D&D Subclass Contest Chat Thread 2: Joke Entries Win with Alarming Frequency

[MrStabby]

Next block of thoughts

Wizard: School of Chiromancy

Hex Hands I am not sure of everyhing this does. What does "You now add your Dexterity modifier whenever you roll for a spell or for a concentration check on maintaining a spell" mean? Is this attack rolls for spells? Damage rolls? Does teleport now mean you are more likely to land on target? Are you more likely to vanish with blink? I am guessing that you mean any roll to which you would normally add your intelligence modifier you can also add your dex modifier? This is relatively modest.

If it is EVERYTHING, then it is massivley too powerful. Even just a spell like scorching ray doing 2d6+dex damage per hit and with two stats adding to the to hit chance is grotesque for level 3. Magic missile? Phantasmal force? Counterspell?


Magical Handiwork Fine. Like the Arcane trickster but less good so not really spoiling their fun.

The Magic Touch "Whenever you cast a spell that requires only somatic components, you always have advantage on those spells": Counterspell, catapult, absorb elements, mindspike, mislead, mentalprison, demiplane, illusiory dragon, psychic scream... of these the caster having advantage only makes sense on counterspell I think - unless you catch yourself in the spell and need to make a save. Even if it is just counterspell then you are seriously cramping the style of the abjurer getting counterspell boosts 4 levels before they do.

Powerful Palmistry
A free knowing of bigby's hand is... OK. Concentration on two spells at once is never something I could endorse. It is just too powerful. This is you wall of force + sickening radiance all on one character.
Do bear in mind that with all the bonuses to spells known this subclass will have a massive, massive number of spells on hand (pun intended).

Mastery of Manos
Proficiency in dex saves... fine I guess. Getting a big part of the sorcerer's subtle spell metamagic and using it for free... less of a fan.


I think the conept is good. I think that the wording needs some extra clarity before we get a real picture of balance - some interpretations are clearly overpowered and probably not intended. Whilst I have looked generally at wizard spells to evaluate, there are a bunch that can be picked up through multiclassing, feats, GGtR backgrounds and Eberron Races so a more complete balance picture might need a deeper dive even then.

[Damon_Tor]

Escamotage

I like a lot of this - the d6 on the weapon die is small but a nice bit of fluff, the gaming expertise is proably a ribbon, but very thematic. The ability to use a bonus action to get the needed conditions for sneak attack in another way is a weak bonus - hiding is a similar opposed roll but also gives advantage.

Hiding relies on environmental factors and forces your positioning, can't usually be used to benefit a melee attack, and is easily countered by the enemy moving to a position where you're in plain sight. Hiding is also generally only good for one attack before you lose the benefit. A rogue who is hidden, attacks, then misses can attempt an offhand attack, but is no longer hidden and so can't gain the benefit of the sneak attack unless other factors are in play. A rogue benefiting from escamotage can miss the first attack then follow up with an off-hand attack and land the sneak attack because the benefit doesn't expire when an attack is made.

Hidden pockets is similarly cool. More than just a ribbon but nothing really game changing and more about smuggling than combat. The odd thing is that drawing and stowing as part of another action would be great for multiple attacks with two weapon fighting... only the rogue only gets one attack.

A maverick can take advantage of the free draw/stow effect to dual-wield as a thrower more effectively than other rogues. And of course at 9th level they get All In.

My gripe is that level 3 doesnt seem to mechancally pin down a playstyle or key lasting benefit of the subclass. Some small mechanical bonuses and a whole load of cool, but not like the assisin's assasinate ability, AT magic, the mastermind's bonus acion help etc.. That key ability that will be important for levels 1 to 20 and sets the mechanical tone for the subclass seems missing. An extra average 1 point of damage on an attack + another way to spend a bonus action to get advantage just seems to lack in distinction when it comes to the experience of plying the character - obviously a guess as I haven't played one, but that's my worry.

As you might be able to tell already from my above responses, I see them as being dual-wielding throwers at least until 9th level. A typical combat cycle might go:

• Turn A (if started without escamotage)
  
  • Move to attack position
  • Bonus Escamotage
  • Action Thrown Attack
  • Move to safer location
  
  
• Turn B
  
  • Move into Attack position
  • Action Thrown Attack
  • Bonus IF ATTACK HIT Escamotage (and next turn is a turn B), IF MISS off-hand attack (and next turn is a turn A)
  • Move to safer location

In other words, they would be likely to play like a soulknife in combat. The soulknife gets +Dex on his offhand attacks by default and better normal-range on his weapons, but the maverick doesn't need to rely on hiding for sneak attack on targets who aren't in melee with an ally, so he reliably gets sneak attack on the bonus action attack while the soulknife does not, and the maverick doesn't need to play mother may I with hiding conditions nor rely on hiding locations being within range of the chosen target.

All In on the other hand seems crazy, crazy good. OK, talking best case scenario here, but still informative you are replacing a D6 SA die with an attack that will deal D6+5 (assuming you used your 2 ASIs to max dex). I.e. you are more than doubling damage output, circumventing overkill and being able to handle the rogues big weakness of multiple enemies. Dip a level of war cleric to grab divine favour and you push this even further over the top. And there is no limit to this. Compare this to the Assassinate ability - critical hit does less than double damage, you have to jump throuh a huge number of hoops to get it and you are pretty much limited to one per combat.

I mean I get that concentrated damage is better than diffuse damage, with the possible exception of breaking concentration on multiple spellcasters or similar but this just feels wrong.

Hunters' Volley doesn't tend to raise alarms despite their superior weapon selection. In fact, the subclass is considered underpowered despite having an at-will AoE attack ability.

If there's an issue here, it may be that the Maverick's range with the daggers (55/90 due to the bonus from escamotage) constitutes superior targeting compared to volley, which has a 10 foot radius. To bring this in line, I could put a hard limit on the range of the attacks granted by All In, say 20 feet (which is the usual normal range of throwing daggers). This would make All In a sort of "20 foot radius PBAoE" with a max of 6-11 targets compared to Volley being a "10 foot targeted AoE at range 150/600" with no upper limit on targets. This would give the maverick a larger AoE to compensate for needing to be in the thick of it as compared to the hunter's smaller area but superior range.

EDIT: I went ahead and made that change, limiting the targets to within 20 feet of the maverick. I like that the maverick has to get pretty close to use this.

If I were you I would limit it to the first round of combat and to items hidden with the hidden pockets ability that would somewhat cap it. Even then I think it is really strong.

Well it is effectively limited to weapons in the hidden pockets because of item interaction limitations, unless the character has another ability that allows for free weapon draws.

"If I have an ability like Action Surge which lets me take another action on my turn, can I use All In twice?" - my reading of the rules might be a bit different here and this mightmean some sharpening up of language is needed. Sneak attack decision is made when you hit, not when you declare an action. You can attack intending to sneak attack and miss and leave yourself able to sneak attack with any second attack. With all in your sneak attack is locked in earlier - not sure if it is an issue and wondering if there is going to be a problem with it not quite being a like for like replacement.

This is a good point. I'll look into tightening up the language. EDIT: Change made, hopefully that clears up the timing issue.

All in all I love the subclass. Theme is great, I see the link with quick hands, it cas mechanically cool abilities. My two concerns are just 1) your level 3 doesn't seem to have the key iconic ability that defines the subclass and 2) that level 9 ability is a bit much - frankly reining in that single ability would bring everything else into line.

Thanks for the feedback!

[CountDVB]

Next block of thoughts

Wizard: School of Chiromancy

Hex Hands I am not sure of everyhing this does. What does "You now add your Dexterity modifier whenever you roll for a spell or for a concentration check on maintaining a spell" mean? Is this attack rolls for spells? Damage rolls? Does teleport now mean you are more likely to land on target? Are you more likely to vanish with blink? I am guessing that you mean any roll to which you would normally add your intelligence modifier you can also add your dex modifier? This is relatively modest.

If it is EVERYTHING, then it is massivley too powerful. Even just a spell like scorching ray doing 2d6+dex damage per hit and with two stats adding to the to hit chance is grotesque for level 3. Magic missile? Phantasmal force? Counterspell?


Magical Handiwork Fine. Like the Arcane trickster but less good so not really spoiling their fun.

The Magic Touch "Whenever you cast a spell that requires only somatic components, you always have advantage on those spells": Counterspell, catapult, absorb elements, mindspike, mislead, mentalprison, demiplane, illusiory dragon, psychic scream... of these the caster having advantage only makes sense on counterspell I think - unless you catch yourself in the spell and need to make a save. Even if it is just counterspell then you are seriously cramping the style of the abjurer getting counterspell boosts 4 levels before they do.

Powerful Palmistry
A free knowing of bigby's hand is... OK. Concentration on two spells at once is never something I could endorse. It is just too powerful. This is you wall of force + sickening radiance all on one character.
Do bear in mind that with all the bonuses to spells known this subclass will have a massive, massive number of spells on hand (pun intended).

Mastery of Manos
Proficiency in dex saves... fine I guess. Getting a big part of the sorcerer's subtle spell metamagic and using it for free... less of a fan.


I think the conept is good. I think that the wording needs some extra clarity before we get a real picture of balance - some interpretations are clearly overpowered and probably not intended. Whilst I have looked generally at wizard spells to evaluate, there are a bunch that can be picked up through multiclassing, feats, GGtR backgrounds and Eberron Races so a more complete balance picture might need a deeper dive even then.

I added some further adjustment and added something new. Being able to replace vocal components with somatic is part of the point since one inspiration for this were people who communicate primarily through sign language.

Thank you for the feedback

[Edea]

I put up a barb path. Need help with language, also probably too strong but I found myself not wanting to change much; regardless, open to suggestions (I might take the last part off the level 10, I dunno).

[CountDVB]

I put up a barb path. Need help with language, also probably too strong but I found myself not wanting to change much; regardless, open to suggestions (I might take the last part off the level 10, I dunno).

That's really clever what you did!

[Snowben Gaming]

So bunch of fives is now just anything to do with 5? Hmmm... I'll have a think about non-hand related things then (although I do have some hand related ideas that I could still do).

[MrStabby]

Path of the Dragon Queen

Wow. A really cool take on bunch of 5s and it captures that theme right from the start - I love it. It also seems a really tight match to the Barbarian class as well, really good.

3rd: Tiamat's Rage
Choose an energy type out of (acid, lightning, poison, fire, cold) whenever you start a rage.
Your melee attacks deal +1d6 damage of the associated type for the duration of the rage, along with you gaining resistance to said type. The bonus damage increases to +2d6 at 11th level.

This is a very solid ability. Picking an extra source of resistance for rage pretty much takes this up to bear totem resistance levels - in my experience not many encounters are dishing out multiple types of elemental damage in large quantities. +1d6/+2d6 damage of any time isa great boost. Getting to pick to match vulnerabilities is just awesome (Ok mostly it just means fire as the most common vulnerability, but getting this and being able to dodge resistance as well is neat). The Zealot's divine fury is d6+half barbarian level - but importantly just on one attack per turn and just on your turns.

6th: Fivefold Retribution
When an enemy attacks you with advantage (such as after using your Reckless Attack feature) and hits, choose an energy type out of (acid, lightning, poison, fire, cold). The triggering enemy takes 5 damage of the associated type. If the triggering enemy is within 5 feet of you, they must also make a Dexterity saving throw (DC = 8 + your prof bonus + your Strength modifier) or gain vulnerability to said damage type for the next five rounds.

A really interesting ability. 5 damage is a modest amount but, unless you are fighting absolute hodes of enemies, it is the vulnerbility that counts. And it counts in a big way. Imagine creating vulnerability then hitting that enemy with a scorching ray for 2*8d6 damage, or just landing a well positioned fireball (so you do fire damage, become fire resistant, give all adjacent enemies attacking you vulnerability to fire then your party sorcerer nukes them?)... or if the party wizard is out of resources they can still land 4d10 firebolt attacks. And this is all at low level and assuming a single caster in the party; if the party likes arcane casters then the extra damage enabled by this can be obscene. It is worth noting that one extra thing that makes this nce is that a lot of elemental damage effects rely on dex saves; the probability of failing a dex save being failed given you already failed one (more likely your dex is low) is higher. Interestingly the attack doesn't have to be within 5ft. I think that this ability kind of blows a lot of other level 6 barbarian abilities out of the water.

10th: Chromatic Blessing
Your choice of energy type whenever you rage causes wings reminiscent of the corresponding dragon to sprout from your back for the duration, granting you a fly speed equal to your land speed and the ability to hover, so long as you are wearing light or no armor. You also gain an immunity based on the type chosen (does not apply retroactively) for the duration of the rage:
Black (Acid) - Immunity to the Petrified condition.
Blue (Lightning) - Immunity to the Blinded and Deafened conditions.
Green (Poison) - Immunity to diseases and the Poisoned condition.
Red (Fire) - Immunity to the Charmed and Frightened conditions.
White (Cold) - Immunity to the Paralysis and Stunned conditions.

Level 10 on the barbarian is usually a minor affair and an out of combat buff.

The wording here could do with some clarification - is it just hovering that needs light or no armour or is it also the flying?

Whilst this is both more combat focussed than a lot of barbarian 10 abilities and probably pushing the power a bit it also offers some unique defensive abilities. Getting to pick your immunities to the fight is really strong. Getting to rage when surprised AND with advantage in initiative with Feral instincts turns this from being a powerful ability to something very, very nasty indeed (well, for a level 10 ability). However the enemy might try and catch you out you have an answer as long as you have rage. I imagine immunity to charm and frightened will be common enough - the rest might be rare or conditions against which you have a good save anyway.

And then you get flying on top... not just a great ability but specifically a great ability for a barbarian

14th: Strike of the Five Fangs
Once per turn, you can make a special attack that strikes at up to five targets at once by using your Attack action.
All targets must be within 30 feet of you, and you cannot strike any given target with this use of the Attack action more than once. Attacks in excess of the number of available targets are wasted.
These are considered melee weapon attacks, and they use your current melee weapon for attack and damage calculations.
Each of these five attacks has its own corresponding energy type, which is not shared by the other attacks. All damage dealt by that attack (if it hits) is of the associated type. You choose which of the attacks strikes at any given target.
If you decide to use your Reckless Attack feature with this ability, its benefit applies to all five strikes.
You can use this ability up to a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier. Whenever you rage or take a long rest, you regain all expended uses of this attack.

Eesh. This is another powerful ability. At this level you are probably lookingat at least +4 to con, 5 rages per day so 24 uses per day (becoming unlimited at 20).

So 5 attacks per round... which you can make with advantage... and at 30ft without much by way of reprisal (and no disengage needed to back further away)... and which keep your rage going... AND they get all your weapon damage modifiers. The only downside is you can't focus them and you lose out a bit if there are fewer than 5 enemies. Still, its a high level ability on a class that starts to lose a bit of bite at these levels.



All in all my personal view is that it is an awesome subclass that hangs together well with lots of powerful interactions between the pieces and that has the theme of 5 running all the way through it. It maybe could use a bit of toning down and trading some combat ability for a little more out of combat ability (which it does seem particularly light on) to make it line up better with other barbarians.

[nickl_2000]

Druid Circle of the 5th Element

I have had reall difficulty forming a view on this class. The main reason is that I don't like it but mostly for subjective reasons; it isn't in any way bad. There is nothing wrong with it. It isn't that I don't like it because it needs fixing. It just doesnt appeal.

So I will try and split my thoughts into two - feelings and thoughts. Why I don't like it then a more mechanical set of thoughts.

I don't like it because it doesn't feel like much of a theme - it is an "everything druid" and takes the worst parts of the omnimancer wizard and sorcerer whose spells span so many effects that feel disconnected.

I don't like it as the things that get added don't feel like a natural extension of what it is to be a druid but rather a bolt-on of everything that feels unnatural. I can see "spitit" druid be cool as the 5th element, but nothing really screams spitit to me. Where are the spirit guardian, spirit shroud, speak with dead, conjure undead, guardian of faith spells? Instead we seem to have a "Force" druid.

I feel that all of the additions represent someone who would just be better off playing a wizard - given the frequency with which the circle spells crop up on the wizard list.

I don't like that it gets wall of force - one of the most powerful spells out there and something that alone is a big boost and undermining a key reson to play an arcane caster. Also, in general the circle spell list is very much on the strong side and very much stepping on other classes toes.




But... more objectively... this is well done with a good balance of strong and weak abilities.

Very, very strong spell list but that is not objecively bad.

Spirit shield is very useful, but not that strong. Pretty uncontroversial... the exception being doing it at end of day to carry resources over to the next day or to cary resources through a short rest. Maybe the temp HP only last for 8 hours? 1 hour?

Minor spatial manipulation - another small ability but cool enough.

Spiritual Repulsion - Now Spirit shield gets very useful. Buff the flimsiest party member and add 1 pt to everyone else (especially those that might want to take half damage to better pass concentration checks.

Major spatial manupulation - whilst I am still trying to reconcile teleporting people around with "spirit" this is a very cool ability,but possibly able to be abused. Is it intended that the swapping just be for hostile spells or are you cool with dropping a maelstrom and then teleporting an enemy into it? How about something that catches a party familliar flying 120ft overhead? But why stop here - only one of the creatures you want to swap has to be within 120ft... cast locate animals or plants with a 5 mile radius and if you can get a creature up high enough then you can drop your enemy from low earth orbit. Are you happy with this inflicitng falling damage as well?

Complete Spatial Awareness - Looks good. Blindsight and teleport are unlikely to break the game.

Thanks for looking it over. You are completely right that I need to focus more. Pick something that is the 5th element (spirit) and focus more on it to make a more coherent subclass.

For the spirit shield all temp hp last like this "Unless a feature that grants you temporary hit points has a duration, they last until they're depleted or you finish a long rest." So, you can absolutely use it before a short rest (and frankly you should). However, using it before a long rest is mostly useless.


Major Spatial Manipulation needs some re-writing. There are two many questions on it and it doesn't fit as well anymore.

[MrStabby]

Thanks for looking it over. You are completely right that I need to focus more. Pick something that is the 5th element (spirit) and focus more on it to make a more coherent subclass.

For the spirit shield all temp hp last like this "Unless a feature that grants you temporary hit points has a duration, they last until they're depleted or you finish a long rest." So, you can absolutely use it before a short rest (and frankly you should). However, using it before a long rest is mostly useless.


Major Spatial Manipulation needs some re-writing. There are two many questions on it and it doesn't fit as well anymore.

Just don't take my subjective distaste to heart! It's just a preference. There is a lot of good stuff there as well.

[nickl_2000]

Just don't take my subjective distaste to heart! It's just a preference. There is a lot of good stuff there as well.

As I read through it a little bit, it felt a little bit disjointed and unconnected to the theme of the contest. I really like the concept of being able to switch allies your ally out of danger and putting someone else in danger and will keep it for the future. The other abilities are being kept very similar for all but the level 10 ability. I am just re-flavoring a lot of it to make it fit the theming better than it did before.

I value the opinion of everyone who enters these contests, a lot of the entries I see in here are the same or a higher quality than those put out by Wizards.




I've completed the changes based on your comments. I like the feel of it a lot better.

[Snowben Gaming]

So I have an idea: Since tornados and hurricanes are both measured on scales of 5 (with 5 being the strongest), what about a tornado based subclass. I'm pretty sure this is too far removed from the theme though, so I do have a backup idea, but what do you guys think?

[Damon_Tor]

So I have an idea: Since tornados and hurricanes are both measured on scales of 5 (with 5 being the strongest), what about a tornado based subclass. I'm pretty sure this is too far removed from the theme though, so I do have a backup idea, but what do you guys think?

I mean, yeah, it's a stretch. If you have some really cool ideas and you come up with an awesome subclass I expect nobody will complain too much.

[MrStabby]

So I have an idea: Since tornados and hurricanes are both measured on scales of 5 (with 5 being the strongest), what about a tornado based subclass. I'm pretty sure this is too far removed from the theme though, so I do have a backup idea, but what do you guys think?

So I have no doubt that a good and thematic subclass could be built out of a Strong Wind theme... but I also doubt that if you were to pick it up and play it that you would get that the theme was A Bunch Of Fives; although that might just show my lack of inspiration.

[Damon_Tor]

More feedback

Wizard: School of Chiromancy

Hex Hands
Using specially prepared inks and ancient incantations passed down by the school, your hands are marked with special flowing patterns that highlight the unique patterns pre-existing on your hands, granting you powerful capabilities. These are your hex hands.

At 2nd level, you no longer carry a spellbook for your spells, instead now associated with mnemonic devices of magic in your hands. The total number of spells that you are able to memorize and cast as such is now 5 + your wizard level + your Intelligence modifier. You always have these spells prepared. You can still cast a wizard spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you know it.

As you level up, you gain knowledge through practice of gestures and applying new mnemonic techniques through your hands. Each time you level up, you can learn up to 2 new spells. Whenever you want to learn a new spell and have reached your limit, you can switch out a spell you already know and replace it with a spell, assigning it that somatic mnemonic technique. You can still copy a spell from an external source such as a scroll or book as normal, still spending the requisite gold and material components.

I feel like this is a big departure from how wizards operate and what makes them distinct from other spellcasters for very little interesting difference in play. And this is reflected in how many words you need in this feature to make it work. My suggestion would be to either let them keep their spellbook while their hands give some bonus spells prepared per day, or you simply straight up say "you treat your hands and the markings on them as your spellbook." Otherwise you have this big cumbersome feature explaining how something which is not a spellbook acts basically like a spellbook when you could just keep it simple.

If your hands are heavily damaged or cut off, you can still cast spells, but you do so with disadvantage until your hands are healed and or regenerated. Alternately, magical prosthetics could act in place of them.

I don't feel like this is necessary and it's not clear to me what this feature is trying to do. Missing your hand you're already unable to cast somatic or material spells, which is most of them. Also "casting spells with disadvantage" isn't a meaningful phrase mechanically. You can have disadvantage on spell attacks, or enemies can have advantage on saves against your spells (but many spells include neither attacks nor saves).

Additionally, all spells that use only vocal components can now be cast with only somatic components if you are unable to speak (such as being mute or damaged vocal chords) and thus,unable to provide the vocal components.

An odd feature, in that it only grants its benefit when you are incapacitated. Would you expect the wizard to cut their own larynx so they can cast silently? Why not just say "You can replace the vocal components of spells you cast with somatic components". It would be a strong feature for stealth-casters, but at least there wouldn't be the perverse incentive to injure yourself to gain the same benefit.

When you reach Spell Mastery at 18th level, when you choose a 1st-level wizard spell and a 2nd-level wizard spell, you can cast those spells at their lowest level without expending a spell slot. They must have a somatic component and they no longer count against you total number of spells known. As such, you now learn two new spells from the wizarding spell list. You can still spend 8 hours to practice and exchange one or both of the spells you chose for different spells of the same levels that you know.

This just seems like more "how to make the wizard functional while totally changing the way they prepare spells" but maybe I'm missing something? Adding an additional restriction (albeit a very minor one) to an existing wizard feature is an odd choice. After all, evocation wizards don't have to pick evocation spells for their mastered spells.

When you reach Signature Spell at 20th level, you still choose two 3rd-level wizard spells to become your signature spells. They don't count against the number of spells you have prepared and as such, you now learn two new spells from the wizarding spell list. If they have a somatic component, you can cast those spells at 3rd-level without expanding spell slots a number of times equal to your Dexterity modifier. You regain all expanded uses after a long rest.

Strange change to an existing wizard feature. Signature Spells go from 1/short rest to DexMod/long rest. Probably a mild improvement depending on how your group rests, but like... why? A very minor change for a feature that is already taking way more ink than it should.

Magical Handiwork
Your devotion into the magical arts through your hex hands has granted you some special gifts. At 2nd level, you now learn the cantrip mage hand if you did not know it already. The cantrip does not count toward your total number of cantrips known.

Whenever you cast mage hand, it now has a range of 60 ft and can be cast as a bonus action. You can also spend a bonus action to move the mage hand up to 60 ft.

Additionally, you now gain proficiency in the Sleight of Hand (Dexterity) skill.

A feature that gives you a flavorful game element "if you did not know it already" without compensating you if you DID already know it is annoying. It creates a situation where a "hand wizard" is incentivized NOT to take mage hand at level 1 because if he does he misses out on a bonus cantrip. Class features which add skill/tool proficiency sometimes don't do this because there's a general rule specifically allowing you to learn a different skill or tool if you would gain one you already have, but as cantrips have no such general rule it should be added directly.

The Magic Touch
By 6th level, your practice of spellcasting through sacred gestures primarily has honed your hands to greater abilities, letting you do more with magic. You gain the following benefits:

1. Whenever you make a spell attack roll, you can add your Dexterity modifier (min 1.) It must have a somatic component to apply this bonus to it.
2. If your hands are bound and you have the spell mage hand active, you can use your mage hand to provide the somatic component to cast a spell.
3. When you cast a spell with a range of touch, you can deliver the spell with your mage hand if it is already active.
4. As an action, you can now make a melee spell attack with your mage hand, counting as a cantrip. If the attack hits, it deals the following result in force damage: (1d4 + 1) x your proficiency bonus.

1. In general, adding a very large bonus (up to +5 in this case) to attack rolls is frowned upon. 5e operates on a bounded accuracy system, at least in theory, which makes effects like this inappropriate.
2. Another feature that gives a lovely bonus but only if some otherwise bad thing is happening. Just allow the wizard to always perform somatic components with mage hand.
3. This is a great feature and I like it
4. I would just have this scale like a cantrip, and deal 2d4 damage when you get the feature, 3d4 at 11th level, and 4d4 at 17th. I still don't think it would be used much though, the damage should go up at least to d8s to be competitive, but I would make I would actually make it d10 to put it on par with a firebolt. Because... otherwise why not just use firebolt?

Powerful Palmistry
Beginning at 10th level, your hex hands have grow strong enough to help stand up to whatever tries to break your focus. Whenever you make a spell concentration check with a spell that has a somatic component, you can add your profiency bonus.

I have no issues with this.

Additionally, you now learn the spell Bigby’s hand if you don’t know it already. The spell does not count toward your total number of spells known. When you cast Bigby’s hand, you do not need vocal or material components to cast it. You do gain the bonus of The Magic Touch feature.

Fine except for the whole "wouldn't a hand-themed wizard definitely already have this spell and why should they be incentivized to not have it?" issue.

The Hand of Hamsa
By 14th level, you have unlocked the ultimate secret of the hex hands, the power of the hamsa, the powerful palm of protection. As a bonus action, you can activate the hamsa and ward yourself with powerful magic, your hex hands glowing. For 1 minute, you have the following benefits:

• You have resistance against the damage of spells.
• Your AC is increased by your Intelligence modifier (min 1.)
• If a hostile creature is concentrating on a spell, you can use an action or bonus action to disrupt their spellcasting with your protective palm, either by touching them yourself or with your mage hand. They need to make a concentration check against your spell save DC. If they fail, their spell ends and they take psychic damage equal to your wizard level.

You are considered to be concentrating on a spell though you do not make spell concentration checks if you are attacked by a spell. You can only use this a number of times equal to your Dexterity modifier (min 1). You regain all expanded uses after a long rest.

You can also spend a short rest to heal or even regrow your hex hands if they were damaged or cut off, as if you had the spell regenerate cast on you.

This is a cool capstone.

[Damon_Tor]

Monk: Way of Balance (inspired by ATLA)

Earth, wind, fire and air are the basic elements that surround us everywhere. However, there is the fifth element - cosmic energy - which embraces every species in the world. Monks of Balance learn how to manipulate each of the elements, including energy within themselves or energy within other folk.

I guess the big issue for me is "will this be thematically distinct from the Four Elements Monk?" What does the "5th element" really add to an already well established archetype?

Air and Water
Starting at 3rd level, when you choose this tradition, you learn the following techniques:
Dodge and Evade. Air is the element of freedom, and you are ever against harming people except in the direst of circumstances. After you take the Dodge action, you can can use your bonus action to hurl a blast of air against your enemy. The blast counts as a simple ranged weapon that has Thrown(20/60) and Finesse properties. The blast deals bludgeoning damage equal to your Martial Arts die. If you drop a creature to 0 hit points using this attack, you knock the target unconscious, but it is stable.

So when you dodge (as an action: Monks do get Patient Defense after all, but since that's a bonus action the two features won't ever interact) you get a ranged bonus action attack? And it's... pretty basic. No better than a monk just throwing a dagger or something. I mean, it's 1 ki less expensive than Patient Defense + Attack Action but still pretty underwhelming.

Healing Wave. Water is cold and calm, and you can use its powers to heal your allies from harm. If you hold a full waterskin in your hand, you can use your action to create a wave of healing energy transferred through water that jumps toward a target of your choice that you can see within range. Three waves then leap from that target to as many as three other targets, each of which must be within 30 feet of the first target. A target can be a creature and can be targeted by only one of the waves.
The target regains 3d8 hit points. When you use this feature, you must expend a number of ki points equal to the total number of the targets.

That's a very efficient heal. Which is fine.

Tremorsense
Earth is silent and unmoving. Beginning at 6th level, you gain tremorsense to a radius equal to your walking speed.

I'm not 100% sure why your tremorsense increases with your walking speed of all things but this is a fine feature.

Dancing Dragon
Fire is the most misunderstood element of all.
Beginning at 11th level, you can spend 7 ki points to use one of the following breath weapons:
Fire Breath. You exhale fire in a 40-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 12d6 fire damage on a failed saving throw, or half as much damage on a successful one.

This steps mightily on the 4-element monk's toes, 7 ki for 12d6 damage at 11th level while the best the 4 element monk can do at this level is a 5d6 burning hands for 4 ki, only getting a 7d6 burning hands at 17th level.

Sleep Breath. You exhale sleep gas in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed on a Constitution saving throw, or fall unconscious for 5 minutes. This effect ends for a creature if the creature takes damage or someone uses an action to wake it.

I'm not sure what, thematically, this has to do with fire, though maybe this is that 5th element finally showing up? This is also a very powerful, potentially encounter-trivializing effect, and probably not appropriate on a monk.

Weave Blocking
At 17th level, you learn the technique that allows you temporarily block spellcasting of other creatures.
As an action, you can touch a creature and spend 10 ki points to attempt to cut a spellcaster off from its source of power. Make a Wisdom check contested with the target’s Wisdom check. If you succeed on the check, the creature can’t cast spells for the next minute. If you succeed on the check by 5 or more, the creature instead can’t cast spells for the next 24 hours. If you attack the target in any way, the target is freed from the effect.

This is a neat feature, but when compared to the Quivering Palm's ability to inflict a more powerful status effect (ie "dead") a 1 minute/24 hour loss of spellcasting ability seems pretty weak. Especially because you're also prohibited from attacking them or the effect gets lost.

Overall the biggest issue I have with this is that it feels like a remake of the 4 elements monk, with something approaching a "5th element" not showing up until 17th (or maybe 11th?) level. And doesn't add much to the monk chassis, tacking on spell-like effects fueled by ki (which the 4 elements monk is also guilty of, but it does have a selection of disciplines that work okay with the monk gameplay loop)

[Edea]

-snip-

Thanks for the critique. I'm very strongly considering re-doing the latter level 10 part; the flight I like, but those immunities were tacked on in an attempt to make the choices feel 'different' from one another. Going to try to figure out more utilitarian effects to put in their place that would still make sense to have active during a rage.

For the level 14, in honesty I'd be fine with that attack explicitly being long-rest recharge only, but I'm having a hard time putting my finger on the ability's equivalent spell level (i.e. is the barb at that level getting a toy that helps him keep up ever-so-slightly with the craziness casters get and how often they get them). Theme-wise I love it (I basically envision five dragon heads emerging from the barbarian's neck and stretching out to snap at foes in range), but I agree mechanically it could use tightening.

[MrStabby]

Thanks for the critique. I'm very strongly considering re-doing the latter level 10 part; the flight I like, but those immunities were tacked on in an attempt to make the choices feel 'different' from one another. Going to try to figure out more utilitarian effects to put in their place that would still make sense to have active during a rage.

For the level 14, in honesty I'd be fine with that attack explicitly being long-rest recharge only, but I'm having a hard time putting my finger on the ability's equivalent spell level (i.e. is the barb at that level getting a toy that helps him keep up ever-so-slightly with the craziness casters get and how often they get them). Theme-wise I love it (I basically envision five dragon heads emerging from the barbarian's neck and stretching out to snap at foes in range), but I agree mechanically it could use tightening.

For the level 10 my feeling was the opposite. The immunities were really cool and unlike anything else on another class. It gave you an incentive to read combat, to predict, to use out of combat intelligence gathering and it synergised with other class features. It was also different from "oh and here is another ability with damage types" and felt like it was bringing the multiple of 5 theme through.

Flight... is just flight. A lot of classes get it. Spells give it. It just doesn't feel so special to me.

[CountDVB]

I feel like this is a big departure from how wizards operate and what makes them distinct from other spellcasters for very little interesting difference in play. And this is reflected in how many words you need in this feature to make it work. My suggestion would be to either let them keep their spellbook while their hands give some bonus spells prepared per day, or you simply straight up say "you treat your hands and the markings on them as your spellbook." Otherwise you have this big cumbersome feature explaining how something which is not a spellbook acts basically like a spellbook when you could just keep it simple.

I don't feel like this is necessary and it's not clear to me what this feature is trying to do. Missing your hand you're already unable to cast somatic or material spells, which is most of them. Also "casting spells with disadvantage" isn't a meaningful phrase mechanically. You can have disadvantage on spell attacks, or enemies can have advantage on saves against your spells (but many spells include neither attacks nor saves).

An odd feature, in that it only grants its benefit when you are incapacitated. Would you expect the wizard to cut their own larynx so they can cast silently? Why not just say "You can replace the vocal components of spells you cast with somatic components". It would be a strong feature for stealth-casters, but at least there wouldn't be the perverse incentive to injure yourself to gain the same benefit.

This just seems like more "how to make the wizard functional while totally changing the way they prepare spells" but maybe I'm missing something? Adding an additional restriction (albeit a very minor one) to an existing wizard feature is an odd choice. After all, evocation wizards don't have to pick evocation spells for their mastered spells.

Strange change to an existing wizard feature. Signature Spells go from 1/short rest to DexMod/long rest. Probably a mild improvement depending on how your group rests, but like... why? A very minor change for a feature that is already taking way more ink than it should.

A feature that gives you a flavorful game element "if you did not know it already" without compensating you if you DID already know it is annoying. It creates a situation where a "hand wizard" is incentivized NOT to take mage hand at level 1 because if he does he misses out on a bonus cantrip. Class features which add skill/tool proficiency sometimes don't do this because there's a general rule specifically allowing you to learn a different skill or tool if you would gain one you already have, but as cantrips have no such general rule it should be added directly.

1. In general, adding a very large bonus (up to +5 in this case) to attack rolls is frowned upon. 5e operates on a bounded accuracy system, at least in theory, which makes effects like this inappropriate.
2. Another feature that gives a lovely bonus but only if some otherwise bad thing is happening. Just allow the wizard to always perform somatic components with mage hand.
3. This is a great feature and I like it
4. I would just have this scale like a cantrip, and deal 2d4 damage when you get the feature, 3d4 at 11th level, and 4d4 at 17th. I still don't think it would be used much though, the damage should go up at least to d8s to be competitive, but I would make I would actually make it d10 to put it on par with a firebolt. Because... otherwise why not just use firebolt?

I have no issues with this.

Fine except for the whole "wouldn't a hand-themed wizard definitely already have this spell and why should they be incentivized to not have it?" issue.

This is a cool capstone.

I thank you fo yur extensive feedback. One of my things is trying to figure out how to best word things, since sometimes I feel like I am either too vague or basic or too verbose in explaining things and I appreciate you helping me out. I guess I do try and figure out how to address the stuff.

An inspiration for this, besides palm reading and hand signs, was actually sign language and thought it'd be cool for a wizarding subclass for those mute or whatnot with that.

Well, it does scale. The thing with the mage hand was admittingly also wanted a way to keep a joke about 5s after all. But I figure out something with that.

[Lvl45DM!]

So I have an idea: Since tornados and hurricanes are both measured on scales of 5 (with 5 being the strongest), what about a tornado based subclass. I'm pretty sure this is too far removed from the theme though, so I do have a backup idea, but what do you guys think?

I'd suggest a fighter class based around it. 5 features, each one with an increased category level. Only Cleric and Fighters have 5 features, and Cleric at least one of them is taken up

[Snowben Gaming]

I'd suggest a fighter class based around it. 5 features, each one with an increased category level. Only Cleric and Fighters have 5 features, and Cleric at least one of them is taken up

I was actually thinking fighter, but I'm gonna put that idea on hold for a later time and make something closer to the theme. I just haven't decided what yet. In the meantime, I guess I'll do some reviews.

[Damon_Tor]

I'd suggest a fighter class based around it. 5 features, each one with an increased category level. Only Cleric and Fighters have 5 features, and Cleric at least one of them is taken up

Interestingly enough a few contests back Molemage released a storm-themed fighter subclass with 5-level-deep "stances" which were based on the stance mechanic I wrote for my own entry.

[Lvl45DM!]

Interestingly enough a few contests back Molemage released a storm-themed fighter subclass with 5-level-deep "stances" which were based on the stance mechanic I wrote for my own entry.

Ah neato. Its interesting that fighter has the most actual features from subclasses actually.

[sengmeng]

I guess the the Student of the Five Rings is playable. PEACH if you want but it will probably get a complete overhaul soon.

[Snowben Gaming]

Finally got an idea I like for my own entry, just need to actually make it.
But first, REVIEWS!

Spoiler: Circle of the 5th Element

Show

Circle Spells + Minor Spatial Manipulation: Circle spells are always nice and a free cantrip is even nicer, nothing more to say here.

Spirit Shield: This seems waaaay too underpowered to me. The Circle of Spores' Symbiotic Entity, which uses the same resource, grants 4X druid level temp hp and extra damage, whereas this is just 2X druid level. I guess you can split them across your allies, but when you get this splitting them across the whole party will give each member 1 temp hp in a 4 person party. This just feels too weak to me, but I could be wrong, especially as later abilities build on it and it scales with level.

Spiritual Repulsion: OOOOOH boy, this skyrockets the power of Spirit Shield in a very satisfying way. This more than makes up for Spirit Shield being a bit weaker than I would've liked.

Haunting: The madness tables are underused, so this is a really snazzy ability. I like it! I'm not sure if 1/long rest is too little though, but its probably fine.

Complete Spatial Awareness: I assume this is supposed to be the True Sight spell as "Truesight" isn't a spell. If so, this is definitely way too OP. Permanent truesight is only available through the Boon of Truesight: an Epic Boon, so granting truesight at 14th level is way too strong.

Final Thoughts: I would absolutely play this! Its a tad weak at early levels, but mid levels more than make up for that. I like the theme and I think you've mechanically represented that quite well.

Spoiler: The Maverick

Show

Escamotage: Bonus proficiencies are nice, but the snazzy dagger buffs and sneak attack generation is real good.

Hidden Pockets: Pretty neat ribbon ability that's really thematic.

All In: KNIVES! ALL THE KNIVES!!! Splitting Sneak Attack is really good and adds some much needed AOE/multi-target capacity to the rogue.

Jinx: Giving disadvantage is pretty cool, especially on Initiative.

Borrowed Luck: Crit storage is a cool idea, but I'm not sure how often it would actually occur in play.

Final Thoughts: This is good. Really good. Would play. Probably will play. Good job.

[nickl_2000]

Spoiler: Circle of the 5th Element

Show

Circle Spells + Minor Spatial Manipulation: Circle spells are always nice and a free cantrip is even nicer, nothing more to say here.

Spirit Shield: This seems waaaay too underpowered to me. The Circle of Spores' Symbiotic Entity, which uses the same resource, grants 4X druid level temp hp and extra damage, whereas this is just 2X druid level. I guess you can split them across your allies, but when you get this splitting them across the whole party will give each member 1 temp hp in a 4 person party. This just feels too weak to me, but I could be wrong, especially as later abilities build on it and it scales with level.

Spiritual Repulsion: OOOOOH boy, this skyrockets the power of Spirit Shield in a very satisfying way. This more than makes up for Spirit Shield being a bit weaker than I would've liked.

Haunting: The madness tables are underused, so this is a really snazzy ability. I like it! I'm not sure if 1/long rest is too little though, but its probably fine.

Complete Spatial Awareness: I assume this is supposed to be the True Sight spell as "Truesight" isn't a spell. If so, this is definitely way too OP. Permanent truesight is only available through the Boon of Truesight: an Epic Boon, so granting truesight at 14th level is way too strong.

Final Thoughts: I would absolutely play this! Its a tad weak at early levels, but mid levels more than make up for that. I like the theme and I think you've mechanically represented that quite well.

If I did 3x Temp HP at level 2, would that be broken for the level 6 ability?

For the haunting, maddness can be really, really disabling. Allowing multiple per day would be extremely powerful.

For spatial awareness, what if I were to give 30 foot blindsight? Would that be more appropriate?

[Snowben Gaming]

If I did 3x Temp HP at level 2, would that be broken for the level 6 ability?

3x druid level seems good to me, and the 6th level is only non-magical physical, by level 6 at least something is gonna be dealing magic physical or non-physical damage.

For the haunting, maddness can be really, really disabling. Allowing multiple per day would be extremely powerful.

Yeah, after reading the madness tables in more detail, I've gotta agree with you on this one.

For spatial awareness, what if I were to give 30 foot blindsight? Would that be more appropriate?

Sounds good to me.

[Damon_Tor]

Changed my mind: it’s morphing time.

Spoiler: Note

Show

I don't do cocaine, but I feel like if I did, this is what I would submit...

I'm dying reading this, the theme song blasting in my head like it's Saturdary morning and I'm 5. Well done.

Ranger Archetype: 5 Colors of Power

As a champion of cosmic order you stand firm with chosen allies against the deadliest of forces bent on destruction or domination.

Bonus Spells
1. Find Familiar, Protection from Evil and Good
2. Enhance Ability, Find Steed
3. Beacon of Hope, Crusaders Mantle
4. Find Greater Steed, Summon Construct
5. Arcane Hand, Teleportation Circle

Chosen Allies
Beginning at 3rd level after choosing this archetype you can empower select allies with unique gifts. At the end of a long rest you can choose a number of creatures including yourself equal to your proficiency bonus and assign them a color. A single creature can have only one color assigned and you can assign each color only once. Colors remain assigned until you use this feature to assign them again. In addition to altering the their equipment and clothing to coordinate around the assigned color, each color has the following effects:

Red. The creature can add your proficiency bonus to saving throws against fear and persuasion checks.
Blue. The creature can add your proficiency bonus to Intelligence checks.
Black. The creature can add your proficiency bonus to Constitution saving throws and Athletics checks.
Yellow. The creature can add your proficiency bonus to Acrobatics checks and gains a climb speed equal to its speed.
Pink. The creature adds 5 feet to its movement speed and its jumping distances are doubled.

Well right off the bat, you should probably limit this to humanoids at least: I forsee a very strange sequence of events where you summon a warhorse who is the red ranger, then summon for that warhorse another warhorse who is the blue ranger, then summon for that warhorse another warhorse who is the black ranger, until you're riding on top of 5 multicolored horses each bigger than the last and everything is very silly.

Quibble: I would move the fall damage immunity for pink to here. I'll talk more about that below.

Mighty Steeds
Beginning at 7th level you can conjure forth powerful steeds of steel hide and wire sinew to swiftly carry your chosen allies. When you cast Find Steed or Find Greater Steed you can use this feature to create a number of creatures equal to your proficiency bonus that share the colors of your Chosen Allies. Each steed is sized to be a mount for the Chosen Ally whose color matches its own. These Steeds remain until you choose different allies to bear your colors, you cast either of these spells again, or they are reduced to 0 hit points. Only the creature whose color matches the steed can ride it.

In addition to being constructs which do not require food, water, or sleep each Steed's color confers certain benefits as detailed below.

Red. While mounted the steed and rider have resistance to Fire Damage.
Blue. While mounted the steed and rider have resistance to Lightning and Thunder Damage.
Black. While mounted the steed and rider have resistance to Bludgeoning Damage.
Yellow. While mounted the steed and rider have resistance to Acid and Poison Damage.
Pink. While mounted the steed and rider are immune to falling damage and do not provoke attacks of opportunity.

This is delightful. Probably really freaking OP, but delightful. You should probably include some language here transferring the normal benefits of the steed spells (like telepathy and ability to give orders and such) to the intended rider rather than yourself. You should probably consider some kind of added cost for this: maybe require 1 additional 1st level or higher spell slot per additional creature summoned? This would still be a bargain, getting 5 greater steeds for a 5th levels slot plus 4 1st level slots.

The reason I feel like the fall damage immunity should be moved is this: the main reason you would want fall immunity in this context is if you fall OFF your steed... at which point you would presumably no longer benefit from this effect, making it kind of useless.

Unity Assault
At 10th level and beyond it becomes possible to perform a potent combination attack with a nearby Chosen Ally. When you are within 5 feet of a Chosen Ally you can perform a Unity Assault. When the ally makes an attack or casts a spell you can use your reaction to expend a spell slot and empower it as follows:
One target of the spell or attack must make a Dexterity save against your Spell DC and suffers 2d8 additional damage + 1d8 for each level of the spell slot, a successful save halves the damage. Additional Chosen Allies within 5 feet can use their reaction to add 1d8 additional damage as well. The type of damage is determined by the color of the ally that made the triggering attack. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus.

Red. Fire.
Blue. Lightning.
Black. Bludgeoning or Piercing.
Yellow. Acid.
Pink. Psychic.

This might be one of my favorite features so far from any of these contests. I know this is a joke entry and everything, but this is so freaking cool. I want to see something like this on a serious subclass.

Prismatic Golem God
At 15th level the secret power of your allies can be realized in full. You can now assign a previously unknown color of your choosing, such as green or white, to yourself or a Chosen Ally which confers the following benefits:

Unknown Color. The creature can use a bonus action to teleport up to 60 feet to space within 5 feet of any Chosen Ally. While mounted on an Elemental Steed the mount and rider are resistant to force and psychic damage. The damage type of a the Unknown Color's Unity Assault is Force.

Neat.

When you cast Summon Construct each willing Chosen Ally including you can use their reaction to sacrifice their steed and have it transform and combine with the summoned Construct. The steeds disappear and the construct's size increases to Huge. For every steed added to the construct, the spell is treated as if cast with a slot one level higher to a limit of 9th. If 4 or more Steeds are added the size increases to Gargantuan. You can treat this construct as a Chosen Ally for your Unity Assault feature. You can cast Summon Construct in this way once and must complete a long rest before doing so again.

This is a really elegant way to make a potentially overly complex ability work, and work well. This is another ability I'd like to see on a more serious entry. It's overpowered as written (I doubt this is news to you) but I think my suggestion above adding an extra cost to multi-mount summons would help to keep this in line, at least a little.

You should probably have the rangers automatically mount the megazord as long as they're actively mounted on their zord.

This was amazing, man. Really, really well done.

[BerzerkerUnit]

I'm dying reading this, the theme song blasting in my head like it's Saturdary morning and I'm 5. Well done.



Well right off the bat, you should probably limit this to humanoids at least: I forsee a very strange sequence of events where you summon a warhorse who is the red ranger, then summon for that warhorse another warhorse who is the blue ranger, then summon for that warhorse another warhorse who is the black ranger, until you're riding on top of 5 multicolored horses each bigger than the last and everything is very silly.

Quibble: I would move the fall damage immunity for pink to here. I'll talk more about that below.



This is delightful. Probably really freaking OP, but delightful. You should probably include some language here transferring the normal benefits of the steed spells (like telepathy and ability to give orders and such) to the intended rider rather than yourself. You should probably consider some kind of added cost for this: maybe require 1 additional 1st level or higher spell slot per additional creature summoned? This would still be a bargain, getting 5 greater steeds for a 5th levels slot plus 4 1st level slots.

The reason I feel like the fall damage immunity should be moved is this: the main reason you would want fall immunity in this context is if you fall OFF your steed... at which point you would presumably no longer benefit from this effect, making it kind of useless.



This might be one of my favorite features so far from any of these contests. I know this is a joke entry and everything, but this is so freaking cool. I want to see something like this on a serious subclass.



Neat.



This is a really elegant way to make a potentially overly complex ability work, and work well. This is another ability I'd like to see on a more serious entry. It's overpowered as written (I doubt this is news to you) but I think my suggestion above adding an extra cost to multi-mount summons would help to keep this in line, at least a little.

You should probably have the rangers automatically mount the megazord as long as they're actively mounted on their zord.

This was amazing, man. Really, really well done.

Thanks a lot for the positive feedback. I see your point about the Humanoid limitation. I think I'll make the limit Intelligence based. That would void most familiars, mounts, and pets, but I didn't want something that could be construed as racist since it would eliminate Hexbloods and fairies as viable options... I'll add a line to Mighty Steeds about them being sized as a mount or large, whichever is smaller. That way if you have a huge PC (not common but everything is up to the DM) they can maybe get a mighty hunting beast instead of steed.

The fall immunity was really for having the mount leap off of high things, but I guess if it gets shot out of the air it disappears, I'll swap to resisting psychic and bring the unknown color to just force.

[Damon_Tor]

I think I'll make the limit Intelligence based. That would void most familiars, mounts, and pets, but I didn't want something that could be construed as racist since it would eliminate Hexbloods and fairies as viable options... I'll add a line to Mighty Steeds about them being sized as a mount or large, whichever is smaller. That way if you have a huge PC (not common but everything is up to the DM) they can maybe get a mighty hunting beast instead of steed.

A Pegasus has an int of 10, and is one of the default choices listed for Find Greater Steed, and all Steeds/Greater Steeds have a minimum int of 6: since 5th edition started I've had more 6 int or lower PCs (3) at my table than I have fairy PCs (1) so I'm not sure this limitation would be any more effective at solving the problem. (Hexbloods are "fey and humanoid" so a "humanoids only" restriction would include them just fine)

Maybe you could instead limit it to "creatures with at least one level in any class". This should mostly limit the ability to effecting PCs and "sidekick" companion characters, which is probably what you're going for.

[BerzerkerUnit]

A Pegasus has an int of 10, and is one of the default choices listed for Find Greater Steed, and all Steeds/Greater Steeds have a minimum int of 6: since 5th edition started I've had more 6 int or lower PCs (3) at my table than I have fairy PCs (1) so I'm not sure this limitation would be any more effective at solving the problem. (Hexbloods are "fey and humanoid" so a "humanoids only" restriction would include them just fine)

Maybe you could instead limit it to "creatures with at least one level in any class". This should mostly limit the ability to effecting PCs and "sidekick" companion characters, which is probably what you're going for.

Final rules for Hexbloods has them as Fey, Dhamps and Reborn are just humanoid, so I think dual typing is a no go. I suspect future races will also be single type. My ooze race, the Aez, were Ooze but I added a feature "made to serve" tied into their origin which makes them subject to the "Charm/Hold/Dominate Person" spells and others that target humanoids... digression.

I'd swear there was a sentai dog at some point on the Japanese shows, I know the original white ranger was a kid that became a full sized ranger... Sidekick rules can be applied to things like animal companions and favorite mounts anyway so I don't see it being a problem. If there's an obvious abuse I'm missing let me know.

As I understand Find Steed and Find Greater Steed, if you recast the spell the previous steed disappears. As I've written the feature, the additional steeds disappear if you cast either spell again or reassign colors, so mount stacking was never an issue.