I would offer the player the option of multiclassing. You might even let them trade in their last level and change it to what they want. So Warlock 11 / XClass 1
Having them do a complete change over is just silly. If you're going to do that, just make a new character. I would impose a 1 level penalty though. I dislike people making sudden changes willy nilly. It can disrupt campaign planning if they don't let you know ahead of time.
I have a player that is offering this plan for swapping. What do you think?
I'd like to continue swapping out Eldritch Knight levels for Ranger levels, but in a way that requires no retconning or pretending things didn't happen. Right now Ghilly is EK6/R1, a 7th level character. 3 levels from now, at 10th level, I'd like to change his progression in the following way...
Here's a breakdown of what the gains and loses are at 10 and 11.
Level 10 Things he loses - one 2nd level spell slot. Things he gains - HP for hitting 10th, Beast Sense bonus spell from R5. Everything else stays the same. Weird, huh?
Level 11 Things he loses - nothing. Things he gains - HP for hitting 11th, Roving from R6, Iron Mind from R7.
Level 12 Things he loses - nothing. Things he gains - HP for hitting 12th, Land Stride from R8
Level 13 (maybe) Things he loses - can't use Shield spell or Mage Armor anymore. Things he gains - HP for hitting 13th, Nature's Veil and Tireless from R10, Stalker's Flurry from R11 This is the only level where there is some narrative necessary as it would mean giving up the wizard spells he got from EK.
You may notice that lack of new feats / ASI improvements. This is because at the same time that he would be losing the Feats he gained at 4 and 6 in EK, he's replacing them with the ones he gets at 4 and 8 with Ranger. I'm reducing feat progression, spell slot progression, and my damage output falls more in line with the rest of the party, all for the sake of character development and ranger/jedi abilities along the new lines.
I have a player that is offering this plan for swapping. What do you think?
I'd like to continue swapping out Eldritch Knight levels for Ranger levels, but in a way that requires no retconning or pretending things didn't happen. Right now Ghilly is EK6/R1, a 7th level character. 3 levels from now, at 10th level, I'd like to change his progression in the following way...
Here's a breakdown of what the gains and loses are at 10 and 11.
Level 10 Things he loses - one 2nd level spell slot. Things he gains - HP for hitting 10th, Beast Sense bonus spell from R5. Everything else stays the same. Weird, huh?
Level 11 Things he loses - nothing. Things he gains - HP for hitting 11th, Roving from R6, Iron Mind from R7.
Level 12 Things he loses - nothing. Things he gains - HP for hitting 12th, Land Stride from R8
Level 13 (maybe) Things he loses - can't use Shield spell or Mage Armor anymore. Things he gains - HP for hitting 13th, Nature's Veil and Tireless from R10, Stalker's Flurry from R11 This is the only level where there is some narrative necessary as it would mean giving up the wizard spells he got from EK.
You may notice that lack of new feats / ASI improvements. This is because at the same time that he would be losing the Feats he gained at 4 and 6 in EK, he's replacing them with the ones he gets at 4 and 8 with Ranger. I'm reducing feat progression, spell slot progression, and my damage output falls more in line with the rest of the party, all for the sake of character development and ranger/jedi abilities along the new lines.
If it is ok with the other players, you don't mind it and the player wants to do it and it will keep him happy because they'd rather play a ranger than an ek then I'd say sure why not. It does give a progression from EK->Ranger that happens over a longer time frame and can be role played. It doesn't seem to be overpowered or driven by a desire for a powerful character but rather for something they would prefer playing (it also assumes that your game will run at least as far a level 12-13). Ultimately, though, it is the DMs call.
P.S. Under the multiclass spellcasting rules - I don't think they lose any spell slots. EK is divided by 3 FRD and Ranger is divided by 2 FRD
Character Level - Caster level
7 - 2nd level spell caster based on EK6 only
8 - 6/3 +2/2 = 3rd level spell caster
9 - 6/3 + 3/2 = 3rd
10 - 5/3 + 5/2 = 3rd
11 - 4/3 + 7/2 = 4th
12 - 3/3 + 9/2 = 5th
13 - 6th level spell caster based on ranger 11 only
So they will never lose any spell slots through this progression though they will be trading wizard spells known for ranger spells known.
I am currently running a campaign that hit its 2 year anniversary. The entire party of 5 just hit level 12. My hexblade warlock, has asked if he could find a way to change his class without changing his character. 2 years is a long time to play a character and A LOT of campaign planning from a DM perspective. Now I can understand not wanting to change characters because there is a significant attachment that players form, and he really likes the backstory and his character arc, so I'm somewhat tempted to let him do it. Level 12 is super late, which is my first concern, but its also my munchkin player, so revoking his warlock powers and familiar and pact weapon wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing as far as balancing goes. His main complaint is that he feels like he is just stuck in the tanking and talking role (which he is, because he's a powergamer) and want's to be able to do other things, that he can't because he's built his warlock as heavy utility and damage.
HOWEVER, there are a few concerns, he wants to potentially switch to cleric, but none of his stats are optimized for a cleric build (WIS 14, CON 14, STR 12), so I don't know if it'd really be all taht fair to just allow him to entirely respec/reroll stats like that. They're all currently trapped in the Feywilds and ensued in a significant power struggle and conflict between the Wyld fae and the Winter Court, so the potential for deal making, pledging fealty, etc. is a possibility. I haven't fully fleshed out a plan or pitched the idea, but I think it could be interesting way to transition classes. I want people to keep having fun, and this seems like a rule of cool type situation for my homebrew campaign.
Anyone have experience with allowing players to change classes without changing characters? Any suggestions on how I could go about working with the stat changes?
Its easy enough he's in the Feywild. Have him meet a hag and have her offer him a bargain, he takes up the bargain and history rewrites itself. I'd allow him to reallocate his stats around but not roll new ones and his patron is now his God, his history has changed. I would also give him some detriment from his past to mess with him for being a bit feckless on how he doesn't want to give up his past and get a new class - essentially he wants to have his cake and eat it to. Put in an ex girlfriend who wants child support at least 33% of his earnings and have a mock fey court issue the ruling forcing 33% of his coin to go to his half-orc baby Gerda for example. Its the Feywild you can have some fun.
I'd mention there would be negative consequences for his actions but you'd allow it, if he wants a brand new character it will be a lot easier to work with.
I'd like to add one thing to the (great) suggestions you have already gotten:
Invite the player to consider whether they will regret this. I've seen this: Player builds a tank because they want to be optimally effective in combat. Player sees that other characters have the occasional out-of-combat fun or situational success, so they get envious (grass on the other side it always greener...). Player decides they want to play around with magic and non-combat skills to, so they respec.. Player becomes less effective in combat and is frustrated and misses their original built...
Explain that they can't have it all and ask them to think long and hard whether this is what they actually want.
If they still do, give it to them. Perhaps give them some side-quest or other requirement in order to get it. If your campaign story is not time-sensitive I would even suggest asking the entire party to take 2 years of downtime while the player "trains" in their new class. The others also get to do something during that downtime. Maybe even start a familiy, run a business, get fame, etc.
i don't know if this was said but deities have power to radically change someone. and if you get lycanthropy you get skills upped if they can be (for instance a werecreature may go up to 15 dex if the character wasn't already) taking these to facts from rules as written you could homebrew a favor from a deity to change his class and some of his stats without changing the character so much. the same could also be said of fae lords or demon lords. course that would likely have a trade or catch of sometime
also something i forgot to mention that a lot of people tend to forget. he doesn't need to worship a god to get clerical powers. its the power of belief he has that grants him those powers. as such he could believe in death so much that he would possibly become a death domain cleric. no need to worship a god if he didnt want too. on the other hand it doesn't have to be a god he worships. if he wants to he can worship his old patron
Interestingly I sw this happen in episode 9 of Tales of Aneria last night. They were only level 4 though I think. The way the DM did it was very clever. I don't think it would work more than once in a campaign without becoming trite but still. I was really impressed.
What about a switch to the cleric-adjacent Celestial Warlock? Switching patrons would make for some interesting RP, and wouldn't require a total rebuild of the character.
I'd consider it if the character design didn't work. Like if you started playing the character and the class seemed like it would work, but it didn't fit the concept. I'd even allow it at an advanced level like 12. It's sometimes hard to visualise what a character will play like at that level.
However, in this case, I'd say that powergamers are less likely to be acting in good faith. However, maybe he's just bored of the class as he says. If you trust your players, I'd recommend that you just let him switch over to a "new character", completely revising his stats and whatnot, under the condition of final approval for the character. If the proposed character looks like a good faith attempt to make a character that isn't designed to exploit, then I would allow them to do so. However, as stated by others, this would also set the precedent for other players to alter their characters, which is a risk you have to willingly take on universally, or not at all.
Yep I would allow it, and have, we talked it through with the table first, the player was a barbarian and was getting bored with the hitting and tanking aspects, but loved his characters back story and where it was heading (this kept him going longer then he probably would have as the class). We had a long talk and determined that switching sub class would not affect his feelings. he wanted to switch to Druid, which worked for the party makeup as well, we talked about having a sibling come into the campaign and a character swap but he loved the story arc that was his characters and the way his character felt, we talked about convoluted story ideas to make the change happen, but in the end we just had him roll a new character at the same level we swapped out magic items for equivalent strength and type and then waited for a suitable session for us to make the switch (not mid combat or anything like that) the other players where all very happy with the decision and we just handwaved it away. His barbarian was fairly wise as a person anyway, and he could continue roleplaying it the same way as he had his barbarian.
That solution won't work for all parties and all tables, it worked in that specific example because the players are not hardcore roleplayers and don't get into that aspect of the game as others do preferring to hit stuff and do everything in the 3rd person. I wouldn't automatically do that every time but, i would try and find a way to accomodate the player while staying fair to the table. Sometimes after a while players get a bit bored, especially if they are fairly one dimensional in what they can do in combat. His barbarian was the tank, run in, take hits, fight in melee and stay up so the other characters can do fancy fun stuff. He was getting bored of that after 2 years, we didn't see another way of making his character more rounded and keep it viable.
I would say if it works for tour table just do it, but, as always with TTRPG's discuss it out of game with the table, give them a heads up and make sure everyone else is happy, they might have a different idea for it.
As an aside have you looked at the new healing warlock in Tashas Cauldron? might be an option for a subclass switch out, gives him healing ability should allow him to maintain his stats, might just need a slight tweak as opposed to a complete rebuild.
If everyone is bored of their characters, then IMO it is time to end the campaign and start a new one with new characters.
I would have no problem with a player saying "I don't want to play a Warlock anymore" and making a completely new character to replace the old one. That is fine, IMO. Happens all the time. But to keep the character and just have him forget his levels, change all stats, etc., is extremely meta-gamey. I'd allow it if everyone else could do it, but again, as a DM, I'd say my preference at this point is to start a whole new campaign rather than to have everyone just 'respec' their entire character.
To me (and this is just my preference), IC-ness and verisimilitude are extremely important, and I find a level 12 Warlock "just becoming" a level 12 Cleric and all his stats swapping around, to be verisimilitude-breaking.
I guess I would offer the table the following choices, if I were the DM:
Option 1 - Warlock-boy is unhappy with Warlock but everyone else wants to maintain status quo. In this case, Warlock-boy makes up a new PC, perhaps someone from the Feywild, and his old PC chooses to leave the party, perhaps to stay forever in the Feywild and pursue other things, whatever the player wants. His manner of exit is up to him, the new PC joins up, and the rest of the campaign continues as normal.
Option 2 - Warlock can multiclass into cleric. Nothing special needs to be done other than the basic "I am worshipping X god now" RP. All other players are allowed to multi-class if they want (I assume this is true).
Option 3 - Everyone wants to make new PCs... OK, we try to wrap this campaign up as quickly as possible, depending on how much patience people have to get it to come to a conclusion, and then we start a new campaign with new PCs. Personally, I would invite nominations for who gets to DM next, but if you want to keep DMing that's fine, time to start working on a new campaign, new setting, etc.
Option 1 is the simplest and most straightforward. If he wants to change his class, let him. The Feywild is a mysterious place, and is explored by a broad spectrum of creatures. It's safe to say that the party met up with the new character while wandering through the Feywild, and the old character left them. It just seems weird for someone to want to change their stats but not their character. Really hard to flesh out a story out of a high-level warlock instantly losing all warlock abilities and becoming a high-level cleric. If he really wants to change his class, just allow him to switch his character entirely.
If the whole party is bored, it's probably not their characters, but the game. Notice that subtle sign and try to make the game more interesting for your players. That's the role of a DM; to make sure everyone is having fun. You don't need to start a new campaign, but you should find a way that would keep your players motivated to play the current adventure. Do not end the whole campaign just because of ONE player wanting to change his class. Like I stated earlier, if all players are losing interest, you should take that into account and alter the adventure so player's will have more fun.
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Brains over brawn? Mind over matter? These canny warriors rightly answer, "Why not both?" - Tasha
I honestly hate this response, all it does it make the player not want to play or at the worst they'll look for reasons to kill off the character. also looking to force players into playing certain roles is infuriating. In my experience this will lead to players leaving groups
I think your player is confused about what he wants so maybe talking to him about what he wants from the game might be beneficial. It doesn’t do to allow him to change his class, have him stat up another one-trick pony, and then get bored again.
He’s stuck tanking and facing because he “powergamed” himself into those roles by sacrificing a lot of lateral versatility for concentrated performance in a few areas. I do notice that “powergamers” tend to do that a lot without really understanding the ramifications of the trade-offs during character level ups and creation. Changing his class won’t change this. He’ll just paint himself into a different corner.
A hexblade doesn’t have to be stuck with Cha skills and AC/HP only. He can let his Beguiling Influence invocation take care of the Cha skills, and then reorient his class skills into Investigation, Arcana, or History. His Background could have sported things like Thieves’ Tool’s and Stealth. The Skilled feat gets a lot of bad rap, but it does give you a lot of leeway into expanding your role into other places.
He may be getting bored with the mechanics. Expanding his roles can allow him to try out other challenges without having to change his class. Just allow him to change a feat and change his Background to Feylost. Being able to track and guide the party through the hazards of the Feywild as a sort of magical “half-ranger” could be something he might enjoy. But really, you should ask him what he wants out of the game.
Maybe you could suggest to him to just change subclasses? Tasha's Caldron of Everything added a new feature that lets players change subclasses. This can be a new way for them to stop being a tank, without changing classes.
Have the Raven queen or whatever their patron is say I need you to spread my message more than just wack stuff ,so I'm going to make you wiser and a little less charismatic your now going to be my cleric now go forth and spread my word. Congrats your now a death ,twilight or whatever domain cleric what are you doing next ?Well your going to Disney world. That's honestly how I would handle it. Well minus Disney world thing that was a joke. Switch their charsima stat with wisdom and race bonus so they can cast spells as a cleric .
i'd allow it. imo, you'd just be adding tension as you're then forcing them to play something they don't really want to play. Besides, rebuilding at any time is an official rule in AL.
seriously...it doesn't matter...let them play what they want to play.
I’ve not had to do this in a campaign myself but have seen it done very well in several scenarios. My favorite is to essentially sacrifice the character as part of the narrative and afford them a ‘second chance’ where they are changed at a fundamental level. They do have to earn this - they should likely have a game or two with limited abilities (you can communicate this to the player out of game). I.e. they have to be pious enough in following their desired deity to give up the gifts given them through their Warlock class. By doing this and then providing some suitability heroic situation for them to demonstrate their dedication to their desired deity they can make some sort of sacrifice - it could be character death, or it could be simply a tough decision they make that aligns to their deities domains/teachings or whatever. In making that sacrifice (whatever you deem worthy) they are offered (via some divine messenger NPC) a choice - continue along the path they were on, or accept the gifts of their deity and dedicate themselves to a ‘new life’. If they opt to dedicate themselves they get to swap one stat and redistribute any ability increases that occurred at Level 4/8/12. They do NOT get to totally respec but this affords some modifications… if they took certain Feats instead of Ability increases they are stuck with those Feats (if feeling kind with some of the magic based ones you could allow them to adjust from CHA based to WIS based if desired).
Ultimately you get to define this as part of your narrative - they could just multiclass as an alternative but if they want true re-classing there are some hurdles to overcome, IMO. Good luck with whatever you decide!!!
You sound like most teachers: over-valuing the consistency of Rules instead of recalling the focus of this game is to make up stories together.
As shocking as it may be, the DM is not the Patron in this relationship - they're the Warlock, empowered by the players for so long as they entertain & amuse them. If the Warlock/DM failes to entertain or engage, the Patrons/Players revoke their power.
I would offer the player the option of multiclassing. You might even let them trade in their last level and change it to what they want. So Warlock 11 / XClass 1
Having them do a complete change over is just silly. If you're going to do that, just make a new character. I would impose a 1 level penalty though. I dislike people making sudden changes willy nilly. It can disrupt campaign planning if they don't let you know ahead of time.
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I have a player that is offering this plan for swapping. What do you think?
I'd like to continue swapping out Eldritch Knight levels for Ranger levels, but in a way that requires no retconning or pretending things didn't happen. Right now Ghilly is EK6/R1, a 7th level character. 3 levels from now, at 10th level, I'd like to change his progression in the following way...
07 = EK6/R1 (current)
08 = EK6/R2
09 = EK6/R3
10 = EK5/R5
11 = EK4/R7
12 = EK3/R9
13 = EK2/R11 (maybe)
Here's a breakdown of what the gains and loses are at 10 and 11.
Level 10
Things he loses - one 2nd level spell slot.
Things he gains - HP for hitting 10th, Beast Sense bonus spell from R5.
Everything else stays the same. Weird, huh?
Level 11
Things he loses - nothing.
Things he gains - HP for hitting 11th, Roving from R6, Iron Mind from R7.
Level 12
Things he loses - nothing.
Things he gains - HP for hitting 12th, Land Stride from R8
Level 13 (maybe)
Things he loses - can't use Shield spell or Mage Armor anymore.
Things he gains - HP for hitting 13th, Nature's Veil and Tireless from R10, Stalker's Flurry from R11
This is the only level where there is some narrative necessary as it would mean giving up the wizard spells he got from EK.
You may notice that lack of new feats / ASI improvements. This is because at the same time that he would be losing the Feats he gained at 4 and 6 in EK, he's replacing them with the ones he gets at 4 and 8 with Ranger. I'm reducing feat progression, spell slot progression, and my damage output falls more in line with the rest of the party, all for the sake of character development and ranger/jedi abilities along the new lines.
-TNVic
@TNVic@dice.camp
If it is ok with the other players, you don't mind it and the player wants to do it and it will keep him happy because they'd rather play a ranger than an ek then I'd say sure why not. It does give a progression from EK->Ranger that happens over a longer time frame and can be role played. It doesn't seem to be overpowered or driven by a desire for a powerful character but rather for something they would prefer playing (it also assumes that your game will run at least as far a level 12-13). Ultimately, though, it is the DMs call.
P.S. Under the multiclass spellcasting rules - I don't think they lose any spell slots. EK is divided by 3 FRD and Ranger is divided by 2 FRD
Character Level - Caster level
7 - 2nd level spell caster based on EK6 only
8 - 6/3 +2/2 = 3rd level spell caster
9 - 6/3 + 3/2 = 3rd
10 - 5/3 + 5/2 = 3rd
11 - 4/3 + 7/2 = 4th
12 - 3/3 + 9/2 = 5th
13 - 6th level spell caster based on ranger 11 only
So they will never lose any spell slots through this progression though they will be trading wizard spells known for ranger spells known.
Its easy enough he's in the Feywild. Have him meet a hag and have her offer him a bargain, he takes up the bargain and history rewrites itself. I'd allow him to reallocate his stats around but not roll new ones and his patron is now his God, his history has changed. I would also give him some detriment from his past to mess with him for being a bit feckless on how he doesn't want to give up his past and get a new class - essentially he wants to have his cake and eat it to. Put in an ex girlfriend who wants child support at least 33% of his earnings and have a mock fey court issue the ruling forcing 33% of his coin to go to his half-orc baby Gerda for example. Its the Feywild you can have some fun.
I'd mention there would be negative consequences for his actions but you'd allow it, if he wants a brand new character it will be a lot easier to work with.
I'd like to add one thing to the (great) suggestions you have already gotten:
Invite the player to consider whether they will regret this. I've seen this: Player builds a tank because they want to be optimally effective in combat. Player sees that other characters have the occasional out-of-combat fun or situational success, so they get envious (grass on the other side it always greener...). Player decides they want to play around with magic and non-combat skills to, so they respec.. Player becomes less effective in combat and is frustrated and misses their original built...
Explain that they can't have it all and ask them to think long and hard whether this is what they actually want.
If they still do, give it to them. Perhaps give them some side-quest or other requirement in order to get it. If your campaign story is not time-sensitive I would even suggest asking the entire party to take 2 years of downtime while the player "trains" in their new class. The others also get to do something during that downtime. Maybe even start a familiy, run a business, get fame, etc.
i don't know if this was said but deities have power to radically change someone. and if you get lycanthropy you get skills upped if they can be (for instance a werecreature may go up to 15 dex if the character wasn't already) taking these to facts from rules as written you could homebrew a favor from a deity to change his class and some of his stats without changing the character so much. the same could also be said of fae lords or demon lords. course that would likely have a trade or catch of sometime
also something i forgot to mention that a lot of people tend to forget. he doesn't need to worship a god to get clerical powers. its the power of belief he has that grants him those powers. as such he could believe in death so much that he would possibly become a death domain cleric. no need to worship a god if he didnt want too. on the other hand it doesn't have to be a god he worships. if he wants to he can worship his old patron
Interestingly I sw this happen in episode 9 of Tales of Aneria last night. They were only level 4 though I think. The way the DM did it was very clever. I don't think it would work more than once in a campaign without becoming trite but still. I was really impressed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isW7CA9zZ0c
What about a switch to the cleric-adjacent Celestial Warlock? Switching patrons would make for some interesting RP, and wouldn't require a total rebuild of the character.
I'd consider it if the character design didn't work. Like if you started playing the character and the class seemed like it would work, but it didn't fit the concept. I'd even allow it at an advanced level like 12. It's sometimes hard to visualise what a character will play like at that level.
However, in this case, I'd say that powergamers are less likely to be acting in good faith. However, maybe he's just bored of the class as he says. If you trust your players, I'd recommend that you just let him switch over to a "new character", completely revising his stats and whatnot, under the condition of final approval for the character. If the proposed character looks like a good faith attempt to make a character that isn't designed to exploit, then I would allow them to do so. However, as stated by others, this would also set the precedent for other players to alter their characters, which is a risk you have to willingly take on universally, or not at all.
Yep I would allow it, and have, we talked it through with the table first, the player was a barbarian and was getting bored with the hitting and tanking aspects, but loved his characters back story and where it was heading (this kept him going longer then he probably would have as the class). We had a long talk and determined that switching sub class would not affect his feelings. he wanted to switch to Druid, which worked for the party makeup as well, we talked about having a sibling come into the campaign and a character swap but he loved the story arc that was his characters and the way his character felt, we talked about convoluted story ideas to make the change happen, but in the end we just had him roll a new character at the same level we swapped out magic items for equivalent strength and type and then waited for a suitable session for us to make the switch (not mid combat or anything like that) the other players where all very happy with the decision and we just handwaved it away. His barbarian was fairly wise as a person anyway, and he could continue roleplaying it the same way as he had his barbarian.
That solution won't work for all parties and all tables, it worked in that specific example because the players are not hardcore roleplayers and don't get into that aspect of the game as others do preferring to hit stuff and do everything in the 3rd person. I wouldn't automatically do that every time but, i would try and find a way to accomodate the player while staying fair to the table. Sometimes after a while players get a bit bored, especially if they are fairly one dimensional in what they can do in combat. His barbarian was the tank, run in, take hits, fight in melee and stay up so the other characters can do fancy fun stuff. He was getting bored of that after 2 years, we didn't see another way of making his character more rounded and keep it viable.
I would say if it works for tour table just do it, but, as always with TTRPG's discuss it out of game with the table, give them a heads up and make sure everyone else is happy, they might have a different idea for it.
As an aside have you looked at the new healing warlock in Tashas Cauldron? might be an option for a subclass switch out, gives him healing ability should allow him to maintain his stats, might just need a slight tweak as opposed to a complete rebuild.
Option 1 is the simplest and most straightforward. If he wants to change his class, let him. The Feywild is a mysterious place, and is explored by a broad spectrum of creatures. It's safe to say that the party met up with the new character while wandering through the Feywild, and the old character left them. It just seems weird for someone to want to change their stats but not their character. Really hard to flesh out a story out of a high-level warlock instantly losing all warlock abilities and becoming a high-level cleric. If he really wants to change his class, just allow him to switch his character entirely.
If the whole party is bored, it's probably not their characters, but the game. Notice that subtle sign and try to make the game more interesting for your players. That's the role of a DM; to make sure everyone is having fun. You don't need to start a new campaign, but you should find a way that would keep your players motivated to play the current adventure. Do not end the whole campaign just because of ONE player wanting to change his class. Like I stated earlier, if all players are losing interest, you should take that into account and alter the adventure so player's will have more fun.
Brains over brawn? Mind over matter? These canny warriors rightly answer, "Why not both?" - Tasha
My Homebrews: Monsters, Magic Items, Spells, Races
Rhulg- Hobgoblin Gunsmith
I honestly hate this response, all it does it make the player not want to play or at the worst they'll look for reasons to kill off the character. also looking to force players into playing certain roles is infuriating. In my experience this will lead to players leaving groups
I think your player is confused about what he wants so maybe talking to him about what he wants from the game might be beneficial. It doesn’t do to allow him to change his class, have him stat up another one-trick pony, and then get bored again.
He’s stuck tanking and facing because he “powergamed” himself into those roles by sacrificing a lot of lateral versatility for concentrated performance in a few areas. I do notice that “powergamers” tend to do that a lot without really understanding the ramifications of the trade-offs during character level ups and creation. Changing his class won’t change this. He’ll just paint himself into a different corner.
A hexblade doesn’t have to be stuck with Cha skills and AC/HP only. He can let his Beguiling Influence invocation take care of the Cha skills, and then reorient his class skills into Investigation, Arcana, or History. His Background could have sported things like Thieves’ Tool’s and Stealth. The Skilled feat gets a lot of bad rap, but it does give you a lot of leeway into expanding your role into other places.
He may be getting bored with the mechanics. Expanding his roles can allow him to try out other challenges without having to change his class. Just allow him to change a feat and change his Background to Feylost. Being able to track and guide the party through the hazards of the Feywild as a sort of magical “half-ranger” could be something he might enjoy. But really, you should ask him what he wants out of the game.
Maybe you could suggest to him to just change subclasses? Tasha's Caldron of Everything added a new feature that lets players change subclasses. This can be a new way for them to stop being a tank, without changing classes.
Have the Raven queen or whatever their patron is say I need you to spread my message more than just wack stuff ,so I'm going to make you wiser and a little less charismatic your now going to be my cleric now go forth and spread my word. Congrats your now a death ,twilight or whatever domain cleric what are you doing next ?Well your going to Disney world. That's honestly how I would handle it. Well minus Disney world thing that was a joke. Switch their charsima stat with wisdom and race bonus so they can cast spells as a cleric .
i'd allow it. imo, you'd just be adding tension as you're then forcing them to play something they don't really want to play. Besides, rebuilding at any time is an official rule in AL.
seriously...it doesn't matter...let them play what they want to play.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
I’ve not had to do this in a campaign myself but have seen it done very well in several scenarios. My favorite is to essentially sacrifice the character as part of the narrative and afford them a ‘second chance’ where they are changed at a fundamental level. They do have to earn this - they should likely have a game or two with limited abilities (you can communicate this to the player out of game). I.e. they have to be pious enough in following their desired deity to give up the gifts given them through their Warlock class. By doing this and then providing some suitability heroic situation for them to demonstrate their dedication to their desired deity they can make some sort of sacrifice - it could be character death, or it could be simply a tough decision they make that aligns to their deities domains/teachings or whatever. In making that sacrifice (whatever you deem worthy) they are offered (via some divine messenger NPC) a choice - continue along the path they were on, or accept the gifts of their deity and dedicate themselves to a ‘new life’. If they opt to dedicate themselves they get to swap one stat and redistribute any ability increases that occurred at Level 4/8/12. They do NOT get to totally respec but this affords some modifications… if they took certain Feats instead of Ability increases they are stuck with those Feats (if feeling kind with some of the magic based ones you could allow them to adjust from CHA based to WIS based if desired).
Ultimately you get to define this as part of your narrative - they could just multiclass as an alternative but if they want true re-classing there are some hurdles to overcome, IMO.
Good luck with whatever you decide!!!
I would recommend multiclassing it tells you about it in the players handbook.
1E had a druid spell that could reincarnate a dead pc, but with a chance for the soul to come back as a different race/class.
You sound like most teachers: over-valuing the consistency of Rules instead of recalling the focus of this game is to make up stories together.
As shocking as it may be, the DM is not the Patron in this relationship - they're the Warlock, empowered by the players for so long as they entertain & amuse them. If the Warlock/DM failes to entertain or engage, the Patrons/Players revoke their power.
So stop power-tripping, try to focusing on what's going to help the player/student in front of you right now, because "equality" & "fairness" ain't the same thing. https://byrebeccamichelle.com/2016/08/22/fair-is-not-equal/