running a campaign with a part of 4, will be going lvl 1-15 for sure, potentially till 20 and beyond. I'm pretty lenient on homebrewing things, aside for some minor tweaks that may need to be made as we get playing I just need some advice on an ability he wants the subclass to have. I don't want to nerf his character or let it be op.
he's playing a warlock, homebrewing a subclass with a Sphinx as his Patron.
at lvl 6 he gets Aura of Domination "Your patron grants you a measure of its domineering presence over others. As an action you project this dominance and any creature of your choice within 30 feet and able to hear must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become frightened for 1 minute. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.
A creature frightened by this ability may roll a a Wisdom save at the end of each of there turns, on a successful save they are no longer frightened. Any creature who succeeds on their saving throw is immune to this ability for the next 24 hours."
I'm fine with this (may adjust the cooldown, proficiency bonus per long rest seems a lot) , the question of balance here is the 14th lvl ability.
Paralyzing Aura As an action you emit a paralyzing aura, anyone frightened due to Aura of Domination becomes Paralyzed for one minute or until they succeed their saving throw for Aura of Domination. once used you must wait 1d4 long rests (minimum of 2) before using again.
my problem is that once they are frightened by aura of domination, they will for sure be paralyzed the next round, once paralyzed, its pretty much over for that creature. I want to allow the creature a saving throw specifically when he uses paralyzing Aura (maybe change the cooldown if so?) it is lvl 14 though and the cooldown means it won't be used often.
any thoughts or input on if this is balanced or how to make it so would be appreciated.
It doesn't look too overpowered as yet, because the victim should still be allowed to make the save against the fright at the end of their turn (which is immediate due to paralysis. That gives them a save against being paralyzed, so it's again, not too powerful. Monks can try to stunning strike a foe and thus offer a similar debuff, and at much earlier levels.
I kind of get the concern, being an AE effect, maybe you could cap it at 3-4 creatures affected by the aura? I would also consider allowing a roll when paralyzed each time they take damage, as that would possibly jolt them out of it. PB/long rest is where a lot of the new abilities are going, so frightening a few creatures a couple times a day isn't too overbearing. Even the creature limit might not be needed, as it's not likely common for more than 3-4 creatures to fall within a 30' circle, at least in campaigns I've been in. Our DM doesn't usually have our foes cluster up for easy clearing with a fireball or some such.
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
An alternate idea would be to change the aura aspect to a more singular effect, so the warlock chooses one target each time they use their Paralyzing Aura (or maybe Paralyzing Glare?). Ths version would be more akin to getting a free use of the hold monster spell on one creature affected by the Aura of Domination ability. To make it slightly better than just casting the hold monster spell, I'd consider the following:
As a bonus action, you can glare at any creature that is currently frightened by your Aura of Domination. Your gaze is so powerfully intimidating that the targetted creature becomes paralyzed for 1 minute. At the end of each of its turns, the target can make another Wisdom saving throw. On a success, the paralyzing effect ends.
This ability can be used 3 times per long rest.
Changed the aura to a single target, which prevents it being the equivalent of a 9th-level hold monster spell. However, I'd increase it's usage from once every 2-4 days to allow for more utilization (i.e., 3 times daily) as well as make it easier to keep track of... Personally, I'm not a fan of trying to remember how many days need to pass to reuse an ability. The other change that I recommended was make it a bonus action. This change allows the warlock to use the Aura of Domination as an action and follow it up with the paralyzing effect on one creature in the same turn as a bonus action. Slightly better than casting hold monster,but the bonus action aspect doesn't make it much more powerful since the aura already needed to be use.
Plus, I kinda like the visual of the warlock frightening the small band of baddies with the aura and than glaring at one of them and freaking that one in particular out so much that it paralyzes them...
Thank you both. I like both of these ideas a lot, I'll be running them by my player to see what he thinks. This was my first time starting a thread and it was very helpful, thanks again!
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running a campaign with a part of 4, will be going lvl 1-15 for sure, potentially till 20 and beyond.
I'm pretty lenient on homebrewing things, aside for some minor tweaks that may need to be made as we get playing I just need some advice on an ability he wants the subclass to have. I don't want to nerf his character or let it be op.
he's playing a warlock, homebrewing a subclass with a Sphinx as his Patron.
at lvl 6 he gets Aura of Domination
"Your patron grants you a measure of its domineering presence over others. As an action you project this dominance and any creature of your choice within 30 feet and able to hear must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or become frightened for 1 minute. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.
A creature frightened by this ability may roll a a Wisdom save at the end of each of there turns, on a successful save they are no longer frightened. Any creature who succeeds on their saving throw is immune to this ability for the next 24 hours."
I'm fine with this (may adjust the cooldown, proficiency bonus per long rest seems a lot) , the question of balance here is the 14th lvl ability.
Paralyzing Aura
As an action you emit a paralyzing aura, anyone frightened due to Aura of Domination becomes Paralyzed for one minute or until they succeed their saving throw for Aura of Domination. once used you must wait 1d4 long rests (minimum of 2) before using again.
my problem is that once they are frightened by aura of domination, they will for sure be paralyzed the next round, once paralyzed, its pretty much over for that creature. I want to allow the creature a saving throw specifically when he uses paralyzing Aura (maybe change the cooldown if so?) it is lvl 14 though and the cooldown means it won't be used often.
any thoughts or input on if this is balanced or how to make it so would be appreciated.
It doesn't look too overpowered as yet, because the victim should still be allowed to make the save against the fright at the end of their turn (which is immediate due to paralysis. That gives them a save against being paralyzed, so it's again, not too powerful. Monks can try to stunning strike a foe and thus offer a similar debuff, and at much earlier levels.
I kind of get the concern, being an AE effect, maybe you could cap it at 3-4 creatures affected by the aura? I would also consider allowing a roll when paralyzed each time they take damage, as that would possibly jolt them out of it. PB/long rest is where a lot of the new abilities are going, so frightening a few creatures a couple times a day isn't too overbearing. Even the creature limit might not be needed, as it's not likely common for more than 3-4 creatures to fall within a 30' circle, at least in campaigns I've been in. Our DM doesn't usually have our foes cluster up for easy clearing with a fireball or some such.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
An alternate idea would be to change the aura aspect to a more singular effect, so the warlock chooses one target each time they use their Paralyzing Aura (or maybe Paralyzing Glare?). Ths version would be more akin to getting a free use of the hold monster spell on one creature affected by the Aura of Domination ability. To make it slightly better than just casting the hold monster spell, I'd consider the following:
Changed the aura to a single target, which prevents it being the equivalent of a 9th-level hold monster spell. However, I'd increase it's usage from once every 2-4 days to allow for more utilization (i.e., 3 times daily) as well as make it easier to keep track of... Personally, I'm not a fan of trying to remember how many days need to pass to reuse an ability. The other change that I recommended was make it a bonus action. This change allows the warlock to use the Aura of Domination as an action and follow it up with the paralyzing effect on one creature in the same turn as a bonus action. Slightly better than casting hold monster, but the bonus action aspect doesn't make it much more powerful since the aura already needed to be use.
Plus, I kinda like the visual of the warlock frightening the small band of baddies with the aura and than glaring at one of them and freaking that one in particular out so much that it paralyzes them...
Thank you both. I like both of these ideas a lot, I'll be running them by my player to see what he thinks. This was my first time starting a thread and it was very helpful, thanks again!