Chaosmancer
Legend
So, I have some family and friends asking me to run and that pushed me on finally finishing this idea that has been rumbling in the back of my head for the last while. I have home-brewed... basically every class to one degree or another, fine-tuning them to fit more in-line with the things I want.
So, straight up, these are going to be at least slightly more powerful than the originals. I don't want them to be bonkers, just more in-line with some of the newer options.
Now, for the champion, I kept it simple and I'll explain some of my thoughts for each class, but I wanted to take a moment and address something that I originally thought, and why I changed my mind. Isn't the battle master awesome? Why change it?
Well, for that, let me go ahead and put up a table for the original Battlemaster
The text in red and bold, those are the only new abilities the Battlemaster gets. And maneuvers never improve, so by the time you hit 10th level, you are grabbing your sixth and seventh choices, the things you didn't want until this point. And while increasing the die size is nice, in effect, they are just averaging a +1 damage to those maneuvers. Is that really an 18th level capstone?
I won't argue that Battlemaster's might be one of the most powerful subclasses out of the gate, but by the time you are hitting the mid to late game, you aren't getting anything new or exciting, you are just doing the same things you have been doing all game. And while it is good damage, every ability has to be balanced to be useable by 3rd level. So, you are getting a 3rd level ability at 15th level? I didn't like that.
So, here are the changes I made to the Battlemaster.
3rd level? No changes. This level works as is.
7th: No change to superiority system upgrades. Dropped "Know Your Enemy" for "Master of a Thousand Plans"
10th level: Superiority system improvements kept the same, moved down an Improved Relentless
15th level: Still no changes to the superiority system, but I did add a new ability, Battlefield Tactics
18th level: Kept the die improvement, but added something that felt like a real capstone. Lord of Battle.
And that is it, and while I'd like some discussion on the Battlemaster, I figured why the heck not show the opposite side of the coin at the same time. The Champion is also much maligned, and I think that isn't only because it is simple, but because the abilities end up not happening on the regular, so I did this instead.
3rd Level: Improved Critical, Get a Second Second Wind use every short rest.
7th: Improved Remarkable Athlete
10th Level: No change, just get a second Fighting Style. I would have altered this, except Tasha's added a lot of good Styles, so you no longer have to worry about incompatible styles.
15th: Superior critical as normal, then Superior Second Wind. Superior Second wind simply maximizes the healing from the Die.
18th: Survivor with a kicker
And that is that. Looking forward to some interesting discussion.
So, straight up, these are going to be at least slightly more powerful than the originals. I don't want them to be bonkers, just more in-line with some of the newer options.
Now, for the champion, I kept it simple and I'll explain some of my thoughts for each class, but I wanted to take a moment and address something that I originally thought, and why I changed my mind. Isn't the battle master awesome? Why change it?
Well, for that, let me go ahead and put up a table for the original Battlemaster
Level | Abilities |
3rd | Access to the Superiority system, three maneuvers, 4 dice. Artisan's Tools |
7th | Know your Enemy information 2 new Maneuvers, 1 more die |
10th | Dice become d10's 2 more Maneuvers |
15th | Relentless Two More Manuevers, 1 more die |
18th | Dice become d12's |
The text in red and bold, those are the only new abilities the Battlemaster gets. And maneuvers never improve, so by the time you hit 10th level, you are grabbing your sixth and seventh choices, the things you didn't want until this point. And while increasing the die size is nice, in effect, they are just averaging a +1 damage to those maneuvers. Is that really an 18th level capstone?
I won't argue that Battlemaster's might be one of the most powerful subclasses out of the gate, but by the time you are hitting the mid to late game, you aren't getting anything new or exciting, you are just doing the same things you have been doing all game. And while it is good damage, every ability has to be balanced to be useable by 3rd level. So, you are getting a 3rd level ability at 15th level? I didn't like that.
So, here are the changes I made to the Battlemaster.
3rd level? No changes. This level works as is.
7th: No change to superiority system upgrades. Dropped "Know Your Enemy" for "Master of a Thousand Plans"
Starting at 7th level, your study of combat and war has given you the opportunity to plan for any encounter. You can no longer be surprised. Additionally, you gain +1 AC when flanked by enemies.
I've never liked "Know your Enemy". It is a vague ribbon ability that only tells you things that I would otherwise just tell people. Like "is their AC higher than yours" well, if they are wearing armor, every single fighter is familiar with all armors, so they are going to be able to tell what the AC is at a glance, not with a minute of observation.
Originally, I tried to rework it, but the more I dug into it, the more I realized that there was just nothing I wanted to sink my teeth into.
So, instead, I thought of what I would want from a master of tactical combat. No longer being able to be surprised in an ambush is a powerful tool, and fits really well with having the most honed battlefield reflexes. I was't entirely sure if that was good enough for a full feature, so I added the +1 AC. In my games, flanking gives the enemy advantage, so this just makes them slightly better in a bad situation.
Originally, I tried to rework it, but the more I dug into it, the more I realized that there was just nothing I wanted to sink my teeth into.
So, instead, I thought of what I would want from a master of tactical combat. No longer being able to be surprised in an ambush is a powerful tool, and fits really well with having the most honed battlefield reflexes. I was't entirely sure if that was good enough for a full feature, so I added the +1 AC. In my games, flanking gives the enemy advantage, so this just makes them slightly better in a bad situation.
10th level: Superiority system improvements kept the same, moved down an Improved Relentless
Starting at 10th level, when you roll initiative and have no superiority dice remaining, you regain 2 superiority die.
Additionally, if a creature fails a save against one of your manuevers during the round, they have disadvantage against further manuevers until the end of your next turn.
Additionally, if a creature fails a save against one of your manuevers during the round, they have disadvantage against further manuevers until the end of your next turn.
So, I used to just have this at 15th, but there were a few thoughts that changed my mind. The first thing is that 11th level is where the Fighter is going to be potentially dropping a lot of dice every turn. By this point a fighter could use every single die they have in a single turn. Which, in terms of nova damage is scary... but some manuevers aren't damage. So, I wanted to free them up, let them spend them and know that they are going to at least have a few every fight.
As for the new part of the ability... it felt right. There are a few times that people want to chain these maneuvers together, and I wanted to give them a boost for spending them like that. This was back when this was a 15th level ability though, so I may want to push that part back up
As for the new part of the ability... it felt right. There are a few times that people want to chain these maneuvers together, and I wanted to give them a boost for spending them like that. This was back when this was a 15th level ability though, so I may want to push that part back up
15th level: Still no changes to the superiority system, but I did add a new ability, Battlefield Tactics
Beginning at 15th level your command of the battlefield is unmathced.
When initiative is rolled you can spend your reaction to shout a signal to your allies. Each Ally within 60 ft of you can use their reaction to move their full speed, without provoking opportunity attacks or take the Dodge action. You can use this ability once per short rest
When initiative is rolled you can spend your reaction to shout a signal to your allies. Each Ally within 60 ft of you can use their reaction to move their full speed, without provoking opportunity attacks or take the Dodge action. You can use this ability once per short rest
So, I was leaning into this master of tactical combat aspect again, and I was thinking of ambushes. This ability is either a reposition or a hunkering down on the first round of combat. This let's the battle master look at the field and say "crap, we are in a bad spot" and react and change the battlefield. Perhaps instead of an ambush with lots of advantage, the enemy gets a free round of attacks, but all at normal. Or, the wizard they were jumping was able to scurry back and the paladin took his place.
I feel like this is situationally very powerful, but if you are ambushing an enemy... it might not be worth it. Or it could be a free charge into the fray. Though, I've had a lot of players who have declared that they are dodging before doing something like opening a door or sticking their head around the corner, so that aspect is really only best used when you are the ambushed, not the other way around
I feel like this is situationally very powerful, but if you are ambushing an enemy... it might not be worth it. Or it could be a free charge into the fray. Though, I've had a lot of players who have declared that they are dodging before doing something like opening a door or sticking their head around the corner, so that aspect is really only best used when you are the ambushed, not the other way around
18th level: Kept the die improvement, but added something that felt like a real capstone. Lord of Battle.
By 18th level, your knowledge of the art of combat is unmatched. Enemies cannot have advantage when attacking you
Additionally, if you roll a 1 on a damage die for a weapon attack, you may re-roll. If you already have a re-roll due to Great Weapon Fighting Style, Savage Attacker, or a similar ability maximize the die instead.
Additionally, if you roll a 1 on a damage die for a weapon attack, you may re-roll. If you already have a re-roll due to Great Weapon Fighting Style, Savage Attacker, or a similar ability maximize the die instead.
So, the meatiest bit of this for me is the first ability. I was thinking things like Gun Kata. You know where the enemy will be striking, and how to stand to give them the least amount of chance to hit you. You don't grant advantage for being restrained, blinded, ect ect ect. This is incredibly powerful, but entirely passive.
The second ability is a bit of minor thing. Roll a 1 on damage, re-roll it. Fairly minor all things considered. The other part of it comes from some personal philosophy. I don't like stacking abilities that cancel out, and I had a guy once who had Great Weapon Style, Savage Attacker and a magical sword that let him re-roll. There were times he would roll, re-roll, re-re-roll... it got a bit tedious. And, at the end of the day, it just took too much time. I might just make this a general house rule, but I wanted to experiment with it here.
The second ability is a bit of minor thing. Roll a 1 on damage, re-roll it. Fairly minor all things considered. The other part of it comes from some personal philosophy. I don't like stacking abilities that cancel out, and I had a guy once who had Great Weapon Style, Savage Attacker and a magical sword that let him re-roll. There were times he would roll, re-roll, re-re-roll... it got a bit tedious. And, at the end of the day, it just took too much time. I might just make this a general house rule, but I wanted to experiment with it here.
And that is it, and while I'd like some discussion on the Battlemaster, I figured why the heck not show the opposite side of the coin at the same time. The Champion is also much maligned, and I think that isn't only because it is simple, but because the abilities end up not happening on the regular, so I did this instead.
3rd Level: Improved Critical, Get a Second Second Wind use every short rest.
7th: Improved Remarkable Athlete
Starting at 7th level, you can add half your proficiency bonus (round up) to any Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check you make.
In addition, whenever you jump, the distance you can cover increases by a number of feet equal to your Strength modifier.
In addition, whenever you jump, the distance you can cover increases by a number of feet equal to your Strength modifier.
The idea that you can't be "remarkable" in athletics if you already had proficiency was just... weird. This isn't as good as Expertise in a single skill, but it also applies to EVERY check that uses those stats. Drinking alcohol, breaking doors, stealth, ect. This is truly remarkable now.
And, I gave you more lift when you jump. They can compete with the Rogue Thief now.
And, I gave you more lift when you jump. They can compete with the Rogue Thief now.
10th Level: No change, just get a second Fighting Style. I would have altered this, except Tasha's added a lot of good Styles, so you no longer have to worry about incompatible styles.
15th: Superior critical as normal, then Superior Second Wind. Superior Second wind simply maximizes the healing from the Die.
This is actually a very minor boost in raw healing. By this point you are getting 1d10+15. That is an average of 20, it is now a guaranteed 25. 5 points of healing. But, it also prevents a low roll, and by being predictable, it gives the champion a better sense of when to use it,
18th: Survivor with a kicker
At 18th level, you attain the pinnacle of resilience in battle.
At the start of each of your turns, you regain hit points equal to 5 + your Constitution modifier if you have no more than half of your hit points left. You don’t gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points.
Additionally, when you use your Second Wind feature, you have advantage on Strength, Constitution and Dexterity Saving Throws until the end of your next turn.
At the start of each of your turns, you regain hit points equal to 5 + your Constitution modifier if you have no more than half of your hit points left. You don’t gain this benefit if you have 0 hit points.
Additionally, when you use your Second Wind feature, you have advantage on Strength, Constitution and Dexterity Saving Throws until the end of your next turn.
I think Survivor is incredibly awesome. A potential 10 region is incredibly powerful, sure it isn't going to get you above half, but I'm okay with that.
But, I wanted to also give some added utility to Second Wind here. If you are truly getting beat down where you need the regen, and second wind, then you are also going to get advantage on some saving throws, make you even more resilient for a turn.
But, I wanted to also give some added utility to Second Wind here. If you are truly getting beat down where you need the regen, and second wind, then you are also going to get advantage on some saving throws, make you even more resilient for a turn.
And that is that. Looking forward to some interesting discussion.