MechaTarrasque
Hero
I got so busy thinking about wardens I forgot to say this looks like a pretty cool subclass.
D&D 5E Warden (Ranger Archetype)
Thanks everybody for the great feedback! I am making some major revisions.
[MENTION=6802553]BookBarbarian[/MENTION] is right, "Warden" is a really cool word that could mean lots of things. So I changed the name to "Primal Warden" to be a bit more clear that this is some kind of magical thing, while retaining the name "Warden" as a signal to 4E fans.
[MENTION=98008]Unwise[/MENTION] is right, having the form end when you are out of temp HP is backwards, incentive-wise. So I changed it to just a flat 10 minutes regardless of temp HP.
But that overpowered some of the attack features, which were balanced by the fact that you'd probably only have them for a couple of rounds before the form gets punched out of you. I changed the special attacks to just be usable once per transformation. Not only is this a lot simpler and easier to balance, it also follows the 4E warden powers a bit more closely.
Ranger is somewhat unique among classes in that it relies on its subclass for most of its damage scaling. (Cleric does too, and bard, druid and fighter partially get damage scaling from the subclass). Most classes get a distinct damage bump at 11th level. The easy option here was thus to make the form powers usable twice at 11th level. I think this is balanced when compared to things like the fighter's third extra attack and the paladin's improved divine smite and the warlock's third eldritch blast attack, but I could be badly wrong.
@Everybody is right, translating something like this from 4E to 5E is never going to work quite right. You have to pick and choose what to retain and what gets lost.
I like to start with the "story" of a character archetype and then see where it fits in. To me, the warden's story is smack dab in between ranger and druid, and too similar to either to stand alone as its own class. I also can't see a warden base class supporting many good subclass ideas -- you could base subclasses on the paragon paths, but they all feel pretty samey to me, and don't have a strong basis in fantasy fiction. I thought about making it a paladin subclass, but re-reading the paladin's flavor text, it just didn't feel right; paladin is very oath-oriented, with a strong dose of self-righteousness, which is the opposite of the "surrender to nature" vibe I get from the warden.
I definitely think you could start from a druid base the way [MENTION=6871653]vincegetorix[/MENTION] suggests, and might explore that option next. I am also intrigued by [MENTION=6801226]MechaTarrasque[/MENTION]'s idea of making the warden a subclass of a generic shapeshifter base class. There's actually a class like this in EN5ider's "Touch of Class," the shifter, but it doesn't really float my boat for some reason.
[MENTION=6802553]BookBarbarian[/MENTION] is right, "Warden" is a really cool word that could mean lots of things. So I changed the name to "Primal Warden" to be a bit more clear that this is some kind of magical thing, while retaining the name "Warden" as a signal to 4E fans.
[MENTION=98008]Unwise[/MENTION] is right, having the form end when you are out of temp HP is backwards, incentive-wise. So I changed it to just a flat 10 minutes regardless of temp HP.
But that overpowered some of the attack features, which were balanced by the fact that you'd probably only have them for a couple of rounds before the form gets punched out of you. I changed the special attacks to just be usable once per transformation. Not only is this a lot simpler and easier to balance, it also follows the 4E warden powers a bit more closely.
Ranger is somewhat unique among classes in that it relies on its subclass for most of its damage scaling. (Cleric does too, and bard, druid and fighter partially get damage scaling from the subclass). Most classes get a distinct damage bump at 11th level. The easy option here was thus to make the form powers usable twice at 11th level. I think this is balanced when compared to things like the fighter's third extra attack and the paladin's improved divine smite and the warlock's third eldritch blast attack, but I could be badly wrong.
@Everybody is right, translating something like this from 4E to 5E is never going to work quite right. You have to pick and choose what to retain and what gets lost.
I like to start with the "story" of a character archetype and then see where it fits in. To me, the warden's story is smack dab in between ranger and druid, and too similar to either to stand alone as its own class. I also can't see a warden base class supporting many good subclass ideas -- you could base subclasses on the paragon paths, but they all feel pretty samey to me, and don't have a strong basis in fantasy fiction. I thought about making it a paladin subclass, but re-reading the paladin's flavor text, it just didn't feel right; paladin is very oath-oriented, with a strong dose of self-righteousness, which is the opposite of the "surrender to nature" vibe I get from the warden.
I definitely think you could start from a druid base the way [MENTION=6871653]vincegetorix[/MENTION] suggests, and might explore that option next. I am also intrigued by [MENTION=6801226]MechaTarrasque[/MENTION]'s idea of making the warden a subclass of a generic shapeshifter base class. There's actually a class like this in EN5ider's "Touch of Class," the shifter, but it doesn't really float my boat for some reason.
jgsugden
Legend
Honestly, I would just put in "Ranger Only" spells that provide the forms and call it a day. The forms, and the start of turn save, were the prominent elements of the Warden and the start of turn save is not really that essential. As such, I think the Ranger class, in general, could be serviced by some iconic spells (beyond Hunter's Mark) that really evoke a nature warrior feel and these forms could be that element.
Revisions posted: http://www.enworld.org/forum/rpgdownloads.php?do=download&downloadid=1468
I like this version MUCH better. Thanks again!
I like this version MUCH better. Thanks again!
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