This weapon property is intended for lower-level play, being sometimes better than a +1 weapon, and sometimes worse, depending on how well a player sticks to their particular morality. It could include runes that glow with fervor when used well; when used poorly, the metal dulls and bloodstains refuse to shift. Rather than being tied to a fixed goal or alignment, it reflects whether a character is true to their sense of self and purpose.
Resolute Weapon
Weapon (any), rare (requires attunement)
This magic weapon is attuned to your warrior's purpose. You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls when you make an attack in accordance to your ideals or alignment. You receive a -2 penalty to attack and damage rolls when you make an attack that contradicts your ideals or alignment (reducing damage to a minimum of 1).
Two things I'm on the fence about - rather than a numeric penalty, should the weapon impose disadvantage when making an attack that goes against the character's ideals? And does it need to be stated that for a purely neutral attack, neither bonus nor penalty would apply, it would just be an attack with a magic weapon?
I like it, but I do have a question with regards to classes like Blood Hunter, Fighter and Rogue. They are normally non-magical, but do have magical subclasses (Profaned Soul, Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster) Do these get to use the weapon too? or does them having spellslots overwrite their ability to use the weapon? If so it might be better to say Creatures without spell or pact slots, instead of Non-magical class. Just so it's completely clear who can use it.
Magic items fall in the DM category, not PC, if I'm not mistaken.
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.)
This weapon property is intended for lower-level play, being sometimes better than a +1 weapon, and sometimes worse, depending on how well a player sticks to their particular morality. It could include runes that glow with fervor when used well; when used poorly, the metal dulls and bloodstains refuse to shift. Rather than being tied to a fixed goal or alignment, it reflects whether a character is true to their sense of self and purpose.
Resolute Weapon
Weapon (any), rare (requires attunement)
This magic weapon is attuned to your warrior's purpose. You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls when you make an attack in accordance to your ideals or alignment. You receive a -2 penalty to attack and damage rolls when you make an attack that contradicts your ideals or alignment (reducing damage to a minimum of 1).
Two things I'm on the fence about - rather than a numeric penalty, should the weapon impose disadvantage when making an attack that goes against the character's ideals? And does it need to be stated that for a purely neutral attack, neither bonus nor penalty would apply, it would just be an attack with a magic weapon?
The instructions said "such as", but are the types of homebrew - items, feats, etc - meant to be exclusive to one category? I thought mine satisfied the Player Options theme better; I was trying to answer the "weapons are simply less interesting" part of the prompt by making a more situational weapon for the player and DM to build personality from. The DM Options theme asks for "intricately nuanced", which mine is too straightforward for. Well, player and DM could be nuanced about how they applied it - but it was intended for "Grab Your Sword", not "There's a Time and Place for That". If items aren't suitable, I'll withdraw that entry and come back if I think of something else.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently homebrewing the Mistveil Rogue, an elusive infiltrator that can vanish into thin air.
The instructions said "such as", but are the types of homebrew - items, feats, etc - meant to be exclusive to one category? I thought mine satisfied the Player Options theme better; I was trying to answer the "weapons are simply less interesting" part of the prompt by making a more situational weapon for the player and DM to build personality from. The DM Options theme asks for "intricately nuanced", which mine is too straightforward for. Well, player and DM could be nuanced about how they applied it - but it was intended for "Grab Your Sword", not "There's a Time and Place for That". If items aren't suitable, I'll withdraw that entry and come back if I think of something else.
First, this is the way it’s always worked — you can look back through past contests to check for precedent — and second, the purpose that I perceive of splitting themes among specific homebrew categories is to make brewers think creatively, to look away from the first thing they might think of and try to think outside the box. I guarantee there would be more submissions in the fairytale theme if it had been over the DM category, but instead we’re forced to think not of big bad wolves or huntsman’s axes, but of ways a party might interact with a fairytale encounter, NPC, or location. And I believe it’s better that way.
I like it, but I do have a question with regards to classes like Blood Hunter, Fighter and Rogue. They are normally non-magical, but do have magical subclasses (Profaned Soul, Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster) Do these get to use the weapon too? or does them having spellslots overwrite their ability to use the weapon? If so it might be better to say Creatures without spell or pact slots, instead of Non-magical class. Just so it's completely clear who can use it.
That’s a good catch. I’ll fix it later today.
And done
For me it still links to the old version
Try it now, but not the quote one. The original post.
Hey DS, I just updated my entries. My PC option is still incomplete, but I've shoehorned the feats (poorly) into a fighter subclass. Also for my DM option I've decided to just go with the reluctant blade.
Everybody: if you have a moment, I'd really appreciate feedback!
Good afternoon / evening everyone, I have now updated the current contestants in the OP. Please let me know if I have missed any entries, or got any wrong.
I would like to remind everyone that entries close at 23:59 GMT on Friday, 12 Jan 2024. Thank you all for your efforts so far.
Mairondil, I have moved your entry into the Player Options category.
DrakenBrine and spruce56, I have put your magic items under a separate heading for now. They were listed in the Player Options category but magic items are tied to the DM Options category. If you would like to amend your entries, please let me know and I will be happy to move them into the correct categories.
Thanks Dragon Shark, I'd like to withdraw my entry, it doesn't suit the DM Options theme. Perhaps the instructions could be updated to reflect that the "such as" examples are strictly exclusive to a category, rather than ideas to get people started, so magic items can only be for the DM Options theme.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Currently homebrewing the Mistveil Rogue, an elusive infiltrator that can vanish into thin air.
Here’s my last-minute submission for the interactive category!
The Stag’s Liver Trading Post
A modest cabin in the middle of the woods is, at a surface level, ordinary. However, on closer inspection, a wooden plaque emblazoned in gold letters “Stag’s Liver Trading Post” lies above the door, and a glance into the interior through one of the windows reveals it’s a shop.
There’s no evidence that any people have been outside the cabin in ages, perhaps ever, and yet there’s a fully-built trading post simply sitting in the middle of the woods. A man is bustling about on the inside, as well.
As the party enters, read the following:
You step into the cabin, and within, you see carved tables and shelves covered with knickknacks and strange objects. The man walking around, a burly, bearded human dressed in rugged clothing, waves politely. “Be with you in a moment! I’m just about ready.” You can see there’s a well-blanketed bed at rhetorical back of the cabin, where a large dog lays with his face turned towards you all.
This man is Handel (no surname) and he is the trading post’s shopkeeper. If prompted, he explains the circumstances of the shop: he needed to hide from the vengeance of a very powerful person, and made a deal with a wizard in order to escape her wrath. The trading post is designed to teleport to the path of adventurers in the hopes of benefiting from their business, never staying in the same place for long, with occasional stops at cities for food and other supplies.
Handel seems genuinely terrified of the person he’s hiding from. It can be anyone from your campaign, but the suggested individual is a queen named Lorelai, who wishes to dispose of him for tricking her when she commanded him to do something he could not do. Handel refuses to speak of the task in particular.
If the individual Handel is hiding from is dealt with, he can be convinced to leave the shop for good, starting a new life and returning to his calling as a hunter.
Handel can be persuaded to grant up to a 15% discount with a good reason and a Persuasion roll of 15 or higher.
If questioned about his wares, Handel answers that the wizard that gives him the magic items to sell, Sir Iridous Vontworthy, is quite eccentric, and tends to drop off the magic items in chests filled with beds of random objects he collects. Thus, the trinkets.
As of last night, I’m fairly certain submissions are closed! Good luck, everyone!
Sadly :( I was so close to being done with my subclass, I just had to figure out the capstone. It probably wouldn't have been a great 'brew, since I was so rushed right at the end, but it's still kind of disappointing to have missed the deadlines by less than 24 hours.
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.)
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.)
Dragon_Shark, I noticed my Interactive submission wasn’t in the Contestants spoiler. That’s alright, as it was submitted right before the deadline, but I want to make sure it’s in the form.
Voting will close at 23:59 GMT on Sunday, 21 Jan 2024.All may vote - including and especially contestants. Contestants are encouraged to vote 5 and 5 on their own submissions; all scores will have 5 subtracted from both voting categories. Scores are assigned using a numerical value from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
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 how 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. If someone has put a lot of extra work into the submission reflected by its length or artistic pieces, consider adding points.
Written Feedback - You have the option to give written feedback, should you choose, for any entries on the forms. Please keep written feedback constructive and courteous. Written feedback does not factor into a contestant's score.
Please try to take the time to review and vote for every entry 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!
The entries for Competition of the Finest ‘Brews XIX can be seen below.
You're absolutely right, my mistake. I'll correct it when I update the next batch, probably on the weekend.
For Player Options: Grab Your Sword
This weapon property is intended for lower-level play, being sometimes better than a +1 weapon, and sometimes worse, depending on how well a player sticks to their particular morality. It could include runes that glow with fervor when used well; when used poorly, the metal dulls and bloodstains refuse to shift. Rather than being tied to a fixed goal or alignment, it reflects whether a character is true to their sense of self and purpose.
Two things I'm on the fence about - rather than a numeric penalty, should the weapon impose disadvantage when making an attack that goes against the character's ideals? And does it need to be stated that for a purely neutral attack, neither bonus nor penalty would apply, it would just be an attack with a magic weapon?
Currently homebrewing the Mistveil Rogue, an elusive infiltrator that can vanish into thin air.
For me it still links to the old version
I am also here.
Am snek.
I am currently judging the Competition of the Finest 'Brews XXIV
Magic items fall in the DM category, not PC, if I'm not mistaken.
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.)
Helmut_McQuack is correct, magic items are DM options.
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
The instructions said "such as", but are the types of homebrew - items, feats, etc - meant to be exclusive to one category? I thought mine satisfied the Player Options theme better; I was trying to answer the "weapons are simply less interesting" part of the prompt by making a more situational weapon for the player and DM to build personality from. The DM Options theme asks for "intricately nuanced", which mine is too straightforward for. Well, player and DM could be nuanced about how they applied it - but it was intended for "Grab Your Sword", not "There's a Time and Place for That". If items aren't suitable, I'll withdraw that entry and come back if I think of something else.
Currently homebrewing the Mistveil Rogue, an elusive infiltrator that can vanish into thin air.
First, this is the way it’s always worked — you can look back through past contests to check for precedent — and second, the purpose that I perceive of splitting themes among specific homebrew categories is to make brewers think creatively, to look away from the first thing they might think of and try to think outside the box. I guarantee there would be more submissions in the fairytale theme if it had been over the DM category, but instead we’re forced to think not of big bad wolves or huntsman’s axes, but of ways a party might interact with a fairytale encounter, NPC, or location. And I believe it’s better that way.
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
Try it now, but not the quote one. The original post.
Hi, I’m DrakenBrine, here’s my Sig and characters
I am The Grand Envisioner!
Hey DS, I just updated my entries. My PC option is still incomplete, but I've shoehorned the feats (poorly) into a fighter subclass. Also for my DM option I've decided to just go with the reluctant blade.
Everybody: if you have a moment, I'd really appreciate feedback!
Good afternoon / evening everyone, I have now updated the current contestants in the OP. Please let me know if I have missed any entries, or got any wrong.
I would like to remind everyone that entries close at 23:59 GMT on Friday, 12 Jan 2024. Thank you all for your efforts so far.
Thanks Dragon Shark, I'd like to withdraw my entry, it doesn't suit the DM Options theme. Perhaps the instructions could be updated to reflect that the "such as" examples are strictly exclusive to a category, rather than ideas to get people started, so magic items can only be for the DM Options theme.
Currently homebrewing the Mistveil Rogue, an elusive infiltrator that can vanish into thin air.
Here’s my last-minute submission for the interactive category!
The Stag’s Liver Trading Post
A modest cabin in the middle of the woods is, at a surface level, ordinary. However, on closer inspection, a wooden plaque emblazoned in gold letters “Stag’s Liver Trading Post” lies above the door, and a glance into the interior through one of the windows reveals it’s a shop.
There’s no evidence that any people have been outside the cabin in ages, perhaps ever, and yet there’s a fully-built trading post simply sitting in the middle of the woods. A man is bustling about on the inside, as well.
As the party enters, read the following:
This man is Handel (no surname) and he is the trading post’s shopkeeper. If prompted, he explains the circumstances of the shop: he needed to hide from the vengeance of a very powerful person, and made a deal with a wizard in order to escape her wrath. The trading post is designed to teleport to the path of adventurers in the hopes of benefiting from their business, never staying in the same place for long, with occasional stops at cities for food and other supplies.
Handel seems genuinely terrified of the person he’s hiding from. It can be anyone from your campaign, but the suggested individual is a queen named Lorelai, who wishes to dispose of him for tricking her when she commanded him to do something he could not do. Handel refuses to speak of the task in particular.
If the individual Handel is hiding from is dealt with, he can be convinced to leave the shop for good, starting a new life and returning to his calling as a hunter.
Handel is a berserker with a greataxe, +1 and an amulet of proof against detection and location, and he can use an action to cause all merchandise in the store to vanish, teleported into a secret chest underneath the trading post. He has a mastiff companion named Jeb.
For sale, Handel offers ordinary adventuring goods, cuts of venison, a practically infinite number of trinkets, and a few magic items.
Magic Item
Price
Mask of the Beast
135 gp
Potion of Healing (x3)
50 gp each
Walloping Crossbow Bolt (x5)
25 gp each
Bell Branch
225 gp
Handy Haversack
400 gp
Pipes of the Sewers
200 gp
Handel can be persuaded to grant up to a 15% discount with a good reason and a Persuasion roll of 15 or higher.
If questioned about his wares, Handel answers that the wizard that gives him the magic items to sell, Sir Iridous Vontworthy, is quite eccentric, and tends to drop off the magic items in chests filled with beds of random objects he collects. Thus, the trinkets.
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
As of last night, I’m fairly certain submissions are closed! Good luck, everyone!
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
Sadly :( I was so close to being done with my subclass, I just had to figure out the capstone. It probably wouldn't have been a great 'brew, since I was so rushed right at the end, but it's still kind of disappointing to have missed the deadlines by less than 24 hours.
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.)
(This is the subclass, by the way, if anyone's interested: https://www.dndbeyond.com/subclasses/1933565-soulcaller)
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.)
Good evening, thank you all for your contributions, there's been an awesome showing and I'm grateful for all your input.
MilestoGo_24 is correct, entries are now closed.
I will pull together the poll this weekend and post either on Sunday or Monday afternoon.
Thanks, DS. If you need help figuring out google sheets, let us know.
Dragon_Shark, I noticed my Interactive submission wasn’t in the Contestants spoiler. That’s alright, as it was submitted right before the deadline, but I want to make sure it’s in the form.
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
Voting has opened!
VOTE HERE
Voting will close at 23:59 GMT on Sunday, 21 Jan 2024. All may vote - including and especially contestants. Contestants are encouraged to vote 5 and 5 on their own submissions; all scores will have 5 subtracted from both voting categories. Scores are assigned using a numerical value from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
Please try to take the time to review and vote for every entry 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!
The entries for Competition of the Finest ‘Brews XIX can be seen below.
DM Options: There's a Time and a Place for That
The Reluctant Blade - Gnomarchy
The Lunar Blade - Agilemind
Many-Faced Idol - The_Lost_Leg
Clown shoes of Squeeking - ZomblesKlein
Horoscopy Ritual - Kaboom979
Azure Glue - MilestoGo_24
Sculkfish - DrakenBrine
Player Options: Grab Your Sword
Artificer Specialist: Weaveblade - Mairondil
Talaric Battlemind - Gnomarchy
Feat: Massive Weapon User - Agilemind
Subclass: Alteration Adept - Emblic
Sorcerous Origin: Forged Soul - Kaboom979
Roguish Archetype: Jester - The_Lost_Leg
Metal Domain Cleric - Semako
Arms Trader (Background) - ZomblesKlein
Mage Martial - IamSposta
Interactive Options: Once Upon a Time
'The 6 Giants' - DrakenBrine
The Stag’s Liver Trading Post - MilestoGo_24
Thank you! You need to change the Google form settings so that we can see the results :-)