Homebrew class archetypes?

Afrodyte · Sep 2, 2014

I'm really liking the flexibility of 5e so far, but I know it may be a while before any official products come out that give players more choices for class archetypes (sorcerous origins, warlock pacts, fighter archetype, bard colleges, cleric domains, druidic circles, etc.).

Some stuff I'd be interested in:

Fighter archetypes that key off of the fighting style and go beyond sword-and-board or BFS types.
Bard colleges that emphasize the more social aspects (read: manipulation, deception, and outright mind control) of the bard.
Cleric domains that would fit evil or neutral deities.
Druidic circles linked specifically to plants, seasons, or some such.
Celestial or elemental warlock pacts.
Sorcerous origins linked to fey, aberrations, fiends, and celestials.

What are some class archetypes you've come up with for your own campaign, and what would you be interested in seeing?

The Shadow · Sep 2, 2014

I'd really like to see Wizard traditions not based on the schools of magic. I'm tossing around ideas for an Alchemist and a Rune Mage already.

What I'd really like is a suitable replacement for the AD&D Illusionist. Currently a reskinned bard seems like the best bet. Perhaps a new College? Or expand the Arcane Trickster out to a half-caster or even full caster?

A wizard tradition could also work, I suppose, but it would have to drastically curtail the spell list while making the illusions, enchantments, and a miscellaneous few others really amazingly good.

Quickleaf · Sep 2, 2014

Afrodyte said:
I'm really liking the flexibility of 5e so far, but I know it may be a while before any official products come out that give players more choices for class archetypes (sorcerous origins, warlock pacts, fighter archetype, bard colleges, cleric domains, druidic circles, etc.).

Some stuff I'd be interested in:

Fighter archetypes that key off of the fighting style and go beyond sword-and-board or BFS types.

Bard colleges that emphasize the more social aspects (read: manipulation, deception, and outright mind control) of the bard.

Cleric domains that would fit evil or neutral deities.

Druidic circles linked specifically to plants, seasons, or some such.

Celestial or elemental warlock pacts.

Sorcerous origins linked to fey, aberrations, fiends, and celestials.

What are some class archetypes you've come up with for your own campaign, and what would you be interested in seeing?

Like you pointed out, some of those options are being homebrewed right here already!

A couple archetypes I've been brainstorming:

Maiden, Mother, Crone warlock patron for witches tied to the Norns/Fates, Horae, triple-aspected goddesses/vestiges, and "patrons of ambiguous origin."
Noble Genie warlock patron for sha'ir (just wrote this up for an AL-QADIM conversion).
Druidic Circle of Changes focused on time, seasons, and reincarnation.
Scout as a ranger who gets a boost to what they can do with Primeval Awareness and some rules that actually reflect how scouting away from the rest of the party work at the game table. I'd be tempted to merger this with the 1e "frontiersman" ranger.
Swashbuckler fighter archetype with some fun mobility features.
Detective/Inquisitive rogue archetype focused on clue gathering, information brokering, contacts, and being a "rogue to catch a rogue."
Horsemasher barbarian drawing inspiration from the unofficial BD&D barbarian that appeared in the pages of White Dwarf magazine.
Artificer, in some shape or form, because I have a player/fellow DM who loves artificers.

The Shadow · Sep 3, 2014

Quickleaf said:
Maiden, Mother, Crone warlock patron for witches tied to the Norns/Fates, Horae, triple-aspected goddesses/vestiges, and "patrons of ambiguous origin."

Great minds think alike. I was also pondering this for warlocks. And elemental ones too.

I still think these could be distinct from the sha'ir - and each other.

I could see warlocks tied to powerful slaadi, too. Modrons would be weird, but perhaps doable.

How about being the warlock of a powerful necrotic entity, or even Death Itself? Lots of necromantic spells.

I believe you mentioned the Lich-Queen of the Githyanki before as a patron?

Even the Fiends could stand to be differentiated. The current Fiend patron is heavily focussed on fire, which reminds me of (some) devils. But one would expect a warlock of Demogorgon, or Orcus, or gods help you, Charon, to be very different. Whereas night hags or Yeenoghu or the like would be different yet again. (I'd think demon lords would be more likely to have warlocks than clerics.)

Druidic Circle of Changes focused on time, seasons, and reincarnation.

Interesting! Just like Circle of the Land has the different terrain types, perhaps these guys would have Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter variants?

Scout as a ranger who gets a boost to what they can do with Primeval Awareness and some rules that actually reflect how scouting away from the rest of the party work at the game table. I'd be tempted to merger this with the 1e "frontiersman" ranger.

The ranger really does need more to do with Primeval Awareness. Currently you can easily do a spell-less paladin just by using Smite all the time. The ranger can't really similarly spam PA.

Swashbuckler fighter archetype with some fun mobility features.

Maybe, but I'd think you could do this with some new maneuvers?

Detective/Inquisitive rogue archetype focused on clue gathering, information brokering, contacts, and being a "rogue to catch a rogue."

I like it!

Artificer, in some shape or form, because I have a player/fellow DM who loves artificers.[/list]

Hmmm. My ideas for the Alchemist might be easily reskinned into an Artificer.

Afrodyte · Sep 3, 2014

The Shadow said:
How about being the warlock of a powerful necrotic entity, or even Death Itself? Lots of necromantic spells.

Even the Fiends could stand to be differentiated. The current Fiend patron is heavily focused on fire, which reminds me of (some) devils. But one would expect a warlock of Demogorgon, or Orcus, or gods help you, Charon, to be very different. Whereas night hags or Yeenoghu or the like would be different yet again. (I'd think demon lords would be more likely to have warlocks than clerics.)

I'd like to see this too.

The Shadow said:
Interesting! Just like Circle of the Land has the different terrain types, perhaps these guys would have Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter variants?

Yup.

The Shadow said:
Maybe, but I'd think you could do this with some new maneuvers?

I did Porthos pretty easily with the RAW.

Evenglare · Sep 3, 2014

@OP. You mentioned celestial sorcerer, I created something similar on my thread but it's a barbarian subclass. By the way I REALLY want to see that season druid. Sounds badass.

Morrus · Sep 5, 2014

I just created an Archetypes Database to go along with the Backgrounds and Spells ones.

fairweather · Sep 10, 2014

On the topic of fighters beyond sword and board, this is an archetype for an Antimage/Mage Hunter I made for our table.

Please not that balance is not of a concern to us, since we're hyper-casual and want to do cool things in the few times we get together. So it may need tweaks to be brought in line.

Anti-Mage

Spellbreak: Starting at 3rd level, you gain a charge of Spellbreak anytime a spell is cast within 15 feet of you. Spellbreak charges are used to cast spells and enhance your natural abilities. You use Charisma as your spellcasting ability.

You lose half of your Spellbreak charges after a short rest and all of your Spellbreak charges after a long rest.

Level	Spell	Charges
3rd	Detect Magic (1)	1
3rd	Dispel Magic (3)	3
9th	Counterspell (3)	3
9th	Silence (4)	4
17th	Antimagic Field (8)	8
17th	Feeblemind (12)	12

Know Thy Enemy: At 7th level you gain proficiency in Arcana if you do not already have it. If you are already proficient, you gain Expertise in it instead, applying double your proficiency bonus to Arcana skill checks.

In addition, you gain the Mage Slayer feat if you do not already have it. If you already have it, you may take your Ability Score Improvement instead.

Magekiller: Starting at 10th level, you add the spellcasting ability mod of enemies you attack to the attack and damage rolls against them.

Spellbreaker: Starting at 15th level, when you have 10 or more charges of Spellbreak, all attacks and spells targeting you have disadvantage.

Templar Resistance: At 17th level, you can become nearly immune to magical attacks, gaining resistance to all damage from enemy spells and ongoing magical effects as long as you have 5 or more charges of Spellbreak.

RhaezDaevan · Sep 11, 2014

fairweather said:
On the topic of fighters beyond sword and board, this is an archetype for an Antimage/Mage Hunter I made for our table.

Please not that balance is not of a concern to us, since we're hyper-casual and want to do cool things in the few times we get together. So it may need tweaks to be brought in line.

Anti-Mage

Spellbreak: Starting at 3rd level, you gain a charge of Spellbreak anytime a spell is cast within 15 feet of you. Spellbreak charges are used to cast spells and enhance your natural abilities. You use Charisma as your spellcasting ability.

You lose half of your Spellbreak charges after a short rest and all of your Spellbreak charges after a long rest.

Know Thy Enemy: At 7th level you gain proficiency in Arcana if you do not already have it. If you are already proficient, you gain Expertise in it instead, applying double your proficiency bonus to Arcana skill checks.

In addition, you gain the Mage Slayer feat if you do not already have it. If you already have it, you may take your Ability Score Improvement instead.

Magekiller: Starting at 10th level, you add the spellcasting ability mod of enemies you attack to the attack and damage rolls against them.

Spellbreaker: Starting at 15th level, when you have 10 or more charges of Spellbreak, all attacks and spells targeting you have disadvantage.

Templar Resistance: At 17th level, you can become nearly immune to magical attacks, gaining resistance to all damage from enemy spells and ongoing magical effects as long as you have 5 or more charges of Spellbreak.

Spellbreak mentions casting spells using the charges, but not how. Is it one charge per spell level? Is there a limit on how many charges you can have at once? Limit on how many charges you can spend to cast spells? Which spells can you cast?

fairweather · Sep 11, 2014

RhaezDaevan said:
Spellbreak mentions casting spells using the charges, but not how. Is it one charge per spell level? Is there a limit on how many charges you can have at once? Limit on how many charges you can spend to cast spells? Which spells can you cast?

Hey RhaezDaevan. Thanks, I didn't notice when I copied and pasted that into the forum that it deleted the table. I'll edit my post too.

Level	Spell	Charges
3rd	Detect Magic (1)	1
3rd	Dispel Magic (3)	3
9th	Counterspell (3)	3
9th	Silence (4)	4
17th	Antimagic Field (8)	8
17th	Feeblemind (12)	12