MrStabby
2021-05-31, 06:05 PM
So there was a thread here that caught my eye:
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?631462-WIP-Darkest-Dungeon-inspired-Grave-Robber-sub-class
I thought that the grave robber was a pretty fun idea for a subclass, but the discussion above was about one very specific grave robber, so I thought rather than derail that I would start my own.
The Grave Robber
Many rogues steal jewels, even more steal gold but a few daring souls delve deeper. In the crypts and catcombs accross the land the most audacious burglers of all steal treasure indended to never see the light of day again.
Know your Mark
There is litle point in robbing empty graves. Grave Robbers have an uncanny knack for understanding the culture and faith behind disposal of riches. From 3rd level whenever you make an int(history) ir Int(religion) check you may double your proficiency bonus.
Well Warded
A Grave Robber knows the hazards they face and prepares for them with a series of wards. These may be trinkets aquired in back alleys, charms, talismans or minor spells. Whatever seems to work. At third level the Grave Robber gets the Rabbit's Foot Talisman and two other wards of their choice. Each ward has a passive ability and a set of activated abilities. The passive ability may only be used until you use the activated ability and then becomes ineffective. Whenever you have access to a higher level ward you may use it instead to provide the effect of a lower level ward; this still consumes its use for the day. All wards are recovered after a long rest and you regain the benefits of the passive ability. Whenever you cast a spell through a ward you don't need to provide any of the components or to concentrate on the spell and your spellcasting ability is intelligence.
You gain an additional ward of your choice at levels 9, 13 and 17. At level 9 your wards become Journeyman wards, at level 13 they become Enhanced wards and at level 17 they become masterwork wards.
Name
Ward
Journeyman Ward
Enhanced Ward
Masterwork Ward
Rabbit's Foot Ward
Passive ability:you gain a +1 bonus to all your saves
Activated Ability: You may add an additional d6 to the result of 1 failed save
Activated Ability: You may add an additional d12 to the result of 1 failed save
Activated Ability: You may chose to pass one failed save
Sigil of Dawn
Passive Ability: You have resistance to poison and necrotic damage
Activated Ability: As an action you may remove one disease or poison from a creature you touch
Activated Ability: As an action you may remove a curse from a creature you touch
Activated Ability: As an action you may end a spell on a creature you touch
Mark of the Shield
Passive Ability: You have advantage on any perception or investigation checks pertaining to undead or constructs
Activated Ability: As a bonus action you may cause all undeadand constructs to have disadvantage on attack rolls against you for the next minute
Acivated Ability: As a bonus action you may give yourself advantage on all saves against charm and fear effects for the next minute
Activated Ability: As an action you may end the effect of any fear, charm possession effect on any number of creatures you can see
Talisman of the Eye
Passive Ability: You gain darkvision to 30ft; if you already have darkvision the radius is increased by 15ft
Activated Ability:As an action you may cast Detect Magic
Activated Ability: As a bonus action you gain blindsight to a radius of 20ft for one minute
Activated Ability: As an action you may improve your sight to see invisible creatures the true form of shapechanged creatures and ito the etherial plane to a radius of 30ft for 10 minutes
Glyph of the Cryptstalker
Passive Abiliy: Your movement speed increases by 5ft
Activated Ability: As a bonus action, whenever you take the dash action within the next minute, you no longer provoke opportunity attacks
Activated Ability: As an action you gain a burrow speed of 5ft for the next minute
Activated Ability: As an action you are able to move into the etherial plane and step through solid objects for the next minute. Whilst doing so you take 2d10 points of force damage if you end your turn inside an object
Binding of the Despoiler
Passive Abiliy:Whenever you roll an unmodified 19 or 20 as an attack roll against a construct or undead crature it counts as a critical hit
Activated Ability:As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak ritual censuring undead and constructs. Each undead or construct that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.
A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can't willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can't take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there's nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.
Activated Ability:As a reaction, when you hit a creature with a weapon attack you may add d8+half your rogue level to the damage
Activated Ability: Whenever you score a critical hit against a creature that creature is afraid of you for the next minute.
Oracle of Kel'tharis
Passive Abiliy: You know the spells Comprehend Languages, Identify, and Augury and can cast them as rituals
Actiavted Ability:When you come accross a ritual spell, either written down or from someone who can teach you, if that spell is 3rd level or lower you may add it to the the list of spells you can cast with this ward.
Actiavted Ability:When you come accross a ritual spell, either written down or from someone who can teach you, if that spell is 5th level or lower you may add it to the the list of spells you can cast with this ward. Actiavted Ability:When you come accross a ritual spell, either written down or from someone who can teach you, you may add it to the the list of spells you can cast with this ward.
Hexproof
Your delving into the dark places in the world has exposed you to many hazards and you have built up some resistance. At level 9 you become immune to any effect that would lower your maximum hit points or reduce any of your ability scores. In addition you gain one hit point per level of rogue, both retroactively and going forwards.
Loaded with Trinkets
As an experienced burgler you know the perils of being unprepared for the hazards ahead and have contingency plans in place to replenish your protective magics. From level 13 You may now recover one of your wards whenever you take a short rest.
Mysteries of the crypt
Petty thieves pry the tarnished baubles of the fingers of the recently departed. Great thieves have greater marks and you are no exception. Your larceny extends beyond the physical; your knowledge of religion enables you to steal the soul of the dead and to raid crypts of the most secret and forbidden knowledge. At level 17 this power manifests itself as the ability to cast spells. When you finish a long rest you may select up to three spells on the cleric spell list of first or second level. You may cast one of these spells as if you knew it without using a spell slot whenever you use the activated ability of a Ward.
Design Intent
This is intended to will two roles. One is to be a rogue with a bit of a divine flavour to it through a lot of protective magics. It is also intented to make the rogue a little bit more of a tank/support chracter in play, boosting party survivability. The intent is thatpart of the challange of play will be around using resourcesat the optimal time - not just using them at the best time for the ability, but also factoring in the loss of the passive ability a ward will give as well.
I wanted the Wards to be the main class feature carying most of the weight of the class. The non ward abilities are not quie ribbons, but are probably not that powerful by themselves.
My vision of graves, tombs and crypts is of a places haunted by the undead but also by guardian statues, ageless golems and protective magic. I am hoping that whilst some of these features are pretty central to the class the way in which the mechanics support combatting them also means that they will be useful in other encounters and you will not be too penalised if these enemies don't show up.
Balance Intent
The rogue is a pretty powerful class early on. Sneak attack damage and cunning action mean a great damage boost and a greatuse of bonus actions before anyone else pick up a feat or 2nd attack (barring variant humans of course). I also believe the rogue can struggle a bit at higher levels - the things their skills can do, spells can also do - often more reliably and at higher levels there are more spell slotsto spare. Of course there are some exceptions in some campaigns - a thief's use magic device skill will shine in some campaigns and so on. But generally speaking I wanted a set of subclass abilities that were modest at level 3 but were appropriate to a character playing alongside wish etc. at level 17. There is kind of a quadratic progression of power intended with getting more wards and each ward becoming more powerful.
In terms of peak power I looked to the Arcane Trickster who is sporting level 4 spells at the end and used this as kind of a benchmark. There are a lot of tradeoffs on both sides here - versatility, choice of different effects, passive abilities on top...
I still think there is a bit of something missing from the class... the abilities feel a bit niche you I could see that sometimes you just wouldn't feel as powerful as you might be.
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?631462-WIP-Darkest-Dungeon-inspired-Grave-Robber-sub-class
I thought that the grave robber was a pretty fun idea for a subclass, but the discussion above was about one very specific grave robber, so I thought rather than derail that I would start my own.
The Grave Robber
Many rogues steal jewels, even more steal gold but a few daring souls delve deeper. In the crypts and catcombs accross the land the most audacious burglers of all steal treasure indended to never see the light of day again.
Know your Mark
There is litle point in robbing empty graves. Grave Robbers have an uncanny knack for understanding the culture and faith behind disposal of riches. From 3rd level whenever you make an int(history) ir Int(religion) check you may double your proficiency bonus.
Well Warded
A Grave Robber knows the hazards they face and prepares for them with a series of wards. These may be trinkets aquired in back alleys, charms, talismans or minor spells. Whatever seems to work. At third level the Grave Robber gets the Rabbit's Foot Talisman and two other wards of their choice. Each ward has a passive ability and a set of activated abilities. The passive ability may only be used until you use the activated ability and then becomes ineffective. Whenever you have access to a higher level ward you may use it instead to provide the effect of a lower level ward; this still consumes its use for the day. All wards are recovered after a long rest and you regain the benefits of the passive ability. Whenever you cast a spell through a ward you don't need to provide any of the components or to concentrate on the spell and your spellcasting ability is intelligence.
You gain an additional ward of your choice at levels 9, 13 and 17. At level 9 your wards become Journeyman wards, at level 13 they become Enhanced wards and at level 17 they become masterwork wards.
Name
Ward
Journeyman Ward
Enhanced Ward
Masterwork Ward
Rabbit's Foot Ward
Passive ability:you gain a +1 bonus to all your saves
Activated Ability: You may add an additional d6 to the result of 1 failed save
Activated Ability: You may add an additional d12 to the result of 1 failed save
Activated Ability: You may chose to pass one failed save
Sigil of Dawn
Passive Ability: You have resistance to poison and necrotic damage
Activated Ability: As an action you may remove one disease or poison from a creature you touch
Activated Ability: As an action you may remove a curse from a creature you touch
Activated Ability: As an action you may end a spell on a creature you touch
Mark of the Shield
Passive Ability: You have advantage on any perception or investigation checks pertaining to undead or constructs
Activated Ability: As a bonus action you may cause all undeadand constructs to have disadvantage on attack rolls against you for the next minute
Acivated Ability: As a bonus action you may give yourself advantage on all saves against charm and fear effects for the next minute
Activated Ability: As an action you may end the effect of any fear, charm possession effect on any number of creatures you can see
Talisman of the Eye
Passive Ability: You gain darkvision to 30ft; if you already have darkvision the radius is increased by 15ft
Activated Ability:As an action you may cast Detect Magic
Activated Ability: As a bonus action you gain blindsight to a radius of 20ft for one minute
Activated Ability: As an action you may improve your sight to see invisible creatures the true form of shapechanged creatures and ito the etherial plane to a radius of 30ft for 10 minutes
Glyph of the Cryptstalker
Passive Abiliy: Your movement speed increases by 5ft
Activated Ability: As a bonus action, whenever you take the dash action within the next minute, you no longer provoke opportunity attacks
Activated Ability: As an action you gain a burrow speed of 5ft for the next minute
Activated Ability: As an action you are able to move into the etherial plane and step through solid objects for the next minute. Whilst doing so you take 2d10 points of force damage if you end your turn inside an object
Binding of the Despoiler
Passive Abiliy:Whenever you roll an unmodified 19 or 20 as an attack roll against a construct or undead crature it counts as a critical hit
Activated Ability:As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak ritual censuring undead and constructs. Each undead or construct that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.
A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can't willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can't take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there's nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.
Activated Ability:As a reaction, when you hit a creature with a weapon attack you may add d8+half your rogue level to the damage
Activated Ability: Whenever you score a critical hit against a creature that creature is afraid of you for the next minute.
Oracle of Kel'tharis
Passive Abiliy: You know the spells Comprehend Languages, Identify, and Augury and can cast them as rituals
Actiavted Ability:When you come accross a ritual spell, either written down or from someone who can teach you, if that spell is 3rd level or lower you may add it to the the list of spells you can cast with this ward.
Actiavted Ability:When you come accross a ritual spell, either written down or from someone who can teach you, if that spell is 5th level or lower you may add it to the the list of spells you can cast with this ward. Actiavted Ability:When you come accross a ritual spell, either written down or from someone who can teach you, you may add it to the the list of spells you can cast with this ward.
Hexproof
Your delving into the dark places in the world has exposed you to many hazards and you have built up some resistance. At level 9 you become immune to any effect that would lower your maximum hit points or reduce any of your ability scores. In addition you gain one hit point per level of rogue, both retroactively and going forwards.
Loaded with Trinkets
As an experienced burgler you know the perils of being unprepared for the hazards ahead and have contingency plans in place to replenish your protective magics. From level 13 You may now recover one of your wards whenever you take a short rest.
Mysteries of the crypt
Petty thieves pry the tarnished baubles of the fingers of the recently departed. Great thieves have greater marks and you are no exception. Your larceny extends beyond the physical; your knowledge of religion enables you to steal the soul of the dead and to raid crypts of the most secret and forbidden knowledge. At level 17 this power manifests itself as the ability to cast spells. When you finish a long rest you may select up to three spells on the cleric spell list of first or second level. You may cast one of these spells as if you knew it without using a spell slot whenever you use the activated ability of a Ward.
Design Intent
This is intended to will two roles. One is to be a rogue with a bit of a divine flavour to it through a lot of protective magics. It is also intented to make the rogue a little bit more of a tank/support chracter in play, boosting party survivability. The intent is thatpart of the challange of play will be around using resourcesat the optimal time - not just using them at the best time for the ability, but also factoring in the loss of the passive ability a ward will give as well.
I wanted the Wards to be the main class feature carying most of the weight of the class. The non ward abilities are not quie ribbons, but are probably not that powerful by themselves.
My vision of graves, tombs and crypts is of a places haunted by the undead but also by guardian statues, ageless golems and protective magic. I am hoping that whilst some of these features are pretty central to the class the way in which the mechanics support combatting them also means that they will be useful in other encounters and you will not be too penalised if these enemies don't show up.
Balance Intent
The rogue is a pretty powerful class early on. Sneak attack damage and cunning action mean a great damage boost and a greatuse of bonus actions before anyone else pick up a feat or 2nd attack (barring variant humans of course). I also believe the rogue can struggle a bit at higher levels - the things their skills can do, spells can also do - often more reliably and at higher levels there are more spell slotsto spare. Of course there are some exceptions in some campaigns - a thief's use magic device skill will shine in some campaigns and so on. But generally speaking I wanted a set of subclass abilities that were modest at level 3 but were appropriate to a character playing alongside wish etc. at level 17. There is kind of a quadratic progression of power intended with getting more wards and each ward becoming more powerful.
In terms of peak power I looked to the Arcane Trickster who is sporting level 4 spells at the end and used this as kind of a benchmark. There are a lot of tradeoffs on both sides here - versatility, choice of different effects, passive abilities on top...
I still think there is a bit of something missing from the class... the abilities feel a bit niche you I could see that sometimes you just wouldn't feel as powerful as you might be.