Damn...I was going to homebrew a "Dhampir" Rogue subclass...but now it seems that I don't have to.
With just a single multiclass in the "Undead" Warlock, I can add the flavor of a vampiric curse from Strahd, and just simply put the bulk of the levels into Swashbuckling Rogue..."Cunning Action" Dash will be the dhampir's supernatural speed..."Sneak Attack" will be their tremendous damage..."Panache" becomes their supernatural "charm" to get a person to be mesmerized by them...
...bonus points for using a half-drow to really get that "vampiric" look...and access to "Faerie Fire" or "Darkness" doesn't hurt...especially with "Devil's Sight"...
Definitely a Work in Progress. I do intend to give some positive feedback in hopes we see a better version in round 2 instead of it just getting tossed aside.
Spiritual Focus 3rd- and 6th-level College of Spirits feature Your practice of contacting spirits can employ special tools. You can use the following objects as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells: a candle, a crystal ball, a talking board, a tarokka deck, or a skull. At 6th level, when you cast a bard spell that deals damage or restores hit points through the Spiritual Focus, roll a d6, and you gain a bonus to one roll of the spell equal to the number rolled.
I assume you are talking to me, well the feature can Only affect spells that heal or deal damage, but it just says "one roll", unlike alchemical savant or arcane firearm it does not specify what kind of roll is affected, so it seems any dice roll that is caused by an spell that can deal damage or that can restore hit points is completely Fair game. If i cast Contact other plane, i am casting a spell that deals damage. That means that if i cast that spell, i get to roll a d6 and add it to any Dice roll of the spell, wich depending on how you see things may include the saving throw you make against the spell as it is a,Dice roll made as part of casting this spell (this depends on how you interpret things). Similarly the teleportation spell can deal damage if you roll a misshap, and an d100 Dice roll is needed to determine where you end up, so you might be able to add your puny d6 number to that roll. Maybe its just a typing/ formatting error, maybe it is intentionally meant to be vague in order for it to be more versatile, i do not really know, but as written now it can be used for many things you would not expect
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Damn...I was going to homebrew a "Dhampir" Rogue subclass...but now it seems that I don't have to.
With just a single multiclass in the "Undead" Warlock, I can add the flavor of a vampiric curse from Strahd, and just simply put the bulk of the levels into Swashbuckling Rogue..."Cunning Action" Dash will be the dhampir's supernatural speed..."Sneak Attack" will be their tremendous damage..."Panache" becomes their supernatural "charm" to get a person to be mesmerized by them...
...bonus points for using a half-drow to really get that "vampiric" look...and access to "Faerie Fire" or "Darkness" doesn't hurt...especially with "Devil's Sight"...
Why not go normal drow and get yaself some thematically appropriate sunlight sensitivity too boot? Other than it possibly not fitting the lore, i donno do dhampir normaly have an aversion to the sun?
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Okay, so having looked these over some...I don't know if I like them or not.
The bard feels thematically sound. Spiritual Focus is a nice ribbon, and the 6th level boost is a nice cherry on top. Tales From Beyond is...where I start wondering whether I like it or not. None of the options really seem bad to me, but I've developed a bit of an aversion to randomly rolled effects, and there's a *very* serious power disparity between the earlier effects and the later ones which only reinforces my aversion. Spirit Session is one where I like the flavor, and the benefit is a sound one for a caster with limited spells known, but I kinda wish it did something different than learning a spell. Mystical Connection....since it plays off a feature I'm not sure about, my response to it is kinda "meh".
The Undead warlock definitely needs some work. at first glance, it feels like it's meant to be an offensive counter to undying, but it feels like it'd be much weaker than other patrons currently available.
Are we really looking at the same subclass? It's easily one of the strongest warlock choices...
2 to 6 times per day 1d10+warlock levels temp hp (that alone is really good)
nearly unlimited ways to frighten enemies
immune to frightened condition
one damage die to every attack (Eldritch Blast or weapon attack if you choose Pact of Blade)
better Death Ward effect with aoe damage (once every 1d4 days)
The spells are good too... why do you think this class is underpowered? Perhaps hexblade is stronger... in my opinion it's one of the top 3 strongest subclasses for warlocks.
From a roleplaying perspective, this patron is much weaker than the others. And a lot of the abilities are dependant on the Form of Dread. As far as the spells go, if you look at them side by side with the expanded spell list for the Undying, it's essentially the same list of spells, except one of them was changed. As far as your arguments for the abilities, here's what I see:
Temporary Hit Points - this is good but it first makes the False Life spell pointless as an expanded spell since your ability is stronger and if you take no damage, the best you can hope for is a better roll until the long rest. You're really only going to take advantage of this if you are taking damage each combat and are in multiple combats per long rest.
Unlimited frighten - you will only have this ability for 10 rounds, which is a long time in combat but unless you intend to use Eldritch Blast all the time when this ability is active, you're only going to potentially affect 1 target per round (2 if you intend to go Pact of the Blade w/ Thirsting Blade)
Immune to the frighten condition - this is good to have but it's only when the Form of Dread is active so you're restricted to the number of times you can use it per long rest. And, it's only really effective if you're going against something with ability or spell to frighten enemies
1 damage die to every attack - This is dependent on a couple of things. You have to have the Form of Dread active and you have to choose the damage type to be necrotic in order to get the additional damage die. So, you're limited on the number of times you can take advantage of this ability per long rest. And like the frighten ability, unless you intend on using Eldritch Blast every time the Form of Dread is active, you're not going to get a whole lot of additional damage from this
Mortal Husk - while it's a good ability, Searing Vengeance for the Celestial is much better if you get dropped to 0 (you regain half your HP max, you automatically stand up, you deal 2d8+Cha radiant damage and blind everyone you choose within 30ft, once per long rest). True, you get Mortal Husk much sooner, but you will hit everyone when you use the ability and you may not be able to use it again for up to 4 days.
Like I said, as it's currently built, I feel like it's really underwhelming and while it looks overpowered at first glance, there are a lot of dependencies to get that max damage and even if you succeed, you'd be stuck only casting Eldritch Blast in order to get the most out of the frighten and extra damage die.
Aaaaand, DDB just randomly posted my comment before I was finished with it. ಠ__ಠ
ANYWAY, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I think I like the warlock a bit more. The spell list feels kinda "meh". Form of Dread is a nice buff, though I think I would make it 1/short or long rest instead of tying it to proficiency bonus. Grave Touched has a nice ribbon, and swapping for necrotic damage is fine as-is (a whole ****ton of their spells deal it anyways), but the extra damage needs either some rewording or a *very* serious nerf to keep Eldritch Blast from just annihilating damn near everything. Mortal Husk I think is fine as it is. Spirit Projection is...I don't think it's weak, and the flavor is there, but I'm not sure I really like it either. It did occur to me as I was reading it that it feels like a combination of abilities from the now-defunct Psionics Wizard, which I do find interesting...buuuut with that said, I think I might prefer if it did something else, honestly.
Overall, I think it needs a little re-jiggering, but I do quite like this one more, and it's definitely a vast improvement over the the patron that shall *NOT* be named!
I just looked at these subclasses. The Spirits Bard is pretty good. I love the flavor and how some options on the table are only unlocked as your inspiration die goes up. It doesn’t seem OP to me, and I really like the kinda creepy feel.
The Undead Warlock, on the other hand, is not my favorite. I do get the flavor of it (I’ve actually been wanting to homebrew one for a while). It seems very different from the Undying from a flavor standpoint. Undying always seemed more arcane researcher that managed to prolong their life (like a lich), but Undead is more... scary? The features are not that good. The spell list is just eh, not actually a major benefit. Grave Touched is clearly broken, and Form of Dread and Mortal Husk are definitely stronger abilities. I have no idea why Spirit Protection is in there. It seems like something from a different subclass. It doesn’t fit with the scary necrotic killer vibe. This definitely needs improvement.
I always love some new subclasses, but this wasn’t nearly as impressive as the revised subclasses. Not too bad, though. These could be very good after a few revisions.
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Tales From Beyond is...where I start wondering whether I like it or not. None of the options really seem bad to me, but I've developed a bit of an aversion to randomly rolled effects, and there's a *very* serious power disparity between the earlier effects and the later ones which only reinforces my aversion.
I agree with your complaint, i am also extremely averse to the randomly rolled tables specifically when it feels like something you should control (ex. A good RNG table is the Wild Magic Surge cause its not the main even of your feature its more a ribbon and a bad RNG is the Experimental Potion table cause it takes away any semblance of control you have over your abilities). Although i really enjoy the system of rolling your bardic inspiration because it allows the features to scale with you (we Know using separate tables as you level gets annoying and convoluted: See School of Invention) so i think you should just be able to select the feature of your choice as long as it is a number you could roll on your bardic inspiration die. This would also help reinforce the duality of support or offense play styles with more control, which is also something i love about the class.
I have decided that i dislike the undead warlock. We have gotten to the point in 5e where new stuff has to be either thematically or mechanically inventive and this subclass is so boring especially compared to a lot of other things we have seen recently.
I like the warlock as a new bladelock option that isn't hexblade. It has the ability to heal so you can get into melee, has abilities that key off attacks so you don't have to be an eldritch blast bot, turning into an avatar of undead isn't something we really have. I agree there isn't anything we haven't seen in another class, but much of it is new to warlock. The exception to this is the exploding death which is really interesting, uses a different recovery method than most things, and the capstone of turning into a spirit and leaving your body behind while being able to interact with the physical world is (I think) a new option. Thematically, it is just the undead patron but with actually interesting and useful mechanics which I don't mind. Now they just need to do this with beast master ranger. Or just with ranger in general.
I have decided that i dislike the undead warlock. We have gotten to the point in 5e where new stuff has to be either thematically or mechanically inventive and this subclass is so boring especially compared to a lot of other things we have seen recently.
It isn't flavorful enough? In what way? You literally get to explode at death, come back fully formed, and hurt people around you.
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Sorry, i should have said uniquely before some of that. Exploding on death and coming back is nothing new and this is actually the weakest version we have seen. I just think the Genie and the Lurker both outshine it in terms of being interesting
maybe im just suck of the “this is an edgelord and must be played as such” approach that is often taken with shadow and undead themed subclasses like this
Sorry, i should have said uniquely before some of that. Exploding on death and coming back is nothing new and this is actually the weakest version we have seen. I just think the Genie and the Lurker both outshine it in terms of being interesting
maybe im just suck of the “this is an edgelord and must be played as such” approach that is often taken with shadow and undead themed subclasses like this
You certainly have different tastes from me. I don't think it has to be an edgelord. I could fairly easily see a Lightfoot Halfling becoming one of these warlocks, making the pact just to survive a difficult moment, now cursed with the ability to frighten others and do necromantic powers.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Damn...I was going to homebrew a "Dhampir" Rogue subclass...but now it seems that I don't have to.
With just a single multiclass in the "Undead" Warlock, I can add the flavor of a vampiric curse from Strahd, and just simply put the bulk of the levels into Swashbuckling Rogue..."Cunning Action" Dash will be the dhampir's supernatural speed..."Sneak Attack" will be their tremendous damage..."Panache" becomes their supernatural "charm" to get a person to be mesmerized by them...
...bonus points for using a half-drow to really get that "vampiric" look...and access to "Faerie Fire" or "Darkness" doesn't hurt...especially with "Devil's Sight"...
There seems to be a whole lot of editing left out of The Undead.
Definitely a Work in Progress. I do intend to give some positive feedback in hopes we see a better version in round 2 instead of it just getting tossed aside.
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I assume you are talking to me, well the feature can Only affect spells that heal or deal damage, but it just says "one roll", unlike alchemical savant or arcane firearm it does not specify what kind of roll is affected, so it seems any dice roll that is caused by an spell that can deal damage or that can restore hit points is completely Fair game. If i cast Contact other plane, i am casting a spell that deals damage. That means that if i cast that spell, i get to roll a d6 and add it to any Dice roll of the spell, wich depending on how you see things may include the saving throw you make against the spell as it is a,Dice roll made as part of casting this spell (this depends on how you interpret things). Similarly the teleportation spell can deal damage if you roll a misshap, and an d100 Dice roll is needed to determine where you end up, so you might be able to add your puny d6 number to that roll. Maybe its just a typing/ formatting error, maybe it is intentionally meant to be vague in order for it to be more versatile, i do not really know, but as written now it can be used for many things you would not expect
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Why not go normal drow and get yaself some thematically appropriate sunlight sensitivity too boot? Other than it possibly not fitting the lore, i donno do dhampir normaly have an aversion to the sun?
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
If I recall Dhampir are day walkers like Blade.
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Okay, so having looked these over some...I don't know if I like them or not.
The bard feels thematically sound. Spiritual Focus is a nice ribbon, and the 6th level boost is a nice cherry on top. Tales From Beyond is...where I start wondering whether I like it or not. None of the options really seem bad to me, but I've developed a bit of an aversion to randomly rolled effects, and there's a *very* serious power disparity between the earlier effects and the later ones which only reinforces my aversion. Spirit Session is one where I like the flavor, and the benefit is a sound one for a caster with limited spells known, but I kinda wish it did something different than learning a spell. Mystical Connection....since it plays off a feature I'm not sure about, my response to it is kinda "meh".
Overall, I don't hate it, buuuuut I don't think I like it either...
So, for the warlock, let me start out by saying WE SHALL NOT SPEAK OF THE UNDYING! THE UNDYING IS *DEAD* TO US!!!
From a roleplaying perspective, this patron is much weaker than the others. And a lot of the abilities are dependant on the Form of Dread. As far as the spells go, if you look at them side by side with the expanded spell list for the Undying, it's essentially the same list of spells, except one of them was changed. As far as your arguments for the abilities, here's what I see:
Like I said, as it's currently built, I feel like it's really underwhelming and while it looks overpowered at first glance, there are a lot of dependencies to get that max damage and even if you succeed, you'd be stuck only casting Eldritch Blast in order to get the most out of the frighten and extra damage die.
yeah. couldn't really find a good 3rd level that would fit, but figured Revivify was a raise dead with a 1 minute timer lol
The language they used does seem to indicate that. Surely they meant 5d10 total? or maybe reroll the damage of one of the d10s?
Aaaaand, DDB just randomly posted my comment before I was finished with it. ಠ__ಠ
ANYWAY, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I think I like the warlock a bit more. The spell list feels kinda "meh". Form of Dread is a nice buff, though I think I would make it 1/short or long rest instead of tying it to proficiency bonus. Grave Touched has a nice ribbon, and swapping for necrotic damage is fine as-is (a whole ****ton of their spells deal it anyways), but the extra damage needs either some rewording or a *very* serious nerf to keep Eldritch Blast from just annihilating damn near everything. Mortal Husk I think is fine as it is. Spirit Projection is...I don't think it's weak, and the flavor is there, but I'm not sure I really like it either. It did occur to me as I was reading it that it feels like a combination of abilities from the now-defunct Psionics Wizard, which I do find interesting...buuuut with that said, I think I might prefer if it did something else, honestly.
Overall, I think it needs a little re-jiggering, but I do quite like this one more, and it's definitely a vast improvement over the the patron that shall *NOT* be named!
I just looked at these subclasses. The Spirits Bard is pretty good. I love the flavor and how some options on the table are only unlocked as your inspiration die goes up. It doesn’t seem OP to me, and I really like the kinda creepy feel.
The Undead Warlock, on the other hand, is not my favorite. I do get the flavor of it (I’ve actually been wanting to homebrew one for a while). It seems very different from the Undying from a flavor standpoint. Undying always seemed more arcane researcher that managed to prolong their life (like a lich), but Undead is more... scary? The features are not that good. The spell list is just eh, not actually a major benefit. Grave Touched is clearly broken, and Form of Dread and Mortal Husk are definitely stronger abilities. I have no idea why Spirit Protection is in there. It seems like something from a different subclass. It doesn’t fit with the scary necrotic killer vibe. This definitely needs improvement.
I always love some new subclasses, but this wasn’t nearly as impressive as the revised subclasses. Not too bad, though. These could be very good after a few revisions.
Please check out my homebrew and give me feedback!
Subclasses | Races | Spells | Magic Items | Monsters | Feats | Backgrounds
I wonder how Mortal Husk could interact with Tomb of Levistus. Could you explode and then use your reaction to entomb yourself?
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I agree with your complaint, i am also extremely averse to the randomly rolled tables specifically when it feels like something you should control (ex. A good RNG table is the Wild Magic Surge cause its not the main even of your feature its more a ribbon and a bad RNG is the Experimental Potion table cause it takes away any semblance of control you have over your abilities).
Although i really enjoy the system of rolling your bardic inspiration because it allows the features to scale with you (we Know using separate tables as you level gets annoying and convoluted: See School of Invention) so i think you should just be able to select the feature of your choice as long as it is a number you could roll on your bardic inspiration die. This would also help reinforce the duality of support or offense play styles with more control, which is also something i love about the class.
I have decided that i dislike the undead warlock. We have gotten to the point in 5e where new stuff has to be either thematically or mechanically inventive and this subclass is so boring especially compared to a lot of other things we have seen recently.
I like the warlock as a new bladelock option that isn't hexblade. It has the ability to heal so you can get into melee, has abilities that key off attacks so you don't have to be an eldritch blast bot, turning into an avatar of undead isn't something we really have. I agree there isn't anything we haven't seen in another class, but much of it is new to warlock. The exception to this is the exploding death which is really interesting, uses a different recovery method than most things, and the capstone of turning into a spirit and leaving your body behind while being able to interact with the physical world is (I think) a new option. Thematically, it is just the undead patron but with actually interesting and useful mechanics which I don't mind. Now they just need to do this with beast master ranger. Or just with ranger in general.
It isn't flavorful enough? In what way? You literally get to explode at death, come back fully formed, and hurt people around you.
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Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Sorry, i should have said uniquely before some of that. Exploding on death and coming back is nothing new and this is actually the weakest version we have seen. I just think the Genie and the Lurker both outshine it in terms of being interesting
maybe im just suck of the “this is an edgelord and must be played as such” approach that is often taken with shadow and undead themed subclasses like this
You certainly have different tastes from me. I don't think it has to be an edgelord. I could fairly easily see a Lightfoot Halfling becoming one of these warlocks, making the pact just to survive a difficult moment, now cursed with the ability to frighten others and do necromantic powers.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
I honestly have no idea what that quote means.
"Not all those who wander are lost"