Insurgent Review

Your creative writing talents really shine! Great job! Do you take commission work as someone’s classes (/cough mine) could really use this level of polish.

The class concept is well stated and the features are well defined through levels 1 to 5. There are ribbons in place to support social interaction though not much for exploration. There’s a power increase at 11th though the traditional bump at 17th is not there… I’ll address this specifically with that feature.

First, some general notes. I’m curious as to the decision behind having the d10 HD? Is this intended as a front line combatant? d8 would “feel” more appropriate but may not provide enough fuel for the Bleed for the Cause feature and would make Underdog perhaps a too dangerous at lower levels?

Multi-classing for Homebrews can be completely problematic (as can feat interactions, but as they are an optional rule, I don’t obsess here). With the Insurgent, a Rogue dip (or Bard to 3rd level I suppose) for grapple/shove shenanigans would be very powerful. In this case, the one level dip in Rogue gets you Expertise (taking either Athletics or Acrobatics). Coupled with Subversive Action (grapple/shove as a bonus) and Bleed for the Cause, an Insurgent at higher levels could have a +21 (+12 from prof/expertise +5 Bleed +4 assumed 18 STR or DEX) to their contested check, almost guaranteeing permanent-grapple or prone of any M or L opponent (boss) without using an action. Maybe this is intended

Adding a level of Insurgent to Barbarian (in particular) or Fighter is very tempting…Underdog has a lot of synergy. Nothing probably too OP, just something to note.

In the end, there’s a lot of potential in the use of disadvantage and HP (damage) as a power source for features. The Insurgent in its current state plays it a little safe I feel… certainly good for not being initially too OP or “out there” but it ends up feeling very vanilla (almost – and saying this makes me want to flog myself – like it’s an archetype of Fighter or Rogue).

I’ll recreate each core class feature for clarity followed by my comments.

Guerrilla Tactics.
You thrive when the odds are stacked most heavily against you. Once per turn, you can deploy a special technique against one creature you hit with an attack if you have disadvantage on the attack roll. Choose one of the following:

  • The target has disadvantage on attack rolls until the start of its next turn.
  • The target's base speed is halved until the end of its next turn.
  • The target cannot take reactions until the start of its next turn.

You don’t need disadvantage on the attack roll if there are no allies or friendly creatures within 30 feet of you and you don’t have advantage on the attack roll.
Giving disadvantage until the “start of its next turn” as a special technique can be moot if the creature has already attacked during the round. Perhaps change the wording of this bullet to “the target has disadvantage on its next attack roll”?

In a general sense, this makes dropping prone a viable tactic for the Insurgent as this would give disadvantage on attacks as well as providing a defensive buff against reach and ranged attacks (attacks beyond 5 feet). Is this intended or should this feature maybe have a caveat of “when you hit with a melee attack”?

I could see an Insurgent’s turn being always as follows: 1) drop prone 2) make ranged attack and apply special technique 3) stand up and use remaining movement.

Creative use of disadvantage. I think there’s a lot of potential here!

Underdog
Whenever your current HP is less than half of your maximum hit points, you can deal 1d8 additional damage to a target that you hit with a weapon attack. Alternatively, you can deal this additional damage against any creature that has attacked or damaged you since the end of your last turn, even if you have more than half of your maximum hit points. You can only use this ability once per turn.

The amount of the extra damage increases as you gain levels in this class, as shown in the Underdog Damage column of the Insurgent table.
Just to be clear, Underdog can trigger when a creature attacks and misses you and any time that a creature damages you?

It’s noted that this can only be used once per turn, but it could be used multiple times in a round (similar to sneak attack), such as part of an Opportunity Attack since this doesn’t occur on your turn?

Fighting Style
Starting at 2nd level, you adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can’t take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.

Simple Weapon Mastery. When you wield a simple weapon with two hands, it gains the reach property, and when you wield a simple weapon in one hand, it gains the light property if it does not have it already.
I’ve removed all the copy-paste fighting styles and am concentrating on the custom (?) one.

Is it DM fiat whether you can realistically wield a weapon with two hands (e.g. dagger)? What happens if you wield a weapon that has the two handed property in one hand (do the rules even allow for this)? How does this style apply to simple ranged weapons (e.g. would a dart thrown in one hand gain the light property)?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for having fighting styles custom for a class and do it quite a bit myself… I just had some questions in regards to this particular style.

Subversive Action
By 2nd level, you have developed ways of undermining your enemies and leaving them vulnerable to your allies' attacks. You can use a bonus action on your turn to take the Disarm or Help actions, or to shove or grapple a creature.
Other than Demolition Expert in one of the callings, there is no resource conflict with Subversive Action against your Bonus Action – essentially, you would use this every turn as applicable. Is this as intended? The Disarm and Help certainly fit but I have some concerns about the balance of allowing grapple/shove (as they’re more closely linked to the combat action economy) every turn as a bonus action.

Insurgent's Calling
At 3rd level, you choose your calling within the insurgency. Select one of the options detailed on the next page.
Sworn Enemy
When you reach 3rd level, you develop a deep and abiding enmity towards a certain group or organisation.

Choose a Faction, sovereign government or mercantile organisation. You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls with weapon attacks against creatures that willingly work for or are allied to that group. Additionally, you have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track your sworn enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.
As probably argued many times in regards to the Ranger’s Favored Enemy, this feature can either be completely useless or pure gold – depending on the DM/campaign.

What defines a group (could it be a racial group, say goblins) or a faction?

Perhaps to give this some versatility, consider allowing the Insurgent to change this after a long rest – flavored as studying or preparing. Maybe rename to “Rebellious Planning” or “Coup Focus”

Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1.

As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Bleed for the Cause
At 5th level, you think nothing of shedding a little blood if it will bring you closer to victory.

When you make an ability check, you can sacrifice up to 5 hit points. You gain a bonus on that ability check equal to the number of hit points you sacrificed.
Within combat, is there an action cost to this (e.g. reaction, bonus)? Does this apply when you have advantage or disadvantage – bonus applied to each die roll?

Note that this also becomes a trivial sacrifice at later levels when HP is plentiful or when healing is readily available.

I also worry of the effects that this would have on bounded accuracy even though it is similar to the Paladin’s Aura of Protection (excepting that it consumes a resource (HP) and is self only). Where it greatly deviates from the Paladin’s auras is that at maximum cost you gain benefits as if your fueling attribute was a 20.

Finally, how does this manifest/activated? I’m just curious as you could use it with say Propagandist to get a bonus to Persuasion check. Do you suddenly start to bleed as you’re convincing the poor innkeeper to provide you information? Or is it more abstracted – you exert yourself and get noticeably weaker?

Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
I think there’s design space here (and probably precedence within the concept) to eliminate extra attack and either buff/change Bleed for the Cause or introduce another defining feature that played on the class concept.

Propagandist
At 7th level, you become an expert in communicating your radical message to the civilian populace. You have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks when interacting with commoners, peasants and working people. Furthermore, you can always find someone who will provide food, water and shelter when you are in an urban location.
One of the obligatory ribbon features. Decent, though it suffers from a little ambiguity (or DM interpretation) of what/who can be considered a commoner or (especially) working people.

Let it be Welcome
By 9th level, you are so dedicated to your cause that you no longer fear death - by sheer force of will, you press on through the most grueling trials.
Whenever your current HP is less than half of your maximum HP, you have advantage on Constitution and Wisdom saving throws.
Great feature!

Ready for Anything
When you reach 11th level, you can use your Subversive Action to ready an action.
This certainly works though ymmv (I’ve DM’d groups that have never used/don’t know about Readied Actions)… this really allows the Insurgent to control where/when they act during a combat round. I’d almost swap this with Subversive Action which would allay some of the (my subjective opinion) potential balance issues with that feature.

Comrades in Arms
At 13th level, your presence serves as an inspiration to downtrodden people everywhere. Any NPC allies or hirelings you employ that are within 60 feet of you and can see or hear you can use your proficiency bonus in place of their own, if it is higher, and at the beginning of each of their turns they gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier.
Another niche feature and maybe intended as a quasi-ribbon?. My biggest concern is I’m not sure how often parties employ hirelings – this may be very dependent on the DM/campaign. Perhaps buff this some and make it a 30 foot radius where all allies receive temp HP equal to your Charisma modifier at the start of each round and, as a reaction, they can add your Charisma modifier to a single ability check? Alternately, you could riff of the Bard’s Inspiration to make something more focused as a bonus action – which would compete with Subversive Action for use.

Purgator
By 15th level, your hatred of your Sworn Enemies is so keen that you can ferret them out no matter how well-hidden they may be. You always recognise a member or ally of your Sworn Enemy organisation, even if they are disguised or in a different form (such as a polymorph). They automatically fail on any Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) or Charisma (Deception) checks they make to deceive you.
My comment here would be the same as for Sworn Enemy… If you “fix” the first feature, you likely fix this one.

Seditious Rhetoric
When you reach 18th level, you master several rhetorical tricks to gain the upper hand on your oppressors. You are immune to any magical ability that would compel you to tell the truth or detect when you are lying.
I guess I’d be looking for the last power bump (traditionally at 17th level) here. I really think this feature could be given much earlier and replaced with something that gives a little more “oomph”… perhaps some improvement/expansion of Bleed for the Cause (such as, if you keep that feature as is, allow the cap to move to +10 at the cost of 1 level of exhaustion or allow HP expenditure to clear adverse conditions?)

Viva la Revolución!
At 20th level, the spirit of revolution lives in your veins, filling you with vigour that transcends mortality. When you are reduced to 0 hit points, you do not fall unconscious immediately, but instead continue as normal until the end of your next turn, at which point you fall unconscious if you still have 0 hit points.

You have disadvantage on all attack rolls and ability checks while you have 0 hit points.
I know capstone features rarely play in campaigns and some of the official classes are lackluster here, but I’d give this a serious buff…for example, an Insurgent does not fall unconscious until they die (fail three death saves). While they are at 0 hp, in addition to the disadvantage (which, in some ways is a benefit), they also have disadvantage on death saves on any turn you take an action other than Move.

I did look at the Callings but didn’t have the time to comment those… I’ll catch them later today.

I hope this didn’t come across as too critical. I realized as I was going through this that I’d never critiqued a full class before and so had to fall back upon my professional experience of “auditing” which, in hindsight, is very dry.

It’s a solid class as is but I think you could do much more with it if you really delve into the two core components (disadvantage, HPs as fuel) and springboard from those to support the three pillars.

Best of luck!