Saturday, December 23, 2017

Subrace: Yule Elf [ROUGH DRAFT]


Download a selectable-text, printsafe version here!

Just in time for Christmas!

It's been a long time since I've done a stand-alone subrace. I had a plan to release a whole slew of elves for every environment back in the day, but got distracted halfway through and only ended up releasing two elf subraces.

This subrace is less of a serious, intended-to-feel-canon addition to what I've created, and more of a fun, seasonal offering. Who wouldn't love to play a holiday team of yule elves, banding together to rescue Santa, or to defeat their ancestral foe the Krampus once and for all?

FEATURES:

  • Be small, but still an elf, owing to a lineage that involves crafty gnomish blood.
  • Know all the tools, because you never know what you'll need to make before Christmas!
  • Produce things on the fly, every short rest, using slightly tweaked Downtime math.
  • Know who's been naughty, and who's been nice! Maybe even keep a list (checking twice is optional).
CONCERNS:
  • Yuletide Crafting might be semi-abusible, but it doesn't seem that bad at first glance.
  • This is the only elf subrace that gets a choice of ASI, but again I don't think that breaks balance too badly. 
WHAT I LEARNED:
  • When doing research for the lore I was writing, I found out that the Krampus actually harkens back to the pre-Christian Horned God common in pagan winter celebrations. That same Horned God is also considered a central figure in Wild Hunt mythology, so that seemed like a great starting-off point to write some lore!

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Otherworldly Patron: The Monstrosity [ROUGH DRAFT]


Download a selectable-text, printsafe version here!

Well, that took a surprising amount of time!

First, sorry for the small hiatus. December took me by storm, and managed to upset my carefully-laid plans. However! We're back on track, and starting off all that is the Monstrosity, a patron I've made as a Christmas gift for a friend of mine, with whom I share a long and enduring love of films with giant rubbery Japanese monsters smashing models and cardboard cities.

In the world(s) of D&D, a monstrosity is something kaiju-like. Think of the tarrasque, neothelids, purple worms, and similar, monsters both immense and apocalyptic, terrifying portents of nature's wrath.

A pact is struck with these creatures not typically with their consent. Similar to a Great Old One pact, the monster may not even have knowledge that the pact has been struck, but rather the warlock draws on the beast's power through consuming its magically-imbued blood, offspring, or essence.

What destructive tricks does this kaiju-caster have? That leads us to:

FEATURES:

  • Unleash your Destructive Potential to damage anything, anywhere!
  • Frighten your enemies with a Monstrous Roar, as a bonus action OR a reaction.
  • Transform into a nightmarish Monstrosity Spawn, tear up the town, and probably never get invited back. 
  • Customize your monster form and give it the terrifying visage that suits your patron.
CONCERNS:
  • Balance is questionable with Unstoppable Rage and Spawn of the Monstrosity. 
  • I feel like there may overall be a better way of implementing Spawn of the Monstrosity. 
  • Word of Ruin involves casting a buffed 6th-level spell once per long rest, which isn't something other invocations do. I don't think it's imbalanced, per se, but it's definitely a concern. 
WHAT I LEARNED:
  • If you hit a bump in the road and have to slow down, that's fine, just keep going! Homebrew rests for no one.