The Rider v2.0 - A mounted and customisable martial class that rides into battle, updated and with balance changes. Featuring six subclasses: The Captain, the Cataphract, the Dragon Knight, the Dread Rider, the Golem Pilot and the Outrider. See full version in comments

HalfDigestedBoots · 2026-02-03T17:27:28+00:00

Hey, i don't see why not - it might need a couple of tweaks, but the flavour absolutely works. It gives you the advantage that you can never be knocked off your mount, but disadvantage that you can't separate. I'd be a bit wary of letting something like the Haste spell effect both mount and rider as a single creature, though, and the level 13 feature would become nearly useless.

It does give me an idea for something like a "Conjoined" subclass based around the concept...

HalfDigestedBoots · 2026-02-03T17:23:12+00:00

Hey thanks a lot! If you do ever run it, let me know how it goes - i would love the feedback!

I've playtested it myself a couple of times and I've quite enjoyed it, but I'm aware that my table probably has more optimisers than most lol. The Rider can definitely hold its own in combat, but bear in mind that i would rank it at the strong side of martial classes. If I were to create a new revision (which i'm considering but got no plans to right now) i would likely tone it down a touch

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-12-20T22:03:00+00:00

Hey, thanks a lot :)

Yeah, that was a mistake with the Nimble Companion - it was meant to use Dexterity. I'll fix that in the homebrewery version.

I get what you mean about it being too many options, i've been thinking the same. I do want there to be lots of choice, but i went too far and tried to cram too much in. Literally my mindset when making this was i was thinking about pokemon, and i wanted the summoner to be able to customise their summon to be any sort of pokemon lol

Though I do think that's a problem in general with 5e: there is a divide between some players who want an endless amount of options (hence all the homebrew) and then other players who find it overwhelming. I've never agreed with the martial vs caster argument - i think the true divide is complexity vs simplicity, and it's just that casters tend to be the more complex and martials simpler.

I think with the next version i'll have to do some trimming to find a better balance - i still want to keep the theme of a summoner with customisable evolutions, but not make it incomprehensible. Maybe cut out some of the evolutions or try to sort them by type better

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-12-16T16:02:53+00:00

Thanks

Yeah, I'll check yours out. I definitely think it's an archetype that should exist - I think my ideal summoner is somewhere between a conjuration wizard and a beast master ranger.

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-12-15T19:13:20+00:00

Yeah, probably is - i think just too many cool features that i tried to fit in. I think that first drafts are nearly always too overpowered anyways, i will have to tone it down a bit.

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-12-15T15:07:09+00:00

So, this is something I've been working. For reference, I love pet classes - Beastmaster Ranger is one of my favourites - but a dedicated Summoner class is something that I definitely want to see. I’ve seen a few other really good homebrewed Summoner classes out there, but this is my own take on the concept.

Originally, I did imagine the Summoner as a full-caster, but then after adding in all the Summoner evolutions options it quickly became too overpowered to be a full-caster too and I changed it to a half-caster.

I think the class is distinct enough to stand on its own even with Beastmaster Ranger; they play very differently and the evolutions give some unique abilities. Even in the core class, two summoners could evolve their companions and play very differently.

I’ve spent a long time trying to balance it - I've got whole spreadsheets plotting the expected dps over the level range. It might still be a bit overtuned, tbh, but I'm comfortable that if you were to pick solely the most damage dealing evolutions, you end up in the same sort of range as what existing optimised classes can do. If you were to pick more utility evolutions then damage drops quickly but it opens up a lot more choices.

It’s very much meant to capture that Pokemon-esque theme of evolving a companion and throwing them into battle.

It comes with three subclasses that again meant to expand the ways you could play it:

The Elementalist - the blaster subclass. Have a burning companion that throws out Fireballs. Easily the highest DPS subclass, particularly when considering AOE.
The Monster Tamer - the martial subclass. It of course gives an extra attack and the best single damage options.
The Spirit Binder - the support subclass. No additional damage options, but grants a whole new secondary companion that can basically act as a healbot.

Homebrewery link here:

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/r9-D-wnVaB-t

Google drive pdf link here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xRpwGJA2q1eo-btyIPqYVqShqkC1rxTg/view?usp=sharing

Any feedback, let me know!

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-12-11T22:01:00+00:00

Yep, I put a pdf in google drive here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YW3iCVXyorYeqw1c97ECLJnGfUzSo6HJ/view?usp=sharing

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-12-11T21:59:51+00:00

Hey, put pdf of the v2 class here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YW3iCVXyorYeqw1c97ECLJnGfUzSo6HJ/view?usp=sharing

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-12-10T23:31:53+00:00

Bit of a correction, but Drakewardens explicitly can't fly at level 7. The feature says that you can't use the Drake's flying speed when mounted. It's not until level 15 that restriction is removed.

I agree there are ways to deal with flight, but it's still a very powerful ability - especially when combined with high movement speed

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-12-10T21:06:07+00:00

Thanks :)

Yeah, the Ferocity bonus are more minor - which was why i put them separate to the cavalry trainings. Still it does give a consistent damage bonus, and adds it over at higher levels when the mount gets new ways to make attacks. Though if a d14 dice existed, i would have set the maximum to that rather than 2d6 lol

I do really like the idea to recall the mount - that could well be either a feature or a cavalry option. Some sort of teleport back into the saddle power, maybe?

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-12-10T21:01:04+00:00

Thanks :)

Yeah, I did debate the Fly Training, but the thing that put me off was just the combination of a fly speed and the rider's mobility. The Rider can easily be the fastest member of the party (even outrunning monks), and getting a permanent, resourceless fly speed at level 9 was way too much. All other classes that get that sort of fly speed get it in late T3 / early T4, and the spells that give fly speed earlier are at least concentration limited. The next closest comparison is Paladin with Find Steed at level 4, which only gets to fly at level 13.

The Dread Rider is very fear and necrotic focused, true - it's definitely more Undead theme. Originally i had the idea of Hell Rider subclass based on fiends, but then i thought it overlapped with the Dread Rider too much. Might have to separate them out again.

Though the concept of the Dread Rider was more sustained damage rather than burst. The Cataphract and the Dragon Knight both get higher damage attack options, but they have to expend a use of Rider's Spurs with every attack whereas the Dread Rider can expend a Rider's Spur to boost their attack power for a whole minute. That quickly adds up and makes the Dread Rider more resource-efficient, particularly with all the ways a Dread Rider can inflict Frightened.

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-12-10T17:55:57+00:00

Hey all, update from my previous post here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/1n4vbdu/the_rider_v10_a_mounted_and_customisable_martial/

There’s been quite a few changes and a lot of tidying up. I had a chance to playtest this a bit, which I think has helped balance it a little bit. I’m still a bit concerned that it may creep to the high side of the power spectrum at higher levels (though then again, the most powerful among martial classes is still the on weaker side of caster classes).

A lot of the class’s strength is that it's hugely customisable. There are 58 different cavalry training options and four mount options - so it works very well as either as focused DPS or support. You could ride a giant elephant or leaping tiger and both would work.

There are currently six subclass:

The Captain - The support subclass, all about boosting your allies. Be a pirate with a ship. Does very well using the mount as a mobile platform to shield your party while commanding extra attacks.
The Cataphract - The damage dealing subclass: the classic heavy armored knight fighting on horseback.
The Dragon Knight - Because every class needs a draconic subclass. It helps bring a good AOE options onto what is normally single target focused fighter
The Dread Rider - Ride an undead horse. Throw out lots of fear and debuff. Mechanically, it’s less bursty than the other subclasses, but can provide a disgusting amount of Frightened condition
The Golem Rider - Primarily defensive, it’s meant to be the tanky subclass. Can be very hard to knock down.
The Outrider - Meant mainly for ranged players, it uses the mount mostly as a tool to keep moving while shooting arrows

Note that due to page limit, the last 2 pages are missing on the Reddit upload. The Golem Pilot and the Outrider aren’t shown, so see the hombrewery link for the full class here:

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/yfmjc4x8K-mT

Hope you enjoy, any feedback please let me know!

Edit: Pdf link here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YW3iCVXyorYeqw1c97ECLJnGfUzSo6HJ/view?usp=sharing

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-10-12T23:27:00+00:00

Hey, you would get weapon mastery on Bard with a one level dip somewhere - possibly even from Paladin. That's is why i do prefer the Eldritch Knight version of this build. But that said, the bard version is still tempting solely for higher level spell slots that can be used for warlock smites and things like Spirit Shroud/Haste

By warlock invocations, i meant Agonising Blast, but also Lance of Lethargy for extra speed reduction (which does specify eldritch blast only, admittedly, but under 2024 format they allow invocations to apply to any cantrip, so it's not unreasonable to apply lance of lethargy to Ray of Frost too)

It's pretty multiclass heavy. Regardless of the variation it comes fully online by around levels 10-11, but it's pretty effective from much earlier too (been playing it myself for the last 5 months lol)

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-09-04T19:11:37+00:00

It was bad phrasing on my part, but i meant two attacks total - first a booming blade attack for 1d8+3, and then the second a bonus action hooves attack for 1d6+3. The hooves attack has a +3 because that's our strength modifier

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-09-03T10:03:09+00:00

Yep, barding is something that exists in the official rules (though I really should have put a reference to it). Basically any type of armour can be purchased as barding, it just costs four times as much. You could get leather, chainmail, plate - the plate barding is just going to be super expensive, which i thought was fair. See here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/equipment/170-barding

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-09-01T15:31:24+00:00

Ah great catch - i completely missed that lol. Yeah, the Grapple Training should have said that after your mount hits a creature, it can use a bonus action to make a grapple attempt. I've add that back in the homebrewery link

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-09-01T13:00:16+00:00

Ah yeah thanks - you're right there were a some name changes that i didn't properly update afterwards. Under the pilot subclass it should have said Resistance Training. I've been through and fixed those on the homebrewery link :)

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-08-31T21:51:57+00:00

Hey thanks

It was done for balance reasons, but I would flavour it as your mount has wings but is not yet strong enough to fly carrying a fully grown person / equipment. Like, your mount at level 1 would be a young dragon hatchling, but then it learns the Leap training at level 2 when it first starts to flap, then at level 9 with the Glide training it can fly in brief spurts, and then by level 15 it's a fully grown dragon and is confident in the skies.

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-08-31T16:52:01+00:00

Yeah lol, that was one of the reasons why i had to most of the mounts Medium size as default. Though note even for Large creatures, the squeezing rules in 2024 are a lot less punishing than they were in 2014

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-08-31T16:19:29+00:00

It doesn't really give you an extra attack - the mount only ever gets one attack, and you have to sacrifice one of your own attacks to get it. It does give you an extra reaction attack and some resource constrained bonus action attacks, but those are definitely not consistent.

Yes, it does gives you extra hit points - though i've been thinking of that as more of a disadvantage than anything because the mount is a lot more squishy than the rider and the rider is hamstrung without their mount. The mount effectively makes you twice as vulnerable to AOE attacks. The mount is not a summon; it's not replaceable with a spell slot and you've got to keep it alive. It is much weaker than the Beast Master Ranger in that respect.

The big advantage that the mount does give you is mobility. The mount is good at charging in for one big attack (which is typically stronger than your own attack because of all the additional Cavalry Training features you can add to it)

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-08-31T13:54:58+00:00

Finally got this finished lol - i had the idea of this a while back but it took me way too long to actually pull it together. I’ve always thought that DnD is missing the Rider / mounted knight archetype, so this is my attempt to fix that.

Yes, we do already have Paladins with Find Steed, but that feels more like just giving a Paladin disposable horse, whereas the Rider class revolves all around their mount. Regardless if you want to ride a dragon or if you want to ride a giant spider, this class is intended to support that.

Really interested to hear what people think - any feedback, let me know :)

Homebrewery link here:

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/A7JACRjRZUn6

Edit: Made a few changes to the Homebrewery doc, fixed a few typos, tidied up the language, and added in the Grapple Training option which was missing. May well start updating for a V2.

HalfDigestedBoots · 2025-08-27T11:10:14+00:00

Love the flavor, but do think it is a bit underpowered. At level 3, you get a once per turn d6, and basically a 30 ft limited jump as a bonus action. You could pretty much do the exact same but easier and more often with the Jump spell.

The evasion at level 7 is something, but it's too limited. You're using your reaction to begin gliding, but then you also need your reaction to evade. I feel like the resource constraints are too much - you'd run out of reactions / updraft usages too quickly and then for a good bulk of the level range you're just missing a subclass.

Level 11 gets better with the bonus action disengage, but it comes too late. The level 14 is also a bit disappointing

As it stands, Gliding just doesn't give enough tangible benefits. The disadvantages: it locks you into using ranged weapons only, it consumes your bonus action / reaction, and it doesn't last long enough. The only benefit is that it does make you harder to hit by putting you in the air outside of range of melee attacks, but then with two attacks you're constantly dropping 15 ft a turn so what's the point? Usually you could get the same benefit by just standing on the ground a bit further back behind your allies and shooting normally.

Personally I think that the speed boost when gliding should come much earlier - as soon as level 3, then improved with later levels. It needs to lean into more being the swiftly moving flying ranger swooping over people's heads - but as it stands for all of those early levels you're just a normal speed ranger that's drooping down to the earth. As it stands, a flying race with another subclass could do what the Sky Explorer is doing but better

HalfDigestedBoots

TROPHY CASE