Hello! Even though I've used the site for a long time, this is my first thread on the D&D Beyond forums, so I hope I'm doing everything right.
I'm currently working on a subclass for the Artificer which grants a player the ability to store a defeated creature's soul, in a way similar to what a lich would use to store their soul. The main goal is to have a subclass which specializes in summoning creatures they've defeated and having them help you, similar to something like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh.
This is my first time publishing a subclass, so I'd love to hear any feedback to make it balanced and flavorful.
I only gave it a first quick look, but I can already tell you I love the idea and concept, I think this is a great subclass. Tho, in my opinion, the subclass start to be overpowered at lvl 5, as you get 3 protohylacterie, so up to 3 summon. given the potential power of each summon, and how important the action economy is, this seems way too strong, especially as later, at 9th level, each protophylacterie can hold multiple souls (level 9 you could have up to 16 creatures under your command, all up to CR 9, this is insanely broken).
I love the concept, and the idea that this character will be different in each setting (due to different creatures) is pretty awesome!
Some suggestions:
Add a caveat saying that creatures without souls (such as constructs) cannot have their souls stolen. Make it a DM thing - "if in doubt, ask the DM before expending a slot".
In both Soul Captor and Ghostly Command, add "against your spell save DC" to the saves the creatures can make, for clarity.
Add a caveat that souls do not get their legendary or lair actions, as these are built in to make these creatures more of a challenge for parties (expecting them to be solo).
consider changing Protophylactry Savant to allow you to add proficiency to your spell save DC to prevent creatures souls escaping your control. Then have a class feature that allows you to increase the number of protophylactries you can make by 1 each time you would get an ASI, so it's a choice to make and doesn't end up with a horde of creature souls to command. That, or limit it to 1 active creature soul at a time.
clarify how challenge ratings work with souls in protophylacteries. At level 5 you can have 3 of them with a CR 5 soul in each, and then at level 9 (soul storage) you limit the total to your artificer level. - is it meant to be a total of your artificer level in each protophylactery, or over all of them?
Apart from the ability to dodge death (at some inconvenience), I don't see the benefit of the Phylactery over the protophylacteries. You have the option of 4-5 protophylacteries, each of which can summon creatures which are identical to how they were in life but are undead and incorporeal when moving, vs the ability to summon the same one repeatedly (with significant delays) without the benefits of incorporeality. Whilst it will let you keep a pet alive, it's a significant downgrade from potentially having a horde of 60 kobolds at 15th level (CR 1/4) which can walk through walls!
All in all, I love it, and it's really got legs, but I think it needs a few more limits, and the final phylactery needs some work - perhaps allowing you to consume stored souls to return to life would be an option? So you can choose between using them offensively or spending them to not die?
I've updated some of the wording so it's clear the saving throw is against your spell save DC (thanks ThorukDuckSlayer!)
I'm adding a line on the Soul Captor:
A creature without a soul, such as a construct, is unaffected by your soul captor.
For the 5th level feature, I'm changing the wording so that the combined CRs of all stored souls cannot exceed your Artificer level. Thanks EleKTriiK and ThorukDuckSlayer! Change in bold:
Protophylactery Savant
5th-level Phylacterist feature
You gain the ability to create a number of protophylacteries equal to your proficiency bonus. The combined challenge ratings of the souls stored in all your protophylacteries cannot exceed your artificer level.
For the full phylactery, I'm thinking of adding the following lines:
If a creature already has a phylactery, such as a lich or dracolich, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or be captured in your phylactery.
A soul captured in the phylactery is bound to it until you decide to release it, and does not have the opportunity to make a saving throw to release itself from your command.
I want to make the phylactery an attractive option for capturing a single high-level creature rather than having a small army of lower-level creatures at your command using protophylacteries, though I'm not sure I'm there yet.
One thing which I've just realised, is the intention that you can only have one soul active per protophylactery? I know that Soul Storage is limited by proficiency bonus but at level 9 you have 4 phylacteries storing up to 4 souls each, so 16 souls with a total CR of 9, which is a fair old horde! I imagine it more to be for the purposes of having choice rather than volume!
Also, as a note for the exception you have on Constructs, perhaps also add "creatures with multiple souls, such as swarms". Then perhaps allow "Soul Storage" to also allow swarms to be stored, but filling a protophylactery rather than sharing with others? so up to proficiency bonus or a single swarm.
One thing which I've just realised, is the intention that you can only have one soul active per protophylactery? I know that Soul Storage is limited by proficiency bonus but at level 9 you have 4 phylacteries storing up to 4 souls each, so 16 souls with a total CR of 9, which is a fair old horde! I imagine it more to be for the purposes of having choice rather than volume!
This is part of why I set it so that each soul requires a full action to release; unless you have haste applied to you or you have multiple actions on a single turn, you're only going to be able to get a single soul out on your turn. That makes it difficult to get too many out during a single encounter unless it's a very long one, like a boss fight. That seems okay to me, but maybe it needs some tweaking to work better? I imagine playtesting would reveal some cracks in that.
Also, as a note for the exception you have on Constructs, perhaps also add "creatures with multiple souls, such as swarms". Then perhaps allow "Soul Storage" to also allow swarms to be stored, but filling a protophylactery rather than sharing with others? so up to proficiency bonus or a single swarm.
This is a really good note! Having a swarm take up an entire protophylactery seems like a good solution to it.
That's a good point on the actions, and releasing a horde would probably have half the horde disappear by escaping your control before you had them all out!
I think it's fine then, just needs to be playtested!
Hello! Even though I've used the site for a long time, this is my first thread on the D&D Beyond forums, so I hope I'm doing everything right.
I'm currently working on a subclass for the Artificer which grants a player the ability to store a defeated creature's soul, in a way similar to what a lich would use to store their soul. The main goal is to have a subclass which specializes in summoning creatures they've defeated and having them help you, similar to something like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh.
This is my first time publishing a subclass, so I'd love to hear any feedback to make it balanced and flavorful.
You can view it here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/999855-phylacterist
Thank you!
I only gave it a first quick look, but I can already tell you I love the idea and concept, I think this is a great subclass. Tho, in my opinion, the subclass start to be overpowered at lvl 5, as you get 3 protohylacterie, so up to 3 summon. given the potential power of each summon, and how important the action economy is, this seems way too strong, especially as later, at 9th level, each protophylacterie can hold multiple souls (level 9 you could have up to 16 creatures under your command, all up to CR 9, this is insanely broken).
Feel free to check out my hombrew: Magic Item, Spell, Monster, Race, Feat, Subclass, and Background. More detail in my Homebrew Compendium.
If you have any comments, suggestions, or ways to improve my homebrew, tell me, I'm always looking to improve!
Map commission Here.
I love the concept, and the idea that this character will be different in each setting (due to different creatures) is pretty awesome!
Some suggestions:
All in all, I love it, and it's really got legs, but I think it needs a few more limits, and the final phylactery needs some work - perhaps allowing you to consume stored souls to return to life would be an option? So you can choose between using them offensively or spending them to not die?
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread - latest release; the Harvest Sprite, a playable Jack-o-Lantern Race!
Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: The College of Fisticuffs Bard!
I also dabble in art on here (my art thread)
This is great feedback. Thanks!
I've updated some of the wording so it's clear the saving throw is against your spell save DC (thanks ThorukDuckSlayer!)
I'm adding a line on the Soul Captor:
For the 5th level feature, I'm changing the wording so that the combined CRs of all stored souls cannot exceed your Artificer level. Thanks EleKTriiK and ThorukDuckSlayer! Change in bold:
For the full phylactery, I'm thinking of adding the following lines:
I want to make the phylactery an attractive option for capturing a single high-level creature rather than having a small army of lower-level creatures at your command using protophylacteries, though I'm not sure I'm there yet.
Looks much more balanced now - good job!
One thing which I've just realised, is the intention that you can only have one soul active per protophylactery? I know that Soul Storage is limited by proficiency bonus but at level 9 you have 4 phylacteries storing up to 4 souls each, so 16 souls with a total CR of 9, which is a fair old horde! I imagine it more to be for the purposes of having choice rather than volume!
Also, as a note for the exception you have on Constructs, perhaps also add "creatures with multiple souls, such as swarms". Then perhaps allow "Soul Storage" to also allow swarms to be stored, but filling a protophylactery rather than sharing with others? so up to proficiency bonus or a single swarm.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread - latest release; the Harvest Sprite, a playable Jack-o-Lantern Race!
Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: The College of Fisticuffs Bard!
I also dabble in art on here (my art thread)
This is part of why I set it so that each soul requires a full action to release; unless you have haste applied to you or you have multiple actions on a single turn, you're only going to be able to get a single soul out on your turn. That makes it difficult to get too many out during a single encounter unless it's a very long one, like a boss fight. That seems okay to me, but maybe it needs some tweaking to work better? I imagine playtesting would reveal some cracks in that.
This is a really good note! Having a swarm take up an entire protophylactery seems like a good solution to it.
That's a good point on the actions, and releasing a horde would probably have half the horde disappear by escaping your control before you had them all out!
I think it's fine then, just needs to be playtested!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread - latest release; the Harvest Sprite, a playable Jack-o-Lantern Race!
Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: The College of Fisticuffs Bard!
I also dabble in art on here (my art thread)
Okey doke, here's an updated version of the subclass with the above adjustments.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/1003627-phylacterist
Always happy to receive any additional feedback!