Loosely based on Jinx from LOL/Arcane, this is an Artificer subclass that uses explosive devices in a number of ways: sticking bombs to enemies that explode at the end of your turn, setting traps for enemies, and even clearing a room. The explosive devices are the heart of the subclass and most of the features involve new ways to use them. Has a handful of sabotage/control spells as well.
I wasn't happy with the lack of real strength-based unarmed brawler-type characters, so I made this. Allows a barbarian to use fists as a weapon and take a jab (lighter punch) as a bonus action, and gives some fun extras like climbing up walls and eventually some control options.
A streetwise monk who fights dirty and excels at grappling. Eventually can counterattack as a reaction (for a ki point). Not much too it, I just wanted a more down-to-earth monk who fights more in back alleys than monastery courtyards.
Loosely inspired by an anti-air character in a game I'm playing (Chained Echoes), this subclass adds to the monk's already amazing mobility, giving more use to the Step of the Wind feature. Monks can jump much further and eventually fly while using this feature, and gain the ability to make one unarmed attack even while using the feature. They also gain an ability to make an Acrobatics check to grab onto an opponent not to grapple them, but to latch onto them in case they fly off.
An Oath of Freedom Paladin is a freedom fighters who stands up to oppressors to protect those they hurt, and they make a great case for a Chaotic Good paladin. Good options for control and drawing the enemy's attention, and gains some high-level abilities to deal with multiple attackers.
I wanted to subvert the idea that rangers only work in nature. This subclass shows that rangers can be equally effective when hunting city-dwellers who try to escape their grasp, making them great bounty hunters or mercenaries. Gains some beneficial tracking skills, a way to use Investigation with Wisdom, a way of disappearing into a crowd, and more fun goodies that are useful when hunting your mark. We have a rogue with some ranger flavor (Scout subclass), so here's a ranger with some rogue flavor.
Feedback is definitely welcome! Specifically, I was unsure about some balancing issues on the Oath of Freedom, as it seems really powerful, but I did try to base it on other paladin oaths.
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If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it || Cast Fireball, that usually resolves it
Don't have time to look at them all now. So here's some notes on Oath of Freedom:
Oath Spells - why did you pick these ones? Other than sanctuary and freedom of movement they don't seem particularly on-brand for the Oath of Freedom. Consider: Breaking / Fighting many enemy spells: Shatter (literally breaking the chains), Fireball (blowing stuff up is pretty iconic for a freedom fighter), Slow Escape/infiltration spells: Misty Step, Invisibility, Dimension Door, Dispel Magic, Slow, Pass without Trace Protection spells: Warding Bond, Dispel Magic, Tiny Hut (magic safehouse for your rebel allies), Resilient Sphere Inspiring others spells: Heroism, Suggestion, Skywrite
CD:Throwndown - you need to remove the proficiency bonus to AC that's incredibly broken on a paladin. CD:LastStand - this is OP as well b/c you are breaking bounded accuracy. At level 2-4 this is fine, at level 12+ this is definitely not fine.
How about: CD: Challenge Authority : You can use your Channel Divinity to let out an irresistible battle cry to the opponents around you. As an action, you force each creature of your choice that you can see within 10 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell DC. On a failed save, a creature has disadvantage on attack rolls against anybody but you for 1 minute. CD: Last Stand : When you are reduced to 0 hp you can expend your Channel Divinity to make one final stand against your enemy. You make one melee attack against each creature of your choice that is within your reach before falling unconscious.
Aura of Inspiration is very powerful (especially when it expands to 30 ft at high levels), it also doesn't seem very thematic... I'd move the Guerrilla Tactics to 7th level as your aura, it fits much better! Plus this character feels like it should be decent at sneaking and they get nothing to support that until level 15!
Guerrilla tactics is super fun but way to late, move it to 7th level, but get rid of the Hide as a Bonus Action - given the rest of the features support this character being surrounded by enemies in combat it will be impossible for anyone to hide if they are within 10 ft of you anyway.
For 15th level consider stealing the Oath of Glory feature:
Glorious Defense
15th-level Oath of Glory feature
You can turn defense into a sudden strike. When you or another creature you can see within 10 feet of you is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to grant a bonus to the target’s AC against that attack, potentially causing it to miss. The bonus equals your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1). If the attack misses, you can make one weapon attack against the attacker as part of this reaction, provided the attacker is within your weapon’s range.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Alternatively consider aping off of the Cloud Rune:
When you or a creature you can see within 10 feet of you is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to invoke the rune and choose a different creature within 10 feet of you, other than the attacker. The chosen creature becomes the target of the attack, using the same roll. This magic can transfer the attack’s effects regardless of the attack’s range. ou can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
One against Many is fine, it's 20th level. That's when paladins are supposed to get nutty.
Great! This is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for, and this is all good stuff. I implemented most of this and it's reflected on the website linked above.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it || Cast Fireball, that usually resolves it
Wording for Hot on the Trail is confusing. Is it limited use per SR? It doesn't really make sense for something to last until you finish a SR/LR if it isn't limited use. Also it feels like this should require your concentration. Making it "Concentration for 1 hour", but unlimited use feels more interesting/logical to me since it means the Ranger has to follow their target so they can catch a glipse of it at least once per hour. Rather than being able to see a creature once in the morning, go off and do a whole day of adventuring else where and come back in the evening and still have the effect active.
Crippling Shot - not sure why this is limited to creatures with Hot on the Trail active. I'd just make this an anytime/target ability, the effect isn't that powerful so I think that's fine. Also why is it a Wisdom save? That really doesn't make any sense at all. It should be either a Strength or Dexterity save.
Relentless Hunter - This one thematically feels like it should be linked to Hot on the Trail. It also feels a bit weak - why blinded & deafened? Almost nothing causes deafened, and blinded is pretty rare and neither would really "keep you from your prey". Wouldn't it make more sense to have advantage on athletics & acrobatics checks while your Hot of the Trail is active?
I'd replace Brutal Familiarity with Marked for Death that would bring the Ranger in line with Fighter and the Brutal Familiarity is much more powerful than Marked for Death anyway b/c of Sharpshooter. And you've really back loaded the class with 3 very powerful features rather than the typical 2.
Flyby : "Additionally, if you attack an enemy while you are in the air (even if you are only 5 feet above an enemy on the ground), opportunity attacks against you are made with disadvantage until the end of your turn or until you land" <- I find this confusing, if I attack a creature while flying and then fly past a different enemy that other enemy had DisAdv on the attack, but wouldn't if I hadn't attacked??? I'd suggest simplifying this to : "While you are flying, attacks of opportunity against you have disadvantage".
Relentless Attacker feels really weak considering this exact rule already exists as an optional rule in the DMG that can just be available to everyone at all levels.
Edited to Add: Suggestions
Leap Attack - For the BA attack this should be better than just a normal off-hand attack, maybe add extra damage on the Leap Attack equal to 1 roll of your Martial Arts die and/or have the target succeed on a STR save or be knocked prone.
Fly-By - move this later, and why not just give them full flyby "while flying your movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity", consider merging this with Flight of the Valkyrie.
Relentless Attacker - maybe move this earlier, and to strengthen it make the "attached to the creature" be part of an attack with a melee weapon that does piercing damage and you can rename it "harpoon" or something. You could also consider allowing it to work with ranged weapons.
This one looks good, though I'd suggest changing the mobility part of Explosive Device to: "When you make a use one of your devices, you don't provoke opportunity attacks until the end of your current turn." Because at higher levels even with DA many enemies will still hit you.
Also "Additionally, you can add your proficiency bonus to the save DC of any of your explosive devices." Doesn't make sense, you already add your proficiency bonus to your save DC, and it would be utter broken to add your proficiency bonus twice. Instead, maybe you could add that as a BA you can create one gadget? Otherwise you really don't have many uses of them at high levels.
Why is Crippling Strikes a Wisdom saving throw? Wisdom saving throws are if the target is having their mind manipulated, punching someone really hard to try and knock them over has nothing to do with wisdom, it should be either Strength or Dexterity. If these are Wis saves b/c you think Wis saves are usually worse on monsters than Strength or Dexterity that is simply not true, it is extremely rare to see a monster with low Wis save beyond level 5.
A few comments on Chaos Agent: you should make the Explosive Devices that create spell effects (Web Bomb and Stink Bomb) say "will trigger the effects of the Web spell" and "causing the effects of the Stinking Cloud spell centered on itself" instead of saying that they cast the spell. Small difference, but matters with things like detect magic and antimagic field, as well as flavoring them as primarily mechanical devices. Also, it is not specified what save DC these two bombs use. Efficient Builder is confusing to read, and you do not need to say "2 rather than 1"; you can simply say 2 as the later level ability overrides the first ability.
General design notes: The damage of the devices scale very poorly. Consider adding extra damage at 9th level. I think you should also add a way to disarm some of the devices such as web bomb that do not have a set timer or radius before they disarm.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I write homebrew and don't publish it. (evil, I know)
Excellent feedback, and I've implemented a lot of it on the website. Thanks, folks!
Regarding the Way of the Valkyrie's flight feature at level 6, I initially thought flight at level 6 was pretty powerful too, but this is almost the exact same feature that Way of the Ascendent Dragon gains at level 6. I think flight is pretty central to the subclass's playstyle, so I kept it there.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it || Cast Fireball, that usually resolves it
For the Ranger subclass, I feel like Hot on the Trail has quite a bit of thematic overlap with Hunter's Mark. A lot of people forget that besides damage, HM is also intended for tracking targets and grants bonuses to do so. I'd fold this into the subclass, granting HM and maybe some free uses, with the rest of the feature upgrading its tracking effects.
This serves to make the subclass a bit more universally useful. Bounty-hunting isn't likely to be the focus of every adventure in a campaign, so merging these features into an upgraded HM means that even when you aren't using them you at least get some extra damage without having to use spell slots for it.
I've been working on a few subclasses, and threw the better ones up on my website:
https://koboldthinktank.site/5e-homebrew/
Artificer - Chaos Agent
Loosely based on Jinx from LOL/Arcane, this is an Artificer subclass that uses explosive devices in a number of ways: sticking bombs to enemies that explode at the end of your turn, setting traps for enemies, and even clearing a room. The explosive devices are the heart of the subclass and most of the features involve new ways to use them. Has a handful of sabotage/control spells as well.
Barbarian - Way of the Street Brawler
I wasn't happy with the lack of real strength-based unarmed brawler-type characters, so I made this. Allows a barbarian to use fists as a weapon and take a jab (lighter punch) as a bonus action, and gives some fun extras like climbing up walls and eventually some control options.
Monk - Way of the Sly Serpent
A streetwise monk who fights dirty and excels at grappling. Eventually can counterattack as a reaction (for a ki point). Not much too it, I just wanted a more down-to-earth monk who fights more in back alleys than monastery courtyards.
Monk - Way of the Valkyrie
Loosely inspired by an anti-air character in a game I'm playing (Chained Echoes), this subclass adds to the monk's already amazing mobility, giving more use to the Step of the Wind feature. Monks can jump much further and eventually fly while using this feature, and gain the ability to make one unarmed attack even while using the feature. They also gain an ability to make an Acrobatics check to grab onto an opponent not to grapple them, but to latch onto them in case they fly off.
Paladin - Oath of Freedom
An Oath of Freedom Paladin is a freedom fighters who stands up to oppressors to protect those they hurt, and they make a great case for a Chaotic Good paladin. Good options for control and drawing the enemy's attention, and gains some high-level abilities to deal with multiple attackers.
Ranger - Urban Hunter
I wanted to subvert the idea that rangers only work in nature. This subclass shows that rangers can be equally effective when hunting city-dwellers who try to escape their grasp, making them great bounty hunters or mercenaries. Gains some beneficial tracking skills, a way to use Investigation with Wisdom, a way of disappearing into a crowd, and more fun goodies that are useful when hunting your mark. We have a rogue with some ranger flavor (Scout subclass), so here's a ranger with some rogue flavor.
Feedback is definitely welcome! Specifically, I was unsure about some balancing issues on the Oath of Freedom, as it seems really powerful, but I did try to base it on other paladin oaths.
If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it || Cast Fireball, that usually resolves it
Don't have time to look at them all now. So here's some notes on Oath of Freedom:
Oath Spells - why did you pick these ones? Other than sanctuary and freedom of movement they don't seem particularly on-brand for the Oath of Freedom.
Consider:
Breaking / Fighting many enemy spells: Shatter (literally breaking the chains), Fireball (blowing stuff up is pretty iconic for a freedom fighter), Slow
Escape/infiltration spells: Misty Step, Invisibility, Dimension Door, Dispel Magic, Slow, Pass without Trace
Protection spells: Warding Bond, Dispel Magic, Tiny Hut (magic safehouse for your rebel allies), Resilient Sphere
Inspiring others spells: Heroism, Suggestion, Skywrite
CD:Throwndown - you need to remove the proficiency bonus to AC that's incredibly broken on a paladin.
CD:LastStand - this is OP as well b/c you are breaking bounded accuracy. At level 2-4 this is fine, at level 12+ this is definitely not fine.
How about:
CD: Challenge Authority : You can use your Channel Divinity to let out an irresistible battle cry to the opponents around you. As an action, you force each creature of your choice that you can see within 10 feet of you to make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell DC. On a failed save, a creature has disadvantage on attack rolls against anybody but you for 1 minute.
CD: Last Stand : When you are reduced to 0 hp you can expend your Channel Divinity to make one final stand against your enemy. You make one melee attack against each creature of your choice that is within your reach before falling unconscious.
Aura of Inspiration is very powerful (especially when it expands to 30 ft at high levels), it also doesn't seem very thematic... I'd move the Guerrilla Tactics to 7th level as your aura, it fits much better! Plus this character feels like it should be decent at sneaking and they get nothing to support that until level 15!
Guerrilla tactics is super fun but way to late, move it to 7th level, but get rid of the Hide as a Bonus Action - given the rest of the features support this character being surrounded by enemies in combat it will be impossible for anyone to hide if they are within 10 ft of you anyway.
For 15th level consider stealing the Oath of Glory feature:
Glorious Defense
15th-level Oath of Glory feature
You can turn defense into a sudden strike. When you or another creature you can see within 10 feet of you is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to grant a bonus to the target’s AC against that attack, potentially causing it to miss. The bonus equals your Charisma modifier (minimum of +1![]()
). If the attack misses, you can make one weapon attack against the attacker as part of this reaction, provided the attacker is within your weapon’s range.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Alternatively consider aping off of the Cloud Rune:
When you or a creature you can see within 10 feet of you is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to invoke the rune and choose a different creature within 10 feet of you, other than the attacker. The chosen creature becomes the target of the attack, using the same roll. This magic can transfer the attack’s effects regardless of the attack’s range. ou can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
One against Many is fine, it's 20th level. That's when paladins are supposed to get nutty.
Great! This is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for, and this is all good stuff. I implemented most of this and it's reflected on the website linked above.
If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it || Cast Fireball, that usually resolves it
Urban Ranger:
Wording for Hot on the Trail is confusing. Is it limited use per SR? It doesn't really make sense for something to last until you finish a SR/LR if it isn't limited use. Also it feels like this should require your concentration. Making it "Concentration for 1 hour", but unlimited use feels more interesting/logical to me since it means the Ranger has to follow their target so they can catch a glipse of it at least once per hour. Rather than being able to see a creature once in the morning, go off and do a whole day of adventuring else where and come back in the evening and still have the effect active.
Crippling Shot - not sure why this is limited to creatures with Hot on the Trail active. I'd just make this an anytime/target ability, the effect isn't that powerful so I think that's fine. Also why is it a Wisdom save? That really doesn't make any sense at all. It should be either a Strength or Dexterity save.
Relentless Hunter - This one thematically feels like it should be linked to Hot on the Trail. It also feels a bit weak - why blinded & deafened? Almost nothing causes deafened, and blinded is pretty rare and neither would really "keep you from your prey". Wouldn't it make more sense to have advantage on athletics & acrobatics checks while your Hot of the Trail is active?
I'd replace Brutal Familiarity with Marked for Death that would bring the Ranger in line with Fighter and the Brutal Familiarity is much more powerful than Marked for Death anyway b/c of Sharpshooter. And you've really back loaded the class with 3 very powerful features rather than the typical 2.
Way of the Valkyrie
Flyby : "Additionally, if you attack an enemy while you are in the air (even if you are only 5 feet above an enemy on the ground), opportunity attacks against you are made with disadvantage until the end of your turn or until you land" <- I find this confusing, if I attack a creature while flying and then fly past a different enemy that other enemy had DisAdv on the attack, but wouldn't if I hadn't attacked??? I'd suggest simplifying this to : "While you are flying, attacks of opportunity against you have disadvantage".
Relentless Attacker feels really weak considering this exact rule already exists as an optional rule in the DMG that can just be available to everyone at all levels.
Edited to Add: Suggestions
Leap Attack - For the BA attack this should be better than just a normal off-hand attack, maybe add extra damage on the Leap Attack equal to 1 roll of your Martial Arts die and/or have the target succeed on a STR save or be knocked prone.
Fly-By - move this later, and why not just give them full flyby "while flying your movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity", consider merging this with Flight of the Valkyrie.
Relentless Attacker - maybe move this earlier, and to strengthen it make the "attached to the creature" be part of an attack with a melee weapon that does piercing damage and you can rename it "harpoon" or something. You could also consider allowing it to work with ranged weapons.
Chaos Agent
This one looks good, though I'd suggest changing the mobility part of Explosive Device to: "When you make a use one of your devices, you don't provoke opportunity attacks until the end of your current turn." Because at higher levels even with DA many enemies will still hit you.
Also "Additionally, you can add your proficiency bonus to the save DC of any of your explosive devices." Doesn't make sense, you already add your proficiency bonus to your save DC, and it would be utter broken to add your proficiency bonus twice. Instead, maybe you could add that as a BA you can create one gadget? Otherwise you really don't have many uses of them at high levels.
Brawler Barbarian
Why is Crippling Strikes a Wisdom saving throw? Wisdom saving throws are if the target is having their mind manipulated, punching someone really hard to try and knock them over has nothing to do with wisdom, it should be either Strength or Dexterity. If these are Wis saves b/c you think Wis saves are usually worse on monsters than Strength or Dexterity that is simply not true, it is extremely rare to see a monster with low Wis save beyond level 5.
Otherwise looks fun!
Sly Serpent looks good.
I noticed that the Oath of Freedom Throwdown has no listed duration. I assume this is an error?
I write homebrew and don't publish it. (evil, I know)
A few comments on Chaos Agent: you should make the Explosive Devices that create spell effects (Web Bomb and Stink Bomb) say "will trigger the effects of the Web spell" and "causing the effects of the Stinking Cloud spell centered on itself" instead of saying that they cast the spell. Small difference, but matters with things like detect magic and antimagic field, as well as flavoring them as primarily mechanical devices. Also, it is not specified what save DC these two bombs use. Efficient Builder is confusing to read, and you do not need to say "2 rather than 1"; you can simply say 2 as the later level ability overrides the first ability.
General design notes: The damage of the devices scale very poorly. Consider adding extra damage at 9th level. I think you should also add a way to disarm some of the devices such as web bomb that do not have a set timer or radius before they disarm.
I write homebrew and don't publish it. (evil, I know)
Excellent feedback, and I've implemented a lot of it on the website. Thanks, folks!
Regarding the Way of the Valkyrie's flight feature at level 6, I initially thought flight at level 6 was pretty powerful too, but this is almost the exact same feature that Way of the Ascendent Dragon gains at level 6. I think flight is pretty central to the subclass's playstyle, so I kept it there.
If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it || Cast Fireball, that usually resolves it
First, some neat ideas here - thanks for sharing.
For the Ranger subclass, I feel like Hot on the Trail has quite a bit of thematic overlap with Hunter's Mark. A lot of people forget that besides damage, HM is also intended for tracking targets and grants bonuses to do so. I'd fold this into the subclass, granting HM and maybe some free uses, with the rest of the feature upgrading its tracking effects.
This serves to make the subclass a bit more universally useful. Bounty-hunting isn't likely to be the focus of every adventure in a campaign, so merging these features into an upgraded HM means that even when you aren't using them you at least get some extra damage without having to use spell slots for it.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm