D&D 5e Base Class Contest XVI Voting Thread

[MoleMage]

This is the voting thread for the sixteenth 5e base class contest Contest XVI: Divine Judgment (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?633671-D-amp-D-5e-Base-Class-Contest-XVI-Divine-Judgment)!

The rules are simple. Vote for your top three picks, in order. You can't vote for yourself. A number 1 vote is worth 3 points, a number 2 vote is worth 2, and a number 3 vote is worth one. You can (and are encouraged) to vote even if you didn't submit an entry this time around.

You can also suggest or vote on what you would like the next contest's theme to be. Currently in the suggestion box are Dragons, Heroes from Myths, Other Media, and Breakfast Cereal Mascots, but don't feel as though you need to limit your suggestions to those themes; a larger pool means more options to vote on next time. I'm also going to allow votes for any theme that hasn't been used for at least six contests (so right now that adds Who Needs Swords or Sorcery, Terror, The Elements, Doesn't Meet Expectations, Chill Out, Remix Mastery, Magic Without Slots, It's Time for Time, and Blast from the Past). If you missed a contest or had another idea for a previous theme, you may get your chance again!



Entry
Creator
1st
2nd
3rd



The Forsaken (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25111769&postcount=2)
BerzerkerUnit
2
1
1



The Godslayer (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25111798&postcount=3)
luuma
2
0
2



The Punchadin (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25111818&postcount=4)
sengmeng
0
1
1



The Inquisitor (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25112321&postcount=6)
MrStabby
0
0
0



The Demigod (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25135930&postcount=10) (Continued) (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25135932&postcount=11)
Old Harry MTX
1
1
0



The Mutant (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25161410&postcount=12)
SleeplessWriter
0
0
0



The Prophet (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25193289&postcount=13)
MoleMage
0
2
1



The voting period will be three weeks, ending at the end of the day on October 3rd. The following day I will tally these results and declare a winner. For the curious, the tiebreakers I will be using are:

1st tiebreaker is whether both participants voted. If one did not, they lose the tie.
2nd tiebreaker is total number of 1st place votes. The entry which got more 1st place votes will win the tie.
There is no 3rd tiebreaker. If both entrants voted and both entries reached their total score with the same number of 1st place votes, the tie will stand.

[sengmeng]

Seems like very few were complete.

1). Forsaken by BerzerkerUnit
Love the flavor, somehow lets you play Gollum OR Venom, seems most complete.

2). Prophet by MoleMage
Also love the flavor, interesting take on a warlock chassis and the omens were a fresh mechanic. Might have unseated the Forsaken if more complete and polished.

3). Godslayer by Iuuma
Reminded me of something I tried to do and arguably pulled it off a bit better.

Edit: forgot theme vote
Chill Out since it will be the dead of winter when voting starts (its already a bit chilly here in Minnesota).

[luuma]

I feel like I wasn’t alone in finding the theme a bit narrow - most of us wound up treading on the toes of the paladin, the cleric, or the warlock. Many were left unfinished, too, which is a real shame.

Looking at all the entries I think my main feedback is: don’t be afraid to make strong stuff. If you’re using warlock as a template for feature progression, or going halfcaster, I think it’s important that the core class can keep up with eldritch blast/agonising blast (or the raw power of extra attack) without effort.



I’ve ranked these based on how fun I reckon they would be to play in 5e across all levels, especially focusing on 3rd to 10th where most groups play. I also realise I can gain a great deal of tactical advantage by casting my vote as late as possible (and voting for someone that is not already in the lead). However, if there’s a lesson from this thread, it is that justice favours the righteous.

1: Forsaken. Features like Spite Heaven and Existential Denial are top notch. I feel like this class carves a nice unique niche for all its subclasses. One of the concepts exemplifies a totally new way to create tanks: Cursed Forsaken hides as much as possible and becomes almost untouchable for a round when it does so, while giving attacks against all other creatures disadvantage. To me, this is totally new. No idea what this would look like in practice (probably a goblin lol) but damn do I want to see.

2: Demigod. Many of the concepts work well, some of them are so buckwild that they’re really fun to build (the minervan is, in fact, a minmaxer's wet dream), and the core mechanic is a good storytelling structure that DMs can reduce in power pretty easily. I do think this class is too good for full casting progression, but the limits on its loot make it more manageable, and it has some great concept.

3: Punchadin: The punchadin’s 6th level feature is my pick for the most elegant feature in the competition. I think the less serious writing style is good fun to read, and, in spite of the jokey tone, I found the balance rock solid - with features that completely make up for its lack of feats and loot. Silent Fist + quick style + reckless attack is a match made in heaven, but still no stronger than GWM fighter + reckless attack.

My vote for next theme: Who Needs Swords or Sorcery. Sounds like good fun no matter how it's interpreted, and is very very nice and broad.

[Old Harry MTX]

Here are my preferences!

1) The Godslayer - Like the flavor and the concept, and it's well wrtten. Interesting the drawbacks mechanic and the story-driven features.
2) The Prophet - I like it, I didn't put it in first position for mere personal taste, since neither clerics nor warlocks drive me crazy, and there is only one Liturgy. The cards mechanic are reinterpreted well.
3) The Forsaken - Not a fan of the concept, but the class is undoubtedly interesting.

For the next contest i choose Who Needs Swords or Sorcery, let's see what can come out!

[SleeplessWriter]

I'll put my vote in for Who Needs Swords or Sorcery as well. I've got an idea kicking around in my head for a possible mad scientist class, slow nonmagical healing, Plague Doctors, potion chugging alchemists doing their best impression of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and possibly custom minion building Frankenstein wannabes. That last one might not happen, though. It would take a lot of work to flesh out all the options to a satisfactory degree.
I don't know about my other votes yet, still need to finish reading through all the other classes.

Edit:

Alright, I've got my vote now.

1: Godslayer -- strong thematically, well done mechanically, and just feels unique enough to not be encroaching on another classes turf even when it borrows a thing or two from them.

2: Punchadin -- good theme, decent mechanics, and it manages to mesh its mechanics with its lighthearted jokey nature in such a way that if you're playing this as a joke character you get to, and are even encouraged mechanically, to do all the sorts of wacky shenanigans this kind of character is supposed to be able to do. Wanna Leroy Jenkins into a fight? You can move towards enemies with a bonus action at unreasonable speed. Wanna jump from a chandelier to punch your enemies in the face? You get a damage boost for it.

3: The Prophet -- good theme even if it's more divine with little judgement (but who am I to talk), decent mechanics from what's finished so far (and that's not just because I like pact magic), and I just like anything that can use the word "omens" and react to all sorts of unique triggers. Looks fun, just needs to be completed a little more (though again, who am I to judge).


Honorable mention goes to the Forsaken for having such a strong theme, even if I personally don't enjoy the mechanics (just feels weird to me for some reason, nothing really wrong with it beyond the subjective).

Honestly, looking at all of the contestant's entries it's really apparent that everyone sorta struggled with how narrow the contest theme was, especially while trying to also avoid stepping too much into the territory of the paladin or the cleric. A few solve this by borrowing thematic elements from other classes such as sorcerer, and a few (such as my own) tried to carve out their own niche at the risk of going a bit further off the contest theme. I don't know if there was really any perfect solution to this, or whether it'd turn out well having this theme again while everyone then has to avoid repeating the stuff in this contest as well as official material, but for this contest I think it worked out at least decently.

[MoleMage]

1. Demigod
2. Forsaken
3. Godslayer

I'll abstain from theme voting unless a tiebreaker is needed.

[MoleMage]

Alright voting time is over!

In third place, we have Old Harry MTX's Demigod, earning 5 points and winning out over MoleMage's Prophet through the 2nd tiebreaker! Strange that such an iconic origin from mythology isn't in the base game, but now we have this wonderful version.

In second place, we have luuma's Godslayer with 8 points. Your capstone is to literally call god out for a duel. How awesome is that?

And in first place, we have BerzerkerUnit's Forsaken with 9 points. Because sometimes the gods are cruel, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't soldier on.

Who Needs Swords or Sorcery is our next contest theme. I'll post it in the next hour or so once I get it all formatted. Congrats everyone on great entries!

[BerzerkerUnit]

Double dammit I forgot to vote. I got the dates mixed up with the subclass contest.

I'm very happy for the positive feedback and apologize for not contributing in kind. I'll keep an eye on the next contest and be sure to vote there.

[Old Harry MTX]

Thankyou everyone! I will soon put the hand on the homebrewery/revised version of the demigod, you will find it in my signature!

[luuma]

lmao out of interest berzerker where would you have put me