D&D 5e Base Class Contest I Chat Thread

[Requilac]

@ Molemage you have been a great help to me, so it’s about time I paid my debt and committed to my promise and reviewed your class. So here is my…

Spirit Caller Commentary

Equipment
Why did you specify that they could choose a spear or a simple weapon? You could just say simple weapon, which includes spears anyway.

Guiding Spirit
I find the following clause sort of confusing. “The guiding spirit can see spiritual entities, provided they are not hidden by mortal magic.” First of all, what do you mean mechanically “see spiritual entities”? Did you mean something like the Kuo-Toa’s Otherwordly Perception (The kuo-toa can sense the presence of any creature within 30 feet of it that is invisible or on the Ethereal Plane. It can pinpoint such a creature that is moving.)? Also, you mention what qualifies as a spiritual entity later in the Ghostwise sight feature but not for this feature, so I would recommend clearing that up earlier in the description of guiding spirit to avoid confusion.


Spirit Burst
Maybe this is a tad bit too powerful for a fifth level feature. If it turns the attack into an AoE strike, it should do at least a little less damage. I would recommend decreasing it to 1d4 + your wisdom modifier for multiple enemies. It just feels weird to me that you could hit multiple enemies and deal the same damage as if you were attacking a single one. It sort of invalidates the original ability unless under the most niche of scenarios where you cannot maneuver your spirit to be 15 ft away from any allies.

Imbued Spirit
A +1-3 bonus to attack and damage rolls or AC for up to 20 minutes was nothing back in 3.5e, but it is a massive bonus in 5e. Toying around with this kind of thing is dangerous with bounded accuracy. I can’t say for certain that this is broken, but I would be extremely leery if I were to see a player possessing this ability. You are walking on some paper thin ice with this one. You should probably make it cost more, I would say 4 spirit points for a +1, 6 for a +2 and 8 for a +3 to balance it out. Otherwise this feature is way too volatile.


Eternal Spirit
I am fairly certain you mean “whenever you complete a short or long rest, your spirit regains all of its hit points.” Because I find it weird that the spirit couldn’t heal over a long rest but could over a short rest. And maybe full healing over a short rest is a bit too much considering it can get up to 100 HP. Up to 99 HP healed over a short rest is just way too much. I think you should just give it hit die to use during a short rest, otherwise it seems stronger than it needs to be.

Psychopomp's Guiding Spirit
What do you mean by the following bolded statement “When attacking an undead, the guiding spirit instead does radiant damage and the damage is increased by an additional 1d8. This effect also applies to your spirit surge, when you get that feature.”? You already say that the damage increases by 1d8 on any attack against an undead, so why do you need to specify that it still applies to attacks made with spirit surge? Does the extra 1d8 radiant damage double when used on the same attack as spirit surge or something?


Bravery’s Guiding Spirit
Slight grammatical error here, because you say “The spiritcaller may choose the type each type the spirit attacks.” I am fairly certain you mean time here.

Concerted Attack
Maybe you should remove the extra damage. This is basically a fancy version of extra attack, but the extra damage makes it superior. It feels weird to me that this class with simple weapon proficiency only can consistently dish out more damage than a ranger, paladin and barbarian. Normally I would say it's fine because you have to take a bonus action to make your attack, but the class doesn’t really have anything to do with their bonus actions anyhow so that does not make it better.


Improved Mark of the Elements
You can use it a number of times equal to your wisdom modifier and you regain all uses on a short or long rest? That is a little too much, and odds are that you will be having it up once at least every fight this way. Honestly, it's probably best to make it so that you regain all uses on a long rest but only one use on a short rest. If you don’t then it is going to be spammed beyond all belief.

Ascendance
All of these options are pretty good, but I am a little confused as to what the point of the thunder one is. How exactly are you so loud that you are knocking enemies prone? And why exactly do they gain resistance to all damage? It is lacklustre and seems to lack the desire flavor. Why don’t you make it so that every creature within 10 ft. of the spirit when it attacks is deafened and while deafened in this way they have disadvantage on attack rolls but an attack roll targeted against them has advantage (like blinded). That seems pretty cool to me. It’s a minor comment really but I would change it to something a little better.

Verdict
Over-all this is a very well designed class with a strong theme and good mechanics to match it. You did a great job detailing it out and it has very few errors in it. But I can’t help but be concerned with its power level. It doesn’t have any one feature that is highly overpowered, but there are several which are slightly more powerful than they should be, which tends to add up. If I was a DM I would allow a player to use this class, but I also would be incredibly nervous and hesitant to do so. Maybe you should take a look over what you did and ask yourself “did I make this feature stronger than it needs to be?”. This may be just me being overly paranoid though, because I am already playing a scene out in my head of a fight between a Bravery Spiritcaller and an a War Cleric and I am seeing that cleric last for quite some time before falling.

[Jormengand]

The only thing I immediately notice about spiritcaller that hasn't really been already said is that you refer to "The spiritcaller" a lot when the 5e standard is to use "You".

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Anyone else have commentary on the Daredevil?

[JNAProductions]

Daredevil-Note that I'll skip over abilities I have no comment on.

Just Plain Lucky... I doubt it's OVERPOWERED, it's just really finicky. Like, annoyingly so.

Second Guess... I mean, I guess it's a level 11 ability, so hard to stack with stuff. But it does negate a lot of tactics involving gaining advantage, since you already have it.

Better Lucky Than Clever just has a weird name-Clever=/=Wise, at least to me.

Double Down, combined with proficiency in every gorram save, will make you such a hassle to kill.

Overall... A little finicky for 5E, but the biggest thing I think needs improvement is that it's just bad at most things. It doesn't get good skills, really, it gets only simple weapons and never gets extra attack, it doesn't fight well... It basically gets better odds on things it can succeed at, via advantage, but never gets the ability to do much more than that. I would never play it in its current state, because its biggest claim to fame is being annoyingly hard to kill, but it can't be enough of a threat or an asset to make that really a PARTY advantage.

[PhoenixPhyre]

I've updated my Protean entry with some (minor) changes. Each sub-class can now keep its combat mutation active as well as another arms/hands mutation. While you can always use the other sub-classes's combat mutation, you don't get this benefit unless its the one you got from your own sub-class.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Now paying back some of the help I've gotten (mostly in proof-reading and impressions rather than in numerical work):

Starting with the Investigator (@Requilac):

* I'd love to see some introductory fluff to give a picture of what the class is about and get a visual on the play-style.
* Wording issue in Perfect Analyst (point 3): horribly confusing as to intent. Same basic issue with all the "difference of X - 10" features. I think I know what those are trying to say, but I'd be loath to put any confidence in it.
* Formatting: Class features usually don't have the level in the title but in the body.
* Telepathy: Can't give *anyone* that information...telepathically? verbally? Body language?
* Naming: If you're already a perfect analyst at level 1, how can your analysis be enhanced at level 2?
* Reword UA/Help: maybe something like "You can take the Help action to aid an ally in making an attack roll as long as the ally can be..."
* Incomplete level 9 sub-class features
* Typos
** Unconventional Actions: "ohters"
** Blindsight, "your other sense" should be plural)
** Fend _off_ the mob

General notes: Seems under-tuned for combat. Seriously so, in fact, although with weird spikes (Predator's Instinct). With no extra attack and no constant-effect source of extra damage, you're hurting for combat power and lack the increases common at tier boundaries (levels 5, 11, and 17).

[sengmeng]

Would it be considered a violation of contest rules if my entry in this contest is a 5e version of my entry in the 3.5 base class challenge?

[Jormengand]

Would it be considered a violation of contest rules if my entry in this contest is a 5e version of my entry in the 3.5 base class challenge?

Given that I submitted an update to the daredevil from way back in the incompetence round, I sure hope not!

[Requilac]

Now paying back some of the help I've gotten (mostly in proof-reading and impressions rather than in numerical work):

Starting with the Investigator (@Requilac):

* I'd love to see some introductory fluff to give a picture of what the class is about and get a visual on the play-style.
* Wording issue in Perfect Analyst (point 3): horribly confusing as to intent. Same basic issue with all the "difference of X - 10" features. I think I know what those are trying to say, but I'd be loath to put any confidence in it.
* Formatting: Class features usually don't have the level in the title but in the body.
* Telepathy: Can't give *anyone* that information...telepathically? verbally? Body language?
* Naming: If you're already a perfect analyst at level 1, how can your analysis be enhanced at level 2?
* Reword UA/Help: maybe something like "You can take the Help action to aid an ally in making an attack roll as long as the ally can be..."
* Incomplete level 9 sub-class features
* Typos
** Unconventional Actions: "ohters"
** Blindsight, "your other sense" should be plural)
** Fend _off_ the mob

General notes: Seems under-tuned for combat. Seriously so, in fact, although with weird spikes (Predator's Instinct). With no extra attack and no constant-effect source of extra damage, you're hurting for combat power and lack the increases common at tier boundaries (levels 5, 11, and 17).

The investigator is still a work in progress keep in mind, and has a lot of work left to be done. The “weak in combat” has been brought up multiple time. I can assure you that this is not extremely close to what the final class will look like. There is much work left to be done, if you couldn’t tell. I started it a week ago, I couldn’t have whipped up a finished product that quickly.

[PhoenixPhyre]

The investigator is still a work in progress keep in mind, and has a lot of work left to be done. The “weak in combat” has been brought up multiple time. I can assure you that this is not extremely close to what the final class will look like. There is much work left to be done, if you couldn’t tell. I started it a week ago, I couldn’t have whipped up a finished product that quickly.

I look forward to seeing the completed version.

[Requilac]

Would it be considered a violation of contest rules if my entry in this contest is a 5e version of my entry in the 3.5 base class challenge?

If the one you are submitting for the 5e one is going to have different mechanics than the 3.5e version (which I think it would have to) it is fine. Jormengard already did something similar with his/her/their* class

* (not sure what pronoun I should use)

[Requilac]

Glad to see that we are beginning to understand each-other more.

We have been kind of talking past each other on many of these points, and even though we both have the best intentions it can get kind of frustrating. To that end, I will share the guide I used to design my class. Someone shared it in a different thread and it helped me wrap my head around the design intent and commonalities shared by DnD 5e core classes (or as near as I'm likely to get without actually seeing internal memos).

That was certainly a good read, although in truth I must say that I have recognized and implement almost all of those points. Except for one that is, one which many people have pointed out, as the tier upgrades. If I am being honest, I had never thought about that before, but it does indeed make quite a bit of sense now that I look at it. I will need to think about how to implement such a thing.

1. What is this class's role in an adventuring party?
2. What is this class's play fantasy? (that is, when I decide to play this class, how I want it to feel)
3. What is my bread and butter, or what will I be using my actions to do, in typical combat round at various levels of play in this class? (a good guideline is every level where proficiency increases, plus the level in which they gain their archetype)
4. What are my special functions, or what can I do that isn't my typical combat round at various levels of play in this class? (some classes don't have this, instead opting for more variety in their part 3. The rogue and monk are examples of that type of class)
5. What will I be doing when I am not combat?
6. Does what I am doing in 3 and 4 align with my play fantasy?
7. Does what I am doing in 5 align with my play fantasy?
8. Does what I am doing in 3 and 4 feel impactful?
9. For each class feature, what is its nearest analogue or analogues, and does it seem noticeably better or worse?

As an exercise, ask yourself all these questions in the context of the Investigator. Then, go look at a core class, preferably one that you feel is similar to the Investigator in a thematic sense, and ask the same questions as if you had written that class.

I am not sure whether you actually wanted me to answer these or not, but answer them anyway I shall.

1) The investigator's role outside of combat is that of a person who focuses on exploring an discovering infromation but in combat it is supposed to support allies by finding weaknesses or strength in an enemy and getting them to leverage it against enemies.
2) When you plan as an Investigator you should feel as if your character isn't just booksmart, but also a sort of genius which can not only discover information but apply it in the most useful way possible. It advertises you more in a supporting role when it comes to fighting yes, but the other players should always be able to recognize that you were a key factor in their success.
3) Whenever possible you will be using your action to take advantage of flawless analyst (formerly perfect analyst) using your bonus action, but with your main action you should still be making weapon attacks and laying on the extra damage.
4) You should also be able to take care of the less glamorous tasks which no else can afford to do because of action economy limits (such as distracting an enemy from attacking an ally, searching for hidden enemies, and stabilizing unconscious friends).
5) When not in combat you can be doing a massive variety of different things, though most of it is taking advantage of all four of your skills and expertise to discover information anyway possible.
6) 3 and 4 do indeed align with the play fantasy. You are never in the front line, but without you assisting your allies or helping them with the minor tasks they can't afford to do, then they would never succeed.
7) Without a doubt, your out of combat role is quite self explanatory by the name.
8) If you can't get enough of the spotlight, then it will not be satisfactory to you, and although your actions are not immediately noticed they are a massive boon to you and your allies.

It is no secret that this class is very conceptually similar to the rogue, but they have such different mechanics that I am not all that worried about it. Their mechanical similarities are only expertise really, so I am satisfied in that regard.

This isn't an entirely unfair statement, but the thing I want you to know is that in my mind, design philosophy and design narrative are only linked through questions 5 and 6 in the above list. My suggestions are intended to help you find the point between the one side--class fantasy and design narrative--and the other side--class design and mechanical role. You don't have to follow my exact suggestions, but please keep in mind that when I suggest that Investigators get some core functions related to combat, I don't want to take away their design narrative of "impossibly honed observational skills", or their class fantasy of "I want to play a character like Holmes or Poirot". Instead I want you to look at how you can fit those traits into DnD 5e's assumption that all classes will be useful in combat.

I don't believe I fully understand your cases for its in combat use, but I will aim to give it more in combat benefits. Perhaps it will make more sense when the fluff is fully written out.

It sounds strange, but there is precedent. Elemental Savant (feat) makes spellcasters so good at using a specific element that they can even use it to hurt creatures normally immune to that element, such as fire for fire elementals. Ultimately, what I wanted was for Perfect Analysis to be closer to Enhanced Analysis so that the Investigator would have something to do in combat earlier on. Now that Enhanced Analysis is at level 2 it doesn't need to be. Many of the individual options for what you learn with Perfect Analysis are still unappealing (knowing whether a monster's attack bonus is above or below a specified value doesn't open any tactical options or motivate any decisions on my part, nor is it particularly fun in a narrative sense), but I would still use this feature for others (knowing about a monster's special traits).

I understand that some of the options for flawless analyst aren't all that great, but they could matter sometimes, and ultimately I just wanted to provide as many options as I could to increase its over-all power.

Nor is a monk's Flurry of Blows a carbon copy of a fighter's Action Surge, or PhoenixPhire's Protean's Rapid Growth a carbon copy of Barbarian Rage. However, when measuring how effective a feature is (or a class is in combat), I always compare it to the nearest analogue or analogues if possible. For Enhanced Analysis, which gives an ally a bonus on certain types of rolls, that analogue was bardic inspiration. I wrote out a whole bullet point list trying to figure out why my gut was so sure that Enhanced Analysis needed a boost, and it boiled down to three things: first, inspiration is a secondary feature for the bard (core yes, but spellcasting is their primary). By contrast, analysis is a primary feature for the investigator, meaning that much more of their play satisfaction depends on it. So with that in mind, I really should have also compared it to Flurry of Blows, another resource-limited primary feature, not in balance as they are tactically very different, but in play satisfaction. Second, the feature at the time was at 6th level, which meant that for the first two levels the investigator did not have any unique impact on a fight (since Perfect Analysis is a flavor ability by and large); obviously this one no longer applies since you moved it to 2nd level. And third, I talked about scaling before, but that isn't why I felt like it was incomplete. Tying Enhanced Analysis's numbers to Intelligence is fine, but since it is a core feature, it needs to develop over time. Instead of looking for ways to make it stronger in numbers, look for ways to make it more interesting (unlocking additional usages of it, allowing multiple simultaneous usages at a higher cost, allowing usage outside of the standard action economy such as reactions). What's important isn't that its strength improves with levels. What's important is that I feel like I want to take more levels to see it change.

The short version for future quoting: I commented on Enhanced Analysis without fulling examining or explaining my reasons (sorry! I intuit when I should think a lot). Remember that a large amount of your player's satisfaction will come from this feature, and when I said scaling with class as in increases to effectiveness, I should have said development as in increases to interestingness (which can include effectiveness but doesn't need to).

You make some good points indeed. I shall ponder how to pull such a thing off. Making it more interesting over time is indeed something I could aim to pull off.

I was incorrect about the not on your turn part (older editions leak through at my table sometimes), but I will still defend that you should be able to use telepathy to freely share simple information with any number of people on your turn by default, as it falls under the "however you are able" part of that quote.

I know. My point here was that this feels bad for players unless there is a compelling balance reason. Since Perfect Analysis is intended to provide flavor, rather than mechanical bonuses (again, sorry about misreading that), there is no harm in letting the players share that information as freely as "brief utterances [made telepathically]" would allow. When you impose a restriction on the telepathy at level 2, it feels arbitrarily limiting. When you then lift the restriction as an entire level 13 class feature, it feels bittersweet at best. Consider making the level 13 version part of the telepathy feature or just not mentioning a specific number of people at all (leaving it up to the normal rules for how much you can say), then giving another telepathy upgrade at 13. To keep it in the same theme, you could make the feature something that allows telepathic communication to happen faster than normal communication, such as "At level 13, your telepathy has developed such that you communicate as fast as thought, rather than as fast as speech. When you use telepathy to communicate on your turn, there is no limit to the number of creatures within range you can communicate with and you can share five times as much information."

I will have to agree with you now, though not necessarily for the reasons you might think. I am changing it because I don't see anything wrong with sharing that information with multiple people, not because all of that hubbub with telepathy in the MM. The restrictions and level 13 upgrade were all something I came up with in an instant and weren't to attached to.

It will be my pleasure. I don't like to think of it as an argument though, since we have the same end goal (making the investigator as good as it can be). We're having a board meeting maybe. Sequestered design session.

True, true, its not really an argument is it. "I like the word sequestered design session far better".

[Jormengand]

Overall... A little finicky for 5E, but the biggest thing I think needs improvement is that it's just bad at most things. It doesn't get good skills, really, it gets only simple weapons and never gets extra attack, it doesn't fight well... It basically gets better odds on things it can succeed at, via advantage, but never gets the ability to do much more than that. I would never play it in its current state, because its biggest claim to fame is being annoyingly hard to kill, but it can't be enough of a threat or an asset to make that really a PARTY advantage.

Hmm. What should I add to make daredevils actually good at doing stuff?

[MoleMage]

Equipment

The wording is used to indicate the iconic weapon of the class. Barbarian does the same thing with a) a greataxe or b) any martial melee weapon, and a number of classes offer a)a light crossbow and 20 bolts or b) any simple weapon (though I guess that pairing includes ammo in one half and not in the other).

Guiding Spirit
I find the following clause sort of confusing. “The guiding spirit can see spiritual entities, provided they are not hidden by mortal magic.” First of all, what do you mean mechanically “see spiritual entities”? Did you mean something like the Kuo-Toa’s Otherwordly Perception (The kuo-toa can sense the presence of any creature within 30 feet of it that is invisible or on the Ethereal Plane. It can pinpoint such a creature that is moving.)? Also, you mention what qualifies as a spiritual entity later in the Ghostwise sight feature but not for this feature, so I would recommend clearing that up earlier in the description of guiding spirit to avoid confusion.

I will update the wording on the guiding spirit for clarity. Also, I noticed while reviewing the marshal that my class's pet has more HP than is normal (5 per level instead of 4), so I'll fix that to be in line with beast master's progression.

Spirit Burst
Maybe this is a tad bit too powerful for a fifth level feature. If it turns the attack into an AoE strike, it should do at least a little less damage. I would recommend decreasing it to 1d4 + your wisdom modifier for multiple enemies. It just feels weird to me that you could hit multiple enemies and deal the same damage as if you were attacking a single one. It sort of invalidates the original ability unless under the most niche of scenarios where you cannot maneuver your spirit to be 15 ft away from any allies.

You're right. I was balancing it against Sun Soul Monk, which I thought got the radiant sphere at 6 but actually gets it at 11. I'll move this feature to Improved Spirit Surge's slot at level 14 (and maybe remove Improved Spirit Surge), and replace it with some other attack upgrade for the spirit (not increased damage since that's included in 2/3 archetypes or extra attack since that benefits Psychopomp and Bravery too much and Elements less by comparison, but maybe a ranged attack option or attacks counting as magical?).

Imbued Spirit
A +1-3 bonus to attack and damage rolls or AC for up to 20 minutes was nothing back in 3.5e, but it is a massive bonus in 5e. Toying around with this kind of thing is dangerous with bounded accuracy. I can’t say for certain that this is broken, but I would be extremely leery if I were to see a player possessing this ability. You are walking on some paper thin ice with this one. You should probably make it cost more, I would say 4 spirit points for a +1, 6 for a +2 and 8 for a +3 to balance it out. Otherwise this feature is way too volatile.

The damage effect was modeled after the magic weapon spell with a modified duration. The AC doesn't have a direct comparison, but Shield of Faith is a 1st level spell that's +2 AC with no rider that it must be non-magical. The higher cost wouldn't be too brutal since spirit points are short rest, I will implement that. Should I also include a specification that Imbued Spirit doesn't stack with magic that gives an increase to armor class? I can see a problem with stacking from Shield of Faith and Imbued Spirit. It already doesn't stack with existing magical weapons or armor (like with magic weapon). For comparison, magic weapon becomes available to full casters at 3, allows for a +2 at 7, and allows for a +3 at 11. Should I make this feature require concentration as though concentrating as a spell (maybe I can change the guiding spirit bonus to "doesn't require concentration" instead of "get both bonuses" if I do)?

Eternal Spirit
I am fairly certain you mean “whenever you complete a short or long rest, your spirit regains all of its hit points.” Because I find it weird that the spirit couldn’t heal over a long rest but could over a short rest. And maybe full healing over a short rest is a bit too much considering it can get up to 100 HP. Up to 99 HP healed over a short rest is just way too much. I think you should just give it hit die to use during a short rest, otherwise it seems stronger than it needs to be.

That was how the feature is supposed to work; the spirit already regains all hit points on a long rest per the base feature. I'll fix the wording here to indicate both using an "in addition to". For balance, even after I drop the HP from 5/level to 4/level, I see how this is too much (especially with guardian spirit 4 levels later. What if I made it something like this: "in addition to healing normally when you complete a long rest, your spirit recovers hit points up to half its maximum value when you complete a short rest". I didn't want to give the spirit its own hit dice because of bookkeeping concerns, but if healing to half seems off-balance I could make it so that when the spiritcaller spends hit dice to heal during a short rest, it also heals its spirit by an equal amount.

Psychopomp's Guiding Spirit
What do you mean by the following bolded statement “When attacking an undead, the guiding spirit instead does radiant damage and the damage is increased by an additional 1d8. This effect also applies to your spirit surge, when you get that feature.”? You already say that the damage increases by 1d8 on any attack against an undead, so why do you need to specify that it still applies to attacks made with spirit surge? Does the extra 1d8 radiant damage double when used on the same attack as spirit surge or something?

Mostly for redundancy's sake. The intended effect was that undead affected by spirit burst take the damage they would take from an attack, but since it required a save instead of an attack roll, the strict reading would be that the spirit does its necrotic damage always when using spirit burst instead of its radiant + extra die when undead were affected.

Bravery’s Guiding Spirit
Slight grammatical error here, because you say “The spiritcaller may choose the type each type the spirit attacks.” I am fairly certain you mean time here.

That is what I meant. I'll correct this.

Concerted Attack
Maybe you should remove the extra damage. This is basically a fancy version of extra attack, but the extra damage makes it superior. It feels weird to me that this class with simple weapon proficiency only can consistently dish out more damage than a ranger, paladin and barbarian. Normally I would say it's fine because you have to take a bonus action to make your attack, but the class doesn’t really have anything to do with their bonus actions anyhow so that does not make it better.

Not true, spirit surge is a bonus action to trigger, and most of their normal damage budget is tied up in that feature (whether they give it to someone else or to their spirit). Concerted Attack is an alternative for when they are out of spirit points or wish to conserve them. If I made it require them to occupy the same space as in Spiritual Shield would that bring it closer to in line (as they'd have to engage in melee since the spirit can't get ranged attacks)? I'd rather keep the extra damage than the extra attack, personally, but I want to have a rider on the extra damage of some kind, since Psychopomp gets "extra damage" and "extra bonus damage to undead". Maybe extra damage and spirit can hurl javelins with a 20/60 range increment (no extra attack)?

Improved Mark of the Elements
You can use it a number of times equal to your wisdom modifier and you regain all uses on a short or long rest? That is a little too much, and odds are that you will be having it up once at least every fight this way. Honestly, it's probably best to make it so that you regain all uses on a long rest but only one use on a short rest. If you don’t then it is going to be spammed beyond all belief.

They are very wisdom focused so that would be 6 by this point. I'll reduce it to "one extra use" (total two), instead of "wisdom mod extra uses".

Ascendance
All of these options are pretty good, but I am a little confused as to what the point of the thunder one is. How exactly are you so loud that you are knocking enemies prone? And why exactly do they gain resistance to all damage? It is lacklustre and seems to lack the desire flavor. Why don’t you make it so that every creature within 10 ft. of the spirit when it attacks is deafened and while deafened in this way they have disadvantage on attack rolls but an attack roll targeted against them has advantage (like blinded). That seems pretty cool to me. It’s a minor comment really but I would change it to something a little better.

I was really struggling to come up with a feature for Thunder Ascendance that wasn't like any of the other options and also was good to have. I ended up using thunderwave as justification for thunder damage throwing people around. Applying a condition in an area could work. I don't even know what I was thinking with resist all. I must have put it in as an afterthought out of some desire to make at least one of them defensively oriented or because prone seemed too weak.

Verdict
Over-all this is a very well designed class with a strong theme and good mechanics to match it. You did a great job detailing it out and it has very few errors in it. But I can’t help but be concerned with its power level. It doesn’t have any one feature that is highly overpowered, but there are several which are slightly more powerful than they should be, which tends to add up. If I was a DM I would allow a player to use this class, but I also would be incredibly nervous and hesitant to do so. Maybe you should take a look over what you did and ask yourself “did I make this feature stronger than it needs to be?”. This may be just me being overly paranoid though, because I am already playing a scene out in my head of a fight between a Bravery Spiritcaller and an a War Cleric and I am seeing that cleric last for quite some time before falling.

When I was making the class, my mechanical goal was a damage class that attacks and applies damage indirectly. From that sprang the spirit as a physical companion (originally the spirit was going to be the archetype, like a warlock patron but inside you), so that the spiritcaller had a way to feel like the damage was theirs, and then spirit surge as their iconic feature (giving them a version of divine smite that could be shared, at the extra cost of their bonus action). I may have allowed spirit surge to stack too high given they get passive damage increases; removing improved spirit surge will help but I might also have to decrease spirit points' high availability right now by increasing the costs of other spirit point features (other than Astral Traveler, nothing costs more than 4 right now). means they have to make a choice of whether to use their utility or their damage (like divine smite needing spell slots). I'll do a pass to normalize spirit point spenders' damage, my initial draft estimated costs but didn't compare them against effects similar to what they produce. The only one I'm confident I want to keep is the 1 point per 1 die on spirit surge, and I probably need to make their special features more expensive to compensate.

Thanks for the critique! It might take a couple days before these updates actually make their way to my posted links, but I wanted to respond while I was thinking about it.

The only thing I immediately notice about spiritcaller that hasn't really been already said is that you refer to "The spiritcaller" a lot when the 5e standard is to use "You".

Thanks for pointing that out, I'm hopeless at proofreading my own stuff. I'll do a pass to correct this. It used to be even worse. I'd go from "the spiritcaller" to "they" to "your", then back to "they". My thoughts don't always stay in one place when I'm trying to get class features down before forgetting what I wanted them to do. I'm going to take this comment as being that you both agreed with Requilac's concerns and had no additional concerns beyond that, which I choose to interpret as a good sign!

[WarrentheHero]

Since we're all here, if like to propose a few ideas for the next Contest.
-The Contest will be one-month long. Contestants will have 3 weeks (21 days), to design and edit their class. After this period, all entries are considered final a d cannot be changed for the week-long voting period that follows.
-I prefer modular organization, so this might just be me, but I'd prefer if all classes are made in their own post, with the Contest in the title and a link back to the main Contest thread. Submissions on the main contest thread are links to their full-theead counterparts. This has a few benefits. For one, it increases visibility of each class to be critiqued by a wider audience. Some people just don't bother with contests and have o interest looking over a contest thread for gems. Secondly, it increases visibility of the contest itself. People will see a whole bunch of 5e Contest threads and think "man tbis is really popular. Let's see what it's about!" Third, it makes critiques much much easier, as all critiques to a class are on that class's thread. Each class is pretty much contained in their own thread. If the Contests get so big that we end up flooding the Homebrew page, we might have to reconsider.
-All Competitors must critique at least one other class.

These are my immediate thoughts, but open for discussion, of course.

As for the next contest's Theme, I have a few ideas:
Dragons Classes that emulate, study, or derive power from dragons.
Elemental Classes that manipulate or incorporate the four classical elements or the 5 d&d chromatic elements (acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison).
Terror Spooky classes with the ability to instill fear. Not necessarily all about the Frightened condition; just things that are scary or play off of common phobias (like a Spider-mancer or something for archachnophobia).
Faces Classes that specialize in social encounters. The difficulty here is for these classes to have something to do in combat. I'm looking at Bards and Warlocks as examples of Face Classes
Constitution Most classes don't use Constitution except for HP. These classes would have a greater focus on what is otherwise the second-least-used ability score.

[JNAProductions]

New ability on the Daredevil, I see.

Let's compare it against an average (according to the DMG) CR 6 monster, with AC 15, 150 HP, a +6 attack bonus, and 40 DPR (if all attacks hit-we'll assume two attacks for 20 damage each), relative to a Fighter.

Daredevil has had one ASI, putting him at Dex 18, presumably.
Fighter has had two ASIs, putting him at Dex 20 (we're modeling this Fighter as a subclassless Archer, for the purposes of this fight).
We'll assume the monster works at range, meaning it's just a shoot-out.

Daredevil has three tricks-let's take Always Alert, Deflecting Fortune, and Signature Gear. This gives us a single shortbow shot before the encounter starts properly, the ability to maybe reflect damage, and a +1 to Attack or AC. I'll check for both. They also have 51 HP and AC 16 (17 if Signature Gear is applied to Studded Leather), a +7 (+8 with Signature Gear) to-hit for 1d6+4 damage, and deal triple dice on a crit rather than double, as well as critting on a 19-20. Also Uncanny Dodge, to halve damage from the first hit each round.
The Fighter has the Archery Fighting Style and a longbow. He has +10 to hit for 1d8+5 damage and shoots twice a round. AC 17, 58 HP, and Second Wind for 1d10+6 HP restored one turn as a bonus action. Also Action Surge, but we'll only use ONE of those-probably Action Surge-since the Daredevil is NOT expending any resources.

We will assume the Monster has Alert or some equivalent, giving him first turn.

Daredevil A (17 AC, +7 to-hit) hits on an 8, for a 55% chance of a hit (7.5 damage) and a 10% chance of a crit (14.5 damage). Each shot from the monster hits on an 11, for a 45% chance of hitting for 10 damage on the first hit, 20 damage on the second, and a 5% chance of critting for, let's say... 35 (17 on the first) damage. Each miss does 20 damage to the monster on a 17+, for a 20% chance.
Daredevil B (16 AC, +8 to-hit) hits on a 7, for 60% chance of a hit and a 10% chance of a crit. Each shot from the monster hits on a 10, for a 50% chance of hitting and a 5% chance of critting. Each miss has the same 20% chance of doing 20 damage to the monster.
Fighter (17 AC, +10 to-hit) hits on a 5, for a 75% chance of a hit (9.5 damage) and a 5% chance of a crit (14 damage). Each shot from the monster hits on an 11, for a 45% chance of hitting for 20 damage, and a 5% chance of critting for 35.

Daredevil A does 4.125+1.45 damage on each shot, for 5.575 damage per turn. The monster has a... Damn, this is annoying. 4.5+.85=5.35 damage on the first hit, on average. The second hit does 9+1.75=10.75 damage on average. So, in one turn with two attacks, it does, on average... Four states, hit hit, hit miss, miss hit, miss miss... ((5.35+10.75)+5.35+5.35+0)/4=6.7 damage on average. It also has a 20% chance per miss to take 20 damage itself, so that is 4 damage on average per miss, or (0+4+4+(4+4))/4=4 damage on average per turn to itself from misses.
Damage per turn to Daredevil A is 6.7.
Damage per turn to Monster is 9.575, plus 5.575 for the first turn.

Daredevil B does 4.5+1.45 damage on each shot, for 5.95 damage per turn. The monster has 5+.85=5.85 on the first, 10+1.75=11.75 damage on the second. So, in one turn with two attacks, it does, on average... Crap, this is harder because it's no longer a 50% binary chance. Okay, .55 chance of hitting with the first attack. So that is .45*.45 chance of miss miss, .45*.55 chance of miss hit, .55*.45 chance of hit miss, and .55*.55 chance of hit hit. Miss miss does 0 damage to Daredevil B and 8 to Monster, miss hit or hit miss does 5.85 to Daredevil B and 4 to Monster, and hit hit does 17.6 to Daredevil B, none to Monster. For .2025 miss miss, .2475 of miss hit or hit miss, and .3025 of hit hit. Adds to 1, probability achieved. That is... 1.62+2*(.88)=3.6 damage to itself a turn, and 2*(1.4479)+5.324=8.2198 damage to Daredevil B each turn.
Damage per turn to Daredevil B is 8.2198.
Damage per turn to Monster is 9.55, plus 5.95 for the first turn.

Fighter SW does 7.125+.7 damage on each shot, for 7.825 damage per shot, or 15.65 a turn. The monster does 9+1.75=10.75 damage a shot, for 21.5 damage a turn.
Damage per turn to Fighter SW is 21.5, with a one-time 11.5 heal.
Damage per turn to Monster is 15.65.

Fighter AS does 15.65 a turn. The monster does 21.5 a turn.
Damage per turn to Fighter AS is 21.5 a turn.
Damage per turn to Monster is 15.65, with a one-time doubling.

So, under these assumptions...

Spoiler: Turn 1

Show

Daredevil A does 5.575 to the monster, then takes 6.7 and deals 9.575 more. Monster is at 134.85, Daredevil is at 44.3.

Daredevil B does 5.95 to the monster, then takes 8.2 and does 9.55 more. Monster is at 134.5, Daredevil is at 42.8.

Monster does 21.5 points of damage to Fighter SW, 11.5 of which is healed. Fighter then does 15.65 damage to Monster. Monster is at 134.35, Fighter is at 48 HP.

Monster does 21.5 points of damage to Fighter AS. Fighter then does 15.65 damage to Monster, twice. Monster is at 118.7, Fighter is at 36.5.

Spoiler: Turn 2+

Show

Each round, Daredevil A first takes 6.7, then deals 9.575. This means that he will last (44.3/6.7=6.612) seven turns, dealing 67.025 more points of damage. The Monster ends at 67.825 HP, the Daredevil is dead.

Each round, Daredevil B first takes 8.2 damage, then deals 9.55. This means he will last (42.8/8.2=5.22) six turns, dealing 57.3 more points of damage. The monster ends at 77.2 HP, the Daredevil is dead.

Each round, Fighter SW first takes 21.5 damage, then deals 15.65. This means he will last (48/21.5=2.233) three turns, dealing 46.95 more points of damage. The monster ends at 87.4 HP, the Fighter is dead.

Each round, Fighter AS first takes 21.5 damage, then deals 15.65. This means he will last (36.5/21.5=1.698) two turns, dealing 31.3 more points of damage. The monster ends at 87.4 HP, the Fighter is dead.

If AS and SW are combined, the Monster takes an addition 15.65 damage, putting it at 71.75 HP. Fighter still dies.

Conclusion: Against a single monster with a low number of attacks, the Daredevil actually does pretty well, with those tricks. The damage reflection is key, and only gets better as enemies do more damage and your proficiency improves.

I don't like relying on crits and the enemy missing for extra damage, but mathematically... Well, against solos, it does okay. Now, against a MOB, that might change. Damage reflection will be more common and potent, but Uncanny Dodge, less so.

[MoleMage]

Since we're all here, if like to propose a few ideas for the next Contest.
-The Contest will be one-month long. Contestants will have 3 weeks (21 days), to design and edit their class. After this period, all entries are considered final a d cannot be changed for the week-long voting period that follows.
-I prefer modular organization, so this might just be me, but I'd prefer if all classes are made in their own post, with the Contest in the title and a link back to the main Contest thread. Submissions on the main contest thread are links to their full-theead counterparts. This has a few benefits. For one, it increases visibility of each class to be critiqued by a wider audience. Some people just don't bother with contests and have o interest looking over a contest thread for gems. Secondly, it increases visibility of the contest itself. People will see a whole bunch of 5e Contest threads and think "man tbis is really popular. Let's see what it's about!" Third, it makes critiques much much easier, as all critiques to a class are on that class's thread. Each class is pretty much contained in their own thread. If the Contests get so big that we end up flooding the Homebrew page, we might have to reconsider.
-All Competitors must critique at least one other class.

These are my immediate thoughts, but open for discussion, of course.

As for the next contest's Theme, I have a few ideas:
Dragons Classes that emulate, study, or derive power from dragons.
Elemental Classes that manipulate or incorporate the four classical elements or the 5 d&d chromatic elements (acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison).
Terror Spooky classes with the ability to instill fear. Not necessarily all about the Frightened condition; just things that are scary or play off of common phobias (like a Spider-mancer or something for archachnophobia).
Faces Classes that specialize in social encounters. The difficulty here is for these classes to have something to do in combat. I'm looking at Bards and Warlocks as examples of Face Classes
Constitution Most classes don't use Constitution except for HP. These classes would have a greater focus on what is otherwise the second-least-used ability score.

I like Terror and Elemental (chromatic elements), and I want to like Constitution as long as we're all careful about it.
I'd like to add Blast from the Past: choose a previous edition or other game system and translate one of its character classes into 5e.

[Lanth Sor]

Please review
THE PRIMAL GOURMAND - Eating your way to the top of the food chain

Need help with balance.

[Requilac]

The wording is used to indicate the iconic weapon of the class. Barbarian does the same thing with a) a greataxe or b) any martial melee weapon, and a number of classes offer a)a light crossbow and 20 bolts or b) any simple weapon (though I guess that pairing includes ammo in one half and not in the other).

Fair enough, I didn't notice that.

You're right. I was balancing it against Sun Soul Monk, which I thought got the radiant sphere at 6 but actually gets it at 11. I'll move this feature to Improved Spirit Surge's slot at level 14 (and maybe remove Improved Spirit Surge), and replace it with some other attack upgrade for the spirit (not increased damage since that's included in 2/3 archetypes or extra attack since that benefits Psychopomp and Bravery too much and Elements less by comparison, but maybe a ranged attack option or attacks counting as magical?).

Ranged attack option seems fair to me. Or perhaps you could give the spirit guardian an attack which deals the same damage as the normal attack but requires the target to make a dexterity saving throw instead of using your attack bonus.

The damage effect was modeled after the magic weapon spell with a modified duration. The AC doesn't have a direct comparison, but Shield of Faith is a 1st level spell that's +2 AC with no rider that it must be non-magical. The higher cost wouldn't be too brutal since spirit points are short rest, I will implement that. Should I also include a specification that Imbued Spirit doesn't stack with magic that gives an increase to armor class? I can see a problem with stacking from Shield of Faith and Imbued Spirit. It already doesn't stack with existing magical weapons or armor (like with magic weapon). For comparison, magic weapon becomes available to full casters at 3, allows for a +2 at 7, and allows for a +3 at 11. Should I make this feature require concentration as though concentrating as a spell (maybe I can change the guiding spirit bonus to "doesn't require concentration" instead of "get both bonuses" if I do)?

If you increase the point cost and put a clause in which states that it doesn't stack with spells or features that increase AC such as shield of faith and haste it should work out fine.

That was how the feature is supposed to work; the spirit already regains all hit points on a long rest per the base feature. I'll fix the wording here to indicate both using an "in addition to". For balance, even after I drop the HP from 5/level to 4/level, I see how this is too much (especially with guardian spirit 4 levels later. What if I made it something like this: "in addition to healing normally when you complete a long rest, your spirit recovers hit points up to half its maximum value when you complete a short rest". I didn't want to give the spirit its own hit dice because of bookkeeping concerns, but if healing to half seems off-balance I could make it so that when the spiritcaller spends hit dice to heal during a short rest, it also heals its spirit by an equal amount.

Umm MoleMage, you never mention that the spirit guide regains hit points on a long rest. The base feature says you can remanifest it after completeing a long rest if it is already dead, but it says nothing about it healing over a long rest. I guess you could always kill the spirit ally during a long rest and remanifest it afterwards but that seems like a weird and unnecessarily cruel way to do it.

I like the idea of when the spirit caller is rolling hit dice the spirit ally regains the same amount that the spirit caller does better than the version where it regains half its hit point maximum. The former is more thematically appropriate and is not as powerful.

Mostly for redundancy's sake. The intended effect was that undead affected by spirit burst take the damage they would take from an attack, but since it required a save instead of an attack roll, the strict reading would be that the spirit does its necrotic damage always when using spirit burst instead of its radiant + extra die when undead were affected.

This isn't very serious, but I would recommend rewording that to make your intention more clear.

Not true, spirit surge is a bonus action to trigger, and most of their normal damage budget is tied up in that feature (whether they give it to someone else or to their spirit). Concerted Attack is an alternative for when they are out of spirit points or wish to conserve them. If I made it require them to occupy the same space as in Spiritual Shield would that bring it closer to in line (as they'd have to engage in melee since the spirit can't get ranged attacks)? I'd rather keep the extra damage than the extra attack, personally, but I want to have a rider on the extra damage of some kind, since Psychopomp gets "extra damage" and "extra bonus damage to undead". Maybe extra damage and spirit can hurl javelins with a 20/60 range increment (no extra attack)?

The javelin approach seems interesting and the more thematically appropriate of them, but having it only work while spiritual shield is active should keep it line also.

They are very wisdom focused so that would be 6 by this point. I'll reduce it to "one extra use" (total two), instead of "wisdom mod extra uses".

That makes so much more sense and seems like a much more elegant approach.

When I was making the class, my mechanical goal was a damage class that attacks and applies damage indirectly. From that sprang the spirit as a physical companion (originally the spirit was going to be the archetype, like a warlock patron but inside you), so that the spiritcaller had a way to feel like the damage was theirs, and then spirit surge as their iconic feature (giving them a version of divine smite that could be shared, at the extra cost of their bonus action). I may have allowed spirit surge to stack too high given they get passive damage increases; removing improved spirit surge will help but I might also have to decrease spirit points' high availability right now by increasing the costs of other spirit point features (other than Astral Traveler, nothing costs more than 4 right now). means they have to make a choice of whether to use their utility or their damage (like divine smite needing spell slots). I'll do a pass to normalize spirit point spenders' damage, my initial draft estimated costs but didn't compare them against effects similar to what they produce. The only one I'm confident I want to keep is the 1 point per 1 die on spirit surge, and I probably need to make their special features more expensive to compensate.

This is exactly the route that I would take. Hopefully I have fulfilled what you wanted me to do, correct? I know I didn't nearly go as much into detail about design philosophy for your class as you did for mine, but I still hope I helped nontheless.

Since we're all here, if like to propose a few ideas for the next Contest.
-The Contest will be one-month long. Contestants will have 3 weeks (21 days), to design and edit their class. After this period, all entries are considered final a d cannot be changed for the week-long voting period that follows.
-I prefer modular organization, so this might just be me, but I'd prefer if all classes are made in their own post, with the Contest in the title and a link back to the main Contest thread. Submissions on the main contest thread are links to their full-theead counterparts. This has a few benefits. For one, it increases visibility of each class to be critiqued by a wider audience. Some people just don't bother with contests and have o interest looking over a contest thread for gems. Secondly, it increases visibility of the contest itself. People will see a whole bunch of 5e Contest threads and think "man tbis is really popular. Let's see what it's about!" Third, it makes critiques much much easier, as all critiques to a class are on that class's thread. Each class is pretty much contained in their own thread. If the Contests get so big that we end up flooding the Homebrew page, we might have to reconsider.
-All Competitors must critique at least one other class.

These are my immediate thoughts, but open for discussion, of course.

As for the next contest's Theme, I have a few ideas:
Dragons Classes that emulate, study, or derive power from dragons.
Elemental Classes that manipulate or incorporate the four classical elements or the 5 d&d chromatic elements (acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison).
Terror Spooky classes with the ability to instill fear. Not necessarily all about the Frightened condition; just things that are scary or play off of common phobias (like a Spider-mancer or something for archachnophobia).
Faces Classes that specialize in social encounters. The difficulty here is for these classes to have something to do in combat. I'm looking at Bards and Warlocks as examples of Face Classes
Constitution Most classes don't use Constitution except for HP. These classes would have a greater focus on what is otherwise the second-least-used ability score.

I am fine with implementing all of those rules. The first rule is almost identical to the existing mechanic, the last one is an interesting way to get people to focus on it, and the second one was something I probably should have had to begin with.

As for the theme, keep in mind that we also thought up a couple different themes in the Interest Check Thread. The other three themes that were brought up where classes that represent monsters, pacts and incarnum users. Here is how I would order them.

Here is how I would order the ones you had given.

1st, terror: This seems loose enough to advertise all different sorts of classes, and the D&D community tends to eat up horror and edgy characters so this will certainly catch people's eye
2nd, dragons: only because I don't have a major objection to it like I do the others.
3rd, elements: With the introduction of the schools of magic and class power sources (divine, arcane, primal), elements really just are not the best way of organizing phenomenen in the D&D universe.
4th, faces: social interaction does not really involve many checks and is inherently based on role-playing to begin with, and if you ask me, it should remain that way. This goal is pretty much covered with expertise and clever role playing as is, no need to make a class for it.
5th, blast from the past: my newbie eyes hurt as I recognize the fact that the only other RPG I have played is a couple of sessions of CoC, whose classes consist of a bunch of skill proficiences, so I would be out of luck with this one.
6th, constitution: everybody already uses constitution enough as is, no need to make it even more valuable for a player.

[MoleMage]

Alright, I should have time tomorrow to implement all changes and do a proofreading pass, but I wanted to get this thought out now as I was reading:

When you mentioned power sources, I had another idea but no clever name for it. What about classes that access a power source in unintuitive ways? A divine spellcaster who instead of receiving his power from the gods, stole it from their halls. A primal power user who uses the impeccable precision of clockwork to manipulate natural forces. A martial master who honed precognitive abilities at the expense of training in the use of weapons. Something like that could be fun and it's open-ended enough that people will come up with a pretty good variety.

This is exactly the route that I would take. Hopefully I have fulfilled what you wanted me to do, correct? I know I didn't nearly go as much into detail about design philosophy for your class as you did for mine, but I still hope I helped nontheless.

This was great! Even if you don't set out to talk about design philosophy, it bleeds through when you do an inspection of features (for example, you pointed out how all of my power adds up, which was a flaw in my design philosophy since I was ladling all of my class's power into one feature).


EDIT: I think I have finished v2 of the Spiritcaller. In addition to an overall wording pass to change third person to second person, the following features have been added or changed:

• Added the "What is a Spirit" sidebar specifying what counts as a spirit and mentioning that "your spirit" refers to the spirit gained by guiding spirit (in case someone acquires a spirit through other means or tries to apply class features to their own soul or something).
• Fixed the HP of guiding spirit and the wording of its ability to sense nearby spirits. Now only reveals presence, not location. Removed caveat that mortal magic could hide spirits. Added healing on completing a long rest and more details on the requirements to remanifest the spirit.
• Ghostwise sight now has a limited number of uses per long rest, in line with Paladin's Divine sense. The information you receive now includes compulsions affecting the spirit (including Unfinished Business and the like). Removed the caveat that mortal magic could hide spirits.
• Spirit burst moved to 14th level. Wording improved to indicate interactions with Spirit Surge.
• Spirit burst replaced with a new feature similar to turn undead for spirits, but with more options and shorter duration.
• Imbued Spirit costs adjusted, using Monk Ki point spell duplication as a reference. Added non-stacking clause for AC. (cost is now 3/5/7 instead of 2/4/6)
• Eternal Spirit now allows your spirit to share your short rest healing and allows you to remanifest it with 1 HP during a short rest.
• Spirit Journey's third option (incorporeal movement) cost increased. There's not a solid analogue for a 1 round duration incorporeal movement, but it seemed strictly better than the first option for spirit journey.
• Guardian Spirit now costs 3 instead of 2 points to trigger.
• Ley Lines unchanged.
• Astral Traveler cost increased from 8 to 10. Now must refresh on a long rest before it can be used again (as it duplicates a 9th level spell and is not self-only like the monk feature it is most similar to).
• Aspect of the Psychopomp's Guiding Spirit and Reaping Spirit now have (hopefully) clearer wording for the bonus damage to undead. Spirit Surge explicitly does not stack with the spirit's extra damage.
• Added Not Your Time, as Psychopomps did not have a 1st level combat feature, while Bravery and Elements did (this is an old change but I'm not sure whether it was before or after reading).
• Paths of the Other Side now allows a save against hit point reduction even if one is not normally allowed, in addition to its previous effects.
• Ghostflesh cost increased from 3 to 5.
• Cut the Thread cost increased from 5 to 8. It now is once per long rest.
• Fixed a typo in Aspect of Bravery's Guiding Spirit.
• Spectral Volley damage decreased from 5d6 to 3d6. It now creates difficult terrain in its area for one round.
• Concerted Attack replaced with Olympian Spirit, allowing the guiding spirit to make a ranged attack with a range of 20/60. Damage increase was kept as-is.
• Phalanx cost increased to 5 spirit points from 4. Now uses the more 5e-friendly wording of "targets" instead of "allies". Armor class of shieldmen specified.
• Avatar of Bravery now adds Wisdom to Strength and Constitution saving throws in addition to its previous effects. It now specifies that it refreshes on a long rest.
• Wording (hopefully) clearer on Aspect of Elements damage types.
• Extra use of Mark of the Elements is now mentioned in the original feature. Reduced from Wisdom mod to 1.
• Primal Speech now specifies that Aquan, Auran, Ignan, and Terran are the intended dialects of elementals. The Player's Handbook does not have that information (though elementals are mentioned as speaking those four languages).
• Improved Mark of the Elements now lets you change the damage type of an active mark as a bonus action, in addition to increasing the damage.
• Elemental Absorption now can be used on your spirit in addition to yourself. Cost increased from 4 to 5.
• Ascendance now specifies the action to use it (bonus action) and that it refreshes on a long rest.
• Ascendant thunder now deafens targets struck instead of knocking them prone. Creatures deafened by this effect must make a saving throw in order to cast spells until the end of their next turn (using their spellcasting ability). Resistance to damage removed.

[Jama7301]

Man, I should really hang out in the Homebrew forums more. I didn't realize there was a contest going on for 5e. Gonna have to keep some eyes on this.

[Requilac]

Wow Molemage the Spirit Caller is looking great now, I just have couple of minor nitpicks left.

Rebuke Spirits
For the chastised option you say that that the spirit is “Stunned for one round”. You should probably change it to “Stunned until the end of their next turn” because 5e can’t really count rounds reliably.

Imbued Spirits
Slight gramattical error here when you say “When you use this feature on your guiding spirit, it gains bonuses as though it was both weapon and armor.” I think you meant to say “as though it was wearing both weapons and armor.

Olympian Spirit
I would change the range to 30/120 like the javelin, it increases the feature’s overall usefulness without being too overpowered.

[WarrentheHero]

The Inventor has received a minor update. Two things most notably: the attack roll -based Invention now uses a d10 instead of a d8, and Autonomous Inventions were reworked slightly. If you choose to build your AI as Small rather than Medium, you save one Invention Point, it it's physical stats are reduced. In addition, they now have a base walking speed instead of being immobile, but a Clockwork Dynamo will increase their walking speed, OR give them a Fly speed OR give them a Swim speed, and subsequent Invention Points increase those speeds even further

[Requilac]

Oh my, the submissions, all the submissions... I wasn't expecting this. Would you all like it if I were to drop the deadline to the 15th and give an extra week to the voting period so we all have more time to collect our thoughts? This is going to be very hard to review all of these classes.

[MoleMage]

I can't read the Primal Gourmand on my machine. Can you post a PDF of it also?

It's been a busy week for me, but if anyone else wants feedback bullet points I should have time on Monday.

[Lanth Sor]

PDF Link
I have quite a bit to do. I'm updating for spelling so please dismiss any errors, spell check wasn't working. The main idea is kinda like how primal zerg eat things for essence, or Toriko characters get weird powers from food. Spell slots are just magical food for their special abilities.

[Lanth Sor]

Updated post to have code in spoiler if you have homebrewerey issue and will be updating when I get home my computer didn't save to homebrewerey correctly last night so every thing is on a note pad that i changed yeah notepad++

[Jama7301]

Quick question, because I want to know if I need to rework some abilities.

The class you homebrew must be a non-casting class which doesn’t focus on making weapon attacks either

Under this guideline, is a Smiting Paladin disqualified? I'm working on a class that gains a resource, and one of the main ways of using it is to boost attack damage. Should I consider reworking the class to reduce the focus of that?

[MoleMage]

Quick question, because I want to know if I need to rework some abilities.


Under this guideline, is a Smiting Paladin disqualified? I'm working on a class that gains a resource, and one of the main ways of using it is to boost attack damage. Should I consider reworking the class to reduce the focus of that?

My spiritcaller has a variation of smite that's funded with a class resource instead of spell slots, and nobody has suggested that I have left the bounds of the contest yet. You're probably alright as long as you don't give it actual spell slot spells.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Quick question, because I want to know if I need to rework some abilities.


Under this guideline, is a Smiting Paladin disqualified? I'm working on a class that gains a resource, and one of the main ways of using it is to boost attack damage. Should I consider reworking the class to reduce the focus of that?

My spiritcaller has a variation of smite that's funded with a class resource instead of spell slots, and nobody has suggested that I have left the bounds of the contest yet. You're probably alright as long as you don't give it actual spell slot spells.

This would be my interpretation. Something like ki-points would seem fine, or superiority dice. Without this it would be hard to make a functioning class that isn't purely steady-state. As long as they don't have spell slots, spell-slot progression, or a spell list I'd consider it fine.

[Jama7301]

My spiritcaller has a variation of smite that's funded with a class resource instead of spell slots, and nobody has suggested that I have left the bounds of the contest yet. You're probably alright as long as you don't give it actual spell slot spells.

This would be my interpretation. Something like ki-points would seem fine, or superiority dice. Without this it would be hard to make a functioning class that isn't purely steady-state. As long as they don't have spell slots, spell-slot progression, or a spell list I'd consider it fine.

Cool! Thanks a lot. I'm not confident in the build, but I'm having fun making it. Looking forward to seeing the final products.