Greywander
2021-11-13, 11:17 PM
Sauce: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bSJTR3TnRxkk8ESRwEgAFGVPxlPWXnnH/view
I've had a witch character concept bouncing around my head for a while, and after a brief attempt to create one using an Archfey warlock (with perhaps a druid dip), I quickly resorted to homebrew. Someone linked me to the Occultist class by KibblesTasty, which even has a Witch subclass, and it seems a lore more refined than my own attempts. I do really like it, but I have a few quibbles about it. I wasn't sure where such a discussion would be appropriate, or if KibblesTasty even reads/posts on these forums. Seems they did post this on Reddit, but I don't use Reddit.
Anyway, I do know this class has apparently been playtested, so I'm not sure if maybe I'm just missing something. If you've played this class, please let me know how it went, and if the issues I bring up here were really issues for you during actual play. Otherwise, maybe we can find some simple tweaks to address these issues.
Witch's Touch
Witch's Touch
Starting at 6th level, whenever you cast a spell with a range of touch (including through your familiar), you can add one of the following modifiers to the spell:
It grants one affected target temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier. Only one creature can have these temporary hit points at a time.
It deals additional damage equal to your Wisdom modifier to one affected creature.
It adds or subtracts 1d4 from the target's next attack roll or saving throw before the start of your next turn.
You can also confer these effects to another spell with a range longer than touch by making its range touch, or confer these effects as an action without casting a spell by touching a target (making a melee spell attack to do if the target is an unwilling creature).
I really like this feature for its flavor and theming, especially since you can use it as an action without needing to cast a spell. It's just... is the Witch supposed to be a front-liner? Quick reminder that the Occultist has a d6 hit die and no armor proficiency, and no Mage Armor. There is an occult rite that gives medium armor and shields, but my conception of a witch doesn't include clunking around in half plate and a shield (though a breastplate under their robe might be acceptable). It makes pretty much zero sense for the witch to be on the front line (unless you've specifically built them for such, which requires more than just the Witch subclass). I could understand if this was some minor feature, but it's all they get at 6th level; it's meant to be a major subclass feature.
This feature feels like it boils down to, "Give an ally 5 temp HP outside of combat, or when you cast Cure Wounds on them, and also if an enemy gets within melee range of you then you can do some other stuff I guess." This could be substantially alleviated by extending the effects to melee spell attacks, giving you a ranged option with Thorn Whip. Heck, since this homebrew also introduces Fists of Fire and Ice Weapon, why not just make it any kind of melee attack? I can understand how this might get too powerful if it included any spell you cast, so restricting it to melee attacks and touch spells seems like a decent compromise that opens up some options.
Hmm, then again, you can use your familiar to deliver touch spells for you. So I guess you could actually use this to fight from range with touch spells. Suddenly, all the 3rd level coven features make a lot more sense: they're all about keeping your familiar alive longer. Also, the owl just got a whole lot stronger as a familiar, though there's an occult rite for anyone who didn't want the owl.
Markings of Protection vs. Vestments of War
Markings of Protections
You mark yourself with magical symbols and patterns, protecting you from harm. You are under the effect of the mage armor spell.
Vestaments of War
You gain proficiency with light armor, medium armor, and shields.
But first: One thing you'll notice about all of the official classes is that all of them have access to light armor or equivalent. Those without access to light armor either get Unarmored Defense (monk) or Mage Armor (sorcerer and wizard, though you can choose not to learn/prepare Mage Armor). This seems to be intentional in order to give every class some way to boost their AC beyond just 10 + DEX mod. And yet, the Occultist has literally nothing. Nothing, that is, outside of these two occult rites (which I suppose puts it in a similar camp to Mage Armor). Personally, I think the simple fix here is to just give them light armor proficiency; it worked for the warlock.
So let's talk about these two rites. They are not equal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Rites). One of them is clearly superior. Let's say you want to be stealthy, so you go for a breastplate instead of half plate, and you also drop the shield. You're still sitting at 16 AC, which is about the most you can expect from Markings of Protection. If you decide you want to keep the shield after all, you're now at AC 18 with only a 14 in DEX, while you would need to max out your DEX to achieve the same AC with just Mage Armor. Even for those first few levels, shields are light and cheap, and get you 2/3rds of the benefits of Mage Armor, and you can easily stack some hide armor on top of that for even more AC. Oh, and this isn't even getting into how magical armor will change the game.
I think Vestments of War is fine; given that every class (except this one, apparently) already has light armor or comparable, jumping straight to medium armor and shields is fine, and it saves you from dipping into cleric to get the same. In order for Markings of Protection to compete with Vestments of War, I think it needs to give you the same Unarmored Defense that the monk gets. If we assume you're starting with 16 in WIS, it gives you the same effect initially, and scales as you increase your WIS. 15 + DEX mod is much more generous, and allows you to achieve an AC of 18 with only a 16 in DEX, which is achievable at character creation without needing to spend an ASI on DEX. Unlike monks, occultists have little incentive to maximize their DEX, since they're primarily spellcasters. It's a trade-off, with Vestments of War allowing you to pick up the requisite armor to boost your AC sooner, while Markings of Protection allows you to eschew worrying about weight or price for armor, or having it stolen, sundered, etc., but takes longer to come online.
Form of Familiar
Form of Familiar
2nd-level transmutation
Classes: Occultist, Wizard
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 60 feet (wat. Must be a copypasta error.)
Components: V, S, M (a piece of fur, feather, or scale from your familiar, which the spell consumes)
Duration: 1 hour.
You assume the form of the familiar that provided the material component to the spell. The transformation lasts for the duration, or until you drop to 0 hit points or die. Your game Statistics are replaced by the Statistics of the chosen creature, though you retain your Alignment and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores.
You assume the Hit Points and Hit Dice of the new form. When you revert to your normal, you return to the number of Hit Points you had before you transformed. If you revert as a result of Dropping to 0 Hit Points, any excess damage carries over to your normal form. As long as the excess damage doesn't reduce your normal form to 0 Hit Points, you aren't knocked Unconscious. You can use an action to revert to your normal form at any time.
You are limited in the actions you can perform by the nature of your new form, and you can't speak, cast spells, or take any other action that requires hands or speech. Your gear melds into the new form. You cannot activate, use, wield, or otherwise benefit from any of your equipment.
Form of the Familiar
You learn the form of familiar spell, and gain the ability to cast it once without expending a spell slot as an action. You regain the ability to cast it in this way again after completing a short or long rest.
I really like the idea of this; my concept of the witch includes being able to turn into animals (more as a utility feature than a combat feature). I'm less enthused about the specific execution, though. One thing I noticed is that it seems like if you have some downtime, you could spend a day cycling your familiar through various forms and harvesting the components needed, and then later on you'd have access to any familiar form you wanted. The spell seems like it tries to restrict you to whatever form your familiar currently has, but doesn't outright state such, and I think it would even work if someone else in the party had a familiar (which could include a chainlock(!)). Since you can exploit the spell in this way, I don't see why we shouldn't just make that the default; allow the spell to turn you into any creature that is a valid familiar option (though simply repeats the options listed in Find Familiar, so no chainlock shenanigans), without needing to jump through hoops.
I'd also rather this look more like the shapechanger trait that some monsters have, such as the imp, rather than looking like Wild Shape. While the spell is active, I'd like to have the ability to change back and forth at will, or even to a different form. You should also retain your own statistics, except for size and speed (and possibly traits like amphibious or web walk, or senses like blindsight). If you can change back and forth at will, then retaining your own HP would be required at the very least.
Here's how I might tweak the spell:
2nd level - Lasts 1 hour, no concentration, action casting time. For the duration, you can use an action to change into an animal form (must be a valid familiar option), or back to your true form. You retain your own alignment, ability scores, and hit points, but assume the size, speed, senses, and other traits of the new form. You revert to your true form if you die. You can't speak/use hands/cast spells while in animal form, and your gear does not meld into your new form.
3rd level - Increases duration to 8 hours.
4th level - Increases duration to 24 hours. Alternatively, the duration is permanent with the caveat that you can't get the spell slot back while the spell is active.
5th level - You can speak/use hands/cast spells while in animal form, and can choose to meld your gear into your new form.
By 9th level, this is basically new class feature, at the cost of a 5th level slot.
Since the spell seems to be on the occultist spell list, it seems like it's available to any occultist, even without the occult rite for it. The benefit of the rite seems to be the free casting once per short rest, but I'm not sure if that's enough to justify picking up the rite, especially when there are so many good options to choose from. Technically, the rite doesn't even say the spell doesn't count against your known spells (note that no eldritch invocation seems to say you learn a spell, only that you can cast the spell; this rite outright says that you learn the spell), though I think it's probably implied.
I'd probably tweak the rite to give you a free known spell, and allow you to cast the spell at-will at its lowest level. Since it doesn't work like Wild Shape anymore, you can't use this to get a fresh set of HP, so I think it should be fine. You also have a lot fewer forms you can turn into than Wild Shape provides, so you can't do anything too crazy with it.
Animate Broom
Animate Broom
Prerequisite: 12th level Witch
You infuse an object - traditionally a broom, but can be any vaguely broom-shaped object (like a spear, staff, or similar) - with flying magic, turning it into a Broom of Flying (basic rules, pg. 156). If your broom is lost or destroyed, you can create a new one during 8 hours of work. If a previous broom still exists when you make a new one, it loses its magic upon the completion of the new one.
My main issue here is (a) Broom of Flying is only uncommon; you should probably have one already by 12th level, and (b) if you don't have one by then, you'll drop this rite as soon as you get one. There's no benefit to having this rite once you've found your own Broom of Flying. And actually, (b) is even more of an issue because nothing says you lose the broom if you drop the rite. So, take the rite at 12th level, make your broom, then swap the rite out for something else at 13th level.
I feel like either (a) this should be folded in as a subclass feature, or (b) there should be some benefit if you already have a Broom of Flying, or some reason to use the one created with this rite over one you found. If we're folding it into the subclass, then our options are 6th level (which seems too soon) or 14th level (which seems too late, though it is comparable to when a lot of other classes get flight). We could split the difference and give you a weak broom at 6th level (e.g. only has a 30 foot fly speed, requires both hands to "drive" it, so you're limited on spellcasting) and the broom upgrades at 14th level (e.g. 60 foot fly speed, hands-free).
If we're making it better than a standard Broom of Flying, there are a few things I can think of that might make it worth it. First, you can summon the broom to you as a reaction when you fall, causing the broom to travel up to e.g. 240 feet (assuming it's unburdened) to reach you (or just teleporting it to you). This is essentially an at-will Feather Fall. Second, although nothing is stated about how a Broom of Flying needs to be handled, we could make it explicit that the broom created by the rite allows you to handle it perfectly, requiring no hands to control and you have zero risk of falling off no matter you sit, stand, or handstand on the broom (only external interference can knock you off).
Transport via Plants
This spell isn't on the occultist spell list, and as far as I'm aware there's no way to get it. I like it for a witch character because it feels unconventional and weird. Yeah, Teleport is on their list, and is stronger, but it's just so... normal. Plus, the additional restrictions on Transport via Plants makes it more interesting to use. I think this spell should be added to their spell list. I know this is an oddly specific thing to call out, but it's just something specific I wanted. It's a good utility spell with fun and interesting flavor, perfect for a witch character.
Anyway, that's all I can think of for now. I'm excited to try this class for this character concept, with or without any of the changes I've proposed. I'll need to look into the details of how I'd build the character, including which feats, rites, and even spells I'd take. So many options, so few that we can take.
I've had a witch character concept bouncing around my head for a while, and after a brief attempt to create one using an Archfey warlock (with perhaps a druid dip), I quickly resorted to homebrew. Someone linked me to the Occultist class by KibblesTasty, which even has a Witch subclass, and it seems a lore more refined than my own attempts. I do really like it, but I have a few quibbles about it. I wasn't sure where such a discussion would be appropriate, or if KibblesTasty even reads/posts on these forums. Seems they did post this on Reddit, but I don't use Reddit.
Anyway, I do know this class has apparently been playtested, so I'm not sure if maybe I'm just missing something. If you've played this class, please let me know how it went, and if the issues I bring up here were really issues for you during actual play. Otherwise, maybe we can find some simple tweaks to address these issues.
Witch's Touch
Witch's Touch
Starting at 6th level, whenever you cast a spell with a range of touch (including through your familiar), you can add one of the following modifiers to the spell:
It grants one affected target temporary hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier. Only one creature can have these temporary hit points at a time.
It deals additional damage equal to your Wisdom modifier to one affected creature.
It adds or subtracts 1d4 from the target's next attack roll or saving throw before the start of your next turn.
You can also confer these effects to another spell with a range longer than touch by making its range touch, or confer these effects as an action without casting a spell by touching a target (making a melee spell attack to do if the target is an unwilling creature).
I really like this feature for its flavor and theming, especially since you can use it as an action without needing to cast a spell. It's just... is the Witch supposed to be a front-liner? Quick reminder that the Occultist has a d6 hit die and no armor proficiency, and no Mage Armor. There is an occult rite that gives medium armor and shields, but my conception of a witch doesn't include clunking around in half plate and a shield (though a breastplate under their robe might be acceptable). It makes pretty much zero sense for the witch to be on the front line (unless you've specifically built them for such, which requires more than just the Witch subclass). I could understand if this was some minor feature, but it's all they get at 6th level; it's meant to be a major subclass feature.
This feature feels like it boils down to, "Give an ally 5 temp HP outside of combat, or when you cast Cure Wounds on them, and also if an enemy gets within melee range of you then you can do some other stuff I guess." This could be substantially alleviated by extending the effects to melee spell attacks, giving you a ranged option with Thorn Whip. Heck, since this homebrew also introduces Fists of Fire and Ice Weapon, why not just make it any kind of melee attack? I can understand how this might get too powerful if it included any spell you cast, so restricting it to melee attacks and touch spells seems like a decent compromise that opens up some options.
Hmm, then again, you can use your familiar to deliver touch spells for you. So I guess you could actually use this to fight from range with touch spells. Suddenly, all the 3rd level coven features make a lot more sense: they're all about keeping your familiar alive longer. Also, the owl just got a whole lot stronger as a familiar, though there's an occult rite for anyone who didn't want the owl.
Markings of Protection vs. Vestments of War
Markings of Protections
You mark yourself with magical symbols and patterns, protecting you from harm. You are under the effect of the mage armor spell.
Vestaments of War
You gain proficiency with light armor, medium armor, and shields.
But first: One thing you'll notice about all of the official classes is that all of them have access to light armor or equivalent. Those without access to light armor either get Unarmored Defense (monk) or Mage Armor (sorcerer and wizard, though you can choose not to learn/prepare Mage Armor). This seems to be intentional in order to give every class some way to boost their AC beyond just 10 + DEX mod. And yet, the Occultist has literally nothing. Nothing, that is, outside of these two occult rites (which I suppose puts it in a similar camp to Mage Armor). Personally, I think the simple fix here is to just give them light armor proficiency; it worked for the warlock.
So let's talk about these two rites. They are not equal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Rites). One of them is clearly superior. Let's say you want to be stealthy, so you go for a breastplate instead of half plate, and you also drop the shield. You're still sitting at 16 AC, which is about the most you can expect from Markings of Protection. If you decide you want to keep the shield after all, you're now at AC 18 with only a 14 in DEX, while you would need to max out your DEX to achieve the same AC with just Mage Armor. Even for those first few levels, shields are light and cheap, and get you 2/3rds of the benefits of Mage Armor, and you can easily stack some hide armor on top of that for even more AC. Oh, and this isn't even getting into how magical armor will change the game.
I think Vestments of War is fine; given that every class (except this one, apparently) already has light armor or comparable, jumping straight to medium armor and shields is fine, and it saves you from dipping into cleric to get the same. In order for Markings of Protection to compete with Vestments of War, I think it needs to give you the same Unarmored Defense that the monk gets. If we assume you're starting with 16 in WIS, it gives you the same effect initially, and scales as you increase your WIS. 15 + DEX mod is much more generous, and allows you to achieve an AC of 18 with only a 16 in DEX, which is achievable at character creation without needing to spend an ASI on DEX. Unlike monks, occultists have little incentive to maximize their DEX, since they're primarily spellcasters. It's a trade-off, with Vestments of War allowing you to pick up the requisite armor to boost your AC sooner, while Markings of Protection allows you to eschew worrying about weight or price for armor, or having it stolen, sundered, etc., but takes longer to come online.
Form of Familiar
Form of Familiar
2nd-level transmutation
Classes: Occultist, Wizard
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 60 feet (wat. Must be a copypasta error.)
Components: V, S, M (a piece of fur, feather, or scale from your familiar, which the spell consumes)
Duration: 1 hour.
You assume the form of the familiar that provided the material component to the spell. The transformation lasts for the duration, or until you drop to 0 hit points or die. Your game Statistics are replaced by the Statistics of the chosen creature, though you retain your Alignment and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores.
You assume the Hit Points and Hit Dice of the new form. When you revert to your normal, you return to the number of Hit Points you had before you transformed. If you revert as a result of Dropping to 0 Hit Points, any excess damage carries over to your normal form. As long as the excess damage doesn't reduce your normal form to 0 Hit Points, you aren't knocked Unconscious. You can use an action to revert to your normal form at any time.
You are limited in the actions you can perform by the nature of your new form, and you can't speak, cast spells, or take any other action that requires hands or speech. Your gear melds into the new form. You cannot activate, use, wield, or otherwise benefit from any of your equipment.
Form of the Familiar
You learn the form of familiar spell, and gain the ability to cast it once without expending a spell slot as an action. You regain the ability to cast it in this way again after completing a short or long rest.
I really like the idea of this; my concept of the witch includes being able to turn into animals (more as a utility feature than a combat feature). I'm less enthused about the specific execution, though. One thing I noticed is that it seems like if you have some downtime, you could spend a day cycling your familiar through various forms and harvesting the components needed, and then later on you'd have access to any familiar form you wanted. The spell seems like it tries to restrict you to whatever form your familiar currently has, but doesn't outright state such, and I think it would even work if someone else in the party had a familiar (which could include a chainlock(!)). Since you can exploit the spell in this way, I don't see why we shouldn't just make that the default; allow the spell to turn you into any creature that is a valid familiar option (though simply repeats the options listed in Find Familiar, so no chainlock shenanigans), without needing to jump through hoops.
I'd also rather this look more like the shapechanger trait that some monsters have, such as the imp, rather than looking like Wild Shape. While the spell is active, I'd like to have the ability to change back and forth at will, or even to a different form. You should also retain your own statistics, except for size and speed (and possibly traits like amphibious or web walk, or senses like blindsight). If you can change back and forth at will, then retaining your own HP would be required at the very least.
Here's how I might tweak the spell:
2nd level - Lasts 1 hour, no concentration, action casting time. For the duration, you can use an action to change into an animal form (must be a valid familiar option), or back to your true form. You retain your own alignment, ability scores, and hit points, but assume the size, speed, senses, and other traits of the new form. You revert to your true form if you die. You can't speak/use hands/cast spells while in animal form, and your gear does not meld into your new form.
3rd level - Increases duration to 8 hours.
4th level - Increases duration to 24 hours. Alternatively, the duration is permanent with the caveat that you can't get the spell slot back while the spell is active.
5th level - You can speak/use hands/cast spells while in animal form, and can choose to meld your gear into your new form.
By 9th level, this is basically new class feature, at the cost of a 5th level slot.
Since the spell seems to be on the occultist spell list, it seems like it's available to any occultist, even without the occult rite for it. The benefit of the rite seems to be the free casting once per short rest, but I'm not sure if that's enough to justify picking up the rite, especially when there are so many good options to choose from. Technically, the rite doesn't even say the spell doesn't count against your known spells (note that no eldritch invocation seems to say you learn a spell, only that you can cast the spell; this rite outright says that you learn the spell), though I think it's probably implied.
I'd probably tweak the rite to give you a free known spell, and allow you to cast the spell at-will at its lowest level. Since it doesn't work like Wild Shape anymore, you can't use this to get a fresh set of HP, so I think it should be fine. You also have a lot fewer forms you can turn into than Wild Shape provides, so you can't do anything too crazy with it.
Animate Broom
Animate Broom
Prerequisite: 12th level Witch
You infuse an object - traditionally a broom, but can be any vaguely broom-shaped object (like a spear, staff, or similar) - with flying magic, turning it into a Broom of Flying (basic rules, pg. 156). If your broom is lost or destroyed, you can create a new one during 8 hours of work. If a previous broom still exists when you make a new one, it loses its magic upon the completion of the new one.
My main issue here is (a) Broom of Flying is only uncommon; you should probably have one already by 12th level, and (b) if you don't have one by then, you'll drop this rite as soon as you get one. There's no benefit to having this rite once you've found your own Broom of Flying. And actually, (b) is even more of an issue because nothing says you lose the broom if you drop the rite. So, take the rite at 12th level, make your broom, then swap the rite out for something else at 13th level.
I feel like either (a) this should be folded in as a subclass feature, or (b) there should be some benefit if you already have a Broom of Flying, or some reason to use the one created with this rite over one you found. If we're folding it into the subclass, then our options are 6th level (which seems too soon) or 14th level (which seems too late, though it is comparable to when a lot of other classes get flight). We could split the difference and give you a weak broom at 6th level (e.g. only has a 30 foot fly speed, requires both hands to "drive" it, so you're limited on spellcasting) and the broom upgrades at 14th level (e.g. 60 foot fly speed, hands-free).
If we're making it better than a standard Broom of Flying, there are a few things I can think of that might make it worth it. First, you can summon the broom to you as a reaction when you fall, causing the broom to travel up to e.g. 240 feet (assuming it's unburdened) to reach you (or just teleporting it to you). This is essentially an at-will Feather Fall. Second, although nothing is stated about how a Broom of Flying needs to be handled, we could make it explicit that the broom created by the rite allows you to handle it perfectly, requiring no hands to control and you have zero risk of falling off no matter you sit, stand, or handstand on the broom (only external interference can knock you off).
Transport via Plants
This spell isn't on the occultist spell list, and as far as I'm aware there's no way to get it. I like it for a witch character because it feels unconventional and weird. Yeah, Teleport is on their list, and is stronger, but it's just so... normal. Plus, the additional restrictions on Transport via Plants makes it more interesting to use. I think this spell should be added to their spell list. I know this is an oddly specific thing to call out, but it's just something specific I wanted. It's a good utility spell with fun and interesting flavor, perfect for a witch character.
Anyway, that's all I can think of for now. I'm excited to try this class for this character concept, with or without any of the changes I've proposed. I'll need to look into the details of how I'd build the character, including which feats, rites, and even spells I'd take. So many options, so few that we can take.