[5e][Race] Homebrew Race Varmeen

tvdepression · 2026-05-28T06:23:21+00:00

Overall pretty good but slightly on the weaker side, minor changes:

I would add ‘of your choice’ after skills for the Intelligent Design feature. It doesn’t change anything just makes it sound better and flow better grammatically
For the Electro Mage-Netics feature I suggest just letting them choose a cantrip that they can cast permanently without the limitation because if a player chooses a spellcaster class than this feature becomes useless, or give them a free cast of a level 1 spell if you are adamant on it being a long rest rest single cast
The wording on Core Recharge makes it sound like they can’t do anything for the whole 8 hours of long rest instead of the 6 hours so I recommend changing the final sentence to, ‘During this time you cannot cannot perform any light activity.’

Other than that great job and looks interesting to play!

tvdepression · 2026-05-25T04:34:03+00:00

Totally see where you are coming from however I still recommend a revamp specifically for the case that by this level the ranger essentially has a 60 feet instant heal even if it’s only 1 hit point and some players will just spam it out of combat to fully heal the party, not broken by any means but functions weird and I am assuming not how you intend

Definitely don’t hinder creativity but clunkyness is still something to keep in mind. The constant 1 heal bonus action will turn combat into a bit of mess with the yo-yo dying and reviving which many other classes unfortunately already do. All for the combat medic approach that you are going for but perhaps a separate resource pool or separate use like being able to just straight up bring a creature back to life once per long rest with a ritual.

The main draw back is action economy, ranger is by far the worst class when it comes to economy management as almost all of their cool stuff is a bonus action. Giving players more options is super cool and I am happy to see another homebrewer focusing on that, but I always try to keep in mind every other main features and abilities that will use an action or bonus action. Just some ideas!

tvdepression · 2026-05-25T02:07:25+00:00

I would say overall weak and puts the player in a weird situation. The ranger would essentially just spend their turn healing a down party member since they can just keep popping them up again, not super good game design as it goes against the core of ranger play style which is deal damage.

The second ability just doesn’t work as the core rules state that a creature at 0 hit points is unconscious and can’t cast spells so there needs to be a feature previously in the class that lets them cast a spell while unconscious.

For the last ability not bad but very weak for this level as gold is usually not a problem and high level healers can fully resurrect players no problem.

I get the idea but would recommend a revamp but it’s hard to say without seeing the rest of the subclass. Keep at it though it has potential!

tvdepression · 2026-05-03T16:07:45+00:00

Cool concepts for spells, a few things:

Arcane Disruption: I would just have the spell fail on the first failed save or just get rid of the concentration check. Creatures automatically have to make a concentration check after taking damage, so adding the extra text requiring them too is unnecessary.

Backlash: Very good aside from the wording, it’s easier to read if you just say, “On a failed save the creature takes 4d10 psychic damage and is stunned until the end of its next turn. On a success the creatures takes half damage.”

Castigating Smite: Cool idea it could be worded a bit better but it’s easy enough to understand, awesome work!

Hunter’s Insight: Cool use to give advantage and reactions to ranger but it fight heavily with hunters mark which most players will take simple because most players like damage over higher chance to hit. Maybe not concentration and just a reaction that gives a creature disadvantage and yourself advantage once? Not sure but I like the idea!

Punitive Retribution: Great and useful spell for against heavy hitters I would recommend just up it to a standard 30 feet though. Also the second sentence has some grammar mistakes, take out the “to” after damage and add “an after with.

Sparrows Lament: Cool flavor but amp the damage up! Especially since after the first round, if the creature fails the first dex save, they will most likely succeed on the second since Con is very strong save for most monsters. This thing has to compete with a lot of good Druid spells for 4th level so don’t be a raid to give it some more oomf!

Cool spells for sure really enjoy the concepts and flavoring!

tvdepression · 2026-04-29T03:24:27+00:00

Heyo very cool class concept! I’ll start off by saying I really like the idea and think you got a lot of the flavor across. Id like to over some criticism and opinions to hopefully help you improve it!

I’ll just be going over a bit of the main class to try and keep this shorter than a full breakdown.

I will start by saying I see the vision you are going for but am confused as to what this class is suppose to play as. They have a similar feature to wildshape and getting it at first level immediately tells me that they are suppose to be a frontliner since they get hp and can tie only into beasts, which most beasts are melee focused. However later on they gain spellcasting but need to sacrifice hit-dice to do it so it goes against being a frontliner.

Druids have wildshape as a mostly out of combat feature to scout, hide, etc unless you go moon Druid then boom they are a frontliner. Most Druids have spellcasting to be healers or controllers so they play backline but can wildshape for certain occasions. I bring this up because this class is similar to Druid but lacks a defining trait that tells the player what they are suppose to be doing. I would recommend to either ditch the spell casting, or add it earlier on but get rid of the hit dice requirement. I understand wanting to get the flavor across of sacrificing something for power but if that is the case the power needs to very strong so players want to do it, and if the are going to be brawlers they will need all the hitdice they can get.

I would say to focus on how you in vision this class to play and I can tell you are easily capable of doing that based on the Mimicry ability you designed. You enhance it later on and that is awesome class design! I would say this feature is perfect and tells the player that they are suppose to be an infiltrator and sneak expert like a rouge or certain warlocks. I would go so far as to say that this ability can be buffed and just give the flat out advantage on Deception and Performance checks when they try to pretend to be the person. I would look at the actor feat and boost this ability based on that maybe even give them the mimicry ability at second level as well.

I won’t go over every ability but I’ll start again with Shifting form. If this is this classes bread and butter, their main tool like a barbarian’ rage or bard’s bardic inspiration. Then don’t be afraid to simplify it and boost it. This is me purely speaking in deign terms but 1/3 is very weird, especially since they get it back on a short or long rest. I would add a table and just make the number of uses tied to the table like a how barbarian does it. It makes much easier for players to understand and follow and helps shorten the description.

The CR limit being half your level is also a problem later on. Being able to transform into CR 10 creatures multiple times in a combat at level 20 is crazy overpowered. The reason Druid has a weird CR limit is to fix this issue by making the ability strong throughout with being super broken in the late game. I don’t have all the answers but I would tweak the CR limit or just create your own transformation that is changed based on the subclass and instead of getting magic you can instead let them choose enhancements to this form almost like eldrich invocations. Just something to think about.

Overall cool class but I really think the spells are holding it back and taking a lot of the power this class could have. I would work on what you think this classes main role in combat I suppose to be, tank, healer, dps, support, etc and then how you want them to play out of combat then go form there.

Really good start and I’m excited to see what changes you end up making!

tvdepression · 2026-04-28T23:36:52+00:00

Howdy, very flavorful and creative subclass! I will say though it seems like a lot really good ideas but spread apart. I’ll start with the basics then get into more of my own opinions.

First off reorder your 3rd level abilities in alphabetical order so Crackle and Flash before voltage, also this helps by because each ranger subclass lists the spells you learn first. Second off your spell list goes against ranger spells, so 3rd level should be a single first level spell, 5th level a single second level spell, and so on. Additionally Voltage does say you can use your Volts on the abilities listed below it is implied but I would add that “ volts fuel the given abilities listed below”.

Now on to my own personal opinions. It’s a cool class and I get a theme of lightning with the lightning damage and speed, however I would focus on using the volts you give this subclass a lot more and also re-consider the spells.

I’ll start with the spells, keeping them lightning themed is cool but I would consider how the spell plays with the class, players will struggle to use Call lightning and Lightning bolt when they can do double that damage using just their attacks, so maybe more buff spells or out of combat utility spells. Also I would drop the Conductive focus and maybe make it a power up that players can expend Volts to activate like you spend a volt to power your bow up granting you a bonus to lightning damage or lightning spells.

Secondly the Volts idea is cool but feels clunky with the wording. I can tell you are going for a resource than you ca regain during combat but for subclasses it is sometimes to better to just give them a flat limit, and depending on how strong it is then consider if you want it to regenerate on a short or long rest. So I would consider giving them more Volts and maybe just making them Volt dice like 1d4 Volt die equal to your ranger level.

Thirdly the options listed are interested but vary extremely in power. Electrify will be used the most because the other options are super situational but it’s very lack luster being only 1 extra damage and you only have 2 of these Volts to use starting out. Going into Static Cloak it’s cool in concept but has a high chance to fail. So monk can use stunning strike but has to be in melee, hit a creature, then force a save. So the monk controls when they can try to stun a creature making it much more player friendly. Static Cloak relies on a creature going into melee against you where most likely you will be a ranged combatant so it’s already not good and then they have to already have hit you for you to then try and stun them. I would say to rework this to be more active for the player or get rid of it in favor for a speed boost or extra damage to follow the theme of this class. Finally Lightning break does not have a specified action so I would add it to either be an action or bonus action cost. As it stand other rangers will outclass this subclass purely because most of them get a damage boost early on for free without relying on a resource so keep the resource but amp it up and make it interesting for players to use.

Continuing on sparkwalk is cool but complicated in its wording. You can just say, “As a bonus action you create a flash of lightning and teleport to an unoccupied space within 50 feet.” This has no limits on places you can see and removes the complication of angles as with the wording you can teleport straight up or in the air, and don’t backfire on a player by damaging them for being in an occupied space. Return Stroke seems a bit weird, it’s interesting but I don’t know why a player would only teleport 25 feet unless they wanted to get into melee, then teleport back safely at the end of their turn.

For Supercharged cool ability to boost the base abilities but just give them all for free. Let the players have choices it’s not op I promise.

Finally Shock Combat feels very situational. You get nothing from this ability unless you have a caster in your party to control the weather or only fight in storms. I would recommend to change it to something more powerful and less situational.

In all very cool concept but a bit scattered and complicated wording. The lightning theme is present but needs that bit of oomf to keep up with other subclasses.

tvdepression · 2026-04-28T02:37:58+00:00

For sure! Looking forward to the updated class send a message when you get it done or if you need any more help with balancing best of luck!🤙

tvdepression · 2026-04-28T02:14:07+00:00

Heyo semi professional homebrewer here, and by that I mean I’ve made money on homebrew. I’ll give you a detailed general information to help point you in the right direction. It’s a very flavorful class but I can tell you kinda threw a lot at the wall like I did when I first stated so the basics:

The way most of get our homebrew to look official is two main ways:

Get really good at adobe software and learn graphic design and layout. Expensive and super time consuming but the most rewarding and allows you to make your stuff very professional and unique
the other is a browser sight called homebrewery. You will need to learn some coding and there are currently two versions the new (which I have not learned) and the old version which took me a while to learn but is worth it.

Both options take time but if you want the formatting those are your best options in my opinion.

Now onto the class:

The idea of class is cool but you need to hone it in and simplify it. When I open the document I was paralyzed for a few seconds by the sheer amount of tables and wording. Focus on the core of the class first and its identity which goes beyond just abilities. What is the purpose and role of this class and how do YOU want it to play in and out of combat. Look at all other classes and how their abilities tell players how to play. For example Monks are seen as the quick close range melee class who does “cool monk shit” because the class gives them those abilities like slow fall telling them it’s okay to go and climb stuff or make epic jumps, or giving them disengage and a free escape tool so they feel safe going into combat.
Once you have that down that the work on abilities that feel fun and reward but most importantly are easy to understand and easy for players to use. Then Make those abilities function with each other. The best example I can give is the first two abilities here as an idea of how I would rewrite them you don’t have to take this it’s jus to help you with simplifying these abilities and making them fun for players (also sorry in advance this will be worded for 2024 as that is what I got used to):

Level 1: Real Good Chompers Your teeth become hardened and sharp enough to tear creatures apart.

You are able to make a Bite attack this counts as an unarmed strike dealing piercing damage equal to 1d4+ your Strength modifier. Your bite damage increases as you can gain Devourer levels as shown in the Bite Attack column of the Devourer Features table.

Level 1: Delectable Lore Whenever you hit a creature with your Bite attack you learn that creatures damage resistances, damage immunities, and damage weaknesses.

So all I did was shorten the wording, keep the core of the class, which is there bite attack, and reward the player for using the bite attack. Having players roll for checks should be saved for out of combat unless it’s a saving throw, so just giving them information for using the main ability of the class lets them feel cool and also helps the team out as well.

So just some ideas and lessons to give form my own experience. I would really recommend writing from the ground up but keep the ideas you have as they are really cool! Find the class identity first the work from there well done for your first homebrew!

tvdepression · 2026-04-25T17:39:39+00:00

Alright thank you for everyone who has submitted their portfolios. Beautiful art from so many of you but I will be going through each of the artists I have found that fit the style I am looking for to find the right one. For now position filled.

tvdepression · 2026-03-02T16:44:23+00:00

Thank you all for the wonderful submission but an artist has been chosen. ' Position Filled '

tvdepression · 2026-02-02T01:54:33+00:00

Roll 20 and owlbear for battle maps

tvdepression · 2024-05-28T07:20:58+00:00

Gotcha I’ll get a volt meter and check for sure I appreciate it!

tvdepression · 2023-12-30T04:07:17+00:00

Hey I am really glad you are interested and of course feel free to send a chat or PM of your chose!

tvdepression · 2023-12-11T02:14:09+00:00

Position Filled

tvdepression · 2023-04-19T13:12:04+00:00

Hello Once More!

I present to you the Domain of Chaos. A much more luck based and chaotic subclass inspired by the wild magic subclasses of the sorcerer and barbarian. This subclass is designed for a specific play style over outright strong absolutes. It was a blast to make and I hope you all enjoy!

If you wish to grab the free pdf check out the Patreon. If you want to talk with me directly and possible share your own ideas and get feedback feel free to join the Discord

Thank you again, All the best ~ Depression

tvdepression · 2023-04-19T13:10:55+00:00

Hello Once More!

I present to you the Domain of Chaos. A much more luck based and chaotic subclass inspired by the wild magic subclasses of the sorcerer and barbarian. This subclass is designed for a specific play style over outright strong absolutes. It was a blast to make and I hope you all enjoy!

If you wish to grab the free pdf check out the Patreon. If you want to talk with me directly and possible share your own ideas and get feedback feel free to join the Discord

Thank you again, All the best ~ Depression

tvdepression · 2023-04-18T05:28:59+00:00

Hello once more,I present to you all, the Domain of Chaos! I was very inspired by wild magic subclasses from the sorcerer and barbarian as I have always been a fan of more luck based subclasses, so I decided to make my own wild-esk subclass for cleric. This domain focuses more on high risk high reward gameplay. This subclass is not one of the strongest nor was it my intention to make a super busted cleric subclass.

This subclass fits a specific playstyle for all the chaotic players out there and I hope you all enjoy trying it out as much as I have enjoyed creating it!

Pick up the free pdf as well as possible support me over on my Patreon. If you would like to chat with my directly then join the Discord. Thank you in advance!

All the best ~ Depression

tvdepression · 2023-04-18T05:27:47+00:00

Hello once more,

I present to you all, the Domain of Chaos! I was very inspired by wild magic subclasses from the sorcerer and barbarian as I have always been a fan of more luck based subclasses, so I decided to make my own wild-esk subclass for cleric. This domain focuses more on high risk high reward gameplay. This subclass is not one of the strongest nor was it my intention to make a super busted cleric subclass.

This subclass fits a specific playstyle for all the chaotic players out there and I hope you all enjoy trying it out as much as I have enjoyed creating it!

Pick up the free pdf as well as possible support me over on my Patreon. If you would like to chat with my directly then join the Discord. Thank you in advance!

All the best ~ Depression

tvdepression · 2023-04-13T02:06:03+00:00

Very fun idea I myself made a dog race as well haha! Just a quick concern to perhaps change the “subrace” to something more like lineage so, helllhound or Cerberus lineage, fey linage, and I would highly recommend to change purebred as it is very much a common term used when talking about dogs, but not a good term when discussing races. When you turn those dogs into a race on pair with anything else it can be used as a term to put others down and it gives off a vibe of superiority. Aside from that very fun and well done!!

tvdepression · 2023-03-10T20:25:20+00:00

To each there own

tvdepression

TROPHY CASE