October Brew Festival - Tumblr Posts

Announcing: The October Brew Festival!

For the month of October, I'll be sharing fresh brews and old classics with you all each week, with a large content drop at the end of each week! Early in the month, I'll be sharing more classics (And updating a few) to catch some new friends up to speed, but as the month progresses, and the nights grow stranger, there'll be strange brews to match.

At the start of each week, I'll post more details and a schedule, just to ramp up the excitement.

Without further ado, the themes for each week!

Week 0: Preparation

Before we begin in earnest, I’ll share a couple of my favorite brews and an advice article that doesn’t really fit into any of the categories. From the 30th to the 2nd, I’ll keep a few posts circulating to stoke the fire.

Week 1: Titanic Beasts

The early days of October will see great beasts vanishing from the lands as they hole up in their lairs for the winter. Relish this last chance to witness them- or partake in a great hunt! Just watch out for folk that revere these titans. We'll celebrate beasts of the land and the deep with homebrew races, subclasses, and a monster statblock! (Don't be too restless, greater beasts will reveal themselves, in time).

Week 2: Warriors

After the first week's titanic clashes, the warriors who partook in them will gather in mead halls to share drinks, tales, and tactics. Mostly drinks. You too can partake in this camaraderie, with player advice articles, homebrew martial subclasses, and a special preview of expanded martial options on Friday.

Week 3: Strange Magic

As the month approaches its conclusion, and the veils between worlds thin, spellcasters prepare for strange magical occurrences. Some see a grand opportunity for study or ritual, while others seek to hold supernatural threats at bay. Prepare yourself with player advice articles, homebrew subclasses, and magical twists on mundane classes.

Week 4: Festivals and Fear

In the final week of October, commoners know better than to venture outside. But that doesn't mean you must cower. Revel in the fright with new monster types, statblocks, and new subclasses!

October Brew Fest: Week 0

This is our first warmup post for the October Brew Fest, and our first update!  These images are an updated version of the document. I’ve added a few boring wording changes, but I also added a new fluff paragraph acknowledging humans with lower or higher degrees of empathy and ambition, as well as a note box explaining the once-obscure alert sleeper trait.

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

October Brew Fest: Week 0

We’re still in the blog warmup phase for now, so I’m bringing back Conversion Kits.

This is an article series I’ll be bringing back (and continuing) this month, where the goal is to transform your character with just a few choices. The motto is Minimum Investment, Maximum Impact.

Now that I have more eyes on them, if these articles do well, I may post more in the future. 

Conversion Kit: The Assassin

Continuing my Conversion Kit series of articles, we discuss the Assassin subclass! Turn any character into a master of ambushes and terribly efficient killer with just three levels of Rogue.

Below the readmore, you can find Additional Support for this kit, as well as Pitfalls and Character Suggestions.

Kit Overview

Investment Type: Multiclass Dip

Minimum Investment: Take 3 Levels of Rogue, selecting the Assassin archetype at level 3.

Overall Impact: Your character now has the mechanical backing to follow through on clever schemes with lethal force.

Investment

Much like our last conversion kit, once you select the Assassin subclass, you can immediately set off to do what assassins do best. Once again, you’ll need to satisfy the multiclassing requirement- just a score of 13 in Dexterity, plus a score of 13 in whatever attribute your other class of choice requires.

You don’t necessarily need a Dexterity higher than this, but remember that your bonus to Stealth rolls keys off of it. You can mitigate the problems of a low Dexterity score by taking proficiency in Stealth and using the Rogue’s Expertise feature to double your proficiency bonus.

Truth be told, you can abandon Stealth entirely if it doesn’t fit your concept. However,  you’ll want to keep in mind that the assassin’s primary feature requires Surprise. While by the Rules as Written, Stealth is the only way to gain surprise, many GMs will allow betrayals or sudden strikes to grant surprise.

Perhaps you can take advantage of Deception or Persuasion to lure your target into a false sense of security, or use a spell like Dimension Door or Invisibility to suddenly appear behind (or even before) a foe and strike them down.

All that said, regardless of the method you’d like to use, you’re very likely to want stealth proficiency. It’s the least reliant on GM interpretation and applies to the greatest variety of situations.

Narrative Impact

Though the most apparent Narrative for a character using this kit is that of a professional murderer, it is by no means the only route you can take.   Your character is now mechanically incredibly reliant on first strikes. Hunters-turned-warriors (such as most rangers) gravitate to this approach to combat by default, but characters lacking the stomach for battle might turn to this path to end fights quickly. Elite warriors might prefer ambush tactics, and even certain paladins may find a swift death to be all that their foes deserve. In truth, you could utterly ignore this kit’s narrative impact and carry on as if you had never taken a single level in another class. However, I’m inclined to see that as something of a wasted opportunity to set your character apart- where did your character learn to fight dirty? Do they see it as a necessary evil and regret their actions, or do they believe they’re justified as there’s no justice on the battlefield?

Mechanical Impact

From a mechanical perspective, the Assassin offers lethal first-strikes. Whatever your method of attack- a greatsword, a spell, thrown dagger- your Assassinate feature guarantees you a Critical Hit, as long as the attack hits a surprised target.

I cannot emphasize enough how unbelievably good a Guaranteed Critical Hit is in Fifth Edition D&D, and believe me, if I had a way to highlight that bolded, italicized, underlined phrase I would use it. I thought about including a gif of someone slapping a desk. I need you to see those words and realize what they mean.

A critical hit multiplies all of your damage dice. If you can find bonus dice, you’re going to hit incredibly hard. If you have multiple attacks, they will all be critical hits. A critical hit on a Paladin’s Smite or Rogue’s sneak attack is a lucky break. A full round’s worth of critical hits on a Fighter’s attack routine or a Wizard’s Scorching Ray is a dream. Get the drop on an enemy, and that dream is your reality.

The simple truth is, the Assassinate feature alone is enough to enable ambushes as a tactic.

Keep reading

October Brew Fest: Week 0

This is the last post for the brew festival warmup week, and as classic as it gets for my content: The Chronomancer origin was the first homebrew subclass I ever made, and one of the few I’ve gotten to play a character for! His name was Nabi, a Kenku who managed to escape the curse that stripped his people of their voice, but still had his mind ravaged and his wings taken. Anyway, onto the bits you might care about, I’ve updated this a small bit. Primarily, I replaced an old text box with some weak advice about handling time travel, and replaced it with explanations of what I mean by ‘Temporal Anchor’ and what abilities can interact with the Dislodge Temporal Anchor feature. It’s not much- really, to support using this in more interesting ways, I’d need to brew up some spells. If there’s interest for this subclass, I might brew some up when the festival is over.

Everybody wants to time travel, right? The Chronomancer makes this possible, at least in the short term, for your local 5th edition sorcerer.  In case tumblr destroys the document, click through here: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ryRG9GCK- Alternatively, check me out on: https://5eforge.wixsite.com/foundry 

October Brewfest Week 1: Titanic Beasts

Now that our Warmup Week is over, we can begin the festival in earnest with our first theme: Titanic Beasts.

Day 1: The Leviathan Warlock Patron.

Day 2: The Merfolk player race.

Day 3: A Preview of a Brand New Monster Type: Units. I’ll be giving just one statblock this week: the Hobgoblin War Elephant. Look forward to more in the coming weeks!

Day 4: The Druid Circle of the Emissary.

Day 5: TWO New Druid Circles. The Circle of the Titan and the Circle of the Chimera, both focusing on using Wild Shape in new ways.

Look forward to updates for the old content early in the week, and of course, the shiny newness of the brand-new content later on. See you all Monday!

The Leviathan patron should appeal to seadwelling spellcasters who want to double down on their theme and land-dwellers looking to take a plunge into the depths alike.

Crush your opponents with the weight of the oceans, plunge them into its darkness, and when they know longer know how to raise a hand against you- strike them down. If the Tumblr wrecks the document, or you just want a PDF, click through this link!

You can also check me out on my Wix site, where all my articles and best homebrews are compiled!

Week 1: Titanic Beasts

The updates to the merfolk are small, but meaningful. I’ve corrected some wording here and there, and also improved the underwater combat summary. This should go along nicely with yesterdays Leviathan Patron, but tomorrow, we have a new foe for your adventuring parties to face: The Hobgoblin War Elephant. After that, we’ll be moving on to more player facing options to round out week one of the October Brew Festival.

For anyone who wants to play a mermaid, and does not want legs thank you very much. Or perhaps, you simply want some depth? Anyway, here’s wonderwall a fresh take on a playable merfolk race for dnd 5e. In case tumblr destroys the document, click through here: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/rJWVd0TVTM Alternatively, check me out on: https://5eforge.wixsite.com/foundry

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

These druids may work with beasts substantially more subtle than the druids you’ll meet tomorrow, but we’re finishing off this week’s classic brews with the Circle of the Emissary Druid.

Fun fact about this one, I made it for my lovely wife who always plays druids and loves animal friends- and she’s never once played it in a real game! Turns out she likes fire better than animal friends. (Wildfire druids are pretty cool, in fairness). Anyway, whether this druid circle is your speed or not, stick around for tomorrow’s content drop: The Circle of the Chimera and The Circle of the Titan, both of which utilize wild shape in new and exciting ways!

This one should please folks that miss the 3.5 era Druid! The Circle of the Emissary, drawing inspiration from the Beast Master Ranger, grants an animal companion whose combat prowess is nothing compared to their support skills! In case tumblr destroys the document, click through here: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/B1zWZ6zRW Alternatively, check me out on: https://5eforge.wixsite.com/foundry

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.

Brewfest Week 2: Warriors Dirty Fighter Conversion Kit

Our first post for week 2 is advice for staying alive- no matter what it takes. Using the Tavern brawler feat and improvised weapons, a variety of unconventional tactics become available.

This one actually went up early on the foundry a little early, and you can read this article with the original formatting there.

Kit Overview

Investment Type: 'Half' Feat (In place of an Ability Score Increase [ASI])

Minimum Investment: One of your precious ASI slots- this stings less if you're a Fighter or Rogue.

Overall Impact: You are able to utilize unconventional forms of attack without penalty, making combat more expressive, and opening up new strategies.

Investment

This is one of the easiest conversion kits to access, in theory. By simply taking the Tavern Brawler feat, you have access not to a single new fighting style, but to a variety of new techniques ranging from unconventional weapons and unarmed strikes to truly off-the-cuff improvisation that may fit with any number of fighting styles.

Evaluating the investment here is a little bit odd though, because while any conversion kit does you no good unless you use it, you're likely to think you'll use this more than you actually will. You'll imagine yourself throwing stones, plucking a lit torch from a sconce and swinging it like a flaming club, or any manner of truly off the cuff attacks- but realistically, you need a plan.

And I hear you- "how can I plan to use an improvised weapon"?

But here's the thing, improvised does not strictly mean you've made the decision to use an object as a weapon in the moment. The weapon can be improvised in the sense that it is not meant to be used as a weapon- or, if you ask certain designers, a weapon being used in a way it is not meant to be used is considered improvised.

And there's the rub: the real investment is yours, not your character's. To get a plan in place, you need to understand what an 'Improvised Weapon' is in terms of DnD5e. If you're the type to use this feat, your wheels might already be turning.

So what is an improvised weapon?

It is a distinct type of weapon- it is not a simple or martial weapon.

It deals 1d4 damage, and it is a thrown weapon with a 20/60 range.

It does not have any other properties- it is not a finesse weapon, a heavy weapon, a light weapon, or two-handed weapon (By default).

It is still a weapon, for any feature which may require one.

So simply put, you can't (effectively) two weapon fight, sneak attack, great weapon fight, or similar with an improvised weapon. We'll discuss what you can do in the mechanical impact section, but I wanted to set aside any misconceptions out of the gate.

Before we move on to the narrative impact, I'm going to lay out the feat's benefits, because they're rather broad:

You add your proficiency bonus to attacks with improvised weapons.

You roll a damage die with your unarmed attacks, rather than dealing a single point of damage.

When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike or improvised weapon on your turn, you can use a bonus action to attempt to grapple the target.

(Remainder below the cut)

Narrative Impact

The narrative suggested here is obvious- you're a brawler. You fight with your bare hands, grab the nearest combatant by their shirt collar, and maybe smash an empty ale bottle over their head. But your narrative options? Those are near limitless.

Are you a fighter that catches foes off guard with shield bashes, pommel strikes, and kicks?  A paladin or cleric so committed to hunting undead and fiends that they utilize holy water and wooden stakes as a matter of course? An alchemist or wizard that deploys alchemical concoctions by splashing or tossing them at nearby foes? A monk whose flowing movements and measured blows are supplemented by a pragmatic willingness to apply brute force where necessary? An assassin who deploys inhaled poisons by simply lobbing their containers?

If you have an unconventional combat tactic in mind, this feat will make it possible. The trouble is going to be getting something out of it mechanically. If you don't mind losing a little mechanical edge for a little bit of expression, there are some very cool things you can do. However, let's look at ways you can get a mechanical boost out of it.

Mechanical Impact

Okay so we've talked about how there's some interesting imagery we can get out of this feat, and maybe some mechancial benefit, but how do we get there? I think there are three broad categories of mechanical impact you can get out of this feat. In no particular order Brawling, Unconventional Weapons, and Payload Delivery.

That's a whole bunch of seemingly meaningless jargon: let me explain.

Brawling

This is the impact the feat was named for. This is best used by strength-based frontliners: the usual suspects are Barbarians, Fighters, Monks, and Paladins.

However, we're aiming for unconventional here aren't we? Blade Pact Warlocks, Rangers, Clerics, and Wild-Shaped Druids can certainly get in on the action if they have the strength to back it up- or a Rogue with expertise in Athletics.

The trick to brawling is simple: You want to leverage the feat's 3rd benefit and grapple as a bonus action. You probably want to dole out some damage on that grappled target or take advantage of the grapple to keep them disabled.

So you need two things here: a trigger for the grapple and a follow-through. Fighting unarmed or with a one-handed weapon is ideal here. Good thing this feat sets you up for that in several ways.

To trigger your bonus action grapple, you need to make a successful unarmed strike or with an improvised weapon. Depending on how many free hands you normally have, that might be quite easy, or it might be a little complicated.

Monks have it easy here, every attack they're likely to make opens up this bonus action. Afterwards you can follow through with Flurry of Blows, perhaps even knock them prone if you're following the Way of the Open Hand. You could even use both hands to grapple and do this to two separate targets while continuing to fight with your feet- though your DM might start to balk at this point. Wild-Shaped Druids have it just as easy- even if your DM doesn't consider natural attacks unarmed strikes (a fair interpretation, to my mind), nothing's stopping you from making an unarmed attack anyway- just don't use the teeth and claws until you have your target grappled.

Now if you're a Fighter wielding a one handed weapon and nothing else, well, problem solved. If you're a Fighter or maybe Barbarian wielding a two handed weapon, you can simply take one hand off of the weapon to strike and grab. You might be able to follow through by using your weapon to make improvised attacks against the target. If your DM rules that the two-handed property can't be overridden by making improvised attacks, you might be able to use knees, feet, or elbows to strike the grappled target.

If you're a sword-and-board Paladin or Fighter, well, now things are more complicated. You can drop your weapon to make an unarmed strike followed by a grapple, but your DM is unlikely to let you pick that weapon back up immediately if it doesn't work. But you can make an improvised attack with the shield, and drop the sword to execute the grapple if it works. If you're a two-weapon Ranger or similar you can execute a similar maneuver by striking with the pommel or handle of your weapon and dropping one of them to execute the grapple. The follow-through here consists of further improvised attacks with the shield, or attacks with the remaining one handed waeapon.

Unconventional Weapons 

Many pieces of 'adventuring equipment' in the PHB are treated as improvised weapons when you attack with them. This feat, oddly, is the only way to gain proficiency in the use of these weapons.

Alchemist's Fires, Acid Vials, Holy Water, and Oil Flasks are the only 'official' options I'm aware of, but even these are useful as sources of on-demand elemental damage for characters that don't normally have access to it.

I struggle to think that a DM who wasn't utterly adversarial refusing to allow you to make other simple weapons- a molotov cocktail, for example. I also think it would be perfectly reasonable to deliver inhaled or contact poisons by lobbing a vial. That's pretty much the definition of an improvised weapon attack- plus there's precedent in in most of the 'official' improvised weapons for lobbing vials.

This makes for an extremely unpredictable character if you're a non-caster. Battle Master Fighters, Rogues (especially Thieves), and certain Monks can deploy a simply staggering number of tactical options- from the right damage for the situation, to devastating conditions, to denying an area to their foes.

If you are a caster, there are some neat tricks you can do with spells. Fire spells can be enhanced by oil, and using a catapult spell to launch an improvised item doesn't require you to be proficient, but at low levels it's nice to be able to use the item if you're out of spells. The primary draw of using this method with spellcasters, in my mind, is that casters tend to be proficient in the sorts of tools that create unconventional weapons, so you can keep yourself supplied.

This fits quite well with Artificers and Wizards for most tools. Clerics, Paladins, and perhaps Celestial patron Warlocks could create Holy Water. It seems less likely that Sorcerers or other types of Warlocks would use this method, but nothing is stopping them.

Frankly, if you're the type to use spells that don't deal direct damage, you're more likely to find use for unconventional weapons. If not, your damage spells will always far outstrip the usefulness of these items. If you're playing a Thief or Battle Master, you 're already looking for opportunities to apply a unique skill set- this just expands your toolbox.

Payload Delivery

There's little tactical benefit to this technique, in most scenarios. This method disregards the damage and other properties of improvised weapons, and simply uses the fact that improvised weapons are weapons to deliver the damage of another feature in a flavorful or unexpected manner.

This primarily serves the purpose of expression without sacrificing effectiveness, but you might also gurantee that you can use your class features even if your weapons are not accessible- this may or may not be important to you depending on your campaign and character.

Paladins and Warlocks can deliver their (Eldritch) Smites through improvised weapons so long as the attack is a melee attack, and Battle Masters can deliver their maneuvers at range or in melee through improvised weapons. Green Flame Blade and Booming Blade, favored by Bladesingers and Eldritch Knights, don't discriminate against improvised weapons. In certain circumstances, this might let you continue to fight effectively even if you're doing another important job with your hands, such as bearing the party's light source.

Delivering conditional damage, such as sneak attack or great weapon fighting, can be more challenging since improvised weapons don't have properties, but you might convince a DM that a rail spike should be a finesse weapon or that a table should be heavy. Talk to your DM about these sorts of strategies before you take this feat.

Kit Support

Talk to your DM. Improvised Weapons fall almost entirely under the purview of the collaboration between players and DM. Odds are good that if you aren't trying to break the game (and none of these strategies should), your DM will look for ways to reward you for adopting an unconventional strategy. Especially if they know where you're going with it ahead of time.

That said, most of the ways to enhance the use of this feat that are actually found within the system are the few items on the adventuring gear table that are called out as improvised weapons- which we have discussed at length.

Perhaps there are others floating around in various published adventures or setting books- if you have access to those books, perhaps give them a once over.

Pitfalls

I don't need to tell you that your DM can handily ruin this one for you.

What I do need to tell you is that if your plan isn't thought through, if you haven't explained your plan to your DM beforehand and they balk, or if you're expecting this feat to form your entire battle strategy rather than being a single tool for your kit, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

Otherwise, making sure your character can use at least two of the feat's three applications reduces the odds your strategy will simply never be relevant in actual play.

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 Brew Festival Week 2: Warriors

As promised, here’s the Conversion Kit for the Battle Master, updated for viewing on Tumblr.

Below I’ve included an update for the article that acknowledges the maneuvers recently released through Unearthed Arcana, some information I previously neglected, and a taste of Robilar’s Treatise on Combat, a larger preview of which is coming friday.

10/13/2020 Update: UA Maneuvers

I'm normally disinclined to include UA content in conversion kits since it's not official, and these kits rely on optional rules like Multiclassing and Feats in the first place. That said, I'm opting for a speculative piece here: I'm betting these maneuvers, in some form or other, wind up in the upcoming Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. If I'm wrong, well- no harm done. Check them out here.

Categorizations

Bonus Actions

Restraining Strike [Battlefield Control, Debuff]

Snipe

Movement Enhancers

Bait and Switch [Battlefield Control, Support]

Reactions

Brace

Skill Enhancers

Ambush

Silver Tongue

Studious Eye

Analysis

I'm not going to go too deep on this- that's not really the point of a conversion kit, although, maybe I should consider expanding the scope of these. But it's very interesting to me that the most common Maneuver category- the attack enhancer- is completely gone, to be replaced by several skill enhancers.

This makes sense- there's only so many conditions you can attach as riders to attacks. But what this means for you is that this kit now has more to offer if you're less focused on combat.

Here are some new recommended maneuver sets, as well as updates to the previous suggestions, acknowledging the new maneuvers.

The Bully (UA Tweak): Knock off Menacing Attack, toss in Restraining Strike to better control your opponents.

The Defender (UA Tweak): Consider finding a place for Bait and Switch to keep friends out of harms way.

The Diplomat: Silver Tongue, Studious Eye, and Rally. (If your primary contribution to the team is to be a 'face', this lets you use your superiority dice in that context. Rally gives you something to do on the battlefield.)

The Scout: Ambush, Commander's Strike, and Evasive Footwork. (You're relying on your allies to do the heavy lifting, so stay hidden, maintain your distance, and give them some free shots).

The Symbol: Menacing Attack, Silver Tongue, and Rally. (This kit differentiates itself from the leader by being less of a shot-caller and more of a inspiring or intimidating presence on the battlefield.)

Something I Neglected: Poor Maneuvers

In the original article, I didn't pass value judgements on the various maneuvers. I was caught up in the excitement of the versatility this conversion kit offered, and wanted to believe that they all had the ability to be used well, but truthfully, this isn't so, and we see some of the old problems repeated with new maneuvers.

Sweeping Attack deals only token damage to a secondary target- there's a reason I couldn't bring myself to recommend it in any kits. Snipe seems to serve a similar purpose for picking off ranged targets, however, both suffer from an assumption that very likely isn't true: that a single target can be felled by a single blow.

Of course, the designers likely thought this might be useful against hordes of low level foes, but even then, a single enhanced attack likely can't even fell a town guard. Unless you plan to burn through superiority dice to keep dealing out damage, this doesn't serve the purpose of projecting your damage in any meaningful way.

Brace seems to suffer from a similar assumption. It's no help discouraging targets from passing you- that's what opportunity attacks are for- and in a drawn out fight Riposte gives you more attacks and any attack enhancer gives you better odds of dealing damage. If Brace is meant to kill an incoming target, well, you likely weren’t afraid of their attack to begin with.

Additionally, Lunging Attack's benefit is too short lived to be of use even in the rare edge scenarios where your reach matters.

Rally still has a use, but numerically is unlikely to equate to even one enemy attack beyond 5th level.

Some Good News

This is a problem I'm going to address in Robilar's Treatise on Combat, the preview of which will drop Friday of this week. But on that note, here's a taste- alternatives to Lunging Attack, Sweeping Attack, and Rally. This is not necessarily the final wording, but I feel these are steps in the right direction.

Lunging Stance: When you make a melee weapon attack on your turn, you can expend one superiority die to increase your reach for this attack and all other attacks made until the beginning of your next turn by 5 feet. You add your superiority die to the attack's damage roll.

Rally (Alternate Rule): On your turn, you can use a bonus action and expend one superiority die to bolster the resolve of one of your companions. When you do so, choose a friendly creature who can see or hear you. That creature gains temporary hit points equal to the superiority die roll + your Charisma modifier + your character level.

Sweeping Attack (Alternate Rule): When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one superiority die and your bonus action to attempt to damage another creature with the same attack. You may add your superiority die to the damage of the first attack attack.

Choose another creature within 5 feet of the original target and within your reach. You may roll an attack against the second creature, with the same weapon, using the same attack bonus, damage, and the same additional effects as the first attack.

You may not use any additional maneuvers to enhance the second attack.

New Conversion Kit: Battlemaster

Techinically, I posted this a little while ago, but it never got its own post, so here it is again! This Conversion Kit uses the first few levels of the Battle Master fighter archetype to turn any character into a grizzled veteran! 

With a small set of maneuvers, give your character a unique martial style and a toolkit to get them out of tight situations!

Kit Overview

Investment Type: Multiclass Dip

Minimum Investment: Take 3 Levels of Fighter, selecting the Battlemaster archetype at level 3.

Overall Impact: Your character now has a distinct martial style, perhaps breaking them away from the combat archetype of their class. The small but expandable set of maneuvers you gain lets you specialize while remaining tactically flexible.

Investment

There’s not a lot to say here. Once you declare the Battlemaster as your subclass, you’ll reap the benefits immediately. However, it’s worth noting that there’s a little more to it than that. Multiclassing does have a few restrictions. Whether you start as a Fighter or take it as your second class, you’ll need at least a score of 13 in Strength or Dexterity. Depending on what you’re multiclassing as, you may need a score of 13 in another attribute as well.

This isn’t a tax though, far from it. These restrictions are more often than not there to save you from yourself- many of the Battlemaster’s maneuvers rely on a Strength or Dexterity based DC, so you’ll want these stats to be high. If you don’t have at least a 14, you may wish to look elsewhere, but 13 is indeed the minimum.

You’ll also want to keep in mind that the Battlemaster requires you to think on your feet. You’ll get four uses of your maneuvers per short rest, which is plenty. You don’t want to burn them for no benefit, but you should be more afraid of missing opportunities than running out of maneuvers. If you have a go-to attack cycle, you’ll need to get used to looking for chances to break it.

Narrative Impact

From a narrative perspective, those three short levels of Battlemaster offer a unique martial style. Whatever subset of the Battlemaster’s list of 16 maneuvers you choose, it’s rather unlikely that anyone at the table will have precisely the same set.

According to my somewhat rusty statistics skills and an internet calculation tool, there are 560 possible combinations of three maneuvers from this short list alone. Of course that doesn’t mean that every combination is viable or interesting, but what is absolutely unplayable for one character can easily become game-changing for another. Regardless, your martial style might not be as flashy as a Monk’s, but you could easily play with ten or so other characters who dipped battlemaster and not see your precise set of abilities repeated.

This martial style makes your character appear and feel as though they have practiced extensively with their chosen weapons and role. Whether you proclaim your character to be a prodigy, a veteran, or a well-trained elite, three levels of Battlemaster can back up that claim with power.

(Remainder after the cut.)

Keep reading

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 Update: Scheduling Change

So last night I got to have my fist DnD session in a month and a half, and only realized afterwards that the Hedge Mage needs some serious polishing. I've started that process, but it’s not going to be ready in a reasonable amount of time for posting today. Instead we’ll swap the slots for the Hedge Mage and Unseen Seer. I’ll be updating the Unseen Seer with some fitting divination spells, so hopefully you’ll find it was worth the wait!

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 

New Conversion Kit: Spellsword

October Brewfest: Week 3

Tomorrow we finally transition into full caster subclasses (with a few coming next week as well), but for today, we’ll split the difference and take a look at some advice for blending magic and warfare.

This conversion kit is mostly a matter of spell choice. There’s a number of ways to get spells on a martial character, but getting the desired effect takes some precision. Let’s get into it.

Kit Overview

Investment Type: Spell Selection and/or Feat.

Minimum Investment: As above. If you aren’t a spellcaster with access to the spells, multiclass into one, or take the Magic Initiate feat.

Overall Impact: You use spells, not to supplant martial skill, but to enhance it.

Investment

Your investment here is heavily determined by your existing class.

Artificers, Wizards, Sorcerers, and Warlocks have the most variety- but Clerics, Druids, and Bards have access to a few choice spells too. Eldritch Knights and Arcane Tricksters share the wizard’s spell list. For any of these classes, Feats or multiclassing might be attractive to get at additional spells, but you have access to enough spells to develop a combat style out of the gate.

If you’re a non-caster, a Paladin, or a Ranger, you’re going to have to work for it a bit more. Multiclassing is an option, as is the Magic Initiate feat. We’ll discuss methods below.

Multiclassing, as always, requires a 13 in a specific Ability Score. (Intelligence for Artificers and Wizards; Charisma for Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Bards; or Wisdom for Druids and Clerics)

I advocate for minimum investment, so I would advise using the following rules to decide how you’ll get at your spells:

If you’re a full caster, one level of multiclassing is easy. Unless you’re lacking in the appropriate ability score. In that case, select the magic initiate feat.

If you’re a Ranger or Paladin, then multiclassing into Druid or Cleric is painless, since they all key off of Wisdom.

If you’re a non-caster, I have to advocate for Magic Initiate. You don’t have nearly as much to gain from multi-classing as a character who can already cast spells.

Now’s a good time to discuss scope. This article aims to blend magic and martial combat. If you’re a full caster, you won’t want to do this all the time. If you’re looking to bolt a toolbox of spells onto the side of your fighter chassis, this isn’t the article for you. We want your spells and attacks to be (roughly) equal parts of a cohesive combat style. For this reason, we will be focusing on Cantrips.

Narrative Impact

The narrative impact here can be fairly varied, based on what you want to do with the kit, your class, and whether you multiclassed to get to the spells you’re using.

For full casters, consider how you wound up on the front lines. Elves are known for mixing their traditions (Bladesingers, anyone?) and Dwarves are quite hardy. Abjurers and War Mages have good reason to stick close to their comrades, while many Clerics stay close to provide healing. 

This is a conversion kit where the narrative impact can sometimes be minimal, but considering it can certainly help you define your character. Certain Artificer and Bard archetypes lean into frontline battle, and Druids might simply stick close for their wildshape. If your archetype assumes you’ll be getting up close and personal, then by all means skip to the mechanical impact section for advice on getting the most out of your cantrip choices.

For everyone else, this can be much more exciting.

Whether you multiclassed or utilized magic initiate, you can latch onto the class you chose to inform your narrative. 

Do you have latent magical power as a sorcerer? If so, what’s stopping you from becoming a full sorcerer? Is the bloodline weak, recently manifested, or is your innate magic perhaps the result of recent events instead? Perhaps you even detest or mistrust your bloodline.

Have you studied magic as a Wizard? Who taught you the few tricks you know? Were there others? Were you satisfied with what you learned, or do you thirst for further knowledge? If you’re a High Elf, the study of magic may be culturally important. If, like an Artificer or Bard, your magic stems from study of a craft, you might wish to answer similar questions about your narrative.

Did you recieve your magic from a patron, similar to a Warlock? Perhaps your magic was a gift meant to tempt you, and you have refused it. Did you serve willingly? Or disappoint your patron in some way? Perhaps there is a broken pact in your history, or you simply did not prove yourself to the being who gave you your power and took a new path.

If your magic is Divine, like a cleric, when and how did you find your faith? Do you serve or venerate any particular god? What separates you from clerics and paladins? Do you lack devotion, or do you simply believe that your path will serve your god just as well as any other?

Power that stems from nature like that of the druids is much more difficult to pin down. Have you always had a kinship with nature? How did this kinship develop, and what do you make of it? Do you have other skills or knowledge as a result?Were you taught secrets by a member of a drudic order? Have you formally joined them? Do you serve any particular role, if so? Do they resent you for having those secrets?

Mechanical Impact

Because we have a very specific goal with this kit, we will focus on a specific selection of cantrips. I have deliberately left out most ranged attack cantrips- you don’t need me to tell you that ranged, magical damage is a good thing to have. You’ve either already chosen a few or have a different means of dealing damage lined up. If you’re here, you want something interesting.

I’ll divide the cantrips by category, listing the relevant cantrips and the class lists these spells are available to after each header. 

Area of Effect

Available to: Everyone

Spell Options: Green-Flame Blade, Sword Burst, Thunderclap, and Word of Radiance.

These are good for damaging or clearing out multiple nearby enemies. I want to stick to interesting cantrips that do something besides damage, however AoE damage is one of the hardest things for martial characters to get.

Sword Burst, Thunderclap, and Word of Radiance are functionally just different aesthetics for the same effect: xd6 damage to all adjacent characters (if they fail a save. The save and damage types vary slightly, but you really only need one of these.

Green-Flame Blade is unique in that it has two effects: First, it magically enhances your melee damage, making it useful for even single targets. Second, it only damages one other target, but the damage is guaranteed if you hit the first target with a melee attack. You might be able to justify taking two AoE spells in this case.

Debuff

Available to: Artificer, Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard.

Spell Options: Frostbite and Vicious Mockery.

Much like the area of effect spells, these are different spells that achieve the same end. Stick to one or the other. 

(There is a slight difference; Vicious Mockery affects all attacks while Frostbite calls out weapon attacks specifically. This makes Mockery slightly better, but it’s only available to Bards.)

These spells impose disadvantage on a single attack roll. It’s not a huge edge, and not something you want to use for yourself. This spell is for casting on an enemy that you just can’t peel off of an ally to grant them some breathing room. Truthfully, I have to recommend that you choose a spell from the following category instead, if you can.

Disable

Available to: Sorcerers, Wizard.

Spell Options: Sapping Sting and Shocking Grasp.

These are two wildly different spells, but they can still serve somewhat similar purposes. 

Shocking Grasp is a melee only spell that denies enemies their reaction. This can help allies get out of a threatened area, but it also denies other useful reactions such as shield spells and parries if it hits.

Sapping Sting might be hard to get depending on your DM, but is a ranged spell that forces foes prone. This can be useful for keeping foes at bay, helping allies flee dangerous melee opponents, or setting up your own melee attackers.

Sapping Sting is more versatile, but Shocking Grasp just works when the appropriate scenario comes up. This is one category where you can justify picking both.

Drag

Available to: Artificers, Druids, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Wizards.

Spell Options: Gust, Lightning Lure, and Thorn Whip.

Drags allow you to consistently manipulate enemy positions. Lightning Lure and Thorn Whip pull enemies toward you, placing them at risk of Opportunity Attacks from you, while Gust allows you to push enemies away from your allies (so it’s not quite a drag, sue me).

You really only need one of these. Lightning Lure and Thorn Whip are valuable if you’re ‘sticky’ and can keep enemies nearby, while Gust has a longer range and might be a better choice if the enemies will just move back into position anyway.

Keep in mind that Lightning Lure and Gust contest strength saves, while Thorn Whip relies on an attack roll. 

Lockdown

Available to: Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard.

Spell Options: Booming Blade.

There’s only one Cantrip that fills this role, and it’s the king of it. Booming Blade. You’re losing out on very little damage thanks to its initial damage, and it deals heavy damage to anyone who tries to move after being struck. This alone can make you quite sticky and makes drags more attractive.

This one benefits more heavily than others from the right support, so be sure to check out that section if this spell interests you.

‘Traps’

Available to: 7th Level Eldritch Knights

Spell Options: Blade Ward and True Strike

The ‘available to’ section above surely looks a little odd if you’ve been playing 5e for a while. But seriously, these spells eat your entire turn for minimal benefit. However, Eldritch Knights can sometimes sneak some use out of them thanks to their 7th level war magic feature.

True Strike can be used to set up in advance for a big hit on your next turn, and Blade Ward lets you heavily tank up against humanoid foes where necessary- but they only somewhat work for Eldritch Knights because they can still attack while using them. This is a little too niche for me to go into detail, but it didn’t seem right not to mention it at all.

Choosing your Cantrips

Whether you’re a full caster setting aside one or two cantrips for mixing it up in melee, or a magic initiate with only two slots to fill, you’ll want to make your choices count.

By pairing your cantrips into a cohesive strategy, you can maximize their impact.

Pairing Area of Effect spells with Drags will let you ensure you have at least two targets to work, while pairing a Drag with a Lockdown allows you to force foes to duel you. Taking a Disable and a Drag allows your allies to move freely while foes are driven out of position.

If you aren’t sure what else to do, grab one AoE spell for groups and either Booming Blade or Green-flame Blade. (The latter spells are useful for single target damage even if you don’t use their secondary effect).

Kit Support

War Caster is an old standby for melee spellcasters. All of its benefits are useful, but we’re interested in the ability to cast a single target spell in place of an opportunity attack. This really opens up your ability to combo your cantrips together. You might consider using Booming Blade as a reaction to prevent foes from fleeing, or a disable or debuff to take the pressure off of the enemy’s next target. Any damaging cantrip is more punishing than a single attack, and using drags can force enemies to into position for this strategy. Keep in mind that this doesn’t work with AoE spells.

In all honesty, I think letting your reaction be the bulk of your spellcasting while you otherwise strike with weapon attacks is the best way to use this kit- it allows both aspects of your character to shine without competing with one another.

If you want to push this further, Polearm Master allows you to severely punish foes who attempt to close with you when combined with the previous feat, since it allows you to make opportunity attacks against foes who enter your reach. Keep in mind you’re casting a spell, in place of an opportunity attack, not as an opportunity attack, so we can’t further combo with Sentinel to stop them in their tracks.

While slightly more niche, Mobile plays well with Green-Flame Blade and Booming Blade- if you hit, your enemies don’t get to attack you when you move away. This is nice for Green-flame Blade, but devastating when used with Booming Blade since enemies who pursue you will suffer extra damage. This feat also allows squishier characters to skirmish without taking extra damage from opportunity attacks.

Pitfalls

If you are a full spellcaster, you might struggle to survive in melee. The feats that grant armor proficiency can grant some reprieve, or utilizing mage armor. Consider adopting hit and run tactics using the mobile feat if those don’t appeal to you.

The ‘canned’ spellswords don’t suffer from being out of place nearly as much- Eldritch Knights, Bladesingers, Moon Druids, Valor or Sword College Bards, and most Clerics have the armor or skills to fight on the front lines- as do Mountain Dwarves.

There is, of course, the usual risk of investing in this strategy and proceeding not to use it at all. The best way to mitigate this risk is to make sure that your spell choices aren’t both shut down by the same things. Pick spells that target different saves and serve different purposes, and you should use at least one in most fights.