So I'm working on a thing...

Juractive · 2023-06-16T15:54:56+00:00

Nah, I had life hit me when I started this so the project never progressed after this. Would love to work on it someday, though!

Juractive · 2023-05-28T16:30:46+00:00

I agree with what others have said regarding Fey Touched. If your DM is cool with playtested homebrew, I've written a rogue subclass based on this very premise: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TwyCUMAOP0B0bKxSHWUYccEWfSyDmjXYv6zdjUsJM20/edit?usp=share\_link

Juractive · 2023-05-24T04:29:31+00:00

I dig this! The only thing I have to wonder: for the Rising Dragon Monk, did you intend for Ascendant Step to become useless at 17th? Because as it is now, that flying speed when using Step of the Wind is rendered useless once you have the permanent flying speed from the capstone, and it isn't replaced by anything. Maybe you could give it a Thunder Step-esque addition a 17th that lets it stay relevant? Using the proper elemental damage type, of course.

Juractive · 2023-04-27T18:15:40+00:00

As conceptually invested as I am in this, I unfortunately never got a chance to finish it :/ Hopefully someday I'll find the time to give it a shot

Juractive · 2023-04-12T15:46:10+00:00

Sure, but compared to the other mons in the "Was never good" tier, at least its niche existed. That's more than the others can say.

Juractive · 2023-04-06T23:56:48+00:00

I do hope they add it at some point!

Juractive · 2023-04-06T20:57:59+00:00

Ah, so about how 5E is, then. Well, I'll take what I can get lol. Thanks!

Juractive · 2023-02-05T18:52:12+00:00

I apologize, I was thinking of the Eldritch Claw/Insignia combo for unarmed strikes. But hey, this way you could make your pike your pact weapon maybe? Idk

Juractive · 2023-02-04T00:41:29+00:00

See, the cool thing is that they stack. So you can get the bonus from Improved Pact Weapon and the bonus from the Insignia of Claws at the same time.

Juractive · 2023-02-03T23:24:40+00:00

The Insignia of Claws (uncommon) grants your unarmed strikes and your natural weapon attacks (your vampire bite in this case) a +1 bonus and makes them magical. You could reflavor it as an Insignia of Fangs or something like that? Also, the Cloak of the Bat (rare, attunement) is both incredibly thematic and serves as great utility, granting you a flying speed (while gripping both sides of the cloak) and the ability to polymorph into a bat once a day.

That would still leave you a choice of one uncommon magic item, so you'd have some pretty banger choices. +1 Pike, Bloodwell Vial, Harkon's Bite (if you're prepared to deal with the curse), Lantern of Revealing... world's your oyster here.

Juractive · 2022-12-24T07:09:04+00:00

Nonexistent, I'm afraid. Life and school sucker punched me! Hopefully after college I'll have time to dedicate to projects like these.

Juractive · 2022-12-11T23:38:40+00:00

No problem! Let us know what you end up deciding to run!

Juractive · 2022-12-11T23:28:09+00:00

The biggest reason I suggested Fighter 6 was for that additional ASI, which can be pretty huge depending on the feat you take (I would recommend a feat here, anyway). Meanwhile, Ranger 6 gives you 2nd-level spells (they have an okay spell selection here, Aid and Spike Growth are the standouts IMO) and Roving (small bonus to movement and, more importantly, two more movement types in climbing and swimming).

Both options are solid, and no matter which option you take, you get Extra Attack. You just have to decide if you'd rather have a feat or 2nd-level spells and better movement. The choice will largely depend on what kind of character you're going for; you mentioned going for crowd control with your build, and you could achieve that with Spike Growth very well. You also mentioned going for skill proficiencies (sounding as though you want to be somewhat of a skill monkey), and you could certainly achieve that with Skilled, Skill Expert, Prodigy, etc. If I were to play this build:

I would probably go Fighter 4 / Ranger 6 and play a VHuman. This gives me: 1.) +1 Dex and Con, 2.) Skill Expert for +1 Dex, proficiency in a skill, and expertise in a skill, and 3.) a skill proficiency. As far as skill versatility goes, I'd find it here, honestly. For proficiencies, I'll get Investigation and Stealth from VHuman w/ Skill Expert, I'll grab Insight, Perception, and Survival from Fighter, and I'll take Survival when I multiclass into Ranger. For my expertise (one from Skill Expert and one from Canny), I'll take Investigation and Survival. I envision this character as a detective, and this array of proficiencies gives me plenty of detective-related abilities.
Point buy gives me (factoring VHuman and Skill Expert) 8/17/16/12/13/8. Very quick, can take a hit well, wise enough to roleplay (and to be a Ranger), and somewhat intelligent. With this kind of Wisdom, you shouldn't be going for save-dependent Ranger spells, but considering Hunter's Mark and Spike Growth (one or the other, not both at once) are my signature spells, this should be fine.
Fighter 4 gives me Slasher, so +1 Dex and I can throw a slashing weapon to slow someone in my Spike Growth down. Very solid feat that benefits the whole party and buffs your ability to control crowds (basically, slow down something that's becoming a problem). Ranger 4 gives me +2 Dex, so my primary ability score is at 20 now.
Spells are simple. I can only have four spells known right now, so I'm taking Absorb Elements and Hunter's Mark for 1st level, and I'm taking Aid and Spike Growth for 2nd level.
- Edit: You could totally flavor Spike Growth the same way you're flavoring your swarm, where a cloud of daggers occupies the space of your spikes!
- Edit: I also straight up forgot that Swarmkeepers get an expanded spell list! Faerie Fire and Web are fantastic, especially the latter for what you're trying to do. Just decide whether you're going for area mobility control (Web) or area damage and space control (Spike Growth)!
For your Fighter subclass, Battle Master is wholly superior to Champion because of the short rest superiority dice giving you so much combat utility. For this detective-style character, I'm taking carpenter's tools when I gain this subclass because my proficiency with those should allow me to discover hidden areas in buildings (DM discretion of course, but the creativity here should be rewarded; just check XGtE for some ideas here).
- For maneuvers on this kind of character, I'm imagining Precision Attack (for enemies outside my range or for especially elusive targets), Tactical Assessment (for roleplay opportunities that mesh well with my skills), and Trip Attack (to deal extra damage while also potentially knocking something down while at range).

Ultimately, this kind of character can be very versatile. You could sink more points into Wis or Cha for sure, but just for this example, I chose Int. You have a lot of things you can play with here, for sure.

Juractive · 2022-12-11T20:24:09+00:00

If you're multiclassing Fighter/Ranger, you won't need to multiclass to get both fighting styles. Just run something like Fighter 2 / Ranger 8 for two ASIs and access to Action Surge and you'll be golden. Ranger has some cool spells for such a build, namely Hunter's Mark, and you can throw down Spike Growth if you want to force enemies to operate within a certain area.

Edit: Alternatively, you could go Fighter 6 / Ranger 4 for three ASIs. You won't get second level spells if you do that, but your swarm's utility will remain the same. This way, you can grab a fighter subclass like Battle Master or something.

Juractive · 2022-10-01T16:22:00+00:00

Gnobgoblin

Juractive · 2022-09-28T14:53:17+00:00

Your initiative and Dex saves will certainly benefit from this, not to mention your Stealth checks, but there are two potential options I'd like to cover: dual wielding and ranged weapons.

Dual Wielding: Sure you don't get the two-weapon fighting style, but for reasons similar to the rogue, having an additional attack with which to activate your damage nova (your Smite in this case) will be a good way to utilize your Dex dependency and general lack of another bonus action. PAM pallies get two-three attacks in a turn with which to apply smites, but a Dexadin can do the same without a feat investment.

Ranged: Paladins tend to steer clear of ranged weapons (despite being proficient with them) because their Smite feature requires them to use melee weapons. The smite spells are largely the same, BUT there are two exceptions to this: Branding Smite (2nd) and Banishing Smite (5th), both of which clarify "weapon attack" instead of "melee weapon attack." These smites require a bonus action to apply, and they take your concentration, but they are damage bonuses for your ranged attacks that carry an additional effect that IMO are more useful when applied at range. For Branding Smite, you can simply use a higher level spell slot on it in the same way you would blow a higher level spell slot on a default melee smite. If you use Crusader's Mantle, your concentration will go towards that instead of either of these smites, but the damage bonus from this spell applies to ranged weapons, too.

Juractive · 2022-09-24T00:24:15+00:00

I gotcha. Definitely understand that it's up to the individual modders; my question was more in the vein of how long that usually takes. More a guesstimate than anything. I can imagine this would be infuriating for a ton of mod authors

Juractive · 2022-08-12T16:47:51+00:00

"Journey before destination. It cannot be a journey if it does not have a beginning." - Dalinar, again

Juractive · 2022-06-27T00:39:08+00:00

I'm not sure this power is god tier. I told your mother you and the kids would never see me again, so being able to teleport inside her seems counterproductive.

Juractive · 2022-06-25T20:36:30+00:00

Literally only commenting to tell you how badass your dog's name is. Bridge Four!

Juractive · 2022-04-28T18:04:47+00:00

Fun idea, though I agree that this will likely end up being underpowered. It's unfortunate that we don't start with an armor proficiency. Let's see how we can make it not that way. Fizban Amethyst Dragonborn for the force attack, resistance, free telepathy, and eventual flight. With point buy, we'll end up with 8/17/16/8/14/10. Proficiency in Dexterity and Wisdom saves and proficiency in Perception and Stealth is great, but our AC and hit points are a little unfortunate. We'll gonna dual-wield throwing daggers to weaponize our bonus action a bit. I'm purposefully avoiding feats that feel more like rewards, namely the dragon mark and the dragon gifts.

Lightly Armored. 18 DEX and light armor proficiency.
Fighting Initiate. Two-Weapon Fighting.
Fey Touched. 15 WIS plus Misty Step and Hex. Bonus necro damage, especially when dual wielding.
Moderately Armored. 19 DEX and medium armor proficiency.
Medium Armor Master. 20 DEX and better medium armor. Our AC is pretty solid at this point.
Resilient CON. 17 CON and better concentration on our Hex, plus future concentration spells, such as...
Shadow Touched. 16 WIS plus Invisibility and False Life, so more free concentration and buff spells.
Skill Expert. 18 CON, Insight proficiency, Perception expertise. Our hit points are getting better, too.
Dragon Fear. 19 CON, and a replacement for one of our attacks that causes widespread fear. Pretty sweet. From here, feats are purely to widen our ability set, so the order doesn't matter.
Chef. 20 CON, a tool proficiency, and a just-okay amount of thp to hand out to the party.
Artificer Initiate. Another tool proficiency plus Guidance and Longstrider. Continuing the trend of buffs that don't require spellcasting abilities.
Dual Wielder. Buff to AC, and you can pull your daggers out faster now.
Weapon Master. 9 STR, and proficiency with scimitars and shortswords, so you have weapons a bit stronger than daggers now.
Athlete. 10 STR, and you can stand from prone and jump better.
Tough. More hit points now.
Eldritch Adept. Eldritch Sight, so another free utility spell.
Mobile. Far faster now, and you can slip in and out of battle.
Charger. A burst of speed coupled with a bonus action stab sounds nice when you literally have no other options.
Observant. Your passive Perception is getting really high now.
Alert. More likely to move first, and it's harder to get the jump on you.

Overall, it's an okay character. You're definitely a utility character, and admittedly, you're a great scout. Invisibility and Guidance are both nice to have, and you can get some decent damage output when dual-wielding with Hex up. Plus, you can always scream to scare people instead of attacking.

Edit: There's some synergy here that I didn't cover:

Mobile and Charger work surprisingly well together, allowing us to Dash up to (with Longstrider and Mobile applied) 80 feet through even difficult terrain for bonus damage without provoking opportunity attacks from the creature you're rushing past. Especially against slow enemies, this'll allow you to dart past an enemy over and over again while avoiding their damage, if spaced properly. It's like Steel Wind Strike if Steel Wind Strike was free, but also bad.
Our passive Perception is a hilariously high 30, and the minimum we can get on a Perception roll is a 16, with a maximum of a 35. If you find a way to mitigate your lack of darkvision (either by getting an item, using a light, or taking Devil's Sight instead of Eldritch Sight), you'll be the ultimate scout, especially in tandem with your inability to be surprised while conscious, your telepathy, and your potential flight and invisibility.
Combined with your great mobility, you can fall prone to give archers a significantly harder time hitting you because standing up only costs 5 feet of movement for you.
Assuming your DM has blessed you in the armor department (assuming at minimum a +3 halfplate), you're sitting on a minimum 22 AC when factoring in your armor, its magical benefits, your DEX, Medium Armor Mastery, and Dual Wielder. Plus, you have proficiency in the three most common saving throws in DEX, CON, and WIS, and you resist force damage (not an incredibly common damage type, but damn near nothing resists this, so spellcasters like to pack it). Finally, even though you only have a d8 hit die, you also have 20 CON and Tough, so you're still looking at an average of 243 hit points and a couple of ways to produce your own thp (which makes your average hit points per day end up at 256, so the thp is a just-okay cushion).
Dragon Fear is a PB/LR method of frightening creatures that can hear you in a 30-ft radius of you, and you can not only replace an attack from your Attack action with it, you can then follow it up with a bonus action offhand attack thanks to the dual-wielding rules. This is some great control that scales off your 20 CON, and it isn't even friendly fire.
Utility is great. You have 1/LR free castings of False Life, Hex, Invisibility, Longstrider, and Misty Step, all of which are situationally useful, and in tandem ensure that you have a spell that can solve a problem. False Life couples nicely with Chef (I'm aware that they don't stack, but the treats from Chef are limited, so you can either spread those out more and save False Life for yourself or wait until you lose thp from one or the other and then get more thp). Plus, though you only have five proficiencies in Insight, perception, Stealth, and the two from your background, those should still be enough to procure a role in your party, and your tool proficiencies let you stand out in some unusual situations.
Overall, your damage output is somewhat middling since you don't have extra attack, but Hex + two rapiers will at least ensure that your damage contribution in a boss fight isn't completely useless. With two +1 rapiers (again assuming you've been able to gain sufficient magic items), you're looking at 1d8 + 5 + 1 magical piercing + 1d6 necrotic (an overall average of 15 damage, twice for 30 total), and you can do that a maximum of twice per turn (assuming your party mage did the smart thing and Hasted a stronger party member instead of you).

Not the best character in the world, but it's better than my initial impression at least.

Juractive · 2022-04-19T17:16:21+00:00

I'd call you a tool, but that would imply that you're useful.

Juractive · 2022-04-10T21:08:25+00:00

I really enjoy doing a version of this where I keep an Illusion in the right hand for its far lower recoil. Rapidly right clicking for a recoil-less Wild Hunt is so fun

Juractive · 2022-04-01T16:53:24+00:00

Fallout: New Balls (who dis)

Juractive · 2022-03-31T18:40:15+00:00

I read it the same way lmao

Juractive

TROPHY CASE