I probably should have brought this up earlier. I voted day one but I saw that not all the links were working. I see that most of them are now but the way of four elements isn't. That means that some people who voted probably didn't read through everything first.
Also should it be required that all the entries be made with the dnd beyond homebrew system? I feel like the cool part of this competition is finding stuff to add to your game. Also it makes the entries way easier to go through. I weighted a lot of things heavier because the formatting was well done.
Also should it be required that all the entries be made with the dnd beyond homebrew system? I feel like the cool part of this competition is finding stuff to add to your game. Also it makes the entries way easier to go through. I weighted a lot of things heavier because the formatting was well done.
Maybe for the PC and DM categories, but that's not feasible for the Inspirational category, since it's not for DDB-homebrew-able stuff.
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Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Also should it be required that all the entries be made with the dnd beyond homebrew system? I feel like the cool part of this competition is finding stuff to add to your game. Also it makes the entries way easier to go through. I weighted a lot of things heavier because the formatting was well done.
I dont think so. Personally, I find it more convenient to type out my ideas in Google Drive. By posting the idea either with a link to a google doc OR by copy-and-pasting it into a comment in the thread, it is very easy for me to update my entry before voting begins without having to make an entirely new version with D&D Beyond's system. This allows me to make small grammatical corrections or small changes without much effort.
Plus, not all of the ideas people come up with for item/subclass/feat mechanics can be easily codified into D&D Beyond's system. If you wanted to try a new idea for a particular mechanic, you could still type it out in a D&D Beyond entry, but none of the tools would support in way that people could use it easily.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
The 4 Elements link is fixed now. When did other links not work? I just made it so that some links linked to DDB entries, others to the respective post within the thread, for those who did not provide a link to a DDB entry for their homebrew.
I agree with Kaboom979 regarding the DDB system. This is especially important when it comes to brewing subclasses, as DDB just does not allow us to publish subclasses with subclass spells that are not in the SRD, making it unusable for most caster subclasses if you want to actually give them thematic, useful spells.
Yeah I can see how making it a requirement to be on ddb would be troublesome. I guess I would just prefer if all the subclasses were in ddb.
Four elements definitely wasn't working but I thought that when I voted the first time I couldn't find everything. Maybe it was just linked to the wrong comment or I couldn't find it easily. Maybe I'm wrong I just remember going through the comments and tracking 1 or 2 down myself.
Thanks for fixing my entry link! It was the only one I didn't click on since I was already familiar. :)
Personally, I think it's worth it to make a subclass with the DDB restrictions and then add an Author's Note or something with suggested tweaks/substitutions for those with paid content.
Oh yeah, I keep forgetting to ask you all: What do you think of my entries for this contest (Primal Elf and the Orb of Winter's Fury)? In both balance and theming/creativity, how are they?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Oh yeah, I keep forgetting to ask you all: What do you think of my entries for this contest (Primal Elf and the Orb of Winter's Fury)? In both balance and theming/creativity, how are they?
I liked the Primal Elf but thought the last feature would be best if it wasn't an option and was just one thing. The race is kind of combining the Genasi traits with the shifter traits from ebberon. From a balance perspective, I think it's adding a lot to combine the attributes of two races into one.
I liked the flavor though and I could see where those features fit
For the orb I graded it lower because it kind of gives you every single cold/ice/snow spell and it has a lot of charges. I think this would benefit as well from simplifying. I think magic items work best when they compliment a certain playstyle not when they are the playstyle. It would probably work better if every spell cost one or two charges and it had a maximum of 10. You'd effectively get the same balance out of that if you weighed them right.
That being said I think you should take all the abilities in the orb and make it into a sorcerer subclass. Make all the spells part of an expanded spell list and then make the other features things you get when you level up. I think there is a huge hole in elemental sorcerers. We only have 1 and it is extremely underwhelming. I would absolutely be excited for a winter sorcerer and I think you have enough of the groundwork here to make one.
I liked the Primal Elf but thought the last feature would be best if it wasn't an option and was just one thing. The race is kind of combining the Genasi traits with the shifter traits from ebberon. From a balance perspective, I think it's adding a lot to combine the attributes of two races into one.
I liked the flavor though and I could see where those features fit
(I'm gonna assume you're talking about Natural Adaptation when you say "last feature" instead of Languages ;-).)
Are you saying that when you get the feature, you choose once and you're done with it, instead of switching on every long rest? I'm not exactly sure what you were saying and that's my best guess. If so, I pretty much agree, from a balance standpoint, but the flavor of it (to me at least) outweighs the slight balance concern.
I also definitely agree that the race's features are borderline excessive, if not simply too much. I took out Trance to partially compensate, but maybe removing the innate spellcasting too (or maybe just taking off the level 5 spell or otherwise nerfing it) would bring it more in line with the power level of published races.
For the orb I graded it lower because it kind of gives you every single cold/ice/snow spell and it has a lot of charges. I think this would benefit as well from simplifying. I think magic items work best when they compliment a certain playstyle not when they are the playstyle. It would probably work better if every spell cost one or two charges and it had a maximum of 10. You'd effectively get the same balance out of that if you weighed them right.
Okay, I wasn't expecting that, but it totally makes sense, and I agree. Even without the spells, it would be a very potent item. I'm pretty sure, though, that the number of charges a magic item requires for a spell dictates what level it is cast at in the character sheet, so I'm not sure how changing them all to 1-3 charges would work out.
Thanks for the feedback!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
And so, I can gratulate MilesToGo, Scatterbraind and Kaboom979for winning the respective categories with a tie between MilesToGo and scatterbraind in the PC category.
Also, our overall winner is MilesToGo with an average of 3.81 points!
And so, I can gratulate MilesToGo, Scatterbraind and Kaboom979for winning the respective categories with a tie between MilesToGo and scatterbraind in the PC category.
Also, our overall winner is MilesToGo with an average of 3.81 points!
Me, just now realizing that winning means I have to set up a new CotFB:
And so, I can gratulate MilesToGo, Scatterbraind and Kaboom979for winning the respective categories with a tie between MilesToGo and scatterbraind in the PC category.
Also, our overall winner is MilesToGo with an average of 3.81 points!
Me, just now realizing that winning means I have to set up a new CotFB:
Oh, sorry. That was an unfortuate typo. *eats garlic* I will fix it shortly. *farts*. :-P
Also, I just realized, I posted the poll one day too early... :-D
Less than a week left to vote! Make sure to take the time to look over all the excellent entries before March 1st!
I voted when it was first posted, but sadly I cannot look at the current totals. Cant wait to see how it turns out
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
I probably should have brought this up earlier. I voted day one but I saw that not all the links were working. I see that most of them are now but the way of four elements isn't. That means that some people who voted probably didn't read through everything first.
Also should it be required that all the entries be made with the dnd beyond homebrew system? I feel like the cool part of this competition is finding stuff to add to your game. Also it makes the entries way easier to go through. I weighted a lot of things heavier because the formatting was well done.
Maybe for the PC and DM categories, but that's not feasible for the Inspirational category, since it's not for DDB-homebrew-able stuff.
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
I dont think so. Personally, I find it more convenient to type out my ideas in Google Drive. By posting the idea either with a link to a google doc OR by copy-and-pasting it into a comment in the thread, it is very easy for me to update my entry before voting begins without having to make an entirely new version with D&D Beyond's system. This allows me to make small grammatical corrections or small changes without much effort.
Plus, not all of the ideas people come up with for item/subclass/feat mechanics can be easily codified into D&D Beyond's system. If you wanted to try a new idea for a particular mechanic, you could still type it out in a D&D Beyond entry, but none of the tools would support in way that people could use it easily.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
The 4 Elements link is fixed now. When did other links not work? I just made it so that some links linked to DDB entries, others to the respective post within the thread, for those who did not provide a link to a DDB entry for their homebrew.
I agree with Kaboom979 regarding the DDB system. This is especially important when it comes to brewing subclasses, as DDB just does not allow us to publish subclasses with subclass spells that are not in the SRD, making it unusable for most caster subclasses if you want to actually give them thematic, useful spells.
Yeah I can see how making it a requirement to be on ddb would be troublesome. I guess I would just prefer if all the subclasses were in ddb.
Four elements definitely wasn't working but I thought that when I voted the first time I couldn't find everything. Maybe it was just linked to the wrong comment or I couldn't find it easily. Maybe I'm wrong I just remember going through the comments and tracking 1 or 2 down myself.
Thanks for fixing my entry link! It was the only one I didn't click on since I was already familiar. :)
Personally, I think it's worth it to make a subclass with the DDB restrictions and then add an Author's Note or something with suggested tweaks/substitutions for those with paid content.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Only a few hours left to vote, then you will know who has won this iteration of the contest! :-)
Oh yeah, I keep forgetting to ask you all: What do you think of my entries for this contest (Primal Elf and the Orb of Winter's Fury)? In both balance and theming/creativity, how are they?
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Can't wait!
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
I liked the Primal Elf but thought the last feature would be best if it wasn't an option and was just one thing. The race is kind of combining the Genasi traits with the shifter traits from ebberon. From a balance perspective, I think it's adding a lot to combine the attributes of two races into one.
I liked the flavor though and I could see where those features fit
For the orb I graded it lower because it kind of gives you every single cold/ice/snow spell and it has a lot of charges. I think this would benefit as well from simplifying. I think magic items work best when they compliment a certain playstyle not when they are the playstyle. It would probably work better if every spell cost one or two charges and it had a maximum of 10. You'd effectively get the same balance out of that if you weighed them right.
That being said I think you should take all the abilities in the orb and make it into a sorcerer subclass. Make all the spells part of an expanded spell list and then make the other features things you get when you level up. I think there is a huge hole in elemental sorcerers. We only have 1 and it is extremely underwhelming. I would absolutely be excited for a winter sorcerer and I think you have enough of the groundwork here to make one.
(I'm gonna assume you're talking about Natural Adaptation when you say "last feature" instead of Languages ;-).)
Are you saying that when you get the feature, you choose once and you're done with it, instead of switching on every long rest? I'm not exactly sure what you were saying and that's my best guess. If so, I pretty much agree, from a balance standpoint, but the flavor of it (to me at least) outweighs the slight balance concern.
I also definitely agree that the race's features are borderline excessive, if not simply too much. I took out Trance to partially compensate, but maybe removing the innate spellcasting too (or maybe just taking off the level 5 spell or otherwise nerfing it) would bring it more in line with the power level of published races.
Okay, I wasn't expecting that, but it totally makes sense, and I agree. Even without the spells, it would be a very potent item. I'm pretty sure, though, that the number of charges a magic item requires for a spell dictates what level it is cast at in the character sheet, so I'm not sure how changing them all to 1-3 charges would work out.
Thanks for the feedback!
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Results
DM Option: Eternal Frost
PC Options: Primeval Wrath
Inspirational Options: Forgotten Cultures
And so, I can gratulate MilesToGo, Scatterbraind and Kaboom979 for winning the respective categories with a tie between MilesToGo and scatterbraind in the PC category.
Also, our overall winner is MilesToGo with an average of 3.81 points!
Me, just now realizing that winning means I have to set up a new CotFB:
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXVIII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
Congrats to everyone, and here’s the Competition of the Finest Brews VII
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXVIII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
The Competition of the Finest ‘Brews IX is now officially underway! Good luck everyone!!
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
yes....yes....YESSSSSS
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!