"Greetings, foundlings, and salutations! You have decided to enter the mystical halls of the Brews, where you might learn some most astonishing mysteries and solve the most tangled of puzzles. Your task is to present us with something we haven't seen before, and have it make us look upon it with delight. You have but a few tendays to create your product and show it to us, so we suggest you get to work!"
- Meyonmon Merridith, Ex-Candlekeep Scholar
The purpose of this thread is to spread a little bit of fun in the form of a friendly competition! Your task: Create an item of homebrew (see below) that is totally original and makes us go “wow!” The end products will be rated by members of the community, and the victor will create the next Finest ‘Brew contest! The previous contests are linked below:
All competitions thus far have contained a multitude of spectacular and inspired entries, so I suggest you check them out if you haven't already. Now, onto the important stuff:
Timeframe
Entries must be submitted before midnight (EST) on Sunday December 11th to be considered part of the competition.
Contest Categories
In each Finest Brew contest, there are three categories. These are so that people with skill in creating, say, monsters, don't end up stuck having to make dungeons. Each category is judged separately. There can only be one entrance per category per account. The category types are as follows:
DM Options: Things such as magic items, monsters, terrain, and traps.
PC Options: Things such as classes, subclasses, spells, feats, or race/lineage options.
Inspirational Options: Things such as dungeons/encounters, stories, puzzles and random tables - or even character builds.
This time, our category themes are:
DM Options: Lovecraftian Horror
What lurks in the space just beyond your peripheral vision, across the borders of madness and comprehension? For this category, we want to see mind-wrenching cosmic horrors. Cults, Rituals, soul-eatingdemons from nightmare dimensions, as long as it's incomprehensibly terrifying, it's lovecraftian. (This theme was picked by Gh0styy).
PC Options: The Fungus Among Us
mushrooms, fungi, spores... spread them, raise spore servants, infest other beings with vile diseases and exert your will upon them, bring rot and blight, create wondrous magical and psionic effects... The world rots, and Fungus remains. Make for us your best fungal creations and Spore-Spells. (This theme was picked bySemako).
Inspirational Options: Stretching the Fourth Wall
In many games, there are references and inside-jokes for the players to enjoy. For the Inspirational options, design something that the players might recognise, but their characters won't. It could be a chance encounter with a notable movie character, or a dungeon from a film or book, or a character build inspired by something outside of D&D. Have fun guessing each others! (This theme was picked byThorukDuckSlayer).
Voting
Voting will start Monday December 12th (or thereabouts, once the survey is made) and will end at noon (EST) on Monday December 26th. A Google Forms poll for each category will be posted on this thread, and all may vote on it - including contestants. However, while a contestant can vote on other people's homebrew in the forms, they must not vote on their own. Scores are assigned using a numerical value from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
Changes to Voting: After discussing with the participants and category winners of the previous competition, we have decided to try a small change to how voting works for this iteration and see how it goes. Instead of assigning a single vote, each entry will receive two numerical scores, Balance/Playability, and Idea/Creativity.
Balance/Playability - This score is about how well the entry would run in game. If this entry is overpowered or underpowered, consider subtracting points. Also, consider subtracting points if it is poorly written or unclear, since that would make it a lot harder to understand and use in game.
Idea/Creativity- This score is about cool, interesting and unique the entry is. If someone's idea does not fit well into the contest category it is submitted for, consider subtracting points.
Written Feedback - You have the option to give written feedback, should you choose, for any entries on the forms. Written feedback does not factor into a contestants score.
We are hoping that by giving everyone more criteria to vote on for each entry, you will think about each aspect and not feel the need to cram all of your thoughts into a single number. We are also hoping that having multiple scores contribute to the total will make ties less likely to occur.
Please try to take the time to review and vote for every entry, except for your own, in the categories you vote in, as even one vote can easily sway a competition like this. If there's anything you feel very strongly about, also feel free to review it in the thread! Reviews won't count for anything, but it's nice to get feedback!
Determining Winners
Each of the two final scores will be added together to constitute the entry's total score, with the highest score determining the winner of each category.
The entry with the highest score across the three categories will then be coronated as the contest winner and become the judge of the next competition. To clarify, this means that the highest of the 3 high scores is the winner. However, if one person wins two or more categories, they win.
If two or more entries are tied for highest score, the contestant with the highest overall score for all of their entries will take the crown - so be sure to enter them all to win a tiebreaker!
The winner of each individual category will pick the theme for that category in the next competition. If there is a tie, then they can work together to come up with a theme. If you pick the theme for a category, then you cannot compete in it in the next competition.
Guides & Mini-FAQ*
WAIT! Before you see the 5th level Wall of Text in this FAQ’s* & Guides section, and decide not to submit to the competition because you don’t want to read it, remember that reading this section is COMPLETELY OPTIONAL. You do not need to read any of this to submit something for the competition, to pick a category, or to become the next judge. This is merely a helpful tool if you’re confused. You have no obligation to read or use it!
Guide for Competition & Category Winners.
Competition Winnner: The competition winner becomes the next judge, they are responsible for doing the following:
They must start a private message thread between all the other category winners to figure out what themes the next categories will have. The judge must also pick the themes for all the categories they won. When possible, it is best to avoid reusing the same theme for the same category multiple times, though repeating themes for the same categories will be unavoidable eventually.
The judge must start the next competition thread. They can copy & paste most information from the previous competition thread, but must change the relevant information, such as dates and category themes. If you are the next judge and don’t know how long a given part of the competition, such as voting, should last, then just look at how long it lasted in the last competition, and have it be the same length for your competition. The judge should also update the “Contestants” section of their competition with links to each entry, and the name of the user who submitted it.
Once the time to submit entries ends, the judge is responsible for starting the google form for voting. If a judge doesn’t know how to do this, there will most likely be someone from the previous competition who would be willing to help if asked.
The judge should remove troll votes if there are any, and announce the scores and winners of the previous competition, after voting ends. It’s alright not to be able to do this immediately after voting ends, but the judge should try to do it as quickly as they can.
The judge, just like any other category winner, cannot submit anything to a category they created, or significantly impacted the creation of.
Category Winners: A category winner must do the following:
They must pick the next competition's theme for the category they won. Other category winners can help advise you or give you ideas for the theme, but ultimately, it’s up to you to pick it. The judge should start a private message thread with you and the other category winners, and that’s where you tell them your next category idea.
If you pick a category's theme, you cannot participate in it in the next competition. In addition, if you played a very, very significant role in picking another category’s theme, it is best for you not to participate in it. For example, if another contestant gives a list of their five ideas for the next competition and lets you pick it, then you probably shouldn’t participate in that category for when that theme comes up. However, if you just say something like, “Ooh, that sounds like a cool category idea,” or, “I like that idea but it is a little confusing, maybe you could word it differently?” Then you didn’t play that significant of a role in choosing that category, so you can still participate in it.
Mini FAQ* for competition contestants:
Q. Wait, how do I submit?
A. You just make a post in the competition thread with either a link to your entry, or your entry typed out in it. It helps to add what category you’re submitting to, but it is not strictly necessary since it’s pretty easy to figure out what type of category the entry is for.
Q. Can you vote on your own submission?
A. As described in the “Voting” section of this competition, you cannot vote on any of your own entries. Simply act as if they didn’t exist on the forms, you can still vote for everyone else’s submissions. This is an honor rule, since there is no way to enforce this, but we trust that contestants will do their best not to break this rule.
Q. Where can I find the forms for voting?
A. When the competition submission time ends, voting will start soon. You vote on a google form. The judge should link the forms near the voting section when they’re up, and they will probably also make a post on the thread announcing that voting’s started with the link.
Q. Can I have multiple submissions in the same competition?
A. Yes, you can have multiple submissions for the same competition. HOWEVER, as described in the “Contest Categories” section of this competition, you can only have one entry per a category. For example, you can make something for the DM’s Options, PC Options, and Inspirational Options, but you can't make two things for PC Options and one for DM’s.
Q. I’ve already submitted something for X category, can I change my submission for it?
A. Yes, you can change your submission for a specific category as long as the deadline for submissions has not yet been reached. Do remember that if you’re changing your sumission, it is best to edit your original post with your first submission to say that it is obsolete, and necessary to make a new one to announce & link your new submission. Also, do keep in mind that it does create a bit more work for the judges when you edit your submission, because they have to update the links. However, it is alright to do so.
Q. Is written feedback optional and does it effect an entries score?
A. Yes, written feedback is optional. No, it does not effect an entries score.
Q. Is the scoring by total score, or by average score?
A. The scoring is done by average score. Were it done by total score, it would effectively force people to give themselves a 0 if they followed the honor rule of not voting for their own entry should they vote. Due to this, voting is done by average score instead.
Q. HP Lovecraft, a long-deceased man from a bygone era, was sexist and racist, and this either offends me, or makes me think that I can be sexist and/or racist in my entry. Should I voice this opinion, or include such topics in my entry?
A. No! For the first one, that is not the aspect of HP lovecraft's writing that we intend to explore, and you know it. For the second, please avoid posting anything further on the internet, because there is never a justification for this!
Cool! The DM and PC categories aren't really my usual style, and Inspirational submissions are by far the hardest, I'm not sure I'll be submitting this time around. We'll see if I can come up with anything; in the meantime, I look forward to seeing what the rest of you create!
Join the Competition of the Finest 'Brews XIX!(Or just spectate and vote, that's cool too. Either way, go there. It's awesome, and it'll be even more awesome if you join.)
*internal conflict noises* Having just finished reading Mistborn Era 1 for the first time, I really want to find a way to create a D&D version of Allomancy for the Inspirational category.... I don't think I'll do it, since I realize that there are probably plenty of people here who wouldn't have the context for it, but it would be so cool....
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Join the Competition of the Finest 'Brews XIX!(Or just spectate and vote, that's cool too. Either way, go there. It's awesome, and it'll be even more awesome if you join.)
Behold, before you open the link, here's an important disclaimer: I went all-in on making it as otherworldly, as horrifying as possible. If you want to read it, you do so at your own risk, I won't be responsible for any sanity damage you might take.
And here it is, a little excursion into the nightmares of a beholder. The Beholdragon.
Very cool categories! We'll see how much I'll actually be able to make...
:)
Q. HP Lovecraft, a long-deceased man from a bygone era, was sexist and racist, and this either offends me, or makes me think that I can be sexist and/or racist in my entry. Should I voice this opinion, or include such topics in my entry?
A. No! For the first one, that is not the aspect of HP lovecraft's writing that we intend to explore, and you know it. For the second, please avoid posting anything further on the internet, because there is never a justification for this!
This part made me crack up so hard fhat I was unable to stop laughing for several minutes. But you are right that it needs to be said.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explainHERE.
*internal conflict noises* Having just finished reading Mistborn Era 1 for the first time, I really want to find a way to create a D&D version of Allomancy for the Inspirational category.... I don't think I'll do it, since I realize that there are probably plenty of people here who wouldn't have the context for it, but it would be so cool....
As long as you provide context, then it should fit in just fine! Nothing said it had to be the most well known of things, and provided your group knows it, then it will work! Go for your passions!
Very cool categories! We'll see how much I'll actually be able to make...
:)
Q. HP Lovecraft, a long-deceased man from a bygone era, was sexist and racist, and this either offends me, or makes me think that I can be sexist and/or racist in my entry. Should I voice this opinion, or include such topics in my entry?
A. No! For the first one, that is not the aspect of HP lovecraft's writing that we intend to explore, and you know it. For the second, please avoid posting anything further on the internet, because there is never a justification for this!
This part made me crack up so hard fhat I was unable to stop laughing for several minutes. But you are right that it needs to be said.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny. Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
OHOHOHOHOOOOO THIS SHOULD BE FUN. I already have an idea for the PC option—basically Spores Druid but a Ranger subclass instead. Might homebrew some specific spells for it too!! Gonna have to keep tossing around ideas for the DM option, but the Underdark does canonically exist in my setting because there's an important Deep Gnome NPC walking around the starting city, so maybe I'll make a monster that could fit in there!! We'll see 🤷♀️ And omg, literally my first character was just Scarlet Witch but a Tiefling Warlock, I feel so called out XD I look forward to reading everyone's entries!!!
Edit: SPOOKY FUNGUS SORCERER
Edit 2: I'M GONNA BASE THE CLASS FEATURES OFF OF DIFFERENT MUSHROOMS
*internal conflict noises* Having just finished reading Mistborn Era 1 for the first time, I really want to find a way to create a D&D version of Allomancy for the Inspirational category.... I don't think I'll do it, since I realize that there are probably plenty of people here who wouldn't have the context for it, but it would be so cool....
I totally would, and would love that. It may not get many votes, btu if you create that i will almost definitely use it. Journey before destination my friend
Behold, before you open the link, here's an important disclaimer: I went all-in on making it as otherworldly, as horrifying as possible. If you want to read it, you do so at your own risk, I won't be responsible for any sanity damage you might take.
And here it is, a little excursion into the nightmares of a beholder. The Beholdragon.
Behold, before you open the link, here's an important disclaimer: I went all-in on making it as otherworldly, as horrifying as possible. If you want to read it, you do so at your own risk, I won't be responsible for any sanity damage you might take.
And here it is, a little excursion into the nightmares of a beholder. The Beholdragon.
you don't do statblocks halfway do you?
No, I always like more complex monsters and statblocks with more options. Do you like it, is it horrifying enough? :-)
Also, this statblock actually is quite a bit shorter than for examle Juiblex's, but kinda bloated by the eye rays, just like a regular beholder's statblock.
*internal conflict noises* Having just finished reading Mistborn Era 1 for the first time, I really want to find a way to create a D&D version of Allomancy for the Inspirational category.... I don't think I'll do it, since I realize that there are probably plenty of people here who wouldn't have the context for it, but it would be so cool....
I totally would, and would love that. It may not get many votes, btu if you create that i will almost definitely use it. Journey before destination my friend
Two parts of the reason for my hesitation are that (1) it wouldn't be complete, since I only know what 14 of the metals are, and (2) some of the metals would never see the light of day (the light of stomach-fire?) - especially
malatium, aluminum,
and gold. Plus, the mechanical effectiveness of, say, steel/iron and
duralumin
would be really hard to implement balanced-ly but still with a useful effect. Steel and iron can be amazingly useful in the books, but in D&D they'd only be amazingly situational.
These are my thoughts on how implementing the different mental would go:
Pewter, tin, brass, and atium would be farily simple to implement (though atium could easily be waaay overpowered, but that fits; pewter would become the dominant metal because it would be powerful in a useful way and fairly easy to obtain).
Copper and bronze would be pretty easy but nearly useless, unless you're running a stealth/assassination/heist mission.
Steel and iron would be hard to make effective but easy to implement if you just go by exactly what they do.
Zinc, the temporal metals aside from atium, and the enhancement metals would be hard, and most would be pretty useless. Like seriously, who's gonna burn [that one metal]?
Anyway, I'll try to come up with stuff....
Edit: if any of what I said was inaccurate, then... oops. It's just what I know of what's been revealed so far.
Join the Competition of the Finest 'Brews XIX!(Or just spectate and vote, that's cool too. Either way, go there. It's awesome, and it'll be even more awesome if you join.)
*internal conflict noises* Having just finished reading Mistborn Era 1 for the first time, I really want to find a way to create a D&D version of Allomancy for the Inspirational category.... I don't think I'll do it, since I realize that there are probably plenty of people here who wouldn't have the context for it, but it would be so cool....
I totally would, and would love that. It may not get many votes, btu if you create that i will almost definitely use it. Journey before destination my friend
Two parts of the reason for my hesitation are that (1) it wouldn't be complete, since I only know what 14 of the metals are, and (2) some of the metals would never see the light of day (the light of stomach-fire?) - especially
malatium, aluminum,
and gold. Plus, the mechanical effectiveness of, say, steel/iron and
duralumin
would be really hard to implement balanced-ly but still with a useful effect. Steel and iron can be amazingly useful in the books, but in D&D they'd only be amazingly situational.
These are my thoughts on how implementing the different mental would go:
Pewter, tin, brass, and atium would be farily simple to implement (though atium could easily be waaay overpowered, but that fits; pewter would become the dominant metal because it would be powerful in a useful way and fairly easy to obtain).
Copper and bronze would be pretty easy but nearly useless, unless you're running a stealth/assassination/heist mission.
Steel and iron would be hard to make effective but easy to implement if you just go by exactly what they do.
Zinc, the temporal metals aside from atium, and the enhancement metals would be hard, and most would be pretty useless. Like seriously, who's gonna burn [that one metal]?
Anyway, I'll try to come up with stuff....
Edit: if any of what I said was inaccurate, then... oops. It's just what I know of what's been revealed so far.
I think you're right. if you have all the books look at the indexes in the back. SUPER helpful for figuring that type of stuff. They give a full rundown of what each is, how it corresponds, what it does, etc.
For my PC submission, I am putting forth the spell "Aura of the Sovereign", which is meant to be a sort of swiss-army knife of effects for the Druid and Ranger to have access to. Many of the effects mimic those of spells these classes usually dont have access to (like Rary's Telepathic Bond), but for a shorter duration over a shorter range and requiring concentration. This is a work in progress, so please let me know if you have any feedback. Once I have things in a place where I like them I will probably try to format it into D&D Beyond's toolkit.
Aura of the Sovereign
5th-level Conjuration (Druid, Ranger)
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self (30-foot Sphere)
Components: V,S,M (a tiny mushroom)
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
You conjure forth magical spores which float in the area around you. You choose the general appearance of these spores, including whether they are visible or invisible. When you cast this spell, select one of the following types of spores: Animating, Pacifying, or Rapport.
Animating Spores: Targeting the corpse of a Large or smaller creature within the aura, you use these spores to cause it to rise and follow mental orders for the duration. The creature uses the statistics of a Zombie, and in combat it takes its turn immediately after yours. If the zombie starts its turn within the aura, it gains temporary hit points equal to your spellcasting modifier. Additionally, when you cast a spell which restores hit points targeting the Zombie, you can ignore any part of the spell which prevents it from targeting undead. If the zombie is destroyed, you can use your action to animate a different corpse within the aura; however you cannot have more than one corpse animated by this option at a time. A zombie you control is destroyed if you use your action to change the type of spore produced by this spell.
Pacifying Spores: When you cast the spell, and as a bonus action on each of your turns for the duration, you can target one creature within the aura with these spores. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn. This effect ends early if the creature takes damage or if it is outside of the aura.
Rapport Spores: Using these spores you forge a telepathic link among willing creatures, psychically linking each creature to all the others affected by the spores for the duration. Creatures who have an Intelligence score of 2 or lower are unaffected by these spores. Until the spell ends, the targets can communicate telepathically through these spores whether or not they have a common language. The communication is possible for a creature only while it remains within the aura.
As an action on each of your turns for the duration you can change which type of spores suffuse the aura around you, immediately ending the effect of the previous spores.
*internal conflict noises* Having just finished reading Mistborn Era 1 for the first time, I really want to find a way to create a D&D version of Allomancy for the Inspirational category.... I don't think I'll do it, since I realize that there are probably plenty of people here who wouldn't have the context for it, but it would be so cool....
I totally would, and would love that. It may not get many votes, btu if you create that i will almost definitely use it. Journey before destination my friend
Two parts of the reason for my hesitation are that (1) it wouldn't be complete, since I only know what 14 of the metals are, and (2) some of the metals would never see the light of day (the light of stomach-fire?) - especially
malatium, aluminum,
and gold. Plus, the mechanical effectiveness of, say, steel/iron and
duralumin
would be really hard to implement balanced-ly but still with a useful effect. Steel and iron can be amazingly useful in the books, but in D&D they'd only be amazingly situational.
These are my thoughts on how implementing the different mental would go:
Pewter, tin, brass, and atium would be farily simple to implement (though atium could easily be waaay overpowered, but that fits; pewter would become the dominant metal because it would be powerful in a useful way and fairly easy to obtain).
Copper and bronze would be pretty easy but nearly useless, unless you're running a stealth/assassination/heist mission.
Steel and iron would be hard to make effective but easy to implement if you just go by exactly what they do.
Zinc, the temporal metals aside from atium, and the enhancement metals would be hard, and most would be pretty useless. Like seriously, who's gonna burn [that one metal]?
Anyway, I'll try to come up with stuff....
Edit: if any of what I said was inaccurate, then... oops. It's just what I know of what's been revealed so far.
I think you're right. if you have all the books look at the indexes in the back. SUPER helpful for figuring that type of stuff. They give a full rundown of what each is, how it corresponds, what it does, etc.
Yeah, I do have 1-6 (which is only all of them for like 4 more days!). I'm not gonna look at the indexes in Era 2, since I don't want spoilers, but I will read through the one at the end of book 3 to help figure it all out.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Join the Competition of the Finest 'Brews XIX!(Or just spectate and vote, that's cool too. Either way, go there. It's awesome, and it'll be even more awesome if you join.)
*internal conflict noises* Having just finished reading Mistborn Era 1 for the first time, I really want to find a way to create a D&D version of Allomancy for the Inspirational category.... I don't think I'll do it, since I realize that there are probably plenty of people here who wouldn't have the context for it, but it would be so cool....
I totally would, and would love that. It may not get many votes, btu if you create that i will almost definitely use it. Journey before destination my friend
Two parts of the reason for my hesitation are that (1) it wouldn't be complete, since I only know what 14 of the metals are, and (2) some of the metals would never see the light of day (the light of stomach-fire?) - especially
malatium, aluminum,
and gold. Plus, the mechanical effectiveness of, say, steel/iron and
duralumin
would be really hard to implement balanced-ly but still with a useful effect. Steel and iron can be amazingly useful in the books, but in D&D they'd only be amazingly situational.
These are my thoughts on how implementing the different mental would go:
Pewter, tin, brass, and atium would be farily simple to implement (though atium could easily be waaay overpowered, but that fits; pewter would become the dominant metal because it would be powerful in a useful way and fairly easy to obtain).
Copper and bronze would be pretty easy but nearly useless, unless you're running a stealth/assassination/heist mission.
Steel and iron would be hard to make effective but easy to implement if you just go by exactly what they do.
Zinc, the temporal metals aside from atium, and the enhancement metals would be hard, and most would be pretty useless. Like seriously, who's gonna burn [that one metal]?
Anyway, I'll try to come up with stuff....
Edit: if any of what I said was inaccurate, then... oops. It's just what I know of what's been revealed so far.
I think you're right. if you have all the books look at the indexes in the back. SUPER helpful for figuring that type of stuff. They give a full rundown of what each is, how it corresponds, what it does, etc.
Yeah, I do have 1-6 (which is only all of them for like 4 more days!). I'm not gonna look at the indexes in Era 2, since I don't want spoilers, but I will read through the one at the end of book 3 to help figure it all out.
cool. If you have all the books currently out, there are no spoilers in the indexes fyi
I think the primary issue with allomancy is that it's extremely contextual. A very simple effect like "push" can do so many things, and using it in cool and unexpected ways is a huge part of the whole allure of the magic system. Unfortunately this same reason is why it's so hard to codify into rules for D&D. I think introducing this in a game would require a DM that is fully prepared to be making rulings on the fly all the time because no rules you can think up will cover it all.
The purpose of this thread is to spread a little bit of fun in the form of a friendly competition! Your task: Create an item of homebrew (see below) that is totally original and makes us go “wow!” The end products will be rated by members of the community, and the victor will create the next Finest ‘Brew contest! The previous contests are linked below:
The Competition of the Finest Brews I - Judged by Yamana_Eajii. (Thread accidentally deleted)
The Competition of the Finest Brews II - Judged by Thauraeln_The_Bold.
The Competition of the Finest Brews III - Judged by TabaxiRogueFighterClericWarlock
The Competition of the Finest Brews IV - Judged by Kaboom979
The Competition of the Finest Brews V - Judged by ThorukDuckSlayer
The Competition of the Finest Brews VI - Judged by Semako
The Competition of the Finest Brews VII - Judged by MilestoGo_24
The Competition of the Finest Brews VIII — Judged by Heartofjuyomk2
The Competition of the Finest Brews IX— Judged by IamSposta
The Competition of the Finest Brews X — Judged by Kaboom979
The Competition of the Finest Brews XI - Judged by BoringBard
All competitions thus far have contained a multitude of spectacular and inspired entries, so I suggest you check them out if you haven't already. Now, onto the important stuff:
Timeframe
Entries must be submitted before midnight (EST) on Sunday December 11th to be considered part of the competition.
Contest Categories
In each Finest Brew contest, there are three categories. These are so that people with skill in creating, say, monsters, don't end up stuck having to make dungeons. Each category is judged separately. There can only be one entrance per category per account. The category types are as follows:
This time, our category themes are:
DM Options: Lovecraftian Horror
What lurks in the space just beyond your peripheral vision, across the borders of madness and comprehension? For this category, we want to see mind-wrenching cosmic horrors. Cults, Rituals, soul-eatingdemons from nightmare dimensions, as long as it's incomprehensibly terrifying, it's lovecraftian. (This theme was picked by Gh0styy).
PC Options: The Fungus Among Us
mushrooms, fungi, spores... spread them, raise spore servants, infest other beings with vile diseases and exert your will upon them, bring rot and blight, create wondrous magical and psionic effects... The world rots, and Fungus remains. Make for us your best fungal creations and Spore-Spells. (This theme was picked by Semako).
Inspirational Options: Stretching the Fourth Wall
In many games, there are references and inside-jokes for the players to enjoy. For the Inspirational options, design something that the players might recognise, but their characters won't. It could be a chance encounter with a notable movie character, or a dungeon from a film or book, or a character build inspired by something outside of D&D. Have fun guessing each others! (This theme was picked by ThorukDuckSlayer).
Voting
Voting will start Monday December 12th (or thereabouts, once the survey is made) and will end at noon (EST) on Monday December 26th. A Google Forms poll for each category will be posted on this thread, and all may vote on it - including contestants. However, while a contestant can vote on other people's homebrew in the forms, they must not vote on their own. Scores are assigned using a numerical value from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
Changes to Voting: After discussing with the participants and category winners of the previous competition, we have decided to try a small change to how voting works for this iteration and see how it goes. Instead of assigning a single vote, each entry will receive two numerical scores, Balance/Playability, and Idea/Creativity.
Written Feedback - You have the option to give written feedback, should you choose, for any entries on the forms. Written feedback does not factor into a contestants score.
We are hoping that by giving everyone more criteria to vote on for each entry, you will think about each aspect and not feel the need to cram all of your thoughts into a single number. We are also hoping that having multiple scores contribute to the total will make ties less likely to occur.
Please try to take the time to review and vote for every entry, except for your own, in the categories you vote in, as even one vote can easily sway a competition like this. If there's anything you feel very strongly about, also feel free to review it in the thread! Reviews won't count for anything, but it's nice to get feedback!
Determining Winners
The winner of each individual category will pick the theme for that category in the next competition. If there is a tie, then they can work together to come up with a theme. If you pick the theme for a category, then you cannot compete in it in the next competition.
Guides & Mini-FAQ*
WAIT! Before you see the 5th level Wall of Text in this FAQ’s* & Guides section, and decide not to submit to the competition because you don’t want to read it, remember that reading this section is COMPLETELY OPTIONAL. You do not need to read any of this to submit something for the competition, to pick a category, or to become the next judge. This is merely a helpful tool if you’re confused. You have no obligation to read or use it!
Guide for Competition & Category Winners.
Competition Winnner: The competition winner becomes the next judge, they are responsible for doing the following:
Category Winners: A category winner must do the following:
Mini FAQ* for competition contestants:
Q. Wait, how do I submit?
A. You just make a post in the competition thread with either a link to your entry, or your entry typed out in it. It helps to add what category you’re submitting to, but it is not strictly necessary since it’s pretty easy to figure out what type of category the entry is for.
Q. Can you vote on your own submission?
A. As described in the “Voting” section of this competition, you cannot vote on any of your own entries. Simply act as if they didn’t exist on the forms, you can still vote for everyone else’s submissions. This is an honor rule, since there is no way to enforce this, but we trust that contestants will do their best not to break this rule.
Q. Where can I find the forms for voting?
A. When the competition submission time ends, voting will start soon. You vote on a google form. The judge should link the forms near the voting section when they’re up, and they will probably also make a post on the thread announcing that voting’s started with the link.
Q. Can I have multiple submissions in the same competition?
A. Yes, you can have multiple submissions for the same competition. HOWEVER, as described in the “Contest Categories” section of this competition, you can only have one entry per a category. For example, you can make something for the DM’s Options, PC Options, and Inspirational Options, but you can't make two things for PC Options and one for DM’s.
Q. I’ve already submitted something for X category, can I change my submission for it?
A. Yes, you can change your submission for a specific category as long as the deadline for submissions has not yet been reached. Do remember that if you’re changing your sumission, it is best to edit your original post with your first submission to say that it is obsolete, and necessary to make a new one to announce & link your new submission. Also, do keep in mind that it does create a bit more work for the judges when you edit your submission, because they have to update the links. However, it is alright to do so.
Q. Is written feedback optional and does it effect an entries score?
A. Yes, written feedback is optional. No, it does not effect an entries score.
Q. Is the scoring by total score, or by average score?
A. The scoring is done by average score. Were it done by total score, it would effectively force people to give themselves a 0 if they followed the honor rule of not voting for their own entry should they vote. Due to this, voting is done by average score instead.
Q. HP Lovecraft, a long-deceased man from a bygone era, was sexist and racist, and this either offends me, or makes me think that I can be sexist and/or racist in my entry. Should I voice this opinion, or include such topics in my entry?
A. No! For the first one, that is not the aspect of HP lovecraft's writing that we intend to explore, and you know it. For the second, please avoid posting anything further on the internet, because there is never a justification for this!
Contestants
DM Options: Lovecraftian Horror
PC Options: The Fungus Among Us
Inspirational Options: Stretching the Fourth Wall
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 Promethean Scientist (Dr Frankenstein) Artificer Subclass!!
I also dabble in art on here (my art thread)
Great categories! I can't wait to participate!
MilestoGo_24's alt.
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXI, and share your work!
Be not afraid.
Wait. Actually, be very afraid.
Yay! Good luck to everyone. I wish you all well. Stretch the fourth wall, stop to smell the mushrooms, and &# h$O&4uf83u9n8*#$*0 with Cthulhu
Updog
Cool! The DM and PC categories aren't really my usual style, and Inspirational submissions are by far the hardest, I'm not sure I'll be submitting this time around. We'll see if I can come up with anything; in the meantime, I look forward to seeing what the rest of you create!
Edit: Ooh, Inspirational submission: the Balrog of Moria
Just kidding ;)
Join the Competition of the Finest 'Brews XIX! (Or just spectate and vote, that's cool too. Either way, go there. It's awesome, and it'll be even more awesome if you join.)
*internal conflict noises* Having just finished reading Mistborn Era 1 for the first time, I really want to find a way to create a D&D version of Allomancy for the Inspirational category.... I don't think I'll do it, since I realize that there are probably plenty of people here who wouldn't have the context for it, but it would be so cool....
Join the Competition of the Finest 'Brews XIX! (Or just spectate and vote, that's cool too. Either way, go there. It's awesome, and it'll be even more awesome if you join.)
Here is my submission for the DM options.
Behold, before you open the link, here's an important disclaimer: I went all-in on making it as otherworldly, as horrifying as possible. If you want to read it, you do so at your own risk, I won't be responsible for any sanity damage you might take.
And here it is, a little excursion into the nightmares of a beholder. The Beholdragon.
Very cool categories! We'll see how much I'll actually be able to make...
:)
This part made me crack up so hard fhat I was unable to stop laughing for several minutes. But you are right that it needs to be said.
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.As long as you provide context, then it should fit in just fine! Nothing said it had to be the most well known of things, and provided your group knows it, then it will work! Go for your passions!
I'm glad someone found it! 🤣
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 Promethean Scientist (Dr Frankenstein) Artificer Subclass!!
I also dabble in art on here (my art thread)
I need reasons to expand my homebrew, and this seems like a fun way to get much-needed inspiration, so I figured I'd give it a go!
Without further ado, I introduce to you
Circle of SporesVolatile Decay (v1.1), the spell with half of its description about upcasting.In case you hadn't guessed, this is for the PC Options.
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
How I'm posting based on text formatting: Mod Hat Off - Mod Hat Also Off (I'm not a mod)
Excitement
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
OHOHOHOHOOOOO THIS SHOULD BE FUN. I already have an idea for the PC option—basically Spores Druid but a Ranger subclass instead. Might homebrew some specific spells for it too!! Gonna have to keep tossing around ideas for the DM option, but the Underdark does canonically exist in my setting because there's an important Deep Gnome NPC walking around the starting city, so maybe I'll make a monster that could fit in there!! We'll see 🤷♀️ And omg, literally my first character was just Scarlet Witch but a Tiefling Warlock, I feel so called out XD I look forward to reading everyone's entries!!!
Edit: SPOOKY FUNGUS SORCERER
Edit 2: I'M GONNA BASE THE CLASS FEATURES OFF OF DIFFERENT MUSHROOMS
DESTROYING ANGEL ABILITY HERE I COME
I totally would, and would love that. It may not get many votes, btu if you create that i will almost definitely use it. Journey before destination my friend
Updog
you don't do statblocks halfway do you?
Updog
No, I always like more complex monsters and statblocks with more options. Do you like it, is it horrifying enough? :-)
Also, this statblock actually is quite a bit shorter than for examle Juiblex's, but kinda bloated by the eye rays, just like a regular beholder's statblock.
Two parts of the reason for my hesitation are that (1) it wouldn't be complete, since I only know what 14 of the metals are, and (2) some of the metals would never see the light of day (the light of stomach-fire?) - especially
malatium, aluminum,
and gold. Plus, the mechanical effectiveness of, say, steel/iron and
duralumin
would be really hard to implement balanced-ly but still with a useful effect. Steel and iron can be amazingly useful in the books, but in D&D they'd only be amazingly situational.
These are my thoughts on how implementing the different mental would go:
Anyway, I'll try to come up with stuff....
Edit: if any of what I said was inaccurate, then... oops. It's just what I know of what's been revealed so far.
Join the Competition of the Finest 'Brews XIX! (Or just spectate and vote, that's cool too. Either way, go there. It's awesome, and it'll be even more awesome if you join.)
I think you're right. if you have all the books look at the indexes in the back. SUPER helpful for figuring that type of stuff. They give a full rundown of what each is, how it corresponds, what it does, etc.
Updog
For my PC submission, I am putting forth the spell "Aura of the Sovereign", which is meant to be a sort of swiss-army knife of effects for the Druid and Ranger to have access to. Many of the effects mimic those of spells these classes usually dont have access to (like Rary's Telepathic Bond), but for a shorter duration over a shorter range and requiring concentration. This is a work in progress, so please let me know if you have any feedback. Once I have things in a place where I like them I will probably try to format it into D&D Beyond's toolkit.
Aura of the Sovereign
5th-level Conjuration (Druid, Ranger)
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: Self (30-foot Sphere)
Components: V,S,M (a tiny mushroom)
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
You conjure forth magical spores which float in the area around you. You choose the general appearance of these spores, including whether they are visible or invisible. When you cast this spell, select one of the following types of spores: Animating, Pacifying, or Rapport.
Animating Spores: Targeting the corpse of a Large or smaller creature within the aura, you use these spores to cause it to rise and follow mental orders for the duration. The creature uses the statistics of a Zombie, and in combat it takes its turn immediately after yours. If the zombie starts its turn within the aura, it gains temporary hit points equal to your spellcasting modifier. Additionally, when you cast a spell which restores hit points targeting the Zombie, you can ignore any part of the spell which prevents it from targeting undead. If the zombie is destroyed, you can use your action to animate a different corpse within the aura; however you cannot have more than one corpse animated by this option at a time. A zombie you control is destroyed if you use your action to change the type of spore produced by this spell.
Pacifying Spores: When you cast the spell, and as a bonus action on each of your turns for the duration, you can target one creature within the aura with these spores. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn. This effect ends early if the creature takes damage or if it is outside of the aura.
Rapport Spores: Using these spores you forge a telepathic link among willing creatures, psychically linking each creature to all the others affected by the spores for the duration. Creatures who have an Intelligence score of 2 or lower are unaffected by these spores. Until the spell ends, the targets can communicate telepathically through these spores whether or not they have a common language. The communication is possible for a creature only while it remains within the aura.
As an action on each of your turns for the duration you can change which type of spores suffuse the aura around you, immediately ending the effect of the previous spores.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Yeah, I do have 1-6 (which is only all of them for like 4 more days!). I'm not gonna look at the indexes in Era 2, since I don't want spoilers, but I will read through the one at the end of book 3 to help figure it all out.
Join the Competition of the Finest 'Brews XIX! (Or just spectate and vote, that's cool too. Either way, go there. It's awesome, and it'll be even more awesome if you join.)
cool. If you have all the books currently out, there are no spoilers in the indexes fyi
Updog
I think the primary issue with allomancy is that it's extremely contextual. A very simple effect like "push" can do so many things, and using it in cool and unexpected ways is a huge part of the whole allure of the magic system. Unfortunately this same reason is why it's so hard to codify into rules for D&D. I think introducing this in a game would require a DM that is fully prepared to be making rulings on the fly all the time because no rules you can think up will cover it all.
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