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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 7980223" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/f9mt1If.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Taking 20 is a very popular YouTube channel specializing in 5th Edition content with a bit of Pathfinder and Starfinder on the side. Cody Lewis, the creator and owner of said channel, decided to try his hand in self-publishing a homebrew class. The Mist Walker takes the rather popular concept of a teleporting warrior and builds an entire class around it. While there are some archetypes capable of this already in 5th Edition, they usually don’t have it right off the bat or have to use it under certain circumstances, whereas the Mist Walker is capable of at-will short-range teleportation by default.Fluffwise Mist Walkers are practitioners of a skill of unknown origins which utilizes “the mists” to move about unhindered. They tend to belong to martial orders, assassin’s guilds, and the like. As this book is OGL and not part of the DM’s Guild, the ode to Ravenloft is subtle rather than blatant. For those not read up on ‘Ravenloftian lore, the Mists are an omnipresent and seemingly intelligent force which makes up the foundation of the Demiplane of Dread. It is capable of being manipulated by its most infamous prisoners, the Darklords, to afflict and imprison those within their domains of influence. The Vistani are a human ethnic group based off of the Roma people who are the only known beings capable of traversing the Mists without difficulty or error.Cody’s Mist Walker more or less tosses out the themes of subtle corruption in trying to control such a thing. The closest we get is with the Conviction of the Shroud subclass which manipulates life energy to harm foes, but there’s no Faustian bargains or alignment tendencies. You’re more akin to Noctis from Final Fantasy XV than a horror movie monster stalking one’s prey.Mist Walkers as a class are a stealth/martial hybrid: d10 hit die, proficiency with light armor and shields, can use all simple weapons plus smaller blades (short swords, scimitars, rapiers), is proficient with the poisoner’s kit, and chooses three skills which are very close to the Rogue’s options (Acrobatics, Deception, etc).The Mist Walker’s main class feature is...well, Mist Walk. It is an at-will teleportation which is performed as part of or in replacement of one’s movement rather than an action on its own. Its distance starts out at 30 feet but increases by 10 feet at 4th level and every 4 levels after, and its major restrictions are that you cannot combine it with the Dash action and you can only Mist Walk to places you can see, meaning that a blind Mist Walker loses the use of their primary feature. Mist Walk automatically avoids triggering opportunity attacks, which is one of the more common bits of contention on Drive-Thru RPG reviews besides the at-will teleport.Beyond just teleporting, the Mist Walk ability’s total distance is halved if you mix it up with mundane forms of movement, which in turn are halved as well. At 3rd and higher levels you can add a +1 to +3 bonus on attack rolls when you first use Mist Walk, at 5th level you can teleport another half of your max Mist Walk as a bonus action, and at 7th level you can Mist Walk half your distance as a reaction to avoid hostile AoEs provided that you succeed on the saving throw in the first place.As an example of said uses (plus some class features detailed below), let’s say that some foolish wizard shoots a Fireball at a 20th-level elven Mist Walker in an urban metropolis. Said Mist Walker can teleport onto a four-story roof (40 feet) as a reaction to avoid said Fireball, mundane move 15 feet to take cover behind a chimney and snipe back at their foe, and then teleport 40 feet onto a nearby balcony out of the sniper’s line of sight as part of their movement. But, as a bonus action they mist walk another 40 feet under an awning at ground level to further throw the wizard off their trail.Beyond this core feature, the Mist Walker lets you add your Intelligence and Dexterity modifiers to your Armor Class while not wearing armor, and you can choose from Fighting Styles but only Dueling or Two-Weapon Fighting. You gain an Extra Attack at 5th level, can reroll an Intelligence-based ability or skill check 1/short rest at 6th level, add your Intelligence modifier to all weapon damage at 9th, add Intelligence bonus to all Wisdom and Charisma saves at 10th a limited number of times per day equal to said Intelligence bonus, and Blindsight of 15 feet at 13th level. A rather large number of utility features are unrelated to mist-walking, but several are quite good: adding two ability score modifiers to weapon damage is really nice, and given that Mist Walkers are proficient in Dexterity and Intelligence saves the ability to add the latter to the other mental saves helps shore up the class’ likely weak willpower.Mist Walkers also gain Shroud Abilities at 2nd level, letting you gain a number of Shroud Points equal to their level which refresh on a long rest. Shroud Abilities represent quick summoning of the mist in order to avert disaster or act quickly. The class grants 3 different Shroud Abilities immediately: Cloaking Mist creates a 30 foot radius of mist which is similar to darkness in terms of concealment, Veiled Shield adds +2 to +4 AC* as a reaction to a melee attack, and Jaunt moves you as a reaction upon taking damage up to half your Mist Walk distance in a direction of your choice. All three abilities have very good uses, although I can see Veiled Shield seeing the most use.*dependent upon level.At 17th level and above our final 3 class features get more explicit in the use of mist. 17th level allows you to cast Mirror Image as a bonus action which can move and teleport in tandem with you; can do a normal Teleport spell without components at 18th level whose recharge rate varies from a long rest to 1d6 days depending on if you teleport additional creatures; and finally at 20th level you can create a clone of yourself 1/long rest out of the mists themselves. Said clone has near-identical stats save that they add only their Intelligence modifier to damage, cannot duplicate magic items (wielded and worn items become closest mundane equivalent), add Intelligence and no proficiency bonus to all saving throws, has half your Mist Walk distance, and is immune to various conditions due to being a mindless artificial entity.Mist Walker Convictions serve as the subclass options, and we get 3 different ones representing differing ways for how Mist Walkers shape their talents and abilities. The Conviction of the Blade pursues its martial uses to the exclusion of others, Conviction of the Mind focuses on aiding allies and battlefield control, while Conviction of the Shroud taps into the mists’ pseudo-Ravenloftian vibe to drain others’ life force to power yourself or another.Each gets an ability at 7th, 11th, and 15th levels, but the amount of initial 3rd level abilities varies wildly: Blade gets 2, Shroud gets 3, while Mind gets a whopping 6! The Mind is the most front-loaded and has the widest use in utility for tactics and builds, some of which even step on Blade’s toes in seeming more martial than usual.Conviction of the Blade grants a Shroud Ability which can forcefully teleport opponents a short distance of your choosing into an open space, and can do so at no Shroud Point cost on a critical hit. At 7th level all of your weapons count as magical. At 11th level you can mark a struck target to deal 1d10 bonus force damage on attacks for infinite duration, or until said target moves farther than 150 feet away. The 15th level ability grants a 1/short rest feature where you deal 12d10 bonus force damage after studying a target via a successful Investigation check as a bonus action.Conviction of the Mind is heavily front-loaded. Its 3 bonus Shroud Abilities include clouding a target’s mind with mist to impose -2 to AC, saves, and preventing use of reactions, using the mists to disarm-teleport the weapon of a creature that you struck as a bonus action, and creating obscuring mists over a nearby target to impose disadvantage on attacks for one turn. The three non-Shroud initial features include the ability to grant nearby allies short-range Mist Walking, the ability to refresh Shroud Points 1/day during a short rest instead of a long rest, and can swap the positions of two willing targets within half your Mist Walk distance.The 7th level ability allows you to take creatures with you on a Mist Walk a limited number of times per day equal to your Intelligence modifier (or twice that at 13th level) and give them advantage on their next attack after ending said Mist Walk. At 11th level you can interrupt enemy spellcasting by teleporting up to 30 feet to them as a reaction and get in a free attack 1/short rest, and at 15th level you can swap places with a willing ally just about to be hit by an attack as a reaction.Conviction of the Shroud grants a Shroud Ability that heals hit points equal to your Intelligence modifier to all allies within 10 feet, and double and triple that at higher levels. The other 2 initial features include the ability to Hide as a bonus action whenever you use Mist Walk as part of your movement, and the ability to transfer 1d6 to 5d6 plus your Intelligence modifier in hit points from yourself to a touched ally. At 7th level you can create a toxic mist which grants the drowning and incapacitated conditions to those who fail a Constitution save. At 11th level you can create life-sapping mist in a 30 foot radius centered on you that deals 4d6 damage to any number of creatures of your choice, and can divvy up the damage as restored hit points to any number of other creatures within range that you desire. The 15th level final ability allows you to wreath a number of creatures equal to your Intelligence modifier in a protective purple mist, gaining +2 AC, 1d4 temporary hit points, and they cannot be magically slowed. Besides the Shroud Ability and 15th level feature which is 1/short rest, all of Shroud’s abilities are usable a number of times per day equal to your Intelligence modifier, and twice or even thrice that depending on level.Existing Class Comparisons: The Mist Walker is clearly meant to be a mobile striker with some stealth and scouting capabilities, which brings to mind classes such as Fighter, Monk, Ranger, and Rogue. But before we tackle anything else, let us bring up at-will short-range teleportation. Unless I’m missing something in the newer books such as Wildemount, the Way of Shadows Monk and the Horizon Walker Ranger are the only two subclasses which can do something close to what the Mist Walker can. They’re of more limited use: the Shadow Monk at 6th level can teleport 60 feet as a bonus action but only between areas of dim light and darkness, which interestingly means that they’re not likely limited by line of sight given visual obscurement. The Horizon Walker at 11th level can go but a mere 10 feet, but gets up to 3 attacks provided that they attack at least 2 different targets. The Shadow Sorcerer can do what the Shadow Monk does, but 120 feet and at 14th level.In comparison to classes in general, the Mist Walker is pretty strong, although in ways other than Mist Walking. The ability to stack bonuses on attack rolls when making attacks as part of Mist Walk can break Bounded Accuracy, and adding Intelligence on top of Strength and Dexterity for weapon damage is pretty sweet. But in terms of raw damage output it can’t attack as much as a Fighter with Action Surge, nor does it have the Rogues’ Sneak Attack. Its lack of proficiency with martial ranged weapons* is a bit of a weak point. While conjuring concealing mists is nice, such an effect is more noticeable to guards than the vaunted Invisibility spell. That several of the pseudo-mist abilities can be blown away by strong winds or dissipate after a minute are more points against its favor. I can definitely see class’ potential brokenness, although this will vary for a variety of monsters and tactics: the Mist Walker’s going to shine in a wide open area and/or facing melee-focused monsters without much mobility. But against many offensive spellcasters, creatures which can blind, create obscuring or illusory effects, and prefer cramped dungeon corridors with lots of cover can befuddle the Mist Walker.While it can seem rather powerful, opportunity attack-focused builds are more common on the PC side** than the NPC/Monster side in 5th Edition. While a Mist Walker can easily kite slower monsters without ranged attacks, the same can be said for an archer with a mount.*unless you’re playing an elf or something.**Namely feats such as Polearm Mastery and Sentinel.Final Thoughts: The Mist Walker is a bit all over the place, and as such feels unfocused. The vibe one gets is a supernatural warrior unhindered by the limitations of physical space, with some assassin vibes thrown in. But besides teleportation the Mist Walker doesn’t have many means of actually concealing their presence from greater-than-normal perceptions and detection. The creation of concealing mist is a bit of a double-edged sword, as while the Mist Walker can conjure it to befuddle opponents it also negates their line of sight in or out of said mist which limits their core feature. The core class and subclass abilities are all over the place in terms of refresh rates, ranging from short rests to long rests to per-day uses which can double or triple all at different rates. This only serves to add more book-keeping for the player. In terms of Convictions, Mind is the superior option, especially in comparison to Blade. Two of the Mind’s shroud abilities (disarming and disadvantage on attacks) feel more pertinent to Blade, whereas the forceful teleportations feel more in line with Mind’s battlefield control. Interrupting enemy spellcasters also sounds right up Blade’s alley. But most of all, Mind’s ability to refresh Shroud Points on a short rest 1/day effectively doubles said resource. This allows them to use both their base and Conviction-specific Shroud Abilities twice as often than if the Mist Walker picked either of the other two Convictions.Conviction of Shroud’s a bit of a mixed bag. Its 7th and 11th level abilities are the sweetest, but its final 15th level ability is a bit underwhelming. The initial 3rd level features’ magical healing is both less than a Cure Wounds spell and saps the Mist Walker’s hit points which makes them less widely-useful as a typical divine healer. The 11th level ability opens up a variant <a href="https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/124869/what-is-a-bag-of-rats" target="_blank">Bag of Rats exploitation,</a> but given its limited use and class’ overall lack of spell slots this isn’t really a big deal.I don’t think I’d use this class as is in a campaign. I’d rebalance the Convictions at the very least, and try to make a more unified rest-based refresh rate of class features for consistency’s sake.Join us next time as we review what a Jojo reference is with the Channeler!</blockquote>

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