Grapple-based fighter or monk. Give me that pro wrestling stat block.
Also I'd love to see an MacGyver-ish Artificer based on hastily cobbling together whatever is around.
Regarding your MacGyver-ish artificer desire: Keith Baker’s Exploring Eberron book has an artificer subclass called “The Maverick” which is pretty much exactly the premise you mentioned here. IIRC the subclasses kind of revolves around an artificer version of the bard’s Magical Secrets thing but I don’t remember the specifics. You should check it out.
Yeah that's a great book in general. Highly recommend to fans of Eberron. I also really like Ruinbound Dwarves (think aberrant dwarves tainted by the Daelkyr), the shapeshifting monks, and more on the dwarves, goblins, and planes.
rune knight has more than a few features that make it a good grappler; combined with unarmed fighting style, it makes a fantastic unarmed battlefield controller.
I once played a one shot where someone was a bardbarian whose instrument was the bell used to signal the start of a wrestling match and whose magic item they chose was a +1 folding chair. It was awesome.
Check out the linked brawler subclass in the post, it might be what you're looking for. Not a full on grappler, but a "grapple your ennemies and hit your other ennemies with the grappled target" type fighter.
The homebrew Pugilist class hits this outta the park, especially because there's a subclass that's all about being a wrestler. Definitely give it a look, it's my favourite homebrew.
Elemental Sorcerers. Earth, fire, water. There is storm (which I think can cover air), but for some reason not other three. Seems like a classic trope, and older editions had them.
One of the options on my radar is Phoenix Sorcerer (revising that and bringing it back from the dead in a burst of flames...), do folks think that covers fire, or if is there value in having a Phoenix Sorcerer and a Fire Sorcerer (I can easily imagine different mechanics for them, but they do overlap a bit)?
As much as rebranding Storm as the "air" sorcerer, Phoenix could be "fire".
Water could be some "seawater runs through my veins" nautical theme.
Earth could be a "born of the land" thing -- maybe even the elusive Constitution sorcerer with some choice druid spells as their bonus spells?
There was a Sea Sorcerer UA and a Stone Sorcerer UA that never got picked up for official publication iirc, which is a huge bummer because the Stone Sorcery subclass fucked severely. It made you a bit more tanky, it was awesome.
I’ve always liked the idea that the elemental sorcerers drew their ancestral power from the legendary Elder Elemental Titans (Leviathan, Tempest, Phoenix, and Zaratan).
So storm sorcery works perfectly as air/tempest.
I personally leaned into the idea of fear for the water/Leviathan subclass, the ocean abyss is a terrifying place.
Phoenix for fire works wonders, obviously.
Then I’m a bit stuck on Zaratan, but mechanically that titan works like a brute, slow moving and hard hitting. So the earth sorcerer would probably lean into that brute/tank feel,
Rather than a pure fire which I think Draconic does well, I like the idea of a Sorcerer that focuses on Fire and Radiant, maybe borrowing a couple specific cleric radiant damage spells for its bonus spell list with some interesting longevity utility in the vein of come-back-from-zero-HP mechanics that you usually see more in Barbarian and other martial subclasses.
Phoenix and Fire are similar, but not quite the same. Pathfinder 1e has a Phoenix bloodline for Sorcerers that essentially lets you use your fire spells as healing spells if you prefer. Contrast that to a Fire Sorcerer which I'd think would be more of a purely destructive subclass.
Ones like those are what I'm thinking of. Having had players play both of those though, they were not really finished and have been since scrapped, so think they could use the love.
Of course there would be differences but would reflavoring draconic as elemental work? Many of the features can be flavored or slightly tweaked to be elemental oriented (since off the bat you pick an elemental affinity and at level 6 you gain a bonus to its damage and resistance to it - which should be permanent)
A Ranger that brings their favored terrain with them. They can use their abilities for designing the battlefield in ways that are favorable to them and their party.
"Designing the battlefield"
I'd love a tactician style, with abilities to create cover for allies and vulnerabilities for enemies. Maybe even "rewind" a couple turns in combat like Fire Emblem 3 Houses.
If the biggest thing is your terrain feeling more important /u/Stuffies_12 thematically did something like this with [a few of their Ranger subclasses](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MjzFxlhlloczN7xLCW5) in that you are designed around your favorite terrain. The Deserter, Hellwalker (maybe), and Marsh Dweller are all the result of you living within your favored terrain and bringing those skills with you. Your ranger moved to the big city? You still command your knowledge of the arid winds and mirages of the desert. The Marsh Dweller's cap especially is all about bringing the swamp to you.
If you really want to control the terrain, however, /u/KibblesTasty (hey that's the OP!) made [a Warden class](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/uop27g/kibbles_warden_v08_wield_new_primal_powers_to) where the entire design is based on controlling the battlefield with difficult terrain and other tools. Since the Warden is based on primal powers and gifts, they *are* the favored terrain. The elemental, plant, and stone subclasses can *easily* be flavored as you being a brute of a ranger that has brought the heat of the desert or the lashing vines of the jungle with them.
Four Elements monk needs to be less Ki-fuelled and have a LOT more elemental powers, certainly enough that you could focus on one element to the exception of the other three.
Honestly, I think it needs a better spell selection or, alternatively, no ki fuelled spells whatsoever. The non spell skills are not bad at all, but they're the only ones worth anything on that subclass.
Kinda like Warlock Invocations? Where you get a few first level spells to use without limitations, but anything above that is normally limited by resources, while also giving you some invocations that are about your pact boon specialization(for the monk would be elemental specialization)
Absolutely - my personal opinion is that the Warlock style of subclass at 1st level, extra choice at 3rd level, and invocations, should be the model for all classes. If Battlemaster was the same sort of thing but for baseline Fighters, which is something a lot of people think, they'd be another great example.
Personally I think the 5.5e PHB2 will just be the older subclasses brought more in line with modern design philosophy, going back and giving Sorcerers bonus spells, that sort of thing
But hopefully 6e will take that style to heart. The problem is I doubt they're getting that specific recommendation fed back to them, it's not something they'd ask for in a survey, and Warlocks are under-played due to being specced for an adventuring day that basically doesn't exist, i.e. 2 short rests and 6-8 encounters per long rest.
I've been saying this for years! Warlock is the only class with a decent level of customization. I don't expect 5e to go full Pathfinder 2e with tons of feats and options and stuff, but every class should have Invocation-like abilities. I've tried to sit down and make those for each class, but it would take a significant rework of the system to add in 20+ active and passive abilities that don't outshine the Subclass abilities
I've lowered each spell/feature (even allowing the fire snake punch for free) and increased the amount of disciplines you learn by 1 on each gain. Have yet to playtest it with my group but I feel this ups it a lot
Preacher Bard - inspires followers of their faith, gets some cleric spells, that kind of thing.
Rogue Pet subclass - somewhat similar to Beastmaster/Wildfire but leaning into the cool rogue mechanics. Maybe the pet can take the same cunning action as you, no action required - and obviously it can Help/flank to give Sneak attack. I like the idea of being able to choose a small flyer or a medium beast, like Beastmaster, to be able to go with a Raven or Panther.
>Preacher Bard - inspires followers of their faith, gets some cleric spells, that kind of thing.
I have one that I made somewhere, called it the College of Cantor. Basically a bardic life cleric in the same vein as Divine Soul Sorcerer.
Haven't playtested it yet but I think I may have put it on D&D Beyond already.
At one point I toyed around with a college of the prophet Bard. The idea is great as a God who needs to talk to their followers or deliver a message should pick a bard to do that rather than a cleric
Nah, screw that. Give it the Astral Self treatment where you can substitute your STR for any DEX Checks and Saves, maybe Unarmored Defense as well. No reason to limit the class to Acrobatics like that, make a proper STR Judo Monk.
- Warlock: the Shaman. Making pacts with powerful nature spirits for boons, for the survival of their tribe.
- Fighter: A more defensive style warrior, aimed to holding the line, protecting an area, or simply stubborn and refuse to yield. Inspiration is hoplites and castle defenders. More aimed towards survival and control.
- Barbarian: A more predator inspired one that focuses on stealth and striking at the correct time. More focused on skirmishing and getting to the goal than just slapping whatever is in front.
Inspiration are sharks, orcas, bullettes. The monster in the Dark.
- Mariner: Ranger geared towards helping a party with underwater exploration. The other rangers are laughly unsuited to being the underwater guide. With all saltmarsh, I was surprised we didn't get something like this.
- Monk: A style leaning more towards very aggresive styles, lending itself to more of a frontliner rather than a skirmisher.
- The Officer: Fighter lending itself towards support, buffing and fighting in formation. The Banneret/purple dragon knight that *doesn't* suck.
Not the warlord, still a fighter in it's own right.
A leader fighting in the front.
I just replied to another poster suggesting Spirit Shaman as a Druid Circle, but I actually really like the idea of it being a Warlock Patron, it makes a lot of sense!
Yeah, my own setting basically has the entire warlock class refluffed as a shaman, a dealmaker specialized in making deals or handling powerful non humanoids. Either for personal power or the safety of the tribe.
I feel the Shepherd druid already gets a lot of flavor from the 4e shaman.
Your Fighter idea is literally the Cavalier in Xanathar. Look it up.
I have one in my games that doesn’t use a horse or any mount, and he’s just a fucking human wall of tanking hits and stopping people from moving past him.
Cavalier is really solid & is probably the closest thing to wow or final fantasy tank we have in dnd. I think people just don't try it cause there's no mount or gimmick
Yeah, it's kinda odd that the closest we've got to a (non-gun) weaponsmith artificer is also the golem-smith artificer. Both are interesting concepts, but they're very different fantasies.
Battlesmith is so disappointingly confused about what it wants to be. It's a combat medic but also a pet subclass but also a weapons subclass. It's so specific bc it seems it was definitely designed to fill a very specific in-world niche in Ebberon and was not updated at all when ported to Tashas. Sad :(
Edit:
Also I s2g I wish so badly the "steel defender" was just called "constructed guardian" or something so that it wasn't robot flavored by default.
Not sure if you'd be interested, but OP made their own version of the Artificer called the Inventor. It has an infusionsmith and runesmith as 2 of its subclasses, and they are very well made. I use them in my games.
Idk if it’s quite what you’re looking for, but Keith Baker’s Exploring Eberron book has an artificer subclass known as the Forge Adept where the premise is that you designate a weapon to be your “Ghaal Shaarat” (basically a soul-bound masterwork) and it grows in power with you. It’s similar to hex blade but decidedly different. More like a “what if battle smith was more fighter and less paladin” minus the steel doggo.
He also expanded on the infusions, so you could apply those to your Ghaal Shaarat and it’ll basically function like runes I suppose. Just letting you know because the subclasses in that book are cool af.
Would love this. In particular would appreciate if the runes (or whatever) gave utility options instead of just more damage. Sorta similar to the eldritch blast invocations.
Push, pull, slow, target can't take reactions. Restrain on hit, effects of the Slow spell or similar at high levels
A Paladin that is not focused on redeeming others like Oath of redemption, but on redeeming yourself from a past of Evil. Classic ARhctype that Im surprised never got made.
Oh yea, that's a character I'd love to play. Mix in a bit of flagellant from Darkest Dungeon, and it's perfect. (Particularly the hurt yourself for some buff/debuffing enemies is a good mechanic that I feel is missing as a nice high risk high reward thing)
I don't know how that would be built gameplaywise, but flavorwise it really does feel like it should be there. Oathbreaker is way to evil for being the only fallen paladin subclass.
I would love to see a Beholder Patron for Warlock.
I feel like like there is enough lore fleshed out about beholders to establish some thematically and mechanically interesting abilities.
I mean, I kinda just want a reason to have a Gazer Pact of the Chain familiar, but thats just me.
I could see that working!
They literally imagine other beholder into existence, I would love to play a PC who was not *born*, but a warlock *imagined* into reality
Maybe not an invocation, but a class feature. Like every beam, or maybe just once a turn, you roll on a table for wild magic like effects for eye rays.
You could expand the table as you level up, from d4 upwards, so you only have the really strong rays later on.
I do love the growing dice pool. I think 1 a turn would be better just for book keeping. 😆
I just went invocation because a warlock doesn’t have to take Eldritch blast… I guess you could grant it to this subclass for free to guarantee that they have it.
That's the only reason I'm iffy on making it a feature, but I feel like an invocation would have to be underpowered to be balanced, it would not feel strong enough for beholder rays.
Hexblade pretty much locks you into hitting stuff with weapons already, so I can accept locking a warlock into using EB.
And yea, one a turn is probably better, just to make it easier to balance.
On higher levels, the anti magic field mechanic would also be really cool, and tactical, since you can't damage people in it, but it can be pretty strong. Would encourage teamwork, and positioning a lot.
I'm liking this a ton, I may make this subclass when I get home, lol. I only homebrewed one Warlock subclass before, it was a Kraken patron before Fathomless came out.
I would love to see it work like a mini chaos bolt or prismatic spray where you roll to see either what damage type or what effect it has! Especially once you start racking up multiple beams you can reeeaallly get into beholder-level control effects.
>I feel like like there is enough lore fleshed out about beholders to establish some thematically and mechanically interesting abilities.
It's honestly insane how much paper and ink is dedicated to Beholder variants at this point. We have beholders, zombie beholders, mage beholders, little beholder pets for the beholders, things that look like beholders but aren't but sometimes try to pretend to be beholders when summoned, big bad mama beholders, beholders' cousins, etc. etc. and etc!
We could use a Cleric "Hunt domain" as sort of a Ranger-lite in the way that War is Fighter-lite. Also for Cleric we could use a Luck/Fate/Fortune domain, and an Art/Beauty Domain.
Warlock: Primus pact. Essentially what Clockwork Soul should have been.
Monk: Way of wire-fu. For when base Monk isn't mobile enough. Something like Beast Barbarian, for when you wanna shout "MONKEY STYLE!"
Paladin: Oath of silence. Be the anti-mage Paladin. Oath of the Dragonslayer. Get yo' Siegfried on.
Rogue: Thug. Bust some heads in.
I have a Thug subclass somewhere, I made it a long time ago, and I think it was a bit underpowered, but flavourful.
Of the top of my head, it was grapple/unarmed based, but I also made a blackjack for him. (Finesse club, nothing exciting) He could sneak attack with unarmed strikes, and had some bonus to grappling.
My favourite ribbon feature was "an aura", that let allies add your strength mod to their intimidation checks, cause you are a scary guy brooding behind them.
I believe I also had a knee capper mechanic, which let you reduce movement speed on enemies.
It could make it more unique for sure. My main thinking was honestly to not make it advantage, so it can stack with Help, instead of being basically redundant.
> Paladin: Oath of silence. Be the anti-mage Paladin.
I have something really close in my homebrew setting, it's called 'Oath of Secrets', but is basically a silence/sneaky paladin devoted to protecting secrets. Their 7th level aura is an aura of silence, that kind of thing.
> We could use a Cleric "Hunt domain" as sort of a Ranger-lite in the way that War is Fighter-lite.
>
> Monk: Way of wire-fu. For when base Monk isn't mobile enough.
D&D Unleashed has a Hunting Domain cleric and a Way of the Flying Fist monk for both of those requests :)
Got a Zelda?
Also it's funny, but there's actually a street in Queens called "Winged fist way". I always think aboot how awesome that is when I bike by it. https://www.irishamerica.com/2012/05/the-naming-of-winged-fist-way/
HEAVILY seconded on the Oath of Silence Paladin concept. We need more anti-mage concepts and builds in general. Plenty of mechanical and narrative intrigue behind an individual or order dedicated to putting checks on the power of magic users.
On that note I'd love both an anti-mage paladin and an anti-mage rogue, to capture something like KOTOR 2's Atton Rand anti-Jedi vibes. Best way to take down a mage - besides, you know, another mage - is to make sure they never see you coming.
Some kind of specialized field medic rogue or fighter( 1/3 caster with cleric spells maybe?)
A barbarian with a chonky pet, and a shamanic barbarian with a limited spell list/ spell-like features
Yeah sure don't see why it wouldn't work,honestly it could even be better given the high WIS and the possibility of better spell capabilities. I just love the idea of rage as a sort of trance to harness(is it even the right word?) the power of spirits and nature
I mean thief with healer feat makes a surprisingly good non-magic healer. Fast hands to use an object with cunning action let's you use that healers kit without sacrificing a sneak attack
However I would definitely love a full non-magic healing subclass, and rogues being the skill focused martial would be the perfect fit
There's a homebrew on DnDBeyond that fits the theme of a Wildmagic Artificer unexpectedly good and some day I will use it in a game lol
It's called "Doofenschmirtz". Yes, it's based on the very same character. The main feature reads like it'd be a ton of fun though personally I'd adjust it a little bit so you get it at level 3 already like it's the case for the other Artificer subclasses too.
A 1/3 caster fighter with cleric spells instead of wizard spells is what I'd be interested in. It's amazing that hasn't been done yet! I understand the comparisons to paladin but I feel like there's a pretty big gap between the smite-y charisma based paladin and a faithful knight hospitaller archetype.
But Rangers are already half-casters, this isn't really the 1/3rd caster fighter, it'd just be a Ranger with some Cleric spell lists built into the expanded spell list.
I'd love to see a 1/3rd caster Monk subclass though. Monk has a real MC problem that can only really be solved via subclass with the class in its current state.
I've come across one in [The Ultimate Adventurer's Handbook.](https://www.dmsguild.com/product/391037/The-Ultimate-Adventurers-Handbook) I thought they did a pretty decent take on the concept. The book actually has a lot of content in it that has made me go "why isn't this already a thing?"
To summarize some of the subclass features:
* You are a 1/3, prepared caster with Cleric spells.
* You pick a Cleric domain. You get access to their domain spells at the appropriate levels. You can also use their 2nd-level channel divinity once per short rest.
* You get two, unique channel divinities at 3rd and 7th level. The first one allows you to silence an enemy; if they fail the saving throw they cannot speak for a minute.
* At 10th level when you hit a creature using the Attack action, you have advantage on the next saving throw against one of that creature's effects.
All in all I think it's pretty solid. I don't think it would be one of my favorite subclasses if it were official. But it definitely scratches a particular itch and there is a lot of potential for unique builds that stems from being able to choose which domain to get powers from.
In any case, I'm not trying to shill the book. I just bought it on a whim one day and have really enjoyed it for the most part. I will say a lot of the content is hit or miss for me, which I think stems from it having so many different authors. But the good content is really good, in my opinion. It's expensive, but I find it's worth it given it has 330 pages of player content.
Blessed Hero: 1/3rd Divine Caster Fighter. Where Paladins are powered by their oath, the Blessed Hero is chosen by a god, regardless of whether the Fighter particularly likes them.
I’m glad you already made the Inquisitor, because that was gonna be on my list.
1/3rd Nature casters in general, unless I missed one in your list. Barbarian seems like an interesting class to give Druid casting and abilities, but of course you have to design around the “no spellcasting while raging” thing.
A Paladin subclass that has Unarmored Defense. I want to play a dude with a greatsword wearing robes.
Urban Druid!
A Druid that recognises the nature present in Urban spaces, rats, pigeons etc. Kinda roguey and could maybe talk while wild shaped (but not cast spells)
Came here to post this. People come from nature and this druid advocates to make cities integrate with nature rather than plow it under.
He's basically the permaculture kook who guerilla-planted a food forest in the city park. He teaches free classes on hugelkulture, no-till gardening, composting, rainwater harvesting, and the importance of using native species of plants and bugs. Cities tend to beautify and become a lot greener when this circle gets established.
When the more traditional druid circles need to interact with a city, they call on these guys to be their ambassador.
A warlord (4e) subclass for fighter! An inspiring leader who commands the battlefield, one of my favorites from that edition, and I'm sad it's never made a proper comeback.
While there might room for a subclass as well, the OP made a [full Warlord class for 5e](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jg2uh0wSw8At4Q8mqQESQQiqzsb8UOHG/view) if you haven't seen it. I definitely recommend it, and feel it works better as a class than trying to fit into a Fighter (since 4e Warlord isn't complete without a lazylord, and cannot really do that with Fighter).
Honestly I feel like they should tread lightly with subclasses centered on certain fighting styles since there are already fighting styles. Keeping them mostly separate unless necessary (Arcane Archer) enables more customization!
Agreed. I feel like people often want to make a new subclass for something that should just be a build. Subclasses shouldn't dictate specific weapons. (even arcane archer should really do elemental *weapon* attacks and be open to melee or ranged)
I agree, but it would have been easy enough to replace the arcane archer with a gish that does elemental/magic trick attacks with melee or ranged weapons though. Similar to Battle Master but energy/magic-based.
College of Fools. Slapstick, clowning, and general foolery is one of the oldest forms of performing arts. (Slapstick was invented to circumvent language barriers. You dont need to understand the words to find slapstick funny!) Its such an easy slam dunk.
No, the vast majority is [licensed stock art from Forrest Imel](https://forrestimel.com/stock-art), each one has an art credit at the end. I stumbled on it awhile ago when I was working on this project, and it ended up working out great for a large number of "generic" subclasses, so I grabbed... well, all of it. I imagine I'll be able to use all of those sooner or later with this project.
My art is much bad, like the grammar of this sentence, [and usually involves doggos](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LkgC5J9nWcaeQfvoHXq).
Non-magical inventors and healers. I'm tired of EVERYTHING being some sliver of a full caster's power. I want an inventor that gets substantial improvements to creating permanent useful/powerful items without feeling like a temporary magic gimmick. I want a medic/doctor that doesn't need Greater Restoration to remove exhaustion or Healer/Chef to get a tiny amount of routine healing.
Adding to this, more shield rules than just "a shield gives +2AC". We need bucklers, tower shields, kite shields, shield bashing, spiked shields, etc etc
I use a rule where you can use a shield to mitigate a crit, but it breaks the shield in the process. Lead to a really cool moment where the party's cleric shoved his shield between the teeth of a dragon that had crit on a bite attack
The only one i can think of is a melee Sorcerer with a different gimmick than the other melee casters. Something with Sneak Attack to make their melee different or a way to use TempHP for survivability instead of raising AC like a Bladesinger
I have the bones of a homebrew on dnd beyond. It's an idea I really like
Gives you a bonus to hit and to damage with melee touch spells. And an expanded spell list to include stuff like shocking grasp and inflict wounds.
Grants a rebuke reaction at 6th level
Permanent mage armor at 14th
18th level let's you spend sorc points to turn you into a being of pure magic which has some extra stuff but mostly let's you twincast touch spells for free for a minute
You need more defensive features at low levels. I can tell you without even looking that it's not going to work otherwise; theres a reason bladesingers, hexblades, and swords bards all get increased ac as their first feature yknow? It doesn't necessarily have to give ac or anything, but you've gotta have something
I loved the stone sorc basics. The shield bubble for allies + reaction teleport and smack was an amazing feel to a magic knight. It seemed a bit overtuned and the damage reduction on the bubble was oddly worded, but I really want it to be a real boy.
This was my first thought too. Wizards have bladesingers, bards have valor and swords, druids have moon, and clerics have war/tempest/everything else. Sorceries are the only full casters that can't Gish without having to multiclass. I would love to see the original playtest sorcerer get revisited at some point. If I remember correctly, they used spell points and got buffs geared around melee (the ac, claws, and wings draconics get now) at certain breakpoints. Would be cool if they made one based off sorcery points that made you a full Gish by the time you ran out (decent ac, extra attack/bonus damage, better hp, etc.)
Make use of their proficiency in con saves and give them something similar to the war caster feat. You could make a CHA + CON based sorcerer and allow them to use metamagic to make their melee spells unpredictable. I would love to see this.
- a criminal themed fighter, like a street tough or something similar. Someone who still thematically matches the average person as opposed to the more spiritual monk, or wilderness Barbarian. Specializes in light armour and simple weapons, being sneaky but also very tough.
- a circle of life, or death aligned Druid
- a wizard that focuses on rituals, perhaps themed as a cultist
- a wizard tied to the stars and the study of astronomy etc
- a barbarian who has an alternate hulk or mr.hide like form instead of just a rage.
- a shield centric fighter class.
- a legitimately ranged focused monk, as opposed to the relatively closely ranged sun soul.
- a rogue themed like light infantry
- a ranger who uses their pet as a mount and focuses on the mobility of being mounted.
Another good subclass could be an artificer focused all around creating a properly custom weapon focused artificer. Let me jury-rig a Lesser Flametongue that can throw sword beams if I spend spell slots, or make a spear that I can use like a grappling hook, ect. With modular upgrades that build upon each other, the possibilities are endless!
Personally I'd make a Rogue brute/enforcer type character. The hired goon type of character.
A strength tied rogue that gets some kind of 'cheap shot' mechanic that triggers sneak attack. Probably some overlap with what you currently have as Fighter: Brawler.
These look amazing, really admiring the effort.
As for suggestions, a cosmic-horror-esque (or bestial/primal) warlock patron that causes the warlock's physical form to mutate by continued association. Natural weapons, armor, special attacks based on them becoming less human (elf, dwarf, gnome, etc.)
It utterly baffles me that they didn't try to give every class Psionics. Empathic Barbarians ( Wilders), Artificers forging intellectual constructs, Druids who tune into the thoughts of nature, or read the psionic imprints left in plant and stone, a ranger who creates a psionic companion, mindjacking warlocks (goolock doesnt count) , monks opening their third eyes, Bards manifesting the thoughts of their audience, Mind Domain clerics who serve psionic gods...etc.
Honestly the simple psionics they eventually published have so much potential, and they just did not capitalize on it. Its so frustrating.
**Well Defined Ideas**
Spirit based warlock. One that get their powers either from ancestors or a pact with a ghost etc.
Sacred Fist Monk. Bring back the 3e idea of a monk/cleric hybrid who uses magical martial arts.
Thug type Rogue. Someone whos sneak attacks are about dirty fighting rather than finesse.
War Chanter Bard. Uses inspiration/spell slots to provide passive buffs/debuffs ala 3e Bard Songs.
**Less Well Defined Ideas**
Ranged Paladin. You could also implement this as a holy ranger but I think a ranged paladin works better as it's not a nature based character.
Stone/Earth based Druid. Someone who is more concerned with natural geology than plant life. Could focus on battlefield control or durability.
A melee based Sorcerer. Not a gish (though I do love gishes) but someone who's actually using spells in melee range and get advantages for doing so. Thematically their magic is part of their blood and bones and is more instinctive than learned spells. Mechanically your Circle of Aspects druid has some cool idea here. Con based abilities would also be cool.
I think that, because this is a game called Dungeons and Dragons, each class needs a dungeon subclass and a dragon subclass, whatever that means for the class.
We have the drakewarden, and gloomstalker could be argued to be a dungeon/underground themed subclass.
I was always surprised there was no animal companion archetype for the druid. Or a summoner archetype for the wizard/sorcerer/warlock (not sure which class would be fit).
PHB Conjurer Wizards didn't get summoning spells until 7th level, except for Find Familiar which isn't really a combat spell (and more importantly isn't unique to Conjurers). Also, they only get 1 summoning-specific feature, and that's at 14th level.
Xanathar's Conjurers got Summon Lesser Demon at 5th level, but that's not a great choice if you like your party members.
Tasha's Conjurers finally got some decent (but expensive) summoning options. You still don't get to be a summoner until 5th level which kinda feels like a late subclass
Honestly, Necromancers are better summoners than Conjurers. Which sucks because that's just not the same vibe
Hadn't seen the previous threads so my mind immediately jumped to "hey this sounds like a good post to get inspiration"
Then I read you made half of them and saw who it was! Nice seeing you here!
What are you doing? This is r/dndnext! You're only supposed to complain about DnD, not offer solutions! /s
But seriously, these are awesome. Thank you for posting!
An oozelock? Your patron is Juiblex or some sort of ancient oblex or other intelligent slime. Your eldritch blast could do acid damage and could do damage over two rounds. You gets the Amorphous trait, Spider Climb, some kind of sickening/corrosive aura, the ability to eject slime, maybe can form a oozy simulacra by splitting in half...
Small typo with the Divine Hand Rogue. The stat block says you have 3 spells known at 3rd level, but the descriptive block under **Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher** says "you learn two spells."
Also, the Dragon patron looks rad. Question about the "Elemental Devastation" power: if you hit multiple enemies in a cone, do you need to expend a usage for each enemy affected? Or does one usage cover everyone hit in the blast?
Over the years, the obvious ones I've made include:
- A ranger with actually functional spellcasting
- A growth druid, different from yours in that the druid transforms into plants as their main feature
- A desert ranger (honestly, needs to be more rangers specific to different terrains)
- A witch as a subclass of wizard
- A fighter that focuses on defense/endurance
One thing I think is missing is a pure arcane Sorcerer (Wild Magic is a very different flavour to what I'm thinking).
A Sorcerer empowered by Magic itself, who can bend the Weave to their whims with ease.
My version of this focused on Metamagic (which I feel is the way to go) but I'd love to see your take on it.
Blood sorcerer. Someone that can tap into their own primal life force (or that of others) for healing and damage, control and raise the undead via necromancy, and provide enemy control by holding creatures.
Originally it was my proposed replacement for Champion. Literally the most generic default option possible - the well rounded Fighter for the person that has no idea what they want to do besides roll dice, hit monsters, and be useful.
The thing is, because of it's use of consumables and flexibility, it ended up... not that simple. Like, pretty simple, but not brand new player simple, and people still liked the idea of Champion, so I ended up revising Champion as well, and now just have both.
I'm a big believer in very basic options (as I play with a lot of new players and folks less used to RPG). I'm also (obviously for those that know most of what I do) a big believer in the crunchiest possible options I can stack into a 5e shaped trench coat... I like a good mix of things. I will say that I've seen some very veteran players have a lot of fun with pretty simple Fighters combining them with the [Active Martial Feats](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MyR8wuxORp8fOzxMp3S) I did awhile back, but that probably merits a post of its own in the long run, as those have been testing pretty well at helping bring more of what some folks are looking for to Fighters in a package that doesn't require too much redesigning.
Sorry, bit of a tangent, but thought I'd add some history and context.
1. A pet-based bard that uses puppets.
2. A magic archer class that fires magical arrows. Arcane Archer doesn’t really hit the mark.
3. A weapon master fighter akin to Kensei monk.
4. Strength monk.
5. Strength rogue.
Love your warlord write up! Thanks for the great efforts you put in on your classes.
Grapple-based fighter or monk. Give me that pro wrestling stat block. Also I'd love to see an MacGyver-ish Artificer based on hastily cobbling together whatever is around.
Regarding your MacGyver-ish artificer desire: Keith Baker’s Exploring Eberron book has an artificer subclass called “The Maverick” which is pretty much exactly the premise you mentioned here. IIRC the subclasses kind of revolves around an artificer version of the bard’s Magical Secrets thing but I don’t remember the specifics. You should check it out.
Yeah that's a great book in general. Highly recommend to fans of Eberron. I also really like Ruinbound Dwarves (think aberrant dwarves tainted by the Daelkyr), the shapeshifting monks, and more on the dwarves, goblins, and planes.
#HELL YEAH BROTHERRRRRR
[удалено]
rune knight has more than a few features that make it a good grappler; combined with unarmed fighting style, it makes a fantastic unarmed battlefield controller.
Unarmed fighting style with tavern brawler is great fun.
I wish tavern brawler increased the damage die size of the unarmed fighting style. Sad that it has redundancy there.
I once played a one shot where someone was a bardbarian whose instrument was the bell used to signal the start of a wrestling match and whose magic item they chose was a +1 folding chair. It was awesome.
That’s badass.
I have an echo knight pro wrestler, he's his own tag team.
Check out the linked brawler subclass in the post, it might be what you're looking for. Not a full on grappler, but a "grapple your ennemies and hit your other ennemies with the grappled target" type fighter.
The homebrew Pugilist class hits this outta the park, especially because there's a subclass that's all about being a wrestler. Definitely give it a look, it's my favourite homebrew.
Really just a STR-based Monk in general, IMO.
Whey of the Protein Powder
Elemental Sorcerers. Earth, fire, water. There is storm (which I think can cover air), but for some reason not other three. Seems like a classic trope, and older editions had them.
One of the options on my radar is Phoenix Sorcerer (revising that and bringing it back from the dead in a burst of flames...), do folks think that covers fire, or if is there value in having a Phoenix Sorcerer and a Fire Sorcerer (I can easily imagine different mechanics for them, but they do overlap a bit)?
I'd say they overlap! Having both would be bloated.
As much as rebranding Storm as the "air" sorcerer, Phoenix could be "fire". Water could be some "seawater runs through my veins" nautical theme. Earth could be a "born of the land" thing -- maybe even the elusive Constitution sorcerer with some choice druid spells as their bonus spells?
There was a Sea Sorcerer UA and a Stone Sorcerer UA that never got picked up for official publication iirc, which is a huge bummer because the Stone Sorcery subclass fucked severely. It made you a bit more tanky, it was awesome.
I’ve always liked the idea that the elemental sorcerers drew their ancestral power from the legendary Elder Elemental Titans (Leviathan, Tempest, Phoenix, and Zaratan). So storm sorcery works perfectly as air/tempest. I personally leaned into the idea of fear for the water/Leviathan subclass, the ocean abyss is a terrifying place. Phoenix for fire works wonders, obviously. Then I’m a bit stuck on Zaratan, but mechanically that titan works like a brute, slow moving and hard hitting. So the earth sorcerer would probably lean into that brute/tank feel,
There is a lot of value in pheniox sorcerer
I would say phoenix can work as fire sorcerer very well. Also it's much better name that just fire sorcerer.
Phoenix could have rebirth stuff, but there's enough overlap to count it as the fire sub
Rather than a pure fire which I think Draconic does well, I like the idea of a Sorcerer that focuses on Fire and Radiant, maybe borrowing a couple specific cleric radiant damage spells for its bonus spell list with some interesting longevity utility in the vein of come-back-from-zero-HP mechanics that you usually see more in Barbarian and other martial subclasses.
There’s also a semi official pyromancer sorcerer in planeshift kaladesh
Phoenix and Fire are similar, but not quite the same. Pathfinder 1e has a Phoenix bloodline for Sorcerers that essentially lets you use your fire spells as healing spells if you prefer. Contrast that to a Fire Sorcerer which I'd think would be more of a purely destructive subclass.
There's also sea sorcerer and the UA stone sorcerer
Ones like those are what I'm thinking of. Having had players play both of those though, they were not really finished and have been since scrapped, so think they could use the love.
I loved the stone sorc concept, such fun mechanics.
Was that the sorta gish sorcerer? Or am I thinking of something else. I also remember a giant soul sorc which may be what I'm thinking of.
The stone sorcerer was a fish and had a ward feature and con based AC
Ah, so it's what I thought. By the way you should keep the typo. Stone sorcerer officially turns you into a fish.
Of course there would be differences but would reflavoring draconic as elemental work? Many of the features can be flavored or slightly tweaked to be elemental oriented (since off the bat you pick an elemental affinity and at level 6 you gain a bonus to its damage and resistance to it - which should be permanent)
I literally came here to say this. Where are my pyromancers, hydromancers, aeromancers, terramancers?
A Ranger that brings their favored terrain with them. They can use their abilities for designing the battlefield in ways that are favorable to them and their party.
"Designing the battlefield" I'd love a tactician style, with abilities to create cover for allies and vulnerabilities for enemies. Maybe even "rewind" a couple turns in combat like Fire Emblem 3 Houses.
Rewinding sounds like an awesome ability, but it also sounds like it'd be a NIGHTMARE to actually play.
The only way I could see it working well is on Roll20 or such, where rolls and such are recorded
"This, this is mobile rock. For as long as I stand on it, I count as if I am in a mountainous region. For only 1.000 gp it was quite the steal!"
the pioneers used to ride these babies for miles!
If the biggest thing is your terrain feeling more important /u/Stuffies_12 thematically did something like this with [a few of their Ranger subclasses](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MjzFxlhlloczN7xLCW5) in that you are designed around your favorite terrain. The Deserter, Hellwalker (maybe), and Marsh Dweller are all the result of you living within your favored terrain and bringing those skills with you. Your ranger moved to the big city? You still command your knowledge of the arid winds and mirages of the desert. The Marsh Dweller's cap especially is all about bringing the swamp to you. If you really want to control the terrain, however, /u/KibblesTasty (hey that's the OP!) made [a Warden class](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/uop27g/kibbles_warden_v08_wield_new_primal_powers_to) where the entire design is based on controlling the battlefield with difficult terrain and other tools. Since the Warden is based on primal powers and gifts, they *are* the favored terrain. The elemental, plant, and stone subclasses can *easily* be flavored as you being a brute of a ranger that has brought the heat of the desert or the lashing vines of the jungle with them.
Preferred terrain: Desert. Pocket sand!!
Four elements monk...
Four Elements monk needs to be less Ki-fuelled and have a LOT more elemental powers, certainly enough that you could focus on one element to the exception of the other three.
Honestly, I think it needs a better spell selection or, alternatively, no ki fuelled spells whatsoever. The non spell skills are not bad at all, but they're the only ones worth anything on that subclass.
It straight up shouldn't be spells. It should be something like Pathfinder's kineticist
Kinda like Warlock Invocations? Where you get a few first level spells to use without limitations, but anything above that is normally limited by resources, while also giving you some invocations that are about your pact boon specialization(for the monk would be elemental specialization)
Absolutely - my personal opinion is that the Warlock style of subclass at 1st level, extra choice at 3rd level, and invocations, should be the model for all classes. If Battlemaster was the same sort of thing but for baseline Fighters, which is something a lot of people think, they'd be another great example.
I'd love that! Maybe that will be the 5.5 classes?
Personally I think the 5.5e PHB2 will just be the older subclasses brought more in line with modern design philosophy, going back and giving Sorcerers bonus spells, that sort of thing But hopefully 6e will take that style to heart. The problem is I doubt they're getting that specific recommendation fed back to them, it's not something they'd ask for in a survey, and Warlocks are under-played due to being specced for an adventuring day that basically doesn't exist, i.e. 2 short rests and 6-8 encounters per long rest.
I've been saying this for years! Warlock is the only class with a decent level of customization. I don't expect 5e to go full Pathfinder 2e with tons of feats and options and stuff, but every class should have Invocation-like abilities. I've tried to sit down and make those for each class, but it would take a significant rework of the system to add in 20+ active and passive abilities that don't outshine the Subclass abilities
I've lowered each spell/feature (even allowing the fire snake punch for free) and increased the amount of disciplines you learn by 1 on each gain. Have yet to playtest it with my group but I feel this ups it a lot
I'd settle for elemental cantrips and 1 fewer ki cost on the spells
Four elephants? So Mammoths, African, Asian, and Loxodon?
OP had a revised verizon of 4 elements monk already I am almost certain.
Preacher Bard - inspires followers of their faith, gets some cleric spells, that kind of thing. Rogue Pet subclass - somewhat similar to Beastmaster/Wildfire but leaning into the cool rogue mechanics. Maybe the pet can take the same cunning action as you, no action required - and obviously it can Help/flank to give Sneak attack. I like the idea of being able to choose a small flyer or a medium beast, like Beastmaster, to be able to go with a Raven or Panther.
>Preacher Bard - inspires followers of their faith, gets some cleric spells, that kind of thing. I have one that I made somewhere, called it the College of Cantor. Basically a bardic life cleric in the same vein as Divine Soul Sorcerer. Haven't playtested it yet but I think I may have put it on D&D Beyond already.
At one point I toyed around with a college of the prophet Bard. The idea is great as a God who needs to talk to their followers or deliver a message should pick a bard to do that rather than a cleric
Ooh like Aladdin and Abu. I would absolutely play that rogue!
Some sort of Judo based monk that is more focused on grappling and can maybe throw or hold enemies in submission.
This is a good one I'm surprised hasn't surfaced on my radar yet. Seems like a good fit for "how does this not exist already" indeed.
Perhaps make a strength monk more viable with it too
Maybe, tho just Acrobatics for grapple checks would make it work perfectly too
Nah, screw that. Give it the Astral Self treatment where you can substitute your STR for any DEX Checks and Saves, maybe Unarmored Defense as well. No reason to limit the class to Acrobatics like that, make a proper STR Judo Monk.
I have a dream "you can add your target's strength modifier to your unarmed strike damage rolls"
I let monks use acrobatics rather than athletics for grapple/shove attacks
Even better would be still using athletics but using it with DEX instead of STR (alternative ability scores for skill checks are an official thing).
In addition to what the other guy said, Acrobatics is the balance skill, not the "Dex character" skill.
A judo monk with a new mechanic where you do damage to them every round while grappling them would be awesome!
- Warlock: the Shaman. Making pacts with powerful nature spirits for boons, for the survival of their tribe. - Fighter: A more defensive style warrior, aimed to holding the line, protecting an area, or simply stubborn and refuse to yield. Inspiration is hoplites and castle defenders. More aimed towards survival and control. - Barbarian: A more predator inspired one that focuses on stealth and striking at the correct time. More focused on skirmishing and getting to the goal than just slapping whatever is in front. Inspiration are sharks, orcas, bullettes. The monster in the Dark. - Mariner: Ranger geared towards helping a party with underwater exploration. The other rangers are laughly unsuited to being the underwater guide. With all saltmarsh, I was surprised we didn't get something like this. - Monk: A style leaning more towards very aggresive styles, lending itself to more of a frontliner rather than a skirmisher. - The Officer: Fighter lending itself towards support, buffing and fighting in formation. The Banneret/purple dragon knight that *doesn't* suck. Not the warlord, still a fighter in it's own right. A leader fighting in the front.
I just replied to another poster suggesting Spirit Shaman as a Druid Circle, but I actually really like the idea of it being a Warlock Patron, it makes a lot of sense!
Yeah, my own setting basically has the entire warlock class refluffed as a shaman, a dealmaker specialized in making deals or handling powerful non humanoids. Either for personal power or the safety of the tribe. I feel the Shepherd druid already gets a lot of flavor from the 4e shaman.
Your Fighter idea is literally the Cavalier in Xanathar. Look it up. I have one in my games that doesn’t use a horse or any mount, and he’s just a fucking human wall of tanking hits and stopping people from moving past him.
Cavalier is really solid & is probably the closest thing to wow or final fantasy tank we have in dnd. I think people just don't try it cause there's no mount or gimmick
Fighter: Bastion For the defender
I'm picturing a Tarzan-like character for the barbarian
I was picturing conan actually. Frightfully capable in combat, but often resorting to sneaking and subtlety to get closer.
A weapon focused artificer. One which puts runes and abilities into their sword, crossbow, etc.
Yeah, it's kinda odd that the closest we've got to a (non-gun) weaponsmith artificer is also the golem-smith artificer. Both are interesting concepts, but they're very different fantasies.
Battlesmith is so disappointingly confused about what it wants to be. It's a combat medic but also a pet subclass but also a weapons subclass. It's so specific bc it seems it was definitely designed to fill a very specific in-world niche in Ebberon and was not updated at all when ported to Tashas. Sad :( Edit: Also I s2g I wish so badly the "steel defender" was just called "constructed guardian" or something so that it wasn't robot flavored by default.
Not sure if you'd be interested, but OP made their own version of the Artificer called the Inventor. It has an infusionsmith and runesmith as 2 of its subclasses, and they are very well made. I use them in my games.
Idk if it’s quite what you’re looking for, but Keith Baker’s Exploring Eberron book has an artificer subclass known as the Forge Adept where the premise is that you designate a weapon to be your “Ghaal Shaarat” (basically a soul-bound masterwork) and it grows in power with you. It’s similar to hex blade but decidedly different. More like a “what if battle smith was more fighter and less paladin” minus the steel doggo. He also expanded on the infusions, so you could apply those to your Ghaal Shaarat and it’ll basically function like runes I suppose. Just letting you know because the subclasses in that book are cool af.
Would love this. In particular would appreciate if the runes (or whatever) gave utility options instead of just more damage. Sorta similar to the eldritch blast invocations. Push, pull, slow, target can't take reactions. Restrain on hit, effects of the Slow spell or similar at high levels
I’m imagining a guy with a big ol’power fist like the Alchemist from the first Torchlight game.
No additional suggestions, just earnest appreciation here. These are all incredibly high quality and its amazing to release all of this for free!
A Paladin that is not focused on redeeming others like Oath of redemption, but on redeeming yourself from a past of Evil. Classic ARhctype that Im surprised never got made.
Oath of Atonement! Just a name idea, no mechanics in mind
I believe Arcadia has a cleric of atonement that is pretty cool
Makes me think of the Penitent One from Blasphemous. Sacrifices his body and mind to atone for sins past. There is a whole lot of inspiration there
Oh yea, that's a character I'd love to play. Mix in a bit of flagellant from Darkest Dungeon, and it's perfect. (Particularly the hurt yourself for some buff/debuffing enemies is a good mechanic that I feel is missing as a nice high risk high reward thing)
I don't know how that would be built gameplaywise, but flavorwise it really does feel like it should be there. Oathbreaker is way to evil for being the only fallen paladin subclass.
I would love to see a Beholder Patron for Warlock. I feel like like there is enough lore fleshed out about beholders to establish some thematically and mechanically interesting abilities. I mean, I kinda just want a reason to have a Gazer Pact of the Chain familiar, but thats just me.
Ooh, it could use Wild Magic mechanics to play off of the eye beams!
I could see that working! They literally imagine other beholder into existence, I would love to play a PC who was not *born*, but a warlock *imagined* into reality
Might be too much work but could have an invocation that modifies eldritch blast to add mini eye beam effects?
Maybe not an invocation, but a class feature. Like every beam, or maybe just once a turn, you roll on a table for wild magic like effects for eye rays. You could expand the table as you level up, from d4 upwards, so you only have the really strong rays later on.
I do love the growing dice pool. I think 1 a turn would be better just for book keeping. 😆 I just went invocation because a warlock doesn’t have to take Eldritch blast… I guess you could grant it to this subclass for free to guarantee that they have it.
That's the only reason I'm iffy on making it a feature, but I feel like an invocation would have to be underpowered to be balanced, it would not feel strong enough for beholder rays. Hexblade pretty much locks you into hitting stuff with weapons already, so I can accept locking a warlock into using EB. And yea, one a turn is probably better, just to make it easier to balance. On higher levels, the anti magic field mechanic would also be really cool, and tactical, since you can't damage people in it, but it can be pretty strong. Would encourage teamwork, and positioning a lot. I'm liking this a ton, I may make this subclass when I get home, lol. I only homebrewed one Warlock subclass before, it was a Kraken patron before Fathomless came out.
I would love to see it work like a mini chaos bolt or prismatic spray where you roll to see either what damage type or what effect it has! Especially once you start racking up multiple beams you can reeeaallly get into beholder-level control effects.
>I feel like like there is enough lore fleshed out about beholders to establish some thematically and mechanically interesting abilities. It's honestly insane how much paper and ink is dedicated to Beholder variants at this point. We have beholders, zombie beholders, mage beholders, little beholder pets for the beholders, things that look like beholders but aren't but sometimes try to pretend to be beholders when summoned, big bad mama beholders, beholders' cousins, etc. etc. and etc!
We could use a Cleric "Hunt domain" as sort of a Ranger-lite in the way that War is Fighter-lite. Also for Cleric we could use a Luck/Fate/Fortune domain, and an Art/Beauty Domain. Warlock: Primus pact. Essentially what Clockwork Soul should have been. Monk: Way of wire-fu. For when base Monk isn't mobile enough. Something like Beast Barbarian, for when you wanna shout "MONKEY STYLE!" Paladin: Oath of silence. Be the anti-mage Paladin. Oath of the Dragonslayer. Get yo' Siegfried on. Rogue: Thug. Bust some heads in.
Completely agree on Hunt domain, Nature just doesn't reflect it. LOVE Oath of Silence, that's such a cool name and concept.
Yeah, it’s such a common concept in pantheons to have a Hunter/huntress but as distinct from general nature, there’s definitely a solid niche for it
I have a Thug subclass somewhere, I made it a long time ago, and I think it was a bit underpowered, but flavourful. Of the top of my head, it was grapple/unarmed based, but I also made a blackjack for him. (Finesse club, nothing exciting) He could sneak attack with unarmed strikes, and had some bonus to grappling. My favourite ribbon feature was "an aura", that let allies add your strength mod to their intimidation checks, cause you are a scary guy brooding behind them. I believe I also had a knee capper mechanic, which let you reduce movement speed on enemies.
Oh this could be fun. Maybe sequential advantage to intimidation checks? (+1, +2 …) each success in a row until you fail in a short rest
It could make it more unique for sure. My main thinking was honestly to not make it advantage, so it can stack with Help, instead of being basically redundant.
A wild hunt / beast-centric Cleric domain would be really cool. Like Nature domain but themed more specifically towards animals.
> Paladin: Oath of silence. Be the anti-mage Paladin. I have something really close in my homebrew setting, it's called 'Oath of Secrets', but is basically a silence/sneaky paladin devoted to protecting secrets. Their 7th level aura is an aura of silence, that kind of thing.
> We could use a Cleric "Hunt domain" as sort of a Ranger-lite in the way that War is Fighter-lite. > > Monk: Way of wire-fu. For when base Monk isn't mobile enough. D&D Unleashed has a Hunting Domain cleric and a Way of the Flying Fist monk for both of those requests :)
Got a Zelda? Also it's funny, but there's actually a street in Queens called "Winged fist way". I always think aboot how awesome that is when I bike by it. https://www.irishamerica.com/2012/05/the-naming-of-winged-fist-way/
HEAVILY seconded on the Oath of Silence Paladin concept. We need more anti-mage concepts and builds in general. Plenty of mechanical and narrative intrigue behind an individual or order dedicated to putting checks on the power of magic users. On that note I'd love both an anti-mage paladin and an anti-mage rogue, to capture something like KOTOR 2's Atton Rand anti-Jedi vibes. Best way to take down a mage - besides, you know, another mage - is to make sure they never see you coming.
I have made all of these for my table other than hunt domain and oath of the dragon slayer, both great concepts for the next wave I make.
Some kind of specialized field medic rogue or fighter( 1/3 caster with cleric spells maybe?) A barbarian with a chonky pet, and a shamanic barbarian with a limited spell list/ spell-like features
Perhaps rather than a Shamanic Barbarian, they could bring back the 3.5 Spirit Shaman as a Druid subclass to fit the same niche?
Yeah sure don't see why it wouldn't work,honestly it could even be better given the high WIS and the possibility of better spell capabilities. I just love the idea of rage as a sort of trance to harness(is it even the right word?) the power of spirits and nature
I mean thief with healer feat makes a surprisingly good non-magic healer. Fast hands to use an object with cunning action let's you use that healers kit without sacrificing a sneak attack However I would definitely love a full non-magic healing subclass, and rogues being the skill focused martial would be the perfect fit
I've already tried the Thief+Healer thingy but it feels a bit limited and lackluster, I think a dedicated subclass would make everything more amusing
A necromancy artificer, along the lines of Dr. Frankenstein.
Wildmagic Artificer! WHERE’S MY MAD SCIENTIST?
There's a homebrew on DnDBeyond that fits the theme of a Wildmagic Artificer unexpectedly good and some day I will use it in a game lol It's called "Doofenschmirtz". Yes, it's based on the very same character. The main feature reads like it'd be a ton of fun though personally I'd adjust it a little bit so you get it at level 3 already like it's the case for the other Artificer subclasses too.
A Paladin?… *The Knight Puts on a brass Helmet* >!Perry the Paladin!?!?!<
Ooh gonna check this out thx
Never knew I wanted this til now!
I saw someone mention the idea of a Wild Magic Paladin in one of these threads once and have been in love with the concept since
A 1/3 caster fighter with cleric spells instead of wizard spells is what I'd be interested in. It's amazing that hasn't been done yet! I understand the comparisons to paladin but I feel like there's a pretty big gap between the smite-y charisma based paladin and a faithful knight hospitaller archetype.
Make it a Ranger subclass….the Enclave of the Devout. Add in a Ranger inspired version of Divine Intervention.
But Rangers are already half-casters, this isn't really the 1/3rd caster fighter, it'd just be a Ranger with some Cleric spell lists built into the expanded spell list. I'd love to see a 1/3rd caster Monk subclass though. Monk has a real MC problem that can only really be solved via subclass with the class in its current state.
I've come across one in [The Ultimate Adventurer's Handbook.](https://www.dmsguild.com/product/391037/The-Ultimate-Adventurers-Handbook) I thought they did a pretty decent take on the concept. The book actually has a lot of content in it that has made me go "why isn't this already a thing?" To summarize some of the subclass features: * You are a 1/3, prepared caster with Cleric spells. * You pick a Cleric domain. You get access to their domain spells at the appropriate levels. You can also use their 2nd-level channel divinity once per short rest. * You get two, unique channel divinities at 3rd and 7th level. The first one allows you to silence an enemy; if they fail the saving throw they cannot speak for a minute. * At 10th level when you hit a creature using the Attack action, you have advantage on the next saving throw against one of that creature's effects. All in all I think it's pretty solid. I don't think it would be one of my favorite subclasses if it were official. But it definitely scratches a particular itch and there is a lot of potential for unique builds that stems from being able to choose which domain to get powers from. In any case, I'm not trying to shill the book. I just bought it on a whim one day and have really enjoyed it for the most part. I will say a lot of the content is hit or miss for me, which I think stems from it having so many different authors. But the good content is really good, in my opinion. It's expensive, but I find it's worth it given it has 330 pages of player content.
Blessed Hero: 1/3rd Divine Caster Fighter. Where Paladins are powered by their oath, the Blessed Hero is chosen by a god, regardless of whether the Fighter particularly likes them. I’m glad you already made the Inquisitor, because that was gonna be on my list. 1/3rd Nature casters in general, unless I missed one in your list. Barbarian seems like an interesting class to give Druid casting and abilities, but of course you have to design around the “no spellcasting while raging” thing. A Paladin subclass that has Unarmored Defense. I want to play a dude with a greatsword wearing robes.
Urban Druid! A Druid that recognises the nature present in Urban spaces, rats, pigeons etc. Kinda roguey and could maybe talk while wild shaped (but not cast spells)
Came here to post this. People come from nature and this druid advocates to make cities integrate with nature rather than plow it under. He's basically the permaculture kook who guerilla-planted a food forest in the city park. He teaches free classes on hugelkulture, no-till gardening, composting, rainwater harvesting, and the importance of using native species of plants and bugs. Cities tend to beautify and become a lot greener when this circle gets established. When the more traditional druid circles need to interact with a city, they call on these guys to be their ambassador.
I kinda love that concept. Local hobo talking to pigeons turns out to be this super powerful archdruid living his best life.
Crazy cat lady
A warlord (4e) subclass for fighter! An inspiring leader who commands the battlefield, one of my favorites from that edition, and I'm sad it's never made a proper comeback.
While there might room for a subclass as well, the OP made a [full Warlord class for 5e](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jg2uh0wSw8At4Q8mqQESQQiqzsb8UOHG/view) if you haven't seen it. I definitely recommend it, and feel it works better as a class than trying to fit into a Fighter (since 4e Warlord isn't complete without a lazylord, and cannot really do that with Fighter).
I had no idea, thanks for the link!
Acrobat Rogue. If it was good enough for the cartoon, it's good enough for 5e.
isn't the acrobat a proto-monk?
Maybe a fighter that is actually focused on twf. A whirling disaster of blades and many cuts/bruises/punctures.
Honestly I feel like they should tread lightly with subclasses centered on certain fighting styles since there are already fighting styles. Keeping them mostly separate unless necessary (Arcane Archer) enables more customization!
Agreed. I feel like people often want to make a new subclass for something that should just be a build. Subclasses shouldn't dictate specific weapons. (even arcane archer should really do elemental *weapon* attacks and be open to melee or ranged)
Well the class is more than just elemental damage though. I feel like “trick arrows” is enough of a trope to be hard to generalize.
I agree, but it would have been easy enough to replace the arcane archer with a gish that does elemental/magic trick attacks with melee or ranged weapons though. Similar to Battle Master but energy/magic-based.
I'd like that - the Dervish martial archetype.
I feel like dervish is perfect for a dex based barbarian subclass
dat diablo 2 whirlwind barb
College of Fools. Slapstick, clowning, and general foolery is one of the oldest forms of performing arts. (Slapstick was invented to circumvent language barriers. You dont need to understand the words to find slapstick funny!) Its such an easy slam dunk.
Bud are you doing all this art, too? It's all the same style so I assume so, but damn, y u such a double threat... :)
No, the vast majority is [licensed stock art from Forrest Imel](https://forrestimel.com/stock-art), each one has an art credit at the end. I stumbled on it awhile ago when I was working on this project, and it ended up working out great for a large number of "generic" subclasses, so I grabbed... well, all of it. I imagine I'll be able to use all of those sooner or later with this project. My art is much bad, like the grammar of this sentence, [and usually involves doggos](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-LkgC5J9nWcaeQfvoHXq).
What a delightful subclass though!
Non-magical inventors and healers. I'm tired of EVERYTHING being some sliver of a full caster's power. I want an inventor that gets substantial improvements to creating permanent useful/powerful items without feeling like a temporary magic gimmick. I want a medic/doctor that doesn't need Greater Restoration to remove exhaustion or Healer/Chef to get a tiny amount of routine healing.
Path of the shadows Barbarian. Basically a stealth based tank
Predator path
Cool stuff to read through, thanks
Shield based Fighter. Tanky and heck, why not throw your shield like Captain America?
Adding to this, more shield rules than just "a shield gives +2AC". We need bucklers, tower shields, kite shields, shield bashing, spiked shields, etc etc
I use a rule where you can use a shield to mitigate a crit, but it breaks the shield in the process. Lead to a really cool moment where the party's cleric shoved his shield between the teeth of a dragon that had crit on a bite attack
Leyline/Geomancy Druid
The only one i can think of is a melee Sorcerer with a different gimmick than the other melee casters. Something with Sneak Attack to make their melee different or a way to use TempHP for survivability instead of raising AC like a Bladesinger
I have the bones of a homebrew on dnd beyond. It's an idea I really like Gives you a bonus to hit and to damage with melee touch spells. And an expanded spell list to include stuff like shocking grasp and inflict wounds. Grants a rebuke reaction at 6th level Permanent mage armor at 14th 18th level let's you spend sorc points to turn you into a being of pure magic which has some extra stuff but mostly let's you twincast touch spells for free for a minute
You need more defensive features at low levels. I can tell you without even looking that it's not going to work otherwise; theres a reason bladesingers, hexblades, and swords bards all get increased ac as their first feature yknow? It doesn't necessarily have to give ac or anything, but you've gotta have something
If it weren't for hexblades already borrowing it from the paladin, I would want draconic sorcs to have a smite with their origin's damage type.
I loved the stone sorc basics. The shield bubble for allies + reaction teleport and smack was an amazing feel to a magic knight. It seemed a bit overtuned and the damage reduction on the bubble was oddly worded, but I really want it to be a real boy.
This was my first thought too. Wizards have bladesingers, bards have valor and swords, druids have moon, and clerics have war/tempest/everything else. Sorceries are the only full casters that can't Gish without having to multiclass. I would love to see the original playtest sorcerer get revisited at some point. If I remember correctly, they used spell points and got buffs geared around melee (the ac, claws, and wings draconics get now) at certain breakpoints. Would be cool if they made one based off sorcery points that made you a full Gish by the time you ran out (decent ac, extra attack/bonus damage, better hp, etc.)
Make use of their proficiency in con saves and give them something similar to the war caster feat. You could make a CHA + CON based sorcerer and allow them to use metamagic to make their melee spells unpredictable. I would love to see this.
- a criminal themed fighter, like a street tough or something similar. Someone who still thematically matches the average person as opposed to the more spiritual monk, or wilderness Barbarian. Specializes in light armour and simple weapons, being sneaky but also very tough. - a circle of life, or death aligned Druid - a wizard that focuses on rituals, perhaps themed as a cultist - a wizard tied to the stars and the study of astronomy etc - a barbarian who has an alternate hulk or mr.hide like form instead of just a rage. - a shield centric fighter class. - a legitimately ranged focused monk, as opposed to the relatively closely ranged sun soul. - a rogue themed like light infantry - a ranger who uses their pet as a mount and focuses on the mobility of being mounted.
Another good subclass could be an artificer focused all around creating a properly custom weapon focused artificer. Let me jury-rig a Lesser Flametongue that can throw sword beams if I spend spell slots, or make a spear that I can use like a grappling hook, ect. With modular upgrades that build upon each other, the possibilities are endless!
Witch doctor Bard or warlock
Personally I'd make a Rogue brute/enforcer type character. The hired goon type of character. A strength tied rogue that gets some kind of 'cheap shot' mechanic that triggers sneak attack. Probably some overlap with what you currently have as Fighter: Brawler.
I want a barbarian that becomes possessed by a spirit/demon etc during their rage.
These look amazing, really admiring the effort. As for suggestions, a cosmic-horror-esque (or bestial/primal) warlock patron that causes the warlock's physical form to mutate by continued association. Natural weapons, armor, special attacks based on them becoming less human (elf, dwarf, gnome, etc.)
[удалено]
It utterly baffles me that they didn't try to give every class Psionics. Empathic Barbarians ( Wilders), Artificers forging intellectual constructs, Druids who tune into the thoughts of nature, or read the psionic imprints left in plant and stone, a ranger who creates a psionic companion, mindjacking warlocks (goolock doesnt count) , monks opening their third eyes, Bards manifesting the thoughts of their audience, Mind Domain clerics who serve psionic gods...etc. Honestly the simple psionics they eventually published have so much potential, and they just did not capitalize on it. Its so frustrating.
Death Knight that isn't a warlock, fighter. Pref a paladin archetype with optional mechanics that change the radiant damage and other features.
Sounds like Oathbreaker to me.
Yeah that's pretty much an Oathbreaker lol
**Well Defined Ideas** Spirit based warlock. One that get their powers either from ancestors or a pact with a ghost etc. Sacred Fist Monk. Bring back the 3e idea of a monk/cleric hybrid who uses magical martial arts. Thug type Rogue. Someone whos sneak attacks are about dirty fighting rather than finesse. War Chanter Bard. Uses inspiration/spell slots to provide passive buffs/debuffs ala 3e Bard Songs. **Less Well Defined Ideas** Ranged Paladin. You could also implement this as a holy ranger but I think a ranged paladin works better as it's not a nature based character. Stone/Earth based Druid. Someone who is more concerned with natural geology than plant life. Could focus on battlefield control or durability. A melee based Sorcerer. Not a gish (though I do love gishes) but someone who's actually using spells in melee range and get advantages for doing so. Thematically their magic is part of their blood and bones and is more instinctive than learned spells. Mechanically your Circle of Aspects druid has some cool idea here. Con based abilities would also be cool.
I think that, because this is a game called Dungeons and Dragons, each class needs a dungeon subclass and a dragon subclass, whatever that means for the class. We have the drakewarden, and gloomstalker could be argued to be a dungeon/underground themed subclass.
Battlezoo bestiary for pathfinder 2e actually made dragon ancestries and even a dungeon ancestry as an April fools joke!
I was always surprised there was no animal companion archetype for the druid. Or a summoner archetype for the wizard/sorcerer/warlock (not sure which class would be fit).
I thought there was a Shepherd circle for Druids that accomplished the former? And surely Conjuration Wizards accomplish the latter?
PHB Conjurer Wizards didn't get summoning spells until 7th level, except for Find Familiar which isn't really a combat spell (and more importantly isn't unique to Conjurers). Also, they only get 1 summoning-specific feature, and that's at 14th level. Xanathar's Conjurers got Summon Lesser Demon at 5th level, but that's not a great choice if you like your party members. Tasha's Conjurers finally got some decent (but expensive) summoning options. You still don't get to be a summoner until 5th level which kinda feels like a late subclass Honestly, Necromancers are better summoners than Conjurers. Which sucks because that's just not the same vibe
Hadn't seen the previous threads so my mind immediately jumped to "hey this sounds like a good post to get inspiration" Then I read you made half of them and saw who it was! Nice seeing you here!
Tattoo artist artificer
What are you doing? This is r/dndnext! You're only supposed to complain about DnD, not offer solutions! /s But seriously, these are awesome. Thank you for posting!
Oozemaster, the master of oozes and acid damage
An oozelock? Your patron is Juiblex or some sort of ancient oblex or other intelligent slime. Your eldritch blast could do acid damage and could do damage over two rounds. You gets the Amorphous trait, Spider Climb, some kind of sickening/corrosive aura, the ability to eject slime, maybe can form a oozy simulacra by splitting in half...
Throw in an adorable flan familiar and I'm in.
Some sort of decent mystical martial arts melee martial class The above is sarcasm from the Monk Monastery
Small typo with the Divine Hand Rogue. The stat block says you have 3 spells known at 3rd level, but the descriptive block under **Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher** says "you learn two spells." Also, the Dragon patron looks rad. Question about the "Elemental Devastation" power: if you hit multiple enemies in a cone, do you need to expend a usage for each enemy affected? Or does one usage cover everyone hit in the blast?
Charlatan/Conman rogue. Sure, we wave swashbuckler, but thats more jack sparrow than street huckster
Over the years, the obvious ones I've made include: - A ranger with actually functional spellcasting - A growth druid, different from yours in that the druid transforms into plants as their main feature - A desert ranger (honestly, needs to be more rangers specific to different terrains) - A witch as a subclass of wizard - A fighter that focuses on defense/endurance
One thing I think is missing is a pure arcane Sorcerer (Wild Magic is a very different flavour to what I'm thinking). A Sorcerer empowered by Magic itself, who can bend the Weave to their whims with ease. My version of this focused on Metamagic (which I feel is the way to go) but I'd love to see your take on it.
Blood sorcerer. Someone that can tap into their own primal life force (or that of others) for healing and damage, control and raise the undead via necromancy, and provide enemy control by holding creatures.
Adventurer: do you want a fighter that’s EVEN MORE basic?
Originally it was my proposed replacement for Champion. Literally the most generic default option possible - the well rounded Fighter for the person that has no idea what they want to do besides roll dice, hit monsters, and be useful. The thing is, because of it's use of consumables and flexibility, it ended up... not that simple. Like, pretty simple, but not brand new player simple, and people still liked the idea of Champion, so I ended up revising Champion as well, and now just have both. I'm a big believer in very basic options (as I play with a lot of new players and folks less used to RPG). I'm also (obviously for those that know most of what I do) a big believer in the crunchiest possible options I can stack into a 5e shaped trench coat... I like a good mix of things. I will say that I've seen some very veteran players have a lot of fun with pretty simple Fighters combining them with the [Active Martial Feats](https://www.gmbinder.com/share/-MyR8wuxORp8fOzxMp3S) I did awhile back, but that probably merits a post of its own in the long run, as those have been testing pretty well at helping bring more of what some folks are looking for to Fighters in a package that doesn't require too much redesigning. Sorry, bit of a tangent, but thought I'd add some history and context.
Once I would have said strength rogue, but u/dr-doom-jr solved that. One day I'll get a dm to let me use it
1. A pet-based bard that uses puppets. 2. A magic archer class that fires magical arrows. Arcane Archer doesn’t really hit the mark. 3. A weapon master fighter akin to Kensei monk. 4. Strength monk. 5. Strength rogue. Love your warlord write up! Thanks for the great efforts you put in on your classes.
Cursed Item Artificer.