Hello, I am not a native English speaker, and this post was written using a translation tool. Please understand if it sounds a bit awkward. I would like to enhance some of the classes considered weak in the 2014 release of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, and I created this post to hear your opinions. Could you take a look and share how others are improving these classes?
I plan to bring over the Weapon Mastery rules from the 2024 edition and incorporate them into the 2014 edition, as I currently don’t have the funds to purchase the 2024 books. Additionally, as a GM, I’d like to create the following rules to encourage weapon users to utilize a variety of weapons.
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■ Weapon Swap Homebrew.
PCs of the Fighter, Barbarian, Rogue, Ranger, and Paladin classes can use 'Weapon Swap' at the start of their turn, before declaring movement or actions, without spending an action. During this time, they can stow a weapon they are holding and draw another weapon from their bag into their hand. The no-action 'Weapon Swap' can be used only once per round.
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■ Artificer, Alchemist: Experimental Elixir. The Alchemist can craft elixirs after completing a Long Rest or by expending a spell slot of 1st level or higher. The number of elixirs available after a Long Rest is as follows:
3rd Level: 2 elixirs (original rule: 1 elixir) 6th Level: 3 elixirs (original rule: 2 elixirs) 9th Level: 4 elixirs (original rule: 2 elixirs) 15th Level: 5 elixirs (original rule: 3 elixirs) The elixirs remain potent until the next Long Rest. Any unused elixirs lose their potency and must be discarded at the end of a Long Rest.
The Alchemist can grant the elixir's effects to a target through the following methods:
Direct Contact: Use an Action or Bonus Action to touch the target and grant the effect. Mage Hand: If you know the Mage Hand spell, you can use it to deliver elixirs at range with an Action or Bonus Action (ignoring the "Action only" restriction of the spell). Self-Consumption: A creature can use its Action to drink the elixir directly.
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■ Barbarian, Path of the Berserker: Frenzy. ①: The exhaustion gained after Frenzy ends is removed. (Original rule: Frenzy imposes 1 level of exhaustion when it ends.)
■ Barbarian, Path of the Battlerager. ①: The Battlerager is considered proficient with Spiked Armor as a weapon. ②: When wearing magical armor, piercing damage dealt through Spiked Armor attacks or Grappling actions is considered magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity. ③: Spiked Armor’s magical bonus to AC (+1, +2, or +3) applies to attack and damage rolls when using it as a weapon. ④: If the Battlerager successfully hits with the spiked armor, the target must make a contested grapple check. If the target fails, they are grappled, and the target takes 3 piercing damage from the Battlerager Armor feature. (Original rule: The Battlerager could only attempt a grapple check as an action.)
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■ Monk, Way of the Four Elements. Increase the maximum number of Elemental Disciplines a Monk can learn: 3rd Level: 3 disciplines (original rule: 1 discipline) 6th Level: 4 disciplines (original rule: 2 disciplines) 9th Level: 5 disciplines (original rule: 2 disciplines) 11th Level: 6 disciplines (original rule: 3 disciplines) 17th Level: 7 disciplines (original rule: 4 disciplines)
■ New Feature: Harmony of Fire and Water. ①: As an Action, you can recover Ki points equal to half your maximum Ki points (rounded down). Once you use this feature, you must finish a Long Rest before using it again. (This feature is inspired by ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ and does not exist in the original rules.)
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■ Ranger. ①: The ‘Favored Foe’ feature no longer requires Concentration.
■ Ranger, Beast Master Conclave. ①: If the Primal Companion from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything dies, you can resurrect it by spending a spell slot of 1st level or higher and 1 Action. The companion’s corpse is not required. (Original rule: Reviving the Primal Companion required touching the corpse within 1 hour and spending 1 minute and a 1st-level spell slot.)
Design Intent: For the Ranger, I wanted to provide a slight boost as I feel that while Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything improved the class significantly, the Fighter and Paladin remain stronger. For the Beast Master, I aimed to align it with the Drakewarden subclass for greater convenience.
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■ Shield Master Feat. ①: When using the Shield Master feat to attempt a shove (Shoving a Creature), you can make the shove as part of your Attack action, instead of using a Bonus Action. This shove must occur before making a weapon attack and can only be used once per round. All other rules of the Shield Master feat remain unchanged.
Design Intent: Using a one-handed weapon with a shield has often been regarded as weaker compared to wielding a two-handed weapon alongside the Great Weapon Master feat. To address this disparity, I aimed to slightly enhance the self-sufficiency of this fighting style. Dual-wielding was not given any additional enhancements, as I plan to incorporate the Weapon Mastery rules, which already provide sufficient support for that fighting style.
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■ Special Attacks. ①: PCs can attempt Grappling, Shoving a Creature, Climbing onto a Bigger Creature, or Disarming without consuming an attack (Attack) from their Attack action. This feature can be used once per short rest or long rest.
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■ Wish Spell. ①: A Simulacrum cannot cast the Wish spell.
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■ Spell Swap. ①: Except for Wizards, Clerics, and Druids, spellcasters can swap one Cantrip or one regular spell during a long rest. This change must be communicated to the GM and other PCs. ②: Wizards, Clerics, and Druids can swap one Cantrip during a long rest. This change must also be communicated to the GM and other PCs. Swapping regular spells follows the existing rules.
Design Intent: The goal is to provide more flexibility in spell swapping for classes other than Wizard, Cleric, and Druid, to make their spellcasting more versatile and convenient.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this. If there are any other popular class enhancements that I haven't mentioned, I would really appreciate it if you could share them.
■ Spell Swap. The following classes can swap one cantrip or spell during a long rest, but must inform the GM and fellow PCs of the change. ①: Artificer ②: Bard ③: Paladin ④: Ranger ⑤: Sorcerer ⑥: Warlock ⑦: Eldritch Knight ⑧: Arcane Trickster
Design Intent: The goal is to provide more flexibility in spell swapping for classes other than Wizard, Cleric, and Druid, to make their spellcasting more versatile and convenient.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this. If there are any other popular class enhancements that I haven't mentioned, I would really appreciate it if you could share them.
Clerics and Druids can't swap cantrips - simply remove cantrips from this change.
Additionally, the restrictive nature of most of these classes' spellcasting is intentional. Warlocks are the basic example of this.
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"A duck."
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Thank you for your response. I'm not very experienced with the game myself, and often my fellow players aren't either, so there are times when players choose spells and think, 'This spell doesn't suit my preferences.' That's why I created these rules.
Yes, but it is definitely unfair if all these classes can swap cantrips, but not clerics and druids. You can easily alter this to allow clerics and druids to also swap cantrips.
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Quotes to answer any question (pm me more)
"I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation."
"Well of course I know that. What else is there? A kitten?"
"You'd like to think that, Wouldn't you?"
"A duck."
"What do you mean? An African or European swallow?"
It would be more appropriate to make a rule like this! Thank you!
①: Except for Wizards, Clerics, and Druids, spellcasters can swap one Cantrip or one regular spell during a long rest. This change must be communicated to the GM and other PCs. ②: Wizards, Clerics, and Druids can swap one Cantrip during a long rest. This change must also be communicated to the GM and other PCs. Swapping regular spells follows the existing rules.
Homebrew rules should be as concise as possible while maintaining clear revisions, and they should not overly disrupt the balance of existing rules. I aim to slightly adjust the performance of classes that are considered underpowered, but I find it challenging to do this alone, so I would like to hear advice from others.
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Hello, I am not a native English speaker, and this post was written using a translation tool. Please understand if it sounds a bit awkward.
I would like to enhance some of the classes considered weak in the 2014 release of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, and I created this post to hear your opinions. Could you take a look and share how others are improving these classes?
I plan to bring over the Weapon Mastery rules from the 2024 edition and incorporate them into the 2014 edition, as I currently don’t have the funds to purchase the 2024 books. Additionally, as a GM, I’d like to create the following rules to encourage weapon users to utilize a variety of weapons.
─
■ Weapon Swap Homebrew.
PCs of the Fighter, Barbarian, Rogue, Ranger, and Paladin classes can use 'Weapon Swap' at the start of their turn, before declaring movement or actions, without spending an action. During this time, they can stow a weapon they are holding and draw another weapon from their bag into their hand. The no-action 'Weapon Swap' can be used only once per round.
─
■ Artificer, Alchemist: Experimental Elixir.
The Alchemist can craft elixirs after completing a Long Rest or by expending a spell slot of 1st level or higher.
The number of elixirs available after a Long Rest is as follows:
3rd Level: 2 elixirs (original rule: 1 elixir)
6th Level: 3 elixirs (original rule: 2 elixirs)
9th Level: 4 elixirs (original rule: 2 elixirs)
15th Level: 5 elixirs (original rule: 3 elixirs)
The elixirs remain potent until the next Long Rest. Any unused elixirs lose their potency and must be discarded at the end of a Long Rest.
The Alchemist can grant the elixir's effects to a target through the following methods:
Direct Contact: Use an Action or Bonus Action to touch the target and grant the effect.
Mage Hand: If you know the Mage Hand spell, you can use it to deliver elixirs at range with an Action or Bonus Action (ignoring the "Action only" restriction of the spell).
Self-Consumption: A creature can use its Action to drink the elixir directly.
─
■ Barbarian, Path of the Berserker: Frenzy.
①: The exhaustion gained after Frenzy ends is removed.
(Original rule: Frenzy imposes 1 level of exhaustion when it ends.)
■ Barbarian, Path of the Battlerager.
①: The Battlerager is considered proficient with Spiked Armor as a weapon.
②: When wearing magical armor, piercing damage dealt through Spiked Armor attacks or Grappling actions is considered magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity.
③: Spiked Armor’s magical bonus to AC (+1, +2, or +3) applies to attack and damage rolls when using it as a weapon.
④: If the Battlerager successfully hits with the spiked armor, the target must make a contested grapple check. If the target fails, they are grappled, and the target takes 3 piercing damage from the Battlerager Armor feature.
(Original rule: The Battlerager could only attempt a grapple check as an action.)
─
■ Monk, Way of the Four Elements.
Increase the maximum number of Elemental Disciplines a Monk can learn:
3rd Level: 3 disciplines (original rule: 1 discipline)
6th Level: 4 disciplines (original rule: 2 disciplines)
9th Level: 5 disciplines (original rule: 2 disciplines)
11th Level: 6 disciplines (original rule: 3 disciplines)
17th Level: 7 disciplines (original rule: 4 disciplines)
■ New Feature: Harmony of Fire and Water.
①: As an Action, you can recover Ki points equal to half your maximum Ki points (rounded down).
Once you use this feature, you must finish a Long Rest before using it again.
(This feature is inspired by ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ and does not exist in the original rules.)
─
■ Ranger.
①: The ‘Favored Foe’ feature no longer requires Concentration.
■ Ranger, Beast Master Conclave.
①: If the Primal Companion from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything dies, you can resurrect it by spending a spell slot of 1st level or higher and 1 Action. The companion’s corpse is not required.
(Original rule: Reviving the Primal Companion required touching the corpse within 1 hour and spending 1 minute and a 1st-level spell slot.)
Design Intent: For the Ranger, I wanted to provide a slight boost as I feel that while Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything improved the class significantly, the Fighter and Paladin remain stronger. For the Beast Master, I aimed to align it with the Drakewarden subclass for greater convenience.
─
■ Shield Master Feat.
①: When using the Shield Master feat to attempt a shove (Shoving a Creature), you can make the shove as part of your Attack action, instead of using a Bonus Action. This shove must occur before making a weapon attack and can only be used once per round. All other rules of the Shield Master feat remain unchanged.
Design Intent: Using a one-handed weapon with a shield has often been regarded as weaker compared to wielding a two-handed weapon alongside the Great Weapon Master feat. To address this disparity, I aimed to slightly enhance the self-sufficiency of this fighting style. Dual-wielding was not given any additional enhancements, as I plan to incorporate the Weapon Mastery rules, which already provide sufficient support for that fighting style.
─
■ Special Attacks.
①: PCs can attempt Grappling, Shoving a Creature, Climbing onto a Bigger Creature, or Disarming without consuming an attack (Attack) from their Attack action. This feature can be used once per short rest or long rest.
─
■ Wish Spell.
①: A Simulacrum cannot cast the Wish spell.
─
■ Spell Swap.
①: Except for Wizards, Clerics, and Druids, spellcasters can swap one Cantrip or one regular spell during a long rest. This change must be communicated to the GM and other PCs.
②: Wizards, Clerics, and Druids can swap one Cantrip during a long rest. This change must also be communicated to the GM and other PCs. Swapping regular spells follows the existing rules.
Design Intent: The goal is to provide more flexibility in spell swapping for classes other than Wizard, Cleric, and Druid, to make their spellcasting more versatile and convenient.
─
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If there are any other popular class enhancements that I haven't mentioned, I would really appreciate it if you could share them.
Clerics and Druids can't swap cantrips - simply remove cantrips from this change.
Additionally, the restrictive nature of most of these classes' spellcasting is intentional. Warlocks are the basic example of this.
Quotes to answer any question (pm me more)
Extended signature
Thank you for your response. I'm not very experienced with the game myself, and often my fellow players aren't either, so there are times when players choose spells and think, 'This spell doesn't suit my preferences.' That's why I created these rules.
Yes, but it is definitely unfair if all these classes can swap cantrips, but not clerics and druids. You can easily alter this to allow clerics and druids to also swap cantrips.
Quotes to answer any question (pm me more)
Extended signature
It would be more appropriate to make a rule like this! Thank you!
①: Except for Wizards, Clerics, and Druids, spellcasters can swap one Cantrip or one regular spell during a long rest. This change must be communicated to the GM and other PCs.
②: Wizards, Clerics, and Druids can swap one Cantrip during a long rest. This change must also be communicated to the GM and other PCs. Swapping regular spells follows the existing rules.
Homebrew rules should be as concise as possible while maintaining clear revisions, and they should not overly disrupt the balance of existing rules. I aim to slightly adjust the performance of classes that are considered underpowered, but I find it challenging to do this alone, so I would like to hear advice from others.