(closed) Death Itself - Voting Thread (5e base class contest: 22)

[animorte]

Welcome to the Death Itself Voting Thread!

5e Base Class Contest: XXII (22)

Remember, anybody can vote! You don't need to have participated in the contest to vote here.


List your top three base class entry votes. (#1 is worth 3 points. #2 is worth 2 points. #3 is worth 1 point.)
You may not vote for your own entry.
List your top two theme votes. (#1 is worth 2 points. #2 is worth 1 point.)
The winner will be determined by most total points.
In the event of a tie, the winner will be decided by most #1 votes. If still tied and only one creator voted, that creator will be declared the winner. If both voted, the tie will stand.
Creators can't edit the entries during the voting phase.

Let's get to voting! Good luck, everyone!



Creator
Entry
1st
2nd
3rd


BerzerkerUnit
Harbinger (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25639102&postcount=3)

2



Just to Browse
The Thanator (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25641220&postcount=4)
2
1



animorte
The Gatekeeper (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25643121&postcount=5)
2

2


Breccia
The Mortuary (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25653621&postcount=8)


1


sengmeng
The Redshirt (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25663423&postcount=9)
1
1
1


Gnomes2169
Legionnaire (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25667967&postcount=1)
1
2
2




Themes for the next contest:


Theme
Description
1st
2nd


Breakfast Cereal Mascots
Current or historical. Use advertising examples or the potential of the mascot itself.




Hybrid Vigor
Combine two strong features from entirely different classes to make something new.
1
1


Monster Mash
Pick a monster and present the class it is truly capable of becoming.

1


Time to Chill Out
Anything related to Winter, ice, or any cold things in general.
2



Who Needs Swords or Sorcery
Not focused on casting spells or making weapon attacks.

1



New D&D 5e Base Class Contest: Discussion Thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?649862-New-D-amp-D-5e-Base-Class-Contest-Discussion-Thread&p=25585555#post25585555)

Deadline: January 27th will be the last day for the voting phase. This voting thread will close the following day and a new base class contest will begin!

[Gnomes2169]

Classes
1st, the Redshirt: Okay, I know the joke is that joke entries win more than they should but hear me out! ... I just think it's both funny and a super unique take on the theme. Also I'm too much of a Treckie. I'm sorry. While some of the features are definitely a bit strong (and others are terrible; why are my magic items destroyed by the scrub holding it dying? D:) the fact that it got chuckles out of me, is simple and easy to pick up and has the entire class revolving around dying again and again solidifies it as my #1. That theme is super creative, by the way, and I was not expecting it. :smallbiggrin:
2nd, the Thanator: Well now, this class is complicated, though that is to be expected given it is a (kind-of) spell-less necromancer with a whole bunch of custom minion stat blocks. While I don't think there's anything that's out of line or busted with this one, it's also hard to tell simply because of how much there is to go through and how many things could potentially be combined with this class. Honestly, that's probably its biggest negative. While having all these options and all the work put into it is great, there's also a cognitive load that will take time to adjust to, which could easily lead to decision paralysis for players and a headache for DM's trying to decide if they will allow someone to play it. Still, it could certainly be fun, and I highly appreciate the note to not spam undead and slow the game down, as that's honestly the biggest weakness of minion classes in general! It's also well-formatted, even if that formatting is spread between multiple posts :smalltongue:. While the theme is relatively standard (necromancer with various death and undeath themed subclasses and power sources), it does the job well and makes sure your players know what they're doing. Nothing weird or anachronistic with the themes of the class or subclasses seem to be present, so that keeps the character concept solid, while leaving the theme general enough for players to characterize themselves without feeling railroaded into a particular personality.
3rd, the Gatekeeper: While it could use a little bit of formatting, adding the size of the Soul Touch as a sidebar to the class table to make its scaling a little clearer and easier to reference would be welcome, the mechanics for this one seem to be rather intuitive. A full build would take some planning to ensure you know what you're able to do, but the abilities all feel like they should work together and will be functional. I feel like a few of the class's abilities should cost more than 1 soul essence (the reviving one in particular), but that pool is limited enough that I can understand why a universal cost of 1 essence was implemented. Fluff wise, being the gates of death themselves was a unique choice for sure, though I'm not sure it was used to its fullest (specifically, I think it would have been neat if the subclasses were also somewhat associated with one of the afterlives, but that's just me). The descriptions and the poems are -*Checks his own class*- always going to get extra points from me.

Next Theme!
1st: Time to Chill Out
2nd: Monster Mash (we just did the Spooky Slice, so hey, why not complete the song set? :smalltongue:)

[Breccia]

These were some really good entries! Looks like we found a solid subject matter to work with.

Anyhow, it was a tough call, but
1) the Thanator
2) the Harbinger
3) and the Legionaire

The Red Shirt is a great concept for a one-shot, and could potentially be an interesting race or even artifact.

[Just to Browse]

1. The Gatekeeper. Looking at that no-save damage on Soul Touch, I was really expecting the damage to be way off. But after a little estimation, it seems to be remarkably consistent after level 5, allowing for competitive damage while still opening up power budget for other stuff like aoe / applying riders / etc:https://i.imgur.com/c7iAw2U.png
There are a couple places that need power level adjustment, like Purgatory's Restrain and Descended's Omen of the Fallen, but they're implemented in a way that I could make substitutions while still letting my players feel cool. One thing I would have loved more of is cool / weird death-themed utility. But still, this class SCREAMS its theme, from the early magic jar effect to straight-up shoving people into the river styx.

2. The Redshirt. My first reaction when I saw this post:https://i.imgflip.com/77k58l.jpg
I still remember reading this class from a computer at my local library, just a couple months after I made my account. Nostalgia aside: Since this is an update to an existing class (admittedly from 3e), I want to analyze it based on (1) what novel elements it brings compared to the old class, and (2) whether it retains / improves upon the key selling points of that old class.

On (1), I personally like the class more. Avenge Me! is more interesting and proactive than the multiplicative Curse. Chekhov's Skill is very clever, and making the stormtrooper a subclass instead of an ACF is a great idea. And I think the class benefits a ton in terms of flavor just by virtue of the fact that redshirts are replaced instead of standing up like they used to. This class is greatly improved over its first appearance in a lot of small ways, and I appreciate it.

On (2), I think this class still had room for some oddball effects at high levels, and in particular I miss Better Off Dead and He's Dead Jim, which I think really contributed to the tone of the3e version. There are 2 other things that I think the class suffers from, and I wish they had seen some adjustment: The first is that redshirt players get very little to do when a redshirt dies despite a huge amount of power being dedicated to their on-death effects. The second is the lack of "aggro pulling", as enemies can ignore redshirts in a lot of scenarios (Human Shield being the primary exception), leaving most of the redshirt's features worthless in fights against intelligent enemies. If this class had patched up some more of the old holes, like making Curse / Vengeance an active ability with choice, or providing some kind of plot armor aura while alive, I would have moved it to #1.

3. The Legionnaire. I think this class hits on a really cool theme / aesthetic. I also admire the low-key design decisions, like the fact that it rewards melee combat specifically, and the ways it binds Intelligence to class abilities. But this is also a sequel class, and a lot of what I like about Mk3 was also true in Legionnaire Mk2. New additions to the class (ex: Mantle, Temporary Knowledge), don't catch my eye as much as older features. And for modified features (ex: Haunted Sight, War Trance), while the adjustments seem benign, I also think they lost a bit of the magic that made them so compelling in Mk2. I do want give a shoutout to the Envoy and Nightstalker; both open up the class's tactics in interesting ways.

[Itsfrank]

I dont usually really know how to detail but I'll give it a try.

Class votes:
1. Gatekeeper, the soul expanding really sold this for me. And then you can do awesome front liner support that I always like.
2. Legionnaire, the bone armor is so darn cool and what you can do with it. Lots of subclass options too.
3. Redshirt, it's really funny and squeezed in a star wars reference too for people that like both.

Theme votes:
1. Hybrid vigor
2. Who needs swords or sorcery

[animorte]

#1 - The Thanator:
This required a fair amount of homework, but I can respect the work it took. I've never really read much into on spheres before, but you inspired me to do so. I like the way you implemented the concept better than what I discovered. It allows even more customization to your base class and scales nicely. Your Death Knight and my Descended are very similar, just progressing in opposite directions, love it. On that note, I wanted to offer multiple options for "undeath summons" but I chose the one that I felt would scale best for my purposes. You were able to apply many in that regard (far more than I would have) and took a lot of effort to balance them out. Aside from a few typos (which we all have) and my desire for more flavor from you to really get the reader invested, the mechanics and balanced options are second to none this-go-round.


#2 - Legionnaire:
Your flavor absolutely nailed it consistently throughout the entire presentation. I had so much fun reading through it. (Was a difficult decision for 1st.) Perhaps the two of you should put your mechanics and flavor together, become unstoppable! :smalltongue: Anyway, you and I had a few very similar names, can't help it with the theme, right? Your armor modification spoke to me, especially considering my soul augments, and both resemble Eldritch Invocations. This always helps to set each individual apart and I can't get enough of it.


#3 - The Mortuary
This appeals to me as a class that would show up in a specific campaign setting. It is a very focused class with specific intents in mind, as such it doesn't particularly have a lot of versatility. Despite that it still does exactly what it plans to do exceptionally well. I especially enjoy each and every single Channel Divinity option, each represents its own subclass very well.

I responded to the comments on mine via the discussion thread.

Harbinger: I felt like you couldn't really decide between going the Four Horsemen vs Fire/Ice, but what you chose to do was still defined well. Based on that, I would have been thrilled with 6 subclasses, but that's difficult the more you have (I started struggling with 4, myself). Doom was an interesting concept as well that, IMO, would have functioned better as an impending doom. An increasing and stacking curse, per se.

The Redshirt: Everybody knows this was the funny one. I appreciated this direction and shared the laugh with my wife while reading through it. I would have liked to see even more doomed-to-fail attacks and some sort of martyrdom effect. Taunt the enemies to bring you down, at their own peril. Quite fun.



Votes for next theme:

#1 - Time to Chill Out

#2 - Hybrid Vigor

[sengmeng]

1) Legionnaire
2) Harbinger
3) Gatekeeper

[animorte]

Voting is now closed and here we have the following results:

In third place, The Thanator by Just to Browse with 7 points.

In second place, The Gatekeeper by animorte with 8 points.

And our winner, Legionnaire (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25667967&postcount=1) by Gnomes2169 with 9 points! Congratulations! That was super close!


Time to Chill Out (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?653609-Time-to-Chill-Out-(submission-thread)-5e-base-class-contest-23&p=25692779#post25692779) submission thread is prepared!

[Breccia]

That was super close!

It was, those were some really good submissions.