D&D 5E Need help making sure this class is balanced: The Alice Class for A Red and Pleasant Land

[Cyber-Dave]

I'm currently preparing the 3rd part of a 3 part campaign for my players. In the 3rd part, they will end up traveling from their Prime Material world (a homebrew setting I call Age of Arcana) to a demiplane which is pretty much The Land the Gods Refuse to See from Zak S.'s A Red and Pleasant Land. I'm preparing a homebrew version of The Alice class which captures some of its tone and flavor, but in a manner better suited to my tastes, my setting, and my table. I think I have made sure that this is balanced, but I could use feedback and additional sets of eyes to catch problems I might not have thought of. Please let me know what you think:

 

[Cyber-Dave]

I made a few edits based on feedback from other sources, but cutting and pasting is turning into a bit of a pain. Does anyone know, is there a way to attach a Word document to a post?

 

[Satyrn]

You can indeed attach .doc files. Look for the "manage attachments" button below the textbox on the new post page (and probably while editing)

 

[Cyber-Dave]

Thanks. I put an updated version of the class up as an attachment.

 

[Satyrn]

Well, nothing leaps out at me as being terribly likely to be a problem.

I don't like the bit about getting an extra spell slot if the DM chooses the new spell known, but really just because I'm afraid I'd start to feel hounded by the player after every long rest.

Oh, that raises one thing that was . . . Edit . . . perfectly clear

 

[Cyber-Dave]

Huh? What was perfectly clear? Sorry to be ironic, but I'm confused...

Yea, the whole spell known thing isn't designed to hound the DM (but I get your concerns). I wanted the DM to be able to literally pick any 3rd level spell at random. It might be a good choice, it might not, but the idea is to play into fate leading the Alice around (by rewarding the PC for putting part of their agency in the hands of the DM for that day).

 

[Satyrn]

Huh? What was perfectly clear? Sorry to be ironic, but I'm confused...

I had asked how long the bonus spell slot from that feature was meant to last . . . and then saw the feature's description clearly stated that.

Anyway, this class is highly flavorful, and I like it. It looks like a fun component in a wildly wacky setting.

 

[Cyber-Dave]

Thanks!

 

[Daern]

Here's the version I made a while back, posted on my blog. My version is quite a bit more randomized. I imagine it depends on how traditional your 5e game is. Will players need to know what abilities are coming up next?
http://neradia.blogspot.com/2018/02/conversion-of-red-pleasant-lands-alice.html

 

[Cyber-Dave]

Meh, I chose not to go the "you acquire class abilities" at random route on purpose. I don't think any of my players would ever pick the class if I did that. To be honest, I don't think I would if I was one of them either. I do, however, lov the idea of the Alice being good at using all gaming sets. It is a flavor filled rule that shouldn't break the game in any way that I can think of. So, I made another tweak to the class.