I've been making a monk subclass, and it's my first time making homebrew. The theme is not fully developed so I won't include it here, but I'd love some feedback to see how balanced it is or what I could change in general
Uncanny Skill
Starting when you choose this subclass at 3rd level, you may add a score equal to half your monk level rounded up to any skill check, saving throw, or attack roll you make twice per long rest. This increases to 3 times per long rest at 6th level, 4 at 11th level, and 5 at 17th level.
Bonus Proficiencies
You gain proficiency in a one-handed melee weapon and expertise in one skill. The weapon counts as a monk weapon for you.
Mindless Yet Menacing
When you roll above a 20 on an attack roll or skill check (factoring in to hit bonuses and skill modifiers) or reduce an enemy to 0 hit points, you can use 2 ki points to cause all enemies within 30 feet to roll a Wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they are frightened of you for (undecided length of time).
Deadly
Beginning at 11th level, you can use Uncanny Skill to add a score equal to your monk level to a damage roll you make.
Precision Point
At 17th level, you gain the ability to exploit opponents weak points to a extreme degree. Whenever you have advantage on an attack roll, you can expend 2 ki points to make that attack a critical hit.
I feel like the subclass is quite underpowered. Uncanny Skill is good, perhaps even too strong, but the proficiency isn't very helpful, Mindless requires a crit to activate, Deadly is ok but at 11th level an extra 5 damage isn't really going to help, ditto for 20th. Precision is weak given that the monks do lots of soft attacks, where most of the damage comes from a modifier.
I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to reword what you have her to be more like how WotC writes things as I critique it. It’ll help me help you. Feel free to either ignore it or use my wording, it’s your subclass.
Bonus Proficiencies
3rd-level Way of [SUBCLASS NAME] feature
You gain proficiency in any one one-handed melee weapon of your choice, it counts as a monk weapon for you.
In addition, choose one of your skill proficiencies, your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses the chosen skill.
The weapon proficiency this feature grants opens up the use of something like a battleaxe, longsword, or trident, something like that since all simple melee weapons and the shortsword are already monk weapons. That opens up the possibility to deal 1d10 damage per hit at an early level, and it opens up the ability to make use of a magic weapon later in the campaign. Nice, but not entirely necessary if they’re already using the Optional Class Features from Tasha’s Cauldron and therefore have access to the Dedicated Weapon feature. Expertise is always nice though.
Uncanny Knack (I changed it to “knack” because “skill” refers to a very specific game mechanic.)
3rd-level Way of [SUBCLASS NAME] feature
You can add a number equal to half your monk level (rounded down) to any ability check, attack roll, or saving throw you make. You can use this feature twice, and regain all uses of this feature whenever you finish a long rest. You gain an additional use of this feature when you reach higher levels in this class: 6th (3 uses), 11th (4 uses) and 17th level (5 uses).
That’s a very, very strong feature, especially at higher levels. You may want to cut back on the number of uses to 2, bumping to 3 uses at 11th level and stop there. Not sure though, that’s really what playtesting is for.
Also, having it apply to ability checks is kinda pointless since they typically cost a full action in combat so most of the time nobody does them during combat.
Mindless Yet Menacing
6th--level Way of [SUBCLASS NAME] feature
Whenever you make an ability check or attack roll and the total is 21 or higher, you can spend 2 ki to force each hostile creature within 30 feet to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature a frightened of you until the beginning of your next turn.
That’s a solid feature.
Deadly
11th--level Way of [SUBCLASS NAME] feature
Whenever you use your Uncanny Knack on an attack roll, on a hit you can add your monk level to the damage roll.
That’s pretty frickin’ powerful, but probably appropriate considering how few times you can use Uncanny Knack
Precision Point
17th--level Way of [SUBCLASS NAME] feature
Whenever you have advantage on an attack roll and hit, you can spend 2 ki to make it a critical hit.
That’s redonculous. Getting advantage is super duper easy, especially at higher levels. Sure, monks aren’t typically using lots of damage dice, but paired with your bonus proficiency they could be swinging big lumber like a flame tongue longsword or something. No bueno, is too stronk I think.
Whenever you have advantage on an attack roll and hit, you can spend 1 ki to add 1d10 to the damage roll. You can only use this feature once per turn, if you use Flurry of Blows you can use this feature a second time without spending an additional point of ki.
That way it’s like getting a Crit on an unarmed strike, but less expensive than before. That might also be too powerful though. Needs playtesting.
Whenever you have advantage on an attack roll and hit, you can spend 1 ki to add 1d10 to the damage roll. You can only use this feature once per turn, if you use Flurry of Blows you can use this feature a second time without spending an additional point of ki.
That way it’s like getting a Crit on an unarmed strike, but less expensive than before. That might also be too powerful though. Needs playtesting.
That's pathetically weak - Mercy Monk gets better than this at level 3! Too far the other way.
How about:
Precision Point
17th--level Way of [SUBCLASS NAME] feature
Whenever you have advantage on an attack roll and hit, you can spend 1 ki to add 2d10+your Wisdom modifier to the damage roll, and the target has disadvantage on the next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw it makes. You can only use this feature once per turn.
While it is easy to get Adv on attack rolls, I find that at higher levels of play advantage is less of a priority for the party b/c martials usually have +2 weapons so have a really good chance to hit already, and casters are more focused on CC and using their high level spells for nova damage rather than the low level spells that give Adv.
You can add one roll of your Martial Arts die to any ability check, attack roll, or saving throw you make. You can use this feature twice, and regain all uses of this feature whenever you finish a long rest. You gain an additional use of this feature when you reach higher levels in this class: 6th (3 uses), 11th (4 uses) and 17th level (5 uses).
This I would change to a bonus equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die. That would make it better at low levels when you first get this feature - at 3rd level adding +1 to something twice a day is pretty sad - and stop it scaling too high at higher levels (adding +10 is pretty darn powerful).
Hey I could use some help fairly similar to this, I am making an Artificer Homebrew but it needs some balancing help, my inspiration was Junkrat from Overwatch, also I need an idea for a level 15 ability. Here it is:
Grenadier
Grenadiers specialise in making traps and grenades by combining alchemy and technology and just killing everything, including their allies-
Tool Proficiency
3rd-level Grenadier feature
You gain proficiency with Alchemist Supplies If you already have this proficiency, you gain proficiency with one other type of artisan’s tools of your choice.
Grenadier Spells
3rd-level Grenadier feature
You always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Artillerist Spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don’t count against the number of artificer spells you prepare.
Grenadier Spells
Artificer Level
Spell
3rd
Burning Hands, Guiding Bolt
5th
Scorching Ray, Shatter
9th
Fireball, Lightning Bolt
13th
Wall of Fire, Vitriolic Sphere
17th
Flame Strike, Immolation
Arcane Launcher
3rd-level Grenadier feature
You have learnt how to create a small launcher which you attach to a part of your body, using Tinker’s tools or Alchemist’s Supplies you can create your launcher during a long rest, the launcher is attached to a part of your body (your choice) during the rest and can’t be removed against your will. You can only have one Arcane Launcher and can use it as a spellcasting focus. Your Arcane Launcher is required for any of your future abilities.
Also, you can cast firebolt through it
Arcane Explosives
3rd-level Grenadier feature
You can make new weapons, called Arcane Explosives. Arcane explosives are made as either Balls, or Traps. Balls require a bonus action to shoot through your Arcane Launcher and explode on impact, and Traps take an action to place and are triggered with either a bonus action as long as you are within 60ft or if 2 or more pounds of pressure is applied to the trap. The trap is a Tiny object but technically takes a 5x5ft square of floor space (cus dnd)
There are 2 types of Arcane Explosives, Boom and Gas. When you make an Arcane Explosive, you choose either Trap or Ball and Boom or Gas, (e.g. Boom Balls, Gas Traps).
Booms explodes in a 10ft radius and does 2d6 fire damage on a failed dexterity saving throw (half on a success) against your spell save DC. Gas explodes in a 5ft radius and does 1d6 poison damage on a failed constitution saving throw (half on a success) against your spell save DC and persists for 18 seconds. The affected area is lightly obscured.
Booms and Gas Damage Scale at the following levels: 5, 9, 15, 20. Booms scales by 2d6 and gas by 1d6
You can During a short rest you can create an amount of Arcane Explosives equal to your artificer level + intelligence modifier / 4 rounded down (minimum 1) During a long rest you can create an amount of Arcane Explosives equal to your artificer level + intelligence modifier / 2 rounded down (minimum 2) You can expend a spell slot and create an amount of expendable weapons equivalent to the spell slots level. When you create the Explosives, you must determine what specific types they are, then add them to your inventory for future reference.
Arcane Shock
5th-level Grenadier feature
You gain access to a new Arcane Explosive: Shock. Shock explodes and hits anything within 5ft and does 2d6 lightning damage on a failed dexterity saving throw (half on a success) against your spell save DC and on a fail the target is stunned until the start of your next turn.
Arcane Turrets
9th-level Grenadier feature
You learn how to make an Arcane Turret, you can create the turret once per short rest or long rest as an action and summon it within 5ft of you, after that you cannot create another cannon unless you expend a spell slot. The Turret is a magical object. The cannon has an AC of 18 and a number of hit points equal to five times your artificer level. It is immune to poison damage and psychic damage. If it is forced to make an ability check or a saving throw, treat all its ability scores as 10 (+0). If the mending spell is cast on it, it regains 2d6 hit points. It disappears if it is reduced to 0 hit points or after 30 seconds. You can dismiss it early as an action. You can have an amount of cannons active at once equal to your intelligence modifier (minimum 1) You can activate all of your active turrets with a single bonus action which allows them to move up to 15ft in any way of your choice and shoot an Arcane Explosive ball, from your own reserves of either Boom, Gas or Shock.
You asked for opinions right? I think the idea is fair enough but I think the subclass fails to address 2 recurring issues for monk as a whole and in some cases exacerbates the issues..
1: monk's have a horrid Ki economy.. most subclasses include more options for spending Ki when it's already hard to justify some ki actions. At level 5 a monk can attempt a flurry, and stunning strike on one turn and missed snare on a reaction and be left with less than half their ki points already, leaving monk's to often forego the majority of their ki uses thus losing half the flavor of the class.. adding more ki abilities already hurts that. One thing that particularly hurts is that monk's are offered for a ki point options that other classes get for free; like patient defense / uncanny dodge and step of the wind. You've done this again with precision point, essentially asking monk's to spend ki for extra damage when they have advantage when barbarians rogues and fighters off the top of my head already get a version of that by default (fighters superior critical, barbarian brutal critical, half orc savage attacks...) I'm aware not all of those are the same effect but it essentially boils down to the same thing, fighters attacking at advantage doubles their already trippled chance of landing a crit, barbarians or half orcs attacking at advantage are just going to get more critical in general and when they do they hurt more
2: monk damage in general is considered very lackluster after 11th level and I don't feel like this subclass does much to address thaton any kind of consistent basis.. monk is also MAD and this subclass doesn't really do much to address that either aside from give extra bonuses to checks and attacks.
I just feel like this subclass in the end will burn very bright for 2 or 3 turns and then end up a sitting duck like most other monk subs.
As a 1/2 caster Artificers using Evocation spells for the purpose of damage will always lag behind a full caster. So going whole hog on damage spells for their class isn't as good as it might look on paper. Remember a Wizard is getting Fireball when your grenadier is getting Shatter. Sure it is thematic but you want the mechanics to work or you'll end up like the Alchemist. Here's my suggested spells
3rd level - Fog Cloud, Catapult
5th level - Pyrotechnics, Shatter
9th level - Fireball, Stinking Cloud
13th level - Giant Insect, Resilient Sphere
17th level - Destructive Wave, Immolation
Oh... I fear I shouldn't have bothered with the above b/c the rest of the class is so poorly balanced it doesn't matter
You can make new weapons, called Arcane Explosives. Which you can create as part of a short or long rest - you create a number of explosives equal to your proficiency bonus as part of these rests - or you can use an action to magically conjure one in an unoccupied space within 30 ft of you by expending a spell slot of 1st level or higher. These explosives are a Tiny object with AC 10 and 1 hit point - it is immune to poison, psychic.
You can throw these explosives as an improvised weapon (range 20/40 ft) with which you are proficient, you may use your Intelligence for attack and damage rolls. The arcane explosive detonates upon contact with a solid surface, or if the object is destroyed. Arcane Explosives are unstable and lose their effectiveness after 24 hours.
There are several types of explosives you decide which one you make when you create it:
Blast : creatures in a 10 ft radius take 3d6 fire and must succeed on a Strength saving against your spell DC or be pushed 5 ft away from the point of detonation.
Shock : creatures in a 10 ft radius must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw against your spell DC. Taking 4d6 lightning damage on a failure or half as much on a success.
Poison : creatures in a 10 ft radius must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell DC. Taking 2d6 poison damage and becoming poisoned until the end of their next turn on a failure.
Smoke : black smoke fills a 10 ft radius sphere around the point of detonation, creatures and objects within the smoke are heavily obscured. A strong wind will instantly dissipate the smoke, otherwise it fades after 1 minute.
Arcane Launcher
5th-level Grenadier feature
You have learnt how to create a small launcher which you carry in one-hand. You can launch one of your Arcane Explosives from your Arcane Launcher as a bonus action, doing so increases their range to 30/60 ft. You may also use your Arcane Launcher as a spellcasting focus for your artificer spells.
Proficient Genadier
9th level Genadier feature
You add your proficiency bonus to the damage dealt by your Arcane Explosives.
Arcane Turret
15th-level Grenadier feature
You can transform your Arcane Launcher into an independent creature. As an action, you place the launcher on a space within 5ft of you and it unfolds into a Small construct. The turret has an AC of 18 and a number of hit points equal to five times your artificer level. It is immune to poison damage and psychic damage. If it is forced to make an ability check or a saving throw, treat all its ability scores as 10 (+0). It has a 15 ft walking speed
The turret remains for 1 minute before reverting to your Arcane Launcher, or until it is reduced to 0 hit points.
On each of your turns, you can take a bonus action to cause the turret to magically conjure and fire one of your Arcane Explosives with a range of 60/80 ft, as long as you are within 60 feet of it. As part of the same bonus action, you can direct the turret to walk or climb up to 15 feet to an unoccupied space, provided it has legs.
Idk this is quite underpowered, getting the main creation at 5th instead of 3rd (all subclasses do 3rd) a level nine feature where you do an extra 9 damage each short rest, but I like the Arcane Turret updates, thanks!
Idk this is quite underpowered, getting the main creation at 5th instead of 3rd (all subclasses do 3rd) a level nine feature where you do an extra 9 damage each short rest, but I like the Arcane Turret updates, thanks!
Don’t think about the launcher as “the main creation,” the explosives are the main creation, the launcher is an upgrade to the main feature. To be honest, I think even Agilemind‘s version is overtuned in some ways and not worded as well as it could be, and it’s much more balanced and worded better than your original. That’s not an insult, they just have more experience homebrewing.
Your subclass has problems. The wording is all over the place, it could be both clearer and more concise. There’s already an Artificer with a turret, we don’t need another one. It allows the player to stockpile a ridiculous number of explosives for two reasons:
It allows them to make a ridiculous number of them, too many to ever use between rests.
They stay potent forever.
The explosives themselves are okay I suppose, but they could be better. Basically, it needs an overhaul.
I agree with Agilemind‘s suggestions to give them a better variety of explosives all at once and to move the launcher to 5th level as an upgrade. I would change how the explosives work from how they presented them. I would also add an option similar to a tangler grenade that can restrain a creature In addition to the smoke grenade. I might also consider something like a flashbang explosive too. Throwing the bombs or planting them as mines is a solid feature for 3rd level. However, I would keep launching the grenades as an action, but I would increase the range of the launcher significantly, probably up to 60/120.
I also agree with reducing the number of explosives way down too. Think about the the course of the Adventuring Day. What’s expected is for the party to have two combats that each last 3½ rounds each then take a short rest, then another two combats and another short rest, then another two combats and a long rest. That means the PC will see roughly 6-7 rounds of combat between rests on average if they follow the expected adventuring day, and that’s a big if, most tables do 3-4 combats and only 1 short rest per adventuring day, some only do 2-3 combats and no short rests. That means the grenadier will need at most 6ish bombs between rests, and it’s better to leave them under than over. If you did a number of bombs per short rest equal to their Intelligence modifier or Proficiency bonus it would be right.
However, I would personally scrap the turret entirely and replace it with something more unique to your subclass. Something like a way to camouflage the mines and a double barrel launcher that allows you to launch 2 bombs as an action, that would be a badass capstone feature for this subclass. It buffs both applications of the explosives, launched bombs and planted mines. And it builds off of the preexisting features, which people enjoy.
For the 9th level feature, this is where I would bring in the damage upgrade to the explosives. It’s not fancy, but it’s solid and just about the right time to give them a boost.
Alright Sposta you are the boss! You mentioned that’s it’s written like a camels’s buttocks. Would you mind showing me the preferred none camel buttocks version?
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I've been making a monk subclass, and it's my first time making homebrew. The theme is not fully developed so I won't include it here, but I'd love some feedback to see how balanced it is or what I could change in general
Uncanny Skill
Starting when you choose this subclass at 3rd level, you may add a score equal to half your monk level rounded up to any skill check, saving throw, or attack roll you make twice per long rest. This increases to 3 times per long rest at 6th level, 4 at 11th level, and 5 at 17th level.
Bonus Proficiencies
You gain proficiency in a one-handed melee weapon and expertise in one skill. The weapon counts as a monk weapon for you.
Mindless Yet Menacing
When you roll above a 20 on an attack roll or skill check (factoring in to hit bonuses and skill modifiers) or reduce an enemy to 0 hit points, you can use 2 ki points to cause all enemies within 30 feet to roll a Wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they are frightened of you for (undecided length of time).
Deadly
Beginning at 11th level, you can use Uncanny Skill to add a score equal to your monk level to a damage roll you make.
Precision Point
At 17th level, you gain the ability to exploit opponents weak points to a extreme degree. Whenever you have advantage on an attack roll, you can expend 2 ki points to make that attack a critical hit.
I feel like the subclass is quite underpowered. Uncanny Skill is good, perhaps even too strong, but the proficiency isn't very helpful, Mindless requires a crit to activate, Deadly is ok but at 11th level an extra 5 damage isn't really going to help, ditto for 20th. Precision is weak given that the monks do lots of soft attacks, where most of the damage comes from a modifier.
DMing:
Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
Playing:
None sadly.
Optimization Guides:
Literally Too Angry to Die - A Guide to Optimizing a Barbarian
Mindless would take into account to hit bonuses and skill modifiers, but thanks for the advice!
I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to reword what you have her to be more like how WotC writes things as I critique it. It’ll help me help you. Feel free to either ignore it or use my wording, it’s your subclass.
The weapon proficiency this feature grants opens up the use of something like a battleaxe, longsword, or trident, something like that since all simple melee weapons and the shortsword are already monk weapons. That opens up the possibility to deal 1d10 damage per hit at an early level, and it opens up the ability to make use of a magic weapon later in the campaign. Nice, but not entirely necessary if they’re already using the Optional Class Features from Tasha’s Cauldron and therefore have access to the Dedicated Weapon feature. Expertise is always nice though.
That’s a very, very strong feature, especially at higher levels. You may want to cut back on the number of uses to 2, bumping to 3 uses at 11th level and stop there. Not sure though, that’s really what playtesting is for.
Also, having it apply to ability checks is kinda pointless since they typically cost a full action in combat so most of the time nobody does them during combat.
That’s a solid feature.
That’s pretty frickin’ powerful, but probably appropriate considering how few times you can use Uncanny Knack
That’s redonculous. Getting advantage is super duper easy, especially at higher levels. Sure, monks aren’t typically using lots of damage dice, but paired with your bonus proficiency they could be swinging big lumber like a flame tongue longsword or something. No bueno, is too stronk I think.
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Oh, fair. Mindless I thought was nat 20, deadly overlooked, precision didn't think of actually using a weapon.
DMing:
Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
Playing:
None sadly.
Optimization Guides:
Literally Too Angry to Die - A Guide to Optimizing a Barbarian
(if sposta says so then it's law)
DMing:
Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
Playing:
None sadly.
Optimization Guides:
Literally Too Angry to Die - A Guide to Optimizing a Barbarian
👨⚖️ 🤣😂🤣
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Thank you so much!
Also, what reccomendations would you have for something to replace Precision Point that could work similar conceptually?
Also also, how do you get text highlighted in green and linked to the mechanic like you did with "frightened"?
How about this:
That way it’s like getting a Crit on an unarmed strike, but less expensive than before. That might also be too powerful though. Needs playtesting.
As for the hover-over on “frightened,” that’s called a “tooltip.” You can learn all about tooltips here: (https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/homebrew-house-rules/9811-how-to-add-tooltips). And here’s a link to a handy FAQ for homebrewing: (https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/homebrew-house-rules/131411-a-homebrewers-how-to-faq).
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Sounds cool, thanks again for the help
That's pathetically weak - Mercy Monk gets better than this at level 3! Too far the other way.
How about:
While it is easy to get Adv on attack rolls, I find that at higher levels of play advantage is less of a priority for the party b/c martials usually have +2 weapons so have a really good chance to hit already, and casters are more focused on CC and using their high level spells for nova damage rather than the low level spells that give Adv.
This I would change to a bonus equal to one roll of your Martial Arts die. That would make it better at low levels when you first get this feature - at 3rd level adding +1 to something twice a day is pretty sad - and stop it scaling too high at higher levels (adding +10 is pretty darn powerful).
Hey I could use some help fairly similar to this, I am making an Artificer Homebrew but it needs some balancing help, my inspiration was Junkrat from Overwatch, also I need an idea for a level 15 ability.
Here it is:
Grenadier
Grenadiers specialise in making traps and grenades by combining alchemy and technology and just killing everything, including their allies-
Tool Proficiency
3rd-level Grenadier feature
You gain proficiency with Alchemist Supplies If you already have this proficiency, you gain proficiency with one other type of artisan’s tools of your choice.
Grenadier Spells
3rd-level Grenadier feature
You always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Artillerist Spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don’t count against the number of artificer spells you prepare.
Grenadier Spells
Artificer Level
Spell
3rd
Burning Hands, Guiding Bolt
5th
Scorching Ray, Shatter
9th
Fireball, Lightning Bolt
13th
Wall of Fire, Vitriolic Sphere
17th
Flame Strike, Immolation
Arcane Launcher
3rd-level Grenadier feature
You have learnt how to create a small launcher which you attach to a part of your body, using Tinker’s tools or Alchemist’s Supplies you can create your launcher during a long rest, the launcher is attached to a part of your body (your choice) during the rest and can’t be removed against your will. You can only have one Arcane Launcher and can use it as a spellcasting focus. Your Arcane Launcher is required for any of your future abilities.
Also, you can cast firebolt through it
Arcane Explosives
3rd-level Grenadier feature
You can make new weapons, called Arcane Explosives. Arcane explosives are made as either Balls, or Traps. Balls require a bonus action to shoot through your Arcane Launcher and explode on impact, and Traps take an action to place and are triggered with either a bonus action as long as you are within 60ft or if 2 or more pounds of pressure is applied to the trap. The trap is a Tiny object but technically takes a 5x5ft square of floor space (cus dnd)
There are 2 types of Arcane Explosives, Boom and Gas. When you make an Arcane Explosive, you choose either Trap or Ball and Boom or Gas, (e.g. Boom Balls, Gas Traps).
Booms explodes in a 10ft radius and does 2d6 fire damage on a failed dexterity saving throw (half on a success) against your spell save DC. Gas explodes in a 5ft radius and does 1d6 poison damage on a failed constitution saving throw (half on a success) against your spell save DC and persists for 18 seconds. The affected area is lightly obscured.
Booms and Gas Damage Scale at the following levels: 5, 9, 15, 20. Booms scales by 2d6 and gas by 1d6
You can During a short rest you can create an amount of Arcane Explosives equal to your artificer level + intelligence modifier / 4 rounded down (minimum 1)
During a long rest you can create an amount of Arcane Explosives equal to your artificer level + intelligence modifier / 2 rounded down (minimum 2)
You can expend a spell slot and create an amount of expendable weapons equivalent to the spell slots level. When you create the Explosives, you must determine what specific types they are, then add them to your inventory for future reference.
Arcane Shock
5th-level Grenadier feature
You gain access to a new Arcane Explosive: Shock. Shock explodes and hits anything within 5ft and does 2d6 lightning damage on a failed dexterity saving throw (half on a success) against your spell save DC and on a fail the target is stunned until the start of your next turn.
Arcane Turrets
9th-level Grenadier feature
You learn how to make an Arcane Turret, you can create the turret once per short rest or long rest as an action and summon it within 5ft of you, after that you cannot create another cannon unless you expend a spell slot.
The Turret is a magical object. The cannon has an AC of 18 and a number of hit points equal to five times your artificer level. It is immune to poison damage and psychic damage. If it is forced to make an ability check or a saving throw, treat all its ability scores as 10 (+0). If the mending spell is cast on it, it regains 2d6 hit points. It disappears if it is reduced to 0 hit points or after 30 seconds. You can dismiss it early as an action.
You can have an amount of cannons active at once equal to your intelligence modifier (minimum 1)
You can activate all of your active turrets with a single bonus action which allows them to move up to 15ft in any way of your choice and shoot an Arcane Explosive ball, from your own reserves of either Boom, Gas or Shock.
???
15th-level Grenadier feature
????
You asked for opinions right? I think the idea is fair enough but I think the subclass fails to address 2 recurring issues for monk as a whole and in some cases exacerbates the issues..
1: monk's have a horrid Ki economy.. most subclasses include more options for spending Ki when it's already hard to justify some ki actions. At level 5 a monk can attempt a flurry, and stunning strike on one turn and missed snare on a reaction and be left with less than half their ki points already, leaving monk's to often forego the majority of their ki uses thus losing half the flavor of the class.. adding more ki abilities already hurts that. One thing that particularly hurts is that monk's are offered for a ki point options that other classes get for free; like patient defense / uncanny dodge and step of the wind. You've done this again with precision point, essentially asking monk's to spend ki for extra damage when they have advantage when barbarians rogues and fighters off the top of my head already get a version of that by default (fighters superior critical, barbarian brutal critical, half orc savage attacks...) I'm aware not all of those are the same effect but it essentially boils down to the same thing, fighters attacking at advantage doubles their already trippled chance of landing a crit, barbarians or half orcs attacking at advantage are just going to get more critical in general and when they do they hurt more
2: monk damage in general is considered very lackluster after 11th level and I don't feel like this subclass does much to address thaton any kind of consistent basis.. monk is also MAD and this subclass doesn't really do much to address that either aside from give extra bonuses to checks and attacks.
I just feel like this subclass in the end will burn very bright for 2 or 3 turns and then end up a sitting duck like most other monk subs.
Some quick notes here:
As a 1/2 caster Artificers using Evocation spells for the purpose of damage will always lag behind a full caster. So going whole hog on damage spells for their class isn't as good as it might look on paper. Remember a Wizard is getting Fireball when your grenadier is getting Shatter. Sure it is thematic but you want the mechanics to work or you'll end up like the Alchemist. Here's my suggested spells
3rd level - Fog Cloud, Catapult
5th level - Pyrotechnics, Shatter
9th level - Fireball, Stinking Cloud
13th level - Giant Insect, Resilient Sphere
17th level - Destructive Wave, Immolation
Oh... I fear I shouldn't have bothered with the above b/c the rest of the class is so poorly balanced it doesn't matter
Hey thanks for the spells, will implement now. Do you have any further notes for the rest of the balance?
Arcane Explosives
3rd-level Grenadier feature
You can make new weapons, called Arcane Explosives. Which you can create as part of a short or long rest - you create a number of explosives equal to your proficiency bonus as part of these rests - or you can use an action to magically conjure one in an unoccupied space within 30 ft of you by expending a spell slot of 1st level or higher. These explosives are a Tiny object with AC 10 and 1 hit point - it is immune to poison, psychic.
You can throw these explosives as an improvised weapon (range 20/40 ft) with which you are proficient, you may use your Intelligence for attack and damage rolls. The arcane explosive detonates upon contact with a solid surface, or if the object is destroyed. Arcane Explosives are unstable and lose their effectiveness after 24 hours.
There are several types of explosives you decide which one you make when you create it:
Arcane Launcher
5th-level Grenadier feature
You have learnt how to create a small launcher which you carry in one-hand. You can launch one of your Arcane Explosives from your Arcane Launcher as a bonus action, doing so increases their range to 30/60 ft. You may also use your Arcane Launcher as a spellcasting focus for your artificer spells.
Proficient Genadier
9th level Genadier feature
You add your proficiency bonus to the damage dealt by your Arcane Explosives.
Arcane Turret
15th-level Grenadier feature
You can transform your Arcane Launcher into an independent creature. As an action, you place the launcher on a space within 5ft of you and it unfolds into a Small construct. The turret has an AC of 18 and a number of hit points equal to five times your artificer level. It is immune to poison damage and psychic damage. If it is forced to make an ability check or a saving throw, treat all its ability scores as 10 (+0). It has a 15 ft walking speed
The turret remains for 1 minute before reverting to your Arcane Launcher, or until it is reduced to 0 hit points.
On each of your turns, you can take a bonus action to cause the turret to magically conjure and fire one of your Arcane Explosives with a range of 60/80 ft, as long as you are within 60 feet of it. As part of the same bonus action, you can direct the turret to walk or climb up to 15 feet to an unoccupied space, provided it has legs.
Idk this is quite underpowered, getting the main creation at 5th instead of 3rd (all subclasses do 3rd) a level nine feature where you do an extra 9 damage each short rest, but I like the Arcane Turret updates, thanks!
Don’t think about the launcher as “the main creation,” the explosives are the main creation, the launcher is an upgrade to the main feature. To be honest, I think even Agilemind‘s version is overtuned in some ways and not worded as well as it could be, and it’s much more balanced and worded better than your original. That’s not an insult, they just have more experience homebrewing.
Your subclass has problems. The wording is all over the place, it could be both clearer and more concise. There’s already an Artificer with a turret, we don’t need another one. It allows the player to stockpile a ridiculous number of explosives for two reasons:
The explosives themselves are okay I suppose, but they could be better. Basically, it needs an overhaul.
I agree with Agilemind‘s suggestions to give them a better variety of explosives all at once and to move the launcher to 5th level as an upgrade. I would change how the explosives work from how they presented them. I would also add an option similar to a tangler grenade that can restrain a creature In addition to the smoke grenade. I might also consider something like a flashbang explosive too. Throwing the bombs or planting them as mines is a solid feature for 3rd level. However, I would keep launching the grenades as an action, but I would increase the range of the launcher significantly, probably up to 60/120.
I also agree with reducing the number of explosives way down too. Think about the the course of the Adventuring Day. What’s expected is for the party to have two combats that each last 3½ rounds each then take a short rest, then another two combats and another short rest, then another two combats and a long rest. That means the PC will see roughly 6-7 rounds of combat between rests on average if they follow the expected adventuring day, and that’s a big if, most tables do 3-4 combats and only 1 short rest per adventuring day, some only do 2-3 combats and no short rests. That means the grenadier will need at most 6ish bombs between rests, and it’s better to leave them under than over. If you did a number of bombs per short rest equal to their Intelligence modifier or Proficiency bonus it would be right.
However, I would personally scrap the turret entirely and replace it with something more unique to your subclass. Something like a way to camouflage the mines and a double barrel launcher that allows you to launch 2 bombs as an action, that would be a badass capstone feature for this subclass. It buffs both applications of the explosives, launched bombs and planted mines. And it builds off of the preexisting features, which people enjoy.
For the 9th level feature, this is where I would bring in the damage upgrade to the explosives. It’s not fancy, but it’s solid and just about the right time to give them a boost.
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Alright Sposta you are the boss! You mentioned that’s it’s written like a camels’s buttocks. Would you mind showing me the preferred none camel buttocks version?