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I have edited the runescarred barbarian's spell list, cutting it down a bit and removing a few less straightforward Charms, as both canon third-caster archetypes are fairly narrow in their purview. I've also changed the 14th level ability.
 
Okay friends I'm back packing Europe .

So of course I wrote a campaign.


You were born like any other child and just a few days later you were separated from that normalcy. A man came to your family from the government , he comes for every child, a ritual was preformed and a few things about you became changed as he wove dark magic upon you. Yours turned red as fresh blood. Your hair as dark as any raven and a scar appeared large and black over your heart.

Since that day you are magically changed as well, your relationship to positive and negative energy turned inverse. Which suits your kingdom well since your are one of the few living in the land of the dead.

For hundreds of years your kingdom has used necromany day in and out. A constant war, that your winning paying so that even farmers can afford to have undead servants tending the fields. Almost all of your people become necromancers to some extent. As the massive free labor from your wars and own dead make every task easy.

That was almost you, another person happy to live day in and out beside the undead the living component to a war machine that ravages the entire world bringing in massive conveys of slaves to be sacrificed for more undead. Plundering entire kingdoms to afford necromatic magic in every aspect of life.

For some reason your different, you want to be another one of the revolutions, except you think yours may work.

So who are you that wishes to topple your God king and stop the blight your kingdom is upon the world?

How is it that you and your friends found each other like minded people.
 
Omicron said:
This is my first attempt at 5e homebrew, and criticism would be welcome. I probably made this on the OP side, to be honest.

New Primal Path: Path of the Jotunborn

"It was too big to be called a sword. Massive, thick, heavy, and far too rough. Indeed, it was a heap of raw iron."
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I really like the story behind this Path. It's a neat justification for wielding giant swords – you learned from giants.

Omicron said:
Sidebar: Oversized Weapons
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This is a good sidebar, and well thought through. I like the decision to effectively turn the effects of an oversized weapon into a subclass feature, rather than offering a codification that could easily turn goofy or broken by subclasses. I'd consider cutting the paragraph on Huge weapons just for length and clarity, to be honest. I'd also consider what happens if a Small character such as a Halfling takes this subclass (or even a Tiny one, if Volo's introduces Pixie PCs).

Omicron said:
Jotungrip
Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with oversized weapon. You suffer disadvantage on attack rolls using them, except when raging, where you instead inflict an additional 1d4 damage on successful hits. This additional damage is considered a damage die of the weapon, and is doubled on critical hits. Each level of Brutal Critical you possess adds a further 1d4 to the damage of your critical hits, on top of its normal benefits.

Waste-Walker's Endurance
Having begun her journey in emulating the strength of giants, the Jotunborn exposes herself to harsh elements and difficult terrain. Starting when you choose this path at 3rd level, you and your group no longer treat mountainous terrain as difficult for the purposes of travel. Furthermore, you gain resistance to one of the following: cold, fire or lightning damage, in emulation of frost, fire or storm giants respectively.
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This is solid.

Jotungrip is broadly equivalent to a Fighting Style, with the crit-synergy and higher maximum damage bonus balanced out by the fact that it only applies when raging (the downside when not raging can be countered by just dropping it and drawing a regular greatsword, so I won't factor it in). No need to add that it's doubled on critical hits, but redundant wording isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I'd be tempted to turn the +1d4 into an always-on effect, with raging only letting you ignore disadvantage.

Waste-Walker's Endurance is a set of cool ideas. I'd consider a restriction on how large the group can be – if you're at the head of a massive army, can you cheerfully Hannibal them over a huge mountain range like it's an open field? – but it's not going to break anything. I'd also be really tempted to make the elemental resistance a rage-only thing, tacked on to your physical resistances. It's already limited, and keeping it a permanent benefit is unlikely to shatter mountains, but...

Omicron said:
Giant-Mauler's Onslaught
Upon reaching 6th level, you have learned the ferocious tenacity necessary in fighting massive, resilient opponents; one cannot let go until they are dead. When you use the Attack action and perform a reckless attack, using an oversized weapon, aiming all your allowable attacks at the same creature, you may perform another attack as a bonus action against the same target.
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I get where you're going with this, but:
a) It's kind of boring.
b) boy it seems a lot better and more combat-focused than any other Path's 6th level features

I mean, this is the level when Berserkers are getting immunity to fear and charm, and Totems are getting improved tracking or eyesight or lifting capacity or travel speed. Going full-on into situational extra attack territory – which is something that Tiger Totems, though somewhat weak, get at 14th level, as do Berserkers – seems really weird. I'd recommend fusing this conceptually with Titan's Fall, and coming up with another, less direct dps-focused feature for 6th level.
 
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Revlid said:
I really like the story behind this Path. It's a neat justification for wielding giant swords – you learned from giants.

This is a good sidebar, and well thought through. I like the decision to effectively turn the effects of an oversized weapon into a subclass feature, rather than offering a codification that could easily turn goofy or broken by subclasses. I'd consider cutting the paragraph on Huge weapons just for length and clarity, to be honest. I'd also consider what happens if a Small character such as a Halfling takes this subclass (or even a Tiny one, if Volo's introduces Pixie PCs).

This is solid.

Jotungrip is broadly equivalent to a Fighting Style, with the crit-synergy and higher maximum damage bonus balanced out by the fact that it only applies when raging (the downside when not raging can be countered by just dropping it and drawing a regular greatsword, so I won't factor it in). No need to add that it's doubled on critical hits, but redundant wording isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I'd be tempted to turn the +1d4 into an always-on effect, with raging only letting you ignore disadvantage.

Waste-Walker's Endurance is a set of cool ideas. I'd consider a restriction on how large the group can be – if you're at the head of a massive army, can you cheerfully Hannibal them over a huge mountain range like it's an open field? – but it's not going to break anything. I'd also be really tempted to make the elemental resistance a rage-only thing, tacked on to your physical resistances. It's limited, and making it a permanent change is unlikely to shatter mountains, but...

I get where you're going with this, but:
a) It's kind of boring.
b) boy it seems a lot better and more combat-focused than any other Path's 6th level features

I mean, this is the level when Berserkers are getting immunity to fear and charm, and Totems are getting improved tracking or eyesight or lifting capacity or travel speed. Going full-on into situational extra attack territory – which is something that Tiger Totems, though somewhat weak, get at 14th level, as do Berserkers – seems really weird. I'd recommend fusing this conceptually with Titan's Fall, and coming up with another, less direct dps-focused feature for 6th level.
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Hm, you're probably right.

To explain my thoughts here: I value the berserker level 6 pretty highly, because while it might not come up often or even at all in a given game, "barbarian fails his Will save and turns on his own party, leading to TPK" is one of these classic horror tales that frame class as a whole.

Then there's the Battlerager, who gets 4-5 temp hp every time he uses reckless attack.

"Conditional bonus attack" was probably toi much, yeah, but I'd want a fairly beefy bonus at lv 6, in no small part because the barbarian is contractually mandated to have an "interaction" feature at lv 10 (another thing the battlerager ignores... Yeah, I shouldn't be using it as a standard). And it has to feel, hm, giant weapon-like.

Not sure what to make it. I'll think on it.
 
Omicron said:
To explain my thoughts here: I value the berserker level 6 pretty highly, because while it might not come up often or even at all in a given game, "barbarian fails his Will save and turns on his own party, leading to TPK" is one of these classic horror tales that frame class as a whole.
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...the what? Is this a thing from previous editions, or...

If you're looking for a suitable attack-widget, something like knocking an enemy prone, causing them to suffer a damage die based on their Size, might be suitable. When fighting giants, go for the ankles.
 
Revlid said:
...the what? Is this a thing from previous editions, or...

If you're looking for a suitable attack-widget, something like knocking an enemy prone, causing them to suffer a damage die based on their Size, might be suitable. When fighting giants, go for the ankles.
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I like knockdown. Knockdown is good.

Although, would it br bad form to just steal the Hunter Ranger's "Giant-Slayer" feature?
 
Revlid said:
...the what? Is this a thing from previous editions, or...

If you're looking for a suitable attack-widget, something like knocking an enemy prone, causing them to suffer a damage die based on their Size, might be suitable. When fighting giants, go for the ankles.
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He might be thinking of Berserkers, who in 3.5 had to make a Will Save to end a rage.
Not being able to end the rage was generally considered a bad thing.
 
Mithrandir said:
He might be thinking of Berserkers, who in 3.5 had to make a Will Save to end a rage.
Not being able to end the rage was generally considered a bad thing.
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I think it's more a callback to how in 3.5, barbarians had a poor Will save progression and not a ton of call for Wisdom. So even with their morale bonus to Will saves while raging, they were still dead easy to hit with dominate, charm, or other mind-tweaking effects, which ended in a TPK with alarming frequency. Here, berserker 6 just straight up negates that possibility when you're seeing red, which is pretty darn nice.
 
Like, berserker in Van Cave? Screw you, mind control hydra, get an axe to the face.
 
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Bozwevial said:
I think it's more a callback to how in 3.5, barbarians had a poor Will save progression and not a ton of call for Wisdom. So even with their morale bonus to Will saves while raging, they were still dead easy to hit with dominate, charm, or other mind-tweaking effects, which ended in a TPK with alarming frequency. Here, berserker 6 just straight up negates that possibility when you're seeing red, which is pretty darn nice.
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Hmm. It's not immunity, but Barbarians got a bonus to Will while raging in 3.5, too.
 
Mithrandir said:
Hmm. It's not immunity, but Barbarians got a bonus to Will while raging in 3.5, too.
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Yes, the one I mentioned where you quoted me. It started at +2 and scaled by approximately +1 per ten levels, which most assuredly did not keep up with the save DCs of an even halfway-committed caster. There's also the +4 Will save bonus they got to resist enchantment spells, but that came in at 14th level, which is really too little, too late.
 
The frenzied berserker in 3.5 had to make will saves to avoid just murdering her friends while in bloodlust.

People who played that class tended to provoke actual RL fights at the table.
 
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Chloe Sullivan said:
The frenzied berserker in 3.5 had to make will saves to avoid just murdering her friends while in bloodlust.
People who played that class tended to provoke actual RL fights at the table.
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Which is why their buddies either climbed on top of high things, levitated, or flew, and always made sure that the Berserker had so much gear that they were too heavy to climb or jump.
Either that or have an ethereal caster or possessing/channeling Outsider hang around them.
 
Sydonai said:
Which is why their buddies either climbed on top of high things, levitated, or flew, and always made sure that the Berserker had so much gear that they were too heavy to climb or jump.
Either that or have an ethereal caster or possessing/channeling Outsider hang around them.
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Unless everyone agrees to this well ahead of time, forcing everyone else at the table to character-build around managing you is a dick move.

I have seen many games where people start designing heir characters at the first session, or jump into a game with a new character without the DM having consulted everyone first.

One such game resulted in half the party declaring the the frenzied berserker was either going to expend all his rages every morning so no ally murdering could occur, or he could leave the part. Entirely in character.
 
The FB should just get his Will save high enough to pass the DC reliably. Or expend his frenzies and keep his rages; the real point of the class is its ridiculous power attack upgrades.
 
I started writing up my opening post for my game, but then real life (and possibly sick? Not sure) hit. So I don't know when it's gonna start, hopefully next week.
 
Omicron said:
The FB should just get his Will save high enough to pass the DC reliably. Or expend his frenzies and keep his rages; the real point of the class is its ridiculous power attack upgrades.
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There's no way to completely negate nat ones.

I agree with the getting rid of frenzies, that is what my friend wanted. sadly the other player had a hissy fit.


On another note, I just read the Pathfinder-DSP version of the soulbow, now the Soul Archer. As far as I can tell, the old "Since you are 'creating' a new soul arrow for every shot, you effective get the Lucky property on eery attack instead of 1/day" trick still works fine, except that the Mindfeeder and bodyfeeder properties are no longer listed as melee only, so now they also benefit from the wording and you can use them on every crit.

Enjoy!
 
Chloe Sullivan said:
There's no way to completely negate nat ones.

I agree with the getting rid of frenzies, that is what my friend wanted. sadly the other player had a hissy fit.


On another note, I just read the Pathfinder-DSP version of the soulbow, now the Soul Archer. As far as I can tell, the old "Since you are 'creating' a new soul arrow for every shot, you effective get the Lucky property on eery attack instead of 1/day" trick still works fine, except that the Mindfeeder and bodyfeeder properties are no longer listed as melee only, so now they also benefit from the wording and you can use them on every crit.

Enjoy!
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They errata'd this in the Psionic Augumented: Souknives II mini-book.

Pg 16 said:
Limited Use Enhancements and the Soulknife: Whenever a soulknife uses his Enhanced Mind Blade class feature (or equivalent ability) to enchant his mind blade (or equivalent ability) with an enhancement with a limited number of uses, such as is the case with the lucky enchantment, any uses the soulknife uses counts towards the daily limit and is not refreshed whenever the soulknife reform's the mind blade (or equivalent ability). The same should apply to other enchantments acquired such as from the Personalized Trick trait, that may have limited uses such as per encounter, etc. A soulknife with the Fluid Form bladeskill may still expend its psychic strike as a swift action to refresh these limited use enhancements on the mind blade (or equivalent ability) within the limits of the bladeskill.
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On a related note, you should get Psionic Augumented: Souknives if you ever plan on playing a Soulknife. It substantially beefs up Blade Skills (which weren't exactly shabby to start with!) and the three Archetypes are fucking amazing.

Augmented Blades: Get a Psicrystal, and attach it to your gear to enhance it. In addition to the usual Soulknife stuff, this includes (with Blade Skills) tools, head slot items, and spell and power completion items.
Brutality Blades: Barbarian equivalent soulknives. Cha based as opposed to Wis based. Weaker standard progression for their blades, but can surge past that for a set number of rounds per day. Also get Rage, and a bunch of unique (and pretty potent) blade skills.
Psychic Armory: You manifest a lot of floating psychic blades around you and shoot them at people with your mind.
 
infinite lucky and feeder isn't even broken, tho. it does make soulbow more viable, and frankly, at least in 3.5 the class needed it.

Also, links for eratta?

My copy of Ult Psi mentions whiling weapon enhancement but lacks the bit explaining what it does.
 
It's in this product: Psionics Augmented: Soulknives II, right at the end. I don't think it has made its way onto the wiki yet though. The first product is here: Psionics Augmented: Soulknives.

There's a third one in the works to, because apparently the Patreon for these mini works keeps voting for it, for some strange reason.

And I think its fair to say the Soulknife under DSP does not need help being viable. The base class is pretty solid before you start adding in the Psionics Augmented Blade Skill, which make it quite a lot more so by adding things like short range teleports, floating stepping disks, grapnels, etc. One you get into the Gifted Blade and the War Soul it goes to pretty strong period. And then you add in its stronger archetypes you can stack on top of either of those two as well as the Prestige class support in II and you have class that's basically dial a tier.
 
Following a silly joke by @ZerbanDaGreat, I am seized with a powerful urge to homebrew and play a Monk Order that gets access to time distortion powers. But can you balance a Monk with Time Stop?
 
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