Homebrewery

A place of Tabletop discussions for RPGs, Critical role obsessions, Game Design, Homebrew Spells, Races, and Classes, and the occasional piece of writing or art

[go-shamelesscollectionwhispers]

My newest campaign setting based on swashbucklers and pirates. Its gonna be a lot of fun running it. I’m still working on the lore of some of the cities and some other races (Like merfolk and undead because what’s a pirate game without skeletons and mermaids?) and a new subclass for druids making them more like witch doctors!

[go-shamelesscollectionwhispers]

I've been absent a lot recently. I've been working on a bunch of different stuff actually! I've been painting figures, and working on a bunch of different campaigns. One based on (the flop of a video game) anthem! I'm making all the javelins classes and have been trying to balance them all out. Hopefully I'll have that out here soon!

[probablyplayerrpgideas]

Give Monks d12 Hit Dice

Barbarians are peak physical warriors. They are incredibly strong and resilient, and their hit dice reflect this.

Monks are peak physical warriors. They undergo rigorous physical training to master martial arts and reach peak performance…. and have a d8 hit dice?

Even mechanically, Barbarians and Monks get a lot of similar features- both get unarmored movement bonuses, unarmored defense, ways to increase their DPR with a secondary resource, and their expected damage output is even pretty close across all levels. 

But despite this, Monk’s have the lowest hit dice of any Martial class. 

[go-shamelesscollectionwhispers]

I believe the point is monk’s are maneuverable glass cannons, more akin to rogues than fighters or barbarians and I know that barbarians are not the peak of physical fitness. They are WALLS. They’re the one’s drawing the attention of 3 different creature while the monk runs up behind and incapacitates 2 of the three. There’s no reason for the monk to have higher health because they’re supposed to zip in and out of combat like a ghost. Doing rapid punches and dealing a lot damage with several attacks.

A barbarian has to spend his action to disengage. A monk only needs a bonus action, like a rogue. 

Barbarians are walls, Monks are the ballista on the walls. Ballistas are not sturdy...but they can take down a siege weapon in a couple of well placed hits.

[luckthebard]

Aw, Matt just retweeted a super long thread of indie and smaller RPG creators to support, what a good bean

[ofstarstuff]

This is the thread in question. Go support indie game creators! Get cool stuff for yourself and your group! Buy them nerdy birthday/anniversary/holiday presents! Treat yourself to awesome creations by diverse people!

[nicodranas]

Pass the buck y'all! Critical Role might be the one that started all this live d&d hype but you could be supporting the next group that makes you cry over imaginary bastards a year from now.

[horizonwalkers]

some revised whips for 5e because they’re a very underpowered weapon. ft. a rule for whip grappling and some magic whips as well! note: for arcane whip tips, prices are Like That, because you not only have to track down a seller of arcane whip tip, but purchase it. And honestly, if you’re really looking for 1d4 psychic damage, it’s because you’ve got a vendetta against a Totem Animal Barbarian.

hope you enjoy! feedback and playtesting is more than welcome.

[dnd-homebrew5e]

Just gonna keep the ball on rollin’. Cheers.

Update; Updated my Google Chrome which fixed the issue when saving the template!

[dnd-5e-homebrew]

The Dead King Patron by the_singular_anyone

[gamesgambitps4-blog]

This is amazing I’m going to be applying this to my half Orc Warlock

[thordin2017]

What’s the real difference between a dagger and a scalpel when in the hands of a master. These rogues use their knowledge of anatomy to cripple their target and help their allies. They also have a touch of magic to further augment their talents with life and death. Unlike their Arcane Trickster cousins who dabble in Enchantment and Illusion Magic’s, these rogues specialize in Conjuration and Necromancy Magic’s.

[go-shamelesscollectionwhispers]

I have a city in one of my campaigns I'm starting that's got a huge epidemic. If one of my players wants to be from that island I'll definitely offer this subclass. It seems awesome

[go-shamelesscollectionwhispers]

Muscle Wizard: the meme

I love the muscle wizard. The idea of a smart guy casting spells through their FISTS is the best idea. I really want to talk about this class. I have updated the class and made it much more... interesting to play. But I want input on the stuff I modify and create! I'd love to start a conversation with someone about this ridiculous class! Or just homebrew classes in general.

[go-shamelesscollectionwhispers]

Cyberpunk

So as of late I’ve had an obsession with cyberpunk...SO the obvious course of action was to make an entire SYSTEM. I’ve spent most of the day working on the character sheet and the mechanics of the game. It uses a d 20, d 6 and a    d 4 (Maybe??). I am actually having a lot of fun with it using shadow of the demon lord system with Boons (+1d6) and Banes (-1d6).

[probablygoodrpgideas]

For “boss fights” against a singular enemy I’ve found it good to give them 2 turns in the initiative in order to keep the players more engaged. One of those turns will usually consist of some flashy spell/AOE attack and the other turn will consist of simpler normal attacks.

(I know officially D&D has bosses with Legendary Actions they can do at the end of any player’s turn but that is such a surprise on the usual pace of D&D for the player’s to not be able to play around it as well)

[go-shamelesscollectionwhispers]

This is an excellent idea! For larger groups of 4-5+.

On its own it can be overwhelming for smaller groups. Suddenly this big bad boss beast has two actions AND legendary actions. This will keep the players engaged sure but I think it would mostly lead to panic amongst the party.

Boss fights should always be engaging! And the two turn is great! Only in a large party though.

[erkhyan]

Medieval Fantasy City Generator by watabou

Not a game

[plantkat]

Some example maps for folks to see

theres several other palettes and style options, options for adding and removing elements, and a separate site hosting this generator as well, where you can edit the size and seed in the address bar

[unwell-friends]

Sorry it took a few extra days to get around to this- The first incarnation of the Enforcer Archetype for Fighters. Utilizing mechanics like Shove and Grapple are this Archetypes bread and butter- it’s the defining feature as most of the class feats grant extra utility and bonuses to grappling and shoving. Including Intimidation and a special feature with limited uses per day for Intimidation, as well as proficiency with Thieve’s Tools and the ability to sub in your Strength to use them, this Archetype should feel rough, tough, and useful. It is freely available for playtesting.  If you do playtest this Archetype, please let me know what changes you’d like to see!

If any of you out there run an online session, and wouldn’t mind having me playtest my own archetype, please feel free to message me at any point. Thank you!

[unwell-friends]

Edit: Also, I’ll leave the resource I used to format this homebrew!  http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/ At this link, you too can professionally format your own Homebrew content!

[go-shamelesscollectionwhispers]

On Orcs and How to Fix Them

Orcs (in my opinion) are the most underutilized monster race in ALL of D&D. (Yes. Even kobolds but we'll get to them later.) Orcs are seen as throw away evil villains and in all my years off playing D&D I have never properly seen any DM use them as a main villain. Because orcs aren't seen as a threat.

In the world itself villagers might fear Orcs but as players, Orcs aren't frightening. They're just throw away baddies that worship the god of their race. Orcs are usually seen as tribal, but once again I believe the more appropriate nomadic tribe race is the Goliaths. (Goliaths are large, lumbering and imposing similar to orcs yet you can reason with Goliaths for the most part, which makes sense for wandering tribes who need to trade and can't raid and plunder every single village they see.)

Orcs also have a rich culture of Shaman, Chieftains, underlings, different gods to worship. SO WHY HAVENT I PLAYED ANY GAMES WHERE A SINGLE ORC HAS HAD ANY OF THESE OTHER ORCISH GOD MEMORABILIA ON THEM!? There's so much variety within Orc kind (especially if you look into volo's guide) and I haven't seen anyone utilize orc units in a creative way.

So. How can the problem of orcs be fixed?

Simple. Don't make them wandering Viking like tribes. Make them dimensional raiders! (This sounds crazy but hear me out.)

The story:

The orc god Gruumsh. To start off. One of the most influential gods within D&D lore. We're about to tear apart his backstory.

As a start we're going to completely get rid of his past. Now Gruumsh is a warrior and a warrior first. He still hates his elvish rival, Corellon Larethian, who still took his eye in battle. BUT after this battle he storms up to the celestial plane and demands to be worshipped amongst the human deities. The other gods of this pantheon (it doesn't matter what gods) banish Gruumsh from the celestial plane and the material plane for his insolence.

This leads to Gruumsh being known now as "The Wandering Watcher" as now he moves from plane to plane raiding and slaughtering to calm his bloodlust.

The Orcs Themselves

Now! Not only have orcs sworn against ALL other gods of the material plane but now their deity roams in an unknown plane.

This sets up for our "Dimensional Raider" Orcs! Now orcs roam from dimension to dimension looking for their strong powerful warrior god but NOW they can come out of NOWHERE! They appear at random at the edge of villages from trees with tree stride, or from ancient ruins with a teleportation circle. This makes orcs a threat a random but constant threat and it suddenly gives much more value to shamans who are now not ONLY Druidic healers but are now guides through dimensional rifts.

These orcs strike fast, randomly and Violently. But once they come to another plane suddenly they're stuck for a period of time, usually requiring some sort of blood sacrifice, or ritual that takes a specific number of nights. This gives a period of inactivity for orcs where they must hide out and make a quick ramshackle village of sorts within a forest, swamp, mountains or caves. This gives much more variety to the areas that orcs can be in.

Orcs are seen as resilient...so they should be adaptive to any plane that they've spent extensive amounts of time within. Giving much more flavor and many different options to how the orcs work. If they've spent time in the feywild for extended periods of time then give them a bit more mobility and less strength. Spent time in the nine hells a lot? Give them some fire resistance and some badass fire spells for the shamans.

How This Affects The Players

Players should not have random encounters with ENTIRE tribes of orcs (unless it's super late game and you think it'd be fun.) Instead! Have the adventurers come across a village that is at the tail end of being raided, or has just been raided. The villagers, desperate, beg the adventurers for help.

While the orcs are recovering and waiting to take the goods to the next plane. The adventurers have a chance to track and hunt down the orc raiders AND they adventurers are on a time crunch if they want their pay day.

Then there's also the possibility that the orcs are retreating and appear in front of the adventurers battle worn and exhausted. They ask to be spared and will actually give the adventurers what little the orcs have left if they go and help slay the beast that brought shame to them on the other side of the dimensional door they came from.

All and all this is just my opinion and how I play orcs. To some this is an improvement, to others they've told me it's a bastardization. But if you're up to having a discussion I am all ears and hoping to hear some outside opinions!

[go-shamelesscollectionwhispers]

SORRY FOR NOT POSTING!

I've been busy with the end of the year and I've been homebrewing a class called the Banner Bearer which I think is honestly really good but may be a bit broken. But I'm typing up some other stuff. Some minor things that change the world you're making a little but are really cool! (Honestly it's just some minor cultural stuff for races and some game refinement for some OTHER races that I've found aren't very well executed in my opinion. I'm hoping to bring some interesting ideas to the table.

[the-homebrewists]

lovingly crafted for my campaign’s setting, now available for yall to play. for all your chaotic storm warlock needs! [homebrewery link]

~mod nix

[go-shamelesscollectionwhispers]

About to run a campaign that takes place across a bunch of islands. This couldn’t have shown up at a better time!

[dicebound]

D&D 5e Character Creation Flow Charts: Backgrounds and Classes This only includes the backgrounds included in the Player’s Handbook Mind you, so no SCAG options. Class one doesn’t assume archetype obviously.  A fun little project I made after work today, I thought it might be helpful for players newer to the system in choosing their character’s options, or just a fun little tool.

[dalecooper-official]

This is neat

[mylae-the-dm]

i was literally searching for something like this a couple of days ago. i WILL be using this when i have newbies to run through a game!