(closed) Be Your Own Class - Voting Thread (5e base class contest)

[animorte]

Welcome to the Be Your Own Class Voting Thread!

5e Base Class Contest: XXVI (26)

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, 3rd is worth 1 point.)
You may not vote for your own entry.
List your top three theme votes. (#1 is worth 3 points. #2 is worth 2 points, #3 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.



Be Your Own Class!
Turn an existing subclass into a feature-complete base class of its own. Do you have a certain subclass that's just your absolute favorite? Is there a subclass that you don't much care for because it's not fleshed out enough? Maybe one comes to mind that you feel just wasn't quite done right. Choose whatever pre-existing subclass as inspiration and show what it can truly be capable of here.




Creator
Entry
1st
2nd
3rd


sengmeng
Arcane Archer (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25836464&postcount=2)





Just to Browse
Storm Herald (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25836684&postcount=3)
3
1



BerzerkerUnit
Sojourner (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25838285&postcount=4)
1
2
1


MrStabby
The Magician (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25857888&postcount=5)
1
2
1


Vogie
The Mastermind (https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25859064&postcount=6)


3




Themes for the next contest:


Theme
Description
1st
2nd
3rd


Signature Creation
Focused specialization whether it be a singular weapon, few trademarked spells, or an expanded skill.
1
2
2


I'm Not Gestalt, But...
Simultaneously allow a character to fill the shoes of two other classes.

2



Monster Mash
Take the stat block of an existing monster and make it into something playable.
2

1


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


1


Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
Write a class with an intense focus on co-operation.
2
1
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: October 5th 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]

The contestants!

1) Storm herald. While this class has some features that need working on, mostly in wording ("Adjacent" should just be "within 5ft" for example) and bumping up lackluster features (a lot of the chants and most fury options that deal damage are just going to be worse than attacking, even accounting for area and utility, for example), the class as a whole is coherent and pulls off its theme incredibly well. It also still keeps nods to the base class it's being expanded from (the d12, harkening to rage with the building nature of calm, building, fury and quieting, a few of the subclass features basically just being Storm Herald features, etc). Overall, an extremely well-done class.

2) Magician. An interesting class, and the whole martial illusionist thing seems well realized, though for full flavor I might have made it so you could use Int or Cha for the class features. Yes, it would have complicated things, but the clever magicians are just as much of a trope as the fast-talking ones (in fact, they seem to go hand-in-hand... maybe make it a class that focuses on both Int and Cha, make the unarmored defense 10+Int+Cha, let the attack rolls with simple weapons and sleight of hand skill rolls key off of Int, etc? ... No, no that's almost certainly too much work. Anyway.) Over-all complex, but still a class that could be understood and might be fun and interesting to play. I'm leery of giving the class access to level 7+ spells, but that's because spells of those levels are utterly bonkers and tend to skew games, not because this class is especially adept at them or anything (though the ability to cast multiple 9th levels spells at levels 18+ if you just take two short rests is probably too much, especially with the discombobulation that lets you sustain a concentration spell after it ends without a duration or proper limiter put on it).

I will say that adding in spoiler tags to contain your subclasses and the Discombobulations/ Improved Discombobulations list would have earned a few more points here, as the class is a little hard to read as it stands with the odd spacing (you only need one line's worth space between each feature as long as you use font size and bolding/ color/ underlining/ anything to distinguish feature names from the descriptions). If you're going to go back to edit this one after the contest as well, adding a pair of columns to the table showing how many Discombobulations and Improved Discombobulations you have access to at each level would not go amiss, though that's more of a 'polishing touches' kind of thing.

3) Mastermind. The architype of the guy who thinks, and then stabs if it fits inside the plan, who was voted most likely to say 'that was in the plan' in high school. Mechanically, this one takes the most from the base class that spawned the subclass, with a lot of rogue features present, or changed slightly in name and utility. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the early features will leave you feeling like you're playing a Mastermind Rogue for the most part. The mid-levels, though, diverge a lot more and show a good use of the creativity that can come with the concept... so it's a shame that the high-level base class features shift back to just being rogue features, even with the same capstone. I'd have liked to see the core of the class be a bit more of its own thing, paying homage to the rogue that it descended from instead of just using that class's features wholesale, but hey, those middle levels and the wholly unique subclasses do make up for it.

Mechanically, this should play smoothly. It's on a solid chassis, and the damage output doesn't seem too ridiculous, though I'm not sure exactly how I feel about giving the subclasses feats as subclass features. True, Poisoner and Magekiller are weaker, or at least more limited, feats, but pairing them with extra features (especially Poisoner, which has a lot in addition to the feat) seems like it could be a bit much. I'd like some clarification on how creatures gain marks with your Fast Reflexes feature, as it doesn't specify an action, range, duration, etc to apply the mark, but it's the only feature that feels like it needs the clarification, anything else would just be cleaning up wording.

HM) Sojourner. While the flavor of this class is fun, the limitations on its mechanics are really painful. You need more uses of Flow Step, since you have so many ways to use it, and having to ration 3 uses/ day at low levels, and 5 at high, really hurts my excitement for the class. If it was per short rest, it certainly wouldn't break anything and would let you live out the fantasy of being a class exclusively based around teleportation a bit more. The ooze subclass also feels a bit random? Or at the very least wildly separate from the other two subclasses, and should probably just include the creature stat block for your ooze companion, or at least a link to it, so that people can easily reference that.

The next contest
1) Teamwork makes the Dreamwork
2) I'm Not Gestalt, But...
3) Signature Creation

[Vogie]

1) Sojourner. I like this because it's almost certainly overpowered - not by design, but rather because of the nature of teleportation. The Ooze summoning of the Bogman is just a delightful left turn as a part of the subclasses. Nicely done overall.

2) Storm Herald. There's a lot going on, but all of it's fun. The combination between Storm and Terrain is interesting. The d4 Storm die with the 4 stages of storm? Brilliant design. Then the storm die just increases at level 3. The various effects that use and roll the growing storm die are very cool but completely disassociated from the original mechanic.

3) The Magician. The push of illusion into a charisma based class is really amusing and using those features to give more power to the illusions as side effects is a nice touch. It still ended up being an odd blend of Caster and simple-only melee fighter with not enough health, and subclasses whose 6th level option only add options to an existing list rather than grant an ability themselves. Subclass Features on 3, 6, 9, 11, and 18 is also a really odd spread.

I really want to see the Arcane Archer Subclasses, because those things could've made that a top-tier contender. I love the descriptions, and hope the mechanics match.

The next contest
1) Teamwork makes the Dreamwork
2) Signature Creation
3) Monster Mash

[Just to Browse]

Class Votes:
The Magician: The more I think about it, the more this class speaks to me. I like that it rewards system mastery and love that it puts a totally different spin on "light melee fighter". The class is also just full of wacky tools on top of its massive spell list, which gives experienced players a big mechanical sandbox to play in. I think it's a little too ivory tower for my tastes, and agree w/Gnomes that a little formatting would have gone a long way. Still a delightful class.
Sojourner: This class is dripping with fun ideas. I love the space-bending tesseract, I love the idea of Impel Foe hurling people around for massive fall damage, bogman is such a fun & funky subclass. That said, I agree w/Vogle's notes on the at-will teleport causing gameplay problems, particularly in Tier 2. The class is also missing some bread & butter; some kind of teleportation-centric combat pattern that will reward bouncing around the battlefield more than Wis/LR. These 2 things are my primary reason for ranking Soj below Magician.

I'll say that a little more formatting on Flow Step would help you here. It's not totally clear that the upgrades to Flow Step are LR-gated, and I think at least 1 of the votes here dings you for that.
Mastermind: I appreciate a clean class that doesn't faff around with subsystems, but so much of this class's power budget is sucked up by the default sneak attack + ranged help that the unique stuff (Devious Mark, Fast Reflexes, Witchfinder) ends up pretty minor. The subclasses were my favorite part of the class; there's something really cool about sneak attacking with a cantrip that makes Starfall so exciting.

Theme Votes:
Monster Mash
Signature Creation
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

[Snowben Gaming]

Class Votes

1st Place: Storm Herald
2nd Place: Sojourner
3rd Place: Mastermind

Theme Votes

1st Place: Monster Mash
2nd Place: I'm Not Gestalt, But...
3rd Place: Signature Creation

[animorte]

Entry Votes:

#1 - Storm Herald
The masteries allow you to interchange some of those general understandings of mother nature. It's like combining extra little subclass features to expand your knowledge outside of the primary terrain archetypes. I like that there is no true limit to raging, just a required build-up phase that continues to expand in value. Well done, as usual.

#2 - Magician
Improved discombobulation is a nice way to increase previous knowledge of confusing the entire battlefield. It looks like a master of making everything seem more complicated for everyone else who dare oppose you. I see a lot of direction in how to use this deception actively through combat.

#3 - Sojourner
This type of mobility is one of my absolute favorites. I've constructed several characters around this concept. I like how you've expanded the possible uses of teleporting yourself and others. I would have liked to see bonus teleporting as a side effect to actions taken from anyone nearby, as if you can see and maneuver the Aether others accidentally encounter.


Theme Votes:

#1 - Signature Creation
#2 - Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
#3 - Wall-Breakers