D&D 5E Introducing the Magical Farmer The Agriculturlaist

[Jaiken]

This is definitely not my class fantasy, but I think the concept is very cool, and love the way you have used the seasons as a way of determining subclass, in effect.

I have some concerns about balance. Why do they start with medium and heavy armour proficiency, for example? They're farmers. And I would say that you have cherry-picked a spell list that is less about theme and more about giving them access to a lot of the best spells. I do think the class is a bit OP.

Have not play-tested the class yet. Yesterday someone gave feeedback and decided it should have heavy armor since the magic farmers have trained with armor. The spells are chosen according to what I think a farmer with magical capabilities would choose.
Edit: Which spells do you think should go?
Thanks for your input.

 

[Tonguez]

Personally its not a class I'd use - "Agriculturalists learn martial combat with their farming tools" is weird and giving them magic is a crutch. The idea of the four seasons ability is interesting but I'd have liked it to be more tied to a Farmers seasonal work instead of just a random bonus. Maybe something like Winter Frost resistance, Spring - Vitality advantage on Con saves vs exhaustion, Summer - Heat resistance, Autumn - Harvest Feast grants temporary hp

Anyway I've got a Farmer Class too, its non-magical, but it does get a "nurturing hands" and a "Land Management" ability. The Efficient Butchery ability was a concession to the combat focus of DnD, but also thematically appropriate.

Master Farmer

Spoiler

You have a deep understanding of the land and its creatures. You can add your proficiency bonus to any ability check related to farming, animal handling, or herbalism, even if you are not proficient in the skill.
1 Nurturing Hands: Your nurturing hands directly benefit the creatures around you. As an action, when you check a creature, your nurturing touch causes it to regain hit points equal to 1d8 + your Wisdom modifier. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain expended uses after finishing a long rest.

2 Efficient Butchery: When you make a successful attack against a creature using a weapon that you are proficient with, you can apply your knowledge of animal anatomy to inflict additional damage. You add 1d6 bonus damage to the attack roll's damage. This bonus damage increases to 2d6 at 5th level and 3d6 and 11th.

3 Land Management , you can manipulate the land to your advantage. As an action, you can use farming tools to alter the terrain in a 20-foot cube in front of you. You can choose one of the following effects:

• Create Difficult Terrain: You can create trenches, slurry ponds and similar hazards causing the ground to become difficult terrain
• Create Corral: You can create natural corrals using simple fences, earthen walls or ditches, these can provide half-cover to creatures behind them or be used to divert animals in a desired direction.
• Enhance Soil Fertility: You can enrich the soil, increasing the productivity of any crops grown in the affected area. Plants grown in this area yield twice as much produce for 1 week.

Subclasses are Shepherd (Animal companion, Animal friendship and summon stampede), Vet (Healing specialist) and Crop Farmer (which I'm not happy with but I might use your Four Seasons framework for them)

 

[Jaiken]

Personally its not a class I'd use - "Agriculturalists learn martial combat with their farming tools" is weird and giving them magic is a crutch. The idea of the four seasons ability is interesting but I'd have liked it to be more tied to a Farmers seasonal work instead of just a random bonus. Maybe something like Winter Frost resistance, Spring - Vitality advantage on Con saves vs exhaustion, Summer - Heat resistance, Autumn - Harvest Feast grants temporary hp

Anyway I've got a Farmer Class too, its non-magical, but it does get a "nurturing hands" and a "Land Management" ability. The Efficient Butchery ability was a concession to the combat focus of DnD, but also thematically appropriate.

Master Farmer

Spoiler

You have a deep understanding of the land and its creatures. You can add your proficiency bonus to any ability check related to farming, animal handling, or herbalism, even if you are not proficient in the skill.
1 Nurturing Hands: Your nurturing hands directly benefit the creatures around you. As an action, when you check a creature, your nurturing touch causes it to regain hit points equal to 1d8 + your Wisdom modifier. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain expended uses after finishing a long rest.

2 Efficient Butchery: When you make a successful attack against a creature using a weapon that you are proficient with, you can apply your knowledge of animal anatomy to inflict additional damage. You add 1d6 bonus damage to the attack roll's damage. This bonus damage increases to 2d6 at 5th level and 3d6 and 11th.

3 Land Management , you can manipulate the land to your advantage. As an action, you can use farming tools to alter the terrain in a 20-foot cube in front of you. You can choose one of the following effects:

• Create Difficult Terrain: You can create trenches, slurry ponds and similar hazards causing the ground to become difficult terrain
• Create Corral: You can create natural corrals using simple fences, earthen walls or ditches, these can provide half-cover to creatures behind them or be used to divert animals in a desired direction.
• Enhance Soil Fertility: You can enrich the soil, increasing the productivity of any crops grown in the affected area. Plants grown in this area yield twice as much produce for 1 week.

Subclasses are Shepherd (Animal companion, Animal friendship and summon stampede), Vet (Healing specialist) and Crop Farmer (which I'm not happy with but I might use your Four Seasons framework for them)

Sounds good. Mind if I take some of your ideas?
Edit: What spells should I get rid of.

 

[Clint_L]

Have not play-tested the class yet. Yesterday someone gave feeedback and decided it should have heavy armor since the magic farmers have trained with armor. The spells are chosen according to what I think a farmer with magical capabilities would choose.
Edit: Which spells do you think should go?
Thanks for your input.

To begin with, I'm assuming that not all of your farmers are agriculturalists, kinda like not all religious people are clerics, etc.

It's a bit confusing that players seem to pick a sub-class at level 1 (their season) and then again at level 3 (cultivator or harvester). The seasons idea is more original and compelling, IMO. I would consider combining the concepts (cultivators seem like they would be more attached to spring and summer, with harvesters more attached to winter and fall).

Giving the character two attacks at level 5 means that this is primarily a martial class, which fits with the d10 hit dice. That being the case, I would suggest focusing on spells that are more related to enhancing utility or improving their attacks and defences.

I think you have a lot going on, between the animal companion, the saplings, and the horseshoes.

Thematically, the spell list does have a sort of "best-of" feel to it. This is a class that is as strong as a fighter in melee, but also has an animal companion, has an on-demand summoning spell, and on-demand bonus attack that has a strong secondary effect, and access to very strong spells like fireball, mass cure wounds, haste, banishment, and so on.

It's a lot. I think the concept is strong and the core ideas are really cool, but I do think this class would be very powerful compared to any other class in the game.

 

[Jaiken]

To begin with, I'm assuming that not all of your farmers are agriculturalists, kinda like not all religious people are clerics, etc.

It's a bit confusing that players seem to pick a sub-class at level 1 (their season) and then again at level 3 (cultivator or harvester). The seasons idea is more original and compelling, IMO. I would consider combining the concepts (cultivators seem like they would be more attached to spring and summer, with harvesters more attached to winter and fall).

Giving the character two attacks at level 5 means that this is primarily a martial class, which fits with the d10 hit dice. That being the case, I would suggest focusing on spells that are more related to enhancing utility or improving their attacks and defences.

I think you have a lot going on, between the animal companion, the saplings, and the horseshoes.

Thematically, the spell list does have a sort of "best-of" feel to it. This is a class that is as strong as a fighter in melee, but also has an animal companion, has an on-demand summoning spell, and on-demand bonus attack that has a strong secondary effect, and access to very strong spells like fireball, mass cure wounds, haste, banishment, and so on.

It's a lot. I think the concept is strong and the core ideas are really cool, but I do think this class would be very powerful compared to any other class in the game.

Those spells you mentioned have been gotten rid of.
Edit: I have also gotten rid of heavy armor for the atricutluralist.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

When I try to imagine this type of class, I am too "tainted" or influence by "plants vs zombis", something like a pokemon trainer focused into plant creatures...

Do you know the herbalist classes from Pathfinder? You can find them in the SRD.

Herbalist – d20PFSRD

www.d20pfsrd.com

Naturalist – d20PFSRD

www.d20pfsrd.com

 

[Jaiken]

When I try to imagine this type of class, I am too "tainted" or influence by "plants vs zombis", something like a pokemon trainer focused into plant creatures...

Do you know the herbalist classes from Pathfinder? You can find them in the SRD.

Herbalist – d20PFSRD

www.d20pfsrd.com

Naturalist – d20PFSRD

www.d20pfsrd.com

Now seeing those classes I know how Agriculturalist can remind you of those classes.

 

[Starfox]

I'm going to put on my editor cap and be pretty brutal here, but its all intended to help. These are pointers that accord with my sensibilities, not points of debate, take them or leave them as you like.

• Conceptually, I think this could be a ranger subclass. Its already quite similar. Development should make this a ranger subclass, or add more difference between this and the ranger.
• Lots of abilities have small sub-rules that complicate the game to little gain, such as a secondary feature such as range or number of targets depending on an ability of the user when it really need not.
• Overall, you need an editor, to point out areas that need to be clarified and to correspond to the usual 5E language.
• Four Seasons: Spring does very little. Winter is unclear, do you get cold resistance when not in in cold weather? Fall, when do you renew these temp hp?
• Photosynthesis varies widely depending in your Wisdom. For a class that needs physical ability scores, this makes it very MAD (multi-attribute dependent).
• Cultivate Land is cool, but undeveloped. Does it work in a stone-walled dungeon? Currently it does. How and where do you place the cover?
• Scarecrow should not affect allies. Again, this feels like a good ability for a ranger subclass.
• Ultimate harvest Moon implies there is a regular Harvest Moon ability. Its also odd, and honestly a bit underwhelming for a capstone. At a minimum, it should only affect enemies, or at least not yourself. Damage would also be appropriate.
• Shepherd Subclass again just feels like the ranger. Improved lasso is actually a cool ability, but there is no lasso in the game, and the given ability feels appropriate for level 3 rather than 15. I would also have the range increase apply to the whip and net.
• Harvester Subclass: Children of the Corn is cool, but at the lower end of the power spectrum. I like that there is no limit on number of uses, but should it work in dungeons? Actually, I think it should. Plant Magic is cool but extremely situational and pretty weak - these are the spells of a half caster. Root Network is cool, but way too weak for its level. I would give you scrying abilities based on continuous areas of vegetation. Crop Shield: I assume this is a reaction. But as a capstone that only works against a single attack per long rest, it is WAY underpowered. If it rendered you 100% immune a single attack or effect, it would be weak but not abyssal.
• Beekeeper: Cool concept. Insect Sense: Can it attack? If it does, it needs to escalate over levels. A lot. If not, its interesting, but weak. For The Queen needs to escalate in damage, but is otherwise ok. Poison damage and poisoned condition is commonly resisted. Fozzilized Honey: Harvester does this at level 3, and it wasn't impressive then. Preventing flight could be added. Pollen Storm is cool, should be a poison effect, and allow a save at end of turns to escape. These weaknesses allow the base effect to be improved, most of all how often it can be used. Healthy Honey is hard to understand how it works, and also needs more uses.

 

[Jaiken]

I'm going to put on my editor cap and be pretty brutal here, but its all intended to help. These are pointers that accord with my sensibilities, not points of debate, take them or leave them as you like.

• Conceptually, I think this could be a ranger subclass. Its already quite similar. Development should make this a ranger subclass, or add more difference between this and the ranger.
• Lots of abilities have small sub-rules that complicate the game to little gain, such as a secondary feature such as range or number of targets depending on an ability of the user when it really need not.
• Overall, you need an editor, to point out areas that need to be clarified and to correspond to the usual 5E language.
• Four Seasons: Spring does very little. Winter is unclear, do you get cold resistance when not in in cold weather? Fall, when do you renew these temp hp?
• Photosynthesis varies widely depending in your Wisdom. For a class that needs physical ability scores, this makes it very MAD (multi-attribute dependent).
• Cultivate Land is cool, but undeveloped. Does it work in a stone-walled dungeon? Currently it does. How and where do you place the cover?
• Scarecrow should not affect allies. Again, this feels like a good ability for a ranger subclass.
• Ultimate harvest Moon implies there is a regular Harvest Moon ability. Its also odd, and honestly a bit underwhelming for a capstone. At a minimum, it should only affect enemies, or at least not yourself. Damage would also be appropriate.
• Shepherd Subclass again just feels like the ranger. Improved lasso is actually a cool ability, but there is no lasso in the game, and the given ability feels appropriate for level 3 rather than 15. I would also have the range increase apply to the whip and net.
• Harvester Subclass: Children of the Corn is cool, but at the lower end of the power spectrum. I like that there is no limit on number of uses, but should it work in dungeons? Actually, I think it should. Plant Magic is cool but extremely situational and pretty weak - these are the spells of a half caster. Root Network is cool, but way too weak for its level. I would give you scrying abilities based on continuous areas of vegetation. Crop Shield: I assume this is a reaction. But as a capstone that only works against a single attack per long rest, it is WAY underpowered. If it rendered you 100% immune a single attack or effect, it would be weak but not abyssal.
• Beekeeper: Cool concept. Insect Sense: Can it attack? If it does, it needs to escalate over levels. A lot. If not, it’s interesting, but weak. For The Queen needs to escalate in damage, but is otherwise ok. Poison damage and poisoned condition is commonly resisted. Fozzilized Honey: Harvester does this at level 3, and it wasn't impressive then. Preventing flight could be added. Pollen Storm is cool, should be a poison effect, and allow a save at end of turns to escape. These weaknesses allow the base effect to be improved, most of all how often it can be used. Healthy Honey is hard to understand how it works, and also needs more uses.

Thanks for your feedback. Will make the changes later on.