#subclasses

Arvoreen Warder (Fighter)

Cat Warrior (Monk)

Hey guys,

I've been posting new homebrew subclasses for DnD 5e to my Ko-Fi page since last month! And I want to ask which one has been your favorite?

Here are the links!

PDFs of this and more can be found over on at my Patreon here! I release everything for free, so your support makes this possible. I've also started making a new system based off of 5e, 6th Dawn! Become a patron and join the playtest.

Welcome to what is probably the final installment of "d'Artagnan dislikes wotsy's overgeneralised cleric domains". This time, Death. The official death domain seems to focus on killing shit with weapons and necromancy. And then, give it animate dead. Because it's evil. You know, things tend to stop being dead whether the magical energy you pump into them is good or evil? But that's just my issue.

Instead we now have the Slayer and Undeath domains.

Slayer Domain

This was formerly named the Murder domain, but that didn't have such a good ring to it. Slayer is slightly out of format, it should be "Slaying" but eh.

Bonus Proficiency

This is where the death cleric's weapon proficiencies went. Since this domain is focused on the act of killing specifically, the close and personal touch was its thing. Might want to make this melee weapons to contrast to hunt's ranged weapons.

Weapon of Faith

Since we worship our god through acts of violence, it stands to reason that those tools of violence would be sacred themselves? And then add the champion's increased crit threshold. Probably a bit much at 1st level, but the hexblade exists, so what do I know.

The Only Certainty

That's right kids. The first channel divinity to force taxes onto people! What's that, this is just murderous smite? Oh, that's much better.

Extra Attack

As much as I mentioned in the war domain that the murder/death cleric is a one man killing machine, I still wasn't going to give it the extra attack at 1st level. Having that makes the cleric the strongest fighter for 3 levels, at which point it's tied with berserker until level 5. So extra attack it is.

Killer's Advance

Something simple, but it certainly makes you get going a bit better. I had a few competing ideas for this, adding proficiency being one, which I might do when I convert this into 6th dawn, since Wisdom is already initiative's stat in that. Or give it my fighter's tactical repositioning.

Death by a Hundred Cuts

I couldn't not make this a capstone feature. My other idea was just power word kill. But then I thought this would be a fun spell, but it would be unhinged to roll 1,000 d4s. But here we are. Also, just pulling an old fashioned phantasmal killer and making a secondary save against dead.

Undead Domain

There's been a joke for a long time that clerics make better necromancers than wizards. I'm not about to change that :P

Touch of Death

Chill touch: everyone's favourite non cold, non touch spell.

Mend Flesh

You know how cure wounds doesn't affect undead, now you can heal your undead minion(s). Just one for now, animate dead isn't until later.

Bolster Life Force

This and the next one will remind you of when I made alternate "default" channel divinities a while ago. But I have since seen the light, and borrowed one of like four good ideas from oneD&D and started scaling things by tiers. Also, since this is the dedicated undead domain, having a channel healing to undead, but make it generally useful by providing false life to allies as well.

Wrest Undead

It's back, and more limited than before, but with scaling so I don't have to deal with that horrible destroy undead thing.

Shambling Hordes

I think this is the necromancy wizard's thing, I don't know. I didn't actually check. More minions!

Eternity's Requiem

Speaking of necromancy wizard, I borrowed the lich capstone from my ascent to lichdom subclass, because it's cool.

And now to plug my stuff. I release homebrews weekly over on my Patreon. Anyone who pledges $2 or more per post don't have to wait a month to see them, and also help fund my being alive habit.

At the moment, they have exclusive access to the following:

Resurrection Complications

Magical Miscellany

Esoteric Instrumentation

Wondrous Jewellery

I also have four classes, and two splatbooks over on DriveThruRPG to check out:

The Rift Binder. A class specialising in summoning monsters and controlling the battlefield.

The Witch Knight. A class that combines swords and sorcery in the most literal way.

The Werebeast. A class that turns you into a half beast to destroy your foes.

The Beguiler. A spellcaster dedicated to illusions, enchantments, and general fuckery.

d'Artagnan's Adventurer Almanac. A compendium of races, subclasses, feats, spells, monsters and more!

Holiday Subclasses

Looking for a new subclass to try for that special holiday one shot, or just want to try something different? Well the Holiday Subclasses booklet might have something for you.

This booklet contains five Dungeons and Dragons subclasses that players can use in campaigns. Each subclass in this book is themed around the winter holidays, with a dash of hope. They harken back to Christmas stories and folklore, like the Yule Cat, while others reference aspects of the holidays and winter, like a fighter essentially becoming an action figure and Santa Claus’ reindeer. 

Become a life-size action figure as a Toy Knight (Fighter), complete with a variety of accessories.

Master the cold and summon frosty friends as a Warrior of the Cool Hand (Monk).

Honor the traditions of one of the holiday's greatest heroes by taking the Oath of the Gift Giver (Paladin).

Guide your companions through the darkness and the dangerous fog as a Red Nosed Ranger (Ranger), while also bonding with your own reindeer.

Become an instrument of a folklore figure as a Yule Cat Messenger (Rogue) and seek out damaged clothes for your patron's hunger.

PDFs of this and more can be found over on at my Patreon here! I release everything for free, so your support makes this possible. I've also started making a new system based off of 5e, 6th Dawn! Become a patron and join the playtest.

Okay, we are now dealing with matters of the soul. So obviously, the first class anyone thinks of when talking about souls is the rogue. No? Well, that's why I did it. Some moderate BLEACH and Noragami inspirations here. I had some fun with this.

Souljourner

The basic conceit of the class: leave your body and go on a trip. Designing this one was interesting. Considering all I had for reference game balance wise was the 7th level spell etherealness and the undead warlock capstone. Which is to say very powerful. So curbing the travelling abilities and distance was key here in addition making yourself very vulnerable. An excellent feature for going up against the very prevalent ethereal taunt feature.

Spectral Grip

Being a ghost: ghost touch attack is a must. Powerwise, I didn't want this from the start and leave the third level just scouting primarily. But it seemed appropriate because there's not much else to do with the ghost form at first.

One in the Grave

A support feature for the ghost rogue. In aspects of the soul, look to the grave cleric for guidance.

Untethered

Remove travel distance. Woo

Body Jack

And let's just give the rogue the magic jar spell. As a treat :P

And now to plug my stuff. I release homebrews weekly over on my Patreon. Anyone who pledges $2 or more per post don't have to wait a month to see them, and also help fund my being alive habit.

At the moment, they have exclusive access to the following:

Passenger Background

Domains of Death: Decomposed

Resurrection Complications

Magical Miscellany

I also have four classes, and two splatbooks over on DriveThruRPG to check out:

The Rift Binder. A class specialising in summoning monsters and controlling the battlefield.

The Witch Knight. A class that combines swords and sorcery in the most literal way.

The Werebeast. A class that turns you into a half beast to destroy your foes.

The Beguiler. A spellcaster dedicated to illusions, enchantments, and general fuckery.

d'Artagnan's Adventurer Almanac. A compendium of races, subclasses, feats, spells, monsters and more!

PDFs of this and more can be found over on at my Patreon here! I release everything for free, so your support makes this possible. I've also started making a new system based off of 5e, 6th Dawn! Become a patron and join the playtest.

So a while back I was reminded of the concept of something so beautiful that it brings despair and misery in its absence. Then I thought of something truly grand and ancient. Something so vast that it demands awe. A Great Old thing.

Much like the great old one, this isn't something you make a deal with for power. It's something so immense that the scar it tears into your psyche changes you magically. More over, has anyone actually looked at the 5e GOO description and thought "This isn't how any of this works"?

Patron Spells

I'm tired of pretending the the expanded spell list over bonus spells was a good idea, so I'm just going to list patron spells as bonus spells from now on. Maybe I should have started that like 4 years ago when I realised it, but bleh.

Gaze of the Infinite

You know the saying: "Gaze into the abyss and be captivated by its ethereal beauty." No? Huh, I'm sure that was it.

Disenchanted

Kind of the thesis statement of this subclass. I was thinking on adding it at 1st level, but starting with a passive feels bad. And it's a very strong passive, so that would be it. Maybe I should have stuck it at 10th level with all the other defensive warlock features, but stacking it with something else. But then it would get a bit too close to archfey.

Crystalline Soul

Tomb of Levistus, is that you? Kind of. While I go through great pains to never explain what the ancient splendor is, judging by millenia of human history liking hard shiny things, I'm betting it's probably hard.

Look on my Works

ye mighty, and despair. Why yes, I do try and stick poetic references into things. Behold! Aura of Depression!

And now to plug my stuff. I release homebrews weekly over on my Patreon. Anyone who pledges $2 or more per post don't have to wait a month to see them, and also help fund my being alive habit.

At the moment, they have exclusive access to the following:

Merchant Background

Spirit Skirmisher

Passenger Background

Domains of Death: Decomposed

I also have four classes, and two splatbooks over on DriveThruRPG to check out:

The Rift Binder. A class specialising in summoning monsters and controlling the battlefield.

The Witch Knight. A class that combines swords and sorcery in the most literal way.

The Werebeast. A class that turns you into a half beast to destroy your foes.

The Beguiler. A spellcaster dedicated to illusions, enchantments, and general fuckery.

d'Artagnan's Adventurer Almanac. A compendium of races, subclasses, feats, spells, monsters and more!

PDFs of this and more can be found over on at my Patreon here! I release everything for free, so your support makes this possible. I've also started making a new system based off of 5e, 6th Dawn! Become a patron and join the playtest.

Finally, a win for the billionaire CEOs! They can finally play a character that represents them. An awful miserly ass. At least he's a team player. I do enjoy writing characters so utterly divorced from the common human experience.

Plutocratic Retribution

This is slightly based on the toll keeper from Baldur's Gate 3 that has an attack that deals more damage the more money you have on you. A bit reversed, but a strange bit of risk reward.

Daylight Robbery

Similar to the oath of order's second channel divinity, but this is just straight up coercion. And yes the person is completely conscious while you do this, so it's hampered by being easily reversed if you use it badly. Oh, and it comes with a built in NDA just to be even more awful.

Aura of Greed

A strong, but limited power. You can use this to steal healing spells, but you can also use it to redirect attacks towards you. No, this does not absorb spells like fireball.

Redistribute Wealth

What plutocracy without a little bit of nepotism?

Avatar of Avarice

I'll be honest, I did this for the alliteration, but also avarice is the theme of this one. Instead of going for the standard Transformation capstone that paladins usually have, I went for a more limited passive. Enforcing your greed and then skimming benefits for yourself. Oh, and stealing people's spell slots

And now to plug my stuff. I release homebrews weekly over on my Patreon. Anyone who pledges $2 or more per post don't have to wait a month to see them, and also help fund my being alive habit.

At the moment, they have exclusive access to the following:

Bastions: Restructured: Expanded

Ancient Splendor Patron

Merchant Background

Spirit Skirmisher

I also have four classes, and two splatbooks over on DriveThruRPG to check out:

The Rift Binder. A class specialising in summoning monsters and controlling the battlefield.

The Witch Knight. A class that combines swords and sorcery in the most literal way.

The Werebeast. A class that turns you into a half beast to destroy your foes.

The Beguiler. A spellcaster dedicated to illusions, enchantments, and general fuckery.

d'Artagnan's Adventurer Almanac. A compendium of races, subclasses, feats, spells, monsters and more!

PDFs of this and more can be found over on at my Patreon here! I release everything for free, so your support makes this possible. I've also started making a new system based off of 5e, 6th Dawn! Become a patron and join the playtest.

A sequel to "d'Artagnan dislikes the overgeneralisation of cleric domains" in tonight's episode: Nature. in 5e, the nature domain tries to be all encompassing and by doing so accomplished nothing. Beasts, plants, skills, druid cantrips, the elements, and the weather. And it tried to get this through in like three features. Instead I have split it primarily into Plants and animals. The weather is in tempest, along with half of the elements so that needs no discussion. And sorry animals, most people pray to the gods to kill you, so hunt it is.

Plants Domain

This is somewhat the more distilled version of what I think the "Nature domain" should be. In folk lore, humans, animals, and plants were three separate things. While animals lived in nature they weren't an embodiment of it. Your fertility gods weren't making the deer breed faster. You asked a separate god for animal related stuff (usually hunting, but animal husbandry too. I am not making an animal husbandry domain [though that would be an excuse to get an animal companion. hmm…])

Student of Nature

The Acolyte of Nature feature is a good feature, but it's kind of exemplary of the problem of the nature domain. The druid cantrip is neat, so I kept it, and the skill is neat, so I kept it. But handle animals and survival aren't really key here. Survival is, of course the hunter aspect, but if the nature cleric was going to live among nature, they were probably a druid.

Also why did the nature cleric get proficiency in heavy armour? Why?

Accelerate Growth

What is THE thing you pray to a fertility god for? Bountiful yields! So, bestow the clerics the power to grow things

Channel Divinity: Rampant Growth

When your enemies won't come to nature, you bring nature to them

Land's Stride

As the make things grow to unreasonable levels subclass, it stands to reason that being able to ignore it is kind of important.

Enduring Growth

Grow more things, make tactical tree stairs, make tree bridges, go wild!

Verdant Champion

Probably a bit too strong, but this is generally kind of a niche issue, so I don't feel too bad. Also I like throwing in some kind of absolute capstone for clerics every once and a while.

Hunt Domain

So, why is animal hunt and not beast? Simple, you don't ask your gods to mind control animals for you, or turn you into an animal, or whatever. My current focus on domains is "what do you ask the gods for" this is why the war cleric ended up more supportive. Ironically, this domain is probably what you wanted if you wanted to be an awesome combatant, but even still, not war and mass bloodshed. That comes in "d'Artagnan dislikes the overgeneralisation of cleric domains" part 3: Death Beheaded. Where death gets split into unlife and murder (there's a reason they made the grave domain)

Bonus Proficiencies

Survival, because of course, and ranged martial weapons, because of course.

Expose Weakpoints

This is kind of grave's CD, but I'll be honest, it's kind of hard not do double down on the hurties/aim thing when designing for a huntsman.

Hunter's Quarry

Those of you who have played paladin, might remember this from Vow of Enmity. But considering vengeance is kind of a more single minded focus of what's happening here, it should be of no surprise that the first thing you ask a hunting god is for your aim to be true.

Extra Attack

The shooting good subclass gets shoot again. Of no surprise

Hunter's Edge

Hunter's Quarry is kind of like hunter's mark, so this is the one instance in where "Divine Strike" kind of makes sense.

Slayer's Rhythm

Now, at first this just seems like a worse extra attack. And it is: unless you use your action to kill someone differently :)

And now to plug my stuff. I release homebrews weekly over on my Patreon. Anyone who pledges $1 or more per post don't have to wait a month to see them, and also help fund my being alive habit.

At the moment, they have exclusive access to the following:

Naural Gifts

Oath of Accumulation

Bastions: Restructured: Expanded

Ancient Splendor Patron

I also have four classes, and two splatbooks over on DriveThruRPG to check out:

The Rift Binder. A class specialising in summoning monsters and controlling the battlefield.

The Witch Knight. A class that combines swords and sorcery in the most literal way.

The Werebeast. A class that turns you into a half beast to destroy your foes.

The Beguiler. A spellcaster dedicated to illusions, enchantments, and general fuckery.

d'Artagnan's Adventurer Almanac. A compendium of races, subclasses, feats, spells, monsters and more!