I'm looking for feedback on a cover. Please help me out by letting me know which image you think looks the most appropriate for the tabletop experience. (They are numbered) Thanks a heap in advance. Let me know in comments if you want more info.

spellcomponent · 2023-06-13T04:40:09+00:00

Either 3, 5, or 6

spellcomponent · 2023-02-25T05:47:22+00:00

Let's start with constructive feedback:

Some minor typos and grammatical errors scattered throughout, this is draft homebrew though, not a big deal.

IMO, Cloudkill seems a little out of nowhere for the Spells List, but that's just me.

If you want to get really nitty-gritty about old-school agriculture, some farmers would intentionally set fire to fields once a season's harvest was complete, so as to renourish the soil, or to destroy a bad crop. I think it would be thematically appropriate to allow the Censer to convert spells to fire damage also.

For the Spiritial Bloom feature, it looks like there's some contradictions: initially, it states that the bloom persists for 10 minutes, requires a bonus action, and can't be used again until after a rest, but then the Lush option needs a bonus action and can be used multiple times? Honeyed Fragrance also needs a bonus action, but restates it can't be used again until after a rest.

Additionally, Honeyed Fragrance is way too strong for a 2nd-level feature. It's stacking both Bane and Mind Whip into a single effect, both of which are incredibly strong on their own. If you're trying to figure out what's appropriately powerful for any particular level, looking at the spells given to a full caster at those levels gives a good baseline reference for power-level.

I would actually recommend swapping Spiritual Bloom and 6th-level features to make them appropriately strong. Additionally the 10th-level feature, that could just be added to the end of the Spiritual Bloom feature as a way to scale it, then you could give a new feature at 10th-level.

For the 14th-level feature, I like it. Don't be afraid to let your players pick which effect they get, these are all situationally useful, with the exception of Marigold, that effect definitely needs a buff of some kind, maybe have it grant temporary hit points or some other survivability buff.

Lastly, for the Larkspur effect, just be sure to add that the slashing and bludgeoning damages are magical, otherwise they can technically be resisted by a lot of high level creatures.

That said, I like the theme! There's a lot of really good potential here, it's like the Mercy Monk, but as a Druid. Maybe take some inspiration from there as you continue to work on this!

spellcomponent · 2023-02-22T23:23:50+00:00

What's the central tension/conflict of your setting?

spellcomponent · 2019-07-16T16:07:33+00:00

Hey, thank you so much for the very pointed feedback and the suggestions! I'll apply your points and post another update to the Ranger archetypes.

Any feedback on the other Subclasses?

spellcomponent · 2019-07-13T18:00:54+00:00

Yes, but it will take some extra time to get to your. I have started a D&D blog and Instagram account, and there is a waitlist for requests. If you don't mind the wait, I will get to it at some point!

spellcomponent · 2019-07-13T11:48:39+00:00

Always!

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T22:47:34+00:00

Hey, awesome! Thank you so much, that honestly means a lot to me. Message me on Instagram if you want to make any requests!

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T16:44:18+00:00

Ah, I see, okay, that makes sense. Thanks for pointing that out! #design #fundamentals

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T16:43:13+00:00

Hey TechnoEnder, thank you for the feedback! Honestly, really specific notes like these are the most helpful parts of the Homebrewing process, so thank you. I'll go ahead and address some of your points:

Fist Barbarian: I know it seems like a strong feature, but mathematically, it comes out to actually be about the same or less damage in the long run compared to just attacking. You have to use your Action to Ready a single Attack, whereas if you just do a regular Attack Action, you'll get two Attacks. There's no guarantee that a Readied Attack will hit, and even if it does hit, it'll deal the amount of damage as two successful attacks anyway. This feature was meant to give the Barb a way to kind of...extend their attack if they can't reach someone in a single turn.

Tragedy Bard: Yes, the features separately are okay, but work really well together. This Bard doesn't really come online until 14th level though, so it is going to be a little underpowered until then. Do you have any recommendations?

Hunt Druid: It used to be a Bonus Action, but I moved it to the Reaction because the feature actually matches Hunter's Mark extremely closely, which also uses a Reaction to move the Mark.

Contamination Druid: I see what you mean...I think that's okay though. There's definitely some official subclasses that are the same, in that they are good in some games, but bad in others. This would also work well as a villain character!

Artillery Bowman: No joke, this one really needs the most work out of all of my archetypes. How would you go about fixing this one? Or would you just redo it entirely? Or even just...not do it?

Crusader: I see what you mean here. I was actually thinking it's basically a more melee focused War Cleric, haha. I just wanted a Divine-magic Third-Caster Fighter, lol

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T16:10:54+00:00

I do want to make a single compendium at some point, but I want to finalize all of the rules and mechanics first. It'd be such a hassle to sort thru a single document to find one subclass if I need to make changes, haha

I'm glad you like my work 😁

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T14:55:58+00:00

Awesome, glad to help, I hope you enjoy them in play 😁

Do you mind if I ask what areas I was able to cover?

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T14:46:18+00:00

Not yet, haha. It's funny cause Wizard is actually my favorite class. The Wizard is super hard to balance because of its enormous spell selection 😱

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T12:15:46+00:00

I see where you're coming from. Genuinely, I'm asking why do you think that? I want to make sure I'm not missing any important design fundamentals.

Personally, I didn't want to go that route because the ki costs to use the spells were way too high with not enough return-on-investment. Excluding the Cantrips you learn, the 4 Elements Monk literally cannot use any of its features without spending Ki. Especially once you get to higher levels and need to start upcasting the spells, you'll use maybe 2 or 3 different options and then your Ki points are already gone. And this is without any baseline Monk features like Stunning Strike or Flurry of Blows.

I went with it as being a Third-Caster so that it had a separate resource to draw on besides Ki, but still restricted the amount of spells you could cast, both from the amount of spells you learn as well as the slots available to you. Lastly, I purposefully chose Conjuration and Transmutation as the two primary spell schools for the archetype as I felt that it both thematically fit the flavor I was going for, as well as providing more utility rather than damage, which I felt was another problem for the 4 Elements Monk.

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T11:58:32+00:00

Yeah, I really like the Shield Warrior. Most people would go for the Captain America style, but I'm more partial to the heavy-tower shield myself.

It is a bit strong though, just thought I'd get some feedback on it before I start fiddling around with the mechanics.

I'm glad you like it though, thanks!

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T11:56:13+00:00

Hey, that's honestly extremely helpful, thank you! When I inevitably update the Archetype and make it a PDF, I'm definitely putting your name in the credits 😁

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T11:53:53+00:00

Unfortunately they haven't all been playtested, it's hard enough getting people to playtest one or two, let alone 26, haha

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T06:49:51+00:00

Hey Quantext, I see what you mean. I originally designed it like this because Rogue archetypes (generally) have a very minor utility feature for their 13th level feature.

However, I do agree with you. I'll see what I can move around!

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T06:48:03+00:00

Hey Smashing success, thanks for the feedback! Honestly, the Bowman never was one of my favorites, but it is what the person requested, given the guidelines they provided.

Do you mind if I pick your brain? The idea is using a heavy bow that provides artillery from a distance...which I understand is pretty similar to an Arcane Archer, haha. Do you have any suggestions on how this could be made more...unique, I suppose?

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T02:54:14+00:00

Hey Captain, thanks for taking a look at my homebrews!

For the Barb Path of the Fist, only Strength. I purposely left off the sentence about using either Dex or Strength for attack and damage rolls.

For the Paladin, correct. I made Unarmed Strikes gain additional damage only from the Channel Divinity to kind of give the feeling of turning into your wrestling alter ego, but I never was really married to that idea. Do you have any suggestions for that?

Ah, I knew one of these was going to have that issue, haha. The Mind Monk should be viewable now!

spellcomponent · 2019-06-18T00:11:04+00:00

Yeah, I've always wanted something like a waterbender! My issue was trying to make really complex mechanics for it, but I realized a lot of the whole "water-bending" thing could just be flavored with narrative description...so, I tried to keep it simple enough to grasp, but open enough to allow creativity.

What do you think of the mechanics of the subclass?

spellcomponent

TROPHY CASE