Here's another big project of mine I've gotten around to getting to a stage I feel it's worth sharing: Prestige Classes!
A key inspiration behind the design of this system was the 3.5e system of having prestige classes that would have as features say '+1 level to existing arcane spellcasting class'. For my modernization of this, I've simplified it from having dozens of different categorisations for classes, and given each PrC the feature 'Core Class Advancement', which advances a select feature from each class.
The core design philosophy for this was to make it so each prestige class was available for the majority of classes in the game at some stage. Rather than PrC's in 3.5e that often only worked for one or two classes, this aims to have each PrC apply to most classes.
As such, the amount of customizability each PrC offers should be pretty high, as the intended design of this was to multiply the number of possible character archetypes you could play.
But yeah, Core Class Advancement stands as my solution to the issues raised by wizards of the coast's abandoned UA for prestige classes: often times, taking a PrC means you don't get the cool stuff from your own class. But with this, even if it's delayed, you still get progression in your core features.
I hope the prestige classes I've made are fun to look at
Oh yeah, people asked for a PDF of the last big post I made, so here's a link to the shareable homebrewery version of the doc
Edit: Here's an updated version of the Prismatic Specialist
So it would seem that, at least for the time being, I’m not all the way in my grave. The last month or so has been rough, but I’m not out of it yet and just to prove that to myself I’m coming back with new ideas, big projects, and the same lack of proofreading as ever.
I’ve always liked the idea of prestige classes ever since I started playing in 3rd ed, and a prestige class was actually my first homebrew ever at the age of 10 (no it wasn’t good, why would you even ask that), so it’s only natural that I attempt to incorporate the idea into 5e. On the other hand, 5th edition doesn’t really mesh well with going off the beaten path of the basic 1-20 level progression, with multiclassing potentially locking a character out of the best abilities and adding new features by letting a prestige class count as progression in a core class without that drawback potentially making at-level challenges trivial, so I felt like something new had to be tried in order to make it work.
With that in mind, this is my first attempt at bringing the prestige class into 5th edition: non-core progression. The idea is that you can gain levels in one of these specialty classes without it negatively impacting your core progression through multiclassing, but also without adding power onto a core class in a way that may throw off game balance. Essentially, you choose to remain at the same level and restart that level’s progression in exchange for specialized features that directly relate to the character of your character. I feel like this is an interesting way not only to allow a character to specialize without throwing off game balance, but also to extend play in a tier of play that players may enjoy, maybe letting you stay below 10th level longer if you don’t enjoy higher level play, or letting you stay within higher tiers and continue getting that feeling of advancement without running into the end character’s progression at 20th level. Obviously this is an idea that would need a lot of proof of concept playtesting a theorycrafting, but I believe it has some merit and deserves a chance to prove itself worthy of inclusion in the core Vallonde experience.
As always, questions and comments are welcome. I’d love to hear your thoughts, and I hope that I can continue providing content for you in the future without interruption!
Howdy y'all! Here's another prestige class that I've made. This one synergizes well with abjuration wizard, but it could easily go well with a sorcerer or artificer, or even possibly a warlock. It's all about personal defense, with a bit of area defense at max level.
I've made this one into a json format as well. I'm thinking I'll do that with most of my major content going forward. It's not too hard for most things, just a little time consuming. Anyhow, here's the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QnNKx-aDP1_kzEgwSeV4a4lFe0SvcO9i/view?usp=sharing
Feedback is always welcome, and I hope y'all enjoy!
PDF Version: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/2M2hhY65QXZT
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Because "magic missile mage" is redundant. Why they didn't go with "magic missile master" is beyond me, though.
Anyway:
The Good: This is a nifty five-level prestige class which makes magic missile more powerful and more useful while also providing defenses. For magic missile itself, you get +2 missiles, Still Spell applied for free, your choice of added energy descriptor on each cast (test out resistances or double your damage!), the ability to bypass shield spells (including those used in brooches of shielding), and better ability to bypass SR. For your defenses, you get shield as an immediate action (better than allowed through any metamagic) 1/day and spell turning on magic missiles, which is actually a great combo. For all that, you have a natural complement in Argent Savant (Complete Arcane), which further improves your use of (and defenses against) force effects like magic missile. Pretty much written specifically for the Sorcerer and Warmage.
The Bad: You lose a level of casting. This is a double-whammy, as Argent Savant is also a 4/5 casting class. You can regain one of those levels through the Favored Prestige Class and Prestigious Spellcaster feats if you're using Pathfinder, but otherwise that reduces you by two levels -- way too much for improvements to a first-level spell.
The Cool: The iconic FMM (well, the art used for the class) seems to be inspired by D'Raven, the P2 palette swap (green, with hat) of the magic-user from the D&D arcade game Shadow Over Mystara; see below the cut. It's an odd choice, as his distinguishing feature (besides appearance) is using death effects instead of only elemental attacks (he gives up conjure elemental [ifrit/leviathan] and meteor swarm for cloudkill and power word kill).
Pathfinder Homebrews The Eldritch Hunter By Susanna McKenzie and Rhona MacFarlane Eldritch Hunter Eldritch hunters are peerless combatants that meld a ranger’s array of skills with a wizard or sorcerer’s repetoire of spells. They typically hail from orders of rangers sponsored by their world’s ...
A new Pathfinder 1st edition prestige class by myself and @transdejahthoris, intended for those who really want to play a multiclass ranger/wizard or ranger/sorcerer but previously couldn’t. Mostly inspired by the fact that you actually kinda could, back in the halcyon days of the original Unearthed Arcana book.
The Zerth Cenobite is a student of time and the body’s movement through it. For the Cenobite, time has become simply another dimension to move through. The teachings of the Zerthin style have been passed down through Githzerai monks from deep within the plane of Limbo. A useful subclass for a creative player that rewards forward thinking. It is a great for Banishing the biggest threat in an encounter to make it easier on the rest of the team. It is also a near-impossible class to kill with its ability to become temporarily invulnerable or step forward in time to evade danger on top of a monk’s regular tendency to skirt death.
Temporal Strike: At third level, you gain the ability to hit enemies forward in time a number of rounds equal to your monk level when you hit an enemy with an unarmed strike. The creature must make a WIS saving throw to resist the effect. If the effect is resisted, the creature is only moved forward in time by one round. Once you use this ability, it cannot be used again until you finish a short rest to meditate on the passage of time.
Future Sight: At third level, you may spend 1 Ki Point to cast Augury as the spell.
Timeless Step: At sixth level, you are able to step forward in time any number of rounds up to your Monk level using an action. To the rest of the world, you have effectively disappeared in a soft flash of light, ceasing to exist until you return. You return at the start of the round, without any changes to your status from the moment you used the ability. You can use this ability once per short rest.
Temporal Acceleration: At eleventh level, you may spend 1 Ki point to accelerate your timeframe for one round, gaining an extra action and doubling your movement speed for that round. Once you use this ability, you may not use it again until you complete a long rest.
Temporal Distillation: At seventeenth level, you can emerge from mortal peril unscathed by entering an alternate timeline where no harm has befallen you. At the start of any round (regardless of any and all status conditions affecting you), you may use this ability to return to your state at the beginning of the previous round. Any status conditions, changes to your hit point values, spells cast upon you, or movement taken or imposed upon you since the start of your last turn is removed. This does not change the results of any rolls or uses of abilities since the last round, just your bodily status and position since the last round. No other creatures are affected by this ability. Once this ability is used, it cannot be used again until you finish a long rest.
image source: Genji (Overwatch)
Way of the Bladestorm
The bladestorm disciple is a monk that has trained to optimize a stealthy and deadly weapon: the shuriken. They work in shadows, attacking from stealth to take down their foes with a cloud of metal shuriken before they have realized what’s happened. For the purposes of this class, a shuriken has the statistics of a Dart.
The Unseen Storm: At third level, the bladestorm monk deals bonus damage when attacking targets that are caught unaware. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll or if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it and that enemy is incapacitated, and you don’t have disadvantage on the attack roll. The attack must be made with a shuriken. This ability can be used twice per turn at ninth level, and three times per turn at thirteenth level.
Weapon of the Ninja: At third level, the bladestorm gains advantage on Stealth checks. They also gain advantage on Sleight of Hand checks to hide or manipulate shuriken.
Empowered Blades: At sixth level, the bladestorm can use their Ki to empower their precise shuriken attacks to disrupt their enemies. All abilities requiring a saving throw use the same DC of your other Ki abilities.
Pinning Strike: When you make an attack with a shuriken, you can spend 1 Ki point to pin the enemy to an adjacent wall or to the ground, reducing their movement speed to 0. The creature must make a STR saving throw to wrest themselves free.
Crippling Strike: When you make an attack with a shuriken, you may spend two Ki points to hit a vital pressure point and force the creature to make a CON saving throw. On a failed save, the creature’s STR score is reduced by 1d4 until they complete a short or long rest.
Distracting Strike: When you miss with a shuriken attack, you can spend a Ki point to force the missed foe to make a WIS save. If they fail their save, your next attack against that creature becomes a critical hit.
Mosquito Bite: At eleventh level, through cleverly bouncing your shuriken off of other objects or curving the path of the shuriken you can remain unseen even while attacking your foes directly. Your first attack with a shuriken each round while hidden does not reveal your position or the direction that the shuriken came from. In addition, the thrown range of your shuriken is doubled.
Bladestorm: At seventeenth level, you may initiate a bladestorm as a free action. Whenever you make a shuriken attack during a bladestorm, you may make an additional shuriken attack at a creature within range. The bladestorm lasts for one round, but you can make it last longer using your Ki. At the start of each round after a bladestorm, you can spend a Ki point to make the bladestorm last one more round.
Way of the Ki Master
The Ki Master has honed their ability to channel and manipulate bodily energy in such a way that they can unleash devastating attacks made of pure force. Their training is rigorous and blurs the lines between physical strength and mental prowess. The amount of Ki energy that they can contain within them is greater than that of most other monks, and allows them to transcend the limitations of even a perfect body, being able to fly and teleport through the air. This is a great subclass for a group missing an evocation spellcaster that might need access to area damage but still needs a fighting class on the front lines.
Ki Blast: At third level, you can spend one Ki point to unleash your Ki in a powerful blast of energy to damage your foes. This attack can take on a variety of forms that you choose. If the attack is concentrated on only one target, the damage is 2d10+your WIS modifier force damage and takes the form of either a ray or ball of energy launched from your hand and with a range of 60 ft. Alternatively, you may choose to widen the scope of your Ki blast into a 15 ft. cone, a 30 ft. line, or a 10 ft. radius burst (centered at a point up to 40 ft. away). Creatures caught in the area of one of these Ki blasts will take 2d6+your WIS modifier force damage. Regardless of the form of your Ki blast, a creature affected by it may make a DEX saving throw with a DC equal to that of your other Ki abilities. Creatures that succeed at this saving throw take half damage.
Ki Disciple: At third level, your maximum Ki points increases by 2.
Ki Charge: At sixth level, you can stand in place to charge your Ki Blast ability, gathering energy from your force of will and from the flow of energy in the environment. Your movement speed becomes 0 for the round and you cannot take actions, bonus actions, or reactions until your next turn. Each round that you spend charging your Ki blast costs 1 Ki point, but increases the damage of your next Ki blast made within the next 1 minute by 2 damage dice and increases the saving throw DC by 1.
Ki Radiance: At sixth level, you gain two new ways to use your Ki:
Energy Buffet: You may spend a Ki point using your reaction to gain resistance to all damage until the start of your next turn.
Burst of Power: You may spend a Ki point using a bonus action to gain +5 on your next Athletics skill check made before your next round.
Ki Flight: At eleventh level, you gain a Fly speed of 30 ft. as long as you have at least 3 Ki points remaining
Ki Master: At eleventh level, your maximum Ki points increases by 2.
Instant Transmission: At seventeenth level, you can cast the spell Misty Step at will as long as you have at least 6 Ki points remaining.
image source: Spirit Guard Udyr Splash Art (League of Legends)
Way of the Shen
Shen disciples are insular monks that train in the ways of a certain animal, gaining new abilities and skills to channel the soul of their chosen animal and fight with that animal’s spirit. In time, they acquire new abilities and even gain physical features of their chosen spirit animal over time.
At 11th level, a Way of Shen monk gains one such physical feature of their choice. This does not alter gameplay, only their appearance. Also at 11th level, a Way of Shen monk can spend a Ki point to shapechange into their spirit animal. This ability functions like the Wild Shape ability of the Druid but may only be used once per day. You may use your monk’s unarmed damage or the creature’s attack damage, whichever is higher.
Crane Shen: When you gain the shapechange ability, you may turn into a Giant Eagle with the appearance of a crane.
Gather the Blossoms: At third level, you may use your Deflect Arrows feature to also deflect ranged spell attacks.
Crane Wing Defense: At sixth level, when you take the Dodge action, you gain +2 AC until your next turn.
Reactive Stance: At eleventh level, when you take the Dodge action, you may use the Deflect Arrows feature to also deflect melee attacks.
Slay the Ape: At seventeenth level, you can use an Attack to spend a Ki point. If you do, you may leap up to 20 ft. in the air and then make an attack. The attack deals a bonus 3d6 damage and the creature, if hit, becomes blinded for 1 minute. This effect even blinds those who have other methods of vision, such as blindsight or tremorsense.
Dragon Shen: When you gain the shapechange ability, you may turn into a Brass Dragon Wyrmling.
Celestial Emperor’s Blessing: At third level, you may spend a Ki point to cast Burning Hands except that you choose the energy type of the damage dealt. Choose fire, cold, acid, or lightning.
Four Hidden Sounds: At sixth level, a number of times per day equal to your CON modifier, you may deal +1d4 damage with each attack you make for 1 round. This damage can be either fire, cold, acid, or lightning.
Defense of the Scaled One: At eleventh level, all fire, cold, lightning, and acid damage dealt to you is reduced by 5 after other reductions are applied.
Heaven’s Hand: At seventeenth level, once per day you may cast Dispel Magic as a bonus action on any creature you hit with an unarmed strike.
Mantis Shen: When you gain the shapechange ability, you may turn into a Thri-Kreen with the appearance of a praying mantis.
Mantis Style: At third level, you gain a +2 bonus on attempts to shove or grapple creatures.
Chi Sau: At sixth level, you do not gain disadvantage on melee attacks while blinded.
Defang the Snake: At eleventh level, you may use a shove or grapple attempt to try to disarm your foe.
Guillotine Strike: At seventeenth level, once per turn, you may make a single unarmed attack against a creature after successfully shoving, tripping, or disarming that creature.
Monkey Shen: When you gain the shapechange ability, you may turn into an Ape or Baboon.
Monkey Grip: At third level, non-light weapons you wield gain +5 ft. reach.
Clever Monkey: At sixth level, you may use your action to spend a Ki point to become invisible until your next turn. When you do, you create an illusory duplicate of yourself that stands in place until you become visible again. Creatures interacting with the duplicate must make a WIS save to disbelieve it.
Drunken Monkey: At eleventh level, you have +2 AC against attacks of opportunity.
Tumbling Boxing: At seventeenth level, if you move at least 20 ft. before making an attack, you gain advantage on your next attack.
Panther Shen: When you gain the shapechange ability, you may turn into a Panther.
Seize the Moment: At third level, you gain +4 to Initiative checks.
Chain Punches: At sixth level, each attack that hits a creature increases the damage of all other attacks made this round by 2.
Swift Reprisal: At eleventh level, when a creature misses you with a melee attack, you may use your reaction to make an attack of opportunity against that creature.
Hushed Step: At seventeenth level, you gain a +2 bonus to Stealth checks when hiding in shadows.
Snake Shen: When you gain the shapechange ability, you may turn into a Giant Poisonous Snake or Giant Constrictor Snake.
Serpent Strike: At third level, when you score a critical hit, you deal an additional amount of poison damage equal to your INT modifer.
Calculated Blow: At sixth level, your score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20 before modifiers are applied.
Bleeding Wound: At eleventh level, when a creature is hit by your Stunning Strike, their CON score is reduced by 1d4 until they finish a short or long rest.
Healing Hands: At seventeenth level, you may spend 2 Ki points to do one of the following to you or a creature you touch: heal them for 3d4+your INT modifier or remove a condition including poisoned, paralyzed, blinded, or deafened, or remove one level of exhaustion.
Tiger Shen: When you gain the shapechange ability, you may turn into a Tiger.
Primal Instincts: At third level, you become immune to the frightened condition and deal 1d4 additional damage to frightened creatures.
Paralyzing Strike: At sixth level, when you hit a creature with your Stunning Strike, the creature is paralyzed for 1d4+1 rounds on a failed save instead of stunned.
Frenzy: At eleventh level, when you hit a creature while using your Flurry of Blows ability, all creatures within a 15 ft. radius of you must make a WIS save or become frightened until your next turn.
Vital Point: At seventeenth level, when you score a critical hit on a creature, that creature is knocked prone.
A new prestige class, the Artisan! For the less combat-oriented character, the artisan is perfect for a campaign with more opportunities for crafting. Enjoy!
PDF Version: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/6MF0baTA2Jao
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