more action decision. Sadly, this is also objectively a buff, and I know that warlock don't need it.


Word of the Occultist: No save? I mean it isn't that great for a level 15 requirement but still

It already cost your bonus action and your reaction, so I think is fine


Noble Genie: Limited wish is very limited in its usability (reliability?), though I like the concept (because I used the same idea for sorcerers). Genie form seems a bit over the top, especially for level 14

Limited wish is potentially very good and versatile since is can be a spell from any spell list. Why do you think Genie Form is too powerful?



Seeker: Shielding Aura is potentially too good, especially since you can stack something like Hellish Rebuke or Tomb of Lev on top of it.

It cost you a bonus action and last only one round. Ok, together with Tomb of Lev it can potentially make you immune to damage for one round, but you also lost your next round and there are things far worse than damage.


Sidenote: Giants would make for a neat patron IMO. Call it The Titan or something.

I've done a Pact of the Titan in the past, but was essentially another "elemental" patron too similar to the Noble Genie


Beguiler: Erudite Elucidation is potentially very, very strong with a dip but should be OK comparing to War Magic.

As you said, War Magic is still king of dip

Last but not least, I have updated my PDFs to include many of your suggestions, thank you very much for all your feedbacks!

[pagnabros]

I'd suggest an "upgrade" to Warcaster in order to make it more of a "tier 2" FEAT. Why not allow Warcaster's to Concentrate on a SECOND spell requiring Concentration in exchange for their Reactions during that period? It will increase the Warcaster's power at the expense of versatility of action.

Tbh, the Warcaster is a fine the way it is. With your proposed buff, it would become a must pick for any spellcasters.

[pagnabros]

Perhaps a good addition to any "Weapon Mastery" FEAT would be allowing the "master" to bump the weapon's damage upwards by a die (ie 1D6 becomes 1D8 and 1D10 becomes 1D12)? Make the Weapon Proficiency FEAT a requirement and you have a reasonable tier 2 FEAT in Mastery.

That is interesting, but instead that a new feat with Weapon Master as prerequisite, maybe is better to directly change the Weapon Master to bump 4 chosen weapon's damage upwards by a die.

[Kane0]

Lost notes :P

Ha, i'll retrieve them shortly



Honestly I've done more subclasses for the sorcerer than any other class. Maybe in the future!

That seems to be due to the elemental ones, which by nature sort of have to be split four (or more) ways



Tbh my players never asked me, but I dunno since Paladin imo are really tied to Charisma

It's a historic thing, they used to use Wis for casting. PF uses Cha though.



The Hexblade is simple awful designed. I was really surprised it comes out from UA the way it is...

If it was just thematic or mechanic I could excuse (and fix) it, but in my eyes it's both so I prefer the remove and replace option.



This was not meant to buff the warlock, but to help fighting the "always eldritch blast" effect, giving you a little more action decision. Sadly, this is also objectively a buff, and I know that warlock don't need it.

You could alter the EB invocations to work on other cantrips so they have more than one optimal option, plus add an extra cantrip or two they could choose from. A slight nerf to base EB might also be necessary to make space (like one ray instead of four).



Limited wish is potentially very good and versatile since is can be a spell from any spell list. Why do you think Genie Form is too powerful?

At level 14 you get flight, damage resistance and advantage on saves for a minute without concentration once per LR, compare to what paladins get at level 20 in the same manner.



It cost you a bonus action and last only one round. Ok, together with Tomb of Lev it can potentially make you immune to damage for one round, but you also lost your next round and there are things far worse than damage.

Even on it's own, compare to barbarian rage. Sure it lasts one round but it's on a short rest recharge, doesn't get in the way of casting and also deals damage. This is significantly stronger than the level 1 PHB patron features.



I've done a Pact of the Titan in the past, but was essentially another "elemental" patron too similar to the Noble Genie

My personal take would be to implement is as a replacement to the Hexblade as 'The Bladelock' patron, getting melee/brute features. Between what you have already it's covered, it's just the thematic choice really. I like the Ordning as at least as good a power source as dragons.



Last but not least, I have updated my PDFs to include many of your suggestions, thank you very much for all your feedbacks!

Happy to be of service! I enjoy the exercise.
If you would be inclined to return the favor it would be much appreciated, but I certainly don't expect it.

[Kane0]

Oh, i didnt have anything to say about the chaos sorc, thats why the note was missing. Its just specifying when the roll triggers, and its a reasonable amount.

Edit: On a side note, all good if I take some of your stuff to use myself?

[pagnabros]

Edit: On a side note, all good if I take some of your stuff to use myself?

Of course you can, one of the main reasons I made this post is to share my stuff with the community! If I may ask, which part of the rules you plan to use?

[Kane0]

Mostly things I have overlooked in my own work like Crown pally scaling, Prone Drunk Monks, combat-capable trickery channels, a good mountain dwarf ability, etc
Plus a couple of those subclasses which catch my eye. I really like the Gambler Bard.

[Lord Von Becker]

I read your suggestion fix for TWF but I really prefer a solution that doesn't include adding more attack rolls simple because it slow down combat. But mine is a preference, not the absolute truth. If you have no problems with more attack rolls at your table, the solution is honestly fine and fairly balanced (even if I'm afraid is a little too good for Rogues, and became the default style for them).
*Point. I've made an optional rule to fix it.
*It's the archetypical Rogue style - it should be their default, unless there's something equally flavorful for them. (Which I think I semi-accidentally did with my poison rules, by making them both take a bonus action.)

I always side with caution when creating somenthing totally new for players. Mine are very min-maxer so I need to be extra careful. I prefer to discover a spell to be not much powerful (and buff it) than too powerful (and then nerf it). I didn't test yet because I created it recently and I don't currently have an active tier 4 campaign, but I thought this to be fairly powerful.
I think I forgot the Resistance. Even so, Concentration is a serious liability against casters.

I, as many others, don't like nerfs. I always prefer to buff somenthing than nerfing somenthing else. But the sad reality is that to make things more balanced, I would need to buff a lot more things than if I nerf the "tier 1" stuffs. So I've done a middle ground. I buffed a lot of things rated very low in the guides, while nerfing the "always picked" choice by a little (the notable example be the tier 1 feats like GWM, SS and PM). I know, ideally one should only buff things, but that way you almost need to rewrite the entire books and that is not somenthing I wanted to do.
Well, some things do need nerfing. Archdruid, for example. Others, like Heavy Armor, need a general rework. Just remember Rule 0 - sometimes leaving something broken is more fun than levelling it.

I have tried to adress it with two simple changes, I'll post them here if you can't see them on the PDFs:

New 3rd level class feature: Remarkable Athlete/Acrobat
At 3rd level, you can add half your proficiency bonus (round up) to any Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check you make that doesn't already use your proficiency bonus.

In addition, when you make a running long jump, the distance you can cover increases by a number of feet equal to your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice).
So you've moved this feature to be significantly earlier, but it's still running straight into 5E's skill problem - namely, it's hard to treat them as anything but ribbons, because luck plays into them so heavily.
I just swapped it for climb and swim speeds, and made the level 3 ability a scaling speed bonus.

New 7th level class feature: Champion's Durability
Beginning at 7th level, your toughness allows you to shrug off assaults that would devastate others.

Whenever you make a Strenght, death, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throw, roll 1d4 and add the die to your saving throw total. If applying this bonus to a death saving throw increases the total to 20 or higher, you gain the benefits of rolling a 20 on the d20.1d4 averages to 2 and a half. Benefit to death saves is... on par with Diamond Soul at Proficiency 6, actually, assuming I've done the math right. Benefit to saves you're already decent in is kind of bland, though.