(closed) Time to Chill Out (voting thread) - 5e base class contest

[animorte]

Welcome to the Time to Chill Out Voting Thread!

5e Base Class Contest: XXIII (23)

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


Gnomes2169
The Frostheart (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25692938&postcount=2)
1

1


sengmeng
Minnesotan (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25702128&postcount=3)
3
1



not_a_fish
The 'New Orc' Ranger (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25706462&postcount=4)
1

2


Just to Browse
The Jasarker (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25723880&postcount=5)
1
2
2


animorte
The Snowman (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25729556&postcount=6)

3
1




Themes for the next contest:


Theme
Description
1st
2nd


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

1


Game Night
Reimagine a popular board game, card game, or even other classic party games as a class.
2
1


Overdone Tropes
A class inspired by overdone tropes like cowboys, ninjas, pirates, and zombies. Oh my!
2



Remix Mastery
Take an existing base class and create an alternate, variant, or remastered version of it.




Wall-Breakers
Something that explicitly breaks the 4th wall. Track table snacks, flip to random pages of the PHB, incorporate rock-paper-scissors.

3


Who Needs Swords or Sorcery
Design a class not focused on casting spells or making weapon attacks.
2
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: March 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!

[Itsfrank]

Hello again everybody! Here's my votes:
1- New orc ranger. It does really good at capturing the idea of hockey and looks really fun.
2- Minnesotan. This is really funny and I love including the sports themes.
3- Jasarker. I always like cool armor. The last contest had some cool armors too.

Themes:
1- Overdone tropes
2- Hybrid vigor

[animorte]

#1: The Frostheart
There is so much context here that this could almost be it's own setting entirely. Frost Ward and it's utilization won me over in a way. You put an astounding amount of work into this and it the extra bit of flavor is probably what put this over the edge for me.


#2: The Jasarker
The honored predators really brings to life fully functioning ideals of never wasting the hunt. Aspects were also a welcome customization addition. I know it's not part of the class itself, but listing your overall design goals is something I really appreciate and is very much what I've intended to do with my entry of a previous contest.


#3: The 'New Orc' Ranger
It was difficult decision for this next spot, but I think Hawk Key Puck is what did it for me. I like how in depth the team concept was and both entries made me want to see an entirely sports themed contest.

Theme Votes:
#1. Game Night
#2. Wall-Breakers

[Gnomes2169]

1) The Minnesotan: Look, this is a direct attack on me and my existence, and while I know the creator is from Minnesnowta, I must object. I've never eaten Lutefisk in my life. It terrifies me. Take your first place, you monster.

2) The Snowman: You get to become a one-person snowball fight, which is great. I feel like you could write that feature as, "If you have an open hand when you take the Attack action, you may magically conjure a weapon called a Snowball to your hand. Snowballs are a simple weapon that have the Finesse and Thrown (20/60) qualities, and they deal 1d6 bludgeoning damage on a hit." Making them weapons lets you just treat them as weapons, so you don't have to specify that you can add your stat mod to the damage roll (saving you a few words, maybe). Still, seems like a fun class.

3) The Jasarker: Oh thank god another serious class I was worried that I misunderstood the assignment completely. :smallbiggrin: Though I feel like this one was combined with the "Make a monster into your class" option, what with how you are poaching thematic abilities from the monsters. The main thing holding this one back from the higher options is that it isn't stroking my state pride the balance of the class. Some features seem like a bit much (the temp HP this class has access to from their sarks, which also come with a lot of utility, is extremely high, since you can get 6 of them with all the temp HP and +6 AC and the damage resistances at higher levels), while others (like the entire Yeti subclass) are just really questionable if not outright weak options. A little bit of rebalancing and this could definitely get a higher placement on the list.

For the next theme...
1) Who Needs Swords or Sorcery?
2) Game Night

[Notafish]

1) Minnesotan
On theme, and I like how the class features interact.

2) Jasarker
I love the concept of this class, but I do agree that it is not a perfect fit for the theme. Not that I'm one to talk...

3) Snowman
Also thematic as heck, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if there were more features that played off the snowman as a fantastical creature rather than snowman tropes from fiction

Honorable mention to the Frostheart. I thought the fluff was great, and it made me wonder whether there might be parallel classes that are bonded with other nature spirits.

I enjoyed reading all of these!

Next contest:
1) Game Night
2) Who needs Swords or Sorcery


2 days for others to get their votes in!

[Just to Browse]

1. Minnesotan - I'm not voting this first because it's a joke class, I swear on my life. The class has a unique combat pattern owing to the early subclass, and class features check both boxes of being resonant (https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/resonate-spinning-2019-03-18) & synergistic with each other. I think that's a lesson a lot of designers (including me, especially for this prompt...) should take to heart. I wanted to see a little more diversity in the intra-class choices, like bringing other Cuisines up to the level of Pop (which is both powerful and exciting), and dividing Football vs Wrestling a little more because they overlap a bit too much for my tastes. I also think the class needs slightly higher damage & defense, but I think it would be easy to patch this by adding a Fighting ASI profession. On the whole, this is a great class, and something I'd be willing to let a player try it at the table.

2. Snowman - There will come a day when animorte submits a class and I don't rate it top 3, but it is not this day. This is an oddball ranged attacker that starts off as a boss killer in T1 and then slowly transitions into this wonky melee/ranged hybrid controller, eventually capable of throwing down a terrifying presence or mini-forcecage depending on subclass. It gives me the same energy as Damon_Tor's Leader from the Heroes, Myths, & Legends contest, where I just can't get the class out of my head. Roll Out is awesome, Icicles is a clear T3 signal, I just love so many little bits of this class. I put it at #2 mostly for resonance / flavor reasons, specifically the Abominable Snowman, which is fantastic in isolation but feels weird alongside the main class's melting / ice conjuration stuff.

3. Frostheart - The core idea of ice cleric + pet class is interesting, and not something I expected to see here. I think the core idea is great: Frost Ward with low HD to encourage careful risks + Resonant Frost to position your summon aggressively. That said, I think this class is far too front-loaded. At level 1, the class has damage on par with a Human PaM fighter without spending a feat, and unlimited misty step-style teleportation to boot, rendering a lot of early level exploration challenges moot (Sunless Citadel courtyard & Temple of the Basilisk Cult river both come to mind). At level 2 this can go even higher with the bonus damage (plus possibly effects like System Shock). Damage remains high at the start of T2 for subclasses with Extra Attack, and then consistently falls off, with the scaling of Resonant Frost & Greater/Empowered Manifestation not providing enough weight to keep the class competitive. Several of the Channel Divinity effects at higher levels were very cool (Jaws of the Earth is my favorite), but I think the subclasses weren't as cohesive as Snowman & Minnesotan. I think the class would play well with a ~30-40% cut in damage in Tier 1, more aggressive scaling in T3 & T4, and a condensed set of 3 subclasses so that each one can really own their slice of the frostheart's mechanics.

Next Topics: Overdone Tropes
Wall-Breakers

[sengmeng]

1) Jasarker

2) Snowman

3) New Orc Ranger

1. Who Needs Swords or Sorcery

2. Wall-Breakers

[animorte]

We have reached the conclusion of this voting phase! And we have...

In 3rd place with 7 points, animorte with the Snowman!

In 2nd place with 9 points, Just to Browse presenting the Jasarker!

And our winner just barely pulling ahead with 10 points, sengmeng bringing us the Minnesotan (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25702128&postcount=3)!!!


Game Night (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?655222-Game-Night-(submission-thread)-5e-base-class-contest-24&p=25743564#post25743564) submission thread is up!