[D&D 4e] Rune Guard: Runepriest Defender Conversion (PEACH)

[Nuptup]

Runepriest Variant
A Runeguard can be chosen as a Variant of the Runepriest during character creation. By doing so, you lose the Rune of Mending class feature in exchange for the Battle Rune class feature. This changes your role in a party from Leader to Defender as well as modifying your starting stats and 1st level class feature effects as seen below.

Spoiler: Class Block

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Role: Defender. You use powerful runes to defend your comrades on the battlefield.
Power Source: Divine and Martial. You trust in the power held within runic sigils while also perfecting your combat prowess.
Key Abilities: Strength, Constitution, Wisdom
Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, Leather, Hide, Chainmail, Scale, Shield (Light), Shield (Heavy)
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Melee, Simple Ranged
Bonus to Defense: +2 Will.
Hit Points at 1st Level : 15+ Constitution Score
Hit Points per Level Gained : 6
Healing Surges per Day : 9+ Constitution Modifier
Trained Skills : Religion. From the class skills list below, choose 3 more trained skills at 1st level.
Class Skills : Arcana (Int), Athletics (Str), Endurance (Con), Heal (Wis), History (Int), Insight (Wis), Religion (Int), Thievery (Dex)
Class features: Battle Rune, Rune Master, Runic Artistry

RUNEPRIEST CLASS FEATURES

Rune of Battle
Runeguards carry with them a Rune of Battle, often tattooed onto themselves or etched onto their equipment similar to a holy symbol. Through constant exposure to the rune’s power, the Runeguard becomes more resilient as a result. The Runeguard gains the following changes compared to a Runepriest, which are already applied to the values above:

• Role set to Defender
• Added Martial Power Source
• +3 Hit Points at 1st Level
• +1 Hit Point per Level Gained
• +2 Healing Surges per Day
• Proficiency with Shield (Heavy)

Lastly, any Runepriest Class or Runepriest Paragon Path power that causes a creature to be Marked causes them to be subject to your Runic Barrier instead.

Rune Master
Powers with the runic keyword have two possible added benefits, labeled Rune of Destruction and Rune of Protection. When a character uses a runic power, he or she chooses one of the two runes, and the power gains the corresponding benefit. When a character chooses a rune in this way, he or she enters the rune state associated with the chosen rune. A character’s rune state ends when he or she enters a different rune state or falls unconscious.
While a Runeguard has an active Rune State, the Rune State projects an aura 1 from them. Each Rune State has the ability to apply your Runic Barrier to enemies as described in the following sections.
For the purpose of other Marks and Defender Auras, treat any creature affected by your Rune State as if your Runic Barrier was a Defender Aura.

Spoiler: Runic Barrier

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Any enemy affected by your Runic Barrier takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls when it makes an attack that does not include among its targets either you or an ally of yours who has a defender aura active. Marked enemies are not subject to this aura.

Spoiler: Rune of Destruction

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While in the Rune State of Destruction, enemies inside the aura are subject to your Runic Barrier and allies receive a +1 bonus to attack rolls against them.
Enemies that leave your Rune State of Destruction aura are subject to your Runic Barrier until the start of your next turn.

Spoiler: Rune of Protection

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While in the Rune State of Protection, allies inside the aura gain resist 2 to all damage or increase any existing resistance by 2. The resistance increases to 4 at 11th level and 6 at 21st level. Any enemy that targets an ally that is inside your Rune State of Protection aura is subject to your Runic Barrier until the start of your next turn.

Runic Artistry
Runeguards with the Runic Artistry class feature choose one of the following rune magic traditions and gain the corresponding benefits:

Spoiler: Defiant Word

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The Runeguard gains implement proficiency with tomes. While conscious and in possession of a tome, a passage of protective runes leap from the pages and encircle you.
This passage provides a +2 shield bonus to AC and Reflex while you wield the tome in one hand or when you possess the tome and have one hand free (not carrying a shield, an off-hand weapon, a two-handed weapon, or anything else).
A tome wielded in this way counts as a simple melee weapon with a +3 proficiency bonus, dealing 1d6 damage and belonging to the mace weapon group.

Defiant Rune
As an Opportunity Action that you take when an enemy attacks an ally with an attack that doesn't include you as a target while subject to your Runic Barrier, deal 2 + your Strength modifier damage to the enemy. Increase the damage dealt by 3 at level 11, and again at level 21.

Spoiler: Serene Blade

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The Runeguard gains weapon proficiency with military heavy blades.
While not wearing heavy armor, the Runeguard can add his or her Wisdom modifier instead of his or her Dexterity or Intelligence modifier to AC.

Serene Respite
As an Immediate Interrupt that you take when an enemy hits an ally with an attack that doesn't include you as a target while subject to your Runic Barrier, reduce the damage dealt by the triggering attack to any one creature by an amount equal to 5 + your Wisdom modifier.
At 11th level, reduce the damage dealt by 10 + your Wisdom modifier.
At 21st level, reduce the damage dealt by 15 + your Wisdom modifier.

Spoiler: Wrathful Hammer

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The Runeguard gains weapon proficiency with military hammers and military maces.

Wrathful Beacon
As an Immediate Reaction that you take when an enemy targets an ally with an attack that doesn't include you as a target while subject to your Runic Barrier, cause the triggering enemy to grant Combat Advantage until the start of their next turn and the next attack against them from one of your allies deals extra damage equal to your Constitution modifier.

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This has only been tested in a single one-shot, but it seemed pretty fun to play. Would like to hear what others have to say about it.

[BoxO'Spice]

Wow, I didn't think that 4e would still be getting homebrew in this day and age!

I like what you have going here. I'm curious about your design philosophy for this version of runepriest, though - what made you want to give it a defender option? Also, since I personally haven't gone over base runepriest much, do you think the powers mesh well enough with a defender role without needing any changes or additions?

[Nuptup]

Eh, some of us are crazy enough to still want to mess with it.

As for design philosophy, I just really like the imagery of a frontline defender that projects a large visible rune on the ground around themselves and allies, keeping them all safe from harm. So, I took that idea and dropped it onto Runepriest.

As for is it a good enough defender, I would say it's effectively a 75% Defender / 25% Leader. You get all of the strictly required defender mechanics, and some of your powers that were already off-defendery are even better now, and the rest of your leader-focused powers are now there as nice bonuses instead of build defining options.

I've found this Rune Guard works very well in melee-heavy group comps where your allies are typically going to be sturdier than average anyway, meaning they can afford to take an extra un-mitigated attack, and then you can afford to spend a bit of your leader-y mechanics to sustain them.

I also find that the swap-Mechanic for Protection Rune and Destruction Rune allows you to play kind of like a Berserker if they could freely drop in and out of their defender aura and berserker frenzy, allowing you to either REALLY hunker down and keep allies safe, or go on the offensive and encourage allies to focus fire enemies.

It's been pretty fun, and I'm probably going to be playing on in a campaign that's starting up this Sunday, so hopefully I can get more data on it! I'm glad to see it getting some interest. I also have other homebrews in my signature link if you want to check them out as well!

[Yakk]

1. You need to add martial powers. Otherwise, what does the power source addition do? How is this more martial than say a Paladin?

2. You left in what is, in my experience, the most annoying part of the Rune Priest - tracking a dynamically changing +1 modifier

3. I'd want to give it a mechanical twist. Something that makes playing it feel different on the board than other defenders.

...

Oh, I have an idea for a twist. What if your defender aura wasn't tied to your location? Just like how a swordmage mark and punishment is remote, what if you placed your defender rune of battle on the battlefield, and it wasn't tied to where you are?

This gets a bit tricky, in that I'd argue the main thematic difference between a Defender and a Controller is that the Defender uses their own body as part of the Control of enemies, while the Controller does so remotely.

Placing the Rune of Battle might require being at the spot - so you can't put it remotely, instead you stamp it out. But then you can move away from it. And maybe we could encourage having 2 Runes of Battle, one where you are and one where you have been.

Maybe you can place a Rune of Battle by ending your turn at a spot? And it lasts for 2 turns. That would prevent you from placing a Rune of Battle somewhere and never coming back to it, or placing it and running away before someone can react. In turn, that means we can make the Rune of Battle annoying for foes (as it is tied to the Rune Priest being adjacent at least 1 in 2 turns).

It would be an interesting bit of positional gameplay. And with minis, drawing that 3x3 rune on the board is fun.

It could involve changing its effect back to Mark (end of enemies turn); that would mean that enemies who leave the Rune of Battle would still be subject to the -2 and riders.

This moves the Defender Runepriest closer to being Divine.

...

There are 2 cross-power source classes that seem to work. The Scout Ranger and the Berserker. The Scout Ranger uses it as an excuse to mix in some magical utility powers (and honestly, could do better). The Berserker is really solid (it just needs development), with its phase-transition from Martial Defender to Primal Striker.

A Ranger redone as a Martial/Primal cross to start off could have had the idea of at-will martial attack powers, primal "attack" riders and marital "attack" actions, with primal magic that it uses feeling different than its martial powers.

Here, we just have Martial tacked on. I'd want to tie it in to some mechanical doodad in the subclass, but I don't see where to put it. It looks like you added it as "oh and you can use weapons"?

...

I hate dynamically changing +1 modifiers. They aren't big enough to want to track them.

I loved the idea of the Rune Priest, but my problem is that their class feature wasn't given enough power budget. So it is fiddly and dynamic and teeny tiny.

I don't know how to fix that. :(

[Nuptup]

1. You need to add martial powers. Otherwise, what does the power source addition do? How is this more martial than say a Paladin?

It adds Martial Feats as an option to take right away without forcing a Multiclass. While most will likely have the Wisdom needed to grab Battle Awareness, giving them Fighter and Martial, this option enables them to forgo the "mandatory" fighter dip and get right into the martial feats if they want. Also, I do plan on adding some powers, likely one to easy power selection bracket that directly have the martial keyword and have some interactions with some style feats, but that will be something I do after getting some testing with the baseline kit first.

2. You left in what is, in my experience, the most annoying part of the Rune Priest - tracking a dynamically changing +1 modifier

I play almost exclusively on VTTs, such as Foundry, which makes automating these dynamically changing +1's extremely easy. For some people, throwing out stacking small bonuses is part of the fun for them, and this retains that feeling. I apologize that it doesn't fit distinctly with your playstyle, but it does for other people and I don't see the requirement to change that.

3. I'd want to give it a mechanical twist. Something that makes playing it feel different on the board than other defenders.

It already has a very unique mechanical twist that makes it unique from other defenders with how it applies it's defender mechanic, having the option to either apply it to enemies within your aura, or to apply it to enemies attacking your allies within the aura, allowing you to have good protection options against enemy attacks regardless of their position if your allies like to mob up, for example in a melee heavy group, or if you need to hunker down against archer enemies.

Oh, I have an idea for a twist. What if your defender aura wasn't tied to your location? Just like how a swordmage mark and punishment is remote, what if you placed your defender rune of battle on the battlefield, and it wasn't tied to where you are?

This gets a bit tricky, in that I'd argue the main thematic difference between a Defender and a Controller is that the Defender uses their own body as part of the Control of enemies, while the Controller does so remotely.

Placing the Rune of Battle might require being at the spot - so you can't put it remotely, instead you stamp it out. But then you can move away from it. And maybe we could encourage having 2 Runes of Battle, one where you are and one where you have been.

Maybe you can place a Rune of Battle by ending your turn at a spot? And it lasts for 2 turns. That would prevent you from placing a Rune of Battle somewhere and never coming back to it, or placing it and running away before someone can react. In turn, that means we can make the Rune of Battle annoying for foes (as it is tied to the Rune Priest being adjacent at least 1 in 2 turns).

It would be an interesting bit of positional gameplay. And with minis, drawing that 3x3 rune on the board is fun.

It could involve changing its effect back to Mark (end of enemies turn); that would mean that enemies who leave the Rune of Battle would still be subject to the -2 and riders.

This moves the Defender Runepriest closer to being Divine.

I do REALLLLLLLY like the sound of that, but currently it would be such a drastic change to something that has only received a small amount of testing. I need to get more data with how the mechanic works currently before I try to drastically alter it. I will absolutely be keeping this idea in my back pocket though. It could also become a new utility power for the class to effectively imprint your rune on the ground where you stand, leaving it behind as you can continue onward, effectively replicating your active runestate when you cast it at that location for a set time. Maybe give it a sustain minor or something.

There are 2 cross-power source classes that seem to work. The Scout Ranger and the Berserker. The Scout Ranger uses it as an excuse to mix in some magical utility powers (and honestly, could do better). The Berserker is really solid (it just needs development), with its phase-transition from Martial Defender to Primal Striker.

A Ranger redone as a Martial/Primal cross to start off could have had the idea of at-will martial attack powers, primal "attack" riders and marital "attack" actions, with primal magic that it uses feeling different than its martial powers.

Here, we just have Martial tacked on. I'd want to tie it in to some mechanical doodad in the subclass, but I don't see where to put it. It looks like you added it as "oh and you can use weapons"?

I personally really enjoy playing the berserker, but even then, the power types are more of a restriction than a feature. We're currently running a game where our defender primary berserker can just stay in defender mode while using primal powers, because there's not many interesting martial powers, and our player/group wanted a defender barbarian, not a martial striker.

I hate dynamically changing +1 modifiers. They aren't big enough to want to track them.

I loved the idea of the Rune Priest, but my problem is that their class feature wasn't given enough power budget. So it is fiddly and dynamic and teeny tiny.

I don't know how to fix that. :(

Again, the easiest fix for this is automating it. On VTTs, this problem is "solved" because you can completely automate it, meaning it just works and you don't have to worry about it. I don't have a solution for pen and paper play, but at least in my use case, that's irrelevant. Even my IRL games use a VTT for maps and such, so we visually track our buffs on tablets and apply the applicable bonuses to our physical dice rolls. It's a core part of the class's playstyle identity, and while it can be finicky and sometimes annoying, it's not something I personally plan to change, and at least in my applications it is not a burden to retain it. I apologize if that's not the answer you wanted to hear though.

[Yakk]

We're currently running a game where our defender primary berserker can just stay in defender mode while using primal powers, because there's not many interesting martial powers

Yes, the lack of support for the Berserker is annoying.

I wonder if just giving it access to Fighter at-will, encounter attack powers would work. (But not daily and utility).

Or just creating a pile of your own martial powers. But I'm not sure what really distinguishes a pre-rage martial Berserker from a Fighter... I guess the Fighter weaponmaster should be more about precision weapon use or something?

We could grant access to Fighter Invigorating powers. Those are a quirky set of powers, and it is a pseudo-barbarian in theme.