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Week 1: Titanic Beasts

Today, we have our first New Content Drop of the October Brew Festival. Meet the Hobgoblin War Elephant- a blended statblock designed to make an encounter with the warbeast easier for DMs to track. This is a Preview of my Unit Rules, and a taste of the monsters to come later in the month. This is the first monster stat block I’ve shared here, so be sure to let me know what you think!

If tumblr destroys the document you can find it here, and you can check out a full range of my content here.

Week 1: Titanic Beasts

We’re rounding out Week 1 of the October Brew Festival with two new Druid circles, each using wildshape in unique ways. The Circle of the Chimera blends forms together, creating unique forms that no other druid can utilize. If you’re not careful you’ll chew through your daily shapes, but a well placed hybridization can turn the tides. The Circle of the Titan, as the name implies, focuses on towering forms. These forms allow for area of effect attacks, enabling the druid to occupy multiple foes at once.

If tumblr wrecks the document, it can be found here. Be sure to check out my full range of work at the Foundry!

October Brewfest Week 2: Warriors

Almost forgot to drop this week’s schedule ahead of time! Week 2′s theme is Warriors, so there’ll be plenty of advice and subclasses for those of a martial bent.

Day 1: A Conversion Kit article to turn any character into a Dirty Fighter.

Day 2: The Trapper and Sapper are two archetypes that might want the tricks of a Dirty Fighter up their sleeve, so we’ll take another look at them.

Day 3: The Battle Master conversion kit, a method of adding tactical depth to any character.

Day 4: We’re bringing back the simple Bastion, Skirmisher, and Shock Trooper martial archetypes, which brings us to...

Day 5: A preview of a new project- Robilar’s Treatise on Combat. This rules expansion will eventually contain specialized weapons, crafting rules, special item properties, and more. But the preview, Chapter 1, contains 3 new superiority-die subclasses (The Captain, Expunger, and Vanguard), 9 feats, and a few new and updated Battle Master maneuvers.

Week 2: Warriors

As we saw yesterday, warriors don’t always fight fair. The Trapper and Sapper are examplars of dirty tactics. This one’s a repeat with a small update. Mostly, I just removed references to items that didn’t work how I thought they did and replaced them with more appropriate ones.

Tomorrow we’ll be looking at another Conversion Kit article, the Battle Master. I’ve posted a link before, but I’ll be reformatting it to post directly to tumblr tomorrow. 

Trap Masters: New Subclasses for the Rogue and Ranger

These subclasses developed in tandem- players are plenty familiar with suffering at the hands of devious dungeon traps, and most editions have had a means of letting players have a go at it. 5e seemed to be behind in that regard, so here’s my take on it.

The Sapper archetype lets Rogues use existing items in ever more devious ways. Thieves may deploy items on a moment’s notice, but Sappers cause devastating damage long after they’re gone, and reshape battlefields and dungeons alike in their favor.

The Trapper archetype puts the Ranger in a position to harrass their foes constantly, and make them fear each step they take. With a set of unique and powerful designs, and the ability to hide them in unexpected places, the trapper takes foes off guard, and presses that advantage until their foes break.

If tumblr wrecks the document, you can view it directly on the homebrewery here.

Check out my full range of content over on The Foundry! If you’ve got any questions, you can email me at 5eforgemaster@gmail.com.

October Brewfest Week 2: Warriors

Today we’ve got an update to the fighter archetypes I shared in the early days of this blog. This is mostly changes to wording but the capstone features of the skirmisher and bastion recieved substantial changes, removing saving throws and vague wording that might weaken them at the table.

It’s a shame these specialist archetypes can’t use yesterday’s conversion kit. I’ve been hint dropping all week, and you’ll have to deal with it for just one more day. Tomorrow, I’ll share a preview of something I’ve got on the anvil- Robilar’s Treatise on Combat. 

That document will include some subclasses that use the Battle Master’s maneuver system out of the gate, as well as some feats to give other fighters a chance to get in on the action.  I’ll see you all tomorrow to round out week two of the brew festival!

The Fighters of DnD 5e are just as adaptable as ever, but some old favorite builds have been left out in the cold by its simplified mecanics. These three archetypes can help support fighting styles that may seem mundane on the surface, but take practice to execute.

The Bastion is a classic fighter archetype, wielding weapons and armor normally reserved for soldiers in formation as personal arms, and putting themselves in harm’s way so that their allies don’t have to.

The Skirmisher relies on thrown weapons, nimble feet, and an even more nimble mind to overcome their foes.

The Shock Trooper is a tank, to be sure. Shock troopers inhibit their foes, making such a nuisance of themselves that they are dangerous to engage, but fatal to ignore. In case tumblr destroys the document, click through here: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/SyQyDhOViZ Alternatively, check me out on: https://5eforge.wixsite.com/foundry

October Brew Festival Week 2: Warriors

To finish off Week 2 with a bang, we’ve got the first anvil piece I’ve put up on this site- meaning it’s not quite taken its final shape. This is Chapter 1 (so far) of Robilar’s Treatise on Combat. There’s a lot to be done here, but these Subclasses, Superiority Feats, and Battle Master Maneuvers will help expand Battlefield Superiority to any class that wants to lay hands on it. We’re getting close to Halloween, and next week’s theme will be Strange Magic.

October Brewfest Week 3: Strange Magic

I can’t believe it’s already week 3! If you thought I was favoring martial classes too much last week, then this week is for you! Our new theme, Strange Magic, means we’re veering towards the magical- or injecting something arcane into martial classes.

Day 1: The School of Hedge Wizardry.

Day 2: The Arcane Sapper conversion kit, a new way of utilizing your familiar and spells.

Day 3: The Unseen Seer, a rogue that utilizes divination magic to get everywhere they shouldn’t be.

Day 4: The Spellsword conversion kit. Whether you’re dabbling in magic or a full time spellslinger, if you want to survive on the front lines, the right cantrips can mean everything.

Day 5: Hybrid Archetypes, blending magic and martial traditions. You might be noticing a trend. I’m promising at least two archetypes. However, full disclosure: I don’t know exactly what I’ll bring to the table this Friday. I’ve got a Wizard’s answer to the Arcane Archer and a 5e equivalent to a Rage Mage on the anvil, but you never know where these things will wind up!

Brewfest Week 3: Strange Magic

The Unseen Seer was one of my first brews to gain traction on this site. Today, I update it with 3 Divination Spells converted from 3.5e. 

These spells might be useful later, too- if you caught my last post, you’ll know this was supposed to go up on Wednesday, and traded places with the Hedge Wizard. The Oneiromancy branch of Hedge Arcana can use divinations quite effectively under certain circumstances- stay tuned for that in two days time! Tomorrow, I’ll be dropping a conversion kit for Spellswords, so it looks like we’re transitioning out of the martial classes a little more slowly than expected.

The Unseen Seer was one of my favorite prestige classes back in 3.5, so I decided to update it for 5e. If you can’t cast, you’ll go in yourself, of course… But isn’t it much more fun to sit back and let your invisible eyes do all the work? In case tumblr destroys the document, click through here: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ryieTfmqW Alternatively, check me out on: https://5eforge.wixsite.com/foundry 

Week 4: Festivals and Fear

This week, we’ll have a healthy mix of monster statblocks and subclasses for player characters. I’m not going to call ahead what’s getting posted when- but I will tell you that on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we’ll be focusing on monsters. Keep an eye out for special unit monsters.

On Tuesday and Thursday we’ll get player subclasses- I’m working on some fitting seasonal caster classes. I’m in the final stages of the College of Masks for bards, and I’ve been knocking around the School of the (Ethereal) Border for wizards.

Bear with me- this week will be a little up in the air, but you’ll still get content every day!

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.

Here’s that additional statblock I promised- It’s probably not perfect, but playing with the mounted unit rules I hammered out a quick Headless Horseman statblock. There’s not much else to say- hope you enjoy!

So here’s one that’s been a thorn in my side for a while: The College of Masks, based on the 3.5 Master of Masks prestige class. I just couldn’t get those masks of power to feel right! Still, it seemed fitting for the season, so I whipped it into shape for today. This one, I’m going to hold back on calling done just yet- we’ll call it an anvil piece. Despite the recent revisions, I still think I can do better with those last two features, but I want it up in time for the season. Tomorrow, I’ll bring more monster statblocks to the table! Here’s the homebrewery link, in case tumblr kills the document.

Announcing: October Brewfest 2021

MStMuch like last year, for the month of October, I'll be showing off a different brew every (week) day until October 29th. That's a grand total of 20 days of brews, and that discounts the days that will double dip! And, as a bonus, I'll be posting a few extras throughout the end of this week to get the blog warmed up before we start in earnest. I’ll give you all the themes in advance, but you’ll have to wait until sunday the week of for a proper schedule. Here’s the rough itinerary for this year’s brewfest:

Week 0: Warmup

Just like last year, I’ll drop a few miscellaneous brews until I drop the week 1 schedule on the 3rd.

Week 1: Unity

Nothing like coming together over a cup of warm brew as the Autumn chill rolls in. This week will see a smattering of new subclasses themed around team-play and loyalty, as well as as a whole new Unity Dice System to encourage team play that otherwise offers little benefit.

Week 2: The Veil Festival

Once everyone’s brought together, it’s time to celebrate. And what more exciting to celebrate than the thinning of the veil between worlds? Of course, we’ll need entertainers, and a few guards to keep the otherworldly at bay- and of course, some scholarly types will be around to study any strange phenomena. That’s where this week’s subclass options come in.

Week 3: Strange Craft

While the average folk clear out before the veil slips away entirely, some folk will be looking for just the right set of circumstances to accomplish what might otherwise be impossible. This week will be low on new subclasses, but will see new ideas regarding crafting in DnD 5e.

Week 4: Monsters

Even the most intrepid of crafters will clear out as the month nears its end and strange beasts rear their heads. Ready yourselves for a full week of monster stat blocks using my unit and paragon monster rules!

Week 0: Preparation

The Ursine

There’s no real unifying theme for the brewfest prep week, except that I made everything here purely for fun- but despite any wrinkles, I think these will be plently playable.

This first one is a player race based on Volibear and the Ursine from League of Legends, as some of you may have already guessed. I haven’t played in some time, but I hope the warrior culture of the Ursine and their connection to the storm still came through. The Ursine are durable and wise, with strong connections to storm magic, and a propensity to rush into the fray. Though, survivability may be a problem if you choose one of the squishier classes- unless you drive your foes before you with a majestic roar. I brewed this one for a gaming buddy that I go way back with, who may well be the most unconventional support to grace the fields of justice. If you ever faced down an Ashe and Volibear combo in bottom lane, you might have run accross us.  Tomorrow, you’ll get another player race, the hound folk, another brew for an old friend based on their beloved pet.

Week 0: Preparation The Houndfolk

Next up for prep week, the neurotic and lovable Houndfolk player race. These guys are based on my friend’s Basset Hound, so some of their abilities are a bit peculiar, but I think it just gives them character. The little guy is affectionately known as the ‘boof cannon’ since he’s shaped like a barrel and you can feel his barks in your chest. Stubborn and more than a little odd, these folk are nomads, and you’ll hear them coming miles off. The Houndfolk should succeed in functionally any class, and bring a little bit of rugged survival skill to any party they join- and add a little variety that favor anthro player races. Anyway, I’m told @redzart has a drawing they’ll be bringing to the table a little later today, so keep an eye out for that! And on that note, I’ll see you all back here tomorrow for one more player race. They’ve been on my blog before, but my Alternate Humans brew brings some much needed variety to the most basic ancestry in the game. I’ll let you in on one more secret though- I’m mostly posting the humans again to buy myself time for something a little more substatial. I’m bringing back my Chronomancer sorcerer subclass- this go around it’ll be accompanied by a suite of time themed spells that should function with its capstone feature!

Week 0: Preparation The Houndfolk

Next up for prep week, the neurotic and lovable Houndfolk player race. These guys are based on my friend’s Basset Hound, so some of their abilities are a bit peculiar, but I think it just gives them character. The little guy is affectionately known as the ‘boof cannon’ since he’s shaped like a barrel and you can feel his barks in your chest. Stubborn and more than a little odd, these folk are nomads, and you’ll hear them coming miles off. The Houndfolk should succeed in functionally any class, and bring a little bit of rugged survival skill to any party they join- and add a little variety that favor anthro player races. Anyway, I’m told @redzart has a drawing they’ll be bringing to the table a little later today, so keep an eye out for that! And on that note, I’ll see you all back here tomorrow for one more player race. They’ve been on my blog before, but my Alternate Humans brew brings some much needed variety to the most basic ancestry in the game. I’ll let you in on one more secret though- I’m mostly posting the humans again to buy myself time for something a little more substatial. I’m bringing back my Chronomancer sorcerer subclass- this go around it’ll be accompanied by a suite of time themed spells that should function with its capstone feature!

Week 0: Preparation Humans Expanded

I don’t really have a paragraph or two locked and loaded for this, this one just didn’t do as well as I’d hoped last year, so I’m giving it another chance! Here’s my Expanded Humans player race- so that you have a reason to pick a human again. But as I said yesterday, this is mostly here so I can stall for my pet project, the Chronomancer Sorcerer Subclass, accompanied by a brand-new suite of time-themed spells. Also, I realized today that I forgot to put Homebrewery links in my last two posts! So I’ll re-circulate those on Sunday with the link attached, along with the week 1 schedule!

I’ve always loved the freedom that comes with playing humans, but hated how 5th Edition DnD stripped them of their identity. This lets you play a human that’s distinctly, well, human!

In case tumblr destroys the document, click through here: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ryzHFVw_Q Alternatively, check me out on: https://5eforge.wixsite.com/foundry

Week 0- Preparation The Chronomancer- Spell update!

The Chronomancer Sorcerous Origin has been a pet project of mine for quite some time. It was the subclass that got me into homebrewing, and one of the first to go up on this blog. A long time ago I noted that to truly bring out the subclass’ potential, I’d need to brew up a suite of time based spells. And, well, since I was brewing time based spells... I thought I’d add some advice on running time travel. None of its groundbreaking- the most useful bit is probably the section about agreeing on what happens when time breaks (and if it can break in the first place). This one has balooned far beyond its original scope- something bordering on a supplement more than a single subclass. I hope you all enjoy! I stayed up far too late hammering out the details on this one.

For anyone who would like to get a PDF, or just view this more easily, here’s the homebrewery link!

Brewfest 2021 Week 1: Unity

Warmup week is over, and that means our first week of truly new content is upon us! I’m already overwhelmed by the response to the Chronomancer, and I can’t wait to see how the rest of this month goes. As the title says, this week’s theme is Unity, and we’ll be focusing on ways to support your party! Day 1: The Coven Warlock Patron, where your power comes from a bargain struck with a mortal cabal of spellcasters! Day 2: A new Roguish Archetype- the Deserter! A former warrior turning to ambush and skullduggery, the Deserter brings some of the fighter’s skillset to the Rogue class. Day 3: The Chaplain Martial Archetype- a new 1/4 caster for the fighter, drawing on the Cleric’s tradition more than the Wizard’s. Day 4: Feats to interface with the new Unity Dice system I’ll be posting on Friday.  Day 5: The Unity Dice Subsystem- bolt this on to any game of 5e DnD to encourage teamwork and paired maneuvers among your party. I’ll include the feats previewed the prior day- the system will be table-ready by the end of the week!

Week 1: Unity; Day 1- The Coven

The Warlock of the Coven makes a pact with other spellcasters to share their magical might- whether your coven is young and ambitious, or established and dogmatic, you must find your place in it by accumulating magical power. As you ascend, you will begin to share power with your allies, and demand power in return.

This turns the Warlock into a unique support spellcaster and emphasizes their role as a face. Sharing vital spells accross your party at the highest level allows you to ensure you can cast the right spell from the right place at the right time. You can find this document on the homebrewery here! Update: Embarassingly, it’s come to my attention I uploaded a version of this that got cut off. I’ve replaced the image and included a link to the live homebrewery document, so I’m circulating this again.