QL's Homebrew Creations

[Quickleaf]

This thread is for me to share the 4th edition homebrew projects I've been working on. Most of these ideas are, or will be, part of my Witching Grounds home campaign. I'm one of those unrepentant homebrewers with a bit of OCPD; there might be a decent substitute, say for a new monster, but why not get it exactly how you envision it? I also like throwing curve balls at those players who think they know what they're dealing with - it makes things more mythical and encourages them to investigate rather than to assume. My #1 rule is to begin with a strong story and flavor as foundation, then build the rules on top of that.


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Beast of Bechaeux: An 8th level tragic solo monster
Battlefield Encounters: Skill challenge based rules for special ops level PC involvement in warfare...siege version pending
Faun: New PC race
D&D Lifepath: Derivative work for creating character backgrounds
True Names: Rules for incorporating true name primeval power
Ghost Pact Warlock: New pact with heroic-tier powers only
Barseis: level 1 solo brute
The Ransom: A skill challenge for negotiating a hostage's release
Ghaulinde: An elite 5th level enchantress
Grig: Fey minion and swarm, along with the dread Faerie Fiddler!
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All art is copyright the respective artists, is not used for profit, and is available at their websites. If the artists (or anyone else) want me to remove art from these pdfs, I will do so immediately.

Feel free to use anything in this thread for your home campaign, but please don't publish or use any of my writing for commercial gain. Thank you.

 

[Quickleaf]

Reserved, just in case.

 

[DanmarLOK]

Just some random thoughts -

Jaws of the Wolf - Recharge when first bloodied might be good. Solo's typically have a big(ger) attack that recharges either on a roll or when bloodied.

Other than that it looks pretty good without running the numbers through a calculator.

 

[Quickleaf]

Thanks for catching that Danmar!

Just added a few new things:
- Battlefield Encounters (house rule/skill challenge)
- Faun (race)
- D&D Lifepath

 

[Quickleaf]

3.9.09 Added:
* True Names
* Ghost Pact Warlock

 

[fissionessence]

Ghost pack warlock is a really cool idea! I'm not totally on-board with a lot of these mechanics, though.

Ancestral Memory pact boon: This seems strictly less useful than most of the other pact boons. Perhaps you can make it work well in your campaign specifically, but I don't think it is a good fit for most games (I could be wrong).

Eldritch Light: Is this a replacement/alternative for eldritch blast? Or is it an alternate choice for a pact at-will? Either way, it kind of breaks the warlock pact structure (but this is fine for a house rule). Also, it's really overpowered. If a creature would otherwise hit 50% of the time, it now hits 25% of the time, which is kind of like a -5 to attack rolls.

Death Sight: I think this one is a little too powerful, but maybe not too much. I'd remove the second sentence.

Revenant: Very cool, and seems reasonable.

Cold Embrace: Do you use a lot of morale bonuses in your campaign? I've never seen one.

Aegis of the Ages: Cool

Curse of the Grave: Add a miss effect of some kind, as it's a daily power.

Spirit Swarm: Same as above.

I haven't read past here, as I'm not currently creating a warlock character I really appreciate you posting here your homebrew creations, and I wish it's something more people did (although the layout is probably a prohibitive factor there; yours look good). I downloaded Becheaux, battlefield encounters, and Faun when you first posted them. They all looked good, as I recall, although I did wonder what the starting 'score' for battlefield encounters was supposed to be. Do you just roll a d20 for the initial score? That seems like it could start the players in a really bad position from the get-go, but it looked like otherwise a really good and 4E-style system.

~ fissionessence

 

[Quickleaf]

Ghost pack warlock is a really cool idea! I'm not totally on-board with a lot of these mechanics, though.

Thanks for giving it the one-over fissionessence. That was a project I worked on a while ago when I was first understanding 4e. I'll definitely update it with your suggestions.

I haven't read past here, as I'm not currently creating a warlock character I really appreciate you posting here your homebrew creations, and I wish it's something more people did (although the layout is probably a prohibitive factor there; yours look good). I downloaded Becheaux, battlefield encounters, and Faun when you first posted them.

You're welcome! There's so many good ideas on these boards and I always see something cool then can't find it on a search a couple weeks later. A couple posters have been doing "collection threads" for a while, and I think more of us should follow suit.

They all looked good, as I recall, although I did wonder what the starting 'score' for battlefield encounters was supposed to be. Do you just roll a d20 for the initial score? That seems like it could start the players in a really bad position from the get-go, but it looked like otherwise a really good and 4E-style system.

The idea is that it's a d20 with any modifiers the DM feels are appropriate due to preparations or previous adventures. Yes, this could put the PCs in a bad position from the get-go, but that makes for an interesting narrative with a tactically savvy enemy tricking them into a valley then devastating their forces with longbowmen. You could also start it at 10 if the sides are evenly matched.

 

[Garthanos]

True Names are wild !

With your defined "True Name" effect It might be cool if humans intuitively know there "true name". Here is the rationale ... One of the gifts of humanity IRL might be called "Free will" and they are less subject to the "laws of magic" some say this is because they are the children of the creator. IRL Humans in many religions are the ones who have the "power of naming" built in... we gave the world its names.
As within so without is one of those laws and if changed in to other forms either rebound to their natural form faster (even if the alternate form is useful and voluntary). You can also transform a human in to a beast with more "safety" as they are less likely to forget who they are and stay that way accidentally.

Human Warlocks trade human bonuses in order to become more fey or demonic, its not that they no longer know there true name its that, the knowing of it gains them less or perhaps something different.

 

[Quickleaf]

Interesting ideas about humans, thanks Garthanos! I like it!

Update 3.12.09:
* Barseis (level 1 solo brute)

Removed for rampant stupidity

 

[Garthanos]

Interesting ideas about humans, thanks Garthanos! I like it!

Humans are notoriously under-estimated in games, there has been a tacit assumption that they are the "norm" and that we already know them so they must be "uninteresting" , D&D 4e has come a long way in this regards, I actively like humans. Since the vast majority of humans IRL believe in reincarnation. Giving humans talent gleaned from remembering passed incarnations that could be another way to "up the anti", this could be done like jack of all trades I suppose or it could be the explanation for some of the versatility 4e gives humans already. But from what I have seen reincarnation is going to be the Deva's shtick but I am still inclined to gift humanity with it perhaps in subtler forms, or even blur the racial lines, but since I havent seen much yet of the Deva will see.

Update 3.12.09:
* Barseis (level 1 solo brute)

I have one power for him that I'm concerned is too much by rendering the target helpless. Is my gut instinct right about this one?

Blade of the Butcher (immediate reaction, when first bloodied)
+6 vs. AC; 2d10 + 3 damage and target is helpless until the end of Brasies’ next turn.

Does the power sound as nasty as it is... it could have been worded "A single enemy is rendered dead if they have no allies to intervene", hitpoints are completely disregarded yeah I would worry about that a bit
Instant death spell 4e.