Durkoala
2023-03-29, 05:30 AM
So, this is my first homebrew class content. I found the psionic options in Tasha's intriguing, but most of the classes didn't do much with them as dice you can roll. So I decided to make some myself. Here's my attempt at a wizard that uses telepathy to learn spells and skills.
D&D 5e/5.5e Wizard Arcane Tradition:
School of Brockson (v.1)
A Tiefling keeps her gaze on her comrade, reading his memories of sneaking as they both blend into the shadows. A Gnome, watching the magicians’ contest, smirks as he adds spell after spell into his spellbook for a fraction of the cost and with their creators none the wiser. An elf sways from her wounds, but suddenly unleashes the necromancer’s own spell back into his shocked face.
The School of Brockson encourages the use of arcane study to awaken mental powers, or adapts mental powers to the arcane studies depending on student and teacher.
This School is named after Trifosus Brockson, a notorious planeswalker who was known for stealing and disrupting spells with the power of his mind. Many of the foundations of the tradition are said to have been developed from either his direct students or from records of his work that he left behind. Thanks to this disseminated body of learning, adherents of this tradition come from all walks of life and colours of morality, but all of them must battle with mistrust. After all, who can really feel safe in the presence of a wizard who has specialised in breaking into that innermost of sanctums: the mind?
Psionic Dice
When you take this tradition at second level, you gain a pool of psionic energy dice, which are used to power your psionic features. You have a number of these dice equal to twice your proficiency bonus, and use them to fuel psychic abilities that are separate from your spellcasting.
Some of your powers expend Psionic Energy Dice and you can’t use a power if it requires a die and you have none remaining. You regain all of your expended dice when you finish a long rest. As a bonus action, you can regain one expended die, but you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
When you reach certain levels in this class, the size of your Psionic Energy dice increases: at 5th level (d8), 11th level (d10), and 17th level (d12).
The following powers use your Psionic Energy Dice:
Mind Bridge: You can form a mental connection with other creatures. To form a mind bridge, roll a psionic energy die and choose up to a number of creatures that you can see. For a number of hours equal to your proficiency bonus, the chosen creatures can speak telepathically with you and you can speak telepathically with them. Creatures don’t need to share a common language to understand one another; creatures that can’t speak any languages can still communicate emotions and impressions through the bridge.
Creatures linked by this power have mutual advantage on insight checks made against each other, as the mental connection makes it difficult to conceal information.
Any mind bridges can be closed by you at any time, but any creature wishing to close one against your will must make an intelligence save against your (spell save DC/Passive intelligence), which they can make as a free action once per turn. If you fall unconscious for any reason, all mind bridges end. If a creature is on a different plane of existence, you cannot form a mind bridge unless you have a direct line of sight on them through a planar gateway, and the link immediately ends if that gateway closes while you are on different sides, or if either of you are moved to planes without a connecting gateway.
The first time you use this power after each long rest, you don't expend the Psionic Energy die. All other times you use the power, you expend the die.
Skill Cheat: You can use your mind reading to take advantage of the skills of those around you. Choose a creature you can see and roll a Psionic Energy Die. If it is willing, you succeed automatically; if not you must expend the Die to use this power. A resisting creature makes an intelligence or charisma saving throw against your spell save dc. If it succeeds, your attempt fails.
On a success, you gain proficiency in a skill, weapon or armour type that the creature is proficient in for a number of rounds equal to the number you rolled.
2nd level Feature: Psychic Scrutiny.
Adept at reading minds, you can predict the attacks of creatures whose mind you are reading or a linked to. There are many ways to read a mind, such as your mind bridge power, the Soulknife’s Psychic Whispers power or the spells Detect Thoughts, Telepathy or Beast Bond. Any creature whose mind you can read or are linked to has disadvantage on attack rolls against you and you have advantage on any saving throws its attacks require you to make.
2nd level Feature: Spell Study
Your Psionic powers and arcane learnings are a potent combination, able to take the knowledge of spells out from others’ heads. Immediately after a creature you can see casts a spell, you can use your reaction to force the creature to make a saving throw with its spellcasting ability modifier. The DC equals your spell save DC. On a failed save, you successfully analyse the energy patterns of that spell. Roll a Psionic Energy die. For a number of minutes equal to your roll, that spell is stored in your mind and you may cast it using your spell slots as though you have prepared it even if it is a spell you cannot normally learn. Any Component requirements remain the same, and you are aware of what those components are and whether the spell consumes them.
You can store a number of spells equal to your proficiency modifier in this manner. You can add a stored spell to your spellbook: all normal restrictions apply, except that the gold and time you must spend to copy the spell into your spellbook is halved as long as it remains in your mind. (at the current level, this is functionally useless, but it’s easier to put it here than at a later level)
The first time you use this power after each long rest, you don't expend the Psionic Energy die. All other times you use the power, you expend the die.
6th level feature: Psionic Disruption
Your growing arcane knowledge and psionic discipline allows you to directly affect the fabric of magic with your mind. When you see a creature that is either mentally linked to you and on the same plane of existence, or within 30 feet of you, cast a spell, you can cast counterspell on that creature/spell. If you must make an ability check to counter the spell, you may roll a Psionic Energy Die and add the result to the check. Casting this spell with this feature does not expend a spell slot (and at the GM’s discretion, may not count as magic!). The counterspell is cast at third level, unless you expend psionic energy dice. Every die spent in this way raises it by one level, up to the level of the highest spell you can cast.
The first time you use this power after every long rest, you don’t expend any Psionic Energy Dice. Otherwise, you must expend two dice to use it.
If you successfully counter a spell, you may choose to expend a die in order to attempt to use your Spell Study feature against the spell as part of this reaction. Even if this is the first time using Spell Study after a long rest, you must always expend a Psionic Energy Die to use it in this way.
10th level feature: Honed mind
Your mental abilities have risen to new heights. Your powers get the following improvements:
• Any creature you have a mental link with has disadvantage on any intelligence, wisdom or charisma saving throws against your abilities.
• Spells stored in your mind by your Spell Study feature can be stored for up to a number of hours equal to the Psionic Energy Die roll, instead of minutes.
• Proficiencies copied with Skill Cheat remain for a number of minutes, rather than rounds.
• If you have gained any proficiencies with Skill Cheat or spells with Spell Study, you may expend and roll a Psionic Energy Die. Add the result to your total count of time you retain them.
14th level feature: Psion Vortex
Your ability to manipulate energy with your mind has reached its zenith, allowing you to warp the fabric of space. By concentrating for two rounds, you tear open the barriers between planes at the end of your turn on the second round, allowing any of: yourself, a number of of creatures and unattended objects, equal to your proficiency bonus, to travel to a location on a different plane. If you target an object, it must be able to fit entirely inside a 10-foot cube, and it can’t be held or carried by an unwilling creature. An unwilling creature must make a charisma saving throw to avoid being transported: if it fails, it is sent to the desired destination along with any other creatures teleported, and it does not count as an unwilling creature for the purposes of transporting an item it is holding. All creatures and objects must be either physically touching you or another creature or object affected by the spell, or be mentally linked to you and within ten feet.
The location you are transporting to must be one you, or a willing creature being transported, has physically been to. Familiarity with the location determines whether you arrive there successfully. Roll on the Teleportation spell’s table: all creatures/objects share this result unless you alter it (see below). Use 5 X (your wizard level + your intelligence score + your proficiency bonus) as the distance you are travelling.
Alternatively, if you know the sigil sequence of a teleportation circle on another plane of existence, this power can take you to that circle. If the teleportation circle is too small to hold all the creatures you transported, they appear in the closest unoccupied spaces next to the circle.
When you successfully use this power, you must expend at least four Psionic Energy Dice. If you wish, you can roll all of them and add or subtract the total from the targetting roll of any individual object or creature being transported by this power.
When you gain this feature, your Mind Bridge power remains connected even if the linked creature is moved to another plane or any connecting portals are closed, assuming there are no other effects affecting it.
Any thoughts on what works and what doesn't are appreciated. Stuff I'm not satisfied with:
-I don't like having three second level features, even though I like all the effects and think it would weaken the class if I lost one.
-I don't like Honed Mind being just a bundle of upgrades to other powers rather than a discrete power of its own. Would it be better if all these abilities were at their full potential when you gain them? I'm also thinking of having each upgrade be attached to a lower level feature so that the wizard's mental powers increase as they learn new abilities.
-I don't like the Mind Bridge, Spell Study or Psionic vortex names.
-See how it looks if each feature gives a small improvement to an existing psion power.
-See if I can change Honed Mind for a different feature, prototyped below.
-Try to squash the second level features down to two.
Psychic Echoes/Minds of the Material (10th level?):
At 10th Level, your mental powers and sensitivity to magic have advanced to the point of being anle to decipher and manipulate the auras of magical items. As an action, you may make a spell attack against a magic item you are touching. If you succeed, expend and roll a Psionic Energy Die. You can use the item as though you were attuned to it for a number of rounds equal to your roll + your int modifier. You don’t gain any knowledge on the item’s properties, but you can make an arcana (int) check to discern facts about it as a bonus action.
D&D 5e/5.5e Wizard Arcane Tradition:
School of Brockson (v.1)
A Tiefling keeps her gaze on her comrade, reading his memories of sneaking as they both blend into the shadows. A Gnome, watching the magicians’ contest, smirks as he adds spell after spell into his spellbook for a fraction of the cost and with their creators none the wiser. An elf sways from her wounds, but suddenly unleashes the necromancer’s own spell back into his shocked face.
The School of Brockson encourages the use of arcane study to awaken mental powers, or adapts mental powers to the arcane studies depending on student and teacher.
This School is named after Trifosus Brockson, a notorious planeswalker who was known for stealing and disrupting spells with the power of his mind. Many of the foundations of the tradition are said to have been developed from either his direct students or from records of his work that he left behind. Thanks to this disseminated body of learning, adherents of this tradition come from all walks of life and colours of morality, but all of them must battle with mistrust. After all, who can really feel safe in the presence of a wizard who has specialised in breaking into that innermost of sanctums: the mind?
Psionic Dice
When you take this tradition at second level, you gain a pool of psionic energy dice, which are used to power your psionic features. You have a number of these dice equal to twice your proficiency bonus, and use them to fuel psychic abilities that are separate from your spellcasting.
Some of your powers expend Psionic Energy Dice and you can’t use a power if it requires a die and you have none remaining. You regain all of your expended dice when you finish a long rest. As a bonus action, you can regain one expended die, but you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
When you reach certain levels in this class, the size of your Psionic Energy dice increases: at 5th level (d8), 11th level (d10), and 17th level (d12).
The following powers use your Psionic Energy Dice:
Mind Bridge: You can form a mental connection with other creatures. To form a mind bridge, roll a psionic energy die and choose up to a number of creatures that you can see. For a number of hours equal to your proficiency bonus, the chosen creatures can speak telepathically with you and you can speak telepathically with them. Creatures don’t need to share a common language to understand one another; creatures that can’t speak any languages can still communicate emotions and impressions through the bridge.
Creatures linked by this power have mutual advantage on insight checks made against each other, as the mental connection makes it difficult to conceal information.
Any mind bridges can be closed by you at any time, but any creature wishing to close one against your will must make an intelligence save against your (spell save DC/Passive intelligence), which they can make as a free action once per turn. If you fall unconscious for any reason, all mind bridges end. If a creature is on a different plane of existence, you cannot form a mind bridge unless you have a direct line of sight on them through a planar gateway, and the link immediately ends if that gateway closes while you are on different sides, or if either of you are moved to planes without a connecting gateway.
The first time you use this power after each long rest, you don't expend the Psionic Energy die. All other times you use the power, you expend the die.
Skill Cheat: You can use your mind reading to take advantage of the skills of those around you. Choose a creature you can see and roll a Psionic Energy Die. If it is willing, you succeed automatically; if not you must expend the Die to use this power. A resisting creature makes an intelligence or charisma saving throw against your spell save dc. If it succeeds, your attempt fails.
On a success, you gain proficiency in a skill, weapon or armour type that the creature is proficient in for a number of rounds equal to the number you rolled.
2nd level Feature: Psychic Scrutiny.
Adept at reading minds, you can predict the attacks of creatures whose mind you are reading or a linked to. There are many ways to read a mind, such as your mind bridge power, the Soulknife’s Psychic Whispers power or the spells Detect Thoughts, Telepathy or Beast Bond. Any creature whose mind you can read or are linked to has disadvantage on attack rolls against you and you have advantage on any saving throws its attacks require you to make.
2nd level Feature: Spell Study
Your Psionic powers and arcane learnings are a potent combination, able to take the knowledge of spells out from others’ heads. Immediately after a creature you can see casts a spell, you can use your reaction to force the creature to make a saving throw with its spellcasting ability modifier. The DC equals your spell save DC. On a failed save, you successfully analyse the energy patterns of that spell. Roll a Psionic Energy die. For a number of minutes equal to your roll, that spell is stored in your mind and you may cast it using your spell slots as though you have prepared it even if it is a spell you cannot normally learn. Any Component requirements remain the same, and you are aware of what those components are and whether the spell consumes them.
You can store a number of spells equal to your proficiency modifier in this manner. You can add a stored spell to your spellbook: all normal restrictions apply, except that the gold and time you must spend to copy the spell into your spellbook is halved as long as it remains in your mind. (at the current level, this is functionally useless, but it’s easier to put it here than at a later level)
The first time you use this power after each long rest, you don't expend the Psionic Energy die. All other times you use the power, you expend the die.
6th level feature: Psionic Disruption
Your growing arcane knowledge and psionic discipline allows you to directly affect the fabric of magic with your mind. When you see a creature that is either mentally linked to you and on the same plane of existence, or within 30 feet of you, cast a spell, you can cast counterspell on that creature/spell. If you must make an ability check to counter the spell, you may roll a Psionic Energy Die and add the result to the check. Casting this spell with this feature does not expend a spell slot (and at the GM’s discretion, may not count as magic!). The counterspell is cast at third level, unless you expend psionic energy dice. Every die spent in this way raises it by one level, up to the level of the highest spell you can cast.
The first time you use this power after every long rest, you don’t expend any Psionic Energy Dice. Otherwise, you must expend two dice to use it.
If you successfully counter a spell, you may choose to expend a die in order to attempt to use your Spell Study feature against the spell as part of this reaction. Even if this is the first time using Spell Study after a long rest, you must always expend a Psionic Energy Die to use it in this way.
10th level feature: Honed mind
Your mental abilities have risen to new heights. Your powers get the following improvements:
• Any creature you have a mental link with has disadvantage on any intelligence, wisdom or charisma saving throws against your abilities.
• Spells stored in your mind by your Spell Study feature can be stored for up to a number of hours equal to the Psionic Energy Die roll, instead of minutes.
• Proficiencies copied with Skill Cheat remain for a number of minutes, rather than rounds.
• If you have gained any proficiencies with Skill Cheat or spells with Spell Study, you may expend and roll a Psionic Energy Die. Add the result to your total count of time you retain them.
14th level feature: Psion Vortex
Your ability to manipulate energy with your mind has reached its zenith, allowing you to warp the fabric of space. By concentrating for two rounds, you tear open the barriers between planes at the end of your turn on the second round, allowing any of: yourself, a number of of creatures and unattended objects, equal to your proficiency bonus, to travel to a location on a different plane. If you target an object, it must be able to fit entirely inside a 10-foot cube, and it can’t be held or carried by an unwilling creature. An unwilling creature must make a charisma saving throw to avoid being transported: if it fails, it is sent to the desired destination along with any other creatures teleported, and it does not count as an unwilling creature for the purposes of transporting an item it is holding. All creatures and objects must be either physically touching you or another creature or object affected by the spell, or be mentally linked to you and within ten feet.
The location you are transporting to must be one you, or a willing creature being transported, has physically been to. Familiarity with the location determines whether you arrive there successfully. Roll on the Teleportation spell’s table: all creatures/objects share this result unless you alter it (see below). Use 5 X (your wizard level + your intelligence score + your proficiency bonus) as the distance you are travelling.
Alternatively, if you know the sigil sequence of a teleportation circle on another plane of existence, this power can take you to that circle. If the teleportation circle is too small to hold all the creatures you transported, they appear in the closest unoccupied spaces next to the circle.
When you successfully use this power, you must expend at least four Psionic Energy Dice. If you wish, you can roll all of them and add or subtract the total from the targetting roll of any individual object or creature being transported by this power.
When you gain this feature, your Mind Bridge power remains connected even if the linked creature is moved to another plane or any connecting portals are closed, assuming there are no other effects affecting it.
Any thoughts on what works and what doesn't are appreciated. Stuff I'm not satisfied with:
-I don't like having three second level features, even though I like all the effects and think it would weaken the class if I lost one.
-I don't like Honed Mind being just a bundle of upgrades to other powers rather than a discrete power of its own. Would it be better if all these abilities were at their full potential when you gain them? I'm also thinking of having each upgrade be attached to a lower level feature so that the wizard's mental powers increase as they learn new abilities.
-I don't like the Mind Bridge, Spell Study or Psionic vortex names.
-See how it looks if each feature gives a small improvement to an existing psion power.
-See if I can change Honed Mind for a different feature, prototyped below.
-Try to squash the second level features down to two.
Psychic Echoes/Minds of the Material (10th level?):
At 10th Level, your mental powers and sensitivity to magic have advanced to the point of being anle to decipher and manipulate the auras of magical items. As an action, you may make a spell attack against a magic item you are touching. If you succeed, expend and roll a Psionic Energy Die. You can use the item as though you were attuned to it for a number of rounds equal to your roll + your int modifier. You don’t gain any knowledge on the item’s properties, but you can make an arcana (int) check to discern facts about it as a bonus action.