Hi guys, I've been making an artificer subclass and I am looking for feedback. I wanted to create a subclass that feels almost like a warlock, but the magic is gained through esoteric grimoires and study combined with martial prowess. I like to think I have a thick skin, so please give me good (constructive) criticism. I'll put asides in square brackets [ ].
3rd Level:
- Rune Caster: You gain proficiency with woodcarver's, smith's or mason's tools. If you have proficiency in all of these, you may choose another set of artisan's tools to gain proficiency with. In addition, you gain proficiency in martial weapons and heavy armour.
- Rune Witch Spells:
3rd level : Hex, Armour of Agathys
5th level : Warding Bond, Branding Smite
9th level : Vampiric Touch, Spirit Shroud
13th level : Fire Shield, Staggering Smite
17th level : Teleportation Circle, Enervation
[I tried to use a mix of hexblade warlock themed spells with offense and defensive uses.]
- Rune Fighting : You can use your INT modifier instead of STR of DEX whenever you attack with a weapon that you have inscribed.
- Esoteric Casting : When you prepare spells you inscribe runes into a magical or non-magical object for each spell. An object can hold multiple spells at once and the times disappear when you no longer have the spell prepared. You can cast your spells using these objects instead of artisan's tools. [Mostly flavouring the subclass here. Cast your Hex spell by activating runes on your sword.]
The spells you inscribe can be cast using only material components. Once per long rest, you can cast one spell you have inscribed without using a spell slot. You can choose one creature who has disadvantage on the first saving throw against the spell. [Get a free casting of any spell with a greater chance of success. You wouldn't be able to use this for a non-artificer spell if you multiclassed.]
5th Level :
- Biting Runes : Your weapons can now be infused with runic power. At the end of a long rest, you can infuse any weapon you touch with arcane power. While you wield this weapon, it counts as a magical weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage immunity and resistance and deals an extra 1d6 radiant, necrotic, force, thunder, lightning, fire, cold, acid, poison or psychic damage (you decide this damage type when you infuse the item and can change it at the end of a short/long rest). You can have up to 3 weakness infused in this way at a time. You choose which weapon the infusion ends on if you attempt to use this feature again. [I deliberately avoided Extra Attack here. I wanted the martial cantrips like Booming Blade to be appealing, so I've gone for a single attack approach.]
9th Level :
- Runes of Last Resort : You can cast the Contingency spell once with this feature without expending a spell slot, replacing the material component with an object of any value that you inscribe with runes. You regain the ability to use this feature at the end of a long rest (though you can only ever have one Contingency at a time). [Yes, I know it's a 6th level spell, but the power level will be restricted to a 3rd level spell till much later on.]
13th Level : Master of Glyphs. You learn the Glyph of Warding spell if you don't already know it. This does not count against your artificer spells prepared. When you cast this spell, you can place it on moving vehicles. In addition, it does not cost you material components to cast and you can cast it once per day without expending a spell slot. [This isn't anything to write home about I don't think.]
Improved Biting Runes : Your Biting Runes damage increases by 1d6. [To keep it relevant.]
15th Level :
- Improved Stored Spells : The spells in your Stored Spells can be cast a number of times equal to three times your INT modifier (minimum of 3 times). [To stick with the theme of storing and casting spells with this feature. I thought the Stored Spells feature does the theme perfectly so I've just buffed it.]
Well... Um... Because I am an amazing homebrew critic who can see any flaws with a glance, I can say that this homebrew is absolutely amazing with it not being unbalanced. If you (for some reason) don't trust me for some reason.
Hi guys, I've been making an artificer subclass and I am looking for feedback. I wanted to create a subclass that feels almost like a warlock, but the magic is gained through esoteric grimoires and study combined with martial prowess. I like to think I have a thick skin, so please give me good (constructive) criticism. I'll put asides in square brackets [ ].
3rd Level:
- Rune Caster: You gain proficiency with smith's tools. If you have proficiency in these tools, you may choose another set of artisan's tools to gain proficiency with. In addition, you gain proficiency in martial weapons and heavy armour.
- Rune Witch Spells:
3rd level : Hex, Armour of Agathys
5th level : Warding Bond, Branding Smite
9th level : Vampiric Touch, Spirit Shroud
13th level : Fire Shield, Staggering Smite
17th level : Teleportation Circle, Enervation
[I tried to use a mix of hexblade warlock themed spells with offense and defensive uses.]
- Rune Fighting : You can use your INT modifier instead of STR of DEX whenever you attack with a weapon that you have inscribed.
- Esoteric Casting : When you prepare spells you inscribe runes into a magical or non-magical object for each spell. An object can hold multiple spells at once and the times disappear when you no longer have the spell prepared. You can cast your spells using these objects instead of artisan's tools, but you still need to provide other components as the sleek wolf normally require. [Mostly flavouring the subclass here. Cast your Hex spell by activating runes on your sword.]
The spells you inscribe can be cast using only material components. Once per long rest, you can cast one spell you have inscribed without using a spell slot. You can choose one creature who has disadvantage on the first saving throw against the spell. [Get a free casting of any spell with a greater chance of success. You wouldn't be able to use this for a non-artificer spell if you multiclassed.]
5th Level :
- Biting Runes : Your weapons can now be enhanced with runic power. At the end of a long rest, you can enhance any weapon you touch with arcane power. While you wield this weapon, it counts as a magical weapon for the purposes of overcoming immunity and resistance to nonmagical damage and deals an extra 1d6 radiant, necrotic, force, thunder, lightning, fire, cold, acid, poison or psychic damage (you decide this damage type when you enhance the item and can change it at the end of a short/long rest). You can have up to 3 weapons enhanced in this way at a time. You choose which weapon the enhancement ends on if you attempt to use this feature again.
These benefits only apply if you are wielding the weapon, as the Rune require your expertise to handle. [I deliberately avoided Extra Attack here. I wanted the martial cantrips like Booming Blade to be appealing, so I've gone for a single attack approach. It works out at roughly the same damage if you use Green Flame Blade of Booming Blade as Extra Attack).
9th Level :
- Master of Glyphs. You learn the Glyph of Warding spell if you don't already know it. This does not count against your artificer spells prepared. When you cast this spell, you can place it on moving vehicles. In addition, it does not cost you material components to cast and you can cast it once per day without expending a spell slot. [This isn't anything to write home about I don't think.]
Improved Biting Runes : Your Biting Runes damage increases by 1d6. [To keep it relevant.]
15th Level :
- Improved Stored Spells : You can expend 2 uses of your Stored Spells and cast the spell stored as if it were cat with a 3rd level spell slot. [I thought the Stored Spells feature does the theme perfectly so I've just buffed it. I've overhauled this completely from the first draft though.]
Draft 2. I've clarified some things, removed an unnecessary feature and changed the 15th level feature.
As an alternative capstone, consider allowing Symbol to be used like Glyph of Warding. It’s a 7th level spell, so normally beyond an Artificer, but other 15th level casters could have it, so it’s not necessarily OP.
Actually I really like that idea. Symbol is a little circumstantial (because it can only start in one place), so I think it wouldn't quite be a capstone on its own. Combine this with the ability to change the damage route of the Biting Runes as an action however and you get a solid capstone ability. Thanks!
Unfortunately, I have just come up with something that I really like for this capstone ability.
15th level :
Esoteric Runes - Your mastery of runes allows you to adapt them quickly to any situation.
- You can use an action to change the damage type of any artificer spell you have prepared and cast through Esoteric Casting. The replaced damage type must be one dealt by another spell you have prepared (so that you can use the runes for reference).
-111 You can change the damage type of any of your Biting Runes as an action.
- You can change your list of prepared artificer spells at the end of a short rest. [Edited to specify that it only applies to artificer spells]
I mean, this is one of th emost ridiculously OP homebrews I've seen in quite a while. It's basically a combination of the Armorer and the Battle Smith with pretty much none of the drawbacks with a bit of Armor of Agathys cheese on top.
The only real weakness it has is that you have to have a Str of 15 to wear Full Plate but that's mitigated by the fact that you don't need to invest in Dexterity. Also giving this a free 200GP per day at level 9 isn't necessarily a big deal but allowing it on moving vehicles? That's just a bit weird. Not only that, you also get a 6th level spell at level 9? Not even Warlocks get that until level 11. Sure, you seem to have removed that in your second draft but it's still weird an unbalanced. Best not to talk about being allowed to changed prepared spells on a short rest...
If this was on the base chassis of the Warlock then it might have been fine with some alterations but on the Artificer with all the already available infusions, spells available and other tricks this is a nah for me. It's simply not balanced in the least.
I mean, this is one of th emost ridiculously OP homebrews I've seen in quite a while. It's basically a combination of the Armorer and the Battle Smith with pretty much none of the drawbacks with a bit of Armor of Agathys cheese on top.
Hmmmm...
Well, the main Armourer and Battle Smith features of cool armour and a pet to take you into battle are both absent (which I think are the main focal points of those subclasses) - the only shared feature is the ability to use Int to attack with. On an artificer, this is needed to stop things becoming too MAD. I'm a little sad to hear that it seems like that mash up because I am trying hard for a unique flavour - perhaps you have tips on how to better get that flavour across?
I included the moving vehicles thing because I'm often asked whether if there was an adventure set on a skyship or train, could the players still cast Glyph of Warding? It just makes the spell slightly more usable.
It was pointed out to me the 6th level spell being unbalanced and that's been removed. I would appreciate it if people critiqued my latest drafts because complaining about something which has been removed just isn't relevant.
Finally, the change of prepared spells on a short rest doesn't seem too unbalanced to me (I tend to find that people don't change their spells very frequently even at the end of a long rest), but I'm playtesting it soon and if it's a problem then I'll adapt it.
Any other specific areas of unbalance you dislike? I'll have a look at them and add changes where necessary.
Edit: What drawbacks are there of Battle Smith or Armourer? Just out of interest.
I mean, this is one of th emost ridiculously OP homebrews I've seen in quite a while. It's basically a combination of the Armorer and the Battle Smith with pretty much none of the drawbacks with a bit of Armor of Agathys cheese on top.
Hmmmm...
Well, the main Armourer and Battle Smith features of cool armour and a pet to take you into battle are both absent (which I think are the main focal points of those subclasses) - the only shared feature is the ability to use Int to attack with.
The main feature of the Armorer is proficiency with Heavy Armour. They gain that but is limited on their weapons of choice (unless going with the built in weaponry). One of the main features of the Battle Smith is access to Martial weapons that they can use with Intelligence but they are limited in their choice of armour. You have given this subclass both of those advantages without any of the limitations other than having to prioritize strength over dex which at level 10 really isn't a limitation at all.
On an artificer, this is needed to stop things becoming too MAD.
The artificer is already the least MAD class there is. There is literally no reason why they would need to be even less mad.
I'm a little sad to hear that it seems like that mash up because I am trying hard for a unique flavour - perhaps you have tips on how to better get that flavour across?
Kind of hard to tell what the flavour is, really. Right now it feels like you just want the best from every other csubclass.
I included the moving vehicles thing because I'm often asked whether if there was an adventure set on a skyship or train, could the players still cast Glyph of Warding? It just makes the spell slightly more usable.
But why would this particular subclass of Artificer be able to do that when literally no other class or subclass can? It just feels weird and doesn't seem to be justofied by twhat little flavour the subclass has.
It was pointed out to me the 6th level spell being unbalanced and that's been removed. I would appreciate it if people critiqued my latest drafts because complaining about something which has been removed just isn't relevant.
It shows that the entire subclass isn't very well thought through.
Finally, the change of prepared spells on a short rest doesn't seem too unbalanced to me (I tend to find that people don't change their spells very frequently even at the end of a long rest), but I'm playtesting it soon and if it's a problem then I'll adapt it.
Why do you think that there isn't a single class in the entire game that can do that? Perhaps it's a balance issue? Being able to swap out spells on a short rest makes the Artificer even more versatile to the point where there really isn't a challenge for anything for a class that can already prepare for pretty much everything.
Any other specific areas of unbalance you dislike? I'll have a look at them and add changes where necessary.
TBH, as it is right now I just see it as a sunk cost fallacy. I really see no reason for this subclass at all. You claim that you want to make it be a mix of "esoteric grimoires and study combined with martial prowess" and that it should be similar to a warlock. The warlock doesn't get martial weapons that they can use with their spell casting ability (well, the Hexblade can but they don't have access to heavy armour or infusions) nor to heavy armour. Also, I really don't see how grimoires and study would justify heavy armour proficiency. If you want more runes and studying, surely you should focus more on ritual spells and more lore based spells rather than pretty much all combat spells?
Edit: What drawbacks are there of Battle Smith or Armourer? Just out of interest.
As I mentioned, the drawback of he Armorer is limited choice of weaponry and the drawback of the Smith is limited choice of Armour. Which, when you think about it, are pretty tame as far as drawbacks go which shows that any new subclass doesn't need to get rid of both of those drawbacks.
Any other specific areas of unbalance you dislike?
I'm making this as a seperate post just to show my point a bit more clearly. Let's just make an example build of this at level 10. It's gonna be a Warfoged with the following starting stats using point buy. Strength 13 Dex 12 Con 14 Int 16 Wisdom 13 and Charisma 8. This allows us to wear an infused Chainmail at level three for a DC of 20 with a shield. We also carry an inscribed weapon to use our Int to attack with. When we go into battle we cast Armor of Agathys (inscribed in the weapon so that we can use it as a spell focus and attacking with Int) and (when we get it) Hex.
At level 4 we take the Fey Touched Feat for Misty Step and Hex as well as rounding of our Wisdom to 14. At level 8 we boost Int to 18. If we really want to powergame (which is an option one has to think about when designed a class or subclass, we could dump or strength to 8 and just use the Scale mail that we start with). At level 10 we get ourselves Gauntlets of Ogre Power and a Cloak of Protection that we add to our Enhanced Full Plate (that we now can use thanks to the gauntlets) and a Repulsion Shield for an AC total of 25. Our weapon that we can wield with our Int bonus now does 1D8 +2D6 (2 from runes, 1 from Hex)+4 points of damage which is so good that it doesn't matter that we put the rest of our infusions into defence. Which is another thing that is really unbalanced, you basically get free infusions for your weapons. We also have 15 Temporary Hit Points.
I know I said I was stopping at lvl 10 so this is just extra. If we go to level 11 we get 8 free castings of Invisibility each day allowing us to start of the combat by getting advantage on our attack roll. At level 12 we can cap of our Intelligence or take the Tough feat (and get the other one at level 16) and at level 14 we can up our HP even more with an Amulet of Health. If we *really* want to go into some nasty stuff we take 10 levels of Artificer and 10 levels of Abjuration Wizard. That gives us an Arcane Ward with 25 HP, after that we have Armour of Agathys with a maximum of 40 HP on top of our (if you don't roll for HP) 133HP (173 with the Tough feat) provided they can even hit us since we have an AC of 25, 30 with the Shield spell. Shield also happens to be an Abjuration spell so it helps keeping our Arcane Ward up.
This is why I say that this class is unbalanced. It doesn't have any weaknesses and it outshines other classes and subclasses at their own games. I don't mean to come of as harsh but you asked and I appreciate that you took the time to read it.
Lostwhilefishing, I'm happy to take criticism, but I would appreciate constructive criticism - where you suggest what I can do to make improvements. Rubbishing what I'm trying to do with no suggestions on how to do it better is useless.
For the armour and martial weapons proficiency, look at what else the subclass gets. A purely thematic (till 15th level, which is a different feature anyway) change in how the artificer casts spells, which if anything ties the artificer to their equipment even more - a definite drawback. Armourers get a lot of benefits to their armour, cool tank or stealth options and versatility between classes. Battle Masters get their Steel Defender, which is not to be sniffed at. The Rune Witch gets one extra spell slot and a once per long rest just of heightened sleep (which doesn't even tie in particularly well with the artificer spell list). So I think the proficiencies are justified.
As for being MAD, making this class SAD is intentional. It's a useful boon that allows the artificer (who will probably be fighting at melee to combine GFB or BB with Biting Runes) to invest in CON because at melee range they need to be able to take those hits. The Hexblade warlock, Battle Master and Armourer all get this to make them viable at the front lines while being a d8 class.
As for the flavour, virtually every ability is unique and centres around the idea of Runes and their uses - I deliberately included a few martial features alongside some more spellcasting and ritual features to reflect the elements of storing spells as runes in advance and adapting them to create different effects. They are all prepared during rests (reflecting the period of time needed to create the runes) until 15th level when the runes can be adapted slightly and changed competent much more quickly.
As for that 15th level feature, the rest of it involves some mostly vaguely useful ways to swap around damage - they aren't a lot but might get you part a damage resistance every now and then, which isn't much at 15th level. The sole purpose of this feature is enhanced versatility, it grants no other benefits. So I'm flattered to hear that you think it will do just that and want to point out that there are only 7 options for 5th level spells that you can switch between. Only two of them have the potential to deal damage. Just saying that the artificer spell list is a lot more constricted at the top levels.
Redrafting is important and frankly if you complain about a subclass and then call out the redrafting as being proof of weakness then I can't win here.
The whole point of a Rune Knight is to use runes. Glyph of Warding is described as a rune! If the Rune Knight can't have a minor benefit about this spell then I don't know who can. In addition, every subclass has unique features. If they don't, then they are boring and unoriginal. Having a feature or two similar to another subclass is fine, but every subclass has a few things that no one else can do. That's why people choose a subclass in the first place.
As for the accusation of not seeing the need for anything at all martial, then read the rest of the sentence. Martial prowess. You can read books and work out, quite a lot of people manage it without being a magical artificer.
And thanks for your take on the drawbacks of those other subclasses.
I would love to see how you would write up this subclass in a way you consider reflects the ideas behind it, isn't OP and answers your criticisms. That would be a constructive way to help me improve what I've been working on. :-)
Reading the example you provide, the main areas of interest seem to be Hex and Armour of Agathys. The rest is core artificer features and I don't work at WotC.
My proposals to adapt this area as follows: your Bting Runes damage increases from 1d6 to 1d8 at 9th level instead of to 2d6. Hex and Armour of Agathys are replaced by Shield and Wrathful Smite. They are still an offence and a defense spell but not as easily exploited - while fitting the theme (which I can see even if you can't) they are not as easily exploited.
What's your take on this?
Edit: Actually, I've kept Armour of Agathys and not used Shield. AC 30 when needed is stupid and I've come round to your way of thinking on those proficiencies. It got a little passive aggressive on both ends, but it's been helpful in making the subclass more balanced.
Hi guys, I've been making an artificer subclass and I am looking for feedback. I wanted to create a subclass that feels almost like a warlock, but the magic is gained through esoteric grimoires and study combined with martial prowess. I like to think I have a thick skin, so please give me good (constructive) criticism. I'll put asides in square brackets [ ].
3rd Level:
- Rune Caster: You gain proficiency with smith's tools. If you have proficiency in these tools, you may choose another set of artisan's tools to gain proficiency with. In addition, you gain proficiency in martial weapons.
- Rune Witch Spells:
3rd level : Wrathful Smite, Armour of Agathys
5th level : Warding Bond, Branding Smite
9th level : Vampiric Touch, Spirit Shroud
13th level : Fire Shield, Staggering Smite
17th level : Teleportation Circle, Enervation
[I tried to use a mix of hexblade warlock themed spells with offense and defensive uses.]
- Rune Fighting : You can use your INT modifier instead of STR of DEX whenever you attack with a weapon that you have inscribed.
- Esoteric Casting : When you prepare spells you inscribe runes into a magical or non-magical object for each spell. An object can hold multiple spells at once and the times disappear when you no longer have the spell prepared. You can cast your spells using these objects instead of artisan's tools, but you still need to provide other components as the sleek wolf normally require. [Mostly flavouring the subclass here. Cast your Hex spell by activating runes on your sword.]
The spells you inscribe can be cast using only material components. Once per long rest, you can cast one spell you have inscribed without using a spell slot. You can choose one creature who has disadvantage on the first saving throw against the spell. [Get a free casting of any spell with a greater chance of success. You wouldn't be able to use this for a non-artificer spell if you multiclassed.]
5th Level :
- Biting Runes : Your weapons can now be enhanced with runic power. At the end of a long rest, you can enhance any weapon you touch with arcane power. While you wield this weapon, it counts as a magical weapon for the purposes of overcoming immunity and resistance to nonmagical damage and deals an extra 1d6 radiant, necrotic, force, thunder, lightning, fire, cold, acid, poison or psychic damage (you decide this damage type when you enhance the item and can change it at the end of a short/long rest). You can have up to 3 weapons enhanced in this way at a time. You choose which weapon the enhancement ends on if you attempt to use this feature again.
These benefits only apply if you are wielding the weapon, as the Rune require your expertise to handle. [I deliberately avoided Extra Attack here. I wanted the martial cantrips like Booming Blade to be appealing, so I've gone for a single attack approach. It works out at roughly the same damage if you use Green Flame Blade of Booming Blade as Extra Attack).
9th Level :
- Master of Glyphs. You learn the Glyph of Warding spell if you don't already know it. This does not count against your artificer spells prepared. When you cast this spell, you can place it on moving vehicles. In addition, it does not cost you material components to cast and you can cast it once per day without expending a spell slot. [This isn't anything to write home about I don't think.]
Improved Biting Runes : Your Biting Runes damage die increases to 1d10. [To keep it relevant.]
15th level :
Esoteric Runes - Your mastery of runes allows you to adapt them quickly to any situation.
- You can use an action to change the damage type of any artificer spell you have prepared and cast through Esoteric Casting. The replaced damage type must be one dealt by another spell you have prepared (so that you can use the runes for reference).
- You can change the damage type of any of your Biting Runes as an action.
- You can change your list of prepared artificer spells at the end of a short rest. [Edited to specify that it only applies to artificer spells]
Draft 2. I've clarified some things, removed an unnecessary feature and changed the 15th level feature.
Draft 3. Edited the spells list, Improved Biting Runes and the proficiencies.
I think you're making some pretty hefty oversights @Lostwhilefishing. From ignoring the bulk of arcane armor's benefits to delaying access to 4th level spells to level 17(!) in exchange for a little extra temp HP on your build.
That said, I think there was one detail that's worthwhile. The subclass doesn't have its flavour blurb yet. Calling this a "sunk cost fallacy" is an unnecessarily defeatist take, but a lore tidbit that ties the different features like heavy armor and spellcasting together would help audiences better visualise the class' fantasy.
I think you're making some pretty hefty oversights @Lostwhilefishing. From ignoring the bulk of arcane armor's benefits to delaying access to 4th level spells to level 17(!) in exchange for a little extra temp HP on your build.
Where do you get the notion that I'm ignoring anything? Did you miss the feact that this thread isn't about the Armorer's Arcane Armor? Of course I'm not going to talk about a different subclass' features in great detail when the thread is about another subclass. And you probably want to reread the rules for multiclassing again. This build gets access to 4th level spell slots (which would mainly be used for Armor of Agathys anyways) at level 12. The point that you missed is that my example isn't relying on high level spells to accomplish things so later access to those spells matters very little.
That said, I think there was one detail that's worthwhile. The subclass doesn't have its flavour blurb yet. Calling this a "sunk cost fallacy" is an unnecessarily defeatist take, but a lore tidbit that ties the different features like heavy armor and spellcasting together would help audiences better visualise the class' fantasy.
There's nothing defeatist about it. "Kill your darlings" is a great tool for any creative writer (or just creator in genberal). Since the OP doesn't even to know what they want to do with this new subclass my advice is to start over on a blank slate and first figure out what they want to the subclass to actually be and then figure what features would work for it instead of trying to fix a leaking ship, so to speak.
Lostwhilefishing, I'm happy to take criticism, but I would appreciate constructive criticism - where you suggest what I can do to make improvements. Rubbishing what I'm trying to do with no suggestions on how to do it better is useless.
That is constructive criticism. It's called "kill your darlings" and it's quite a useful creative tool. You asked for what I assumed was my honest opinion and that was what you got.
For the armour and martial weapons proficiency, look at what else the subclass gets. A purely thematic (till 15th level, which is a different feature anyway) change in how the artificer casts spells, which if anything ties the artificer to their equipment even more - a definite drawback.
Except that it's not purely cosmetic (it allows for casting while holding both a weapon and a shield) and it is not a drawback since you can still use the normal way of casting spells.
Armourers get a lot of benefits to their armour, cool tank or stealth options and versatility between classes. Battle Masters get their Steel Defender, which is not to be sniffed at. The Rune Witch gets one extra spell slot and a once per long rest just of heightened sleep (which doesn't even tie in particularly well with the artificer spell list). So I think the proficiencies are justified.
The difference is that the Armorer and the Battle Smith (which I assume you menat and not battlemaster) get the previously mentioned drawbacks. Your subclass doesn't get any of those drawbacks. The only other classes that get both Heavy Armour and Martial Weapons are the Fighter and the Paladin (and some cleric subclasses but those are MAD as heck so they have that drawback). The Paladin doesn't have infusions or cantrips and the Fighter doesn't have that or spellcasting (again, except for a few subclasses) and neither the Fighter nor the Paladin can use a single ability for basically all their needs. That's the difference between them and this subclass. Your subclass doesn't have any drawbacks. It's built on one of the best base classes already which makes it even more unbalanced.
As for being MAD, making this class SAD is intentional. It's a useful boon that allows the artificer (who will probably be fighting at melee to combine GFB or BB with Biting Runes) to invest in CON because at melee range they need to be able to take those hits. The Hexblade warlock, Battle Master and Armourer all get this to make them viable at the front lines while being a d8 class.
The Artificer is already SAD. Making a subclass that that has the strengths of other artificer subclasses without a single of those subclasses' weaknesses will make it unbalanced. At least having a use for another ability than Int (which, as shown, even that need disappears at level 10) would compensate for that a little but you don't even have that.
As for the flavour, virtually every ability is unique and centres around the idea of Runes and their uses - I deliberately included a few martial features alongside some more spellcasting and ritual features to reflect the elements of storing spells as runes in advance and adapting them to create different effects.
Pretty much all of the extra spells are combat oriented and doesn't really have anything to do with what youäve told us about "esoteric grimoires and study". Sure, this might be a result of your lack of actually describing what the class is supposed to be but that just brings us back to the original point. It would probably be better to start over with a more clear idea of what you want because right now it just seems that you want all the benefits of the different classes (warlock, Armorer, Battle Smith) without any of the weaknesses.
They are all prepared during rests (reflecting the period of time needed to create the runes) until 15th level when the runes can be adapted slightly and changed competent much more quickly.
As for that 15th level feature, the rest of it involves some mostly vaguely useful ways to swap around damage - they aren't a lot but might get you part a damage resistance every now and then, which isn't much at 15th level. The sole purpose of this feature is enhanced versatility, it grants no other benefits. So I'm flattered to hear that you think it will do just that and want to point out that there are only 7 options for 5th level spells that you can switch between. Only two of them have the potential to deal damage. Just saying that the artificer spell list is a lot more constricted at the top levels.
Artificers already have versatility coming out of every orifice. Like I said, thereä's a reason why no class can do that. And it's not only the seven 5th levels spells, it's literally every other spell in the spell list as well. This is something that you need to think through before you create a feature like this.
Redrafting is important and frankly if you complain about a subclass and then call out the redrafting as being proof of weakness then I can't win here.
What are you on about? I wrote my reply before the redraft was posted. Do you seriously expect people to see into the future?
The whole point of a Rune Knight is to use runes. Glyph of Warding is described as a rune! If the Rune Knight can't have a minor benefit about this spell then I don't know who can.
The Rune Knight doesn't have Glyph of Warding... If you are talking about your own Rune witch then it's not really "a minor benefit" it is literally game changing and again, there's no explanation why this particular subclass would be able to change that about the GoW. At lest not that you have told us.
In addition, every subclass has unique features. If they don't, then they are boring and unoriginal. Having a feature or two similar to another subclass is fine, but every subclass has a few things that no one else can do. That's why people choose a subclass in the first place.
Please leave the strawmen at home. No-one has claimed that the subclass shouldn't have unique features. I pointed out that there is no reasonable justification for this feature.
As for the accusation of not seeing the need for anything at all martial, then read the rest of the sentence. Martial prowess. You can read books and work out, quite a lot of people manage it without being a magical artificer.
It's not an accusation, it's a point of fact. If "reading books and working out" was all that was needed to gain the ingame abilities of profiency in heavy armor and martial weapons than surely every character could do that? You have to see that there is such a thing as balancing the separation of gameplay and storytelling. If you want to to portray the image of an artificer focused on runes, hunched over a large grimoire or carving away in the laboratory that doesn't really mix well with them also being the best that there is at weapon handling and fighting in armour. Like mentioned previously, there's a reason why Warlocks, even Hexblades, don't have access to heavy armour and why martial weapons are restricted. Artificers already have "martial prowess".
And thanks for your take on the drawbacks of those other subclasses.
I would love to see how you would write up this subclass in a way you consider reflects the ideas behind it, isn't OP and answers your criticisms. That would be a constructive way to help me improve what I've been working on. :-)
Like I said, so far it is very unclear as to what this subclass is even supposed to be. Give me some actual information and I can see what I can do when I get the time.
Reading the example you provide, the main areas of interest seem to be Hex and Armour of Agathys. The rest is core artificer features and I don't work at WotC.
Not true. Neither access to heavy armour, martial weapons nor biting runes are core artificer features. The point is that the combination of these things is what makes the subclass unbalanced.
My proposals to adapt this area as follows: your Bting Runes damage increases from 1d6 to 1d8 at 9th level instead of to 2d6. Hex and Armour of Agathys are replaced by Shield and Wrathful Smite. They are still an offence and a defense spell but not as easily exploited - while fitting the theme (which I can see even if you can't) they are not as easily exploited.
What's your take on this?
Edit: Actually, I've kept Armour of Agathys and not used Shield. AC 30 when needed is stupid and I've come round to your way of thinking on those proficiencies.
AoA in combination with heavy armour can still be problematic since the biting runes allows you to focus your infusions on pure defence. You could still have a base AC of 25 at level ten. Is there any particular reason why you feel like you must have both?
It got a little passive aggressive on both ends, but it's been helpful in making the subclass more balanced.
I've never been passive aggressive. If you felt the need to act that way the perhaps you should take a break from reading the comments. It can sometime be hard to interpret tone and meaning in purely written text and it seems that you have misinterpreted what I've written. That said, I do appreciate that youäve taken the time to reply to my comments.
An artificer who specialises as a Rune Witch uses glyphs and symbols to bolster their martial abilities and produces runes which they can activate to smite their foes, summon magical defences and create wards. As they grow in power they become experts in their chosen discipline and can create a large selection of runes which they use to hinder and harm their foes and even learn how to adapt and redraw their runes in a shorter span of time.
The Rune Witch came about as my attempt to bring an element of a homebrew world into DnD. In that world Rune Witches are trained to use the language of runes to combat their enemies on the battlefield. They make use of runes to enhance their weapons and armour, either as permanent enhancements (like the artificer's infusions) or in short-lived bursts of energy to smite their foes or bring their defenses to bear with more obvious magic (in DnD terms, something like Fire Shield). The final application of their runes is in preparing wards and traps to hinder foes on the battlefield or catch them in large aoe effects that weaken or eliminate large numbers of enemies. I how this gives a slightly better idea of what I have in my head when I design these features.
The armour and weapon proficiencies come from being a type of subclass that originated on the battlefield. The weapon enhancements and spells are because they best reflect the effects used by the Rune Witches in my homebrew world. The boost to Glyph of Warding is inspired by the creation of magical traps for use on a battlefield. The speed and adaptability of the 15th level feature is intended to reflect the enormous variety and adaptability that the most powerful Rune Witches master in the thick of battle. (I've just given my original description another look and I can see where I was trying to come from but I honestly don't expect anyone else to get it.)
I'm going to go away for a while and have a think about what everyone had said on all sides. I'll be back in a couple of days with something that reflects what I'm trying to do without being OP.
As for the passive aggression thing, there's obviously been irritation at either end and it shows on both our posts I think. That's what I was getting at.
Anyway, I'll be back soon with some fresh ideas.
(And I don't expect you to see into the future but when you wrote your first post and I've already posted a 2nd draft, don't bother talking about the original edition. It's not at all useful.)
Of course I'm not going to talk about a different subclass' features in great detail when the thread is about another subclass.
When you accuse someone of only stealing the best features from other subclasses and then argue the defining feature of armorer is a heavy armor proficiency, I would argue that's a pretty relevant thing to get right. If you fancy a response as to any of the other oversights I referred to or my problems with your build in any practical setting, feel free to DM me. I'll be happy to explain my stances.
An artificer who specialises as a Rune Witch uses glyphs and symbols to bolster their martial abilities and produces runes which they can activate to smite their foes, summon magical defences and create wards. As they grow in power they become experts in their chosen discipline and can create a large selection of runes which they use to hinder and harm their foes and even learn how to adapt and redraw their runes in a shorter span of time.
The Rune Witch came about as my attempt to bring an element of a homebrew world into DnD. In that world Rune Witches are trained to use the language of runes to combat their enemies on the battlefield. They make use of runes to enhance their weapons and armour, either as permanent enhancements (like the artificer's infusions) or in short-lived bursts of energy to smite their foes or bring their defenses to bear with more obvious magic (in DnD terms, something like Fire Shield). The final application of their runes is in preparing wards and traps to hinder foes on the battlefield or catch them in large aoe effects that weaken or eliminate large numbers of enemies. I how this gives a slightly better idea of what I have in my head when I design these features.
The armour and weapon proficiencies come from being a type of subclass that originated on the battlefield. The weapon enhancements and spells are because they best reflect the effects used by the Rune Witches in my homebrew world. The boost to Glyph of Warding is inspired by the creation of magical traps for use on a battlefield. The speed and adaptability of the 15th level feature is intended to reflect the enormous variety and adaptability that the most powerful Rune Witches master in the thick of battle. (I've just given my original description another look and I can see where I was trying to come from but I honestly don't expect anyone else to get it.)
Fingers crossed that clears things up for you.
I'd say that works, yeah. Though be careful about some language things, as we relate words like "Smite" strongly to paladin.
Hi guys, I've been making an artificer subclass and I am looking for feedback. I wanted to create a subclass that feels almost like a warlock, but the magic is gained through esoteric grimoires and study combined with martial prowess. I like to think I have a thick skin, so please give me good (constructive) criticism. I'll put asides in square brackets [ ].
3rd Level:
- Rune Caster: You gain proficiency with woodcarver's, smith's or mason's tools. If you have proficiency in all of these, you may choose another set of artisan's tools to gain proficiency with. In addition, you gain proficiency in martial weapons and heavy armour.
- Rune Witch Spells:
3rd level : Hex, Armour of Agathys
5th level : Warding Bond, Branding Smite
9th level : Vampiric Touch, Spirit Shroud
13th level : Fire Shield, Staggering Smite
17th level : Teleportation Circle, Enervation
[I tried to use a mix of hexblade warlock themed spells with offense and defensive uses.]
- Rune Fighting : You can use your INT modifier instead of STR of DEX whenever you attack with a weapon that you have inscribed.
- Esoteric Casting : When you prepare spells you inscribe runes into a magical or non-magical object for each spell. An object can hold multiple spells at once and the times disappear when you no longer have the spell prepared. You can cast your spells using these objects instead of artisan's tools. [Mostly flavouring the subclass here. Cast your Hex spell by activating runes on your sword.]
The spells you inscribe can be cast using only material components. Once per long rest, you can cast one spell you have inscribed without using a spell slot. You can choose one creature who has disadvantage on the first saving throw against the spell. [Get a free casting of any spell with a greater chance of success. You wouldn't be able to use this for a non-artificer spell if you multiclassed.]
5th Level :
- Biting Runes : Your weapons can now be infused with runic power. At the end of a long rest, you can infuse any weapon you touch with arcane power. While you wield this weapon, it counts as a magical weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage immunity and resistance and deals an extra 1d6 radiant, necrotic, force, thunder, lightning, fire, cold, acid, poison or psychic damage (you decide this damage type when you infuse the item and can change it at the end of a short/long rest). You can have up to 3 weakness infused in this way at a time. You choose which weapon the infusion ends on if you attempt to use this feature again. [I deliberately avoided Extra Attack here. I wanted the martial cantrips like Booming Blade to be appealing, so I've gone for a single attack approach.]
9th Level :
- Runes of Last Resort : You can cast the Contingency spell once with this feature without expending a spell slot, replacing the material component with an object of any value that you inscribe with runes. You regain the ability to use this feature at the end of a long rest (though you can only ever have one Contingency at a time). [Yes, I know it's a 6th level spell, but the power level will be restricted to a 3rd level spell till much later on.]
13th Level : Master of Glyphs. You learn the Glyph of Warding spell if you don't already know it. This does not count against your artificer spells prepared. When you cast this spell, you can place it on moving vehicles. In addition, it does not cost you material components to cast and you can cast it once per day without expending a spell slot. [This isn't anything to write home about I don't think.]
Improved Biting Runes : Your Biting Runes damage increases by 1d6. [To keep it relevant.]
15th Level :
- Improved Stored Spells : The spells in your Stored Spells can be cast a number of times equal to three times your INT modifier (minimum of 3 times). [To stick with the theme of storing and casting spells with this feature. I thought the Stored Spells feature does the theme perfectly so I've just buffed it.]
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
Well... Um... Because I am an amazing homebrew critic who can see any flaws with a glance, I can say that this homebrew is absolutely amazing with it not being unbalanced. If you (for some reason) don't trust me for some reason.
(I would suggest showing this to The Magnificent Guild of Homebrew)
Hi everyone! I'm working up the will to finalize my signature, so... I guess this will be the signature for now
Draft 2. I've clarified some things, removed an unnecessary feature and changed the 15th level feature.
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
As an alternative capstone, consider allowing Symbol to be used like Glyph of Warding. It’s a 7th level spell, so normally beyond an Artificer, but other 15th level casters could have it, so it’s not necessarily OP.
Interesting...
Actually I really like that idea. Symbol is a little circumstantial (because it can only start in one place), so I think it wouldn't quite be a capstone on its own. Combine this with the ability to change the damage route of the Biting Runes as an action however and you get a solid capstone ability. Thanks!
Unfortunately, I have just come up with something that I really like for this capstone ability.
15th level :
Esoteric Runes - Your mastery of runes allows you to adapt them quickly to any situation.
- You can use an action to change the damage type of any artificer spell you have prepared and cast through Esoteric Casting. The replaced damage type must be one dealt by another spell you have prepared (so that you can use the runes for reference).
-111 You can change the damage type of any of your Biting Runes as an action.
- You can change your list of prepared artificer spells at the end of a short rest. [Edited to specify that it only applies to artificer spells]
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
I mean, this is one of th emost ridiculously OP homebrews I've seen in quite a while. It's basically a combination of the Armorer and the Battle Smith with pretty much none of the drawbacks with a bit of Armor of Agathys cheese on top.
The only real weakness it has is that you have to have a Str of 15 to wear Full Plate but that's mitigated by the fact that you don't need to invest in Dexterity. Also giving this a free 200GP per day at level 9 isn't necessarily a big deal but allowing it on moving vehicles? That's just a bit weird. Not only that, you also get a 6th level spell at level 9? Not even Warlocks get that until level 11. Sure, you seem to have removed that in your second draft but it's still weird an unbalanced. Best not to talk about being allowed to changed prepared spells on a short rest...
If this was on the base chassis of the Warlock then it might have been fine with some alterations but on the Artificer with all the already available infusions, spells available and other tricks this is a nah for me. It's simply not balanced in the least.
Hmmmm...
Well, the main Armourer and Battle Smith features of cool armour and a pet to take you into battle are both absent (which I think are the main focal points of those subclasses) - the only shared feature is the ability to use Int to attack with. On an artificer, this is needed to stop things becoming too MAD. I'm a little sad to hear that it seems like that mash up because I am trying hard for a unique flavour - perhaps you have tips on how to better get that flavour across?
I included the moving vehicles thing because I'm often asked whether if there was an adventure set on a skyship or train, could the players still cast Glyph of Warding? It just makes the spell slightly more usable.
It was pointed out to me the 6th level spell being unbalanced and that's been removed. I would appreciate it if people critiqued my latest drafts because complaining about something which has been removed just isn't relevant.
Finally, the change of prepared spells on a short rest doesn't seem too unbalanced to me (I tend to find that people don't change their spells very frequently even at the end of a long rest), but I'm playtesting it soon and if it's a problem then I'll adapt it.
Any other specific areas of unbalance you dislike? I'll have a look at them and add changes where necessary.
Edit: What drawbacks are there of Battle Smith or Armourer? Just out of interest.
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
The main feature of the Armorer is proficiency with Heavy Armour. They gain that but is limited on their weapons of choice (unless going with the built in weaponry). One of the main features of the Battle Smith is access to Martial weapons that they can use with Intelligence but they are limited in their choice of armour. You have given this subclass both of those advantages without any of the limitations other than having to prioritize strength over dex which at level 10 really isn't a limitation at all.
The artificer is already the least MAD class there is. There is literally no reason why they would need to be even less mad.
Kind of hard to tell what the flavour is, really. Right now it feels like you just want the best from every other csubclass.
But why would this particular subclass of Artificer be able to do that when literally no other class or subclass can? It just feels weird and doesn't seem to be justofied by twhat little flavour the subclass has.
It shows that the entire subclass isn't very well thought through.
Why do you think that there isn't a single class in the entire game that can do that? Perhaps it's a balance issue? Being able to swap out spells on a short rest makes the Artificer even more versatile to the point where there really isn't a challenge for anything for a class that can already prepare for pretty much everything.
TBH, as it is right now I just see it as a sunk cost fallacy. I really see no reason for this subclass at all. You claim that you want to make it be a mix of "esoteric grimoires and study combined with martial prowess" and that it should be similar to a warlock. The warlock doesn't get martial weapons that they can use with their spell casting ability (well, the Hexblade can but they don't have access to heavy armour or infusions) nor to heavy armour. Also, I really don't see how grimoires and study would justify heavy armour proficiency. If you want more runes and studying, surely you should focus more on ritual spells and more lore based spells rather than pretty much all combat spells?
As I mentioned, the drawback of he Armorer is limited choice of weaponry and the drawback of the Smith is limited choice of Armour. Which, when you think about it, are pretty tame as far as drawbacks go which shows that any new subclass doesn't need to get rid of both of those drawbacks.
I'm making this as a seperate post just to show my point a bit more clearly. Let's just make an example build of this at level 10. It's gonna be a Warfoged with the following starting stats using point buy. Strength 13 Dex 12 Con 14 Int 16 Wisdom 13 and Charisma 8. This allows us to wear an infused Chainmail at level three for a DC of 20 with a shield. We also carry an inscribed weapon to use our Int to attack with. When we go into battle we cast Armor of Agathys (inscribed in the weapon so that we can use it as a spell focus and attacking with Int) and (when we get it) Hex.
At level 4 we take the Fey Touched Feat for Misty Step and Hex as well as rounding of our Wisdom to 14. At level 8 we boost Int to 18. If we really want to powergame (which is an option one has to think about when designed a class or subclass, we could dump or strength to 8 and just use the Scale mail that we start with). At level 10 we get ourselves Gauntlets of Ogre Power and a Cloak of Protection that we add to our Enhanced Full Plate (that we now can use thanks to the gauntlets) and a Repulsion Shield for an AC total of 25. Our weapon that we can wield with our Int bonus now does 1D8 +2D6 (2 from runes, 1 from Hex)+4 points of damage which is so good that it doesn't matter that we put the rest of our infusions into defence. Which is another thing that is really unbalanced, you basically get free infusions for your weapons. We also have 15 Temporary Hit Points.
I know I said I was stopping at lvl 10 so this is just extra. If we go to level 11 we get 8 free castings of Invisibility each day allowing us to start of the combat by getting advantage on our attack roll. At level 12 we can cap of our Intelligence or take the Tough feat (and get the other one at level 16) and at level 14 we can up our HP even more with an Amulet of Health. If we *really* want to go into some nasty stuff we take 10 levels of Artificer and 10 levels of Abjuration Wizard. That gives us an Arcane Ward with 25 HP, after that we have Armour of Agathys with a maximum of 40 HP on top of our (if you don't roll for HP) 133HP (173 with the Tough feat) provided they can even hit us since we have an AC of 25, 30 with the Shield spell. Shield also happens to be an Abjuration spell so it helps keeping our Arcane Ward up.
This is why I say that this class is unbalanced. It doesn't have any weaknesses and it outshines other classes and subclasses at their own games. I don't mean to come of as harsh but you asked and I appreciate that you took the time to read it.
Cheers!
Lostwhilefishing, I'm happy to take criticism, but I would appreciate constructive criticism - where you suggest what I can do to make improvements. Rubbishing what I'm trying to do with no suggestions on how to do it better is useless.
For the armour and martial weapons proficiency, look at what else the subclass gets. A purely thematic (till 15th level, which is a different feature anyway) change in how the artificer casts spells, which if anything ties the artificer to their equipment even more - a definite drawback. Armourers get a lot of benefits to their armour, cool tank or stealth options and versatility between classes. Battle Masters get their Steel Defender, which is not to be sniffed at. The Rune Witch gets one extra spell slot and a once per long rest just of heightened sleep (which doesn't even tie in particularly well with the artificer spell list). So I think the proficiencies are justified.
As for being MAD, making this class SAD is intentional. It's a useful boon that allows the artificer (who will probably be fighting at melee to combine GFB or BB with Biting Runes) to invest in CON because at melee range they need to be able to take those hits. The Hexblade warlock, Battle Master and Armourer all get this to make them viable at the front lines while being a d8 class.
As for the flavour, virtually every ability is unique and centres around the idea of Runes and their uses - I deliberately included a few martial features alongside some more spellcasting and ritual features to reflect the elements of storing spells as runes in advance and adapting them to create different effects. They are all prepared during rests (reflecting the period of time needed to create the runes) until 15th level when the runes can be adapted slightly and changed competent much more quickly.
As for that 15th level feature, the rest of it involves some mostly vaguely useful ways to swap around damage - they aren't a lot but might get you part a damage resistance every now and then, which isn't much at 15th level. The sole purpose of this feature is enhanced versatility, it grants no other benefits. So I'm flattered to hear that you think it will do just that and want to point out that there are only 7 options for 5th level spells that you can switch between. Only two of them have the potential to deal damage. Just saying that the artificer spell list is a lot more constricted at the top levels.
Redrafting is important and frankly if you complain about a subclass and then call out the redrafting as being proof of weakness then I can't win here.
The whole point of a Rune Knight is to use runes. Glyph of Warding is described as a rune! If the Rune Knight can't have a minor benefit about this spell then I don't know who can. In addition, every subclass has unique features. If they don't, then they are boring and unoriginal. Having a feature or two similar to another subclass is fine, but every subclass has a few things that no one else can do. That's why people choose a subclass in the first place.
As for the accusation of not seeing the need for anything at all martial, then read the rest of the sentence. Martial prowess. You can read books and work out, quite a lot of people manage it without being a magical artificer.
And thanks for your take on the drawbacks of those other subclasses.
I would love to see how you would write up this subclass in a way you consider reflects the ideas behind it, isn't OP and answers your criticisms. That would be a constructive way to help me improve what I've been working on. :-)
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
Reading the example you provide, the main areas of interest seem to be Hex and Armour of Agathys. The rest is core artificer features and I don't work at WotC.
My proposals to adapt this area as follows: your Bting Runes damage increases from 1d6 to 1d8 at 9th level instead of to 2d6. Hex and Armour of Agathys are replaced by Shield and Wrathful Smite. They are still an offence and a defense spell but not as easily exploited - while fitting the theme (which I can see even if you can't) they are not as easily exploited.
What's your take on this?
Edit: Actually, I've kept Armour of Agathys and not used Shield. AC 30 when needed is stupid and I've come round to your way of thinking on those proficiencies. It got a little passive aggressive on both ends, but it's been helpful in making the subclass more balanced.
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
Draft 3. Edited the spells list, Improved Biting Runes and the proficiencies.
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
I think you're making some pretty hefty oversights @Lostwhilefishing. From ignoring the bulk of arcane armor's benefits to delaying access to 4th level spells to level 17(!) in exchange for a little extra temp HP on your build.
That said, I think there was one detail that's worthwhile. The subclass doesn't have its flavour blurb yet. Calling this a "sunk cost fallacy" is an unnecessarily defeatist take, but a lore tidbit that ties the different features like heavy armor and spellcasting together would help audiences better visualise the class' fantasy.
Homebrew creations:
Path of the Feral Trance Barbarian Class | Thread
Wyrmforge Artificer Class | Thread
Thanks, I'll work on that now.
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
Where do you get the notion that I'm ignoring anything? Did you miss the feact that this thread isn't about the Armorer's Arcane Armor? Of course I'm not going to talk about a different subclass' features in great detail when the thread is about another subclass. And you probably want to reread the rules for multiclassing again. This build gets access to 4th level spell slots (which would mainly be used for Armor of Agathys anyways) at level 12. The point that you missed is that my example isn't relying on high level spells to accomplish things so later access to those spells matters very little.
There's nothing defeatist about it. "Kill your darlings" is a great tool for any creative writer (or just creator in genberal). Since the OP doesn't even to know what they want to do with this new subclass my advice is to start over on a blank slate and first figure out what they want to the subclass to actually be and then figure what features would work for it instead of trying to fix a leaking ship, so to speak.
I have an idea of what I want to get across, but I haven't yet explained it properly. Which is an entirely different problem...
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
That is constructive criticism. It's called "kill your darlings" and it's quite a useful creative tool. You asked for what I assumed was my honest opinion and that was what you got.
Except that it's not purely cosmetic (it allows for casting while holding both a weapon and a shield) and it is not a drawback since you can still use the normal way of casting spells.
The difference is that the Armorer and the Battle Smith (which I assume you menat and not battlemaster) get the previously mentioned drawbacks. Your subclass doesn't get any of those drawbacks. The only other classes that get both Heavy Armour and Martial Weapons are the Fighter and the Paladin (and some cleric subclasses but those are MAD as heck so they have that drawback). The Paladin doesn't have infusions or cantrips and the Fighter doesn't have that or spellcasting (again, except for a few subclasses) and neither the Fighter nor the Paladin can use a single ability for basically all their needs. That's the difference between them and this subclass. Your subclass doesn't have any drawbacks. It's built on one of the best base classes already which makes it even more unbalanced.
The Artificer is already SAD. Making a subclass that that has the strengths of other artificer subclasses without a single of those subclasses' weaknesses will make it unbalanced. At least having a use for another ability than Int (which, as shown, even that need disappears at level 10) would compensate for that a little but you don't even have that.
Pretty much all of the extra spells are combat oriented and doesn't really have anything to do with what youäve told us about "esoteric grimoires and study". Sure, this might be a result of your lack of actually describing what the class is supposed to be but that just brings us back to the original point. It would probably be better to start over with a more clear idea of what you want because right now it just seems that you want all the benefits of the different classes (warlock, Armorer, Battle Smith) without any of the weaknesses.
Artificers already have versatility coming out of every orifice. Like I said, thereä's a reason why no class can do that. And it's not only the seven 5th levels spells, it's literally every other spell in the spell list as well. This is something that you need to think through before you create a feature like this.
What are you on about? I wrote my reply before the redraft was posted. Do you seriously expect people to see into the future?
The Rune Knight doesn't have Glyph of Warding... If you are talking about your own Rune witch then it's not really "a minor benefit" it is literally game changing and again, there's no explanation why this particular subclass would be able to change that about the GoW. At lest not that you have told us.
Please leave the strawmen at home. No-one has claimed that the subclass shouldn't have unique features. I pointed out that there is no reasonable justification for this feature.
It's not an accusation, it's a point of fact. If "reading books and working out" was all that was needed to gain the ingame abilities of profiency in heavy armor and martial weapons than surely every character could do that? You have to see that there is such a thing as balancing the separation of gameplay and storytelling. If you want to to portray the image of an artificer focused on runes, hunched over a large grimoire or carving away in the laboratory that doesn't really mix well with them also being the best that there is at weapon handling and fighting in armour. Like mentioned previously, there's a reason why Warlocks, even Hexblades, don't have access to heavy armour and why martial weapons are restricted. Artificers already have "martial prowess".
Like I said, so far it is very unclear as to what this subclass is even supposed to be. Give me some actual information and I can see what I can do when I get the time.
Not true. Neither access to heavy armour, martial weapons nor biting runes are core artificer features. The point is that the combination of these things is what makes the subclass unbalanced.
AoA in combination with heavy armour can still be problematic since the biting runes allows you to focus your infusions on pure defence. You could still have a base AC of 25 at level ten. Is there any particular reason why you feel like you must have both?
I've never been passive aggressive. If you felt the need to act that way the perhaps you should take a break from reading the comments. It can sometime be hard to interpret tone and meaning in purely written text and it seems that you have misinterpreted what I've written. That said, I do appreciate that youäve taken the time to reply to my comments.
Idea behind the Rune Witch:
An artificer who specialises as a Rune Witch uses glyphs and symbols to bolster their martial abilities and produces runes which they can activate to smite their foes, summon magical defences and create wards. As they grow in power they become experts in their chosen discipline and can create a large selection of runes which they use to hinder and harm their foes and even learn how to adapt and redraw their runes in a shorter span of time.
The Rune Witch came about as my attempt to bring an element of a homebrew world into DnD. In that world Rune Witches are trained to use the language of runes to combat their enemies on the battlefield. They make use of runes to enhance their weapons and armour, either as permanent enhancements (like the artificer's infusions) or in short-lived bursts of energy to smite their foes or bring their defenses to bear with more obvious magic (in DnD terms, something like Fire Shield). The final application of their runes is in preparing wards and traps to hinder foes on the battlefield or catch them in large aoe effects that weaken or eliminate large numbers of enemies. I how this gives a slightly better idea of what I have in my head when I design these features.
The armour and weapon proficiencies come from being a type of subclass that originated on the battlefield. The weapon enhancements and spells are because they best reflect the effects used by the Rune Witches in my homebrew world. The boost to Glyph of Warding is inspired by the creation of magical traps for use on a battlefield. The speed and adaptability of the 15th level feature is intended to reflect the enormous variety and adaptability that the most powerful Rune Witches master in the thick of battle. (I've just given my original description another look and I can see where I was trying to come from but I honestly don't expect anyone else to get it.)
Fingers crossed that clears things up for you.
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
I'm going to go away for a while and have a think about what everyone had said on all sides. I'll be back in a couple of days with something that reflects what I'm trying to do without being OP.
As for the passive aggression thing, there's obviously been irritation at either end and it shows on both our posts I think. That's what I was getting at.
Anyway, I'll be back soon with some fresh ideas.
(And I don't expect you to see into the future but when you wrote your first post and I've already posted a 2nd draft, don't bother talking about the original edition. It's not at all useful.)
Beardy druid.
Very beardy druid. With a cap.
When you accuse someone of only stealing the best features from other subclasses and then argue the defining feature of armorer is a heavy armor proficiency, I would argue that's a pretty relevant thing to get right. If you fancy a response as to any of the other oversights I referred to or my problems with your build in any practical setting, feel free to DM me. I'll be happy to explain my stances.
I'd say that works, yeah. Though be careful about some language things, as we relate words like "Smite" strongly to paladin.
Homebrew creations:
Path of the Feral Trance Barbarian Class | Thread
Wyrmforge Artificer Class | Thread