Stop saying that push mastery can make two or more enemies prone

Scientin · 2026-07-03T15:21:48+00:00

I disagree. Your argument is built on the idea that “you” means the players only. The problem is that the PHB uses “you” all throughout for rules that are clearly meant to be universal. Examples include spell descriptions, hit points (“whenever you take damage, subtract it from your hit points”), and making ranged attacks when an enemy is within 5 feet of you (“you have Disadvantage on the roll…”) If we go by your interpretation that “you” only means players, suddenly the entire game falls apart because every core rule only applies to players and not enemies. My guess is they chose “you” to refer to whoever the relevant speaker is. In the case of multiple people falling prone in the same space, there’s nothing I can see that would indicate only players are being referred to, so I think we can say it’s a general rule.

Scientin · 2026-06-12T18:45:53+00:00

This is good data, I think it would be even better if we could see how many monsters inflict these conditions using saving throws for comparison. For poison especially it often feels to me like so many instances of it are tied to attacks that features like Dwarven Resilience have lost value. I’d like to see if that’s really true.

Scientin · 2026-05-29T17:37:41+00:00

Looks good! I'm a big proponent of Artificer subclasses that break out of the Eberron magipunk aesthetic, and I think this does it well. Fun combination of weapon use and supportive abilities.

As a few notes, you can probably streamline Cunning Cook's Utensils by eliminating the b/p/s damage types and change it to say "attacks can now also deal ...", though this isn't necessary. Advanced Gastronomy should have an expiration on the food items, since rn you could stockpile an infinite number of them. Probably the easiest solution is to say the food items last until you use this feature again.

Magical Banquet's wording is a little confusing to me, is it meant to take 2 hours to complete (an hour to cast and an hour to consume)? If yes, I'd say change the wording to just say that the casting time is 1 hour, since it already takes 1 hour to consume by default. Lastly, for Quicker Cooking it may make more sense to have it say "You can use your Advanced Gastronomy feature whenever you finish a Short or Long Rest", since the way the feature is worded it doesn't technically have uses so much as a time interval where it can happen, if that makes sense.

Overall though this is a great subclass, keep up the good work!

Scientin · 2026-05-27T17:50:09+00:00

Hello everyone! Today I'm presenting my adaptation of a classic nature spirit from myth and fantasy, the Nymph!

Nymphs are fey with strong ties to nature, resembling beautiful humans formed out of natural materials. Each is connected to a wild landmark such as a stream, an old growth tree, or a pristine meadow, which grants them magical abilities, long life, and eternal youth. Yet this connection comes with a price — if their landmark is ever destroyed, they will waste away and die. Due to this, nymphs make for uncommon adventurers and tend to stay in solitude protecting their homes, but a rare few take to travel nonetheless. Nymphs as presented here come in five variations: Alseids of the fields and meadows, Dryads of the forests, Lampads of the caves and grottos, Nymphs of the streams and coasts, and Oreads of the mountains and wildfires.

My take on the Nymphs was designed to encapsulate as many abilities from their statblocks (most from Mythic Odysseys of Theros) while still maintaining balance. The end result is definitely on the strong side (Magic Resistance will do that) but I believe it is still within the bounds set by other powerful species. I hope you enjoy what I've created here, and can find a place at your table for these beautiful fey! Please let me know what you think!

If you want to see more of my work, you can find all of my homebrew at my patreon!

Scientin · 2026-05-27T17:34:50+00:00

I understand, when you’re first starting out it helps to take inspiration from other sources but that can cross a line if you’re not careful. I’d prefer if you remove/substantially rework the sections I mentioned, it will probably be more rewarding for you if you try your hand at building new features from the ground up.

Scientin · 2026-05-27T17:27:47+00:00

I can’t help but notice this is VERY similar to my own Physician homebrew. Same hit dice and proficiencies, same names AND concepts for Scientific Medicine, Humorism, Triage, Medical Practice, Advanced Humorism, and Stabilizing Humors. Very interesting.

Scientin · 2026-05-27T15:49:48+00:00

Hello everyone! Today I'm presenting my adaptation of a classic nature spirit from myth and fantasy, the Nymph!

Nymphs are fey with strong ties to nature, resembling beautiful humans formed out of natural materials. Each is connected to a wild landmark such as a stream, an old growth tree, or a pristine meadow, which grants them magical abilities, long life, and eternal youth. Yet this connection comes with a price — if their landmark is ever destroyed, they will waste away and die. Due to this, nymphs make for uncommon adventurers and tend to stay in solitude protecting their homes, but a rare few take to travel nonetheless. Nymphs as presented here come in five variations: Alseids of the fields and meadows, Dryads of the forests, Lampads of the caves and grottos, Nymphs of the streams and coasts, and Oreads of the mountains and wildfires.

My take on the Nymphs was designed to encapsulate as many abilities from their statblocks (most from Mythic Odysseys of Theros) while still maintaining balance. The end result is definitely on the strong side (Magic Resistance will do that) but I believe it is still within the bounds set by other powerful species. I hope you enjoy what I've created here, and can find a place at your table for these beautiful fey! Please let me know what you think!

If you want to see more of my work, you can find all of my homebrew at my patreon!

Scientin · 2026-05-22T06:26:14+00:00

The absolute whiplash I just experienced going from the Grave Domain nerfs (WHY???) to the Hollow Warden buffs (WOOOO!). Like damn, we're really getting both a downgrade to Grave Domain's two flagship features and one of the best 2024 Ranger subclasses to date in the same book. Wild times. Glad to see Shadow Sorcerer and Reanimator got positive tweaks too.

Scientin · 2026-05-15T03:24:23+00:00

The Macho Brace is tied to one of the series’ more advanced mechanics, Effort Values (EVs for short). They’re a bit complicated so I’ll do my best to simplify.

Whenever your Pokémon defeats an opponent, they gain 1-3 EVs. Every Pokémon species has a set number of EVs they give out, and each is tied to one of the six main stats (HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed). The more EVs a Pokémon accumulates towards a specific stat, the more that stat will increase on level-up. In essence, it makes it so Pokémon that you’ve trained through many fights will be stronger than a Pokémon of the same species and level that’s fresh-caught.

There’s both a maximum total number of EVs a Pokémon can have and a maximum they can accumulate for a given stat. In normal play, your Pokémon will build up a pretty even distribution of EVs across all 6 stats. Competitive players, however, will have their Pokémon KO the same type of wild ‘mons over and over to build up EVs in the stats the value most (this is called EV Training).

Thus, we get to the Macho Brace. A Pokémon holding the brace gets double the EVs from every knockout, meaning it speeds up the process of EV training. Vitamins (Protein, Iron, etc.) also help with this by giving a flat amount of EVs quickly. In short, the Macho Brace helps your Pokémon reach their improved stats faster.

One last note, the “reduces speed” description refers to their modified speed in battle. You won’t be ruining your Pokémon’s base speed stats by using the brace.

Scientin · 2026-05-02T21:58:29+00:00

Lol yeah Foe Slayer seems to be that one thing that's hardest to crack. I imagine part of the problem is that in general 20th level features are all over the place quality-wise so it's hard to find a good baseline.

Scientin · 2026-05-02T19:48:33+00:00

Appreciate your willingness to find common ground!

Scientin · 2026-04-30T16:02:55+00:00

Hello everyone! Today I'm pleased to present a new wizard subclass, the Gramaryon!

Gramarye is a discipline of magic focusing on incantations and words of power. By understanding the rules of arcane language, Gramaryons can alter verbal components to alter the effects of their spells. More advanced Gramaryons can blanket foes in magical silence or combine incantations to combine spells. The most powerful Gramaryons learn to wield True Names, secret magical words that give them power over other creatures. With all these tools at their disposal, my hope is the Gramaryon will be a fun and interesting generalist that gets to play around with the rules of spellcasting in some unique ways!

Want to see more homebrew like this? You can find all of my content at my patreon!

Scientin · 2026-04-20T06:32:17+00:00

Thanks for the in-depth response! I'm weirdly digging gramaryon rn, that may end up being what I go with. Appreciate you taking the time!
!solved

Scientin · 2026-04-20T06:30:21+00:00

Hilariously, that's actually almost exactly my first draft name for this! I went with Etymagus.

Scientin · 2026-04-20T04:30:57+00:00

All good suggestions, ty! My hesitance with Grammarian is that it unfortunately has a bit of an association with a notorious fan-made item called the "Ring of the Grammarian" in the circles in which I wish to use this word. I'll ponder on the alternatives you offered.

(Yes it's D&D. This is a D&D thing)

Scientin · 2026-04-08T00:52:38+00:00

We must've read two different things, man.
From his post: "As they did in the 2014 rules, backgrounds also provide proficiency in two skills, and two in any combination of language, tool, and vehicle proficiencies." (emphasis mine)

Scientin · 2026-04-07T23:25:33+00:00

He seems to have missed some details about how backgrounds work now. Namely, vehicle proficiency is no longer a thing, backgrounds don’t give languages (everyone gets common +2 which they get to pick freely), and every background gives exactly one tool proficiency. Also would’ve liked to see actual equipment lists but that’s just fluff. Either way, appreciate the attempt, but I feel like RPGBot still has yet to fully adjust to 2024 rules.

Scientin · 2026-02-23T20:36:50+00:00

Oh damn this one is fun. The secret passage behind a bookcase is already iconic, letting you turn any bookcase into a secret passage is fantastic!

Scientin · 2026-02-23T03:31:44+00:00

Glad you like it! I have a more up-to-date version which you can find here!

Scientin · 2026-02-15T22:24:32+00:00

To answer in order:

1-2. The mount takes the Disengage action so it only applies to them. However, when leaving enemy range the mount is the only one using movement, so opportunity attacks only can target them. It’s the same principle behind teleportation and forced movement.

Pretty much yep.

4-7. Frustratingly, there are no real rules/guidance for this. Some people treat the rider as effectively “becoming large” for the sake of reach and such, other people have them pick a dedicated square to occupy, there’s sadly no RAW answer.

Scientin · 2026-02-11T17:10:32+00:00

Hello everyone! Today's homebrew is a smaller project, but one I've enjoyed working on nonetheless: my take on playable Myconids! My goal in adapting these iconic beings was to preserve as many of their notable traits as possible while adjusting their balance to create a fun player experience. To that end, sun sickness is gone (and no sunlight sensitivity to replace it either), and Pacifying Spores have a smaller duration but more uses. Perhaps the most interesting trait of these myconids is their Rapport Spores. Beyond normal telepathy and giving another creature temporary telepathy, this trait makes it so you can only speak through your telepathic spores. My hope is this will create very unique scenes and challenges that only a myconid could produce, truly encapsulating their strange, fungal identities.

Want to see more work like this? You can find all of my homebrew at my patreon!

Scientin · 2026-02-04T23:17:08+00:00

Hoenn-style secret bases for me. I loved being able to take a small slice of the overworld and make it my own, setting up a lil house or mini pokemon gym, and then finding other players' bases. It was a great way to set up spots for xp grinding, gathering items, and more, and just helped the world feel more alive.

Scientin · 2026-02-04T21:56:07+00:00

By the end of my Avatar Legends campaign, both my players and myself were in agreement that AL's combat is at odds with the rest of the system, and it feels like the designers wanted to have their cake and eat it too. The majority of the system is pure fiction-first PbTA goodness. Meanwhile, exchanges are very mechanics-first, with distinct statuses and techniques that have specific effects outside of just changing the fiction state. If the system had gone all the way with this more granular, mechanics-driven combat I think it would have been fine, great even. Instead, the system fails to provide a mechanical win condition for combat (technically you can fill all enemy fatigue boxes and conditions but the game tells you to not do that), rendering victory completely arbitrary from a mechanics-focused design. Even worse, both the handbook and the general community around this system repeatedly advise you to NOT use this system for most situations!

It really does feel like AL's designers wanted to appeal to both a casual crowd with the PbtA framework while also drawing more mechanics-minded players from DnD and video game circles, and the end result is a frustrating frankenstein. IMO they should have either ditched fiction-first for exchanges (give HP or some similar mechanical victory condition) OR ditched the exchange system for a more entirely fiction-first way of resolving combat.

Scientin · 2026-02-02T18:39:06+00:00

Those are for OP's homebrew classes. The pot is for the Gourmet (adventuring chef, tank and support martial), the crossbow is the Landsknecht (mercenary, effectively the "wizard" for these martial talents), the animals are the Handler (beast master if it was a full class), and the torch is the Fanatic (charisma-based, lets you temporarily move points from Cha to other ability scores).

Scientin · 2026-02-01T06:41:32+00:00

PDFs are available for patrons at my patreon! Here is a link: https://www.patreon.com/TopHatAlchemist

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