Guardian Class (PEACH)

[Calen]

Guardian


My submission for The JNAProductions "Homestead" Design contest

A halfling roams to borders of his homeland, alert for the danger that he senses nearby. A dwarf charges in front of his king, cutting down a would be assassin moments before the poisoned blade can strike. A dragonborn stands under the banner of Bahamut, daring any of the ravening horde of gnolls to be the first to enter the temple.

HITPOINTS
Hit Dice: 1d12 per Guardian Level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + your Constitution Modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12 (or 7) + your Constitution Modifier per Guardian level after 1st



PROFICIENCIES
Armor: Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, Shields
Weapons: Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Constitution, Charisma
Skills: Choose 2 from Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Deception, Investigation, Perception, Insight, or Survival.
Multiclass Requirements: 13 Constitution

EQUIPMENT
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• • (a) chain mail or (b) leather, longbow, and 20 arrows
  • (a) a martial weapon and a shield or (b) two martial
  weapons
  • (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) two handaxes
  • (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features
1st	+2	Homestead, Resilient
2nd	+2	Fighting Style
3rd	+2	The Heart of the Home, Archetype
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement
5th	+3	Extra Attack
6th	+3	Perfect Awareness, Enduring Resilience
7th	+3	Archetype Feature
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement
9th	+4	There is no Place like Home
10th	+4	Elemental Resilience
11th	+4	Archetype Feature
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement
13th	+5	Bolstered Resilience
14th	+5	Strong Minded
15th	+5	Archetype Feature
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement
17th	+6	Enduring Resilience
18th	+6	Memory of Home
19th	+6	Ability Score Improvement
20th	+6	Stand Fast

CLASS FEATURES

Homestead
You choose a home or other property that is close to your heart to defend with all your might. This might be your actual home, a temple that you are dedicated to or the keep of your liege lord.
Several skills refer to being on or in your homestead. The size of the property can be no larger than 1 square mile of contiguous land.(With your DM’s permission you could choose a ship or other vehicle as your homestead. The benefits of a homestead would then only apply when in or very near your vehicle.) If your home is ever lost or destroyed you may choose another home. This will require time spent in learning about your home and memorizing the details of it as well as personalizing it to your tastes. You must spend at least 100 hours and 100 gold to create a new home. When working to make a living or using the Survival skill to provide for yourself you only need to spend half the required time to take care of your needs. You also derive benefits from being in your homestead for various activities.

• While Crafting in your homestead you progress in 10 gp increments.
• While Practicing a Profession in your homestead you live at a lifestyle one level higher than indicated.
• While Recuperating your DC check to heal from a disease or other infirmity is 10.
• While Researching you do not pay any additional expenses.
• When Training you can complete training in 200 days.

Resilient
You are adept at shrugging off damage. When you take piercing, slashing or bludgeoning damage you may use your reaction to ignore an amount of damage equal to your Constitution modifier.

Fighting Style
At second level choose a fighting style.
(Anything that the fighter can choose)

The Heart of the Home
At 3rd level you have mastered skills intrinsic to your homestead. You gain proficiency in two of the following. A language or a tool.

Guardian Archetype
At 3rd level choose an archetype.
Templar
Bodyguard
Warden
Additional skills at 7th, 11th, 15th levels.

Ability Score Improvement
ASI’s at 4th, 8th, 12th 16th and 19th levels.

Extra Attack
At 5th level you may attack twice instead of once when taking the Attack action on your turn.

Perfect Remembrance
You can recall with perfect clarity details of your homestead. Starting at 6th level you have advantage on Perception, Investigation, History or other checks made to recall details about your homestead or to notice tracks or other signs of intruders or tampering.

Enduring Resilience
Starting at 6th level you have an extra reaction that can only be used for your Resilient feature. At 17th level this increases to 2 extra reactions.

There is no Place like Home
At 9th level you are invigorated while at home. While in your home you regain all your HD when completing a long rest and HD spent to heal are maximized.

Elemental Resilience
Starting at 10th level your Resilient feature now applies for all damage types.

Bolstered Resilience
Starting at 13th level your Resilient feature blocks twice your constitution modifier in damage.

Strong Minded
Starting at 14th level you cannot be frightened and while in your homestead you have advantage on resisting or seeing through illusions.

Memory of Home
Starting at 18th level you can recover from debilitating circumstances. Once per long rest you may remove a condition that would make you incapacitated or ignore damage that would reduce you to zero hit points (leaving you at one instead).

Stand Fast
At 20th level you become immovable in the protection of your homestead. When in your homestead your have regeneration equal to your Constitution modifier and when you take the attack action you may make an extra attack.

Templar

You are a sworn guardian of a cause or ideal. For example you might be dedicated to protecting all temples of the Raven Queen. When you pick this archetype choose a cause that you will serve. This cause should be something that is prolific in your game world, work with your DM to find a good fit. In all cases the location of what you protect is not as important as the ideal that you are protecting.

Like Unto Me
When you visit a new location that also serves your cause you may choose to take them under your protection. You may now have a number of homesteads equal to your Wisdom modifier (Minimum of 1) The cost and time of selecting a new homestead is 24 hours and 25 gold respectively. When selecting a new home it must be aligned to your ideals.

Unity
When you reach level 7 you are a source of unity for those that follow your creed. You have advantage on Persuasion and Insight checks when dealing with those that follow the same ideal that you do.

Aura of Courage
Your bravery inspires those around you. Beginning at 11th level you inspire your allies within 30 feet of you. Allies have advantage on Wisdom and Charisma saving throws when within your aura.

Home is Where the Heart is
At 17th level you can consider a 50’ square as your home for 1 minute. This requires your action. You must complete a long rest to recharge this skill.


Bodyguard

Ward
At 3rd level when you chose this archetype you may choose a creature that you are sworn to protect. This creature is called a Ward. While within 50 feet of this person and they are not incapacitated you may use your Resilient feature to reduce damage that they take. If your Ward ever dies or is incapacitated you have disadvantage on your attacks for 1 round and disadvantage on your skill checks until you complete a short rest.

Protector
When you choose this archetype you may choose one of these features.

Intercept - If your Ward is attacked you may use your reaction to move up to 15 feet and place yourself in harm's way. Your Ward moves 5 feet away from his/her attacker and you stand where the Ward was. The attack targets you instead. If you cannot move to the Wards location you may not use this skill.

Wide Shield - While within 10 feet of you your Ward gains +2 AC. You must be using a shield.

Encourage - Your Ward has proficiency in the same saving throws that you do while within 50 feet of you.

Protect and Learn
At 7th level you have observed much about your Ward. You may add half your proficiency bonus to checks that you are not proficient in but your Ward is.

Improved Guard
Starting at 11th level you may now have a number of Wards equal to your Wisdom modifier (min 1) .

Instant Reaction
You have learned to respond quickly to any that threaten your Ward. Starting at 17th level when your Ward would take damage that would incapacitate them or are attacked during a surprise round you may Instantly React. You immediately place yourself next in the initiative order. If you have already gone on this round your movement speed is reduced by 15 feet until the start of your next turn. The attack that you reacted to misses. You may take your turn as normal. Any attack that hits the creature that attacked your Ward deals double damage. Until the start of your next turn any attack that hits your Ward deals damage to you instead. You must finish a long rest before you can use this feature again.

Warden

Wardens often work with druids and rangers to protect the wilds, usually a particular forest or other location of great importance. Wardens may also serve a king by protecting a forest from poachers or watching a border for incursions.

Free Range
When you choose this archetype and at 7th, 11th and 15th level the size of your homestead increases. When defining the area of your new homestead you should endeavor to make the area roughly square or circular.

• 3rd - 4 square miles.
• 7th - 16 square miles.
• 11th - 49 square miles.
• 15th - 144 square miles.

Instinct
At 3rd level you gain an instinctive knowledge of what is going on in your homestead. Once per day you may spend 10 minutes meditating in your homestead. When you are done you get the benefit of a Commune spell. The questions that are asked can only pertain to your homestead.

Strider
When you choose this archetype your movement speed increases by 10 feet.

At Home While Abroad
At 7th level you gain the Natural Explorer benefits while in your homestead. In addition your become proficient in 1 skill from the Ranger skill list.

• Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel.
• Your group can’t become lost except by magical means.
• Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.
• If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
• When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.
• While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.

Unstoppable
Starting at level 11 your movement speed increases by 10 feet. You have advantage on checks to prevent falling prone, beings restrained or being grappled.

Stalwart Allies
At 17th level you can designate a number of allies equal to your Wisdom modifier (Minimum of 1) to gain the benefits of your homestead. These benefits last as long as the ally is in your homestead.

[JNAProductions]

On phone, so response will be brief.

On first look, seems OP. Needs to be toned down

[Calen]

On phone, so response will be brief.

On first look, seems OP. Needs to be toned down

TBH a general idea of where it is OP would be helpful.

I redid the Resilient feature a bit to reduce the damage absorbed.

[JNAProductions]

Alright, away from phone. Let's take a closer look.

HP is fine.

Proficiencies are fine.

Equipment is fine.

Homestead is fine.

Resilient is pretty powerful. But the once per turn limitation makes it okay. However, I would have it consume your reaction.

Why does this guy get two fighting styles by default? Not even the Fighter gets that. Just have them get one, and limit it to Protection, Defense, Archery, and GWF.

The Heart of the Home is too much. They now have as many skills as a Rogue. Make it a tool or language, not a skill.

Minor typo-your ASIs don't list 19th level.

Extra Attack is standard, no issues.

Perfect Awareness has a misleading name, but mechanically is sound.

Enduring Resilience is okay at that point, but I would still require it to eat your reaction. (Just allow a second reaction that can only be used for Resilience.)

There's No Place Like Home is fine, since it only applies to the Homestead.

Bolstered Resilience is probably fine, to keep pace with scaling damage.

Strong Minded... Seems a bit on the powerful side, but it is a high level feature.

Elemental Resilience and Bolstered Resilience could probably be switched.

Memory of Home is fine.

Stand Fast is fine, if a bit lackluster as a capstone.

Templar is fine.

Bodyguard is OP, because now your Homestead is anywhere you are (since you're probably selecting a party member.) Combine that with No Place Like Home and Stand Fast and it becomes ridiculous. Remember-you made the ability to be in your homestead for one minute anywhere a CAPSTONE for Templar. Bodyguards get it for free.

Warden seems okay.

On second look, it actually seems reasonably okay, if on the powerful side a little. (Closer to Paladin than Sorcerer.)

Except Bodyguard. Thematic, sure, but far too good.

[Calen]

Thanks for the feedback.
The Ward acting as a home was a derp moment on my part, that was changed. Made several of the other suggested changes as well.

Im considering replacing the extra fighting style with another reaction for Resilient at 17th level and move Elemental to 10th. Does that seem to strong in another direction? Number balance is not my thing.

[WarrentheHero]

The flavor seems roughly on point, but I run into a couple problems:
First being that I feel too many class features revolve around your Home. Given that just about any D&D campaign involves excessive traveling, you'd rarely gain the benefit of your Home. In a campaign with little traveling or that revolves around a small area, this can work, but in a general sense there's just almost no times these features would be useful, IMHO. Not to say that the features aren't good, of course; just a very niche class.
Also, I'd recommend for the Warden, and indeed any or all mentions of the dimensions of your Home, they should either be given in a radius, miles on a side, or if given in square miles, be numbers that are easily square-rootable. For example, the Warden at level 7 gets 15 square miles, which has a side length of 3.872blahblahblahnumbers, or a radius of 2.8sonething miles. Or you could bump it to 16 square miles for a nice clean 4 miles on a side, or a radius if a teeny bit over 2.25 miles. There probably won't be too many square numbers that have nice crisp numbers for both side length and circular radius, but it's a thought worth exploring. I do like crisp numbers, though, so this might just be a me thing.

[Calen]

The flavor seems roughly on point, but I run into a couple problems:
First being that I feel too many class features revolve around your Home. Given that just about any D&D campaign involves excessive traveling, you'd rarely gain the benefit of your Home. In a campaign with little traveling or that revolves around a small area, this can work, but in a general sense there's just almost no times these features would be useful, IMHO. Not to say that the features aren't good, of course; just a very niche class.
Also, I'd recommend for the Warden, and indeed any or all mentions of the dimensions of your Home, they should either be given in a radius, miles on a side, or if given in square miles, be numbers that are easily square-rootable. For example, the Warden at level 7 gets 15 square miles, which has a side length of 3.872blahblahblahnumbers, or a radius of 2.8sonething miles. Or you could bump it to 16 square miles for a nice clean 4 miles on a side, or a radius if a teeny bit over 2.25 miles. There probably won't be too many square numbers that have nice crisp numbers for both side length and circular radius, but it's a thought worth exploring. I do like crisp numbers, though, so this might just be a me thing.

I agree that the class can be very niche.

I do like the point about the square miles and have updated the Warden to have some "clean" numbers.

Thanks for the feedback.

[weaseldust]

I agree that, as it stands, too many of the class features are restricted to a home that, as an adventurer, they will almost certainly spend most of their time outside.

Would you consider adding abilities that are phrased in terms of being driven by your fond memories of home? E.g. you can shrug off the effects of a spell by recalling what you're fighting for, or when you rest you can cause yourself and your allies to gain temporary HP by recreating a cosy atmosphere. That way you could introduce the homestead at level 1, have it be a single fixed place, but still give benefits the character can carry around with them.