D&D 5E Non-Spiritual Wisdom Homebrew Classes?

[templar1138]

The 2020 update to the Blood Hunter class irks me. My only real problem with it is the switch from WIS to INT, as I've already got character concepts whose personalities are reflective of having a higher WIS than INT. It was hard enough convincing DMs to let me use that class, but now I'd have to ask to be allowed to retool it, so I'm looking for alternatives.

However, the only core 5e classes that make use of a high WIS are monks, druids, clerics, and rangers. Rangers have never appealed to me as a concept - even before 5e - and the others have too much of a religious or spiritual basis.

As I see it, wisdom is not strictly about enlightenment. In fact - based on the skills it factors into - I feel it would be more appropriate to call it Intuition. Wisdom strikes me as the ability that factors into a character's power of immediate observation and instincts.

I find multiclassing to be a headache, so can anyone recommend any good homebrew classes or subclasses that use WIS and aren't so spiritual? I'm particularly interested in a more martial class - like a WIS-based paladin.

 

[TwoSix]

Not as many as I would like, sadly. A lot of homebrewers see the paucity of Int options in the PHB and aim to fill them, which means there's a lot of Int-oriented homebrew.

Top of my head, the Sterling Vermin magus is a half-caster that uses different casting stats depending on subclass, there are some Wis-based ones. The Geomancer and Lodestar from En5ider are also Wis-based.

I'll look through my stuff to see what others I might have.

 

[Undrave]

Well, I'm still working on a new version but I have a Warlord with a WIS subclass (with a second, and possibly a third, coming in V2) called Steel Protector that's essentially a Combat Medic.

I dunno if its up to your standard but here is what I got so far (I'm gonna start a thread with the new version in the next few days if it catches your fancy). Note that 'Protector's Revenge' is getting a once-per-short-rest clause.

There's also the 'Perceptive Presence' class feature you can pick.

 

[DND_Reborn]

The 2020 update to the Blood Hunter class irks me. My only real problem with it is the switch from WIS to INT, as I've already got character concepts whose personalities are reflective of having a higher WIS than INT. It was hard enough convincing DMs to let me use that class, but now I'd have to ask to be allowed to retool it, so I'm looking for alternatives.

However, the only core 5e classes that make use of a high WIS are monks, druids, clerics, and rangers. Rangers have never appealed to me as a concept - even before 5e - and the others have too much of a religious or spiritual basis.

As I see it, wisdom is not strictly about enlightenment. In fact - based on the skills it factors into - I feel it would be more appropriate to call it Intuition. Wisdom strikes me as the ability that factors into a character's power of immediate observation and instincts.

I find multiclassing to be a headache, so can anyone recommend any good homebrew classes or subclasses that use WIS and aren't so spiritual? I'm particularly interested in a more martial class - like a WIS-based paladin.

I'm not familiar with Blood Hunter. So, what do you want this character to be able to do? You mentioned a WIS-based paladin, so are you thinking some sort of Martial Half-caster? What about the ranger doesn't appeal to you? You can play a "ranger" which is WIS-based and more focused on civilization than wilderness.

If you are willing to offer more on your desire for the build/class, it would help.

 

[Tonguez]

I havent played one but recall that Samurai has a lot of good Wis based defenses and saves, theres a few Samurai subclasses around too

 

[templar1138]

I'm not familiar with Blood Hunter. So, what do you want this character to be able to do? You mentioned a WIS-based paladin, so are you thinking some sort of Martial Half-caster? What about the ranger doesn't appeal to you? You can play a "ranger" which is WIS-based and more focused on civilization than wilderness.

If you are willing to offer more on your desire for the build/class, it would help.

The character is a loxodon, so I like the idea of him throwing himself into the fray, but being calm, soothing, and paternal outside of combat. The ranger doesn't appeal to me because it seems to be a watered-down druid and is heavily inclined towards DEX.

Thematically, the Blood Hunter is someone who opposes evil by way of fighting fire with fire. This attracts many edgelords, but I came up with a backstory that would keep my character friendly and optimistic as a result of the trauma he went through to become a Blood Hunter, rather than in spite of it.

I also went with a Blood Hunter subclass that mixed in some warlock mechanics as a result of aligning with a patron. All of that combined meant I could play a martial-heavy character with limited spellcasting to help in certain scenarios (such as casting Expeditious Retreat to come to the aid of overwhelmed party members who were far away).

If it weren't for certain mechanics cancelling each other out and limited access to high-level abilities, I might be inclined to multiclass this character as a monk/barbarian. I like the idea of him being a quasi-caster; someone with very limited spell use or who relies on spell-like abilities.

Does that make sense?

 

[DND_Reborn]

The character is a loxodon, so I like the idea of him throwing himself into the fray, but being calm, soothing, and paternal outside of combat. The ranger doesn't appeal to me because it seems to be a watered-down druid and is heavily inclined towards DEX.

Thematically, the Blood Hunter is someone who opposes evil by way of fighting fire with fire. This attracts many edgelords, but I came up with a backstory that would keep my character friendly and optimistic as a result of the trauma he went through to become a Blood Hunter, rather than in spite of it.

I also went with a Blood Hunter subclass that mixed in some warlock mechanics as a result of aligning with a patron. All of that combined meant I could play a martial-heavy character with limited spellcasting to help in certain scenarios (such as casting Expeditious Retreat to come to the aid of overwhelmed party members who were far away).

If it weren't for certain mechanics cancelling each other out and limited access to high-level abilities, I might be inclined to multiclass this character as a monk/barbarian. I like the idea of him being a quasi-caster; someone with very limited spell use or who relies on spell-like abilities.

Does that make sense?

A ranger can be a lot more than that. I actually like a STR-based ranger build I made a while back. A lot of it just depends on how you develop the character. But, if that isn't your thing then maybe some sort of WIS-based Eldritch Knight would appeal to you mechanically? Instead of Wizard spells, you could get Cleric? I am just trying to think of a super-simple conversion from something that is already in the books to what you want.

 

[Ashrym]

@templar1138 Wikidot has a fighter subclass monster hunter that might suit your concept. Homebrew content exists all over the internet. Most classes use wisdom in the aspects you mentioned because it's associated with perception and insight.

I think you might selling monks short as "too spiritual". Monks follow the tenets of the monastery. If those tenets are written up as monster hunters who fight darkness with darkness then a death monk or shadow monk might suit what you are looking at already. Base class abilities can be flavoured with the mechanics untouched.

Just a thought.

 

[templar1138]

Thank you all for the suggestions. Given the concept of my character, I think I'm going to go with playing him as an Eldritch Knight using WIS and the Cleric spell list.

 

[Seramus]

The Blood Hunter change to Int is disappointing. It literally makes them worse at hunting monsters.