Tips for Testing Homebrew in Combat?

[BlacklightVirus]

Hey there! Lately I've been doing some designing of a custom class, and while I feel somewhat confident the exploration and interaction aspects of the class are balanced, I sometimes have a hard time wrapping my head around all the complexities of combat.

For the experienced (and not so experienced) homebrewers out there, what's your preferred method of doing combat-related testing? Simulated encounters (solo or with a test party)? Doing raw calculations and comparing them to some values from similar classes? Something else?

[GalacticAxekick]

As I'm writing homebrew, I might do some simple calculations and compare them to other classes. Then I give the class/subclass/spell to a player and let them use it in a low-level campaign so they can test it level by level. Alternatively, I give homebrew to enemies and see how they measure up to the players.

That said, combat isn't terribly complex. In my experience, combat is frustratingly SIMPLE and MONOTONOUS unless the DM makes an effort to write a battle as a puzzle. If you find that your homebrew is complex in combat, it might just be too complicated.

[LibraryOgre]

Orc n' pie.

There is an orc. He has pie. How are you going to get the pie?

It's an utterly inane scenario, but it gives you goals, and a framework for playing the game at a basic level. Preferably, the other person will be the one playing the thing that needs playtesting.

(Long ago, when Knights of the Dinner Table was having Weird Pete create Fairy Meat (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/12547/Fairy-Meat-Core-Rules?affiliate_id=315505), his playtest team includes 1) Brian, who would redline any rules and try to break them 2) Bitter Stevil, who would give him an absolutely unvarnished opinion, and 3) Gordo, who knew a ridiculous amount about fairy-folk and would help keep things relatively grounded; there may have been a fourth person that I can't recall, but it's a good group of traits to playtest things with)

[JNAProductions]

Calculations are the easiest, and a good way to start.

Also seek input from other people-other eyes see that which you don’t.

[BlacklightVirus]

Thank you for the responses!

I've gotten the advice to have someone else play the homebrew in a simple encounter/oneshot before, and it certainly seems like one of the better ways to go about it.

Problem: nobody in my group is really interested in the concept, plus we're in the middle of a big campaign that we're loathe to suddenly halt and pivot to something else, even for a session or two. I got some brief table-testing with a oneshot prior to the campaign (with myself playing the homebrew), but it was at a middling level (level 5) and I worry about the Tier 1 (potentially too weak)/Tier 3 (potentially too strong) experience.

So far I've mostly been doing simulated encounters (i.e. I play both the party (Rogue, Wizard, Cleric, Homebrew Martial Class) and the opposition) at a few select levels, and it's been going well for the homebrew, but I always worry I'm overlooking something obvious/my sub-par tactics on both sides are affecting the results.

EDIT:

I do plan on eventually posting it here for review, but I want to make sure the concept isn't too flawed.

[JNAProductions]

Post the brew. Other brewers here will go over it.

Perhaps make a PbP game here too.

[BlacklightVirus]

You know, I think I will post it here (on this board I mean.) I've been working on the dang thing for 6 months, may as well get some outside feedback.