D&D 5e Base Class Contest XVII Chat Thread

[MoleMage]

Welcome to the chat thread for the seventeenth Base Class Competition for D&D 5e. If you wish to say anything about the competition which is neither a submission nor a vote, then it belongs here. You do not need to be a contestant to post here. You are allowed to critique a competitor’s work and offer suggestions on how to improve their homebrew through this thread, but it is preferred if you do so through that class’ specific thread (if applicable).

Current Contest: Who Needs Swords or Sorcery? II
Voting Thread: Coming November 29th. December 13th.

Spoiler: Former Competitions

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1st contest: Who Needs Swords or Sorcery?, won by WarrentheHero with the Inventor

2nd contest: Expect a low Margin of Terror, Won by Mourne with the Sleepwalker

3rd Contest: The Elements, and not the Periodic Ones (Probably?), won By Pygmybatrider with The Shaman

4th contest: Does Not Meet Expectations, won with a tie by Molemage with the Destined and Pygmybatrider's Mesmer

5th contest: Time to Chill out, won by Molemage with the Wintreborn

6th contest: The Monster Mash, won with a three-way tie by Molemage with the Golem, theVoidWatches with the Lycanthrope, and daemonaetae with the Elemental Scion

7th contest: Remix Mastery, won by KOLE with the Ranger Remixed

8th contest: Contest VIII: Magic Without Slots, won by MoleMage with the Cultist

9th contest: It's Time for Time, won by MoleMage with the Clockwinder

10th contest: Blast from the Past, won by PairO'DiceLost with the Martial Adept

11th contest: Contest XI: Signature Creation won by MoleMage with the Chef

12th contest: Contest XII: Hybrid Vigor won by MoleMage with the Witch

13th contest: Based in Science won by Old Harry MTX with the Pilot

14th contest: Contest XIV: Monster Mash II won by BerzerkerUnit with the Beheld.

15th contest: Contest XV: Partial Casters won by Damon_Tor with the Spellslinger.

16th contest: Divine Judgment won by BerzerkerUnit with the Forsaken.

Spoiler: Contest Rules

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1) The class you homebrew should fit the theme. You can interpret the theme as broadly as you like without risk of disqualification, but doing so may reduce your chances of earning votes during the voting period.
2) You may only create one base class. If you create more than one class then you must choose which one to enter and remove all the others from this thread and the contest (making them invalid) . If you do not specify which one you favor by the time voting begins, all of your content is invalid.
3) When you submit your class you must create a post on this thread which either has the content or holds a link to it. You may also optionally create one other individual thread for your class on the homebrew design sub-forum. If it is found that you have revealed your class on another site or on another thread than one on the homebrew design sub-forum, your entry will be considered invalid. If you do make a specific thread for you class, please mention its involvement to the competition in that thread. If you use external formatting resources such as Homebrewery, or GMBinder it is recommended that you also create a PDF of the content and share it here.
4) You may use other homebrew content (such as feats, spells, magical items and monsters) or even features to supplement your class, provided you have permission from the original creator and provide links to the source. Failure to receive permission from the original creation will disqualify you from entry in the current contest.
5) Your class must have fully completed mechanics and descriptions for it to be valid. Entries are due by 11:59 PM Central Time on the deadline. Any submissions after this point are invalid. No changes can be made to your class while voting is taking place. Failure to comply with the previous rule will result in disqualification.
6) Any content which has been declared invalid by the rules above cannot be voted for, but you may decide to remove it from the contest and create another class instead. If you are disqualified then you are not allowed to enter any more homebrew for this competition, though you may still vote and later enter the next competition.
7) Please note that misunderstandings occur, if you break a rule which results in disqualification it might be excused if you can convince the group that it was a result of confusion over the rules.

Contests stay up for 8 weeks unless an extension is requested by participants. Voting threads then go up for 3 weeks before the next contest begins.

Spoiler: Suggested Themes

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Dragons (What it says on the face.)
Heroes from Myths (Take a specific figure from myth, folklore, or cultural stories, like Heracles or the Monkey King or even Paul Bunyan, and make it a class.)
Other Media (Games, books, comics, movies, music, theater, even other TTRPGS).
Breakfast Cereal Mascots (Current or historical.)
Be Your Own Class (Turn an existing subclass into a feature-complete base class of its own.)
Not in Kansas Anymore (You can't use the same core damage or spell progression as any of the core classes.)

Also note that themes that have not been used in at least six contests (anything up to Blast from the Past, except Who Needs Swords and Sorcery and Monster Mash) are also eligible for being chosen.

[Breccia]

So by "weapon" that includes also making things to throw in combat, right? As in, no Grenadiers?

[MoleMage]

So by "weapon" that includes also making things to throw in combat, right? As in, no Grenadiers?

It's kind of a gray area. Last time for this theme the winner was an Inventor, and among the inventions that were possible were things that were weapons and even used weapon attack rolls. Many entries had some sort of non-spell-based magic theme. A couple tricksters.

Personally I wouldn't discount a grenadier. I'd be curious to see how you set it up.

[Edea]

Similar question for the other side; by 'non-casting', does that specifically mean not using the PHB definition of the Spellcasting class feature, or does it mean using anything at all that could be considered 'casting' something (like psionics, or vestige-binding, or truenaming, etc. etc.)?

[MoleMage]

Similar question for the other side; by 'non-casting', does that specifically mean not using the PHB definition of the Spellcasting class feature, or does it mean using anything at all that could be considered 'casting' something (like psionics, or vestige-binding, or truenaming, etc. etc.)?

So the official rule is, roughly, "if you feel like you can justify your class fitting the theme, it fits the theme". I'm not going to be out here disqualifying any classes for being a little off topic. But most people look at theme adherence when voting, so here's my forecast for that:

Last time with this theme people tended to shy away from things that were overtly magical even if they weren't spells (my class had a spirit companion and something akin to Divine Smite for allies, another class had glyphs that worked as supernatural traps, and both were specifically noted as being too magicky but at least a couple voters).

Personally I consider the line to be "not using Spellcasting or another resource that duplicates it" (a magic-point class is still casting spells). Something like truenaming or vestige-binding would probably be more okay, psionics probably less okay.

[sengmeng]

I did that thing where I stay up too late working on an entry on the first day the thread's up. Again. Thog, the base class The Dungeoncrasher is ready for PEACHes mmmm, Thog like peaches

[MoleMage]

If I can figure out how I want it to work I'm going to try and write a falconer class for this one. Possibly a more generic beastmaster, but I'm feeling birds.

1st level, choose your type of bird. Each has different perks but isn't a proper subclass (like Warlock Pacts)

2nd level, choose your subclass.

5th level, your bird can act more freely without your input.

11th level, your bird manifests heritage from a supernatural feathered creature.

And that's all I've got. Not even mechanics on these, just broad strokes.

[Breccia]

Personally I wouldn't discount a grenadier. I'd be curious to see how you set it up.

I'll see what I can do by the deadline. Midterms are coming up, so I'll have time to think well before I have time to put pencil to paper. Yes, I still use pencil and paper.

[MoleMage]

If I can figure out how I want it to work I'm going to try and write a falconer class for this one. Possibly a more generic beastmaster, but I'm feeling birds.

1st level, choose your type of bird. Each has different perks but isn't a proper subclass (like Warlock Pacts)

2nd level, choose your subclass.

5th level, your bird can act more freely without your input.

11th level, your bird manifests heritage from a supernatural feathered creature.

And that's all I've got. Not even mechanics on these, just broad strokes.

My alternate concept is a variant bard that has no spells but better/alternate inspiration. Maybe call it a Dirge or Dancer, because it will have some offensive "songs" in addition to buffs.

[sengmeng]

My alternate concept is a variant bard that has no spells but better/alternate inspiration. Maybe call it a Dirge or Dancer, because it will have some offensive "songs" in addition to buffs.

I will say a couple things: I like the falconer idea better but a spell-less bard is what the game needs. Do with that information what you will.

Also: I have added an additional subclass to the Dungeoncrasher.

[Old Harry MTX]

I am torn. The first thing that comes to my mind for this contest is a generic class (a Leader?) That uses a mechanic to hand over its actions and reactions to its teammates. Maybe it could have two subclasses, one with bonuses for martial classes (a Commander?) And one with bonuses for magical classes (a Teacher?). But I am not convinced, in the end it would not propose alternative solutions to attacks and spells, it would simply allow others to perform them instead of it... I don't know how much it reflects the theme of the contest, nor how much fun it can be...

I will say a couple things: I like the falconer idea better but a spell-less bard is what the game needs. Do with that information what you will.

Also: I have added an additional subclass to the Dungeoncrasher.

Why not a spell-less bard with a falconer subclass?

[Snowben Gaming]

Random idea that I've taken to: A chef, of some description.

Why? Why not.

[MoleMage]

Okay the general outline for the Falconer is written. It's missing 18th and 20th level features entirely and I haven't written anything above 11th level other than the name and a bit of flavor or either subclass yet.

GMBinder link here: https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MlOLPu77IazPluSH6u0

I'll work on getting it formatted for the forum once I have it fully written.

[MoleMage]

The Falconer is feature complete and formatted for the forum!

I found my tempo a lot earlier in this contest, probably because I'm finally done moving and have unpacked enough to be comfortable. Assuming I don't lose my rhythm I'll start work on feedback tomorrow. It's been a while since I did a proper review so bear with me.

[Isocahedron]

I didn't see this thread when I submitted -- but I would like some PEACHes for my Commander.

[MoleMage]

Okay I'm a couple days behind because I missed several days NaNoWriMo and had to crunch the last three, but I'm back at it.

In light of my absence most of this month, I'm going to put in an extension for the contest so I and anyone else can do reviews and PEACH. It's a little non-standard for the contest rules but I promised PEACH and I never delivered so...

New deadline is Dec 12th. With a standard three week window that puts our next contest just after the new year.

[MoleMage]

Well that holiday slog got to me and I missed even my own extension for PEACH but we need to keep this contest moving so here's the voting thread!

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...5#post25300395

[MoleMage]

Merry Xmas if that's your thing and Happy Winter Holiday of your choice if it isn't! There's still time to vote for the winner of Contest XVII. You should vote, even if you missed submissions this time around.

[MoleMage]

Voting is staying open until Sunday so it can round off to an even number of weeks, but the new chat and submission threads are up a couple days early! Go start your word processors, gentlefolks!

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...-(Open-to-All)