Hey guys, so I know I'm being a bit ambitious here, as I'm still newer to the DM scene, but I'm starting a campaign in March that I'm really excited about. However, the Homebrew class I'm working on is feeling a little... off. If any of you have advice or suggestions, please let me know. I would appreciate it if you would try to be considerate in how you word things! I realise some of my players may be on here, but I also know I can trust them, so I'm going into a little more detail on this. So on to the class.
The premise of the campaign, set in the forgotten realm, is that there is a door in the middle of a farmer's field, no place it seems to lead to, just a door. It appeared about a year ago in this small village, that resides between Candlekeep and the Woods of Sharp Teeth on the sword coast. No one who has gone through the door has come back out, but there are rumors that there are amazing treasures, riches, and knowledge behind it. The village has seen an influx of adventurers and treasure seekers, and has begun to grow, recently renaming itself Doorshold, and this is where the characters meet, all finding their own reasons for venturing through the door. Once they enter the door though, they find themselves in a hall that is full of more doors, and at the furthest end a grandfather clock that is ticking to an irregular rhythm. Upon looking behind them, they realise that the door they came through has disappeared.
Basically, each door leads to a different place, and while I'm researching the different planes and such(as it will come in to play with the story) I needed a reason for them to be doors that lead to different planes, worlds, and so on so forth. So I created a backstory(which I would love to discuss if anyone finds themselves interested) and had this idea for a new class. They are similar to Planewalker but they have key differences. So far, I am calling them Waymages.
They are beings who were brought between planes while in the womb, and as such are born with odd abilities. These abilities lie dormant until the being in question is feeling threatened or trapped, and then their powers manifest. With no training(level 0), their, for lack of a better term, wild magic, is that whenever they open a door, it can lead absolutely anywhere. The door stays open between 3-60 minutes(three d-20) and then closes and reverts back to its original destination.
With training, the waymage can start to control where they are going, how the door manifests, and how long the "way" stays open. Highest level and you can even create a door from nothing. Controlled waymage magic will mean the doors stay linked permanently, until they reach a certain level and can close it purposefully. With me so far?
Anyway, the little that I have written down about class levels are just scribbles, and I'm trying to refine them a bit, but I can't stop thinking about the class in terms of the story!
I have that at level 3, they can create a door that is big enough for a hand to fit in and link it to a cubby they have placed magic on before. It is usually used as a control training method, and typically used for a sort of mailbox between the waymage and whoever opens the door to the cubby. Otherwise they have to use their skills on a ready made door.
At level four, they have a vague control over where the door goes, such as if it goes to the outer realms, the astral planes or the material planes.
The only other thing I have is that at level 20, they can create and/or link doors to anywhere that they have either been, or have sufficient knowledge of. The also are able to link doors to their will, such as only appearing on one plane(door in the field) but not on the other(no door in the hall). If their life force begins to wane, then so does their link to the door.
What do you guys think? Is it doable? What recommendations or words of caution do you have on this? This is homebrew and more focused on creativity than traditional rules, but I'd still like it to make sense.Since I am having such a hard time not working on this from a story perspective, I'd value advice from a clearer point of view! Thanks all!
It sounds to me as though it should be a sorcerer subclass. That would mean that it gets (powerful) abilities at 1st, 6th, 14th, and 18th levels, which you can, of course, make scale with sorcerer level.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
It sounds to me as though it should be a sorcerer subclass.
While I agree that the magic source does sound exactly like it should be a sorcerer from a storytelling perspective, I'm not sure the mechanical execution matches very well. Many of the spells I would expect this character to get simply aren't on the sorcerer spell list (Rope Trick, Leomund's Secret Chest, Passwall, Drawmij's Instant Summons, Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion, Demiplane, Maze, etc). On the other hand, the class DOES want something like the Wild Magic Surge table that triggers whenever the character opens a door, as opposed to casting a spell.
kuregarose3, the abilities you described lend themselves almost exclusively to utility and exploration. How would a character of this class fight in combat?
It sounds to me as though it should be a sorcerer subclass.
While I agree that the magic source does sound exactly like it should be a sorcerer from a storytelling perspective, I'm not sure the mechanical execution matches very well. Many of the spells I would expect this character to get simply aren't on the sorcerer spell list (Rope Trick, Leomund's Secret Chest, Passwall, Drawmij's Instant Summons, Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion, Demiplane, Maze, etc). On the other hand, the class DOES want something like the Wild Magic Surge table that triggers whenever the character opens a door, as opposed to casting a spell.
So, Expanded Spell List a la warlock?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Not sure yet. The npc I'm planning on using this for is very low level and i would like virtually useless in fight bit good for story purposes, but that would be a more personality thing. I'm open to suggestion though! I was thinking of warping the plainswalker stats but it still doesn't seem quite right. These suggestions are great though!
Not sure yet. The npc I'm planning on using this for is very low level and i would like virtually useless in fight bit good for story purposes, but that would be a more personality thing. I'm open to suggestion though! I was thinking of warping the plainswalker stats but it still doesn't seem quite right. These suggestions are great though!
Oh, if this is just for an NPC and not a player character option, forcing it to have combat relevant abilities is a lot less important. TBH in that case you could just have a template that you increase the power of at story-appropriate intervals instead of a full class.
At level four, they have a vague control over where the door goes, such as if it goes to the outer realms, the astral planes or the material planes.
To do this, depending on how much work you want to put into table creation, you could have separate tables for each planar grouping and let them choose which one to roll on starting at level 4 (possibly requiring sorcery points to do so?)
Custom ritual to prevent door surge from activating on a specific door.
Cubby is basically a personal bag of holding with scaling capacity.
Possible sorcery point options (Metadoormagic): Keep a door open longer or close it earlier, forcibly draw a creature through the door, roll multiple times and choose one, prevent the door from triggering, open door near a specific creature/object/location (more points = more accurate)
It sounds to me as though it should be a sorcerer subclass. That would mean that it gets (powerful) abilities at 1st, 6th, 14th, and 18th levels, which you can, of course, make scale with sorcerer level.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
While I agree that the magic source does sound exactly like it should be a sorcerer from a storytelling perspective, I'm not sure the mechanical execution matches very well. Many of the spells I would expect this character to get simply aren't on the sorcerer spell list (Rope Trick, Leomund's Secret Chest, Passwall, Drawmij's Instant Summons, Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion, Demiplane, Maze, etc). On the other hand, the class DOES want something like the Wild Magic Surge table that triggers whenever the character opens a door, as opposed to casting a spell.
kuregarose3, the abilities you described lend themselves almost exclusively to utility and exploration. How would a character of this class fight in combat?
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
Not sure yet. The npc I'm planning on using this for is very low level and i would like virtually useless in fight bit good for story purposes, but that would be a more personality thing. I'm open to suggestion though! I was thinking of warping the plainswalker stats but it still doesn't seem quite right. These suggestions are great though!
And I really like the idea of having a table similar to the wild magic surge!
DM: "You come to a perfectly ordinary door."
Waymage: "I open the door."
Party: "Nooooo! Not again!"
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)