How is everyone doing? I had an idea for a homebrew Fighter archetype based on a historical group/organization. Its called the "Medjay" (pronounced med-jai). I thought it would be fun to make this into something of a community think tank where ideas can be bounced around. So input here is certainly welcome, but please be respectful of all thoughts shared here. Now on with the discussion!
Before we begin trying to dole out features and whatnot let's first make something clear: who were the Medjay? In our world, the Medjay were a elite paramilitary police force who were instrumental in helping Egypt become a legitimate military power. They were often deployed to protect high priority areas such as capital cities and tombs.
With that understanding of who the Medjay were, let's start discussing what type of role this subclass should play both in and out of combat. To me, I see this as a versatile subclass who's abilities apply both in combat and social encounters, as they were both soldier and police. So with that in mind, I believe this should be a subclass that has abilities that key off of a Stat investment into Intelligence or possibly Wisdom. Charisma doesn't feel right for this archetype imho because I envision the Medjay to be more direct problem solvers versus being more diplomatic. Although, a feature that adds say...your INT modifier to a Persuasion/Deception check similar to how the Samurai can add their Wisdom mod to a check may be possible.
I've also considered making the subclass into a "Battle Master-Lite" by giving it a small number of unique maneuvers that use Superiority Dice similar to some UA Fighter subclasses. I would mitigate the subclass overlap by keeping the die at d8's and removing the "Improved Combat Superiority" feature. There are some UA maneuvers that I feel would fit nicely into this homebrew.
Alternatively, I could also base the class off of the Gunslinger archetype by Matt Mercer. That route would grant a number of points equal to an appropriate stat modifier, making that particular stat even more important. What "tricks" you could do with those points may likely be different than what "maneuvers" you might be able to come up with.
As far as out of combat features...maybe a couple of bonus proficiencies and/or double proficiency later on? I don't see this being a half caster like the Eldritch Knight or even Rune Knight but if you want that magical taste to it, maybe give it spells or abilities that lean into the investigative side. What about the ability to use "Detect Magic" at will? Or "Find Familiar" for that helpful animal companion?
Let's hear your thoughts.
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How is everyone doing? I had an idea for a homebrew Fighter archetype based on a historical group/organization. Its called the "Medjay" (pronounced med-jai). I thought it would be fun to make this into something of a community think tank where ideas can be bounced around. So input here is certainly welcome, but please be respectful of all thoughts shared here. Now on with the discussion!
Before we begin trying to dole out features and whatnot let's first make something clear: who were the Medjay? In our world, the Medjay were a elite paramilitary police force who were instrumental in helping Egypt become a legitimate military power. They were often deployed to protect high priority areas such as capital cities and tombs.
With that understanding of who the Medjay were, let's start discussing what type of role this subclass should play both in and out of combat. To me, I see this as a versatile subclass who's abilities apply both in combat and social encounters, as they were both soldier and police. So with that in mind, I believe this should be a subclass that has abilities that key off of a Stat investment into Intelligence or possibly Wisdom. Charisma doesn't feel right for this archetype imho because I envision the Medjay to be more direct problem solvers versus being more diplomatic. Although, a feature that adds say...your INT modifier to a Persuasion/Deception check similar to how the Samurai can add their Wisdom mod to a check may be possible.
I've also considered making the subclass into a "Battle Master-Lite" by giving it a small number of unique maneuvers that use Superiority Dice similar to some UA Fighter subclasses. I would mitigate the subclass overlap by keeping the die at d8's and removing the "Improved Combat Superiority" feature. There are some UA maneuvers that I feel would fit nicely into this homebrew.
Alternatively, I could also base the class off of the Gunslinger archetype by Matt Mercer. That route would grant a number of points equal to an appropriate stat modifier, making that particular stat even more important. What "tricks" you could do with those points may likely be different than what "maneuvers" you might be able to come up with.
As far as out of combat features...maybe a couple of bonus proficiencies and/or double proficiency later on? I don't see this being a half caster like the Eldritch Knight or even Rune Knight but if you want that magical taste to it, maybe give it spells or abilities that lean into the investigative side. What about the ability to use "Detect Magic" at will? Or "Find Familiar" for that helpful animal companion?
Let's hear your thoughts.