So my current campaign is ending soon and my players are beginning to draft characters for the next one. One of my players wants to play Matt Mercer's Bloodhunter. I love the class (from a player's view) cause its really cool but I have some concerns balance-wise about letting it in the game.
1st of all, it definitely fits the setting so that's not a concern
What I'm worried about is the sheer damage output of ghostslayer (the subclass he's planning on playing). If I'm understanding this right, BH buffs themselves by taking damage = to their rite die. They then add the rite die to weapon attacks. Simple
Ghostslayer gives them a special rite that says "add AN ADDITIONAL" rite die to damage. So does this mean at level 1 with a long sword, they're doing 1d8+str +2d4 rite ? and the ghost slayer brand at level 11(I think) has them adding ANOTHER ANOTHER rite die to branded targets? So this means their doing 3 dice extra damage PER HIT while only having to take 1 die of damage to buff (Which is negligible at higher levels).
I feel like in terms of damage, he will easily outshine most other players... But idk, am i missing something?
On the other hand, I've also noticed that damage is ALL they do. So non-combat encounters kinda serve as a balance for it? Like they're not particularly useful (compared to others) out of combat which kinda makes up for the hella damage they do IN combat. That and as the DM I like his character idea and want it in there lol
But I know the people in my group can get a bit competitive when it comes to combat prowess. They don't fight eachother, they just all wanna be the MVP of each fight and I feel like he'll outshine here
idk guys, am I missing something? I've never had a BH in practice so idk if they're as dank as they seem on paper. I wanna let 'em in but I don't wanna unbalance players!
Ghostslayer gives them a special rite that says "add AN ADDITIONAL" rite die to damage. So does this mean at level 1 with a long sword, they're doing 1d8+str +2d4 rite ?
The Rite of Dawn only adds the extra die to targets that are Undead.
and the ghost slayer brand at level 11(I think) has them adding ANOTHER ANOTHER rite die to branded targets? So this means their doing 3 dice extra damage PER HIT while only having to take 1 die of damage to buff (Which is negligible at higher levels).
Again, the first extra die only applies to targets that are Undead. So an Undead creature that had been afflicted by the Brand of Castigation would take 3 dice worth of damage, while any other creature in the same situation will only take 2 dice of damage. This also requires that you have already hit that creature once before in order to apply the Brand of Castigation in the first place.
I think that everything official is allowed, unless it doesn't match with your setting (artificers are the most common violators here)
From what I've heard, blood hunter and artificer may be a little strong, but far from game-breaking
Blood Hunter isn't official. It's basically a (well-regarded) homebrew class that D&D Beyond have posted on their site. It has not appeared in anything Wizards has published. (Not saying the OP shouldn't use it if they like, just clarifying.)
Moreover, only what the DM says is allowed is what's allowed, no matter where it is published.
I think just about any class combo can output a ton of damage. Here is an example. A fighter/pally in my group at level 20 is pushing nearly 400 points of damage in a round at times.
I think that everything official is allowed, unless it doesn't match with your setting (artificers are the most common violators here)
From what I've heard, blood hunter and artificer may be a little strong, but far from game-breaking
Blood Hunter isn't official. It's basically a (well-regarded) homebrew class that D&D Beyond have posted on their site. It has not appeared in anything Wizards has published. (Not saying the OP shouldn't use it if they like, just clarifying.)
Moreover, only what the DM says is allowed is what's allowed, no matter where it is published.
Just to clarify, for my latest game the limitations were this: All official stuff? Yes. UA+Blood hunter? Yes. Artificer? No one had eberron, but yes in theory. Gunslinger+firearms? No, sorry.
Most of the players were noobs, so I specified that while I allowed all this stuff, some DMs will not. Good points, I agree that outside of the context of a home game (AL for example) the views on blood hunter especially are much more varied
I think that everything official is allowed, unless it doesn't match with your setting (artificers are the most common violators here)
From what I've heard, blood hunter and artificer may be a little strong, but far from game-breaking
Blood Hunter isn't official. It's basically a (well-regarded) homebrew class that D&D Beyond have posted on their site. It has not appeared in anything Wizards has published. (Not saying the OP shouldn't use it if they like, just clarifying.)
Moreover, only what the DM says is allowed is what's allowed, no matter where it is published.
While I agree that it's up to the DM what is and isn't allowed, I'd say the Bloodhunter is a grey area. WotC have clearly given Matt Mercer their stamp of approval as a D&D official creator, since they published the Exandria book. Exandria is Matt Mercer's world, not an otherwise established WotC setting. Further, D&D:B is in a pretty tightly regulated relationship with WotC, and still carry both the Bloodhunter (which was even updated not that long ago based on feedback) as well as the Gunslinger subclass for Fighter.
It may not, strictly speaking, be completely official, but I'd say you're reaching a bridge too far by saying WotC isn't willing to allow Mercer's prior content as much as they can (some of his older classes/subclasses have disputed ownership/distribution).
From what I've seen in play, Blood Hunters are actually quite weak. They can keep up with other martials when it comes to damage, but their own rites hurt them enough that they feel really squishy for a martial class.
Be sure to have a cleric or someone with healing magic ready. :-)
Thanks all for replying! I think i just misread a bit of their ability and thought they did more damage than they actually do!
But for those who have had them in their campaign, does the damage they do to themselves REALLY affect them? I feel like past level 5 or so, 1danything won't feel like too much.
regardless, I think I'll allow them in the campaign!
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So my current campaign is ending soon and my players are beginning to draft characters for the next one. One of my players wants to play Matt Mercer's Bloodhunter. I love the class (from a player's view) cause its really cool but I have some concerns balance-wise about letting it in the game.
1st of all, it definitely fits the setting so that's not a concern
What I'm worried about is the sheer damage output of ghostslayer (the subclass he's planning on playing). If I'm understanding this right, BH buffs themselves by taking damage = to their rite die. They then add the rite die to weapon attacks. Simple
Ghostslayer gives them a special rite that says "add AN ADDITIONAL" rite die to damage. So does this mean at level 1 with a long sword, they're doing 1d8+str +2d4 rite ? and the ghost slayer brand at level 11(I think) has them adding ANOTHER ANOTHER rite die to branded targets? So this means their doing 3 dice extra damage PER HIT while only having to take 1 die of damage to buff (Which is negligible at higher levels).
I feel like in terms of damage, he will easily outshine most other players... But idk, am i missing something?
On the other hand, I've also noticed that damage is ALL they do. So non-combat encounters kinda serve as a balance for it? Like they're not particularly useful (compared to others) out of combat which kinda makes up for the hella damage they do IN combat. That and as the DM I like his character idea and want it in there lol
But I know the people in my group can get a bit competitive when it comes to combat prowess. They don't fight eachother, they just all wanna be the MVP of each fight and I feel like he'll outshine here
idk guys, am I missing something? I've never had a BH in practice so idk if they're as dank as they seem on paper. I wanna let 'em in but I don't wanna unbalance players!
The Rite of Dawn only adds the extra die to targets that are Undead.
Again, the first extra die only applies to targets that are Undead. So an Undead creature that had been afflicted by the Brand of Castigation would take 3 dice worth of damage, while any other creature in the same situation will only take 2 dice of damage. This also requires that you have already hit that creature once before in order to apply the Brand of Castigation in the first place.
Thank you! I totally missed that little bit about undead. That's a pretty big game changer lol
I suppose I will let him be BH then! Which is good cause he has a cool character concept ready lol
I think that everything official is allowed, unless it doesn't match with your setting (artificers are the most common violators here)
From what I've heard, blood hunter and artificer may be a little strong, but far from game-breaking
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
Blood Hunter isn't official. It's basically a (well-regarded) homebrew class that D&D Beyond have posted on their site. It has not appeared in anything Wizards has published. (Not saying the OP shouldn't use it if they like, just clarifying.)
Moreover, only what the DM says is allowed is what's allowed, no matter where it is published.
I think just about any class combo can output a ton of damage. Here is an example. A fighter/pally in my group at level 20 is pushing nearly 400 points of damage in a round at times.
Just to clarify, for my latest game the limitations were this: All official stuff? Yes. UA+Blood hunter? Yes. Artificer? No one had eberron, but yes in theory. Gunslinger+firearms? No, sorry.
Most of the players were noobs, so I specified that while I allowed all this stuff, some DMs will not. Good points, I agree that outside of the context of a home game (AL for example) the views on blood hunter especially are much more varied
Proud poster on the Create a World thread
While I agree that it's up to the DM what is and isn't allowed, I'd say the Bloodhunter is a grey area. WotC have clearly given Matt Mercer their stamp of approval as a D&D official creator, since they published the Exandria book. Exandria is Matt Mercer's world, not an otherwise established WotC setting. Further, D&D:B is in a pretty tightly regulated relationship with WotC, and still carry both the Bloodhunter (which was even updated not that long ago based on feedback) as well as the Gunslinger subclass for Fighter.
It may not, strictly speaking, be completely official, but I'd say you're reaching a bridge too far by saying WotC isn't willing to allow Mercer's prior content as much as they can (some of his older classes/subclasses have disputed ownership/distribution).
From what I've seen in play, Blood Hunters are actually quite weak. They can keep up with other martials when it comes to damage, but their own rites hurt them enough that they feel really squishy for a martial class.
Be sure to have a cleric or someone with healing magic ready. :-)
Thanks all for replying! I think i just misread a bit of their ability and thought they did more damage than they actually do!
But for those who have had them in their campaign, does the damage they do to themselves REALLY affect them? I feel like past level 5 or so, 1danything won't feel like too much.
regardless, I think I'll allow them in the campaign!