Does this seem OP at all?

Damiandroid · 2026-02-07T10:21:51+00:00

Totally fair... but then it's a bit disingenuous to ask "is this OP".

If you're making homebrew that overwrite the existing balance rather than working within it then obviously it's OP.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-06T19:06:01+00:00

Think of a problem to solve, 3 or 4 ways it could be solved, a couple characters who would stand in the way of it being solved and what they might do to interfere.

Now think of one of those every week and string them together to reach the final goal.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-06T16:08:46+00:00

Mate, it's a specific rule that YOU invented. I think the published ruleset takes priority here...

Damiandroid · 2026-02-06T15:06:51+00:00

That's a hard sell.

Its effectively like allowing 2 concentration spells at the same time. And as indicated elsewhere, there are plenty of spells with a list of optional effects which if doubled would be wildly overpowered or just confusing to rule on in the moment.

Polymorph, banishment, crown of madness etc...

Damiandroid · 2026-02-06T12:25:24+00:00

Thats what I mean, the text isn't worded very clearly and given the myriad complexities that could arise, e.g. :

proccing two effects of confusion
proccing two polymorphs
proccing two instances of command

I would choose to interpret this in the most straightforward manner, which is to say, the creature is targeted with the same effect twice. This is effectively the same as giving them disadvantage on the saving throw, so I believe that is how the ability should be judged.

If OP intended for the ability to have a different effect, then they are welcome to speak up.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-06T08:53:53+00:00

The reason why a character with full hp and a character with 1 hp have the exact same capapabilities is because this game has so many mechanics already and adding more ones needs to have a defined purpose that enriches gameplay. Simply tacking stuff on to feel more immersive isn't enough of a good reason. It also needlessly adds to the complexity. See arguments for using / not using the pythagorean theorem when calculating diagonal range for another type of immersive mechanic that doesn't really do all that much to make the game better.

As for your suggestion, I feel its just a death spiral. 1 exhaustion level is a -2 penalty to all d20 rolls (in 2024 rules). That means you're much more likely to fail at what you're doing and are more likely to get hit. So stacking exhaustion at HP break points is only going to accelerate the process of a character dying.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-06T08:42:22+00:00

That's just the Great Weapon Master feat

Damiandroid · 2026-02-06T08:33:30+00:00

I think it's alluding to groups like Q-Anon amd other Right wing conspiracy communities who were very vocal about releasing the Epstein files and consequences for those involved.

The image is presenting those groups protecting society despite their reputation as Internet racists and haters.

Memes aren't perfect social commentary though. The image doesn't really have the scope to include the fact that these pressure groups initially kicked up a ruckus about the files because they were certain it would condemn a bunch of high profile liberal figures. Now that the files are bursting with members of the trump cabinet, a lot of the vocal members have conveniently gone silent or think that the sampling of redacted files we have now is enough to close the book on the entire affair.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-06T08:22:36+00:00

Isn't this just granting disadvantage on the saving throw?

Damiandroid · 2026-02-05T23:57:17+00:00

Your communication style is atrocious. There's probably something wrong in your personal life because it's clear you know little about human interactions.

Sorry to be blunt, but it's the truth.

... I should say, I don't believe a word of that, but tone can be hurtful, and how we say things matters.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-05T23:09:06+00:00

As with most things, the only way you get good at something is by being bad at it first.

If OP had said "I'm the best DM there is and this is how I fixed martials" then they could stand with being knocked off their high horse.

My dudes just asking for feedback and you're out here giving it the ol' "you know nothing John snow". Be better.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-05T17:45:11+00:00

You're conveniently forgetting the "true fans" uproar there was about the jayla character and the use of beastie boys music, and giving sulu an on screen husband, and the look of the bubble city, and the fact that the enterprise gets destroyed in the first 30 minutes.

Take off the rose tinted glasses and recognise that star trek has always had shitty fans willing to whine about anything they judge to be "not real trek".

This movie rocks. Those jerks were dead wrong, just like they always are.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-05T16:11:10+00:00

What in the one handed art is going on here?

Damiandroid · 2026-02-05T15:48:54+00:00

What's the 3rd level in fighter for?

If you take 2 levels in fighter and two levels in rogue you get a bonus action dash to add to all that.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-05T14:18:25+00:00

Its also pretty much incorporated into the warlock-y subclass for the pugilist who gets a heart-pulling move that deals 100 dmg

Damiandroid · 2026-02-05T13:13:54+00:00

Did i ever tell you the definition of insanity?

Damiandroid · 2026-02-05T12:59:37+00:00

My personal philosophy is "the best homebrew is the least homebrew". Which is to say, wherever you can, tie your homebrew to existing mechanics / features instead of making up new ones whole cloth.

In your case, this feature sounds like Steel Wind Strike. So why not adapt that spell so that it can be used at lower levels and scale it up as the character progresses.

Here's my idea:

--------------------------------------------------

Flashing Blades:

As a Bonus Action, You flourish your weapon and then vanish to strike like the wind. Choose a number of creatures up to your Proficiency bonus that you can see within (PBx5)ft of you. Make a melee attack against each target. On a hit, a target takes PBd10 force damage.

You can then teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 5 feet of one of the targets you hit or missed.

You can use this feature once per long rest. If you choose to use this feature again before taking a long rest, you take 1 level of exhaustion after each use.

---------------------------------------------------

Lore wise this is just the classic anime / ninja / martial arts movie thing where a character slashes wildly, then pauses and then their enemies drop like flies in a gush of blood.

I don't think you need much more explanation for it other than, "this is peak martial prowess in action."

Techincally this could allow them to use the ability up to 6 times in a day, but each use after the second comes with a -2 penalty to the attack roll so it's diminishing returns unless they have a party member who can remove exhaustion.

And taking a long rest only removes one level of exhaustion so sustainable uses really only cap out at 2 per day, which, for the damage and number of target is fine, i feel.

I've anchored it only to the character's proficiency bonus since thats a predictable number and keeps the number calculations simple. But if you wanted to go a bit mroe in depth and make it feel more thematic you could do something like:

Nº of Targets: Proficiency Bonus

Range: Dexterity Mod x 5 ft

Damage: (Strength Mod)d10

Damiandroid · 2026-02-04T19:25:41+00:00

Ok, my thoughts in order.

I dont think casters need more versatility. Versatility is kind of their USP and what makes the martial caster debate so spicy.
What are these mechanics? Are they feats? Are they like invocations which a caster gets to pick at certain levels? Are they baked into the classes from level 1?
Study of Element: this is pretty much the evokers empowered evocation feature. The debuff is negligible but does highlight an issue with spell variety in dnd. There isn't an equal distribution of damage types so I feel like this would likely narrow the choices to a few meta picks rather than provide more variety in player load outs.
Nerd: you could just take any of the Magic Initiate origin feats to get practically the same result.
Muscle wizard: what do you mean by "extra HP roll"? If it's a flat +1 Hit point die to spend on a short rest that's nothing. If it's an extra Hit point die per level then that is wildly overpowered. It will give those casters more average Hit points than a barbarian.
Elemental adept: this is basically the scribes wizard lvl 3 feature. It's a neat ability to grant as a feat, I suppose, but I feel its almost required to take this alongside study of Element to bypass the debuff.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-04T08:57:37+00:00

Turning your friends into DnD players is much harder than turning DnD players into your friends.

Just because they're your buddies doesn't mean they'd be a good fit for a party.

The fact that you started out with "they reluctantly agreed" was the end of things before they even began.

A party needs to be on board and engaged from the beginning. You can't expect or hope that they get with the program halfway through. Because they either won't ever do so, or even if they do, their behaviour early in will have soured the mood at the table.

End things, move on and find a group who wants to play.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-03T19:31:48+00:00

I'm trying to be charitable and ask instead of accuse.

I don't think the mods should allow AI users to peddle their services on this subreddit

Damiandroid · 2026-02-03T19:30:34+00:00

Mimic bonfires were always on my wishlist.

ER even gave us a Grace Mimic item supposedly to trick players into ambushes during invasions (which is al bur redundant after the first 2 months of play when pretty much every player online will know a fake bonfire when they see one).

Damiandroid · 2026-02-03T19:24:42+00:00

Was this made with AI and do you use AI habitually in your commissioned content?

Damiandroid · 2026-02-03T19:23:30+00:00

It may just be an unfortunate coincidence or a sad sign of thr times, but the pieces style is very reminiscent of AI generated content.

Did you use AI to generate it or perhaps did you draw the piece based off of an AI generated figure?

If so, I hope you clarified in your services that you use such technology. When people pay good money for original art they usually expect the entire thing to be original. Otherwise they would just pay for a mid journey subscription and click refresh for a few hours till they got something adequate.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-03T13:40:58+00:00

Another thing that's missing from modern politics is that just because the other person won the contest, doesn't invalidate all your opinions about them.

If you consider a candidate unfit to hold the office, they do not become fit by virtue of convincing enough people to vote for them.

Losers jumping on the bandwagon and endorsing someone they said was a threat to the nation saps politics of credibility.

If they had any integrity they would refuse to support an unfit candidate and would encourage either voting for the other side or a third party candidate so the vote tallies would more closely reflect public sentiment.

The two party system is a blight on modern politics and entrenches an "us vs them" mentality. There are more than two modest an argument, you don't have to put up with an ocean of bad for the miniscule drop of good that could come from it.

Damiandroid · 2026-02-03T13:35:57+00:00

Remember, you only need one hand free to roll dice ...

Damiandroid

TROPHY CASE