October Brew Fest: Week 3

October Brew Fest: Week 3

This is the final post for week 3, and though it’s smaller than I hoped it’d be, I think it’s solid. It’s been a hectic week at work and I bit off a bit more than I could chew with the blog- you may have noticed that I didn’t follow my schedule at all this week.

But enough of that, and onto the new brew!

The School of the Arc- a new Arcane Tradition

The School of the Arc is the wizard’s answer to the fighter’s Arcane Archer. 

I’ve always been disappointed by the Arcane Archer’s implementation in 5e. I personally thought even the Eldritch Knight did the concept better- but I’ve come to realize the Arcane Archer wasn’t ever for people like me. It was for those who wanted the flavor without fiddling with casting mechanics.

So here’s the subclass for people who want to fiddle with the spellcasting mechanics.

If you want the PDF, or tumblr wrecks the document, click through here.

I want to note an interesting and somewhat accidental side effect of the design here:

This Archetype has a built in combat loop.

Since you can cast True Strike as a bonus action, and you really don’t want to miss with an Infused arrow (which takes a bonus action to create) you’re encouraged to alternate casting True Strike on one turn and landing an Infused Arrow on the next. You also really want to avoid taking a hit, since True Strike still requires your concentration. You’ll surely break that loop fairly often, I think it’s interesting that it’s there at all.

(I say somewhat accidental because I really only wanted to make true strike a viable option. Once I realized that it affected your attacks next round and not immediately did I realize what would happen once I made Imbued Ammunition use a bonus action- and I leaned into it!)

I might come back to this one later to ensure that the wording is clear, or even just to change the name. School of the Arc is somewhat evocative, but I’m not sure I like it. On that note, I’m open to suggestions!

Week 4: Festivals and Fear

Paragon Creature Preview

Some of you may remember a while back I mentioned a I was working on a “Sub-Legendary creature” I was referring to as Paragons. The idea is starting to take shape a little bit, though it may not look like much.

The idea here is that these creatures produce more interesting encounters than a normal creature by reacting to the things that the party does, but because these reactions have specific triggers, clever parties can deny them the opportunity to take extra actions.

In lieu of legendary resistance, we simply have the ‘Resist’ paragon reaction. This lets Paragon Creatures have some means of resisting the most debilitating effects, but they can’t simply say no in the way that legendary creatures can. There’s more tweaks coming to this idea for sure. You might notice the little blurb on ‘Force Actions’ near the bottom of the page. I’ll be playing with these later, but the general idea is to represent monsters with the backing of an army or force that is not taking direct part in the battle. I’m imagining Siege Weapons, Archer Volleys, or (on a wildly more specific note) a ship captain having his helmsman suddenly tilt the ship to unbalance boarders. There’s only one stat block for now, because this is more a dry run of an idea than anything. Tomorrow: The School of the (Ethereal) Border for Wizards.

Brewfest Week 3: Strange Magic

Strange magic indeed! The Wizard School of Hedge Magic gives the already broad spell list of wizards even more coverage- and a few unique ways of using existing spells.

If you fancy yourself the hermit spellcaster or the local healer/diviner/apothecary, but you still want the flavor of a wizard, this is subclass for you. A lot of this classes features are fairly experimental- latching onto specific spells and enhancing them. Hopefully, I didn’t go too far. I aimed for various pop culture depictions of witchcraft in this one, and there’s more spooky brews like it to come next week, but for now we’ll cycle back to another player advice article: The Arcane Sapper conversion kit.

Week 4: Festivals and Fear

For the morning of Day 1, I’ll present these two on-theme unit type monster stat-blocks. Later in the day, I’ll drop another statblock.

These are combination statblocks that let you deploy either large numbers or mixed groups of creatures coordinating closely.

Today we have the Zombie Horde and Infested Zombie, representing collectives and symbiotics, complementing our earlier preview of mounted type units.

I’ll post a lot more of these by the end of the week, but just to keep things moving, here’s another taste.

I’d love some feedback on this Unit idea- I’m honestly not super confident in it. I really like the blended statblocks for mounted units, but perhaps I should be taking another route with symbiotic and collective type units. Plenty to consider.

Tomorrow I’ll drop the Bard College of Masks- so keep an eye out for that.

New Conversion Kit: Arcane Sapper

October Brewfest: Week 3

Before I reveal the subclasses I’ve been hammering at this week, let’s see what we can do with the existing mechanics one last time. Today we’ll really dig into an underutilized feature: a familiar’s ability to deliver touch spells.

This kit utlizes a familiar and the Glyph of Warding spell to prepare low-risk magical traps at a distance.

Kit Overview

Investment Type: Spell Choice

Minimum Investment: Two spells: Glyph of Warding and Find Familiar. (The Former requires at least 5 levels in a full caster class)

Overall Impact: You are able to prepare devastating magical glyphs behind enemy lines via your familiar, winning battles before they are fought, and all without ever putting yourself in harm’s way.

Investment

The two cores to this kit are available to a rather limited number of classes.

By default, only Wizards can learn the Find Familiar spell, and a familiar is a strictly necessary part of this kit. Since Wizards can also learn Glyph of Warding by default, Wizards have the easiest time achieving the use of this kit.

Three other classes have access to Glyph of Warding by default: Artificers, Bards, and Clerics. Of these, not one counts Find Familiar among their class spells.

Bards can hypothetically get this kit online at 10th level using their Magical Secrets feature to access Find Familiar, but realistically, this is 5 levels after you’d otherwise get to it and there are likely better spells to snag.

I’d recommend instead that Bards, Clerics, and Artificers utilize the Ritual Caster or Magic Initiate feats to gain a companion. Ritual Caster has certain advantages since you’re already opting for a methodical playstyle, but you can feel free to use Magic Initiate if you want a little more immediate punch in the form of cantrips. You know what’s best for your character.

The only other class that has access to Find Familiar is the Warlock, and even then only if they select the Pact of the Chain. However, there are two problems for Warlocks trying to access this kit: They have no way to access Glyph of Warding shy of 5 levels of multiclassing- that’s far too deep an investment to get this trick online, and Warlocks don’t have the spell slots to back it up. (Warlocks do have a place in this kit, so if you like their flavor, stay tuned for the kit support section).

Narrative Impact

So you’re sending your familiar out to prepare magical traps ahead of you. What does this method say about your personality and history?

Perhaps you were formally trained in this technique, and used powerful glyphs to defend locations of great significance? Were they holy sites, military encampments, or something else? Perhaps you slowly but surely rooted out enemy presence, or performed unpleasant and untraceable deeds from a distance. Who did you work for? What were they trying to accomplish?

You might have developed this technique to defend yourself from overwhelming odds. A Wizard whose research attracted the wrong attention, a Cleric whose faith led to persecution, a Bard who knows too much.

Perhaps you are a meticulous planner, and you approach battle as a puzzle to be solved, and Glyphs are your hidden piece on the board. A capricious trickster who toys with foes and delights in outmaneuvering them at every step. A sadist who inflicts terrible fates with a precise network of glyphs.

Your choice of familiar can lean into this narrative, if you do not choose based on mechanical advantage. Hawks befit military sappers, while owls and cats match stealthy agents. A spider might suggest a clever cruelty, while a weasel or rat might suggest cowardice.

Keep reading

New Conversion Kit: Arcane Sapper

October Brewfest: Week 3

Before I reveal the subclasses I’ve been hammering at this week, let’s see what we can do with the existing mechanics one last time. Today we’ll really dig into an underutilized feature: a familiar’s ability to deliver touch spells.

This kit utlizes a familiar and the Glyph of Warding spell to prepare low-risk magical traps at a distance.

Kit Overview

Investment Type: Spell Choice

Minimum Investment: Two spells: Glyph of Warding and Find Familiar. (The Former requires at least 5 levels in a full caster class)

Overall Impact: You are able to prepare devastating magical glyphs behind enemy lines via your familiar, winning battles before they are fought, and all without ever putting yourself in harm’s way.

Investment

The two cores to this kit are available to a rather limited number of classes.

By default, only Wizards can learn the Find Familiar spell, and a familiar is a strictly necessary part of this kit. Since Wizards can also learn Glyph of Warding by default, Wizards have the easiest time achieving the use of this kit.

Three other classes have access to Glyph of Warding by default: Artificers, Bards, and Clerics. Of these, not one counts Find Familiar among their class spells.

Bards can hypothetically get this kit online at 10th level using their Magical Secrets feature to access Find Familiar, but realistically, this is 5 levels after you’d otherwise get to it and there are likely better spells to snag.

I’d recommend instead that Bards, Clerics, and Artificers utilize the Ritual Caster or Magic Initiate feats to gain a companion. Ritual Caster has certain advantages since you’re already opting for a methodical playstyle, but you can feel free to use Magic Initiate if you want a little more immediate punch in the form of cantrips. You know what’s best for your character.

The only other class that has access to Find Familiar is the Warlock, and even then only if they select the Pact of the Chain. However, there are two problems for Warlocks trying to access this kit: They have no way to access Glyph of Warding shy of 5 levels of multiclassing- that’s far too deep an investment to get this trick online, and Warlocks don’t have the spell slots to back it up. (Warlocks do have a place in this kit, so if you like their flavor, stay tuned for the kit support section).

Narrative Impact

So you’re sending your familiar out to prepare magical traps ahead of you. What does this method say about your personality and history?

Perhaps you were formally trained in this technique, and used powerful glyphs to defend locations of great significance? Were they holy sites, military encampments, or something else? Perhaps you slowly but surely rooted out enemy presence, or performed unpleasant and untraceable deeds from a distance. Who did you work for? What were they trying to accomplish?

You might have developed this technique to defend yourself from overwhelming odds. A Wizard whose research attracted the wrong attention, a Cleric whose faith led to persecution, a Bard who knows too much.

Perhaps you are a meticulous planner, and you approach battle as a puzzle to be solved, and Glyphs are your hidden piece on the board. A capricious trickster who toys with foes and delights in outmaneuvering them at every step. A sadist who inflicts terrible fates with a precise network of glyphs.

Your choice of familiar can lean into this narrative, if you do not choose based on mechanical advantage. Hawks befit military sappers, while owls and cats match stealthy agents. A spider might suggest a clever cruelty, while a weasel or rat might suggest cowardice.

Keep reading