TheCommanderSalty
First Post
So a buddy and I during a sit down had the (brilliant?) idea to create a level tree as an alternative to the normal leveling system in D&D after we were discussing the different orders a Blood Hunter could take when leveling (order of the mutant, order of the ghostslayer, order of the profane soul and order of the lycan). Normally when you hit a certain level with a character you branch off into different paths such as when a bard hits level 3 they choose a bard college and then they are stuck with it so with this tree system you could essentially choose one or more depending on how you wish to progress through the different paths of the level tree thus creating more options for your character. After much thought and work I came up with a prototype that could may work with tweaks and test playing. Here is how it could work.
Link here for examples and full article: https://www.thecommandersalty.com/skill-tree-for-dnd
How it works:
At level 1 you create your character as normal.
At each subsequent level you gain 2 points to spend on the level tree or you could spend a a level point on a talent that would normally be available to you.
Some branches may require a level requirement (as to not get overpowered spells or abilities too early).
Still get Proficiency bonuses and slot amounts as normal as you level.
The level tree:
This is a tree that represents the classes overall abilities as they progress through leveling up. You start at the top of the tree as a level 1 character and advance your way through the different paths and branches throughout playing your character. I am still working on how it will effect and work with spell casters because of the amount of spells and utilities they have available so I did my example with the simple class I made myself.
Paths and Branches: Paths in this will represent the different specializations that a character could normally make during leveling for example the different circles a druid chooses as they level and they could be broken into different areas that would have all the unique abilities or spells available to them. The Paths would be broken into intertwining branches of the overall tree that are connected by spending level points and advancing onto the next area. Remember this is a work in progress.
Boxes:
Next to each area on a level tree has a number of boxes that you tick (spending one level point to tick one box). These boxes represent the enhancing of ones abilities when leveling. Example for a blood hunter the trait Rapidity would have 2 boxes next to it one representing the level 5 version and the second representing the level level 15 version. I would like to have each class to have a minimum amount of 40 boxes to spend points on as to create variety.
You will notice in my example below that some boxes are blue, they mean they are the minimum amount of boxes you must tick before progressing on the tree (example on the caster path on the prototype I made below you only need one box ticked on the Clay Bomb branch to progress to the Clay Disc branch). The arrows represent the direction they go and what ability/spell comes next. If an arrow is pointing in two directions you can advance either direction when leveling.
Since the level cap is 20 in D&D you will only ever get so many points to spend so the idea is to think and spend wisely.
Advantages:
Here is an example of one i made for the Claymancer class I home-brewed (https://www.thecommandersalty.com/clay-mancer). One path is the Minion Path that is designated towards focusing on the classes Clay Minion enhancing abilities and the other Caster Path is designated towards the Claymancer itself (My Claymancer does not have paths as a normal class does such as Bards having colleges so I broke the level tree into paths designated towards different playing styles).
Obviously this needs some work but some feedback is good!!
Hopefully with some help or positive feedback I can make one for each main class in D&D.
Link here for examples and full article: https://www.thecommandersalty.com/skill-tree-for-dnd
How it works:
At level 1 you create your character as normal.
At each subsequent level you gain 2 points to spend on the level tree or you could spend a a level point on a talent that would normally be available to you.
Some branches may require a level requirement (as to not get overpowered spells or abilities too early).
Still get Proficiency bonuses and slot amounts as normal as you level.
The level tree:
This is a tree that represents the classes overall abilities as they progress through leveling up. You start at the top of the tree as a level 1 character and advance your way through the different paths and branches throughout playing your character. I am still working on how it will effect and work with spell casters because of the amount of spells and utilities they have available so I did my example with the simple class I made myself.
Paths and Branches: Paths in this will represent the different specializations that a character could normally make during leveling for example the different circles a druid chooses as they level and they could be broken into different areas that would have all the unique abilities or spells available to them. The Paths would be broken into intertwining branches of the overall tree that are connected by spending level points and advancing onto the next area. Remember this is a work in progress.
Boxes:
Next to each area on a level tree has a number of boxes that you tick (spending one level point to tick one box). These boxes represent the enhancing of ones abilities when leveling. Example for a blood hunter the trait Rapidity would have 2 boxes next to it one representing the level 5 version and the second representing the level level 15 version. I would like to have each class to have a minimum amount of 40 boxes to spend points on as to create variety.
You will notice in my example below that some boxes are blue, they mean they are the minimum amount of boxes you must tick before progressing on the tree (example on the caster path on the prototype I made below you only need one box ticked on the Clay Bomb branch to progress to the Clay Disc branch). The arrows represent the direction they go and what ability/spell comes next. If an arrow is pointing in two directions you can advance either direction when leveling.
Since the level cap is 20 in D&D you will only ever get so many points to spend so the idea is to think and spend wisely.
Advantages:
- Not limited to set paths when advancing your character (could have two orders when leveling Blood Hunter). So means more options available when leveling.
- Simple and easy to use.
- New and Alternative way to leveling.
- You could put more point into attributes if you chose to do so (but at the cost of losing class features in the process).
Here is an example of one i made for the Claymancer class I home-brewed (https://www.thecommandersalty.com/clay-mancer). One path is the Minion Path that is designated towards focusing on the classes Clay Minion enhancing abilities and the other Caster Path is designated towards the Claymancer itself (My Claymancer does not have paths as a normal class does such as Bards having colleges so I broke the level tree into paths designated towards different playing styles).
Obviously this needs some work but some feedback is good!!
Hopefully with some help or positive feedback I can make one for each main class in D&D.
Last edited:
would love to See the tree. 
