D&D 5E A 10-Level Variant for 5E for review and work

[Coroc]

And I have already given some non-casters extra features as well. Features in this first draft may or not make it into the final cut. I don't see this really as an issue, either.

Yea but it is. The different HD of fighter / barbarian vs fullcaster make a difference. Also you do not give the ASI which are essential for e.g. fighter to get max to hit and max damage even if not using a magic weapon.
Whereas for a mage the less than 20 only increases the chance for a save slightly.

It would be easier to leave the rules like they are tbh. and only run campaigns up to 10, or to make it mandatory that for some ASIs the player has to take a feat instead if ASI is the thing you got beef with.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Yea but it is. The different HD of fighter / barbarian vs fullcaster make a difference. Also you do not give the ASI which are essential for e.g. fighter to get max to hit and max damage even if not using a magic weapon.
Whereas for a mage the less than 20 only increases the chance for a save slightly.

It would be easier to leave the rules like they are tbh. and only run campaigns up to 10, or to make it mandatory that for some ASIs the player has to take a feat instead if ASI is the thing you got beef with.

There is a lot to read, so maybe you didn't get it all?

In this variant it is not essential for anyone to boost a single ability score. With the improved proficiency progression, a Fighter with STR 16 is still +11 on attack rolls at 10the level.

I don't know what you mean by "The different HD of fighter / barbarian vs fullcaster make a difference." The classes still all use the exact same HD as before, just only get half as many. With the adjustment to hp, this is fewer than normal, about 70-75% roughly in most cases.

I don't want to run a game just to level 10, I want to make a lot more changes than that. This isn't like other E10 or E6 variants, which is why I called it L10.

 

[DND_Reborn]

BUMP:

I've edited/updated the OP with new and revised features for many of the classes. For people with interest, please review and comment when you can. Thanks so much!

 

[Esker]

Read through it. There are a lot really cool and flavorful features here. It will take a closer look to assess balance implications, but my initial impression is quite positive.

 

[CleverNickName]

This is excellent stuff. I'm going to be following it.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Read through it. There are a lot really cool and flavorful features here. It will take a closer look to assess balance implications, but my initial impression is quite positive.

This is excellent stuff. I'm going to be following it.

Thanks to you both. If you have a chance to offer criticism (something too much, something I overlooked, etc.) please let me know!

 

[Esker]

Ok, first set of features:

I like the aspect of choosing saving throws to gain half-proficiency in. I think the only concern I have with this is that it devalues the monk's feature to gain proficiency in all saving throws, and characters who really want a particular saving throw that their class doesn't provide (e.g., casters with CON) are going to be torn between taking Resilient CON early and then losing out on the big benefit of this feature, or waiting and having a rough time with that save before then. What would you think about allowing this half proficiency to stack with proficiency from another source (up to a max of 1.5x proficiency)? It sounds strong, but it's a sizeable investment to get there, and it's still weaker than the Paladin's bonus to all saves

Barbarian:

Unfaltering Stamina: Love it. Very on-theme; not overly powerful, but certainly useful. Makes berserker a little more viable.

Move in the Wild: Nice. Removes the temptation to spend a rage just to get advantage on high stakes climbs or jumps.

Revealing Sight: A cool ability, but I'm not sure what it has to do with being a barbarian. It's sort of a higher level, weaker version of the warlock invocation Eldritch Sight. Something should go in this level since Brutal Critical doesn't seem like enough for a whole level... but I'm not sure this is it.

What about something like

"Primal Intuition: You have an instinctive ability to sense that something is off when your senses conflict. You gain proficiency in Insight if you do not have it already. If you are already proficient, you add one and a half times your proficiency bonus (round down) to all Wisdom (Insight) checks. Whenever you make a Wisdom (Insight) check to assess whether another creature is hiding hostile intentions, you can treat any roll of 9 or lower as a 10. In addition, when a illusion that affects a living creature would normally require an Intelligence (Investigation) check to detect its presence, you can choose to make a Wisdom (Insight) check instead."

Magic Weapons + Magic Resistance: I see why you put this here given the next feature, since you're trying to push barbarians away from using actual magic weapons, but... it's not clear why barbarians would suddenly start channeling magic through all their weapon attacks. I think this ends up doing the opposite of what you were going for, in trying to keep barbarians a "non-magical" class.

For 6th level if you are looking for an offensive boost, how about adding some sort of shove rider to your weapon strikes? "You can put extra force behind your weapon attacks. Once per turn when you hit another creature with a melee weapon attack, you can make a Strength (Athletics) check, contested by the creatures Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) (its choice). If you win the contest you can shove the creature 5' away from you or knock it prone." You can of course do this normally by spending an attack; but this lets you do it after you hit with a weapon.

For 8th level how about something like: "Durable Instincts: While raging, the link between your natural instincts and you behavior becomes more difficult to interrupt. You have advantage on saving throws against Intelligence, Charisma and Wisdom saving throws to resist effects that would compel you to act contrary to your normal behavior." (This steps a little bit on the berserker's charm+fright immunity though, so might need tweaking).

 

[Esker]

Bard:

Taunting jibe is an interesting ability, and fills in a definite weakness that bards have; it's nice that it uses a separate pool of resources from bardic inspiration, and having it based on intimidation checks is a cool twist. It does otherwise seem a lot like cutting words, though I guess it can stack with it (it also stacks with Sword Bard's defensive flourish).

Compared to the Shield spell, it's limited in that it only works on one target, and you have to decide to use it in advance rather than waiting until it would make a difference, but CHA mod per short rest is enough uses that this is probably something you would wind up doing every round if you're not doing something else with your bonus action, so the fact that you have to pre-use it isn't that much of a limitation.

On balance I think it's strong, but probably ok given that it's the only thing you're giving them, but playtesting is needed.

You also moved Expertise back to level 3 (and weakened it), and moved Font of Inspiration back to level 4. I'd put those back at level 2 and level 3, respectively, analogous to where they'd be in the 20 level progression. It's kind of rough trying to stretch those inspiration uses throughout the whole day before getting Font of Inspiration. Maybe then move Taunting Jibe to 4th. I'm OK with having the second Expertise at 6th, since level 5 is such a huge level as it is. (I don't know why they put soooo many things at level 10 for bards)

8th level is empty right now. Song of Rest scaling is pretty unexciting; on top of which, 8th level spells are not as big as 7th or 9th. You could maybe give some kind of scaling to Taunting Jibe. Maybe it works on all creatures that can hear you, and they no longer need to understand you?

 

[Esker]

Cleric:

Investiture strikes me as a little uneven. Several subclasses already get martial weapons and even more get heavy armor, so these classes are disincentivized to pick Martial Training, which is a bit weird, since to the extent that these subclasses are the most likely to make weapon attacks, they get the most out of the rest of the feature (though I guess anybody can bless a weapon for someone else). I think heavy armor alone is probably worth more than the skill/tool/language proficiencies granted by Scholastic Training.

The blessed weapon feels pretty balanced with the +1 to saves: the weapon is likely to be used more early on, but once most people have other magic weapons, it loses utility, whereas the +1 to saves will be used less often but never goes out of style.

I might just remove the weapon and armor proficiencies from Martial Training, rename the feature, and give both choices a skill proficiency from a tailored list: the "combat" one gets their choice of Athletics, Intimidation, or Persuasion, say, along with proficiency in a suitable tool; the "scholar" one gets their choice of Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion, along with a language.

Ward of Faith: I like this ability, though it is the same thing that Light Clerics get. I guess now Light Clerics get double the uses?

Watched Over: The advantage on saving throw aspect is nice, and makes sense for a cleric, though the wording is ambiguous: is it one roll, or all rolls for one ability? I assume the latter. Commune is already a ritual though, so giving one free casting per day is pretty minor: it saves a prep slot and 10 minutes, I guess; but Clerics have a lot of prep slots, and how often will 10 minutes matter when you're asking your god three questions?

I would suggest splitting this into two features, one at 6th and one at 8th. At 6th, give the "advantage on one saving throw" aspect. At 8th replace the Commune casting either with either a non-ritual spell (your choice of Legend Lore or Scrying, maybe?), or maybe give an intermediate scaling of Divine Intervention.

 

[Esker]

Druid:

Fey Bond: Wood elf becomes less appealing for druids now since the elven immunity to sleep and charm resistance is superseded. Not a huge deal though.

Natural Resistance: I like this.

Wild Walker: Cool and fitting.

Wilderness Expert: I don't know if I'd include Athletics here, but otherwise, I like it. Replace it with Medicine, maybe?

Wild Shape Improvement (Plant): Cool feature, but definitely favors Moon Druids... If you cast Call Lightning first then Wild Shape into a Shambling mound (which Moon Druids would be able to do at 15th; not sure what Level / 3 translates to here) and go into melee, you can use your action to zap your enemy and heal yourself at the same time. I don't mind this particularly at this level since you still have to pass concentration checks to maintain it, etc. But it might be nice to throw other kinds of druids something.

Conjure Elemental: This is really strong. I think waiving the "lose control" clause is reasonable, but I don't know that I'd have it not require concentration.