D&D Subclass Contest XXIII Voting Thread

[MoleMage]

Contest 23 is done, with 12 complete entries this time!

Simple rules. Vote for your top three picks in order. You can't vote for yourself. A number 1 vote is worth 3 points, a number 2 vote is worth 2, and a number 3 vote is worth one.

Entry	Creator	1st	2nd	3rd
Druid: Circle of the 5th Element	nickl_2000	0	1	0
Rogue: The Maverick	Damon_Tor	1	1	2
Ranger: 5 Colors of Power	BerzerkerUnit	2	2	0
Wizard: School of Chiromancy	CountDVB	0	0	1
Warlock: The Weaver Patron	Ilerien	2	1	1
Cleric: Grief Domain	thisdude9001	0	0	0
Monk: Way of Balance	Oerlaf	0	0	0
Cleric: Evil Domain	MrStabby	0	0	0
Barbarian: Path of the Dragon Queen	Edea	2	3	1
Fighter: Student of the Five Rings	sengmeng	0	0	2
Paladin: Oath of the Paramander	Lvl45DM!	2	0	0
Rogue: Hand of the Dead	quindraco	0	1	2

Classes unrepresented in Context XVII: Artificer, Bard, Sorcerer

All five themes are randomly chosen this time around, since we didn't have a vote last time due to a tie in contest 21. Pick your top two in order, a number one vote is worth 2 and a number 2 vote is worth one point.

Theme	Description	1st	2nd
Warriors of Old	Subclasses from previous editions	3	1
Bigger is Better	Subclasses with something big	4	3
Well, That's Fortunate	Subclasses based on luck or fortune	1	1
Hold My Ale	Subclasses based on drinking or carousing	1	2
From Zero to Hero	Ordinary folks doing the extraordinary	0	0

This voting thread will stay open until the end of the day on June 27th. The following day I will post with the tallied results and declare a winner, then post the next contest thread. Good luck everyone!

[nickl_2000]

1. Path of the Dragon Queen - I love this subclass, this is a great usage of the theme and a really fun and effective Barbarian class. This is a Barbarian class that I would play (and I generally don't play Barbarians in more than one shots).
2.The Maverick - This is a missing trope from D&D and really needed represented. It's a great use of the theme and concept.
3. Rogue - Hand of the Dead - Another good implementation of the gambler trope. I like how the gambling that you do has combat implications as well as out of combat uses.


Theme:
1. Bigger is Better
2. Warriors of Old

[MrStabby]

1) Path ofthe Dragon Queen. Strong unified theme. Fits the buch of 5s. Great fun and generally well balanced mechanics. I think a stand-out as not only fun to play but fun to play with and still naturally feels like a barbarian still as well! A real stand out.

2) Hand of the dead. Simply written but potentially complex to play. A fun ability running through the core of the class that seems well balanced - given the advantage, the half proficiency and probably pretty decent stat roll coupled with the short rest recovery you will be re-rolling a lot, but this needn't be a bad thing. Also appreciate the tightness of wording such that you can't use the ability to perpetuate itself.

3) Student of the 5 rings. It took me a while to spot the bunch of 5s asanything more than the title, but the class itself is simple and streamlined but I think in play it would also have a cohearent character as an archetypal dex based fighter.


And for the next competition:

1) Bigger is Better

2) Hold my Ale

[Snowben Gaming]

1)The Weaver - Very cool, is great for all types of Warlocks whereas some patrons (*cough cough* hexblades *cough cough*) tend to lean towards blade-lock or not blade-lock.
2)Path of the Dragon Queen - A great idea for the theme that ties it into dnd canon that is also mechanically represented wonderfully.
3)Hand of the Dead - This looks real fun, and has some real neat mechanics to back that up.

Themes:
1)Well that's Fortunate
2)Bigger is Better

[Lvl45DM!]

1 Ranger Conclave of Power: GO GO POWER RANGERS! Jokes aside I found it mechanically effective and efficient, filling a niche in Ranger subclasses.
2 Barbarian Path of the Dragon Queen: Awesome, flavourful but open enough that I can use it in my world that doesn't have Tiamat in it.
3 Rogue Maverick: Its good at being exactly what it wants to be and is a better Bard RP-wise than 5e Bards are if you ask me.

1 Warriors of Old
2 Bigger is Better

[Edea]

1) Rogue: The Maverick (Damon_Tor) - I like the crunch, here, and as nickl2000 mentioned it's an archetype that's missing in the base game that probably shouldn't be.

2) Ranger: 5 Colors of Power (BerzerkerUnit) - Excellent flavor, the idea of playing a Power Rangers-themed character puts a smile on my face.

3) Fighter: Student of the Five Rings (sengmeng) - I appreciate the streamlined nature as that makes it easier to incorporate. I'm not sure the stances got completely finished but I'm giving that a pass.

-----

1 - Warriors of Old
2 - Hold My Ale

[quindraco]

Subclass vote:

1. Warlock: The Weaver Patron
2. Ranger: 5 Colors of Power
3. Barbarian: Path of the Dragon Queen

These all felt both thematically appropriate and well-designed to me; I don't have any in-depth explanation for you beyond that, sorry. :/

New theme vote:

1. Hold My Ale
2. Bigger is Better

[Damon_Tor]

1. 5 Colors of Power
2. Circle of the 5th Element
3. The Weaver

1. Bigger is Better

[BerzerkerUnit]

1. Oath of the Paramander. I've been looking for more representation for characters tied to Chronepsis.
2. Weaver Patron. One of these days I need to add my Archmage Sorcerer Origin for one of these.
3. School of Chiromancy. I liked this more than I thought I would. I think @ level 2 the hands should grant you a Shield (armor item not spell) bonus when you are not wearing armor or wielding a shield showing how the magic hands can deflect blades.

Next Contest-
Bigger is Better.

[Ilerien]

1. Paladin: Oath of the Paramander. It lacks tenets, which I would really like to see, but hey, otherwise it's good. Bonus points for doubling down on alignment theme. I'm getting vibes of 3.5e variant paladins of honor/tyranny/freedom/slaughter, but combined in one character.
2. Barbarian: Path of the Dragon Queen. Very thematic and well designed. Not only improves rage, but wants you to use reckless attack.
3. Rogue: The Maverick. 5e lacks a gambler subclass altogether, and I think this execution really delivers on what it advertises.

Themes:

1. Warriors of Old
2. Well, That's Fortunate

[MoleMage]

I'm back at the keyboard so here's the contest results!

In 3rd place, with 9 points total, it's Ilerien's Weaver Patron for Warlocks. Wear a stylish glove! Manipulate the threads of magic! Use wands and staffs more efficiently!

In 2nd place, with 10 points total, it's BerzerkerUnit's 5 Colors of Power Ranger. Be a Power Ranger! Force your friends to wear certain colors whether they want it or not!

And in 1st place, with 13 points total, it's Edea's Path of the Dragon Queen. Unleash the wrath of the five-headed dragon god! Change your energy type each time you rage! Deal damage to hordes better than any other barbarian!

And our winner for theme by a landslide was Bigger is Better. I'll have it formatted soon and posted to the chat thread. Warriors of Old was our runner-up so it'll stay in the voting pool for next time. Good luck in the next contest, everyone!

New thread is here!: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...gger-is-Better