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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Warlock Homebrew: Otherworldly Patron, The Slimelord



StagnantFlux
2020-02-23, 10:44 PM
A Warlock patron for those who want to be a cantrip slinging, pseudo-monk, and a Pact Boon to go with it, and invocations to match both. It's just the first drafts, so if you can think of any balance/flavor fixes, I would appreciate it.

P.E.A.C.H.

And before you ask, it was not based on 'That Time I got Reincarnated As A Slime'

While my intention was for The Slimelord to be a separate entity, it would be perfectly reasonable to lay this subclass as a warlock who has pacted with Juiblex.

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/v8B1f4pJ

Icecaster
2020-02-25, 12:52 AM
Hello!

I'd like to start by saying that, overall, this is a very compelling subclass - and additional options - that I could see myself using in a game or allowing one of my players to use in a game, so very nicely done on that! If I've said anything rude, then I assure you I didn't mean to come across that way, and remember that any suggestions are well-intentioned and based on my gameplay, not yours. I respect any disagreement with them, but I hope that I can help somehow! Now, let's dive right in.

Fluff
The flavor is interesting, although I feel like it would be heavily modified if not disregarded in most campaigns. You've laid out a very specific path for your interpretation of the Slimelord, which I think could make it difficult for other interpretations. Say, if a DM found that the flavor of the Slimelord, or its simple existence for that matter, didn't fit with the theme or setting of the game, then they may be inclined to deny it right out. I think that part of the spirit behind most of the official warlock subclasses is that they're so general. And while I know you mentioned an easy adaptation for Juiblex, I think that it would go a long way to put that into the subclass's official flavor text. What you have now is great fluff, so my only real suggestion is to expand it towards the generality of official warlock patrons. What other things could a Slimelord patron be interpreted as? Could it be an ooze hivemind imprisoned in the center of the earth? Could it be an archmage of legend who tampered too far with animating oozes and became one himself? The more options that you provide DMs and players with, the easier it will be for your subclass to be received by others - and that all starts with the first few sentences of the flavor text. My rule of thumb with flavor text is that I want to get people's brains thinking of options as opposed to setting out a path for them.

Expanded Spell List
Overall very flavorful while remaining useful in and out of combat. I'm confused by the choice of gentle repose, although I may be missing something. Conjuring elementals feels out of place as well. I might suggest, for a 5th level spell, maelstrom since it could be refluffed to be an ooze-ish spell. I do sympathize with the lack of acid options, though, so I'm not sure if there are many good options otherwise. Still, you have good choices that reflect the subclass.

Slime Biology
I usually shrink away from unarmored defense, but in this case I feel that it fits based on the fluff, and it's necessary when you start getting into amorphous stuff. It's a hefty, complex feature overall. It's not unusable, but dividing it up into another feature could help with chunking it a little more. However, I am confused about one line in the middle. It says something about only using an ability once per long rest, but I'm confused which ability. Is it that you can only deal acid damage to a creature once? Some rewording may help, and/or breaking the feature up could solve the problem. The acid damage on an unarmed attack seems a little unnecessary since it's overshadowed by other attack options. Maybe giving a re-skinned primal savagery cantrip could have a similar effect while cutting back on wordiness in the feature? I'm not sure. Overall, it lays a lot of complex groundwork for a very specific playstyle. I hesitate to say that it's overpowered, but it's a lot to pile onto a character at 1st level. My best suggestion would be minor revision and breaking it into two features.

Slime Specialization
A good feature. Fun! Blood ooze strikes me as the mechanically best option. However, they all function very differently which makes them difficult to compare. I'm tempted to suggest a mechanic allowing the warlock to switch their specialization, perhaps on a long rest or by performing a ritual dedicated to their patron. Overall, the options are well-balanced and, save for the purple slime option, which isn't a big deal, follow the general trend of defensive 6th level features for patrons. I like this feature.

Malleable Form
The flavor! The pizzazz! I love this feature! These are the slime antics I clicked on the Slimelord for! Balanced to a T for its level. It allows for creative solutions to problems, interesting roleplay, and the potential for mechanical advantage in combat if the player is willing to think. I'm loving the idea of a character being able to reach 10 feet away for simple, mundane tasks such as grabbing an item from another character. I have no complaints here. Nice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3uBr0CCm58).

Engulf
This feature seems awfully intense. For being an at-will feature, it's very powerful in applying the restrained condition as well as guaranteed damage consistently, only needing an action to refresh the punishment. Besides that, though, I mainly find three grievances with the feature. First, there is no size limit on it as of now. RAI, I'm assuming there was meant to be an assumed size cap, but I'd suggest instituting a specific size. Second, the feature calls for an engulfed creature "to make an Athletics Strength check," but it doesn't specify what the DC is. Is it against a set DC, such as the warlock's spell save DC, as with escaping a Gelatinous Cube's Engulf feature? Or is it another contest requiring the player to roll as well? I'd suggest adding in a specification on what, specifically, the engulfee has to roll against. Finally, third, I feel like escaping the engulf only to remain grappled is too powerful. It would mean that, on the engulfee's turn, they escape engulf using their action. On the warlock's turn, they automatically engulf the creature they are grappling, with no opportunity for a check or saving throw. Then the engulfee escapes, the warlock engulfs, and back and forth until the fight ends, with the engulfee having no mechanical chance of escape since engulfing a creature doesn't require a roll on either side. This is especially problematic since the engulfee takes damage at the beginning of their turns as opposed to the end, meaning they could succeed in escaping the engulf every turn while still taking damage and being restrained every turn. Beyond that, the warlock can still make an attack with advantage against the engulfee, which just rubs salt in the wound. My overall suggestion for this feature would be to heavily rework its mechanics. As it is, it could effortlessly dominate an encounter as soon as a creature gets engulfed once. Moving the damage to the end of a creature's turn would be a step in the right direction in my opinion, and letting an engulfee fully escape on a successful check would be at the top of my list. Besides the mechanical oversights of the feature, which I would have to tweak if a player brought this to me, I like the direction you took with it, and it adds more flavor to the subclass as a whole.

Pact of Hunger
It feels very niche. I like the idea of consuming other creatures, but it feels vague. "Sense enhancement" is a vague term that could work in a homebrew campaign, but it leaves a lot open to interpretation of the reader, which can be a red flag to DMs trying to avoid misunderstandings in their games. The meat storage bit at the end seems strange. It feels like it's begging for somebody to make a character centered around making monster-jerky from everything they find. Not that that would be all that bad of a character concept. Overall, the boon feels odd, but mechanically it seems balanced. Perhaps it's outside of my playstyle.

Invocations
Let's steamroll these.
Pseudopodia opens the way for an unarmed-focused build, which is interesting. It's strong, but not inappropriate for 6th level.
As Above is a nice little feature, seems fine.
So Below is on par with As Above. Both seem helpful in the context of being able to use those speeds when fighting creatures with those speeds.
Corrosive Secretion seems mostly fine, but it feels like a lot of uses, and recharging once "a day" is a little too vague. It's comparable to Divine Favor except for the level prerequisite, which the invocation compensates for by being a little stronger. However, unlike Divine Favor, there is no opportunity cost for using this every fight, and you'll have more uses of the invocation than others would have 1st level spell slots. I would suggest toning it down somehow.
Offensive Eater is a dangerous game. "Special attack" is again too vague, I think, to be used in most games. It could be corrected to a non-weapon Action used by the creature, but then you still run the same risk of accidentally giving a player an overpowered attack. I like the concept, but I wouldn't use this invocation were I to allow a player to use Slimelord.
Nutrient Absorption is fine. A good example of an invocation.
Oozing Companion is fun. Not only does it feel like it ties Slimelord in to the greater context of Warlock, but it gives you a little ooze friend to boot. I hope he's polite!
Shared Meal is a nice ability. I like the implication in the name.
Live Meal is intense, but in a good, cool way. It feels like a great way to build on the Pact of Hunger. I might reword it from "make a bite attack. Make an unarmed attack," but mechanically it works fine.
Gluttonous is level-appropriate and provides good advancement for the pact of hunger.
Caustic Casting is potent, but not overly so, especially for a warlock. I'd say it's just about perfectly balanced.
Cannibalize is also guilty of vague terms, such as "ability," which has no mechanical definition whatsoever. The spellcasting could be a lot at higher levels, especially since there's not technically a limit to consuming meat portions. Many of the details of the pact of hunger make it a difficult addition to the game.
Blade of the Slime Lord is good. See my comments on Caustic Casting.

Overall
Overall, this subclass was a pleasure to read and review! It's a flavorful concept with great follow-through, and I can tell you put a lot of thought into this! There are some minor things that need tweaking, namely the Engulf feature, but the rest is very solid work. I can see myself wanting to play some sort of monk-ish warlock with a pact-longsword in one hand, a kobold in another, and pseudopods making up my other two. I would enjoy playing this and having this concept at my table! Congratulations on a well-made piece of 'brew!

StagnantFlux
2020-02-25, 03:25 AM
I appreciate all the feedback and am excited to work and improve the class. Thank you.

Fluff
I had some of these thoughts as well, and have been considering changing it in the future. Mostly just didn't want to change the class too much while it was posted for review.

Expanded Spell List
You've hit some of my own concerns on the nose here. Gentle Repose was mostly supposed to fit in with the Pact of Hunger, as a way to prevent meat portions from rotting. The conjuring was kind of a hail mary as far as finding good spells.

Slime Biology
The "once per day" thing was leftover from a previous version of the ability. I managed to miss that particular sentence the last *several* times I read through. I'll definitely break it into two segments, especially since there's precedence for just such a thing.

Slime Specialization
I was considering making it so you can change your specialization when you take a new level, but on a long rest could also make sense. I appreciate the kind words.

Malleable Form
Again, the kind words really mean a lot to me.

Engulf
All of that makes perfect sense. I should add an additional grapple check for the initial engulfing action. I hadn't considered a size limit, as you can't grapple a creature more than once size above yourself, so I had considered that a soft cap for this ability as well.

Pact of Hunger
Do you have any ideas on how I could more effectively nail down the phrasing on the abilities and invocations you pointed out as too vague? I'm still fairly new to 5e homebrew, so the phrasing can sometimes escape me.

Invocations
All great tips and I'll be using them for future updates.
The uses "per day" is a leftover from 3.5/PF homebrewing I used to do. A habit I'm having a hard time getting past.
When I came up with the name Caustic Casting, I initially thought about doing something similar to a Celestial Warlock, where you do additional damage when you deal Radiant. I was just going to limit it to when you use acid spells. Issue with that, as you pointed out, is the extreme shortage of spells which deal acid damage. I've considered making a small list of additional acid spells to package with this, as well as a new type of Ooze based on SCP-999.


Also, I'd really like to point out how much I appreciate your comment. It's very well informed, gives positive feedback as well as constructive criticism. It made me both proud of my work, and excited to improve it. Thank you for your work in the homebrew community. I hope everyone gets a reply as good as yours.

Lvl45DM!
2020-02-25, 07:31 AM
I love this patron. Best parts of the Slimelord prestige class from 3.5 and the pact of hunger is marvellous.

My only suggestion is that with the Pact of Hunger it feels like there should be a way to get a Bite attack that doesnt involve grappling, similar to the Lizard Mans bite ability perhaps?