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Sometimes, with the content I produce, things get lost in the shuffle. Good, flavorful options fall behind and don't get updated properly, and don't quite get to that finished-n'-polished stage I like to have my whole library at.
The Archaeologist rogue was definitely one of those options. As strong with flavor as it was, it never quite got to where I was happy with it. I kept coming at it, revising it, and giving up, because I just couldn't seem to make it work.
So when a Walrock-level Patreon backer (thanks @DrMoradin!) asked me to revise this option, I knew what I had to do:
I gutted 90% of this option, and started over fresh!
I've learned a lot of things about making class options function well recently, and I've put everything I've learned to work here on this project. As it stands now, the Archaeologist is fully functional, well-flavored, and likely will be a treat to play.
CHANGELOG:
- Field Training has been modified slightly, giving a slower climbing speed that scales with existing climbing speeds.
- Intelligent Combat is now Explorer's Tricks, using a number of points equal to your INT mod + 1, that confer mostly non-combat benefits as rewards for being a researcher!
- The Ruin Researcher feature, a similarly non-combat feature, which grants a level of archaeology-type knowledge whenever you want to spend your short rest studying a ruin that you find yourself in.
- Get out of a bad spot with Fortune's Favor, and spend those handy explorer's points to dodge some nasty nat 1's!
- Paragon of Adventure has been fully reworked, and how provides all the explorer's points you could ever need, every short rest.
CONCERNS:
- Lots of changes means at least a few bugs. Always.
- Explorer's Tricks are powerful, but their usage is few and far between. I wonder how they'd feel in actual play.
- Fortune's Favor might not be powerful enough? Or could it be too powerful, with a full INT mod and Paragon of Adventure?
WHAT I LEARNED:
- As much as it hurts, if it's not working, sometimes you just have to throw out what you've made and start over.
Feedback:
ReplyDeleteOn Fortune's Favor, Reliable Talent already does that for proficient checks, so it only affects saving throws and nonproficient checks as-written. Personally, I'd probably just make it apply that same function to proficient saving throws, as very few characters ever get more than 2 anyways, especially if they aren't concerned about Concentration, and if a player wanted to gimp to the degree that could actually use it on all saves well they'd be so limited elsewhere that I don't think it would make any real difference power-wise at that point (like, they'd be an armored car against non-attacks, but they wouldn't have much of a tank turret). If that feels unbalanced, maybe throw in that it cannot be combined with armor that applies disadvantage to Stealth (meaning their AC is effectively capped if they want to abuse this)? I'd also personally word it as being open to interpretation as either luck or skill, but then again I'm biased (the character I want to use this for wouldn't like a luck association).
I also kinda want to suggest that Ruin Researcher should allow some of downtime research option to impact it, maybe granting advantage on the check at a specific location if you spend a number of days (maybe 10 minus your Int bonus min 0?) researching said specific site at a sufficiently-stocked library no more than a month before arrival (as Reliable Talent comes literally 2 levels later and it requires prep, I doubt this suggested power boost would be noticeable).
For Explorer's Tricks, I kinda want to suggest a means to learn something about a creature as part of Ancient Dangers, like a weakness or immunity for example, maybe even one such insight each time you roll initiative against such a creature during the 24 hours (kinda feeling player picks the category of either an ability score which can be fulfilled by a skill proficiency if there is one, a defensive characteristic which could include a save prof, HP, AC, etc, or a trait/action that's basically anything else and the DM then picks which specific item from the stat block to reveal with "there is nothing more to learn" being a valid answer)? I'd also suggest Polyglot working for 24 hours as well probably wouldn't break the game and make it more consistent (it does limit understanding and take a resource, after all).
Now I'm psyched to get a DM to let me use this... finally I've got a 5e subclass that feels right for my bank-owner's youngest son who refuses to be associated with thieves and dislikes relying on luck whenever possible, while sporting cufflinks of the holy symbols of Charmalaine and Dalt (yes, obscure Greyhawk deities but they're the only ones that really fit his personality to me)...