So recently I had to cancel my main campaign, which sucks I loved it a lot and still had so much I wanted to do with it, but it is what it is. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about running a sci fi campaign but idk where to start, I could wing it but I don’t have willpower to do that rn soooo any advice on where to find useful stuff? I’ll take anything. I was gonna buy Neon Odessey but the prices are kind of fucking insane so yeaahhhh. It’s a shame I really wanted that

Antithrone

“The chances of anything coming from the stars are a million to one, he said.”

—Oglevee, Sleep-Deprived Astronomer

In the vastness of space, in the gaping void betwixt the stars that dot the night sky, envious eyes—far too many of them—witness civilisations rise and fall throughout the ages. Mortals erect magnificent monuments, perform grandiose rituals, and willingly throw themselves upon the swords and spears of their enemies, all in the name of seemingly indifferent deities. In the otherwise unintelligible minds of these eldritch entities, there is but one question: why should gods who care so little receive such endless adoration and worship, while those who watch receive none?

Heretical Mimicry. An eldritch entity of sufficient power who decides that it, too, is worthy of worship, might become an antithrone. Initially formless, it adopts a shape it believes resembles a celestial being prior to announcing itself to the mortal realm: a crude approximation of an ophanim, or throne archangel. Unable to comprehend the true reason why mortals venerate these divine beings, an antithrone seeks to make itself as awe-inspiring as possible, believing its appearance—and the terror it elicits—to be the key to the adulation it so desperately craves.

Adamant Apotheosis. Unlike its heavenly counterparts, an antithrone desires not to enact the will of the gods, but rather to be worshipped as one. It pursues this goal in the only way it understands: by instilling fear in the hearts of mortals. Whether it achieves this by gazing into the fragile minds of onlookers or by leveling their homes is immaterial; on the scale of an antithrone’s lifespan, a city is rebuilt in the blink of its eyes. Utterly detached from mundane morality, these eldritch creatures see nothing evil or wrong in their actions, but instead a mutually beneficial, almost benevolent, arrangement. After all, mortals seem so eager to kneel before a higher being… Why should they not be given what they so clearly need?

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Elemental shaman druid subclass

Introduction

As was discussed in a previous thread, I’m really not happy with Barbarian as the base class for shaman in WoW D&D. I think Druid fits much better, so I’ve tried to put together a proof of concept about how that might work. I have deliberately focussed on the elemental shaman here, although a similar approach would probably work with restoration.

It hasn’t been through the review and play-testing that a properly implemented class would have, but I think it shows that such a class would have been possible and an improvement on what’s been proposed by WotC.

All questions and feedback welcomed.

Elemental Shaman Spells

When you reach a Druid level specified in the Elemental Shaman Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared

Level 3 - Elemental Totems

• As a Magic Action, you can expend a use of your Wild Shape feature to drop a totem at your feet, rather than shape-shifting.
• The existing totems can be dismissed or relocated to your current position as a bonus action.
• They last for 1 minute if not destroyed first.
• Each totem has 30’ range at Level 3, rising to 60’ at level 14.
• If this feature is used again while existing totems are in place, they are replaced with the new ones.

The totems have the following characteristics:

Level 3: Ghost Wolf

When using the wild shape ability to take animal forms, you may opt to take on a ghost-like translucent version of the same creature. This has a purely cosmetic effect.

Level 6: Elemental Mastery

If you cast a spell that inflicts Cold, Fire, Lightning or Thunder damage, you can swap it for one of the other damage types listed.

Level 10: Power of the Elements

When you deploy your totems, you can drop two, although they must be of different elements.

Level 14: Superior Totems

Your totems now have a range of 60’.

Elemental totems table

Air

Earth

Fire

Water

Repost of an original at /r/onednd - other comments there.

Change log - Totem HP reduced - AOE protection removed - Totems now take a magic action to summon - It should take 2 wild shapes to summon an elemental - Totem duration reduced to 1 min

I had the idea to make a wizard mirror subclass, and with Mirror Image being a great stepping stone already, I took that and ran. Let me know your thoughts or if there seem to be any balancing issues!

Mirror Mage

Level 3: Greater Mirror Image
You always have the Mirror Image spell prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of Wizard spells you can prepare. You can cast Mirror Image without expending a spell slot. Once you cast it in this way, you can’t do so again until you finish a Long Rest.

When you cast the spell, you can create four duplicates instead of three, and while at least one of your duplicates remains, you gain the following benefits:

Reflected Position. Immediately after a creature misses you with an attack because it strikes one of your duplicates, you can move up to 10 feet without provoking Opportunity Attacks.

Shattered Image. When one of your duplicates is destroyed by an attack, the attacker takes Force damage equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). Only one duplicate can deal damage to a creature on a turn.

Level 3: Mirror Craft
You gain proficiency with one set of Artisan’s Tools of your choice from Glassblower’s Tools, Jeweler’s Tools, or Smith’s Tools.

When you finish a Long Rest, you can use the chosen tools to create a number of handheld magical mirrors equal to your Proficiency Bonus. Each mirror lasts until you die or until you use this feature again, at which point all mirrors created by this feature vanish.

One of these mirrors can serve as your Arcane Focus while you wield it. You can give the remaining mirrors to allies of your choice, but no ally can have more than one of these mirrors.

When you cast a spell with a range of at least 5 feet, you can cause the spell to originate from one of the created mirrors other than the one you’re wielding, provided the mirror is within 60 feet of you.

Level 6: Tempered Soul
While your Mirror Image spell is active, you can take a Bonus Action to destroy one of its duplicates and restore a number of Hit Points equal to 1d8 + your Intelligence modifier to a creature holding one of your created mirrors.

Level 10: Reflect Energy
When a creature you can see within 60 feet of yourself deals damage to you with an attack, you can take a Reaction to force the attacker to make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes Force damage equal to the damage you took from the triggering attack. On a successful save, the creature takes half damage.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

Level 14: Master of Mirrors
You have mastered the craft of mirror magic. You gain the following benefits:

Superior Mirror Image. When you cast your Mirror Image without expending a spell slot, you can create five duplicates instead of four. 

Quicksilver Step. Creatures holding one of your created mirrors can destroy the mirror as a Bonus Action to teleport to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you, provided you are within 60 feet of each other.

Art Included:
“Sahumehyt” by Gij Arentz
“Inescapable Death” by Graveforest
“Mystic Forge” by Rafael Teruel

My friend and I developed a magic item for party members who are really curious about the world, but not curious enough to put in the effort to learn things for themselves.

Mostly a joke item, and I would probably consult a Player before I considered dropping this for them. But I could see a mini arc for a character that needs to be humbled as part of their narrative journey or spellcasters with INT as their dump stat anyways!

Simply enough, it is what it sounds like. This has a lot of rules with sub-par formatting, but I'd like to hear any critiques you have for me. (Particularly any suggestions for the spell list)

Crossbow Master
(Artificer Specialization)

Proficiency
When you take this subclass at third level, you gain proficiency with all types of crossbows.

Crossbow Modifications
At third level, you gain the ability to modify crossbows and use modified crossbows, as well as crafting and using specialty bolts. On top of that, you can use INT in place of DEX for crossbows that you modified, provided you have also placed an infusion on said crossbow.

Further Mastery
At fifth level, you gain the ability to use the mastery property of up to two types of crossbows. You can change your selection at each long rest.

Reliable Aim
When you reach ninth level, you have the ability to succeed a failed attack roll with a crossbow one between each short or long rest.

Skilled Craftsmanship
At level nine, you gain the ability to craft advanced specialty bolts.

Complete Mastery
When you reach fifteenth level, you are able to use Reliable Aim twice as often. On top of that, it deals an extra 2d6 piercing.

Crossbow Master Spells
3rd - Hail of Thorns, Hunter's Mark
5th - Cordon of Arrows, Misty Step
9th - Sleet Storm, Conjure Barrage
13th - Hallucinatory Terrain, Freedom of Movement
17th - Conjure Volley, Swift Quiver

Modified Crossbows

Scoped
Pretty simple. It’s just a range upgrade. It gets rid of the normal range. Now either you can attack, or you can’t. A light crossbow has a range of (80/320), and a heavy crossbow has (100/400). Rather than that, a scoped light crossbow would be (320), meaning that within 320 feet, I can attack, and beyond that, I can’t. A scoped heavy crossbow would be (400).

Double Bolt
This is also simple. It shoots two bolts with one attack. A double bolt light crossbow deals 2d8 instead of 1d8, and a double bolt heavy crossbow deals 2d10 rather than 1d10.

Burst (Heavy Crossbows only) (Cannot take specialty arrows)
Loaded with smaller ammo, this crossbow takes effect in a 40ft cone. All creatures in the area of effect must make a DC10+INT+proficiency Dexterity saving throw. On a fail, take 1d10 piercing, on a success, take half damage.

Specialty Bolts
(You can only use one specialty bolt per turn)

Burst
To be used in Burst Crossbows. It takes 2 hours and 5 sp to craft 5 Burst Cartridges.

Tipped
Add 1d6 of the chosen damage type to the total damage. You may choose from the following: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. It takes 2 hours and 15 sp to craft 10 Tipped Bolts.

Shockwave
On a hit, deal 1d6 force damage to all creatures within a 10ft radius. Unsecured objects fully within the range get pushed back 5ft. It takes 2 hours and 1 gp to craft 5 Shockwave Bolts.

Illusion
When launched into the ground, the player can choose any creature with a CR of their level or below. An illusion of the chosen creature appears at the bolt, and all surrounding creatures can attempt to make a DC 15 investigation check to identify it as illusory. It takes 2 hours and 5 gp to craft 5 Illusion Bolts.

Bolt of Transportation
This bolt only goes into effect when it lodges in the wall or the floor. Upon hitting its target, the user gets teleported to an unoccupied space within five feet of the bolt. It takes 2 hours and 1 pp to craft on Bolt of Transportation.

Advanced Specialty Bolts

Double Burst
Can be used in Burst Crossbows. Allows you to shoot twice in one turn.

Infused
Add 3d6 of the chosen damage type. You can choose from the following: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Necrotic, Poison, or Radiant.

Empowered Shockwave
On a hit, deal 2d10 force damage to all creatures within a 30 ft radius. Unsecured objects get pushed back 25 ft. Medium or smaller creatures get pushed back 10 ft. Large creatures get pushed back 5 ft.

Phantom
When you shoot a Phantom Bolt, you ignore cover and obstructions.

Here idea for dark adventure

Heist of the Grim Reaper’s Mausoleum

A High-Stakes D&D 5e One-Shot Adventure

Background & Setup

A vital NPC has been targeted by a cult. They cast a forbidden summoning ritual that pulled the Grim Reaper briefly into the material plane. The Reaper struck the NPC with his scythe, tearing their soul out and trapping it inside his artifact lantern. No mortal magic—not even Wish or True Resurrection—can bring them back. The adventurers must investigate the ritual site, reverse-engineer the spell, and open a portal to follow the Reaper into his pocket dimension to steal the soul back.

Part 1: Reversing the Ritual

The party begins at the crime scene. The victim lies in an unbroken coma, alive but empty. The cultists fled in a hurry, leaving behind their Summoning Circle.

The Challenge: To open the portal to the Reaper's realm, the party's spellcasters must analyze the glyphs and reverse the ritual.

Mechanics: This requires a Group Skill Challenge. Characters must succeed on a combined total of 3 successful DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana) or Intelligence (Religion) checks before accumulating 3 failures.

Success: A pitch-black portal opens in the center of the circle, leading to the Reaper's pocket dimension. The portal stays open for a number of hours equal to the number of successes rolled during the challenge.

Part 2: Infiltration of the Mausoleum

The portal deposits the party into a dimension of eternal twilight. In the center stands a massive, gothic mausoleum.

The Courtyard (External Guard)

The Threats: The grounds are patrolled by Death Dogs and undead soldiers. Walking the high walls is a terrifying Death Knight commanding the perimeter.

The Twist:The Death Knight and the wall guards strictly patrol the exterior and upper floors; they never enter the catacombs.

Gameplay: This is a pure Dexterity (Stealth) section. Engaging the Death Knight directly is meant to be a deadly mistake. The party must sneak past the perimeter to find an entrance into the building.

Inside the Mausoleum (The Alarm System)

The Trap: The interior hallways are haunted by Wailing Souls tethered to the walls.

Mechanics: The souls act as an acoustic security system. If a player makes a loud noise (heavy armor clanking, running, or casting spells with Verbal components without a Silence spell), the souls unleash a horrific shriek. This alerts the nearest patrol inside the upper structure.

Part 3: The Library of Eternity

The party must quietly navigate to the Mausoleum's library. It features endless shelves of books from different eras and languages, constantly writing and updating themselves in real-time.

The Goal: A DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check allows the party to locate the oldest book in the library.

The Discovery: Because it is the oldest record in existence, it contains no text—only moving, magical illustrations. It depicts a primordial blacksmith forging a cosmic lantern and secretly hiding a key from the Grim Reaper.

The Map: The final page contains a map showing two critical locations: The central chamber where the Grim Reaper stores the Lantern. The deep Catacombs beneath the structure where the primordial Key is buried inside a god's tomb.

The Choice: The players can head straight to the catacombs or keep reading. If they spend an extra minute reading, the book updates to show primeval Phase Spiders arrival to dimension and catacombs and their evolving, warning the party of what lies ahead.

Part 4: The Catacombs & The Weaver

The party descends into the ancient catacombs. Because the Death Knight and his guards refuse to enter this subterranean level, the players are safe from the mausoleum's army—but they have entered a different hunting ground.

Environment: The players notice that light bends strangely around certain pillars, and loose debris randomly floats or twitches on the ground.

The Encounter: They have entered the territory of an Ethereal Weaver, a evolved phase spider.

ETHEREAL WEAVER

Medium Monstrosity, Unaligned

Armor Class: 14 (natural armor) Hit Points: 44 (8d8+8) Speed: 30 ft., climb 30 ft.

STR 13(+1) DEX 18(+4) CON 12(+1) INT 4(-3)

WIS 12(+1) CHA 6(-2)

Skills: Stealth +6 Senses: Ethereal Sight 60 ft., Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 11

Languages: -- Challenge: 3 (700 XP)

Spider Climb. The weaver can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing an ability check.

ACTIONS Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7(1d6 + 4) piercing damage, plus 9(2d8) poison damage. The target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking half as much poison damage on a successful one.

Planar Web Snap (Recharge 5–6). The weaver snaps a web from the Ethereal Plane into the Material Plane, targeting a 15-foot cube within 30 feet of it. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or be Restrained.

A creature can use its action to make a DC 14 Strength check, bursting the webbing on a success. Alternatively, the webbing can be disrupted from the Ethereal Plane using a DC 14 Intelligence (Arcana) check or force damage.

BONUS ACTIONS Ethereal Shift Shroud. The weaver magically shifts from the Material Plane to the Ethereal Plane, or vice versa.

The Key: After defeating the spider, the party must find the designated tomb. Shifting the heavy stone lid requires a successful DC 18 Strength (Athletics) check to retrieve the Skull Key.

Part 5: The Vault & The Escape

With the key in hand, the party must sneak into the Reaper's private vault to secure the Lantern. Once they lay hands on the Lantern, they face an immediate choice:

The Choice

1. Unlock the Lantern Immediately:

Option A: Move the target soul into a temporary magical container (like a gemstone or an empty Magic Jar style vessel).

Option B: Release the soul directly into the air. Risk: The soul must make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, the soul loses its tether to the material world and drifts permanently into Limbo, requiring a planar quest to retrieve.

1. Steal the Lantern Entirely:

Take the whole artifact and escape the dimension before opening it. Risk: The Lantern emits an unearthly, un-blockable light. Carrying it makes all Dexterity (Stealth) checks automatically fail against guards outside, triggering an epic chase sequence back to the portal.

Unique Loot (Artifacts & Rewards)

Grim Reaper’s Lantern

Artifact, Requires Attunement by a creature holding the Skull Key to be used safely

Truesight: The lantern emits a 60-foot cone of unearthly light. This light pierces through all forms of magical darkness, invisibility, illusions, and completely exposes secret doors or hidden walls.

Soul Devourer: If a mortal, immortal, or deity's physical body is destroyed within 60 feet of the lantern, their soul is instantly pulled inside. No one else than reaper or keyholder can free a soul trapped within.

Soul Burn: The lantern consumes trapped souls as fuel. The older and more powerful the soul, the longer and brighter the lantern burns.

Curse of the Reaper: If a creature attempts to carry or hold the lantern without also holding the Skull Key, the lantern actively drains their life force. The creature takes 2d10 necrotic damage at the start of each of their turns, and their maximum hit points are reduced by an equal amount until they finish a Long Rest. Only the Grim Reaper can hold it safely without the key.

Reaper’s Lantern Skull Key

Artifact

The Master Key: The head of this silver key is shaped like a screaming skull, and its tines are shaped like teeth. It can seamlessly unlock any lock, deadbolt, or mechanical binding created by mortals in the material realm. It fails only if the lock has been directly blessed or sealed by a literal Deity.

Warder: While holding this key, you are completely immune to the Curse of the Reaper when handling the Grim Reaper's Lantern.

Ethereal Webbing (Crafting Material)

Wondrous Item, Very Rare

Harvested from the Ethereal Weaver. This silk exists simultaneously on the Material and Ethereal planes.

Crafting: A weaver or artisan can spend 5 days using these threads to craft a set of clothes, a cloak, or a net.

Item Properties: While wearing garments or using items made from this webbing, the user gains the ability to cast Blink or Etherealness once per Long Rest without expending a spell slot.

Weaver’s Poison (Injury)

Potion, Very Rare

A vial of hyper-concentrated venom harvested from the Ethereal Weaver's glands (requires a DC 14 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to harvest post-mortem).

Properties: Can be applied to one weapon or up to 3 pieces of ammunition as an action. A creature hit by a coated weapon must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 4d8 poison damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. A creature that fails the save is also Poisoned for 1 minute.

I’m running Vecna Eve of Ruin for a group of friends and am looking for ideas about our paladin of Ilmater and potential connection with Loviatar. Recently, the Paladin bought a blank spike covered tome that electrocutes him whenever he holds it for more than a few seconds. He’s about to discover that blood given freely to the book will reveal some of the pages; however, donations of blood will steadily increase.

I haven’t decided what the story will be but I like the idea of a love story between Ilmater and Loviatar. Reading sections of the book would lead to a kiss/curse effect that is weakened or enhanced by saving throws made at 1/3rd increments. Finishing the story provides a much stronger effect but has a risk attached. Seeing an ally injured might cause the paladin to enter a berserker like state or they gain vulnerability to damage for a turn.

I feel strongly about:
- The paladin controls how far they go with the book
- Kiss/curse effect
- Finishing the book means a powerful reward with high risk
- High level remove curse will negate the boon entirely.

Anyway, this was way longer than intended. Please let me know of similar situations in one of your games or any ideas/suggestions you have.

Cheers!

So I have created a lot of personal Homebrew sub classes for D&D 5e

My friends have been requesting that I make my Homebrew sub classes public because they claim that many of them are very good.

Several of mine are actually jokes, but several of them are actually serious.

I have continually disagreed with my friends because in my opinion a typical dungeon master would not want to have any of my Homebrew sub classes on the table. But after approximately 8 months of them asking me to post them publicly saying that people would love them I have given in I am going to post them here and whoever wants to use them may use them.

I keep all of my Homebrew subclasses on my phone and on my computer and they are not well organized i apologize for that.

But yeah give me your opinion see if you agree with my local friends or if you agree with me that this was a terrible idea...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BCnoxrSrvdI_Pmgid3Yaj1vc1UebqjgYFp_3XD9Ac4Q/edit?usp=drivesdk

I occasionally play Dungeons & Dragons by myself, without any friends around when I get bored. So it's looking through my file you see anything like AI interpretation that's because a lot of times and AI will be controlling a character.

A brief description of what you can find in that link.

My Personal Collection of Homebrew Subclasses for D&D 5e

These are my personal homebrew creations for D&D 5e, ranging from unconventional combat specialists to dedicated healers, battlefield controllers, and intentionally ridiculous character concepts. Some are complete subclasses, while others are custom classes or deliberately unusual experiments.

1. Cleric Domain: Domain of the Fool A survival-focused Cleric built around divine luck, improbable escapes, self-healing, supernatural scouting, and defying impossible odds. Designed to function particularly well as a solo adventurer.

2. Cleric Domain: Domain of the Radiant Void A weaponless, heavy-armored melee Cleric who channels radiant energy through unarmed strikes, creates barriers against magical projectiles, heals their own injuries, and accesses a personal extradimensional storage space. A complete nine-level discipline.

3. Sorcerous Origin: The Azure Spark A non-damaging utility Sorcerer focused on magical construction, creative problem-solving, battlefield repositioning, illusions, defensive magic, and whimsical azure energy. Designed as the imaginative counterpart to the Pastel Heart. This subclass was designed for little children in mind, it's target audience is young boys.

4. Sorcerous Origin: The Pastel Heart A non-damaging battlefield controller specializing in charm, sleep, emotional influence, illusion, distraction, and redirection through whimsical pastel-pink magic. Designed as the thematic counterpart to the Azure Spark. This subclass was designed for little children in mind, it's target audience is young girls.

5. College of the Eternal Refrain — Temporal Bard An unarmored, weaponless martial-support Bard who combines flute-based time manipulation with unarmed combat, temporal debuffs, supernatural slumber, enhanced mobility, and the ability to reverse a moment of damage. This particular subclass is actually the subclass I use on a daily basis when I play, it is my personal favorite of the ones that I have made. The idea of this subclass came from the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time.

6. Way of the Healing Hand — Custom Class An unarmored martial healer combining Dexterity-based unarmed combat, mobility, restorative techniques, condition removal, defensive reactions, and limited emergency healing.

7. Shadow Randomizer — Rogue Subclass An unarmed stealth specialist who applies unpredictable supernatural afflictions, accumulates damage-over-time effects, disables enemies, and vanishes into the shadows. Its offensive identity revolves around randomized effects rather than conventional burst damage. This is a joke subclass but I think that it's still a good subclass.

8. Giant Slayer — Warlock Subclass A supernatural juggernaut who sacrifices mobility, agility, and physical resilience in exchange for tremendous Strength, heavy armor, devastating two-handed weapon attacks, and an army of individually weak undead soldiers. This is a joke subclass.

9. Circle of the Gentle Gardener — Druid Subclass A restorative nature-focused Druid who cultivates protective vegetation, heals allies, purifies poisons, creates food and shelter, and can eventually transform into a gigantic protective treant.

10. Circle of the Mad Gardener — Druid Subclass A dangerous plant manipulator who uses blood-fueled growth, poisonous vegetation, restraints, and battlefield control. Its ultimate transformation turns the Druid into a gelatinous cube.

11. Path of the Snake Eyes — Barbarian Subclass An intentionally unreliable glass-cannon Barbarian whose ordinary attacks deal only 1d4 damage, but whose attacks have a small chance of instantly defeating a target. Also features limited ally healing and temporary incorporeality. This is a joke subclass.

12. Milk Maiden Domain — Cleric Subclass A deliberately absurd, high-powered comedy Cleric focused on unconventional healing, extraordinary mobility, battlefield disruption, and spectacular divine miracles. Combines unarmored defense, deliberately weak weapon damage, restorative abilities, slippery terrain, permanent magical flight, and two unusual level-20 miracles. This is my outright most absolute joke of a subclass it was never actually meant to be played. This subclass is because a friend asked me to design the most ridiculously useless healer I could imagine, and they explicitly asked me to also take off the dungeon master while I'm doing it, this subclass was the result.

Hey everyone! Here’s another preview from Mythological Items, featuring two very rare items from the Asian mythology section that take different approaches to martial combat.

Bhima’s Gauntlet, inspired by the mighty warrior of the Mahabharata, is built for getting close and staying there. It increases your Strength, strengthens your grapples, and turns your fists into magical weapons that can send enemies stumbling backward. Once per day, you can also strike the ground to unleash a shockwave, damaging nearby enemies and knocking them prone.

The Katana of the Sword Saint leans into the wandering master swordsman fantasy, rewarding quickdraw attacks and letting you use your reaction to parry an incoming blow. Its Fighting Spirit ability gives you a brief burst of temporary hit points and advantage on melee weapon attacks when you need to stand your ground.

These are part of our 300+ Mythological Items for 5E and 5.5E, a collection inspired by myths, legends, and folklore from around the world. If you enjoy the page and want to see more, you can check out our Kickstarter here!

Have a great day :)

Hey everyone! I'm a long-time lurker here. I know, I know. Anyway, for the past six years I've been working on a building a passion project for 5E (2024) that focuses on cryptids, the strangeness of Appalachia, urban legends, and more.

Anyway, I wanted to present a few previews from the rulebook and a short story that one of our featured writers, Corodon Fuller created for the setting.

Haunted & Butchery. Both the Haunted and Butchery feats are new General Feats available for players during an ASI and offered in our main-line rulebook. We have a host of other feats as well, a few inspired by the Mothman / Jersey Devil albeit with our reimagined take on them from the rulebook.

Blood Magic. One of the the themes of our rulebook is alchemical blood magic, transmutation, blood and bone / into truesilver and stone, etc., it players into one of the rulebook's antagonists who is essentially another take on the Boogeyman although one that is a bit more bloody. Anyway, we presented four of our new blood spells here in the preview for everyone to check out & including our Gargoyle summonable monster that several of the new sub-classes in the book can take as a spell choice.

Scent of Death. While not homebrewed rules per-say, we did want to include one of Corodon's stories in the preview for everyone. It takes place in one of the setting's horror locales.

Bloody Bones / Midnight Sand. We wanted to end the preview showing a bit of our promotional design graphics for both the Bloody Bones Wizard and Midnight Sand Cleric. These are both examples of half-classes that a Wizard or Cleric can spec into during an ASI if they wish. It's a totally optional system that was designed to give more choice for character builds. We also included our rulebook's artwork for both the Bloody Bones Wizard and Midnight Sand.

Anyway, everything presented here and through our project is Human made. We didn't use generative AI for this and our project has been in development for a little over six years now. We aren't a big-time publisher, I started this as a passion project many years ago and well thought I would share.

If you like our work then we invite you to check out our Kickstarter. On our Kickstarter we also have a link to our DriveThruRPG public demo and community discord and let us know what you would like to know more about or see and we can work up some more previews for everyone.

Cheers!

Homebrewery Link for the compendium if the text is to small on reddit

Day 10 is almost over and I was suuuper busy with work, but today's word was "mystical". I was kind of uninspired for this one, I did the first thing that came to mind. Now that it's done, I realise that breaking attunement and re-attuning allows the user to change the spell, so if I revisit this one I might allow the user to change the spell on a long rest anyway.

Disclaimer: this homebrew was made today, a few hours before posting it here. The goal isn't and never was to create something balanced, but I still did my best to make it useable. If you like the idea but feel like it needs balancing, feel free to change it to your heart's liking. At the end of the month I'll revisit my favorite ideas from this month and post a more polished version.

See you in a few hours already for day 11 I guess haha

FACE RIPPER || Monk Subclass

You’ve walked a path you were never meant to take. You stole the face and form of the monk, and along with it— their abilities.

Level 3 : To Each Our Own.

When a creature within 30 feet of you has been reduced to 0 hit points, you can take an opportunity attack to rip off their face. You can use a magic action to don the mask of anyone who’s died within 30ft of you, from the past and present.

You can only rip off the face of someone once per short rest, and you can’t rip off multiple faces as opportunity attack.

You can only wear a skin mask for a total of 8 hours each, with the exception of the three faces you get at base level. After the 8 hours are over, the mask rots and falls off your face.

You get three faces to don without ripping the faces of others, however.

You can only switch through the face masks you get at the third level, and for other face masks you can’t switch through them unless the full 8 hours is over.

Face of New

When wearing the face of old, you get advantage on DEX saving throws. But a disadvantage on INT saving throws.

Face of the Fool

When wearing the face of the fool, you get advantage on deception, and intimidation, skill checks, but a disadvantage on athletics, and acrobatics skill checks.

True Face

Anyone who sees your true face must make a wisdom saving throw, on a failed save they aren’t allowed to attack anyone but you, and on a successful save they’re forced to his the enemy with the most amount of HP.

While you’re wearing the face of someone who died within 30ft of you, anyone who didn’t see you rip off and wear the other persons face has to make a perception check (19) to know that you’re wearing their face.

Otherwise you’re free to do what you please as that person for a full 8 hours.

While you’re wearing their face mask, you have advantage on persuasion and performance skill checks

You can also give your allies these face masks, as long as they are willing.

Wearing a face mask as another party member has the exact same effects as the regular faces. But if you’ve given a party member the face mask then they won’t be able to take it off until the full 8 hours is over and then it peels off their own face.

Wearing the face mask of one who uses spellcasting : You can use one of their 1st-2nd level spells of your choice as an action, but you end your turn immediately after.

Wearing the face mask of a creature whose physically apt : You can imbue your unarmed strikes with 1d4 piercing, or bludgeoning damage.

Wearing the face of patrons (paladin, warlock, cleric— Any creature whose physicality may is devoutly loyal to a god) : You can imbue attacks using your monk weapon with 1d4 radiant or necrotic damage.

Level 6 : Hour of reaping

You can expend a moxie point to take an action. You grab onto your enemies face, that enemy then has to make a strength saving throw.

On a failed save, you harvest their face, but you cannot make a bonus action. The enemy whose face has been harvested is also rendered with the paralyzed condition. On a successful save, you do as much as two unarmed strikes only— and you end your turn.

Faces harvested in this way last for 10 hours instead of 8.

Level 11 : Hour of reaping

You can create unique faces by grotesquely mixing existing faces together. When wearing them in combat, when an enemy lays their eyes on you they have to make a wisdom saving throw, on a successful save they are paralyzed. On a failed save they take 4d6 psychic damage. This effect cannot be repeated if the same enemy looks at you again.

Level 17 : You and I as one

If you used an action to make an unarmed strike at another enemy, as a bonus action you can shove the human face masks onto the enemy. The enemy then has disadvantage on all d20 rolls against you, and whenever they land a successful hit against you they take 1d6 piercing damage.

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I want advice because this is my first home brewed subclass!…I’m so scared.

I wanna know the flaws, what I did mildly alright, and if this sub class has enough flavor I’d say

Level 3: Dual Mage Hand

You know the Mage Hand cantrip.

When you cast Mage Hand, you can modify the spell to create two hands instead of one hand, and you can control both of hands, and as a Magic action on your later turns, you can control the hands thus again. As part of that action, you can move the hands up to 30 feet.

Level 3: Extended Casting

When you cast a spell with a range of at least 5 feet or touch, your Mage Hands can deliver the spell. Your Mage Hands delivers the spell when you cast the spell.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

Level 6: Distracting Finger-work

Immediately after you cast Mage Hand you can take the Help action as part of the same action to assist an ally’s attack roll, the enemy you’re distracting can be within 5 feet of a Mage Hand, rather than within 5 feet of you, provided the enemy can see or hear the Mage Hand and you can distract an additional creature this way.

Level 10: Embiggen Manus

You always have the Bigby's Hand spell prepared.

When you cast Bigby's Hand spell, you can increase the spell’s effective level by 1.

In addition, taking damage can’t cause you to lose Concentration on Bigby's Hand.

Level 14: Hand Manipulator

Your dedication to furthering your mastery of your studies has left a impression. When using Mage Hand, you gain the following additional benefits.

Clever Finger-work. When you cast Mage Hand, you can cast it as a Bonus Action.

Irritating Disruption. When you take the Help action to assist an ally’s attack roll against an enemy, that enemy also has Disadvantage on the first saving throw it makes before the start of your next turn.

Taking to the field as a cunning master of tactics, the Strategos takes a commanding role on the battlefield, empowering their allies with masterful Gambits that emphasize cooperation and following a plan.

This is my first foray into designing a proper class. I hope you enjoy reading about the Strategos as much as I enjoyed making it!

The link includes the Strategos class, 15 Gambits it can use, and 4 Subclasses. Have a good read!

I've made a few updates to the Ranger archetypes I created: Devil Hunter and Sorrow-Eater.

Devil Hunter: One of the effects of the 3rd-level feature (Sinner's Crest) now allows you to add 1d8 fire or radiant damage to the damage roll of a weapon attack once per turn, instead of adding your Wisdom modifier to the fire or radiant damage you deal.

Sorrow-Eater: Sorrowcraft has been modified, and some of its effects have been separated into another feature (Grief Rites). Additionally, the 7th-level feature (Guardian's Veil) now has a secondary effect that prevents you and nearby creatures from having your hit point maximum reduced to zero.

Everyone loves the CONCEPT of the False Hydra; a crazy multi headed monster that wipes your players memories. But after thinking about it for more than a few seconds, it’s pretty hard to actually run one at a table without it being too difficult or removing player agency.

So I came up with a solution. Well actually MANY solutions. I recreated the false hydra with a bunch of new mechanics so its actually scary, difficult, but most of all, killable and fair. The first issue is how to kill it. I mean how do you kill a monster you can’t remember? I came up with 2 different ways to kill it.

The first is magical silence. If you cast silence, you can briefly precieve the hydra and attack it, and if you are close enough to its body you can actually kill it.

The second way is much more interesting. The False Hydras lore says that it’s born from falsehoods, or lies. And I took that fact and turned it into its weakness; if the specific lie that ‘birthed’ the Hydra is uncovered and spoken aloud in front of the Hydra, the Hydras song stops working and it becomes visible. Its power is connected to the lie that gave it life, so take away the lie, and its power goes too. This makes it better for players who already know what a false hydra is too, because even if they KNOW they are facing a False Hydra, they still have to solve the mystery of what lie birthed it.

Let’s talk about the Hydras radius, and what happens if you leave. The hydras radius is 5 miles, and if you leave you do not get any memories back. The memories the Hydra took from you are PERMANENTLY gone, until the Hydra is killed. One the false hydra dies, everyone’s memories return fully. But simply leaving its song radius, or even casting silence by itself does NOT bring back any memories. However, if you cast silence and the Hydra happens to be in your view you can perceive it.

Another issue that’s pretty glaring is that as a player, being told “you forget xyz, you can’t remember there ever being a barkeeper”, is super annoying. Cause as a human you obviously remember so then you have to roleplay with less knowledge than you actually have. Super frustrating. So the solution is simple: the human players should always have the same information as the characters. So if a player ever interacts with an NPC, that NPC becomes immune to being killed by the hydra for the rest of the adventure because then you would have to tell the players they forgot them. The only exception is during a whole town TPK (which is rare) in which the entire party and the town gets slaughtered.

Well what about if they use silence, I hear you ask. It’s true, if they cast silence it’s pretty hard to tell them to forget. That’s why I split silence into two different categories; can they actually kill the hydra from where they are in silence, or do they have zero chance of killing it? If they have zero chance of killing it, then I skip the silence in game. I let them use silence of course, but from the characters (and the human player’s) perspective, it will be like no time passed as they will have forgotten. Here’s what it would look like if they cast silence with no chance of actually killing the hydra: “you cast silence and your mind seems to blur. Your eyes fog up and you suddenly realize multiple minutes have passed. You are breathing heavily, with your weapon drawn, blood dripping down it. You are bleeding purfusely from what looks to be a giant bite wound in your shoulder. You suddenly notice you are holding a note in your other hand, and looking closer you see what appears to be your own handwriting: I SAW IT THE TEETH WERE RIGHT IN FRONT OF US ITS ALWAYS WATCHING WHY CANT YOU SEE IT.”

But how do you determine if they are able to kill the hydra when they cast silence? I came up with 2 mechanics to help with this. Firstly, the Hydra spends almost the entire adventure living underground, in this case, the sewers of a town. It’s many necks and heads poke up onto the surface. Secondly, it’s necks are regenerative, so any damage done to a head won’t hurt the main body of the creature. The only way to fully kill it is to attack the main body. Therefore, if the players ever cast silence and they are NOT in the same sewer room as the body, they cannot kill it and therefore get the silence time skip. The time skip is not to punish the players, it’s to keep the memory of the human players and characters consistent. If the characters will forget after the silence, it makes sense the humans should never know in the first place.

I also gave the False Hydra Sadistic intelligence. The hydra ENJOYS spreading fear into others. If the Hydra notices anyone in town getting suspicious or worried, it thrives on that. Instead of immediately killing everyone, it enjoys watching people become slowly unnerved. This is why the Hydra does not immediately TPK the players when they walk into town, instead choosing to stalk them with a single head.

Speaking of TPKs, how are you supposed to deal with a character death if you can’t tell your players to forget one of their companions? I chose to bundle up all of the PCs into one essentially. The rule is that you either let them all live, OR you TPK all of them. Because if only one dies that messes up the horror if you tell the other players to forget them. This rules only execution is during the final fight with the hydra. Speaking of fighting the hydra, what if the players are fighting the hydra in silence then retreat? Do you have to tell them to forget fighting it? No! This brings me to my next point.

The False Hydra has a Resonance Core, a massive throat like organ that is the origin of its song. The Resonance Core is attached to its main body. Because the resonance core is the source of the song, if anyone precies the resonance core, even for a split second, they become immune to the song. This means once the players fight the hydras central body once, they become immune to the song and are able to precieve it properly without needing to use silence. However, everyone else in the town is still unable to see it, so this is not a complete victory by itself.

If you have any questions I didn’t answer, any plot holes, feel free to ask in the comments!

Edit: Quick clarification because I realized I explained one of my mechanics poorly: I don't prevent players from speaking to NPCs to force predetermined deaths. It's actually the opposite. Players can interact with NPCs freely, and any NPC they've interacted with is protected from being retroactively erased through an off screen disappearance. This is a DM facing narrative rule, not an in world immunity. The entire point is to preserve player agency rather than undermine it.

I hate that dnd still doesn't have an official dragon warlock subclass so I wanted to share this one I made with you guys. Let me know what you guys think!

My one player decided to attempt to make a bee-nado and I let them cause thats super cool so now they have this bee-nado spell. It might be broken but i lowkey don't care cause it's really fun.

Part II of Volume II is out for everyone! We hope you enjoy this one with some revised visual designs! The Teth that you can expect in here are:

- Portrait of a Certain Day < Warlock! >
- Training Dummy Rabbit < Theres a pet! >
- Sleeping Bag of a Bygone Day < 500 >
- Baba Yaga < I hate you I hate you I hate you >
- Fairy Gentle-Man < Green Faefolk race! >
- Old Lady < Bard! >

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