Wizardly Quill -- I feel like the name isn't quite right, but mechanically this is very neat and creates a nice thematic mesh. I think of Rita Skeeter and her Quick Quotes Quill with this. "Just ignore the quill, dear..."
Awakened Spellbook -- ...now see, with a name like that, it would seem to me that this ability somehow makes the spellbook an actual entity, like the Wizard in question is seeking to create a living repository of magical knowledge. But mechanically it doesn't do that. It barely even gets into the ballpark with that last paragraph about recreating your spellbook. Nobody noticed that little nugget, did they?
"If necessary, you can replace the book over the course of a short rest by using your Wizardly Quill to write arcane sigils in a blank book or a magic spellbook to which you’re attuned. At the end of the rest, your spellbook’s consciousness is summoned into the new book, which the consciousness transforms into your spellbook, along with all its spells. If the previous book still existed somewhere, all the spells vanish from its pages."
That's insane. It puts all other Wizard subclasses to shame. Replacing your lost, stolen, or destroyed spellbook as part of any rest, at no cost, just for having an empty book and using a no-resource class feature with no cooldown (Quill). It's perfect thematically, but it removes most of the risk of playing a Wizard. You could even intentionally use this as a money making strategy. Find any npc wizard or dealer in magical objects, sell your spellbook for an exorbitant price, then use your Quill and a blank book to reclaim it. You made yourself a tidy sum of gold, and the other guy gets nothing. And the worst part is this isn't even the primary focus of the subclass feature -- it's an added thingamajig. Honestly, this ability alone is enough to be a class feature, nevermind the Forceballs or Psychicballs or whatever. This whole thing is broken. Erase it all and start over.
Master Scrivener -- I'm torn on this. On one hand, it's really powerful. Once per LR you get a free spell scroll of any 1st or 2nd level spell, cast as a 2nd or 3rd lvl spell (respectively). No time or resources spent crafting. Just getting it for free, once per day. That's both incredibly useful and incredibly limiting, depending on what angle you're looking at it from. At this point you've got 3 3rd level slots yourself, which means you're also only using spells capping out at 3rd level. But you're basically getting another free spell every day, and not just one you have prepared, but any spell cast as an action in your spellbook. You can do a lot of things with that. Again, that's free money every day when you're in town. Or you can stockpile some useful things, like Mage Armor to reduce the tax on yourself for combat, or Hold Person allowing you to lock down 2 targets without concentration (that's how Spell Scrolls work when they hold a Concentration spell, right?). And this doesn't cost you any downtime to use, or material components, or gold. You use your Wizard's Quill to make this just happen. The limit here is simply that you only get to do it with 1st and 2nd level spells. A significant portion of the qualifying spells don't scale with level (Detect Magic, Protection from Evil and Good, even Mage Armor), and quite a few are useful but lackluster (Burning Hands, Ice Knife). Outside of perhaps Hold Person there isn't anything that screams broken to me, but then again I'm not the most creative person about bending rules in this regard.
Manifest Mind -- I get what they're trying to do. They're trying to turn the spellbook into almost a familiar. But.... this isn't gonna do it. You can't use it for scouting, because it glows. You can cast spells from it up to Prof Mod per rest, but it eats an action and occupies your concentration to use it's senses instead of your own (not worded clearly as to whether you can cast from it if you aren't using it's senses -- I want to say the intention is yes). And moving it takes your bonus action, though there aren't that many things a Wizard really uses their bonus action for. The concept is both interesting mechanically and appropriate thematically, but... I'm just not feeling it. I keep expecting the spellbook to at some point become an independent creature. Half the class features are screaming that it's gonna happen. But then it... doesn't. You can't go halfsies on that kind of concept. Either you do it, or you don't.
One With the Word -- Ok, yeah, we've slipped off the rails here. Rather than making the spellbook an independent entity, we've instead turned the spellbook into basically a phylactery. This just feels wrong. The teleport is neat, but by this level you can afford to cast Misty Step.
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I do agree that switching damage types probably could use a cap or limitation of some sort, but I don't think that it's that big of a deal to let it apply to spells that aren't primarily offensive in nature. I'd say give it a limited number of uses and the damage type must come from a spell you have prepared, but other than that I'm inclined to say that I think it's fine.
(I have got some more to say for the rest of the UA, but I've got a final paper to finish for tomorrow so the rest of that will have to wait a bit)
The Scribe being able to do force damage fireballs is not a big problem, damage type is relevant extremely rarely.
This has been a public service announcement, thank you.
If all you can think of is force dmg fireballs for an ability that lets you sub any damage type to any other dmg type than you really lack imagination. never played with party members that a resistant to a type of dmg? never played against radiant vulnerable undead or cold vulnerable fiends? didn't look at damage resistant spells and damage invulnerability spells that can be changed to any type to suit the big monster your about to fight?
This ability has sooooooooooo many uses beyond "force damage is rarely resisted thats all im gonna use it for" The fact that not only can you dodge all immunities and resistances, but also take advantage of every vulnerability that pops up, and shut down things that rely heavily on 1 damage type with resistance spells, at will all the time for no cost is redonk
I guess that still gives you a safe haven for long rest with an invisible Imp and a pretty cool bag of holding of sorts.
Yeah, Kinda. I do feel that it is presented as an "item". So, this rule sucks for it: "Placing a (bag,hole,haversack) inside an extradimensional space created by another (bag,hole,haversack), or similar item instantly destroys both items and opens a gate to the Astral Plane."
For its use in my campaigns, I'm tempted to say it is created by the genie, not by the item, so it acts more like a magnificent mansion or rope trick. Thus, no boom.
Manifest Mind is scrapped. This doesn't feel like a wizard or scribe ability. It needs to be replaced with a real ability that seems "scribe-y". What this ability is? I don't know. I'd be open to suggestions. If they want to keep the spellbook as an ally, I'd have it actually have a creature stat block, similar to the Homunculus Servant.
What about the ability to use their quill to write a special sigil on any solid surface that allows them to see through it if it is within 300ft and cast spells through it a limited number of times?
I would like to see more abilities with the quill. Maybe combining it with a magic wand for some benefits? Maybe enhanced glyph of wardings? Maybe teleporting letters like the Volstrucker? I'm not sure, but I'm certain WotC could come up with some.
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Changing damage types is a balanced ability. I agree that it should only be restricted to spells that do damage tho, for the damage type, absorb elements shouldn't just be "I take whatever I want whenever I want".
Changing damage types is a balanced ability. I agree that it should only be restricted to spells that do damage tho, for the damage type, absorb elements shouldn't just be "I take whatever I want whenever I want".
It isn't balanced. Changing damage types 100% of the time is broken.
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Changing damage types is a balanced ability. I agree that it should only be restricted to spells that do damage tho, for the damage type, absorb elements shouldn't just be "I take whatever I want whenever I want".
It isn't balanced. Changing damage types 100% of the time is broken.
Agreed.
Funny you mention absorb elements as it can invalidate that spell completely by changing types.
There are 80 or so creatures in the game that have damage vulnerability.
There are 168 creatures with fire resistance and 118 with fire immunity.
There are 0 creatures with force resistance and 3 with immunity.
Being able to take advantage of these numbers at will with no action economy, limit to use, or limitation in damage types is not something that is "balanced".
Changing damage types is a balanced ability. I agree that it should only be restricted to spells that do damage tho, for the damage type, absorb elements shouldn't just be "I take whatever I want whenever I want".
It isn't balanced. Changing damage types 100% of the time is broken.
I agree with this. Even though people from Wizards have said things like changing damage types doesn't affect balance, they're the same people who've made some decently big balance issues.
It's definitely an ability that's balanced as a subclass feature, but must have some sort of cap or condition to it. Even if the cap were a highish number like 2x your Int modifier. It isn't exactly balanced to make cold fireballs when fighting a salamander or iron golem, without a limit. The spell is strong, and there's monsters to counter fire damage. You have a limited number of prepared spells, but this can pretty much give you as many damage types as you need at will as it currently is.
Changing damage types is a balanced ability. I agree that it should only be restricted to spells that do damage tho, for the damage type, absorb elements shouldn't just be "I take whatever I want whenever I want".
It isn't balanced. Changing damage types 100% of the time is broken.
I agree with this. Even though people from Wizards have said things like changing damage types doesn't affect balance, they're the same people who've made some decently big balance issues.
It's definitely an ability that's balanced as a subclass feature, but must have some sort of cap or condition to it. Even if the cap were a highish number like 2x your Int modifier. It isn't exactly balanced to make cold fireballs when fighting a salamander or iron golem, without a limit. The spell is strong, and there's monsters to counter fire damage. You have a limited number of prepared spells, but this can pretty much give you as many damage types as you need at will as it currently is.
The one thing that balances out Fireball a little bit is that it does fire damage. If you strip that away 100% of the time, you're doing something wrong.
It should require a reaction, and have limited uses equal to your proficiency bonus, and be limited to when you deal damage. If they keep it as is, it's broken.
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Wizardly Quill -- I feel like the name isn't quite right, but mechanically this is very neat and creates a nice thematic mesh. I think of Rita Skeeter and her Quick Quotes Quill with this. "Just ignore the quill, dear..."
Awakened Spellbook -- ...now see, with a name like that, it would seem to me that this ability somehow makes the spellbook an actual entity, like the Wizard in question is seeking to create a living repository of magical knowledge. But mechanically it doesn't do that. It barely even gets into the ballpark with that last paragraph about recreating your spellbook. Nobody noticed that little nugget, did they?
That's insane. It puts all other Wizard subclasses to shame. Replacing your lost, stolen, or destroyed spellbook as part of any rest, at no cost, just for having an empty book and using a no-resource class feature with no cooldown (Quill). It's perfect thematically, but it removes most of the risk of playing a Wizard. You could even intentionally use this as a money making strategy. Find any npc wizard or dealer in magical objects, sell your spellbook for an exorbitant price, then use your Quill and a blank book to reclaim it. You made yourself a tidy sum of gold, and the other guy gets nothing. And the worst part is this isn't even the primary focus of the subclass feature -- it's an added thingamajig. Honestly, this ability alone is enough to be a class feature, nevermind the Forceballs or Psychicballs or whatever. This whole thing is broken. Erase it all and start over.
Master Scrivener -- I'm torn on this. On one hand, it's really powerful. Once per LR you get a free spell scroll of any 1st or 2nd level spell, cast as a 2nd or 3rd lvl spell (respectively). No time or resources spent crafting. Just getting it for free, once per day. That's both incredibly useful and incredibly limiting, depending on what angle you're looking at it from. At this point you've got 3 3rd level slots yourself, which means you're also only using spells capping out at 3rd level. But you're basically getting another free spell every day, and not just one you have prepared, but any spell cast as an action in your spellbook. You can do a lot of things with that. Again, that's free money every day when you're in town. Or you can stockpile some useful things, like Mage Armor to reduce the tax on yourself for combat, or Hold Person allowing you to lock down 2 targets without concentration (that's how Spell Scrolls work when they hold a Concentration spell, right?). And this doesn't cost you any downtime to use, or material components, or gold. You use your Wizard's Quill to make this just happen. The limit here is simply that you only get to do it with 1st and 2nd level spells. A significant portion of the qualifying spells don't scale with level (Detect Magic, Protection from Evil and Good, even Mage Armor), and quite a few are useful but lackluster (Burning Hands, Ice Knife). Outside of perhaps Hold Person there isn't anything that screams broken to me, but then again I'm not the most creative person about bending rules in this regard.
Manifest Mind -- I get what they're trying to do. They're trying to turn the spellbook into almost a familiar. But.... this isn't gonna do it. You can't use it for scouting, because it glows. You can cast spells from it up to Prof Mod per rest, but it eats an action and occupies your concentration to use it's senses instead of your own (not worded clearly as to whether you can cast from it if you aren't using it's senses -- I want to say the intention is yes). And moving it takes your bonus action, though there aren't that many things a Wizard really uses their bonus action for. The concept is both interesting mechanically and appropriate thematically, but... I'm just not feeling it. I keep expecting the spellbook to at some point become an independent creature. Half the class features are screaming that it's gonna happen. But then it... doesn't. You can't go halfsies on that kind of concept. Either you do it, or you don't.
One With the Word -- Ok, yeah, we've slipped off the rails here. Rather than making the spellbook an independent entity, we've instead turned the spellbook into basically a phylactery. This just feels wrong. The teleport is neat, but by this level you can afford to cast Misty Step.
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I do agree that switching damage types probably could use a cap or limitation of some sort, but I don't think that it's that big of a deal to let it apply to spells that aren't primarily offensive in nature. I'd say give it a limited number of uses and the damage type must come from a spell you have prepared, but other than that I'm inclined to say that I think it's fine.
(I have got some more to say for the rest of the UA, but I've got a final paper to finish for tomorrow so the rest of that will have to wait a bit)
If all you can think of is force dmg fireballs for an ability that lets you sub any damage type to any other dmg type than you really lack imagination. never played with party members that a resistant to a type of dmg? never played against radiant vulnerable undead or cold vulnerable fiends? didn't look at damage resistant spells and damage invulnerability spells that can be changed to any type to suit the big monster your about to fight?
This ability has sooooooooooo many uses beyond "force damage is rarely resisted thats all im gonna use it for" The fact that not only can you dodge all immunities and resistances, but also take advantage of every vulnerability that pops up, and shut down things that rely heavily on 1 damage type with resistance spells, at will all the time for no cost is redonk
Thanks, I read it pretty late a night and must of missed the only entering vessel once per long rest.
I guess that still gives you a safe haven for long rest with an invisible Imp and a pretty cool bag of holding of sorts.
Yeah, Kinda. I do feel that it is presented as an "item". So, this rule sucks for it:
"Placing a (bag,hole,haversack) inside an extradimensional space created by another (bag,hole,haversack), or similar item instantly destroys both items and opens a gate to the Astral Plane."
For its use in my campaigns, I'm tempted to say it is created by the genie, not by the item, so it acts more like a magnificent mansion or rope trick. Thus, no boom.
Oh cool
A Bag of Holding that you can only access once per day is not as useful as an actual Bag of Holding which is only an uncommon magic item.
It provides shelter for a short rest but only for yourself until level 10, and again only once per day.
This is a very useful ability, but I really don't think it is game breaking
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Good luck on your paper.
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I think it's kind of obvious they'd replace the abilities with different ones.
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Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
I would like to see more abilities with the quill. Maybe combining it with a magic wand for some benefits? Maybe enhanced glyph of wardings? Maybe teleporting letters like the Volstrucker? I'm not sure, but I'm certain WotC could come up with some.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
This^
That's exactly how I feel about this ability. Useful, not crazy, though.
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Changing damage types is a balanced ability. I agree that it should only be restricted to spells that do damage tho, for the damage type, absorb elements shouldn't just be "I take whatever I want whenever I want".
It isn't balanced. Changing damage types 100% of the time is broken.
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Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Agreed.
Funny you mention absorb elements as it can invalidate that spell completely by changing types.
There are 80 or so creatures in the game that have damage vulnerability.
There are 168 creatures with fire resistance and 118 with fire immunity.
There are 0 creatures with force resistance and 3 with immunity.
Being able to take advantage of these numbers at will with no action economy, limit to use, or limitation in damage types is not something that is "balanced".
I agree with this. Even though people from Wizards have said things like changing damage types doesn't affect balance, they're the same people who've made some decently big balance issues.
It's definitely an ability that's balanced as a subclass feature, but must have some sort of cap or condition to it. Even if the cap were a highish number like 2x your Int modifier. It isn't exactly balanced to make cold fireballs when fighting a salamander or iron golem, without a limit. The spell is strong, and there's monsters to counter fire damage. You have a limited number of prepared spells, but this can pretty much give you as many damage types as you need at will as it currently is.
Also known as CrafterB and DankMemer.
Here, have some homebrew classes! Subclasses to? Why not races. Feats, feats as well. I have a lot of magic items. Lastly I got monsters, fun, fun times.
The one thing that balances out Fireball a little bit is that it does fire damage. If you strip that away 100% of the time, you're doing something wrong.
It should require a reaction, and have limited uses equal to your proficiency bonus, and be limited to when you deal damage. If they keep it as is, it's broken.
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Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
I've never understood the "Damage type doesn't affect balance" train of thought. Why even have damage types then?
Yeah, you'd expect it just to have everything do damage with no associated name of damage, then.
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Yeah or just be "magical" or "non-magical"
Why, so we can play overly-complicated Rock-Paper-Scissors of course!