homebrew-a-la-traumaverse

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

Most of the frontrunners here make sense. Ranger is meant to be a warrior of the wild but its exploration features barely have a mechanical effect. Monk is a martial class that's only barely capable of martial-ing and gets loaded down with ribbons instead of high level features. The martials only do combat, leaving entire pillars untouched, and even then they're not actually very high here.

Warlock though? What's its problem?

Well, I suppose it's very easy to build ineffectively, miss critical class features like Eldritch Blast, and also the massive amount of investment you need to make Blade viable compared to agonizing blast spam.

Does that compare to Wizard's entire class budget being its spells, Sorcerer being a more limited wizard except for a couple of spells getting hit with Metamagic per day, Paladin breaking bounded accuracy?

They may be strong, but being strong doesn't make them well designed. But people will recognize things that are undertuned a lot more easily than things that are overtuned.

Again no artificer because of options limit

#not homebrew

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

TAYEN IS ON SUPER SALE

The last 3 years of work. Over 57k words of TTRPG goodness, plus a Player's Guide for new players and access to the incoming Lore Guide when it releases.

These can be yours for just $5 US.

Work screwed me a bit this month, so y'all're reaping the benefits :P

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

I found this channel on youtube that does D&D shorts not long ago, FrostyForestGames, and they’re delightful.  

Some highlights:

Barbaric Inspiration (“Do you know what a Christmas Cracker is? You pull both ends and insides spill out. You better make the jump.”)

Solving An Intricate Puzzle (“Was that right?” “… It is now!”)

Commit to the Roll (when you roll bad, go all in)

9 Alignments of Warlocks (I’m vibing with Lawful Neutral)

True Grit (spellslinging cowboys and unanticipated consequences of repeated low rolls)

Subtle Spell (*gesticulates angrily in Italian celestial*)

Totem of Sloth Barbarian (for real I want to play this subclass)

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

I think a lot of folks in indie RPG spaces misunderstand what's going on when people who've only ever played Dungeons & Dragons claim that indie RPGs are categorically "too complicated". Yes, it's sometimes the case that they're making the unjustified assumption that all games are as complicated as Dungeons & Dragons and shying away from the possibility of having to brave a steep learning cure a second time, but that's not the whole picture.

A big part of it is that there's a substantial chunk of the D&D fandom – not a majority by any means, but certainly a very significant minority – who are into D&D because they like its vibes or they enjoy its default setting or whatever, but they have no interest in actually playing the kind of game that D&D is... so they don't.

Oh, they'll show up at your table, and if you're very lucky they might even provide their own character sheet (though whether it adheres to the character creation guidelines is anyone's guess!), but their actual engagement with the process of play consists of dicking around until the GM tells them to roll some dice, then reporting what number they rolled and letting the GM figure out what that means.

Basically, they're putting the GM in the position of acting as their personal assistant, onto whom they can offload any parts of the process of play that they're not interested in – and for some players, that's essentially everything except the physical act of rolling the dice, made possible by the fact most of D&D's mechanics are either GM-facing or amenable to being treated as such.*

Now, let's take this player and present them with a game whose design is informed by a culture of play where mechanics are strongly player facing, often to the extent that the GM doesn't need to familiarise themselves with the players' character sheets and never rolls any dice, and... well, you can see where the wires get crossed, right?

And the worst part is that it's not these players' fault – not really. Heck, it's not even a problem with D&D as a system. The problem is D&D's marketing-decreed position as a universal entry-level game means that neither the text nor the culture of play are ever allowed to admit that it might be a bad fit for any player, so total disengagement from the processes of play has to be framed as a personal preference and not a sign of basic incompatibility between the kind of game a player wants to be playing and the kind of game they're actually playing.

(Of course, from the GM's perspective, having even one player who expects you to do all the work represents a huge increase to the GM's workload, let alone a whole group full of them – but we can't admit that, either, so we're left with a culture of play whose received wisdom holds that it's just normal for GMs to be constantly riding the ragged edge of creative burnout. Fun!)

* Which, to be clear, is not a flaw in itself; a rules-heavy game ideally needs a mechanism for introducing its processes of play gradually.

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

Something ive noticed about a lot of people who play dnd (myself included) is that… they arent really playing dnd.

I don’t mean that in the - they’ve homebrewed the system to the point where they are basically playing a completely different game. i mean it in the way that dnd is less of a game and more of a tool or frame work to tell improve stories with friends. Thats why so many tables have a significant amount of homebrew rules or play it loose with the rules - because dnd is secondary to the act of telling a story.

Unfortunately, dnd wasn’t built for such a narratively focused sandbox. It was built around dungeons and adventuring and violence in general - an aspect that is only a fraction of many stories that dnd is used to tell.

I think that is why so many people are resistant from trying other ttrpg systems that may give them a better player experience. They dont play dnd to play dnd but they dont even realize that. The game is secondary so why does it matter what game they play? Everyone at their table is already versed in dnd so they can make it work as a framework even if its trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

This is something ive been thinking about a lot while making my ttrpg Tales from the Aether as I am inspecting my own view and experience with dnd and what i enjoy about it versus what could be done better. Why do me and my friends play dnd? To hang out and tell stories. Dnd happens to be the system i knew at the time we started and thus it is the one we used. But there is nothing particular about dnd that supports this goal while there are many things that hold us back - such as characters archetypes and classes being so ridged and having practically zero guidance for running the game outside of combat or adventuring. This is where homebrew comes in.

Ironically thats the entire premise of Tales from the Aether. I started making it years ago with the idea that this system is specifically a framework for people to tell improve stories with friends. That is the whole point. All of the mechanics revolve around giving players the tools to do what they want while the rules act more as a form of in universe world building (like a hard magic system) than actual rules.

The reason why so many people who play dnd are hesitant or straight up refuse to try out other ttrpgs is because the game is secondary. Its a tool. Its a framework that they can build off of to create the experience that they want. Its familiar so they know how to bend it, what parts to chip off or expand, to give them what they want. A new ttrpg, even if its one that gives them everything they want in a ttrpg, is unfamiliar and thus not worth investing in when they already have something that works well enough.

Idk i may be way off base here but from my own experience and from watching live plays and reading people’s takes on dnd and playing the game… thats kinda the conclusion ive come to.

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

It's free homebrew!

Outlaws of Thunder Junction comes out tomorrow, you know what that means?

It means, new Plane shift module made by me!

This one includes 6 backgrounds, a race and a subrace, 7 subclasses, and a and dozens of monsters. AND ITS FREE! That's right! From now on, all my brews will be 100% free.

Come get it all at my patreon! I also have a plane shift module for New Phyrexia, Eldraine, the Psio and Hemonomicon, and a whole bunch of other goodies!

#other creator #homebrew subclass

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

I like how the THP on attack/grapple is worded so that it remains effective even if you already have THP. Maybe might need to be capped at a maximum? Then again, the THP gain is slow enough that if you're positive on thp you arent really being threatened to begin with.

Does the static AC benefit from holding a shield?

Aside from that, 10/10. All concerns addressed while retaining the aspects of the sub that were cool and even further expanded upon them. That's what we like to see.

Druidic Circle: Circle of Ruin

I just put out an update to my Circle of Ruin!

Ever wanted to play a stone based druid, or a druidic knight, well here's the subclass for you!

A front-line warrior druid that lets you make stone armour, grants martial weapon proficiencies, and just lets you grapple and pummel your enemies if you really want!

If you grab the PDF from the link above, you also get 'Lady Ethel of Scarwood' a CR6 NPC statblock with lore and tips on how to run in combat!

#feedback

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

10/10. Retains the base idea and existing cool aspects of the sub while addressing all concerns, not introducing new issues, and expanding on the core of the subclass.

I like how the THP is specifically worded to make sure it stacks. Might want to put a cap on it? Then again, 10 minutes isn't long enough to reasonably make use of a bag of rats, and if you're going positive on THP you're not really threatened to begin with.

Does the static AC benefit from holding a shield?

Druidic Circle: Circle of Ruin

I just put out an update to my Circle of Ruin!

Ever wanted to play a stone based druid, or a druidic knight, well here's the subclass for you!

A front-line warrior druid that lets you make stone armour, grants martial weapon proficiencies, and just lets you grapple and pummel your enemies if you really want!

If you grab the PDF from the link above, you also get 'Lady Ethel of Scarwood' a CR6 NPC statblock with lore and tips on how to run in combat!

#feedback

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

Interesting take on a martial Druid. Love the flavor. Always seemed weird that Spores Druid tried to encourage you to get into melee but didnt give Extra Attack or anything.

Some notes under the cut:

Druids already get shield proficiency. There's still the bit about not using shields made of metal for some reason even though weapons are fine.

Getting basically an extra HP bar is nice, but - ignoring comparisons to other druids for a moment - what reward do you actually get for being in melee? Risen Warriors at 10th level is neat, but that's still 8 levels where you're seemingly expected to be a subclassless martial, except with worse AC, worse damage (no fighting style or even cantrips to supplement your attacks) having to choose between your attacking stat and your casting stat, and not even being able to attack on turn 1.

(The stats issue is actually even more pronounced here - you want Dex for AC, Con for concentration, Wis for casting, and Str for punching. You couldn't get a more MAD build if you tried. Yeah, you could use a rapier, but is that really the aesthetic you're going for here?)

Getting that much thp twice per short rest isn't weak per se, but it doesnt enable the game plan that this seems designed around. Spores at least gives you an extra d6 of necrotic damage and the aoe spores in melee. With this you're probably better served just being an extra bulky spellcaster, which makes having Extra Attack a little bit of a letdown. You also don't have anything to help your concentration, which is where a lot of Druid's best spells lie.

Speaking of the game plan - what do you actually do as this subclass? Even if you do want to play along and go into melee, what are you going to do on turn 1? Druid surprisingly doesnt have very many BA spells. Are you planning to use Healing Word? It's turn 1, that's the least likely time to need heals. Shillelagh/Magic Stone? Well, now it feels bad that you have magic punches and you arent even using them, but it does solve the ASI issue. Maybe Flaming Sphere t1 and Stone Form t2? That's 3 turns until you can throw a punch.

Grappling is, admittedly, fun as hell, but it's a game plan that inherently just doesn't work sometimes. Being able to shove people and also force them to take damage from your Risen Warriors is a nice combo. Maybe you could even lean into that further.

This isn't even touching Moon Druid's existence, but Moon Druid is not a good measuring stick in any sense of the term. Though at least it avoids the Bladesinger/Hexblade issue of being an extra durable caster for its melee tradeoff. As a baseline druid, you don't get much value out of hitting things with a sword; having thp doesn't make you sword better.

I'm not trying to be mean and dunk on your creation. I love the flavor, and I really want this to be a good subclass, one that fulfills its vision. I cant see it doing so as is, though.

Double damage vs structures is a cute touch.

How might these issues be fixed?

It might be as simple as moving the 10th level feature down to part of the base Stone Form. That would make it feel significantly less bad that you don't get to punch T1, and encourages melee by making that already be the range you want to be. You still have the issues of your stats, AC, and concentration; now that you're in melee, enemies will surely be attacking you, and your stone spikes go away when your THP does. Shillelagh solves two of those problems and fills out your action economy, but if you're getting magic punches and not using them that feels like a design issue. Plus, doubling up on Spike Growth would be funny. Not particularly effective though, since you and your allies aren't immune to the actual spell.

(Before anyone asks about multiclassing Monk or Ranger or Barbarian, needing multiclassing to function is also a design issue.)

Maybe add a flat AC to the form a la Barkskin? Let you maintain the form even at 0 THP and make unarmed strikes provide THP? I dunno. There's a lot of angles that can solve the issues here; mine may or may not be the best.

Druidic Circle: Circle of Ruin

I just put out an update to my Circle of Ruin!

Ever wanted to play a stone based druid, or a druidic knight, well here's the subclass for you!

A front-line warrior druid that lets you make stone armour, grants martial weapon proficiencies, and just lets you grapple and pummel your enemies if you really want!

If you grab the PDF from the link above, you also get 'Lady Ethel of Scarwood' a CR6 NPC statblock with lore and tips on how to run in combat!

#other creator #druid #feedback

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

For today's spoiler, the new race, the religious and adventurous Cactusfolk, and the deft Explorers known as the Atiin tribe.

The cactusfolk were animated when the omenpaths were opened to Thunder Junction, while the Atiin have an explorer culture, and when the multiverse opened to them, it was basically a gift from heaven.

Come get Plane Shift: Thunder Junction at my Patreon, its free!

#other creator #homebrew races

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

I was expecting anything but not Bard

#not homebrew

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

As part of breaking DnD’s monopoly on TTRPGs, more media should start basing their knockoff in-universe TTRPGs on different games

#not homebrew

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

yeah, and we all know how well balanced SCAG was

anyways, thank you for the feedback! updated version 2.0 here, now with less aggressive Sneak Attack scaling and Carefuler Spell

Subclasseptember Day 1: Barbarian

The Bloodrager - 5E Sorcerer Subclass by Nines

I maintain that "Subtember" still would have been a better title for this challenge.

The first of many entries to the Subclasseptember challenge by @nite0304, the Bloodrager Sorcerer does away with elegance to strike with brutal strength and unyielding focus. A concept from 3.5e, repurposed into a gish option for sorcerer.

As for why I'm making a Sorcerer subclass on the day labelled Barbarian? It simply tickled my fancy to have offclass options for all of these class-based prompts.

Links in the reblogs... Eventually? I'll probably want to have DNDBeyond links to all the subclasses for this challenge in one place at the end of it all.

#feedback #my homebrew #throwback thursday

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

WILD MAGIC SORCERER: RELOADED

I've always had issues with wild magic. Surges are dependent on your GM remembering they exist, and some effects can wipe your party instantly, or bring in summons the GM just needs to have on hand. Outside the funny table, there's not much flavor to the class.

My rewrite puts more of a focus on gambling, more wild effects with less dangerous results, and more wild features.

#other creator #homebrew subclass #sorcerer

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

Well this is certainly something (affectionate).

Worth noting: Warlocks don't automatically learn spells from their patron's spell list! They're just added to the list of spells that you can learn, so if the spell's already on the Warlock list (like Crown of Madness) it. Just doesnt do anything.

1st level feature has solid utility, and is kinda comparable to Samurai Fighter combatwise with advantage on an attack multiple times per short rest. It does kinda force you to spec into Eldritch Blast, since you can't exactly get a Hexblade dip for Cha weapons (at least by current 5e rules).

Being able to make a Cha check as part of an attack/spell is kinda weird when you can't actually do anything with it, mechanically. Very subject to DM fiat, at least until 6th level where you also get the ability to charm the target. But Charm Person breaks if you attack the target or its allies, so that seems like it'd be finicky.

Sidenote, does "charm the target as per the Charm Person spell" mean the target gets to roll the save? Does it require concentration? It might be better to simply give it a fixed duration, like "until the start of your next turn" - there are other subclasses like Swashbuckler Rogue that can charm targets without a spell. Stealing the same rules text could be helpful.

Speaking of which, actually, defining an actual roll for the Cha check in the 1st level feature the same way Swashbuckler does could help reduce the amount of DM fiat necessary for that feature as well. That way the player doesn't need to say "hey DM does this effect sound reasonable" every turn, which would be smoother for both the player and the DM.

Sidenote, having one use of the feature for each of an attack roll/saving throw/skill check is unorthodox, but I applaud the creativity. Might be difficult to keep track of, though.

The Hellsite feature... Is certainly aptly named. How powerful it is almost doesn't even matter with how many things you need to keep track of.

The capstone is fun, though the amount of choices you have is somewhat undercut by being forced to rotate through all of them. "Oh, we're going to the Undead Graveyard, you could just walk past all of them!" "Sorry, I used Sans half a week ago so it won't be online for another 3 days." Maybe having it roll randomly?... Then again, that means you'll almost never be able to line it up with what you need. Alternatively, have it be that you can't choose the same one twice in a row? Makes it more likely people will just flip between two that they like, but otherwise gets most of the best of both worlds (a measure of chaos + a measure of control)

Tumblr Sexyman Warlock

#other creator #warlock #homebrew subclass #feedback

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

Here's V2! As soon as I posted this on reddit, an embarrassing amount of errors and typos got pointed out. I apologize, I haven't done any 5e writing in a while and I'm still getting back into the groove. Please use this version!

#other creator #homebrew races

[homebrew-a-la-traumaverse]

What are some chronic illnesses that can only occur in a fantasy setting?