Week 3: CraftDay 1: Combat Superiority Classes

Week 3: Craft Day 1: Combat Superiority Classes

So this week is a project week- every post this week will be content from Robilar’s Treatise on Combat (name pending). These are the new subclasses represented in the suplement, and they demonstrate the thought process that went into much of this supplement: combat superiority is for everyone. And by that, I mean that the Battlemaster Martial Archetype nails the little tactical decisions that make fighters fun to play. These lean into some already existing roles the battlemaster can fulfill, and grant some special maneuvers and class features to make them the go-to specialist for it.

They’ll also be able to, alongside the battlemaster, take the best advantage of the various superiority feats that will also be included in the supplement. I won’t be including the link to the homebrewery today- that comes later!

Week 2: The Veil Festival Day 5: Oath of the Valkyrie

With the entertainers, reasearchers, and other guests in place, you’ll need some devoted folks to protect them all. Enter: a new order of Paladins, who have their own interest in observing the thinning of the Veil. Those who swear the Oath of the Valkyrie fight on the material plane with an eye for the war in the outer planes- claiming souls with consideration for how it effects the position of heaven and hell more than how it effects the battle in front of them.Of course, with that power comes a measure of privelege, and they can use it to keep their companions alive, and ensure that their fallen foes do not rise again.

Those of you who have been keeping up this week know that another oath, the Oath of Twilight, was supposed to drop today as well.

My ideas for that overlapped more with the Valkyrie than expected, so I’ll need some time to finish disentangling them. With that said, I’ll try to incorporate it into this week, and maybe adopt a less aggressive schedule this time around. If you’d like the PDF, it’s homebrewery page is right here!

Week 2: The Veil Festival Day 1: The Groundskeeper

Our first post of week 2, and the first artificer subclass to appear on this blog, the groundskeeper is here to prepare the venue for the Veil Festival! 

The subclass’ central mechanic is the ability to Lay Roots, meaning that once you have chosen your battlefield, you will not be changing locales easily. Rather than change positions, you’ll need to alter the battlefield to suit your needs. The fifth level ability, Custodian, rewards you for having enemies in your zone of control, so you’ll need to step up your game and control the flow of enemies into the area of your roots so that you can deal with them one by one. If you want a clearer look, or to download the PDF, you can find it here on the homebrewery!

Week 2: The Veil Festival Day 5: Oath of the Valkyrie

With the entertainers, reasearchers, and other guests in place, you’ll need some devoted folks to protect them all. Enter: a new order of Paladins, who have their own interest in observing the thinning of the Veil. Those who swear the Oath of the Valkyrie fight on the material plane with an eye for the war in the outer planes- claiming souls with consideration for how it effects the position of heaven and hell more than how it effects the battle in front of them.Of course, with that power comes a measure of privelege, and they can use it to keep their companions alive, and ensure that their fallen foes do not rise again.

Those of you who have been keeping up this week know that another oath, the Oath of Twilight, was supposed to drop today as well.

My ideas for that overlapped more with the Valkyrie than expected, so I’ll need some time to finish disentangling them. With that said, I’ll try to incorporate it into this week, and maybe adopt a less aggressive schedule this time around. If you’d like the PDF, it’s homebrewery page is right here!

Week 3: Craft

FSo this week we’ll be slowing down in a way- but there’s still plenty planned.  This theme is kind of loose- what’s basically happening here is I’m going to put in a lot of work on a brew you may have seen bits and pieces of last year: Robilar’s Treatise on Combat (which may be renamed at some point in the near future, I like following 5e’s book name conventions, but I don’t know if I’m a fan of using a ‘canon’ character’s name). Here’s the schedule:  Day 1: For now, we play catch up. The Oath of Twilight gets another chance- a Paladin’s oath revolving around endings and transitions. Day 2: We’ll get into the meat of the week by bringing back the Three Fighter Subclasses that introduced Robilar’s Treatise on Combat last year- the Captain, Expunger, and Vanguard. Day 3:  The Combat Superiority chapter of Robilar’s Treatise- some maneuvers, a few feats that grant access to them, and a smattering of other feats for martial types. Day 4: The first new content from Robilar’s Treatise, An Adventurer’s Armory- a series of materials, traits, and attachments for your equipment- and rules for crafting them, too. Day 5: On day 5, we bring it all together. A smattering of new weapons, rules for determining what the local smith has available, and some flavor text will make Robilar’s Treatise a complete, if short, rules expansion.

Week 2: The Veil Festival Day 3: Bard Colleges

And what festival would be complete without entertainment? These new Bard Colleges expand the options for DnD’s top support class, expanding into new roles.

Starting with the College of the FIreeater, this subclass allows the bard to dabble in the blaster role, dealing out AoE damage but sparing their allies from the carnage with their signature support feature. Climbing in level allows the bard to simultaneously buff their allies and debuff their foes, as well as turn incoming fire damage into a resource.

Next up is the College of Masks- a subclass I’ve sat on for far too long, based on 3.5′s master of masks. Trying to come up with abilities that didn’t step on the toes of other bard subclasses proved challenging, especially while making them attractive enough to pick on their own merits. Hopefully, this hits the sweet spot. 

You can get a better view, or download the PDF, on the homebrewery!