The Force Wizard is the masters of force and telekinesis. Their abilities focus on moving opponents through force damage.
Force Substitution: Beginning at 3rd Level, the wizard can substitute force damage for other energy types of damage.
Force Sculpt Spells: Beginning at 3rd level, you can create pockets of relative safety within the effects of your force spells. When you cast a force damage spell that affects other creatures that you can see, you can choose a number of them equal to 1 + the spell's level. The chosen creatures automatically succeed on their saving throws against the spell, and they take no damage if they would normally take half damage on a successful save.
Empowered Force Spells: Beginning at 6th level, you can add your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1) to one damage roll of any wizard force spell that you cast. In addition, if a large target or smaller fails a saving throw, they are also moved 10’ directly away from the source of the damage. Spells that do not have a saving throw also move a large or smaller target 10’ away from the source of the damage.
Improved Telekinesis Spell: Beginning at 10 Level, you gain the telekinesis spell if not already known. All aspects of the spell are doubled including range, weight, duration, and speed of movement. In addition, if cast on a creature, you can forego movement and cause force crushing damage equal to 5d8. If cast on an object, you can make a telekinetic attack with it causing 6d8 bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage depending on the object. Upcast: An additional creature or object can be affected for every additional level.
Shield of Force: Starting at 14 Level, you can create a force field around the wizard as an action. This shield lasts for one minute and gives the wizard immunity from slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning damage and resistance to fire, electricity, acid, and poison. The wizard must be able to see the attacker to get protection. Invisible or hidden foes are not affected. This power does require concentration and can be used once per long rest.
Looks great! I will mention that both the 3rd level features and Shield of Force seem rather overpowered.
Force damage is rarely resisted, and since Force Substitution does not have limited use, there's nothing stopping the wizard from swapping every spells damage for force, every time. For reference, this is essentially a superior version of the Scribes wizards' ability to swap the damage type of a spell with another in their spellbook:
"When you cast a wizard spell with a spell slot, you can temporarily replace its damage type with a type that appears in another spell in your spellbook, which magically alters the spell's formula for this casting only. The latter spell must be of the same level as the spell slot you expend.
This, along with your "Force Sculpt Spells" ability, would make this wizard build the ultimate blaster caster, outshining Draconic sorcerers and Evoker wizards, whose main abilities focus around blasting.
Shield of Force is also very powerful. A non-concentration ward that grants immunity to the arguably three most common damage types (I'm assuming it grants resistance to magical as well as non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, of course, as you'd be unlikely to encounter very many non-magical attacks with those damage types by 14th level), and resistance to a few others. And although the feature does have an admittedly significant caveat, it isn't enough to bring it down to earth. With this feature, a fragile wizard could instantly become the tankiest of tanks one fight per day.
But overall, I think that it's a really compelling, well-thought-out subclass, and the 6th and 10th level abilities are excellent but not at all OP. The others just need to be nerfed a bit, in my opinion.
It's also worth mentioning that wizards get their subclass at 2nd level, not 3rd.
Thank you for the feedback. You obviously put some good thought into it.
I made it 3rd level features instead of 2nd level to coincide with the New Players handbook coming out next year.
I guess I could make the feature of Force Substitution and Force Sculpt spells apply to one chosen spell per level thatcan't be changed once it has been picked. My original idea was a cross between the evoker and the scribes wizard.
What do you think of the 14th level feature if the shield could only be used against one opponent chosen at the start of each turn?
It's certainly improvement. When threatened by a large group of enemies, it undoubtedly solves the power issue, as you'd only be able to protect from one at once.
But...there's still an issue when fighting one powerful enemy, or even one powerful enemy with a bunch of weak underlings. In a lot of cases it could essentially nullify the threat. Imagine and end-of-the-campaign climatic battle with the BBEG completely cheesed by a wizard who's immune to all their attacks.
But I'll stop complaining. There are totally ways you can completely fix it, and it is a really creative and interesting idea.
For example, you could involve a DC of some kind. That way, more powerful enemies will have a greater chance of breaking through.
Another potential solution is to make the ward require concentration to hold, or even a full action to "maintain". In the latter case, to compensate, you could allow the ward to be shared with an ally as a bonus action. Sort of like the Abjurers' Arcane Ward feature.
The Force Wizard is the masters of force and telekinesis. Their abilities focus on moving opponents through force damage.
Force Substitution: Beginning at 2 Level, the wizard can substitute force damage for other energy types of damage. They may choose one known spell per spell level for this substitution. Once the spell has been chosen, it may be changed upon a long rest.
Force Sculpt Spells: Beginning at 2nd level, you can create pockets of relative safety within the effects of your force spells. When you cast a force damage spell that affects other creatures that you can see, you can choose a number of them equal to the spell's level. The chosen creatures automatically succeed on their saving throws against the spell, and they take no damage if they would normally take half damage on a successful save.
Empowered Force Spells: Beginning at 6th level, you can add your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1) to one damage roll of any force spell that you cast. In addition, if a large target or smaller fails a saving throw, they are also moved 10’ directly away from the source of the damage. Spells that do not have a saving throw also move a large or smaller target 10’ away from the source of the damage.
Improved Telekinesis Spell: Beginning at 10 Level, you gain the telekinesis spell if not already known. All aspects of the spell are doubled including range, weight, duration, and speed of movement. In addition, if cast on a creature, you can forego movement and cause force crushing damage equal to 5d8. If cast on an object, you can telekinetically attack with it causing 6d8 bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage depending on the object. Upcast: An additional creature or object can be affected for every additional level.
Shield of Force: Starting at 14 Level, you can create a force field around the wizard as an action. This shield lasts for a number of rounds equal to your proficiency bonus. The shield protects the wizard from one opponent giving them immunity from slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning damage and resistance to fire, electricity, acid, and poison. This power does require concentration and can be used once per long rest.
Force Substitution still seems too good to me. You can still cast force spells all day long. I'd either say you can pick one spell per day that's always force, or you can transmute any spell but only prof. bonus times per day.
As for Shield of Force, I'd scratch the immunity entirely. Immunity is super rare on PCs for good reason. Just make it resistance to all those types and you'd be fine with a 1 minute duration and bonus action activation. As it is, the times you'd most want to use it are the times you can't spare an entire turn activating it.
The order of Force (Wizard)
The Force Wizard is the masters of force and telekinesis. Their abilities focus on moving opponents through force damage.
Force Substitution: Beginning at 3rd Level, the wizard can substitute force damage for other energy types of damage.
Force Sculpt Spells: Beginning at 3rd level, you can create pockets of relative safety within the effects of your force spells. When you cast a force damage spell that affects other creatures that you can see, you can choose a number of them equal to 1 + the spell's level. The chosen creatures automatically succeed on their saving throws against the spell, and they take no damage if they would normally take half damage on a successful save.
Empowered Force Spells: Beginning at 6th level, you can add your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1) to one damage roll of any wizard force spell that you cast. In addition, if a large target or smaller fails a saving throw, they are also moved 10’ directly away from the source of the damage. Spells that do not have a saving throw also move a large or smaller target 10’ away from the source of the damage.
Improved Telekinesis Spell: Beginning at 10 Level, you gain the telekinesis spell if not already known. All aspects of the spell are doubled including range, weight, duration, and speed of movement. In addition, if cast on a creature, you can forego movement and cause force crushing damage equal to 5d8. If cast on an object, you can make a telekinetic attack with it causing 6d8 bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage depending on the object. Upcast: An additional creature or object can be affected for every additional level.
Shield of Force: Starting at 14 Level, you can create a force field around the wizard as an action. This shield lasts for one minute and gives the wizard immunity from slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning damage and resistance to fire, electricity, acid, and poison. The wizard must be able to see the attacker to get protection. Invisible or hidden foes are not affected. This power does require concentration and can be used once per long rest.
Looks great! I will mention that both the 3rd level features and Shield of Force seem rather overpowered.
Force damage is rarely resisted, and since Force Substitution does not have limited use, there's nothing stopping the wizard from swapping every spells damage for force, every time. For reference, this is essentially a superior version of the Scribes wizards' ability to swap the damage type of a spell with another in their spellbook:
"When you cast a wizard spell with a spell slot, you can temporarily replace its damage type with a type that appears in another spell in your spellbook, which magically alters the spell's formula for this casting only. The latter spell must be of the same level as the spell slot you expend.
This, along with your "Force Sculpt Spells" ability, would make this wizard build the ultimate blaster caster, outshining Draconic sorcerers and Evoker wizards, whose main abilities focus around blasting.
Shield of Force is also very powerful. A non-concentration ward that grants immunity to the arguably three most common damage types (I'm assuming it grants resistance to magical as well as non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, of course, as you'd be unlikely to encounter very many non-magical attacks with those damage types by 14th level), and resistance to a few others. And although the feature does have an admittedly significant caveat, it isn't enough to bring it down to earth. With this feature, a fragile wizard could instantly become the tankiest of tanks one fight per day.
But overall, I think that it's a really compelling, well-thought-out subclass, and the 6th and 10th level abilities are excellent but not at all OP. The others just need to be nerfed a bit, in my opinion.
It's also worth mentioning that wizards get their subclass at 2nd level, not 3rd.
In my experience...
Thank you for the feedback. You obviously put some good thought into it.
I made it 3rd level features instead of 2nd level to coincide with the New Players handbook coming out next year.
I guess I could make the feature of Force Substitution and Force Sculpt spells apply to one chosen spell per level that can't be changed once it has been picked. My original idea was a cross between the evoker and the scribes wizard.
You're very welcome.
I now understand your decision to make the first few features 3rd, instead of 2nd, level. I had completely forgotten the 2024 PH update.
In my experience...
F0rmirdra3|,
What do you think of the 14th level feature if the shield could only be used against one opponent chosen at the start of each turn?
It's certainly improvement. When threatened by a large group of enemies, it undoubtedly solves the power issue, as you'd only be able to protect from one at once.
But...there's still an issue when fighting one powerful enemy, or even one powerful enemy with a bunch of weak underlings. In a lot of cases it could essentially nullify the threat. Imagine and end-of-the-campaign climatic battle with the BBEG completely cheesed by a wizard who's immune to all their attacks.
But I'll stop complaining. There are totally ways you can completely fix it, and it is a really creative and interesting idea.
For example, you could involve a DC of some kind. That way, more powerful enemies will have a greater chance of breaking through.
Another potential solution is to make the ward require concentration to hold, or even a full action to "maintain". In the latter case, to compensate, you could allow the ward to be shared with an ally as a bonus action. Sort of like the Abjurers' Arcane Ward feature.
Just some ideas.
In my experience...
Sound like a couple of good ideas.
Thanks
Amended
The order of Force (Wizard)
The Force Wizard is the masters of force and telekinesis. Their abilities focus on moving opponents through force damage.
Force Substitution: Beginning at 2 Level, the wizard can substitute force damage for other energy types of damage. They may choose one known spell per spell level for this substitution. Once the spell has been chosen, it may be changed upon a long rest.
Force Sculpt Spells: Beginning at 2nd level, you can create pockets of relative safety within the effects of your force spells. When you cast a force damage spell that affects other creatures that you can see, you can choose a number of them equal to the spell's level. The chosen creatures automatically succeed on their saving throws against the spell, and they take no damage if they would normally take half damage on a successful save.
Empowered Force Spells: Beginning at 6th level, you can add your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1) to one damage roll of any force spell that you cast. In addition, if a large target or smaller fails a saving throw, they are also moved 10’ directly away from the source of the damage. Spells that do not have a saving throw also move a large or smaller target 10’ away from the source of the damage.
Improved Telekinesis Spell: Beginning at 10 Level, you gain the telekinesis spell if not already known. All aspects of the spell are doubled including range, weight, duration, and speed of movement. In addition, if cast on a creature, you can forego movement and cause force crushing damage equal to 5d8. If cast on an object, you can telekinetically attack with it causing 6d8 bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage depending on the object. Upcast: An additional creature or object can be affected for every additional level.
Shield of Force: Starting at 14 Level, you can create a force field around the wizard as an action. This shield lasts for a number of rounds equal to your proficiency bonus. The shield protects the wizard from one opponent giving them immunity from slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning damage and resistance to fire, electricity, acid, and poison. This power does require concentration and can be used once per long rest.
Force Substitution still seems too good to me. You can still cast force spells all day long. I'd either say you can pick one spell per day that's always force, or you can transmute any spell but only prof. bonus times per day.
As for Shield of Force, I'd scratch the immunity entirely. Immunity is super rare on PCs for good reason. Just make it resistance to all those types and you'd be fine with a 1 minute duration and bonus action activation. As it is, the times you'd most want to use it are the times you can't spare an entire turn activating 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