(closed) Who Needs Swords or Sorcery? (submission thread): 5e base class contest - 25

[animorte]

Welcome to the 5e D&D Base Class Contest XXV (25)!

Our voted theme for this next contest is…

Who Needs Swords or Sorcery? Design a class not focused on casting spells or making weapon attacks. Ever get tired of the same old hack and slash, spell-weaving nonsense of our beloved game? Now is the opportunity to change everything! Look around you and find mundane objects, realize their potential! Maybe your adventurer uses their clothes to ultimate effect on and off the battlefield. Make ultimate use of each tool in your backpack. Does your hair (or lack there-of) have any super-powers? Capture a day in the life of a diaper (yes, that's what I'm looking at now). Anything but that typical adventuring stuff!

Spoiler: Contest Rules

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• 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.
• 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.
• 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 your 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 6 weeks unless an extension is requested by participants. Voting threads then go up for 2 weeks before the next contest begins.

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

Deadline: July 7th will be the deadline for this contest. The voting thread will open the following day and stay open for 2 weeks.

[BerzerkerUnit]

Here's the "Mystic Warrior"

Whiplash incoming: I completely changed to my Monk/Barbarian solution. I don't think either class works well, I think they're both "too culturally specific" in a bad way. Here's a stab at fixing them.

RE: theme, this is an unarmed combatant that uses an altered mental state to achieve superhuman potential. There's weapon options, but they aren't needed.


Subclasses: Use any published for either Monk or Barbarian or the following:

Pharmacist
Bonus Tool Proficiency
At 3rd level you gain proficiency in Alchemy Lab.

Tinctures and Brews
At 3rd level your pursuit of better living through chemistry leads you to discover a broader array of concoctions to stir your spirit which unlock unnatural evolutions when you enter your Altered State. You may consume one dose as part of the bonus action you use to enter your Altered State. The effects of the dose linger for the duration of your Altered State or as described in the effect.
Whenever you finish a long rest with access to an Alchemy Lab or Herbalism Kit, you can prepare a number of doses equal to your Wisdom bonus. You can prepare as many different types as you can doses or all the doses can be the same or any combination between. These doses remain viable until you complete a long rest or 24 hours have passed, whichever comes first. Each of these doses is created for your unique balance of bodily humors and otherwise function as basic poison if ingested by another creature.

1. Slimy Sweat Substance. Your flesh exudes a highly viscous slime which makes it easy to move in confined spaces and difficult to restrain you. You can move normally in any space large enough for a creature one size smaller than you to move and can end the restrained or grappled conditions on yourself as an action.

2. Caustic Cough Concoction. At the start of your turn you create a 10 ft cone of acidic vapor. Creatures in the area must succeed on a dexterity save vs your Spirit DC or suffer 1 roll of your martial arts die in Acid damage and be blinded until the beginning of their next turn.

3. Brisk Breath Brick. You gain resistance to cold damage. In place of an attack you can breathe a 30 ft cone of frigid air that deals damage equal to 3 rolls of your Martial arts die ending the resistance. Creatures in the cone can make a dex save to halve the damage. This damage increases to 6 rolls of your Martial Arts die at 11th level.

4. Pleasing Pestilence Pill. You generate a sickeningly sweet scent. Creatures that move within 5 feet of you or start their turn there must succeed on a Constitution save vs your Spirit DC or be poisoned until the end of your next turn.

5. Varying Visage Vitamin. Until your Altered State ends you appear to others as an unremarkable member of their own species.

6. Will Withering Wash. Your features take on an exaggeratedly sinister cast which other creatures find unnerving. At the start of your turn you can force a creature that can see you to make a Wisdom save vs your Spirit DC or become Frightened.


Internal Alchemy
At 6th level you can now consume a 2nd dose created with your Tinctures and Brews feature as a bonus action while your Altered State persists and internally refine them into a new substance providing the benefits of one of the following spells in addition to either of the consumed doses’ effects until your Altered State ends. To determine which effect is achieved, add or subtract the #s found on the dose list and compare to the numbers listed below.
Enlarge/Reduce
See Invisible
Tongues
Alter Self
Spider Climb
Levitate
Darkvision


10 Shared Trip
Beginning at 10th level you master the art of creating a diluted version of your normal doses and given to others. Lacking the experience necessary to be truly awakened by them they instead gain the following lesser benefits:
Advantage on Saves vs the Frightened condition.
Temporary Hit Points equal to your Class level.
A pool of your Martial Arts dice equal to your Wisdom Modifier. When they hit a creature with a melee attack they can expend and roll one of these dice and deal additional damage equal to the result.

14 Chaemeristry
Your concoctions can now wildly alter the biology of the creatures that consume them. A creature that consumes 3 doses created with your Tinctures and Brews feature changes shape as if subjected to the Polymorph spell except as follows. The Creatures treats each dose consumed like a dose of Basic Poison and makes a constitution saving throws against your Spirit DC for each. If the creature is reduced to 0 hit points from this poison damage is not affected by the spell and instead begins to die. Creatures not reduced to 0 hit points roll 1d6 and compare the result to the table below to determine their form. If you consume 3 doses in this way while your Altered State persists, you do not treat the doses as poison and can choose a form from the list. The forms all use statistics of an average creature of its type as found in the Monster Manual but each appears covered with pulsating veins beneath oddly colored or patterned flesh, fur, scales, or plumage. If you are reduced to 0 hit points in this form, your Altered State ends.
1. Giant Sheep (use stats for Giant Goat)
2. Bullette
3. Medusa
4. Hydra
5. Grey Render
6. Young Kraken

You must complete a long rest before using this feature again.

[Just to Browse]

The Fool



A halfling in gaudy gold threads shuffles his way down a hall, unfazed and possibly unaware of a storm of blades and arrows spring forth from traps around him. He stops to pick up a golden bangle that has fallen from his wrist, narrowly avoiding a gout of flame that spurts out from a hidden alcove above his head.

Cornered and exhausted, a young dwarf cowers under the many mouths of a chimera. Just as the lion-jaws open, an invisible force abruptly knocks the creature aside, sending broken teeth into the air.

A fool is the undeserving beneficiary of serendipity, bumbling through battles and stumbling upon treasures without the intention, or even the desire, to do so. Fools use these unearned fortunes to take on daring careers as treasure hunters, wandering do-gooders, gourmands, religious leaders, or even just sight-seers. But regardless of what they do, every fool benefits from a universe that seemingly conspires to help them.

Life Comes Easily
Fools are not especially talented in the ways of war, scholarship, religion, or any other particular vocation that most PCs will identify with. While the fighter runs drills, the wizard pores over books, or even the bard practices song and poetry, the fool plays cards and daydreams. This is with good reason, for while others can easily tell the difference between time spent near a fool and time spent away, for the fool themselves, life has always been this easy. A fool may not understand that the world operates in a different way outside of their bubble of luck.

The constant good fortunes of fools allow them to be naïve and carefree, encouraging a life of wandering, thrill-seeking, and dabbling. A fool can have earthly ties like friends and family, but many find their greatest friends on the road.

Reality Blurs
Playing a fool is unlike playing any other class in D&D, because you don’t just play your character: you must also play the partial narrator. You may find yourself making decisions “in character” using information that your character simply couldn’t know, such as choosing the right path at a crossroads or walking head first into danger knowing that your foes will miss their attacks.

Remember to keep these mental constructs—your character, and your character’s serendipity—separate in play. Don’t be afraid to make intelligent and tactical choices at the table, but make your character act in tactical ways by happenstance. No matter how clever you choose to be, let your fool be foolish.

Class Features
As a fool, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d4 per fool level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 4 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d4 (or 3) + your Constitution modifier per fool level after 1st.

Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: Simple weapons
Tools: Choose two from any artisan’s tools, gaming sets, or musical instruments of your choice.
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma
Skills: Choose one from Animal Handling, Arcana, Deception, History, Nature, Performance, Persuasion, and Religion
Equipment:

• Any simple weapon
• (a) a lute, or (b) a musical instrument of your choice
• (a) painter’s supplies, (b) cook’s utensils, or (c) weaver’s tools
• (a) a dungeoneer’s pack, (b) an explorer’s pack, or (c) an entertainer’s pack

Level	Prof.	Features	Momentary Strength
1	+2	Unarmored Defense, Close Call, Unwitting Reaper	-
2	+2	Momentary Strength, A Chance Encounter (1)	1d4
3	+2	Fool’s Hand	1d4
4	+2	Ability Score Improvement	1d4
5	+3	Unwitting Reaper Improvement, A Chance Encounter (2)	1d4
6	+3	Aura of Protection	1d4
7	+3	Fool’s Hand Improvement	1d4
8	+3	Ability Score Improvement	1d4
9	+4	Tempered Serendipity	1d6
10	+4	Aura of Intuition	1d6
11	+4	Fool’s Hand Improvement, Unwitting Reaper Improvement	1d6
12	+4	Ability Score Improvement	1d6
13	+5	A Chance Encounter (3)	1d10
14	+5	Fate Hangs Askew	1d10
15	+5	Fool’s Hand Improvement	1d10
16	+5	Ability Score Improvement	1d10
17	+6	Starry Serendipity, Unwitting Reaper Improvement	2d6
18	+6	Aura Improvements	2d6
19	+6	Ability Score Improvement	2d6
20	+6	Inherit the World	2d6

Unarmored Defense
Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor and not wearing a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Charisma modifier.

Close Call
As a fool, you are fragile, more so than even those reedy wizards. But your physical frailty belies a strange protection, a warping of the universe that allows you to avoid even the greatest of life’s dangers. You have a reality-defying form of protection which has hit points equal to your fool level x your Charisma modifier. Whenever you would take damage, you may choose to have this protection take the damage instead. If this damage reduces the protection to 0 hit points, you take any remaining damage.

This ward leads to blades and arrows narrowly missing you, lightning arcing around you, and other bizarre products of what foolish folk would call happenstance (As a foolish person yourself, this is probably what you call it too). If you jump into a pool of lava and your protection absorbs the damage, the lava may coincidentally form a bubble, or its flow may be halted for that brief 6-second window.

This protection regains all of its hit points when you finish a short rest.

Unwitting Reaper
You are not a danger to others… at least you don’t think you are. As an action, you may do something ineffectual like cheer your friends on, scream and cower, pick your nose, etc. If you do, choose up to 2 creatures within 30 feet of you. One chosen creature gains advantage on the next attack roll it makes as part of an attack action. The other gains disadvantage on the next attack roll it makes as part of its attack action.

At the start of your next turn, these effects fade and you can’t choose the same creatures until the turn after.

At 5th level, the advantage and disadvantage of this feature apply to any attacks made with an action. At 11th level, they also apply to attacks made with a reaction. At 17th level, they apply to all attack rolls.

Momentary Strength
At 2nd level, your allies feel themselves empowered and your enemies find themselves sluggish. When an attack benefits from advantage thanks to your Unwitting Reaper feature and hits, it deals an additional 1d4 damage. When an attack suffers from disadvantage from that feature and hits, that attack deals 1d4 fewer points damage.

This damage increases and decreases as you gain levels as a fool, as shown in the Momentary Strength column of the fool table.

A Chance Encounter
Also at 2nd level, you can come upon someone or something that happens to provide you exactly what you need in the moment. During a rest or overland travel, you may choose a chance encounter from the list:

• The Magician: You gain the benefits of a 1st-level spell of your choice from the wizard list.
• The Hierophant: Up to 2 creatures that are resting or travelling with you regain a number of hit points equal to 2d4 + 2.
• The Sun: You can live comfortable lifestyle for a day. This does not allow you to turn a profit—any money you make by the end of the day ends up ends up conveniently misplaced.

The specifics of how you gain these benefits should be determined by you and your DM. You have the final say on which option you choose when you use this feature, as well as any options that are specifically listed as your choice such as the spell from The Magician. Your DM chooses all other specifics, including who, or what, gives you these benefits. One day you may might live in comfort with free room and board at an inn, another day you may pay from the proceeds of panhandling, a third day you might forage for berries on the road.

Your DM also has limited control over when the chance encounter occurs: it should be within 1 hour of you making a choice, but can occur at any time within that, no matter how inconvenient. The DM is encouraged to adjust these values to fit the narrative, but the values given are a strong suggestion for the minimums that these effects should generate. Your DM may require you to do something in order to reap these benefits, like visiting a temple or performing on the street, but these requirements should only be a minor inconvenience.

Once you use this feature, you must complete a long rest before you can use it again. You may use it an two times in between rests at 5th level, and three times in between rests at 13th level. You can expand multiple uses at the same time to get an encounter that grants multiple benefits at once.

Fool’s Hand
When you reach 3rd level, the true nature of your good fortune manifests itself. Choose Wheel of Fortune or Maxwell’s Demon, both detailed at the end of the class description. The hand you choose grants you features at 3rd level, and again at 7th, 11th, and 15th level.

Features from your hand may require an attack roll or saving throw. Those are calculated as follows:

Fool attack bonus = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier
Fool save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Aura of Protection
Starting at 6th level, whenever you or a friendly creature within 10 feet of you must make a saving throw, the creature gains a bonus to the saving throw equal to your Charisma modifier (with a minimum bonus of +1). You must be conscious to grant this bonus.

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

Tempered Serendipity
Starting at 9th level, the options of your A Chance Encounter improve.

• The Magician: You gain the benefits of a spell of your choice from the wizard list of 2nd-level or lower.
• The Hierophant: Up to four creatures of your choice that are resting or travelling with you each regain hit points equal to 4d4 + 4.
• The Sun: You and up to 3 other creatures can live comfortable lifestyle for a day.

You also gain two new options:

• The Tower: You come upon a safe shelter that can comfortably house you and up to 10 other creatures for a day. If you are resting in this area, hostile creatures do not enter the area or disrupt your rest.
• The Hermit: You gain answers to any number of questions of your choice about the area within 6 miles of you as though you had spent 10 minutes talking with a friendly creature who is familiar with the area. Additionally, you don’t suffer penalties for difficult terrain within this area.

Aura of Intuition
Starting at 10th level, you and friendly creatures within 10 feet of you ignore the blinded condition and deafened conditions (including blinding as a result of heavy obscurement).

At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.

Fate Hangs Askew
By 14th level, the failures of you and your allies twist into successes in unexpected ways. Whenever you or a willing creature within 10 feet of you rolls an ability check that they are proficient in, after the DM declares if the check is a success or failure, you may invoke fate by chance. If you do, that creature simultaneously achieves the results of both a 20 and a 1 on their die roll.

In some cases, this may simply be the equivalent of rolling a 20 on the check, possibly with a little accompanying embarrassment. In other cases, it may lead to a success at a notable cost, such as a thief opening a master lock but breaking their tools, or a dignitary charming a king while falling into bad graces with his retinue.

You may use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier, and you regain any expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Starry Serendipity
Beginning at 17th level, some of your options for A Chance Encounter improve.

• The Magician: You gain the benefits of a spell of your choice from the wizard list of 4th-level or lower.
• The Hierophant: Up to eight creatures of your choice that are resting or travelling with you each regain hit points equal to 8d4 + 8.
• The Sun: You and up to seven other creatures can live a luxurious lifestyle for a day.

You also gain 2 new options:

• The Priestess: Choose a person, place, or object, no matter how unimportant. You learn a brief summary of the most significant lore about that thing. This may consistent of current tales or forgotten stories. If the lore of that thing is particularly old, hidden, or secretive, you instead learn where the lore regarding it is located. This information may be couched in figurative language, or described in vague detail. The more information you already have about the thing, the more precise and detailed the information you receive is.
• The Empress: You gain a 10-minute audience with the entity that governs the region you are present in, or one of their representatives. You have advantage on ability checks that you make to convince this audience. If this is the first time you have spoken with them, your audience begins this conversation friendly with you.

Inherit the World
At 20th level, you may alter reality at your whim. As an action, you wish for something to come true, and then it happens as though someone cast wish on your behalf. You don’t actually cast the spell—you simply make a wish. Unlike with the normal spell, you don’t suffer any magical backlash, regardless of what type of effect you produce.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Subclasses

Maxwell’s Demon
Beyond the sight of mortal ken, the gods of the world make great cosmic bets about all manner of events, large and small. There are bets whether a great evil will be unsealed in this century or in the next, whether some scholar will finish her opus before she expires, and even whether particular fires will by snuffed out by the wind of certain breezy nights.

But not all gods are content to simply play the odds. From time to time, a precocious gambler may choose to cheat, sending agents cloaked in cosmic shadow to smudge a seal, play the role of muse, spread some coals, or otherwise tug on the divine dice. You have been chosen for a rather high-stakes bet, and aspiring gambler has assigned you your own divine envoy. They work tirelessly in the background to ensure that the world tilts itself in your favor.

Spoiler: Maxwell's Demon Featueres

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Small but Lively
Your seemingly constant stream of fortunes is the result of a semi-real creature called an envoy, which is cloaked in a divine void that hides it from the prying eyes of other gods. Your divine envoy is responsible for the majority of your powers, pushing aside axe swings from Close Call and delivering small blows to distract foes with your Unwitting Reaper. If this creature is confronted in the ethereal plane, use the statistics of a pixie. Your divine envoy is even more critical to you than a spellbook is to a wizard, so your DM should be judicious when deciding to interfere with it.

If you don’t use any other fool’s features on your turn, the divine envoy can move up to 30 feet away from you and manipulate objects on your behalf. It can open an unlocked door or container, stow or retrieve an item from an open container, or pour out the contents of a vial. It attempts to do this as discretely as possible, making its various actions seem like coincidence.

Back Off!
Despite its size, your envoy can escape its semi-reality briefly to deliver wounding blows. As a bonus action, you can choose a target within 5 feet of you, or a creature that you targeted with Unwitting Reaper this turn, and your divine envoy attacks that creature. Make a fool attack against that creature. If you hit, your envoy deals force damage equal to 1d6 + your Charisma modifier.

This damage increases by 1d6 as you gain fool levels at 7th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 15th level (4d6).

See the Hidden
At 7th level, your envoy can see those things which hide behind shadow or illusion. It does its best to alert you to dangers that it detects, though it doesn’t always succeed. You can detect the presence of creatures and objects within 30 feet of you well enough to ignore the effects of poor visibility or invisibility, but you only know their location, size, and how they’re moving. For example, you could detect that a small invisible creature is running down the street, but you couldn’t detect whether that creature was the halfling who stole your coinpurse last night.

Open the Valve
At 11th level, your envoy can create a small incision in the fabric of the reality, unleashing a violent outpouring of cosmic energy before the universe equilibrates again. By spending both your action and bonus action, choose a location within 30 feet of you. A violent eruption of raw energy radiates outwards in a 15-foot radius sphere centered on that point. Each creature and object within the area must make a Dexterity saving throw. A target takes 11d6 force damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

This damage increases by 1d6 each time you gain a fool level.

You may use this ability two times, and you regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Defy Judgment
At 15th level, your envoy hides you from all divine sight, even the all-seeing eyes of the gods. You can’t be targeted by any divination magic or perceived through magical scrying sensors, and you can’t be seen in the divinations of other creatures, even incidentally. If you would be present in a divination effect, instead you don’t appear. If your actions would affect the world, the divination contorts to explain the result in some other way, possibly by having another creature take the actions or by having the results of those actions occur by coincidence.

Your envoy can suppress or re-raise this effect at your option without an action on your part.

Wheel of Fortune
Chance is a strange thing. Random flukes may paint some creatures as lucky within the span of an hour, a day, or a week, but the iterative nature of randomness always brings things back to an average. As a village’s heavy rains eventually give way to an arid season, a traveling hero may find themselves safe one day and in peril the next. For someone to be lucky, truly lucky, they must be visited by chance consistently. Fools dealt the hand of the Wheel of Fortune are truly lucky, so they are visited by luck quite a lot.

Spoiler: Wheel of Fortune features

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The Ever-Rolling Chariot Wheel
Fortune visits you a tad more frequently than it visits others. As a bonus action on your turn, you may… well, you don’t do anything. But in this moment, a random event occurs. Roll 1d6 and consult the following table for the effect that occurs.

d6	Effect
1	Attacks against you have advantage until the start of your next turn.
2	You or a creature you can see gets a +6 bonus to its armor class until the start of your next turn.
3	You or a creature you can see gains 1d6 temporary hit points per point of your proficiency bonus. These hit points last until the start of your next turn.
4	A creature you can see must make a Dexterity saving throw or drop a weapon, shield, or spell focus it is wielding. The object lands in a square adjacent to that creature that is the closest to you.
5	A creature you can see must make a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
6	A creature you can see must loses 1d6 hit points per point of your proficiency bonus.

Exceed Expectations
At 7th level, you seem to have a knack for doing what the experts do by instinct. When you make an ability check that a tool or skill proficiency could apply to, you may add twice your proficiency bonus to the roll, even if you are not proficient.
After your uncharacteristically good performance, you then become uncharacteristically bad. Subtract your proficiency bonus from all ability checks that this tool or skill proficiency could apply to until you complete a long rest.

Good Odds
At 11th level, you can affect the twists and turns of reality. When you finish a long rest, set five d20s to the side, and set their rolled values to 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20. You can replace any attack roll, saving throw, or ability check made by you or a creature that you can see with one of these fortune rolls. You must choose to do so before the roll, and you can replace a roll in this way only once per turn.

Each fortune roll can be used only once. When you finish a long rest, you lose any unused fortune rolls.

Wax and Wane
At 15th level, the fates twist in the direction of your will. As a bonus action, choose up to 3 creatures you can see to receiving a blessing, and up to 3 creatures you can see to suffer a blight. Blessed creatures add a d4 to all of their attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks for 10 minutes. Blighted creatures subtract a d4 from all of their attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks for 10 minutes.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

[SyntheticHuman]

Here's the thread for my new class, the Apothecary: A support class that uses chemical knowledge to aid or sabotage others.
The Apothecary

[animorte]

Submissions closed. I will open the voting thread later today.

Sorry for the delay. Voting thread is right this way!