Class variants: ranger, fighter, and others ("Class X" series)

[peterka99]

Balance issue (i will not analyse the warden yet):

Note: I rephrased my intented changes in a subsequent post below

Unless you use a point-based build, the best is to compare the old and new ranger build with assumptions:

1) Wildcraft replace magic for the first 2 classes (to check)
2) Wildcraft cost = warlock invocation = 2/3 of as feat (uncanny senses 2 skills as a reference)
2) Tracking and WL should replace natural explorer and favored enemy (done)
3) Abilities should worth hunters features: 3th: offense 7th: defense 11th: offense 15th:defense (to check)
4) Must fill the blank levels where spells used to raise to 3th,4th and 5th level (done)


one by one :

tier one

-Your level one ranger is way better than level 1 base ranger. Remove medium armor and shield. Give it only to guard at 3th level.

- Overwatch: RAW the ranger may have a free reaction attack + 1d6. Better than hunter's mark, and there is no limits to the feature. I recommend leave the second part to Guard only (3rd level). Allies overwatch: 7th level (so defensive camp will not be the only ability there).

Overwatch is really good. The other class features shoudl be nerfed compared to original ranger to be fair.

-tracking: what is the check ? survival or WS check ?
- Wilderness Lore: How can the ranger know all animals and plants after 1 hour in the area ? It should be a superficial knowledge... enough to find the herb the herbalist needs for her potion. Nature lore check for more....
- Wildcraft vs magic: Ok. The same progression as warlock invocations.

assume magic initiative feat 2 cantrips + 1 level 1; 2 levels one = 2/3 feat= 1 invocation seems appropriate
vs spells points from DMG: level 2: 4; 6-6-14-14-16-16-26-26-31-31-38 (level 13); it wont help
progression should be level 2: 1 Wildcraft 3-4: 2 will still be too much.

The result is: Wilcraft/invocations progression is more potent that ranger magic progression. So nerf WC or shovel the problem into other features yard. Assumption 1 above is false.

- Wilderness Lore and tracking are a little less potent than favored enemy+ natural explorer.
allies overwatch (modified): it grants a situational attack as reaction . compared to hunter's prey, it is less. Scout's features equal guard. Seems balanced for level 1-4 if you give a 1d4, not a 1d6 to overwatch.


tier 2

ranger's spells are more potent at level 3. allies overwatch 7th level (modified) and defensive camp worth hunter's defensive tactics. Skirmish is better than original hunter escape the horde.

Do you intend disengaging, then range attack or moving back into the fray, hit and run ? A little too OP ... + Ws to attacks and defense against a few enemies it maybe too much. Counting the uses before rest is tedious. Maybe +Ws to damage OR Ac ?

overwatch 1d6 level 6
1d8 level 9

tier 3

Borderland lord or evasion equals the ranger's volley.

FOR DUTY AND HONOR at 15th level already gives a bonus to allies equal to Ws. Scout should grant move there. Share scout movement once before rest in addition to hidden byways that can stay nerfed at 1/2 the time in known lands.

tier 4

I didn't like the keystone ability neither. Free movement rocks! Seems fine.

 

[peterka99]

wildcrafts:

Ambush expertise: Maximum skill should be DX+ Prof or ranger's WIS+ Prof.

Warlock's Voice of the Chain master is an invocation; Animal companion second paragraph about telepathy should be also a Wildcraft . Animal resurrection may be also a wildcraft. Shared saves another. Pack hunting at level 7. Beast followers at level 11th.

Wildcraft: Give tough feat to animal companion if you want extra HP. Simply! And you have a decent Beastmaster with wildcraft only! 5+ E=WC is high. Just add a feat granting 2 Wildcraft as the swashbuckler has... A little more than a regular feat, but not that much.

poultice: it now looks like the heal feat with restrictions. fine.

 

[peterka99]

Warden

Is WARDEN’S WRATH usable every turn or has a limit ?

Magic: at tier 1, the eldritch warrior progression is better than ranger's. At tiers 2-3-4, the opposite.

Here, we should compare old ranger magic to warden magic
and wildcrafts + feature to hunter's

tier 1

a little more potent magic progression. No hunter's mark, no way to damage people like colossus slayer. The 2 wildcrafts may compensate. Less combat-wise, more versatile. May be balanced

tier 2

The weakest link. The ranger is way behind in combat. At least she can heal. I hope the warden will be better later!

tier 3

warden wrath rocks. Can you split the feature and give some to level 2 ? Maybe at 6th level "mark", and at 11th level OA does not expend your reaction ?

aspect of the wild is fine but the ranger may get the spells in the spell progression if it reverts to ranger's. And share special sense may become a feature on guard model.

 

[Quickleaf]

1) The ranger may theoretically turns a stick into a 1d8 weapon- instant weapon
2) RAW (with a little interpretation), a dual-weapon user may get 2 shil. both in each hand since it is written "draw 2 weapons when one is usually drawn"
3) Magical weapon at 1st level....

#1 and #3 are true.

#2 is false because "[shillelagh] ends if you cast it again or if you let go of the weapon."

There are also unclear elements to the cantrip, for example:

• You *can* use your spell casting ability instead of Strength...but you don't have too? Unclear.
• Is the shillelagh one-handed (club) or two-handed (staff)? Unclear. If it can be either, should the damage be different? I tend to make it two-handed in my games.

So I agree that there are some unclear things, but not that it's OP.

What I've noticed in play, is that at the lower levels (when PCs lack magic weapons), the druid using shillelagh against some demons got worked over pretty bad. Monster with resistance to mundane weapons tend to be pretty tough and good at focus-fire. And being the only warrior-type in the party able to deal full damage is a good way to ensure focus fire on yourself.

 

[peterka99]

I hear you. But a martial class should not need a cantrip since the ranger may use real weapons...

 

[Quickleaf]

Anyhow, thanks for the great comments. I've skimmed them, but I'll need to sit down tonight to properly absorb it all. Really appreciate your effort here!

While I do care about balance in the big picture, I don't think the sort of balance precision you're pointing out is really possible in D&D 5e. I see it as more of a rugged and adaptable system (what Mike Mearls hinted at in a recent podcast interview) rather than a finely engineered Swedish clock. I'll try to work with the balance assumptions you're making, but it may ultimately be that we have differing philosophies on how precise "class balance" can get.

 

[peterka99]

True. I hope to see the final product as much I want to meet an arawak cacique.

It is important to balance the first levels (for multiclassing issues) and point out obvious holes like the firepower lack of the warden in tier 2. I uses a point cost system myself by the way... Do you have the pdf template ? Maybe I can send you my version in nice format ?

 

[Quickleaf]

True. I hope to see the final product as much I want to meet an arawak cacique.

It is important to balance the first levels (for multiclassing issues) and point out obvious holes like the firepower lack of the warden in tier 2. I uses a point cost system myself by the way... Do you have the pdf template ? Maybe I can send you my version in nice format ?

Haha. Well, I'm going to keep at it and I'm confident I'll get to a "finished enough" version at least.

Yes, totally agree about the big points you raised (e.g. warden's firepower / spellcasting could use a boost).

PDF template? Not sure what you mean. I'm actually do most of my writing in the Pages application on an Mac laptop, and then exporting into PDF from there. But sure, I'd be happy to take a gander at your point cost system.

 

[peterka99]

I know 2 systems for point-buy for d&d 5e:

1st is the one by Catodon, the one I use (as mictrepanier) to create high-level races and classes

http://community.wizards.com/forum/dungeon-master-help/threads/4153621

and
http://community.wizards.com/forum/dungeon-master-help/threads/4156341

and another one by James Musicus

http://www.reddit.com/r/DnDBehindTh...5e_homebrew_guides_ujamesmusicus_process_and/

and

http://zappyman2.wix.com/musicushomebrew#!homebrew-races/c8co

 

[peterka99]

Hi! I just rephrased my late comments. My changed are:

OVERWATCH
As a bonus action you can begin concentrating on a specific enemy . Maintaining your Overwatch requires concentration. While concentrating on a specific enemy, your attacks deal +1d4 damage against that enemy.
At 6th level, this damage increases to +1d6, 9th level to 1d8, 11th level to +1d10, and at 17th level to +1d12.



Guard

Medium Armor Proficiency + Shield is obtained at 3rd level. (I would remove it from 1st level to all archetypes)

VIGILANCE
At 3rd level you are accustomed to long watches and can benefit from a long rest even while standing watch the entire time. You may do so for up to 3 days consecutively before needing a solid night of sleep. Also, add whether your Wisdom or dexterity modifier to your initiative rolls.

ZONE OVERWATCH

At 3rd level you can use your Overwatch feature or a fixed 10 foot radius area you can see.
While concentrating on an area, you may use your reaction to make an attack against a creature in the area making an attack against you or an ally, or against a creature attempting to leave the area, dealing extra Overwatch damage.

ALLIES OVERWATCH

at 7th level, At 3rd level you can use your Overwatch feature focused on an ally you can see. While you concentrate on that ally, you can make a melee or ranged attack as a reaction against any enemy who moves within 5 feet of your ally or attacks them, dealing extra Overwatch damage.

DEFENSIVE CAMP
• Companions benefit from three-quarters cover from ranged attacks is back, no HP boost.

(offer whether this one or Borderlands Lord at 11th level)

SHARED OVERWATCH
At 11th level, as a bonus action you can grant your allies in your Aura of Awareness overwatch capability. The duration is 1 minute. You must take a short or long rest before you can use shared overwatch again.


Scout

SKIRMISH
"Or" instead of a bullet; damage or AC Ws bonus.

SHARED MOVEMENT
At 15th level, as a bonus action you can grant your allies in your Aura of Awareness Scout Movement capability. The duration is 1 minute. You must take a short or long rest before you can use shared movement again.

Warden

WARDEN’S WRATH
At 6th level, as a bonus action you can mark all enemies within 5 feet of you or you can mark one enemy you can see and name out loud. If a marked enemy moves toward a creature beside you, the terrain becomes difficult for that enemy, requiring 2 feet of speed be expended for every 1 foot moved.

Until the end of your next turn, your opportunity attacks against marked enemies have advantage.
At 11th level, your opportunity attacks against marked enemies have advantage and do not expend your reaction.

SHARED SENSES

At 15th level, as a bonus action you can grant your allies in your Aura of Awareness Acces to your special senses, like darkvision, blindsight, etc. The duration is 1 hour. You must take a short or long rest before you can use shared senses again.

Wildcrafts

AMBUSH EXPERT

When the rest of your adventuring group follows your directions and remains within your Aura of Awareness, they can add your Wisdom instead of their Dexterity (Stealth) checks. If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.

ANIMAL COMPANION

On cost of an extra wildcraft, you can add theses features:
If your animal companion ever “dies”, after you meditate in the wilderness for 8 hours, it reappears nearby.
• While your animal companion is within 100 feet, you can communicate with it telepathically. As an action, you can see thru your companion’s eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses that the animal.

or
You can use a wildcraft slot to give tough feat to your animal companion.