Hey y'all. First time posting on the forums. Not too active on DnD Beyond, but I wanted to gauge some thoughts on this snake themed subclass I made for the warlock. I call it the "Great Serpent" pact, and it features some fun support, debilitation, and utility shenanigans. Was thinking about maybe publishing it, but I'm not quite sure it's ready for that just yet, so I thought about simply posting it here after finding a recommendation to do just that. It's still in the early phases, so things are still up for change, but let me know what you think if you're interested :D
So then, without further ado...
_________________________________________________________________ Warlock of the Great Serpent
"Those indebted to the great serpents of yore are often found to be granted powers befitting their patrons. Heightened survival instincts, a penchant for poisons and venoms, and the cunning to boot. Some great serpents tend to gravitate towards those who are cunning, yet fiercely loyal, willing to put themselves on the line to protect their brood. Others are drawn to those who hunt to survive. And yet others are drawn to those who aren’t above using sly tricks to get what they want. It’s no secret that those who make a pact with a great serpent are as varied as the snakes they serve."
Expanded Spell List
1st-level Great Serpent Feature
The Great Serpent lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.
*I originally wanted to add the spells marked with an asterisk (*), but alas, as they're from Xanathar's DnD Beyond's homebrew creator doesn't allow them
Inherent Knowledge
1st-level Great Serpent Feature
You gain proficiency with your choice of either alchemist's supplies or a poisoner's kit.
Sharp Instincts
1st-level Great Serpent Feature
You have advantage on Wisdom (perception) checks made that rely on smell.
Serpentine Resilience
1st-level Great Serpent Feature
You have resistance against poison damage. If you are already resistant against poison damage, you instead become immune.
Potent Venom
6th-level Great Serpent Feature
At 6th level, you gain the ability to imbue your strikes with deadly venom. Whenever you hit a creature with an attack roll, you can force the target to make a constitution saving throw against your spell save dc. Constructs automatically succeed this saving throw. If the target fails the save, they become affected with a short term madness effect, as determined by the short term madness table. This effect lasts for 1d10 minutes. A creature is immune to this effect if it’s immune to the poisoned condition. A creature affected by this madness can repeat the saving throw whenever it takes damage. Once you have successfully used this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.
Poisonous Transmutation
10th-level Great Serpent Feature
At 10th level, the blood of a serpent flows through your veins, manifesting itself in your magic.
Whenever you cast a spell that deals damage, you can choose for that damage to be acid or poison damage instead. If the spell would normally deal acid or poison damage, it instead ignores resistance to acid or poison damage, and creatures immune to either still take half damage.
Debilitating Venom
14th-level Great Serpent Feature
At 14th level, you can use your Potent Venom feature twice between rests. Additionally, when you use it you can choose which short-term madness effect the target is subjected to, and how long it lasts (up to a maximum of 10 minutes).
Soooooo, yeah, that's the subclass. The one big thing I'm still somewhat workshopping is the madness effect. I think it'd be really cool for players to be able to use something like that, but RAW madness is brutal, since it gives you no new saves once you fail the initial one, and even a single minute equates to ten rounds in combat. Hence why I included the clause that creatures that take damage can repeat the save, since I figure Constitution is a common enough save proficiency -and poisoned is a common enough immunity- to balance it out. Still, I haven't given this any playtesting since I don't have a group as of yet that's immediately willing to jump into a small form campaign to stress test this thing. So yeah, let me know what your impressions are, things you think I could change, and how you think this stands up to the official subclasses.
Hey y'all. First time posting on the forums. Not too active on DnD Beyond, but I wanted to gauge some thoughts on this snake themed subclass I made for the warlock. I call it the "Great Serpent" pact, and it features some fun support, debilitation, and utility shenanigans. Was thinking about maybe publishing it, but I'm not quite sure it's ready for that just yet, so I thought about simply posting it here after finding a recommendation to do just that. It's still in the early phases, so things are still up for change, but let me know what you think if you're interested :D
So then, without further ado...
_________________________________________________________________
Warlock of the Great Serpent
"Those indebted to the great serpents of yore are often found to be granted powers befitting their patrons. Heightened survival instincts, a penchant for poisons and venoms, and the cunning to boot. Some great serpents tend to gravitate towards those who are cunning, yet fiercely loyal, willing to put themselves on the line to protect their brood. Others are drawn to those who hunt to survive. And yet others are drawn to those who aren’t above using sly tricks to get what they want. It’s no secret that those who make a pact with a great serpent are as varied as the snakes they serve."
Expanded Spell List
1st-level Great Serpent Feature
The Great Serpent lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.
Great Serpent Expanded Spells
1st
color spray, inflict wounds
2nd
blur, melf's acid arrow or Dragon's Breath* (acid & poison only)
3rd
conjure animals, mass healing word
4th
aura of purity, polymorph or Vitriolic Sphere*
5th
contagion, reincarnate or Far Step*
7th
prismatic spray
*I originally wanted to add the spells marked with an asterisk (*), but alas, as they're from Xanathar's DnD Beyond's homebrew creator doesn't allow them
Inherent Knowledge
1st-level Great Serpent Feature
You gain proficiency with your choice of either alchemist's supplies or a poisoner's kit.
Sharp Instincts
1st-level Great Serpent Feature
You have advantage on Wisdom (perception) checks made that rely on smell.
Serpentine Resilience
1st-level Great Serpent Feature
You have resistance against poison damage. If you are already resistant against poison damage, you instead become immune.
Potent Venom
6th-level Great Serpent Feature
At 6th level, you gain the ability to imbue your strikes with deadly venom. Whenever you hit a creature with an attack roll, you can force the target to make a constitution saving throw against your spell save dc. Constructs automatically succeed this saving throw. If the target fails the save, they become affected with a short term madness effect, as determined by the short term madness table. This effect lasts for 1d10 minutes. A creature is immune to this effect if it’s immune to the poisoned condition. A creature affected by this madness can repeat the saving throw whenever it takes damage. Once you have successfully used this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.
Poisonous Transmutation
10th-level Great Serpent Feature
At 10th level, the blood of a serpent flows through your veins, manifesting itself in your magic.
Whenever you cast a spell that deals damage, you can choose for that damage to be acid or poison damage instead. If the spell would normally deal acid or poison damage, it instead ignores resistance to acid or poison damage, and creatures immune to either still take half damage.
Debilitating Venom
14th-level Great Serpent Feature
At 14th level, you can use your Potent Venom feature twice between rests. Additionally, when you use it you can choose which short-term madness effect the target is subjected to, and how long it lasts (up to a maximum of 10 minutes).
_________________________________________________________________
Soooooo, yeah, that's the subclass. The one big thing I'm still somewhat workshopping is the madness effect. I think it'd be really cool for players to be able to use something like that, but RAW madness is brutal, since it gives you no new saves once you fail the initial one, and even a single minute equates to ten rounds in combat. Hence why I included the clause that creatures that take damage can repeat the save, since I figure Constitution is a common enough save proficiency -and poisoned is a common enough immunity- to balance it out. Still, I haven't given this any playtesting since I don't have a group as of yet that's immediately willing to jump into a small form campaign to stress test this thing. So yeah, let me know what your impressions are, things you think I could change, and how you think this stands up to the official subclasses.
Cheerio!
-Wolfy