5th Edition - Witch Knights and Fel Sorcerers

I like 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, but I haven't done much in the way of writing more material for it, other than random characters as a means to learn the rules. So here is a fighter martial archetype and a sorcerous origin.

The Witch Knight: A Fighter Martial Archetype

This is essentially the eldritch fighter martial archetype re-worked to have the warlock's pact magic and invocations. While I like the concept of a fighter with some dark magic, I don't think this archetype really brings anything new that a multi-class fighter/warlock.

<< PDF >> (6.3 mb)
<< JPG >> (580 kb)

The Fel-borne: A Sorcerous Origin

The Fel-borne sorcerous origin gains their powers from a fiendish bloodline or possessing spirit. The idea originally came from the Mchawi wizard class and Barozi template from Atlas Games' Nyambe, a fantasy Africa setting for the D20 System.

<< PDF >> (2.9 mb)
<< JPG >> (723 kb)

5th Edition - Zaheer (Re-post)

It has been brought to my attention that I am missing my old Zaheer character write-up for 5th Edition D&D. A little over a year ago, my original site had some issues with it and I lost everything I posted. Well, the posts for my old blog, I still have earlier drafts of everything I've posted. So I spent the morning re-writing Zaheer. I also created a PDF as well.

Screenshot from Nickelodeon's “Avatar: The Legend of Korra".

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Zaheer

Disciple of Guru Laghima, Member of the Red Lotus

Chaotic Evil Human Monk of the Elements 11

Medium Humanoid (human)
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Armor Class. 15.
Hit Points. 69. Hit Dice. 11d8.
Speed. 60 ft. Initiative. +3.
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STR 10 (+0), DEX 16 (+3), CON 12 (+1).
INT 12 (+1), WIS 14 (+2), CHA 12 (+1).
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Proficiencies. Proficiency Bonus +4.
• Saving Throws. Strength +7. Dexterity +7.
• Skills. Acrobatics +7, Insight +6, Persuasion +5, Religion +5, Stealth +7.
• Tools. Artisan's tools (Calligrapher's supplies).
• Armor. None.
• Weapons. Simple weapons, Shortsword.
• Languages. Common, Celestial, Draconic, Elvish.
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Feats. Athlete, Mobile, Polearm master.
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Immunities. Disease, Poison.
Senses. Normal. Passive Perception 12.

Actions

Attack. Can attack Twice with the Attack action, using the following:
• Quarterstaff. Melee attack +7. Damage 1d6+3 bludgeoning (versatile 1d8+3).

• Martial Arts. Melee attack +7. Damage 1d8+3 bludgeoning.

Racial/Background Traits

• Human (variant). Ability scores (+1 Dexterity, Wisdom). Bonus skill (Persuasion). Bonus feat (Athlete).

• Acolyte (background). Skill proficiencies (Insight, Religion). Languages (choose any two). Feature (Shelter of the Faithful).

Monk Class Traits

• Unarmored Defense. Armor Class 15 when wearing no armor, nor using a shield.

• Martial Arts. When unarmed or wielding a monk weapon:
— Can use Dexterity instead of Strength for attack and damage rolls while unarmed or with monk weapons.

— Unarmed damage is 1d8.

— After using the Attack action with an unarmed strike or monk weapon, can make one unarmed strike attack as a bonus action.

• Ki. Points 11. Ki Attack +6. Ki Save DC 14. Can spend Ki points on the following abilities:

—Flurry of Blows. After using an Attack action, can spend 1 Ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.

—Patient Defense. Can spend 1 Ki point to use Dodge as bonus action.

—Step of the Wind. Can spend 1 Ki point to use Disengage or Dash as a bonus action, and double jumping distance.

• Unarmored Movement. When not wearing armor, nor using a shield, Speed increased by 20 ft. Can move along vertical and across liquid surfaces without falling.

• Way of the Four Elements (monastic tradition). Can spend up to 4 Ki points on a spell. Elemental disciplines are:
—Elemental Attunement. Can spend 1 Ki point to briefly control elemental forces.

—Fists of Unbroken Air. As an action, can spend 2 Ki points and have one enemy within 30 ft. make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, target takes 3d10 bludgeoning damage, plus an extra 1d10 damage for each additional Ki point spent, and push target 20 ft. away and knock it prone. Takes one-half damage on a successful save and not knocked prone or pushed back.

—Ride the Wind. Can spend 4 Ki points to cast the fly spell on self only.

—Rush of Gales. Can spend 2 Ki points to cast the gust of wind spell.

• Deflect Missiles. When hit by a missile from a ranged weapon attack, can use Reaction to reduce damage by 1d10+11. If damage is reduced to 0 and missile is small enough to hold in one hand and have one hand free, can spend 1 Ki to make a ranged attack with the caught missile as part of the same Reaction. Treated as a monk weapon for the attack.

• Slow Fall. As a Reaction, can reduce falling damage by 55 ft.

• Extra Attack. Can attack twice with the Attack action.

• Stunning Strike. After hitting a creature with an unarmed strike or melee weapon attack, can spend 1 Ki point to attempt a stunning strike. Target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be Stunned until the end of next turn.

• Ki-Empowered Strikes. Unarmed strikes count as magical for purposes of resistances and immunities.

• Evasion. When subject to an effect that allows a Dexterity saving throw for one-half damage, on a successful save no damage is taken instead and only one-half damage on failed save.

• Stillness of Mind. Can use action to end one Charmed or Frightened effect on self.

• Purity of Body. Immunity to disease and poison.

Possessions

Air nomad robes, Quarterstaff.

Creation Notes

Starting Ability Scores. 15, 13, 12, 12, 12, 10.

5th Edition - Grigori Rasputin (Anastasia, 1997)

Today, I have a character/monster write-up of for 5th edition; Grigori Rasputin from the animated movie, Anastasia. At first, this was going to be a standard character write-up, like my previous ones. But like pretty much all of my ideas, I switched mid-way through the process and started writing it as a "monster". I don't have much play experience with 5th edition, so the write-up is pretty much the same as a player character, with minor tweaks here and there.

Kits and Kaboodles (5E, Basic Fantasy, Fantasy AGE)

In a bit of late-night inspiration, I had an idea for simplifying the process of equipping characters, and that is with Kits and Kaboodles. Kits and Kaboodles are a collection of items intended for a specific task; such as adventuring, healing, cooking, wilderness survival, etc. Now instead of buying equipment piece-by-piece, you just buy a Kit or Kaboodle for whatever purpose you want and get on with the game.
Admittedly, this idea is nothing new; I've seen similar ideas in other games many times before. Even so, here is my take on the concept for 5th Edition D&D, Basic Fantasy, and Fantasy AGE. But, really, it can be applied to any game system with a bit of tweaking.

Kits and Kaboodles

Kits and Kaboodles represent a collection of items for a broadly-defined purpose, such as adventuring, healing, cooking, wilderness survival, etc. However, there is a key difference between them; Kits are re-useable items that modify a character's chance of success, whereas Kaboodles have a limited number of uses before being exhausted.

Examples

Here is a sample list of Kits and Kaboodles. Obviously, this isn't a complete listing, so use your imagination for other uses.

Kits: Adventuring, Blacksmithing, Climbing, Cold-weather, Grooming, Warm-weather, Leatherworking, Riding.
Kaboodles: Alchemy, Cooking, Fishing, Food/Water, Healing, Perfume, Traps/Snares.

Quality Control

Another aspect of a Kit and Kaboodle is its Quality. Quality determines the item cost and weight of the Kit/Kaboodle, a Kit's modifier, and a Kaboodle's number of uses.

ITEM        COST*   WEIGHT    NOTES
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KITS
  Poor        4      3 lb.    -2/-1** penalty to any related ability tests
  Common      8      6 lb.
  Fine       12     12 lb.    +2/+1** bonus to any related ability tests

KABOODLES
  Poor        2      2 lb.    3 Uses
  Common      4      4 lb.    6 Uses
  Fine        8      8 lb.    12 Uses

* Costs are in gold pieces (gp) for 5th Edition and Basic Fantasy.
   In silver pieces (sp) for Fantasy AGE.

** 5th Edition and Basic Fantasy modifiers are +/- 2.
    Fantasy AGE modifiers are +/- 1.

The Kit AND the Kaboodle!

Now, it is possible to have a Kit and a Kaboodle both intended for the same purpose. However, in-game they are both still treated as separate items. For example, you can have a fine-quality Alchemy Kit (for a +1 bonus), but have poor-quality Alchemy Kaboodles (for 3 uses).

Lost or Damaged Items

When using Kits and Kaboodles, it is still possible to lose or ruin items.
For Kaboodles, a lost item is easy to deal with, you simply lose 1 use of the Kaboodle.
Kits are a bit more involved, however. First, make a note on what Kit item was lost. Now, anytime you attempt to perform an action that would require the lost Kit item, you cannot perform that action. But you are still able to use the Kit for any other actions unrelated to the lost item.

Weapons, Armor, and Specialty Items

Another concern is that certain items, especially weapons and armor, cannot be found in a Kit or a Kaboodle. These types of items must be purchased individually.

The Exception: Ammunition Kaboodles

Ammunition may be bought as a Kaboodle. But instead of tracking individual pieces of ammunition, the Kaboodle tracks the useage of ammunition in an abstract way. After each combat encounter in which you use a weapon with ammunition, you lose 1 "Use". In addition, you may lose addition "Uses" whenever you roll badly on attack rolls made with such weapons. How this is handled in-game depends on the system being used. When your ammunition Kaboodle reaches 0, you are out of ammunition.

5th Edition / Basic Fantasy: Whenever you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll, you lose 1 "Use" of ammunition.
Fantasy AGE: Whenever you miss on an attack roll AND the Stunt Die rolled a 1, you lose 1 "Use" of ammunition.

Fumble Points

Sometimes, Lady Luck doesn't smile on you during a game session. Roll after roll you continue to fail during the more important scenes.

The idea for Fumble Points came after watching a youtube video showcasing a certain player's remarkable "ability" to fail nearly every roll by a wide margin through two gaming sessions. It got me thinking how frustrating that would be during a session, sitting there and continually failing and not doing anything useful. So I had the idea for Fumble Points.

Fumble Points tries to help alleviate a player's string of bad luck with a mechanic that grants the player free re-rolls whenever they fail miserably. Now, I know this idea is nothing new, I've read/heard about similar mechanics in other games, but since I can't remember what those games are, I came up with my own rules.

Below, I have describe using Fumble Points for 5th Edition, D20-based games, and Fantasy AGE. But I think these rules can be used with nearly any roleplaying game that relies on dice rolls to resolve actions and doesn't already have a similar mechanic.

5th Edition Fumble Points

(1) Earning Fumble Points: Whenever a player rolls a 1 or 2 for an action and fails, they receive one Fumble Point.
(2) Spending Fumble Points: Spending a Fumble Point works like Inspiration.
(3) Success, Failure, and Fumble Points: If the action succeeds, the Fumble Die is spent as usual. However, if the action fails even by spending the Fumble Point, the Fumble Point is not spent.
(4) Limits on Fumble Points: A character can only have one Fumble Point at a time.

D20-based Fumble Points

(1) Earning Fumble Points: Whenever a player rolls a 1 or 2 for an action and fails, they receive one Fumble Point.
(2) Spending Fumble Points: Spending a Fumble Point allows the player to get a second roll for one action, choosing the better roll. Fumble Points can be used on ability checks, skill checks, saving throws, and attack rolls.
(3) Success, Failure, and Fumble Points: If the action succeeds, the Fumble Die is spent as usual. However, if the action fails even by spending the Fumble Point, the Fumble Point is not spent.
(4) Limits on Fumble Points: A character can only have one Fumble Point at a time.

Fantasy AGE Fumble Points

(1) Earning Fumble Points: Whenever a player rolls a 6 or less on an ability test and fails, they earn a Fumble Point.
(2) Spending Fumble Points: Spending a Fumble Point allows the player to re-roll all three dice on a single ability test, using the better result. Fumble Points can be used on ability tests, spellcasting tests, and attack rolls.
(3) Success, Failure, and Fumble Points: If the action succeeds, the Fumble Die is spent as usual. However, if the action fails even by spending the Fumble Point, the Fumble Point is not spent.
(4) Limits on Fumble Points: A character can only have one Fumble Point at a time.

5th Edition - The Witch Knight Fighter Archetype

Today I present a new fighter archetype for 5th Edition; the Witch Knight!

The idea for the archetype came from two places; from my previous mentioned D&D setting, and as an experiment to see if I could create a variant on the eldritch fighter that uses pact magic instead of traditional spellcasting.

The look of the document was made using the online editor at homebrewery.naturalcrit.com. I spent roughly six hours fiddling with the code while also catching up on the few episodes of Critical Role that I've missed. My earlier attempts at re-creating that 5th Edition style, as seen in my miqo'te and 5E santa write-ups, was a combination of GIMP and Open Office. Using the homebrewery editor was much, much faster and more enjoyable.

Overall I think it turned out okay, if from a rather unoriginal idea; it is basically the first seven levels of the warlock class, minus a few class abilities. So, I have no idea on how well it would play in-game or if it is well-balanced, but it was fun writing it.

You can find the homebrewery link here or download a PDF of it here.

New Blog, Old Files

Here is a list of files that I linked to on the old blog, or at least as many as I could remember.

5TH EDITION FANTASY

Final Fantasy XIV Miqo'te, 5th edition
• .PNG file
• .JPG files: #1, #2, #3
• PDF

Santa Clause, 5th edition
• .PNG file
• .JPG files: #1, #2, #3
• PDF

D20 SYSTEM

• (PDF) Battle Sorcerer base class

SAVAGE WORLDS

• (PDF) Mad King Thorn from Guild Wars 2

TRUE20 ADVENTURE ROLEPLAYING

• (PDF) Brave Gaming! Character write-ups of characters from Disney-Pixar's Brave
• (PDF) Culinary Magic
• (PDF) Witch-Hunter heroic role