New D&D 5e Base Class Contest: Discussion Thread

[Just to Browse]

As a person frantically trying to finish their submission (it's not my fault), I would much appreciate an extra week.

[animorte]

As a person frantically trying to finish their submission (it's not my fault), I would much appreciate an extra week.

It’ll be an extra two weeks!

I’m struggling on the finishing touches and I also like having some time to review other’s creations.

[Breccia]

I mean, it's the holidays, an extension would probably help a lot of people.

[animorte]

I mean, it's the holidays, an extension would probably help a lot of people.

Aye, that it would.

The submission thread has been updated. New deadline: January 12th

[Gnomes2169]

... You know, the timing on this is quite fortuitous, as I'm just starting to redo/ modify my 5e base classes. And since I was going for a theme of Blood (the Bloodsworn), Bone (the Legionnaire) and Spirit (the Wandering Spirit), this fits the theme perfectly, methinks.

So, uh, I give myself permission to use the Legionnaire as inspiration ( ), specifically because I'm going to remake that one from the ground up and I have ideas for how to do so. The Bloodsworn just needed some tweaks/ rebalancing, which I already got done, and the Wandering Spirit is going to take some work and I don't know where to start on it just now.

So yeah, should see a new thread for the Legionnaire popping up for this competition soon.

[animorte]

Finish up your base class entries, only a few days left! I will close the submission thread at the end of the 12th.

[sengmeng]

Finally typed up the Redshirt. PEACHes welcome but not expected this late in the game haha.

[Just to Browse]

I literally have to write 1 more subclass and then I'm ready to submit it all aaaaaAAAAAAAAAA

[animorte]

See, I'll have some ideas together, but I like to start mine on the last day. Apparently I function best under pressure (thanks Queen/David Bowie).

[Just to Browse]

Class is done and posts have breadcrumb'd for navigation!

Re: Gnomes post in the submission thread: Replying here because that thread should be used for submission content. I'd prefer to avoid forcing users to visit a totally separate forum thread to view the submissions, when they could just scroll down to find my username/pic. I did just add some internal links at the start of each post; hopefully those help solve the navigational issue.

okay, time to start reading classes...

[animorte]

Class is done and posts have breadcrumb'd for navigation!

I was just about to request that you consolidate, but you adding the links in right at the beginning solves the problem I was expecting to see, as you know i intend only to provide one link. Looks good.

In short, thanks!

[Just to Browse]

Awesome, glad it works for you.

At some point I noticed that the class + subclass + monsters was over the 50k limit. I ended up doing a bit of trimming after that, but figured I was still close enough to the line that I should just split the content up and avoid possibly having 1 statblock in its own comment.

[animorte]

(A few didn't quite get a completed project, but here we go. Sorry about that.)

Death Itself - Voting Thread

Good luck everyone!

[Just to Browse]

I was late on this because I was struggling to finish up the thanator, but I wanted to add some new themes to the mix. Some ideas:

• Number 14: The D&D 5e Player's Handbook comes with 13 classes, which cover some fairly broad fantasies (fighter, wizard, rogue) and some more narrow ones (ranger, barbarian, monk). Write a 14th base class to fit alongside these.
• Props!: Write a class that uses components that you wouldn't normally need for D&D. Maybe a deck of playing cards, or a bag of scrabble pieces, or maybe just weird dice.
• Overdone Tropes: Write a class inspired by one (or more) of the world's most overdone nerd tropes, like Cowboy, Samurai, Viking, Robot, Knight, Ninja, Pirate, Zombie. I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton.
• It's What's Inside That Counts, Literally: Bodies are full of all sorts of interesting bits. You can have bones, muscles, a bunch of cool organs, firebreathing gullets, brain-extractors, or eternal souls trapped inside metal cages... create a class that focuses on what is inside of you.
• Wallbreakers: We all know that D&D is a game, but (in most campaigns) our character's don't. Flip the script by writing a class that explicitly breaks the 4th wall. Do you track who brought snacks? Do you beat a monster into submission using its own stat block? Do you flip to a random page of a book and deal damage using the words there? Go wild!
• RPG Mixup: Write a class inspired by another RPG.
• Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Write a class with an intense focus on co-operation.

[Old Harry MTX]

Can I suggest to also merge all the themes from the base class and the subclass contests?

[sengmeng]

Can I suggest to also merge all the themes from the base class and the subclass contests?

Seconded, but make sure they aren't doing the same one at the same time.

[animorte]

I was late on this because I was struggling to finish up the thanator, but I wanted to add some new themes to the mix. Some ideas:

Brilliant. I love opening up new themes.

Can I suggest to also merge all the themes from the base class and the subclass contests?

This is exactly a thought that I had. For example there is already Something Borrowed (subclass) and Hybrid Vigor (base) that are extremely similar.

Seconded, but make sure they aren't doing the same one at the same time.

Agreed. Else we use up all our ideas! I end up doing that sometimes anyway.

---

Also, how would you feel about the way themes are presented? I've maintained 5 options each time, and I remove any themes done recently, then roll randomly across the entire list. Sometimes we end up with a few of the same options. I could (perhaps should) remove all the options from the latest vote, except maybe the runner-up to make sure 4 are different. In addition, I could roll more options (8-10?) and allow for the same #1, 2, and 3 choices.

What do you think?

[animorte]

Much appreciated to kind words within! I will quote these things in the future as I intend to polish the class up later.

Spoiler: Response to validation

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3rd, the Gatekeeper: While it could use a little bit of formatting, adding the size of the Soul Touch as a sidebar to the class table to make its scaling a little clearer and easier to reference would be welcome, the mechanics for this one seem to be rather intuitive. A full build would take some planning to ensure you know what you're able to do, but the abilities all feel like they should work together and will be functional. I feel like a few of the class's abilities should cost more than 1 soul essence (the reviving one in particular), but that pool is limited enough that I can understand why a universal cost of 1 essence was implemented. Fluff wise, being the gates of death themselves was a unique choice for sure, though I'm not sure it was used to its fullest (specifically, I think it would have been neat if the subclasses were also somewhat associated with one of the afterlives, but that's just me). The descriptions and the poems are -*Checks his own class*- always going to get extra points from me.

Ah, so I was looking over the table several times knowing that I wanted to add something different. I couldn't for the life of me recall what it was, but you nailed it. Thanks for reminding me!

As far as the full build, you're absolutely right on kind of planning it out. However I was hoping that the concept of withholding a soul's effects it had on you would allow for adjustment if you chose to release the soul with the ability to swap out augments upon leveling.

I love the flavor. Sometimes I need to write out the flavor for what I'm trying to accomplish before I can actually focus on the abilities. I'll keep all of this in mind, especially the note of your be-the-gate statement as I debate moving it to its own thread entirely for balance and other adjustments in the future.

---

1. The Gatekeeper. Looking at that no-save damage on Soul Touch, I was really expecting the damage to be way off. But after a little estimation, it seems to be remarkably consistent after level 5, allowing for competitive damage while still opening up power budget for other stuff like aoe / applying riders / etc:

Spoiler: graph

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There are a couple places that need power level adjustment, like Purgatory's Restrain and Descended's Omen of the Fallen, but they're implemented in a way that I could make substitutions while still letting my players feel cool. One thing I would have loved more of is cool / weird death-themed utility. But still, this class SCREAMS its theme, from the early magic jar effect to straight-up shoving people into the river styx.

I genuinely appreciate you checking out the damage on Soul Touch. I ran some numbers compared to several other sources to determine the balance, taking into account the riders as you mention. I also took note of several other damage spikes (like Empower and Mantle) to discover how that matched against other common class' level appropriate options. If built for it, this can match nearly anything in terms of damage, but it can't crit and it's still limited by classic resource management (especially if you want to account for other valuable class features).

I mentioned above, I will take note of these words as I intend to move this into its own thread in the future for improvement. I'm really glad you noticed and enjoy the themes I attempted to portray!

[Just to Browse]

Still sad we didn't get to see the ability-switching vampire. Class sounded cool as hell.

Theme for this round looks fun as hell but I've signed up to do some co-DM'ing and I don't know if I can finish something grrr

[Gnomes2169]

C'mon, JusttoBrowse. Don't worry if business has you feeling a little frozen. You just need to chip away at things, no matter how frosty they get, and I'm sure a cool idea will end up icing this contest cake.

... Hoarfrost.

What do you mean I just committed word crimes? Air strike? My current GPS coordinates? Only way to be sure? Oh my.

[Gnomes2169]

@Senmeng: As a Minnesotan who just saw your submission, I have to inform you... I wasn't asking to be directly attacked in this way. How dare you? I'll have you know that I was on the cross country and robotics teams when I was in high school. And -35 C is only a little brisk.

[sengmeng]

@Senmeng: As a Minnesotan who just saw your submission, I have to inform you... I wasn't asking to be directly attacked in this way. How dare you? I'll have you know that I was on the cross country and robotics teams when I was in high school. And -35 C is only a little brisk.

Lol, I was a wrestler myself. Take a gander at my location. How do you think I know the tropes so well?

[sengmeng]

The Minnesotan is done. PEACHes begrudgingly accepted
.

[Notafish]

My "New Orc Ranger" ice hockey-inspired class is not done, but I think I've sketched out enough for feedback on the class and the puns.

I am fully guessing at the damage curve, and whether the class has too many or too few short rest toys, so I'd particularly like feedback on those things.

[Notafish]

The Minnesotan is done. PEACHes begrudgingly accepted
.

I think it's an interesting martial hybrid - aspects of fighter and barbarian, with rewards for having charisma and a lot of focus on movement. I really like the Ope feature.

I spent some time in Minnesnowta myself, but its been too long for me to recall any good references that you haven't already used.

I like that the subcclasses all have synergy with the norwester attack, but different preferred fighting styles. I'm also happy that there doesn't look like there is too much overlap between my hockey class and your hockey subclass (I might have more overlap with the football player).

Check the wording on Hat Trick and Midwest Cuisine - I think I get what you're going for in both places, but I'm a little confused by the wording on both features.

[Gnomes2169]

Annnnd, there. The fluff for the Frostheart should be done, and the mechanics were given another go-over and balance patch, so hopefully it's ready for proper reviews.

It's so late for me, I know there are typos. I KNOW IT. BUT I CANNOT SEE THEM. THEY PLAGUE ME SOOOOO...

[animorte]

Annnnd, there. The fluff for the Frostheart should be done, and the mechanics were given another go-over and balance patch, so hopefully it's ready for proper reviews.

Your fluff is nearly insurmountable, keep up the good work. I'll work on getting in some reviews in another week (or two).

That aside, I'm working on The Snowman (probably)! Right now I have two subclasses, one is most assuredly Abominable.

[animorte]

I've read through everything and had an absolute blast! It confirmed that mine still has interesting mechanics not yet touched upon. Speaking of which, you all know how I roll by now and I'm right on schedule to have mine complete on the very last day!

Spoiler: The Frostheart

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Yet again, your fluffy-flavor knows no bounds. With enough words, you could probably make just about anything fit whatever given theme.

I'll let you guess where you replaced "sworn" with "sword."

Your manifestation is awesome throughout all levels. Are there rules anywhere included for riding it, limits and such? Frigid Slam, is that supposed to be "Disengage" instead of "Withdraw" action?

Nicely done incorporating various uses for Frost Ward through most of the subclasses.

Frozen Flame
Frostburn 2d12 + Wis damage is probably too much at level 2.

Sharing the eternal tokens for Eternal Shield is just too cool.

Eternal Rebirth is amazing. However, I would add that it requires your reaction to take effect.

Lands
Can't get enough of the poetry.

Glacial Shield, balanced and scales beautifully.

Preserved
I love Wraith Manifestation. It made me think you were going to have a Frost Servant based subclass.

Well done on clarifying Twin Ray can't get abused.

Rejuvenating Demise might need a limit of uses per short/long rest.

Storm
The prose here is the true eye of the storm.

Vortex would probably work any time something passes through it for any reason, not just ending their turn in it.

Thaw
Sacrificial Manifestation is so heart-warming.

Spring's Tranquility seems to have a typo, saying "level 10" instead of "level 1."

I think Shattering Thaw should be a full on self-destruct. You could still use whatever its remaining hit die to determine damage and healing.

Life from Death, does your manifestation even technically have a weapon attack?

Spoiler: Minnesotan

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Overall, you definitely locked into your concept for this theme, as far as I can tell, not being from Minnesota. It could use a little more flavor to set the scene though.

Under Midwest Cuisine, you have a couple abilities that state, "the ability is lost if you take a short or long rest without using it." I think it would help if they were each reworded that it can be used until you begin a short or long rest. Something of that nature, it's just a bit confusing.

In Nor'Wester, "you gain all benefits associated with being in below freezing temperatures." I see where these benefits are listed under A Bit Chilly, but it's not entirely clear there which benefits are always relevant and which ones are only available below freezing temperatures.

I think Uff Da is the equivalent to "cheers" or "good health" as a celebratory exclamation before taking a drink. (This is based on my Golden Girls knowledge and Rose being from Minnesota, and that's it. )

Wrestling
Slam and takedown almost seem like they should go together as one effect. Slam as a bonus action for additional damage, leaving them prone, but no longer grappled. Unless of course takedown is supposed to keep you grappled with them?

Hockey
Skate is sweet. How far is the shove on Body Check? I love the name Hat Trick, but does it require that you specifically bring the creatures to zero or you just contributing?

Football
Choosing your position is awesome. Seeing more options could be even nicer. Teamwork is sweet.

Spoiler: Hockey Player Class

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You definitely start off with some classy flavor. I like it. I realize this is still basically an outline, but I'll provide some input anyway. Add in the health and it's still pretty much there.

Still working on the skill list, of course. Team Spirit isn't so strong that it would require too hard a limit. PB/SR is fine.

I love the choosing positions concept! Keeper 1/3 caster works great. Would it be known or prepared spells?

Level 6 Enforcer needs duration for marked enemy.

Hawk Key Puck is fantastic!

Power Play would probably work better as others using their reaction to gain bonus or additional attack.

All the Team Spirit subclass bonuses are brilliant.

I would actually have Penalty Box mimic the Forcecage spell instead of Banishment.

Well, just a little bit of polishing up, I really feel like this class is complete. Well done on nailing your theme!

Spoiler: The Jasarker

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The Sark truly brings to life exactly what resistance to damage actually looks like. Good rules for "keeping the Sark alive" and it reminds me of Pokemon in a small way. When one is low on HP (or just for different effects), you can just swap it to another.

Sark's Protection also provides resistance to force damage? Strong.

Remorhaz
Heated Body starts at 1d4 then scales with d6 instead, intentional?

Sense Prey and Burrower feel so accurate.

Winter Wolf
Solid summoning and improvement, no complaints.

Yeti
Love Chilling Gaze and Tear Asunder is sweet. Eyes of Frost improves the gaze nicely.

However, Freezing Gaze feels underwhelming; it burns through an additional use. If that's the case, maybe something like, "when you roll initiative and have less than two uses of Chilling Gaze left, you start with two instead."

Aspects
Ambush Aura seems situational, but has enough options and makes sense. It's my favorite aspect.

I was going to make a note of the Grand Aspects being perhaps too strong for level 11, but you scaled it up very well by holding the Supremacy off until level 17.

[Gnomes2169]

I've read through everything and had an absolute blast! It confirmed that mine still has interesting mechanics not yet touched upon. Speaking of which, you all know how I roll by now and I'm right on schedule to have mine complete on the very last day!

Spoiler: The Frostheart

Show

Yet again, your fluffy-flavor knows no bounds. With enough words, you could probably make just about anything fit whatever given theme.

I'll let you guess where you replaced "sworn" with "sword."

Your manifestation is awesome throughout all levels. Are there rules anywhere included for riding it, limits and such? Frigid Slam, is that supposed to be "Disengage" instead of "Withdraw" action?

Nicely done incorporating various uses for Frost Ward through most of the subclasses.

Frozen Flame
Frostburn 2d12 + Wis damage is probably too much at level 2.

Sharing the eternal tokens for Eternal Shield is just too cool.

Eternal Rebirth is amazing. However, I would add that it requires your reaction to take effect.

Lands
Can't get enough of the poetry.

Glacial Shield, balanced and scales beautifully.

Preserved
I love Wraith Manifestation. It made me think you were going to have a Frost Servant based subclass.

Well done on clarifying Twin Ray can't get abused.

Rejuvenating Demise might need a limit of uses per short/long rest.

Storm
The prose here is the true eye of the storm.

Vortex would probably work any time something passes through it for any reason, not just ending their turn in it.

Thaw
Sacrificial Manifestation is so heart-warming.

Spring's Tranquility seems to have a typo, saying "level 10" instead of "level 1."

I think Shattering Thaw should be a full on self-destruct. You could still use whatever its remaining hit die to determine damage and healing.

Life from Death, does your manifestation even technically have a weapon attack?

You've made too many puns. I know you could easily scroll up and expose my hypocrisy, but your word crimes, like mine, are unforgivable. We both shall be damned at the end of this contest.

Spoiler

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ctrl+F is my friend. It allows me to find these objects of my torment.

I did mean Disengage. As for riding, that's covered by the normal mount rules. If you are 1 size smaller than the creature or smaller, you may ride it. So when you get the ability to make your manifestation Large at level 17, or if you're playing a smol like a gnome or halfling, you get to ride your frosty friend around.

One general change I made that I should point out was that the Resonant Frost damage was changed. Instead of increasing in number of dice like a poor nerd's sneak attack, it increases in size (from 1d6 to 1d12) and may be applied to multiple attacks/ creatures each turn. This was so I could change how some features scaled (like Vortex, which could have potentially hit multiple creatures for 1d8+3d6 cold and 1d8 lightning EVERY TURN at level 10... the reduced scaling makes it easier to help with that) and simplify it a bit. It also means that the Preserved's level 18 had to change, since you can already hit more than one critter with an AoE, so now it's a minion focused feature that gives your bond manifestation advantage on attacks against creatures danger close to you, and lets them add your resonant frost damage on hits against those creatures.

Frozen flame
The Frostburn damage was a bit much, just 1d12 + Wis (+ Resonance potentially) now. This used to be the level 10 Channel Divinity, and I forgot to scale it back when I dropped the level.

The Eternal Rebirth is effectively just a copy-pasta of the Wildfire druid's level 14 ability, though without a range limit, which also doesn't require a reaction. Thus, no reaction for this one.

Preserved
As mentioned above, modified the level 18 ability to be more of a minion buffing, since Resonant Frost changed. Also added a limit of Prof mod/ Long Rest to the Rejuvenating Demise feature.

Storm
Originally, I had Vortex only trigger at the end of the creature's turn to ensure there wouldn't be cheap combos that basically just dealt fireball damage to every creature every turn they started in the vortex, but with the reduction in damage that Resonant Frost now deals, I'm happy to change it to more of a Moonbeam/ all of Fire trigger instead.

Thaw
Spring's tranquility was supposed to be the level 2 channel divinity. I think I just copy-pasta'd a level 10 box down before editing in the effect, and missed the level on there.

Since I changed Rejuvenating Demise, I figure Life from Death should probably change the same way. It's now 2d8 + Wis mod and can be used Prof mod/ long rest.

Shattering Thaw... Hmmm... Bond Manifestation used Self Destruct! It had 18 hit dice unexpended! It expends all of them! It's super effective! Bond Manifestation faints... (It now kills the manifest, but there's no limit on the number of hit dice it can expend).

Thanks for that feedback! Now get to work on finishing yours, so I can critique you.

... Also, Uff Da is weird. It's used for commiseration ("Uff Da, that was a rough patch yah went through there, bud") to low-key complain ("Uff Da, sure is a lot of snow I need ta shovel today") or when something is being annoying ("Uff Da, buddy, yah sure can go on and on about your aunt for a while there, don't 'cha know.") I don't think I've heard it used for celebration or in a positive light, but then, I don't hang around the older generations much outside of work. Minnesotans my age generally use it as a signal for exasperation, basically.

[animorte]

You've made too many puns. I know you could easily scroll up and expose my hypocrisy, but your word crimes, like mine, are unforgivable. We both shall be damned at the end of this contest.

I know nothing of which you claim! Ah, we might as well accept full responsibility and take pride in the eye-roll inducing word play. We'll go down together!

ctrl+F is my friend. It allows me to find these objects of my torment.

Your technological expertise has foiled my plans, yet again! Again?

Thanks for that feedback! Now get to work on finishing yours, so I can critique you.

Glad I could be of help! I look forward to many flaws being highlighted despite my best effort. Bring it on!

... Also, Uff Da is weird.

Thanks for the insight. I will add it to my list of most versatile expletives exclamations.