D&D Subclass Contest XIV Voting Thread

[MoleMage]

Fourteenth contest done, with 13 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
Artificer: Machinist	Phhase	0	0	1
Paladin: Oath of Volition	AdAstra	0	0	1
Fighter: Olympian	BerzerkerUnit	0	2	0
Warlock: Vestige Patron	Damon_Tor	3	3	0
Warlock: The IFCC	sengmeng	0	0	3
Sorcerer: Fateweaver	RickAsWritten	0	0	0
Paladin: Oath of the Planar Warrior	nickl_2000	1	1	1
Monk: Way of the Feyral	Speely	0	1	0
Rogue: The Juggler	MoleMage	2	3	0
Monk: Way of the Burning Heart	mk333	3	0	3
Rogue: The Slasher	Lvl45DM!	2	1	2
Bard: Gravesinger	SleeplessWriter	0	0	1
Warlock: Pact of the Skin	Segev	2	2	1

Classes unrepresented in Context XIV: Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Ranger, Wizard

And for our themes, Bigger is Better and The Pen is Mightier both carry over as last contest's runners up, alongside three randomly chosen themes. 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
Bigger is Better	Subclasses which have something bigger about them.	1	1
The Pen is Mightier than the Sword	Subclasses specializing in "stationery combat"	2	1
The Band	Musical subclasses	2	0
Warriors of Old	Subclasses from previous editions	1	1
Scaling Strangely	Subclasses which scale from unusual values	0	3

This voting thread will stay open until the end of the day on April 26. The following day I will post with the tallied results and declare a winner, then post the next contest thread. Good luck everyone!

[Lvl45DM!]

1st Warlock Vestige Patron - Binder was my favourite class in 3.5 and this is marvellous at capturing its spirit with the 5e spin. So much choice!
2nd Warlock Pact of the Skin - Just so full of potential for RP and mechanical fun
3rd Monk, way of the burning Heart - probably wouldve gone gravesinger if not for the delightful chance to play evil the whole game until suddenly youre good. Thats free RP real estate.

and for the next thread
1 The band
2 Warriors of old

[nickl_2000]

1. Rogue: Juggler - just looks fun, flat out fun to play.
2. Fighter Archetype: The Olympian - I'm a sucker for giving martials lots and lots of options
3. Monastic Tradition: Way of the Burning Heart - dark and gritty (at least until it isn't anymore ;) ). Lots of really good flavor.

[Damon_Tor]

1. Pact of the Skin - Questionable definitions of "subclass" aside, this passes the most critical "would you play this" threshold. Yes, yes I would.
2. The Slasher
3. Oath of the Planar Warrior

1. Bigger is Better
2. Scaling Strangely

[BerzerkerUnit]

Beastly competition in this contest.

1. Way of the Burning Heart- I love the fluff, you can sub in Wakfu ShuShus or possessions and having a level 18 final choice was a bold maneuver. It also looks super fun to play. I wish I hadn't slept on it, I would have said to add a note that damage taken from Ki expenditure can't break concentration on spells granted by this subclass.

2. Vestige Warlock- Was/am a huge fan of the Binder. Have my own Summoner class based Vestige subclass in development. This was good.

3. Slasher- I love shlock, this was written to be fun and it looks fun. Truth be told though, Gravesinger would have gotten this spot if it was "complete."

Honorable mentions:
Gravesinger: only thing that kept it out of the running was lack of stats for the spirits.
Pact of Skin: jiminy crickets does that look fun, but I chose a harder line on subclasses. If I was WotC I'd have this in a book yesterday.

[SleeplessWriter]

Subclass Votes:

1. Way of the Burning Heart - Everything about it is just SO RIGHT. Theme, balance, and the right mix of options and set or semi-random features. On point, dude. Very well done.

2. Vestige Patron - Binders are something I've been curious about for a while, though I haven't really read any of the actual material on them (just one of the campaign logs on here, can't remember which one. Might have been one of SilverClawShift's, it's been a while, I can't remember), so it's pretty cool to see them here, and it was pretty well done at that. Nice.

3. The IFCC - Honestly don't know why this hasn't happened sooner, bravo dude. I really like how you handled this, though there are one or two design choices I'd have handled differently, they work well and they probably fit better with your preferred play style than mine. Great work, man.


Contest Votes:

1. The Band! - I have no idea what I wanna do! but it'll be fun to think of something... heheheheh. Ha. *cough*

2. Stationary Combat - been thinking about this one for a while. I originally wanted to make a homebrew class where one of the subclasses would have fit the bill for this, but since that monstrosity is on hold for now I'm thinking lawyerlock.


"Ma'am, I assure you, I am no devil..."

"Oh, that's a..."

"I merely work for one..."

"..."


"Don't worry, you'll be fine (probably)... just make sure to read the terms and conditions thoroughly."

[Breccia]

1st: Warlock/Vestige. Very well thought-out, 100% fits the theme of the contest.

Then I had to flip a coin between
2nd: Rogue/Juggler
3rd: Rogue/Slasher.
because I couldn't decide. In the end, the Juggler just fit the theme of the contest a hair's bredth more.

[KragBrightscale]

1. Monk: way of the burning heart (inner struggle against the source of your powers? RP potential? Yes please)
2. Fighter: the Olympian (could be first if there were more ribbons)
3. Warlock: Pact of the skin (not sure if counts as subclass, but it should as this is excellent stuff)

For next competition:
1. The pen is mightier than the sword
2. Bigger is better

[Segev]

1. The slasher. I wasn’t expecting to rate this one so highly from its theme. I’m not into slasher movies. But the variety of build themes it offers and the way you can combine some features to make different approaches seems both fun and like a good result for this contest theme.

2. The juggler. As others have said, this one looks fun to play. Thrown specialists are uncommon in 5e, and this flows naturally to the role.

3. Path of the Burning Heart. This one also looks like a lot of fun, albeit a bit more of a juggling act to use with the self-damage. My one qualm is that the choice doesn’t happen until level 17.

I don’t really have a preference for the next theme. I worry that my best thought for Bigger is Better would be a refinement of something I’ve posted here before, though.

Are exhibition submissions okay?

[AdAstra]

1. Rogue- Juggler- Fun, and works well. Interesting choices
2. Monk- Way of the Feyral- Unique things to do, coupled with good implementation of spellcasting.
3. Warlock- The IFCC- Neat themes and fitting mechanics that don't break things

[RickAsWritten]

1. nickl_2000's Paladin: Oath of the Planar Warrior - I don't normally like paladins, but I'm a sucker for planar themes.

2. MoleMage's Roguish Archetype: Juggler - Looks fun and is a prominent trope in fantasy fiction.

3. AdAstra's Paladin: Oath of Volition - Again feels weird to pick a paladin, but the theme is good and I like movement abilities. Wish it had a little more actual choice to go with the meta-theme.

Next Contest:

1. The Band
2. The Pen is Mightier

[sleepyhead]

1. THE SLASHER
2. Pact of the Skin
3. Machinist

[Phhase]

Sorry if I'm late. Severe ennui. Also, so many good entries! Hard to choose! Anyway:

1) Segev - Pact of the Skin
While the fact that this is not technically a subclass does rankle my OCD tendencies, the fact that Warlock has so many Things™ that define what sort of character you are playing, combined with its sheer interestingness and potential, more than makes up for it. I love the flavor, I love the potential.

2) Damon_Tor - Build-a-patron Workshop Otherworldly Patron: Vestiges
I am addicted to options. This subclass has many, many options. I like that. I also like unique mechanics. I also like hidden synergies. This subclass is based around that. This subclass also has the option for you to create your own flavor. I like that too (irritated glance at Hexblade). My favorite part is The Shadow's Con. It explicitly enables one of my favorite, highly obscure combos: Nystul's Magic Aura into Banishment. Nystul's Magic Aura's Mask option states: You choose a creature type and other spells and magical effects treat the target as if it were a creature of that type or of that alignment. Banishment banishes a creature to a harmless demiplane, or to its native plane of existence, potentially permanently. The only thing getting in the way of making an enemy out to be a demon and then banishing them to the Abyss forever is the fact that Nystul's only works on the willing...until now.

3) sengmeng - Otherworldly Patron: The IFCC
Look, I know I'm picking all the Warlock options but I really like OOTS, ok? That can't be a controversial opinion. This is something I'm surprised I haven't seen before.

Also, thanks for the vote thisdude, I was afraid I wouldn't get any, but one is more than enough . So many good entries.

Next Contest's Theme:
1) Warriors of Old
I have, let's call it, a very...topical...idea.
2) Scaling Strangely
My addiction to customization is neighbors with my love of unique mechanics.

[MoleMage]

Guess I'd better get my votes in before it's too late.

1. Warlock: Vestige Patron. I just like everything about this; it's modularity fits very neatly into the warlock class without invalidating other warlock options, it's got new and interesting effects, and it fills a clear thematic niche.
2. Paladin: Planar Warrior. It's all around good, and the options allow for a good amount of in-the-moment versatility.
3. Bard: Gravesinger. While I'd like to see more options for souls, the mechanics here are solid, and I can see myself playing this class.

For my theme votes, I'm going to say

1. The Pen is Mightier. Not sure what I'd do, but I want to see what everyone else does.
2. Scaling Strangely. Maybe I'll make a muscle wizard.

[MoleMage]

Alright it's that day again where I tally the votes. We had a surprising spread this time around, with everyone getting at least 1 point and no clear breakaway. That said, we still have enough to call out winners, and here they are!

In third place with 12 points, MoleMage's Juggler! Be a trickster, a performer, or just a menace with thrown swords (or potions, arrows, daggers, or fire)!

In second place, with 12 points and the tiebreaker of more 1st place votes, it's mk333's Way of the Burning Heart! Redeem that demon residing in your soul, or embrace its cursed power, the choice is yours!

And in first place, with 15 points, it's those most modular of warlock patrons, the Vestiges, by Damon_Tor! How many ability combos can you find?


In the realm of next theme, we also had a surprisingly diverse vote; that said we will be taking The Pen is Mightier than the Sword as our next contest idea; The Band was our runner up and will be included in next contest's theme pool.