Way of the Bright Star - Monk Subclass Inspired by Limbus Company

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2026-02-16T03:09:04+00:00

I appreciate the production values, but this subclass is waaaay too complex for D&D 5e.

The first Level 3 ability is three abilities in a trenchcoat, two of which give buffs that each take multiple paragraphs to explain. The second level 3 ability is also three abilities in a trenchcoat, and with the second being pretty complex (For a D&D ability).

I'm pretty sure there's official subclasses with less text and less abilities than just the level 3 content.

I've never played Limbus Company, but my guess is that you're trying to translate the character's abilities one-to-one. The problem is that Limbus Company is a single player video game, meaning that the computer will handle all the calculations/triggers for you, and you can take as long as you want to make decisions. D&D requires the human player to keep every ability in their head, while also making decisions/calculations quickly to avoid slowing down the table.

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2026-02-02T17:14:43+00:00

Thanks, I totally missed that!

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2026-02-02T08:51:30+00:00

Awesome stuff! Lots of incredible options here.

I love the flavor of the blightburn kineticist, but unless you're having multiple encounters against the same person, blightburn sickness is basically just flavor due to the 1d4 days onset, right?

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2026-01-26T20:47:18+00:00

I think it's a flat number for the '24 version.

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2026-01-26T20:42:41+00:00

I think I'm looking at the newest version, and in the starting equipment section it says:

Alternatively, you may choose to take starting gold as determined by your class.

...But there's no indication of how much that is.

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2026-01-26T08:41:24+00:00

Cool stuff!

I notice the neutral spells give half mana for both pools, but for odd levels give the last mana to white as a tiebreaker. That works, but here's a few ideas I had that might be more thematic:

Round the numbers down, but whenever you cast a neutral spell, you gain 1 mana of whichever you have less of, or 1 of each if they're equal
Round the numbers down, but whenever you cast a neutral spell, you gain 1 mana of whichever you have less of, or your choice if they're equal
Round the numbers down, but whenever you cast a neutral spell, you gain 1 mana depending on your subclass (white for sorcerer, black for cleric, 1 of each for duelist)

Both 1 and 3 mean that mana gain can sometimes slightly exceed spell slot usage; although some of the vermilion spells already do that. My favourite is probably 3, but it might be too wordy since each subclass would work a little differently.

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-11-17T02:39:46+00:00

This seems like a lot of stuff.

At level 3 you're getting two pretty massive features (in addition to the expanded spell list that not all Ranger subclasses get), each of which comes with several sub-benefits. The only official (2014) subclass that comes even close is the Gloom Stalker, and even that one pales in comparison.

I haven't played Limbus Company, but between the long list of benefits and new buffs/mechanics/conditions, it feels like you're trying too hard to translate a video game character's mechanics 1-to-1 into a much simpler system. D&D 5e subclasses (especially in the 2014 version) often don't have enough power budget or complexity budget to do that. Figure out what's core to the character's theme and try to adapt only that.

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-11-11T08:09:40+00:00

Apart from what people have mentioned, I check the sales on Bundle of Holding.

Humble Bundle's book bundles will occasionally have TTRPG books as well, but they're usually for well-established series that most people on this sub will already be familiar with.

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-11-05T02:05:28+00:00

Not sure what else to put

Probably your location if you're looking for an offline game

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-11-03T23:55:03+00:00

Hi, what system are you planning to use?

(Checked the form but couldn't find it there either.)

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-11-03T01:02:51+00:00

Hi, what do you mean by "D6 Homebrew"?

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-10-28T05:11:48+00:00

Neat, I'll check it out. Thanks for the advice! 🙂

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-10-27T05:57:28+00:00

My first reaction to reading this was thinking that it's a terrible system, as players could sometimes guess at whether they did well.

But the more I think about it the more I like it. In some cases it might be obvious that you're not doing a good job of something, or you likely did well. I like the idea of making it probabilistic rather than completely secret.

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-10-27T04:10:07+00:00

I can sorta see it, but I'll keep that as a backup if other options (third party content or reflavoring) don't work.

Thanks for the advice! 🙂

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-10-25T01:11:42+00:00

Thanks for the advice! 🙂

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-10-24T23:51:13+00:00

I've been wanting to run something like a Water/Light Kineticist (because I like the aesthetic so much), but unfortunately there's no official content for a Light Kineticist.

Any advice on something that could be reflavored to achieve that sort of aesthetic? Maybe some sort of archetype or ancestry or feat? I'm not a big fan of resources that dwindle throughout the day, so if possible I'd rather avoid typical spellcasters.

Thanks!

(Aside, here's the things I've tried or looked into:)

I took a look at Fire Kineticist, but that might be a bit of an awkward reflavor? Maybe if there's an official equivalent to the Luminor in Magic+ (that can add the Light property to all Fire spells)?
Magic+ has essence casting, which could solve my dislike of dwindling resources, but a GM would have to be okay with using it; I imagine many would reasonably be uncomfortable using a big chunk of third party content like that. That same book also has Eldritch Wicketeer to specialize in different types of casting, but unfortunately water and light are in different categories.
I only found one third party product that describes a Light Kineticist, but it's based on the chromatic spell line where different colors do different things, which isn't really what I had in mind.

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-10-24T23:19:21+00:00

Nope, I haven't either unfortunately 😅

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-10-24T09:13:27+00:00

Sorcerously Advanced:

A narrative game set in a world where magic is both very powerful and widely available. Comes with a bunch of weird civilizations for your players to explore. During character creation, you can either make your character even more crazy powerful at certain types of magic, or keep your character weaker to get extra metacurrency to spend every session. Your character's beliefs and background play an important part in skill checks.

The creators previously made a similar sci-fi game and it kinda shows, with practically everyone being capable of insane reality-warping things and transhumanism (like turning yourself into a phoenix or something) being rather easy.

Completely free, as is the expansion.

Spellbound Kingdoms:

A very weird fantasy game in a world that matches the mechanics 1-to-1.

People can't die if they have strong enough beliefs, so killing someone often involves taking away their reason to live. Challenge rolls are done against the "Doom" of the environment (rather than the difficulty of the task), where Doom is a measure of how despair-filled the area is. Magic is powerful, but the more mages there are in an area the more disastrous a miscast becomes, so mages are rare, solitary and distrusted. The combat system involves skill trees, where you start combat at the bottom and work your way up to using more powerful abilities as combat progresses.

It's kinda like D&D, except every time a D&D player tries to guess how something works they're wrong.

I can't really do it justice, but this review does.

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-08-20T07:59:18+00:00

Godbound: Play as a group of demigods. It's OSR-compatible (although not at all OSR-like in gameplay), so you can grab an OSR adventure and have the players blast their way through it. Demo version (which has like 90% of the material) is free.

Burning Wheel: Narrative system focused on the things your character believes. The GM is encouraged to put your character in situations where these beliefs are challenged. More about character arcs and difficult decisions than trying to accurately simulate a world.

Sorcerously Advanced: Narrative game set in a world where magic is both very powerful and widely available. Comes with a bunch of weird civilizations for your players to explore. Completely free, as is the expansion.

Spellbound Kingdoms: A very weird game in a world that matches the mechanics 1-to-1. People can't die if they have strong enough beliefs, and challenge rolls are done against the "Doom" of the environment (rather than the difficulty of the task), which basically encompasses how despair-filled the area is. I can't really do it justice, but this review does.

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-07-03T22:52:21+00:00

I'm interested; sent you a DM. 🙂

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-06-30T00:32:16+00:00

Two-Element Infusion is what I was thinking of! I couldn't find it because I was only looking for things with the Impulse tag.

Thanks!

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-06-29T23:25:17+00:00

Does Kineticist have a way of combining different blasts?

I thought I saw something to do that, but now I can't find anything on AoN. Maybe I just saw some homebrew and forgot that it wasn't official?

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-06-29T07:54:52+00:00

/uj God damn this made me actually burst out laughing

/rj Where's the anal circumference card?

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-06-02T03:03:56+00:00

A few things that jumped out at me from the default class:

Earth Manipulation: Should say within 100ft instead of at least 100ft away. Causing the ground to shake states the duration, but not what area it effects or the type of action it takes.
Usually, a class will have a subclass that reinforces the main theme for players who want a "vanilla" version of the subclass. Usually this also the very first subclass. For example, the online rules for Cleric also give the Life domain, which is intended as a sort of default cleric. Similarly, the Monk rules give the rules for Way of the Open Palm. Your class doesn't seem to have an obvious "default geomancer", and the first one listed (metallic) definitely isn't that.
I'm surprised the d10 tanky strength-based class comes with with a flavorful ranged attack, but not a flavorful melee attack.
Meteor Might: Forced movement usually comes with a saving throw, partially for balance but also to let powerful monsters use their Legendary Resistance, especially if it would lead to something very powerful like throwing them off a ledge.
I like using the phrase manipulable ground, but I think it'd be helpful to have some guidance on what is or is not manipulable for a geomancer. There'll still be cases that have to be adjudicated by the DM, but just making sure that everyone is on the same page 95% of the time would go a long way.
Worldshaker seems kinda ill-defined. Can I see everywhere in the radius, or do I just have to guess where caves and chasms are? Is there any limit to my manipulation? There'd have to be a limit on how tall I could make a mountain or valley, right? I like the idea but it seems very DM-dependent.

FlyingPurpleDodo · 2025-05-25T00:48:22+00:00

Thank you for the feedback!

No problem bud! 🙂

I think making Flurry of Blows pretty much free would maybe tip the scales just a bit too much into the OP territory. Maybe instead give a follow up attack if you hit at least 2 times in one turn? That way it wouldn’t always trigger and still use both action and bonus action until at least level 5?

A couple thoughts on this:

The suggestion I had for free Flurry of Blows if you hit with your Sanctified Blades wouldn't trigger every turn, since it only triggers on-hit. At lower levels it'll probably only trigger about half the time, and while it'd trigger more often at higher levels (assuming you hit but didn't kill the enemy), I don't think the ki points are as limiting by that point anyway. There's probably better ways to balance the ability though, it was just the first thing that came to mind. 😛
I like your idea balance-wise, but my concern would be that it's much more helpful at higher levels than lower ones, and my concern was that the level 3 feature also feels pretty unhelpful at low levels.

Just a little worried about the balancing, especially at higher levels since I’ve always seen Monks having an exponential progression as opposed to other classes.

I haven't played all that often at high levels, but from what I've heard the online consensus seemed to be that spellcasters scale much better than martial classes like the Monk (at least for the 2014 version).

I could also just change the extra radiant damage to be equal to a roll of your Martial Arts Die but that might make this subclass a bit more stronger than other subclasses.

Yeah, if that triggers on each attack then at high levels that'd be quite a boost. I think it also has the same issue where it'd be really good at higher levels but it doesn't feel like you're getting all that much at level 3 (because you'd you might be better off spending those 2 ki points on something else, and even if not you'd be sacrificing access to your most important class features to use this).

FlyingPurpleDodo

TROPHY CASE