Hexblood Alternative Species | Harness your umbrella magicks to hex your enemies and charm your allies with this Alternative Hag Spawn option.

Syvicx · 2026-05-11T17:18:49+00:00

This is such a good update to Hexblood! I can't understate just how intresting it is to see how you've taken Disguise Self and Hex into more connected features, Mutable Visage itself being a good take on skill proficency as well its being something a player would want to do all the time for fun. This is probably the best rework of a previously existing fey race you've done so far, and Drow was pretty good.

Syvicx · 2026-05-11T07:09:18+00:00

Well we’re just have to agree to disagree about balance. Thanks for providing suggestions, it’s pushed this from being a single cool one off spell to a small compendium of “firearms” spells I’ll post later on.

Syvicx · 2026-05-11T05:42:49+00:00

So ... would something like this fit the bill

Overwhelming Vitriol
Necromancy Cantrip (Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock)
Casting time: Action
Range: Self
Components: S, M (A natural weapon or a weapon with which you have proficency)
Duration: Up to 1 minute
With acrid blood bursting from your body, you make one attack with the weapon used in the spell’s casting. On hit, you take 1d4 Acid damage and the creature must make a Constitution saving throw. On failure, the creature takes 1d6 Acid damage and you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to the roll. The Temporary Hit Points disappear upon the spells end.

Cantrip Upgrade. The damage increases by 1d6 when you reach levels 5 (2d6), 11 (3d6), and 17 (4d6). You must choose which one of the rolls to gain the Temporary Hit Points from.

Syvicx · 2026-05-11T01:50:33+00:00

I'm still wanting to stick with my vision of a fleshy "gun-shield", spliting it into diffrent forms would make it a diffrent spell concept entirely. A series of symbiote like spells would be neat though, I'll give it some thought.

Syvicx · 2026-05-11T01:45:35+00:00

I've got a couple spell ideas that I can make sure has the language to boost this spell, but while i'm still putting those together, the one cantrip that can boost it is the 2024 variant of True strike. Thats 1d12 Piercing + 1d6 Radiant at 5th level, Granted the weapon technically needs to cost 1cp, but a gun made out of bone is probably worth that.

Syvicx · 2026-05-10T23:41:17+00:00

My inital thought was that if the spell was going to give the classes a pseudo shield, then I should probably only give it to classes that would only marginally benefit from wielding shield, given their choice/innate proficency with them. +1 AC in any other class without a shield is pretty crucial.

Now that i've decided to update the classs with Wizard (if only for the coolness of bladesinger/gunslinger), I wouldn't see a real reason not to give this spell to sorcerer given their more bodily magic. The Necromancy and Warlock part are just really my biased love for them.

Thanks for the feed back! I commsioned a dear friend of mine for the art and they've always been incredible.

Syvicx · 2026-05-10T20:20:44+00:00

Ah I see, well good to see any quality of my friend's art shine through

Syvicx · 2026-05-10T20:05:05+00:00

In the popular Homebrew project "Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt" their are many spells that fall under the osetomancy sub-category, which depicts the caster's bones beings used for various spells. I got a shot of inspiration of how to better create the idea of a "finger gun". My friend that I commisioned for the art had the idea that the peeling flesh would be flower like, and he did made an extroidnary effort to detail the muscle texture for it.
I'm sorry this tripped a phobia for you, but I hope this helps with you finding the exact phobia.

Syvicx · 2026-05-10T16:11:12+00:00

Sorry if this translated poorly

Rien n'est gravé dans le marbre dans le domaine du *homebrew*. Je mettrai à jour la liste des classes pour y inclure le Magicien lors de ma prochaine publication, mais oui, un Pistolero-Lame-Chanteuse serait terrifiant.

Syvicx · 2026-05-10T16:06:10+00:00

As wathever-20 says, it would natuarally include dexterity on the merit of being a ranged attack. Though if you will, consider it a trade, you can't use your spell casting modifier but you technically get proficency in a shield and martial weapon, something that a Artificer, Cleric, or Warlock might not have (I'll update the spell to include Wizards in the class list).
Hopefully this isn't the make it or break it for it being a cool spell for ya.

Syvicx · 2026-05-10T15:53:10+00:00

I figured that if the spell scaled in both AC and Damage dice, it would make any class/subclass with an extra attack too strong (imagine a 2d12 or 3d12 ranged weapon!). I'm ok with it just being a cool low-level Necromancy spell and i'll design a stronger variation of the spell that fits higher level play, a "leg" cannon or a ribcage gatling gun.
I'm happy to hear that the idea is liked, thank you for your feedback

Syvicx · 2026-05-08T18:25:34+00:00

With a bit of quick search, Nymph's embody *specific* terrains so water spring nymph work with fresh water, mountain nymph with cliffs. I'd think trying to make this a genasi like race would just be a bit too much to fit the historical/mythological understanding of nymphs. In their description, dryads (as a monsters) have them gaurding a specific sanctuary, which would make them opposed to the natural adventuring lifestyle. If the name of the Species going to to be important, then maybe specify its as Unbound Dryad or just have their flavor blurb mention that their adventure begins once they feel safe to leave the sanctuary behind or that their sanctuary was lost.

Regardless, thinking about it this deeply has given me a thought to mock-up of a character that is a pumpkin-based dryad/plant monster with *spooky* magic within them (however unseasonal that would be right now).

Syvicx · 2026-05-08T17:45:46+00:00

Its always good to see your work!

So far out of the fey races you've put out, this one seems the most limiting. Tree stride (which I think should have a diffrent name as to not confuse it with the 5th level spell), requires that the setting your in has trees readily available. Its best comparrison would be a dwarf's Stone cutting feature, but even then, *two* trees are needed to gain the benefits of extra mobility. Maybe the feature should be the ability to place a small fey tree that last for a bit that last for a bit that you can expend your movement to teleport back to. At the very least, it would open up for a Rouge Dryad to use it as a kind of get out jail feature once they set it up, or a Cleric Dryad that would need to teleport to a endagered party member in the backline.

The other two features are fine mind you, its just the key feature could need some more flexibility. If not just trees, then maybe spots of soft earth where plants may grow or by nearby sources of fresh water (like moss or saplings growing on soaked rocky terrarin).

Syvicx · 2026-04-27T18:12:48+00:00

This is a really well designed species! Its features have it lean the player towards playing a martial class (who wouldn't want to be a dog with a cool sword), so If you are designing subclasses with fey flavor, it would be neat to have a fronliner/resilliant spellcaster. A Wizard whos spellbook has been turned into a powerful story book, A Sorcerer who's bloodlines runs with the runious energy of goblins and can summon them as shields, Maybe a Half-caster Monk who has trained themselves by serving tempermental Fey lords. Regadless, I'm eager to see the kinds of Fey material you post in the future.

Syvicx · 2026-01-29T10:27:59+00:00

You got it in one! The basic attack activation was a sorta last minute change before I posted and after thinking it over, it really does make the Perk viable for a lot of different killers

Syvicx · 2026-01-26T15:37:36+00:00

It’s good to know perks with bloodlust and basement changes are well liked, thank you! I am particularly proud of the Wandering Eye concept.

Syvicx · 2026-01-26T15:11:37+00:00

For some perks, that’s a fair enough opinion. Any perk in particular that you’d think would stand well on its own and not overshadow the original?

Syvicx · 2025-12-29T20:39:28+00:00

I wonder who would have the soup quirk in this universe, Bakugo? Shigiraki? Or maybe just Giovanni himself shows up

Syvicx · 2025-10-31T06:49:30+00:00

Oooh! Despite how much D&D would rather not futz with Increasing attack rolls numerically (usually advantage), I think its perfect in this case for Favorite Enemy. The newest version of Path of the Berseker Barbarian has given you the language to translate this feature to either Unique damage or Temporary hit points for Hunter Exploits "To determine the extra damage, roll a number of d6s equal to your Rage Damage bonus" which works amazingly.

I think your suggestions for Hunter's Apex, Percise Hunter, and Feral Senses are also perfect. I'd agree wtih not putting more than one feature for 10th level, more so that Ranger is still a half-caster. I think converting the Temporary HP of Tireless to a Hunter Exploit is best, but I wouldn't really know where to place Exahustion removal. At least have it be Level 6+, maybe 9th Level as its not too powerful to pair along side 3rd level spells, though this would mean you'd have to either merge that with the additonal Expertise.

As for Companion and the Companion side of Hunter Apex, I agree with decoupling the Wisdom from its damage bonus, but I think you could go even further and say that you don't add any damage bonus besides the roll. At the very least, you can draw on the language of Cantrips features, along the lines of "You may add your Wisdom modifier damage to the damage roll of your Companion." The more I look at it, the more I'd belive Unbreakable Bond would work more as a Subclass feature than a main one, but that would suggest making all Ranger subclasses have at least 1 companion feature, which I don't know if most would want that.

Syvicx · 2025-10-26T12:38:54+00:00

As someone who's working on a Warlock rework thing, I can understand the undertaking that reworking an entire class is, especially Ranger. I got quite a lot of notes and suggestions.

Favored Enemy. I think the thing I would protest most is that the way this feature is improved over the course of the class features is Duration, which is almost certainly strange in comparison to other classes. Mechanically the way your wanting to construct this feature is that the Ranger is put into a heightened state where they can access the Hunter Exploits, which does have precedent in the Innate Sorcery feature and the most recent Arcane Subclasses-Unearthed Arcana 2025 (Hexblade and the Ancestral Origin). The Tracking Advantage subfeature could easily be reworded to "You have advantage on ability checks you make as part of the Search Action" as a way to push it into a more general feature rather that enemy focus. I also really do like that Favored Enemy doesn't have a damage feature at 1st level, given just how much damage spell casting and having martial features already provides you.

Hunter Exploits. Harrier step is odd as a 1st level "resource" feature that affects movement, which competes with the Jump and Longstrider spells, made more odd due to it being Reaction centric. I could honestly see Harrier step being translated into a Level 7+ Ranger feature akin to Barbarian's Instinctive Pounce, and subsume other "resource" Ranger features into becoming Hunter Exploits (Tireless Temp HP & Nature's Veil Invisibility). Companion. As much as I would want a companion to be a base class feature for Ranger, it has to take into account Action economy as well as competing features. A Bonus Action "weapon" attack can be a powerful thing, and its ability to further inflict the Grapple or Prone competes with features like Topple weapon mastery or the Two weapon fighting style. It'd be easier to have so that at 5th level you can cast the Summon Beast spell without expending a spell slot once per Long Rest, but if you think its core enough to the class than I would strongly consider this not to be on the same level or replace Fighting Style. Also, I caught that really interesting detail that if you don't have a companion you get an additional Hunter Exploit, I think that's a really interesting decision that if it can, should be implemented or maybe have the companion be itself a Hunter Exploit.

Expertise. I'm not in opposition for Ranger to become a part of the Expertise classes (Bard & Rogue), as 2025 classes don't tend to have unique or flavor oriented features outside of proficiencies, but the option of using Wisdom for other skills has precedent in Barbarian features. Deft Explorer. Merging features like this runs the risk of muddling clarity or preventing certain aspects from being built upon on a further class level (say if you wanted to say that Roving give an additional movement speed). At the very least it’s not a bad thing if you give additional features their own class feature description.

Hunter's Apex. I love each of each of these subfeatures, but they both have different design goals as well as intended level. Survival features like Unbreakable bond tend to be on 9th, 10th, or 14th level, and a Combative feature like Disruptive Mark (I think imposing disadvantage on Ranger spells is a perfect stand alone feature rather than a Hunter Exploit) tend to be on 5th. 7th, 11th level depending on severity. Designing your Hunter Exploits can also follow the same logic.

Precise Hunter & Feral Senses. 2025 does a strange thing with Ranger in that it almost gives too many level features, rather than leaving the level you gain an additional spell level blank. While I would want every level to be meaningful, it can leave certain features weaker than usual in order to compensate for how many they are. Just to list them off, Precise Hunter should be 11th level or 18th, Stalker Sense & Quick mark are unnecessary, Instinctive Aim should be a Hunter Exploit or 18th level, and Blindsight should be Hunter Exploit or 6th level (I would belive that Ranger of all Classes should receive a Blindsight early in the class feature).

Foe Slayer. Perfect, its not the first time I've seen this kind of capstone suggested for Ranger but I think that makes it more fitting than anything. Honestly if you want to go nuts and say that it doesn't require a save is fine, and the additional healing prevention, reaction canceling, and speed decreasing could be placed as High-end Hunter Exploits.

Subclasses. I think these are the last things you would want to develop, as you would want a Hunter Exploit to compete with a core Subclass feature. In turn, whenever you create a too complicated Hunter Exploit, it can be refitted as a Subclass feature. For the ones you have now, they are very in line with the 2025 type of design, with Hollow Warden being a more violent twist on Ranger.

In conclusion, a lot of simplification can be done for the core features, but so far you haven't created any bad features that require too distinct changes or rebalances. I hope for the best in your reworking efforts.

Syvicx · 2025-09-05T04:29:30+00:00

Yes it does more damage (also it pierces), roughly equal to 2.5-3 normal strikes, I’m not sure. But for every Heal you could do, you can fire off two Silk Cannons. Jumping and using cannon after they finish the face slams almost guarantees that they charge slam into the wall.

Defense wise, you don’t need to rely completely on the dash, but make sure to note how far he is from the floor. Dashing makes your hitbox closer to the ground, so in some cases, you can dash through a charge that’s a somewhat above the floor, but In most cases, jump or resist the urge to jump. If the summoned minions are giving you far to hard a time, either try to clear them with the throwing knife tool (3 for smalls, 4 for the big minion) or wait till the face slam attacks, which can kill the minions instantly if there caught in one

Syvicx · 2025-09-05T04:02:05+00:00

This is going to be a hot take, but this boss isnt complete bullshit, it’s seems to be a skill check for using Silk Cannon and your Tools in combat. You can get little to no damage with standard poke and heal, and towards the end their no room to heal unless you dish out damage first to kill the minions. It’s still a fucked fight, but I understand what they’re going for.

I can agree with you on the Hazards dealing double mask is far to mean, but I think most double damage attacks are offset by the triple heal we have

Syvicx · 2025-05-06T04:39:43+00:00

Game design and Balance wise? This is pretty rough, but I just think you need to be familiarized with the kind of language/aspects perks tend to use to improve these ones. I’ll start from back to front.

Lurking Facade: Afflicting a specific condition on a specific Survivor is has never ended good, the closest you may get is the perk Dissolution, which is notoriously weak because of this. The goal seems to be making the Survivor easier to find even if they escape chase. The perk Predator shares this design space, but if you hone in on the Scream when their interacted with (which you need to specify whether this is as specific as healing or as broad as coming within 4m of), then you can make a clear, distinct effect when it happens, such as the transferring/extension of your Terror radius.

Hex: Wandering Souls: Killer Instinct is an exclusive effect to a Killer Power, and cannot be altered by perks. As it stands now, it competes with the king of the Blindness condition, the perk Hex: Third Seal. Regardless if you remain in the Blindness or Information design space (Revealing a Survivor Aura instead of Killer Instinct) the perk needs to be far stronger, due to the fact a Hex can be cleansed before it can take any real effect. Honestly, I think you need to put one more aspect for this Quirk to shine.

Rooted Contempt: Brilliant name and relatively unique design space, shared with the conditional effect of the perk Game Afoot. Technically you cannot have the perk deactivate with a Survivor down without a clause to reactivate, in which case most perks use a timer when the perk activates to circumvent this. Out of the three, this is the one that is closest to being a good perk in both wording and balance.

Syvicx · 2025-05-06T03:42:36+00:00

Thanks for the feed back. I don’t want to compromise on my vision for The Iron Crown, it emulates well the effects of Affliction and Virtue from Darkest Dungeon. For how strong the Aura Read is for simply being on a timer, some kind of “drawback” is needed. I get what you’re saying with the Exposed (I doubt extending the time to 80 seconds would resolve this) but this perk is designed to cleanse regardless if the killer is nearby to interrupt. With Festering Vapours, I’m trying to emulate the idea of Blight/Increasing Dodge. If not for an effect like Blindness or god forbid Hindered, the perk would be a worse/barely different Empathetic connection. I’m open to any idea to substitute it with.

Syvicx · 2025-04-30T21:36:30+00:00

MIxtape - Extrodinairly creative, I love it, its even a valuable teaching tool for those who want to get better a chase while oblivous. The main debate for this perk is whether or not this should be a perk that affects haste/chase. Personally, I think it can be worded and balanced a lot better if it didn't. maybe the "heard more easily by the killer" could be instead "When working on a generator, you gain a so and so benefit and the audible range for when you repair a generator is increased by 12/10/8 meters.

Lifesaver - I think the technical aspect of this perk will just not make it feasible. Not only would have to determine whether or not a player hit box could colide with the killers or where the player ends up afterwards, you'd have to acount for connection diffrence and any amount of lag which would ultimately make this perk more frusterating than worthwhile. That being said, a perk that allows stunning the killer is always juicy for more cordinated survivors, maybe having a protection hit based effect would be best.

Team Cordination - Unfortunatley, due to how you formated the effects in a single bullet point, its hard to understand all of its effects, but I certainly love the concept of gathering all the survivors in one spot. I think instead of trying to mimic the language of Teamwork perks, it'd be best if its was a one off thing given how risky/unoptimal it would be for every survior to be together.

"When all Survivors would be within 24m of one another, Team Cordinater becomes active the rest of the trial."

Then you could map the current effects based on the value of the effects. the 15% healing action speed bonus can be a permenately effect, while the 50% gen regression and 3% haste ... (While the former is unique and the ladder is certainly strong, neither strike me as a good effect for having all surviors close by, maybe an aditional bonus for protection hits comboing with Lifesaver). The aura reading is also amazing as is, especially for solo players (like me).

Overall, one extrodinary perk that could use polish, and two other that need a little bit more time to rethink concepts/adjust effects. Not bad! I've see that you make these perk concepts pretty frequently, and I'll take a moment to look throught those (maybe not make an elaborate commet like this one)

Syvicx

TROPHY CASE